GM Powertrain Essay

Joe Hinrichs, a recent Harvard Business school graduate, was hired in February 1996 to run the General Motors’s the Fredericksburg Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) manufacturing plant. At 29 years old, Hinrichs was GM’s youngest plant manager. Hinrichs was inheriting a poor performing plant that continually underachieved, losing money year after year. Improvements were desperately needed to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and reduce operating costs. GM had considered shutting down the plant; however, when a new bonding process, using carbon fiber, for the TCC was approved in 1995, GM instead invested thirty million dollars into the Fredericksburg plant to incorporate the new process. From the beginning, Hinrichs faced a difficult situation. The previous plant manager committed the plant to ambitious budgetary goals. Hinrichs was also tasked with preparing the plant to use the new TCC manufacturing process and attaining QS-9000 certification. If that weren’t enough, Hinrichs still had day to day emergencies to handle; the latest being the 1500-ton press breaking down, an important machine in the production process. Despite his situation, Hinrichs met the challenges head on, impressing both GM management and plant staff. Workforce Management Hinrichs knew that in order to be successful, he needed to rally the plant staff around him, gaining their trust and respect. Being an outsider at a small town plant and also being so young, Hinrichs knew accomplishing this would be a huge challenge. During the first month on the job he started to show that he could be the capable leader this plant needed. Hinrichs had just received word that a UAW strike at two Dayton area plants would shut down all of GM’s automatic transmission production plants, leaving him without customers. The standard procedure was to lay off the plant workers until the strike was over, instead Hinrichs used the lay off as an opportunity to show his workforce that he would take care of them. As an alternative to laying them off, he worked with the staff to get as many people as possible to take vacation during the time or mandatory training. The remainder worked on some of the improvements he wanted to make. Not only did this improve his relationship with the plant workers, it also gave him a way to start bring efficiency improvements to the plant. Historically, the Fredericksburg plant saw little gains from efficiency improvements. While not stated in the case, this was most likely due to the highly-skilled staff’s resisting change, preferring the comfort of their undocumented processes that they had been using for decades. Hinrichs knew that he wouldn’t be successful unless he could ease them into the changes and frame the changes in a way the staff would see as beneficial. In addition, Hinrichs had to overcome the fact that improvements meant less overtime, a disincentive for the staff. First, Hinrichs used the guise of necessary process changes to produce the new TCCs in order to bring in process improvements without upsetting the workers. By framing the changes as improvements to get the plant prepared for producing the new high tech part, the staff would be more open to changes. Second, Hinrichs eased the workers into change by first meeting with the union weeks before the changes were implemented in order to get their feedback and buy-in as well as time to come to terms with the changes. Third, Hinrichs spread change throughout the facility, so that no area would experience too much change all at once, giving the staff more time to adjust. Finally, Hinrichs kept the workers very involved in the installation of new cells, encouraging them to examine them and provide him with feedback. This approach got some of the more senior workers to take a closer look and get excited about the changes, some actually applying to work in the new cells. Hinrichs realized that he had to give the workers new incentives to overcome the disincentive of a lack of overtime. He knew that if he could reconfigure the plant away from assembly lines and into individual work stations, workers would be able to take more ownership of their work, producing better quality parts and be self-motivated by being able to measure their individual output, increasing job satisfaction. The new cells turned out to be a hit. Workers were excited about having more control over their output and being part of the new process. Hinrichs’s active management of change within the factory and focus on worker satisfaction and buy-in resulted in a lot of small victories that he used to win over the workforce’s trust and respect. In the process, Hinrichs transformed the plant from one that was resistant to change to one that embraced and was excited for change. Process Improvements One of the biggest needs for improvement was the assembly process. Although several changes were made throughout the years, quality and efficiency still fell below expectations. Hinrichs implemented the newly developed assembly which consists of two separate work stations that allowed operators in the adjacent stations to share the expensive balancer machine. These assembly cells were much more efficient as workers were no longer forced to wait for another person or machine in the process. Each cell was built like the other with quick turn set-up which created flexibility in the process while also reducing tooling inventory by almost a half. Now cells could be activated to meet demand for different models. Likewise, each cell was designed to handle 1 to 3 operators to accommodate changes in volume. For increased quality, engineers designed machines that would use the information documented in the PFMEA to check and reject any faulty units at any stage in the assembly process. This increased yields by ten times that of the original inspection method which was performed once at the end of assembly. These changes to the assembly process not only reduced down time, allow for dynamic line balancing and scalability, it also created a sense of worker empowerment. Each worker now controlled their own output therefore giving them a better understanding of their contribution towards the plant’s production goals. This was an extremely successful improvement that Hinrichs could now work off of. The new bonding machines installed for the new process also fell in line with increasing efficiency and operational costs. These new machines would now only required one worker instead of two. These machines also signaled when a problem occurred saving ample amount of time and wasted material. Employee job satisfaction increased as well with the new machines. Even older senior employees who currently hold desired jobs in the plant were applying for the bonder positions. Even if this change was a necessity forced on by the process change, it was overly successful and beyond their expectation. Workforce efficiency was another area that needed to be improved. The installation of the QS 9000 system helped do just that. It helped maintain high standards of quality and reliability as well as continuous improvement and cost reduction. This stringent process was basically absent from this plant. Documenting your process and continually monitoring it through a quality system gives one the ability to understand and uncover inefficiencies in the manufacturing process. For example, Hinrichs noticed, in particular, the Heat treat area did not utilize its workers effectively. There were employees that loaded and unloaded the ovens while three separate inspectors waited until parts came out of heat treat. There was significant idle time for all of the employees in the process. By teaching the operators the techniques needed to inspect their own parts, their idle time is significantly reduced while completely freeing three employees to serve higher demand processes within the plant. This change in job responsibilities is a good example of utilizing resources to increase throughput not just activating a resource just to keep it working. 1500-ton Press Analysis Hinrichs’s current challenge is how to deal with the broken 1500 ton press. This press is the only one in the plant. The press is the first step in the process and also the bottleneck. If this machine is down, the whole system is down. There are three options Hinrichs has considered: (Appendix A presents the information in data form needed to make a decision. ) Given the information in Appendix A and carefully analyzing it, we have decided to move forward with Option 1 while continuing ideas to more effectively implement the new Die into the process if purchased. By choosing option 1, the plant would be able to continue operating without loss of throughput or added unit cost due to outsourcing. To reduce system breakdown, a preventative maintenance procedure would be enacted. Currently, the relationship between Hinrichs and the union is good and furthermore, by repairing the press with existing parts, the plant cannot afford to eliminate a union job if option 2 were selected. Hinrichs also needs to be aware of his spending for the year as well as delivering a known return on his investments. Neither option 2 or 3 will allow Hinrichs the ability to show any return on investment this fiscal year. Option 2 seemed to be an expensive route to take just to add some reliability with little reduction in costs. While Option 3 sounds appealing, the new die is still unreliable and could have a significant impact to unit costs if additional outsourcing were needed while bringing it up to speed. Hinrich should continue to work on the new die offline and only incorporate it once the technical challenges have been overcome.

