Call center problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Call center problems - Essay Example This organization specializes in diversified fields therefore the personnel totals almost two thousand employees. Being the biggest employer in Glasgow, FCCC is dynamic company, which requires constant innovations and improvements of its performance and working conditions. Lately, Operations Director made investments for restructuring and rebuilding management approaches. With this new policy, Forsythe was counting to achieve improvements of company’s performance, employees’ satisfaction and economic indictors. Regrettably, invested money did not manage to give awaited results. On the contrary, the company has faced several serious problems, which require appropriate and immediate solutions. The most urgent problematic issues are the following: 1. High rate of turnover for staff The indicator of fluctuation movement of personnel is much higher among young employees of the company. This can be explained with the fact that more than one third of the staff is employees who se age is under twenty five. Moreover, for most of the workers, FCCC is their first or second place of work. That is why as every newcomer to the labour market, young employees randomly work for their first employer for a long time. Usually, when they pass an adaptation period and learn their responsibilities feeling confident in own strengths and knowledge, they are willing to switch to another employer for improving professional skills, gaining new experience, and developing own potential. In addition, despite the fact that FCCC offers compatible levels of salaries, employees easily leave the company because Glasgow is full of call centres that provide attractive working conditions. Thereby, employees always have a choice. They are not afraid to lose their job because there are a lot of other opportunities. Numerous call centres will be glad to hire them due to the low availability of spare unit of labour. High rate of turnover for staff negatively affects the balance indicators o f the company’s performance. It means that the company uses its assets ineffectively and spends much time and money on recruitment of the new staff and its training. This leads to extra expenditures. 2. Poor communication process between different sections Due to the survey, it has been concluded that interaction between departments, especially in critical and urgent cases, is ineffective. Employees are blocked and isolated from each other with computer screens that hamper not only to resolve professional issues but also to discuss day-to-day topics and improve social environment in the office. The lack of proper communication causes negative influence on customer service because taking into account that each section specializes on specific sphere, the provided information can be limited. However, in case there has been a specialist in the same office, it would have been easier to offer customer assistance with the help of professionalism of colleague’s support. Due to the fact that each department has been granted its own floor, employees are able to interact with each other only via phone, which drastically restraints widening of personnel’s knowledge base and improvement of social life at work. 3. Inability to personalise own working place Taking into account that significant part of the staff works by shifts, there is a principle of hot desk in the office. Therefore, it can be concluded that employee does not have own corner and thereby is not attached to a particular working place. Hence, this may be another explanation of frequent dismissals. If a person is not able to be accustomed to own desk and add some personal things there, then he or she can easily leave it without any nostalgia or aftertaste. Hot desk does not cause habit,

Megacities in Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Megacities in Asia - Essay Example Oxidation causes arseno-pyrite minerals to release arsenic. Further, when the water table is lowered by over exploiting groundwater in irrigation procedures, more arsenic is released (Karim, 2000). The most likely remediation strategy to be implemented is the use of innovative alternative drinking water sources. Although restoring the natural flow of rivers and level of ground water would have been the ideal situation, the time implications in achieving such goals are not practical. Examples would include harvesting rainwater, pond sand filters, Ranney wells and infiltration galleries. These methods are recommended because they are less costly than most of the proposed solutions. Secondly, they have the potential of providing drinking water for longer terms than the rest of the proposals. For example, harvesting rain water may incur an initial cost of putting up the structures, but once that is done, no more expenses are expected. The same applies for ponds, which require minimum

Sports Management - Sponsorship Proposal Assignment

Sports Management - Sponsorship Proposal - Assignment Example The event will be held concurrently from the month of October 10th to 12th, incorporated with training sessions, followed by sprints. This event stands as one of the most recognized events in the Plone Content Management System (CMS). The target audience for the event are developers, managers, agencies of the government, students, education institutions, and any party interested in learning about technology. As a result, the event brings together the leading developers and contributors around the world and enable them to share relevant success stories. Other Plone events were held in Arnhem, San Francisco, Bristol, Budapest, Washington DC, Naples, Seattle, Vienna, and New Orleans. An event is a non-profit event and the revenue collected will be raised by sponsors. The sponsorship packages offered vary and suitable for various organizations and the target group. The sponsorship plan for the conference offers maximum exposure to the technical audience. The initiative of sponsoring the Plone Conference 2014 will enable an organization reaches an audience of developers, software engineers, managers, investors, and service end users from more than 30 countries in the world. The conference will enable the sponsor to This category is available to sponsors who can meet an investment of US $ 18,000 but limited to four sponsors. The sponsor will enjoy a prominent space in the exhibition hall (4 MÂ ²). At the same time the brand exposure through logo placement in Plone conference websites, conference rooms, tot berg insert, conference guides for mobile devices, Twitter announcements, and joint announcements. In the job fair platform, the sponsor will enjoy a reserved table for recruitment as well as an ad as a company recruiter in conference websites. Furthermore, the sponsor will have 10 conference passes and 10 training passes. This level is entitled to sponsorship investment of US $ 8,500 and only limited to four parties.

