6 Ways Nurses Can Stay Healthy During Flu Season

6 Ways Nurses Can Stay Healthy During Flu Season Chances are, the hospital or facility you work at requires you to get your flu shot. But sometimes even that is not enough. Here are 6 more preventative measures you can take to protect yourself from getting sick this season. 1. Treat Your Body Like a TempleJunk food is not your friend. Red Bull and french fries and Snickers bars might get you through a shift, but they won’t get you through flu season. Try and eat healthier (and make sure to include fruits and vegetables!) so your body gets the vitamins and minerals it needs to fight things off. And stay hydrated!2. Get Some SleepYou’re working overtime and the time off you do have is full of holiday activity. Make sure to rest as much and as well as you can so you don’t have to lose work time or play time.3. Be Travel SmartStay hydrated and boost your vitamin intake. Carry Airborne or Zicam or Emergen-C and a packet of sanitizing wipes on planes and trains and buses so you don’t pick up any germs.4. Be Vi gilantStart to get a sniffle or a sneeze? Feel a little achy? Stop what you’re doing and take care of yourself. Take your vitamins, get some rest, drink lots of fluids. Use hand sanitizer often. Get a humidifier. If you’re proactive enough, you can head the flu off at the start.5. Get CleanClean your kitchen and bathroom regularly. But don’t forget to also sanatize the things you carry with you, like your cell phone or your keys. A few disinfectant wipes will do a lot of good in fending off the army of germs. And if you do get sick, remember to change your toothbrush.6. Be an EnforcerYou’re a nurse, so you’re a hand washing and sanitizing pro. But the rest of your family probably isn’t. Get on your soapbox and make sure everyone you love is following the same guidelines. No sick people preparing food! Use tissues to sneeze! Wash hands after coughing! Protect your loved ones and protect yourself.

Holiday Truth essays

Holiday Truth essays Halloween should this holiday be celebrated or reconsidered? Halloween is a time to go out and have fun, collect and eat candy, and dress up to deliver or receive a great scare right? Wrong, this idea is what most Americans believe Halloween is all about. In reality the truth behind the reasons of why Halloween is celebrated are hardly ever discussed. According to William Schnoebeian, author of Lucifer Dethroned he states that when people take part in celebrating Halloween they are opening the door to Satanism. On the day of Halloween many satanic rituals and sacrifices are made to Satan. Many of these sacrifices include children and animals of all sizes. Americans are blinded by the great costume parties and the sugary mouths and they are not aware of what they are really participating in when they celebrate this horrific holiday. Although not popular until the 1800s, Halloween dates back to 200 B.C. A tribe called the Celts was the first to commence the original Halloween customs. The Celts were described as terrifying people who hung human heads. Halloween was called Samhain and was the holiday celebrated above all. Samhain was the Celtic lord of death, Halloween was the festival used to celebrate him. The celebration represented the beginning of the cold season when days grew darker sooner. The Celtics believed that this season represented death. They also believed that the souls of the dead returned to their homes on earth on October 31. The Druids, priests, and teachers ordered all the people to create bonfires on the evening of this celebration. Druids are the priests of the Celtic religion. The word bonfire also dates back to these days when the word originally was bone-fire. This word referred to the large bonfires that contained burned animals, crops, and human beings. The reason they crea ted these bonfires was to help the sun survive the winter, to frighten off evil spirits, a...

Memsitors, the new kid on the block Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Memsitors, the new kid on the block - Essay Example For example, when Bell telephone laboratories announced to the world the invention of the transistor in 1948, the press of the day announced that more than hundred could be held in the palm of the hand (Hayes, 2011). Today with the current technologies more than a 100 billion of these can be held at the palm of the hand. What is more interesting was that the transistors even cost less than dollar per a billion today. They are therefore the most abundant and cheapest electronic gadgets in the human history. Currently the trinity fundamental components in electronics that consist of the resistor, the transistor and the capacitor are well known in the electronic field. In 1971 an Engineer in the university of California Berkeley, predicted that there should be a fourth element; a memory resistor, or memristor though no one seemed aware of it or how to build one (Williams, 2008). 37 years later in 2008 the field of electronics got small enough to reveal the identity and the nature of the fourth element to complete the above set as was predicted by the engineer. Hewlett Packard researchers revealed in the journal nature of the fourth component; the memristor, which is the new kid on the block in the electronics field. The story behind memristor dates back to about 40 years ago from the insight by IEEE Fellow and nonlinear circuit theory pioneer Leon Chua (Adee, 2008). Chua when examining the relationship between the flux resistors and charge in resistors, capacitors and inductors in a 1971 paper, he postulated the existence of a fourth element called the memory resistor. According to Chua such a device once discovered would provide similar relationship and proportions between the magnetic flux and charge the same that a resistor gives between voltage and current. Therefore, Chua argued that the memory resistor would act like a resistor whose value could be able to vary according to the current passing through it and that could remember the value long after the curre nt disappears (Adee, 2008). This was to be realized more than 30 years later, when Stanley Williams a HP senior fellow and his group were critically analyzing and working on molecular electronics when they noticed strange behavior in their devices. It was after critically examining the theoretical works and especially the work of Chua that Williams noticed that the strange phenomena that they observed were actually as a result of memristors. One important aspect of memristors is that it proves right the suspicion that many researchers had for a long time that detailed that artificial intelligence was not possible with the traditional hardware due to its rigid use of the Boolean logic and the vast separation that exist between the memory and processing (Versace & Chandler, 2010). It was in 2008 when the HP researchers built the new class of electronic device; the memristor. Before this invention, it would have been impossible to create a new circuit with the memory structure of a bra in, the instantaneous internal communications and the low power requirements. Form the invention of the memristor, it was evident that the three components could be coaxed and trained to behave just a like a normal brain with more emphasis with form that was termed to be a major fusion in this set up. Generally, memristors are small, cheap and most efficient to fill this gap in the electronics industry. They might be explained to have characteristics that resemble those of synapses in normal humans,

The History of Socially Desirable Female Body Types Essay

The History of Socially Desirable Female Body Types - Essay Example Personally, my fixation is for those round ones. They not only resemble the full luminescent moon but overdrive the imagination with pictures of the full frame all its glory. Poets swooned. Cleopatra is reputed to have had the most attractive face - one that launched a thousand ships of war! The desire to be thin is widespread among women. Many starve themselves almost to death in the quest for the thin, graceful frame. However, I am of the view that majority of my fellow males will agree that there is something divine about the layers of flesh and soft skin and their contour that make the female extraordinarily fabulous. (Ximena A Ramirez). To me, the peach and cream skin or the golden color is the most arresting. Not to say that the colored or black fare any worse. Given the right proportion and features, they could be equally magnetizing. Thanks to the herbals, the cosmetics, the Fair and Lovely creams and lotions, they all look scintillating in the light. The female figure has been the object of famous artists, sculptors and architects. The female bust may consist of flesh, blood, muscles and glands. But the rounded shape, the graceful ebb and flow of her movements, create their own impact and envy. Since ancient times, the form of women have been embellished and preserved through art and dances. (Kapila Vatsyayan). Year after year, prized beauties vie for beauty crowns that are there for the best combination of beauty and brains. The present day wonder, Jennifer Lopez's anatomical assets are insured in cool millions! (Stephen Wilson). Conclusion Movie makers and advertisers rake in millions by depicting female silhouettes in countless poses, outfits, angles, coverings, hiding something here and there, and arousing emotions and imaginations. The males may be stronger and more muscular. But in aesthetics and grace, the female body wins the prize, hands down! Sources: Kapila Vatsyayan, A Holistic Eye On Cultural Interface and Synergy, Across the Himalayan Gap, http://ignca.nic.in/ks_41014.htm. Natural Complexion & Body Bars, Alpine Naturals, http://www.alpinenaturals.com/complexionbars.html. Stephen Wilson, Excerpts from Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology, San Francisco State University, http://userwww.sfsu.edu/swilson/papers/wilson.body.infoarts.html. Ximena A Ramirez, Thin is In, An Analysis of Media Endorsed Ideals of Physical Attractiveness and Their Affects on College-Aged Women, A Senior Honor's Thesis, Department of Communication, Boston College, May 2007, http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/communication/meta-elements/pdf/thesis07.ramirez.pdf. Pictures: Complexion, Warm & Fuzzy, http://www.istockphoto.com/imageindex/432/0/432062. Figures, Rock Painting of Female Figures, http://www.srilanka.fr/imagebank/sigiriya/pages/Rock%20Painting%20of%20Female%20Figures.htm. The first crush, Demi Moore, IMDB, The Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4085684224/nm0000193.