History of biomaterials

Earlier surgical procedures, whether they Involved bimetallism or not, were generally unsuccessful as a result of infection Bimetallism, Joyce Y Wong and Joseph D Brannon (Deeds), CRY press, Boca Orator, FL, 2007 3 asses: Bone plates were Introduced to lad In the fixation of long-bone fractures. Many of these early plates broke as a result of unsophisticated mechanical design; they were too thin and had stress-concentrating corners.Also, materials such as indium steel, which was chosen for its good mechanical properties corroded rapidly in the body and caused adverse effects on the healing processes asses: Stainless steels and cobalt chromium alloys were introduced and great success was achieved In fracture fixation, and soon Joint replacement surgeries were Bimetallism, Joyce Y Wong and Joseph D Bronzing (Deeds), CRY Press, Boca Orator, FL, 4 MAMA asses: During the World War II, it was found that pilots injured by fragments of plastic MAMA (polymath matriculate) aircraft canopy did not suffer adverse chronic reactions from the presence of the fragments in the body.MAMA became ideal used after that time for corneal replacement and for replacements of sections of damaged skull bones 1950-asses: Following further advances in materials and in surgical technique, blood vessel replacements were tried in asses and heart valve replacements and cemented Joint replacements in asses 5 Year Investigators Late 18-19th century Development Metal devices to fix bone fractures; wires and century pins from Fee, Au, Gag, and Opt 1860-1870 J. Leister Aseptic surgical techniques 1886 H.Huntsman 1893-1912 W. A. Lane Steel screws and plates (Lane fracture plate) 1912 W. D. Sherman Vanadium steel plates, first developed or medical use; lesser stress concentration and corrosion (Sherman 1924 A. A. Zeroed Introduced [email  protected] (Corm alloy) 1926 M. Z. Lange Introduced 18-cosmos stainless steel, better than 18-8 stainless steel 6 Used carpenter's screw for femoral neck fracture 1931 M. N. Smithereens First femoral neck fracture fixation device made of stainless steel 1936 C.S. Venerable, W. G. Stuck Introduced [email  protected] (19-9 stainless steel), later changed the material to Coir alloys 1938 P. Wiles First total hip replacement prosthesis 1939 J. C. Burch Introduced tantalum (Ta) ASSES M. J. Doreen, A. Franchisee First used replacement 1946 J. And R. Jude First phonemically designed femoral head replacement prosthesis. First plastics (MAMA) used acrylics (MAMA) corneal 7 1947 J. Cotton Introduced It and its alloys 1952 A.A leaflet in heart valve must flex 60 timer per minutes without tearing for the life time of a patient (10 years or more) 0 Bulk physical properties: The dialysis membrane has a specified permeability, the reticular cup of the hip Joint has a lubricity, and the intraocular lens has clarity and refraction requirements 13 Absorbability 0 Absorbability is the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a sp ecific application (Williams, 1987) 0 Thus, absorbability is the acceptance of a material by the surrounding tissues ND by the body as a whole. A objectionable material should not do exhibit following characteristics: (1) irritate the surrounding structures (2) provoke an abnormal inflammatory response (3) incite allergic or immunologic reactions (4) cause cancer 14 15 Performance of bimetallism the material properties, design, and absorbability of the material used, as well as other factors not under the control of the engineer, including the technique used by the surgeon, the health and condition of the patient, and the activities of the patient.If we can assign a numerical value f to the probability of allure of an implant, then the reliability can be expressed as r=l -f If, as is usually the case, there are multiple modes of failure, the total reliability art is given by the product of the individual reliabilities RL =(1 -FL),etc. Art=RL re 16 Inert and evocative bimetallism 0 I nitially (asses-asses) the bimetallic designed were inert (not reactive with the body) to decrease the potential for negative immune response to the implant 0 Later (asses), the concept of inert bimetallic was replaced with that of evocative bimetallism. The evocative material interact with the body in a positive manner to remote localized healing Bimetallism – The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science,AS Tenement and GAG Mikes, Prentice Hall, 2009 17 Hard and Soft tissue replacement bimetallism 0 Bimetallism scientists must have an appreciation of material science.A wide range of materials are routinely used and no researcher will be comfortable in synthesizing and designing with all these materials and therefore specialization is the rule 0 There is tendency to group bimetallism into hard tissue replacement bimetallism (metals, ceramics for use in orthopedic and dental materials) and soft tissue placement bimetallism (polymers) for cardiovascular and general plastic surgery 0 Division is arbitrary though 18 Market perspectives (2008) 0 Mostly used devices are replacement heart valves, synthetic vascular grafts, hip and knee replacement, heart lung machine, renal dialysis equipment, and bone and dental implants 0 About 100,000 replacement heart valves; 300,000 vascular grafts; and 500,000 artificial Joint replacements are carried out in the United States every year 19 Do it yourself? 0 Assume that a bone implant (bone plate) leads to calcification. Will you consider it an appropriate or inappropriate host response? 20

