The world of business Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The world of business - Article Example It is important to look at how the people have changed over the years and how the business sectors in North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia have been affected. The people's lifestyle change can be seen through the change in culture. Culture can be defined as a way of life or the people's beliefs in commanding their everyday life. It is evident that the people's culture is tending to that of a global culture. This is because there has been so much interaction around the world that people are now appreciating other cultures. In addition, people are now copying different cultures as they find them to be very attractive. On the contrary, people are abandoning some of their cultural beliefs as they find them primitive and a hindrance towards economic and social growth. The changes in people's lifestyle have seen small business either closed down or make more profits. For rigid companies that are not yet ready to adhere to the changes of the people, have been ignored as people try to look for businesses that can provide what they really need currently. This has not only affected the small businesses but also the international companies that are found in the developing areas like North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia. ... Even though culture is becoming global, there are some countries where people have decided to hold their cultures and all business entities have to be put such things in to consideration. Countries like Japan hold their cultures strictly thus it is hard for an American company to ignore such issues while it is exporting its products or services to Japan. It has to put the Japanese culture in consideration so that the businesses can sell their products and services successfully. Moreover, the businesses have learnt to be a little bit flexible as they export their goods, they also consider that other people with different cultural backgrounds can be found in specific areas. For example, a company built in London will produce goods that will definitely put the Japanese culture in consideration but it will also consider the Europeans who are living in Japan. Thus the country will tend to export more of the Japanese oriented goods and at the same time some for those Europeans. Thus small entities are now growing because they have become very flexible in adapting their production of goods and services to the lifestyle changes of the people. This has also increased the competitiveness of the small businesses making them to expand and thus becoming big. Marketing strategies are now changing and the companies are now implementing new strategies. Due to the changes in people's lifestyles, companies need to implement new communication strategies to ensure that they reach their customers effectively. People have become very computer oriented thus communication today is mostly through the use of computers and mobile phones that have features of the computer. For this reason, businesses have their own websites that provide information on the

The Use of Semiotics in Understanding and Interpreting Images Essay

The Use of Semiotics in Understanding and Interpreting Images - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in the society today, an audiovisual culture has developed and is slowly superseding the reading and writing culture. Images are seen in cinemas, magazines, posters, books, newspapers, TVs, clothes and on computer screens. This develops a need for understanding and interpreting the meanings of images. Ideologies, myths, and connotations are mostly embedded in images making it difficult to understand. To achieve this, semiotics is used in analyzing the innate understanding and meanings behind images seen in the society today. This is because semiotics puts an emphasis on the communication of visuals and the kind of system that dominates the images being presented. Semiotics is an apparatus that is associated directly with the existing culture or trends in a society. Fashion today and the images presented by what people put on from clothes, shoes, hairstyle, and jewelry may be difficult to understand. This is because of the many features that it has. However , the images created by what people put on convey a lot of information about the characters, attitude, and moods of individuals. Advertisements also use images which carry a lot of message about the product being advertised. In the society today, advertisements are mostly used to introduce fashion to the society which keeps on changing over time. The semiotics theory explains that advertisements involve images that trigger emotions, feelings, moods, and attributes. This is achieved by the use of objects which create images in the minds of people. Adverts use images which connect objects with the real life to clearly pass the message needed. Advertisements are mostly used to signify, represent people and use objects that are most desired by people.

