Essay about The Debate of Animal Testing in Laboratories

The Debate of Animal Testing in Laboratories Debating over the animal rights movement has raised questions and concerns for many years. Although animal research has been the cause of many medical breakthroughs, is it morally and ethically right to put animals in these kinds of situations? This is one of the underlying questions that must be solved before it is too late. There has already been too much violence and harm caused by the opposing views of this argument. Shouts of protests and riots are heard on the streets, labs and medical equipment are being burned and destroyed and innocent animals are left hanging in the wake. While animal rights organizations fight for more â€Å"kinder, gentler† ways to treat animals, animal research†¦show more content†¦The first animal welfare organizations were organized in the late 1800s. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals evolved in 1866 and the American Humane Association was organized in 1877 (Clifford xi). Although the comparison and co ntrast between humans and animals dates back to the beginning of time, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that more extreme animal rights organizations evolved. One of the most active and influential of these today is PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Founded in 1980, PETA, like many other groups, educates the public about animal abuse and believes in the right of all animals to be treated with respect. PETA has taken defense for the ALF (Animal Liberation Front), which is responsible for criminal activity against research institutions. These activities include break-ins, raids, and sometimes threats (Clifford xi). However, according to Lorenz Lutherer, â€Å"An animal rights attack is reported as part of a national trend rather than as a criminal activity† (21). Apparently in most cases, the media creates a sympathetic point of view instead of an unlawful act. An additional concern is that of The Animals Welfare Act. It was designed to protect animals in experiments so why then are so many animal rights organizations still fighting for their safety? According to PETA activists, theShow MoreRelated Animal testing Essay865 Words   |  4 PagesUse of animals for Laboratory Testing There has been an on going debate on whether to use animals for laboratory testing. There are people now saying the use of animals in laboratory testing is not necessary and there are other alternatives. Many of these people claim the tests that are performed on the animals are not particularly valid. On the other hand, others claim that laboratory testing has been depended on animals to achieve medical advances. Whether or not the use of animals in laboratoryRead More Animal Testing Essay815 Words   |  4 PagesAnimal Testing Animal testing is the running of tests and the research done in a laboratory on animals. 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They continue to test out these products on animals, even after it has been proven that in almost all cases, animal testing has no benefit on us as buyers or consumers. I have found that laboratories are using many animals that are considered as pets to families, such as mice and rats, rabbits, and even guinea pigs.Read MorePros And Cons Of Animal Testing1288 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Each animal bred or used for research, whether a mouse, fish, or monkey, is an individual capable of experiencing pain, suffering, and distress† (â€Å"Animal† 2013). The advancements in technology today had sparked a debate worldwide on whether it is right or wrong to use animals for experimentation in laboratories. With newly advanced scientific technology, experts are able to utilize advanced technology to simulate functions of the human body on a much smaller scale, including microchips of humanRead MoreEssay about We Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation1416 Words   |  6 PagesWe Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation    A life can be taken or created in a matter of seconds and with that has come the miracles of modern medicine. People have come to expect science to save lives, prevent illness, relieve suffering and improve the quality of life. The means of curing, treating and preventing diseases are not achieved by magic or accident. Medical advances are gained through years of intensive research -- research in which laboratory animals have playedRead MoreHello1309 Words   |  6 Pages2016 The Morality of Animal Testing in Cosmetic Companies Preface The ethical treatment of animal testing is a controversial topic in the field of zoology. 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The supporters of animal test ing believeRead MoreAnimal Testing: A True Ethical Dilemma Essay1622 Words   |  7 PagesThis is the life of a laboratory animal. Animal testing is the use of animals for scientific research purposes and experiments. It can be used for the findings of cures and medicines to testing new drugs, to understanding the behavioral psychology of the animals themselves. â€Å"Around fifty to one hundred million vertebrate animals, ranging from fish to primates, are used in experiments each year† (Lloyd). There are many different terms used to describe the research on animals but two main ideas. In

Handle Information in Health and Social Care Setting Free Essays

CU2470 Handle information in Health and Social care settings 1. 1 The legislation that relates to recording storage and sharing of information known as care plans is the Data Protection Act 1998. There are 8 principles to be followed when gathering data 1) processed fairly and lawfully 2) processed only for 1 or more lawful purpose 3) adequate and relevant 4) accurate and up to date 5) kept for no longer than necessary 6) processed in line with the right of the individual 7) secured against loss or damage 8) not transferred to countries out of EEA. We will write a custom essay sample on Handle Information in Health and Social Care Setting or any similar topic only for you Order Now . 2 It is important to have secure systems for recording and storing information to prevent personal information from being misused. Any information that has been gathered is confidential but written evidence may be required by other professionals on occasions. Also if new staff members arrive they can read the care plans to gain all the information needed. 2. 1 I would follow my company’s policies and procedures for guidance and advice about handling information but would also speak to my directors or Human resources office. Information can also be gained from government websites for advice or other professionals. 2. 2 If there are concerns over the recording storing or sharing of information i would document and report my concerns and secure all the information immediately. 3. 1 Agreed ways of working relates to the company’s and government policies in relation to Care Plans. All documents should be evaluated and reviewed regularly, updated as required, completed and legible so others are able to decipher them. 3. 2 Agreed ways of working when ) Recording information; would be to follow the company’s and government policies to ensure all information gathered is accurate, legible, complete and confidential. b) Storing information; all information that is gathered should be stored in locked filing cabinets that are only accessible to the persons requiring access to information. c) Sharing information; Company and government policies need to be followed with regard to sharing information to p revent fraudulent use and confidential information being disclosed inappropriately. Data protection codes should be adhered to at all times. How to cite Handle Information in Health and Social Care Setting, Papers

Recent Trends in Malware Sophistication of Malware Discoveries

Question: Discuss about theRecent Trends in Malwarefor Sophistication of Malware Discoveries. Answer: Introduction In the past, there are no such issues related to malware problems. In recent days it has became a severe problems associated with malware. In everyday news, there are several topics related to the hacking or the compromise of someone reputation and losing of money due to invent organisation of well-developed malwares. The present review focuses on some of very recent malware related problem those are going on globally. The most significant attacks related to malwares are nothing but the recent sophistication of malware discoveries. One of the classic examples of hacking is to the Natanz, nuclear processing facility of Iran that accomplishes the enrichment of the uranium fuel to high grade from a low grade level. Later came to know by the virus name Stuxnet, was involved behind that hacking which was possibly developed by the combination of effort of two countries viz. Israel and U.S., although both of these countries never admitted that formally. Other token of example related to the corporate world is the RSA, a company involved in developing different kinds of security related products such one-time password (OTP) for those banks that require OTP for logging in. One day the company received an excel file associated with a mail that contained a malware. When the document was opened by one of the employee of that company, the malware attacked to the computer and quickly spread to the network and co mpromised the algorithm that is generally used by that company for generating OTPs. Though there are not detailed information related to such malware attack, the resultant of such attack could be unbelievable. Concentrating on the statistics, it is revealed that we gather to know at around half (50-53%) of total number of malware related problems that is fixed by the available protections such as antivirus, firewall etc. (McCloud, 2014). So, roughly half of the total malware related problems goes into an ignored way as those are not familiar earlier. Some of the companies those develops antivirus are making their remarks that ca. 12000 newly introduced malwares are observed by them in a day (Julian Vikram, 2007). Though the remarks could be to some extant misleading as the newly designed malwares, they are nothing but the modification of existing malwares by slight alterations of codes or improving some functionality. Focusing on the totally new malware, it is possible to find ca. two in a day and at the end of a year it goes around 700 in number. In such way, the involvement of new malwares goes exponentially. There is some statistics that suggests the growth of malwares related to domai ns ca. 200 percent that is a threat of serious concern. Summary Malware is nothing but a piece of software that are malicious and generally used for creating disturbances related to several computer operations, gathering of sensitive data, or gaining access to secure data of a private infrastructure. The key feature of a malware includes the involvement of the system by infect it, finding out the vulnerabilities of that system, and establishing a toehold that would permit it doing something. As long as the malware stays into any system by hiding from detection, it could perform its aim in more efficient way. After infecting one system, the malware could replicate by the process of copying into another system. Thus the malware get access to the secret works that are performed to the system where it infects and the end goal of that malware remains unknown! Malware is a common term, but could be categorized based upon its particular behaviour. A type of malware is worm that is a self-sustaining programme which can infect and spread by its own. One of such example of malware is Trojan horse. The goal of designing a malware depends on the user (McCloud, 2014). In past, there was an overall concept that hackers used to design any malware for doing crack of top secret sites. This aims still continues, but recent trends suggest further incorporation of any means to a termination. So the question regarding malware in the case of previously mentioned Stuxnet arose, whether it was designed for the purpose of observing Iran facilities that was continuing or there was some more strategic purpose for preventing Iran from accumulation of weapons related to nuclear substances! This suggests malware was a means towards an end that compelled the present government to visualize the event as warfare. The visualization of this warfare could be called as fifth dimension as this was related to cyber space that holds its position after sea, land, space, and air. Presently behind malware related problems there are incorporation of several organised crimes. When the matter related to any organised crime comes, there are an aim to make money by any means and the money goes in the involvement of several crimes such as human trafficking, drugs, distribution of arms, prostitution etc. Issues One of the malicious codes includes worm5, that usually spreads over any network either by the help of human assistance or not. Another example includes Malware6 that is thought to be a combination of malicious softwares with regard to its uniqueness. The features of todays highly sophisticated malwares include the incorporation of P2P propagation ability, and complete control of the system that gets infected by blocking of the updates of the available antivirus software, firewalls etc. The malwares are the resultant of turning someone to his/ her darkest side. One of such example is IHD8 which was used for the purpose of selling access to the web servers to the phishers. Monoculture is the cause of developing such malwares. For an example, now-a-days Microsofts OS dominates the market as compared to others like MACs or Linux. So standing into the era of 21st century, this event might possibly give birth to a new malware that could possibly be related to the monopolistic sentiment (Kruck Kruck, 2006). As an example, the attack of Welchias security solutions could be considered. And in the year 2005, vulnerabilities10 was discovered that was associated with the products of McAfees and Symantecs. In a competitive approach, the authors of the malwares are facing cyberwars as one malware gets disinfect by another malware. Such an example is viriiwars11. Though this example is not so famous, it indicates the challenges faced by the malware authors. The earth could be given as a token of gift on returning a mail! Is it a joke or true words that possibly can be done? Recently, spammers approach in such an organised way that could clearly point out towards how phishers, spammers or authors of the malwares are working together. The spams created by such a joint collaboration could include a short span of lifecycle or long span of lifecycle (Furnel Ward, 2004). The spam that has been prepared to have a longest period of lifecycle could be found dominating into the infected populations of the internet. DDOS extortion was an example that was structured for an urge of paying. One of such example includes the fact of the Jay Echouafni who was the CEO of a communication company, was compelled to pay to his competitors the costs around two million dollars. Advertising related to search of pay-per-click is a solution that is financially sound for the ads available online. In recent days, Pay-Per-Click-Hijacking (PPCH) has become one of the common practices. These words are justified by the fact of Google who charged for abusing practices34. Impact of These Issues: In future, the trends of malware related too mobile is going to be very usual (Glodek Harang 2013). From Kaspersky lab, it was reported of identifying approx. 60 malware related mobile phones from 2006 to till date (Yerima et al. 2014). There is a new malware named Card Block 61 that almost deletes the stored memory even the password too. On the other side the MMS related malware are of consists of a lot of social related engineering which have the potentiality of breaking the ice. Sometimes it became a matter of importance that if any of us receive any malware in our device many of us will became the victim of that malware (Abraham Chengalur-Smith 2010). On the other side of mobile malware there are some different issues are also poking us, like: premium numbers, scams, melody ring tones, voting through SMS and there are more items. At present people are increasing the use of their mobile banking facility, it will push the opportunities of having new type of uncountable malicious attacks (Yerima et al. 2013). At the time of localizing the malwares a new type name phishing is involved. Through phishing the users are being targeted for the theft of their intellectual properties. By spreading the news about the targeted users and the crime happens it can make the other ones little conscious about their intellectual properties. This news has to spread not only in cities but also with the countries. There are malwares which are open sourced, people are using them adding new features to them or experimenting them. Anti-virus vendors have already counted lots of variants using the same code under the GPL licence. Through Bit torrent a huge size of files is being transferred and with this transfers users are easily getting effected with malwares. The use of illegal sites and software are increasing the growing of malwares. Now it is also seen that websites we are using regularly has connected with various add wares and different type of links which direct us to the different from of malwares without our prior knowledge. Conclusion At very recent time US Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a report, which shows the illicit groups of organisations generates billions of dollars as their profit. These profit growing industries are fuelling drug trafficking. It is hard to believe that these organisations are performing globally. They called their coding are the sophisticated technologies they developed as a malware. The costs of malware come from various fields of Ites like: help desk request, clean up software, consumption of systems resources. Iron Port Gateway is an internet gateway security company. It published a report saying globally, not less than 55% of desktops used in corporate sectors are infected with malware. Malwares are found in wide varieties but the motto of them is same for all. They are the small cuts developed by codes which embedded themselves on the end users PC by without knowing them. Piggy back and drive downloads are the widely used malwares at present. Add ware is the most commo n malware which is used to attract the end users through adds in the websites. There are tracking cookies which are like of adding wares and through this cookie any ones device can be hacked and the personal data are being theft. References: Abraham, S., Chengalur-Smith, I. (2010). An overview of social engineering malware: Trends, tactics, and implications. Technology in Society, 32, 183-196. Glodek W., Harang R. (2013). Rapid permissions-based detection and analysis of mobile malware using random decision forests. In Military Communications Conference, Milcom2013-2013 IEEE, pp. 980985. McCloud, J. (2014). Cybersecurity Module 2: Trends in Malware, Cisco Networking Academy. Yerima S.Y., Sezer S., McWilliams G., Muttik, I. (2013). A new android malware detection approach using bayesian classification. In Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA), IEEE 27th International Conference, pp. 121-128. Yerima, S.Y., Sezer, S., Muttik, I. (2014). Android malware detection using parallel machine learning classifiers. In Next Generation Mobile Apps, Services and Technologies (NGMAST), Eighth International Conference, pp. 37-42. Julian BG, Vikram S. (2007) Peer-to-peer botnets. Overview and case study. Proceedings of the first conference of the first workshop on hot topics in understanding botnets. Cambridge, MA: UsenixAssociation; Kruck GP, Kruck SE.( 2006) Spoofing: a look at an evolving threat. Journal of Computer Information Systems; PP:95100. Furnell S, Ward J.( 2004) Malware comes of age: the arrival of the true computer parasite. Network Security;PP:115.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd free essay sample