Role of the Entrepreneur Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of the Entrepreneur - Essay Example Managing the business is the next step the business must take and the entrepreneur must ascertain that the incomes the business makes are higher than the expenses incurred while conducting the business. Understanding the drivers in the industry is important in as it makes the entrepreneur innovative which is a chief success attribute of an entrepreneur (Kingsland, 2007). Making the right decisions is paramount for the entrepreneur and he must ensure that resources are directed towards the right channels to ascertain there is no squander of resources, which would lead to losses. The actions of a firm earning profits add the value of resources as the firm is able to procure more resources into the business and operate at economies of scale. When a firm earns profits, the entrepreneur will be able to expand operations because they will have more money to spend to purchase more resources from the profits the organization makes. The organization will also be able to venture more into technology and move with the trends in the market so as to compete favorably with other business because they have enough revenues and this helps the organization to venture into new markets or improve their business operations. When losses are present, the value of resources diminishes, and this is because the business does not have adequate revenue to continue with its operations. Losses will eat into the capital of the business and some resources will be lost because the organization cannot put up with the high operational costs. When losses are present, operational costs will be high and this means that resources of the business will not be put into full potential hence the value of the resources will diminish. Some businesses are even forced to let go of some of the resources so as to maintain operational costs and this means that the value of the resources is diminished. It is not bad if a company making losses goes out of business, and this is because the central