Successful Factors of Malmaison Hotel Chain Essay Example for Free

Successful Factors of Malmaison Hotel Chain Essay I had worked in Malmaison hotel chain for 2 years in various departments taking up different roles, and over the two years, Malmaison hotel chain as an organization has demonstrated potential future market leader quality and showed excellent growth rate, good profitability and increased market share. However, the hospitality industry as a whole, over the past a few years has been far from as optimistic as the Malmaison hotel chain has been. In the West Midlands, for example, it has been common for bars, restaurants, hotels to changed ownership, merged, be acquired, or go bankrupt. Indeed, bars and restaurants are three times more likely to go bankrupt than other businesses in the UK, according to Accountants UHY Hacker Young (2007), Their report revealed that 15. 5% of businesses in the UK hospitality and catering sector (restaurants, pubs, and hotels) fail every year in comparison with just 5. 2 % for the economy as a whole. UHY Hacker Young (2007) had investigated over 150,000 businesses that had failed in the past one year, and found out lots of anecdotal warnings about the high failure rate of restaurants in the first year to be true. In the hospitality industry the owners and managers were struggling with raising second round financing; market research and financial planning were not completed in a proper fashion; loyal customer base that protects against fast changing consumer tastes in bars and restaurants was not developed entirely, all of these have contributed to the high failure rate in the UK hospitality industry businesses. In such an economic and market environment, why Malmaison hotel chain has been a success becomes an interesting subject to study. Malmaison hotel chain was founded in 1994 along with its sister hotel chain Hotel du vin which is also owned by the same company MWB, there are 21 chain hotels that are under the same ownership and there are 3 more hotels which are just opened by the end the 2007 and a further 4 more Malmaison hotels are due to open by the end of 2008. The company is also in negotiation for another 7 sites. Malmaison hotel chain is recognised as the UKs leading lifestyle hotel group that is top of the brands in a recent survey. According to Caterer ; Hotelkeeper (2008), the survey of 2000 business and leisure travellers by BDRC, revealed that 53% of all travellers said they preferred to go to Malmaison as their first choice, 46% chose Hilton and 40% chose Marriott. Malmaison has over 1,500 bedrooms across the UK. The gross value of these hotel property assets in the Groups latest published accounts to 30th June 2007 was ? 553 million, not to mention the reputation which has gained the group a valuable brand image that worth millions. Over the years the group has won a number of awards, such as best hotel groups in the UK, also it won the best place to work for in the hospitality industry 5 years in a row. It is believed that a key reason for Malmaison hotel chain’s success lies in its efficient and developed human resource management system, productivity and performance measurement and monitoring system, market research team work, strategic management, adaptability to changes and its financial control. These will be investigated and discussed in detail later in the research. . 0 Aim The aim of this research project is to explore what has Malmaison hotel chain done to accomplish such a success while operating in the current UK economic and market environment. 3. 0Project Objectives ?To review the current teaching and practice regarding human resource management, marketing management, financial management, and operational management in relation to the hospitality industry. ?To analyze the management fashion and operation processes of Malmaison and their impact on the performance and productivity of Malmaison. To make recommendations to the management team of Malmaison Hotel Chain to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and the performance of the organization. 4. 0 Literature Review 4. 1 Introduction There are obviously a large number of factors, ultimately all contributing to the success of Malmaison, however, in this research, a limited range of key issues will be addressed which are believed to be the most significant contributing factors behind for Malmaison’s success. The literature review research was supported by electronic resources and library research. There has not been much work been done on the reasons for the success or failure of the UK hospitality industry, and there is even far less attention being paid to hotels. Both strategic marketing management and human resource management are broad concepts, it is therefore, necessary to focus upon a few critical issues within these subjects that have particularly been focused upon in the operation and management of the Malmaison group. 4. 2 Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is a critical factor that contributes to better performance, Professor Stephen Robbins’ study shows that happy workers are more likely to be productive workers. As a result, the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is also rather strong (Robbins, 2007). However, George and Jones (2008, p93) pointed out: â€Å"job satisfaction is not meaningfully associated with job performance†. A study that was conducted by Iaffaldano and Muchinsky (1985) in the 1980s in this area concluded that job satisfaction only accounted for 2 percent of the difference in performance levels across employees. Another more recent review indicated a very similar result that job satisfaction only accounted for 3 percent of the difference in performance level across employees. (Judge, Thoresen, et al. , 2001) George and Jones (2008) also mentioned that work attitudes such as job satisfaction affect work behaviours only when employees are free to vary their behaviours. The study suggested that most of the employees are not free to vary their behaviours at work because organizations spend a considerable amount of time and effort to ensure that members perform their assigned duties dependably regardless of whether they like their jobs or not. However, it is worth mentioning that the hospitality industry might be an exception to this rule simply because the work attitudes of the employees account for a very heavy portion of the level of the service in delivering satisfaction to customers’ needs. It will, therefore be worth carrying out further research to study the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance in this particular industry. 4. 