Business Ethics case-Nike Sweatshops Case Study

Business Ethics -Nike Sweatshops - Case Study Example The labor unions of such countries were also said to gain significant influence. Countries such as Vietnam, China, and Indonesia were considered to offer cheaper labor to the company Nike, Inc. and also prohibited labor unions. But when the workers of these countries demanded additional benefits and rights, the company closed all its factories in such countries and moved to other countries to continue its operations at a lower cost. The company Nike, Inc. was highly criticized throughout the 1990s for selling such goods which were considered to be manufactured in sweatshops. In the year 1991, an activist named Jeff Ballinger published a report which highlighted the poor working conditions and low wages in the country of Indonesia (Esbenshade, 2004). He published an article which stated that an Indonesian worker was considered to work for the company’s subcontractor for only 14 cents an hour which was considered to be less than the minimum wages that was prescribed in Indonesia . Numerous disturbing stories were said to come from the factories of the company Nike, Inc. throughout the world. The major issues were considered to be forced overtime, child labor, and wages which were considered to be well below the poverty line. There were also other issues such as poor air quality, exposure to chemicals considered as dangerous and physical abuse from the overseers of factory. It was considered that groups such as Global Exchange, Education for Justice, and students who were considered to be against sweatshop labor were mainly considered to lead the efforts against the company Nike, Inc. in this regard. Team Sweat was established with the main objective of tracking the protests that were considered to be made against the organization. It is considered as an international coalition of workers, investors, and consumers to put an end to the injustices that were considered to be in the sweatshops of the organization Nike, Inc. around the world. Jim Keady

Nuclear Energy Essay Example for Free

Nuclear Energy Essay An Argumentative Essay â€Å"Use of Nuclear Energy: Safe or Not?† 23 Aug Most countries today are becoming more and more dependent on nuclear power as a source of energy because of its high energy output and the availability of uranium used for fuelling nuclear reactors that generate power to provide electricity in households. Although using nuclear power as a source of energy has benefits like this, the danger posed by using nuclear power is very eminent. This was demonstrated in the recent Fukushima daiichi nuclear reactor crisis wherein the reactors as of March 24, 2011 at Fukushima emitted 30,000 to 110,000 TBq of Iodine 131 much higher compared to Chernobyl’s 760 PBq or 400 kg of I-131, 85 PBq Cs-137 (Shimbun, 2011). Another widely known nuclear reactor accident was the Chernobyl disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986 (Black, 2011). Threats not only exists in accidents like the ones mentioned, but also threats exists not only from terrorists but also from other countries who have acquired or made nuclear weapons. An all out war will probably see the use of nuclear weapons against each nation’s enemy resulting in a nuclear holocaust. Millions of people will die not only from the initial explosions of the nuclear bombs but also from the following nuclear fallout that will cause widespread radiation sickness. A German study showed that there is a statistically significant increase solid cancers (54%), and in leukemia (76%) in children aged less than 5 within 5 km of 15 German nuclear power plant sites (Fairlie, 2009). Use of nuclear energy has two advantages over fossil-fuel plants. (1) Nuclear reactors use less fuel than a fossil-fuel plant to generate the same amount of energy a fossil-fuel plant generates. The fissioning of 1 metric ton of uranium fuel provides the same amount of heat energy as burning of 3 million metric tons of coal or 12 million barrels of oil. (2) Uranium, unlike fossil fuels, does not produce chemical or solid pollutants that are released into the air. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1996). The trade-off is that (1) nuclear plants costs more to build than fossil-fuel plants. (2) Nuclear plants are potentially hazardous. In order for a nuclear plant to be built, it first has to pass several government requirements that a fossil-fuel plant does not have to meet. Nuclear plants must pass government tests before a certain nuclear plant maybe deemed safe to start operation. In addition to that  there have been already many serious accidents involving nuclear plants like the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in 1986 and the more recent Fukushima daiichi plant in Japan that has already reached a certain level of severity making it as much or more disastrous that the Chernobyl accident causing widespread opposition against the building of more nuclear plants. (3) Uranium that is used for continues to emit radiation long after it has been used up posing dangers to any community close to the nuclear plants. Although experts argue that nuclear power should be used as a source of energy because it is a clean source of energy and does not produce any chemical or solid pollutants, the uranium that is used in fuelling the nuclear plants still remains radioactive and can still harm the surrounding community. To make it worse, the problem of nuclear waste disposal has not yet been solved. A number of solutions have been proposed like geological disposal wherein th e radioactive waste is buried 500 to 1000 meters below the ground or the more complicated and costly space disposal of nuclear wastes. The latter being too costly because of the technology needed to be developed and financed to efficiently dispose the wastes. Proponents of the use of nuclear energy as a source of energy state that nuclear energy is the safest energy option. This, however, is contradicted and is shown to be questionable by the past nuclear plant accidents. Also, uranium, the source needed to power a nuclear plant to generate electricity itself is dangerous. The threat of nuclear terrorism also exists as terrorists can use radioactive nuclear wastes in building nuclear weapons for self-interests which in turn can cause a nuclear war that has the potential to wipeout the human race from the face of the earth. Summarizing and analysis of the pros and cons of the use of nuclear power, we can see that the sinister consequences of the decision to use nuclear power far outweigh the advantages of using such sources of energy. Continued use of nuclear power could lead to more severe types of accidents with ef fects that can not be irreversible. Countries world wide should research on better and safer sources of energy rather than risking the lives of millions of people just to generate the energy needed to supply our daily energy requirements.

