Vascular Access in Continous Renal Replacement therapy Essay

Vascular Access in Continous Renal Replacement therapy - Essay Example 24). CRRT uses diffusion (haemodialysis), convection (haemofiltration) or combines these two methods (heamodiafiltration) in order to achieve solute removal from the blood. Small molecular weight substances like potassium, urea and creatinine are efficiently removed through haemodialysis (Kellum, Mehta, Angus, Palevsky and Ronco, 2002, p.1858). For larger solute molecules, heamofiltration is the most efficient method of their removal in comparison with dialysis. In haemofiltration, filtration of plasma through the semi-permeable membrane is caused by hydrostatic pressure. In addition, solutes cross the membrane alongside the plasma which results in convective solute transport flowing in the same direction as water (Medve, Preda and Gondos, 2010, p. 104). Therefore, haemofiltration needs the use of replacement fluid to avert excessive removal of fluid, electrolyte depletion as well as iatrogenic acidosis. Since the plasma solute concentration is the same as that of the removed filtrat e, concentration of the solutes in the blood plasma remaining need to be diluted using substitution fluid. The use of combined convective and diffusive clearance as well as haemofiltration is effective for removal of large and small molecular weight solutes (Joannidis and Oudemans-van Straaten, 2007, p. 219). Modalities The several modalities of CRRT available are continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF), continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) and continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVHD). In terms of solute clearance rate, CRRT is lower in comparison with IHD (Intermittent haemodialysis treatments). However, balance clearance within the 24 hr period that CRRT is undertaken is much higher. Moreover, fluid elimination during CRRT is much slower and requires continuous use of anticoagulants which risks bleeding (Uchino, Bellomo, Morimatsu, Morgera, et al. 2007, p. 1567). Continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) There is counter-flow of blood and dialysi s solution within the dialysis filter Blood flows at a speed of between 100 and 200ml/min Dialysis solution speed is between 1 and 2 l/h Optimisation of the ultrafiltration speed is dictated by convective transport of dissolved substances and volume loss. The removal of solutes is done simultaneously by both diffusion and convection Substitution fluid is used to replace lost fluid Continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) Removal of solutes occurs via convective transport Ultrafiltrate which is produced must be replaced using a substitution solution Removal of ultrafiltrate may cause patient’s volume loss Continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVHD) There is counter-flow of blood and dialysis solution within the dialysis filter Blood flows at a speed of between 100 and 200ml/min Dialysis solution speed is between 1 and 2 l/h The administration of fluid is not routine Solute removal occurs through diffusion Principles and Indications Membrane characteristics must be cons idered when choosing treatment modalities of CRRT. These characteristics include; biocompatibility, solute removal and water permeability (Fall and Szerlip, 2010, p. 583). In general, efficiency of small molecules in CRRT is largely depended on

The Impact of Universal Studios Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Universal Studios Essay Universal Pictures, or Universal Studios, has been around for a little over a century and it is currently regarded amongst the top six movie studios in America. It grosses billions of dollars in revenue annually and produces major hits and movie stars. Universal is also owned by a giant media conglomerate known as NBC Universal, which is quite different from its humble beginnings. This paper will provide a brief insight into the relationship between Universal Pictures and its impact on the movie industry along with how Universal became a big name in Hollywood. The man who started it all was Carl Laemmle. Born in Wà ¼rttemberg Germany, Laemmle was the tenth of thirteen children, eight of which died of a cruel epidemic of scarlet fever. At the age of thirteen, he was apprenticed to a family friend as a bookkeeper and office manager. A few years later, at the age of seventeen, Carl persuaded his father to let him buy passage to the United States. After arriving, Carl worked as an errand boy in New York for a short while then moved to Chicago where his brother Joseph lived. There Carl worked as an office boy until his next move took him to Wisconsin. There he worked in a clothing company and met his wife Recha Stern who gave birth to a son, Carl Jr., and a daughter , Rosabelle. Carl got into an argument with his employer and moved back to Chicago looking for an enterprise that might multiply his family’s savings. Carl decided to go into the film industry after seeing The Great Train Robbery, which left a â€Å"heavy impression† and a profound business idea (Zeirold 89). In 1906, Laemmle began purchasing nickelodeons. As Laemmle’s business bloomed, the Motion Picture Patents Company was born, which sparked one of his many contributions to the industry, the Independent Moving Pictures Company of America. Founded in 1909, the Independent Moving Pictures Company of America, condensed to IMP, was created to spite the MPPCo. IMP caused its biggest blow to the MPPCo when they snatched up Florence Lawrence, nicknaming her the â€Å"Biograph Girl,† and produced many hit films with her, thus creating the star system we know today. In 1910, Carl joined another organization named the Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company. This company led to the downfall of the MPPCo and the creation of major studios, such as, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures), Twentieth Century-Fox, Paramount Studios, and Universal Pictures. Universal, whose name came from Laemmle â€Å"observing† a Universal Pipe Fittings wagon, was created from the remnants of IMP and was sited in New York (Dick 33). The new Universal studio was a horizontally integrated company, with movie production and distribution of exhibition venues. As Laemmle’s business grew he searched for a new foothold to permanently house his studio and, following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912 the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area. On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the worlds largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on 230 acres of converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Studio management became the third facet of Universals operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the biggest studio in Hollywood, and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive westerns, melodramas, and serials. The reason for Laemmle’s low budget and lower-class films were because he personally funded all of Universal’s endeavors. One of his greatest â€Å"investments† was character actor Lon Chaney, nicknamed â€Å"The Man of a Thousand Faces.