3 Motivation, Job Design and Goal Setting Wagner Hollenbeck (2005) suggested that: â€Å"one way for an organization to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals is to generate a more motivated workforce†, â€Å"a person who is highly motivated will start work sooner and leave work later relative to someone is unmotivated. While engaged at work, a highly motivated person will work faster, take fewer breaks, and be less easily distracted relative to someone who is unmotivated†. Job design and goal setting are two of the major factors contributing towards creating motivation, George and Jones’s (2008) study suggested that: â€Å"Job design can have a profound effect on employee motivation. The specific goals employees strive for and the more general corporate objectives that an organization pursues over time are important sources of motivation for employees. † Wagner Hollenbeck (2005) pointed out that the methods of work design developed with the motivational perspective in mind include job enlargement and job enrichment. Callinan, Forshaw Peter’s (2007) studies showed that a job’s core characteristics, which are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback are believed to be key influences on employee motivation. Goal setting is also considered to be â€Å"communicating accurate information on work performance† and these â€Å"can be positive motivators for employees. † George and Jones (2008) have similar opinions on this subject. They believe that â€Å"two major characteristics of goals that lead to high levels of motivation and performance, one is specificity, the other is difficulty†, â€Å"specific goals lead to higher performance than do vague goals or no goals†, and â€Å"difficult goals (not impossible) lead to higher motivation and performance than do easy or moderate goals. However, there are limits to goal setting theory, Thus, studies by George and Jones (2008) show that there are three particular circumstances under which setting specific, and difficult goals will not lead to high motivation and performance, they are goals which involve employees’ skills and abilities, tasks which require employees’ complete attention and a considerable amount of learning, and when creativity is needed to perform the task. In hospitality, these 3 circumstances do happen very often, this research will be carried out with heavy focus upon these circumstances and issues to review how Malmaison Hotel balance these pros and cons within their organization. 4. 4 Groups and Teams A large amount of work has been done regarding group dynamics and team effectiveness. However, there is one area that is most interesting and related to, not only Malmaison hotel chain, but to the whole hospitality industry, that is the correlation between cohesiveness and performance of groups or teams. George and Jones (2008) suggested there are five factors that influence a group’s level of cohesiveness: 1. Group size, as it gets bigger, members tend to be less satisfied, group between 3 and 15 people are believed to be the right size that promotes cohesiveness. 2. Similarity/diversity of group member, depending on the tasks and situations, similarity and diversity can be beneficial to group cohesiveness. 3. Competition between groups, generally competition will be facilitating group cohesiveness but occasionally it can be dysfunctional and impair effectiveness when there is too much competition within a group. 4. Success, members will be more attracted to a successful group and proud to be a member. 5. Exclusiveness, when it’s difficult to get in a group, and the group has a high status, group cohesiveness tends to be high. However, they also pointed out that occasionally, too much cohesiveness within a group can impair the organization’s effectiveness if the group’s goal is not aligned with the goal of the organization or other groups within that organization, for example waiting staff‘s goals of providing good service in order to get decent tips are aligned with the restaurant’s goal of satisfying customers, but not aligned with bar tending staff’ goals. 4. 5 Leadership Leadership plays an important role in a hotel organization success. Thus, Peter Jones and Steven Gross-Turner pointed out in Managing Projects in Hospitality Organizations, hotels are in a turbulent environment, and â€Å"managers are in fact in the best place to identify what changes need to be made since they are the people who have direct contacts with employees and customers† (Jones et al, 1991). 4. 6 Organizational Structure Centralizing and decentralizing organizational structures are two most used structures nowadays. A decentralized structure will decentralize authority to lower level managers and non-managerial employees, give them the responsibility to make important decisions, keep the problem of slow and distorted communication to a minimum and make the job more interesting and rewarding while, at the same time, fewer managers are needed. (Blau and Schoenher, 1971) However, too much decentralization provides employees with too much authority and they might pursue their own goals at the expense of the goal of the organization. A centralized structure generally has more levels within the organization and provides employees with more opportunities to gain promotion and progress. For the hospitality industry, where employees perform primarily physically, more opportunities clearly will be attractive for those who desire a less physically demanding position. 4. 7 Conclusion Kotler (2001) pointed out that â€Å"today’s successful organizations to a certain degree all have one thing in common, that is they are dedicated to sensing, serving and satisfying the needs of customers in well defined targeted markets†. In the hospitality industry, when service is their major product, this philosophy is obviously critically important. However, how Malmaison strategically positions itself to compete with its rivals is an even more crucial and difficult issue that the proposed research will focus on. 5. 0Methodology 5. 1 Introduction A number of approaches will be taken to collect the needed data and information in order to serve the purpose of this research project, increase the quality of the results and findings and enhance the credibility of the research project. Malmaison hotel chain has over 20 hotels throughout the UK, each individual hotel will be unique and differentiated in terms of their focus and priorities depending on their local customs and culture. However, what this research project will be concentrating on is what the common factors are for the Malmaison hotel chain as a whole that turns the organization into a success. Therefore the Birmingham Malmaison will be the subject of the investigation. Birmingham is a multi cultural city and operating in a multicultural organizational environment has been becoming a trend for organizations world wide. The researcher gained two years working experience in this hotel, and therefore it is especially worthwhile doing the research project in such an environment. (Cox, 2001) To complete this research project, three stages will be taken in order to process the project, they are desk based research, field based research and the preparation of a detailed case study. 