Communication in Early Childhood Education

Communication is a way of understanding each others’ needs and sending or giving messages to each other. Good communication skills are essential for early childhood educators and using these skills will enable students to have better understanding to improve their learning process, and to develop the relationship between teachers and student. Apart from reading, writing, speaking and listening, teachers’ facial expressions and body language also contributes to communicating with students. A child enters a different world in classroom situation.The child is part of a new family made up of the teacher and fellow classmates from different cultural backgrounds. It is therefore important that the teacher pay attention to their own non-verbal language. Non verbal language includes posture, gestures, eye contact and facial expressions (Grellier & Goerke, 2010, p. 186). In the early childhood education, teachers also need to be able to interpret information and understand not o nly from listening to the child but by observing the students through their drawings and behaviour (Wright-Jackson, 2012).Drawings are a way of communicating information to young children. Wright (2005) discusses the importance of teachers using drawings to further develop students’ verbal communication, thinking and knowledge. Reggio Emilio is an early learning centre in NSW and they believe in the theory that children are born with an amazing potential and wide range of abilities, for a child, language is never limited to speech (from website www. reggioemilio. com. au). Through good communication skills teachers will be able evaluate the child’s knowledge and understanding before, during and after the lesson.Good note-taking and observation skills will assist teachers to nurture and support students’ learning (McMillan, 2011). Communications skills are constantly in use during the day in the classroom however teachers are also required to communicate this inf ormation or progress of the student to parents and other teachers or support teachers. By observing students’ involvement in the classroom teachers can assess what areas the students requires further assistance (McMillan, 2011).Non verbal language is another way of sending and receiving messages, it is another form of communication and very important for teachers in the classroom (Miller, P. W. , 2005). Miller (2005) addresses non verbal communication as â€Å"communication without words† and that facial expressions, eye contact, touching and tone of voice are all part of this communication. Awareness of non verbal communication can enable teachers to receive more information from the students and also have the ability to send positive signals that improve the students’ learning, whilst avoiding negative signals that would stifle their learning (Miller, P.W. , 2005). In western cultures all listeners – whatever their age or gender and educational level ar e expected to maintain eye contact with people they are listening to (Grellier & Goerke, 2010, p. 186). Making eye contact would interpret openness and honesty, while avoiding eye contact may indicate that something is wrong (Miller, P. W. , 2005). The teacher will need to understand that students from different cultural backgrounds and upbringing will not always share the same behaviour ideals. In some cultures it is accepted to avoid eye contact with their elders as it is a sign of respect ( Grellier & Goerke, 2010).Overcoming this hurdle by carefully explaining to students and parents would assist in a better relationship between the student and teacher. Using direct eye contact and observing facial expressions, the teacher will be able to connect with the student and establish the child’s interest in the discussion (McMillan, 2011, p. 104). Experienced teachers will be able to judge a student’s level of interest and understanding through the student’s eyes. Eye contact is a powerful communication tool that allows teachers to connect with students (Miller, P.W. , 2005). Miller (2005) explains that teachers can tell when students understand the lesson or if they are struggling through the student’s body postures and gestures. A student that is interested in the lesson or discussion will generally â€Å"sit up straight† and focus on the teacher, whilst a student that is â€Å"bored or discouraged† will slump into the chair (Miller, P. W. , 2005). Facial expression can determine both the teachers and students feelings, a smile will present a â€Å"warm and open invitation for communication† (Miller, P. W. 2005) which is essential in the classroom environment. As students in early childhood education will still be developing verbal communication skills, teachers are able to communicate ideas through drawings (Wright-Jackson, 2012). Drawings are easier for younger children to read, as they recognise drawings or pi ctures better compared to written words. Miller (2005) states that teachers can use drawing as a communication and learning tool when working with young children, in a way the drawings will act as a second voice for children.As a child’s reading and writing skills are developing drawing is an alternative for the child to express their ideas and can assist students with literacy as children read through their drawings. In the early stages of mathematics teachers use drawings to assist students with recognising quantity, addition, subtraction and length. The sample works provided in the Australian Curriculum for mathematics in Foundation Year show students are taught Foundation Year maths through drawings. For a child in Foundation Year pictures would be easier to understand compared to numbers when adding.A teacher in early childhood education needs to able to communicate information to parents and other support teachers. Through observations in the classroom, a teacher will a ble evaluate students progress before, during and after the lesson. Where additional special education teacher is required the classroom teacher will seek assistance and discuss the required support with the appropriate staff member. This is evident in the video Language support (Falck,2011),two teachers discuss lesson planning and explain to each other what they would like to focus on and how.Communication between the two teachers establishes the most beneficial ways to implement lessons. Listening skills are essential part of communicating in early childhood education, the video Listening skills for staff (Aron, 2011), raises the importance of listening to children and allowing them to discuss topics of their choice With the assistance of parents the children are encouraged to fill in their profile books with photos or pictures of their discussion topics. The teacher listens to child’s explanation of events by responding to their comments and gestures, keeping eye contact a t all times with the chid.Another point made in the video show children selecting books of their choice, teachers prefer children to pick books that want read to them. The child chooses the book that would like to listen to. By following this example teachers are able to have the child interested in the activity because it is through choice of the child. Teachers’ observations in the classroom of students’ progress is documented on a daily basis to assist teachers with assessment and evaluation of understanding.This information is then provided as feedback to students and parents, when communicating this information it should be expressed in way to encourage students’ motivation for learning. Communicating information to parents is another task for teachers which can be done verbally or written in the form of letters or school reports (McMillan, 2011). Early childhood educators have an important task to prepare young students for the years ahead. Good communicat ion skills are essential for early childhood educators as many young students are only at the beginning to learn and develop these skills.An early childhood teacher uses communication skills throughout the day to prepare and instruct lessons, observe students progress, consult other staff members or support teachers and parents. A teacher delivers messages through many ways and such communication skills as reading, talking, listening and body language is used to convey these messages. Understanding students through listening to their narration of events and requests can assist teachers to improve communication between the teacher and student.Students’ non verbal language will also assist teachers when observing them during class, teachers will be able to acknowledge interest and understanding during instruction. Teachers should pay attention to developing these skills as they are vital as teaching skills to deliver and receive the right messages to students. A child is learni ng everyday and through good communication skills from both teachers and parents they can be prepared for increased communication in the future.

Although the foetus has no right to life, its interests are adequately protected by English law.

