Health policy, law and ethics Essay

For the purpose of this assignment I will look at the legal and ethical aspects involved in the following scenario and this will be discussed. I will take into consideration both the deontological and consequentialism theory. Laws relevant to this scenario will be looked at. Scenario To maintain confidentiality the name of the patient has been changed. The patient D is 60 years old male who had kidney cancer he had been admitted to the hospital for further treatment. On the following investigation the patient had been diagnosed with the last stages of cancer which meant it had spread into the surrounding tissue. Prognoses were poor, palliative was to be offered. The family had requested that the patient should not be informed therefore, D was not aware about his current condition. The patient could not understand why medical staff only made him comfortable and were not taking a different approach to his treatment. Consequently, he lost faith in the staff and his will to live and refused everything that was given to him. The nurses made a decision to inform him of his terminal illness, believing this to be in his best interest. He understood the situation and expressed a wish to die at home. Legal aspects The situation that the nurses faced in this scenario was uncomfortable for both the patient and the healthcare professionals. The nurses had a dilemma of legal and ethical aspects on one hand, and patient’s legal rights on other hand. In any discussion of ethical issues in medicine, legal aspects may arise. Both of them set standards of conduct, where law often shows a â€Å"kind of minimal ethical societal consensus† (Emanuel et.al. 1999, p2). The study of law expresses a process of legal thinking and applying legal doctrine to the real-life situation in the healthcare setting (Flight and Meacham 2011). A deontology comes from the Greek term â€Å"deon†, meaning â€Å"duty† (Jones and Beck 1996). White and Baldwin (2004) state, deontological is fundamental in medicine as it means â€Å"do no harm† and â€Å"act in the patients’ best interest† (p.54). Using deontology approach in this case, healthcare providers were following the rule â€Å"Act in the patients’ best interest†. The problem that occurred in this situation is that it was difficult for the healthcare professionals as from a legal point of view the  patient had a right to know the truth if he wish. The NHS Constitution (2013) states, that a patient has the right â€Å"to be involved in discussions and decisions about his the health and care, including end of life care, and they be given information to enable the patient to do this† (p.9). Healthcare professionals were acting according to the Hippocratic Oath and following a set of rules, which are established as a framework of the NHS. One of the rules states, that nurses must â€Å"safeguard and promote interests of individual patients and client† (Tingle and Cribb 2007, p.16). Medical professionals must always act in the best interest of the patient. However, difficulty may be experienced in certain situations as the borderline between legal issues and ethics is narrow. The important professional concept of nursing is accountability for their actions to deliver appropriate care for their patients. This accountability is applicable in the legal context and important professionally, it is based on knowledge and un derstanding. Therefore, legally it is closely related to negligence and duty of care (Young 1995). In this scenario the nurses felt that they were acting as an advocate for the patient by following the rules. Montgomery (1995), state that accountability, responsibility and duty of care are closely linked. Irrespective of professional standing responsibilities, healthcare staff are still accountable, with regard to duty of care within the expectation of their job (Fletcher and Buka 1999). In this case, the patient’s anxiety could have been alleviated if he had been fully informed of the severity of his medical condition. This would then enable him to understand and accept this news, and would not lead the further complications in his psychological condition. Kravitz and Melnikow (2001) suggest that patient’s participation in the decision making process about their care is necessary. Analysing this situation I felt that patient D had a lack of autonomy. A patient should be fully informed about the diagnosis, and consent should be obtained for the treatment proposed; otherwise the autonomous being would be disregarded (Fletcher et al 1995). The importance of patient autonomy came from Nuremberg Trials codes of ethics, which was established in 1948 and stated that â€Å"The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential† (Washington 1949 p.181). The autonomy of D was disregarded by his family as they believed it would not be beneficial for him to know the truth. However, D had the capacity to make autonomous  decisions, such as whether or not he wanted to receive information about his current condition. Ethical aspects The issue that medical staff came across was to respect patient’s autonomy that had been breached in the described situation. Pearson et al (2005) states that patients are individuals, they have the right to be involved in making the decision process about themselves and their future. This belief refers to patient autonomy which is defined as freedom of making decisions within their limits of competency. Being unaware of his medical condition patient D had been deprived of his autonomy. Hendrick (2004) described autonomy as the ability to think about their lives and act accordingly to a chosen set of rules. Respecting autonomy means treating a person as an individual, involving him in discussion about his planned treatment, allowing him make his own decision. This is an essential part of any document of patients’ rights. O’Connell et al (2010) states that there are some ethical principles in nursing which include two important elements such as beneficence and non -maleficence. Both of them have significant implications for nurses. Hendrick (2000) supporting this view states that, in healthcare settings beneficence appears to be a straight forward term, and means to do â€Å"good†. In this situation there had arisen a massive ethical dilemma, and to choose the right approach to do â€Å"good† was not very easy for nurses. From one side, we had the patient who was not suitable for any medical treatment, as he was terminally ill but still had the right for palliative care, hence staff had to comply with all ethical principles. One of them was beneficence, as it seemed beneficial in the beginning not to tell the patient the truth about his condition, according to his family wishes. The family believed that patient D’s unawareness of reality would help him cope with his progressive illness. However, nurses whose responsibility it was to protect the patient from psychological stress and follow another ethical principle, which is non-malefice nce. Beauchamp and Childress (2009) state that, the principle of non-maleficence dictates an obligation not to harm. Both beneficence and non-maleficence were described in the Hippocratic Oath as â€Å"I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I  will do no harm or injustice to them† (Greek medicine 2010). The patient D’s reaction to the atmosphere surrounding him determined the medical staff to change the original approach to his care and give him the correct information about his prognosis. Respect should be shown to the patient; a simple obligation to give him a realistic picture of his condition. The patient had a right to know the truth, as he was approaching the end of his life. He might need to discuss some questions with his family and carers in order to arrange his affairs (Nicoll 1997). Basford and Slevin (1999) state, the principles of autonomy and justice as, are vital in healthcare practice and are dominant in many arguments within medical and nursing ethics. Consequently, there is a conflict bet ween the patient’s right to know and the carers’ duty of care. Honesty is an important part of any relationship. Jeffrey (2006) suggests that â€Å"communication would become meaningless if there was no overriding moral obligation to be truthful† (p. 64). Conclusion In any ethical dilemma healthcare staff should follow the government polices according to the Code of Conduct. As they are responsible for peoples’ health and have an honour to represent the National Healthcare Service, therefore, they cannot take any situation emotionally and personally. The healthcare professionals’ attitude to clinical judgement seemed to have increased during the last decade. Considering this, healthcare staff were taking into account new views of recognition of patient rights, to make an autonomous choice. The patient D had an opportunity for choice and made a decision to die at home. The argument in this situation was that all medical professionals should be telling the truth whether or not the patient’s family agreed. In this case I believe the medical staff were acting professionally and the patient received the attention he required in time, and there were no regrets afterwards. References: Basford and Slevin (1999) Theory and practice of Nursing Cheltenham: UK Beauchamp and Childress (2009) Principles of biomedical ethics (6th edition) New York: US Emanuel L, von Gunten C and Ferris F (1999). The Education for Physicians on End-of-life Care (EPEC) curriculum: US Fletcher N, Hold J, Brazier M and Harris J (1995) Ethics, Law and nursing Manchester: UK Flight M and Meacham M (2011) Law, Liability, and Ethics for Medical Office Professionals Delmar (5th edition): US Greek Medicine (2010) Hippocratic Oath: translated by North M Online at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html [Accessed on: 21/03/14] Hendrick J (2000) Law and ethics in nursing and healthcare Cheltenham: UK Hendrick J (2004) Ethics and Law Cheltenham: UK Jones R and Beck S (1996) Decision making in nursing Delmar: US Kour N and Rauff A (1992) Informed patient consent-historical perspective and a clinician’s view Singapore Med 33(1): 44–6 Kravitz R and Melnikow J (2001) Engaging patients in medical decision making. British Medical Journal 323: 584-585. Nicoll L (1997) Perspectives on Nursing Theory New York: US O’Connell S, Bare B, Hinkle J, and Cheeveret K (2010) Textbook of Medical-surgical Nursing (12th edition) Philadelphia: US Pearson A, Vaughan B, Vaughan B, FitzG erald M and Washington D (1949) â€Å"Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law 10 (2): 181-182 Online at: http://history.nih.gov/research/downloads/nuremberg.pdf [Accessed on 11/03/2014] The NHS Constitution (2013) Online at: http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Documents/2013/the-nhs-constitution-for-england-2013.pdf [accessed on 10/03/2014] Tingle J and Cribb A (2007) Nursing law and Ethics (3rd edition) Oxford: UK White S and Baldwin T (2004) Legal and Ethical aspects of Anaesthesia critical care and perioperative medicine. Cambridge: UK Bibliography: George J. Annas Edward R and Michael A. Grodin (1992) The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human Rights in Human . Oxford: US Morrison E (2010) Ethics in Health Administration: A Practical Approach for Decision Makers (2nd edition) London: UK

