ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY - Essay Example This is a significant environmental issue that has raised debate across the country and the increasing use of technology by the developed nations is one of the major threats that prompted the signing of the Montreal protocol. The agreement also sought to tighten the ban on trading some substances like methyl due to its great contribution to the ozone depletion with dire climatic consequences on Earth. b. Implementation schedule. Since 1987 when this protocol was observed after the Vienna convention, there has been a series of meetings among the parties and there is as steady implementation and amendment of some of the policies. The initial meeting was meant to address the mode of mitigating the emission of ozone depletion substances with particular focus to the chlorofluorocarbon compounds (Reitze, 2001). Further meetings have been occasioned by assessment of the implementation process with the last meeting of the open-ended working group emphasizes the strict adherence to the protoc ol rules and regulations which is now backed up by licensing of various manufacturers and their nations on the limit of the producing the specified ozone depletion process (United Nations Environment Programme,2006). Implementation schedule was spread over years that spans from the protocol’s inception to 2013. c. Number of participants and the reasons for the level of participation. The Protocol currently has 197 parties who are assigned various legal obligations to undertake. The members participation is determined by the economic status since this highly gives the estimated volume of industrial production which in turn explains the production of ODS (Reitze, 2001). The developed member states have been found to be the major polluters as compared to the less developed countries and this explains why their participation is more of concern. The developing countries are most involved in promoting environmental care campaign in their respective nations. d. Compare the success o f the Montreal Protocol to that of the Kyoto Protocol and address the reasons for any differences in terms of National Interests of those that elected to participate and those that have not. The two protocols have a common denominator in the form of reducing the exponential rate of ozone layer depletion emissions. It is worth to note that US has been at the center stage as the global economic powerhouse in respect to the control of this climate menace issue. On the basis of cost benefit analysis US realized that it has more to lose from Kyoto protocol and therefore vehemently opposed it. On the other hand Montreal protocol was seen to be relatively friendly and proved to be acceptable by many countries. One of the issues that dogged Kyoto protocol was its monetary compensation mechanism which did not go down well with US and other nations. The conflicting interests of various participants arose from the cost/benefit analysis of the monetary consideration of Kyoto protocol against th e licensing of Montreal protocol (Oberthu?r & Ott, 1999). On aggregate many participants promoted adoption of Montreal protocol as being effective and economical to implement. 2. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): a. Discuss the issue of â€Å"Property Rights† as it relates to UNCOLS The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a legal framework that empowers various countries bordering sees and oceans on how to manage them (Sands, 2003). It is important to

A reflective analysis | Learning with ICT

A reflective analysis | Learning with ICT This part of the assignment is a reflective analysis of my learning with ICT on this module. I am going to review my experience in collaborative learning on this module drawing my attention to the learning experience from the face to face sessions on the unit compared to the classroom sessions. Collaborative Learning Experience There are many ways that people learn in their everyday lives. Learning can take place anywhere at any time wherever you may be. Joel (2003) stated that Learning is a change in behaviour that results from the learners interaction with the environment. Joels statement is linked into the two environments experienced on this module. This module the teaching and learning consisted of face-to-face classroom sessions and online VLE discussions held on a weekly basis for one hour. The topics that were covered in this module are the way you can learn in different ways. Students participated in these discussions about various experiences and reinforced the information to promote further discussion. These discussions were mostly set in groups where we had to work together to complete various tasks. This type of collaborative learning is when two or more people are in a situation to learn something together Dillenbourg (1999). This occurred on two occasions in this module, one was creating a mi ndmap (online) and one was marking a past assignment (face-to-face). Both were instances of learning something new and we were in groups of more than one. Harding (1993) also suggested that collaborative learning usually works when students group together to create a knowledge and understanding of a certain situation. This in my understanding is communication amongst the group. Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a concept within collaborative learning where it uses technology in the learning environment to facilitate group interactions Mitnik (2009). In my understanding on this module collaborative learning is the completion of any given project or task. According to Miller (1998) successful collaborative tasks have characteristics such as the problem being solved are example of the types of problems found in normal everyday life. Millers statement here links in with the past and current experiences of all students on the course where they have discussed the topic i n hand relating them to their own personal experiences. Miller (1998) also went onto explain that the problem can be solved by a small number of students who have not got the current knowledge and understanding to solve the problem alone but can contribute to it amongst a team. When working with my peers on the collaborative learning tasks I firstly felt as I am the youngest I wont know as much knowledge as the rest of them. However it gave me the opportunity to develop a higher level thinking skill to show my peers I am interested in the subject that we are going to discuss. The task was a positive learning experience which was very active, involved and insightful. When the mind map task was being developed I found that I was learning mostly from the facilities of the software that were available to me. Thanasis (2009) said that the role of the computer is to support users to communicate and structure the learning activity. This was the case