Introduction The right to life is a moral principle that is based upon the premise that all individuals have a right not to be killed by another human being. This concept that is central to the debates surrounding abortion since it is often contested whether unborn children should also have the right to life. Those in favour of abortion often take the view that a foetus is not sufficiently human to be capable of acquiring a right to life, whilst those in opposition believe that a foetus is human and that its right to life should therefore be protected. There is currently no direct right to life that is provided to a foetus, yet the law in the UK does make some attempt to protect its interests. This essay will focus on the interests that are provided to foetus’ in order to consider whether adequate protection is in place. In doing so, it will be examined whether every woman should have a right to abortion on demand or whether the interests of the foetus should be given due consideration. A ccordingly, it will be shown that because there are arguments for and against the interests of the foetus, it is necessary for the law to strike a balance between the two competing interests. This does appear to have been achieved to a certain degree since the interests of the mother are being preserved, whilst also providing some protection to the foetus. The right to life The right to life is provided to all individuals under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) 1951, as incorporated by the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. Whether or not a foetus has a right to life, however, is a highly contested topic because although the foetus does not have a right to life per se, it appears as though its interests are still being protected by the law to a certain extent.[1] On the one hand, it is believed that all women should have the right to do as they wish with their own bodies and that they should therefore have a right to abortion, yet on the other it is believed that the interests of a foetus should be provided with adequate protection.[2] The law in England does seem to have attempted to strike a balance between these two competing interests by permitting abortion, whilst at the same time imposing some restrictions. Under English law (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990) abortion is permitted until the 24th week of a pregnancy. Whilst this provides women with the right to choose what to do with their own bodies, it prevents them from having abortions in the later stages of pregnancy. Because abortion is not legally available at the request of the woman, it has been argued by the Abortion Rights Campaign that; â€Å"women’s access to abortion can be and is still threatened.†[3] This is because, once a woman has decided that she wants to have an abortion, she will first be required to persuade two doctors to agree to her decision taking into consideration certain restrictive legal criteria.[4] Therefore, even though women are capable of having an abortion up until the 24th week of pregnancy, it will be the doctors that make the final decision. And, if they do not agree that the relevant criterion has been satisfied, they will not have to carry out the abortion. This protection is in place to enable the rights of the unborn child to be ascertained in circumstances which would render an abortion unlawful. However, the extent to which such rights are being adequately protected is in fact arguable. Confliction continues to arise in this area because of the difficultly in striking a balance between the rights of the foetus and the rights of the mother. It cannot be said that this balance is currently being achieved as there remains strong opposition of both viewpoints. As pointed out by Mason and Laurie; â€Å"attitudes to abortion depend almost entirely on where the holder stands in respect of, on the one hand, the foetal interests in life and, on the other, a woman’s right to control her own body.†[5] Consequently, because the difference in opinions is based upon moral values rather than empirical facts, it is unlikely that such confliction will ever be resolved.[6] In effect, it is unlikely that a solid understanding of the rights in this area will ever be made as the controversy surrounding abortion will continue to exist. The Foetus’ Right to Life It is believed that the Abortion Act 1967 violates Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the basis that a child’s rights are not being adequately protected if women are able end their pregnancy if they so wish.[7] Section 1 of the 1967 Act provides that; â€Å"a person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion when a pregnancy is terminated by a registered medical practitioner.† In effect, women will not be found guilty of an offence is they decide to have an abortion. Whilst this section does appear to undermine the rights of the foetus, the fact that the termination must be conducted by a registered medical practitioner acting in good faith suggests that some form of protection will still be in place. Furthermore, as put by Herring; â€Å"for an abortion to be lawful, the abortion must comply with the requirements of the 1967 Abortion Act.†[8] Section 1 will therefore only apply if certain provisions can also be sa tisfied. Nevertheless, because abortions are rarely ever refused, it could be said that the provisions under Article 2 are being undermined and that the interests of the foetus are not, in reality, being adequately protected. In view of this, it has therefore been argued by Foster that the 1967 Act is not being used in the way that Parliament intended and that abortion are instead being used as another form of contraception.[9] This demonstrates how abortion is easily accessible to women, which limits the protection that is currently being provided to the foetus. It is likely that doctors will only refuse to conduct an abortion if the woman’s pregnancy has gone past the 24 week threshold or if the circumstances are exceptional. This signifies how the rights of unborn children are not being preserved, yet it is debatable whether further protections ought to be in place. The right to life is an extremely sensitive subject since it basically provides a right to every human being not be killed.[10] However, much complexity exists when considering the right to life in the context of unborn children. It is difficult to determine whether the mother’s rights should prevail over the rights of the unborn child or vice versa. However, it has been said that the right to life is a human right that is â€Å"inviolable and must be protected at all costs.†[11] If this statement was to be taken strictly, every abortion would be considered a violation of one’s human rights and would not be permitted. However, in order to ensure that the rights of the mother are also being protected it is necessary that abortions are permitted in certain circumstances. This would ensure that a balance is attained between the two competing interests by allowing abortions to take place only if it is deemed necessary. Consequently, abortions should not be used carelessly as another form of contraception and this would means that the rights of the mother are being given greater consideration than the rights of the foetus. Abortions should therefore not be as accessible as they currently are and should only be permitted in limited situations. It is unclear what extent the interests of the foetus are actually being considered and it seems as though the right to life is being violated by the abortion process and so further protections may need to be provided to the foetus so that the rights of unborn children are given the same considerations as the mother. At present, it appears as though the rights of the mother prevail over the rights of the foetus, despite the restrictions that are in place. In order to ensure that the foetus right to life is being protected, it is necessary to impose further restrictions upon the mother’s ability to have an abortion. At present, a mother is capable of aborting a foetus for various reasons including the fact that the child will suffer from a disability. Many people do not agree that this should be a reason to end the life of a foetus, though it is legal in the UK for a woman to abort a baby on grounds of disability up to birth. As a result of this many parents opt for an abortion if pre-natal screening reveals that their baby is suffering from a disability. Moreover, it has also been suggested that the parents are even put under pressure to do so.†[12] The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children strongly disagrees with this approach and believes that; â€Å"a person with a disab ility has the right to life along with every other member of society: aborting a baby because he or she has, or even might have, a disability, is the ultimate form of discrimination.†[13] It cannot be said that the foetus’ right to life is being upheld as a result of this since they can be terminated at any point if they are found to have a disability. Not only does this undermined their right to life but it also discriminates against them on the grounds of their disability. As such, the provisions under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 are too not being complied with. In Vo v France,[14] however, it was made clear that Article 2 of the Convention is â€Å"silent as to the temporal limitations of the right to life, and in particular does not define ‘everyone’ whose life is protected by the Convention.† Effectively, it is clear that because Article 2 does not provide a definition as to who shall be protected, it is likely that the rights of the foetus will continue to be restricted. Jackson does not believe that the moral status of the foetus should be sufficiently wide enough to make abortion unlawful,[15] however, and it seems as though the European Court of Justice is also reluctant as identified in Open Door and Dublin Well Woman v Ireland.[16] Furthermore, in the case of X v United Kingdom[17] the ECJ also stated that the right to life would be subject to an implied limitation in order to respect the mother’s life even if this was at the expense of the foetus’ right to life under Article 2. Furthermore, it was also expressed in Paton v United Kingdom[18] that; â€Å"the life of the foetus is intimately connected with, and cannot be regarded in isolation from, the life of the pregnant woman.† This limited the rights of the foetus even further as it was demo nstrated that the right to life under Article 2 was not available even though the abortion was not considered necessary to protect the life of the mother. This was also identified in H v Norway,[19] which illustrates that even if an abortion occurred as a result of the mother’s choice and there lacked any specific reason for terminating the pregnancy, Article 2 will still not be capable of providing protection to a foetus if this is at the expense of the mothers rights. This seems to indicate that unborn children are not actually provided with any rights despite the fact that Article 2 initially seemed to protect such interests. The termination of a pregnancy will continue to be a morally and ethically complex issue, particularly if the reason for aborting relates to a foetal abnormality.[20] It has been pointed out that a clear legal framework is needed because of the complexities that exist in this area, though it was noted that this continues to prove extremely difficult to create.[21] The Rights of the Mother Whilst it is believed by many that the rights of the foetus should be given due consideration, it is equally argued that the rights of women should be considered foremost when deciding whether an abortion is lawful or not. This was shown in Roe v Wade[22] where it was made clear by the Court that a person has a right to abortion unless the foetus has become viable. This means that the foetus does not become a human being until it is capable of living outside the mother’s womb without any artificial aid.[23] Although this decision was made by a Court in the US, it sparked a significant amount of debate. It was argued on the one hand that a foetus becomes a child whilst it is still in the womb and that the decision whether or not to allow abortion to take effect should not be based upon whether a foetus has the capacity to enjoy life as a person.[24] It has been said that the decision in this case effectively allows an abortion on demand to take place.[25] On the other hand, how ever, it has been expressed by Loveland that; â€Å"the judgment neither produced abortion on demand nor allowed states to prevent late-stage terminations.†[26] The decision in Planned Parenthood v Casey[27] imposed further limitations on the rights of the mother when it was found that the viability period would be reduced from 24 weeks to 22 weeks. It is questionable whether this was sufficient in ensuring that the right to life of the foetus under Article 2 was being provided with greater protection since the rights of the mother will continue to prevail in the majority of situations. It could be said that it is necessary for the mother’s rights to be ascertained over the rights of the unborn child because women should be regarded as individuals as opposed to being merely containers for the foetus. In accordance with this, greater consideration should be given to the rights of the mother, though some protections should also be available for the unborn.