Chessington History Essay

Chessington Zoo was opened in July 1931 as a private venture by Reginald Goddard who invited the public to view his private animal collection. After the War Chessington soon became known for the different types of entertainment it could offer:- a circus, a funfair and a miniature railway as well as the zoo. Despite this in the early 1970’s the attendance figures of over 800,000 began to decline. The Zoo was in need of further investment. In 1978 the Pearson Group bought Chessington and when they later bought Madame Tussauds, they put all their leisure interests together to form the Tussauds Group. 1981 saw the beginning of the planning for the transformation of Chessington. Six years and i 12m later the Park was ready. It was opened in July 1987 by H. R. H. Prince Edward. The opening coincided with the opening of the M25 which gives easy access to the Park from various parts of the country. Approximately 18m people live within a 2 hour drive of the Park. On 19th October 1998 it was announced that Pearson had sold the Tussauds Group to Charterhouse Development Capital for i 352m. The Tussaud’s Group Vision and Mission Vision: â€Å"Entertaining People†. Mission: To deliver real growth in profits to take Europe’s leading entertainment world-wide†. The Marketing Department are a small team who work across both Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park. It is the overall responsibility of the Marketing department to ensure that the brand identities of the two Parks are maintained in all communication both on and off the Parks. They do this through first identifying the brand identity, target market, and visual representation of the brand, i. e. the logo. For Chessington the target market is families with children under 12. Each year the marketing department will put together a marketing plan that covers the following areas: Product. Although almost without exception a new attraction is launched each year, and the main launch communication will focus on that, general communication about the rest of the Park is required. Theme Parks provide a whole day out for the family and it’s not just about the rides. The other attractions, places to eat, games, photography, the atmosphere, all play an important part in delivering a great day out. Pricing. There is a complex pricing structure for the Park which looks to maximise the revenue the Park can achieve with it’s targeted number of visitors. Marketing will review the pricing each year and along with the finance department look at how the budgeted targets can be achieved through the pricing matrix. Advanced sales are important to the business and for this reason tickets booked in advance are discounted, also those booked via the Internet are further discounted as this is a more efficient way for us to produce the tickets. Advanced tickets reduce the queues at admissions as visitors already have their tickets and can go straight in to the Park. Promotion. Promotion of the Park happens via a number of different communication channels. Advertising. This is generally broken down into two areas, the creative production of the advert and then the choice of where to place that advert, TV, Radio, Press etc. For the year 2002 communication for Chessington will focus on the new attraction, Hocus Pocus Hall. The main creative idea is all based around ‘The New Adventure Starts Here’. This new creative idea will be adapted for use on TV, Radio, Press and in Children’s comics, ie The Beano. Promotions. Promotions are very import in incentivising visitors to come to the Park. The incentive is generally either a Buy One get One Free mechanic or a discount off the full adult or child price. Chessington ran promotions on it’s own or in conjunction with the Tussauds Group, ie Tesco. Promotions can be run with a wide variety of partners, Esso, News of the World, KP Skips or solus via a direct mail campaign to surrounding homes. Public Relations. This area is all about getting positive exposure in the media, TV, Radio and Press. This is generally achieved through issuing Press Releases and conducting interviews with journalists. Measuring the Success. Throughout the year, how the Park is doing against its financial targets is constantly reviewed, but in addition Marketing conducts ongoing research into how the Park is performing on a daily basis. Questionnaires are handed out to visitors as they leave asking them to rank the rides’ experiences, eating places, how friendly and helpful the staff were, etc. This provides information on where things may be going wrong and how to put them right. New Media is a crucial area for involvement now and in the future. In addition to maintaining it’s own site: www. chessington. com, the Marketing department looks to