The effect of methamphetamines on prenatal and postnatal development

Biophysical Information: Biophysical Strengths and Hazards The case study on Kim gives a clear information on the effect of methamphetamines on prenatal and postnatal development. The case study shows that the use of Methamphetamines (Meth) by mothers during the prenatal stage may have serious physical effects during the process of giving birth.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The effect of methamphetamines on prenatal and postnatal development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although there is no clear indication that the use of Meth may affect fetus, the intracranial bleeding that Kim suffered during birth could be attributed to this. The mother used this drug during the prenatal period, and Kim’s blood even tested positive for this drug. Two of the common symptoms of usage of this drug include increased blood pressure and muscle breakdown. These two factors have adverse effects during the del ivery process. Most of the problems that Kim had been suffering from could be attributed to the intracranial bleeding she suffered during birth. It is not clear what could have caused this hemorrhage, but it is possible that the blood pressure and the breakdown of the muscles at this important stage could have resulted in this bleeding. This had forced Kim to lead an abnormal life, especially following the severe development delays. Even if it may not be conclusive to state that Meth used by the mother could be responsible for this, it is very likely that the hemorrhage had a lasting negative impact on this child. This is a clear indication that the use of Meth during prenatal care may have serious negative consequences during postnatal developments. Psychological Information: Psychological Strengths and Hazards Kim’s case presents a number of psychological information on prenatal and postnatal care, in relation to bonding and attachment issues. It is clear from the case that Kim should be taken to foster care. However, the mother has strong attachment with the child. The attachment is so strong that the mother ignores the benefits that she could get from this professional care. Child Protective Service (CPS) would help ensure that the child’s condition is not worsened by any form of neglect from the two parents who are addicted to drugs. The ability of the mother to offer care to this delicate child can be demonstrated by the way the other two children are cared for in this family. However, leaving this child entirely under the mother’s care poses some hazards. For instance, some of the effects of Meth abuse include hallucination and depression. When such symptoms come, the mother may lack the capacity to take care of the child appropriately despite the strong bonding.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Social Information: Soc ial Strengths and Hazards This case also raises some social issues regarding postnatal care for children who have delicate conditions like Kim. The case brings out the importance of having children like Kim taken to foster care, especially when the parents prove to be completely irresponsible. It is important to understand factors that practitioners should consider in making assessments for foster care placements. As Chor (2013) observes, foster care is appropriate when it is confirmed that parents are irresponsible, and the environment at home is not appropriate for postnatal care. Practitioners should consider factors such as availability of the mother and her ability to care for the child, the level of hygiene in the house and its environment, and any possibility of violence from any member of the family towards the child. At Kim’s family, the environment is generally safe, except for the possible threat that may be posed by the young brothers who may need to play with the ir younger sibling. The parents took the two boys away from the family as a way of protecting Kim from their playful activities, but they returned after three days. This is an indication that although the mother is insisting that she is committed to protecting Kim it is possible that she will forget to follow some of the procedures, and this may jeopardize the condition of this child. The inability of Kim to experience normal development could partly be attributed to the interruption in care giving. Therefore, it is important to understand some of the potential consequences of interruptions in care giving. Upon delivery, Kim experienced intracranial bleeding which could have affected delicate organs in the brain. She also tested positive for Crystal Meth at this delicate stage. This means that the child needed professional prenatal care for the normal growth. The health practitioners realized this, and assigned a nurse for this activity. This would have been done effectively if the mother had given her for foster care. The nurse was forced to trust the parents who insisted that they would stop drug abuse, and this would be confirmed by a regular urine drop test. However, both of the parents failed to pass the tests. As a result, this could have contributed to the severe developmental failure in Kim even after eleven months.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The effect of methamphetamines on prenatal and postnatal development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Position Paper Form: Thoughts on Position and Literature Support This case demonstrates that prenatal care is as important as postnatal care, and any negligence at any of the stages may result in serious negative consequences for a child. Kim’s developmental problems can directly be attributed to the intracranial bleeding and premature birth the mother had. She was born prematurely, and experienced hemorrhage in the proc ess. This can be attributed to the parents’ abuse of drugs, especially the use of Meth by the mother. It is an indication that there was lack of prenatal care for the pregnancy. This is supported by the fact that the child tested positive for crystal Meth. As Anderson (1998) observes, it is important for a mother to avoid any hard drugs during prenatal care as a way of protecting fetus. Some of these drugs, Crystal Meth included, always find their way to the fetus through the placenta, and this may affect their development (Buckner, Heimberg, Ecker Vinci, 2013). This means that the parents are directly to blame for the unfortunate incident that occurred during the delivery. The parents have also failed to offer appropriate postnatal care to the child. The father went back to taking beer even after promising that he would avoid the habit. This strongly suggests that these parents have failed to follow the guidelines they were given on how to care for this child. It explains t he severe developmental problems Kim experienced at the age of eleven months. Kim has all the characteristics of failure to thrive and other relevant developmental issues of infancy. This started during premature birth, the intracranial bleeding, and poor postnatal care offered by the parents. Person in the Environment (PIE) Form Social Role It is clear from the case that nurses have social responsibility to ensure that parents act responsibly during prenatal and postnatal care. Kim’s status would have been better if the practitioners had detected crystal Meth in the mother’s blood earlier. Precautionary measures would have been taken. According to Silva and Tavares (2006), any usage of hard drug by the mother during prenatal care may affect the fetus in many ways. Environment As Ashford and LeCroy (2010) observed, the ability of infants to thrive always depends on the kind of postnatal care they are given. The kind of environment offered to an infant at this stage pla ys a pivotal role in ensuring that the child’s development is assured. Kim lacked this positive environment, and this has slowed her rate of development.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mental Disorders Mental disorders can always result from poor prenatal and postnatal care. According to Melo, Suchman, McMahon, Zhang, Mayes, and Luthar (2006), any severe trauma on the brain during birth or at the infancy stage may affect the child’s development causing mental disorders. Kim faces a possible mental disorder, especially due to the trauma that resulted in intracranial bleeding. If she is not given specialized medical attention on time, there is a possibility that she will have to live with a permanent mental disorder that could have been avoided if an appropriate prenatal and postnatal care was offered. Physical Disorders It is possible for an infant to suffer physical disorder if the mother fails to offer an appropriate prenatal or postnatal care as needed. Abuse of crystal Meth by the mother could have resulted in failure of muscles during delivery, which could have caused physical injury on Kim’s skull. Besides the mental injury that could be caused, Kim may be forced to live with other physical disorders resulting from the damage of various parts of brain. References Anderson, V. (1998). Assessing Executive Functions in Children: Biological, Psychological, and Developmental Considerations. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 8(3), 319-349. Ashford, J. B., LeCroy, C. W. (2010). Human behavior in the social environment: a multidimensional perspective. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Buckner, J. D., Heimberg, R. G., Ecker, A. H., Vinci, C. (2013). A biopsychosocial model of social anxiety and substance use. Depression and Anxiety, 30(3), 276-284. Chor, K. (2013). Overview of Out-of-Home Placements and Placement Decision-Making in Child Welfare. Journal Of Public Child Welfare, 7(3), 298-328. Melo, P., Suchman, N. E., McMahon, T. J., Zhang, H., Mayes, L. C., Luthar, S. (2006). Substance-abusing mothers and disruptions in child custody: An attachment perspective. Journal Of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30(3), 197-204. Silva, M., Tavare s, M. (2006). Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Methamphetamine on the Development of the Rat Retina. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1074(1), 590-603. This critical writing on The effect of methamphetamines on prenatal and postnatal development was written and submitted by user Harmony W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Business Ownership Essays