[28] Arguably, it is important that both the rights of the mother and the unborn child shall be considered, though much more weight ought to be given to the mother’s interests as she is already considered a viable person. It has been contended by Herring that; â€Å"women who want an abortion should not be required to continue with the pregnancy.†[29] Therefore, although Article 2 expressly states that the right to life is to apply to â€Å"everyone†, the extent to which this applies to the foetus is arguable in view of the confliction that exists between the rights of the mother and the rights of the foetus. In A-G’s Reference (No 3 of 119)[30] it was noted that a foetus is not regarded as a â€Å"person† and will therefore not be directly protected by Article 2 of the Convention. It was further added that the only right to life in which a foetus has is implicitly limited by the mother’s rights and interests. This suggests that a foetus will only be provided with the right to life indirectly from the mothers right under Article 2. It is unclear whether this completely undermines a foetus’ right to life, though it seems likely given that that Article 2 will not be violated if a pregnancy is terminated. The Courts have expressed great reluctance to elucidate on this matter, by assessing whether Article 2 will provide rights to the foetus or not, because of the existing moral and ethical considerations. As a result, great complexity continues to exist within this area of the law and unless Article 2 is more clearly defined, complexity will continue to ensue. Yet, because of the moral issues that are prevalent throughout, it seems as though a single approach would not be workable. Therefore, the decision as to whether an abortion should be permitted or not will continue to be decided on a case by case basis. As such, it will depend primarily upon the circumstances of each case. This allows a certain degree of flexibility to exist which is necessary given that each case will differ from the next. However, it is likely that the rights of the mother will continue to be favoured over the rights of the unborn child. Nevertheless, because of the politics that surround abortion, the European Court of Human Rights has been said to be â€Å"wary of making a general rule concerning the legal status of the foetus, preferring to leave this question to the margin of appreciation.†[31] It cannot be said that this is acceptable given the ambiguity that arises within this area. But because there is no right or wrong answer as to whether the rights of the mother should prevail over the rights of the foetus the legal status of the foetus could not be defined by the Courts without attracting opposition. It could be said that the UK has made some attempt to identify the rights of the foetus despite the fact that no right to life exists, yet the extent to which these interests are being protected will be likely to remain debated. When the case of Vo was brought before the ECHR they appeared to focus more on the question as to when life begins as well the nature and characteristics of the foetus, as opposed to focusing on the relationship between the mother and her potential child and the others right to reproductive freedom and autonomy.[32] Therefore, the approach taken by the ECHR should have been based upon the recognition of foetal interests as well as the loss of a mother’s relationship. Whilst this would not have addressed all of the difficulties that arise in this area, it would have provided some recognition as to the interests of the foetus. Much more needs to be done if foetal interests are to be provided with greater protected, whilst at the same time maintaining the rights of the mother. The rights of the mother appear to be protected in favour of the rights of the foetus, yet it has been said that this ensure the human dignity of the mother is being preserved.[33] This is because if a mother was not provided with the choice to terminate a pregnancy, it is likely that their human dignity would be violated. Whilst this this may be at the expense of the rights enshrined in Article 2, it is deemed necessary in protecting the mother’s interests. Balancing the Rights It is doubtful that the rights of the foetus and the rights of the mother are being balanced since the rights of the foetus continue to be undermined. Whilst there are some protections in place to preserve the interests of the foetus, these do not appear sufficient and so it seems as though tighter restrictions ought to be implemented to ensure that abortion is not easily accessible. This would allow for a more acceptable balance to be attained because at present it seems to be largely one-sided. If abortion was only permitted in extreme circumstances, it would not be capable of being used as another form of contraception and the interests of the foetus would be better recognised. On the contrary, it is argued that further limitations would limit the mothers freedom to choose and their own rights would be undermined if Article 2 was to provide express rights to unborn children. Therefore, whilst abortion should still be permitted, limitations should be imposed so that the rights of the foetus are given better protection. It is unclear whether judges should be left to make a decision on whether an abortion is lawful or not since opinions will differ significantly on this subject. Thus, it cannot be said that judges should be left to decide upon moral issues. Whilst one judge may agree with abortion, another judge may not as individuals have different perceptions on what is and what is not morally right. This is why the courts have been quite reluctant to use a single approach when deciding upon the interests of a foetus and it seems that the matter is better left undefined. This was identified by Sandel when it was argued that there are differences of opinions as to whether abortion is morally reprehensible and therefore worthy of prohibition, whilst many avoid passing judgment on the morality of these practices.[34] The ECHR appears to have adopted the latter approach, by failing to provide a decision on the legal status of foetus’. This lack of definition may actually be in the interests of the foetus since rights are capable of being provided that may not have been had a definition been in place. The determination as to whether abortion should be a mother’s choice or not will be capable of being assessed differently in all cases. This is necessary given the diverging opinions that exist since it will continue to be argued by many that Article 2 should provide a right to â€Å"anyone† including unborn children, whilst others will continue to be of the view that the decision should be left with the freedom of choice as protected u nder Article 13 of the Convention. The current practice that is being adopted in striking a balance between the two competing interests does appear to be the most plausible approach to take since each case will be determined by its facts. This could, however, lead to judicial activism occurring, which appears to have happened in the Roe case above which was described by Thielen as â€Å"an incredible reach of judicial activism.†[35] Judicial activism occurs when a ruling is said to be based upon political or personal considerations as opposed to being based upon existing law.[36] Therefore, if when Courts are provided with the ability to decide upon matters concerning abortion, judicial activism is likely to emerge which undermines social policy and, in some instances, human rights. Still, as put forward by Ewing and Gearty; â€Å"English judges have shown a powerful engagement with the rights of the unborn in the past,†[37] yet whether violations of one’s huma n rights are arising out of this is likely and it seems quite difficult for a balance to be achieved between the rights of the unborn with the rights of the mother. Conclusion This area is extremely controversial and because of this it is difficult for legislators as well as the judiciary to make a decision as to whether a foetus does have rights. Many people are of the view that every woman should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, yet not all agree with this. Instead, it is argued that women are capable of using abortion as a form of contraception because of how easily accessible it is. Whilst there are some restraints in place to prevent this from happening, such as the requirement to obtain permission from two doctors, it cannot be said that such measures are effective. This is because it is highly unlikely that an abortion would be refused unless the stages of pregnancy have gone past the 24 week threshold. Furthermore, because women are permitted to have an abortion past this stage if the unborn child is suffering from a disability, the rights of the foetus are being undermined even further. It is therefore questionable whet her the current law is effective in preserving the interests of the foetus since the law has not made it difficult for abortions to be performed. Therefore, it could be said that further restrictions are needed so as to balance the rights of the mother with the rights of the unborn child. Conversely, because there is a limit on the number of weeks a person can abort a foetus, it could be said that their interests are being adequately protected to a certain degree. Whether this is sufficient, however, is likely to remain a contestable subject for many years to come as there will continue to be differing opinions as to whether abortion should be so easily available. In effect, there are both strengths and weaknesses for right to abortion, yet it is questionable whether the strengths do in fact outweigh the weaknesses. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cases: A-G’s Reference (No 3 of 119) [1998] AC 245 H v Norway (1992) 73 D & R 155 Open Door and Dublin Well Woman v Ireland (1992) 14 EHRR 244 Paton v United Kingdom (1980) 3 EHRR 408 Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992) 404 U.S. 833 Roe v Wade (1973) 410 U.S. 113 Vo v France Judgement of 8 July 2004 40 EHRR 12 X v United Kingdom (1980) 19 D & R 244 Legislation: Abortion Act 1967 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 European Convention of Human Rights 1951 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 Human Rights Act 1998 Textbooks: Herring, J. Law Express: Medical Law (Revision Guide), Longman, 2nd Edition, (2009). Herring, J. Medical Law and Ethics, OUP Oxford, 3rd Edition, (2010). Hope, T., Savulescu, J. and Hendrick, J. Medical Ethics and Law: The Core Curriculum, Churchill Livingstone, 2nd Edition, (2008). Kaczor, C., The Ethics of Abortion: Women’s Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice, (Routledge: London, 2013). Kennedy, I., Grubb, A., Laing, J. and McHale, J. Principles of Medical Law, OUP Oxford, 3rd Edition, (2010). Jackson, E. Medical Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Text, Cases and Materials), OUP Oxford, 2nd Edition, (2009). Mason, K. and Laurie, G. Mason and McCall Smith’s Law and Medical Ethics, OUP Oxford, 8th Edition, (2010). Articles: Abortion Rights Campaign, Why women need a modern abortion, law and better services, Available [Online] at: http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/content/view/180/121/ BBC, Women’s Rights Arguments in Favour of Abortion, Ethics Guide, (1992), Available [Online] at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/mother/for_1.shtml K.D and Gearty. CA, Terminating Abortion RightsNew Law Journal, 142 NLJ 1969, Issue 6579, (04 December, 1992). C, Forty Years On, New Law Journal, 157 NLJ 1517, Issue 7295, (02 November, 2007). Frankenburg, G., ‘Human Rights and the Belief in a Just World’ International Journal of Constitutional Law, Volume 12, Issue 1. Holetzky, S. What is Judicial Activism(04 February, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-judicial-activism.htm Human Rights, Right to Life: Not just an abortion issue, Available [Online] at: http://www.abouthumanrights.co.uk/right-life-not-just-abortion-issue.html I, A Vacancy in the Supreme Court, New Law Journa l, 144 NLJ 537, Issue 6644, (22 April, 1994). McCrudden, C. Human Dignity and Judicial Interpretation of Human Rights, European Journal of International Law, EJIL 2008 19 (655), Issue 4, (01 September, 2008). O’Donovan, K. Commentary, Medical Law Review, Med Law Rev 2006 14 (115), (01 March, 2006). Sandel, M. J. Symposium: Law, Community, and Moral Reasoning Moral Argument and Liberal Toleration: Abortion and Homosexuality, California Law Review, 77 Calif. L. Rev. 521, (May, 1989). The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, SPUC, Abortion and disability or eugenic abortion, Available [Online] at: http://www.spuc.org.uk/students/abortion/disability Thielen, D. Overturn Roe v Wade, Liberal and Loving It, (2005), Available [Online] at: http://www.davidthielen.info/politics/2005/08/overturn_roe_vs.html Wicks, E., Wyldes, M. and Kilby, M. Late Termination of Pregnancy for Foetal Abnormality: Medical and Legal Perspectives, Medical Law Review, Med Law Rev 2004.12 (285), (01 September, 2004).