exploit other opportunities for advertising, promotions and PR on other sites. Use of agencies. Chessington uses a wide variety of agencies as they bring different areas of expertise and experiences to the department. We use an advertising agency to create the TV, Radio adverts etc. and also for all the design work for the Gate Map. The space for the TV, Radio slots etc  is purchased by a Media Buying agency. We also use a Sales Promotion agency, PR agency and Internet design agencies. Corporate Hospitality makes it possible for businesses to entertain their guests at Chessington World of Adventures. Up to 3 000 corporate guests can be catered for at any one time. Education. An establishment like Chessington World of Adventures offers the opportunity for students studying the leisure industry, business or animals to visit the Park and find out more about their subject. For this reason, it is possible for groups to incorporate an educational talk into their visit. The Zoo enables guests to learn about the wildlife at Chessington World of Adventures. The Marketing Department ensure that the signage for the animals and around the Park are of a high quality and accessible by all the guests. Most often asked marketing questions Q Is the price of a new attraction affected by the viability of the ride? A Careful research is undertaken before a new attraction is bought. The attraction may be put in place to address a gap in guest numbers for a particular age range. The new attraction will encourage that element to visit the Park and therefore increase guest satisfaction.

Business Project High School Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Project High School - Assignment Example 3. Target Market - the target market for the business is the small business owners especially in the Bondi junction area of Australia. The reason behind this is the number of office goers and the numbers of foreigners who actually know more about the organic food and also who are more interested in organic food consumption are relatively high. Also, if the small business owners are targeted, it will be easy to handle them and also the amount of risk is relatively less. 4. Consumer Analysis - The organic food industry in Australia booming. According to a recent study, currently the cost of the organic food market in Australia is $200-$250 million per year. This figure is restricted to the domestic market alone. Apart from this the amount of organic food exports is $50-$80 million per year. There is approximately 20-30% of consumer demand in the market for organic foods. The annual growth of the organic food market in Australia is estimated to be 60%. 5. Reaching the customers - In order to reach the customers either e-mail marketing can be considered or even point-of-sales advertising also can be considered. Both the methods are equally advantageous. Flyers also can be distributed. These have got the flexibility in color, shape and dimensions. Also the sales promotion activities can be linked up with the point-of-sales advertisings. ... 4. Consumer Analysis - The organic food industry in Australia booming. According to a recent study, currently the cost of the organic food market in Australia is $200-$250 million per year. This figure is restricted to the domestic market alone. Apart from this the amount of organic food exports is $50-$80 million per year. There is approximately 20-30% of consumer demand in the market for organic foods. The annual growth of the organic food market in Australia is estimated to be 60%. 5. Reaching the customers - In order to reach the customers either e-mail marketing can be considered or even point-of-sales advertising also can be considered. Both the methods are equally advantageous. Flyers also can be distributed. These have got the flexibility in color, shape and dimensions. Also the sales promotion activities can be linked up with the point-of-sales advertisings. This way there would be value addition. 6. The competition - The major source of competition would be the already existing players in the market. Apart from them non-organic producers who carry out mass production also can be a threat to the business. Carrying out an industry analysis would help in identifying the number of players in the market and their respective market share. Price differences between the competitor and our product over a particular period needs to be observed and analyzed. Depending on the analysis and alongside keeping the profit margin in mind the prices of the products can be revised. Also the transportation costs, production costs etc need to be analyzed. The cost of shipping the products to other places between the competitors can be identified and analyzed. Foods that have high potential and consumer demand need to