17th Century Treatment of Woman in Literature Essay Example for Free

17th Century Treatment of Woman in Literature Essay By the Middle Ages, it was commonly accepted that Eve was principally to blame for the disobedience that led to the fall of humanity. Greek ideas had replaced Jewish in Christian thinking, including the notion that the soul was good but the body evil. Heretical though this might have been, it didn’t stop sexuality being regarded as somehow evil. One of the few recorded medieval women writers, the mystic Margery Kempe, aspired to celibacy even within marriage. As it becomes apparent in a few select works representing women in medieval literature, includingThe Book of Margery Kempe, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Le Morte Darthur, in the middle ages or medieval period, restrictions placed on women underwent a significant change. At the beginning of this period, women’s roles were very narrowly prescribed and women did not have much to do with life outside of the home. As this age went on, however, women gradually began to express more opinions and have a greater and more equal role in society. Two earlier medieval texts, Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight offer readers two simple categories of women, those who are or are not confined. Later, with the writings of Margery Kempe, the strict duality begins to disappear and the reader is confronted with a woman who is blend of each of these ideas of women. While she is confined by her society, she is unconfined by its conventions such as marriage and traditional gender roles. In general, however, each text presents an example of a â€Å"proper† and confined woman as well as the complete opposite; almost so that the reader can see what evils can occur if a woman is not confined. The women in Beowulf, at least on first glance, might appear to be glorified waitresses and sexual objects, but their role is far more complicated than this. When it is stated in one of the important quotes from â€Å"Beowulf† that, â€Å"A queen should weave peace† As confined in a marriage, women in Beowulf are assigned the role of peace weaver, â€Å"queen and bedmateAll of the human women in Beowulf are queens and adhere to their duties as such with grace and obedience. The only exception to this model of medieval femininity is Grendel’s mother who is technically a woman but is so hideously described that the idea of gender becomes grossly distorted. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight even though it was written some years after Beowulf. In this text, the reader is first confronted with the ideal woman, Guenevere, who is confined and is serving her role as peace weaver and object for the male gaze. â€Å"the goodly queen gay in the midst/ on a dais well-decked and duly arrayed / with costly silk curtains†¦all broidered and bordered with the best gems† Chaucer’s womenAlthough women feature strongly in Chaucer’s earlier works, such as The Boke of the Duchess and Troilus and Criseyde, we only find three women on the pilgrimage described in The Canterbury Tales: * The Wife of Bath * The Prioress * ‘Another nun’ who accompanies her but is hardly mentioned again. The two principal women reflect the only ways that women at the time could achieve independence and status: in the Church or in a trade. The Wife of Bath represents those whose skills, such as weaving, gave them financial independence, though Chaucer’s character seems to have grown wealthy mainly by marrying a series of rich old men. is tempting to see the Wife as a champion of female rights, and her Tale brings out the idea that women should have maistrieover men, but the Wife is of course a character in a story written by a man. She has had five husbands, like the woman of Samariawho is challenged by Jesus (in John 4:17-18), ’withouten oother compaignye in youthe’. Her fifth husband, whom she married for love rather than riches, proved to be less compliant – and very well read. She claims to have put him in his place eventually, but Chaucer enjoys making the Wife recount (and try to refute) all the misogynistic tales with which he has assaulted her.  Women in Renaissance and after: Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the social standing and the legal and economic rights of women continued to be restrictive, limiting them to the domestic sphereDuring the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and the resulting Catholic Counter-Reformation, the depiction of women in domestic roles became increasingly important. The social system of patriarchy matured during the early modern period, particularly during the Reformation. The concept of patriarchy involved male control over nearly all facets of society. The assigned works from the English Renaissance primarily portray women unrealistically. Despite a few exceptions, these works depict women as being idealistically beautiful, as having perfect virtue, or, conversely, as exercising hyperbolically negative traits. The few exceptions to this rule do depict women in a more realistic light. For instance, in its first six stanzas, the female speaker of John Donne’s â€Å"The Bait† praises Marlowe’s â€Å"Passionate Shepherd,† but in the final quatrain, she acknowledges how foolish she is for biting at his bait, saying, â€Å"That fish that is not catched thereby, / Alas, is wiser far than I† (1247). William Shakespeare also paints a realistic picture of a woman in