Literature Review Of Load Shedding Methods

Literature Review Of Load Shedding Methods In chapter 1, a brief discussion about active distribution networks was presented. The importance of operation of islanded distribution networks was discussed. This chapter is intended to give the reader a better understanding of the load shedding methods currently applied and proposed over the years. However, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with basic power system engineering. In section 2.2, the area of probability of islanding and the need for load shedding is discussed. To achieve this objective, existing load shedding methods are reviewed to understand their working principle, requirements, advantages and limitations. The main categories identified are the following (i) Manual / SCADA Load Shedding (ii) Load Shedding using thresholds, (iii) Adaptive Load Shedding, (iv) Intelligent Load Shedding and (v) Load Shedding Based on Static Optimisation which are described and discussed in sections 2.2 through 2.7 respectively. Finally a summary is given in section 2.8 from which a new load shedding method for an islanded distribution network able to address the limitations of existing methods will be proposed. probability of islanding There is by now a considerable amount of literature on load shedding. That most of the literature however deals with large interconnected systems. For smaller systems when a loss of mains / grid event occurs the islanded distribution network have different operating characteristics and restrictions that require different load shedding guidelines. These are due to the low inertia of the distributed generators, the limited spinning reserve and limited communication systems [0] [0]. Load shedding is a practice used power system and serves as a function to try to arrest any frequency or voltage drop when a fault isolating part of the distribution network occurs. Faults in power systems are inevitable, for various reasons such as adverse weather conditions, ageing and failure of equipment, accident, and animal contact. In general, faults happen when an abnormal physical contact occurs between lines or on lines to earth that create a short-circuit path. If the system is not well protected, the high fault current due to the short-circuit path can cause damage to the equipment in the system. Faults also affect the reliability and quality of the power supply, leading to power interruption by frequency and voltage collapse and voltage sag events. Regardless of the interruption period, the losses are often enormous both to the customers and power utility companies. There are two types of fault, determined by the physical nature of the short-circuit path: temporary or permanent. Common causes of temporary faults on overhead lines are lightning strike resulting in a flashover of the insulator; bird or animal contact; and momentary contact due to wind or trees. Faults caused by these events exist for a very short period of time. On the other hand, a permanent fault remains in the system until the short-circuit path is removed. Common causes of permanent faults in power system networks are cable insulation failure, objects falling on the overhead lines, dirt on insulators and lines falling to the ground. When faults occur, a protection device operates to isolate the faulty line from the rest of the system (loss of mains / grid). The generators designated to provide voltage and frequency control will respond to control the island voltage and frequency. In order to achieve smooth transition to island operation, the generators must firstly ride through the fault or failure and secondly act to balance the active and reactive power in the islanded network. With a carefully designed load shedding method the operation of the islanded distribution network might be possible. It is important however that the design of the load shedding method is designed on the understanding of the characteristics of the system involved, including system topology and dynamic characteristics of its generation and load. A poorly design method may be ineffective and eventually lead to total customer interruption. Over the years, however, utility experience and extensive studies on a number of systems have resulted in different methods guidelines. In the following section, principles and guidelines for load shedding methods are reviewed. manual / SCada Load Shedding Manual or operator initiated load shedding [0] is not a reliable method to be used to avoid frequency deviation. However it can be used by some utilities to manually shed load or open ties (interconnectors) with adjacent areas at a frequencies below automatic underfrequency thresholds. This type of action might be necessary to prevent any further frequency deviation and to recover the frequency back to the nominal value. This load shedding scheme cannot be used for the islanded distribution network as it will be very slow as the frequency and voltage in the network will collapse within few seconds making it impossible for the operator to decide the correct defence action required for safe operation. automatic Load Shedding using thresholds An automatic load shedding for transmission system using different schemes such as underfrequency, undervoltage and combinations of the two can be employed to avoid frequency or voltage collapse during a significant imbalance between generation and load. These types of load shedding methods are very dependant on off line studies of the systems dynamic performance and only consider the greatest probable imbalance between generation and load. These methods have to be coordinated with the protections of the generating units, shunt capacitors and other automatic actions that occur in the system during frequency and voltage variations. Underfrequency load Shedding The underfrequency load shedding scheme as explained in the following papers [0] [0] uses relays detecting the systems frequency. These are designed to operate on the instantaneous frequency value where they trip when the frequency drops below the set point of the relay. The shedding is accomplished in the systems distribution or transmission stations where major load feeders can be controlled by tripping of the circuit breakers (CB) automatically. Different settings can be applied in these load shedding schemes. Multiple stages can be used in the scheme [0]. The substation loads can prioritised and grouped according to the importance of the load. The relays can be set to control one or more groups of loads and when there is a frequency drop these can be disconnected sequentially where the group with the highest probability being disconnected the last. Each group disconnected should contribute to the system rate of change of frequency decline. If the load to be disconnected is small compared to the overall imbalance then the contribution will be insignificant and would cause further problems to the systems frequency decline. Another setting usual for this type of scheme is the time delay [0]. The time may can be required and used usually to avoid any frequency transient dips that could arise in the system. The time delay also avoids unnecessary load shedding by allowing the load / frequency controls in the system to respond to the frequency deviation. However load shedding performed with long time delays should be set appropriately as it will make the system more vulnerable to system stability if eventually load shedding is required. This method will work adequate in a situation where the system frequency decline is slow. For example, as discussed in [0], in the UK as stated in the NationalGrids GridCode each transmission area has to disconnect a defined percentage of the peak Demand that each Network Operator whose system is connected to the GB Transmission System shall disconnect by low frequency relays at a range of frequencies. The defined frequencies and the amount of loads are given in Table 1 -1. Table 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ1: Load Shedding Scheme employed in the UK Frequency (Hz) % Demand disconnection for each Network Operator in Transmission Area NGET SPT SHETL 48.8 5 48.75 5 48.7 10 48.6 7.5 10 48.5 7.5 10 48.4 7.5 10 10 48.3 48.2 7.5 10 10 48.0 5 10 10 47.8 5 Total % Demand 60 40 40 The percentages in Table 1 -1 are cumulative such that, for example, should the frequency fall to 48.6 Hz in the NGET Transmission Area, 27.5% of the total Demand connected to the GB Transmission System in the NGET Transmission Area shall be disconnected by the action of low frequency relays. A significant drawback of this method is that the systems frequency must be already be low before the relay can operate which can delay the load shedding action and the frequency recovery of the system. Additionally these types of schemes usually shed more than the required amount of load. Undervoltage load Shedding Undrevoltage load shedding method has been successfully deployed in transmission systems to protect them from voltage collapse [0] [0]. System studies are required to determine which systems are potential candidates for suitable the undervoltage load shedding method. This method is most useful in slow decaying systems where the undervoltage load shedding relay time relays can coordinated accordingly and operate to alleviate the system from overload conditions and low voltages. Voltage collapse can be studied using steady state simulations for the identified areas using a power flow analysis. System planning engineers conduct numerous studies using P-V and Q-V as well as other analytical methods to determine the amount of load required to be shed to preserve voltage stability under different disturbances. Dynamic simulations can then determine the speed of the collapse and load shedding settings. An example as discussed in [0] in the US in the Puget Sound area, which is prone to voltage collapse has been studied. The voltage trip thresholds were determined from the results of steady state simulations of worst contingencies. The time delays for the relays were coordinated to address control actions of the automatic capacitor switching, generator limits, on load tap changing transformer using dynamic simulations. Table 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ2: Load Shedding Scheme employed in the US Voltage (pu) Time delay (s) % Demand disconnection for Network Operator in Transmission Area 0.90 3.5 5 0.92 5.0 5 0.92 8.0 5 When the monitored bus voltages fall to 0.90 pu or lower for a minimum of 3.5 s then 5% of the load is disconnected. Additionally another 5% of load disconnection should occur when the voltage falls to 0.92 pu or lower for 5.0 s. There limitation associated with proper application of undervoltage load shedding is the location of its application.to where the relaying may be appropriately applied. If it is placed on a distribution line the effects of auto tap changers mask a system overload condition from the relay, or alternatively a line switching operation or the startup of a large industrial plant on one feeder could fool the relay. The relay would not be appropriate at locations directly adjacent to generation powerful enough to control bus voltages even during severe overloads. The relay is best applied to locations with fairly stiff voltages under all normal conditions, so a low voltage condition will reliably indicate a severe overload condition, as may be assumed to be the case at large substations associated with bulk power transmission lines and therefore this method cannot be effectively applied in islanded distribution networks where DG unit power and load demand varies. combination load Shedding In order to increase the security of the above discussed methods for underfrequency load shedding the relay could be set up to supervise the voltage, the current or the rate of change of frequency. According to their combined settings, the relay could either be blocked or initiate tripping of the CB to avoid any misoperations. One combination load shedding scheme is to use an underfrequency load shedding relay with voltage supervision. Basically the operation procedure of load shedding is blocked from operating unless the voltage is below a given threshold. The underfrequency relay will be able to trip the CB as long as the bus voltage it is monitoring is lower than a set point. Another combination is to use current supervision instead of the voltage. The purpose of the current supervision is to select which feeders to trip. This can achieved by monitoring which feeders are loaded above a certain point and then the relay will initiate the load shedding signal. An alternative is to use the rate of change of frequency for supervision [0] [0]. During a disturbance the supervision of the rate of change of frequency can block the tripping for very fast frequency changes but would allow for typical frequency decay rates. Also instead of measuring the instantaneous rate of change of frequency supervision is to use the frequency change trend. In other words by monitoring the average rate of frequency change will provide a more secure decision for tripping during disturbances. The load shedding decision of the scheme is made by monitoring the frequency change over a specified amount of time usually few hundred milli seconds. Therefore making the operation of the relay slower than the ones employing the rate of change of frequency. automatic ADAPTIve Load Shedding Adaptive control involves updating the amount of load to shed used by the method to cope with the fact that the conditions such as the power imbalance between generation and load of the system are time-varying or uncertain. It is important in these circumstances to minimise consumer disruption through proper design of the load shedding arrangements. An adaptive load shedding, is based on the relays reacting to a disturbance either by being instructed the amount to shed or by having certain defined criteria based on the rate of change of frequency. Anderson and Mirteydar in [0] present an adaptive methodology for setting of underfrequency relays that is based on the initial rate of change of frequency at the relay. The frequency performance of the islanded is represented by a linear system frequency response as shown in Figure 1 -1 and presented in more detail in the literature in [0]. Figure 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ1: Simplified frequency response with disturbance input where: H = inertia constant (s) FH = fraction of total power generated by HP turbine TR = reheat time constant (s) Km = mechanical power gain factor R = droop characteristic (pu) D = damping factor Clearly the only observed quantity that gives any clue as to the size of the disturbance is the initial slope of frequency decline. The use of the initial slope to estimate the magnitude of the disturbance requires that every substation in the island will observe slightly different slopes and will therefore shed load based on different estimates of the disturbance. However on average the system as a whole will shed approximately the correct amount of load. To set the parameters for the relays as explained they are based on a simulation of the frequency response for the system. In the example given (H = 3.5 s, FH = 0.3, TR = 8.0 s, Km = 0.85, R = 0.06 and D = 1) the evaluation of the frequency and its slope against different amounts of disturbances are given in Table 1 -3. Table 