LOM Assignment

â€Å"Lung conditions caused by 9/11† Write about the different types of lung conditions being found as a result of 9/11. We all remember the effects of this horrible day on September 11, 2001; but what we don’t know is the effects it still had on so many after the tragedy ended. When the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed it produced a dense could of smoke and vaporized concrete and drywall. New York City Fire Department rescue workers were exposed to polluted air- as well as dust and diesel exhaust that accompanied the rescues effort, this had reduced there lung function in weeks and months following the attack.Now a new study in the â€Å"New England Journal of Medicine† report that the lung impairment they observed in the rescue workers appears to be lasting. Firefighters, Emergency Medical personnel continued to have decreased lung function up to seven years after 9/11. They found most of this group suffered from â€Å"Chronic Bronchitis, Asthma, Lu ng Cancer, Mesothelioma, Tuberculosis, and Sarcoidosis† (especially prevalent among recovery and clean-up workers); 9/11 also exposed some people to having GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder) they addressed these declines with regular monitoring and aggressive treatment.In 2001 and 2002 the lung function of more than 12,000 fire fighters, rescue workers who were at Ground Zero had there lung functions measured, comparing the results to lung function tests given to the same group before 9/11 as a part as their department physicals. On average the lung function of the workers declined by an amount equivalent to twelve years of natural aging. In new studies, researchers continued to follow these fire fighters and medical personnel for an average of six years measuring there lung function every twelve to eighteen months to see if the initial decline persisted.They were surprised to find â€Å"little or no† improvement in average lung function, according to the study. Th e persistent decline in lung function has potential short-term consequences, it places them at higher risk for shortness of breath, cough, wheeze and impairments in their ability to exercise and perform physically demanding jobs. A lot of these heroes are now unable to work because of these long term conditions of this horrible tragedy.

Hammurabi’s code and the Ten Commandments Comparison

Hammurabi was ruler of the Babylonian dynasty from 1792-1750 B. C. And is responsible for one of the earliest legal codes in history The Laws. The Laws is a form of constitution, an organized code of social rules, rights of people and legal standards. Hammurabi felt that he was a sort of instrument of the gods and that it was his role to implement The Laws as a form of righteous justice with a divine authority. The underlying principle for The Laws is an â€Å"eye for an eye† having cause and effect for physical actions and moral situations while setting economic standards.A good example of The Laws having a cause and effect while setting an economic standard is stated â€Å"If a man gives to another silver, gold or anything else on deposit in the presence of witnesses and the latter disputes with him or denies it, they shall call that man to account and he shall double whatever he has disputed and repay it. † It sets a standard for putting a deposit down and also sets an effect should one of the parties try to lie about that deposit.The Laws was ahead of its time in many aspects however slavery is legal therefore everyone is not seen as equal. Even if the penalties were not carried out The Laws would have worked as a threating devices letting the people of the land know of the potential consequences of the actions. Unlike Hammurabi’s code the Ten Commandments list guidelines on worship and holy days. And offers worship as a form of retribution instead of the real literal form of physical retribution found in Hammurabi’s code.One example of a law that is similar, deals in financial matters and states â€Å"If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to keep and it is stolen out of the man’s house. If the thief is found he shall pay double. If the thief is not found the owner of the house shall come near to God, to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. † This is very similar to a la w found in Hammurabi’s code in which the repayment amount is similar for the exact situation.Some of the laws on slavery vary from the two codes the Ten Commandments offers compensation directly to the slave one laws reads â€Å"When a man strikes the eye of a slave male or female he shall let that slave go for the sake of that eye†. In Hammurabi’s code a lot of the compensation for damages done to slaves went to their master. Overall I would say that the two laws codes are different. The Ten Commandments gets away from the concept of â€Å"An eye for an eye† as in Hammurabi’s code. As to the Ten Commandments offers more monetary compensation with a small amount of physical compensation except in extreme cases.

Assignmenteconomic theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignmenteconomic theory - Assignment Example On the other hand the government will maintain monopolies whereby the cost of producing certain products are too expensive example the rail way industry. When negative externalities occur the government has a role to play in resolving the problem example pollution, the government also has a role to play in maintaining a competitive market in the economy and eliminate monopolies and oligopolies in order to achieve optimal pricing of goods and services in the economy. Income discrimination occurs when there are wage differences that are as a result of differences in ethnicity, gender, age and race, the government role is to eliminate wage discrimination through the implementation of policies, the existence of competitive markets also eliminate the problem of income distribution and therefore the government will encourage competition in order to eliminate income discrimination. An example of income discrimination in the US is that studies show that whites are paid higher wage rates than other races in the US. The role of the government in this case is to encourage competition and implementation of policies that discourage discrimination. This policy measure is appropriate given that income discrimination leads to the marginalization of certain groups.

Leadership and innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership and innovation - Essay Example This was supposed to be the case in innovation system that my group was supposed to come up with and present to hospitals (Northouse, 2012). However, team work does not always work out as one would like it to be and with this, there is bound to be friction between the members of the team. Furthermore, there is the possibility that, despite the urgency of the task, there is always bound to be the one person that would be considered as dead weight to the team. The aim of this paper is to act as a reflective diary to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of team work and the best way to deal with conflict in a team. To effectively analyze the strengths and weaknesses of team working and conflict management, I visited various hospitals, and this visit was part of an innovation trip that was supposed to be carried out as a team to make sure that the findings that were collected were to be compiled and presented to the different team members. However, this was not the case. When the team members met for the first day, there was a lot of friction between my team members due to the fact that some of the team members did not exhibit any of their findings or an interest in the task because they had not done anything. The fact that there were different people who had carried out the task at hand and others had not, caused tempers to flare and soon one team member was gunning for the others head. However, the point that arose was that there were different viewpoints on the same topic. This gave me as a leader whose team comprised of people of multidisciplinary backgrounds an opportunity to lead diverse people, and this was proving to be a problem in the long run. In a bid to curb the ensuing anger and conflict among the team member, I opted that the team members that had a background in nursing help those who were not as familiar with the topic. This put a spanner into the progress that the team was supposed to

Article Summary + Its Application at an Organization Essay

Article Summary + Its Application at an Organization - Essay Example Because of this study, the authors hope a clearer picture is painted on not only why HR managers might pass on suggestions, but also which practices supported by research do not concern practitioners in the field. The authors also import insights from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunals and how that organization selects individuals to serve on the committee, which is an interesting interdisciplinary attempt to draw on different sources, beyond simply those working in the human resources field. As a result, Simola, Taggar and Smith (2007) emphasize the concept of â€Å"alignment† between practice and theory. The study looked at 329 human resources professionals in a central Canadian province, 301 of whom had completed interviews over the past 12 months prior to the survey. Participants completed a survey that examined six dimensions of interview structure, including job analysis, standardized administration, behavioral questions, training, note taking, and interview panels. HR professions in the study were measured according to a Likert scale on how often they employed such techniques. In addition to comparing the frequency of using particular interviewing techniques with descriptive statistics, the authors regressed perceived interviewing expertise of the practitioners and their preparedness to respond to candidates’ concerns onto the six-dimensional variable of interview structure. Firstly, the research found that Canadian human resources professionals converge with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in terms of what interview practices are valued by deviating from professional standards and recommendations of research scholars of employment interviewing. Secondly, human resources professionals do not make much use of standardization despite recommendations from research scholars and more frequent use of the technique by Human Rights Tribunals. Thirdly, both Human Rights Tribunals and interview

Basic Hazardous Waste Management essay 2 (Blackman, 2001)

Basic Hazardous Waste Management 2 (Blackman, 2001) - Essay Example Another site Valley of Drum, was used for same purposes the waste material is processed here this was affecting the environment badly. In order to monitor all such activities and make them legal and harmless for the people government decided to set the rules and regulations as a result interim standard was written in 1986 and it was finalized in 1991 by the congress.(McNulty, 2009) The government decided to train people in order to attain the maximum success of saving their lives. These people are supposed to clean the hazardous waste material safely. The two paragraphed standard was written in which all the details of how to train people and their how to assure their health while they are working on specific site are mentioned. (McNulty, 2009) The key components that must be followed to evaluate the case given in description i.e. evaluate an abandoned industrial paint manufacturing facility with a good size field of 250-300 unknown, unmarked drums in the open field next to the manufacturing building are to analyse the operations carrying on in the manufacturing plant of paint factory and then cleaning up the waste material from the site next to the plant. The unmarked drums should be processed and identified; action should be taken if the steps against the standards of HAZWOPER are taken. MTBE stands for methyl tertiary butyl ether, chemical used in composition of fuels. This chemical is affecting our environment badly; it is used in fuel manufacturing companies. In United States of America MTBE is used in motor vehicle fuels as oxygenate and in gasoline as well. The main issue with the usage of MTBE is when it leaks from underground gas tanks and get mixed with

Industrial Safety and Health Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Industrial Safety and Health Management - Essay Example aste disposal, conservation of natural resources and energy, to reduction of the amount of waste produced and ensuring that wastes are handled in a manner that is environmentally sound. RCRA is responsible for regulation of the handling of solid wastes such as garbage, underground petroleum products storage tanks products or particular chemicals and hazardous waste. All the three Acts are under the United States Environmental Protection Agency. All these Acts are in place with the sole objective of protecting the human health and the environment from the potential hazard of disposing waste. They all have got objectives that are merging and this means they are fitting together through that singular objective. They are related to OSHA (Occupational Safety &Health Administration) in that they have similar objectives. OSHA’s objective is to ensure health and safety is adhered to by the employers especially as regards employees’ workplace. Employers must therefore comply with all appropriate OSHA standards. This means that employers must fulfill the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act, which necessitates employers to maintain safe workplace, free of any serious recognized