Take-Home Quiz 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Take-Home Quiz 3 - Essay Example There are two types of fiscal policy: discretionary fiscal policy and non-discretionary fiscal policy. Discretionarily policy is the deliberate changes in government spending and taxes in order to ensure stabilization of the economy through increased demand by achieving control inflation, full employment and economic growth. (Fisher 2011) Expansionary policy- a) When the government increases its spending then the aggregate demand will shift to the right b) The reduction in taxes will make the aggregate demand curve to shift to the right c) The application of increasing government spending and decreasing taxes. contractionary policy a) By reducing the government spending , there will be a shift of the aggregate demand to the left with prices falling down with an assumption that there is downward price flexibility b) When taxes are raised , the aggregate demand will shift to the left c) Combination of tax increase and reduction in government spending. Non-discretionary policy- These ar e automatic stabilizers which do not require any government regulations. They often take place as a result of changes in taxes as GDP changes. Recession can happen if there is the fall on consumption, investment, government spending and exports. The short term effect is the raising of unemployment. The fiscal policy is therefore to deal with unemployment. The tool that the Bahrain government can use includes raising government expenditure, lowering taxes and the combination of two. (Fisher 2011) If AD shifts to the left, it is countered by adopting discretionary expansionary fiscal policy. In the chart, assume that the RGDP1 is the full employment level of output in Bahrain. If Ad falls AD2, RGDP will fall to RGDP2 as a result of full multiplier of the changes in G, I, X, or C. Reducing taxes and increasing its expenditure will enhance the spending capability of the populace. When the government pays for the services, it will create more jobs and enhanced wages people earn that will in turn be pumped into the economy. Through pump priming the government will be able to create more jobs and improve the consumer’s capacity to buy goods. This will at the end rekindle business and improve the growth of an economy. The private sector will benefit from the ability of customers to buy their products besides enjoying cheap services funded by the government. The private sector will be able to create more jobs to the people and in turn pay more taxes to the government. Question 2 An economy can be impacted either positively or negatively by the changes in interest rates. Interest rate influences the spending patterns of consumers and the growth of an economy. If the federal government cuts the interest rate there will be a reduced cost of borrowing and therefore there will be an increased disposable income to the consumers. This will lead to higher spending and improved growth of the economy. If the fed increases interest rates, there will be reduced inflation. C onsumers will be shy of spending and injecting their money into the economy in form of investments. This will then result into an economic downturn or recession. The growth of an economy will be slow, which will in turn result to increased capacity spare and increased cases of unemployment. A growing economy is characterized by