Business Ownership Essays Business Ownership Essay Business Ownership Essay When a business is being set up, the proprietor(s) will decide what type of business ownership to follow. Business ownership will alter for expansion, liability and legal purposes. In this assignment, I will be addressing each category of business ownership, giving advantages and disadvantages in addition to business examples. There are six different forms of business ownership, these are: 3. Private Limited Company (Ltd) 4. Public Limited Company (Plc.) 5. Franchise 6. Co-operative Sole Trader A Sole Trader is any business owned and controlled by one single proprietor. Although the business may only have one owner, the sole proprietor may employ secondary workers. Sole traders do not have a separate legal existence from their owner. Consequently, the owner is personally liable for the business’s debt which may have to be paid out of the owners’ personal capital- this is called Unlimited Liability. The first thing needed to start a sole proprietorship is to document your trading name. As simple as this sounds, one must be very cautious about choosing a name as the wrong name can get you into difficulties. If you are going to work under an alternative name to your personal birth name you must display the name of the owner and an address where documents and records can be served and at your premises. Design letterheads, business cards and signage accordingly. The registering of a business name must be done via the National Business Register. Certain words and expressions such as international, federation and registered are restricted under the Business Names Act 1985 and the Company and Business Names Regulations 1995. Companies House and the National Business Register have lists of these words and details of how to obtain approval to use them. Your business name is not allowed to be the same or too similar to that of another business. If this name does conflict the business of another owner, you could face legal action from the owner of the other business. Check phone books, trade journals and magazines to ensure against any clashes. Also check records of the National Business Register. If you yourself cannot be sure that you have checked all names similar to your own, contact a solicitor. A solicitor will make all necessary checks and also make sure that no business in the future will not conflict your business by trading under a name that is the same or too similar. Advantages- There are few legal formalities in setting up a sole-trading business (the only one being to inform HM Revenue and Customs), which makes starting one simple and quick for anybody. Another advantage is that registration fees are unnecessary and the trader has full control of the running of the business. Also, keeping records and accounts is very simple. Sole Traders can set their own work hours- this allows them to juggle childcare or other careers. Sole Traders also have the ability to make quick decisions as they have nobody to confer with. Disadvantages- Sole Traders have unlimited liability. This means that if the business gets into a lot of debt, the trader’s assets (e.g. home, car etc.) may be taken from them in order to make up the bank’s capital. Banks are reluctant to lend to sole traders, as a consequence- there will be a lack of funding. The sole trader also has full responsibility for the business, which may result in stress. Another downside is that they must produce their own account for Inland Revenue. Why Would a Sole Trader Change to a Partnership? There are various reasons as to why a sole trader would change to a partnership. If a Sole Trader became successful, expansion could be easier if joined with somebody else. The workload is shared between the partners, but so is the profit capital. If one partner wants to expand into another field, it would be highly beneficial to employ a partner with expertise in that particular field. Business Examples Duke’s (a successful interior painting and decorating sole trader) would find it advantageous to expand into a partnership if he decides to spread his business into exterior decorating, employing a partner with skill in that area. This would help the business to expand and workload would be shared. The fact that this exterior decorator has experience elsewhere means that this business can easily spread into new fields. Another business example of a Sole Trader expanding into becoming a partnership is a successful plumber by the name of Webber. Although he is benefitting from high salary and choosing his own working hours, his workload is becoming too much for him to handle. It is for this reason why he would want to share his workload by getting a partner to both share the workload thus reducing stress and to invest capital into the business- allowing it to expand. Partnerships A partnership is very similar to a sole trader in that they have unlimited liability and are very simple to set up. The only significant difference is that a partnership may have 2 to 20 partners. A contract called a deed of partnership is usually written. This states the type of partnership, how much capital each party has funded, and how profits and losses will be shared. A ‘Sleeping Partner’ can also be involved in partnerships- these are partners that invest in the business but do not deal with the overall running of the business. Advantages- There are few legal formalities in setting up a partnership business, which makes starting one simple and quick for anybody. The workload is shared between the partners and if the partners come to an agreement or are friends, they tend to be flexible with one another- which makes the job less stressful. Due to the business having more workers than a sole trader, it has a better chance at generating other sources of finance such as that from loans etc. Another advantage is that, during times of absence such as sick days and holidays, the partners can cover each other very simply. Disadvantages- Unlimited liability is a large downfall in partnerships, which means that they are completely liable for the whole business if it owes money to banks etc. and although banks will be more willing to lend to partnerships than sole traders, they are still not eager to do so. Profit capital is also shared between the partnership, meaning that the more partners involved, the less salary they will earn. Another disadvantage is that any arrangements or decisions based on the business are legally binding to all partners. Finally, a partnership is terminated if one single partner dies which means that a new partnership must be created after that one partners’ death. Why would a partnership change ownership to a limited company? There are many advantageous reasons as to why a partnership would change ownership to a limited company. Firstly, they would be able to raise extra capital through selling parts of their company. Secondly, they have the added advantage of limiting their liabilities. Limited liability is an important legal protection for shareholders as they only risk losing the amount of money that they have invested in the business and not their own personal assets. Once the business has changed ownership, this means that if the business fails, the shareholders only lose the money invested in the business; their own personal assets, such as their home, are not at risk. This makes people more willing to invest their money in the business as the risk is reduced but shares cannot be sold on the Stock Exchange. Another very good advantage is that the death or resignation of any director does not affect the structure of the company. This is a strong advantage because the company continues to trade as before. Business Examples Pictured left is a deed of partnership. A deed of partnership is a legally binding agreement between the partners who are in business together. It describes how the partnership will be run, the rights of the partners and the percentage of profits each member will earn. Although ultimately an agreement between the partners, a solicitor is usually hired to write up the final deed so that any loopholes are covered. An example of a partnership is Axholme estate agent partnership- Grice and Hunter. Although Grice and Hunter will benefit from having up to twenty partners allowed in this type of ownership to invest capital and share the workload, the business would benefit from investors to expand. For example, they may want to open a third, non- local, office in Doncaster. By selling private shares, they can raise the capital to expand the business and also reduce the risk for shareholders with the benefit of Limited Liability. Another example of a partnership is the Yorkshire Dental practitioner Partnership- Holloway and Jones. This partnership is becoming very successful and has decided to change ownership to a Private Limited Company to raise enough capital from private investors to move the business to a more high-end business with its premises on Harley Street, London. Many other local partnerships exist as they tend to be small-scale businesses due to their unlimited liability. More examples of these include Lake and Marr (a local fish and chip shop) and Harvey and Scholl (a local newspaper shop) Limited Companies The definition of a Limited Company as a whole is that the ownership of the enterprise is divided into equal parts called shares- the owner of any number of shares is called a shareholder. The shareholders all have Limited Liability which means that the firm is liable for no more than the amount of capital that they have invested in the firm. There are two types of Limited company- Private Limited Companies (ltd) and Public Limited Companies (Plc.). The one difference between these two are that Ltd.’s only have private shareholders, (the shareholders must apply directly through the business to purchase shares) whereas Plc.’s are floated on the stock exchange and any member of the public may buy shares in it. Private Limited Companies- Usually small businesses such as petit independent stores, although shares can be sold directly to investors that have contacted the business and requested shares, the shares in this type of business do not float on the stock market therefore cannot be traded on the stock exchange. The obvious advantage of a Private Limited Liability Company is the financial security that comes with business. The Company’s shareholders will only be liable for any debt the company has got from capital invested in the business. This can provide a comfortable feeling of security for investors in the Company. Tax advantages for limited Companies are only taxed on their profits- this means that they are not subject to the much higher personal tax rates placed on sole traders or partnerships which can reach 40%. In the case of Private Limited Companies specifically, the Directors are also usually the main shareholders of the Company, thus both the ownership and control of the business remain in their hands. Decisions can be made quickly and easily, with little fuss, allowing for a more successful business management platform. Also, Ltd.’s are subject to restricted raising of capital. This means that they have a restricted amount of shares allowed to sell to raise capital. Why would a Private Limited Company go Public? The fundamental reason as to why Private Limited Companies go public is to raise capital. This is done by the owners selling their shares on the stock exchange to public investors and injecting their profits back into the business. Also, Public Limited Companies receive quite a lot of publicity which can be very beneficial if respectable. This publicity tends to come from analysts of the stock market and investors generally come to hear of it. Because of the simple one way money that Public Limited Companies receive from public investors, this means that the business can avoid borrowing capital from banks, private lenders etc., which must be paid back- usually with added Business Examples- Although various Private Limited Companies struggle to acquire capital from investorss of these are Virgin, Warburton’s and Littlewoods- all of these make a very large profit and, because they are able to choose who can invest into the business to purchase shares, they have fewer investors to share the profits with. Nevertheless, businesses such as Scunthorpe United FC may wish to change their ownership to Public to become more successful. This would be achieved by floating the business on the stock market, thus gaining capital to buy better players and ultimately ascend from the first division to the premiership. However it is risky as a takeover could occur similar to that of the takeover of Manchester United which floated on the Stock Market until Malcolm Glazer, already the owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the time, bought over 50% of the shares and thusly took over the whole business. Pictured left is a memorandum of association for Nebulas Limited- a small Private Limited Company based in the Isle of Man. This, as with all Memoranda of Association, states the company’s name, the names of its shareholders and their number of shares, the location of its head office, the type of liability that the shareholders have, the objectives, and the authorized share capital (maximum price of securities that a business can legally give out).

