Economic Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Economic Development - Essay Example Population growth is presently considered as a vital event in relation to economic development. The aspect is often regarded as a major determinant of the pace of development witnessed within an economy or a specific region. Based on a similar perspective, the article named â€Å"Falling Fertility† emphasized on reviewing the study conducted by Thomas Malthus during the late 1790s signifying population to be a vital event in the economic development process. As mentioned in the article, it was predicted by Thomas Malthus during 1798 that the growth rate of the population might outdo the food supply of the world in the upcoming era. However, the article states that the predictions made by the author were termed as undependable.Furthermore, the article states the fact that the author connoted that with the rapid growth in the process of industrialization there was fall in the rate of fertility in the then ‘developing countries’ such as France, Europe, America, and B ritain. According to Malthus (1998), it was observed that when people became prosperous with the virtues of industrialization, the families became smaller in terms of the total number of members. On the flipside, Thomas Malthus also noted that when families reduced, people became wealthier. Taking the inspiration from Thomas Malthus’ study, a similar scenario has been depicted in the article published through ‘The Economist’ replicating the aspect that it is with the increasing rate of industrialization that families tend to shrink.

Soap Operas and the politics of everyday lives Essay Example for Free

Soap Operas and the politics of everyday lives Essay Language is use for communication and to convey our ideas. It can also be used as a social marker. It creates meanings and it is also considered as a source of power (Larson, :180). Power relations are also embedded in the langauge of soap operas. Soap operas are said to be reflections of reality, it mirrors the class struggle between the rich and the poor. It demonstrates how those who are in power easily manipulate the poor but later in the story the poor will be vindicated. This is the semantic dimension of language; solidarity and power assymetry of superior over inferior. Identification with both the hero and the heroine does not entail a cognitive choice, but draws upon a repertoire of unconscious process. Both is not a random object, but rather a particular commoditized human, routed through a system of signs with exchange value (Friedberg, 1990:109). To look at an object may mean various things in the subconscious mind, one is to grow like it by forcibly trying to imitate it. Working-class members are more inclined to identify with dramatic character, whereas people with higher cultural capital, including aesthetics, are more inclined to maintain a critical distance to the narrative. The ideological problematic of soap opera – the frame or field in which meanings are made, in which significance is constructed narratively – is that of ‘personal life’. More particular, personal life in its everyday realization through personal relationships. This can be understood to be constituted primarily through the representations of romances, families and attendant rituals – birth, engagements, marriages, divorce, and deaths. In Marxist terms this is the sphere of the individual outside waged labor. In feminist terms it is the sphere of women’s ‘intimate oppression’ (Brunsdon, 1997:58). The spectator is a person who experiences little, who feels that he [sic] is a â€Å"poor wretch to whom nothing of importance can happen,† who has long been obliged to damp down, or rather displace, his ambition to stand in his own at the hub of world affairs; he longs to feel and to act and to arrange things according to his desires†¦ And the playwright and the actor enable him to do this by allowing him to identify himself with a hero†¦ His enjoyment is based on an illusion. (Freud, 1990:89). By identifying with the person onscreen, the person is displacing oneself, which Freud suggests as â€Å"blowing off steam†. Identification with the actor serves the audience to make this an outlet for unfulfilled desires, by identifying with the performer, one would create a venue where the actor serves as a tool for the satisfaction of the viewer. The viewer puts himself in the actor’s place and relates with all the ups and downs that the actor experiences in his life. The actor’s success is also the fan’s success. Soap operas are usually criticized by the stereotypical and unrealistic manner in which they portray women, which confirms them more in their subordination in the society. According to Brunsdon, there was a feminist rejection of soaps which is in effect homologous with the traditional cultural contempt for soaps. This was followed by a certain reevaluation which coincides across the women’s movement of conventionally feminine skills such as embroidery and the admission of enjoyment in some of the pleasures of traditional femininity, like dressing up. ‘Heroine television’ is centrally about female characters living their lives, usually working both inside and outside the home, usually not in permanent relationships with men, sometimes with children, and trying to cope. Soap opera is not quite ‘heroine television’ but it was mainly attractive to feminists as an object of analysis because it was perceived to be both for and about women. The ‘personal is political’ is the most resonant and evocative claim of the 1970s western feminism. If the personal is political, if it is in the home, in relationships, in families, that women’s intimate oppression – or the oppression of women as women – is most consensually secured, then the media construction and representation of personal life becomes fascinating and an urgent object of study. If the traditional leftist critique of the media, with its structuring sense of class conflict, was drawn to the reporting of the public world – to industrial disputes, to the interactions of state and broadcasting institutions, to international patterns of ownership and control – emerging feminism scholarship had quite another focus. The theoretical impulse of feminism pushed scholars not to the exceptional but to the everyday. So the theoretical conviction that there was politics to everyday life and that women’s hidden labor in the home was essential to capitalism coincides with the actual generic distribution of women on television (Brunsdon, 1997:57). Television is very important in the struggle for meaning and representation, especially in the construction of daily life common sense. Television can fortify the existing cultural domination by presenting inequality as normal or contribute, in special cases, to subversion by providing discourses which present it as oppressive and illegitimate, or offering possibilities for alternative reading (Vink, 1988:124). In most soap operas, women are seen as commodities that are subordinate to men, yet women can kill in order to get the man she loves. The poor are manipulated to the rich man’s desires and are helpless to fight back. Women are subjected to physical violence or symbolic oppression. Thus, resonates male dominance in the society. Women as inferior entity while men are the superior ones (Larson, :185). In these lopsided relations, the poor are powerless against the people in power. This powerlessness further widens the gap between the rich and the poor. The use of language of a particular group can de attributed to their class position in the society. Social class can be a combinationof wealth, power and prestige. Likewise, it is also attached to individuals or group of individuals relationship to economic production. A persons class position is determined by their economic power (Labov, 1997:45). Because soap operas are viewed on primetime, which means that