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ3: Initial Slope and Maximum Deviation vs Upset (frequency nominal 60 Hz) Pstep df/df ΆÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬ °max fmin pu pu/s Hz/s Hz Hz -0.2 -0.0286 -1.7143 -1.6438 58.356 -0.3648 -0.0521 -3.1260 -3.0000 57.000 -0.4 -0.0571 -3.4286 -3.2876 56.712 -0.6 -0.0857 -5.1429 -4.9313 55.069 -0.8 -0.1143 -6.8571 -6.5751 53.425 -1.0 -0.1429 -8.5714 -8.2189 51.781 The lowest frequency permitted in the system is 57 Hz from the nominal 60 Hz. Therefore when a magnitude greater than -0.0521 pu/s is observed load shedding must be triggered. This method relies on the fact that the amount of load shedding is a function of only the inertia constant and the observed slope. The inertia constant is the rotating kinetic energy of all units in the island divided by the total connected volt ampere rating of the units. This parameter has to be estimated. Therefore, the initial slope is the only unknown. The load shedding amount is computed in per unit, which makes it easy to apply to every load and to every load shedding relay. A positive is that communication is not required between relays and the boundaries of the island are not required to be known. However the drawbacks are that if it is applied for the islanding application of islanded networks this might not be possible as the method needs good estimates of the inertia of the system D, R, TR, Km and FH. This can significantly change with the varying DG units and loads in the distribution network. Another adaptive load shedding method presented by Terzija in [0] uses similarly as the previous method a variation of the typical swing equation. Due to the dynamic responses of turbines, governors, other control actions, spinning reserve, loads are not taken in account in the calculation of the required amount of load to be shed as given in . Where H is the inertia constants and assumed to be known in advance to the disturbance. The adaptive approach is based on real time estimation of fc (frequency of equivalent inertial centre) which is proposed to be calculated centrally by measuring the local frequencies at each generator. The proposed method assumes that the time constants in the power system are large and with modern communication this method would be possible for big power systems. However in distribution networks communication is believed not to change drastically in the near future making this application difficult to implement. This is because the estimation and control information are evaluated after the disturbance occurred. Van Cutsem and Otomega proposed a method in [0] which relies on a set of load shedding controllers distributed over the region susceptible to voltage instability. Each controller monitors the bus voltage and act on a set of loads located at that bus. Each controller acts when its monitored voltage falls below some threshold and trips at different time according the severity of the drop. The action can be repeated until the voltage is above the threshold voltage. The principle of operation of the controller is described as follows. The delay à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ depends on the time evolution of V as follows. A block of load is shed at a time t0 + à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ such that: where C is a constant to be adjusted. This control law yields an inverse-time characteristic: the deeper the voltage drops, the less time it takes to reach the value C and, hence, the faster the shedding. The larger C, the more time it takes for the integral to reach this value and hence, the slower the action. Furthermore, the delay is lower bounded: to prevent the controller from reacting on a nearby fault. Indeed, in normal situations time must be left for the protections to clear the fault and the voltage to recover to normal values. Similarly, the amount ΆPsh of power shed at time t0 + à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ depends on the time evolution of V through where K is another constant to be adjusted, and ΆVav is the average voltage drop over the [t0, t0 + à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾]interval, i.e., Moreover, the whole system will tend to shed first where voltages drop the most. This location changes with the disturbance. Hence, the proposed scheme automatically adjusts the shedding location to the disturbance it faces. Note that the above features are achieved without resorting to a dedicated communication network. The controllers do not exchange information, but are rather informed of their respective actions through the power system itself. The drawback for this method for distribution network is that the tuning which consists of choosing the best values for Vth, C and K. A C and K combination suitable can be identified by minimising the total load shedding over all disturbance scenarios. Clearly this method would shed more loads for some scenarios. An additional concern is that the dynamic performance of the DG units and loads is not taken in account when performing load shedding if applied to the islanded distribution network and by trying to shed in steps the frequency drop in the network might drop significantly. automatic Intelligent Load Shedding Applications of intelligent load shedding in power system engineering (e.g. genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks, MonteCarlo etc.) have been demonstrated in [0] [0]. The characteristics which are inherent to intelligent methods, such as the ability to learn and generalization make it feasible for applications such as load shedding. You et al. in [0] discuss of a method that uses the rate of change of frequency to load shed. The method uses the same approach to calculate the required amount of load as in [0] and at the same time, the conventional load shedding method with undefrequency thresholds is incorporated to form a new two level load shedding method. The conventional load shedding method has longer time delays and lower frequency thresholds which can be used to prevent unnecessary load shedding in response to small disturbances. If the disturbance is large, the second layer will be activated and a block signal to the first layer is enabled. The second layer based on the rate of change of frequency load shedding will shed more load quickly at the early stage of the disturbance. Similarly as to paper [0], this method will have the same limitations when applied to the islanded distribution network. In the paper [0] which follows this study, the explanation of the selection of the settings for the relays is discussed. Agent technology is to try to assure that the method will withstand all possible disturbances. Traditionally after a major disturbance, the system is revisited and settings of devices and control actions are changed so that the system will withstand the same disturbance in the future. This however due to analysis of the system significant time and cost will be required. For the autonomous and adaptive learning capability for the agents, the reinforcement learning technique is used. Reinforcement learning is learning by interaction. The agent tries actions on its environment and then, the tendencies of taking particular actions are reinforced by receiving scalar evaluations of its actions. Thus determining the amount of load to be shed required to avoid collapse. The paper does not discuss whether the technique is applied online or offline through simulation. Clearly for the online this would not be ideal as it will take a lot of number of failures until the agents are properly set for that particular disturbance. For the offline simulation a concern is that for islanded distribution networks the topology, DG unit power and load demand will change thus making the decision of the action of the agents is difficult to train. Another concern is communication between agents. Fast communication would be required for coordinated decisions. Another approach to load shedding is the use of fuzzy expert system and is described in [0]. In this paper Sallam and Khafaga described a method to control the voltage instability by load shedding using fuzzy technique as fuzzy controller. The operation of the method relies on the experts knowledge which is expressed by language containing ambiguous or fuzzy description. The aim of this study is to design and analyse a fuzzy controller for the study to control against load and voltage instability by calculating the optimum load shedding as output. Similarly in [0] the authors propose genetic algorithms for the optimum selection of load shedding. These techniques search and optimise the amount of load shedding using objectives and constrains required for a practical load shedding method. Also in [0] the authors introduce another technique using the artificial neural networks is presented. To prepare the training data set for the artificial neural network, transient stability analysis of the power system is required and to find the minimum load shedding for various scenarios. By selecting the total power generation, total load demand and frequency decay rate as the input neurons for the method, the minimum of load shedding is determined to maintain the stability of the power system. In paper [0] Thalassinakis and Dialynas introduce a computational method using MonteCarlo simulation approach for the calculation of the settings of the underfrequency load shedding relays is discussed. The frequency performance as previously discussed in section 1.5 is used here as well. The strategy for the relay settings will be determined against amount of load to shed, time delay, rate of change of frequency and underfrequency level. A new strategy is developed by changing these settings. The MonteCarlo then computes the system through reliability indices of generating units, the system frequency and load shedding indices. load shedding based on static optimisation The first theory of applying load shedding using an on line dynamic simulation of the power system network was introduced by La Scala et al. [0]. Followed by an improvement of the method combing a control action to ensure angle and voltage stability enhancement in [0]. The first paper that introduced the same concept applied for large power systems to the smaller distribution network is described in [0] by Nelson and Aponte. A more recent study using similar technique is also presented in [0]. The paper presented in [0] describes the philosophy and the implementation of a preventive load shedding control algorithm for the application in dynamic security assessment. The methodology is based on nonlinear programming techniques, for assessing control actions to guarantee the dynamic security of power systems. The basic idea is that the online dynamic preventive control can be seen as a static optimisation problem with minimising function and equality and inequality constrains. The equality constrains consist in the discretisation at each time step of the differential algebraic set of equations representing the power system. The inequality constrains define a domain where the system trajectories should be contained in order to satisfy the requirements for the system performance stability and steady state voltage dips. In [0] the formulation includes corrective actions based on load shedding. The proposed method assumes that the analysis is performed to detect particular disturbances threatening the dynamic security of the system. The analysis is based suing the n-1 rule which is performed in advanced and applying the results immediately after the detected contingency. Each analysis has its associated strategies consisting with the corresponding amount of load to be shed at a fixed number of controlled nodes. The optimisation however is evaluated based on the steady state values of angle, voltage and active power (generator and load). Load shedding based on static optimisation performs load flow to calculate the initial P, V for all the nodes in the system. Then the method performs a transient simulation assessment to ensure the system is stable against angle and voltage. Followed by an approach to the minimisation of a function in presence of equality and inequality constrains consist in incorpora ting the inequalities in the cost function by adopting the penalty factor method and treating the whole problem as a minimisation in presence of the sole equality constrains by the use of Lagrange multipliers. This method has been used for synchronous generators in transmission systems. However in distribution networks because of the diversity of the generators and their ride through capability this approach could result in conditions where optimised solutions do not meet the requirements as shown in Figure 1 -2 [0]. Figure 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ2: Ride through capability of Generating Unit, DC Converter or Power Park Modules. Explanation of graph required. Each Generating Unit, DC Converter or Power Park Module shall remain transiently stable and connected to the system without tripping. However for small generating units connected in the distribution network their transient behaviour could be as shown in Figure 1 -2 b and c where local protection and circuit breaker operation of generators or sensitive equipment will be disconnected after such a response. Similar to the voltage is for the frequency range. Therefore the load flow with corrective control for angle and voltage stability approach for the load shedding optimisation is not appropriate for distribution networks. In [0] and [0] describe of a method implemented in distribution networks where not only the amount of load shedding is optimised but also the time for the disconnection. The current trend is to apply the corrective measures as soon as possible or delayed for the sake of event discrimination. The study and results however show that when the corrective action is applied at the optimal time increased damping and enhanced response are observed. summary The use of load shedding as a tool to keep the network stable has been constantly evolving, and different approaches have been formulated. Relaying schemes like underfrequency and ROCOF [0] [0] are some examples of the mechanisms implemented to trigger a load shedding event. Typical load shedding schemes based on predefined threshold set points is quick, simple and reliable measure against system disturbance. When the frequency of the system reaches a specified threshold value, a time delay is inserted prior to the shedding action in order to avoid overshedding and assist the coordination of the next stage of load shedding action. This technique however when adopted for the islanded operation of small distribution networks would have several disadvantages. Too few frequency levels could lead to overshedding, but on the other hand, time delays between stages could add up and may not allow for enough load to be shed in time to re-establish nominal frequency. The implementation of ROCOF techniques mitigates some of these problems. The ROCOF value calculation is an immediate indicator of the power imbalance; but for the distribution network the variation of the DG units operation would make this measurement unreliable. Also the average ROCOF calculation may take too long and eventually make the load shedding method slow in operation. Even if accurate measure of the islanded distribution network ROCOF valu