† Chaney started working for Universal when it began in 1912, but was not truly recognized until 1918 in the silent picture Riddle Gawne. He began his early career presented as a team alongside Dorothy Phillips and William Stowell, starring in fourteen films from 1917 to 1919. However, Chaney’s greatest contributions to Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was Universals Super Jewel of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing over $3 million, and set the standard for all future horror films in the industry. The Phantom of the Opera made Universal more interested in possibly making higher budget, â€Å"grade-A† films. Chaney eventually left Universal for MGM and retired shortly after making a few films for Howard Dietz. In the late 1920s, Universal became a very powerful movie studio but was not considered part of the â€Å"Big Five.† It was, however, given companionship alongside Columbia Pictures and United Artists which became collectively known as the â€Å"Little Three.† Although it was the largest of the Little Three, Universal Pictures lost money during each year of the 1930s except 1931, 1934 and 1939. This desperate ï ¬ nancial situation led to a change in ownership in 1936 and several management upheavals thereafter. Universal had traditionally engaged primarily in the production of low-budget features and â€Å"sub-features† aimed at the subsequent run and rural markets, with only an occasional prestige ‘A’ picture. This policy of reliance on programme pictures remained fairly stable throughout the decade of the 1930s; those periodic forays into ‘prestige’ production and away from the basic programme formula generally met with ï ¬ nancial disaster and precipitated most of the decade’s management turnovers. The case of Universal is somewhat unique when compared with MGM or Warner Bros. Under the conservative leadership of its founder, Carl Laemmle, Universal specialized in the secondary, largely rural, independent theatre market, and most of its product consisted of rather short features without top rank star players. Unlike MGM or Warner Bros., short subjects had always been a fundamental part of Universal’s production strategy. In an effort to remove itself from its near-bottom industry ranking, the company ï ¬â€širted occasionally with the prestige feature market during the 1930s, usually to its ï ¬ nancial detriment. During this decade it did its best ï ¬ nancially when it concentrated on its primary business: turning out low-budget features at high speed. Universal’s short subject releases maintained this philosophy throughout the 1930s with amazing consistency, considering the turnover in management (including the ouster of Laemmle and his son, Carl, Jr, in 1936 ). Early in the 1930s, the studio’s emphasis was shifted to two-reel comedies, starting with the likes of Slim Summerville, Arthur Lake and Benny Rubin as starring comedians. The Universal two reelers took a decidedly interesting swing when former Hal Roach studio manager Warren Doane was hired in 1932 to organize a production unit. Doane, in turn, brought in Roach employees James W. Horne, a young George Stevens and Alf Goulding as directors, as well as a long-time member of Charles Chaplin’s staff, Albert Austin. The unit lasted until 1934, with Stevens leaving for RKO quite a bit earlier. Unfortunately most of these ï ¬ lms have been unseen for decades, locked away in Universal’s ï ¬ lm vaults, unavailable for fresh appraisal. A handful of the Doane shorts viewed by the author revealed no hidden treasures, a disappointment considering the behind-the-camera talent involved. However, Mr. Mugg, a 1933 series entry, was nominated for an Academy Award. Another Universal short comedy from this period, although not from the Doane unit, which could provide both a â€Å"new† look at a legendary humorist and a cinematic treatment of an early Depression school of political thought, is a single Robert Benchley two reeler entitled Your Technocracy and Mine. In addition to the comedies, Universal had the ‘Mentone’ revue series, Strange As It Seems and later Stranger Than Fiction, short lived Goofytone News series produced by a New York independent studio, and travelogue and sports series. Universal produced its own twice-weekly newsreel, the only non-Big Five company to do so. In a reversal of the situation with MGM and Warner Bros. at this time, Universal also had its own in-house animation unit, headed by Walter Lantz, at the beginning of the 1930s, but allowed Lantz to go independent during the ownership turmoil of 1936. The unstable nature of the company at mid-decade also abbreviated the production of colour cartoon s after just six shorts made in 1934 and 1935. Colour did not return to the Universal cartoon release schedule until the 1939–1940 season, when the Lantz studio switched to all-colour production. The area of short ï ¬ lm production for which Universal is best known, however, is the serial. Serials generally were considered the domain of small, independent producers such as Mascot and Republic. Of all of the major studios, only the two ‘mini-majors’, Universal and Columbia, produced serials. This may be largely attributed to the aforementioned need for producers without theatres to cater to rural and niche markets. Throughout the decade of the 1930s that was to prove so turbulent for Universal, the studio still managed to crank out an average of four 12-episode serials per year. The subject matter ranged widely, from Westerns to jungle adventures to mysteries to air adventures and more. One Universal serial available in its entirety for viewing today is the 1934 Perils of Pauline. Other than the title, borrowed for name recognition value, the Universal Perils bears no resemblance to its famous early silent forebear. This serial was obviously the beneï ¬ ciary both of several standing sets evidently left over from other productions and of a rather large st ock footage library. The latter fact is particularly apparent in the scenes of a Chinese revolution that opens Chapter 1, and of numerous jungle and other location scenes in the following episodes. It is not at all uncommon to have clean backlot shots of the serial’s characters reacting to shaky, ï ¬â€šickering, scratched and undercranked shots of revolutionary carnage or charging tigers. Both the extensive use of existing sets and of stock footage permit the story to hopscotch from one location to another, all over the Far East and, ultimately, back to New York City. The result is that this series is essentially a mixture of virtually every type of serial ever done at Universal, including science ï ¬ ction. Much more successful, as evidenced by their popularity even today, were the studio’s three Flash Gordon serials. The battles between Buster Crabbe’s Flash and Charles Middleton’s Ming the Merciless of the Planet Mongo combine streamline, art-deco styling of the late 193 0s with sci-ï ¬  camp in a package that is still appealing. The promotional booklet, For Your Box-office: Line up with Universal 1935–1936, provides a fascinating look at the manner in which the studio tried to sell its product to exhibitors during the last year of the Laemmle regime. The promotional hype expended on the company’s shorts suggests their perceived audience appeal as well as the content of some of the long unseen short series. Announcing the ï ¬ rst â€Å"Flash Gordon† series, the advertising copy proclaims: ‘53 million people read it in the Daily and Sunday newspapers! Now Universal adapts Alex Raymond’s sensational newspaper adventure strip for a serial of 13 episodes!’ The page devoted to Universal Newsreel reminds theatre owners that Graham McNamee, ‘National Broadcasting Company’s Ace Announcer’, narrated the reels. It goes on to assert the statistically unsupportable ‘First! Fast! Foremost! Holder of the World’s Record for Miraculous Scoop after Sc oop.’ Moving to the entertainment short series, For Your Box-office describes the ‘Mentone’ series as having ‘more stars and headline acts than the best vaudeville show! †¦ And at prices you can afford to pay!’ Three other one-reel series are depicted thusly: ‘Stranger than Fiction’-‘Facts, freaks and fancies from every corner of the globe! Each reel is a box-office magnet in itself’; ‘Studio Novelties’—‘Gems of comedy, musical comedy, trick photography, satire and short subjects! A new and novel series’; and ‘Going Places’—‘The short that never fails to do things! From one end of the world to the other †¦ and back again †¦ with the enchanting personality and voice of Lowell Thomas.’ As frequently happened with studio press books, which were designed to sell a company’s product before production on the season’s wares had actually commenced, some of the announced projects never reached the screen. Speciï ¬ cally, in this case, the promised 13 episodes of the new ‘Studio Novelties’ dwindled to a mere four ‘Specials’. In sum total, Universal’s product actually conformed to the basic format of its competitors, with the exception of serial production. Content and quality are hard to judge at this point in time with relatively few of the ï ¬ lms available for re-evaluation. The original nitrate negatives for most of the Universal short subjects still survive and are housed in the company’s Kearny, New Jersey, vaults. Hopefully, they will be transferred to safety ï ¬ lm before they are consumed by the inevitable nitrate decomposition. As has been previously noted, serials were generally the province of low-budget producers, not of major studios. Beyond serials, Universal’s greatest successes were its novelty series (Strange As It Seems, Stranger Than Fiction), travelogues (Going Places) and musicals (Mentone series). An interesting aspect of Universal’s short subject programme was that it continued to release silent ï ¬ lms through 1931, over 2 years after the ‘ talkie revolution’. Presumably this was for the beneï ¬ t of the more than 1500 small silent theatres that were still in business despite having been unable to afford the conversion to sound. Beyond that, one gets the impression that Universal was just struggling to turn out a product during the turbulent 1930s, with any ideas of visual style being secondary. The studio’s shorts, like its features, tended to be all over the map in terms of production polish. One may ï ¬ nd a rough correlation between Universal’s B-grade Western feature productions and a number of its Western-themed serials. However, as with Warner Bros.’ lack of gangster shorts, it is something of a surprise that the studio known for its world-class horror ï ¬ lms (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera, etc.) attempted virtually nothing in the way of horror/science ï ¬ ction serials until decade’s end (Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and The Phantom Creeps). In conclusion, Carl Laemmle worked vigorously to bring down the MPPCo powerhouse with IMP and kick start a major movie studio which he called Universal. Universal made great impacts on the industry in the fields of horror, sci-fi, and serials; impacts that changed the movie industry forever.

Giuseppe Peano Essay Example for Free

Giuseppe Peano Essay Giuseppe Peano spent most of his career in teaching mathematics at the University of Turin in Italy. He was a fanatic of mathematics who contributed many ideas to mathematical logic but later on gave more focus on symbolic logic and developing auxiliary languages. He wrote his mathematical ideas and logic in 200 books and papers (Giuseppe, 2006). Peano was born on August 27, 1858 to a poor family in an Italian farm in Spinetta, near Cuneo, Italy. He graduated with high honors in the degree of Mathematics at the University of Turin wherein he later worked as its mathematics professor starting in 1880. At the same time in 1886, he was also employed in the Royal Military Academy. Peano’s contribution to mathematics includes differential equations and vector analysis and his famous space-filling curve that contradicts some of the existing axioms and concepts of mathematics in his time (â€Å"Guiseppe†, 2006; Golba, 2007). Another contribution of Peano was in the development of symbolic logic. He introduced many symbols, such as the symbol which means â€Å"belonging to the set of† that is still used in science and math today. Peano had reasoned that the ambiguity of the ordinary language in his time tends to hamper the progress in the development and study of mathematics therefore he proposed many symbols to use for a much easier learning and universal understanding. He believed that the scientific community needed a universal language so that anybody who spoke different languages may understand each other through it. In 1891 and for the next fifteen years , Peano worked on a project he called Formulario Project or better described as an Encyclopedia of Mathematics† that proposed to use mathematical symbols by publishing all the 4200 symbolized formulas and symbols of science using his invented standard notation (â€Å"Guiseppe†, 2006; Golba, 2007) . Peano became an active promoter of auxiliary language. In the second International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900, (right after the First International Conference of Philosophy where he was a member of the patronage committee), he presented a paper that touch on the subject of how to correctly form definitions in mathematics, including the question of â€Å"how do you define a definition? in the first place. This of course is made to arouse an interest and a need for an auxiliary language. By now, Peano’s main interest and quest (for the rest of his life) had shifted to this philosophical view to such an extent that he had neglected his calculus (â€Å"Guiseppe†, 2006; Golba, 2007). The popularity of Peano’s symbolic logic had prompted a resolution in a mathematics conference calling for the formation of an international auxiliary language to spread its mathematical and commercial idea. In 1903, Peano presented his work of a universal auxiliary language called Latino sine flexione, (Latin without flexions, eventually recognized as Interlingua) which uses the popular and widely known Latin vocabulary but stripped of its grammar and without its â€Å"irregular and anomalous forms† (â€Å"Guiseppe†, 2006; Golba, 2007). In 1908 Peano became a director of the Academia pro Interlingua in Turin, a congress that was set up in order to study and develop auxiliary languages. At the same time, he published the fifth and final edition of the Formulario project (â€Å"Formulario Mathematico†) with all proven theorems in 516 pages. This project had not been much of a success at that time since it was published in Peano’s new Latino sine flexione language which nobody really understood (Golba, 2007). Even with the opposition against Peano and his subsequent resignation in the Military Academy due to the students’ resentment of having to learn his mathematical symbols which they reasoned they will never use in real life, by 1910 Peano continued to develop and promote auxiliary languages. He remained to teach in the University of Turin until his death of a heart attack on April 20, 1932. Peano got married in 1887 but he was childless (â€Å"Guiseppe†, 2006; Golba, 2007).