the whole family is able to watch since the children are back from school and the husband is back from work, soap operas have a bigger audience. They see on television acts rendered on the poor and females thus making the viewers docile and passive. Consequently, they refrain from doing things that are not supposed to be done by their class which is to assert their rights. Soap operas also justify violence and show that it is just part of normal occurrence. Thus it is accepted that women, poor and orphaned children may be maltreated, exploited or beaten up; men can beat up their wives and use alcohol as an excuse; and the privileged status of spoiled brats in convent uniforms give them a right to abuse household help. The treatment an authority imposes on everyday life seems to be so strong that people project it onto the speech of the characters and refer to them while placing themselves in a subordinate position in this fictive relationship (Fachel, 1985:216). Television, as a dominant cultural industry, plays a central role in imposing a view of this type of social world. The understanding of the power relations in society and of the categories necessary for them is the basis of political struggle which the powerful appropriate to themselves. Another effect of the television is that people can relate more to the celebrities than to their neighbors. Example of this is the death of Rico Yan which was given too much hype by the media. Most poor went out of their way to view his body as it lay in state. His death even surpassed that of National Artists who died almost the same week as the young actor. The people’s sympathy is even stronger for someone who they do not have ties with than with people form their own packages. Because a celebrity’s life is an open book, they know more about that person than their next-door-neighbors. In the Philippines, a person, an actor, can be voted in the highest position in the land. Because of extensive media mileage a person can get elected. An important factor is identification with the personality. In urban poor areas, people usually identify with someone they see on television as â€Å"one of them†. If the actor portrays roles as the hero of the masses, then this will be what people will remember off screen. They are voted because the people think that since they have already portrayed the role therefore they are presumed to have the background and experience regarding governance. Watching soap operas during prime time also contributes to the disintegration of families. These hours are the only time that members of the family are present in the households and should be the venue for family gathering during dinner. This should serve as the time to talk about what happen during the day, instead the members of the family are in front of the television watching soap operas. Instead of eating in the dining table, some members of the family eat in front of the television so that they would not miss a scene in the soap opera. The only time where they could talk and bond as a family is robbed by the viewing of telenovelas. Though soap operas can also contribute to the topics that are discussed, the things that happened in the soaps would be discussed to friends during the afternoons and not with the family members. After watching soap operas during prime time, it would be late in the evening that there is no more time to interact with one another. People can relate to the events in soap operas because somehow it is also what they are experiencing in their daily lives thus art reflects life. By watching telenovelas, they can pick up something that can somehow relieve the burden of their problems. But whether this can solve their problems is another story. Passivity and acceptance of their lot is the order of the day. It is precisely this confrontation between fiction and reality which can have a subversive effect: showing the viewer that reality can be different, that class and/or gender oppression are not natural but changeable. It is not only identification with telenovelas heroes or heroines, but also with the villains that can open the eyes of the viewers to the fact that life can be different. This can produce a suspension of the immediate attachment to the existing social world and is, as such, a first step in the process of emancipation, a precondition of collective action, based on a common identity (Vink, 1988:169). Soap opera viewers should be able to distinguish between reel and reality. Even if there are some celebrities with good credentials who can be elected for a public position, being an actor and the role that one portrays should not be the only factor why they are voted. Instead of portraying reality, media in this case shapes the perspective and view of people according what they media want to represent. Watching soap operas should also be limited because they create stereotypes and limit critical thinking among its viewers. Also, family disintegration would continue if members of the family would continue to ignore each other by watching television. The family is still the most important unit in a society. Instead of just identifying themselves with the actors and actresses in soap operas, the viewers should know that they can do better than just identify themselves with them. As individuals they also have the capacity to succeed on their own without just being satisfied by what their idol accomplishes because they can also do the same.

The Quakers and Arts in Utopian Societies :: Essays Papers

The Quakers and Arts in Utopian Societies Today, we can still find many examples of past utopias. A utopia is an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, moral and legal aspects.1 They do not approve of any actions that are superficial and unnecessary. In addition to these beliefs, people from utopian societies are strong believers in God. Sharing many of these same ideals, the Quakers are a group with a strong faith. Despite the fact that Quakers feel art is a luxury and a frivolous thing that they should not take part in, many great artists and writers are members of the Quaker society. George Fox founded the Quakers also known as the Society of Friends in 1650. This was a time of religious turmoil in England due to people searching for an uncorrupted version of Christianity. For their form of religion, the Quakers relied primarily on spiritual searching done by individual members, congregations and meetings. The Quakers were mainly involved in humanitarian work, seeing the good in everything. They sought to practice total Christianity, with their main opposition toward slavery. During the civil war, "the Quakers took the lead in the abolitionist movement and in running the Underground Railroad, which aided runaway slaves."2 In 1671, William Penn, a leader of the group, worked solely on expanding the Quakers and joining them with other groups.3 Fox developed the idea of "Inner Light". This is found within each person, and is a divine inspiration that brings joy and an enlightened conscience. It is God’s spirit found in every human soul. Fox felt that "following the inward light would lead to spiritual development and towards individual perfection." He taught the members to worship in silence and people only spoke when they felt moved by the Holy Spirit when they were in their meetings. George Fox promoted simple living; he was against alcohol, holidays, sports, theater, and jewelry. They thought of themselves as friends of Jesus and later, the Quakers also became known as the Society of Friends.4 The Quakers have been associated with the color gray, or drab, because of the simple living that they remain faithful to. Drab is a color that is a mixture of yellow and gray, or a dull light brown. The Friends found colors to be a distraction, using gray to avoid the excitement that was looked down upon. This was also used to keep the divine inspiration within themselves.