Censorship of the internet in Saudi Arabia Essay

Censorship of the internet in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example There are many ways wherein the use of the Internet is being control and censored throughout Saudi Arabia. Among the common strategy used in filtering the content, the World Wide Web (WWW) traffic has to pass through the main proxy server at ISU. (Al-Tawil, 2001) This process will enable the machine to automatically log all activities that happens using the Internet. In line with the need to filter the Internet content, the ISP proxies are given the power to block or filter any sites that violates the cultural, moral, and religious beliefs of people in Saudi Arabia including pornographic and gay sites whereas the ISP servers are required to keep a one-month activity log of all IP address, user name, time and date of activity of each subscribers (Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia, 2009). Strictly for control purposes, ISPs could use firewalls to increase their network security (ibid). With the use of control and censorship of Internet use, Saudi Arabian government could easily trace the source of crime in order to give justice to the victims. Some people argue that censoring the Internet is very important for the government and people. In line with this argument, Klang & Murray (2005) explained that â€Å"Saudi Arabia uses technology developed by Secure Computing Corporation, the makers of Smart Filer, at the national level to filter access to human rights, dissident, gambling sites and pornography† (p. 122). Likewise, the act of controlling the use of the Internet can be useful in tracking suspects of online crimes (WorldNetDaily , 2009). Since the Internet technology is capable of transmitting high quality photos and images online (Horrigan, 2006), a lot of people have committed themselves to the online marketing of pornographic materials such as the cyberspace (Thornburgh & Lin, 2002). The problem with the use of the Internet browsers such as Google and Yahoo is

Diversity in Later Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Diversity in Later Life - Essay Example And I do believe that I can do every challenges with a smile on my face, like my career is doing well so far. Expand my business hopefully. Fulfilling and stable job, to have a home to call my very own as well as to acquire enough resources to sustain my family's needs and wants. My family, and Peace in all societies. Better life for my children Studies. Diversity in Later 2 Participant A Participant B Participant C Participant D Participant E Participant F 5. Felt Needs 1 - A stable job, 2 - A better married life; 3 - Own car & house. 1 - A progressive business. 2 - Safety of my family. 3- Peaceful environment. 1 - A fulfilling & stable job, 2 - A home to call my very own, and; 3 - A sufficient resources to sustain family's needs and wants. 1-Stable work. 2-Healthy family. 3-Success of my children. 1-More achievements in work. 2-Better health for my family. 3-Harmonious relationships. 1 - First is to graduate in College soon. 2 - Second is to pass the board exam and; 3 - have a job that can give me bigger salary . 6. Satisfaction 1-Financial Gains 2-Career 3-Health 4-Community Projects 1-Career 2-Health 3-Community Projects 4-Financial Gains 1-Health 2-Career 3-Community Projects 4-Financial Gains 1-Career 2-Financial Gains 3-Health 4-Community Projects 1-Health 2-Community Projects 3-Financial Gains 4-Career 1-Financial Gains 2-Health 3-Career 4-Community Projects 7. General Concern Global Crisis. I'm worried about the economic aspects of every family. Health. It is important. H1N1/Health. It's a serious... This paper highlights the general needs and satisfaction of middle age adults at this point of their lives, as compared to other age groups. Below is a tabular presentation of information regarding the various needs, satisfaction and general concerns of individuals (in different age groups); the sample interview guide employed in data collection is appended (Please see Appendix A). That data of each participants represent the diverse needs, satisfaction and general concerns in the various aspects in life. Middle adulthood seems to be the "prime time" in terms of creating achievements and vast contribution in an individual's life. Most of them are already in the "family life stage". In the above presented table, middle age individuals (highlighted portions) generally depicted a life that goes beyond the need of oneself or which is simply not "self-centered". Middle age individuals (Participants B,C,D & E) verbalized about their responsibilities and obligations which are more focused on their children, families and the society. It can also be noted that as compared with other age groups, their needs are more into the career, family and a little of what they can do for others or the community. Obviously, middle age respondents' diverse needs, satisfaction and general concerns are somehow impacted their socio-economic conditions.