Morton and Frith Causal Model Dyslexia

Morton and Frith Causal Model Dyslexia Despite different definitions of dyslexia, expert views very largely agree on two basic points. First, dyslexia is identifiable as a developmental difficulty of language learning and cognition. Secondly, the long running debate about its existence should give way to building professional expertise in identifying dyslexia and developing effective ways to help learners overcome its effects(Rose, 2009: 9). There are many complex issues to consider in developing an appropriate definition of dyslexia. One of this is that there is no specific blood test or brain imaging result that can offer a diagnosis. There is a range of different assessments both written and performance actions which are based on the opportunity to compare performance of different formats (Mc Kendree et al., 2011). Firstly, elaboration of the influential causal modelling framework of Morton (1985) is a major tool as it analyses the learning difficulties from the perspective of biological causes, cognitive difficulties and behavioural influences. According to Morton (1985) these bio-psychosocial factors are interconnected and play an essential role towards the syndrome called dyslexia. Based on this model, I will specifically focus on various traditional and innovative assessments of reading comprehension and phonological awareness, including standardized tests, informal reading inventories, observations and retellings. Phonological awareness is a vital part in learning to read (Robelo, 2000). There are strong correlations between phonological awareness and initial reading, much replicated, and have been obviously affirmed (Gillam, McFadden, 1998 cited in Robelo, 2000). Because of the correlation that exists between reading and phonological awareness and the need to identify children at risk for reading failure, numerous tasks have been developed to assess a childs knowledge of phonological awareness (Robelo, 2000). Therefore, children need two significant skills in order to read successfully; ph onics and language comprehension. Regarding the issue of choice of assessments there are a lot of arguments. Indeed, there are some advantages and limitations as far as using these measures is concerned and we should examine these measures before reaching a conclusion. Also, before conclusion it is important to note that failure to identify and address dyslexia early, can have a cumulative effect. Mortons Model (Causal Model for dyslexia) According to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA, 1996): Dyslexia is a complex neurological condition which is constitutional in origin. The symptoms may affect many areas of learning and function and may be described as a specific difficulty in learning, spelling, and written language. One or more of these areas may be affected. Numeracy, notional skills (music), motor function and organizational skills may also be involved. However it is particularly related to mastering written language, although oral language may be affected to some degree (cited in Ott, 1993).Dyslexia as a precise developmental disorder raises interesting issues about the structure of the usually developing mind (Frith, 2009:191). Accordingly Morton and Frith(1995) the phrase causal model is used to describe the origins of a disorder (Krol et al., 2004). Causal model is related to the biological and cognitive origins of developmental disorders and in this way, records are being kept of the a range of levels of description -biological, cognitive, and behavioural. Morton and Frith (1995) distinguish three levels of description, the biological level, the cognitive level and the behavioural level; there is a separate space for environmental influences which can interact at the three levels. Using the biological level, the genetic factors, the brain conditions, and causal links between the two can be described. In this level we can also include the influence of environmental factors, for example, birth complications on brain conditions (Krol et al., 2004). In the cognitive level, affective as well as cognitive factors, can be incorporated. An affective factor would be usually placed at the intermediate cognitive level, although Morton and Frith highlight that affect can also be defined at the biological level as a physiological reaction or defined at the behavioural level as the expression of the affect, such as the facial expression. On the other hand, due to the fact that the internal process which interprets feeling seems to be significant in explaining how affect can have meaning, affect processing is placed at the cognitive level. At the behavioural level, the behavioural descriptions of the disorders are also stated. These are the behaviours we can directly observe and where the causal flow of the model finally leads, e.g., poor reading. (Krol et al., 2004:729). By describing the behavioural level itself does not give a reason why an individual might have a certain problem, such as why a child has problems in reading. causal model includes explanation for a disorder which is a function of the interaction of factors at the cognitive and the biological levels and from the environment. Some of these factors will be of developmental significance, others will describe current processing. The cognitive level cannot be observed directly, but is in fact assessed at the behavioural level. UK Context Assessments of dyslexia Before the investigation of assessments methods, this piece of paper will explore the major perspectives and changes of special and inclusive education, literacy difficulties and how legislation is applied in the educational system of UK. In these changes, the significant Acts for the development of SEN are included, such as the Warnock Report(1978). The Warnock Report(1978) highlighted the commonality of educational aims for all children irrespective of their abilities or disabilities. Furthermore, it recognized disabled learners right to be educated in mainstream schools, thus opening the way to the idea of inclusion (Warnock, 2005). Some of the international conventions and statements that have asserted the principles of inclusive education which influenced the UK policy are stated below: the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (UNICEF,1989) which states that inclusive education should be the goal for the education of children with disabilities. The Salamanca Statement and Fra mework for action on Special Needs Education (UNESCO,1994) were also important steps for the development of SEN, which ensures that all their educational policies specify that disabled children could also attend their neighbourhood school which would be the same even if there were no disabilities. The Salamanca Statement(UNESCO,1994) has also been seen as something of a watershed in enhancing the prospects for inclusion throughout the world (Farell, 2001:6). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities (UN, 2006) was ratified by the UK government in 2004 which requires state parties so that to have an inclusive education system at all levels. The problematic nature of integration coupled with the statements made at the World Conference in Special Education (UNESCO,1994) led to the emergence of inclusive education in England. Another significant development in high quality intervention for children with literacy and dyslexic difficulties was the Rose Review Report (2008). The childrens plan (DCSF,2007), made it clear that the government wants every child to succeed; the ability of each child to read well is a key to success in education and an essential life skill. Moreover reading and writing are two terms closely related and both on the development of childrens speaking and listening capabilities. According to Rose Review(2008), in order to overcome dyslexia and other developmental difficulties of language learning there must be highly quality provision for securing literacy for all children, especially in primary schools. In addition, in order to develop high quality interventions for children with literacy and dyslexic difficulties, well trained, knowledgeable teachers and support staff will be required (Rose Review, 2008). In England and Wales government policies have affected, in many ways for the better, dyslexic people who must learn: structured and phonic approaches are specified in the National Curriculum (Cooke, 2001). The rationale stressed the responsibility of the class teachers by identifying and meeting the individual childs needs in primary schools (Cooke, 2001). According to Gaynor et al., (2011:176 cited in Mckendree et al., 2007) a significant first move to helping children with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia was an accurate identification and after the identification there is a variety of different assessments both written and performance based opportunity to compare performance of different formats. As Paris Hoffman state (2004:6 cited in Oakley Barratt-Pugh,2007) assessments of reading in the early years can supply several purposes: it can identify children who need extra support; it can provide information for reporting  purposes; and it can inform teachers a s to the effectiveness of their teaching strategies and programs for meeting literacy outcomes. Assessments can be provided through a variety of assessments tools, techniques or data collection methods, often called assessments, instruments, tools or measures (Oakley Barratt-Pugh,2007). Phonological awareness The first part of assignment will be based on the question: How is phonological awareness (PA) best measured? Before examination on assessments methods of PA should begin with a definition. It is widely accepted that the lack of PA, the ability to detect and control the finer phonological units in either spoken or mentally recalled words, is the main shortage in developmental dyslexia (Seki et al., 2008). According to Muter et al., (2004:194 cited in Rose Review), PA is defined as the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in words, and is recognized as a key base skill for early word-level reading and spelling development. The Rose Report (2008) recommended that all children should be taught to read using phonics, taught discretely and systematically within a curriculum rich in language and literacy. After the Rose Review current implementation of phonics taught in English schools recommends systematic assessment of basic skills on a regular basis during the 3 years of instr uction. As Eisele and Jordan claim (2002:103 cited Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007) there are several ways in which to assess phonological awareness, and which method to employ will depend upon factors such as the number of children to be assessed, the amount of information the teacher already has about the child, and the amount of time available in which to carry out the assessments.  According to Lancashire Primary Literacy (undated) childrens phoneme knowledge and ability to segment and blend are better to be measured individually, as their progress may not be adequate, or well ascertained in the group activities. As stated by Yopp (1988) a combination of PA measures will be the best recipe for validity and reliability. In my point of view, one of the most helpful measures assessing PA is the use of phonic phases. Teachers may have a variety of activities for each phonic phases, however teachers should use motivating activities each time to encourage children, in order to have a quick re ference and overview. According to The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) (2008) teachers are expected to track pupils progress through a series of developmental phonic phases, with each phase being quantified by a number of phonic-related skills. The phases move from sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration at Phase 1 to confident and flowing use of letter sound knowledge for reading and spelling unfamiliar words at Phase 6 (Snowling et al., 2011: 159). Activities that can support learning in Phase 1-5 are: storytelling, linking letter shapes with phonemes, blending and segmenting long vowel phonemes (given by Lancashire Primary Literacy). This measure had a number of strengths and limitations too. The variety of the phonics activities make the method more reliable and valid to the users, and there is a plenty of choices each time. An additional advantage of this method is the factor of time, because teachers have the ability to design their lesson plan by setting th e time limit themselves whereas at the same time this could be a disadvantage because it could also be time consuming. As Konza (2006) claims most of  the phonological awareness capabilities and skills can be assessed using informal assessments. However, if screening or informal assessment methods find difficulties, formal and diagnostic assessment, should be carried out (Oakley and Barratt-Pugh, 2007). An additional measure of assessing phonological awareness is the Yopp-Singer (1992) test; the purpose of this test is assessing phoneme segmentation abilities. This assessment is consisted of 22 single syllable words, which children are asked to segment into individual sounds. This assessment is not normed, but competency  benchmarks are suggested. It is quick to administer and they can provide important information on which instruction can be based (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007). Reading Comprehension The second section of the essay will be referred to the next language and literacy difficulty that children may face from kindergarten and that is reading comprehension. During the period of the last 15 years, great progress has been made to the area of reading, and particularly in reading comprehension. But what is reading comprehension? How is reading comprehension best measured? According to Farr (1992 cited in Carver, 1972: 292) reading comprehension can be defined as thought communication process which involves two primary components, the rate at which the thoughts are received and the accuracy with which the thoughts are understood. The end product of these two components is the efficiency with which the thoughts are communicated. Reading comprehension is one of the most commonly assessment methods across all the stage of ages, when it comes to educational skills (Svetina et al., 2011). In order for someone to be an efficient reader they must have a set of phonemic awareness an d phonemic skills that allow for new words to unlock. According to National Centre for Learning Disabilities, children might face trouble when reading in the late grades if they lack phonemic awareness. In addition, childrens reading could be improved in identifying the phonemes in words by using simple techniques. In this piece of paper, various traditional and innovative reading comprehension assessment measures will be critically analyzed, including formal and informal methods such as standardized tests, observation and informal reading inventories. Each technique has its relative strengths and weaknesses. According to Gunning (2002) whatever the method of reading comprehension is the material which is given to students to be read, must be at their instructional level in order to be read with an adequate fluency. If the student cant read at least 95% of the words, they will have a lot of trouble when reading. The first technique of reading comprehension which will be explored is standardized tests. What is being measured by standardized tests to measure reading comprehension? Do these tests measure comprehension accuracy? What are the strengths and weakness of this technique? Standardized tests are planned in a way which, questions, conditions for directing process to set the scores are accurate and are scored in a fixed and standard way (Popham, 1999). Standardised tests are administered and scored in a structured, prescribed way to ensure consistency and reliability. Such tests often have scripts that are read out by the teacher / administrator. Standardised