Writing seminar Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Writing seminar - Assignment Example This was achieved through consultation with scholarly, professional and primary sources. The paper also sought to relate the relevance of Johnson’s patterns of innovation with our test environment. Steven Johnsons observes, most innovations come from improving and modifying all possibilities. He strongly argues with examples that you cannot reap from an engine that is powered by steam to fly a jet rather improvements on innovations. In his theory, Johnsons notes that most innovations and discoveries are replicated independently within a period of short duration. For instance according to Johnson, four individual carrying out their normal activity discovered sunspots at a same point. Two of them worked on developing a battery while the rest importance in genetically mutation. Another observation from this man was the size of the city. He holds that cities that are bigger are more innovative than small cities. However, he attributes this to more idea sourced from universities in these cities and the fact that they have more creative people. (OECD 2011, 329) It is however fascinating to note that his theory, contends that when people remain in close doors tend to be more creative. The important implication being, stuffing people in private offices would result into innovation. According to (Milton et al 2005, 98), there is a memory enhanced power that is gained from operating in a common place. Reading from Darwin’s book created a desire to discover links of association. Archimedes notes that taking mind away from the main task sometimes helps in building creativity. People sometimes wonder how you can free your mind. You can achieve this through taking a walk, answering a mail or helping children do their homework. Another way of facilitating innovation is reading. This include following great thoughts from authors of books and to some extents internet. When professional work closely or in a close proximity there is improved

Dimensions of national culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dimensions of national culture - Essay Example As human beings evolve so does their culture (Marcus, 1995). People are always striving to improve their state of living for the better. This is done by improving their clothing to fit in better with the weather conditions, while at the same time coping with the need to make them fashionable and easy to keep to hygienically clean. Music, theatre, fine arts, language and literature are developed in order to add some color and entertainment in everyday living, as well as improve on communication. Sports and educational syllabuses are also developed for entertainment and improvement of skills. All these facets of life among others keep on changing from one form the other thus enriching culture (Marcus, 1995). All of these developments are recorded for future references in different symbols including writing, drawings, cave paintings or passed from one person to another orally. As this culture is passed on it is modified through innovation, borrowing from others. Elements like language t herefore constantly improve and diversify as time goes by (Cohen, 1985). This paper sets out to analyze the development of national culture and to explain why people within a certain nationality or region typically develop traits that are unique to themselves. The paper looks at how different cultural backgrounds affect persons working within an organization. It also explains the effects impede or support the realizations of the objectives of the said organization. Elements of Organizational Culture Every nation is renowned for certain things. For instance the vast majority of people of Britain enjoy association football [also known as soccer] whose rules were founded in that country in 1863; very much. This is different when compared to Americans who prefer their own version of football which is closer to the Rugby that is also loved a lot in Britain (Maccambridge, 2004). This same case applies to organizations. According to Hofstede (1980), national culture directly influences org anizational culture. Organizations exist within countries and are therefore influenced by the prevailing culture within them. In his study of national cultural influences he identified four dimensions of culture. These he classified as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism vs individualism and masculinity vs femininity (Hofstede, 1980). The first dimension, power distance, refers to the difference of power allowed by the society between the highest and lowest echelons of power. A high power difference score means that there is a great difference between the power wielded and the privileges enjoyed by people high ranking individuals and their lower ranking counterparts within the organization (Schein, 2005). A low score on the other hand means that everybody in the organization enjoys almost equal rights to anybody else (Schein, 2005). The measure of power distance in different nationalities revealed that countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark and Israel had some of the lowest power distance levels while sub-Saharan African and Malaysia among others had the highest (Hofstede, 1980). The second one uncertainty avoidance refers to extent of anxiety about the unknown in a society. In cultures where there is strong uncertainty avoidance, people prefer operating with explicit rules and laws that govern labor and social relations. Employees in this system tend to keep the same job for long since they feel less

Social responsibility of business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social responsibility of business - Essay Example Given the traits of a sentient being, while dismissive of any moral or ethical responsibility, the state of the corporation is placed in a space between responsibilities. The responsibility of the corporation to its owners relieving it of any responsibility to society, the shareholders are relieved of blame because they are largely unaware of the day to day decision making, while the CEO is relieved of blame because he is making decisions that support the interests of the owners. As Friedman makes his argument, he is discussing the concept of corporation in the framework of the shareholder model of corporate governance, which is the more popular form of governance in the United States. UK corporations also uses this model as the foundation of its principles of governance, but Japan, Germany, and most of the other European states use the stakeholder model of corporate governance (Barker 2010: 33-35). Friedman states that â€Å"In a free enterprise, private property system, a corporat e executive is an employee of the owners of the business... (His) responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires†. ... According to what Friedman (1970) is presenting, his belief supports the idea that businesses should rise and fail according to the ability to scramble to the top or get lost in the battle towards that end. The current issues that dairy farmers are faced with are an example of why this belief system is not conducive to sustainability. Food growth and nurturing is one of the more important industries for all human societies. Dairy farmers have had an increasingly difficult time in the UK and have been disappearing as a consequence. Evidence of the difficulties of dairy farms is that there were 300 dairy farms on the Isle of Wight during the 1960s, but only 15 remain (Findon 2010). Supermarkets are unwilling to pay a decent price to the farms and in the end they are forced to close their doors. Although those that are still left have been hoping that the price of dairy would rebound, it has stayed at a steady low, creating a business dynamic through which the costs of keeping their doo rs open is more than the benefit of maintaining their business (Findon 2010). In the case of the dairy farms, the stakeholder model of corporate governance must be put into place in order to create sustainability. Dairy products are necessary in the public domain, but high prices on dairy products do not do anything good for anyone. At the same time, dairy farms need to be able to sustain their position or they are only spinning their wheels and falling towards the inevitability of failure, which might cause a natural correction in prices due to scarcity of the product, but is not in the best interests of anyone. Darwinian thinking about businesses creates a dynamic