From the of beginning Posts Telegraph Department in 1947 and establishment of Pakistan Telephone Telegraph Department in 1962, PTCL has been a major player in telecommunication in Pakistan. Despite having established a network of enormous size, PTCL workings and policies have attracted regular criticism from other smaller operators and the civil society of Pakistan. Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) took over operations and functions from Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Act 1991. This coincided with the Governments competitive policy, encouraging private sector participation and resulting in award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-phones, paging and, lately, data communication services. Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatizePTCL, and in 1994 issued six million vouchers exchangeable into 600 million shares of the would-be PTCL in two separate placements. Each had a par value of Rs. 10 per share. These vouchers were converted into PTCL shares in mid-1996. In 1995, Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance formed the basis for PTCL monopoly over basic telephony in the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The provisions of the Ordinance were lent permanence in October 1996 through Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act. The same year, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was formed and listed on all stock exchanges of Pakistan PTCL launched its mobile and data services subsidiaries in 2001 by the name of Ufone and PakNet respectively. None of the brands made it to the top slots in the respective competitions. Lately, however, Ufone had increased its market share in the cellular sector. The PakNet brand has effectively dissolved over the period of time. Recent DSL services launched by PTCL reflects this by the introduction of a new brand name and operation of the service being directly supervised by PTCL. Mission To achieve our vision by having: An organizational environment that fosters professionalism, motivation and quality An environment that is cost effective and quality conscious Services that are based on the most optimum technology Quality and Time conscious customer service Sustained growth in earnings and profitability Core Values Professional Integrity Teamwork Customer Satisfaction Loyalty to the Company Chapter 2. Products of company Products of Company: List of products or services: 1. PTCL smart tv 2. Phone v net 3. International Calls 4. Local calls 5. Broadband Wireless 6. Easy learning 7. Ip connect 8. Audio conferencing 9. Business DSL 10. Broad band Pakistan 11. VMS 12. Calling Cards 13. PTCL Plus 14. Vfone 15. Evo 3G 16. Evo wingle 9. 3Mbps 17. Evo Moblie 18. Ufone Mobile 19. Ufone Sims Chapter 3. Porter’s Five forces model Five forces looks at five key areas namely threat of new entry, power of buyers, power of suppliers, threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry. Threat of New Entry †¢ As government of Pakistan is showing liberalism in case oftelecommunication sector and opened its policies to award new licensees to new mobile service providers so threat of new entry is high. †¢ As set-up cost is in billions of dollars so in this case threat of new entry is low, but there are companies who are working to achieve licenses and approaching PTA to know terms and conditions for this. †¢ As for this business companies need a well established distributions and franchises network so threat of new entrant is high in this case. Bargaining Power of Buyers †¢ Power of buyer is high in telecommunication sector. There are six market players and players are offering different packages at different prices and a situation of price war is running. Buyers have a power to buy any package which is suited to them. †¢ Cost of switching from one company package to other company package is low. Hence, power of buyers is high. Bargaining Power of Suppliers †¢ The power of suppliers is low in case of telecommunication sector. †¢ But the fact is that numbers of suppliers are few in the market but they are competing in the market to make agreements with mobile service providers. Threat of Substitute Products †¢ Government also gave so many land lines and wireless local loop licenses to different companies like PTCL wireless local loop, GO CDMA etc. these services in future will be like mobile phone services like they are planning to offer services a lot but currently they are offering SMS and CLI services to their customers. Rivalry among Competing Firms in Industry †¢ Currently there are six market players but in future they will be eight and nine oe even more. †¢ Thuraya satellite service is offering subscribers freedom of mobility and uninterrupted service. Thurayas satellite technology supplements of existing mobile service providers, overcoming the challenges of large geographical areas and insurmountable terrain. but will also generate new revenue streams for future growth. Thecompany also continued to invest in infrastructure development andaddition of network capacity with a view to enhance services and toexpand its reach across the country. SWOT ANALYSISStrengths Largest operational network and infrastructure within ICT(Information Communication Technologies) segment. .An integrated Monopoly. Market leadership in Local loop, Wireless local loop (WLL) andfixed telephony. PTCL (Ufone) is market challenger in GSM segment. Ufone is performing well though Warid and Telenor are toughcompetitors. PTCL, Ufone’s profitability increased by 49. 2percent to Rs 977 million in 1H/FY07 as compared to Rs 655million in the corresponding period last. Competitors still depend on PTCL network either directly orindirectly. Experienced Telecom Resources. Weakness Not been able to nurture its growth around customerservices oriented strategy. Not been able to nurture its growth around customerservices oriented strategy. Monopolistic culture has further added to its complexities. Paknet, the internet service provider arm of PTCL continuesto incur losses due to poor management and lack of network optimization. PTCL-V, the fixed wireless phone service is poor. Over employment low productivity. Slow decision making including external interferences. Corporate culture akin to government departments Chaper. 5. PEST Analyis A PEST analysis is an analysis of the external macro-environment that affects all firms. P. E. S. T. is an abbreviation for the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors of the external macro-environment. Such external factors usually are beyond the firms control and sometimes present themselves as threats. For this reason, some say that PEST is an appropriate term for these factors. Many macro-environmental factors are country-specific and a PEST analysis will need to be performed for all countries of interest. The following are examples of some of the factors that might be considered in a PEST analysis. ? Political ? Economic ? Social ? Technological 1. Political Analysis:- Political factors are those which are directly controlled by the political parties and Government they could be able to influence directly in any situation or in any industry. So they create a major impact on any industry. †¢ Factors that Creating Threats: Political instability: In Pakistan Political environment are not stable that is the major threat for telecommunication industry because no one knows at what time Government will change and with the change of government policies will also change. Risk of martial law: In Pakistan Risk of martial Law is always threat for all the industries and in the dictatorship they could not be able to explore themselves and do not grow as they could be. Terrorism: Terrorism is the Major problem that is facing Pakistan in now a days that is the most crucial factor that is hurdle in the growing in the telecommunication sector because no one knows about the terrorist activities. Pricing regulations: In Pakistan government dictates the pricing regulations so that influence the smooth working of the telecommunication industry. Rapid change in Regulations: In Pakistan Government is changing the policies very rapidly so that creates instability. †¢ Factors Creating Opportunities: Industrial safety regulations: Now the government of Pakistan is trying to give the maximum Protection to this sector and passing number of Laws to make it more safe and stable. Development of PTA: Government of Pakistan had developed Pakistan telecommunication Authority (PTA) so that helps in the establishing Business in Pakistan in more efficient manner. Investor Friendly Environment: Government is trying to provide investor friendly environment to give the more benefit to the investors and give them maximum safety. 2. Economic Analysis:- Economic factors are directly controlled and influenced by the financial institutions like State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). So they help the industry in giving economic soundness and provide financial aids to survive in the time of crises. †¢ Factors that Creating Threats: Economic Conditions influenced by Government: In Pakistan Although an proper Institution for telecommunication sector working (PTA) but Government is influencing the working of that department and imposing the policies made by politicians. Overall economic conditions are not very sound: Over all economic conditions are not very good for any industry because rate of inflation is increasing day by day and value of currency is going down which causing increase in the value of loan payable that is another major threat for telecommunication industry. Efficiency of financial market is not so Good: In Pakistan all the financial institutions are controlled by government rather then the head of financial Institution State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Rate of interest is increasing day by day it is approximately 21% which is higher then any country in the world so it makes impossible for the telecommunication industry to take loan facility. Country risk of Pakistan goes to 3: Risk rate of economy of Pakistan goes to 3 out of 5 that is the alarming situation for the Pakistan as well as all the industries of Pakistan. Currently government has increased the taxes : Currently government has increased the taxes on the telecommunication sector so that reduces the income of the telecommunication sector some of the examples of that are given below etc ? Pre-paid customers were charged 10 per cent withholding tax on every new load, which was deducted in advance ? With 15 per cent sales tax on every call increased the sales tax from 15 per cent to 21 percent for mobile users. †¢ Factors Creating Opportunities: Foreign Direct Investment: During 2010 telecommunication sector attracted US $ 142. 7 million FDI which was 26. 4% of the total FDI in the country during this period. So government is trying to give maximum benefit to the telecommunication industry. Lowest Labor Rates in the world: During the quarter ending December 2009, telecom sector Labor Cost of Pakistan is very Low as Compared to other Countries so that is also an opportunity for the Telecommunication sector. Fastest Growing Industry in the Pakistan: Telecommunication industry is the fastest growing industry in the Pakistan that shows that investment is quite comfortable in telecommunication sector. 3. Social Analysis:- Social analysis is directly attached with the people and with the culture in which they are working if they try to dictate the social factors that create the threats to that industry and if they work with in the social norms then social factors become the key to success. †¢ Factors that Creating Opportunities: The Pakistani people are more social: Pakistani people are more social so they have family system and they want to remain in contact with other through any means so that is the opportunity for telecommunication sector to capture the feelings of the people. Celebrate lot of festivals like: Pakistani people celebrate a lot of festivals on that occasion they try to make contact to their all family members and other at any cost these occasions are Jashn-e-Baharan, Eid Celebrations and other cultural festivals. They create the lot of opportunities for telecommunication industry so they make calls to their relatives particularly on that festivals. Population is increasing Rapidly: The total population of Pakistan is approximately 169,248,500. The population is increasing rapidly which increase the number of cellular usage and help in projecting high profits. †¢ Factors Creating Threats: Un educated People: Low Educated people could not be able to understand the language of telecommunication (ZEM 1. O, ZEM 2. O etc). That create misunderstanding and create threat about the particular package. Corruption: Corruption is the major threat for any industry in the Pakistan that is because people are unaware and un educated but now these telecommunication companies are working on that like†¦. ? AJ NAE BOLO GY TO KAL BUGHTOO GY {Khamoshi Ka Boycott} (Djuice) ? KRO MUMKIN (Telenor) These are all campaign to educate people and develop the positive behavior in that social culture. Destroying Cultural norms: Although these companies are bringing positive change in the society but also destroying the social culture and providing the negative attitude to the young generation of the country by providing late night services that is affecting the education of the young generation. 4. Technological Analysis:- Technology is the most known word in the modern world so any advancement in the technology affects the industry if industry settles them accordingly then it opens lot of doors of success and achievement if they do not respond toward the advancement then that particular company goes into the darkness. †¢ Factors Creating Opportunities: Technology is changing the attitudes and behavior: Telecommunication technology id changing the behavior of the people and providing them opportunities to get the bright future. Impact on cost structure: Due to latest technology the cost of telecommunication industry is decreasing and they are giving lowest rates to the peoples to remain in contact with relatives and with heir family. Introduction Of CDMA technology: Introduction of CDMA (CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. )Technology in the mobile Sims is also creating the Opportunities for the telecommunication industry. This technology gives less radiation then GSM technology. 3G mobile technology: The latest technology of 3G mobile communications has been earmarked and PTA will soon be inviting applications for 3G spectrum auction. This technology will increase operating capacity and revenues by using HSPA technology. †¢ Factors Creating Threats: Focus on increasing the Coverage: The current focus of the telecommunication industry is on increasing the coverage rather then up gradation of the systems they should up grade the systems to meet the requirement of the modern world. Conclusion: The number of macro-environmental factors is virtually unlimited. In practice, the firm must monitor those factors that influence its industry. Even so, it may be difficult to forecast future trends with an acceptable level of accuracy. In this regard, the firm may turn to scenario planning techniques to deal with high levels of uncertainty in important macro-environmental variables

thee Glorious Revolution essays

thee Glorious Revolution essays The Glorious Revolution, otherwise known as the Bloodless Revolution, marks the events of 1688 in England. In 1660, when Charles II was restored to the throne, many Englishmen felt uneasy about the Stuarts and suspected them of Papal tendencies and absolutists leanings. Charles II increased this distrust by not adhering to Parliament, by his toleration of Catholic dissent, and by favoring alliances with Catholic powers in Europe. The Whigs, a parliamentary group, tried within their power to ensure a Protestant successor by excluding James, Duke of York, from the throne but were unsuccessful. James II came to the throne in 1685 and like his brother Charles II, determined to rule without the consent of Parliament and to reintroduce Roman Catholicism as the state religion. James overt Catholicism followed by the birth of a son, caused the Tories, who until now felt a strong loyalty to the king, to unite with the Whigs in common opposition to James. The leader of the parliament then ove rthrew James troops, invited William of Orange and his wife Mary to rule as a joint sovereign, while allowing James to flee the country. The Bill of Rights, passed during Williamss reign established the revolution. It was a comprehensive piece of literature whose purpose was to make it the kings obligation to govern with the assistance of Parliament. It prohibited the king to levy taxes or maintain a standing army in peacetime without the consent of parliament. The provisions of the Bill of Rights were in effect conditions upon which the crown was offered to William and Mary. These events were a milestone in the gradual process by which practical power shifted from monarch to Parliament. The Old Regime was the French political and social system before 1789. Under the Old Regime the king was the absolute monarch. Louis XVI, the Bourbon ...