Clinton Administration Policy Toward The Caribbean Country Of Haiti :: William Jefferson Clinton Essays

Clinton Administration Policy Toward the Caribbean Country of Haiti The topic for this paper is the United States policy towards the Caribbean country of Haiti during the Clinton administration. The subjects which will be discussed are the issues of: Refugees, Foreign Aide as well as human rights the United States involvement in Haiti issues of national interests. What will also be examined is what the Clinton administration trying to achieve concerning Haiti. What the United Nations and the U.S. roles were, and what the public thought was concerning these issues. Also why the United States was involved with the internal dispute of a third world country where the national interest was not clearly defined. The issue of why was it or was not so important for the United States to send troops to Haiti will also be discussed. The problem in Haiti was the pro democratic elected president Aristide was exile from Haiti during a military coup. Several issues arose out of Haiti after the exile of Aristide. Issues of: human rights there were reports that the new regime brought back "death squads" killing people who opposed the new leaders. One of the main targets of the Clinton policy is a group called the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti of FRAPH. The administration has targeted this group for their continued backing and support of General Cedras, for their human rights violations. Issues of , refugee's illegally trying to enter the United States creating an economic burden on much of south Florida. All of these issues arose during president Bush's term in office. The Bush administration was to turn back the refugee's. The Bush administration saw no vital national interest in concerning it self with the internal problems of Haiti ,because there were so many problems at home in the United States, other than to turn the refugee's away from south Florida. When president Clinton took over the office of the presidency he would become very indecisive and weak on the issue of Haiti. President Clinton began badly on Haiti. With his continual indecision and lack of any real back bone to the policies which were decided upon. "First, he gave charge of his policy to Bush administration holdovers who over the previous year had made clear their intent to construct in Haiti a version of democracy that left the president in exile but with an Aristide - appointed prime minister and cabinet. This tortured scenario was doomed to failure because over two thirds of the Haitian people equated democratic government with the return of Aristide and no arrangement that excluded his presence could