The Importance Of Translating Messages

The Importance Of Translating Messages One of the main concerns of translation studies is the problem of accuracy: how much freedom the translator is allowed when interpreting a text from one language into another; whether he/she has to concentrate on the content or on the atmosphere of the piece of literature. In this paper, by comparing and contrasting the theory of Noam Chomsky (as presented in Syntactic Structures, 1957) and the one emerging from it by Eugene A. Nida (in Toward a Science of Translating, 1964), the core message of a text will be proven to be one the most important features. First of all, according to Edwin Gentzler (1993), despite the fact that Chomskys work was not specifically meant to be a part of translation studies, Nida adopted several aspects of it into his own, as, in the words of Gentzler (1993), Chomsky was literally a Godsend for Nida (p. 46) literally, because the main field of Nidas research involved the translation of the Bible. To get a clearer impression about their theories, it is essential to become familiar with them. As Gentzler (1993) points out, Noam Chomsky was more interested in the rules and structures of grammar than deep structures. His theory involves three levels of conceptualization: (1) a base component made up of phrase structure rules that generate (2) a deep structure, which in turn is changed, via transformational rules into (3) a surface structure (Gentzler, 1993: 46). This concept was significantly altered in Nidas adaptation. As Snell-Hornby (1988) describes him, in the United States the most influential scholar was undoubtedly Eugene A. Nida (p. 14) who was originally engaged in the invention of a methodology for Bible translations in order to help missionaries deliver the core message of the book. According to Gentzler (1993), he was appalled by nineteenth-century tendencies of preferring literal translation to the meaning. As cited in Gentzler (1993), he claimed that the words [of the American Standard Version of the Bible] may be English, but the grammar is not; and the sense is quite lacking (p. 45). To solve the problem, he took Chomskys theory and, to make it fit into his own invention, simplified it by omitting the first component. In this way, he created a system from generative grammar exclusively for translation practice, and it became quite popular. As Gentzler (1993) points out, both Chomskys and Nidas model agree on a deep, coherent, and unified entity which is the same in every language, and only changes in the surface structure, i.e. when presented in different languages (p. 46). However, the two theories take disparate ways in analysing the core: Chomsky is more concerned about universal rules of grammar and universal lexical forms, whereas Nida tends to discover an original divine message (Gentzler, 1993: 47). Despite the religious undertone, Nidas viewpoint seems more relevant for translation studies than Chomskys: it is the exact interpretation of the message that should be considered as priority, not the pursuit of creating sentences in the target language grammatically as close as possible to the ones in the original text but then again, Chomskys model has not been developed for the field Nida uses it. Actually, as mentioned by Gentzler (1993), Nida ventures further into the matter, and states that the core message is so important that it must be delivered in any case even by sacrificing the original sentences to bend them to the needs of the cultural peculiarities of the target language. For instance, he translates the phrase Lamb of God as Seal of God for Eskimo language, since for the Eskimos, the seal is the animal equivalent of the lamb in regards of sacrifice (Snell-Hornby, 1988: 19). It is one of his techniques of adjustment (Chesterman, 2005: 20). For him, it is not the sign that matters, but the response to the sign (Gentzler, 1993: 53), because as long as it makes people behave the way God wants them to, his interpretation is correct, regardless the changes in the text. He calls this kind of translation faithful, which is somewhat ironical, since the word has traditionally [] been reserved for literal translations (Gentzler, 1993: 58). However, since he privileges the me aning above the form, it fits into his theory quite well. Gentzler (1993) mentions another difference between Chomskys and Nidas model: the methodology. Although Chomsky agrees with the crucial role of the core or deep structure, it is antithetic to his views to execute such practices that Nida does who demolishes the sentences into deep structure, carries it into the target language, and then finally, uses it to rebuild the sentences in the target language. It is true that in regards of the method described above, Nida clearly diverges from Chomsky, but translation-wise, it seems rather efficient (like the example with the Eskimos). There is one aspect in which Gentzler (1993) clearly disagrees with Nida: he claims that Nidas advices for translators to agree with or even admire the original author of the text is a considerably dangerous one, because they could fall prey to the so-called intentional fallacy (p. 57). Unfortunately, his fears seem valid: however beneficiary it is to understand the tiniest subtleties of the writer as a translator, one should rather not let his/her very self and opinions flow excessively into the work of another person, since he/she is only a chain which connects the original text and the translation. Too much self-identification may result in the alteration of the core message. In conclusion, it can be clearly seen that, according to the theory of Eugene A. Nida, in order to present a text to a language whose speakers live in a completely different culture than the speakers of the source language, a translator is permitted to take liberations when interpreting the sentences. Naturally, the occasions at which the cultural gap between the nations is so vast that between English and Eskimo occur quite rarely, but the subtleties are always present when a text is translated from one language to another and even one mistranslated word can cause tragedies. References: Chesterman, A. (2005). Problems With Strategies. In K. Kà ¡roly à . Fà ³ris (Eds.), New Trends in Translation Studies (pp. 17-28). Budapest: Akadà ©miai Kiadà ³. Gentzler, E. (1993). Contemporary Translation Theories. London: Routledge. Shell-Hornby, M. (1988). Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Difference and Identity Essay example -- Identities Ethnicity Papers

While I am socially defined as "white," "male," "European," and so on, my theses are not formulated to affirm the social position(s) attached to these attributes but, rather, to indicate some of the limitations implicit in the concepts of identity and difference. Interestingly, two hundred years ago, the overcoming of oppression followed the concept of identity, whereas today the concept of difference is central. Why is this change not discussed in the present debates on difference? Preliminary Observations: (1) a) The following ten theses have as their context the present efforts to face racism and sexism, and another forms of repression towards social minorities or groups which have the position of minorities, without being. The right to selfdefence and to fight oppression cannot be denied to any oppressed social subject. However it is valid to make some critical observations on the forms portrayed in the eager pursuit of emancipation. The author, socially defined as "white", "male", "European" and so on, formulates these theses not to affirm the social position that he might perhaps have, due to these attributes, but rather to indicate some limitations that are implied by the use of concepts of identity and difference in the search for emancipation. b) Two hundred years ago, the concept of equality was utilised in the same way, that nowadays, the concept of difference is, that is to say the overcoming of oppression, or the pursuit of emancipation. The interesting thing is, that this change is practically not discussed at all in present debates on difference. What is the reason for this? c) There is a parable that counts of an old society in which it was taken as fact, that the world rests on the backs of four giga... ...ish version of this text is: Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno: Dialectic of enlightenment. Translated by John Cumming. [New ed.]. London : Verso, 1979. (Horkheimer and Adorno refer here to: Sigmund Freud, "Das Unheimliche", in: Sigmund Freud, Gesammelte Werke, Frankfurt am Main, 1968, vol. XII, pages 254 and 259 and others.) (3) Also see on the problem of the identity: Bolà ­var Echeverrà ­a, La identidad evanescente, in: Bolà ­var Echeverrà ­a, Las ilusiones de la modernidad, Mà ©xico, D.F. UNAM / El Equilibrista, 1995, pages 55-74. Echeverria makes in this text, starting off from the theory of Wilhelm von Humboldt, the proposal "to conceive the universality of the human in a concret way", with what it could be rescued, using our concepts, the equality and at the same time the difference ( page 58) ["concebir la universalidad de lo humano de manera concreta"].