in the collaborative task I completed in this module and the use of collaboration here is the idea of learning taking place when peers interact to achieve task outcomes (Thanasis 2009). This collaboration activity of the module was a challenging task as many of us had different ideas. However I felt that we all put our ideas together to find the best outcome. Smith (1992) suggested that this sort of collaborative learning process is not beginning with facts and ideas and then finding out the problem but it begins with the problem to find out the facts and ideas in the first place. We as a group didnt meet up altogether initially but I discussed the task before hand to a member of my peer and just went over what we would want to do. This pre-process helped as I went away and did my own research to find out some ideas I could share. By working in this environment we could cover more ground and get the task done at a quicker pace than doing it individually in which can help by sharing resources and ideas. With my teaching ex perience in my previous school, students working in smaller groups enable them to increase their knowledge and widen their understanding of the task in hand. The task which is given to the students is structured in a way to accomplish the learning objectives set. Giving students individual responsibilities gives a lively and energetic vibe to the classroom and the thought of competition amongst other students seemed common. Stahl (2002) suggested that when using technology to support collaborative learning it enhances peer interaction and facilitates the distribution of knowledge and expertise amongst the group. The different collaborative Learning strategies I used in the classroom were that I created different tasks and activities that were necessary for the group to work together and be dependent on each other. If certain individuals do really well and shine through, it created a more motivated establishment in the group. Communities of practise My experiences of group interaction relates to the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger Communities of Practise (CoP) which we covered in our module. Wenger (1991) defines CoP as a passion of learning something and sharing it amongst a group of people and then establishing how it was done. This is a way of promoting new ideas, developing social means, facilitating and spreading knowledge within a group (Wenger 1991). Wengers definition relates to the module task we worked on. The process of social learning that occurred when a group of students came together to discuss a task was something that we were interested in and collaborated with. Wenger went onto explaining that CoP had 3 main components to it which were domain, community and practice. A domain of interest is a specific subject area, which in our case the multiple intelligence theories. The community is where students gathered together and shared ideas and information about Gardner in the module. The practise is members of t he group who are already helpful in the resources and give common experience encountered. These components were explored more in Part 1 Websipration unit on Microworlds. Effective classroom interaction needs to be managed to help student generate a deeper understanding of the lesson. Harry (1993) describes Moores theory (1984) that this type of management involving three types of learning. Interaction with resources, teachers and peers. With the face to face sessions we encountered on the course I learnt to work with different types of people from different backgrounds. During our lecturers the small group discussions allowed us to reflect and act upon discussions and responses when certain questions were raised by the tutor. These small group interactions on a weekly basis allowed us to have a better understanding on our peers point of view. Downes (1998) states the idea is that learning is not paced so much by the teacher, as it is by the students own capacity to acquire the mater ial. Downes statement is exactly how our module is routined. The tutor has a certain role in the classroom but it is up to the student to obtain and research the necessary information to be prepared enough for the upcoming discussions. This collaboration experience in the classroom and online allowed different students give different responses and established a range of different perspectives on the topic discussed. In MacGregors view he states that Knowledge is shaped, over time, by successive conversations MacGregor (1990). The ability to relate to other students in the face to face session is helpful for other students who find it difficult to communicate in front of others and can benefit their own social skills. However the same goes for the online learning sessions on the module where the learning is catered to individual students and their different learning styles (Downes 1998). As Downes suggested the student can adapt the materials and discussions thrown at them and can re spond in a learning style that suits them. These different learning styles online without seeing peoples faces becomes a centre of excitement and motivation that we all can feel throught the discussions. Maslows theory of motivation describes how human actions are directed toward goal attainment. The esteem needs from Maslows hierarchical pyramid shows a link to the online learning sessions that as students we need the confidence, self-esteem and achievement when working and expressing our views online. To add to this experience it has a deeper impact on me when I answer a question and others respond to it. This built my own self esteem which is described by Maslows theory of motivation as the others were responding to my ideas and encouraged me to give more to the discussion. At times from the online session it was hard getting the topic discussion together as many in the small group didnt want to manage the talk. Gunawardena (1995) suggested that online learning lacks social inter action between students and teachers, as well as within peer groups themselves. I agree with Gunawardenas statement here because it was hard getting everyone to agree with a certain responsibility which slowed down the discussion process. It is difficult to recognise that our group needs a little help and guidance in our conversation but this is not established by the tutor as they are mainly floating between group discussions. I also found that in many of our discussions even though we had a small group, 1 or 2 members would not say anything at all. This then leaves the discussion on 2 people who are the most dominating of characters end up having a conversation between themselves and others are simply sitting and reading. With the online discussions weekly discussions are uploaded on the VLE before the group get together. If the online conversation becomes slow and undirected, I tend to