Qualitative article critique Essay

INTRODUCTION There are a number of factors that contribute to effectively conducting qualitative research. It is not only choosing the right field setting or well-formulated research question that counts, but also the reliability of the evidence and the skills of the interviewer make tremendous difference to the outcome of a qualitative research. †Qualitative research involves the scrutiny of social phenomena.†(Gubrium and Holstein 1997, p.11-14). Qualitative researchers look beyond the ordinary and try to understand how participants understand themselves or their world.. Unlike in quantitative research, when conducting a qualitative study, the researcher is considered as the main instrument for data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation (Paisley & Reeves, 2001). The next few pages will critically analyse the qualitative research articles of ‘Russell, L. (2005) It’s a question of trust: balancing the relationship between students and teachers in ethnographic fieldword’ and ‘Kamenou, N. (2008) Reconsidering Work-Life balance debates Challenging Limited Understandings of the ‘Life’ Component in the Context of Ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences(British Journal of Management, Vol. 19, S99-S109). Look more:  problem definition essay 1. RUSSELL, L. ‘IT’S A QUESTION OF TRUST: BALANCING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK.’ THE AUTHOR IS A â€Å"YOUNG ETHNOGRAPHER RESEARCHING TEENAGERS† (P.193). WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES HER AGE MAKE? In this particular field study, the age of the ethnographer Russell, L. had both a positive as well as a negative impact on the research. This field research was conducted in a naturalism way, this means that the researcher inquires the lives and perspectives of the targeted population as accurate as possible in their natural setting (Gubrium and Holstein, 1997). The researcher Lisa Russell was a young, novice, female, white, northern English ethnographer investigating the sensitive topic of student resistance (Russell, 2005:181). Spradley (1979) refers to ethnography as â€Å"the work of  describing a culture† with the aims â€Å"to understand another way of life from the native point of view†. To get more trust and reliable data of the â€Å"studied culture†, the more similarities of characteristics between the ethnographer and the researched would be an advantage because this could decrease the differences between them. With this as well, the researcher could prepare herself to adapt to the situation that she would be researching. Lisa Russell has the great advantage of her gender, nationality, use of language, size and age to naturally blend in as a member of the studied group, because ethnography relies heavily on observations of interactions and interviews with participants in naturally occurring situation. â€Å"My age helped me engage in and indeed understand discussions† (p.194). Making use of her â€Å"naivety and young age†, her own personal â€Å"reserved† disposition and her figure of being â€Å"smallness in height and build† (p.195), which is not much difference with the teenagers (Lisa mentioned her age is between 23-24 at time of researched), these personal characteristics of the ethnographer has resulted in interaction and a matter of trust that she has experienced with the students. Lisa Russell adapted the role transaction of moving into least adult role in a different way (p.193). As she recaptures her secondary years were not far behind her current phase of life, Lisa was not frightened with certain things she perceived as she was able to relate to her own schooling ‘familiarity’ during those secondary years when she describe â€Å"my novice naivety acted as a benefit when trying to manage impulsive and sometimes shocking behaviour of students† (Russell, p.182). Age also contributed to the way students react to the ethnographer along with what he or she is and is not allowed to do (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983). This characteristic has worked in Lisa favor, as the students felt unthreatened and therefore more open to express themselves. Also because shadowing and observation is more reliable and efficient if a researcher is unnoticeable and does not affect the behavior of the focus group. Whereas in this study, Lisa’s age is at advantage to observe the researched group and efficiently gather data collection, as a young ethnographer she will face the difficulties of being Lisa being inexperienced, since a  crucial characteristic of ethnography is the characteristic of â€Å"holistic† which means interpreting the data as a whole in order to get a basis for explanation about the gathered information. Assuming that this is her first research as an ethnographer carrying out a field study, subjectivity is a limitation of ethnography. The way ethnographers interpret the field study experience will vary a lot. There is not a set list of answers to choose from but rather the use of notes made by the investigator and later interpreted and categorized by the investigator. The limitation of ethnographic research with reliability is caused by the fact that ethnographic research occurs in natural setting and focuses on processes (Wiersma 1986 and Burns 1994). The accurate replication is very difficult to achieve because an event in natural setting cannot be reproduced. While reflecting to Wiersma (1986) and Burns (1994) about the difficulties of accurate replication of findings, Lisa’s age could be a drawback, because she is a novice ethnographer with limited experience and her abilities to process and evaluate her findings and evidence (interviews, field notes and recordings) could be subjective and a challenging job for a novice. 1.2 WHEN IS A RESEARCHER NO LONGER A NOVICE? WOULD HER RESEARCH HAVE BEEN BETTER DONE BY SOMEONE WITH MORE EXPERIENCE? A novice ethnographer is a beginner researcher who just started in the field of ethnography. Like in any other career function, practice is required to become an expert in the field of choice. To make errors and mistakes will contribute to further understanding and deeper knowledge. To my understanding, a researcher is no longer a novice when the ethnographer is able to observe and participate objectively and subjectively in a field research. Additionally the ethnographer should be able to analyze and interpret the gathered data effectively. It is difficult to conclude whether an ethnographer with more experience would have done the research better. When considering the fact that Lisa took the role as a ‘participant as observer’ (Gold, 1958), she had an advantage of her characteristics: †my quiet, reserved disposition and smallness in height and build influenced the way students and teachers  related to me. I faded into the background. Students would often forget my presence; sometimes teachers and other students mistook me for a student.† (Russell, p.195). This shows that despite that at the time of research, Lisa was a novice researcher she was able to transform herself into the ‘participant as observer’ role, which gave her access to more insights and reliable information. The researched group and the ethnographer established a matter of trust and even build intense relationships (Russell, p.196). Hence, Lisa was able to collect observation and vision of the researched group. â€Å"Being a qualitative researcher, one should note the important linkages between theories and methods, reviews key qualitative methodologies, and highlights challenges and the opportunities† (Gephart, 2004). Referring to Gephart (2004), one might argue that the research data evaluation would have been analyzed and linked better by an ethnographer with more experience. Though in my opinion, a more experienced ethnographer might not have been able to collect as much insight as Lisa, because the researched group might have behave differently, so if a more experienced researcher would conduct the field work, I suggest it would be best to do it covertly. 1.3 IN THIS RESEARCH PAPER WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT: A) THE RESEARCH SUBJECTS AND B) THE RESEARCHER? By critically analyzing the research paper, it informs us that the research subjects were studying at three different sites, namely: two in Birmingham and one in Sydney. As the research topic was to investigate the complex and sometimes contradictory culture(s) of student resistance to schooling (p. 181), students aged between 14-16 were selected carefully chosen by the schools. What is significant about the researched group is that they were skeptical in the beginning when Lisa arrived; it had to be made clear that Lisa would not †telltale†, nor report their behavior to teachers. Names like the â€Å"follower† and â€Å"leech† suggest that during the initial stages the students did not accept Russell as she shadowed them all around. But gradually she  managed to gain one of the most vital aspects of the study – ‘trust’. The researched group proved trust in Lisa because she witnessed inappropriate and illegal activities, such as damage of school property, theft and taking drugs. The fact that students did change their behavior means also that Lisa became invisible to the researched group. What we have learned about the novice researcher is that Lisa used an adaptive approach towards the research and considered how various aspects of her personal disposition affected her entire study. â€Å"Researchers’ reflections on their actions and observations in the field, their impressions, irritations, feelings and so on, become data in their own right, forming part of the interpretation,† (Flick, 2005:6) The researcher’s ability to build relationships and develop rapport with subjects is crucial.† (Thorpe & Holt, 2008:151) In her article, Lisa repeatedly puts an emphasis on her age and naivety, this shows that these facets of her personal characteristics contributed her to engage in discussions and activities with the students, which if she was older wouldn’t have been able to do. Her proximity to their age made it easier for both herself and the students to be able to relate and confide to each other. At the same time it was challenging for Lisa to establish the same bond with the teachers and she felt exceptionally uncomfortable in staffroom conversations. In my opinion, she put a lot of dedication and time into cognizing the narratives and behaviors of the students and failed to do the same with the teachers. Nevertheless when she progressed to the third school her â€Å"heightened confidence and greater experience’ (Russell, 2005:188) made it easier for her to relate to and interact with the teachers. 2. KAMENOU, N. (2008) RECONSIDERING WORK-LIFE BALANCE DEBATES †¦. BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, 19 S99-S109. 2.1 THE AUTHOR APPEARS TO HAVE HAD DIFFICULTIES RECRUITING INTERVIEWEES (SEE ESPECIALLY P.S102). WHY, FOR EXAMPLE, MIGHT AN ORGANIZATION WITHDRAW â€Å"FROM THE STUDY CLAIMING â€Å"RESTRUCTURING WAS IN PROGRESS†? (P.102). â€Å"Qualitative research interview seeks to cover both a factual and a meaning level, though it is usually more difficult to interview on a meaning level† (Kvale 1996, p.32). â€Å"Work-life balance means that individuals have ‘successfully’ segmented or integrated ‘life’ and work so as to achieve a satisfying quality of life, overall satisfaction and less strain or stress around juggling conflicting role demands.