Spa – Cr. to the Rightful Owner

This chapter presents the discussion of reviewed related writing of authors that the researchers collected during the course of the study. Material reviewed came from different books, studies and other professional writings from both foreign and local books. Conceptual Literature The worldwide spa industry is worth in the region of US $40 billion and has grown at a phenomenal rate in the past ten years (Haden, 2007). The growth of health food, gyms and the investment in leisure facilities proves that consumers are looking for more than relaxation during a break or holiday; this is unsurprising given time is so precious to contemporary consumers (Lynch, 2002). Harmsworth (2004: p. 173) claims that â€Å"the spa market is one of the fastest growing leisure sectors, where societal trends and aspirations find instant reflection in the developments on both the demand and supply sides. The market is very fragmented, each segment catering for different customer needs, which continuously change in line with social and lifestyle changes. † According to Libosada Jr. C. and Bosangit C. (2007) stated that spa is a resort with mineral or thermal water used for drinking and bathing. The term is derived from the name of a town in Belgium and has been applied to similar resort worldwide. The Kentucky-based International Spa Association (ISPA), an organization which claims to set the standards for the spa industry makes no mention of water in its definition, arguing that â€Å"a spa serves as an educational and cultural institution that promotes and integrates individual wellness, health and fitness as well as social well-being, harmony and balance through wellness, prevention, therapy and rehabilitation of body, mind and soul† (Loverseed, 1998: p. 48). Later, the ISPA offered an all-encompassing, holistic definition, claiming that spas are entities â€Å"devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit† (Mintel, 2005). It is claimed by Jenner and Smith (2000) that visiting spas is one of the earliest forms of tourism. Spas found their beginnings thousands of years ago, when ancient civilisations used them for their healing properties and as an important part of their social structure (Vierville, 2003; Spaa, 2002). The therapeutic use of baths was remarkably long-lived; such popularity was no doubt partly due to the fact that baths were both pleasant and, by the Roman imperial period at least, comparatively freely available (Jackson, 1990). It was after this time that public interest in baths began to peak (Spaa, 2002). Spa tourism has many varied definitions; there is no â€Å"officially† agreed upon definition of what a spa should or should not be – what makes it such? Many believe that the word ‘spa' is an acronym based on the Latin phrase â€Å"sanitas per aquas† – meaning ‘health through water', in fact the Oxford English dictionary’s definition of a spa is from the Latin â€Å"solus per aqua† or â€Å"health by water† defined as â€Å"a place with mineral springs considered to have health-giving properties† (Loverseed, 1998). Thornton and Brutscher (2003) maintain that the word and the concept of spa actually originated from the time of the Roman Empire when battle weary legionnaires tried to find a way to recover from their military wounds and ailments. Therefore suggesting that traditionally, water is not only inexplicably linked to the definition of spas, but that it is the water which defines it. The European Spas Association’s (ESPA) definition of a spa is also dependent upon the water element; they define a spa as „a mineral spring or a place or resort where such a spring is found? (Jenner and Smith, 2000). Unlike the ESPA, the British Spas Federation (BSF) reviewed its definition with regard to widening its membership, which at that time consisted only of the municipal authorities of spa towns. However, the BSF was later replaced by the Spa Business Association (SpaBa) who in turn redefined the spa, returning the centrality of the role of water by defining a spa as â€Å"an establishment providing a minimum of one approved water based treatment using water of known composition. The spa should be staffed by appropriately trained therapists and have minimum standards of furnishings. The water should be enhanced with minerals, either naturally or with an additive† (Mintel, 2005). Others, especially in the USA, hold a far less rigid view of what constitutes a spa. The Kentucky-based International Spa Association (ISPA), an organization which claims to set the standards for the spa industry makes no mention of water in its definition, arguing that â€Å"a spa serves as an educational and cultural institution that promotes and integrates individual wellness, health and fitness as well as social well-being, harmony and balance through wellness, prevention, therapy and rehabilitation of body, mind and soul (Loverseed, 1998: p. 8). Later, the ISPA offered an all-encompassing, holistic definition, claiming that spas are â€Å"devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit† (Mintel, 2005). It is claimed by Jenner and Smith (2000) that visiting spas is one of the earliest forms of tourism. Spas found their beginnings thousands of years ago, when ancient civilisations used them for their healing properties and as an important part of their social structure (Vierville, 2003; Spaa, 2002). The therapeutic use of baths was remarkably long-lived; such popularity was no doubt partly due to the fact that baths were both pleasant and, by the Roman imperial period at least, comparatively freely available (Jackson, 1990). It was after this time that public interest in baths began to peak (Spaa, 2002). By the medieval period, the idea that thermal springs could have medicinal properties was firmly established. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, taking the waters? began being a fashionable pastime for Europe?s upper classes. In fact, the popularity of this habit is what established places in the UK, such as Bath, Brighton and Harrogate, as early tourism destinations (Jenner and Smith, 2000). Today’s spa is an interesting combination of ancient traditions and modern facilities; in recent years, the value of prevention, healthy lifestyles, and relaxation has been embraced by many and the spa is again finding its place in modern society as a place uniquely geared to address these needs (Register, 2005). In one of the major formative tradition for current pattern of health and well-ness spa tourism worldwide, the Roman Empire left behind a long list of spas all over Europe, which they built while they were occupying new territories. With the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 450 AD, so too came the demise of the Roman bath tradition in Europe, although Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East maintained a highly developed bathing culture. This was a result of the influence of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire and the subsequent Arab conquests and maintained the influence of Roman bathing tradition in those countries (The Spa Association, 2005). The City of bath in England provides an example of the fusion of Roman history with later trends in spa and wellness demand and supply in Europe (White, 2000). After the springs had been abandoned as a bathing resource in 1978 (although not touristically or respect of their mineral waters), the Bath spa project was launched by the City Council in 1997 in order to restore bath to the leading spa town of England, with the expectation that the project would stimulate the revival of spa culture in the UK. The hew spa facilities in Bath are just a short distance from the original Roman bath site and they used natural hot spring water drawn from the same springs that have served visitors for at least the last two thousand years. The new facilities are designed to offer relaxing and extended therapeutic treatments. Although they will not act as a cure for serious illness they will act as a cure for the human spirit, as outline in reference to the conservation statement for the adjacent Roman Baths (Clews, 2000). In countries such as Hungary the change from centuries of thermal bathing culture to modern wellness facilities has been slower than in countries without a history of hot or mineral hot springs. In Budapest the increase use of day spas builds on the ancient way of relieving stress and physical ailments through hot water treatment, and day spas and wellness facilities are now being established in a society that is becoming more conscious of the importance of healthy lifestyle (LaForest, 2004). In Budapest the locals congregate in public thermal baths such as the Szechenvi to relax, swim and take many of the cures and treatment on offer. They are also known for taking the national pastime of playing chess into thermal pools (The age, 2005). And further to the east in Russia the Soviet era thermal baths were an integral part of the national health system. In Europe Austria was one of the first countries to adopt the more recent concept of wellness and to act upon quickly. The country affectively appeals to key tourist target groups by positioning itself to offer wellness treatments that unite the body, spirit, personal desire, culture, and natural resources embodied by the spring (Nahrstedt, 2002). Australia has an unmatched infrastructure when it comes to wellness holidays and health-related tourism, and was ranked number one in the world for quality of life and its healthcare services in the early 2000s (Garalli, 2002). According to Nahrsetedt (2002) Austria boasts an intact natural environment in conjunction with its wellness spas, an association that is also very popular in the Japanese tourist market. In Japan itself though, with literally thousands of geothermal springs and the Japanese preference for authentic and unadulterated hot spring water, wellness centres are not yet developed to quite the same extent, leaving the European style wellness facility as a potential favorite for the Japanese while on holiday. In Japan, in tradition hot springs have been developed into days spas known as kuahausu derived from the German word kurhaus, providing separates bathing areas for men and women with thermal mineral pools at different temperatures, a cold pool area with fountains and waterslides, bowling alleys, gyms, saunas and steam rooms, massage services, restaurants and bars, relaxation rooms, music rooms, and video games (Altman, 2000: 07). But the main bathing attractions are the traditional hot springs called Onsen. Often used by groups of people who enjoy sharing a bath after leaving the world of corporate work behind? As well as families and couples, a trip to an Onsen is classed as the ultimate bonding experience because all are equal once they shed their designer clothes and other status symbols. The captain of Iceland, Reykjavik, has been designated on official spa city by the European Spa Association (Iceland Express, 2006). This seems well deserved a quite logical, because the Icelanders have many facilities where they can take care of their health, well-being and leisure. Several active Volcanoes and high temperature geothermal field provide natural hot springs all over Iceland and most towns have at least one public geothermal swimming pool. The Health and Wellness Spa Industry Having said that, rising customer expectations concerning health and wellness are the foundation in which the modern health and wellness spa industry is building an ever-increasing supply of facilities for the medical and general (wellness) visitor, to the extent that this form of tourism is now worth in excess of 250 billion US dollars per year and attract some 150 billion active spa-goers world-wide (ISPA, 2007). Caution is needed here though, because for example these figures are said to include 19. 