look at a group discussion they placed on the VLE and give my own options on it. This tends to gear the conversation back up and others tend to join in. These posts at times gives me ideas that I hadnt thought of and enables me to respond to their posts so the other students know that other students have acknowledged them. Through the experiences on the online chats I have noticed that this type of interaction allows the opportunity for students to share their own reflections, give critical feedback and comment openly about the topic. If a question is asked from the tutor in lesson its apparent that the same 3 or 4 confident students (including me) will raise their hands and continually answer. The answers are spontaneous commonly on the spot with limited time that we have to discuss. However on the online environment, if the same question is answered its opens a new dimension of read, review and respond method that we have encountered on the course. This VLE learning and online discussions encourage the use of other resources such as internet links, course materials, discuss ions boards at my convenience to help elaborate group discussions. Evaluation ICT has changed dramatically from when ICT as an A level in my experience was simply reading, copying out of a book and then taking the exam. This module has developed my understanding of the intensity of ICT and how ICT can be differentiated in many ways through the range of different virtual worlds software packages. The different activities we entailed in the module were across the board where as I discussed before even different students from different backgrounds could explore. Calongne (2008) explains in his article that Virtual worlds support different learning styles and give students opportunities to explore, discover, and express their understanding of the subject. However the tools capabilities do not guarantee a great learning experience. This was the case on the module, even though there were different virtual softwares we experimented with some were not interesting at all. Only the software I felt I learned the most from were described in part 1 of this report even thou gh most of the software activities were similar to each other. I have learnt a lot about the resources available that I didnt know about and how it can be used in Learning. Applying for my Masters I was worried that I would not have the confidence or techniques to stand up in the classroom again however this module has given me more resources to help me in the future to enhance my lessons using different learning materials. I have always been interested in ICT choosing it at GCSE and A LEVEL and then following it through into my degree and PGCE course. ICT has impacted learning so much that everything is now based around PCs. The online lecturers which were part of the module were accessed at any convenient time and place. This enabled students in the UK and abroad to approach the module without any limitation and express ideas at a pace convenient to them. Online learning as experienced on this module has brought a new dimension to learning and allows the student to engage with oth er members of my class outside the university environment which helps build confidence amongst the group when we got together. The flexibility of not writing quick short hand notes in lecturers but the detail of discussion remains and I can easily read back anything I may have missed. The tutor in this instant can be seen as a guide to the discussions and gives us students the opportunity to express our opinions and comments on other comments. The classroom interactions are more for the students who prefer to gain more knowledge from other people but also establishing new friendships amongst the group and direct contact with the tutor. Within the learning environment from face to face sessions which are rather brief in my experience however it becomes at times a great ice breaker for those who tend to be the much shy students. Our tutor being the certain point in both the face to face and online sessions gives them plenty of experience to help avoid any future drawbacks from these s essions. This enables tutors to grip the potential of collaborative learning and pull together information from the module evaluations to improve the course as a whole. Conclusion Online learning can always have its advantages and disadvantages but technology is there as a tool for learning which is combined with the different teaching methods. It is the way the students respond, review and reflect which was a key aspect of learning in this module. Students explore education in many different ways and the course has allowed us to do this online and face to face. These are only 2 types of learning but more technology will be introduced and more ways of learning will be introduced. This can change how we learn today through the use of student social collaboration methods. As cited in Gibson (2007) Visions without action is a dream; action without vision, nightmare. If only there was a virtual simulation that can visualise the future of education and how a learning environment would look like which could give us an indication of how rapidly technology is changing.

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers

Death Penalty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When turning on the television, radio, or simply opening the local newspaper, people are bombarded with news of arrests, murders, homicides, and other such tragedies. I believe murder, including the death penalty, is the worst thing that anyone could do. Since Hammurabi first introduced the notion of â€Å"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth†, people have been arguing over whether this is just punishment. Those in favor of the death penalty argue that people should pay for the crimes they do. For them, death is the only fit punishment in some cases. This is not the case. The death penalty is, rather, unethical and wrong. A death for another death does nothing but satisfy one's need for revenge. How often do these concepts creep into the public’s mind when it hears of our ‘fair, trusty’ government taking away someone’s breathing rights? I am strongly against the death penalty because it violates God’s rules, costs the tax payers too much money, and the possible â€Å"wrongly accused.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I do not support having the death penalty because it violates religious beliefs. Many religions, such as my own, Catholicism, follow the rules that God sent to us through the Ten Commandments. One of the most important of those ten state, â€Å"Thou shall not kill.† If someone is executing an individual, that clearly violates this commandment. Most of the people today are supposed to live Christian lives, but they don’t mind people getting killed. I am pretty sure if it were som...

