Category: Uncategorized

Honors Project

Name:

Institution:

Course:

Tutor:

Date

Biologically, not much is known about the history of the earth for the first three billion years. Some questions such as when the first life appeared on earth and its source remain unanswered.

Before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), which occurred about 2.45 billion years ago, our Earth’s ozone layer had not yet been formed. Since the ozone layer is useful in shielding life from the harmful UV radiation, phototrophs such as cyanobacteria were affected by the formation of the ozone layer since they required the solar radiation as an input in photosynthesis and other metabolic processes (Codd, Morrison & Metcalf, 2005, p267). However, this also exposed them to lethal UV radiation that can cause direct and indirect damage to the macromolecules such as proteins and DNA of all cellular life in this planet. Since the stratospheric ozone layer came into after the great oxidation event, failure of the event happening would have made microbial life adopt a wide range of strategies to survive under the harsh UV radiation, most probably by producing UV-blocking chemicals also known as microbial sunscreen compounds. In order to determine if microbial sunscreen biosynthesis is a form of a strategy that cyanobacteria adopted to mitigate the harmful effects of UV radiation before formation of the ozone layer, time machine would be a great option if Stephen Hawking can manufacture one, but that is not feasible for the time being. This study will aim to find out whether microbial sunscreen production like scytonemin is one of the mitigation strategies adopted by microbes in the past through the study of microbial mats and cyanobacteria like Lyngbya aestuarii from Shark Bay, Western Australia. As we know, microbial mats from Shark bay, Western Australia are the analogues of ancient microbial mats and stromatolites, so the study of these modern mats may inform us how microbes in the ancient stromatolites/ microbial mats might have protected themselves from the harmful UV radiation in the past.

Using the above assumptions on manufacture of UV radiation shielding compounds, I plan to pursue my Honors study at University of New South Wales by focusing my studies on explaining how cyanobacteria protected itself from lethal UV radiation in the past; the study will focus more on the microbial sunscreen biosynthesis. Analysis of microbial sunscreen production from the microbial mats of Shark Bay would be of paramount importance, as it will help in explaining how the first living organisms on earth became resistant to the harmful UV radiation before the formation of ozone layer. This study may also be important in finding whether life could be present in other planets that do not have a protective layer from UV radiation. I will be honored to work under the supervision of Professor Brett Neilan and Dr. Brendan Burns from the Australian Centre for Astrobiology (ACA), since they are some of the leading researchers in cyanobacterial research, astrobiology and other areas of environmental microbiology. I have chosen to pursue my Honors study at University of New South Wales because of its reputation and scientific achievements, which will greatly help me build my career as a great researcher in cyanobacterial.

References

Codd, G. A., Morrison, L. F., & Metcalf, J. S. (2005). Cyanobacterial toxins: risk management for health protection. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 203(3), 264-272.

Hookah and Human Health: Health and Social Risks of Hookah in Saudi Arabia

Department of Health Sciences

Health Professions Education

Prospectus

Table of Contents

Section Page

1. Introduction3

Description of the Local Problem3

Rationale of the Local Problem and Purpose of the Study5

2. Review of Literature6

Hookah Usage6

Health Risk8

Research Question(s)11

3. Description of Proposed Research Methods and Procedures11

Methods11

Procedures11

References12

Hookah and Human Health: Health and Social Risks of Hookah in Saudi Arabia

Section 1

Introduction

Description of the Local Problem

One should note that there are different means for smoking tobacco throughout the world. One of them is the use of hookahs. A hookah is defined as a water pipe designed for smoking the flavored tobacco. It is also known as shisha, argilah, goza, or hubble-bubble. The hookah requires the use of the flavored tobacco in order to give it a different taste from that of a cigarette (Chaouachi, 2009).

Cobb et al. (2010) argue that the use of hookah has substantially increased over the last two decades in the world. The tendency is particularly evident among the youth aged from 18 to 25 years. The high level of the hookah smoking has also led to the establishment of bars where smoking is the most popular activity. The research shows that a large number of hookah smokers think that smoking tobacco through hookah poses less risk than smoking it through other means including cigarettes.

According to Ahmed et al. (2011), medical experts have found that a single shisha session might be as dangerous as smoking 200 cigarettes at once. It is explained by the fact that cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemicals and toxins. Furthermore, smoking increases the health risks around the world (Almohrej, Altraif, Tamim, & Fakhoury, 2014). In the United States, about 2,242 online shops sell hookah tobacco and related products. Moreover, approximately 175 hookah lounges and cafes can be found only in California. It is important to underline that in Los Angeles, most of the cafes are located near universities and college campuses (Hanna, O’Connell, & Woo, 2014). However, the popularity of hookah smoking is larger in Middle Eastern countries than in the United States (Griffiths, Harmon, & Gilly, 2011).

Rationale of the Local Problem and the Purpose of Study

Rationale of the Local Problem. The rationale for the study is the observation that nations of the Middle East experience a high level of hookah use. Its effect in Saudi Arabia is worse than in the USA because of the easy access to hookah in every region. The health risks associated with hookah smoking also influenced the choice of the local problem. Saudi Arabia has a high rate of the health and social risks associated with smoking hookah. It have forced the government to introduce effective prevention measures and prohibit the use of hookah in the country (Baboor, Alnazzawi, Abu-Hammad, & Dar-Odeh, 2014). Cigarettes pose a significant health threat to smokers and non-smokers. However, hookahs are more perilous than cigarettes (Chaouachi & Sajid, 2010). In Saudi Arabia, smoking in public places has been prohibited since 2004. However, the country occupies the fourth position in importing tobacco worldwide. Moreover, the tobacco consuming (including hookah smoking) has led to the economic loss. The loss accounts for approximately 20.5 billion dollars for the last ten years (Almohrej, Altraif, Tamim, & Fakhoury, 2014).

There are different health and social risks related to the hookah smoking. The former ones, which are associated with hookah smoking in the short term, include raising the blood pressure and heart rates of smokers. It puts smokers at a high risk of developing such conditions as cardiac arrests and strokes (Ben, 2009). Also, hookah smoking results in damaging the major arteries of the body that results in the limited supply of blood to the brain (Mirjana, Steven, & Zang, 2010). In addition, the water pipe usage contains the same toxicants as cigarettes, including drug nicotine, cancer causing, pulmonary disease, as well as acute intoxication caused by the carbon monoxide (Eissenberg, 2013). Furthermore, hookah smoking is directly connected with the adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially a low birth weight (Hanna, O’Connell, & Woo, 2014).

The Purpose of the Study. The purpose of the study is to develop an education Reference Judie for the Saudi Arabian hookah smoker. The Reference Judie will help to understand the risks of hookah smoking. It will help to substantiate the claims regarding the rate of risks associated with hookah smoking in the country. Since the previous researches have already identified some risks caused by the hookah use, the study aims at determining the level of these risks. The ways of becoming addicted to hookah will also be the central focus while the developing the education Reference Judie.

Section 2

Review of Literature

Hookah and Human Health: Health and Social Risks of Hookah in Saudi Arabia

Section 2

Review of Literature

Hookah Usage

Definition of Hookah. The notion of hookah should be comprehended as a waterpipe used to pass charcoal heated air through tobacco and through a water-filled chamber (Chaouachi, 2009). The synonym of hookah, shisha, specifically constitutes for the particular sort of tobacco that is used in hookah. Its peculiar characteristic features are moistness and stickiness as a result of being soaked in the extract of molasses or honey. There are also other names of this type of tobacco, for instance, narghile, goza, arghileh, or hubble bubble (Chaouachi, 2009). Shisha is also characterized by variety of flavors, which are usually fruit ones, whereas exotic scents include caramel, cinnamon, mint, and other extraordinary options (Eissenberg, 2013).