Your LinkedIn Questions Answered Coaching for Leaders Podcast

Your LinkedIn Questions Answered Coaching for Leaders Podcast Last year, I appeared in a podcast on Coaching for Leaders, How to Vastly Improve Your LinkedIn Profile. It was a smash hit, viewed by over 25,000 people. I came back for an encore this month and the new podcast, Leverage the Full Power of LinkedIn, was released today. This time I addressed specific LinkedIn questions from Dave Stachowiak’s audience of business people and job seekers, plus added my own insights as we went along. Here are the questions we started with. These B2B, B2C, and job hunting topics will interest you too! LinkedIn Business Questions What are the rules and recommendations around publishing an article and then promoting it via posts? Where does the article show up when you publish it other than your profile? What are some tips specifically for B2B communication and selling on LinkedIn? LinkedIn Job Seeking Questions If you signal to recruiters that youre looking (via Open Candidates), will your boss find out?  Is there a way to limit what information is shared within ones network versus outside the network?  Or is LinkedIn too much of a spider web to control/limit what gets shared with certain connections? Do recruiters who value the involvement of a potential candidate on LinkedIn in terms of post sharing, contribution to discussions in public posts, contribution to public group discussions? Are community engagement and the ability to contribute to discussions constructively valued, and do recruiters capture this information? What else do recruiters value? LinkedIn Sharing Protocol Questions Recently, LinkedIn has been receiving more and more posts â€Å"Facebook style,† especially after they enabled the upload of videos. Sometimes people comment â€Å"this is not the place for it,† â€Å"this is not Facebook,† etc. Is it best to answer these posts politely or maybe exclude the connection that posted it? What’s the best way to promote one’s ideas and views? Is it better to post the entire article to LinkedIn rather than a personal or business website? Does it even really matter which approach is used? LinkedIn Student Questions What are some tips on gaining connections, and trying to land internships, when you are still a student? So many business-related internships expect you to have a bachelor’s before being considered for an internship. How can I stand out on LinkedIn as a University student? Find out The Essay Expert’s answers to these LinkedIn questions and more by listening to this lively podcast. Please let me know your feedback, and ask any additional questions you may have! document.createElement('audio'); https://theessayexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/cfl342.mp3 If youd like to find out more about how you can utilize LinkedIn to its fullest, check out my book,  How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile. After youve implemented the advice in my book, you may like to follow up with my LinkedIn Profile Review Special  (for a limited time only).

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011 - Term Paper Example Natural disasters account as a perfect example signifying the limitations of the human knowledge and control over the world. Scientists and researchers have tried to devise techniques to find out a solution to these occurrences but they have not achieved success in this field. A tragic natural disaster hit the country of Japan on the 11 march 2011. This tragic occurrence was analyzed to be the worst earthquake that had occurred in the history of the country and was highlighted to have set up alarms up till the United States and the South America. The earthquake was accompanied with a tsunami and resulted in a nuclear disaster in the country which was termed to have a higher severity than the Chernobyl nuclear event. These disasters not only hampered the infrastructure of the country but led to the displacement and deaths of thousands of people and resulted in great economic losses for the country (Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The earthquake in Japan ha s been ranked as the fifth most powerful earthquake of the world since the twentieth century. The earthquake was of the magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake had the highest severity in the northeastern part of Japan. Twenty four thousand people lost their lives or were missing following the earthquake. The tsunami, that resulted due to the earthquake, led to the destruction and drowning of complete villages in the northeastern part of the country. It was estimated that more than 3,400 buildings in the country had undergone destruction and damage. The power supply across the major cities was disrupted and people had to survive with no electricity and gas. Fires erupted across the areas that were hit mainly in the industrial locations as well as in places where there were oil reservoirs meant for storing the oil. The severity and strength of the earthquake did not settle and 100 minor earthquakes followed within a short period. The communication network across the are as that were hit was also disrupted. Immediately following the earthquake, it was understood by the nuclear experts that the tsunami that had resulted due to the earthquake had posed risk of damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The chaos that had resulted has not led to provide for a complete analysis of the situation. But owing to the risk, hundred thousands of people were moved from the areas that were close to the nuclear power plants to avoid the adverse effects that could have resulted due to the radiations from the power plants. The combined national organizations and the forces of the country set to work to save the people and move them to safer locations. These included the people from the fire department, police department as well as the armed forces of the country (Dawson et al 2011; Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The earthquake and the tsunami caused enough destruction and negative effects in Japan but the devastation in the country was aggravated by a nuclear breakdown and leakage that occurred in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The nuclear power station had been affected by the tsunami as well as the earthquake. The day following the earthquake hit the country, there was a first blast reported from the nuclear power plant. This was accompanied by a second blast after three days. The

Cayman Islands Retail Banks Customers Satisfaction and Service Quality Dissertation

Cayman Islands Retail Banks Customers Satisfaction and Service Quality - Dissertation Example The prime objectives of this dissertation was to determine the significance of service quality rendered by the retail banks, price efficiency considered by the bank, technology concerns and innovations, along with the corporate image perceived by the bank in relation to customer satisfaction. To be precise, majority of the customers in the Cayman Islands’ retail banking industry considered the time efficiency and cost efficiency to be two major determinants of service quality in the industry. The assistance provided by the bank staffs and their friendliness towards the customers also has significant roles to determine the banking service quality to a large extent. Customers tend to determine their satisfaction level with regards to the outcomes rendered by a product and/or service along with taking in account the processes included by the company in delivering the demanded service and/or product. In accordance to the findings of this study, this certain fact can be well observ ed. For instance, the customers from banks, interviewed in this study, depicted that the efficiency of bank staffs to render the demanded service and/or product on time, along with the resolvements of issues faced by the customers has a significant impact over the satisfaction level perceived by them. Therefore, it can be stated that the outcomes and the processes of rendering services adopted by the banks play a significant role in determining customers’ satisfaction level.... The following recommendation should therefore be followed; The banking institutions can implement competitive strategies to facilitate technology enhancements within the industry structure. It can also be beneficial to understand the requirements of the customers in terms of service quality, value and even corporate image. To be precise, the banking institutions can take advantage of the research findings obtained in this study to enhance their overall service quality and corporate image to persuade the customers increasing the level of satisfaction within the target market. Table of Contents Declaration & Statements Page 2 Abstract 3 Table of Figures 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 10 1.1.Scope of the Research 10 1.2.The Cayman Islands Banking Sector 13 1.3.Research Aim, Objectives and Research Questions 16 1.4.Rationale 17 1.5.Research Methods 19 1.6.Dissertation Structure 20 Chapter 2: Literature Review 22 2.1. Overview 22 2.2. Defining the Concept of Service Quality in Relation to Cust omer Satisfaction 23 2.3. Significance of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in the Retail Banking Industry 26 2.4. Impact of Perceived Value (price) on Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banks 29 2.5. The Influence of Corporate Image on Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction at Retail Banks 32 2.6. Role of Technology Change in Influencing Customer Services Quality and Customer Satisfaction of Retail Banks 33 2.7. Summary 36 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 38 3.2. Research Approaches 38 3.3. Research Design 41 3.3.1. Research Objectives 42 3.3.2. Research Process 42 3.4. Data Collection Method 44 Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis 47 4.1. Section One: Analysing

Identify the cohort group Essay Example for Free

Identify the cohort group Essay I belong to the Cohort group called the Boomers. I am a loving mother of two kids, who wants to see and wishes my children to graduate from college. I am not just a full time student, but also a full time employee for a school system. I am a real diligent student who wants to finish school in the next three years, even if working hard as an employee only earns me a little more money, just barely enough for my family’s living. I do value health very much and wishes to have a peace of mind. When it comes to working, I never waste a minute and I see to it that I am always on time. Greeting my team members is a must for me and having a personal interest in their welfare is also important for me. This probably has something to do with my instinct or feelings as a mother. My family strengthens me to work harder and gives me the enthusiasm when it comes to understanding and helping others. I am a hard-worker that I always have the strength to do my tasks as an employee and as a student, even if I just finished doing all the household chores. My good and strong educational background reinforces me to be dependable. You can always count on me whenever you have problems or worries, whether it may be about work, family, education or other personal issues. I am honest and trustworthy when it comes to issues and relationships that a lot of my co-workers and fellow students confide in me with ease. I wish to be successful not only as a mother, a student or a worker but an individual as a whole. I expect my work values to incorporate more balance when it comes to my work and personal life, though giving priority to my family more would also be possible and acceptable for me in the future. I also expect my work values to be flexible and be enhanced further to work out any obstacle that I might encounter in the next five or ten years. Reference: Miller, G. (1998). Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration. New York, USA: Marcel Dekker Incorporated.

Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay

Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, written in 1597. The story itself was not anything new or different, but the way Shakespeare wrote it was its gateway to its popularity. The original tale of Romeo and Juliet was composed in the form of a poem aptly named ‘The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet’ which I have found was in itself a translation from a French short story by the 16th-century Italian writer Matteo Bandello. The poem which Shakespeare gathered his inspiration from was first published in 1562 and the story set over a period of four months. Shakespeare’s adaptation was placed over four days. This significantly heightens the tension involved in the play as everything happens so hastily. The story itself is about a young couple who met and fell in love despite belonging to feuding families. With the two lovers at the marrying age of fourteen immersed in violence, hatred and hostility the play captivated the audience at the time including Queen Elizabeth I, the protestant queen. The drama is also engrossed in history, being considerably biased towards protestant followers and showing the Catholics in the play as untrustworthy, A good example being Friar Lawrence, a catholic priest who is portrayed as deceitful and dubious after marrying Romeo and Juliet in secret. This essay will show how Act 3, Scene 1 becomes the pivotal scene in the play whilst being the most dramatic. Before this scene the audience find out about the rivalry involved between the two families and the meeting of Romeo and Juliet. Overall the tone of the play is a ... ...s about her love for Romeo to the audience in a monologue, illustrating her happiness and serenity. Of course the audience know of the terrible news that awaits her-another use of dramatic irony. Overall act 3, scene 1 is the pivot point of the play. Before it, the play was considered a romance which contrasts heavily with the scenes after this act-a tragedy. This scene not only changes the course of action in the play but it marks a disastrous turning point in Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. I believe it also adds to the overall drama in the play. Writing techniques such as imagery and dramatic irony are used to great effect and again increase the play’s emotional quality. In this scene alone the amount tension in the audience is significantly high ending up in the death of two main characters, Mercutio and Tybalt.