Monetary Policy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Monetary Policy - Coursework Example This paper examines the relationship that exists between the monetary policies and the stock market bubbles and concludes that the monetary policies can be varied to have very little control on the stock market movements, as monetary policies like change in the interest rates would be slow in acting on the bubble price movements. However such change in the policy may restrict the influence of the financial instability on the economy that immediately follows the bubble. This paper concludes that the central banks should adopt standard monetary policy or bubble policy depending on the circumstances and the extent of the macroeconomic consequences of the stock bubble price movements. In the process of the study of the impact of the monetary policies on the stock market bubbles the paper also details some of the historic bubbles and crashes. Expanded spells of rapidly appreciating equity, housing, and other assets prices in any country since the twentieth century have brought the impact of monetary policies on the asset market prices to the fore and to the attention of the economists to analyze the phenomenon. The analysis includes the response of the asset market booms as a result of the changed monetary policies. It is the argument from some of the economists that the nature of the financial markets tends to be volatile inherently and that the market prices often go tangentially to fundamentals. Hence they argue that it is possible for the policymakers can improve the welfare activities of the economy by adopting measures to deflate the asset price booms, especially under circumstances where the sudden declines in the asset market prices will have the effect of depressing the economic activity to the advantage of the country. There are other economists who believe that the financial markets are efficient in processing the information provided to them. These economists argue that it is not possible for the policymakers to determine the point of time when the assets are mispriced and hence they cannot adopt policies which will have the effect of improving the welfare of the nation by reacting to the asset price movements. However the stock market boom in the United States in the late 1990s has been found to arise during a

From the Original Sin to Buddha Nature Essay Example for Free

From the Original Sin to Buddha Nature Essay When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they were sent to earth to work on themselves, with the promise that they would ultimately find deliverance, along with their children, provided that they obey God on earth. The very fact that they were disobedient to God is referred to as the ‘original sin’ of man (Harent). Although theologists have ascribed various meanings to ‘original sin’ through the ages, it is the original sin that is believed to have brought mankind from the Garden of Eden down to earth – a place where toil and suffering are realities of daily living. Believers in the original sin are made to agree that they are imperfect beings, unlike God, which is why they were sent down to earth by the almighty God (Harent). But, the Christ taught his followers to become perfect like God in order to save themselves from all suffering, especially in the hereafter. This teaching of the Christ is consonant with the concept of ‘Buddha nature’ in Buddhism. Both the Christ and the Buddha taught that every individual is capable of becoming perfect, like the Buddha or the Christ, if not God Himself (King). In order to become perfect, human beings have to rid themselves of all baseness, including negative emotions and thoughts, that is, the roots of all evil. Without a negative thought or emotion, evil deeds are not possible. Thus, clearing of the mind to make way for ultimate peace is the way of the Buddha. Buddhism is concerned with individuals ridding themselves of suffering here and now (King). To become Christ-like – here and now – is the aim of the Buddhist, although Buddhism does not refer to Jesus Christ by his name as the Christians do. The Bible teaches its followers that human beings were made in the image of God, and that, in fact, the Lord of the universe breathed His Spirit into man. The Christ is the Spirit of God. Hence, every human being has the Christ within. When human beings indulge in evil deeds, it is Satan that is urging them to do so. It was Satan that urged man to disobey God in the Garden of Eden. The concept of original sin carries with itself the belief that Satan would continue to urge human beings – the children of Adam and Eve – to disobey God. But, the prophets of God taught humanity to remember God and worship Him in all sincerity so as to save themselves from Hellfire or eternal suffering. Buddhists do not believe in the idea of eternal suffering. They believe in â€Å"samsara† instead, which is a cycle of birth and rebirth, so long as human beings have not attained the perfection of the Buddha (King 1). Christians do not believe in this cycle of birth and rebirth. It is only special people such as Jesus Christ, Elias and some of the best believers that may be reincarnated. For ordinary mortals, Christianity does not promise a second birth, except in paradise or hell, both of which are believed to be eternal, unlike temporary lives on earth. Buddhists believe that the Buddha nature cannot exist outside of the human mind, although the Buddha is like the Spirit of God – all-encompassing (King). To be a Buddha, an ordinary mortal is advised to work on his mind. According to a master of Zen Buddhism: To realize our Buddha-nature, two general conditions must be met. First, we must be sentient beings. Looking around, I think that we all qualify! The Buddha calls this the direct cause. It is analogous to milk from which cream can be derived. Next, it is important to know what a sentient being is. A sentient being is, roughly speaking, spirit. Dont be confused and just assume that a sentient being is an animal or a plant, or even the five aggregates. It isnt. Your thoughts, for example, are sentient beings— but not a common fence post. The second condition you must fulfill in order to realize Buddha-nature is the indirect cause. The indirect cause refers to the six paramitas according to the Maahaparinirvaana Sutra†¦ The first paramita is charity. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of the visual world and thereby become spiritually wealthy†¦ The second paramita is discipline. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of the auditory world and acquire good spiritual practices and concentration†¦ The third paramita is patience. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of the olfactory world and acquire inner peace, both for self and for others†¦ The fourth paramita is strength. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of the world of taste and acquire devotion†¦ The fifth paramita is meditation. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of tactile sensations†¦ The sixth paramita is wisdom. By mastering it, we surpass the robber of consciousness†¦ (â€Å"Buddha-Nature†). The fact that the Buddhist master writes about realizing the Buddha nature – just as the Christ taught about becoming perfect and holy like God – underlines the concept of the original sin. Because human beings are capable of turning the wrong way, people like the Buddha and the Christ are sent as guides, according to Biblical beliefs about the presence of such people. The Bible teaches its believers that Adam and his children are all capable of sinning or indulging in evil deeds. God desires for them to perform good deeds instead, with the use of His Spirit within. To realize the Buddha nature is to attain knowledge of the Christ within each human being. Because human beings perform evil deeds in order to feel like masters over their environment – and Adam disobeyed God because God’s Spirit was capable of using freewill – the Christ taught his followers to shun all evil in order to experience their own power in God. Satan had the power to tempt the Christ as well, but the latter did not give in. If evil is all about attaining mastery over things, perfect peace, according to the Buddha and the Christ, is to live in the purity of God – although Buddhists do not refer to God as the Christians do. To realize the Buddha nature, one must not only be aware of the Christ within, as a Christian would understand it; but also to comprehend the concept of the original sin. A realized human being, according to Buddhist understanding, is aware that negative thoughts and emotions may arrive through the senses. Coming across a criminal, for example, may fill an innocent human being with negative thoughts and emotions. These thoughts and emotions may give rise to further problems; the innocent human being may decide to kill the criminal. In order to be safe from all suffering and worries, the Buddha taught his followers to contain their thoughts, and trust in the absolute peace available to every soul. This peace is only attainable through control of the mind (King). Buddhists are also taught to empty their minds because thoughts may lead individuals to continue on the path of the original sin (King). According to the Christ, on the other hand, the mind must be infiltrated by thoughts of God. To live in God – a Christian concept – is also to discover ultimate peace here and now. Because of the original sin, however, it is important to worship God – according to Christian belief. Buddhists are clear about the fact that the mind may lead the individual to err. Of course, Adam had thought to err before he actually sinned. As its name implies, the concept of Buddha nature is to be like the Buddha, an individual referred to as the holy one or the perfect one. Once again, according to Buddhists, clearing of the mind is essential to being like the Buddha. In reality, however, it is not always possible to keep the mind clear of all thoughts. This is the reason why the Christ’s teachings are essential to discuss with reference to the Buddha nature. Living in God is to remember Him as much as possible. Some of the names of God are Love and Peace. The aim of the Buddhist is also to realize these attributes in order to be saved from the suffering of the original sin. Neither the Buddha nor the Christ taught that it is possible to save oneself from the perpetual possibility to err in this lifetime. Thus, believers in the Buddha and the Christ are required to make a constant effort to save themselves from eternal damnation. Buddhists must be practicing meditation to stay close to their essential nature, that is, the Buddha nature or the Christ within. Christians, on the other hand, must be worshipping God as the principle form of meditation to stay close to God. According to the Bible, the consequences of the original sin would follow all human beings during their stay on earth. In the hereafter, Satan would be in hellfire with those that refused to shun all evil. Those that remembered and worshipped God as He wanted them to would be saved. Of course, when Buddhists speak of compassion and charity, they are also remembering God’s attributes, albeit in a different way altogether. Followers of the Buddha and the Bible also believe in the perpetual negativity of the original sin, that, in fact, negative thoughts and emotions are always available to humanity on earth. The principle difference between the two beliefs systems is that the God mentioned in the Bible does not allow all human beings to be reincarnated. Buddhists belief in a perpetual cycle of life and death so long as an individual has not attained permanent liberation. According to the Biblical belief system, however, the present life is the only chance for most human beings to catch up with masters such as the Christ. Adam and Eve were sent to earth with the potential to err. At the same time, each of them carried the Spirit of God or the Christ within. By meditating on this reality, the Buddha nature can be realized. Then again, according to the Bible, even the prophets of God had to continue worshipping God to keep themselves from evil thoughts that lead to evil deeds. In reality, therefore, all human beings are perfect like the Buddha and the Christ; at the same time, nobody is saved from the possibility to err. Works Cited â€Å"Buddha-Nature. † Dark Zen. 26 Oct 2008. http://www. darkzen. com/teachings/buddha_nature. htm. Harent, Stephane. Original Sin. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 26 Oct. 2008 http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/11312a. htm. King, Sallie B. Buddha Nature. New York: SUNY Press, 1991.