History. Hookah is an ancient tradition that has been deeply rooted in the culture of many countries, especially in the Eastern part of the world (Chaouachi, 2009). Smoking hookah has been traditional related to Middle Eastern, Asian, African, Indian, and Turkish cultures for more than 500-year-old (Griffiths, Harmon, & Gilly, 2011 ).

India and Middle East. According to Ray (2009, p. 1319). “Hookah smoking has been practiced for over 400 years.” The court of Emperor Akbar started using and popularizing the habit of hookah smoking (Ray, 2009).

The first hookahs are regarded as primitive and simple in comparison with the modern ones. The basis for the first hookahs was a coconut shell and a tube with a so-called ‘head’ attached (“Hookah Smoking: A Growing Threat to Public Health”, n.d.). Moreover, it is very important to highlight that the initial tobacco for smoking via hookahs was not a contemporary mixture of shisha and fruit, but some time for hashish and opium in India (Ray, 2009).

The art of making hookah became more popular, and it is relevant to emphasize the fact that masters of hookah were treated with significant respect at that time as far as the procedure was very complicated and required special skills and knowledge. The hookah rooms were situated in the coffee houses and cafes (Ray, 2009).

It is essential that there was no difference in terms of sex, and both male and female representatives smoked hookah in India (Ray, 2009). Hookah started in India, then, smoking hookah extended to Persia and the Parisians were called it Narghile. Then it spared to Turkey, and Ottoman Empire at the early of 17th century. Later, hookah practice extended to North Africa and the middle of the Middle East (including Saudi Arabia) and it was called shisha (the glass bottle) (Ray, 2009).

Europe. The hookah has been practicing in Europe since the British came to India at 1950s, and some of them smoked the hookah for a fashion way until the other form of fashion smoking came and replaced it (Ray, 2009). At the 1990s, hookah smoking spread from West Asia, northern Africa, and South East Asia to parts of Europe, and Russia. The spread of hookah was there because of the immigrants from West Asian origin and their restaurants that offer the hookah (Ray, 2009).

The United States of America. The phenomenon of hookah became popular in the 1990s to be fashionable as cigars smoking were (Sterling & Mermelstein, 2011). Though, the level of significant popularity slightly lowered with the course of time, and the issues of harm hookah may cause to a smoker’s health started being taken into consideration. Actually, contemporary investigations into the issue from different angles identified obvious harm that regular smoking of shisha causes to human health, namely, cardiac arrests and strokes, damage cause to the major arteries of the human body, contribution to the development of cancer, pulmonary disease ((Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012).

Health Risk

Cardiac Arrests and Strokes. Any kind of tobacco (especially when it is used regularly and in a big amount) subsequently causes heart diseases. The phenomenon of hookah also belongs to this list as far as it also reduces blood flow to the heart and at the same time often appears to be a reason for high blood pressure (Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012). Moreover, it impacts blood vessels, and it is also considered to be a way to the stroke (Selim, Fouad and Ezzat, 2013). According to Aslam, Saleem, German and Qureshi (2014, p.1), “Many studies report that a mean increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate of shisha smokers is observed after shisha smoking.”

Cancer. Cancer may be also considered to be one of the horrible consequences of tobacco use in general and regular hookah smoking in particular (Eissenberg, 2013). According to the article “An Emerging Deadly Trend: Waterpipe Tobacco Use” (2007), “Waterpipe tobacco smokers are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals and hazardous gases such as carbon monoxide. Waterpipe users are also exposed to nicotine, the substance in tobacco that causes addictive behavior” (p. 1). The aspect of addictive quality is a crucial one as many young people consider hookah to be less harmful than traditional cigarettes (Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012). The same tendencies are supported by the work “Hookah Smoking: A Growing Threat to Public Health” (n.d.) provided by the American Lung Association.

According to contemporary investigations, one course of hookah is equaled to 200 cigarettes that have been smoked at a time. Hence, smokers tend to smoke hookah regularly, and such experience increases the probability of cancer development in the future. It is an alarming tendency as 54,4% of student respondents to the survey conducted by Rahman et al. (2012) have the experience of smoking hookah, and the addictive potential of the smoking habit is also very high and needs proper and timely intervention (Morris, Fiala, & Pawlak, 2012).

Pulmonary Disease. The session of smoking hookah is dangerous for lungs as far as the smoker of hookah inhales larger amount of nicotine in comparison with those who smoke cigarettes, which can cause pulmonary disease (Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012).. The tobacco that is used for hookah smoking is usually heated by means of charcoal or wood cinders. This aspect is also very dangerous as potentially harmful chemical elements such as metals and carbon monoxide are released in this process (Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012). The same data is supported by Ondov and Seltzer (2010).

Negative Pregnancy Outcomes. Hookah smoking is strongly prohibited for pregnant women. Moreover, it is not recommended in the period when a woman is taking birth control pills because it may result in strokes and development of heart disease and complications (or even anomalies) in the embryo (Rahman, Chang, Hadgu, Salinas-Miranda, & Corvin, 2012). The child may have difficulties with the breathing process after the birth, which may cause development of serious respiratory diseases as well as low birth weight (Chaouachi, 2009).

Damaging of the Major Arteries of the Body. The process of damaging the major arteries and its intensity as well as threat to health depends on the amount of the tobacco that has been smoked and regularity of the habit (Selim, Fouad, & Ezzat, 2013). The major arteries become gradually clogged as a result of permanent hookah smoking habit (Selim, Fouad, & Ezzat, 2013).

Social risk

Image.

Laws.

Peer pressure.

Smoker Knowledge, behavior

Education

Health.

Social.

Reference Judie.

Section 3

Description of Proposed Methods and Procedures

The Research Question(s)

Research Methodology

The method used for this paper was developmental.

Procedures

Assumptions.

Limitations.

Rationale.

Inclusion criteria.

Exclusion criteria.

Search procedures.

Libraries used. There was one library used. The ( The name of the university library) was used for this project.

Search engines and databases used. There were two databases used. The databases were PubMed and EMBASE.

Search terms.

Boolean strings.

References

Ahmed, B., Jacob P., Allen, F., & Benowitz, N. (2011). Attitudes and practices of hookah smokers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 43(2), 146-152.

Almohrej, O., Altraif, S., Tamim, H., & Fakhoury, H. (2014). Will any future increase in cigarette price reduce smoking in Saudi Arabia? Annals of Thoracic Medicine, 9(3), 154-157.

Baboor, A., Alnazzawi, A., Abu-Hammad, O., & Dar-Odeh, N. (2014). Unconventional materials and substances used in water pipe (narghile) by smokers in central western region of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 35 (8), 890-893.

Ben, S. H. (2009). The narghile and its effects on health. Part I: The narghile, general description and properties. Revue de Pneumologie Clinique 65(6), 369-75.

Chaouachi, K. (2009). Hookah (shisha, narghile) smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). A critical review of the relevant literature and the public health consequences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(2), 798-843.

Chaouachi, K., & Sajid, K. M. (2010). Cancer risks of hookah (shisha, narghile) tobacco use require further independent sound studies. International Journal of Cancer, 127(7), 1737-1739.

Cobb, C., Ward, K. D., Maziak, W., Shihadeh, A. L., & Eissenberg, T. (2010). Waterpipe tobacco smoking: An emerging health crisis in the United States. American Journal of Health Behavior, 34(3), 275-285.