Plato’s and Aristotle’s Views on Knowledge

Plato and Aristotle view knowledge and the process whereby it is obtained. They both point out that many epistemological concepts which they believe where knowledge comes from and what it is actually. Most of them have been astonished me in certain ways, but I found that rationalism and â€Å"wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is† make the most sense to me regarding the nature of knowledge. As the following, we will discuss about why these two philosophical viewpoints are superior and the others are inferior. Aristotle believes that sensory perception of material objects is knowledge and he says, â€Å"Our senses begin the process of finding the answer, because they are physically close to our minds. † However, sensations and feelings are very subjective, and the results of sensation vary from person to person and even within the same person, depending on the circumstances. What to one person is cold might be warm to another, one person may be more fatigued in the afternoon than in the morning, so that his or her perceptions may temporarily less accurate. Therefore one cannot claim that sensations provide sure knowledge for human beings. | On the other hand, Aristotle sustains that the perceptions of the senses form the foundation which leads to true knowledge. The senses â€Å"give the most authoritative knowledge of particulars† (individual material objects). The senses, especially sight, â€Å"make us know and bring to light many differences between things. † The senses thus provide a foundation that will ensure that human knowledge is true or accurate. Back and forth, we have already discussed that sensations cannot provide true knowledge for humans because of subjectivity, as in this case, this is not necessarily that perceptions of senses form the foundation which leads to true knowledge for humans. Plato believes that innate knowledge of eternal Forms that exist separately from material objects is true knowledge because innate knowledge does not require that the mind interact with the external world in order to be apprehended. It is present in the mind at birth, for it is God given, and has always been resident in the mind. Nevertheless, how does one know there is a God? For all we know, the existence of god cannot be proven by scientific methods, and this is for certain. In this case, how can humans get knowledge from god or gods? Therefore, innate knowledge should not be viewed as the origin of knowledge nor to help one to obtain true knowledge. For Aristotle's substance, it states that when one knows the substance (matter and form) or essential nature of a material object, one knows the first cause that made it to be what it is. This knowledge is true wisdom and is therefore true knowledge. I felt this philosophical viewpoint when I first saw it; however, this knowledge begins in sensory perception. Stated in premise, sensations and feelings cannot assist individuals to acquire true knowledge. For this reason, I do not fall in this epistemological concept afterwards. Moreover, a syllogism also cannot help one to acquire human knowledge. To Aristotle, these universal ideas are self-evident. The mind, having received appropriate sensory input, immediately sees that they are true. Although premises are formed as the result of inductive reasoning, it is based on sensory perception. Consequently, human beings cannot acquire knowledge by a syllogism. I personally fall with rationalism and wisdom lead us to attain knowledge. Plato and Aristotle both believe that thinking, defined as true opinion supported by rational explanation is true knowledge; however, Plato is a rationalist but Aristotle is not. Plato thinks that the external world can be obtained proceeding from the inside out. Thus, the foundation of true knowledge for the rationalists is that it originates in the faculty of reason. Furthermore, reason has the capacity to discover ideas or beliefs independently of the senses. These ideas or beliefs are self-validating and therefore have the status of knowledge because the rational faculty, which has discovered them, is the most accurate of the means by which human beings obtain knowledge. In Plato's Theaetetus, he says, â€Å"Any one forms the true opinion of anything without rational explanation, you may say that his mind is truly exercised, but has no knowledge. † This is quite true that when one can state a true opinion supported by a rational explanation, one's opinion constitutes knowledge, since perceptions of senses are excluding in this case. Moreover, a rational explanation does not contain any subjectivity, it is an objective entity for humans to understand true knowledge. For this reason, I fall with rationalism and believe it is a superior philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge. Aristotle sustains that wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is. For Aristotle, wise people know more than just what something is; they also know why it is what it is, or what causes it to be what it is. People with wisdom, for instance, a master worker understand not only that fire is hot, but also know why it is hot. Those with experience only, who do not know why something works in a certain manner, cannot teach. Say physicians understand that there is a relationship between the medical condition of this class of patients and the ingredients in this particular drug. They are then motivated to learn why the drug works on these people, or what causes it to be more effective with this group of patients than with others. In achieving this knowledge, one achieves wisdom. Once the physicians found out what causes the drug works, it will increase the confidence of other physicians to use it with similar patients of their own. If they just used it because it â€Å"works,† they might be more hesitant. Knowing why it works makes them feel more certain that it will be helpful. Moreover, by understanding how the ingredients work, another researcher might find another use for the drug on a related but different medical infirmity. Thus, the ability to teach something is important to one because it implies that the person who teaches has knowledge. In these cases, I believe wisdom is the ability to teach something to someone and it also contains a path for one to acquire true knowledge, therefore, it is also a superior philosophical viewpoint for individual to understand true knowledge. In my own life, I believe that one's knowledge is taught by parents, teachers, peers, and culture, and this is the reason for humans to have education. Our knowledge is received from the earlier generation to the next generation and so on. When I was a kid, I did not know why I had acne at that time. Now I am a teen, I know that during adolescence, hormones called androgens become active and stimulate oil glands in one's skin, increasing oil production. This, in turn, clogs pores, causing pimples and blackheads. I am educated in school and I understand the causes of acne now. In this case, I have true knowledge about what acne is and the causes of it because I have the ability to teach someone about acne, and it constitutes wisdom. This example fits in Aristotle's thought which wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is, and therefore, the origin of knowledge. On the other hand, a study states that sunlight can prevent some types of cancer because vitamin D is manufactured in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight and it is this vitamin that may have a protective effect against certain cancers by preventing the overproduction of cells. In this case, a true opinion is supported by a rational explanation, and this study can help one to acquire knowledge because the study itself is knowledge. In this essay, we have examined different epistemological concepts of Plato and Aristotle about what knowledge is and the process whereby it is obtained. Since sensations are subjective, many of their philosophical viewpoints have been objected. Rationalism and â€Å"wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is† make the most sense to me because they are not perceived by sensations, and they can be observed in our daily lives. Those are the reasons that I found these two concepts are superior to others.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Ten