Bacillus Cereus

B cereus has been discovered since 1955 as a cause of food poisoning (Luna etal 2007). 52 cases of food borne diseases connected with B cereus were reported in the interval between 1972 and 1986 and only two cases were reported in 2003 which represent about 2 % of the actual cases due to underreporting and many of the case go undiagnosed(Benenson 1990) . According to the south Carolina department of Health and Environmental control and CDC,close to 25% of state public health laboratory do not carry out B cereus testing routinely (Kramer& Gilbert 1989).The Centre for Disease Control estimates that 97% of all cases of food poisoning come from improper food handling; 79% of cases result from food prepared in commercial or institutional establishments and 21% of cases result from food prepared at home (Terranova & Blaker 1978). The most common etiologies are as follows: (1) leaving prepared food at temperatures that allow bacterial growth, (2) inadequate cooking or reheating, (3) cross-c ontamination, and (4) infection in food handlers (Blaker 1978).Cross-contamination may occur when raw contaminated food comes in contact with other foods, especially cooked foods, through direct contact or indirect contact on food preparation surfaces. Bacteria cause approximately 75% of the outbreaks of food poisoning and for 80% of the cases with a known cause in the United States (Blaker 1978). As many as 1 in 10 Americans has diarrhea due to food-borne infection each year. The 2 syndromes associated with B cereus food poisoning include short incubation or emetic syndrome with I.C=1-6 hours and the long incubation or Diarrhea syndrome with I. C=6-24 hours (Kramer 1989). Fried rice is the leading cause of emetic syndrome in the US (Bean 1990; Terronova 1978). Heat stable emetic toxin (ETE) is responsible for the short incubation period syndrome while the heat labile enterotoxin is responsible for the long incubation syndrome (Bean etal 1990) Syndrome Types of Bacillus Cereus food poisoning Bacillus cereus food poisoning has two varieties namely the emetic syndrome as well as the diarrhea syndrome types. B.cereus has some toxins responsible for its pathology and such toxins produces diseases that tally more with intoxication than absolute food poisoning. The emetic type can usually be confused with staphylococcal food poisoning due to its short incubation period (Luna etal 2007). However staph aureus being an important cause of food poisoning produces infection following growth in protein and carbohydrate foods. The enterotoxins of S aureus are super antigens and are heat stable making them resistant to the action of gut enzymes .As small as 25 microgram of enterotoxin B can produce diarrhea and nausea (Luna etal 2007). The emetic effect of this toxin is believed to be as a result of central nervous effect following the action of the toxins on the gut neural receptors (Ficker etal 2007). Some strains of staph aureus produce enterotoxins during their developme nt in meat, dairy foods and other food products and characteristically, this food usually has been recently prepared but has not been properly refrigerated. Almost 6 distinct types of staph enterotoxins exist.Following the swallowing of the preformed toxin, it is taken in by the gut mucosa and subsequently stimulates neural receptors and this stimulus is transferred to the vomiting centre in the brain and this projectile form of vomiting usually occur after few hours and it is less frequently associated with diarrhea and staph food poisoning is regarded as the commonest form. The food poisoning due to staphylococcus are usually associated with a smaller incubation period when compared with B cereus (from 1 to 8 hours).It is also associated with a very violent, copious nausea, diarrhea and vomiting all occurring in the absence of fever(Benenson 1990). It should be noted that with the emetic type where the incubation period is 2-8 hours, the prominent symptom is vomiting whereas in th e diarrhea type with incubation period of 8-16 hours the prominent symptom is diarhoea. Other species of bacillus are infrequently associated with human pathologies and difficulty arises in differentiating superficial contamination with B cereus from the authentic disease caused by this same organism .About 5 species of the Bacillus are aetiologic agents in insects and they include: B larvae, B lentimorbus,B sphericus,B papillae and B thurigiences and some of them have been taken advantage of by their use as insecticides(Fricker etal 2007) . Incorporation of the gene from B thuringiesis into some commercial plants has been recently achieved and this subsequently has generated a lot of controversies among the activists on environmental issues about the safety of these genetically fashioned food and plants products (Guerrant and Bobac 1991).Food types associated with food poisoning While the emetic type is associated with foods like fried rice and in fact the leading cause in the US ( Black low &Greeberg 1991), the diarrhea syndrome is associated with the likes of sauces and meat. The short incubation type is linked with fried rice that is cooked and kept warm for many hours and is also often associated with Chinese foods. A previous outbreak has revealed macaroni and also cheese from milk being the source of the bacterium.Incubation Period of the two syndromes of B. cereus that causes Food poisoning In the emetic type the diarrhea usually last for about 24 hours and it usually start 1-5 hours after the ingestion of the food substance like rice and it may also follow the ingestion of pasta foods. Food poisoning of the long incubation period i. e. 10 to 24 hours is the diarrhea type and this type may be confused with clostridia food poisoning. Mechanism of action ETE-forms small molecules, channels and holes in membranes.HBL-stimulates intestinal fluid secretion by various mechanisms including activation of adenylate cyclase and pore formation. Toxin of B-cereus i nclude emetic toxin (ETE), Nhe and EntK. Only 2 of the 3 enterotoxins participate in the causation of food poisoning and they consist of 3 different protein substitute acting together. HBL is a haemolysin while Nhe is not . EntK is a single component protein and not associated with food poisoning (Terranova&Blaker 1978). The 3 enterotoxins of B cereus have cytotoxic effect and they act on cell membranes forming holes and channels in them.People at risk of developing food poisoning The high risk population for food poisoning includes the older adults and this is due to the fact that as you get older, your immune system