5. 2 Desk Based Research At this stage of the investigation, a heavy focus will be upon the articles that address the hospitality industry, hotel management, hospitality strategy, as well as the paper work that states hotel policies, financial and management accounts, board of directors statements, stock control data, and general manager’s letters to all the staff. These secondary data contain enormous amounts of information that indicates the hotel’s management style and attitude and forms the fundamental policy to the customers and market. These data are absolutely the first key for this research and will provides valuable information and evidence on the reasons for the Malmaison hotel chain’s success. In addition to that, some of these data are available to the public and can be quickly and easily collected. Some of these data are not available to the public, but, as a former member of staff, I could still gain access to this information. With the information and evidence collected, the primary data collection work will be much more focused and relatively easier having the support and assistance of the secondary data collected. 5. Field Based Research A series of interviews (8-12 people) will be carried out to gain a first hand insight of the impacts which the management style of Malmaison hotel chain has on its employees, and how it affects the performance of the organization. The interviews will take place in various departments across the organization in order to gain a full understanding of the operation sy stem in the Malmaison hotel chain. Some of the board of directors, the general manager, department managers, sector supervisors, and staff that work at the front line and have direct contact with customers all will be interviewed. The total number of interviews will be between 8 to 12. This will give the evidence and information on how each department functions and what are the impacts of them on each other. One or two suppliers will also be interviewed to provide evidence on how the Malmaison hotel chain cuts deals with suppliers and how they interact with each other and how is it affects the organization financially and what impact it has on the marketing and sales strategy of the organization. However, caution must be taken while conducting these interviews. Thus, Saunders (2002) suggests that it is in the researchers’ own interest to seriously consider the reliability, forms of bias, validity and generalisability of the information obtained. Therefore, carefully prepared interview questionnaires will be used and questions which appear in the questionnaires will also be cautiously selected to gain as fair a view as possible. The framework suggested by Easterby-Smith (1991) may be adopted to make sure that the data generated from the interviews is thoroughly reviewed and evaluated. The stages in this process will include: 1. Familiarisation 2. Reflection 3. Conceptualisation 4. Cataloguing concepts 5. Recording 6. Linking 7. Re-evaluation 5. 4 Preparation of the Case Study A case study will be generated at the final stage of the research by putting together the data that is gathered from the previous stages. The case study will bring up recommendations to the management team of Malmaison hotel chain and also, there will be discussions of to what extent the findings can be generalized and to what degree the Malmaison hotel chain management structure, human resource management policies and operational systems can be copied and utilized by other organizations within, or even outside the hospitality industry. . 0 Ethical Issues While conducting the research and interviews, the financial information of Malmaison will be discussed in the interviews, its financial statement will also be used later in the dissertation to analyse and measure its performance, and such information will be kept confidential. The final report will be identified as ‘Commercial in c onfidence’ and will not be available to a wider audience than those directly involved in its assessment. 7. 0 Task List TaskProblemsSolutions Research literature on hospitality management, current hospitality industry trends analysis in the UK. Limited amount of literature in the area of topic. E- journals, business review magazines, textbooks, newspapers, internet. Review literature and identify relevant and reliable articles. Time consuming to select relevant articles. Time management. Contacting general managers in Malmaison hotel chain to gain access to information. Very difficult to get access to key information and financial report and management accounting report. Utilize my identity as former employee in the organization. Selecting different individuals to conduct interviews. Too many employees to choose fromSelect people who may represent the department and be able to give valuable information and opinion. Arranging interviews with selected staff. Difficult to fit in everyone’s schedule and it’s time consuming since the amount of time between each interview when the person is available is unpredictable. Be patient and positive. Conducting interviews. Response may not be relevant. Textbooks on how to carry out interviews. Transcribe interviews scripts. Time consuming while large amount of information gathered in interviews with limited amount of transcribe skills.

Contributing factors and treatments of Osteoporosis

Contributing factors and treatments of Osteoporosis Factors Contributing To Osteoporosis, The Symptoms And Consequences Of This Disease And Its Prevention And Treatments So That Patient Can Achieve An Almost Normal Life Primary osteoporosis can occur in both sexes, is common in postmenopausal females, and occurs later in life in men. Secondary osteoporosis includes deficiencies or excesses of hormones, steroid administration and chronic illness. Osteoporosis may not be due to bone loss alone but if a person is 20 years of age and the bones have not reached their lifes highest density although one ages with normal daily bone loss, osteoporosis can occur even without accelerated bone loss because the ultimate bone mass achieved is the result of a balance between bone formation and bone resorption. Bones are living tissue. Throughout our lifespan, new bone is formed daily to replace areas of bone that dissolve into the blood. This constant remodeling process-bone resorption and then formation-continues throughout life, but after age 35 more resorption take place. Osteoporosis results when there is excess bone loss without adequate