Sonnet 130, debunking the florid Petrarchan conventions that elevate women’s beauty almost beyond comprehension but asserting that his mistress is â€Å"as rare† (1041) as any Petrarchan subject nonetheless. Among the male authors, Shakespeare also presents the most substantive and realistic female character of these works with Cordelia in King Lear. Although her honesty at first brings disownment and exile, she emerges as one of the few characters in the play who remain true to their convictions throughout the course of the narrative. Cordelia’s realistic portrayal is rivaled only by the highly personal poetry of the only female author assigned, Katherine Philips. In â€Å"A Married State,† Philips also debunks the popular perspective favoring of marriage, especially with its benefits for women, noting to her audience of young women that the single life yields â€Å"No blustering husbands to create your fears; / No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears; / No children’s cries for to offend your ears† (1679). Another of her poems, â€Å"On the Death of My First and Dearest Child, Hector Philips,† provides an equally realistic yet exponentially more emotional account of the uniquely maternal experience of losing a child. Despite the success of these works in presenting realistic depictions of women, they are the exceptions to the rule, as the majority of the assigned works portray women quite unrealistically. Perhaps the most common of the exaggerated portrayals addresses women’s physical beauty. Sonnet 64 of Edmund Spenser’s Amorettidescribes his subject with the inflated Petrarchan conventions satirized by Shakespeare, likening each detail of her physical appearance to a different flower, and claiming that â€Å"her sweet odour did them all excel† (866)—an obviously impossible feat. The bride of Spenser’s Epithalamion is sung as having similarly cosmic beauty, with â€Å"eyes like stars† (870) or â€Å"Saphyres shining bright† (872). In fact, Spenser describes â€Å"all her body† as â€Å"like a pallace fayre† (872) in a highly exaggerated comparison, the meaning of which almost defies interpretation. Even in a poem addressing the neo-Platonic ideal of finding virtue in beauty, Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophil still relapses to using the common Petrarchan convention comparing Stella’s eyes to the sun in Sonnet 71 before concluding with the confession that he fails in his attempt to elevate his attention from her physical beauty to her underlying virtue. These last two works also invoke the fallacy of women as having unadulterated virtue. Again, Astrophil lauds the inherent goodness that Stella’s beauty reflects. Not only does she possess this virtue, but she also seeks to improve all with whom she comes in contact: â€Å"And not content to be Perfection’s heir / Thyself, dost strive all minds that way to move, / Who mark in thee what is in thee most fair† (926). Spenser describes one example of the flawless disposition of the bride ofEpithalamion by recounting her humility, even shyness, in the face of the adoring stares of all the guests at her wedding and the unsullied virginity she brings to her marriage bed. In another work, the virtuous Celia of Ben Jonson’s Volpone finds her faith and integrity unrewarded with an attempted affair forced upon her by her husband and a false conviction for allegedly seducing yet another man. Finally, in a highly complex simile, Donne draws a parallel between his love and â€Å"the fixed foot† (1249) of a compass in â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. † The woman he addresses is so constant, so faithful, so flawlessly virtuous, that she is as the tool that produces the circle, the shape of perfection. Just as common as excessively positive characterizations of women are the excessively negative. Two of the assigned plays include women whose primary activity is political scheming: Goneril and Regan in King Lear and Lady Politic Would-Be in Volpone. Goneril and Regan present flattering platitudes to their father, Lear, that do not reflect their true feelings for him. In fact, after receiving their inheritances of half the kingdom each, they want nothing more to do with him and turn him out into the stormy night. Lady Politic also schemes in an effort to increase her social status, leveling false accusations of adulterous seduction against Celia in order to advance her and her husband’s own chances of inheriting Volpone’s fortune. The speaker of Donne’s â€Å"Song† might have been hurt by such women as these, for he denies the existence of any faithful and virtuous woman. If his addressee were to find a seemingly true woman, Donne laments that â€Å"Though she were true when you met her, / . . . / Yet she / Will be / False, ere I come, to two, or three† (1238). Another of Donne’s poems, â€Å"The Flea,† contains another common criticism of women: that they too often deny their suitors. The listener of this dramatic monologue, in killing the flea, casually rejects the speaker’s elaborate analogical argument for a relationship between them, and in response, the speaker insults her honor, which amounts to as much â€Å"as this flea’s death took life from thee† (1236). â€Å"The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd† also counters an elaborate argument, this one an appeal more emotional than rational. Sir Walter Ralegh’s nymph responds to each point from Marlowe’s shepherd with the argument that