The pub where Elena and Damon ended up was lively and ful of people, but of course Damon made sure they didn't have to wait for a table. He lounged across one side of the booth, looking as arrogant and relaxed as a big gorgeous cat, and listened peaceably as Elena talked. Elena found herself gaily chatting away, fil ing him in on al the minutia of her campus life so far, from finding out that Professor Campbel knew her parents to the personalities of the other students she'd met in her classes. â€Å"The elevator was real y crowded, and slow, and my lab partner's back was against the buttons. Somehow she accidental y pushed the alarm button, and the alarm started going off.† Elena took a sip of her soda. â€Å"Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere and asked, ‘Do you have an emergency?' And she said, ‘No, it was an accident,' and the voice said, ‘What? I can't hear you.' It went on like that, back and forth, until she started shouting ‘Accident! Accident!'† Damon stopped tracing patterns in the condensation on his glass with one finger and glanced up at her through his lashes, his lips twitching into a smile. â€Å"When the doors opened on the ground floor, there were four security men standing there with a medical kit,† Elena finished. â€Å"We didn't know what to do, so we just walked past them. When we got out of the building, we started to run. It was so embarrassing, but we couldn't stop laughing.† Damon let his slight smile expand into a grin – not his usual cool twist of the lips or his brief, bril iant, and enigmatic there-then-gone smile, but an honest-to-God cheek-puffing, eye-squinching grin. â€Å"I like you like this,† he said suddenly. â€Å"Like what?† Elena asked. â€Å"Relaxed, I suppose. Ever since we met, you've been in the middle of some crisis or another.† He raised his hand and brushed a curl away from her face, gently touching her cheek. Elena was vaguely aware of the waiter standing by the booth, waiting for them to look up, as she answered with just a touch of flirtation, â€Å"Oh, and I suppose you had nothing to do with that?† â€Å"I wouldn't say I am the one who's been most to blame, no,† Damon said cool y, his grin fading. He looked up, his eyes sharp and knowing. â€Å"Hel o, Stefan.† Elena froze in surprise. Not the waiter, then. Stefan. One look at him, and she winced, her stomach dropping. His face could have been carved from stone. He was looking at Damon's hand, stil stretched across the table toward Elena. â€Å"Hey,† she said tentatively. â€Å"How was your study group?† Stefan stared at her. â€Å"Elena, I've been looking everywhere for you. Why didn't you answer your phone?† Pul ing out her phone, Elena saw that there were several messages and texts from Stefan. â€Å"Oh, no, I'm so sorry,† she said. â€Å"I didn't hear it ring.† â€Å"We were supposed to meet,† Stefan said stiffly. â€Å"I came to your room and you were just gone. Elena, people have been disappearing al over campus.† He had been scared, afraid that something terrible had happened to her. His eyes were stil anxious. She started to reach out to comfort him. The fact that she'd lost the Power she'd had so briefly was hard for Stefan to accept, she knew. He thought her mortality made her fragile, and he was afraid he'd lose her. She should have thought it through, should have left him more of a message than a quick text saying she would return soon. Before she could touch him, Stefan's gaze turned to Damon. â€Å"What's going on?† he asked his brother, his voice ful of frustration. â€Å"Is this why you fol owed us to col ege? To zero in on Elena?† The look of hurt that crossed Damon's face was only a subtle shadow and was gone so quickly that Elena wasn't entirely sure she had actual y seen it. His features settled into an expression of lazy disdain, and Elena tensed. The peace between the brothers was so fragile – she knew that – and yet she had let Damon flirt with her. She'd been so stupid. â€Å"Someone should be keeping her safe, Stefan,† Damon drawled. â€Å"You're too busy playing human again, aren't you? Study groups.† He lifted an eyebrow scornful y. â€Å"I'm surprised you've even noticed that there's something going on around this campus. Would you rather have Elena alone and in danger than have her spending time with me?† Tense lines were forming around Stefan's mouth. â€Å"You're saying you don't have an ulterior motive here?† he asked. Damon waved a hand disparagingly. â€Å"You know what I feel for Elena. Elena knows what I feel for Elena. Even that sports-loving Mutt of yours knows how things are between us. But the problem isn't me, little brother – it's you and your jealousy. Your wanting to be an ‘ordinary human'† – Damon made quote marks with his fingers – â€Å"and stil carry on with Elena, who is hardly ordinary. You want to have your cake and eat it, too. I haven't done anything wrong. Elena wouldn't have come with me if she didn't want to.† Elena winced again. Was this the way it was always going to be? Was any minor misstep on her part going to set Damon and Stefan at each other's throats? â€Å"Stefan†¦ Damon,† she implored, but they ignored her. They were glaring at each other. Stefan stepped closer, flexing his fists, and Damon clenched his jaw, silently daring Stefan to make a move. For the first time, Elena saw a resemblance between them. â€Å"I can't do this,† she said. Her voice sounded smal and soft to her own ears, but both Salvatore brothers heard her and whipped their heads toward her with inhuman speed. â€Å"I can't do this,† she said again, louder and more firmly this time. â€Å"I can't be Katherine.† Damon scowled. â€Å"Katherine? Believe me, darling, nobody here wants you to be Katherine.† Stefan, his face softening, said, â€Å"Elena, sweetheart – † Elena interrupted him. â€Å"Listen to me.† She wiped her eyes. â€Å"I've been walking on eggshel s, trying to keep this – this thing between the three of us from tearing us apart. If anything good has come out of al the stuff that's happened, it's that you found each other, you started being brothers again. I can't – † She took a deep breath and tried to find a sensible matter-of-fact voice somewhere inside herself. â€Å"I think we should take a break,† she said flatly. â€Å"Stefan, I love you so much. You're my soul mate, you're it for me. You know that.† She looked up at him pleadingly, silently begging him to understand. Then her eyes moved past him to Damon, who was staring at her with a furrowed brow. â€Å"And Damon, you're part of me now. I †¦ feel for you.† She looked back and forth between them, her hands clutching each other. â€Å"I can't lose either of you. But I need to figure out who I am now, after everything that's happened, and I need to do it without worrying about destroying the relationship between you. And you need to figure out how you can be friends with each other, even if I'm in both of your lives.† Damon let out a skeptical noise, but Elena kept talking. â€Å"I'l understand† – she gulped – â€Å"if you can't wait for me. But I wil always, always love you. Both of you. In different ways. But for now, I just can't be with you. Either of you.† She was tearing up again, and her hands shook as she wiped her eyes. Damon leaned across the table, a smal twisted smile hovering on his lips. â€Å"Elena, did you just break up with both of us?† The tears dried up instantly. â€Å"Damon, I never dated you,† she said angrily. â€Å"I know,† he replied, and shrugged. â€Å"But I've definitely just been dumped.† He glanced at Stefan, then quickly away, his expression closed off. Stefan looked devastated. For a moment, his face was so bleak that it wasn't hard to believe he was more than five hundred years old. â€Å"Whatever you want, Elena,† he said. He started to reach for her, then pul ed his own hand back to his side. â€Å"No matter what, I wil always love you. My feelings aren't going to change. Take whatever time you need.