replacement. Bones become brittle and easy to break. Normal bone structu re has two forms that is the outer shell of the bone known as the cortex which is very strong and solid. The inside consists of trabeculae, a meshwork of bony struts. The empty spaces between the struts are filled with fat, bone marrow and blood vessels. In osteoporotic bones, calcium leaches from the bone mass and as a result small holes form in the bones. Presence of these holes causes bone weakening. As the process continues, trabecular struts are lost and the pores and empty spaces within the bone grow larger. It takes one minute breaks to occur in the weakened bone tissue to cause major fractures. It is hoped that this assignment could be of much help to us and our other friends to have a better understanding of osteoporosis in general 10 INTRODUCTION TO OSTEOPOROSIS OSTEOPOROSIS IN MENOPAUSE WOMEN Definition Of Osteoporosis In Menopause Women i. Defining Osteoporosis The World Health Organization (WHO) defined osteoporosis in women as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviation below peak bone mass (20-year-old healthy female average) as measured by DXA. There are two types of osteoporosis; primary osteoporosis and secondary osteoporosis. Primary Osteoporosis can be found in people with low bone mass, in female, aging citizens, those suffering from estrogen deficiency, white race, low weight and body mass index (BMI), a family with osteoporosis history, addicted smokers, and a long history of fractures. Last but not least a prolonged periods of immobility, early menopause, and low endogenous levels of estrogen Secondary Osteoporosis are disorders link with increased risk of osteoporosis, such as hypogonadism which is the lack of testosterone or estrogens by the testes or ovaries, endocrine disorders, genetic disorders, hematologic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases such as celiac disease, connective tissue disorders, nutritional deficiency, alcoholism, end stage renal disease, drug such as corticosteroids and congestive heart failure. 11 ii. What Is Menopause? Menopause happens in woman at the age of 51 whose ovaries had stopped releasing eggs, estrogens or when other hormones produced in the ovary slowly diminishes and menstruation slows down. If the ovaries had stopped producing estrogen and progesterone, the low estrogen levels may cause menopause symptoms. For example; cessation of menstruation will be followed by night sweats, hot flashes, vaginal dryness or even heavy and erratic periods. Osteoporosis in menopause women is known as post menopausal osteoporosis. B. Knowing Osteoporosiss Basic Bone Formation Our bone is renewed in two stages, that is, resorption and formation. In the resorption stage, the bone is broken down and removed by osteoclasts cells. In the formation stage the osteoblasts cells built new bones replacing the old ones. During childhood, early adulthood and by mid-30s, more bones are produced than removed. After mid-30s the bone is lost faster than it being formed, which resulted in the amount of bone in the skeleton to slowly decline due to aging. Osteoporosis due to aging is called primary osteoporosis. If caused by disease processes or prolonged use of certain medication, it is then known as secondary osteoporosis. 12 THE RISK FACTOR, FACTORS AFFECTING AND THE CAUSES OF OSTEOPOROSIS ________________________________________________________________________ ll. The Risk Factor And Factors Affecting Osteoporosis The Risk Factor of Osteoporosis/Factors Affecting Osteoporosis Risk factor for osteoporosis fracture is group into non-modifiable and modifiable. Examples of non-modifiable are aging in men and women, oestrogen deficiency, reduction in bone mineral density and a drop in men testosterone level. Potential modifiable are excess alcohol, vitamin D deficiency, tobacco smoking, malnutrition, high protein diet, under weight or inactive, excess physical activity, soft drinks, caffeine and heavy metals. Heavy metal is an association between cadmium, lead and bone disease. Low level exposure to cadmium can cause an increased loss of bone mineral density in men and women, which in turn can lead to pain and increased risk of fractures. Higher cadmium exposure can soften the bones. Its greatest risk factor is the menopause stage where there is no further production of bone protecting hormones or production of protecting hormones reduced. Other risk factors include being female, age, family history of osteoporosis, hormone deficiency, low calcium intakes, drinking excessive alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Others include early menopause in women and a number of medical conditions. Health also contribute to risk factor, especially if ones had her ovaries removed, having menopause before the age of 45, suffering from amenorrhea or regular intake of steroid or thyroid medication Hereditary or genetics could be anyones risk factor, for example, family history whereby female Caucasian or Asian with thin and small bones. 13 Unchecked lifestyle like addicted smokers and heavy beverages drinkers , that is, ones drinking habit of caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea or soda. If ones does not consume enough milk, dairy product, vegetables, fruits or other food sources rich in calcium or taking excess protein intake could also increase the risk factor of osteoporosis. Being physically inactive for a prolong periods of time could increases the risk of osteoporosis. The Causes Of Osteoporosis In Menopause Women And Men Osteoporosis is related to weak and fragile bones in aging people, people with obesity and pregnant women. Diseased bone with small pores and cracks often breaks, causing fracture unable to support their body weight are caused by osteoporosis. Lifestyle habits, smoking, alcohol intake, hereditary and low estrogen levels in women and men can cause osteoporosis. The inability of ovaries in post-menopause women to secrete estrogen to maintain the bone density can cause them osteoporosis. Enough nutrients should be taken at an early age or else we will end up with bone diseases later on. Weak bones that become weaker will develop small cracks due to improper supply of nutrients and minerals are the primary cause for developing osteoporosis. In gender, women are smaller and have less bone when compare to men and they lose bone tissue quickly as they aged too. Low body weight could be affected with 14 osteoporosis disease. Mineral density should be built up at an early age by taking food that is rich in calcium and minerals for stronger bone tissue as they get older. Eating excess protein causes calcium intake to be taken from the bone and excreted in the urine. To make it worst, bone strength peaks in our mid thirty, after this, bone gradually loses its density and strength. The presence of particular hormonal disorder and other chronic diseases such as parathyroid or as a result of medications can be one of the causes of osteoporosis, especially for women after menopause or even old men. Hyperparathyroidism can happens in a young age or osteoporosis in male, Immobility of an affected limb after severe fractures as in accident victims can cause osteoporosis, especially those in plastered for a long time. Drug like steroid is an osteoporosis inducer. Patients with this treatment should have high calcium intakes. . 