tests may be norm-referenced or criterion-referenced and they are always formal assessments. As suggested above, the use of  standardised tests needs careful consideration as many are based on the assumption that literacy is a set of skills that a child has or needs to acquire. In addition, because, they are normative they ar e often used as an indication of a childs overall ability rather than an indication of what is yet to be learned. Therefore the cost and the time are some of the strengths of standardized assessments. At the same time, most assessments are scored easily by computer and not by people. In my point of view, this is an assessments limitation, because tests should be scored by a human and not by a device. As mentioned above there is a number of variety of assessments of reading comprehension. The next reading comprehension method is the classroom assessment practises, that are specially informal reading assessments (observation). As Buhagiar states (2007 cited in Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:10) informal assessments rely on skilful, knowledgeable teacher construction and interpretation and are often regarded as more authentic than standardised and or commercial assessments. Most informal assessments of reading comprehension take place in school or classroom as teachers and assessment specialists select or construct methods to estimate and summarize student performance (Leslie Caldwell, 2008). Teachers use a variety of methods to assess student learning at quite a few points in any semester using common techniques for instance end-of unit tests, quizzes of various types but some alternative classroom assessment are less obvious (Snow, Grifà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ n, Burns, 2005). There are some infor mal and different assessments options which are considered to be the core for the successful assessments of learning, such as student observations, self reporting measures, performance inventories, group work, interviews and they usually provide converging indication over time for the appropriate total assessment at the end of the school year (Snow et al., 2005). Each general type of informal assessment category can be carried out by means of several precise tasks and in different formats. Teachers and administrators have the responsibility to concentrate on appropriate tasks and interpretations of tasks outcomes so that students are not assessed unfairly, despite the informal assessment method used (Snow et al., 2005). In my point of view, the use of informal assessments methods of reading comprehension is more reliable and realistic than using the stereotypic testing formats like standardized assessment methods. There is a range of advantages using informal methods, for instance, they are fairly simple and straightforward using these methods by teachers, and they can gain a lot of important information about childrens progress (Snow et al., 2005). Furthermore, informal tests should function in a way which provides more objective assessment than after-the-fact judgment or overall subjective assessment (Snow et al., 2005). As claimed by Moss (2003:9 cited in Leslie Caldwell, 2008) evidence for the validity of classroom assessments include the match between instructional objectives and classroom instruction as well as the extent to which an assessment contributes successfully to the teaching and learning process .Additionally, the reliability of assessments methods responds to the stage of, which assessment creates reliable measurement with regards to different scorers or contexts (Salinger, 2003 cited Leslie Caldwell, 2008). Classroom assessments permit a much wider range of tasks and student observations (Snow et al., 2005). Observation has an advantage over verbal reports in that they supply the observer with proof of what children actually do (Baker, 2000 cited in Klinger, 2004). Students might be observed during independent reading time or while they are in smaller groups, peer or cross age tutoring or cooperative learning activities (Klinger, 2004). Teachers value the observation as a useful instrument and feel that district assessments are less helpful than examining students written work, listening, asking questions and talking anecdotal records (cited in Leslie Caldwell, 2008). On the other hand as, Snow et al., (2005) assert, that in a classroom assessment, students may feel that they do not achieve well, therefore teachers may be disappointed by a specific performance by a student. An additional limitation of using observation method is that they can be time-consuming (Klinger, 2004). Furthermo re, it can be complicated to find out what is causing a child to behave in a certain way. It is significant to exercise caution when taking observation notes and to identify that there can be many alternative explanations for a childs action (Klinger, 2004). Another promising practise for examining reading comprehension is the use of oral retelling. Retelling a story requires a student to sequence and restructure events and major sources presented in text (Hanse, 1978). In addition, retelling assesses a students ability to rely on memory for accurate details and to relate them to some organized significant model (Klinger, 2004). Burns and Roe (2002) suggest that asking students to recall and retell text is a precious measurement tool. An advantage of retelling is that the teacher is able to know what the student understands. However, a disadvantage is that retelling must be conducted individually and therefore are time-consuming to score. The above elements illustrate that by using a combination of different measures such as: observation, retelling, informal reading inventories, think-aloud and standardized tests might be the best way to assess reading comprehension and phonological awareness (Klinger, 2004). However, due to concerns about the low level of validity and reliability of  informal assessment types, in some circumstances, teachers may need to triangulate results with other assessment types to ensure as high a degree of  veracity as possible (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:11). Through combinations of approaches, we can learn more than just identifying whether students can read a passage or reply to reading comprehension questions accurately. Conclusion This essay enabled me to obtain valuable insights with regards to the assessments methods of phonological awareness and reading comprehension. As mentioned above, these two skills are significant in order to read successfully and there is a strong correlation between these skills. Due to this correlation, numerous assessments methods have been developed to assess a childs knowledge of phonological awareness and reading comprehension (Robelo, 2000). Each technique has its relative strengths and weakness. The point is that assessment, no matter the context, is serious business and must be handled with care, purpose, and exercise (Snow et al., 2005: 363). Taking this into account, I assume that teachers must be very careful with the choice of methods for reading comprehension and phonological awareness, and each assessment method should be examined cautiously and the needs of each child, should be considered thoughtfully. In my point of view, classroom assessments and especially informa l methods of reading comprehensions have more advantages than using formal assessment methods such as, standardized tests. With classroom assessment methods, teachers have an overall view for the childs progress; on the other hand I think that standardized tests are not so reliable and may have impact on the childs life, as a mother stated. As mentioned above, in order to assess young childrens reading in a fair, valid, comprehensive, educative and explicit way (Curriculum Council, 1998), it is necessary to assess children by multiple methods, in multiple contexts, on an ongoing, cumulative basis, preferably as a part of the normal teaching and learning context (Oakley Barratt-Pugh, 2007:99).