† â€Å"Okay,† Elena said. She stood up shakily. She felt like she was going to be sick. Half of her wanted to pul Stefan to her, kiss him until that broken expression on his face went away. But Damon was watching her, his own face inscrutable, and touching either of them felt †¦ wrong. â€Å"I need to be by myself for a while,† she told them. At any other time, she knew, both of them would have objected to the idea of her walking the campus alone. They would have argued, fol owed her if she wouldn't walk with them – anything to keep her safely under their protection. Now, though, Stefan moved aside to let her out of the booth, his head bowed. Damon sat very stil and watched her go, his eyes hooded. Elena didn't look back at them as she crossed to the door of the pub. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were brimming with tears once more. But she also felt as if she'd carried something very heavy for a while and had final y been able to put it down. This might be the best choice I've made in a long, long time, she thought. Dear Diary, Every time I remember the look on Stefan's face when I told him I needed space, my chest aches. It's like I can't breathe. I never wanted to hurt Stefan. Never. How could I? We're so close, so wrapped up in each other that he's like a piece of my soul – without him, I'm not complete. But†¦ I love Damon, too. He's my friend – my dark mirror image – the clever, plotting one who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, but who has a kindness deep inside him that not everybody sees. I can't imagine living without Damon, either. Stefan wants to hold on to me so tightly. He cares for his brother – he does – and Damon cares for him, too, and having me between them is messing that up. All three of us have been held so closely together by the crises we've had to deal with recently – my death and rebirth, Klaus's attack, Damon's return from the edge of death, the phantom's attack – that every move we've made, every thought we've had, has been wrapped up with the other two. We can't go on like this. I know I've done the right thing. Without me between them, they can become brothers again. And then I can sort out the tangled threads of my relationships with both of them without having to worry that any move I make will snap the tenuous bond between us. It's the right decision. But still, I feel like I'm dying a slow death. How can I live for even a little while without Stefan? All I can do is try to be strong. If I just keep going, I'll get through this time. And in the end, everything will be wonderful. It has to be.

An investigation of the role of SIS in The (Especially, In A Rural Part Of Our Planet)expand Health Servicing The WritePass Journal

An investigation of the role of SIS in The (Especially, In A Rural Part Of Our Planet)expand Health Servicing Introduction An investigation of the role of SIS in The (Especially, In A Rural Part Of Our Planet)expand Health Servicing ). The overarching argument for this is that firms perform well when IT resources including knowledge assets, managerial and technical IT skills and physical IT infrastructure elements are aligned with the business strategy, and when suitable structures are employed in effectively managing the IT resources and supervising their deployment (Coltman et al., 2015). This alignment is ever important in the current environment where new information technologies continue to fundamentally alter conventional business strategies by allowing firms to function across the boundaries of function, time, and distance by leveraging these technologies (Bharadwaj et al., 2013). This report discusses the role of strategic information systems in expanding the health service in rural areas. Specifically, it focuses on the implementation of a telemedicine program for managing diabetes for patients in rural areas by a hospital in an urban centre. The investigation focuses on the planning and the implementation of this technological solution by considering the perspectives of different stakeholders. The report starts by discussing literature on telemedicine in diabetes management. Telemedicine and Diabetes Management The management of diabetes and its associated complications is quite costly. Targeted glycaemic control is necessary for minimising the complications of this chronic condition. Conversely, less than 70% of individuals with diabetes are attaining targeted glycaemic control, showing that effective management of the disease continues to be a challenge (Fatehi et al., 2014a). Patients in rural areas are unable to attain targeted glycaemic control partly because of poor access to specialised healthcare providers. Because of the increasing need for quality healthcare and the declining availability of clinicians, information and communications technologies have demonstrated the potential for improving access to healthcare services and reducing the costs of delivering healthcare (Fatehi et al., 2014a). Telemedicine involves providing health and medical services remotely using ICT. Telemedicine facilitates the expansion of healthcare by bridging the physical gap between consumers and healthcare providers thus reducing costs. Synchronous telemedicine entails consumers and healthcare providers interacting in real time by relying on communication technologies. For instance, video conferencing, where there is exchange of image and voice in real time, is increasingly becoming popular in telemedicine in the delivery of various healthcare and clinical services at a distance (Fatehi et al., 2014b). Verhoeven et al. (2010) systematically reviewed asynchronous and synchronous teleconsultations in diabetes and reported that these offer a reliable, cost-effective, and feasible solution for the delivery of diabetes care. Video conferencing is used in collaborative goal setting, nutrition counselling, self-management training, and diabetes education for patients (Siriwardena et al., 2012). According to Faruque et al. (2016), telemedicine is helpful in the provision of care t o individuals with diabetes especially those in rural areas who are unable to travel to healthcare facilities due to large distances.   Therefore, telemedicine, especially teleconference, is a technological solution for managing diabetes for individuals in rural areas who are underserved by specialists. The next section explains the methodology used to obtain stakeholders views on the adoption and use of teleconferencing for diabetes management. Methodology This report collected data using interviews to understand the implementation of telemedicine for expanding access to healthcare services for people with diabetes in rural areas. The report included the views of various perspectives including patients, healthcare providers at the hospital, and in the rural areas to understand the adoption and implementation of this information system.   Semi-structured interviews were conducted with these stakeholders in locations and time that were convenient for the stakeholders. The interview was based on the interview schedule found in Appendix 1. These interviews were digitally recorded followed by verbatim transcription. After transcription, the interviews were analysed using coding (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). The coding led to the identification of various thematic categories including the strategic intent of adoption of telemedicine, benefits of telemedicine, and challenges during implementation as explained in the section below. Findings and discussion Strategic intent of implementation of telemedicine The telemedicine intervention was adopted by the hospital after it was discovered that some of the patients from the rural areas were not coming for the follow- up appointments to get information on ongoing management of their diabetes. An endocrinologist at the hospital stated that: I noticed that some of my patients were not coming for their appointments†¦ I looked at their records and realised that they were unable to do so because they came from rural areas. Therefore, we had to find a way of ensuring they got the much-needed information and support to manage diabetes at home The hospital identified the need for providing cost-effective care for their diabetes patients in rural areas who were unable