Where Fashion Inspiration Comes From Cultural Studies Essay

Where Fashion Inspiration Comes From Cultural Studies Essay In the words of Coco Chanel, Fashion is about what is happening. Fashion designers always use the idea of inspiration is on the street. Consumers themselves especially the young ones, are very inventive and inquisitive about clothing and designers look to this for inspiration and innovation when creating new ideas. One typical fashion initiated many years ago by the young and ordinary people off the street, are jeans, now every designer has their own signature version. Trends and the latest looks follow todays shifting society. Sports events like the Olympics and what is happening in the media, movies and music also reflect fashion. Famous celebrities are an excellent opportunity to promote new looks and influence ideas. The runways mirror what is happening in the world and fashion designers use this to create their work. In the fashion world they call it the bubble-up-effect, which could be another reason to why fashion appears to have a similar look or theme, especially if all designers are tuning into the spirit of the current times for inspiration. Carl Jungs theory about the collective unconscious which studied peoples minds and showed that it is inevitable in todays ever growing society for individuals to reflect and think the same ideas, at the same time. Is this not a consideration to designers when accusing other people of copying and plagiarising their work, that instead these designs, are original in their own right, especially when all designers are looking at the world around them, to influence their work. Clothes are about dressing a human being and the proportions of the human body are split into three blocks. The head, the trunk, which runs from the shoulders to the pubis and finally the extremities, which include two arms and two legs (Martin,2009,pg73). Apparel has to fit around this shape, so it could be argued that designs will take on similar looks to others, as no dress would be made to fit a three armed person. Fashion forcasting within the industry has become big business and plays a huge part when informing designers and their team, of what is deemed to be the newest fashion themes and colours for the following season. Agencies such as Nelly Rodi based in Paris have over 30 trend forecasters who travel all over the world gathering photographs, illustrations and fabric swatches for inspiration for their trend-books. Each season this agency produces separate trend books incuding knitwear, colours, prints and ready-to-wear to be sent to their clients which include Mango, HM, Givenchy amongst other high profiled prà ªt a porter designers (Seivewright, 2007,pg 82/83). There are lots of these agencies around including Style-Vision, Trendspotter, Informat who all do exactly the same job. However, an online service called Worth Global Style Network created in 1998 is the leading online trend-analysis and research service, which in a click of the mouse provides creative and business intelligence for the apparel, style, design and retail industries. (wgsn,online). This appears to be the quickest means to get the latest information to designers quotes Roger Tredre, the WGSNs editor-in-chief especially with the ever changing nature of fashion, speed is of the essence (Seivewright, 2007,pg 86). It is extremly difficult to speak to a designer and ask them were they get their inspiration from, as nobody wants to give away their sources and of course, nobody would ever admit to using other peoples ideas. However, according to a New York based fashion designer designers do look to other designers for inspiration (see appendix 1). However the word homage always appears to be an influential tool in designing. This could be either an old iconic fashion designer, such as the late Christian Dior who inspired collections for Vivienne Westwood, with his new look of the late 1940s and also paintings from French Rococo artist Jean-Antoine Watteau. Vivienne Westwood, in an interview for the Victoria and Albert Museum, spoke about how Christian Dior had inspired her through his designs, one being the long black fitted wool new look dress. This is a form of tribute and homage to a designer, as instead of stealing his original ideas and innovation, she has celebrated him for influencing her work, as she was a teenager growing up when this magical look was around and women were starting to dress more glamorous. Today Vivienne Westwood finds her inspiration from the past especially in the VAs collections of fashion, furniture and paintings. (vam,2004,online) However, in the case of Muiccia Prada homage and inspiration is purchasing a jacket in an expensive Paris vintage store called Didier Ludot and the next season this identical Dior jacket is in the new Prada collection. No different in design to the one bought previously from Paris. This surely is not homage rather design theft. Topshop or any other high street store would not get away with this stolen innovation, especially if it was a near identical to a influential top end designer such as Prada or Chloe. Fashion designers have always looked back through the archives of history for inspiration. (learcenter,2005,online) From a recent email from a designer who works for Ralph Lauren in New York and who has previously worked for Abercrombie and Fitch, spoke not only about designers looking to other designers for inspiration, but the importance of vintage garments. They also try to copy these vintage designs in more modern fabrics and put their own spin on them. Another idea was looking again at what had previously sold well in the past and updating this in new fabrics and different colours. Another creative and fun idea is using snippets from bought and vintage samples, and merging different ideas together a collar from one style with a pocket of another (Appendix 1). In a Marc Jacobs documentary filmed in 2006,for his 2007 shows, Marc Jacobs who designs for Louis Vuitton as well as under his own label, shows where he gets his inspiration from. He uses walls covered in vintage fashion magazines, posters, flowers and old tortured fabrics to gather new innovation, using snippets from all these sources to enthuse new ideas. Again he looks through the archives of their successful designs and updates previous lines. Bricolage, is a french term used in the creative process of fashion and according to many is one of the primary dynamics. This term simply means reinventing something new by changing elements, mixing and bringing the clothing back to life by inputting new fabrics and stitch ideas. This is evident amongst all designers including Marc Jacobs An old mauve jumper becomes a lovely updated cashmere jumper (youtube,2006,online). With so much dress history available today shown in costume museums and vintage Vogues, as well as other influential magazines, it comes as no surprise that designers will always look to the past or other cultures for inspiration. Vivienne Westwood has in many collections used direct references to historical silhouettes and styles, such as famous paintings. Here is a picture of the Watteau evening dress created by Vivienne Westwood for a collection in 1996. This style is influenced from a Watteau painting of his cousins captured in image 1. It is very obvious in the shape and fullness of this dress that this artist, has inspired her with this creation. Victorian interpretations have always been a source of inspiration for other designers including DG who used the Victorian sleeves to inspire him, when creating a different look to a contemporary denim jacket. Fashion frequently looks to shape and materials of the past, as a form inspiration for new styles, as the workmanship and attention to detail is rarely achievable nowadays. According to Sue Jenkyn Jones who wrote the book Fashion Design, it also triggers a nostalgia for bygone lifestyles and the emotional aspect of clothing is an important element of design (Jones,2005,pg24). New technologies in fabrics and prints have always been seen as a form of inspiration. Designers will often select materials, gaining and enthusing ideas from its look, feel and aesthetics,  before designing a garment. This will then generate ideas from the silhouette and shape the fabric forms. Moodboards and visuals of a theme or idea will then start to be created selecting colours, historical references, lace, trims and eventually, ideas will start to present themselves. Fabric trade shows have a huge impact on the fashion world, however Premiere Vision which is held in Paris, every September, is the largest and the most influential of these events. Over 800 fabric manufacturers, as well as a huge host of designers and buyers attend these shows. Apparently it is not unusual to see designers like Christian Lacroix at these events, looking for inspiration as well as new specialized weaves (Tungate,2005,pg81/82). It is easy to see now were inspiration comes from, however when inspiration gets mistaken for imitation, how fair is this. Resources are put at risk. Designers invest time as well as huge amounts of money sourcing inspiration, testing fabrics, drafting dress patterns and checking that their creations are fresh, innovative and of a quality for there discerning customer. Who pays the price or is it only fair that every fashionista gets a chance to own a piece of luxury.

Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation Essay -- ending slave

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered by Abraham Lincoln. This bold and progressive move by the President declared that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free" (The Library of Congress, 2014). While Lincoln now harbors the fame for ending slavery, his proclamation initially only ended slavery in those states that attempted to separate from the union. The proclamation authorized the recruitment of former slaves into the Union Armies and promoted the eventual creation of a Union without slavery. It was this strategic use of the legal system that allowed Lincoln to manipulate the Border States between the North and South while molding the characteristics of the Civil War. Still, after the war was ended the now freed slaves did not flourish with their new found and hard fought freedoms. The ideal that former slaves were successful after the war is very far from realistic. Many freed slaves faced the new world without necessities such as shoes or clothing to protect them from the environment. During the winters, many freed slaves were out of work and homeless causing them to freeze and starve to death. Being ‘kept’ by slave masters their entire lives, they did not possess any skills outside crop farming to aide them in survival. This lack of experience and materials only served to increase the hardships endured; yet nothing could prepare them for the inequalities they would continue to face. The first inequality they would have to endure was in the form of education. As slaves, it was illegal for them to read or write thus propelling them into ... ...nearly eliminated blacks from the American landscape. Luckily, over the last 151years America has continued to grow and heal from the ugliness that was slavery. In doing so, Americans cherish Lincoln who cemented our ideals that all citizens remain â€Å"†¦forever free" (The Library of Congress, 2014). References Oshinsky, D. M. (n.d.). The Washington Post. Retrieved from Worse Than Slavery: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/worsethanslavery.htm Schuessler, J. (2012, June 10). Books: Liberation as Death Sentence. Retrieved from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/books/sick-from-freedom-by-jim-downs-about-freed-slaves.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 The Library of Congress. (2014, April 10). Retrieved from Primary Documents in AMerican History: Emancipation Proclamation: http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/EmanProc.html

Corporate Average Fuel Economy Essay -- essays research papers

Corporate Average Fuel Economy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The foreshadowed Market Failures of the mid 1970's gave way to Corporate Average Fuel Economy, regulation which would call for new standards in automobile fuel efficiency. The market failures hinged on a number of outside variables which could have had a drastic effect on domestic markets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Resource Scarcity drove the American public to call for a more efficient means of managing its resource use due to a) oil embargos on nondomestic products and b) skyhigh prices at the pump.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conservation of the world's non-renewable resources cams to the foreground with a) higher pump prices and b) forecasted resource expenditure before the year 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Corporate Average Fuel Economy in place the market failures should be partially alleviated and pressures due to restricted international resources should subside. The regulated fuel efficiency should allow the market to resume its national flow and regain stability without further manipulation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reliance on imported fuels would be minimized because of the a) decreased demand for fuel consumption and b) lowered fuel demand allowed for domestic producers to meet the basic needs of the public.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maximum fuel efficiency would a) cut the amount of fuel consumption thus nullifying high pump prices and b) raise the level of conservati...