The Mouse and His Child :: American Literature

The Mouse and His Child, by Russell Hoban, is a melancholy fable about a wind-up pair of tin mice that explore various themes such as hope and perseverance. However, the prevailing lesson taken from this book can be found in the way that Hoban employs his cast of wind-up toys to advocate the importance of the family unit. The story begins with the family together, but it is divided and they go out in separate directions. The father mouse and his child have different views on what to do after the break up of the family. The father's goal of self-winding is a wish for independence, while his child only wishes to bring the family back together. In fact, when the child tells Frog, "I want to find the elephant, I want her to be my mama, and I want the seal to be my sister..." (35), the father is flabbergasted since he was not aware of his child's desire. However, since they are bound together with the father mouse pushing the child along, the father's dream of self-winding/independence takes priority. Hoban cleverly uses the dialogue of the father mouse to show that the family broke up because of differences between the father and mother. In reply to his child's desire to go look for the elephant/mama and the seal/sister, the father says, "I cannot imagine myself being cozy with that elephant." (46) Yet the father humors his child and goes in the direction that they believe may lead them to the seal/sister and elephant/mama saying, "Finding the elephant would be as pointless as looking for her, but since I cannot convince you of that, ... we shall (at least) see something of the world" (47). While the elephant/mama had grown accustom to her royal lifestyle at the dollhouse in the store, she began to be snooty to her family. In replying to why she had been at the store so long she stated, "I'm part of the establishment...and this is my house." (5). It is not until she has been separated from her possessions and the family that she realizes how well off she was when the family was together. When she sees the father and child cutting the tree, she is "completely overwhelmed" (127). Until then she had only thought of herself. She realizes the error of their split as "a world of love and pain was printed on her vision" (128).

What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? :: Ancient Greece Greek History

What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? Hypothesis: Sparta collapsed because they did not allow the helots to fight in battle The Beginning of Sparta In about 100 BCE, the Dorians invaded Greece from the North. During the Dark Ages, the Dorians made their way south, capturing the inhabitants of the lands they passed through as helots. At the beginning of the Dark Ages, it is thought that there were many Dorian settlements in Laconia, each with their own helot population. At some time during the Dark Ages, Sparta overtook these fellow Dorian settlements and their helot populations, as well as control of the whole of Laconia. The Spartans kept the helots as a huge, strong slave race and, although they did not enslave their fellow Dorians, the other Dorians were made perioci, meaning "those who live round about". The perioci were needed to be the craftsmen, tradesmen and manufacturers for the Spartans, who were trained as full time soldiers. At the end of the Dark Ages, there was nothing exceptional about Sparta (except her control of the helot population) but from about the middle of the 6th Century BCE, Sparta gradually turned away from the rest of Greece. They no longer welcomed visitors, cut their trade ties, stopped building ships and when the rest of Greece began using coins instead of iron spits, Sparta continued to use the spits. Sparta still had poetry and music, but instead of listening to new poems and songs, they learned only the compositions of the past, and new poets and musicians were not welcomed. Sparta still produced pottery and metal work for every-day use, but it was of poorer quality than the work of other cities. Spartans no longer participated in athletic festivals in other parts of Greece and the whole city became secretive and withdrawn, refusing to communicate with the rest of Greece. Education The Spartans were raised and educated to be perfectly obedient and obey the state without question. Spartan education had no interest with literature, intellectual or academic activities and did Spartans were not taught subjects like mathematics, science or geography. Even as babies, Spartiates were treated harshly - they were made to eat whatever food they were given, left alone, left alone in the dark, and it is probable that no attention was paid to babies when they cried. A Spartan Boy's education as a soldier began when the boy was about 7 or 8 years old. What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? :: Ancient Greece Greek History What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? Hypothesis: Sparta collapsed because they did not allow the helots to fight in battle The Beginning of Sparta In about 100 BCE, the Dorians invaded Greece from the North. During the Dark Ages, the Dorians made their way south, capturing the inhabitants of the lands they passed through as helots. At the beginning of the Dark Ages, it is thought that there were many Dorian settlements in Laconia, each with their own helot population. At some time during the Dark Ages, Sparta overtook these fellow Dorian settlements and their helot populations, as well as control of the whole of Laconia. The Spartans kept the helots as a huge, strong slave race and, although they did not enslave their fellow Dorians, the other Dorians were made perioci, meaning "those who live round about". The perioci were needed to be the craftsmen, tradesmen and manufacturers for the Spartans, who were trained as full time soldiers. At the end of the Dark Ages, there was nothing exceptional about Sparta (except her control of the helot population) but from about the middle of the 6th Century BCE, Sparta gradually turned away from the rest of Greece. They no longer welcomed visitors, cut their trade ties, stopped building ships and when the rest of Greece began using coins instead of iron spits, Sparta continued to use the spits. Sparta still had poetry and music, but instead of listening to new poems and songs, they learned only the compositions of the past, and new poets and musicians were not welcomed. Sparta still produced pottery and metal work for every-day use, but it was of poorer quality than the work of other cities. Spartans no longer participated in athletic festivals in other parts of Greece and the whole city became secretive and withdrawn, refusing to communicate with the rest of Greece. Education The Spartans were raised and educated to be perfectly obedient and obey the state without question. Spartan education had no interest with literature, intellectual or academic activities and did Spartans were not taught subjects like mathematics, science or geography. Even as babies, Spartiates were treated harshly - they were made to eat whatever food they were given, left alone, left alone in the dark, and it is probable that no attention was paid to babies when they cried. A Spartan Boy's education as a soldier began when the boy was about 7 or 8 years old.