to access specialised care in their communities. The hospital considered the adoption of telemedicine as a way of providing quality care while minimising unnecessary patient admissions due to diabetes complications. Thus, this was a critical component of the hospital’s strategic intent. According to Coltman et al. (2015), having a strategic intent involves the allocation of resources and engaging in activities to assist in achieving their objectives. In line with this, the stakeholders at the hospital had to consider how the telemedicine program will improve access to healthcare for patients with diabetes in a cost-effective manner. The CEO of the hospital said that: We recognised that the telemedicine would provide us with an opportunity for providing the required care to our patients†¦ However, we had to consider the overhead costs to set-up the telemedicine infrastructure both on our side and the rural side. Additional funding was required for this initiative. The implication of this is that the hospital had to set aside funds for the telemedicine infrastructure and this entailed working with managers from the finance and IT departments. The manager from the IT department determined the costs of using telemedicine intervention in terms of initial costs and ongoing upgrades to achieve a sustainable system.   The IT manager identified a cost-effective technological solution provider for the information systems that was required for the provision of diabetes care and support to patients from rural areas. The manager from the finance department and the CEO worked together in determining how to get the funding for this initiative. The initiative was funded using funds from the hospital’s contingency budget. Furthermore, the CEO of the hospital had to talk with administrators and nurses, and pharmacists in the rural areas to participate in the project as they critical to its success. This is captured in this statement â€Å"we realised that we needed professionals on the ground to provide some aspects of the care. We approached healthcare providers to get their buy-in into this initiative’’ (hospital’s CEO). Therefore, the strategic intent of the hospital in the implementation and use of video-conferencing in reaching individuals with diabetes in rural areas and providing them with the necessary care reflects a strategic alignment between IT and business, particularly, strategy execution. Specifically, the hospital adopted a strategy execution alignment where the business strategy influenced the IT infrastructure, but this was constrained by the business infrastructure (Gerow et al., 2014). In other words, the hospital’s business strategy was to provide quality care in a cost-effective way to individuals with diabetes in rural areas. In turn, this strategy influenced the IT infrastructure in terms of the kind of technological solution required to meet the business strategy. Therefore, the hospital ended up selecting videoconferencing as the appropriate IT infrastructure.   However, this was constrained by the hospital’s business infrastructure in terms of skills and proce sses in the provision of diabetes care and support to individuals in rural areas. The telemedicine initiative involved using interactive video-conferencing between a multidisciplinary diabetes care team from the hospital and the patients in the rural homes. The multidisciplinary team consisted of diabetes specialists including diabetes education experts, nurses, endocrinologist, and ophthalmologist who provided personalised care to diabetes patients based on their clinical status. The patients were provided with tablets that allowed them to engage in video conferences with the multidisciplinary team on a daily basis. The patients shared with the specialists about their psychological, emotional, and physical health during the interactive video conferences. Furthermore, the patients’ health data including glucose levels, blood pressure, and weight were automatically captured by the tablets and transmitted on a daily basis to the clinicians. The outcomes of the consultation between the specialists and the patient were then communicated to the physician in the rural area to facilitate care coordination. According to a local physician, the implementation of this initiative required a change in how care was delivered to individuals with diabetes†¦the hospitals care team got in touch with me and communicated their daily consultations with patients to ensure that I was prepared to provide the necessary care at the local level.   This approach to the implementation of video-conferencing reflects strategic information systems planning to achieve alignment between the business and IT. In particular, this planning was characterised by the identification of the required IT applications together with the necessary change management, resources, and infrastructure for implementing the technological solution (Maharaj Brown, 2015). Benefits of telemedicine The diabetes specialists were positive on the potentiality of video-conferencing in enhancing and expanding access to diabetes services to individuals in rural areas to promote self-management of the disease. A diabetes education expert said that: This technology increased my ability to provide education on exercise and diet modifications to my patients by talking to them via the video-conference, and this has empowered our patients to manage their diabetes in their homes. Patients were enthusiastic that the telemedicine would support the clinical needs even though they had no or limited experiencing in using video-conferencing. Some of the patients stated that: I didn’t have experience when it comes to telemedicine. But, I knew that it would be benefit me by providing  Ã‚   with ongoing support and information for diabetes management at home (patient 1) I had never used video conference before, but it provided me a way to talk with the physician and get timely advice and guidance on managing my diabetes (patient 2) In recognition of the limited experience that patients had in video-conferencing, the hospital’s IT department together with the external technological solution provider offered the required training. According to the IT manager at the technological solution provider: We collaborated with the hospital’s IT department in sending out individuals to provide training to the patients. The patients were taught on how to use the video conference system and provided with the necessary equipment. The stakeholders highlighted the benefits of video-conferencing for diabetes management for the patients in the rural areas. The statements below capture some of the stakeholders’ perspectives. During the video-conferences, we used the daily clinical status reports of the patient, and we were able to discuss appropriate interventions to implement with the patient. This benefitted the patients because they got personalised interventions, information, and support (Hospital endocrinologist). I got e-prescriptions from the healthcare team, and when the patients picked their medications, I talked to them about complying with their medications. By collaboratively working with the healthcare team, the quality of care of patients improved in terms of medication compliance (Rural Pharmacist) The use of video conference has contributed to preventing unavoidable admissions for diabetes for these patients. The daily support and education they got from us has improved care coordination and connections between the patients and us to minimise the use of emergency departments (Hospital ophthalmologist) A few months after the implementation of this project, we had seen a reduction in the admission of patients with diabetes in our area (Rural physician) I had problems before in controlling my diabetes because I did not have access to the kind of doctors who provide the necessary care†¦ but this changed with the daily video conferences (Patient 3) I am satisfied with information and guidance I get from the consultations with the doctors each day in managing my diabetes. I no longer need to travel to the hospital to get the care I need (Patient 4) The stakeholders perspectives highlight the impact of teleconferencing on the delivery of healthcare services to diabetes patients in rural areas.   