Why I Hate Montclair

When I first stepped onto the campus of Montclair State University, I knew it was a place for me. It was so beautiful and walking past the gorgeous, blooming flowers, in the middle of spring was breathtaking. I could imagine what being a student in the school would feel like and how quickly I could become accustom to it. Unfortunately, I had to face the fact that it was all a dream and nothing was perfect as it seems. Even though Montclair State University has many great aspects, it also has negative aspects as well.The three most significant aspects of Montclair State University that I believe can be improved are parking, the shuttle bus, and the registration arrangement. One of the most important negative aspects that I dislike about Montclair State University is the parking system. Most students at the University are aware that parking is indeed very difficult and can be extremely stressful at times. The worst part is that freshman and sophomores are required to park at the transi t deck which is about a ten to fifteen minute walk. Parking in the transit deck is very time-consuming, and usually the reason most students are late to their first class.Finding a good parking spot takes a lot of effort, and takes even more effort at certain times throughout the day. For example, if a student has an 8:30 class, it is extremely difficult to find a parking spot in the first, second, and even third floor. A student must circle around each floor and sometimes drive around the same floor of the deck twice in case they missed a spot. It is nearly impossible to find a perfect spot, so the only thing a person can do is to get the first spot available to them even if it is located in one of the highest floors.One must leave their house or apartment extra early especially if they have a morning class just to find parking. Truly, it does take a lot of time, and even worse when it is packed. All in all, parking is one of the aspects of Montclair that I was not expecting, but i t is something that I must adapt to in order to continue making the most out of my college experience. Another aspect of Montclair State University which I truly dislike is the shuttle buses. These buses take freshman and sophomores from the transit deck to certain areas of the campus to save the ten to fifteen minute walk.Although that seems fair and organized, it actually is not. I can honestly say that sometimes walking is actually much faster and less time-consuming than actually taking the bus to campus. The bus is never accurate in its schedule and never comes when it’s supposed to. Sometimes students must wait at the shuttle bus stop from a range of five minutes to an hour for a shuttle to come. Therefore, on some days it is actually better to walk the mile rather than wait for a shuttle and be late to your next class.Taking a shuttle bus is the worst part of my day because not only do I have to wake up extra early in order to catch a shuttle bus and get to class on ti me, but I also have to wait for a shuttle bus after class ends. After a long day of classes, the first thing I think about is going home to take a nap. However, by the time I get home, it is usually too late to do anything because I have work to complete for the next day. All in all, shuttle buses are not as advantageous as they are supposed to be. Last but not least, the registration arrangement during registration time is something that I hate but try to understand.During the registration process, seniors get first pick and can choose from any courses they want. The next day, juniors get to pick from whatever courses are not closed and anything that the seniors did not take. The sophomores then follow the same arrangement and so on. The freshman or class of 2014 gets last pick and can only choose from whatever courses that may still be open, and are not closed by the seniors , juniors, and sophomores. The freshmen, like myself, not only get to pick last but find it impossible to m ake the perfect schedule.Most times, freshman must forget about their own preference and just take what they can get because unfortunately there are not many choices left by the time it is their turn. Therefore, there is not only competition of courses between freshman and the upperclassman, but also between freshman and themselves. By the end of the last day, students must choose from whatever classes are open even if it means they do not want or need that class. The registration arrangement makes the freshman’s year even more difficult by trying to find open classes to match their preferences.In conclusion, Montclair State University is kan excellent school which I am glad that I have the opportunity to attend. One of the things that I dislike about Montclair is the parking system. Another thing that I cannot stand is the shuttle buses. The shuttle buses can definitely be improved to be a more effective system and an easier system for all students. Finally, the registration arrangement is another thing that I loathe about Montclair. With that being said, Montclair State University is an exceptional school, but, like any other school, has room for improvement

Midterm Learning Reflection Essay

Introduction. You should print this out, although you may also use it as a template to type over. You will be writing two reflections this term: a midterm reflection and a final reflection. The final reflection is the one you want to have ultimately on your portfolio. Both your midterm and final learning reflections must be 700 to 1000 words, which is approximately two to three MLA-formatted pages. You can check your word count by going to Tools/Word Count on the menu bar. Style and Format. The writing style of the learning reflection is primarily expressive, but will also contain narrative elements. You do not need a Works Cited page unless you cite something. So, if, for example, you cite song lyrics, one of our texts, a poem, or even a work of art, then you need a Works Cited page. I’ve included one here to serve you for formatting purposes. File formats. We are going to be learning how to convert Word documents to pdf format so that they load more easily in a browser window. If you can, please practice with one or both of the following two methods, which are what I use (they are free). 1. Install a free pdf converter. These are not truly â€Å"free† in that they either force you to look at some advertising or they add a line on each page advertising the manufacturer of the software. I don’t have a problem with either of these and gladly suffer through the free advertising every time I convert a file to pdf, which I do all the time. The one I use to create all the pdf files for my classes is at http://www.pdf995.com/download.html. Download both the Pdf995 Printer Driver and the Free Converter (they are both free; they are required to work together, but for some reason, they are two separate downloads). After you go through the download and installation process, every time you want to create a pdf file from Word, all you need to do is select File/Print and then chose PDF995, which will show up as a â€Å"printer.† When you initiate this process of creating a pdf file, you will be prompted for a place to save the file, as well as a file name. Be careful to save the file to your H: drive or, if to your C: drive, to ftp (transfer) it over to your H: drive later. You will notice that some advertisements come up as the conversion process occurs. That’s the â€Å"price† you pay for the free conversion software. 2. The other pdf-conversion method I like is to use the free OpenOffice word processing software. This software should be in our labs. You can also download it for free on your own computer, from http://www.openoffice.org/. This is basically an open-source version of Microsoft Office. Once you’ve installed it (it’s large and takes a while to install), you can open any Word document with the OpenOffice word processing program (Open Document). Some of the original Word formatting may be lost – especially the header information with your last name and page number. You will need to add that back in; be sure you do it correctly. When you’re satisfied with the format, there is a little pdf icon on the toolbar that you can click, and that will automatically convert the document to pdf format. Learning Reflection Content. What should you discuss in your reflection? In general, you discuss what you’ve learned, what you’ve done especially well, what you’ve enjoyed – and the challenges you’ve encountered and how you might make changes in the future. Here are some suggestions for what to write about: †¢ Your experience transitioning from high school (or wherever you were previously) to a freshman in college, focusing on how you have grown as an individual and an independent student. †¢ Your experience in this particular course – your year-long freshman inquiry. In this regard, you should probably focus on the University Studies goals and the ways in which you have grown and developed with respect to those goals. I would expect that other courses have also contributed to the goal areas, so you might want to highlight any that have been particularly useful in that regard. †¢ Other experiences as a student here at Portland State. Portland State University’s mission is â€Å"Let Knowledge Serve the City,† which reflects the fact that we are an urban university. What have you learned with respect to community, diversity, and the connection between a learning community (the university) and the city in which it is located? Keep in mind that you may have acquired valuable experiences outside of the classroom, but still connected to your identity as a student. o Perhaps you have learned important lessons about discipline and time management as a student athlete, which may serve you well when you enter the workforce. o Maybe your involvement in activities with other students – such as taking dance classes or playing in the band or spending hours in an art studio or toughing out chemistry and physics labs – has improved your personal skills and brought to light new areas of interest, which you’ve pursued in your free time. o Or perhaps you’ve found out that you are a loner, that you haven’t connected very well with a lot of the people in your classes. As you reflect on this (or any other conclusions that some – maybe you – might consider, well, depressing), think of this is an opportunity to think of ways to make some changes in the future. †¢ A reflection, in other words, should include a self-assessment element as well as thinking along the lines of â€Å"What could I do better or differently in the future?† Consider the challenges you’ve faced, how you’ve overcome them, or how you’d like to overcome them in the fu ture. Conclusion. Your reflection should end in a way that gives the reader the sense that you are closing up a chapter in your life and ready to move on, with some ideas in mind of what you might do differently. My suggestion is that you do not spend a lot of time critiquing the world around you; after all, you can’t change that very much. Confine your reflection to you and what you have learned and experienced. Dwelling on what you don’t like about a given course or program is not a reflection about you, but about something else. Works Cited Eakin, Paul John. How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP, 1999. Fiske, John. â€Å"Popular Culture.† Critical Terms for Literary Study. Ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. 321 – 335. Harrison, Claire. â€Å"Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why.† First Monday. 7 Oct. 2002. 10 Feb. 2004 .

Reflection is Important in Life

Reflection is Important in Life Reflection is Important in Life Many people act first, then they start to think and analyze their actions. However, such manner of the behavior is not new, a lot of men and women fall under the influence of it. It cannot be judged whether it is good or bad, if reflection precedes an act, it also depends on the situation in which it has occurred. As any other activity, it has advantages and disadvantages. Otherwise, Andrew Marvells poem To His Coy Mistress and Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleists essay On Thinking Things Over: A Paradox are two examples of the similar approach to the problem. The English author states on the fact that a person should not fight with the mind and thoughts, though to follow his or her desires and act first rather than perform a reflection. One more opinion is of the German playwright. Kleist affirms that mans actions should be in the first place rather than thinking. Thus, two thoughts of these writers have right to exist. However, human reflection depends on the actions and conversely: a man is judged by his deeds, and thinking represents mans ability to act. Andrew Marvells poem To His Coy Mistress is representative of the action without reflection. The main hero of the poem convinces his lover to surrender the struggle of the mind and tempt to their passion. Even more, he tried to urge a mistress to have a sexual contact with him; it was emphasized by heros words that her action would not be a crime. Thus it could be mentioned that mans intentions are unethical and obscene. Opposite to this situation is Kleists appeal, in which the author states that meaning of the act is more important than reflection. Besides, the essay is appointed to his son, as the writer pointed out at the beginning: A military man has to be quick and fearless, his actions have no time to be advised (Miller 217) Such belief also could be explained by the nationality of the playwright. Germans are precise people and the ability to do everything on time is very important. He suggests that realization of the action come to people in the moment of solution or a little earlier. However, long process of reflection could slow strength of the act or to intricate the mans mind and knock out of the way. Humans have a unique ability to think and find out the solution of the problems, however it requires to act quickly for the better result. Kleist writes about the fact, that after the action was made, people could evaluate results of it and according to submitted conclusions analyze faults, weakness or even unpleasant effects. Therefore, human will have an opportunity to regulate the perceptions, emotions and behavior in the future, in order not to make the same mistakes. The writer states that a person thinks first, only then speaks and expresses the thoughts, though it is not right. This false is made by the human brain, which is an alteration of the right order of causes and their effects. As well, Heinrich von Kleist emphasizes that mans life is the struggle with a fate, and all the ways, which are suitable for wrestling also will be good for this fight. He exemplifies, according to which man should act first, as a fighter does in a battle, and reflects in retrospect (Miller 217). As an example it could be a sportsman who almost win as he have no time for thinking things over, everything that is expected of him is t o act quickly and to win. The similar thoughts are presented in Marvells poem, where the main hero addressed to his lovers desire for control and compliments. Later the narrator changes his logic and starts trying to make the real world full of problems and even pushes the mistress away. Therefore, his supplication to the woman for acting first, and after that reflection forces her to destroy all the moral limits. In this situation, the ability to think things over should be first, though it will prevent adverse consequences for the lady. Nevertheless, the author strengthens heros belief by the powerful and eloquent words that they cannot cave their love and be together physically, though they have to make their feelings disappear. As follows, there are two characters in the poem: hero, who acts first and forces his lady to do the same, and heroine, who thinks things over after rather than before an act. Heinrich von Kleist said marvelous words about human life that it is a competition with fate (Miller 217). This point of view is perfectly suitable for my experiences as an international student. Peoples life is a struggle not only the destiny, but with themselves as well. It is necessary to have a great courage for studying in the foreign state with different society, traditions and relationships. Therefore, my decision was guided by long reflections and weighing the pros and cons, which led me to the United Stated. Thus, human life is a contest with the fate, which has to bring joy and happiness; and it can be won by the man who risk. In addition, nowadays it is more typical for the society to to act first and reflect after the actions. It cannot be said that this kind of realization has its advantages and disadvantages. Human life is too shirt to spend all of it in uncertainty and hesitation hesitating. It is better to live in the present day and be confident, fight with the fate, act spontaneously and take the best out of life, and draw the conclusions afterwards.

A View of the Political Power of the Weimar Republic during the Golden Age

A View of the Political Power of the Weimar Republic during the Golden Age â€Å"The Weimar Republic enjoyed a golden age of political stability in the years 1924-28† When the armistice was signed by Germany in 1918, Germany was in a complete state of disarray. A naval mutiny broke out in Kiel, and Germany was plunged into a revolution. Several groups scrambled for control of Germany. Eventually, the Weimar Republic was formed, it promised a democratic republic with equal rights to all its citizens. However, to say the republic calmed tensions and provided political stability post-1918 would be far from accurate. Hyper-inflation and the harsh terms of the treaty of Versailles led to increasing resentment towards the newly-found republic from the German public up to the crisis year of 1923. However, historians have argued that between 1924 and 1928, Germany experienced a period of political stability, this is mainly attributed to Stresemann’s addressing of the hyper-inflation crisis by introducing the Rentenmark, as well as American loans and investment from the Dawes plan assisting the German economy in recovering. However critics have argu ed that there is no such thing as the â€Å"golden age† and that the Weimar Republic was still in a state of crisis. Some historians argue that it would be impossible to describe the period in Germany from 1924-1928 as a â€Å"golden age of political stability â€Å"because there was no stable Government during this period. Over this period there were 9 successive governments in the space of 4 years, all of them being coalition governments. The frequent change in leadership meant there was no time for any meaningful impact to take place as the next Government would scrap what the previous Government had been planning. In addition, some of the Governments during the period were minority Governments, leading to cases were Governments were unable to pass legislation due to other parties grouping together to prevent it from passing. The lack of strong government during the period highlighted the weakness of German democracy and led to the German public becoming disenfranchised with the establishment. However, looking at the period pre-1924, and compare it to the years 1924-28, it is clear that following 1924, there was a period of growing stability. Up to 1923, inflation was increasing at an exponential rate with the Government printing more and more money in order to pay of the overwhelming debts they held following the treaty of Versailles. The continual printing of money led to the Deutschmark becoming so worthless many German’s opted for a primitive barter economy instead. Hyper-inflation was only made worse by the French-Belgium invasion of the Ruhr. German workers in the Ruhr went on strike meaning reparations weren’t being paid; this led to a joint force of France and Belgium occupying the Ruhr. The German government at the time opted for a policy of passive resistance; they paid the German workers to stay on strike, but did not actively confront the occupying forces. The effect of passive resistance was that it led to even more money being paid out then the annual reparation payments cost them, which in turn exacerbated the hyper-inflation crises When Stresemann became chancellor in 1923 he set up a new currency, the Rentenmark which helped stabilise the economy and effectively ended the hyper-inflation crisis. Therefore, the crisis period up to 1923 is in great period with the relatively calmer more prosperous years from 1924-28. During this â€Å"golden age† real wages for Industrial workers increased and there was a sense of newfound prosperity, quite the opposite of the years leading up to the golden age. On the other hand, some historians would argue that the so-called economic prosperity of the â€Å"Golden age† wasn’t as prosperous as it is made out to be. Stresemann says in a speech shortly before his death â€Å"the economic position is only flourishing on the surface,† whilst the economy grew from 1924-1927 it shrunk in 1928; unemployment was a continuous issue, by March 1926 unemployment was at 3 million, this and the wall street crash which happened just after the golden age indicate that whilst the economy seemed to have recovered, in reality the foundations it was built on were unsafe to begin with. In conclusion, I would argue that whilst the Weimar Republic appeared to be more politically stable, the reality was that the short-lived prosperity was only due to American investment, and when the wall-street crash occurred, Germany was unable to rely on the USA, leading to an economic disaster. Thus the Weimar Republic enjoyed a false sense of political stability, but no real stability was present.