15 SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF OSTEOPOROSIS ________________________________________________________________________ lll. Understanding The Signs and Symptoms of Osteoporosis Signs and Symptoms of Osteoporosis The Pain Factor There are not many signs and symptoms of osteoporosis. We can feel the signs and symptoms if there is severe and long lasting pain in acute fracture when lifting or bending. Back pain is a sign or symptom that shows an increased thoracic kyphosis, that is, the upper back curve or an increased cervico-thoracic curve, for example, the dowagers hump. Both of them feature a noticeable loss of height. Osteoporosis does not always cause pain. It can cause discomfort due to thinning bones. Under x-ray, thin bones and compressed fractures in the thoracic spine shows that even without trauma the sign and symptom of osteoporosis is still there, especially after a bone density scan (DEXA) to detect and monitor the degree of osteoporosis changes. Bone disease is responsible for 1.5 fractures every year. The fractures are the first sign of osteoporosis existing in bones such as in the hip, spine and wrist. Breaks in the hip and spine should be taken seriously because if not taken care of immediately not only they suffer severe pain but also require hospitalisation and major surgery. Osteoporosis fractures can cause acute and chronic pain but spinal fractures may be painless. Sometimes, acute pain is the normal process of fractures healing. Whereas chronic pain continues long after the bone is healed. An accidental fall or severe blow can cause hip and wrist fracture. A crush fracture and a collapsed vertebra is also a prominent symptom. 16 Over the years of unchecked disintegration of the vertebrae can caused widows hump, a forward curve of the spine in the upper back. 17 PREVENTIONS OF OSTEOPOROSIS ________________________________________________________________________ IV. Preventions And Treatments For Patients To Live A Normal Life A. Preventions, Treatments And Coping With Osteoporosis i. Preventing Osteoporosis In General We need to practice the healthy lifestyle to prevent our bones from becoming thin and weak or also known as osteoporosis. Without prevention and treatment, osteoporosis will continue developing on our bones without any symptom or pain until we noticed that fracture had occurred. The first prevention that we will discuss is based on the scope of nutrition. Our bodies need the proper amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrient to stay healthy. By eating the right food, we essentially get the best nutrition needed. For the better function of heart, muscle, nerve and for stronger bones, gaining enough calcium and vitamin D is important. Balanced diet is the best way to get enough calcium. Besides getting the balanced diet, we need to have a diet that is high in calcium. Getting less calcium during our lifetime will increase the risk of developing osteoporosis which is related with broken bones, rapid bone loss and low bone mass. Good sources of calcium present are low-fat dairy produ ct (milk, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream), leafy vegetables (broccoli, collard greens, and spinach), sardines and salmons with bones, tofu, almonds and food with added calcium (orange, juice, breads, and soy products). Other things we can do to prevent osteoporosis from occurs to us is through exercises. Bones are living tissue that will become stronger when we exercise. A bone may look like a hard and lifeless structure, but it is actually more like muscle. Bone density 18 and strength increased through physical activity during childhood and adolescence. Meaning, children who always do their exercise often more are easily to have maximum strength and solid bone (higher peak bone density) usually when they are 30 years. The best exercise to prevent osteoporosis is weight bearing exercise. This is because this exercise works against gravity. It works when our feet and leg are supporting our own weight. It is important for building and maintaining healthy bones. It includes walking, jogging, jumping rope, climbing stairs, dancing and others. Other recommended exercise is resistance exercise. This exercise use muscle strength to trigger muscle mass and also help to strengthen the bones. Activities that make use this muscle is weight lifting like using free weight and machines, as found at health club and gym. Exercise is more benefit in older people because through exercise they can increase their muscle strength, coordination and balance which make them to attain better health. However, people with chronic disease like heart or lung disease, people with osteoporosis, older people and people who do not take their exercise should check themselves with their healthcare provider before trying any exercise program. Other ways for us to prevent osteoporosis is to change our life style. It includes to stop smoking and limiting alcohol intake. Smoking had bad effect to our body especially to our bones and as well as our heart and lung. For women, nicotine in cigarette will inhibit the bone protective thus it will affect amount of estrogen produce. Women smoker 19 tend to get menopause earlier. This is because it will hasten the development of osteoporosis since bone density had decrease rapidly after menopause. Menopause women who had smoked and choose hormone replacement therapy acquire more complication and intake of large doses of hormone. For the men who smoke, they are at risk for osteoporosis to occur. Besides that, men or women smoker may absorb less calcium from their daily diet. Compared to non smoker, smokers have high risk of hip fracture. Other than to stop smoking, we need to limit the alcohol intake in our daily life. Consumption of 2-3 ounces of alcohol a day even in young men and women will cause them to have bone loss and fracture. This is the result of poor nutrition which increased the risk of falling. Drinkers are liable to get a high risk of osteoporosis. 