all his promised goods and pleasures will fade with time, including his own youth and love. This reply to a heartfelt attempt to win her love establishes the nymph as cold and self-centered, as opposed to the devoted and emotionally expressive shepherd. The speaker of Andrew Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† experiences a similar rejection from his intended lover. Rather than praise her beauty and virtue, he mocks them as fleeting and meaningless, respectively, saying, â€Å"Thy beauty shall no more be found, / . . . in thy marble vault . . . † (1691) and â€Å". . . then worms shall try / That long-preserved virginity, / And your quaint honor turn to dust† (1691-92). Perhaps the strongest indictments of women in these works charge them with an opposite sin: the base corruption of formerly virtuous men. Arcasia, in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, attracts and seduces good men only to turn them into wild beasts doomed to her service. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 144 describes a similar woman, close contact with whom carries damning effects: â€Å"To win me soon to hell, my female evil / Tempteth my better angel from my side, / And would corrupt my saint to be a devil† (1042). The most â€Å"accomplished† female corrupter of these works affects not only the man in her life but all of humankind. John Milton’s Eve, after ignoring the counsel of her wiser husband, inflicts sin upon all her descendents as a result of her inferior reason, virtue, and faith—according to Adam and Milton. The sinful history of humanity to follow owes itself to the weakness of a woman. The enormity of this last example typifies how the unrealistically exaggerated portrayals of women in English Renaissance literature far outweigh the few examples of more realistic and moderate depictions. This subject culminates in the image of Miltons Eve in the epic poem Paradise Lost. Although Miltons Eve comes, in the mid-seventeenth century, at the end of the Renaissance in England, her image builds upon, and perpetuates, Renaissance antifeminist commonplaces, while it also questions and undermines them. Milton emphasizes Eves subordinate position in his description of Adam and Eve in Book 4: For contemplation he and valor formed, /For softness she and sweet attractive grace; /He for God only, she for God in him (11. 296-299). Eve herself articulates and generalizes that subservience: God is thy Law, thou mine; to know no more/Is womans happiest knowledge and her praise (11. 638-639). When she rebels against her secondary position, she separates herself from Adam in their Edenic tasks and thus is vulnerable to Satans temptations. When the Renaissance in England was at its height, in Edmund Spensers Elizabethan world, the great epic poet of the 1590s presents images of women that contrast with the shadowy or negative women of Miltons epic poem. While antifeminist views of female nature are embodied in the allegorical Error in Book 1 of Spensers The Faerie Queene, other females throughout the epic serve to celebrate women. In part because Spensers poem was written in praise of his own Queen Elizabeth, the positive images of women range widely. They include the gentle, yet forceful, Una, whose cry, Fie, fie, faint harted knight (1. x. 465) shocks the feeble Redcrosse Knight into action against the temptations of Despair. In the third book of The Faerie Queene, the virtue of Chastity is exemplified through the woman warrior Britomart. In this portrait, Spenser tells Queen Elizabeth that he is disguising praise of her, his own queen, since explicit celebration would be inadequate: But O dred Soveraine/ Thus farre forth pardon, sith that choicest wit/ Cannot your glorious pourtraict figure plaine/ That I in colourd showes may shadow it,/ And antique praises unto present persons fit (3. . 23-27). Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth provided a strong, positive image of a woman, through which poets from Peeles play, The Arraignment of Paris, through William Shakespeares Henry VI, Part 3 found opportunities to create dominant roles for woman. Yet Queen Elizabeth herself perpetuated some of the misogynist stereotypes that haunted her at her accession in 1558, in such tracts as John Knoxs Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. Queen Elizabeth ruled through her own alienation from her womanliness. She ruled as the Virgin Queen, continuing the idea of chastity as the norm and replacing in her still newly Protestant country the lost ideal of the Virgin Mary. The artifice of her costuming and the artfulness of her speeches both contributed to her power. During Elizabeths reign from 1558 to 1603, positive images of women include the female characters of Shakespeares comedies, like Rosalind of As You Like It and Beatrice of Much Ado about Nothing. After James Is accession, however, the Jacobean theater explored female characters who achieved tragic, heroic stature, like John Websters The Duchess of Malfi. In her closet drama, The Tragedy of Mariam, Elizabeth Cary explored the dilemmas facing strong women. In addition, in this later period of the Renaissance, such women writers as Elizabeth Grymeston, the author of the Miscelanea; Lady Mary Wroth, the author of the poetry and prose epic romance Urania; and Amelia Lanier, the author of a poetic defense of Eve, became creators of rich images of women, which we are only now beginning to recover.