Designing a New System for Gala Visions :: Video Rentals Consumerism Essays

Designing a New System for Gala Visions Gala Visions is a widely growing video rental outlet for most of the Asian community where both Hollywood and Bollywood movies are found, I will be using ICT to design a new system for it. Analysis ======== Background to the problem ------------------------- Gala Visions is small video rental store on Whalley Range in Blackburn. The store is home to the many different genres of movies through Hollywood and Bollywood. It is run by Fakhir. Identification of Prospective Users ----------------------------------- Gala Visions is a widely growing video rental outlet for most of the Asian community where both Hollywood and Bollywood movies are found. Because of this, the outlet has grown out of the manual system that is at use for the renting of Video's/Dvd's. Its main problem is it is very slow and unreliable. Fakhir has been looking for alternative systems to upgrade the current system and to increase effectiveness in the business. Identification of User Needs ---------------------------- I myself do go to Gala Visions to hire Video's/Dvd's of all genres. Fakhir has granted me full co-operation from his side to carry out my Computing Coursework which if effective enough he may invest in a computer with the system that I am going to produce. Q) How many videos/Dvd's do you have in stock? A) 3000+. Q) Do you rent out both Hollywood and Bollywood Movies? A) Yes we do but we only rent particular Hollywood box office smash hits. Q) Do you rent out all genres of movies? A) Yes. Q) How does the current rental system work? A) It's a manual, paper pen based system. Q) What happens when a person wants to hire a video/Dvd out? A) Once the customer is happy with its choice we take their name and address. We scan through the record book to check if that person is registered. Then we take that persons id number, which is given to all customers, and label a hire form. The customer details i.e. Name, Address is also labelled. That's it. Q) What time limit is the Video/Dvd rented out for? A) 1 Day. Q) What happens when a Video/Dvd is returned? A) We cross off the rental on the hire form. Q) How do you know that all the Video's/Dvd's have been returned? A) Normally we check through the hire form but sometimes we don't, as it is very time consuming. Q) What happens when Videos/Dvd's are overdue? A) We normally charge extra. Q) What happens if the Video/Dvd is not returned? A) We send a reminder through the post and then issue recovery procedures. Q) How many copies of each Video/Dvd do you normally keep? Designing a New System for Gala Visions :: Video Rentals Consumerism Essays Designing a New System for Gala Visions Gala Visions is a widely growing video rental outlet for most of the Asian community where both Hollywood and Bollywood movies are found, I will be using ICT to design a new system for it. Analysis ======== Background to the problem ------------------------- Gala Visions is small video rental store on Whalley Range in Blackburn. The store is home to the many different genres of movies through Hollywood and Bollywood. It is run by Fakhir. Identification of Prospective Users ----------------------------------- Gala Visions is a widely growing video rental outlet for most of the Asian community where both Hollywood and Bollywood movies are found. Because of this, the outlet has grown out of the manual system that is at use for the renting of Video's/Dvd's. Its main problem is it is very slow and unreliable. Fakhir has been looking for alternative systems to upgrade the current system and to increase effectiveness in the business. Identification of User Needs ---------------------------- I myself do go to Gala Visions to hire Video's/Dvd's of all genres. Fakhir has granted me full co-operation from his side to carry out my Computing Coursework which if effective enough he may invest in a computer with the system that I am going to produce. Q) How many videos/Dvd's do you have in stock? A) 3000+. Q) Do you rent out both Hollywood and Bollywood Movies? A) Yes we do but we only rent particular Hollywood box office smash hits. Q) Do you rent out all genres of movies? A) Yes. Q) How does the current rental system work? A) It's a manual, paper pen based system. Q) What happens when a person wants to hire a video/Dvd out? A) Once the customer is happy with its choice we take their name and address. We scan through the record book to check if that person is registered. Then we take that persons id number, which is given to all customers, and label a hire form. The customer details i.e. Name, Address is also labelled. That's it. Q) What time limit is the Video/Dvd rented out for? A) 1 Day. Q) What happens when a Video/Dvd is returned? A) We cross off the rental on the hire form. Q) How do you know that all the Video's/Dvd's have been returned? A) Normally we check through the hire form but sometimes we don't, as it is very time consuming. Q) What happens when Videos/Dvd's are overdue? A) We normally charge extra. Q) What happens if the Video/Dvd is not returned? A) We send a reminder through the post and then issue recovery procedures. Q) How many copies of each Video/Dvd do you normally keep?

Directness and Indirectness in Different Contexts Essay

In modern life, people communicate with others in different ways; for instance, the way that directness or indirectness can affect the success or failure of communication. So, we wonder which way is better for human communications. The definition of directness is the character of being accurate in course or aim or straightforwardness , the quality of being clear, plain, or easy to understand . The definition of indirectness is not said or done in a clear and direct way or stating what a real or supposed original speaker said with changes in wording that conform the statement grammatically to the sentence in which it is included . Speakers use a different register when speaking to different people, such as children, elderly people, peers, superiors, friends, strangers. So , when people talk to each other, they should consider the context, the situation, and then use the right way to communicate.. Position or social status is an important element of choosing whether directness or indirectness. When in a superior position, people tend to use more directness to their inferiors ,by contrast, people use indirect way when they are in a lower or subordinate position. Subordinates usually are more mitigated—polite, tentative or indirect. For example, in a company, as employees, they have to talk to their boss indirectly and politely; even their boss make mistakes, they cannot indicate directly if they do not want be laid off. Otherwise, bosses just talk to the employees directly. But the ones in power had the option of choosing which style to use. It was precisely because of his higher status that the boss was free to choose whether to speak formally or informally, to assert his power or to play it down and build rapport—an option not available to the subordinate, who would have seemed cheeky if she had chosen a style that enhanced friendliness and closeness. In this spirit, if your boss request you something with indirectness,you should not only get the real meaning but also you should manage it, or you may in trouble. Another reason that affects communication is how people related to each other, or social distance, those who have closer relations tend to talk in a more direct way. For instance, they can talk to their parents directly anytime; talking directly is much better to parents; as a result, children should be honest to their parents. Moreover, as a close friend, they also need be honest to each other, so talk directly is a right way to them. When their close friends make any fault, as close friends, they should indicate directly; that is a good way for both of them. On the other hand, people need to talk to their in-laws indirectly; moreover, people should be also respect to elder people. When in a special circumstances, or in emergency, people must use direct way of speaking, otherwise it will cause serious consequences, such as the conversations between the co-pilot and the captain in the text. If people in a urgent situation, they should speak directly even they are subordinates. If not, the superior one would more likely to ignore hints from their crew members than the other way around. The use of indirectness can hardly be understood without the cross-cultural perspective. Communication in any culture is a matter of indirectness. Only a part of meaning resides in the words spoken; the largest part is communicated by hints , assumptions , and audience filling-in from context and prior experience. Americans as a group tend to ignore or even rail against indirectness. For Japanese, Arabian, or the Mediterraneans, â€Å"small talk† is big and essential in business dealings. Non-Americans, and American women, more often realize that much of what is meant cannot be said outright. Cross-culturally it becomes a maddening guessing game that most entrants lose. Cultural differences in listening behavior can be categorized as direct or indirect. In direct listening cultures such as France, Germany, and the United States, people listen primarily for facts and concrete information. Listeners in these cultures also confront speakers directly and feel comfortable asking questions. In indirect listening cultures such as Finland, Japan, and Sweden, people listen in a very different manner. Interruptions do not occur while the speaker is talking, and politeness is part of the listener’s behavior. Indirect messages allow you to express your desire with-out offending or insulting the one interacting with you, but often at the sacrifice of your own feeling. Instead of saying,â€Å" I am bored with the conversation, â€Å" you say , â€Å" It’s getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow, â€Å" or you look at your watch and pretend to be surprised by the time. Instead of saying , â€Å" This food tastes horrible ,†you say ,â€Å" This food tastes different . â€Å" Instead of saying ,â€Å" You look terrible in this dress ,â€Å" you are likely to say ,â€Å" I like the dress you wore yesterday. † However, different people have different ideas; some people think that talking directly can show the point clearly ; and others think that being indirect can be much more polite; otherwise, they think that talking directly is rude to people. The ways that talking directly or indirectly are very important in our life. People should use these properly. These two systems can affect the communication success or failure. And sometimes the different culture also will affect the way that people talk directly or indirectly. Nevertheless, different situations and relationship are two of the most important effects. Therefore, learning how to use a right way to communicate to each other is a very important part in our life.