Leadership and Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership and Organizational Culture - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that there are totally four CEO’s whose leadership style is different. The leadership style of an individual highly depends upon the individual behaviour of the person and set of attitude and beliefs molded in his mind. Some believe firmly that autocratic leadership style will bring out more productivity. Some believe that participative leadership is best and some others feel that free reign is best. The behaviour and the set of attitude possessed by the person is what make the person implement such leadership strategy within the organization. This study outlines that leading can be done in many ways depending upon the individual parameters. Leadership issues are mostly found in organizations and it is highly oriented towards the top level management within the organization. The overall effectiveness of the organization is depended upon the capability of the leader to manage the resources effectively and efficiently to achieve the organizational goals and objectives with an increase in the overall productivity. It is not only the responsibility of the leader to clearly identify and define the goals and objectives of the business, but also involves designing and framing useful methods by which those goals and objectives can be accomplished. â€Å"In organizations, leadership is about influencing employees to buy into the vision of the leader, motivating them to deploy all resources available at their disposal to achieve objectives set by the leader†.

Importing US food Risk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Importing US food Risk - Research Paper Example In 2008, there were some reported cases where cats and dogs were stricken by tainted pet food while people died from contaminations in certain drugs. In both incidents, the ingredients were found to have been imported from China (In Curtis, 2013).   In response to this, the Public Health Security through the Bioterrorism act directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take additional measures to protect the public from all terrorist attacks on food supply and all other food related emergencies. FDA is the food regulatory agency of the department of Health and Human Services and has the mandate to receive prior notification of food that is imported, including animal feed, in the United States. Prior notice of import shipments give chance to the FDA, through the support of the U.S Custom and Border Protection to focus on import inspections with much effectiveness and help protect the state’s food supply against acts of terror and all other public health emergencies. The FDA food safety act was signed in 2011 with aims to ensure that the U.S food supply is safe by directing the focus of the federal regulations from taking action on contamination to prevent it (Kastner, 2011).   The FDA signed a regulation that required all persons to submit prior notices of imported food. Close to fifty million people get sick while three thousand die each year from food borne diseases. This is according to a data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was mentioned as a public health burden which is largely preventable. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act enables the FDA to strengthen the systems of food safety by giving them new authorities and tools to make all new imported foods meet the same safety standards as those produced in the U.S. However, building a new system of food safety beside on prevention would take time. FDA focuses on implementing the safety acts with open grounds for all stakeholders to give their contribution. T he FDA has therefore some laid down responsibilities and authorities which are aimed at improving food safety in the United States. The FDA’s new import mandates and authorities include the following (Hinkelman and Ebrary, 2004); Import accountability. During the first time, the importers have an explicit mandate to verify that their suppliers have sufficient preventive controls to make sure that the food they produce is safe. Third party certification: The FDA Food Safety Modernization (FSMA) initiates program through which third parties can verify that foreign food capacities comply with the U.S food safety standards. The certification is very significant in facilitating the entry of imports (Zaring et al., 2009). Cortication for high risk foods: as a condition of entry into America, FDA can authorize that the high-risk imported foods be accompanied by a trustworthy third party certification or with an assurance of compliance. Voluntary qualified importer program: a volunta ry program must be established for the importers. This would provide for the expedited entry and review of foods from importers. Entitlement is limited to importers who offer food from certified facilities. Authority to deny entry: foods from a foreign facility can be denied entry into the U.S by FDA. FDA has also a

Lenin's Cultural Policy and the Persecution of the Arts Essay

Lenin's Cultural Policy and the Persecution of the Arts - Essay Example However, things were not the same as shown to the world. The growing experimentation in the arts and cultural aspects of Russia forced Lenin to embrace more conservative and traditional ways and it was because of this reason that since his early days, Lenin started to control cultural institutions of the country. This control of culture in the country further worsened as the Lenin’s Communist party started to target those musicians and artisans who were relatively against the Communist thought. Lunacharsky- Lenin’s main person behind controlling the Cultural Revolution in the country put forward his own aesthetic theories which largely redefined the socialist art, however; this was often criticized by the later scholars for the reasons of curtailing the artistic creativity. â€Å"In the late 1920s, the term was taken up and transformed by young communist cultural militants who sought the party leaders' approval for an assault on "bourgeois hegemony" in culture; that is, on the cultural establishment, including Anatoly Lunacharsky and other leaders of the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment, and the values of the old Russian intelligentsia. For the militants, the essence of Cultural Revolution was "class war" - an assault against the "bourgeois" intelligentsia in the name of the proletariat - and they meant the "revolution" part of the term literally. In the years 1928 through 1931, the militants succeeded in gaining the party leaders' support, but lost it again in 1932 when the Central Committee dissolved the main militant organization, the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP), and promoted reconciliation with the intelligentsia.† (Encylopedia).

Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions

Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions ABSTRACT This thesis examines the socio-cultural and demographic factors influencing sanitation conditions, identifies the presence of Escherichia coli in household drinking water samples and investigates prevalence of diarrhoea among infants. It is based on questionnaire interviews of 120 household heads and 77 caretakers of young children below the age of 5years, direct observation of clues of household sanitation practice as well as analyses of household water samples in six surrounding communities in Bogoso. Data collected was analysed using SPSS and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Value(R) technique. The findings revealed that the sanitation condition of households improved with high educational attainment and ageing household heads. On the contrary, sanitation deteriorated with overcrowding in the household. Furthermore, in houses where the religion of the head of household was Traditional, sanitation was superior to those of a Christian head and this household also had better sa nitary conditions than that with a Moslem head of household. Water quality analysis, indicated that 27 samples out of the 30 representing 90% tested negative for E. Coli bacteria whilst 17(56.7%) samples had acceptable levels of total Escherichia coli. Finally, it was found out that diarrhoea among infants were highly prevalent since 47 (61.04%) out of the 77 child minders admitted their wards had a bout with infant diarrhoea. Massive infrastructural development, supported by behavioural change education focussing on proper usage of sanitary facilities is urgently needed in these communities to reduce the incidence of public health diseases. Intensive health education could also prove vital and such programs must target young heads of household, households with large family size and households whose heads are Christians and Moslems. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Efforts to assuage poverty cannot be complete if access to good water and sanitation systems are not part. In 2000, 189 nations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and from that, the Millennium Development Goals were made. Goal 4, which aims at reducing child mortality by two thirds for children under five, is the focus of this study. Clean water and sanitation considerably lessen water- linked diseases which kill thousands of children every day (United Nations, 2006). According to the World Health Organization (2004), 1.1 billion people lacked access to an enhanced water supply in 2002, and 2.3 billion people got poorly from diseases caused by unhygienic water. Each year 1.8 million people pass away from diarrhoea diseases, and 90% of these deaths are of children under five years (WHO, 2004). Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had traditionally been the major stakeholder in the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities. Since the 1960s the GWSC has focussed chiefly on urban areas at the peril of rural areas and thus, rural communities in the Wassa West District are no exception. According to the Ghana 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ II) Survey Report (GSS, 2005), roughly 78% of all households in the Tamale Metropolis, 97 percent in Accra, 86% in Kumasi and 94% in Sekondi-Takoradi own pipe-borne water. Once more, the report show that a few households do not own any toilet facilities and depend on the bush for their toilet needs, that is 2.1%, 7.3%, and 5% for Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi correspondingly. Access to safe sanitation, improved water and improved waste disposal systems is more of an urban than rural occurrence. In the rural poor households, only 9.2% have safe sanitation, 21.1% use improved waste disposal method and 63.0 % have access to improved water. The major diseases prevalent in Ghana are malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis (bilharzias), typhoid and diarrhea. Diarrhea is of precise concern since it has been recognized as the second most universal disease treated at clinics and one of the major contributors to infant mortality (UNICEF, 2004). The infant mortality rate currently stands at about 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (CIA, 2006). The Wassa West District of Ghana has seen an improvement in water and sanitation facilities during the last decade. Most of the development projects in the district are sponsored by the mining companies, individuals and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Between 2002 and 2008, Goldfields Tarkwa Mine constructed 118 new hand dug wells (77 of which were fitted with hand pumps) and refurbished 48 wells in poor condition. Also, a total of 44 modern style public water closets, were constructed in their catchment areas. The company also donated 19 large refuse collection containers to the District Assembly and built 6 new nurses quarters. The Tarkwa Mine has so far spent 10.5million US dollars of which 26% went into health, water and sanitation projects, 24% into agricultural development, 31% into formal education and the remaining went into other projects like roads and community centre construction ( GGL, 2008). Golden Star Resources (consist of Bogoso/Prestea Mine and Wassa Min e at Damang) also established the community development department in 2005 and has since invested 800 thousand US dollars. Their projects include 22 Acqua-Privy toilets, 10 hand dug wells (all fitted with hand pumps) and supplied potable water to villages with their tanker trucks (BGL, 2007). Other development partners complimenting the efforts of the central government include NGOs WACAM, Care International and Friends of the Nation (FON). WACAM is an environmentally based NGO which monitors water pollution by large scale mining companies. They have sponsored about 10 hand dug wells for villages in the district. Care International sponsors hygiene and reproductive health programmes in schools and on radio. They have also donated a couple of motor bicycles to public health workers in the district who travel to villages. The aims of all these projects were to improve hygiene and sanitation so as to reduce disease transmission. Despite efforts by the development partners, water supply and sanitation related diseases are highly prevalent in the district. Data obtained from the Public and Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of Health (M.O.H., 2008) showed that the top ten most prevalent diseases in the district include malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea. The others are acute eye infection, rheumatism, dental carries, hypertension, pregnancy related complications and home/occupational accidents. A lot more illnesses occur but on a lower scale and these include intestinal worms, coughs and typhoid fever. A complete data on the top ten diseases prevalent in the district is attached as Appendix D but below is a selection of the illnesses that directly result from bad water and sanitation practices. The number of malaria cases decreased from 350 in 2006 to 300 cases per 1000 population in 2008. Despite the decrease, the values involved are still quite high. The incidence of diarrhoea among infants and acute respiratory infection remained 30 and 60 cases per 1,000 populations respectively. This can be attributed to several reasons, including population boom, lack of uninterrupted services and inadequate functioning facilities. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004), an estimated 90% of all incidence of diarrhoea among infants can be blamed on inadequate sanitation and unclean water. For example, in a study of 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, only between 35-80% of water systems were operational in the rural areas (Sutton, 2004). Another survey in South Africa recognized that over 70% of the boreholes in the Eastern Cape were not working (Mackintosh and Colvin, 2003). Further examples of sanitation systems in bad condition have also been acknowledged in rural Ghana, where nearly 40% of latrines put up due to the support of a sanitation program were uncompleted or not used (Rodgers et al., 2007). The author had a personal communication with the District Environmental Officer and he estimated that, approximately there are 224 public toilets, 560 hand dug wells, 1,255 public standpipes and 3 well managed waste disposal sites in the district. According to the 2006 projection, the population of the district is expected to reach 295,753 by the end of the year 2009 (WWDA, 2006). Development partners in the past have concentrated their efforts on facilities provision only. They have not looked well at the possible causes of the persistence of disease transmission despite the effort they are making. Relationships between households socio cultural demographic factors and peoples behaviour with respect to the practice of hygiene could prove an essential lead to the solution of the problem. The fact is, merely providing a water closet does not guarantee that it could be adopted by the people and used well to reduce disease transmission. Epidemiological investigations have revealed that even in dearth supply of latrines, diarrhoeal morbidity can be reduced with the implementation of improved hygiene behaviours (IRC, 2001: Morgan, 1990). Access to waste disposal systems, their regular, consistent and hygienic use and adoption of other hygienic behavioural practices that block the transmission of diseases are the most important factors. In quite a lot of studies fro m different countries, the advancement of personal and domestic hygiene accounted for a decline in diarrhoeal morbidity (Henry and Rahim, 1990). The World Bank, (2003) identifies the demographic characteristics of the household including education of members, occupation, size and composition as influencing the willingness of the household to use an improved water supply and sanitation system. Education, especially for females results in well spaced child birth, greater ability of parents to give better health care which in turn contribute to reduced mortality rates among children under 5years (Grant, 1995). In a study into water resource scarcity in coastal Ghana, Hunter (2004) identified a valid association between household size, the presence of young children and the gender of the household head. It was noted that, female heads were less likely to collect water in larger households. Furthermore, increasing number of young children present increased the odds of female head/spouse being the household water collector. Cultural issues play active part in hygiene and sanitation behaviour especially among members of rural communities. For example, women are hardly seen urinating in public due to a perceived shame in the act but men can be left alone if found doing it. Also, the act of defecation publicly is generally unacceptable except when infants and young children are involved. The reason is that the faeces from young people are allegedly free from pathogens and less offensive (Drangert, 2004). Ismails (1999) work on nutritional assessment in Africa, detected that peoples demographic features, socioeconomic and access to basic social services such as food, water and electricity correlate significantly to their health and nutrition status. Specifically, factors such as age, gender, township status and ethnicity, which are basic to demography, can play a role in the quality of life especially of the elderly. This research assessed peoples practice of personal hygiene in Bogoso and surrounding villages. It also identified the common bacteria present in household stored water sources. Furthermore, the research identified the relationships between some socio-cultural demographic factors of households and the sanitation practice of its members. THE PROBLEM STATEMENT The Wassa West District in the Western Region is home to six large scale mining companies and hundreds of small scale and illegal mining units. Towns and villages in the district have been affected by mining, forestry and agricultural activities for over 120 years (BGL EIS, 2005). Because of this development, the local environment has been subjected to varying degrees of degradation. For example, water quality analysis carried out in 1989 by the former Canadian Bogoso Resources (CBR) showed that water samples had Total coliform bacteria in excess of 16 colonies per 100ml (BGL EIS,2005). Most of the water and sanitation programs executed in the district exerted little positive impact and thus, diarrhoeal diseases are still very high in the towns and villages (See Appendix D on page 80). However, in order to solve any problem it is important to appreciate the issues that contribute to it; after all, identifying the problem in itself is said to be a solution in disguise. Numerous health impact research have evidently recognized that the upgrading of water supply and sanitation alone is generally required but not adequate to attain broad health effects if personal and domestic hygiene are not given equivalent prominence (Scherlenlieb, 2003). The troubles of scarce water and safe sanitation provisions in developing countries have previously been dealt with by researchers for quite some time. However, until recent times they were mostly considered as technical and/or economic problems. Even rural water and sanitation issues are repeatedly dealt with from an entirely engineering point of view, with only a simple reference to social or demographic aspects. Therefore, relatively not much is proven how the socio-cultural demographic influences impinge on hygiene behaviour which in turn influences the transmission of diseases. The relationship between household socio cultural factors and the sanitation conditions of households in the Wassa West District especially the Bogoso Rural Council area has not been systematically documented or there is inadequate research that investigates such relationship. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions were posed to help address the objectives; Why are the several sanitation intervention projects failing to achieve desired results? Why is the prevalence of malaria and diarrhea diseases so high in the district? What types of common bacteria are prevalent in the stored drinking water of households? OBJECTIVES The main aim of this research was to investigate peoples awareness and practice of personal hygiene, access to quality water and sanitation and the possible causes of diarrhoeal diseases and suggest ways to reduce the incidence of diseases in the community. The specific objectives were; To assess the quality of stored household drinking water To establish the extent to which sanitation behaviour is affected by household socio-cultural demographic factors like age and education level of the head. To investigate the occurrence of diarrhoea among young children (0-59 months old) in the households. To identify and recommend good intervention methods to eliminate or reduce the outbreak of diseases and improve sanitation. HYPOTHESIS In addition to the above objectives, the following hypotheses were tested; Occurrence of infant diarrhoea in the household is independent on the educational attainment of child caretakers. There is no relationship between households background factors and the sanitation conditions of the household. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, various literature related to the subject matter of study are reviewed. Areas covered are sanitation, hygiene, water quality and diarrhoeal diseases. Theories and models the study contributed to include USAIDs Sanitation Improvement Framework, the F diagram by Wagner and Lanois and the theory of Social learning. SANITATION Until recently, policies of many countries have focused on access to latrines by households as a principal indicator of sanitation coverage, although of late there has been a change and an expansion in understanding the term sanitation. Sanitation can best be defined as the way of collecting and disposing of excreta and community liquid waste in a germ-free way so as not to risk the health of persons or the community as a whole (WEDC, 1998). Ideally, sanitation should end in the seclusion or destruction of pathogenic material and, hence, a breach in the transmission pathway. The transmission pathways are well known and are potted and simplified in the F diagram (Wagner and Lanois 1958) shown below by figure 3.1. The more paths that can be blocked, the more useful a health and sanitation intervention program will be. It may be mentioned that the health impact indicators of sanitation programmes are not easy to define and measure, particularly in the short run. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to look at sanitation as a package of services and actions which taken together can have some bearing on the health of a person and health status in a community. According to IRC (2001:0), issues that need to be addressed when assessing sanitation would include: How complete the sanitation programme is in addressing major risks for transmitting sanitation-related diseases; Whether the sanitation programme adopted a demand driven approach, through greater peoples participation, or supply driven approach, through heavy subsidy; Whether it allows adjustment to peoples varying needs and payment; If the programme leads to measurably improved practices by the majority of men and women, boys and girls; If it is environmentally friendly. That is; if it does not increase or create new environmental hazards (IRC, 2001) Sanitation is a key determinant of both fairness in society and societys ability to maintain itself. If the sanitation challenges described above cannot be met, we will not be able to provide for the needs of the present generation without hindering that of future generations. Thus, sanitation approaches must be resource minded, not waste minded. HYGIENE Hygiene is the discipline of health and its safeguarding (Dorland, 1997). Health is the capacity to function efficiently within ones surroundings. Our health as individuals depends on the healthfulness of our environment. A healthful environment, devoid of risky substances allows the individual to attain complete physical, emotional and social potential. Hygiene is articulated in the efforts of an individual to safeguard, sustain and enhance health status (Anderson and Langton, 1961). Measures of hygiene are vital in the fight against diarrhoeal diseases, the major fatal disease of the young in developing countries (Hamburg, 1987). The most successful interventions against diarrhoeal diseases are those that break off the transmission of contagious agents at home. Personal and domestic hygiene can be enhanced with such trouble-free actions like ordinary use of water in adequate quantity for hand washing, bathing, laundering and cleaning of cooking and eating utensils; regular washing and change of clothes; eating healthy and clean foods and appropriate disposal of solid and liquid waste. Diarrheal Dise ases Diarrhoea can be defined in absolute or relative terms based on either the rate of recurrence of bowel movements or the constancy (or looseness) of stools (Kendall, 1996). Absolute diarrhoea is having more bowel movements than normal. Relative diarrhoea is defined based on the consistency of stool. Thus, an individual who develops looser stools than usual has diarrhoea even though the stools may be within the range of normal with respect to consistency. According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2006), with diarrhoea, stools typically are looser whether or not the frequency of bowel movements is increased. This looseness of stool which can vary all the way from slightly soft to watery is caused by increased water in the stool. Increased amounts of water in stool can occur if the stomach and/or small intestine produce too much fluid, the distal small intestine and colon do not soak up enough water, or the undigested, liquid food passes too quickly through the small intestine and colon for them to take out enough water. Of course, more than one of these anomalous processes may occur at the same time. For example, some viruses, bacteria and parasites cause increased discharge of fluid, either by invading and inflaming the lining of the small intestine (inflammation stimulates the lining to secrete fluid) or by producing toxins (chemicals) that also fire up the lining to secrete fluid but without caus ing inflammation. Swelling of the small intestine and/or colon from bacteria or from ileitis/colitis can increase the haste with which food passes through the intestines, reducing the time that is available for absorbing water. Conditions of the colon such as collagenous colitis can also impede the capacity of the colon to soak up water. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is probably the most dreaded bacteria today among parents of young children. The name of the bacteria refers to the chemical compounds found on the bacteriums surface. Cattle are the main sources of E. coli O157:H7, but these bacteria also can be found in other domestic and wild mammals. E. coli O157:H7 became a household word in 1993 when it was recognized as the cause of four deaths and more than 600 cases of bloody diarrhoea among children under 5years in North-western United States (US EPA, 1996). The Northwest epidemic was traced to undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food restaurant. Other sources of outbreaks have included raw milk, unpasteurized apple juice, raw sprouts, raw spinach, and contaminated water. Most strains of E. coli bacteria are not dangerous however, this particular strain attaches itself to the intestinal wall and then releases a toxin that causes severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting that lasts a week or longer. In small children and the elderly, the disease can advance to kidney failure. The good news is that E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by cooking to 160F throughout. Reducing diarrhoea morbidity with USAIDs Framework To attain noteworthy improvement in reducing the number of deaths attributed to diarrhoea, its fundamental causes must be addressed. It is approximated that 90% of all cases of diarrhoea can be attributed to three major causes: insufficient sanitation, inadequate hygiene, and contaminated water (WHO 1997). According to USAID, for further progress to be made in the fight against diarrhoea, the concentration will need to include prevention, especially in child health programs. The first method, case management of diarrhoea, has been tremendously successful in recent years in reducing child mortality. The primary process of achieving effect has been through the initiation and operation of oral rehydration therapy; i.e. the dispensation of oral rehydration solution and sustained feeding (both solid and fluid, including breast milk). In addition, health experts have emphasized the need for caretakers to become aware of the danger signs early in children under their care and to obtain suitable, appropriate care to avoid severe dehydration and death. The second approach, increasing host resistance to diarrhoea, has also had some victory with the enhancement of a childs nutritional status and vaccination against measles, a familiar cause of diarrhoea. The third element is prevention through hygiene improvement. Although the health care system has dealt comprehensively with the symptoms of diarrhoea, it has done insufficiently to bring down the overall incidence of the disease. Despite a drop in deaths owing to diarrhoea, morbidity or the health burden due to diarrhoea has not decreased, because health experts are treating the symptoms but not addressing the causes. Thus, diarrhoeas drain on the health system, its effects on household finances and education, and its additional burden on mothers has not been mitigated . Programs in several countries have confirmed that interventions can and do reduce diarrhoea morbidity. A critical constituent of successful prevention efforts is an effective monitoring and appraisal strategy. In order to reduce transmission of faecal-oral diseases at the household level, for example, an expert group of epidemiologist and water supply and sanitation specialist concluded that three interventions would be crucial. These are: Safer disposal of human excreta, particularly of babies and people with diarrhoea. Hand washing after defecation and handling babies faeces and before feeding, eating and preparing food, and; Maintaining drinking water free from faecal contamination in the home and at the source (WHO, 1993). Studies on hand washing, as reported in Boot and Cairncross (1993), confirm that it is not only the act of hand washing, but also how well hands are washed that make a difference. To prevent diarrhoea, its causes must first be fully tacit. According to the USAIDs hygiene improvement framework, a thorough approach to diarrhoea at the national level must tackle the three key elements of any triumphant program to fight disease. These are; contact with the necessary hardware or technologies, encouragement of healthy behaviours, and assistance for long-term sustainability. The concept is explained by figure 3.3 below; The first part, water supply systems, addresses mutually the issue of water quality and water quantity, which reduces the risk of contamination of food and drink. Similarly, ensuring access to water supply systems can greatly ease the time women spend collecting water, allowing more time to care for young children and more time for income generating activities. The third element, household technologies and materials, refers to the increased accessibility to such hygiene supplies as soap (or local substitutes), chlorine, filters, water storage containers that have restricted necks and are covered, and potties for small children. The second element of the hardware component, toilet facilities, involves providing facilities to dispose off human excreta in ways that safeguard the environment and public health, characteristically in the form of numerous kinds of latrines, septic tanks, and water-borne toilets. Sanitation reporting is important because faecal contamination can spread from one household to another, especially in closely populated areas. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES Water quality is defined in terms of the chemical, physical, and biological constituents in water. The word standards is used to refer to legally enforceable threshold values for the water parameters analyzed, while guidelines refer to threshold values that are recommended and do not have any regulatory status. This study employs the world health organization (WHO) and the Ghana standards board (GSB) standards and guidelines in determining the quality of water. Water Quality Requirements for Drinking Water – Ghana Standards The Ghana Standards for drinking water (GS 175-Part 1:1998) indicate the required physical, chemical, microbial and radiological properties of drinking water. The standards are adapted from the World Health Organizations Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 1, 1993, but also incorporate national standards that are specific to the countrys environment. Physical Requirements The Ghana Standards set the maximum turbidity of drinking water at 5 NTU. Other physical requirements pertain to temperature, odour, taste and colour. Temperature, odour and taste are generally not to be objectionable, while the maximum threshold values for colour are given quantitatively as True Colour Units (TCU) or Hazen units. The Ghana Standards specify 5 TCU or 5 Hazen units for colour after filtration. The requirements for pH values set by the Ghana Standards for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5 (GS 175-Part1:1998). Microbial Requirements The Ghana Standards specify that E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria and total coliform bacteria should not be detected in a 100ml sample of drinking water (0 CFU/100ml). The Ghana Standards also specify that drinking water should be free of human enteroviruses. WHO Drinking Water Guidelines Physical Requirements Although no health-based guideline is given by WHO (2006) for turbidity in drinking water, it is recommended that the median turbidity should ideally be below 0.1 NTU for effective disinfection. Microbial Requirements Like the Ghana Standards, no E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria should be detected in a 100 ml sample of drinking water. Water Related Diseases Every year, water-related diseases claim the lives of 3.4 million people, the greater part of whom are children (Dufour et. al, 2003). Water-related diseases can be grouped into four categories ( Bradley, 1977) based on the path of transmission: waterborne diseases, water-washed diseases, water-based diseases, insect vector-related diseases. Waterborne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by human or animal faeces or urine containing pathogenic bacteria or viruses. These include cholera, typhoid, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and other diarrhoeal diseases. Water washed diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and skin or eye contact with contaminated water. These include scabies, trachoma and flea, lice and tick-borne diseases. Water-based diseases are caused by parasites found in intermediate organisms living in contaminated water. These include dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis and other helminths. Water related diseases are caused by insect vectors, especially mosquitoes that breed in water. They include dengue, filariasis, malaria, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis and yellow fever. The Theory of Social Learning Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that can be attributed to experience (Coon, 1989). According to the social learning theory, behavioural processes are directly acquired by the continually dynamic interplay between the individual and its social environment (Mc Connell, 1982). For example, children learn what to do at home by observing what happens when their siblings talk back to their parents or throw rubbish into the household compound. The learning process occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement refers to any event that increases chances that a response will occur again (Coon, 1989). Reinforcement and punishment can be learned through education where the person can read about what happens to people as a result of actions they make. The elementary unit of society is the household and this can be defined as a residential group of persons who live under the same roof and eat out of the same pot (Friedman, 1992). Social learning is necessary for the household in acquiring the skills pertinent to the maintenance of health promoting behaviour. Most of our daily activities are learned in the household. Individuals begin to learn behaviour patterns from childhood by observing especially the parents and later on their siblings. The environment is understood as comprising the whole set of natural or biophysical and man-made or socio-cultural systems, in which man and other organisms live, work or interact (Ocran, 1999). The environment is human lifes supporting system from which food, air and shelter are derived to sustain human life. Humans interact with the physical and man-made environment and this interaction creates a complex, finely balanced set of structures and processes, which evolve over the history of a people. These structures and processes determine the culture of the society, their social behaviour, beliefs and superstition about health and diseases. Social relationships seem to protect individuals against behavioural disorders and they facilitate health promoting behaviour (Barlow and Durand, 1995; Ho Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions ABSTRACT This thesis examines the socio-cultural and demographic factors influencing sanitation conditions, identifies the presence of Escherichia coli in household drinking water samples and investigates prevalence of diarrhoea among infants. It is based on questionnaire interviews of 120 household heads and 77 caretakers of young children below the age of 5years, direct observation of clues of household sanitation practice as well as analyses of household water samples in six surrounding communities in Bogoso. Data collected was analysed using SPSS and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Value(R) technique. The findings revealed that the sanitation condition of households improved with high educational attainment and ageing household heads. On the contrary, sanitation deteriorated with overcrowding in the household. Furthermore, in houses where the religion of the head of household was Traditional, sanitation was superior to those of a Christian head and this household also had better sa nitary conditions than that with a Moslem head of household. Water quality analysis, indicated that 27 samples out of the 30 representing 90% tested negative for E. Coli bacteria whilst 17(56.7%) samples had acceptable levels of total Escherichia coli. Finally, it was found out that diarrhoea among infants were highly prevalent since 47 (61.04%) out of the 77 child minders admitted their wards had a bout with infant diarrhoea. Massive infrastructural development, supported by behavioural change education focussing on proper usage of sanitary facilities is urgently needed in these communities to reduce the incidence of public health diseases. Intensive health education could also prove vital and such programs must target young heads of household, households with large family size and households whose heads are Christians and Moslems. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Efforts to assuage poverty cannot be complete if access to good water and sanitation systems are not part. In 2000, 189 nations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and from that, the Millennium Development Goals were made. Goal 4, which aims at reducing child mortality by two thirds for children under five, is the focus of this study. Clean water and sanitation considerably lessen water- linked diseases which kill thousands of children every day (United Nations, 2006). According to the World Health Organization (2004), 1.1 billion people lacked access to an enhanced water supply in 2002, and 2.3 billion people got poorly from diseases caused by unhygienic water. Each year 1.8 million people pass away from diarrhoea diseases, and 90% of these deaths are of children under five years (WHO, 2004). Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had traditionally been the major stakeholder in the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities. Since the 1960s the GWSC has focussed chiefly on urban areas at the peril of rural areas and thus, rural communities in the Wassa West District are no exception. According to the Ghana 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ II) Survey Report (GSS, 2005), roughly 78% of all households in the Tamale Metropolis, 97 percent in Accra, 86% in Kumasi and 94% in Sekondi-Takoradi own pipe-borne water. Once more, the report show that a few households do not own any toilet facilities and depend on the bush for their toilet needs, that is 2.1%, 7.3%, and 5% for Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi correspondingly. Access to safe sanitation, improved water and improved waste disposal systems is more of an urban than rural occurrence. In the rural poor households, only 9.2% have safe sanitation, 21.1% use improved waste disposal method and 63.0 % have access to improved water. The major diseases prevalent in Ghana are malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis (bilharzias), typhoid and diarrhea. Diarrhea is of precise concern since it has been recognized as the second most universal disease treated at clinics and one of the major contributors to infant mortality (UNICEF, 2004). The infant mortality rate currently stands at about 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (CIA, 2006). The Wassa West District of Ghana has seen an improvement in water and sanitation facilities during the last decade. Most of the development projects in the district are sponsored by the mining companies, individuals and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Between 2002 and 2008, Goldfields Tarkwa Mine constructed 118 new hand dug wells (77 of which were fitted with hand pumps) and refurbished 48 wells in poor condition. Also, a total of 44 modern style public water closets, were constructed in their catchment areas. The company also donated 19 large refuse collection containers to the District Assembly and built 6 new nurses quarters. The Tarkwa Mine has so far spent 10.5million US dollars of which 26% went into health, water and sanitation projects, 24% into agricultural development, 31% into formal education and the remaining went into other projects like roads and community centre construction ( GGL, 2008). Golden Star Resources (consist of Bogoso/Prestea Mine and Wassa Min e at Damang) also established the community development department in 2005 and has since invested 800 thousand US dollars. Their projects include 22 Acqua-Privy toilets, 10 hand dug wells (all fitted with hand pumps) and supplied potable water to villages with their tanker trucks (BGL, 2007). Other development partners complimenting the efforts of the central government include NGOs WACAM, Care International and Friends of the Nation (FON). WACAM is an environmentally based NGO which monitors water pollution by large scale mining companies. They have sponsored about 10 hand dug wells for villages in the district. Care International sponsors hygiene and reproductive health programmes in schools and on radio. They have also donated a couple of motor bicycles to public health workers in the district who travel to villages. The aims of all these projects were to improve hygiene and sanitation so as to reduce disease transmission. Despite efforts by the development partners, water supply and sanitation related diseases are highly prevalent in the district. Data obtained from the Public and Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of Health (M.O.H., 2008) showed that the top ten most prevalent diseases in the district include malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea. The others are acute eye infection, rheumatism, dental carries, hypertension, pregnancy related complications and home/occupational accidents. A lot more illnesses occur but on a lower scale and these include intestinal worms, coughs and typhoid fever. A complete data on the top ten diseases prevalent in the district is attached as Appendix D but below is a selection of the illnesses that directly result from bad water and sanitation practices. The number of malaria cases decreased from 350 in 2006 to 300 cases per 1000 population in 2008. Despite the decrease, the values involved are still quite high. The incidence of diarrhoea among infants and acute respiratory infection remained 30 and 60 cases per 1,000 populations respectively. This can be attributed to several reasons, including population boom, lack of uninterrupted services and inadequate functioning facilities. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004), an estimated 90% of all incidence of diarrhoea among infants can be blamed on inadequate sanitation and unclean water. For example, in a study of 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, only between 35-80% of water systems were operational in the rural areas (Sutton, 2004). Another survey in South Africa recognized that over 70% of the boreholes in the Eastern Cape were not working (Mackintosh and Colvin, 2003). Further examples of sanitation systems in bad condition have also been acknowledged in rural Ghana, where nearly 40% of latrines put up due to the support of a sanitation program were uncompleted or not used (Rodgers et al., 2007). The author had a personal communication with the District Environmental Officer and he estimated that, approximately there are 224 public toilets, 560 hand dug wells, 1,255 public standpipes and 3 well managed waste disposal sites in the district. According to the 2006 projection, the population of the district is expected to reach 295,753 by the end of the year 2009 (WWDA, 2006). Development partners in the past have concentrated their efforts on facilities provision only. They have not looked well at the possible causes of the persistence of disease transmission despite the effort they are making. Relationships between households socio cultural demographic factors and peoples behaviour with respect to the practice of hygiene could prove an essential lead to the solution of the problem. The fact is, merely providing a water closet does not guarantee that it could be adopted by the people and used well to reduce disease transmission. Epidemiological investigations have revealed that even in dearth supply of latrines, diarrhoeal morbidity can be reduced with the implementation of improved hygiene behaviours (IRC, 2001: Morgan, 1990). Access to waste disposal systems, their regular, consistent and hygienic use and adoption of other hygienic behavioural practices that block the transmission of diseases are the most important factors. In quite a lot of studies fro m different countries, the advancement of personal and domestic hygiene accounted for a decline in diarrhoeal morbidity (Henry and Rahim, 1990). The World Bank, (2003) identifies the demographic characteristics of the household including education of members, occupation, size and composition as influencing the willingness of the household to use an improved water supply and sanitation system. Education, especially for females results in well spaced child birth, greater ability of parents to give better health care which in turn contribute to reduced mortality rates among children under 5years (Grant, 1995). In a study into water resource scarcity in coastal Ghana, Hunter (2004) identified a valid association between household size, the presence of young children and the gender of the household head. It was noted that, female heads were less likely to collect water in larger households. Furthermore, increasing number of young children present increased the odds of female head/spouse being the household water collector. Cultural issues play active part in hygiene and sanitation behaviour especially among members of rural communities. For example, women are hardly seen urinating in public due to a perceived shame in the act but men can be left alone if found doing it. Also, the act of defecation publicly is generally unacceptable except when infants and young children are involved. The reason is that the faeces from young people are allegedly free from pathogens and less offensive (Drangert, 2004). Ismails (1999) work on nutritional assessment in Africa, detected that peoples demographic features, socioeconomic and access to basic social services such as food, water and electricity correlate significantly to their health and nutrition status. Specifically, factors such as age, gender, township status and ethnicity, which are basic to demography, can play a role in the quality of life especially of the elderly. This research assessed peoples practice of personal hygiene in Bogoso and surrounding villages. It also identified the common bacteria present in household stored water sources. Furthermore, the research identified the relationships between some socio-cultural demographic factors of households and the sanitation practice of its members. THE PROBLEM STATEMENT The Wassa West District in the Western Region is home to six large scale mining companies and hundreds of small scale and illegal mining units. Towns and villages in the district have been affected by mining, forestry and agricultural activities for over 120 years (BGL EIS, 2005). Because of this development, the local environment has been subjected to varying degrees of degradation. For example, water quality analysis carried out in 1989 by the former Canadian Bogoso Resources (CBR) showed that water samples had Total coliform bacteria in excess of 16 colonies per 100ml (BGL EIS,2005). Most of the water and sanitation programs executed in the district exerted little positive impact and thus, diarrhoeal diseases are still very high in the towns and villages (See Appendix D on page 80). However, in order to solve any problem it is important to appreciate the issues that contribute to it; after all, identifying the problem in itself is said to be a solution in disguise. Numerous health impact research have evidently recognized that the upgrading of water supply and sanitation alone is generally required but not adequate to attain broad health effects if personal and domestic hygiene are not given equivalent prominence (Scherlenlieb, 2003). The troubles of scarce water and safe sanitation provisions in developing countries have previously been dealt with by researchers for quite some time. However, until recent times they were mostly considered as technical and/or economic problems. Even rural water and sanitation issues are repeatedly dealt with from an entirely engineering point of view, with only a simple reference to social or demographic aspects. Therefore, relatively not much is proven how the socio-cultural demographic influences impinge on hygiene behaviour which in turn influences the transmission of diseases. The relationship between household socio cultural factors and the sanitation conditions of households in the Wassa West District especially the Bogoso Rural Council area has not been systematically documented or there is inadequate research that investigates such relationship. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions were posed to help address the objectives; Why are the several sanitation intervention projects failing to achieve desired results? Why is the prevalence of malaria and diarrhea diseases so high in the district? What types of common bacteria are prevalent in the stored drinking water of households? OBJECTIVES The main aim of this research was to investigate peoples awareness and practice of personal hygiene, access to quality water and sanitation and the possible causes of diarrhoeal diseases and suggest ways to reduce the incidence of diseases in the community. The specific objectives were; To assess the quality of stored household drinking water To establish the extent to which sanitation behaviour is affected by household socio-cultural demographic factors like age and education level of the head. To investigate the occurrence of diarrhoea among young children (0-59 months old) in the households. To identify and recommend good intervention methods to eliminate or reduce the outbreak of diseases and improve sanitation. HYPOTHESIS In addition to the above objectives, the following hypotheses were tested; Occurrence of infant diarrhoea in the household is independent on the educational attainment of child caretakers. There is no relationship between households background factors and the sanitation conditions of the household. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, various literature related to the subject matter of study are reviewed. Areas covered are sanitation, hygiene, water quality and diarrhoeal diseases. Theories and models the study contributed to include USAIDs Sanitation Improvement Framework, the F diagram by Wagner and Lanois and the theory of Social learning. SANITATION Until recently, policies of many countries have focused on access to latrines by households as a principal indicator of sanitation coverage, although of late there has been a change and an expansion in understanding the term sanitation. Sanitation can best be defined as the way of collecting and disposing of excreta and community liquid waste in a germ-free way so as not to risk the health of persons or the community as a whole (WEDC, 1998). Ideally, sanitation should end in the seclusion or destruction of pathogenic material and, hence, a breach in the transmission pathway. The transmission pathways are well known and are potted and simplified in the F diagram (Wagner and Lanois 1958) shown below by figure 3.1. The more paths that can be blocked, the more useful a health and sanitation intervention program will be. It may be mentioned that the health impact indicators of sanitation programmes are not easy to define and measure, particularly in the short run. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to look at sanitation as a package of services and actions which taken together can have some bearing on the health of a person and health status in a community. According to IRC (2001:0), issues that need to be addressed when assessing sanitation would include: How complete the sanitation programme is in addressing major risks for transmitting sanitation-related diseases; Whether the sanitation programme adopted a demand driven approach, through greater peoples participation, or supply driven approach, through heavy subsidy; Whether it allows adjustment to peoples varying needs and payment; If the programme leads to measurably improved practices by the majority of men and women, boys and girls; If it is environmentally friendly. That is; if it does not increase or create new environmental hazards (IRC, 2001) Sanitation is a key determinant of both fairness in society and societys ability to maintain itself. If the sanitation challenges described above cannot be met, we will not be able to provide for the needs of the present generation without hindering that of future generations. Thus, sanitation approaches must be resource minded, not waste minded. HYGIENE Hygiene is the discipline of health and its safeguarding (Dorland, 1997). Health is the capacity to function efficiently within ones surroundings. Our health as individuals depends on the healthfulness of our environment. A healthful environment, devoid of risky substances allows the individual to attain complete physical, emotional and social potential. Hygiene is articulated in the efforts of an individual to safeguard, sustain and enhance health status (Anderson and Langton, 1961). Measures of hygiene are vital in the fight against diarrhoeal diseases, the major fatal disease of the young in developing countries (Hamburg, 1987). The most successful interventions against diarrhoeal diseases are those that break off the transmission of contagious agents at home. Personal and domestic hygiene can be enhanced with such trouble-free actions like ordinary use of water in adequate quantity for hand washing, bathing, laundering and cleaning of cooking and eating utensils; regular washing and change of clothes; eating healthy and clean foods and appropriate disposal of solid and liquid waste. Diarrheal Dise ases Diarrhoea can be defined in absolute or relative terms based on either the rate of recurrence of bowel movements or the constancy (or looseness) of stools (Kendall, 1996). Absolute diarrhoea is having more bowel movements than normal. Relative diarrhoea is defined based on the consistency of stool. Thus, an individual who develops looser stools than usual has diarrhoea even though the stools may be within the range of normal with respect to consistency. According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2006), with diarrhoea, stools typically are looser whether or not the frequency of bowel movements is increased. This looseness of stool which can vary all the way from slightly soft to watery is caused by increased water in the stool. Increased amounts of water in stool can occur if the stomach and/or small intestine produce too much fluid, the distal small intestine and colon do not soak up enough water, or the undigested, liquid food passes too quickly through the small intestine and colon for them to take out enough water. Of course, more than one of these anomalous processes may occur at the same time. For example, some viruses, bacteria and parasites cause increased discharge of fluid, either by invading and inflaming the lining of the small intestine (inflammation stimulates the lining to secrete fluid) or by producing toxins (chemicals) that also fire up the lining to secrete fluid but without caus ing inflammation. Swelling of the small intestine and/or colon from bacteria or from ileitis/colitis can increase the haste with which food passes through the intestines, reducing the time that is available for absorbing water. Conditions of the colon such as collagenous colitis can also impede the capacity of the colon to soak up water. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is probably the most dreaded bacteria today among parents of young children. The name of the bacteria refers to the chemical compounds found on the bacteriums surface. Cattle are the main sources of E. coli O157:H7, but these bacteria also can be found in other domestic and wild mammals. E. coli O157:H7 became a household word in 1993 when it was recognized as the cause of four deaths and more than 600 cases of bloody diarrhoea among children under 5years in North-western United States (US EPA, 1996). The Northwest epidemic was traced to undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food restaurant. Other sources of outbreaks have included raw milk, unpasteurized apple juice, raw sprouts, raw spinach, and contaminated water. Most strains of E. coli bacteria are not dangerous however, this particular strain attaches itself to the intestinal wall and then releases a toxin that causes severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting that lasts a week or longer. In small children and the elderly, the disease can advance to kidney failure. The good news is that E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by cooking to 160F throughout. Reducing diarrhoea morbidity with USAIDs Framework To attain noteworthy improvement in reducing the number of deaths attributed to diarrhoea, its fundamental causes must be addressed. It is approximated that 90% of all cases of diarrhoea can be attributed to three major causes: insufficient sanitation, inadequate hygiene, and contaminated water (WHO 1997). According to USAID, for further progress to be made in the fight against diarrhoea, the concentration will need to include prevention, especially in child health programs. The first method, case management of diarrhoea, has been tremendously successful in recent years in reducing child mortality. The primary process of achieving effect has been through the initiation and operation of oral rehydration therapy; i.e. the dispensation of oral rehydration solution and sustained feeding (both solid and fluid, including breast milk). In addition, health experts have emphasized the need for caretakers to become aware of the danger signs early in children under their care and to obtain suitable, appropriate care to avoid severe dehydration and death. The second approach, increasing host resistance to diarrhoea, has also had some victory with the enhancement of a childs nutritional status and vaccination against measles, a familiar cause of diarrhoea. The third element is prevention through hygiene improvement. Although the health care system has dealt comprehensively with the symptoms of diarrhoea, it has done insufficiently to bring down the overall incidence of the disease. Despite a drop in deaths owing to diarrhoea, morbidity or the health burden due to diarrhoea has not decreased, because health experts are treating the symptoms but not addressing the causes. Thus, diarrhoeas drain on the health system, its effects on household finances and education, and its additional burden on mothers has not been mitigated . Programs in several countries have confirmed that interventions can and do reduce diarrhoea morbidity. A critical constituent of successful prevention efforts is an effective monitoring and appraisal strategy. In order to reduce transmission of faecal-oral diseases at the household level, for example, an expert group of epidemiologist and water supply and sanitation specialist concluded that three interventions would be crucial. These are: Safer disposal of human excreta, particularly of babies and people with diarrhoea. Hand washing after defecation and handling babies faeces and before feeding, eating and preparing food, and; Maintaining drinking water free from faecal contamination in the home and at the source (WHO, 1993). Studies on hand washing, as reported in Boot and Cairncross (1993), confirm that it is not only the act of hand washing, but also how well hands are washed that make a difference. To prevent diarrhoea, its causes must first be fully tacit. According to the USAIDs hygiene improvement framework, a thorough approach to diarrhoea at the national level must tackle the three key elements of any triumphant program to fight disease. These are; contact with the necessary hardware or technologies, encouragement of healthy behaviours, and assistance for long-term sustainability. The concept is explained by figure 3.3 below; The first part, water supply systems, addresses mutually the issue of water quality and water quantity, which reduces the risk of contamination of food and drink. Similarly, ensuring access to water supply systems can greatly ease the time women spend collecting water, allowing more time to care for young children and more time for income generating activities. The third element, household technologies and materials, refers to the increased accessibility to such hygiene supplies as soap (or local substitutes), chlorine, filters, water storage containers that have restricted necks and are covered, and potties for small children. The second element of the hardware component, toilet facilities, involves providing facilities to dispose off human excreta in ways that safeguard the environment and public health, characteristically in the form of numerous kinds of latrines, septic tanks, and water-borne toilets. Sanitation reporting is important because faecal contamination can spread from one household to another, especially in closely populated areas. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES Water quality is defined in terms of the chemical, physical, and biological constituents in water. The word standards is used to refer to legally enforceable threshold values for the water parameters analyzed, while guidelines refer to threshold values that are recommended and do not have any regulatory status. This study employs the world health organization (WHO) and the Ghana standards board (GSB) standards and guidelines in determining the quality of water. Water Quality Requirements for Drinking Water – Ghana Standards The Ghana Standards for drinking water (GS 175-Part 1:1998) indicate the required physical, chemical, microbial and radiological properties of drinking water. The standards are adapted from the World Health Organizations Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 1, 1993, but also incorporate national standards that are specific to the countrys environment. Physical Requirements The Ghana Standards set the maximum turbidity of drinking water at 5 NTU. Other physical requirements pertain to temperature, odour, taste and colour. Temperature, odour and taste are generally not to be objectionable, while the maximum threshold values for colour are given quantitatively as True Colour Units (TCU) or Hazen units. The Ghana Standards specify 5 TCU or 5 Hazen units for colour after filtration. The requirements for pH values set by the Ghana Standards for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5 (GS 175-Part1:1998). Microbial Requirements The Ghana Standards specify that E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria and total coliform bacteria should not be detected in a 100ml sample of drinking water (0 CFU/100ml). The Ghana Standards also specify that drinking water should be free of human enteroviruses. WHO Drinking Water Guidelines Physical Requirements Although no health-based guideline is given by WHO (2006) for turbidity in drinking water, it is recommended that the median turbidity should ideally be below 0.1 NTU for effective disinfection. Microbial Requirements Like the Ghana Standards, no E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria should be detected in a 100 ml sample of drinking water. Water Related Diseases Every year, water-related diseases claim the lives of 3.4 million people, the greater part of whom are children (Dufour et. al, 2003). Water-related diseases can be grouped into four categories ( Bradley, 1977) based on the path of transmission: waterborne diseases, water-washed diseases, water-based diseases, insect vector-related diseases. Waterborne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by human or animal faeces or urine containing pathogenic bacteria or viruses. These include cholera, typhoid, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and other diarrhoeal diseases. Water washed diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and skin or eye contact with contaminated water. These include scabies, trachoma and flea, lice and tick-borne diseases. Water-based diseases are caused by parasites found in intermediate organisms living in contaminated water. These include dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis and other helminths. Water related diseases are caused by insect vectors, especially mosquitoes that breed in water. They include dengue, filariasis, malaria, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis and yellow fever. The Theory of Social Learning Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that can be attributed to experience (Coon, 1989). According to the social learning theory, behavioural processes are directly acquired by the continually dynamic interplay between the individual and its social environment (Mc Connell, 1982). For example, children learn what to do at home by observing what happens when their siblings talk back to their parents or throw rubbish into the household compound. The learning process occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement refers to any event that increases chances that a response will occur again (Coon, 1989). Reinforcement and punishment can be learned through education where the person can read about what happens to people as a result of actions they make. The elementary unit of society is the household and this can be defined as a residential group of persons who live under the same roof and eat out of the same pot (Friedman, 1992). Social learning is necessary for the household in acquiring the skills pertinent to the maintenance of health promoting behaviour. Most of our daily activities are learned in the household. Individuals begin to learn behaviour patterns from childhood by observing especially the parents and later on their siblings. The environment is understood as comprising the whole set of natural or biophysical and man-made or socio-cultural systems, in which man and other organisms live, work or interact (Ocran, 1999). The environment is human lifes supporting system from which food, air and shelter are derived to sustain human life. Humans interact with the physical and man-made environment and this interaction creates a complex, finely balanced set of structures and processes, which evolve over the history of a people. These structures and processes determine the culture of the society, their social behaviour, beliefs and superstition about health and diseases. Social relationships seem to protect individuals against behavioural disorders and they facilitate health promoting behaviour (Barlow and Durand, 1995; Ho