Specification of writing business plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Specification of writing business plans - Essay Example The paper tells that in the conditions of changeable economics, stability and success of every economic player can be insured only by effective planning of its economic performance. The planning program of business optimization is represented by business plan, which is working instrument used in every sphere of entrepreneurship. This document describes the process of firm’s functioning and shows essential methods that can help supervisors to attain own goals and tasks. Good structured business plan helps enterprise grow, conquer new position on the market, build perspective concepts of launching new goods and services, choose rational methods of their implementation and receive various ways of financing. According to Collins, â€Å"Business plans are like sell sheets on steroids. It details your current financial position and your path to revenue growth†. Creation of business plan is conventional and generally adopted way to define objectives of economic performance and outline initial routes for their achievements. This document can be carried out for start-up as much as for already existed entry on successive stage of its development. Business plan is an objective evaluation of own entrepreneurial performance and extremely important instrument of production according to market needs. Successful co-founder and co-owner of Roaring Lion Energy Drink that is worth millions of dollars, Sean Hackney, stated that writing business plan was absolutely worthwhile, because there were a lot of ideas that needed to be put on paper. (as cited in Henricks, 2008, p. 94). The main purpose of elaborating business plan is to predict economic and financial performance of the company for the nearest perspectives, taking into account needs of target consumers and abilities of getting required resources. Goals of business planning Traditionally business plan is considered to be an efficacious mode that helps to attract finance needed for project’s implementatio n. However, many specialists highlight other not less important tasks, which can be carried out with a help of business plan. They are the following: defining concrete directions of performance and target markets; formulating long-term and short-term goals, strategy and tactics of their attaining; choosing the most appropriate products and appraising production and costs of marketing; revealing correspondence of present staff and conditions of motivation with qualifying standards; outlining marketing measures aimed at marketing research, advertising, sale promotion, pricing; evaluating financial state of the company and availability of financial and maternal resources; predicting obstacles that may hinder practical implementation of the project. According to Smith (2004), planning process provides assistance in delegation of responsibilities, results in better co-ordination of resources and encourages constant forward thinking (p. 3). Elaboration of business plan is time-taking and rather laborious process, but implementation of this complex multi-functional document has several objectives. First of all, business plan encourages attraction of external capital. Financial calculations of mentioned document are able to explain what sum of start-up financial resources is required, how they are going to be returned to potential investors and creditors, what risks can take place and others. Secondly, on the beginning stage of project’s implementation business plan insures communication between entrepreneur and future suppliers, merchandisers and employees. Then it helps to avoid impediments before setting up own business. Also business plan is a reliable way to model system of

To what extent do the problems with practical application of Essay

To what extent do the problems with practical application of performance appraisals affect their effectiveness - Essay Example Human resource management ideology revolves around the policies and practices of organization design and development. It concentrates on learning, employee development, performance and rewards and providing services that enhance the wellbeing of employees in an organization. Performance management is an integral tool in human resource management. Performance management helps managers to ensure that employees are giving their best efforts towards developing the organization. The idea of performance management was first introduced in the field of human resource management in the early 1990s. Despite the fact that employees’ assessment review and objective settings had been in use before the 90s, organizations started to concentrate on individual performance in the early 1990s. Research indicated that among 1800 employees in the United Kingdom, 46% of the employees said 86 per cent used a systematic approach to evaluate employee performance while 20 per cent used the more ambitious performance management systems on their employees (Anderson, 1996: 197). According to Anderson (1996), performance management practices have been used for a longer time in the United States. A study conducted by the Bureau of National affairs showed that in 244 organizati ons that were studied, 90 per cent of them conducted performance appraisal exercises every year. This is a clear indication that performance appraisals were widely used across the globe during that time. With the rapid development of global economy in the past 20 years, performance appraisal has become a tool for increasing productivity among employees in organizations (Gruman and Saks, 2011: 123). In the general performance management process, performance appraisal is a formal and a systematic process for measuring, recording and developing strengths and weaknesses of employees in an organization (Swanepoel, et al., 2000

Ethical Dilemma Capstone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Dilemma Capstone - Essay Example ry, which states that what happens in a state is its own affair as long as it takes place within the limits of the international law then the US had no right to interfere whatsoever (Burge 9). However, there are instances where human rights violations are so severe that the use of force from outside is the only way to halt such scenarios. Therefore, the concept of non-interference must occasionally be overlooked by the international states to protect the targeted population. Nonetheless, this right or duty of humanitarian intervention sometimes acts against the consent of a state or its leaders for purposes that are claimed to be humanitarian, but some action does have hidden motives (Abbott, 8). For instance, the US was giving financial aid and military advice to French in Indochina. This was, however, primarily because America was concerned with keeping the Indochinese resources in a friendly way for the benefit of itself and its allies (Burge, 9). The American society was getting concerned with the financial aid that the U.S government was spending on French war. The U.S official reaction to this was; if they allowed communists to take over in countries in the Southern Asia, then America would face serious repercussions that would affect the political and economy of the U.S. Consequently, communism would spread to other parts of the world, thereby affecting the stability of the European region (Smith, 1). Although the U.S provided French with money, weapons and supplies they did not participate in the actual fighting. Later on when Viet Minh launched a major attack, France implored the U.S for direct military support but did not get any. Without the support of the allies the French forces stood little chance against an enemy with superior weapons, but on the other hand, they actually supported the Vietnam with their military. Thus, U.S would only participate in intervention when they stood to gain something. As Americans continued to aver support and

Two Learning Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Two Learning Theories - Assignment Example Two of these theories are the behaviorist theory and the humanist theory. Behaviorist theory view learning as the product of the stimulus conditions (S) and the responses (R) after the exposure to the stimulus. Due to the relationship between the stimulus and the responses, it is most often referred to as the S-R Model of Learning (Bastable, 2008, p. 54). Proponents of the behaviorist theory believe that behavior can be learned or unlearned by modifying the stimulus in the environment or the responses to the stimulus. This type of learning acquires learning through practical application, requiring less thinking and emotional affectations. Behaviorist theory created a significant impact on education and behavior change through classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning was identified by Ivan Pavlov and sometimes referred to as the Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning (Butts& Rich, 2011, p. 207). In classical conditoining, there is an introduct ion of a neutral stimulus to the unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response. The neutral stimulus has no connection with the unconditioned stimulus and response. ... 210). On the other hand, humanistic learning theory focuses on the person and emphasized the importance of feelings over thoughts(Butts& Rich, 2011, p. 229). Learning takes place when people are given the chance to express their feelings, making them an active participant in the learning process. The concept of hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow has strengthened the humanistic theory as well as the construct of self-concept by Rogers which identified individual need for unconditional positive self-regard (Butts& Rich, 2011, p. 230). Humanistic theory’smain advantage over other learning theories is its holistic approach and openness in education and health care field. Learning Theories and Nursing Practice Learning theories is crucial to nursing practice. Evidences of interconnection are found between patients and families who wanted to acquire information on how to adjust to a particular medical condition, in students getting hold of information and skills needed to become a nurse, or in health care professionals designing effective teaching plan for patients. All of these demonstrate relationship of learning theories with the nursing practice. Learning theories serve as frameworks for health care professionals on planning learning outcomes.The construction of different learning theories enables the health professionals to understand how the introduction of knowledge can affect an individual’s feeling, thoughts, and behavior. Learning theories were also linked to the health counseling, work organization, and hospital’s management, marketing, and advertising (Bastable, 2008, p. 73). Nurses are often the professionals involved in health education of patients. That is why they always

Effect of environmental regulations on trade Essay

Effect of environmental regulations on trade - Essay Example Held and McGrew (2002) review several definitions for globalization and emphasize that while all are accurate, few capture the complexity of the phenomenon and therefore, do not comprehensively define globalization. From their perspective, while it is virtually impossible to define globalization in a single sentence, it can best be described as an economic phenomenon whose primary motivation is the imposition of the capitalism and economic liberalization upon the global economy and, in brief, the globalization of capital.According to this definition, globalization is the removal of obstacles towards the movement of goods and services across national borders, such as import and export taxes, customs and tariffs, resulting in reduced state control over economies and markets.As may be inferred from the foregoing definition, globalization has facilitated the movement of capital goods across national borders, with little, if any, state intervention.Within the context of this understanding , globalization has expanded markets and, importantly, has provided producers, manufacturers and business entities both with access to foreign markets and the ability to compete with domestic goods on relatively equal terms.Even while emphasizing the validity of the aforementioned and stressing that trade liberalization has, to a very large extent, achieved all of the stated, it is important to concede to the fact that environmental regulations have countered the trend towards the free movement of goods and services across national boundaries. ... 2 Effect of Environmental Regulations on Trade As may have been deduced from the introduction, environmental regulations affect international trade volumes and patterns. The extent to which it may do so will be examined in this section. 2.1 Trade Volumes Several studies have upheld the argument that environmental regulations have the potential to function as obstacles to the movement of capital goods and services across national boundaries and, in so doing, afford domestic producers an advantage over foreign ones. These same studies have also found that countries which have comparatively lax environmental regulations have a comparative advantage over those which have more stringent regulations, insofar as attracting foreign direct investment is concerned (McCormick, 2001; Anweiler, Copeland and Taylor, 2002). On the basis of empirical evidence, however, Anweiler, Copeland and Taylor (2002) find that the aforementioned comparative advantage is not sustainable. For example, Mexico's lax environmental regulations may have afforded it a comparative advantage where US foreign direct investment is concerned but it has hardly contributed to the growth of Mexican international trade and exports since operative environmental regulations in ot her countries act as an obstacle to the entry of Mexican exports. Similarly, the comparatively low standards of domestic environmental regulations in the United States have adversely impacted US international trade volumes (McCormick, 2001). Indeed, in his study of US international trade from 1958-1994, McCormick (2001) found that environmental regulations functioned as a serious obstacles to US exports and trade, especially to Europe and