may not respond as quickly and as effectively to infectious organisms as when you were younger (Blacklow & Greeberg 1999). The Similar explanation goes for Infants and young children because of the immaturity of their gastrointestinal tract and also their immune systems haven’t been so fully developed.People with chronic diseases are also at risk of food poisoni ng because having a chronic condition, such as diabetes or AIDS, or receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer reduces your immune response. Clinical features The clinical symptoms produced by the emetic type include abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and self limiting type of diarrhea. The clinical symptoms of the diarrhea or long term incubation syndrome include fever and vomiting in rare cases but most prominent symptoms are profuse diarrhea and abdominal pain.The intestinal toxin is usually preformed but it can be produced inside the intestinal tract (Kramer &Gilbert 1989). To make a meaningful diagnosis of this organism, one will require that a load of about 105 of the organism is present in the feaces and just the presence of the organism not up to this maximum concentration is not enough to diagnose. Also importantly, B cereus is an important aetiologic agent of eye diseases such as panopthalmitis, endopthalmitis and infection of the cornea too .This organism during a traumatic event is usually inoculated into the eye and it usually does this via the foreign body introduced into the eye. Both local and system problems have been reported associated with B cereus and it’s been associated with medical foreign devices such as braces, prosthetic valves, and some invasive procedures like passage of urinary catheter, nasogastric tube and chest tubes. Some of the associated systemic problems caused by the organism include meningitis and encephalitis, pneumonia, osteomylitis, as well as endocarditis.The use of intravenous drugs also predisposes to infections by B cereus (Bean &Griffith 1990). The organism lives inside the soil and it is a common finding that it contaminates foods like rice (Jones and Blicslayer 2002). The toxins production usually occur when large amount of rice is prepared and then allowed to cool down which subsequently lead to the growth of the spores and the vegetative form now synthesize the toxins and all these occur in th e log phase growth period or during the process of sporulation.Clostridium is the third leading cause of bacteria food borne epidemics following salmonella and staphylococcus aurues The enterotoxin it produces causes a self resolving gastroenteritis and it does this by binding to the brush border membrane receptor and therefore binding to abdominal wall mucosa, interrupting the exchange of ion and the resultant effect is the loss of ions and low molecular weight metabolic products (Benenson 1990). The time of onset of the clinical manifestation is usually between 8 and 16 hours i.e. earlier than that of B cerues and it follows the ingestion of the organism itself. Although it is also associated with abdominal pain and diarrhea but less commonly with systemic problems. Another species of the clostridium family is clostridium difficile is usually associated with over 25% of antibiotic associated diarrhea and 95% cases of psedomembraneous enterocolitis and the organism produces two ent erotoxins (exotoxin A&B). Some of the precipitant antibiotics include clindamicin and ampicillin.However the diarrhea of B cereus infection does not follow antibiotics use. The clinical picture of C difficile diarrhea includes nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain as well as greenish voluminously large amount of diarrhea (Blacklow and Greeberg 1991). Protoscopy will show pseudo membranes and microabscesses with an erythematous mucosa and the diagnosis is confirmed by demonstrating toxins in the stool and the current treatment of choice includes oral metronidazole (Fricker etal 2007). Other aetiologic agents of food poisoningOther bacteria organism toxins that have been implicated to cause food poisoning include those of Vibro cholera, Yersina enterolitica, and Aeromonas species. However the exact role of the organism and their toxins in pathogenesis is not well delineated except for V cholerae. C perfirigens is another aetiologic agent responsible for food poisoning (Jones&Blikslaker 200 2). Case Study 1 Father, mother and 2 children with respective ages 34, 28, 6 and 4 presented in a hospital because of passage of watery stool and fever all of 6-12 hours duration.There was history of eating green salad beans, ground meat and tortillas prepared by someone else in an encampment because they are migrant farm worker family. It was also found out later that another 7 month old child in the family had not taken the food and was found to be well. The children started having abdominal discomfort, diarhoa and fever 24 hours later and the symptoms have been continuous since the previous 12 hours and both affected children have been having bloody stool.The parents also started having similar symptoms 5 and 7 hours ealier excluding visible bloody stool. There was history that some other persons in the encampment had similar symptoms in the past 2 weeks and that the camp’s hygienic state is poor. Both children are warm to touch on examination as well as the parents and h ave increased heartbeat and the children also appeared to lack fluid . A mount of their stool revealed white cells that fight infections and the faeces of the children were blood stained. Comments and explanationGenerally speaking, vomiting, nausea, fever abdominal pain and diarrhea are the major key symptoms of infection of the gastrointestinal tract and the main symptom will depend on the cause whether it is a toxin or invasive or a combination of the two (Guerrant &Bobak 1991). Usually, nausea and vomiting are often related with preformed toxins in food. For instance, B cereus and staph aureus can generate enterotoxins in food and this usually happen few hours after the ingestion of the food substance (Guerrant &Bobak 1991).The likes of enterotoxins of enterotoxigenic E coli and Vibrio Cholera usually affect the superior aspect of the bowel to cause watery and massive diarhoea. As in the above scenario, invasive bacteria penetrate the colonic mucosal and cause abdominal pain with blood and mucous associated with fever and dehydration and this constellation of symptoms are regarded to as dysentery and the implicated aetiologic are for dysentery are:Entamoeba histolytica,Clostridium difficile ,enteroinvasive E. coli,salmonella ,campylobacter jejuni.The above children were admitted in the hospital and treated and parents were also treated as outpatients with fluids and drugs and this is followed by public health sanitary measures in the camp. In conclusion, food poisonings are very common most especially in the developing parts of the world with high morbidity and mortality most especially among infants and children (Kramer &Gilbert 1989). Therefore of value are public health preventive measures by the provision of good water supply as well as sanitary and hygienic water and food supply.