Economics for Business Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics for Business Assignment - Essay Example This product differentiation gives the players in the monopolistic competition pricing power (A.Koutsoyiannis, 2010). The ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel believes that the fuel market is characterized by a comfortable oligopoly. I agree with Mr. Samuel’s opinion. At the retail stage of the fuel market, Woolworths and Wesfarmers Coals each have 22% of the market share. BP has 19%. Caltex has 16% and Exxon-Mobil has 6%. This totals to 85% of the total market share. Therefore these five players definitely dominate the industry at the retail stage. The situation at the refining stage is also similar with Caltex supplying as much as 55% of the wholesale supply in some states like New South Wales. The oligopolistic structure in the fuel industry in Australia arises from the barriers to entry because of intensive capital and technological requirements for operating in the industry. 2) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the competition regulator of Australia. The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in the Australian marketplace to benefit consumers, business and the community ( ACCC, 2011). In the year 2007, the ACCC undertook a detailed investigation in the Australian fuel industry to determine if there was ‘collusive oligopoly’ marked by price-fixing. The investigation found no â€Å"obvious† investigation of price-fixing, but it said that there were operational concerns because of the oligopolistic nature of the industry (ACCC, 2011). The ACCC opposed the acquisition by Caltex on the ground that it would substantially lessen competition across a range of fuel markets in Australia. The ACCC believed that this acquisition would have an adverse impact on competition in the petrol, diesel and automotive LPG markets. During a six month investigation of the proposed deal the ACCC identified 53 Mobil sites that, if they were acquired by Caltex, would result in

Research Proposal (general research proposal for doctoral thesis to Essay

Research Proposal (general research proposal for doctoral thesis to the graduate department) - Essay Example My research during the first year of my master's program at the University of Victoria covered multiple topics within non-photorealistic rendering (NPR), graphics, and animation. During the course of my research, I completed a class on perception and graphics that resulted in a project that will be submitted this month for the _(name of journal)____, a reputable __enter subject__ journal . The project involved the study of human vision and perception and prompted me to expand my topic of NPR with perception into the formation of my master's thesis. My master's thesis titled, "Perceptual Imitation of Human Drawn lines" involved study within the areas of Newtonian Physics, Image Processing, and Artificial Intelligence. From my research and findings with this thesis, I intend to publish two papers in NPAR'08 and CAE'08. Therefore, for my doctoral study I wanted to get more in depth in my research in these particular topics. First, I would like to expand on the subject of lines to full animated cartoon character images. Image processing is naturally an essential field of study in NPR and will play a major role in my thesis. Also, image processing will lead to more critical study of perception. The study of perception falls into the area of psychology. Surprisingly, psychological research on NPR is limited. It was briefly discussed in my master's thesis.

Business Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Information System - Essay Example Therefore, emphasising the long-standing role of technology for the marketers, the primary intention of this essay is to critically assess the problems faced by the Chacha Hotel Group (henceforth Chacha) due to the ineffective use of information system. Moreover, the essay also focuses on providing a valid proposal associated with developing Computer-based Information System (CIS), which can enable Chacha to effectively deal with the corresponding issues and ensure the organisation to achieve the expected competitive advantages over its rivals. Brief Analysis of the Case and Assessing Problems Experienced by Chacha Hotel Group Brief Information about the Organisation Established in the year 1962, the Chacha Hotel Group represents a chain of hotels that served across the different growing markets including Cardiff, Berlin and Amsterdam. The competitive strategy of the group has always been focused to ensure utmost satisfaction of the global clients through the compliance of adequate m onitoring process of the workforce’s performance. Since the presence of the organisation in the competitive hotel industry, Chacha tends to market and promote its range of services through flyers and offering advertisements on the local newspapers and magazines. Due to the lack of compliance persisting in the technological advancements, the organisation has been identified to face numerous challenges from its numbers of global competitors principally incorporating advanced information and technological aspects. To sum up, the organisation has been facing significant threats from its global competitors to attract a feasible number of clients. With respect to the observation of the case, it has been critically identified that the business operations, such booking services and different marketing and promotional activities are directly performed by Chacha through its travel agencies and other relevant media channels, strategically to involve information and technological feature s. In relation to its booking service, the organisation tends to perform through the help of travel agencies or through phone. Although the hotels of Chacha incorporate computer system only to perform different administrative works, it has also been witnessed that a lack of interconnection between each computer system across the different business units of the organisation persists, which has been the productive performance of the entire construct. Problems Currently Experienced by Chacha With reference to an in-depth understanding of the case, it has been critically identified that the business functions of Chacha has been facing different challenges due to its inappropriate use of information system and lack of using computer-based information system facilities. Few of the major problems faced by the group can be characterised into various types. Booking and Reservation Problem The fundamental information contained within the computers has been identifi