Eissenberg, T. (2013). Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe (hookah): What you need to

know. AANA Journal, 81(4), 308-313.

Griffiths, M., Harmon, T., & Gilly, M. (2011). Hubble bubble trouble: The need for education about and regulation of hookah smoking. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 30(1), 119-132.

Hanna, M., O’Connell, A., & Woo, M. (2014). Hookah smoking among young adults in southern california. Nursing Research, 63(4), 300-306.

Kamal, C., & Mohammad S. K. (2010). A critique of recent hypotheses on oral (and lung) cancer induced by water pipe (hookah, shisha, narghile) tobacco smoking. Medical Hypotheses, 74(5): 843-846.

Mirjana, V., Steven, D., & Zang, E. (2010). Doses of nicotine and lung carcinogens delivered to cigarette smokers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 92, 106-111.

Hookah smoking: A growing threat to public health. (n.d.). American Lung Association. Retrieved from http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/tobacco-control-advocacy/reports-resources/cessation-economic-benefits/reports/hookah-policy-brief.pdf

Aslam, H. M., Saleem, S., German, S. & Qureshi, W. A. (2014). Harmful effects of shisha: Literature review. International Archives of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.intarchmed.com/content/pdf/1755-7682-7-16.pdf

Eissenberg, T., (2013). Tobacco Smoking Using a Waterpipe (Hookah): What You Need to

Know. AANA Journal. 81(4), p308-313.

Ondov, B. & Seltzer, J. (2010). Hookah smoking: Healthy option or just as harmful? TSHP. Retrieved from https://www.tshp.org/uploads/2/9/1/1/2911890/hookah.pdf

Morris, D. S., Fiala, S. C., & Pawlak, R. (2012). Opportunities for policy interventions to reduce youth hookah smoking in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/12_0082.htm

Rahman, S., Chang, L., Hadgu, S., Salinas-Miranda, A., & Corvin, J. (2012). Prevalence, knowledge, and practices of hookah smoking among university students, Florida, 2012. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/14_0099.htm

Selim, B. G., Fouad, H., & Ezzat, S. (2013). Impact of shisha smoking on the extent of coronary artery disease in patients referred for coronary angiography. Retrieved from http://www.anakarder.com/sayilar/95/buyuk/647-654.pdf

Griffiths, M., Harmon, T., Gilly, M. (2011). Hubble Bubble Trouble: The Need for Education About and Regulation of Hookah Smoking. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 30(1), p119-132.

Ray, C. (2009). The hookah – the Indian waterpipe. Current Science. 96(10). P1319-

P1323.

Sterling, K., & Mermelstein, R. (2011). Examining hookah smoking among a cohort of

adolescent ever smokers. The Society For Research On Nicotine And Tobacco. 13(12).

Doi:10.1093/ntr/ntr146.



Hope and Self-Reported Recovery Plan

Name:

Institution:

Date:

Recovery of any patients depends on several factors that have been proven by different scientists and psychologists. One such factor is hope that explains how a positive attitude towards life and a strong credence that recovery is a possibility, hence able to delete any negative thoughts that might come. Hope requires any patient to be able to recognize and assent that there are real problems and focusing on ability to work to solve the problem and never viewing failure as any near option (Barker, 2003). Through hope, any patient is able to focus ahead without looking at the past experiences and encouraging him or she by celebrating any achievements made in the course of recovery however small the progress is.

It is through hope that people believe that God exists and that by trusting in Him, anything is possible and therefore at times of recovery, people exercise their spiritual connections with the Almighty in order to receive healing (Barker, & Buchanan-Barker, 2010). Hope sustains people even in situations where there is a fall back from recovery. For example, when one recovers from sickness today and then the next day the situation regresses back. It is only hope that keeps one fighting knowing that situations will be better sooner than later. Hope is always perceived in the mind and thus having positive hopes is always the beginning of healing process while any despair leads to deterioration of the current state with no healing (Deegan, 2008).

Personal Recovery Plan is important for any patient to help him or her plan on how to manage the high and low moments, plans on how to manage relapse that may occur during recovery, and plans to follow dreams in life. Recovery plans may also be set to ex patient who may be suffering from depression. James was one of our clients who for a long time had a history of depression since he recovered from a mental illness three years ago but since then he has never been able to undertake his duties as he did prior to the illness. Being a husband and further of three and an employee of a multinational company, several roles which he previously played were at a standstill. James explains that following his recovery and discharge from the hospital, he found it difficult to fit in to the society again and this was the major source of his depression. He explains that to fight the stigma associated with mental illness proved to be a great challenge to him. He explains the steps he undertook to fight the stigma as one that required commitment and staying positive in all that he did. James explains that his first step involved taking responsibility as the head of his house. He played his role as a bread winner with the support of his wife and children who viewed him as a hardworking and a loving father and husband. This positive welcome from his family facilitated his healing process to a great deal. He also explained that through the healing process, he did all his favorite activities such as listening to music, and watching his favorite team play at the local premier league matches. (Jacobson & Curtis, pg. 333-341)

Framing mental illness provides an opportunity for both the patient and the nurse to consult one another and find a way of working with an aim of helping the patient recover faster. James further states that through this interaction with his nurse, he shared his personal experiences through the healing process and thus got the best psychological guidance and counseling and helped in his healing process. (Nora, & Greenley, 2011).

James also managed to manage his mental illness recovery by himself. He explains how he struggled to gain self-esteem and how it was stigmatizing to realize that at one moment he was mentally ill. (Slade, 2009). Managing mental illness involves the ability of the patient to work towards finding ways of reducing psychological stress effects that follow recovery as mental illness from a very traumatizing case. Some patients use response and symptom monitoring techniques as a way of monitoring and reducing symptoms of mental illness (Cleary, et al., 2013).

In his current state, James explains that he is 80% healed and is still finds difficulties in a few are such engaging in majority of social activities but he is always determined to improve each day. His advice to any person recovering from any trauma be it health or anyone who may become physically handicapped through accidents is that staying positive and building hope that life will go back to normal or even better if any patients works towards improving his or her health. He explains that mental illness is very traumatizing and he has managed to go through that. His parting shot is ‘with hope, anything is possible’. One can either build or destroy his or her life. (Slade, 2009).

References

Barker, P. (2003). The Tidal Model: Psychiatric colonization, recovery and the paradigm shift in mental health care. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 12, 96–102.

Barker, P., & Buchanan-Barker, P. (2010). The Tidal Model of Mental Health Recovery and Reclamation: Application in Acute Care Settings. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31:171–180.

Cleary, M. et al. (2013). Mental health nurses’ views of recovery within an acute setting. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 22: 205–212.

Deegan, P.E. (2008). Recovery: The Lived Experience of Rehabilitation. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 11(4):11–19.

Nora, J., & Greenley, D. (2001). What Is Recovery? A Conceptual Model and Explication. Psychiatric Services, 52:482–485.

Slade, M. (2009). 100 Ways to Support Recovery: A guide for Mental Health Professionals. Rethink Recovery Series (1).

Jacobson N, Curtis L: Recovery as policy in mental health services: strategies emerging from the states. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 23(4):333–341, 2000

Hope Charity Event project

Project Outline:

Project Title: Hope

Project Justification: This project has the potential to help raise additional funds for the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity for the purpose of helping them to increase the level of support they provide families with terminally ill children. This unique charity helps all those who are being affected by an illness across the UK, and require donations from the general public to continue supporting more families in the coming weeks, months and years.