(Guerrant RL, Bobak DA: Bacterial and protozoa gastroenteritis. N Engl J Med 1991; 325:32). Case study 2 A reported incidence of acute gastrointestinal infection occurred in Ju ly 21, 1993 among the members of staff as well as the pupils of a co-owned child day care school after a catered lunch. This lunch was served for eating to 82 pupils of the day care centre to children between the age of 6 and less and the children are 82 in number along with 9 staff members. Past dietary history was gotten from 80 individuals and 67 were said to participate in the lunch.An individual at the day care made a case definition of vomiting. Among those served and who ate at the lunch, 21 %( 14) became sick and 13 did not. The symptoms observed ranged from diarrheal in 14 %,pain in 30% case and nausea in 71% case. 12 out of the 14 instances occurred among the children from ages 2. 5-5 and 2 other members of staff. Stastical analysis reveals that the median incubation period was 2 hours(the range is 1. 5-3. 5 hours). The resolution of symptoms took place over median interval of 4 hours following the onset(range 1. 5-22 hours).Among the dishes served in the local restaurant, only chicken fried rice was linked with notable illness and the problem occurred among 14(29%) out of the 48 individuals who ate the chicken fried rice in comparison to none of the 16 individuals who did not eat. The implicated rice was prepared the night preceding the incidence on July 20 under room temperature before it was refrigerated. The report also confirms that the rice was heated in oil with the slices of the cooked chicken on the morning of the lunch, then handed over to the daycare centers at around 10:30 am without refrigeration and served at noon without rewarming it.As a subsequence to the outbreak the advice by the health personnel to the restaurant officials and daycare staff was to stop the custom of cooling of rice or any other food at room temperature henceforth and that food should be kept at appropriate temperature of 5 degree or above 60 degree and that the temperature should be confirmed by a thermometer. Analysis of the case study 2 This short incubation syn drome variety of the disease which featured in this outbreak is overseen by highly stable toxin that can withstand enzymatic effect as well as extremes of temperature and PH.The diarrhea syndromic type is mediated on the other hand by an acid and heat labile intestinal toxin affected by the effect of the proteolytic enzymes like pepsin, trypsin etc. To make a diagnosis of Food poisoning, it is essential to isolate more than 10 5organisms per gramme from the epidemiologically implicated food substance . The self resolving as well as the lack of severity in most cases account for the reason B cereus is underreported(qtd in Todar 2004). Moreover recent research reveals that close to 20 % public health laboratory do not have the facility for the routine test for B cereus.In the United States, the leading cause of the emetic syndrome type or the â€Å"Short incubation syndrome† type of B. cereus is fried rice. As discussed before that B cereus more often than not is found in uncoo ked rice where the heat resistant spores also withstand and survive cooking. The survival of the vegetative form is a possibility after cooked rice is placed in an incubator as it generates heat stable toxin substance which can withstand heating(Kramer &Gilbert 1989). In this described scenario, the vegetative form must have proliferated at the food joint and also at the day care centre while the rice was being kept at room temperature.The problem is the unawareness of the restaurant food workers that certain danger is associated with cooked rice potentially. It’s imperative from the report the need to properly inform food handlers about fundamental rules and customs for hygienic healthy and safe food management and handling (Benenson 1990). Web Review of Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology. â€Å"The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly†. (SCIENCE Magazine- June 4, 2004 – Vol 304: p. 1421). Retrieved from www. textbookofbacteriology. net on May20, 2009. Bibliograp hy Bean NH, Griffin PM.Foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States, 1973-1987: pathogens, vehicles, and trends. Journal of Food Protection 1990; 53:804-17. Benenson AS, ed. Control of communicable diseases in man. 15th ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 1990:177-8. Kramer JM, Gilbert RJ. Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus species. In: Doyles MP, ed. Foodborne bacterial pathogens. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 1989:21-70. Terranova W, Blake PA. Bacillus cereus food poisoning. N Engl J Med 1978;298:143-4. Luna, V. A. , King, D. S. , Gulledge, J. , Cannons, A.C. , Amuso, P. T. , Cattani, J. (2007). Susceptibility of Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus pseudomycoides and Bacillus thuringiensis to 24 antimicrobials using Sensititre(R) automated microbroth dilution and Etest(R) agar gradient diffusion methods. J Antimicrob Chemother 60: 555-567 Fricker, M. , Messelhausser, U. , Busch, U. , Scherer, S. , Ehling-Schulz, M. (2007). Diagn ostic Real-Time PCR Assays for the Detection of Emetic Bacillus cereus Strains in Foods and Recent Food-Borne Outbreaks. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 1892-1898Blacklow NR, Greenberg HB: Bacteria gastroenteritis Engl J Med1991; 325:252. Guerrant RL, Bobac DA: Bacteria and Protozoal gastroenteritis. N England J Med 1991; 325:327. Mckay DM intestinal inflammation and the gut microflora. Can J gastroenterocol 13:509, 1999. Jones SL, Blikslaker AT: the role of the enteric nervous system in the in the Pathophysiology of secretory diarhoea. J Vet Intern Med 16:222, 2002. Guerrant RL et al: Practice guidelines for the management of infectious diarrhea. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:331. Guerrant RL, Bobak DA: Bacterial and protozoal gastroenteritis. N Engl J Med 1991;325:327.