Music and Brain Development Essay Example for Free

Music and Brain Development Essay There are three major perspectives on the positive impact of music education to the core curricula in school. The study on how music shares value to brain development has opened new views for all educators. According to the study of Neurological Research in February 1997, music develops abstract reasoning skills needed for the learning process of children in math and science. It was proven that training in music is more efficient than computer learning for teaching math and science skills (Peretz and Zatorre, 2005).   It was reported that music training could be more effective than computer instruction for teaching these skills. The findings were the result of a two year experiment with preschoolers by Rauscher et. Al. Wriht et al in 1997, compared the effects of musical and non-musical training on intellectual development as a follow-up to their studies on music can enhance spatial-reasoning. They concluded that music enhanced brain functions that were required for learning mathematics, science and engineering (Brust, 2003). Several studies have suggested that beginning music training early corresponds to greater growth in certain areas of the brain (Schlang et al, 2003). For example, researchers in Germany identified the planum temporale, a part of the left hemisphere as the region of the brain responsible for the perfect pitch and speech. This term used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the planun temporale in non-musicians and professional musicians, some with perfect pitch and some without it. They discovered that the planum temporale in those with perfect pitch was twice as large as the other groups. Also with perfect pitch has started a music lesson before age seven. Rauscher et al. (1997) found that musicians had thicker nerve fibers in the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that carries signals between the two hemispheres, if they started keyboard training before the age of seven. Babo (2001) discussed, researchers, work at the University of Konstanz in Germany which focused that exposure to music helped to rewire neural circuits. They concluded that the brains of pianists were more efficient at making skilled movements than the brains of others. These findings suggested that musical training could enhance brain function (Trainor and Schmidt, 2003). Schlaug et al. (1995) used MRI to discover that musicians who started studying music before the age of 7 had regions in their brains (the corpus callosum and the right motor cortex) that were larger than corresponding regions in both non-musicians and musicians whose training began at a later age. However, in response to questions about his study, Schlaug et al preferred not to recommend when music should be taught, since some very skilled musicians began performing in their twenties or thirties. Schlaug et al. also reported that most musicians who have perfect pitch started music lessons before the age of seven. However, according to Diamond and Hopson (1998), early music training is associated with more growth in this one particular brain region. if training starts later or is absent altogether, perfect pitch rarely shows up (p. 4). Zatorre (2003) reported evidence that infants are born with nervous systems devoted exclusively to music. Studies are showing that early and ongoing musical training can help organize and develop children’s brains. In a study to determine the effect of systematic prenatal musical stimulation by observing musical behaviors exhibited between birth and 6, Fujioka et al (2006) found that infants who received systematic prenatal musical stimulation exhibited â€Å"remarkable attention behaviors.   Those infants could imitate accurately sounds made by adults (including non-family members), and appear to structure vocalization much earlier than infants who did not have prenatal musical training (p. 21).   Only quite the researches focused on the prenatal musical training of the fetus. Personal Reflection I believe that musicians have more active contribution to brain development because they are required to perform in more complex sequences of finger movements. Musicians are regularly adapting to decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing and feeling-training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and performing a lot of activities all at the same time. Musicians in my point of view, exercise orchestration that have better payoff for lifelong attention skills, intelligence and skills in self-knowledge and self-expression. In my own opinion, there is a significant relationship between music and brain development. There is an interrelationship between music and education because of the eight basic intelligences:   linguistic; logical-mathematical; spatial; bodily-kinesthetic; musical; interpersonal; intrapersonal; and naturalist. Although, these intelligences are different from musical intelligences:emotional, spiritual and cultural than the other kinds of intelligences. Most importantly, he assumed that music could help some organize the way they think and work by helping them develop in other areas, such as math, language, and spatial reasoning. Gardner criticized school districts that sacrificed music in children’s education, calling them â€Å"arrogant and ignorant about the value of music education† (p. 142). Essay 2-The Mozart Effect Rauscher et al. (1993) used the term Mozart effect to describe the results of their study on the relationship between music and spatial task performance. It is based on the ears role in the development of movement, balance, language and pre-verbal communication as well as the integration of neurological responses stimulated by music The Mozart effect also refers to the way music is used to enhance the quality of life. For example, music helps children in obtaining good health, education, and creativity (Cjabris, 1999).   Rauscher et al. (1997) gave a group of college students three 10-minute-long sets of standard IQ spatial reasoning tasks: listening to a Mozart sonata for two pianos, listening to a relaxation tape, and sitting through silence. The results showed that the individuals who listened to Mozart had a distinct advantage in spatial task performance. Steele et al (1999) noted that students performed better on the abstract/spatial reasoning tests after listening to Mozart than after listening to either the relaxation tape or to nothing† (p. 2). Although conditions differed significantly between music, silence, and relaxation, Shaw and his colleagues were careful to qualify the study results. Although spatial reasoning test scores rose as a result of listening to Mozarts piano sonata in D major (K488), the effects were temporary. Jenkins (2001) noted that the enhancing effect of the music condition is temporary, and does not extend beyond the 10-15 minute period during which subjects were engaged in each spatial task (Rauscher et al., 1993, p. 2). The authors posed several questions for further research: â€Å"Could varying the amount of listening time optimize the Mozart effect? Could listening to Mozart also enhance other intelligence measures such as short-term memory, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning? Would other kinds of music have an effect on IQ performance† (p. 2)? Though the answers to these questions were unclear, the authors concluded that music lacking in complexity failed to enhance performance. They also concluded that the complexity of Mozarts music was responsible for its enhancing effect. Rauscher et al. replicated and extended these findings in 1995. They used the same tasks used in their first experiment but extended the types of listening examples used. College students were divided into 3 groups: those exposed to silence, the same Mozart music used in the 1993 study, and a piece by Philip Glass. As before, the Mozart group showed a significant increase in spatial IQ scores. Tomatis, a French physician, psychologist, and educator, researched the connection between early childhood development in the 1960s and the music of Mozart (Jenkins, 2001). College students listened to a Mozart sonata, then performed complicated visual tasks involving cutting and folding paper. However, there was no difference in the way these tasks were performed by either the students who listened to the sonata or the control groups who just relaxed before taking the test or listened to other kinds of music. Schellenberg (2006) pointed out that the studies on music instruction insubstantial overall because researchers only tried to repeat and extend their findings. For example, no one knew exactly which kind of musical training produced results and which kinds did not, who benefited most from it, and how long any intellectual gains resulting from music training lasted. In another study, Chabris (1999) reviewed previous studies and compared the effects of the Mozart recordings. Results revealed a statistically insignificant increase in the ability of individuals to complete tasks requiring spatial visualization skills and abstract reasoning. Chabris noted that if listening to Mozart improves cognitive performance at all, its by improving overall cognitive arousal and concentration. It shouldnt be viewed as an intellectual miracle drug (p. 1). Steele (2001) agreed with Chabris, by stating that â€Å"there is a problem with the concept of classical music as Gatorade for the brain† (p. 1). A number of other researchers (Crncec et al, 2006) supported the belief that classical music does not increase basic intelligence. Rauscher, et l (1995) noted that because many researchers only measured the effect on general intelligence instead of on spatial-temporal abilities, they failed when they tried to repeat the original experiment. In 1995, Rauscher et al. replicated this study and again found that spatial-temporal reasoning improved after listening to the Mozart Sonata. Though daily exposure to Mozart’s music produced daily increases in scores, this effect did not apply to all styles of music or to all areas of intelligence. For example, Phillip Glass’ minimalist music did not enhance spatial-temporal reasoning. Further, the students’ scores did not improve when they performed a short-term memory task after listening to Mozart. Rauscher et al. (1999) concluded that â€Å"although the Mozart effect is intriguing and holds great promise for further explorations into the transfer of musical processing to other domains of reasoning, merely listening to music probably does not lead to lasting enhancement of spatial-temporal intelligence. Listening to music is a passive experience for most people, and does not require the involvement that actively creating music does† (p. 2).   This observation led researchers to suspect that actively creating music has greater benefits for spatial temporal intelligence than simply listening to it. Combining separate elements of an object into a whole or arranging them in a specific order are spatial-temporal operations. They require successive steps, which are dependent upon previous steps. Spatial-logical operations also require recognition of similarities or differences among objects and are generally one-step processes. For example, a child who is asked to classify objects according to their color or shape would be performing a spatial-logical operation. The Rauscher et al. (1999) model predicted that music training may increase spatial-temporal task scores, but not necessarily spatial-logical tasks. These studies did suggest casual relationships between music and spatial task performance. The authors concluded that music education was helpful for maximum cognitive development by demonstrating that music could improve the intellectual functioning of children. Personal Reflection In my own opinion, the study in Mozart effect is a new proof of music’s education and its importance. Since it is believed to development a child’s IQ, schools must offer music programs to help their students in a very substantial way. Music educators should work towards the inclusion of music education in the curriculum of public education. Also, the publics perception of music education must be altered so that policymakers in education are forced to provide for conditions where music education may thrive. Many educators and researchers posit that music should be a more central part of   the school curriculum in light of studies that demonstrate a relationship between music and intellectual growth. Also, tentative research findings in support of music education have shown that people believe that there is an essential value to learning about music. Diamond (1998) argued that learning to play an instrument could increase a childs capacity for voluntary attention (p. 7), while Porter (1998) concluded that music can teach â€Å"discipline, care, concentration, and perseverance† (p. 7). Music Learning and Memory for Music When memory for a sequence of visually presented letters is tested, the marked recency effect that characterizes studies of the PAS system is absent. Nonetheless, clear evidence of phonological coding is found in the form of a marked effect of phonological similarity ( Schlkind et al, 2003). auditory input. Further evidence for the interaction between self-generated phonological codes and auditory input is, of course, offered by the irrelevant speech effect. Performance is impaired by unwanted spoken material, with the crucial feature of the material being its phonological rather than its semantic characteristics, again suggesting that the interaction is occurring at a common phonological level ( Dowling, 1994). It should be pointed out at this stage, however, that the nature of the irrelevant sound is crucial. While speech in a foreign language is quite disruptive to performance, white noise is not, even when the intensity of the noise is pulsed so as to resemble the intensity envelope of the speech signal that has been shown to disrupt memory ( Dowling et al, 1995). The fact that memory is more disrupted by vocal than by nonvocal music might seem to suggest that the system is essentially speech based. It is possible, however, that the greater disruption by speech reflects the nature of the primary task, namely remembering digits, a task that is likely to operate principally in terms of the spoken names of the digits. It is entirely conceivable that a different primary task would lead to a different degree of disruption. One possibility then might be to look at studies investigating memory for environmental sounds. Unfortunately, the evidence in this area seems to be relatively sparse. Deutsch (2004) showed that their patient was better at remembering environmental sounds than spoken digits, but, unfortunately, it is possible that the task was done by first identifying the sounds and then remembering them semantically. Personal Reflection . Thinking of music memory as schematic is probably accurate for many of the interactions that both trained and untrained people have with music. However, recently I have become interested in the nature of representation when memory for music is essentially perfect. Whereas it appears that the majority of work in music cognition has examined short-term memory, I would like to examine longterm memory. By this I mean that I am interested in the way well-learned music is represented. People are able to remember a large repertory of music and retain it for many years. What kinds of codes make this retention possible? Clearly, proposing verbal codes in the traditional sense is impractical when trying to understand memory for melody (as opposed to the lyrics in vocal music). Even if we assume that a small minority of musicians can encode tunes in terms of musical structure, motor commands, or musical notation, the successful retention of music by untrained people suggests the existence of other types of durable codes. The explication of those codes has been the goal of my current program of research References    Blood, A., Zatorre, R. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,98, 11818-11823. Brust, J. (2003). Music and the neurologist: A historical perspective. In I.Peretz, R. Zatorre (Eds.) The cognitive neuroscience of music (pp. 181-191). New York: Oxford University Press. Chabris, C (1999). Prelude or requiem for the ‘Mozart effect’? Nature, 400, 6747, 826-7. Crncec, R., Wilson, S., Prior, M. (2006). No evidence for the Mozart effect in children. Music Perception, 23(4), 305- 317. Deutsch, D. (2004). The octave illusion revisited again. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30 (2), 355-364. This article can be downloaded from Psych Info and from the author’s web page. Dowling, W. J. (1994). Melodic contour in hearing and remembering melodies. In R. Aiello (Ed.) Musical perceptions, (pp. 173-190 ). New York: Oxford University Press. Dowling, W. J. , Kwak, S., Andrews, M. ( 1995). The time course of recognition of novel melodies. Perception Psychophysics, 57(2), 136-49. Fujioka, T., Ross, B., Kakigi, R., Pantev, C., Trainor, L. (2006). One year of musical training affects development of auditory cortical-evoked fields in young children. Brain, 129, 2593-2608. This article can be downloaded. Jenkins, J.S. (2001). The Mozart effect. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine,   94,170-172. Patel, A. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 674-681. This article can be downloaded. discuss it from the neuroscientific perspective. Peretz, I., Zatorre, R. (2005). Brain organization for music processing. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 89-114. This article can be downloaded. This is an excellent review. Rauschecker, J. (2003). Functional organization and plasticity of auditory cortex. In Peretz, I., Zatorre, R. (Eds.) The cognitive neuroscience of music (pp. (357-365). New York: Oxford University Press. Rauscher, F. (1999). Reply to Prelude or requiem for the â€Å"Mozart effect’? Nature, 400, 6747, 827-8. Schellenberg, E. G.(2005). Music and cognitive abilities. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 (6), 317-320. This article can be downloaded. Schellenberg, E.G. (2006). Long-term positive association between music lessons and IQ. Journal of Education Psychology, 98 (2), 457-468. This article can be downloaded. Schlaug, G. ( 2003). The brain of musicians. In Peretz, I., Zatorre, R. (Eds.) The cognitive neuroscience of music (pp. (366-381). New York: Oxford University Press. Schulkind, A., Posner, R., Rubin, D. (2003). Musical features that facilitate melody identification: How do you know it’s â€Å"your† song when they finally play it? Music Perception, 21, (2), 217-249. Steele, K., Dalla Bella, S., Peretz, I., Dunlop, T., Dawe, L., Humphrey, K., Shannon, R., Kirby, J. Jr., Olmstead, C. (1999). Prelude or requiem for the ‘Mozart effect’? Nature, 400, 6747,826-7. Trainor, L., Schmidt, L. (2003). Processing emotions induced by music. In I. Peretz, R. Zatorre (Eds.) The cognitive neuroscience of music (pp. 310-324). New York: Oxford University Press. Zatorre, R. (2003). Absolute pitch: A model for understanding the influence of genes and development on neural and cognitive function. Nature Neuroscience, 6 (7), pp. 692-695.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Strategies