Determination of the vitamin D status of adults living in the UK and identification of factors influencing the efficacy of dietary intervention

Introduction There is overwhelming clinical evidences that vitamin D plays a significant role in terms of the normal functioning of human body. One of the most common functions of vitamin D is to ensure normalcy in maintaining blood levels of both calcium and phosphate. The two elements are essential for normal bone mineralisation, contraction of muscles, conduction of nerves, and other general body cellular functions. As such, deficiency of vitamin D is associated with various adverse health complications including failure in proper bone development, cancer, and heart diseases (Holick, 2011, p.6). A review of several studies has also established evidence that vitamin D replacement can boots longevity among other health benefits (Gaddipati, et al. 2010). Adequate synthesis of vitamin D3 from the skin, everyday diet and supplements is essential for health of bones. In addition to the well-known role of vitamin D in regulating calcium metabolism, active form of vitamin D is also associated with ant i-proliferative as well as immunomodulatory effects that are linked to several serious conditions such as cancer, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, tuberculosis, dementia among other illnesses (Zitterman,et al., 2001). There have been concerns that vitamin D deficiency is significantly increasing in the western nations, and the likelihood of the problem becoming an epidemic in itself worries nutritionists as well as medical practitioners alike (Hypponen and Power (2007). A recent survey in England has revealed a worrying statistics that half of the adult population does not have sufficient levels of vitamin D (Pearce and Cheetham, 2010). The same study also revealed that 16% of this population has experienced severe hypovitaminosis D during winter and spring, with the highest rate being residents of Northern England regions. It is perhaps unsurprising that there have been increasing calls for regular screening during normal health care services. The concerns over vitamin D deficiency has led to a shift over the past decade, with several researchers striving to establish some of the most common risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency (Holick, 2004). In a study to establish difference in propensity to vitamin D deficiency between metabolically health and unhealthy obese adults, Esteghamati et al. (2004) found out that metabolically healthy obese registered more concentration of vitamin D than metabolically unhealthy obese. This difference persisted even after accounting for body mass index (BMI) and circumference of the individuals’ waists. Further, there was significantly better metabolic status and higher concentration of serum 25-hydro vitamin D among the subjects with metabolically healthy obesity. The researchers also noted that the metabolically unhealthy subjects had higher concentrations of liver enzymes and inflammatory markers. In February 2014, Health & Social Care Information centre released a report on obesity, physical activity, and diet in England, which indicated that obesity cases were on the rise (HSCIC, 2014). The data indicate that there has been a significant increase in the proportion of obese populat ion from 13.2 percent in 1993 to 24.4 percent of men in 2012. Women recorded a similarly high increase during the same period from 16.4 percent to 25.1 percent. Linking this data to relationship between obesity and vitamin D deficiency, it prudent to highlight that vitamin D deficiency prevalence is a point researchers should note with keenness it deserves. The extent to which vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem in Britain is believed to have increased for several reasons ranging from lifestyle to weather patterns. On lifestyle as a factor, Hypponen and Power (2007) states that the sedentary lifestyle in the western world, including Great Britain, leads to vitamin D deficiency, which is exacerbated by a number of other factors including working indoors during daylight hours, high latitude and a mostly cloudy climate in regions such as Manchester. Statistics also indicate that vitamin D dietary intake is much lower in Great Britain compared to other western nations incl uding United States and Canada (Calvo et al, 2005, p.314). The variance in dietary intake of vitamin D between Britain, on the one hand, and United States and Canada, on the other, may be due to the mandatory fortification of both milk and margarine in the USA and Canada. Some of the most common food sources rich in vitamin are fish, liver, fortified margarine and fortified cereals. However, clinical nutritional assessments of natural food items suggest that with the exception of fish and cod liver oil, most natural food stuff contains minimal vitamin D, if any (Brough et al., 2010). Significantly, it is important to note that insufficient natural sources for vitamin D is a risk factor in itself, and should be taken into consideration when plans are put into place to tackle the problem. Moreover, vitamin D supplements’ availability cannot be described as reliable since demand always exceeds supply (Brough et al., 2010). Studies have revealed that there are high rates of vitam in D deficiency all over Great Britain, particularly in the cloudy regions like Manchester and Scotland (Pal et al., 2003). Obesity is a well-known risk factor for vitamin D deficiency, and its high prevalence in Great Britain is likely to affect vitamin D status in the population of high-risk regions such as Greater Manchester. In another nationwide study conducted to investigate the demographic characteristics of white population and possibility of supplements use, it emerged that women and non-obese participants were more likely to use vitamin D supplements (Gaddipati et al, 2010). Similarly, residents of Northern England were found to consume less oily fish, an important source of vitamin D, compared to their Southern counterparts. The study concurs with reports that people living on the Northern England and Scotland have higher risk of hypovitaminosis D (Roy et al., 2007; Holick, 2004). In fact, those who are obese and also live in high-risk regions have a likelihood of having vitamin D deficiency twice as high as other obese people living in other areas of Great Britain. Vitamin D deficiency has also been reported to be prevalent among minority communities living in Great Britain (de Roos et al, 2012). Some ethnic minorities living in Great Britain are more susceptible to vitamin D deficiency than other groups. According to Brough et al. (2010), minority ethnic communities, particularly those who trace their roots to Indian subcontinent and Africa as they tend to suffer from rise in skin pigmentation. They are also found to increase their susceptibility to vitamin D deficiency by wearing clothes that tend to cover their entire bodies and staying indoors longer hours during the day (de Roos et al, 2012; Brough et al., 2010). Other researchers recognise the need to increase vitamin D supplement intake among the minority population, amid report that there are no consistent or routine supply of vitamin D; neither are there recognised screening programs targeting this group (Dealberto, 2006). A study looking at population demographics in the North West has revealed that the region has increasing number older people (North West Regional Assembly Report, 2000). As stated earlier, elderly people are at high-risk of vitamin D deficiency. Clinical studies have investigated age-related decline in vitamin D intake, including rate of skin absorption and response to targeted methods of increasing vitamin D through dietary interventions (Shaw and Pal, 2002). Several other studies have also linked low vitamin D status with people living in low economic status (Dealberto, 2006.). In many of these linkages, the authors cite issues such as poor nutrition, poor lifestyle and inability to afford supplements. For instance, poor nutrition intake is prevalent in regions with high poverty rate, mostly affecting middle aged women of child-bearing age (Brough et al., 2010). According to Brough et al. (2010) a socially deprived population cannot afford some of the basic nutrients essential for normal metabolic function such as vitamin D and thus resort to ‘shortcuts of life’ while exposing their immune system to chronic diseases. Poverty report released by the Greater Manchester Poverty Commission in 2002 identified Manchester as one of the regions with the highest cases of extreme poverty, with 25 percent of its population living in abject poverty (GMPC, 2012). The report further reveal that poor families cannot protect themselves from winter temperature, which makes them stay indoors longer than other UK residence with average annual income. This can only mean that they have higher risk from vitamin D deficiency. OECD report (2014) suggests that the first step in ensuring low income community members in the United Kingdom are protected from lifestyle related diseases is through social interventions. Tests have revealed that modest rise in vitamin D intake of up to 20 Â µg per day for this group can significantly reduce the rate of bone fracture (Hypponen and Power, 2007). The findings have raised focus by agencies and researchers, who have recommended that vitamin D intake for the elderly should raised from the current 5Â µg per day to between 10-20Â µg per day in order to maintain the normal hydroxy vitamin D of 25 (de Roos, 2012, p.6). Considering the need to increase vitamin D intake among the population at risk of vitamin D deficiency, the UK Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) recommended that people eat at least 280 g of fish per week, with preference to oily fish (de Roos, Sneddon and Macdonald, 2012, p.6). The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) endorsed the COMA recommendation, emphasising that this is the bare minimum fish consumption recommended for the average population goal to achieve the desired vitamin D status. However, they acknowledged that this recommendation does not represent the level of fish consumption required for optimal nutritional benefits. The campaign to encourage more UK population, particularly those living in North Western region, should be directed at increasing oily fish intake by at least 280 Â µg per week as statistics indicate that majority of them do not consume enough fish (de Roos, 2012; Holick, 2011; Hypponen and Power, 2007). Although studies (de Roos, 2012; Holick, 2004) have dwelt on the need for multiple interventions ranging from dietary to medical, of more significant for the efficacy of dietary intervention is the need for education among the population on the importance of adopting healthy diet and lifestyle. This is mostly recommended for the high-risk persons including the low-income population, those living in marginally wet and cloudy regions including Manchester, obese, and young women of child bearing age group. References Brough. L., Rees, G., Crawford, M.A. Morton. R.H. and Dorman, E.K. 2010. Effect of multiple- micronutrient supplement on maternal nutrient status, infant birth weight and gestational age at birth in a low-income, multi-ethnic population. British Journal of Nutrition, 104 (3): 437- 445. Calvo, M.S., Whiting, S.J. and Barton, C.N. 2005. Vitamin D intake: a global perspective of current status. J Nutr 135: 310–6. de Roos, B. Sneddon, A. and Macdonald, H. 2012. Fish as a dietary source of healthy long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) and vitamin D: A review of current literature. Food & Health Innovation Service, available at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/rowett/documents/fish_final_june_2012.pdf. Dealberto, M.J. 2006. Why immigrants at increased risk for psychosisVitamin D insuffiency, epigenetic mechanisms, or bothMedical Hypothesis, Vol. 68, pp. 259- 267. Esteghamati, A., Aryan, Z. and Nakhjavani, M. 2004. Differences in vitamin D concentration between metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese adults: Association with inflammatory and cardiometabolic markers in 4391 subjects. Diabetes & Metabolism, 5 May 2014, Available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1262363614000469 Gaddipati, V.C., Kuriacose, R. and Copeland R., et al. 2010. Vitamin D deficiency: an increasing concern in peripheral arterial disease. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 11(5): 308-11. Greater Manchester Poverty Commission (GMPC). 2012. Research Report . The Centre for Local Economic Strategies. Holick, M.F. 2011. Vitamin D: a d-lightful solution for health. J Investig Med. 59(6):872-80. Holick MF. 2004. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 80 (suppl):1678S–88S. HSCIC. 2014. Statistics on Obesity, physical Activity and Diet. Health & Social Care Information Centre, England 26 February 2014. Hypponen, E. and Power, C. 2007. Hypovitaminosis D in British adults at age 45 y: nationwide cohort study of dietary and lifestyle predictors. Am J Clin Nutr, 85(3): 860-868. North West Regional Assembly, 2000. An Aging Population: Impact for the North West. North West Regional Laboratory. Lancaster University. Available at www.northest-england.org.uk. OECD Report. (2014). Society at a Glance 2014 Highlights: United Kingdom OECD Social Indicators. Last accessed on 19 May 2014 at http://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/OECD-SocietyAtaGlance2014-Highlights-UnitedKingdom.pdf Pal , B.R., Marshall ,T. and James, C. 2003. Shaw NJ. Distribution analysis of vitamin D highlights differences in population subgroups: preliminary observations from a pilot study in UK adults. J Endocrinol. 179:119–29. Pearce, S.H. and Cheetham, T.D. January, 2010. Diagnosis and management of Vitamin D deficiency. BMJ, 11: 340. Roy D.K, Berry J.L., Pye, SR et al. 2007. Vitamin D status and bone mass in UK South Asia women. Bone 40(1): 200-4. Epub 2006 Sep 6. Shaw, N.J and Pal, B.R. 2002. Vitamin D deficiency in UK Asian families: activating a new concern. Arch Dis Child, 86: 147-149, Available at http://adc.bmj.com/content/86/3/147.full Zittermann A, Schleithoff SS, Koerfer R. 2005. Putting cardiovascular disease and vitamin D insufficiency into perspective. Br J Nutr 94: 483–92.