20 TREATMENTS AND MEDICAL AIDS FOR OSTEOPOROSIS __________________________________________________________________ ii. Treatments And Medical Aids For Osteoporosis Patients At times, we wonder as to how we have osteoporosis problem and not knowing why this is happening to us. It is crucial for us to see the symptoms and detect the risk factors of osteoporosis before it is too late. We should also be aware and know how to prevent osteoporosis from occur to us as we aged. After following the guide lines given by the doctors and physiotherapist but bone fracture still could not be stopped, a person can take drastic action to stop the progression of bone loss through surgery or medications. So do not worry too much about it since there are ways on how to treat it. There are various treatments that are available for treating osteoporosis. One of them is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT is used on women who are going through menopause. The function of this treatment is to make the bone density to be constant and stable and also to slower down the fracture rates during treatment session. There are so many types of HRT like the menopausal hormone therapy, estrogen hormone therapy, testosterone hormone treatment, and others related to the hormone. Usually this type of HRT is not used alone. It is always used with the combination of two hormones, for example, progesterone is combined with estrogen. This is to prevent side effect like increasing the risk of stroke, heart disease, breast cancer, heart attack, ovaries 21 cancer and also the risk of endometrial cancer in woman who has not had a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus). This HRT can be taken in form of pill and skin patches. Other form of treatment provided is the high intake of calcium and vitamin supplements. This nutrition intake has benefited older people either male or female in taking steps to decrease the risk of fracture. For women, getting enough calcium in their diet can help to minimise the risk of fracture at young age. Each day, we should drink or eat for about 700mg of calcium. This is the best amount of calcium that our bodies need every day. If we had found that we are not getting sufficient amount of calcium in our diet, we should ask the health care provider or the doctor for advise about calcium supplement that we need to take. Another treatment available for osteoporosis patients is through medication or therapeutic medication. Effective medication should be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration  (FDA). Currently the most effective medication that is approved by FDA is the anti-resorptive agents. This medication is aimed to prevent bone loss. Besides increasing the bone density, anti-resorptive medications inhibit bone removal and tipping the balance in favour of bone rebuilding. Examples of antiresorptive agents are menopausal estrogen theraphy, alendronote, risedronate, ibandronate, raloxifene, teriparatide and calcitonin. Each antiresorptive agents has had approval for their specific use. Alendronate,  risedronate, and  ibandronate  are approved for the prevention and treatment of  postmenopausal osteoporosis in  women. Alendronate is able to increase 22 bone mass in men with age-related osteoporosis, Alendronate and risedronate are to treat men and women with steroid-induced (glucocorticoid) osteoporosis. Raloxifene is approved for the postmenopausal women who are not taking hormone replacement therapy. Teriparatide  is approved for the treatment in postmenopausal women and men who are at high risk for fracture and is the calcitonin  medication. The last step that we can do to prevent osteoporosis from developing is through early screening. Doing bone mineral density (BMD) test is the only reliable way to know the exact loss of bone mass. It is to test the strength and solidness of the bones. Bone mineral density tests measure the solidness and mass (bone density) in the spine, hip, wrist, heal or hand. This is the common sites of fractures in our bodies due to osteoporosis. These tests are performed like x-rays.  They are painless, non- invasive, and safe. The risk of radiation is very minimal, much less than even having a chest x-ray film. BMD test should be taken by people with strong risk factor for osteoporosis. The risk factor includes estrogen deficiency, poor diet without enough calcium, Lack of exercise, smoking, large intake of alcohol, family history  of hip fracture or vertebral fractures and low body mass index. Examples of tests that are used to measure bone mineral density include dual energy  x-ray  absorptiometry (DXA),  quantitative  computed tomography  (QCT), and quantitative  ultrasound  (QUS). 23 By detecting osteoporosis at an early stage,  the patient and the doctor  can take action to stop the progression of bone loss. Changing the lifestyle and sticking to the treatment strategies recommended by a doctor, osteoporosis can be prevented 24 COPING WITH MENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS ________________________________________________________________________ Menopause Women Coping With Osteoporosis Menopause women with a number of risks factor or had a fracture without significant trauma should go to the hospital and treated for low bone density. Exercise plays an important role to help circulation, increase bone density and HDL levels and lower stress due to vaginal dryness. They should avoid smoking and excess alcohol. They should limit their protein and fat intakes and increase their fibre and calcium intakes. They should get the help and advice from a skilled physiotherapist from any local osteoporosis classes and clinics who in turn will educate them the importance and benefits of movement. Plenty of exercises can push up their bone to a good level and slow down the bone loss process. Impact exercises which jar the bones are better than cycling or swimming. 25 THE CONSEQUENCES OF OSTEOPOROSIS ________________________________________________________________________ V. Consequences Of Osteoporosis For Individuals And Community Osteoporotic fractures have consequences impact for individuals, community, organisation, private industry and governments, for example, individually fractures can lead to chronic pain, immobility and restricted activities. The cost of loss of income, such as, equipment and devices to help cope with restricted activities and home care are paid by family members. For the community, an increased demand for services such as meals on wheels and community taxi services are inevitable. 26 CONCLUSION ________________________________________________________________________ VI. Conclusion We would like to conclude that osteoporosis can be avoided if we plan our food intakes wisely. Food sources rich in calcium like dairy products, green leafy vegetables and fruits which is known to increase the bone mineral density. Vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin B and vitamin K are essential nutrients found in green vegetables that could avoid weak and thinning bones. We should also exercise for a healthy and fitness body and should go for medical check up as often as possible to enable detection of osteoporosis at its early stage. Furthermore, serious consequences of bone fracture include permanent disability or death. 