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Strategies INTRODUCTION Live birth with healthy child is the ultimate goal of ART cycles. There is a complexity of interlinked events that decides the final outcome of ART. This event can be categorised as, Clinical (stimulation protocol, opu, embryo transfer, pregnancy rate etc), Patient related (age, diseases) and Laboratory (ART Lab- oocyte, sperm, embryo, media, etc). There cannot be any single thumb rule for success in any ART cycle due to numerous variations in each categories. However by setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and interpreting the data statistically we can have a better understanding of our success combinations as well as flaws. In this topic we will restrict our discussion upto laboratory category. ART lab and equipments are designed to mimic intra-uterine/ intra- fallopian tube environment. Thus by giving minimum stress to gametes a better embryo or blastocyst can be achieved which may result in healthy pregnancy. In order to have significant pregnancy rate various studies have been performed keeping in mind variables like, co2, pH, temperature, media etc. To have an insight of entire process majority of KPI are directed towards maintaining the above controls and also the clinical aspect of patient. This KPI gives us entire picture from patient age, stimulation protocols, drugs, opu, gametes, zygotes, embryos as well as record of temperature of work stations, room temperature, humidity, incubators conditions, ph, air quality , infection control policy. Thus KPI makes us more vigilant and observes the pattern of success or failure of our lab. By using our KPI we can have customised settings of our monitors and set protocol for a cycle. This Gametes and embryos are in artificial environment mimicking natural environment a stricter control on ph, temperature, air are perhaps most crucial. It is believed and observed that a compromise in any of this parameters does cause detrimental effect on embryos. Usually laboratories have protocols of checking the incubator settings, media, temperature daily. We do observe success rate to vary routinely. Where a drop in preganacy rate is to be considered more seriously , this makes us ponder over our KPI which should reflect the cause. We have observed many instances but we discuss about three such scenarios which caused damage to our pregnancy rates and KPI helped us. First Scenario- opening incubator door frequently On one occasion we observed more number of patients than usual in a batch of ART, while other KPI parameters were within accepted range. This observation lead to the fact that increased number of patient resulted in increase in number of oocytes.. This means that the load on incubator was much higher than usual. This load can be described by frequent opening of door to make fresh plates , transfer embryos, change media, observe growth, and embryo transfer. We used a conventional front load door incubator. Our KPI did not have a count or time period of incubator door openings, though it was handled to be bare necessity. To establish this assumption few studies observed that, there is a difference in temperature throughout the incubator where front and upper shelf had temperature nearer to 37 c as compared to other locations. Temperature displayed on screen of incubator was just an average. Temperature probe recorded average temperature of inside the incubator and hence KPI recordings were quite stable . However an important study observed that incubator door opened for 5 seconds takes a temperature recovery time of around 20 minutes whereas dishes took 30 minutes to come back to 37c. This can be explained due to cooler air from room entering the incubator and also cold co2 gas being pumped in due to decrease in co2 concentrations. IVF work station also has heating mechanism adjusted to 37 c but even that is average temp. And we do see different tempertaure in different parts of table. Further work station is also cooled by laminar air flow . Studies have proven that prolonged temperature variations impacts fertilisation especially high temperature affects cytokinesis of embryos. However we did not record absolutely mass failed fertilisation or mass embryo arrest .Though the number was less but the embryos progressed to blastocyst formation and also gave pregnancies. This leads to debate of optimal temperature required for embryo culture. Researchers have proved that core body temperature of reproductive axis to be 1c less than 37c. Interestingly a study observed difference in blastocyst formation from culturing the embryos at 36c .however fertilisation rate and implantation rate at both 36 c and 37 c were similar. With the concept of mimicking natural environment it was observed that preovulatory follicle had 2.3c less temperature than 36c. This could explain why even after temperature fluctuation we could still get good blastocyst as well as implantation. Another possible theory is a temperature regulating mechanism in embryo which remains an interesting research. Temperature fluctuations have an impact on pH also . Considering the importance of temperature and as most study design are carried out at 37c and better success rate at this temperature makes us accept cell culture to be at 37c. In order to set things right measures were initiated to reduce the number of patients or oocyte in one incubator. On an average not more than 2/3 patient with 6-8 dishes were kept in an incubator. Open culture system was changed to closed culture. Procedures like Dish equilibration, sperm swim up where carried out in mini incubator rather than routine incubators. Another way of controlling this could be use of embryo scope or using single step media or bench top incubators. But we preferred the older method to be cost effective. Second scenario- pH of media, calibration of instruments. Our KPI includes routine CO2 check by CO2 analyser and they were fairly within accepted range and settings were adjusted depending upon observed value to maintain co2 at 5 % or 6% . this percentage varied according to media manufacturing company like, SAGE needs equilibration at 5 % while vitrolife needs it at 6% . As co2 is used to maintain Ph . Despite being vigilant there was drop in overall blastocyst formation and implantation rate. A study of KPI statistics revealed more or less steady co2 and temperature with no changes in protocols . A detailed study questioned co2 analyser observation and it was found that co2 analyser was not serviced or calibrated over 6 months. Investigations confirmed Co2 analyser reading to be faulty. This scenario explains a lot about calibration of our instrument which are meant to check and control our functioning instruments like incubator.Routinely a calibration tolerance of 0.1 was accepted by us. We were using colourless media( vitrolife) rather than â€Å"pink† media ( phenol) hence changes in ph of media were unnoticed. literature supports ph to be most crucial for gamates. Routinely a ph of media scaling of 7.2-7.4 is accepted for cell culture. ph of media is also very dynamic and influenced by temperature,co2, volume of media. This leads to debate of optimal ph of media. Studies have revealed variable ph,that is alkaline in oviduct and acidic in uterus. Oocytes also showed varied ph from Germinal vesical stage ( 7.04 +/- 0.07) to MII stage ( 6.98 +/- 0.010). while amphibian oocytes shows rise in pH during fertilisation but unseen in humans. This opens a theory of intracellular ph regulatory system to mai ntain optimal Ph as required . This balance of CO2 and HCO3 in media sets the extracellular ph(phe) while intracelluarly (pHi) HCO3/Cl ad Na+/H+ regulatory systems maintain stability in cell. This self regulatory system of embryos seems to maintain the balance inspite of fluctuations and hence we see blastocyst formation and even implantation rates. Oocytes maintain their pHi through combination of follicular fluid, granulose cells. Hence denuded oocyte are more vulnearble and depends only up on pHe of media. Studies observed that raising ph to 7.4 or lowering to 6.8 affected the embryo metabolism where alkalinine media caused more damage. Thus ph around 7.2 seems to be more stabilising. Studies have observed ph irregularities to affect actin, cytoskeletal elements, meiotic spindle, cell apoptosis, mitochondria position in embryo. This problem was addressed by calibrating our co2 analyser every 3 months. Media tubes should be capped off immediately after opening to prevent evaporation which can cause ph fluctuation.KPI included servicing dates of each instruments with due date notifications.† Pink media† was not used considering toxicity of phenol and above all in subsequent cycles pregnancy rates were up with above correction.