Parliamentary Ombudsman Essay

The Ombudsman deals with issues that had resulted in questions in Parliament. The Ombudsman is the custodian of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. Schedule 2 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, requires of certain institutions to assist the Ombudsman in disclosing information on request. However there are fifteen exemptions that regulate the release of the information under this Code (Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ombudsman investigates complaints from Members of Parliament that certain information that had been withheld as per the requirements of the Code, was to be revealed. The office of the Ombudsman has to deal with important papers and take decisions by exercising proper judgment. The office of the Ombudsman attempts to resolve complaints before any official action is initiated with regard to them, as such the work of the Ombudsman is informal or unofficial. There are certain restrictions that prevent the active participation of the Ombudsman. In 2005, it was declared that the Information Commissioner was to be bound by the provision of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and should act within the scope of those provisions. Another drawback is that several departments do not cooperate with the office of the Ombudsman and depict reluctance to accept its recommendations. There was an absence of cooperation between the office of the Ombudsman and other departments in resolving complaints. Furthermore, changes in the activities and role of the Ombudsman are subject to legislation (Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 sets out the job description, powers and responsibilities of the Commissioner. The institution of the Ombudsman is autonomous and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  neither reports to the government nor is it a public servant. The Queen on the endorsement of Letters Patent appoints the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s responsibility is to inquire into complaints referred by members of the public in the event of their having sustained loss or injustice due to maladministration by the government departments or other public agencies. These complaints have to be forwarded by a Member of Parliament. The complainants have to   first lodge their complaints with the concerned department and facilitate the concerned officials to act on the complaint before its transmission to some other agency. Not all matters are dealt with by the Ombudsman, because certain complaints are more appropriately redressed by an appeal to a tribunal or by filing a case in a court of law. Many departments can decide on the basis of their discretionary powers. For instance the Legal Aid Board and the Planning Inspectorate are empowered to take independent decisions. If it can be established that a discretionary decision entailed maladministration, then the Ombudsman can intervene and question such acts of maladministration. The Ombudsman can also investigate administrative decisions taken on behalf of courts and tribunals but not the decisions taken directly by courts and tribunals (Parry, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rulings of the Ombudsman are subject to judicial review as in the case of ministerial decisions. In 1994, a court affirmed this important fact in a case. Under the judicial review, it is ascertained if the application of the legislative provisions had been done correctly, while taking a decision. However, the decisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner are rarely subjected to the judicial review process. In April 2004, the High Court rejected a judicial review petition of the representatives of the Equitable Members Action Group, who were contesting the decision taken by the Ombudsman with regard to the regulation of Equitable Life (Parry, 2004). The Ombudsman does not act as courts or tribunals. The Ombudsman’s duty is not to mediate or negotiate as in the case of alternative dispute resolutions. Although the Ombudsman is a distinctive platform for taking important decisions, it is not an alternative in the process of decision making. In R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, judicial review was sought due to the refusal of the authorities to provide information relating to pension schemes. In that case, Justice Bean opined that the Ombudsman exercises very wide discretion under which the Ombudsman can permit a public adversarial hearing in order to educe facts. However such discretionary power of the Parliamentary Ombudsman or the Local Government Ombudsman is subject to Parliament discretion (R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, 2007).   In the event of the occurrence of maladministration or failure to provide service the Ombudsman intervenes and decides the further course of action to be undertaken for effecting redressal. Despite the fact that the decisions of the Ombudsman are final, the courts can initiate a judicial review on these decisions (Principles of Good Administration).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ombudsman comes to the rescue of individuals in order to provide redressal of their complaints against the activities of the government agencies’ activities and other entities. Several types of Ombudsmen are established by legislation. The foremost amongst them is the Parliamentary Commissioner.   There are other authorities who act as ombudsmen such as the Health Service Commissioners who deal with complaints lodged against the Health Service and the Local Commissioners or Local Government Ombudsmen who investigate complaints against local authorities. They resolve complaints by making the necessary recommendations to the departments against whom the complaints had been lodged. They can make public recommendations but they do not possess the power to enforce such recommendations. The Parliamentary Commissioner inquires only into complaints, which are lodged by a Member of Parliament. The general public can approach the Local Government Ombudsmen directly or through a local representative. Individuals are initially required to bring their complaints to a Councillor or an MP. Subsequently, if no action is initiated or if the action initiated is unsatisfactory then the complaint is forwarded to the Ombudsman (Ombudsman, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the responsibility of the Members of Parliament to ensure that the general public has access to relevant authorities, in order to secure redress for maladministration or poor service. However, if they fail to get satisfactory redress or action from those mechanisms then they can approach the Ombudsmen (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ombudsmen can resolve most of the complaints received by them. Efforts have been undertaken in the United Kingdom to attain a general cooperation among several Ombudsmen. There are certain barriers to this laudable objective. Some Ombudsmen are affiliated to the outdated legislative framework, their actions are subject to legislation and there is no direct access. The MPs have to forward complaints to the Ombudsmen if problems arise with public servants. Hence, the citizens need to have direct access to the office of Ombudsmen. There are a number of problems in reforming institutional aspects, in the context of the devolution and decentralization of powers. In the present scenario of multi agency service provision, a coherent complaint handling procedure is urgently needed (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to eliminate potential restraints, there should be a Cabinet Office review of the activities and responsibilities of public sector ombudsmen. There should be institutional reform and the legislative framework should be modified to suit modern day challenges with regard to the operational scope of the Ombudsman (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee or the PACS had acrimoniously criticised several departments for maladministration and inefficiency. Some of these departments were the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the Child Support Agency and the Legal Services Commission. In its report, based on the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the PACS pointed out a number of shortcomings in government bodies. The report criticised the obsolete IT systems of these departments, their failure and unanticipated delays in responding to questions relating to the Hinduja brothers’ case and the queries raised by the Member of Parliament, Peter Mandelson (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The PACS pointed out the failures of administration, departmental apathy and the negative influence of political parties on the administrative process. It also exhorted the Government to respond to the report and initiate immediate action (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Home Office was also criticised for its reluctant and indifferent behaviour towards the Code on Access to Government Information. The Home Office had failed to carry out a decision of the Ombudsman when the latter ruled that the former had to reveal information regarding the number of times Ministers had declared their interests. This was the first time that a government department had refused to comply with the Ombudsman’s ruling. The PACS considered this to be a dangerous development. The Committee criticised the then Cabinet Secretary for failing to disclose the information on the specious claim that it was beyond the purview of the Ombudsman (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Home Office was further criticised for its indifferent response to the Ombudsman’s inquiries and his request for papers that relate to the case of the Hinduja brothers and Peter Mandelson MP. There were several repeated failures to reply to the Ombudsman’s letters coupled with extraordinary delays and the supply of incorrect and unrelated files to the Ombudsman Office. As such, it could be construed as a conspiracy to withhold the called for information and constituted an administrative failure in the Home Office. The PACS had recommended to the Government that it should immediately initiate action to correct such maladministration and to reform the entire Ombudsman system (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The number of complaints with regard to tax credits, to the Parliamentary Ombudsman is gradually increasing. Nearly twenty – six percent of the total complaints pertain to tax credits. They fall under three categories, namely, the design of the system, mishandling and failures in handling complaints and unjust recovery of overpayments (Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The designing part of the system is a process which Parliament and the government have to consider. The principles of the annualised system are difficult to comprehend by the individuals. Under the present system, overpayments and underpayments are inevitable and take place despite the best possible administration. This leads to the dissatisfaction among individuals and gives rise to several complaints. Such dissatisfaction and distress are often experienced by the low income group families, who are required to return the debts unexpectedly. In some cases, they may be required to repay the debt after a long period of time had elapsed (Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The British Constitution had provided an important position to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The fundamental role of the Ombudsman is to provide efficient and productive redress to the complainants against acts of maladministration by the government bodies. In achieving this efficient alternative redress provider status, the Parliamentary Ombudsman requires mutual cooperation between several departments and the office of the Ombudsman. However, the reality is otherwise and resistance and apathy are exhibited by several governments department, while responding to the inquiries of the office of the Ombudsman. For instance, during the period 2005 to 2006 the Parliamentary Ombudsman was compelled to submit a special report when the findings of the Ombudsmen were rejected by several government departments (Kirkhamn, Sep2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parliamentary Ombudsman submitted a special report with regard to the investigation in to the proceedings of the ex gratia schemes for the British groups engaged by the Japanese during the World War II. The Special Report was submitted to the Parliament under section 10(3) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967. This report discussed the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s powers and their legal aspects in quite some detail. It also discussed the functions of the ombudsman and its powers in interpreting the inquiry process. It also focussed on the power of ombudsman to investigate acts of maladministration by government bodies. In one particular instance, the Ministry of Defence had challenged the authority of the ombudsman in investigating claims of maladministration against it and held that this constitute trespass into its authority. This Ministry contended that such a prerogative was solely the province of the courts and not that of the ombudsman (Kirkhamn, Sep2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This Special Report clearly established the authority of the government bodies and public authorities and the extent to which the ombudsman could conduct investigations into their alleged acts of maladministration. The conclusion to be reached from these developments is that the parliamentary ombudsman has become more or less redundant and does not serve any useful purpose. Moreover, this body cannot compel any government department to comply with its decisions (Kirkhamn, Sep2006). Another drawback with the ombudsman system is that the person, who lodges a complaint, has to wait for a considerable period of time, prior to any decision being taken with regard to the complaint. A number of cases were observed to have been abandoned by the complainants due to this inordinate delay. In comparison, the judicial process is much faster. Moreover, the ombudsman system cannot compel the government bodies to accept its decision. On an average, the time taken to take a decision by the ombudsman, in respect of a complaint, was around two years (Caplan, 2006. P. 203). References Caplan, R. (2006. P. 203). International Governance of War – Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction. Oxford University Press. Kirkhamn, R. (Sep2006). Challenging the Authority of the Ombudsman: The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Special Report onWartime Detainees. Modern Law Review , Vol. 69 Issue 5, p792-818, 27p; DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2230.2006.00610.x; (AN 21979909). Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmpubadm/1086/108603.htm Ombudsman. (2004). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from In Dictionary of Politics and Government: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6505736 Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits. (2007, June). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Press release: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/news/press_releases/pr2007_06.html Parry, K. (2004, June 8). Ombudsman decisions: right of appeal. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Parliament & Constitution Centre Standard Note: SN/PC/3079: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-03079.pdf Principles of Good Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2007, from http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/pdfs/pga.pdf Public Administration Select Committee. (n.d.). Pasc Attacks â€Å"Disturbing† Evidence Of Government Administrative Failure. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Session 2002-03. Press Notice No.8: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/public_administration_select_committee/pasc_pn_8.cfm R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, (2007) EWHC 242 Admin (2007). The Ombudsman – who are her customers? (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.bioa.org.uk/otherinfo/AnnAbraham-LakemanLecture.pdf   