Estimation of pH Essay Example for Free

Estimation of pH Essay Acid-base titration calculations Aim: This experiment is designed to train our skills of calculation in titration as well as help us to be familiar with the procedures of titration. Background: 1. Titration is a technique which involves measuring the volume of one solution which just reacts completely with another solution. 2. A pipette is designed to deliver exactly the same volume each time it is used. 3. A burette is equipment fitted with a tap and is calibrated so as to accurately measure a variable volume of solution. 4. Tire is the volume of the second solution required in titration. Method: The whole experiment is based on computer simulation. To train our calculation skills in titration, two trials are set. One is titration between a strong acid and a strong base. The other is between a weak acid and a strong base. In this experiment, the strong acid is HCl, the strong base is NaOH and the weak acid is CH3COOH. Strong acid and strong base 1. Set up the apparatus. 2. Measure 25ml Ba(OH)2 by pipette. 3. Transfer the Ba(OH)2 into a beaker. 4. Add Bromothymol Blue which is and indicator. 5. Add HCl into the burette. 6. Turn on the pH meter. 7. Insert the probes into the beaker. 8. Read the reading on burette. 9. Start titrating. 10. Read the final volume. 11. Remove the probes. Weak acid and strong base 1. Set up the apparatus. 2. Measure 25ml Ba(OH)2 by pipette. 3. Transfer the Ba(OH)2 into a beaker. 4. Add Bromothymol Blue which is and indicator. 5. Add CH3COOHhe burette. 6. Turn on the pH meter. 7. Insert the probes into the beaker. 8. Read the reading on burette. 9. Start titrating. 10. Read the final volume. 11. Remove the probes. Apparatus: Pipette 25ml Burette 50ml pH meter Beaker 80ml Chemicals: Barium Hydroxide, Ba(OH)2 Hydrochloric Acid, HCl Ethanoic Acid, CH3COOH Bromothymol Blue Safety: Follow the rules in the laboratory and wear the safety goggles. Set up of apparatus: Procedure: Strong acid and strong base 1. I set up the apparatus. 2. I measured 25ml Ba(OH)2 by pipette. 3. I transferred the Ba(OH)2 into a beaker. 4. I added Bromothymol Blue which is and indicator. 5. I added HCl into the burette. 6. I turned on the pH meter. 7. I inserted the probes into the beaker. 8. I read the reading on burette. 9. I started titrating. 10. I read the final volume. 11. I removed the probes. Weak acid and strong base 1. Set up the apparatus. 2. Measure 25ml Ba(OH)2 by pipette. 3. Transfer the Ba(OH)2 into a beaker. 4. Add Bromothymol Blue which is and indicator. 5. Add CH3COOHhe burette. 6. Turn on the pH meter. 7. Insert the probes into the beaker. 8. Read the reading on burette. 9. Start titrating. 10. Read the final volume. 11. Remove the probes. Data collection: Strong acid and strong base Initial pH in the beaker 15.03 Final pH in the beaker 2.79 Volume of HCl added 41.02ml Weak acid and strong base Initial pH in the beaker 14.90 Final pH in the beaker 2.57 Volume of HCl added 38.60ml Data processing: Strong acid and strong base The chemical equation for this reaction 2HCl(aq) + Ba(OH)2(aq) BaCl2(aq) + 2H2O(l) Weak acid and strong base The chemical equation for this reaction 2 CH3COOH (aq) + Ba(OH)2(aq) (CH3COOH)2Ba (aq) + 2H2O(l) Graph: Strong acid and strong base Screenshot of the software Graph of the pH in the beaker against volume added Weak acid and strong base Screenshot of the software Graph of the pH in the beaker against volume added Conclusion: The concentration of hydrochloric acid in the first trial is The concentration of ethanoic acid in the second trial is Evaluation and improvement: 1. As what I have discovered, all the graphs of a certain reaction in this software are the same. There is no difference in the graph if the concentration is changed. Also the graph is distinct points rather than a curve. During the experiment, sometimes failure occurred. Thus the only improvement could be done is to change another software.