1 million Japanese spa-goers. Japanese data (Beppu International Tourism Office, 2007) suggest that there are over 150 million Onsen users alone in that country (Chapter 9). This discrepancy would appear to relate to the varying definitions of wellness and spa use that were discussed earlier, where the Japanese tradition is more about simply bathing in hot water than about the American tradition of beauty spa that underlies the research undertaken by the International Spa Association. As a result of this, many Japanese users may not be counted if the data are concentrating on analyzing the spa experience rather than the totality of health and wellness tourism based on the use of hot and mineral springs. The trend toward indulgence in a relaxing environment, which began after World War II (Foster & Keller, 2008), has thus turned into a global movement but one that is a significant departure from the original concept of health spa that mainly specialized in rehabilitation of recovering from illness and injury. The new emphasis lies in prevention of disease and maintenance of good health more that cure, with high expectations regarding health improvement even if there are no particular health problems. Along with the body, mind and soul are also catered for in many spas in a holistic approach of creating harmony for those in need. This often includes new-age treatments as well as the more traditional water-based therapy. The key element in all such facilities is water. Be it apart of the natural landscape surrounding a facility (ocean, rivers, lake and waterfalls), decoration in the background (pools, fountains) or an active treatment component, water is a very important element in the world of spas and wellness. More and more spas without a natural hot springs are investigating the possibility if tapping into mineral geothermal water resources to enhance their business. The trend towards natural looking environments or setting is also evident in many spa hotels and resorts where swimming pools and thermal bathing facilities are designed and built to looks are natural as possible, with rock pools the most typical and widespread design. The development of these spa and wellness water resources can be divided into two broad types: Hot spring: These are usually well known and general appreciated for their curative value and their therapeutic benefits based on both water temperature and mineral content; Mineral springs: These can be cold or warm water from a nature spring, with curative value based on the type and concentration of minerals in the water. Often, the water can be taken internally too and is bottled and distributed (Cooper, P. nd Cooper, M. , 2009). Current International Trends in Spa and Wellness Tourism The trends of indulging in a relaxing environment has turned into a global movement but one with a significant difference from the original concept of health and natural hot and mineral spring spas, which mainly specialized in rehabilitation. The new emphasis lies in the prevention of disease and in the maintenance of good health instead of cures, with high expectation regarding health improvements even i f there are no specific problems. Mind and soul are usually catered for long with the body in many spas using holistic approach of creating harmony for those in need, including new-age treatments as well as the more traditional rehabilitative therapies. The main center of attention at present appears to be a natural healing method incorporating Asian treatments accompanied by the esthetic appeal of Eastern lifestyles and culture, which are in great demand. Therapies of Asia origin are often combined with European balneotherapy and hydrotherapy as well as sport and fitness facilities to offer diversity of options in order to attract as many customers and client as possible. Nearly all spas cater for aspects with special signature treatments to ensure that there are no missed opportunities (Cooper, P. and Cooper, M. , 2009). Characteristics of Spa Tourists Traditionally it has been women who have primarily used spas. However, a consumer research conducted by ISPA in 2003 determined that 29% of spa tourists around the world are men; this figure rose to 30% in 2004. As men continue to represent a significant proportion of the spa market, more spas are offering special treatments for them and men-only spas continue to open in cities around the world (Grihault, 2007; Mintel, 2005; Messerli and Oyama, 2004). The Baby Boomer generation (45-60 years old) continues to be the core consumer base for the global spa tourism industry. According to Haden (2007) industry analysts have long known that health conscious Baby Boomers have been the main driving force behind the worldwide boom in the spa industry. However, some argue the appeal of the industry reaches a larger age-range; Swarbrooke (2000: p 78-79) claims that most visitors to spa sites are in the social classes A, B and C1 and are between 30 and 65 years of age. Mintel (2005) have a similar view, claiming it is the 25-64 year old market who dominate the customer base for spas; this group tends not to be at the family life stage, and their members are as likely to be male as female. The average age of visitors to spas is currently 49 years (ETC, 2002). Yet Hudson (2003) argues that by 2050, 20 percent of the world’s population will be sixty years or older; and by 2150, this figure will increase to over 30percent. These claims seem dramatic; however it is clear from all the statistics available that the population is aging and that this trend is set to continue. Latest research by International Database, US Census in 2007 confirms these figures and shows the number of people aged over 55 years is projected to reach 2. 6 billion or approximately 27. 7% of the world?s population by 2050. Thus, the number of individuals aged 55 and over is forecast to grow at a rate of about 4% per year over the next 43 years (Haden, 2007). According to a survey carried out by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), 70. 8% of those aged over 45 years had been on holiday in 2006, compared to 64. 9% of the general UK population. A Mintel study of US travellers in 2005 revealed that those over 55 years are more inclined to take holidays lasting five days or longer. Maintaining health in retirement has become a top priority. In a 2006 study of US health and fitness clubs in May 2006, Mintel found that those aged over 55 years were far more likely to participate in some form of strenuous exercise five or more times a week than other segments of the population (Haden, 2007). If such predictions are dealt with wisely, the outlook for the industry appears to be positive; it will help to drive tourism’s growth in general and health-related travel in particular. Taking this into consideration, such a shift will clearly have substantial implications for the international health and spa tourism industry. Research Literature Health spas had their origin in Europe and many resorts had name that were associated with spas. The popularity of mineral springs carried over to Northern America and the springs were the location of some of the earlier resort. It is important to differentiate between spa hotels and resort spas. Spas hotels cater only to spa clientele and all guests must participate in the meals, treatment and exercises. On the other hand, resorts spas are amenities that are available to the guest, and charges are made for the various usage of spa (Liguori, S. and Gray, W. ). Administration of spa hotels heavily involves people with a medical background, whereas resort spas are merely operating departments of the resorts. Exercises-oriented facilities are swimming pools, tennis court, handball and racquetball courts, jogging trails, hiking and weight and aerobic training. Spa program include dietary program, massage, herbal wraps, exfoliation, that also therapy, facial and hydrotherapy. Under both scenarios, staffing involves people experienced in the program and administrative personnel. Ways for boosting revenue The method presented in the previous section illustrated the overall contribution of resort spas to resort revenue, in order to offer more insight into how spa managers can increase their spa revenue, the author of this study conducted to an interview with a spa director of one of the leading resorts spa in Southwest Florida. The director state that resorts should first focus on guest experience to increase their sales. In that director’s case, she mentioned that her resort was able to increase the incremental spending from $658 to $985 per night by packaging spa and other activities together. The director also stated that pre-arrival process is a critical component for revenue maximization. She offered a case as an example where she use a system called â€Å"power booking† in which a spa front desk agent was calling guest two to three days to prior to the spa reservation date and providing the opportunity for upgrades and additional bookings base on availability (Rutherford, D. and O’Fallon, M. 2011). According to O’Fallon M. and Rutherford D. (2011) stated that spas are booming such a significant component of the service menu for resorts and full service hotels that their absence, especially in amenity- rich resort environment, is glaring obvious. Within the leisure industries in 2003, revenues related to spas ranked number four behind golf fees and dues ($19. 7 million0, cruise lines revenues ($14. 7 million), and health club revenues ($14. 1 million). At $11. 2 million, spa revenues outpaced amusement park revenues ($10. 3 million), box office receipts ($9. million), and vacation ownership sales ($5. 