† (Blyton et al., 2006:2). â€Å"The work-life balance equation† (Kamenou, 2008:S99) is finding harmony between of a number of aspects ranging from career, obligations, family, pleasure and culture. In this article, the researcher argues about the topic: â€Å"on ethnic minority women’s experiences of managing their work and personal lives.† (Kamenou, 2008:S99). Nicolina Kamenou, gathered data via semi structured, in depth interviews primarily with ethnic minority females. Information of ethnic minority men, white women and white men was also collected as comparability. The researcher faced challenging difficulties in obtaining interviewees; only three out of the twenty organizations that were invited â€Å"responded positively to the invitation† (Kamenou, 2008:S102). Ensuing, one of the three organizations disengaged from the research claiming ‘restructuring was in progress’. A research by Spencer (1982) suggests that organizations may restrict access to the organization because they perceive it as a risk, which might endanger their reputation. A possible reason of withdrawal of the company is that the research topic is delicate and related to company’s policies and perspectives concerning ethnicity, culture, religion and class. By granting insights to these sensitive matters, organizations endanger themselves to harmful publicity to the organization’s reputation. A noticeable fact is that the organization that withdrew from the research †published and considered themselves leaders in diversity† (Kameno u, p.102). Hence, this research subject should be of high interest to the organization. Also cooperation to the research could have been positive publicity assuming that the company indeed was a †leader in diversity†. Hence, disengagement of the organization could be a result of hidden narratives of the company, which are not supposed to be revealed. For  example, Kamenou’s article reveals John’s opinions (black Caribbean, Application Manager, Heath Trust, age 34): ‘he did not dress in more traditional clothes because he is afraid that his colleagues might be threatened or have issues’ (Kamenou, p.106). This statement made by John could be interpreted as racism within the company, which consequently could lead to a huge scandal or even a lawsuit. Thorpe & Holt (2008) argue about the importance of informed consent. Participants in a study should be informed about the research objective, participant’s rights to confidentiality and anonymity and what will happen to the data and what parties will have access to it. I believe that when people or organizations are informed about their rights of informed consent, the number of participants in a study will increase significantly. The large finance company that withdrew from the research might have participated in the research if they could get anonymity and total secureness that the companies name would not be published. 2.2 WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PEOPLE IN ORGANIZATIONS WHERE FORMAL ACCESS HAD BEEN GRANTED AND THE â€Å"INDEPENDENT‟ GROUP? Kamenou (2008) invited 20 organizations, of which 2 organizations accepted to participate. Additionally she invited ‘independent groups’ from personal networks so that involvement of subjects from different sectors, qualifications and occupations could enrich the data. Each group would have their own various inputs to the research, and data could be more valid. Personal networking is seen as one of the best ways to get granted access to an organization Carr and Worth (2001). The main obstacle about formal access to an organization is that there might be a matter where companies ask the employees not to unveil certain information about the company or the narratives in the organization. Subsequently there is a high possibility of fear, where the employees do not want to disclose information that could threaten their jobs. However, if the case were that the employee was an acquaintance of the researcher, there would have been confidentiality between the researcher and the interviewee, which would make the interviewee more open and honest during the inquiries. According to Spradley (1979), people who feel comfortable, safe, and valued are more forthcoming than  those who are only considered as sources of information. There is definitely a difference between the interviewed groups, in particular the data richness and disclosure of information between the â€Å"people in organization where formal access had been granted† and the â€Å"‘independent’ group†¦identified through personal networking† (Kamenou, 2008, p.s102). Qualitative research interviews partly consist of open-ended questions, this allows the interviewer to question and inquire further on the answers and likewise, interviewee can share thoughts and experiences. Kamenou (2008, p.s103) argues that â€Å"the semi structured, in depth nature of interview conducted with all participants allowed them the time and space to reflect and discuss their experiences in their own words† (Harvey, 1990; O’Dwyer, 2005) and helped to reduce possible biases in the research process. 2.3 WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE AUTHOR? HOW MIGHT THE IDENTITY OF THE AUTHOR HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THE RESEARCH? In the article the author doesn’t describe herself, neither does she mention on how she could have influenced the research. The article is different from Russell’s ethnography paper, which accentuates strongly on personal observation and self-reflexivity but less on the statistical information. Analyzing her own processes during the fieldwork, Lisa claimed; â€Å"the researcher should employ a reflexive attitude to understand how the interaction between the researcher and the researched, and the researcher’s autobiography, influence the data collected† (Russell, p. 197). The identity and background of the author does have an effect on the research outcome, involving in what is called observers’ bias. Observers’ bias is referred to as the aspect to where the researchers know the objectives or the hypotheses and consequently their knowledge affects the observations and gathered data. Based on the understanding of the researcher about the issue, they will absorb the observations and interviews in which they are interested. It is also likely that researchers unintentionally adjust what they observe from the participants, and mold it to their own perspectives. Therefore, the potential risk is the possibility of misunderstanding or failure to present the accurate perceptions and opinion of participants about the research subject. A way to decrease observers’ bias and to overcome the risk of  revealing misinterpreted data is to use additional observation methods such as blind experiments, tape records, and multi-observers. Using these ‘extra’ tools during the field study could be used as evidence of validity or reused as secondary data for another study. CONCLUSION After critically analyzing both articles of Russel (2005) and Kamenou (2008), I have learned that qualitative research adopts different and various knowledge claims, research strategies, and methods of data collection and analysis. If the research processes are handled carefully it could provide a deeper understanding of the research topics. Qualitative analysis compiles the study of perception, meanings, emotions and behavior, which aim to present original, truthful insights about various human and cultural phenomena. By studying the papers and participating in the seminars, I gained insight and knowledge about the difficulties and challenges faced when carrying out a field study. The various external and internal influences have a crucial impact on qualitative studies and should not be underestimated. The article by Russel (2005) shows us a research conducted by a novice ethnographer, with emphasize on the uncertainties and challenges of her research. Contrast to Russell’s article, Kamenou’s article provides readers with her observations, interviewee’s view and personal life experience, the various responses and the causes of such behavior. I can conclude that both articles are both very interesting and significant. Despite the fact that there were some errors made during both studies, there is no fixed guideline of how to conduct a †successful’ qualitative study. In a way we will always try to understand the unknown, even though it is obvious that every individual has its own unique behavior and perspectives. BIBLIOGRAPHY Blyton, P., Blundson, B., Reed, K., & Dastmalchian, A. (2006) _Work-Life Integration: International Perspectives on the Balancing of Multiple Roles_, 1st ed. New York: PALGRAVE MACMILLIAN Burns, R.B. (1994). _Introduction to Research Methods._ Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. Carr, E., Worth, A. (2001) _The use of telephone interviews for research. Nurse research 6_: 511-525. Flick, U., (2005) _An Introduction to Qualitative Research_, 2nd ed. London : SAGE Gephart, R.P. (2004) ‘_Qualitative research and the_ _Academy of Management Journal_’, _Academy of Management Journal_, 47 (4), 454-462. Gold, R. L. (March, 1958) _Roles in Sociological Field Observations, Social Forces_, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p217 Gubrium, J.F. & Holstein, J.A. (1997) _The new language of qualitative method_. New York: Oxford Hammersley, M. and P. Atkinson (1983), Ethnography: _Principles in Practice_, London and New. York: Routledge,: page 2, 72 – 77. Harvey, L. (1990). _Critical Social Research_. London: Unwin Hyman. Jensen, Klaus B & Nicholas.W. Jankowski (1991): _Handbook of Qualitative_ _Methodologies for Mass Communication Research_. London: Routledge Kamenou, N.(2008) _Reconsidering Work-Life Balance Debates._ British Journal of Management, 19 s99-s109 Kvale, S. ,(1996) ,_’Interviews An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing_, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,’ Paisley, P. O., & Reeves, P. M. (2001). Qualitative research in counseling. In D. C. Locke, J. E. Myers, & E. L. Herr (Eds.), _The handbook of counseling_ (pp. 481-498). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Russell, L. (2005) _It’s a question of trust: balancing the relationship between students and teachers in ethnographic fieldwork._ Qualitative Research Vol. 5 (2) 181-199 Spencer, G. (1982) _Methodological issues in the Study of Bureaucratic Elites: a case study of West Point. In Burgess, R.G. Field Research: a Sourcebook and Field Manual_. London: George Allen & Unwin. Spradley, J.P. (1979). _The Ethnographic Interview_. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Thrope, R. Holt, R. (2008) _The sage dictionary of qualitative management research._ Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications Wiersma, W. 1986. _Research Methods in Education: An Introduction._ Newton: Allyn and Bacon.