The Evolution Of Telemedicine Health And Social Care Essay

The Evolution Of Telemedicine Health And Social Care Essay Who would have ever imagined that a doctors visit could be conducted through a phone-line, video, or the use of a computer 1000 plus miles away? Medical records can be view by another medical professional for a second opinion three counties away before you arrive. A radiologist in Singapore has diagnosis your femur fracture here in the United States. Medical diagnosis, treatment and consultations are being performed from miles away because of technology. It seems as if there is no limitation to the well being of a patient through a wide range of telemedicine services. What is telemedicine? According to the American Telemedicine Association telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients health status. Emails, videoconferencing, transmission of still images, e-health including patient portals, remote monitoring of vital signs, continuing medical education and nursing call centers are all considered part of telemedicine.(http://www.americantelemed.org) This interactive form of medical services has provided healthcare to individuals many miles away or minutes away in the comfort of their homes, physician offices and hospitals. Ways to communicate services Store-and -forward is a means of transmission of medical information to other medical professionals and facilities that will provide the recipient pertinent medical history, vital signs, medical records, lab results and images. Store-and-forward telemedicine systems have the ability to capture and store digital still or moving images of patients, as well as audio and text data. A store-and-forward system eliminates the need for the patient and the clinician to be available at the same time and place. Store-and-forward is therefore an asynchronous, no interactive form of telemedicine. It is usually employed as a clinical consultation (as opposed to an office or hospital visit). (http://www.ahrq.gov) One of the major concerns with store and forward is whether it is as effective as face to face medical visits, does it have comparable outcomes, is it appropriate for appropriate medical management, is the patient truly satisfied with the outcome and level of services and is it cost effect ive? There are several benefits of store-and-forward technology. Patients in rural areas are able to be seen by specialty physician miles away when there is limited access to the services in the area. The store-and-forward of medical information is also being used with emergency response teams to communicate the information to the emergency room staff for an efficient transfer of vitals and medical status. The store and forward technology is said to be the least expensive way to communicate and the most accurate in real time for patients at a distance needing medical consultation. Another type of store and forward technology is videoconferencing technology. The two way television allows two doctors in two different areas to communicate to provide treatment, a diagnosis, or telesurgery. There are several healthcare areas that benefit from telemedicine Some of the common teleservices Telemedicine includes several medical disciplines that benefit from the services. Services like radiology, dermatology, nursing, pharmacy, pathology, neurology and psychiatry. The need for a second opinion in healthcare has seen a demand, and the shortage of specialty doctors in rural areas increased. The development of telemedicine has benefited the patient in many ways because of technology. Teleradiology- is the transmission of x-ray, CT, MRI, PET, and SPEC images that can be read by radiologist in another facility or country. The information is sent via the store and forward process of telemedicine. Large and small hospitals have began to use teleradiolgist to cut down on expense and having access to immediate diagnosis. Teledermatology- is the use of video conferencing and store and forward images to provide a consultation for an individual that requires a dermatologist. There have been concerns with the consistency of this tyoe of visit for patients due to unclear images of the skin and the possibility of not having that face to face visual from the dermatologist to make an adequate diagnosis. Telenurse- the use of phone, electronic email, videoconferencing, and computers to provide healthcare services or consultation to a patient. Telenusring has continued to grow in the areas of telephone triage for health insurance carriers. Telenursing has grown with interactive patient training related to changing wound dressings, insulin administering, self management of a patients health. Reimbursement Many of the healthcare providers must follow certain guidelines to receive payment for telemedicine. According to Medicare its condition for payment must include an interactive audio and video telecommunications system that is used and must permit real-time communication between the physician or practitioner at the distant site and the beneficiary at the originating site. The medical providers that are covered under this fee for payment are services rendered by a physician, nurse, physician assistant, midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or clinical psychologist. The current list of Medicare telehealth services includes: Consultations Office or other outpatient visits Individual psychotherapy Pharmacologic management Psychiatric diagnostic interview examination End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)-related services Neurobehavioral status examination For ESRD-related services, at least one face-to-face, hands on visit (not telehealth) must be furnished each month to examine the vascular access site by a physician, NP, PA, or CNS. (http://www.cms.hhs.gov) New Trends