5 million (Thacker, 2004; Audi and Wright, 2004). In this section, we first examine trends that support a sea change in North Americans’ attitude toward spa demand demographics; we discuss the type of spas currently popular in the industry, development and operational considerations, the components of a spa experience, compensation issues, and trends in the spa industry. Spa demand According to the International SPA Associations research, between 2002 and 2003, 11% of the national population over the age of 16 made one or more spa visits. This statistics shows that in xten Americans visited a spa during that period. Additionally, of these, 41% were visiting spas for the first time, indicating a larger population embracing spa usage. Age demographics show that 145% of clients are between the ages of 16 and 24, and over 50% are in the 24 to 44 age bracket. An emerging national statistics is the number of male visits to spas. 23% of spa visits and 29% of spa goers were men in 2003, trending toward special gender oriented treatments and male- only spas being opened worldwide. Spa selection criteria are determined by a number of factors. An established and known environment for instance, as part of an established resort, club or destination spa often influences the decision, and does atmosphere, quality of treatment, and friendliness of staff. Additionally, among spa goers nine out of ten respondents report they would return for a similar experience. Most spa customers believe they receive good value for their spa dollar. On a 10 point scale, services were given an average of 8 for value; with massage generating 8. 8 on the value such as Canyon Ranch are opening in the day spa market, adding new competitive pressure on the independents. Non-traditional players are also adding product supply. For example, corporations are creating in house spa environments, hospitals are adding wellness as part of their repertoire, and medi-spas, with a primary focus on cosmetic surgery, are adding spa business as an additional profit center. Health club are also trying to capture a piece of the pie by adding spa practices. The rationale in this market is that time-crunched patrons can benefit from the one-stop-shopping approached to fitness and wellness but the health club operator also uses the spa as an enticement to join the fitness centre. As the day and destination spa markets become saturated, it will become imperative for survival that each operator differentiate itself from the competition. The necessity for market segmentation to ensure clear communication with consumers will be a key to success in the maturing spa market. Another component of success will be a branding strategy that the consumer can immediately identify with respect to spa performance and the consumers personal comfort travel (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Health Issues and Spa Demand. Increasingly, spa goers are looking to create prolonged wellness that integrates and renews body, mind and spirit. To that end, Eastern and Western lifestyle issues related to medicine, philosophy, and spiritual are becoming a mainstay of many spa/wellness experiences. To best deliver this, the wellness spa (located at day, destination, or resort environment) supports guest’ needs by creating an experience, not just a series of treatments. All the guest amenities, treatments, and programs must be seamlessly integrated into a personally tailored guest experience. This experience should be targeted toward couples, parents with children, and teenagers. In the early 1990, spa were considered a natural outgrowth of fitness facilities and focused primarily on treatments related to body wellness. As market sophistication evolved, the body mind connection attracted consumer focus. In the beginning of the twenty- first century, spas and marketers are overtly addressing body, mind, and spirit connections in order to respond to emerging market sensibilities (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Spas as an Operating Department. Historically, spa operations were treated by management similarly to other revenue departments, like catering and restaurants. These departments were simply perceived as an amenity needed to attract guest to the hotel. As long as the department broke even, or didn’t lose too much money, their ability to increase occupancy was deemed sufficient justification for their existence. However, in the late 1990’s, hotel spa followed the path of other operating departments and were transformed from support to profit centres. This trend is strong and continues today (Rutherford & O’Fallon 2011). Spa Trends: On site industry trends Anti-aging treatments and products are driving much of spa menu and retail development. This calls for devoting a treatments room to outpatient medical procedures. Programming and spa menu items include sun damage treatments, chemical skin for renewals, and other rejuvenation techniques that build on repeat procedures. Commensurately, spas are developing retail product lines so that clients can take the spa experience home and continue the wellness regime. Global Industry trends Trends in day, destinations and amenity spas influence each other. According to Susan Ellis (2004), president of Spa Finder, a spa marketing company, after the rise of the medical spa and broadening spa participations by men and teens, spa use is expected to become more popular in the future. Spa Finder’s trends to watch for are: those personal elements that make the spa experience special will find their way into the design of personal living spaces in private homes; private, gated living communities will develop around central spa facilities, much like golf and sly-in communities. Managing visitor’s expectation and experience. Visitor’s expectation of a wellness centre or spa will differ greatly according to which country they come from, their language and their experience of wellness facilities generally. For example, the British or Americans would have a very different understanding of what they would expect to find in spa (i. e. luxury, pampering, and beauty) from a Central or Eastern European (i. e. healing waters, physical health checks, and medical treatments). Information provision and marketing is therefore extremely important in managing visitor expectation. In some cultures, nudity in spa is the norm or even a requirement in some areas (e. g. suanas and steam rooms). This is true of Austria, Germany and some spas in CEE and Scandinavia. However, for some visitors (e. g. American, British, Asians, and Southern Europeans) this can be unexpected and even embarrassing. In some cultures (e. g. Finland and Japan) men are separate from women when using sauna or spa facilities. In other cultures, mixed nudity is accepted. Some nationalities are used to doing activities in groups and are not used to enforced silence (e. . Southern European). This can create a certain amount of tension in countries, where spas and wellness centers are seen as quiet, restful, sometimes even spiritual spaces (especially in sauna and steam rooms) Help may also be needed to guide visitors around spas, as it could be their first visit or rituals and traditions may differ from those in their home country. Language may be a barrier where there is little or no translatio n, especially in countries where language can seem completely unfamiliar (e. g. Finland, Japan, and China). Visitors sometimes have problems knowing which entrance to use if there is more than one, which ticket to buy when there are many options, and might not understand the cloakroom system (e. g. in Hungary, where a cloakroom attendant usually has to be approached for a locker and key) or the new technology (e. g. in Austria when the locker system can be operate using a wristband). Knowing just how long to stay in medical, mineral or thermal waters is not clear to the inexperienced. Even if 20min is the recommended time, bathers need to know how long to rest or whether they should go to a cool shower after. Just a small information panel outside a bath, sauna or steam room can be enough to inform visitors, what the recommended length of time should be. (Smith & Puczko 2009). Atmosphere Creating a relaxing, clean, and pleasant environment is a paramount importance for all wellness facilities, but most especially for spas and spa or wellness hotels, which may also need a touch of luxury (spiritual or holistic tourist may accept more basic facilities). The use of design, colour, lightning, and location of furniture, degree of natural light, greenery, views, music or scents can all contribute to creating a harmonious atmosphere. Certainly, most of these qualities are determined during the planning process. The management may face difficulties when the services and/ or the surrounding environment do not support or accompany each other. These mismatches certainly result in sub-optimal satisfaction and consequently lower the optimal revenue level 9 (Puczko & Smith 2009). Spa Tourism Spa tourism is arguably the best known form of wellness tourism and is sometimes treated as being synonymous with wellness tourism. ISPA (2007) defines spa as ‘places devoted to enhancing overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit’. ISPA also defines the key elements of the spa experience: relax; reflect; revitalize; and rejoice. It is difficult to distinguish between spas and more general forms of wellness (e. g. holistic retreats); however, it also shows clearly the diversity of the spa sector. There are now numerous sub-sectors within spa tourism and it is no longer enough simply to use the label ‘spa’ and assume that tourist will know what to expect. Perceptions differ greatly, for example, tourist in Central and Eastern Europe are very similar with the concept of historic medical spas, whereas other visitors (e. g. from the United States or United Kingdom) with expect something similar to a beauty salon. Spa are now of a highly complex and diverse nature. This diverse nature starts with the name and its likely meanings. Bath, bano, bad, therme/ terme, grotto, spa, kupele, furdo – all mean a thermal water-based spa, in various languages. The translation of the name from the original language often uses the term ‘spa’, but these establishments are not really always spa. Spas may differ widely in terms of what they offer, that is their services or treatment supply, and however, they have one thing in common, which is the aspiration to improve health and well-being. Most spas have some form of water-based treatments; however there is a difference between mineral, thermal, and healing waters: mineral waters; it has at least the set amount of dissolved mineral content which is minimum 500mg/1 or 1000mg/1; thermal waters: natural waters that are at least 30 C or 32 C at source (this can vary country by country); healing waters; the healing affects have to be proven, that is evidence-based. The International Spa Association (ISPA, 2007) has defined the ‘ten domains of SPA’ or segments of the industry as: the waters; food, nourishment, diet, and nutrition; movement, exercise, and fitness; touch, massage, and body work; mind/body/spirit; aesthetics, skin care, natural beauty agents; physical space, climatology, global ecology; social/cultural arts and values, spa culture; management, marketing and operations; time, rhythm, and cycles. Not every spa contains every domain. The rejuvenation of the spa concept has generated several attempts to categorize spas. Since the modern concept of spas were established in the United States, one of the most comprehensive categorizations comes from the International Spa Associations (ISPA, 2007 and the Spafinder Magazine, 2007): club spa; day spa; spa hotel; holistic spa; medical spa; bath; resort spa; sport spa and structured spa.