How to write a Profile Essay That Attracts Good Grades

How to write a Profile Essay That Attracts Good Grades Your overall performance in any coursework is partly determined by how well you handle your class assignments. However, there are those moments when you find it hard to understand what is needed to produce an outstanding document. We provide you with enough information to shield you from the confusion that might arise in such moments. We hope that you will read this article to the end to learn how you can quickly improve your diminishing performance. Why You Must Learn How to Write a Profile Essay This type of essay provides detailed information about a person or object. It has to be done in a very captivating way. As a writer, you need to understand the expectations of your target audience. This allows you to structure your document in a manner that makes it exciting to read. Most students freak out when they realize that part of their overall scores in coursework will come from this type of assignment. Therefore, these individuals have no other choice but to try and produce papers that are of high quality. This means that you have no other option but to understand the tips and tricks of producing great results fully. Easy Tricks on How to Start a Profile Essay The following points are essential to anyone who wishes to know how to create a profile. They are presented in the simplest form for better understanding. We assume that you already know what is a profile essay before reading these ideas. Keenly go through each point to see how you should start your work: Read published profiles The internet is a library of countless articles that have quality profiles. Most of this information can be found in news blogs and articles. Familiarizing yourself with such contents helps you understand how to structure your paper. When you read other people’s articles, you assume the role of a reader and thus have a better understanding of what your target audience expects from you. Within a short time of browsing through the internet, you can have a clue on what needs to be done in your assignment. You understand how to begin your document using the right structure from beginning to end. Make a selection Make the right pick in terms of who or what you want to talk about. Your choice of a person should be well thought out. Resist the temptation of writing about a celebrity. Such profiles are always dull as they are almost a repetition of what your readers already know. For instance, a reader who knows a lot about a particular president might be too critical when reading an article written about that leader. This reader might easily notice any minor mistakes and subsequently, switch off from reading your work. It is better to write about someone who is unknown to many to avoid extreme criticism. Your audience will be so excited to read about such a person since it will be the first time that they will be getting such content. Get set You need to take note of everything required for a successful interview. One crucial tool that you will need is a notebook and a pen. Write down all the questions you need your subject to answer. Avoid asking questions that need simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response since you need as much information as is necessary for your project. Bringing a voice recorder to the interview might be a good idea as it would act as a backup for storing all information from the session. The recorder is, at times crucial, especially when the person you are interviewing has an accent that is hard to understand. You can replay the audio later on to get parts of the conversation that you missed. Start working on the assignment Writing a profile essay becomes easy once you have all the information you need about your subject. It becomes even easier when you know how to write a profile essay step by step. However, do not be fooled into relaxing since the major work is in this last step. Your readers will be impressed by your work if you produce a perfectly done paper. However, if you do some poor job, then no reader will want to proceed to the last section of your work. This calls for some commitment. You don’t have to note down everything recorded from the interview while creating your paper since some points are never that important. Anyone can master how to write a good profile essay. However, only a few people can perfect their abilities to create outstanding content. You need to master these tips so well that you never have to refer to them again when you have that challenging paper. Tips for Writing a Profile Essay that Attracts High Scores You first need to know how to begin a paper before learning how the other sections are structured. In no way will your work be graded among the best unless your teachers impressed by it. A dull start makes your document less exciting to read. The following are factors that would make any paper have a boring start: Wrong arrangement: You have to be progressive rather than retrogressive in your narration. Know how to start and how to proceed to the end without losing your readers. This has everything to do with the structure of a profile essay. Misplaced words: This mostly happens when you don’t have a good mastery of the English language. Please avoid using ambiguous words whose meanings you don’t understand, to impress your teacher. At times it does not work as such words fail to fit into the context in which they are used. Stay professional but straightforward if you can. Wrong punctuation: Use commas, full stops, colons, semicolons, and hyphens appropriately. This increases the readability of your paper. Unexpected omissions: Some facts cannot just be left out. For instance, you cannot omit details such as your subject’s experiences in the early stages of life before success. If you still don’t know how to make a profile essay, then you can consider the services of a professional writer. Why Hire an Expert? Your paper will be done to the highest possible standards. Professional writers have years of experience in academic writing. They are thorough in the way they edit any paper for grammar errors and plagiarism. You will receive quality work since it is done with remarkable understanding. If you hire a professional, he or she will increase your chances of improved scores in any coursework. Feel free to use our writers by placing an order with us.

The Real Jean Valjean essays

The Real Jean Valjean essays Jean Valjean: He is, in my opinion, one of the most simple and at the same time one of the most complex characters ever written. As readers follow his journey through Victor Hugos classic novel Les Miserables, they come to see that Valjean is a passionate person and his story is one filled with many emotions. Love, hate, shame, guilt, the need to prove oneself... All of these timeless issues are embodied in this one mans voyage to freedom and happiness. Through the years, Les Miserables has been adapted into many things- movies, plays, and even musicals. Every director has faced the challenge of bringing to life the multifaceted character of Valjean; some succeed and some fail. After viewing both Bille August and Glenn Jordans interpretation of the book, I believe Augusts presentation of Jean Valjean is by far more believable as a human being. In Glenn Jordans film, Jean Valjean is played by Richard Jordan, who seems too young an actor to master the intricate details of Valjeans personality and psyche. As the film progresses, Jordans acting becomes increasingly tedious and awkward and he makes no effort to add depth to his portrayal of Valjean as the character ages. His actions seem calculated and cold, as if he is merely reciting his lines instead of playing the part; the emotions he speaks of never truly reach his eyes. Jordan simply goes through the motions and as a result, makes Valjean seem detached and uninteresting when the exact opposite is true. On the other hand, Bille Augusts film stars Liam Neeson as the good-hearted Frenchman who spends his life making up for his past mistakes. Neeson has the ability to completely immerse himself in a role, which is exactly what he does in this film. He plays Valjean with such passion and poise that the viewer cannot help but sympathize and accept Valjeans flaws for his good intentions. Neesons acting retains a...

Did Georgia Violate international law in August 2008 conflict with Research Paper

Did Georgia Violate international law in August 2008 conflict with Russia - Research Paper Example As Georgia sought to gain its independence, South Ossetia wanted to gain its independence from Georgia as well (BBC News, â€Å"Europe). Separatist movements disturbed the peace too often in the region and consequently, Soviet troops were sent into South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces (BBC News, â€Å"Europe†). Armed and violent conflicts went on until 1992 when Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia agreed that peacekeeping forces (from their countries) should be deployed to the region. South Ossetia was subsequently restored as a territory of Georgia. However, things did not improve for South Ossetia. In 2006, the territory voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Georgia (BBC News â€Å"Europe†). This move was supported and favoured by Russia. This further increased the tension between Russia and Georgia. This brewing tension in the region finally came to a head when, in early August of 2008, Georgian troops clashed with separatist forces in South Ossetia. Thi s clash escalated into an aerial bombardment and ground attack by Georgia against South Ossetia on the 7th of August. Following said attack, Georgia took control of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia (Jotman, â€Å"Georgia-Conflict with Russia†). As claimed by the Russians, many of their citizens in South Ossetia were endangered. This prompted their attack on Georgia and their deployment of troops into South Ossetia. After several days, Russia was able to drive away Georgian troops and take control of Tskhinvali (Jotman, â€Å"Georgia-Conflict with Russia†). Russia also drove away Georgian forces in Abkhazia and later occupied other parts of Georgia (BBC News â€Å"Europe†). After a ceasefire agreement which was mediated by French President Sarkozy, Russia pulled out its forces towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It still however maintained its control on Ossetia’s borders. This

Staples.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staples.com - Essay Example Would you pursue wallet share or market share as the first priority? Or would you pursue both? Staples.com strategy is very timely as the only online competitor they had was Office Depot and as per the Forrester Research online sales of office supplies were expected to reach $65 billion by 2003. Their cohesive marketing campaign aimed at offering multiple channels so they could reach more customers. They were realistic in their approach as far as advertising budgets were concerned despite having ample capital. They did not want to follow what others were doing and wanted to use the traditional, cost-effective direct marketing strategies. They were not following a ‘get big strategy’ because they differed in their marketing approach. They had a balanced approach. Lewis’ strategy to first capture the market share holds more importance. To expand and achieve the target growth, competing with mass discounters and mass merchants would not commensurate with the image that they were trying to build. Once the market share is captured, wallet share would happen auto matically. Staples.com should expand into the SOHO services market because for small businesses it is time and cost effective to find all services from one source. To offer services like intranet, telecommunications, take care of payroll and other accounting services, it would be better for Staples.com to tie up with external service providers. Creating services would require more manpower and there is the possibility that their focus might shift from their primary goal. They can oversee the services to ensure quality and professionalism is maintained. Staples.com should not compete with mass discounters and merchants. This adversely affects the image of the company. They should aim at capturing the market share which would help them to meet their growth targets. If they start offering discounts to match competition, they might have to compromise on services. Besides, the