Project Scope: This project will consist of the planning, development and running of an event in the aim of raising funds for the chosen charity. The project planning and development stages are to be carried out from October 2012 in the light of launching the event in February/March 2013, all depending on the chosen location. Areas of the event will include an Arts Exhibition, as well as music and dance performances from a range of individuals.

Project Deliverables: The project will be focused around the sale of art work created by our clients, in which several artists will be creating art based around the chosen charity. Other participants including musicians and dancers will be a form of entertainment for the customers to enjoy, but will not be the main source of income for this project. Throughout the project, the following materials will be delivered in order to successfully manage the overall project.

Progress Reports

Planning and Development Schedule

Weekly Meeting Notes

Final Event Report

Project Success: The project success will be measured through the amount of funds raised. Any profit made will be seen as a success.

Constraints: The constraints of this project are determined by the work of project members.

The successful and timely completion of project tasks in accordance with the project requirements.

Budget allocation is essential to the success of this project and may require further fundraising and or sponsorship to help fund the project.

Suitable location for the event to be undertaken in which can cater for all project requirements.

Business Case:

Project Rationale: The aim of this project is to organise a fun and enjoyable event that will raise funds for the chosen charity in order to help finance the support families require whose children are suffering from terminal illnesses. The location being suggested for this event is situated in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, which is on the boarder of North London. Communication with the necessary organisation is currently being undertaken and updates will be provided within regular progress reports. The project will be undertaken by five business management students from the University of Bedfordshire, some of whom have previous experience in organising and running charity events.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity require the ongoing support from the general public in order to be able to continuously provide support to the children and families who are affected by a terminal illness. Without donations from such projects, the charity would be unable to provide the level of support necessary, resulting in fewer families gaining the crucial care they so badly need. The benefits of supporting this charity is the ongoing support they can provide to many families across the United Kingdom, making those lives of those suffering that little bit easier and the continuing connections between charity and family.

Project Objectives:

To determine a suitable event in which can raise sufficient funds for the chosen charity.

To come up with the right amount of money needed for the project

To identify the right people to fund the project

To lobby for funds from well wishers

To prove to the people that the project is for charity

Chosen Project and Alternative Options: Upon initial discussions a number of event ideas were mentioned, in which the project discussed. The project chosen is based around art, which will involve an Arts Exhibition alongside performances from musicians and dancers. This event was selected by the project group due to its feasibility, customer base and the level of donations that can be achieved.

Alternative options suggested in the preliminary stages were a football tournament, an Arts Exhibition, a music show and finally a dance show. Through discussion with project members, it was agreed that a football tournament would raise very little funds due to the limit of people who are able to get involved. Furthermore, it was felt that this sort of event was too common and wouldn’t be enjoyable for all members of the team. However the other three suggestions were liked by the group but again, it was believed that none of these suggestions would raise sufficient funds for the chosen charity if they were to be run individually. The team therefore decided to combine the three ideas of art, music and dance to form one event.

Benefits of Project: The benefits of running such an event is firstly that certain team members have organised and run similar events in the past, some of which were for charity. This will provide the project with an understanding of what is required and group members can use their experiences to ensure certain issues are avoided where possible. Secondly, there are a great number of talented artists, musicians and dancers out there today that enjoy participating in such events. Participants will be carefully selected and this will be measured by previous experiences individuals have had and the passion they have for what they do in order to ensure we get participants whose talents will help to raise funds for the charity.

Thirdly, the project will be useful in appealing to the people that this organization is solely for charity, but not profit oriented as it has been claimed. Many people have organized for such events in order to benefit. Therefore, such an opportunity will be used to inform the general public on the nature of this project. This will help in creating a good image of this project particularly to the surrounding community which is expected to benefit most.

Constraints: This project comes with some constraints that will need to be managed effectively and action taken when necessary. The constraints that are currently apparent that will or may affect the project are;

Location: Currently this project is planned to take place in Hertfordshire, near North London. Some team members may not be able to get to the location, but currently all team members have stated they are happy with the selection and do not have any issues at this point in time.

Budget: Due to the desired location for this project, the budget may become an issue as the cost of the venue could potentially be higher than the initial funding. Fundraising prior to the event may be undertaken as well as the likelihood of looking to gain sponsorship.

Dependencies: This project is dependent on a variety of activities being completed to schedule in order for other activities to be undertaken on time. Such activities are dependent on one another due to the project structure so all team members must ensure they are carrying out their roles accurately and timely so that no area of the project is delayed.

Besides, there should be a proper organization of this project. The role of each and every person should be clearly stated. No one is expected to assume the role of leadership. All the people will be delegated duties based on their expertise, experience and interest. This will help to eliminate any misunderstanding which may confuse them. Hence, the project will run smoothly.

Risks: There are risks associated with a project like this, in which the project team must continuously keep in mind and ensure a contingency plan is in place that will enable action to be taken instantly if and when necessary. The risks that are currently apparent include;

Under Budget: The funds provided by the project board may be insufficient in which the project will require further funding. This will be down to the project team to raise.

Overambitious plans: the planners for this project may set unrealistic plans that may be difficult to accomplish. This will put an unnecessary pressure on the concerned parties.

Poor coordination: there may be uncooperative operations during the implementation of this project. This is true since its success is solely dependent on the commitments of the organizers.

Budget Estimates:

Due to the nature of this event, the required budget is essential to the success of the project. The key cost for this project is in terms of the project venue which could potentially reach a total of around£300.Although this will not be funded completely by the project board, Hope will look to hold fundraising events prior to the actual event to raise the required funds. Furthermore, sponsorship will be a focus of the project team, in order to raise these additional finances.

Another cost that will be incurred by the project team is that of refreshments for the event. This will be a low cost and may therefore be paid for by the project team rather than out of the allocated funds provided. However, it may be that a company would be willing to donate a variety of refreshments as a form of sponsorship. This cost is likely to be around the £30 mark if required to pay.

The projected budget currently for this event is roughly £330 but this cannot be confirmed until the venue has been agreed. Finance requirements are being kept to a minimum although the venue will be our major cost for this project.

Project Team:

The project team is consisted of five Business Management students, some of whom have previously organised and run charity events. Project Manager for this event is Sam Antrobus who arranges and conducts all meetings and ensures activities are completed to schedule. He is seen as the co-ordinator of the group as he delegates tasks effectively to the team, has a vision for the projects goals and is confident in what he does. Sam is also seen as a resource investigator, alongside his colleague Scott Shipway. Both team members are able to develop contacts and explore a range of opportunities. Scott is an outgoing and enthusiastic individual who has the potential to make the most of key opportunities.

Gemma Punnett is seen as a monitor evaluator as well as a team worker within the group. Her work style enables her to view all available options resulting in accurately judging the potential outcomes and therefore enabling her to make key decisions. Her teamwork skills allow her to effectively co-operate with her peers in which she listens to the team’s opinions and ideas and avoids any form of friction within the group.

Sameer Mansour is seen as a team worker as he listens to group ideas and looks at ways in which those ideas can be put into actions. He co-operates well with his peers and avoids any confrontation with his team members. With a bit of assistance from his team members he has the potential to become a shaper within the group has he is driven to overcome any situations that may obscure the project and has the ability to work within a challenging environment.

The final project team member is Bader Alghusn, who is a strong team-worker and also seen as the plant of the group. His creativeness and free-thinking enables him to generate ideas within the group and make suggestions that the group an act upon. His co-operation and listen skills make him a good team-worker and can help with the day to day organisation of this project.

Lessons Learned:

From previous events run by several members of the project team it is clear that a clear structure is required for the success of this event. If activities are not completed to schedule then it will make it difficult for the event to succeed. Furthermore, a strong relationship needs to be built and developed with the venue provider throughout the event process. Their expertise will be essential to this project so a strong level of communication will be vital. It is important not to over compliment things when planning this event as it will only cause problems further down the line.