Prime Ministerial Power essays

Prime Ministerial Power essays Prime Ministerial Power, Simon Grantham A Strong tendency in modern politics is the presidentialisation of the role of the head of Government many democracies see little more than elected monarchies. How powerful is the position of Prime Minister in the Australian system of government? Modern Politics in recent times has seen many Westminster-Style nations develop a form of Prime Ministerial Government; with a strong executive authority and all the props and accoutrements of a President. The role of the Head of Government in Australia has changed dramatically since federation, especially within the last 25 years, it is undoubtable that todays Prime Minister enjoys far more institutional advantages, media spotlight, and a great capacity to sway the decisions of Cabinet than any of his early colleagues. Looking abroad to the American system which has come to be little more than an elected monarchy, with their President exercising these new found powers which our Head of Government has just begun to develop by right, with his own independent mandate to assert personal policy direction like the US President, yet the Authority of an Australian Leader rests on far more tenuous foundations. It is central to understanding the current presidentialisation of our head of government to look at the sources and limitations on the Office of Prime Minister and adequately assess what has caused us to get to where we are today, with a Prime Ministerial Government. When looking at the issue of Prime Ministerial power one of the great sources of his power is relationship between Cabinet and the Prime Minister. Firstly, Cabinet is the engine room of government, it is responsible for the policy formulation and implementation along with the strategic outlook and goals of the Country. Chairman of this Council is the Prime Minister; an immediate power base for the leader parallel ...

Free Essays on Dubai-climate

Dubai is a coastal city lying between 22 and 26 degrees north, the United Arab Emirates lies within a sub-region of the northern desert belt, characterized by scanty and erratic rainfall, and high levels for temperature, humidity, and sunshine. Winter sunshine averages eight hours per day, while the summer figure reaches as high as eleven hours a day. Despite this apparently stable climatic picture, the weather does show a remarkable degree of local variability, throwing up thunder storms, fog, gale force winds, sand storms and, of course, rain. The UAE is the first country in the Middle East to introduce the Satellite Delivered Information System technology (SADIS), a weather forecasting technology which covers the globe, with the exception of Polar Zones. According to the National Meteorological Authority (NMA), which is affiliated to the Ministry of Communications, the system supplies data on temperature, humidity, volcanoes and wind directions. It also enables the UAE to receive the latest forecasts for centers all over the world through direct contact with the world center in London. The weather chart during much of the year shows a ridge of high pressure extending southwards into central Saudi Arabia with lower pressure over the eastern Gulf. Prevailing light to moderate north-westerly winds, known by their Arabic name shamal, meaning 'north', are associated with mid-latitude disturbances. Along the western coastal plain, sea breezes tend to dominate with light south-south-easterlies at night being replaced by moderate north-westerlies during daytime. This pattern changes on the east coast where the proximity of the mountains results in gusty and less predictable wind shifts. A good strong blast of northerly shamal is usually preceded in the UAE by strong southerly winds, raising desert sands and reducing visibility. The shift to northerly winds may be quite sudden and can be accompanied by rain, thunder s... Free Essays on Dubai-climate Free Essays on Dubai-climate Dubai is a coastal city lying between 22 and 26 degrees north, the United Arab Emirates lies within a sub-region of the northern desert belt, characterized by scanty and erratic rainfall, and high levels for temperature, humidity, and sunshine. Winter sunshine averages eight hours per day, while the summer figure reaches as high as eleven hours a day. Despite this apparently stable climatic picture, the weather does show a remarkable degree of local variability, throwing up thunder storms, fog, gale force winds, sand storms and, of course, rain. The UAE is the first country in the Middle East to introduce the Satellite Delivered Information System technology (SADIS), a weather forecasting technology which covers the globe, with the exception of Polar Zones. According to the National Meteorological Authority (NMA), which is affiliated to the Ministry of Communications, the system supplies data on temperature, humidity, volcanoes and wind directions. It also enables the UAE to receive the latest forecasts for centers all over the world through direct contact with the world center in London. The weather chart during much of the year shows a ridge of high pressure extending southwards into central Saudi Arabia with lower pressure over the eastern Gulf. Prevailing light to moderate north-westerly winds, known by their Arabic name shamal, meaning 'north', are associated with mid-latitude disturbances. Along the western coastal plain, sea breezes tend to dominate with light south-south-easterlies at night being replaced by moderate north-westerlies during daytime. This pattern changes on the east coast where the proximity of the mountains results in gusty and less predictable wind shifts. A good strong blast of northerly shamal is usually preceded in the UAE by strong southerly winds, raising desert sands and reducing visibility. The shift to northerly winds may be quite sudden and can be accompanied by rain, thunder s...

Article Annotations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article Annotations - Essay Example The public who are the major focus of the study are the major participants. They are further sub grouped basing on their age, race se occupation and knowledge on the importance of physical activity. In addition, the center for disease prevention and behavioral risk factor surveillance system. These two groups in the study play a pivotal role in reaching out to the people while administering the questioners. They are likely to reach a large number of people for the fact they are already established with a program in place that involves annually data collection. Thus, they just needed to add into their questionnaire a section that focus on physical activity and the level of happiness. The researchers utilizes the qualitative method of study. This was achieved by use of questioners and interaction with the people in the community. A number of variables were used in the study to determine the effect of activity on one’s happiness in different people. Some of the variables involved included sex, age, marital status, occupation, race, and physical wellbeing. Either observation or subjective reporting measures the effect of variables on one’s involvement in physical activity. The study is a qualitative study that utilizes the use of questionnaires to obtain information from the participants. There is also a retrogressive study of the participants to establish the relationship of the variables with their involvement in physical activity and the outcome of the involvement. From the study, it is evident that physical activities plays a great role in promoting ones wellbeing. Apart from keeping the lifestyle diseases at bay, it increases the general happiness in one’s life. This is achieved through mood elevation after a sporting activity and elevated self-esteem from the achievements in the activity. A number of factors

Wind energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wind energy - Research Paper Example In addition to that, sources of energy are readily depleting. Nevertheless, electricity is the most basic requirement of the contemporary society (Ummets). There is dire need to look out for cost effective and environment friendly sources if energy like wind energy. Wind is a type of solar energy, which is formed by the uneven distribution of heat coming from the sun in the atmosphere. Different factors contribute to the uneven distribution of heat that include but are not limited to the earth’s rotation, and uneven surface of earth. The terrain of earth, the cover of vegetation on it and the water reservoirs all serve to control the pattern of flow of wind. If the wind turbines are used to harvest this flow of wind, the motion energy can serve as a potential source of electricity. Wind power and wind energy are terms with the same meaning that explain the process of use of wind to produce the mechanical power (Wing Energy Guide). It is essentially a power which is gained from wind (Smith). When the wind turbines are installed, the kinetic energy contained in wind is transformed into the mechanical energy, which can then be utilized to do various kinds of works like pumping water and crushing grains.