The Scarlet Letter: Hester’s Secrets Cause Harm

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, follows the story of Hester Prynne and her dealings with a nasty love triangle and life with the sin of adultery. Hawthorne also outlines the consequences of keeping secrets and the effects it may have on the lives of oneself and others. In this novel, Hester keeps many destructive secrets that harm more than herself and some that she should have shared before it got too late. Hester most likely believed that her secrets harmed herself and spared others pain as long as they were hers and hers alone.However, Hester’s secrets harmed many more people, including her lover Dimmesdale and her husband Chillingworth. Her secrets hurt Dimmesdale the most. When she shared that her husband was Chillingworth, he seemed almost heartbroken at the fact that she would hide such an important piece of information from him. Dimmesdale was also hurt in many ways when she withheld the identity of the father of Pearl from the community, such as ha rming himself to deal with the fact he did not come forth at court.In fact, this very act also resulted in the harm of Chillingworth. He vowed revenge because he did not know who the baby’s father was, which sent him and his health in a downward spiral. Her acts in holding these secrets were destructive in the community as well, not just harmful to a few people. The community as a whole had to deal with the shame of having an adulteress within its jurisdiction and many people were disgusted with the idea of it in the first place.To make matters worse, her secrets caused the downfall of the local minister and doctor, both of which were very esteemed. Her secrets caused Dimmesdale’s aforementioned self harm and Chillingworth’s spite towards him, which when combined sent his health downwards very quickly. He, also sharing the secret, eventually collapsed under the pressure and, in his last sermon, died. Chillingworth died as well because he had spent so much of his time and energy being evil that it impacted his health negatively, which did not mix well with his age.Now the town’s beloved doctor and minister were dead and much of the community was, understandably, distraught. These problems were caused by Hester’s secrets and could have been completely prevented if she shared them with the right people at the right times. She was right to not reveal the identity of her lover in court, as it saved Dimmesdale’s life, but she should have shared with him the identity of her husband.If she had done this right away, Dimmesdale could have avoided Chillingworth completely and not been unaware to the harm that was being done by the doctor. This may have also increased the chances that Chillingworth would remain oblivious to who Dimmesdale really was since their time together would have been severely reduced. Hester should have also shared with Pearl who Dimmesdale really was earlier on to help her understand more about her life an d their strange relationship.Perhaps Pearl could have grown up with Dimmesdale as her father after they retreated to another city, had a more normal childhood. Ultimately, Hester’s secrets harmed many. They were destructive and reckless and perhaps she should have shared some of them in a better fashion at better times. It was these secrets that caused much pain, as they do in many circumstances in life. This may have been one thing Hawthorne was trying to portray in his novel, that secrets hurt more than those who keep them.

Calorie restriction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Calorie restriction - Essay Example This understanding stemmed from direct experiences of the early homo-sapiens. Large-animal kills led to abundant food supply and consumption immediately after the kill and a period of fasting or restriction in food consumption after the food from the kill was exhausted. The period of restricted food consumption ended when the next large-animal kill occurred. This cycle of abundant food consumption and restricted food consumption led to the observation that abundant food consumption led to lethargy, while restricted food consumption provided the benefits of heightened alertness. Eating is a pleasurable experience and desisting from eating not an regimen to follow. Yet, at a time when alertness was critical to the hunting of food and protecting the members of the community, restricted food consumption was practiced among hunters and soldiers, so that their alertness was heightened increasing the chances of a successful hunt for the hunters and success in warding of attacks from the ene mies in the case of the soldiers (Mehta & Roth, 2009). The next step in the understanding of the benefits from restricted food consumption, prior to modern science, came from the spread of the early religions and the religious practices that called for fasting. Asceticism comprising of hard rigors including fasting became an extreme form of religious practice. Mehta & Roth, 2009, p.29, quoting Robert Thurman, define asceticism as â€Å"the impulse in human beings to attempt consciously to improve control over their habitual life processes, with a view to bettering their situation at least in a relative, and, if possible, in an ultimate way†. Remnants of asceticism as a religious practice continue even today among the general populace. Fasting is a continued practice among the followers of several religious faiths in the modern world. For example, the Muslims fast for forty days from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, while the Christians observe restricted food consumption dur ing the Lenten period. Prior to the development of modern science, it was religion that provided a systematic means for humans to exert control over their human condition. It was also possible through established religions to communicate the observations, insights, and explanations throughout the populace and spanning generations. For instance, Ayurveda, the popular branch of cultural medicine practiced in India is steeped in such religious observations, insights and explanations, a part of it dealing with the quantum and quality of foods consumed Calorie restriction as a part of modern medical science has become more relevant in the modern world because of the abundance of food and the economic capacity to purchase and consume large quantities of food. Overeating and consumption of rich foods has become more the norm in daily life than a part of feasting during festive days of the yesteryears. As a consequence of the poor eating habits conditions and diseases associated with it lik e obesity and diabetes type 2, high serum cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease have become a bane of society. The beneficial impact of calorie restriction as a medical intervention on these conditions and diseases thus become more relevant to modern society than ever before (Delaney & Walford,