27 GLOSSARY ______________________________________________________________________________ Standard deviations- Standard deviations refer to a disease characterised by low bone mass and loss of bone tissue that may lead to weak and fragile bones. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone micro architecture disrupted and the amount and variety of bone protein is altered. DXA- DXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD). WHO- WHO (World Health Organisation) is a specialised agency of a coordination authority on international public. Immobility- State of being immobile Renal- (Anatomy) of, in or near the kidneys Cessation- Action or act of ceasing; pause. Deficiency- State of lacking something essential, Instance of this; shortage Lack of a necessary quality; fault. Erratic- Irregular or uneven in movement, quality or behaviour (unreliable) Caucasian- Relating to the white or light-skinned racial division of mankind Dowagers hump or widows hump- Compression fractures of the spine cause a loss of height and the bending of the shoulders (upper part of the back) 28

Toumai, The Oldest Relative of the Human Race Essay example -- Anthrop

Toumai, The Oldest Relative of the Human Race Discoveries relating to the human lineage are extremely exciting and often baffling. This is the case with the recent discovery of what seems to be the oldest member of the human family. A skull found in northern Chad in 2001, has been deemed the earliest relative to the human ever found. Nicknamed Toumai, and discovered by Michel Brunet and his paleontology team, this new category of human has been given the scientific name, Sahelanthropus tchaensis. What makes this skull so definitive is the fact that it dates back approximately 6-7 million years in the earth’s history (Whitfield 2002). Since the discovery there have been anthropologists and paleontologists that have disputed the hominid status of Toumai (Evans 2002), but many, especially those involved in the finding of the skull still believe that they have the oldest relative to the human race we know today. The kind of attention that comes from discovering a fossil that may challenge pre-existing notions of human lineage is massive. When the findings were first published in â€Å"Nature† and â€Å"Science†, scientific journals, the news spread like wildfire and every news source from ABC to the BBC had the story covered. A discovery of this magnitude is highly important considering it can alter thoughts about the beginnings of the human line and cause an uproar in the science community in terms of the way human evolution is looked at. BBC News was one of the sources that covered this story when the discovery was made. Their primary article stated, â€Å"Scientists say it is the most important discovery in the search for the origins of humankind since the first Australopithecus ‘ape-man’ remains were found in Africa i... ...s. Toumaà ¯, the ancestor of the human ones. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0%402-3328,36-331868,0.html    Evans, Mark., 2002, Ancient Skull’s Species in Dispute. Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/inquirer/living/science/4249114.htm    Gibbons, Ann., 2002, One Scientists Quest for The Origin of our Species. Science, v. 298. http://rcp.missouri.edu/carolward/pdfs/quotebrunetpiece.pdf    Meek, James., 2002, Monkey or Man? Toumai hailed as our oldest ancestor, is stirring ancient scientific rivalries. Guardian News, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,808955,00.html    Noble, Ivan., 2002, Astonishing Skull Unearthed in Africa. BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2118055.stm    Whitfield, John., 2002, Oldest Member of Human Family Found. Nature, Science Update, http://www.nature.com/nsu/020708/020708-12.html   

Coppolas Interpretation of Dracula as a Love Story Essay -- Movie Fil

Coppola's Interpretation of Dracula as a Love Story      Ã‚  Ã‚   The protagonist and story of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula have been widely interpreted and adapted in films throughout many years. Despite almost a century of time since the initial publication, Dracula has maintained its ability to frighten and mesmerize readers. Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula; however, utilizes the erotic romance of the original novel in order to depict a tragic love story. The film accurately follows the general plot of the novel, yet presents the characters in a unique manner that provides for a different appreciation of the characters.    Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Stoker's novel begins with the presentation of how Dracula became an immortal creature doomed to thirst for the blood of living animals. This story is essential to the interpretation of Dracula in Coppola's film. Dracula was a knight in the sacred army of the church, who left his wife in order fight against an invading Turkish army. He was successful in preventing the invasion of the Turks, yet they retaliated by sending his wife, Elizobeta, a letter that falsely reported his death in the battle. Upon hearing this tragic news, Elizobeta committed suicide by jumping into a river. When Dracula returns from the battle he discovers that his beloved wife is dead, and when the church tells him that her soul cannot be saved because she had taken her own life, he turns against the church and renounces God for betraying him. Dracula strikes the stone crucifix behind the altar in the church, which causes blood to gush from the stone. Dracula drinks the bloo d and vows to oppose God for eternity, whereby causing himself to become eternally damned as a vampire. The mos... ...by comparing Bram Stoker's original novel, Dracula, to the film adaptation by director Francis Ford Coppola, the main theme of the movie is discovered to be that Dracula sacrificed himself for his true love. James Craig Holte agrees in his statement that parallels the conclusion of this paper "In Coppola's vampire world, the world of contemporary gothic fiction and film, the moral universe has changed: good and evil are no longer opposites, and actions no longer expected consequences, since love conquers all" (Holte 87).    Works Cited Holte, James Craig. Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Signet, 1992. Bram Stoker's Dracula. Screenplay by James V. Hart. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkin, Keanu Reeves. Columbia Tristar, 1992.