Emphasizing Cultural Attributes Essay

Abstract Students identified for special education programs, either for the gifted or for students in need of more intensive instruction, are often identified solely by their qualifying label or diagnosis in close to all circumstances. The emphasized focus on this one attribute often results in a lack of acknowledgement for the culture of the child and how that culture affects learning style and social behavior. The students in these programs may not have the self-awareness to know and be proud of their heritage nor might their peers have an idea of how each are the same and different because of these ancestral qualities. This lack of recognition disrupts the efforts that both schools and communities put forth in establishing multicultural environments for learning and socializing. It causes people to view special education students with a narrow perspective which then affects the manner in which they ultimately view all other groups. Reversing this trend and helping people to consider special education students as whole persons is achievable through simple yet intensive education of both students and professional educators. A combination of special education curriculum and professional development focusing on differentiation between cultural characteristics and label-related behaviors would provide the framework, tools, and training needed to implement a consistent education about cultural diversity as well as broaden the awareness of administrators, teachers, and instructional staff regarding different cultures and ways of life. Resistance from districts or schools would be challenged with research based findings and statistics as well as active experiences from educational establishments already piloting the program. By infusing a diversity curriculum for special education and helping professional educators to consider these students for all of their natural qualities, including but certainly not limited to their qualifying factors for special education, the multicultural movement is perpetuated. Teachers are the greatest role models for both students and community members. Providing curriculum and training in the area of cultural diversity empowers teachers to make subtle and grand changes to their schools and communities. Throughout our education system, students are labeled and categorized so as to ensure proper delivery of instruction and academic services. This labeling process occurs via a series of assessments, observations, and includes correlation with any accompanying medical diagnosis or characteristics of such. Students whose assessment results place them outside the average or normal range are grouped either as â€Å"gifted† or â€Å"in need of more intensive instruction† and placed in special education. Once in a special education program, these students are primarily identified by their diagnosis, such as autistic or cerebral palsy, or label, such as gifted or savant. While this information is crucial to developing an academic plan that will challenge the student and initiate academic growth, these labels tend to cause educators and instructional support staff to lose sight of the student as a whole person. By failing to identify the cultural characteristics of students in special education, the school system makes itself vulnerable to failing the child. Children and their behaviors are shaped by their lifestyles at home and in the community. Households adhere to a variety of procedures and routines from how to manage hygiene to cooking practices to sharing and interacting with others. For students with additional traits that yield enrollment in special education, it is crucial to consider the cultural aspects of their lives so as to enhance the effectiveness of instruction and learning. By disregarding cultural characteristics, the students are at risk of being seen only for their disability or label and provided instruction based on statistics and research taken on other children with similar labels rather than truly individualized for each student. As a special education teacher, I can attest to the simplicity of developing lesson plans based on the disabilities seen in the classroom. Particularly if the classroom is tailored to one diagnosis, such as Autism, using pre-determined and proven methods that lend themselves to the disability are an easy way to deliver instruction and leave oneself believing the lesson was the best it could be. Unfortunately by adhering to published numbers and data collected about other students, scholars suffer both a diminished accessibility to the curriculum as well as misidentification of demonstrated behaviors during both academic and social time. When blinded by published data, educators are more prone to eliminate behaviors that are undesirable under the heading of the disability or label even though the same behavior is common in the culture of the student. Scholars are unable to fully connect with instruction or activities because cultural traits related to learning may be redirected or stopped. In a way, by identifying the student only by qualifying label and not also by gender, culture, or race, the school system is inadvertently causing the students to become more engrained in the shortcoming of their disabilities rather than giving them the knowledge and tools to overcome their obstacles. Additionally, the school forces the students to assimilate to a model of non-culture which results in a total loss of culture identification. In the case of gifted students, not emphasizing cultural differences leaves these leaders of the future short-handed in both social and networking skills. They will lack an understanding of themselves which can isolate them from their cultural peers as well as damage their ability to associate to their peers and colleagues both as children and as adults. Students, professional educators, and the community would benefit from a combination of diversity curriculum and professional development addressing the topic of cultural diversity in special education. As role models for both the students and the community, teachers will reap the most benefit from implementing such a program as well as have the greatest influence over the effectiveness of the results. By establishing a cohesive awareness about the cultural identities of students in special education, the manner in which the students and the community view all social groups will be improved. (MAISD, 2013) Curriculum written to the level of special education students would help both gifted and underachieving students gain a greater understanding and perspective about cultural diversity, allowing them to identify themselves and their peers as members of rich and honorable histories. (Minnesota State Colleges & Universities, 2013) This curriculum would parallel that of general education curriculum but with modifications to make it more accessible to the target audiences of special education. Additional lessons and activities