Milestone Plan (Leading up to Christmas Period)

There are a number of milestones throughout this project that need to be met to schedule at all times. Leading up to the Christmas period (weeks 8 to 11) there are a number of milestones that must be met. The table below shows this and who is responsible for certain areas. Further milestones will be created during this time for the next stage of the project.

Task Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Person/s Responsible

Detailed Business Case Reasons Key Milestones, Expected Benefits, Risk Assessment     Sam Antrobus & Gemma Punnett

Stakeholder/Communications Strategy Project Team & Project Board Clients & Consumers Suppliers   Scott Shipway & Sameer Mansour

Project Plan for Delivery/Execution     Activities & Time Management Assign Activites Scott Shipway & Gemma Punnett

Venue Agreement Contact Venue   Contract Agreement   Sam Antrobus

Project Log Update Update Update Update Sam Antrobus

Risk Register TBC TBC TBC TBC Sameer Mansour & Bader Alghusn

Quality Register TBC TBC TBC TBC Bader Alghusn & Sameer Mansour

Charity Agreement Undertake Discussion Update Report Confirm Details Receive Resources Scott Shipway & Sam Antrobus

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Social problems

First social problem

Homelessness is a social issue that my group experiences. It is a state of individuals who need normal access to lodging, and is created by a few elements, for example, emotional instability, medication ill-use, physical or sexual misuse, and basically not having enough cash. Individuals who have complex life problem identified with emotional instability and substance ill-use are the well on the way to be homeless in light of the fact that they can’t hold an unfaltering employment and as a result, can’t manage the cost of rent. Likewise, homeless might be created by physical and sexual ill-use. Those continually getting attacked by their families may decide to flee and look for shelter in the boulevards as opposed to acknowledge a life of day by day beatings and assaults. This is exceptionally predominant among teens and women.

At last, the most imperative motivation behind why individuals get homeless could be because of the inaccessibility of competitive lodging for low wage individuals. This shows that individuals have a tendency to get homeless out of unavoidable circumstances. There are individuals who do have work yet they gain excessively little to pay for rent, power, water, and other lodging costs. In the event that an individual loses his occupation, then they clearly have no real way to pay for anything whatsoever (Edward et al,. 430). With everything taken into account, homelessness is a developing issue and obliges social activity. This might be achieved by building moderate lodging units to low salary individuals, securing ladies and kids from misuse, and helping medication addicts conquer their addictions and giving individuals with dysfunctional behaviors competitive health awareness.

Second social Problem

Social problem might be characterized in numerous distinctive ways. They impact everybody and a few of us experience problem commonplace as an aftereffect of our race, religion, sexual orientation, or low pay. Others encounter problem from mechanical change or declining neighborhoods, others are influenced straightforwardly by wrongdoing and savagery in their own particular neighborhood, and in some cases meanings of social problem are changed by public opinion on account of progressions around you. Finally so as to accomplish the motivation behind this which is to inspect and talk about diverse problem and circumstances that cause social problem, for example, destitution. Overpopulation and social problem go hand and turn in today’s general public and there are numerous reasons and components in the matter of why these problem exist. Calculates that prompt overpopulation that causes social problem are the build in the amount of single parents in poor neighborhoods restricted to the decrease in conception rates in the more productive parts of the nation, how the demise rate is at a relentless decay on account of restorative developments in rich and poor nations, the impacts foreigners have on an environment and the populace development that happens, the impact folks leave on children (Richard 23).

social problem will dependably exist on the grounds that social problem change as time progressions. We regularly have a tendency to disregard what we call necessities others call extravagances. Along these lines later on I trust social problem will get to be non-existent yet that is about outlandish. I additionally feel that destitution is an immense issue we confront as a world and that despite the fact that it is difficult to take care of this issue, we must take a gander at it as a progressing issue and try our hardest to help tackle this issue. In last I feel that overpopulation with a couple different components, for example, infections, youthful pregnancies, and the particular case that I think has the most significance is nature’s domain you experience childhood fit as a fiddle you into the individual you grow up to be.

Third social problem

Teenager Smoking: Preventing teenagers from smoking is an enormous test numerous groups confront today. Numerous groups can just watch without activity while nearby organizations keep on offering tobacco items to minors, significantly under danger of punishment of law. Late studies demonstrate that a huge rate of youngsters today are getting their cigarettes from stores, for the most part service stations or comfort store. As youngsters keep on having the capacity to purchase their own particular cigarettes, more groups start to force stronger disciplines on shippers who offer to the high school children (Logsdon 10).

One group has encountered accomplishment in their endeavors to stop the offer of tobacco items to minors. Woodridge, Illinois, began a program, seven years back that disallowed and strictly rebuffed the offer of tobacco items to minors. The whole program incorporates neighborhood permitting of merchants, rehashed undercover assessments to check whether the deal to minors has halted, and training projects in schools. Woodridge has turned into a model group as different groups are moving to stop adolescent tobacco utilization. A late national study demonstrated that 36.5% of females, and 40.8% of guys purchase their cigarettes from stores, whether it be a corner store or a market. Surely, as more shippers see the inconvenience they confront if discovered offering to minors, they will quit offering. Genuine, tightening down on saves that offer tobacco to minors isn¹t going to totally stop the issue of teenager tobacco utilization. Adolescents keep on getting them from different sources. Yet it most likely does hamper their endeavors. With more instruction in schools, and maybe stronger disciplines for youngsters got with tobacco, more teenagers will see the problem with the tobacco use, and will stop the propensity.

Fourth social problem

Youth committing Suicide: Suicide is purposeful conveyed toward oneself demonstrations that end in death(“suicide,” Compton’s). After an arrangement of traumatic occasions, ordinary adapting capacities could be pushed over the edge; the result may be suicide. In every year, a normal of 30,000 suicide passing happen in the World. It is evaluated that 5,000 of those suicides are submitted by teenagers. One real reason that the suicide rate among adolescents is so high, is that the adolescent years are a time of hullabaloo. New social parts are, no doubt adapted, new connections are, no doubt created, substantial progressions are happening, and choices about what’s to come are, no doubt made throughout the high school years. Adolescents have a tendency to submit suicide after extensive progressions, huge misfortunes, or ill-use has happened in their lives (Helen, et al 22). An essential change seeing someone, or self-perception may help a young people’s propensity to submit suicide. The passing of a friend or family member, the departure of an esteemed relationship, and the misfortune of self-regard are some critical misfortunes which may be a component in teenager suicide. Saw ill-use, for example, physical, enthusiastic, mental, sexual, social ill-use or disregard can prompt self-murder. Critical changes, misfortunes, and ill-use can advertise self-destructive inclinations.

Few self-destructive individuals have some kind of wretchedness, yet the individuals who have one could be incited to submit suicide. There are two fundamental sorts of dejection endured by self-destructive people. The main sort is sensitive misery. This sort of dejection is the response of a troublesome and frequently traumatic experience. Endogenous wretchedness is the second sort of discouragement. It is the consequence of an emotional sickness which is diagnosable by an expert. Some self-destructive individuals have a combo of both sensitive sorrow and endogenous melancholy. Others could have dejection, which is undiagnosed

Fifth Social Problem

Abortion is a developing issue in the world among ladies and their entitlement to recreate youngsters. Pretty nearly one to three million abortion s are carried out every year. Ladies get abortion s for some reasons, for example, for assault, adolescent pregnancy and wellbeing reasons. Assault is one of numerous reasons that cause ladies to pick abortion to end their pregnancies. What to do about their pregnancy is required, albeit numerous or them felt they were completion a life (Tajfel 13). They are insightful enough to know how they would treat their illegitimate tyke. They loathe their attacker, and stress that in the event that they kept their children, they would abhor their kids for helping them to remember such a frightful time. Junior ladies somewhere around 15 and 19 record for no less than 5 million abortion s consistently – 1 million of them in the World. Truth be told, one of each five pregnancies happens to a young lady. In circumstances like this, some individuals are certain that they could deal with the youngster, while others realize that they are not primed or develop enough to take so many obligations.