in telemedicine Trends observed nationally include: using telemedicine in correctional facilities and home health care settings, can significantly reduce the time and costs of patient transportation; providing additional services to rural area linking physicians together more efficiently linking hospitals and schools together to improve care and widespread The benefits With a growing population and healthcare on the rise many public and private medical providers have seen a cost reduction with the use of telemedicine and patients have benefited from the technology in telemedicine. Insurance providers are paying for less hospital in patient days because the patient can be monitored from a distance. The patients are able to communicate with a nurse or physician at home through phone, video, or Bluetooth monitoring. Telemedicine allows more freedom to the patient to feel less restricted to home visits, they have access to some providers 24 hours a day and it cuts down on their travel time to medical visits. The patients family has also displayed satisfaction from the use of telemedicine because its less strenuous on their travel time and loss of work days. Another benefit of telemedicine provides an outreach to rural areas to be included in clinical trial studies and procedures. The providers have also benefited because they are able to receive real t ime feedback from other professionals that are able to transmitted medical information quickly, decreased travel time, and continued patient education and communication. Issues that need to be addressed Education regarding telemedicine and its usage. There are concerns that many do not know that he services exist. Cost and evaluation of the services. Will the cost for reimbursement be lower because there is no face to face contact? How will the affects of technology increase cost? Liability and malpractice issues. Out of state practices of medical professionals crossing their licensed boundaries. How will they be regulated and which state laws and rules will they be governed under? Security is always a concern regarding information sent via phone and internet lines. Can medical information be protected properly and the doctors will be held liable for the misappropriation of a patients medical information. Although there are HIPPA laws regarding patients privacy according to ORTCC its much more difficult to guarantee confidentiality because several individuals outside the traditional medical team. The transmission procedure requires technical staff at both ends. In small communities, it is possible that the patient knows the nonmedical personnel socially, compounding the sense of loss of privacy. Thus, the nature of the doctor patient relationship changes dramatically with telemedicine, challenging traditional concepts of privacy and confidentiality. (http://www.ortcc.org) Conclusion With technology making waves telemedicine has been able to grow through leaps and bounds allowing those that are limited and restricted to receive the medical attention of medical professionals. Physician has gain quicker access to other professionals without sitting face to face, digital images, and audio files of heartbeats and fetal movements. The privacy, protection, reimbursement, malpractice, and governing laws are still a concern but the efficiency of communication to provide medical care is needed.

Irony and Symbolism in Willa Cathers Pauls Case Essays -- Cather Pau

Irony and Symbolism in Willa Cather's Paul's Case   "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather, is a story that deals with a young boy who does not feel that he lives a life befitting of him. Upon a close reading, it is evident that "Paul's Case" is ruled by irony and symbolism, which are apparent in the story through the words of the narrator. The irony woven throughout the text builds up to an epiphonic moment, a main paradox in the story, which reveals to the reader Paul's true nature. Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware. In one class he habitually sat with his hand shading his eyes; in another he always looked out of the window during the recitation; in another he made a running commentary on the lecture, with humorous intention. Paul wanted everyone to think he was better than they were. Not only did he try to dress as if he were rich and important, his very actions displayed a great amount of disdain for everyone around him. Paul sees himself as superior. He carries himself with a haughty countenance and air about him, apparent in the description "Paul entered the faculty room suave and smiling." His attempts to portray himself as elegant is obvious in the adornments with which he tries to accentuate his attire: "he wore an opal pin in his neatly knotted black fourin-hand, and a red carnation in his button-hole." The irony in Paul's self-delusion lies in the way he is, in reality, seen by the rest of the world. While he thinks that he is dapper and winning in his ornamented garb, t... ...ft who is actually honest. To Paul, the ultimate place in life is to be a part of the upper class. Paul had to try very hard, and be very dishonest, to convey a certain image so that he would be accepted as a part of that class. At this moment, since the best place to be is the upper class, and if one must be dishonest to achieve high social status, Paul wonders how there can be anyone in the world who is honest because everyone should be striving to be a part of the upper class. As far as Paul is concerned, his deceitful measures were an acceptable means for achieving his goal. Works Cited and Consulted Brown M. & Crone R. Willa Cather the Woman and Her Works. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1970. Cather, Willa. â€Å"Paul’s Case.† The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 198-207.