Introduction to business life: Essay -- essays research papers

Ways of doing business these days are different from how it was done twenty years ago and will surely be different in the coming twenty years. Change is the key word, and the business world is changing so rapidly that people need to constantly adapt, perform and overcome in order to survive. Giving these facts and challenges, every business need to find the most adapted solutions and implement rules and procedures in order to maintain its competitive position, protect its market shares and above all maintain the level of survival of the human beings involved in this business (Owners, staff...) During all the changes that have occurred throughout the years many very successful businesses lost everything while other small businesses became big multinationals. It might seem difficult to believe, and sometimes irrational, said like that, but the truth is not much more complicated or detailed then the simple statement above, it’s all about change. Change is indeed a very wide word or verb but when it’s employed with another word such as Human it can mean a lot. In fact two combinations exist with these two words: â€Å"Human Change† and â€Å"Change Human†, and I am sure that one combination is as important and meaningful as the other, the prove to it will follow: Harley-Davidson is today one of the, if not the most prestigious motorcycles manufacturers in the world but several years ago as much difficult as it can seem to believe, the same company with the same product was going to close its doors giving the bad quality level that its production has attained. The explanation to the Harley-Davidson phenomenon can be done in three words: Human, Human, and Human. The first Human is to underline the changes of needs and demands of the Humans riding motorcycles, these people become more demanding and tended to compare with foreign products, the hard competition started. The second human is to explain the human relationships that existed at that time between the managers and the production line employees which where defined by non negotiable instructions and an absolute repression of mind expression for the production line employees. The third Human is to highlight the tremendous change in Human relationships and perceptions which gave the production line employees the absolute authority and freedom of managing their work and products and taking their own decisions fo... ...Now the team is complete and business can start, in fact the earnings of each member of the team will depend only on the work and efforts done by each and every member of that team without distinction and here comes the beautiful part. Each employee is part of this business, he feels responsible in case of failure but also proud and accomplished in case of success, and we all know nobody like to fail. Challenges: Presented this way the concept seems too good to be true and indeed it contains huge challenges in its process: First, it is difficult to find people that want to share their innovative business ideas with other. Second, it is not easy to find people at all level willing to take risks without a security that is a fixed salary. Third, is the engagement the members of a team have since their shares are related to their specific position and task and cannot be sold to a person that cannot fulfill the same tasks as them. But, after all who said that life is easy and risk free, people must adapt and overcome. This is my way as future business owner of adapting and overcoming business life changes, by relying on business owners like me, that means all my team members. Introduction to business life: Essay -- essays research papers Ways of doing business these days are different from how it was done twenty years ago and will surely be different in the coming twenty years. Change is the key word, and the business world is changing so rapidly that people need to constantly adapt, perform and overcome in order to survive. Giving these facts and challenges, every business need to find the most adapted solutions and implement rules and procedures in order to maintain its competitive position, protect its market shares and above all maintain the level of survival of the human beings involved in this business (Owners, staff...) During all the changes that have occurred throughout the years many very successful businesses lost everything while other small businesses became big multinationals. It might seem difficult to believe, and sometimes irrational, said like that, but the truth is not much more complicated or detailed then the simple statement above, it’s all about change. Change is indeed a very wide word or verb but when it’s employed with another word such as Human it can mean a lot. In fact two combinations exist with these two words: â€Å"Human Change† and â€Å"Change Human†, and I am sure that one combination is as important and meaningful as the other, the prove to it will follow: Harley-Davidson is today one of the, if not the most prestigious motorcycles manufacturers in the world but several years ago as much difficult as it can seem to believe, the same company with the same product was going to close its doors giving the bad quality level that its production has attained. The explanation to the Harley-Davidson phenomenon can be done in three words: Human, Human, and Human. The first Human is to underline the changes of needs and demands of the Humans riding motorcycles, these people become more demanding and tended to compare with foreign products, the hard competition started. The second human is to explain the human relationships that existed at that time between the managers and the production line employees which where defined by non negotiable instructions and an absolute repression of mind expression for the production line employees. The third Human is to highlight the tremendous change in Human relationships and perceptions which gave the production line employees the absolute authority and freedom of managing their work and products and taking their own decisions fo... ...Now the team is complete and business can start, in fact the earnings of each member of the team will depend only on the work and efforts done by each and every member of that team without distinction and here comes the beautiful part. Each employee is part of this business, he feels responsible in case of failure but also proud and accomplished in case of success, and we all know nobody like to fail. Challenges: Presented this way the concept seems too good to be true and indeed it contains huge challenges in its process: First, it is difficult to find people that want to share their innovative business ideas with other. Second, it is not easy to find people at all level willing to take risks without a security that is a fixed salary. Third, is the engagement the members of a team have since their shares are related to their specific position and task and cannot be sold to a person that cannot fulfill the same tasks as them. But, after all who said that life is easy and risk free, people must adapt and overcome. This is my way as future business owner of adapting and overcoming business life changes, by relying on business owners like me, that means all my team members.