Much of the time the youngster would have nobody to depend on however a single parent with no educating, and possibly a non-strong crew. He or she would have a curved, hopeless childhood, left helpless further down the road. An alternate reason that causes ladies decision abortion is wellbeing issue. There is an extent of problem, including the tyke being conceived with Down’s Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, or a demeanor to corpulence, which can further down the road reason stopped up courses and heart disappointment. In an alternate case, individuals should frequently settle on decision between sparing the mother, as of now a working part of pop culture, or giving her a chance to die to attempt and spare the child. Taking everything into account, for any pregnant lady, settling on a choice to prematurely end her tyke is terrible and heartless, yet under certain circumstance, for example, assault, youthful age and wellbeing reasons, a lady would decide to end her pregnant by fetus removal.

Works Cited

D’zurilla, Thomas J., Edward C. Chang, and Lawrence J. Sanna. “Self-esteem and social problem solving as predictors of aggression in college students.”Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 22.4 (2003): 424-440.

Layard, Richard. “Mental health: Britain’s biggest social problem?.” (2005): 1-34.

Logsdon, Jeanne M. “Interests and interdependence in the formation of social problem-solving collaborations.” The Journal of applied behavioral science 27.1 (1991): 23-37.

Swanson, Helen, et al. “The relationship between parental bonding, social problem solving and eating pathology in an anorexic inpatient sample.”European Eating Disorders Review 18.1 (2010): 22-32.

Tajfel, Henri, ed. Social identity and intergroup relations. Vol. 7. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Running Head: HORMONES AND LEARNING AND MEMORY

Hormones and Learning and Memory

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Hormones and cognitive enhancement:

Cognitive enhancement involves enhancement of the mind capacity for various cognitive functions such as reasoning speed and memory capacity. Hormones can have a profound impact on the cognitive performance of an individual since they can have a profound impact on the neural plasticity. Moreover, sex differences between men and females indicate may result into differences in cognitive capabilities between the two sexes. Research has been done on the impact of hormones on the neural plasticity as well as sex differences that result into differences in the cognitive capabilities between men and women. This essay reviews how hormones influence neural plasticity and the cognitive enhancement of an individual. Moreover, the article reviews the differences between males and females that result into differences in cognitive functions.

How hormones influence neural plasticity:

Cognitive enhancement involves extension of the mind capacity, accomplished through improvement of various internal and external systems of perceiving and processing information (Bostron and Sandberg, 2009). Cognitive enhancement does not relate to the speed of cognitive capacities but pertains to the benefits resulting from a cognitive enhancement intervention (Bostron and Sandberg, 2009). As such, a cognitive enhanced person is one who, through cognitive enhancement intervention, has improved his cognitive performance. Neural plasticity involves the ability of the neural system to change or switch between activities functionally and in the organization. Neural plasticity has a profound impact on the cognitive enhancement of an individual. For instance, increased neural plasticity results into enhanced cognitive ability.

Neural plasticity can be affected by various factors, among them being education, training and hormones. Moreover, hormones have a profound impact on neural plasticity and the cognitive enhancement of an individual. Various researchers have found a relation between cognitive Oestradial hormone and cognitive enhancement. According to Luine (2008), Oestradial hormone has several effects on the brain those affect the neural plasticity of the brain. In other researches, progesterone and Testerone hormones are associated to neural plasticity, suggesting that the hormones act on neurons, improving the neural plasticity of the brain and thus enhancing the cognitive performance of the brain (Luine, 2008).

Sex differences between males and females that provide evidence of the hormonal and neural correlates of cognitive function

Research suggests that males and females behave differently on various cognitive functions. Various studies indicate that females produce better results compared to males on matters concerning verbal abilities, reasoning speed and memory capacity (Davies and Wilkinson, 2006). On the other hand, studies indicate that males outdo females on matters concerning mental rotation and mathematical tasks (Davies and Wilkinson, 2006).

The hormone Testerone has been associated with the cognitive difference between males and females. This is a steroid hormone that is secreted by males from the testes and females from the ovaries. Studies indicate that males produce more Testerone hormone compared to female, resulting to the difference in the cognitive abilities between males and females (Bell et al, 2005).

In the brain, Testerone affects various cognitive functions such as attention, memory and the spatial ability of an individual. According to Nugent et al. (2005), males usually produce higher levels of Testerone compared to women that explains the difference between the two sexes on memory capacity. According to Bell et al. (2005), men usually have larger brains compared to women, and that explains why men and females exhibit different cognitive capacities.

From the article, it is evident that the hormonal differences between males and females produce varying cognitive capabilities. For instance, women exhibit enhanced reasoning speed and verbal capabilities compared to men. On the other hand, men exhibit improved memory capacities compared to women. These differences are usually caused by hormonal differences between men and women. For instance, research indicates that males produce more Testerone compared to females, explaining the differences between cognitive functions between the two sexes.

References

Bell, E, Willson, M, Wilman, A, Dave, S & Silverstone, P. (2005). Males and Females Differ in

Brain Activation During Cognitive tasks. Alberta, Canada: Elsevier Inc.

Bostrom, A & Sandberg, A, (2006). Cognitive Enhancement: Methods, Ethics, Regulatory

Challenges. Springer Science + Business Media.

Davies, W & Wilkinson, L. (2006). It is not all Hormones: alternative Explanations for sexual

Differentiation of the Brain. UK: Elsevier.

Luine, V. (2008). Sex Steroid and Cognitive Function. Journal of Neuroendoclinology.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 20 (6).

Nugent, A, Bain, E, Thayer, J, Sollers, J & Drevets, C. (2005). Sex Differences in the Neural

Correlates of Autonomic Arousals. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 80 (3).

United States of America.

Hometown Bank

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Affiliation

Question 1

A sticky scale brings Webster’s attention to whether caulking tubes are being properly capped. If a significant proportion of the tubes aren’t being sealed, Webster is placing their customers in a messy situation. Tubes are packaged in large boxes of 144. Several boxes are inspected and the following number of leaking tubes are found:

Sample Tubes Sample Tubes Sample Tubes

1 3 8 6 15 5

2 5 9 4 16 0

3 3 10 9 17 2

4 4 11 2 18 6

5 2 12 6 19 2

6 4 13 5 20 1

7 2 14 1 Total 72

Calculate p-chart three-sigma control limits to assess whether the capping process is in statistical control.

Solution

n = 144, EMBED Equation.2

EMBED Equation.2

EMBED Equation.2 . Therefore, statistical control.

Question 2

Webster Chemical’s nominal weight for filling tubes of caulk is 8.00 ounces EMBED Equation.2 0.60 ounces. The target process capability ratio is 1.33. The current distribution of the filling process is centered on 8.054 ounces with a standard deviation of 0.192 ounces. Compute the process capability index to assess whether the filling process is capable and set properly.