N1 Solutions LLC Business Technology Analysis

N1 Solutions LLC Business Technology Analysis Student: Suresh Barre COMPANY PROFILE N1 Solutions LLC. Provides in-depth experience and expertise in legacy application development, release management, and maintenance. We understand that Applications are the key point of any organization. N1 Solutions LLC. Offers VALUE ADD services for both internal and external facing client applications. Their resources come equipped with proven project management techniques, application development methodologies, and release / change management principles whether it is a single resource requirement or staffing up a complete project team, team N1 Solutions LLC has it all. N1 Solutions LLC capabilities help companies improve revenue, drive efficiencies and productivity improvements, automate key processes, reduce process/cycle times, and transform business data into valuable information. N1 Solutions LLC service spectrum consists of a range of technology offerings like: 1. Application Maintenance and Enhancement 2. Custom Application Development 3. Data Centric Services 4. Implementation Methodologies Total no. of Employees: 120 Financial synopsis N1 Solutions LLC is well-established in growth markets and aims to be the right partner for its customers. The company combines deep local knowledge with global capability. The company is trusted across its network for its standard of governance and its commitment to making a difference in the communities in which it operates. N1 Solutions LLC annual revenues more than 20M broke down roughly 20% license, 35% pro services, and 45% maintenance. For new sales, maintenance was 18-20% of license revenue and implementation services roughly equaled license revenue. Here are the few nuggets and features I found so far from this kind of work environment. Transparent Open Communication Give and Take policy Work-Life Balance Training Development-Focused Recognition for Hard Work Strong Team Spirit Clients: 3i InfoTech Walmart Cognizant Technology Solutions Intelligroup IGATE Robert Half Technology HCL Infosys OPPURTUNITIES The experience with N1 Solutions will provide me the opportunity to achieve the real world experience in the ground of Information Technology, Sales Force cloud computing technology and implementation. From the beginning I have been afford the opportunity to partake as an equal member of their internal process. Internship Technology: Salesforce Salesforce Inc. is a global cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Though best known for its customer relationship management (CRM) product. Internship objectives: Working as a salesforce intern, performing duties and activities and analyzing them in different perspectives. Here I am presenting few important internship objectives. To get familiarity with Apex code, Triggers and Visualforce. To Learn SOQL (salesforce object query language) and SOSL (salesforce object search language). To get experience with building salesforce apps and objects. To learn integration techniques using web services and APIs. To get experience in Salesforce customization. To learn Creating Apex business logics. To get salesforce 401 Developer Certification. Personnel Development Goals Observing and learning different projects. To improve business communication skills Planning and organizing client interaction. To develop reporting skills To get experience with managerial skills 3.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES During the course of my internship, I had a great and vivid exposure in Salesforce technology and implementation. I also had an opportunity to get familiarize with many programs and tools. Also had an opportunity to interrelate many real time Salesforce implementations and design. Programs and tools used and learned during the internship Salesforce Edition: Enterprise Features: Workflow approval automation Report history tracking Profiles and page layouts Custom app development Integration via web service API Salesforce Identity Salesforce Private AppExchange Project Management Tool: Smart sheet for sales force Features: Import from Microsoft Project or Excel Multiple levels of tasks Single sign-on from Salesforce Share project sheets and attached files with anyone inside or outside your Salesforce account IDE (Integrated Development Environment): Eclipse Helios Features: Market place client Open Implementation Package Name abbreviations Virtual Folders Compare Configurations Instance counts Support for Apache Tomcat 7 Other Tools: HTML, Java, .net, Visualforce, Saas and apex code. PROJECT I got an opportunity to involve in a real time project for an implementation of Salesforce architecture. Here is the snapshot of the project I was involved. By using cloud computing technologies the new way of building and running applications are being enabled where applications are accessible as utilities over Internet rather than different softwares running on server or desktop. This is a fairly common model for consumer applications like email etc., and also some business applications, such as customer relationship management. The website force.com platform as a service is the first of its kind in the world, which enables developers to create as well as deliver any type of business applications in the cloud, without software which is entirely on-demand. This technology is a breakthrough new concept. It makes businesses widely successful by making them translate their ideas into usable applications in a very short time. Developing and running these kind of business appliactions with regular software is a complex, not so fast and costly. To overcome these issues a new model, called cloud computing has been brought into existence. To stop buy and maintain hardware and software applications in the cloud are delivered as services. Salesforce.com, over the last decade helped and established this model with applications bussiness. More recently, force.com opened up and made it as open source so anyone can build and run bussiness applications on its server. Salesforce.com mastered this model with applications for business since ten years. Recently Force.com made available its proprietary technologies as open source for anyone who is building and developing bussiness applications and then running them on force platform. This platform allows you to store structured data, implement and run business logic with rules of workflow techniques, custom code and also custom codes and approval process, web browser support, integration with other applications as well. The overall scope of this project is all, but limited to To develop an application for sales forecast details. Provide the Sales forecast details of a company product. Ease of access and use. Secured analysis (confidentiality). Views about present status. PROPOSED SYSTEM In the previous CRM system, there are lot of problems, so a new technology is being used in this project called as cloud computing. To develop an application in the cloud computing environment and to deploy it and also launching it in the cloud is being proposed in this project. It is called as salesforce environment. A simple application developed and deployed in the cloud by using the tools and in the environment there itself. System Specifications User Requirements: A high-speed Internet Connection is needed as an interface between the service provider and User. User name and Password provided by the administrator is needed to the user to work with the application. Hardware Requirements: Processor: 32 bit Processor Ram: 512 Mb Hard Disk: 40 GB Internet: 512 Kbps high speed internet connection Software Requirements: OS: All OS supporting internet browsing. Environment: Force.com Environment Language: Visual Force Functional Requirements Understand the cloud environment provided by SalesForce.com Learning VISUALFORCE Developing an application using Visualforce in the SalesForce.Com Environment Deploying the application Providing the User accounts Accessing the application from user accounts and should work with the applications clearly. Other Non-functional Requirements: Performance Requirements: The performance will be fully based on the Internet connection. The user may not worry about their local system. The local system will be only used as a terminal. Safety Requirements: There are the possibilities of data loss due to the interruption of connection in Internet. So the user must ensure about his uninterrupted internet connection. Security Requirements: All the security issues will be provided by the service provider itself (SALESFORCE.COM). No users are allowed to enter and view the details without proper authentication (password protection). ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES       This role is more about learning people than coding new fields in Salesforce. One should have familiar with sales process and sales team in a company. Applying and acquiring Salesforce admin and developer skillset as required for project and assignments. Creating Salesforce customization like creating layouts and pages, learning user maintenance, database de-dumping and cleanup, creating reports and dashboards through Salesforce platform. To learn managed outsourced Salesforce implementation and development process. Apply and acquire technical analysis as required per each task, data extraction from old to new system. Salesforce Cloud Application Layout: Dashboard Reports Accounts creation Forecast 6.0 Learning experience Internship is a way to show you if that is the career is you really want. And have first hand experience on what youre going to do, if you choose the trade. This is an option to pay your dues early on. By gaining early experiences as an intern, earn myself a bit more of a leg-up to start. Internship given me exposure to new and professional situationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with a safety net. They had given me real opportunities for practical application of skill, but are also there to catch me if there is a problem along the way. They provide you experience with a chance to grow. You just dont stop after some years in the trade. The open-minded mentality, Ive experienced, can differentiate successful, progressive professionals from the rest. My learning focus and implementing contribution for the project: Creating Workflow Rules: To automate organizations standard processes by configuring workflow rules. Every single workflow rule consists of: A criteria which determines when the software salesforce executes the workflow rule. And also any changes that causes any record to match this can trigger the workflow rule-it even changes it to hidden fields. The actions immediately to take, when this workflow rule executes. For an example, the software Salesforce sends automatically an email that notifies the opportunity team when a new high-value opportunity is created. There are Time-dependent actions which the Salesforce software queues when the workflow rule executes. Creating Page layouts and Field level security: Field-Level Security It restricts users to edit files and also view them by any means, which includes reports and search results, list views and related lists and email and also mail merge templates, with custom links, connect offline to the API and when also synchronizing data or importing personal data. It overrides any weak restrictive field access settings in the pages layouts and also mini page layout. For an example, if the field is required and read only in the page layout in the field level security settings, it overrides the page layout and the field will be read only for the user. It overrides low restrictive field settings in layouts of search. For example, if a field is visible in the search layout but hidden for certain users via the field-level security settings, the field-level security overrides the search layout and the field will be hidden for those users. For an example, if it is any field, which is visble Page Layouts It controls the layout, organization of detail and edit pages , related lists, which fields, custom link users see on detail and edit pages only. And also control standard and custom buttons display on detail pages as well as related lists. Page layout will determine whether fields are visible, read only, or required, on detail and edit pages only. In Personal category , by going into Contact Manager, and to Group, and Professional Editions, and to control which fields users can access in related lists, and to list views, reports, and to Connect Offline, and to email and mail merge templates, and to custom links, and when synchronizing data or importing personal data. In Professional category, by going into Enterprise, and to Unlimited, Performance, and Developer Editions, and to determine some aspects of mini page layouts, including record type and profile associations, related lists, fields, and field access settings. The visible fields and related lists of the mini page layout can be further customized, but the other items inherited from the associated page layout cannot be changed on the mini page layout itself. Mini page layouts display selected fields and related lists of records in the mini view of the console. It Should not be used to secure data, if we take an example, by removing the Edit button from a page layout, it doesnt prevent users from using inline editing to modify the already established or any records. And to prevent the users from editing data, it uses any number of combination of sharing rules, field-level security, page layout field properties, validation rules, object permissions, and Visualforce pages. Sandbox Testing: Sandboxes create copies of your organization in separate environments. Use them for development, testing, and training, without compromising the data and applications in your Salesforce production organization. Sandbox Types: Developer Sandbox These sandboxes are meant for using coding and testing to be in an isolated environment. These include production organizations configuration which is also known as metadata. Developer Pro Sandbox These are the sandboxes that are intended for developing and testing in the isolated environment. These include the metadata of the organization. These have more storage than developers sandboxes. This allows for more robust test data sets and enables the environment to handle development testing more. Partial Copy Sandbox These are intended for using as testing environments. These can be used for testing tasks like user acceptance testing, training and integration testing. These include metadata configuration, your production data as defined by this sandbox templates. Full Sandbox These sandboxes are intended to be used as testing environment. Only sandboxes support performance testing and load testing and staging. These are a replica of your production organization. This includes all data including metadata. Refresh interval length makes it difficult to use full sandboxes for development. When you create a Full sandbox, you also have to decide how much field tracking history and Chatter activity to include. The default is to omit field tracking, but you can include up to 180 days of field tracking. Specify fewer days to avoid generating an excessive amount of data if you track field history for many objects in your production organization. Chatter activity data can be extensive, which can add a significant amount of time to your Full sandbox copy. Validation Rules Validation rules verify that the data a user enters in a record meets the standards you specify before the user can save the record. A validation rule can contain a formula or expression that evaluates the data in one or more fields and returns a value of True or False. Validation rules also include an error message to display to the user when the rule returns a value of True due to an invalid value. Salesforce runs validation rules before creating records submitted via Web-to-Lead and Web-to-Case, and only creates records that have valid values. Validation rules continue to run on individual records if the owner is changed. If the Mass Transfer tool is used to change the ownership of multiple records, however, validation rules wont run on those records. Workflow Rules and Approvals: Each workflow rule consists of: The criteria that determines salesforce executes the workflow rule. And any change that causes the record to match the criteria triggers the workflow rule- it even changes to hidden fields. Workflow automates some types of actions which are as: Email Alerts-Send an email to one or more recipients. It can automatically send the sales management an email alert where the sales representative qualifies a large deal. Tasks-Assign a new task to a user, role, or record owner. It can automatically assign follow-up tasks to a support representative one week after a case is updated. Field Updates-This Updates the value of a field on a record. This will automatically change the Owner field on a contract 3 days before it expires. Flow Triggers-It Triggers an auto launched flow. It triggers the wrokflow actions, which are formerly available in a pilot programme, are superseded by using the process builder. Outbound Messages- this sends a secure configurable API message to a designated listener. For an example, this will automatically initiate a reimbursement process for the approved expense report after triggering an outbound API message to the external HR system. Approvals This is an automated process where the organization can use to approve salesforce records. This process explains in detail the steps necessary for the record, for the approval and also decides who has to approve it at each step. These steps can apply to each record in the process or certain defined by the administrator. It also specifies for any action taken in the records for approval. Apex code: Apex is an object-oriented programming language which allows developers to execute flow and transaction control statements on the Force.com server. It uses syntax that almost looks like java and this also acts like database stored procedures. Apex also enables developers for adding business logics and visualforce pages. This code can be started by web service requests and also from triggers on objects. Apex is: Integrated, Easy to use, Data focused, Rigorous, Hosted, Multitenant aware, automatically upgradeable, easy to test, Versioned. Visualforce Visualforce is a framework which allows developers to build fully sophisticated, custom UIs that can be hosted nativly on the Force.com platform. The Visualforce framework includes a tag-based markup language, similar to HTML, and a set of server-side standard controllers that make basic database operations, such as queries and saves, very simple to perform. In the Visualforce markup language, every Visualforce tag relates to a coarse or fine-grained UI component, such as a section of a page, a related list, or a field. The behavior of Visualforce components can either be controlled by the same logic that is used in standard Salesforce pages, or developers can relate their own logic with a controller class written in Apex. Visualforce page definition consists of two primary elements: Visualforce markup HTML, JavaScript, or any other Web-enabled code are tagged by visual embedded within a single tag. It defines user interface markup of components are to be included on the page, and they should appear the way they should. A Visualforce controller It is a set of procedural instructions that specifically tells what happens when the user starts to interact with the specified components in associated Visualforce markup, such as when a button or a link is clicked. They also provide access to data which should be displayed and can modify component behavior. A developer can use standard controller provided by the Force.com platform, or add some custom controller logic by using a class which is written in Apex: A standard controller which consists of the same functionality and logic used for a usually standard Salesforce page. For an example, if we use some standard Accounts controller, by clicking the Save button in the Visualforce page which results in the similar behavior by clicking Save on a standard Account edit page. Triggers Apex can be started through the use of triggers. A trigger is an Apex code which executes before or after the following types of operations: insert merge upsert upload delete undelete Relationship between the internship and my field of studies A primary objective of internship is to provide students with an opportunity to test abilities and attitudes toward particular material or career possibilities for the future For me classroom learning is important, but it does not provide me with real work experience to prepare me for a career after graduation. Exposure to the workplace environment is needed to bridge the gap between learning in the classroom and application in the work environment. Since I am doing MBA with Management Information Systems as my concentration, it is a great opportunity to get real time work exposure in multi-faceted environment. Salesforce objects and relationships Salesforce Development Life Cycle Stages 7.0 CONCLUSION In review the internship that I have been to work is an excellent and rewarding experience. I was fortunate to meet and work with many people that I am sure will be able to help me with opportunities in the future. The things I have learned from this internship are time management skills and self-motivation as well as work discipline. I never thought I could work eight hours straight everyday for five days in a week. When I realized that I planned my day and work ahead so I dont waste any of my working hours. I made myself to be ready with all the doubts, when it was the correct time to get feedback. This internship motivated me through work in the office continuously for many hours. I also suggested my share of ideas and proposed some proposals that the company is looking forward into using. In conclusion, the internship is an useful experience, I have find out what my strengths and weakness are; I gaining new knowledge and skills and met many new people, I am achieving many of my learning goals, however for some the conditions did not permit to achieve them as I wanted. This Internship is giving me new insights and motivation to pursue a career as a salesforce developer. To prepare myself for my future career I can improve several things. I can work on my communication skills so that I am able to present and express myself more confidently. 8.0 APPENDICES THANK YOU ******************************************************************