about self identification and awareness, stereotypes of different cultures, comparison of cultural practices, and comparison of specific cultural behaviors and disability-related behaviors provide the foundation knowledge that many special educations students are lacking. Curriculum for special day classes would include creating consistent visual cues for identifying different cultures and the basic characteristics associated with each one. Gifted students would be given opportunities to delve into deeper thinking about their own heritage in comparison to that of their peers, the pros and cons of how different cultural lifestyles and attitudes affect society and the economy, and project how different cultural attributes may affect the future. (Schroeder, 2011). Implementation of this curriculum would be coupled with professional development for all school personnel. The professional development would focus on identifying students in special education by culture, gender, and race in addition to diagnosis or qualifying factors. Participants would receive a general foundation education about how different cultures look in the classroom and how those behaviors mimic the behaviors related to different disabilities or levels of genius. For example, students with Asian heritage tend to avoid eye contact which is also a classic trait of Autism. An Asian student with an autism diagnosis should not be encouraged to make eye contact with adults even though eye contact is an area of social interaction that many autism programs focus on improving. Data taken on the student’s behavior should not include frequency of eye contact because results will yield poor performance that may or may not be related to the disability. In addition to increasing understanding in this area, teachers will be given the knowledge to find students whose cultural behaviors may have led to a misidentification for special education. Our public school system continues to demonstrate a disturbing number of students who have been wrongly identified for special education due to cultural characteristics or inability to relate to assessment tools because of cultural experiences or beliefs. By learning to differentiate between cultural and disability/label related behaviors, teachers will have a first-hand opportunity to ensure that all students are placed in appropriate classrooms offering them a just-right challenge. Professional development will include information about different White cultures for these students are often lumped together as â€Å"cultureless† and therefore disregarded as displaying behaviors that can be attributed to their heritage. (Perry, 2001) White students come from a myriad of ancestries; French, South African, Australian, Spanish, Welsh, and German to name a few, and each display their own unique array of culturally related behaviors. For example, the French culture adheres to hygiene practices that are different than most cultures. As a result, a French special education student may be adverse to water because of lack of exposure. It is important to refrain from automatically attaching the adverse reaction to sensory disregulation or irrational fear, two common characteristics of many disabilities. A special education student with South African roots may only eat meat and avoid vegetables, which reflects the heavy meat diet enjoyed by persons in this region. (Oplan, 2013) It would be easy to label this as â€Å"finicky eating† and relate it back to a diagnosis of Autism or Down Syndrome, disabilities that often manifest a very limited diet. Doing so, however, damages the child and his perception of his culture as it relates to American society. Implementation of curriculum and professional development would be relatively simple as long as districts and schools are willing to make an attempt. Upon introduction to school districts, both the curriculum and training would be supported by research based findings and statistical information regarding instances of misidentification for special education, the rise of disability diagnosis as compared to the increase of culturally diverse students in public school, parallels between cultural and disability related behaviors, and rates of school failure of students whose cultural needs were not served in the classroom. The program would include additional training for district selected educators to act as support personnel for both the curriculum and training as well as regional support contacts. An online live chat forum would be established and made available 24 hours per day, seven days per week to allow educators to exchange ideas, discuss challenges, and share successes. Teachers would have opportunities to provide feedback so as to keep the training and curriculum current as well as help them feel acknowledged and empowered to continue implementing the program. Education of special education students beyond the basics is crucial if they are going to have the tools and knowledge needed to actively participate in their communities as adults. In order to interact socially with others as well as protect themselves from bigotry and slander, these students need to understand cultural differences and how those differences both benefit and plague society. They need to know what their role is in establishing a greater sense of multiculturalism in school and the community and be able to share information so as to educate others. Gifted students need a well rounded education about the world and how it interacts, most especially as related to cultural differences. They need to know how to find the threads of commonality among cultural groups while simultaneously celebrating diversity. By maintaining these skills, the students will be in the best position to have a positive influence on society and increase cultural awareness and understanding as well as diminish misguided stereotypes about both disabilities and cultural behaviors. References Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. (2013). Building Respect for Diversity. Retrieved from http://ctlrespectdiversity. project. mnscu. edu/index. asp? Type=B_BASIC&SEC= %7B9F44AF3C-4968-437C-88B2-3AFE80A0D1DD%7D MAISD. (2013). Multiculturalism and Diversity. Retrieved from http://www. muskegonisd. org/ academicservices/for-community/multicultural/ Schroeder, Connie. (2011) Infusing Diversity into the Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www4. uwm. edu/acad_aff/climate/2011_campus_conversation/march11-infusing-diversity-presentation. ppt Perry, Pamela. (2001). White Means Never Having to Say You’re Ethnic: White Youth and the Construction of â€Å"Cultureless† Identities. Retrieved from http://jce. sagepub. com/content/ 30/1/56. abstract Oplan, David. (2013). South Africa. Countries and Their Cultures. Retrieved from http://www. everyculture. com/Sa-Th/South-Africa. html#b Banks, J. A. & Banks, C. A. M. (2012). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives. (8th Ed. ). Danville, MA: John Wiley & Sons, In.