Answer:

Process capability ratio:

EMBED Equation.2

Process capability index:

EMBED Equation.2

EMBED Equation.2

Logistics and Operations Management

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Horsemeat Consumption in Europe

Over the recent years, horse meat has been a major problem in the United Kingdom. One major source originates from Northern America in places like Canada as well as Southern America in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The European horsemeat problem began when meat testing within Ireland proved that some beef products contained the equine DNA. This menace has spread across the European continent and in the process, entangling many distinguished brands, which result to timely product abandonment and therefore poor customer concerns by the relevant authorities as well as poor government investigations into the continent’s complex food dispensation chains.

Findings

Due to the ongoing European horsemeat contamination scandal, a good number of the beef supplies company executives are considering looking at their risks and uncertainties and on a regular basis. The horsemeat contamination in the beef lasagne is one example of the unexpected interference that occurs when the company executives ought to prepare themselves to handle. Economic pressures contribute to a larger percentage of the risks, which contribute to contaminations in the supply chains (Doeg, 2005 166). According to Humane Society International (2012), every year about one hundred thousand tonnes of horsemeat become imported to the European Union states and the origin of this meat is from the above countries. In addition to the large amounts of meat supplied to the European Union nations, about tens of thousands of this meat is slaughtered for human consumptions within the European Union itself. The Humane Society International (2012) has carried out studies over the issue of horsemeat in the European meat consumption market especially in three member states, which include France, Netherlands and Belgium where meat consumption is a normal phenomenon.

Sampling studies carried on beef lasagne in France, Belgium and Netherlands.

Beef Lasagne is an Italian flat dish, which is made by incorporating several ingredients and sauces into several layers and then baking the dish in an oven. This dish is an olden Italian meal, which is very delicious. The ingredients are made from pork and beef mixed with fresh pasta, creamy béchamel and Italian mozzarella. According to a sampling food survey conducted by the European Food Standards Agency over the wide spread of horsemeat in beef products, one of the products found to contain traces of more than one percent pig meat include Apetito Beef Lasagne (FSA, 2013). The Apetito Company in their defence state that they produce majority of beef lasagne just like any other company however, their beef products in most cases, are imported in large chunks or as whole muscles from their approved suppliers. They inspect their meat but do not carry out comprehensive analysis of the Bute found in the imported meat so as to detect traces of harmful substances (FSA, 2013). The sampling done of the beef lasagne was carried out in two phases and the results obtained proved that out of the 224 Apetito Beef Lasagne sampled in phase one, 214 contained more than one percent pig DNA or contain both pig and horse DNA (FSA, 2013). As for the second phase, the Apetito Beef Lasagne tested contained a threshold of more than one percent pig DNA but did not contain any horse DNA above the one percent threshold.

Also, a report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2013) proved that there were undeclared traces of horse as well as pork DNA were found in meat products especially lasagne, beef burgers and Bolognaise, which are already readymade meat products that have been contaminated by horse meat as well as pork DNA. The European government and the related meat industries are conducting a large scale and nationwide meat testing to determine the problem. Each and every year, beef lasagne, which contains traces of horsemeat, is being delivered to France, Netherlands and Belgium in large numbers, which are more than ten thousand tones. In most cases, most of the livestock slaughtered are not bred in France, Netherlands and Belgium. According to Humane Society International (2012 1), not all the livestock slaughtered for beef lasagne are raised in these countries however, they are transported across the European Union borders and then slaughtered in the states for meat consumption. Live animals in the past years have been transported across the three nations partly due to the close proximity of slaughterhouse in either country (Humane Society International, 2012). In France, exportation of beef for making lasagne has extended to the neighbouring states of France like Spain as well as Poland (Humane Society International, 2012).

The governments within the European Union and especially in the United Kingdom have begun efforts to ensure the coordinated response towards the establishment and investigations of the menace across Europe. The European Union on its part agreed that the tests for the imported beef products in foreign countries should be tested for the presence of horsemeat and more so throughout the entire meat food chain. The report also indicated that the major people responsible for the distribution and sale of horsemeat are the food retailers and manufacturers as well as the food suppliers who are legally responsible for making sure that the beef products are labelled correctly. The British Food Standards Agency, who are responsible for ensuring food safety, and the Food Authenticity Programme, which develops the required testing methods that check whether the beef lasagne products have been properly labelled or have contaminations, are responsible for the illegal distribution of horsemeat (Humane Society International, 2012).

Processed beef lasagne in Ireland and Spain

Taco Bell, which is an American Based food retail company was involved in the horsemeat scandal and in recent times, has withdrawn the sale of its taco beef product in the European nations and the reason was the fact that some of the sols beef lasagne were found to contain more than ten percent horse DNA (Humane Society International, 2012). These products include beef skewers, made by Brakes catering company, beef lasagne and spaghetti Bolognese, which are ready Birds Eye meals. In Europe, Taco Bell has various outlets in Europe, one in Essex, the other in Manchester and about three in Spain. The companies in recent times said that after testing their beef lasagne, the presence of horsemeat became evident in the products. The Taco Bell Company revealed that some of the beef products, which they bought from their suppliers in Europe contained traces of horsemeat. Immediately the company realized this mistake, they withdrew their sale of beef and also discontinued their purchase of meat products, and later contacted the Food Standards Agency (Humane Society International, 2012).

The presence of low level horse DNA in beef products prompted the Birds Eye to go ahead and remove their readymade beef meals from supermarket shelves based on the fact that they were made from Belgian Companies (Meikle, 2013). The products include the traditional 340g spaghetti Bolognese, the 400g Shepherd’s Pie and the 400g beef lasagne. Further tests that have been conducted on the Birds Eye product, and in particular on the beef lasagne and spaghetti Bolognese, show that these products contain traces of Horse DNA. This has prompted beef manufacturers and traders to introduce a new DNA testing program, which will make sure that no pulverized beef product will be distributed to the retail stores without undergoing thorough screening and DNA testing (Meikle, 2013).

Beef testing in Europe

The local authorities in European countries as well as the Food Standards Agency carry out close to one hundred thousand tests annually, as part of their routine, to detect the numerous food safety issues and fraud issues encompassing the food industry by using the risk based approach system (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2013). The Food Standards Agency requires a more vigorous response from the food industry so as to demonstrate their campaign in fighting the horsemeat scare across Europe. The Food Standards Agency aims at ensuring that every food industry prepares food, sells their products and deserves their product with the quality it has advertised on its cover paper. Food operating businesses are required to carry out authenticity tests on every processed beef products, for example lasagne, beef burgers and meatballs, and then provide the tested results to the Food Standards Agency (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2013). The tests results, which have been submitted to the Food Standards Agency, ought to be published by the specific retail company that was responsible for carrying out the tests. This ensures there is maximum transparency in the food testing and authenticity system for the benefit of the beef product consumers. Additionally, the Food Standards Agency is conducting a nationwide inspection incorporating the various beef products, which are available for consumption to UK consumers. The companies responsible for supplying public institutions like schools and even hospitals are part of the Food Standards Agency sampling programme. 

The various countries’ local authorities aim at identifying and understanding the various factors that lead to the presence of meat products, which have not been labelled as ingredients so as to eliminate, explain and correctly label such products. The local authorities have undertaken numerous activities including carrying out surveying in order to come up with relevant information regarding the possible presence of pig DNA or possible traces of horse DNA in the wide range of beef products, which are available to the UK consumers (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2013). According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2013), the survey will take samples from pre-packed beef products at retail stores, which claim the products are beef or either beef combined with other labelled meat species. These include meat balls, burgers, sausages and minced beef. The other samples that will be sampled include frozen beef products, imported beef products from the third world countries and fresh beef products. This survey will aim at selecting a percentage of the beef products, which represent the goods that are available on the consumer market and the samples are taken in such a way that enforcement actions ought to be taken, if necessary, in order to protect the well being of the consumers.