These perspectives have received support in literature. For instance, patient satisfaction is highlighted in the study by Fatehi et al. (2015) in an assessment of patient satisfaction levels with remote consultations for diabetes via video conference in a virtual outreach clinic using a cross-sectional survey. The results revealed that the patients were generally satisfied with remote consultation as they had no problem with building rapport with the clinical specialists over video conferences (Fatehi et al., 2015).   Furthermore, the positive impact of telemedicine on the management of diabetes has been shown in the literature. Specifically, Huang and colleagues (2015) carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials on the impacts of telecare intervention on glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes. It was demonstrated that patient monitoring by telecare demonstrated significant improvement in glycaemic control in comparison with patients monitored by routine follow-up (Huang et al., 2015). Weinstock et al. (2011) also found that improvement in glycaemic control related to telemedicine was sustained over a period of five years among medically underserved patients with diabetes. In their randomized controlled trial, Steventon et al. (2014) discovered that telemedicine led to modest improvements in glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes over 12 months. Self-management as a critical aspect of diabetes management in telemedicine has been investigated by Young et al.(2014) who focused on the effect of person-centred health behaviour coaching model delivered through telehealth with patients with diabetes living in underserved, rural communities was assessed. The results showed that the interventions led to significantly higher scores in self-efficacy, which supported self-management of the disease (Young et al., 2014). According to Steventon et al. (2014), the greater self-care and oversight related to telemedicine might lead to fewer unplanned hospital admissions. Challenges during implementation Implementation of the technological solution was accompanied by some challenges. One of the major challenge identified by the stakeholders was unanticipated technical issues.   This is explained by the IT manager at the hospital: Sometimes the video conferences failed because of a drop in the internet connection. This meant that the encounter could not take place. When this occurred, communication occurred via cell phones to address important issues. The technical issues had a negative impact on the interactions between the patients and diabetes care team. According to the endocrinologist, Sometimes in the middle of the video-conference, the connection dropped. I could wait till past the time I had allocated for that specific consultation. Mostly, by the time the connection was up again, I would be consulting with a different patient at the hospital, and I missed my encounter with the patient in the rural area. In those cases, I worked with the rural nurses via a cell phone to communicate important information about the patient. Technical difficulties in teleconference are due to problems with accessing broadband in rural areas, which is still lagging behind urban areas. Patients homes might lack high-speed cable internet that has more bandwidth capabilities and a highly reliable signal, and this causes connection problems during video conferencing (Batsis, Pletcher Stahl, 2017). Schulz et al. (2014) reported in their study that 25% of all video conferences consultations experienced a drop in internet connection. Consequently, it is suggested that unanticipated technical issues with implementing teleconferencing should be anticipated and this highlights the importance of providing strong IT support with ongoing updates in protocols for patients in rural areas (Slusser et al., 2016). Another challenge reported was issues with reimbursements. This was identified by the finance manager at the urban hospital.   She said that: I had problems with suitable billing of encounters between the patients and the doctors and capturing this. Sometimes, I billed an encounter, but the insurer failed to pay or took longer to do so. I had to go through convincing them [insurers] that the consultation actually occurred by talking with the patient and pharmacists or nurses in the rural areas for confirmation. One of the patients also talked about this issue by stating that, â€Å"after talking with the doctors on the video conference they tell you to pick up the drugs at your pharmacy and when you get there, you are told there are problems with your insurer in terms of payment. I had to call my insurer to follow up and address this issue’’ (patient 5). According to Batsis et al. (2017), low reimbursement is a problem for the lasting sustainability of telemedicine systems in a fee-for-service model. This problem is due to limitations that are placed on the type of telemedicine covered by health insurers. Conclusion In conclusion, this report has focused on the strategic information systems in expanding the health service in rural areas.   This has been achieved by examining the implementation of video-conferencing between individuals with diabetes and diabetes specialists in the provision of diabetes care to patients in rural areas. This report has highlighted how the hospital ensured alignment between its business strategy of providing cost-effective diabetes care to individuals with diabetes in rural areas and the use of the video-conferencing as its IT infrastructure.   The hospital had to plan for its strategic information systems by identifying the appropriate IT infrastructure, processes, and changes to how care was delivered to the targeted population in rural areas. The analysis revealed how the implementation of video-conferencing addressed the interests of the different stakeholders including the hospital, diabetes specialist care team from the hospital, the patients, and healthca re providers at the local level.   Thus, the implementation of this technological solution was beneficial to all the stakeholders. Overall, this report highlights how strategic information systems are vital in the expansion of health service in rural areas. References Arvidsson, V., Holmstrà ¶m, J., Lyytinen, K. (2014). Information systems use as strategy practice: a multidimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23, 45-61. Batsis, J., Pletcher, S., Stahl, J. (2017). Telemedicine and primary care obesity management in rural areas-innovative approach for older adults? BMC Geriatrics, 1-9. Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O., Pavlou, P., Venkatraman, N. (2013). Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471-82. Coltman, T., Talon, P., Sharma, R., Queiroz, M. (2015) Strategic IT alignment: twenty-five years on, Journal of Information Technology, 1-10. Faruque, L., Wiebe, N., Ehteshami-Afshar, A., Liu, Y., Dianati-Maleki, N., Hemmelgarn, B., Manns, B., Tonelli, M. (2016). Effect of telemedicine on gylcated haemoglobin in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. CMAJ, 1-25. Fatehi, F., Armfield, N., Dimitrijevic, M., Gray, L. (2014b). Clinical applications of videoconferencing: a scoping review of the literature for the period 2002-2012. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 20(7), 377-83. Fatehi, F., Martin-Khan, M., Gray, L., Russell, A. (2014a). Design of a randomized, non-inferiority trial to evaluate the reliability of videoconferencing for remote consultations of diabetes. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 1-7. Fatehi, F., Martin-Khan, M., Smith, A., Russell, A., Gray, L. (2015). Patient satisfaction with video teleconsultation in a virtual diabetes outreach clinic. Diabetes Technology Therapeutics, 17(1), 1-6. Gerow, J., Thatcher, J., Grower, V (2014). Six types of IT-business strategic alignment: an investigation of the constructs and their measurement. European Journal of Information Systems, 1-27. Huang, Z., Tao, H., Meng, Q., Jing, L. (2015). Effects of telecare intervention on glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Endocrinology, 172, R93-R101. Maharaj, S., Brown, I. (2015). The impact of shared domain knowledge on strategic information systems planning and alignment. South African Journal of Information Management, 17(1), 1-12. Schulz, T., Richards, M., Gasko, H., Lohrey, J., Hibbert, M., Biggs, B. (2014). Telehealth: experience of the first 120 consultations delivered from a new refugee telehealth clinic. Internal Medicine Journal, 44(10), 981-5. Siriwardena, L., Wickramasinghe, W., Perera, K., Marasinghe, R., Katulanda, P., Hewpathirana, R. (2012). A review of telemedicine interventions in diabetes care. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 18(3), 164-68. Slusser, W., Whitley, M., Izadpanah, N., Kim, S., Ponturo, D. (2016). Multidisciplinary paediatric obesity clinic via telemedicine with thin the Los Angeles metropolitan area: lessons learned. Clinical Paediatrics, 55(3), 251-9. Steventon, A., Barsley, M., Doll, H., Tuckey, E., Newman, P. (2014). Effect of telehealth on glycaemic control: analysis of patients with type 2 diabetes in the Whole Systems Demonstrator cluster randomized trial. BMC Health Services Research, 1-12. Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6(5), 100-110. Verhoeven, F., Tanja-Dijkstra, K., Nijland, N., Eysenbach, G., Van Gemert-Pijnen, L. (2010). Asynchronous and synchronous teleconsultation for diabetes care: a systematic review. Journal of Diabetes and Science Technology, 4(3), pp.66-84. Weinstock, R., Teresi, J., Goland, R., Izquierdo, R., Palmas, W., Eimicke, J., Ebner, S., Shea, S. (2011). Glycaemic control and health disparities in older ethnically diverse underserved adults with diabetes: five year results from the Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDETel) study. Diabetes Care, 34, 274-9. Yayla, A., Hu, Q. (2012). The impact of IT-business strategic alignment on firm performance in a developing country setting: exploring moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and strategic orientation. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(4), 373-87. Young, H., Miyamoto, S., Ward, D., Dharmar, M., Tang-Feldman, Y., Berglund, L. (2014). Sustained effects of a nurse coaching intervention via telehealth to improve health behaviour change in diabetes. Telemedicine and E-Health, 828-34. Appendix 1: Interview Schedule Please explain why the hospital decided to implement videoconferencing in providing diabetes care to individuals in rural areas? What was involved in the planning for the implementation of the technological solution? Did the hospital work with external stakeholders in the implementation process? How did the implementation of the technological solution affect the aims of the hospital and its specialist clinicians? How has the use of videoconference affected your (patient) access to diabetes care? Were there any challenges that were experienced during this process? If so, which ones? To obtain answers to these questions and/or get a Custom Essay for you research, feel free to reach out to us and place an order today.

The Assumption and Limitation of CAPM Essay Example

The Assumption and Limitation of CAPM Essay Example The Assumption and Limitation of CAPM Paper The Assumption and Limitation of CAPM Paper There are numerous assumptions behind the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Firstly, every single investor aims at maximising the economic utility. In other words, investors make as much as money they can. Its because different investors have different preferences for the risk. Some would have preferences for a larger risk and some for a smaller risk. Therefore, the preference of investors for risk return would be taken in to account. The second assumption is that the investors would get all available information with no cost and no loss of time. In other words, information is available to all investors at the same time. If the information cannot be got at the same time by investors, different conclusions would be drawn. However, in fact, real markets contain information asymmetry, which means some people may get more information than others. Thirdly, the assumption is that there are no taxes or transaction costs. In reality, the composition of the optimum portfolio will be changed by taking taxes and transaction costs into account since both of them have an influence on real financial products. Last but not least, the assumption is that investors can borrow and lend unlimited money under the risk free rate of interests. Yet, in fact, every single investor has a credit limit. Thus, they cant borrow or lend money as much as they want. The assumptions are drawn because the CAPM cannot be worked efficiently and precisely without the assumptions. Limitation In CAPM, there are several limitations. Firstly, the risk free rate of return is hard to be estimate by CAPM under different economic environment. Secondly, the CAPM is impossible to be used for a project which last for more than one year as CAPM is a single period model. Firstly, investors cannot always foresee that return of assets precisely as its limitation. Its because all data about the share prices and the market portfolio investors have are past data. Therefore, to estimate the betas which are used to forecast future returns, investors can use the historical data only. It is acceptable that the future risk is measured based on historical beta if the betas are stable over time. However, the betas of individual securities are not stable over time, which has shown by researches. Thus, historical betas are not a good indicator of the future risk. Secondly, CAPM is based on unrealistic assumptions which are just mentioned above. In reality, it is hard to reach all assumptions. For example: the assumption of the equality of the lending and borrowing rates is not correct. In fact, the rates would be different or hard to be the same. Therefore, the market indices may not well vary or investors may not hold highly diversified portfolios. By these reasons, CAPM cannot explain the investment behavior of investors precisely and betas cannot capture the risk of investment. Thirdly, the risk free rate of return is hard to be estimate by CAPM under different economic environment and lastly the CAPM is impossible to be used for a project which last for more than one year as CAPM is a single period model. The Use of CAPM CAPM is used to look for explaining the relationship between risk and return in a rational equilibrium market. By doing that, there are many uses of CAPM. Firstly, investors can determine if the portfolio should be undertaken or not by analysing the CAPM. Secondly, it can give the idea for investors what decision they should make if the securitys risk versus expected return is plotted below or above the SML in the graph. For example: if a stock is plotted well below the SML, the investor should not buy it because the investor can get the higher expected return by investing half their money in Treasury bills and half in the market portfolio. Thirdly, in dividend valuation models, an asset is valued with the provision of an appropriate discount rate. Such valuation is obtained with the help from CAPM which indicates the expected or required rates of return on risky assets. Comparisons can be made between the two rates implied by CAPM with a result of over or under valuation. Thus, investors can determine the decision conveniently. Conclusion To conclude, Capital Asset Pricing Model is an easy and sensible theory which can explain the behavior of security profitability. It is very popular nowadays because this model is built on modern portfolio theory and it can distinguish between systematic risk and non-systematic risk easily. Therefore, people can understand and make the financial decision easily. However, CAPM is quite controversial in some circumstances because it is hard to recognize the market portfolio and the return and besides, betas are not easy to be estimated. Without the details of the return and betas, the decision of investors cannot be drawn easily or precisely. Therefore, sufficient information is needed in CAPM.