Conclusion

Even though the horse meat scandal has proved to be detrimental especially to the well being of the European citizens, the realization of this vice by the relevant agencies as well as the local authorities has proven successful in the fight against the consumption of such products. In Europe, chilled horsemeat, fresh horsemeat as well as processed horsemeat products are readily available for the consumption of the population. According to the report by the Humane Society International (2012 14), horsemeat is commonly sold in the form of smoked meat slices or can either be incorporated as a cheap convenience ingredient to the meat products rather than selling it as meat steaks with such products including beef lasagne, which is a common delicacy in Europe. The low levels of occasional consumptions that have been reported indicate that horsemeat is a readily available commodity in most European countries. The high levels of horsemeat importations especially from the third world countries is not accounted for and therefore; not reflected in the labelling packages as beef products that come from a reliable country of origin (Humane Society International, 2012 15).

Recommendations

The survey carried out shows that about ninety percent of the companies involved in the study together with the local authorities have been involved in the uncertain economic growth and the impact on supply chains management (Doeg, 2005 169). On a risk management perspective, numerous European beef processing and supply company executives ought to try and understand how their suppliers operate. It is their right to be part of the supply and logistics by carrying out their own independent inspections and analysis of the specific beef product and in so doing, the companies would comply with the standards required by their clients (Doeg, 2005 24). As soon as a company determines that the beef products obtained from the supplier contains traces of horsemeat, then the company ought to introduce a benchmark system, which will be responsible for testing fully all the products bought so as to ensure there is no other trace of pig DNA or horse DNA within the purchased products. In so doing, it would create a system whereby the suppliers and retailers have a disclosure agreement concerning the presence of horse DNA in the food products (Doeg, 2005 25).

Safety is the key factor to consider when managing the movement of beef products from the source to the retail store. However, due to mistrust issues on terms of correct labelling of the beef products, horsemeat contamination has become a major problem in European countries (De Leon, Meacham & Claudio, 2003 68). An example is the Taco Bell food retail chain, where apart from horse DNA being found on their beef products, the supplier on the other hand had agreed to supply only Irish beef since they had Polish meat in their preservation chambers for supply during harsh economic times (Sullivan, Barthorpe & Robbins, 2011 18).

The truth aspect has not entirely been lost on the clients. A UK based Consumer Intelligence company conducted research and suggests that about twenty percent of British grown patrons have confessed to buying of less meat due to the horse-meat scandal (Donald & Waters, 2007 118). About two thirds of the adult population surveyed confessed that they have trust issues with food labels, at the same time, more than sixty percent alleged to having plans of buying meat from their neighbourhood butchers due to the horse-meat contamination (Meyer, 2013). This means that the retailer companies such as Taco Bell ought to become accustomed to the risks involved and act accordingly because the horsemeat contamination might become a menace and if not realized early, then the food processors might continue with their insufficient standards of manufacturing beef products, which turns out to be cost cutting more so to the suppliers of the beef products.

The control of food imports especially from countries, which are outside the European Union, ought to comply with the strict food safety standards and requirements so as to make sure the products are equivalent to the produced foods found in the European nations (Belasco & Horowitz, 2010 71-74). The imported foods become subject to constant food checks especially by the local authorities and health officers at the ports as it helps to ensure that they comply with the regulations (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2013). The other important factor to consider is having one entry point for the imported beef products. These border examination posts ensure that meat products are inspected and the health officers make sure there is no pig or horse DNA in the products (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2013). In case the imported products pose any threat to human consumption, then the present legislation permits the ban of such imports. The Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011 uplifts bans against contaminated meat since the products risks human health (De Leon, Meacham & Claudio, 2003 95).

Reference

Belasco, W. and Horowitz, R. 2010. Food Chains: From Farmyard to Shopping Cart. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 2013. Processed beef products and horse meat. Available at HYPERLINK “http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/food/labelling/processed-beef-horse-meat/” http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/food/labelling/processed-beef-horse-meat/. (Accessed March 24, 2013).

De Leon, S., Y., Meacham, S., L and Claudio, V., S. 2003. Global Handbook on Food and Water Safety: For the Education of Food Industry Management, Food Handlers, and Consumers. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Doeg, C. 2005. Crisis Management in the Food and Drinks Industry: A Practical Approach London: Springer.

Donald, C and Waters, J. 2007. Global Logistics: New Directions in Supply Chain Management. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

Food Standards Agency. (2013). Update on progress of FSA beef product surveys. Available at HYPERLINK “http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/mar/surveys-update” http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/mar/surveys-update. (Accessed March 24, 2013).

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Homework five (temperature precipitation summary for the UK.

Introduction

Temperature is a characteristic of matter that is used to describe how hot or cold a place or organism is. It is measured in terms of degrees Celsius or degrees centigrade. Precipitation can occur in many forms that include: rain mist snow among others. (Chang Hasok, 2004).

Temperature is the hotness or coldness of an area it is affected by an array of factors that include, latitude, and distance from the sea among other. Areas that are near or closest to the equator always have higher temperatures than those away from the equator. The town from which we acquired the data might be close to the equator as the temperatures are generally high. This is because the sun is seen for almost twelve hours a day for the whole year round. Another factor is the distance from the sea. The areas that are closer to the sea are usually noticeably hotter than the areas away form the sea (The Weather World 2010 Project, 2010).

Additionally areas that are in mountainous areas are of low temperatures as they are always covered in snow throughout the year and generally tend to be colder than areas of lower altitude, more so if one applies the principle of clouds being made of moisture from evaporated moisture. It was also worth noting that similar to most parts of the world, winter usually comes around between April and August.

The precipitation profile of this city is generally high during the times when the temperatures are high as compared to the cooler months. Some of the factors that might be affecting this include; latitude, global and large scale currents that blow from the seas around. The precipitation is unevenly distributed throughout the year. (Michael Ritter, 2008).

The pattern of minimum and maximum temperatures in this city is fluctuating throughout the year with the highest in between June and august and lowest in lowest in September. The differences in the high and low temperatures are uneven throughout the year .they don’t follow the same trend. The factor that could be influencing the daily temperatures might be the currents that are often blowing over this city. The winds will carry the characteristics of the [place they originated from. The prevailing temperature may be cold if the winds around are from the arctic region. The winds from the north Atlantic makes the UK warmer during the cold seasons. (Michael Ritter, 2008). It is however perhaps worth noting that with time, also similar to other areas, the weather patterns of the area, are also becoming more and more unpredictable. This it could however be argued, is not really surprising, withissues,such as global warming having taken a front seat when it comes climatic,

Min/max temp in degrees Celsius

Temperature/precipitation (Hydrometeor) graph

The hydrometer provided it could be said high contributed towards helping in the reducing the guess work involved in determining dilemmas. More so when it comes to matters of agriculture, as temperatures do help towards determining the best farming inputs or approaches to be used.

References.

Chang, Hasok (2004). Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific Progress.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

HYPERLINK “http://www7.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO/GSOD_DESC.txt” http://www7.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO/GSOD_DESC.txt

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/climatedata.html#daily

Michael Ritter (2008).

HYPERLINK “http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/humid_subtropical.html” “Humid Subtropical Climate”. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Stevens_Point” o “University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point” University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.

The Weather World 2010 Project (2010).

HYPERLINK “http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/cld/prcp/home.rxml” “Precipitation: hail, rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow”. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Illinois” o “University of Illinois” University of Illinois