Examining The Impact Of Mentoring Desistance Among Prisoners Criminology Essay

Examining The Impact Of Mentoring Desistance Among Prisoners Criminology Essay This chapter seeks to situate the importance of the impact of mentoring in promoting desistance among ex-prisoners, and why effective interventions such as mentoring which aim to reduce reoffending are crucial for the wellbeing of society and should therefore be explored in order to discover which elements of such interventions do or do not promote desistance. A critical review of current relevant literature in the field of mentoring and how it impacts on desistance will be reported on and hopefully a gap within that literature will be identified which this research will attempt to address. The Problem of Reoffending The Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) has provided some of the most overwhelming statistics regarding reoffending ex-prisoners and has declared that Prison sentences are not succeeding in turning the majority of offenders away from crime (2002: 5). Fifty eight per cent of prisoners released in 1997 were reconvicted of another offence within 2 years of being released from custody, and of those, thirty six per cent also went on to receive an additional prison sentence (SEU, 2002: 5). Even though the Ministry of Justice (2010: 2) declare that the proportion of ex-prisoners reoffending is actually falling (noting a decrease in re-offences from forty three per cent in the year 2000 cohort, to forty one per cent in the 2008 equivalent), and The Home Office recent Five Year strategy for protecting the Public and reducing reoffending (2006: 9) claims Crime is going down. The risk of being a victim of crime is at the lowest level in 24 years, reoffending rates still remain persistently high. In conjunction with punishment, the reform of offenders is crucial to reducing reoffending and delivering justice to the public. But when these figures quoted from the above sources are combined they make for shocking reading and depending on how they are interpreted can imply that current rehabilitative interventions which aim to reform offenders and reduce reoffending, are thus failing. This raises questions about how current rehabilitative interventions can be improved to achieve their aims, or if new interventions, such as mentoring for example, should be researched further, and used more widely (and possibly in place of current strategies) if they show positive effects. Rehabilitation Criminal Justice theories of rehabilitation broadly take the stance that crime is best prevented by working directly with offenders to address the personal, social and economic factors most closely associated with their offending behaviour, which Canton and Edie term as their criminogenic needs (2008: 93). Millie and Erol (2006: 2) identify some examples of criminogenic needs as, substance misuse, poor educational and vocational skills, poor cognitive and interpersonal skills, and antisocial attitudes. By focussing on these risk factors it is more likely that an offender will successfully rehabilitate (Millie and Erol, 2006: 2) and desist from committing further crime. At the beginning of the 20th century, penal policy was strongly influenced by a theory of rehabilitation. Unfortunately rehabilitative strategies failed to live up to the claim that they would reduce recidivism according to Martinson, resulting in his gloomy conclusion that nothing works (1974) and provoking a loss of confidence in the rehabilitative ideal during the 1970s and 80s in Britain (Hollin, 2005: 7). However, through a series of meta-analytic reviews which developed the What Works agenda, and provided a compelling case against Martinsons (1974) declaration, Britain witnessed a remarkable resurgence of the rehabilitative ideal in the 1990s (Hollin, 2005: 8). The general message of the meta-analyses that took place during the What Works movement was that when rehabilitative treatment was used with offenders it could have small but noteworthy effects in terms of reducing reoffending. McGuire and Priestly (1995) outline their interpretation of these key areas through a set of guiding principles, concluding that if followed they could lead to greater effectiveness in program content and delivery. These guiding principles are; Risk Classification- effective risk assessment is said to be required for the accurate matching of the clients with the level of delivery of certain rehabilitative programmes Focus on criminogenic needs Responsivity- matching styles of learning between worker and service user Community based interventions Treatment modality- a combination of skills-orientated, cognitive behavioural and other methods Programme integrity- that ensures programme aims are reflected in the methods used (McGuire and Priestly, 1995). However, it would be wrong to assume that the case for treatment was established as it is difficult to derive the exact magnitude of this overall treatment effect (Hollin, 1999: 3) from the meta-analyses, and perhaps more significantly because not all interventions that were researched had the same effect on recidivism, making the findings unreliable to a certain degree. Like all research methods, the meta-analysis process also has limitations, with Sharpe (1997) noting that; mixing dissimilar studies into the analysis and only using published research (of which some might have involved poorly designed and conducted original studies), results in meaningless findings (cited in Hollin, 1999: 7). This research will attempt to overcome some of the ambiguities that arose from the findings of the What Works era that although provided evidence of what does work with offenders in tackling reoffending generally, provided little in-depth and substantial evidence regarding what aspects of certain programmes (such as mentoring) promoted desistance among offenders and will seek evidence of this from service users themselves who have not traditionally been asked to comment on the service they receive (Ford et al, 1997). Resettlement Another process which aims to reduce the likelihood of prisoners reoffending upon release into the community is known as resettlement which although does hold out hope for the rehabilitation of offenders, focuses most of its attention on the pressing practical problems faced by many ex-prisoners, which if solved or at least significantly improved can go some way to reducing the likelihood of reoffending. The charity User Voice which draws on insights from offenders in order to develop strategies to reduce reoffending (User Voice, n.d) highlighted in its report The User Voice of the criminal justice system that gaining treatment, accommodation and work are key factors in the journey toward successful resettlement (2008: 13). Likewise a report from the Home Office (Lewis et al, 2003: 8-9) which evaluated the findings from 7 pathfinder programmes placed an emphasis on providing a co-ordinated approach to practical resettlement problems and recommended that the gaps it identified in provision of services needed to facilitate reintegration of offenders prompt a need for; Improved partnership working with Employment Services, Benefits Agencies, local authorities and relevant voluntary/private sector agencies; and access to a wider range of suitable housing, among others. Recent legislation and policy has attempted to combine ideas from theories of Rehabilitation and Resettlement and recommendations from reports such as those detailed in order to combat the problem of reoffending through various new strategies and most importantly through the creation of the National Offender Management Service. This has generally meant increased levels of alternative interventions being used in criminal justice in order to reduce reoffending, such as mentoring. Current Policy The Governments Reducing Reoffending National Action Plan (Home Office, 2004) translated the Social Exclusion Units recommendations most specifically (2002) into policy, with its core focus on the resettlement of prisoners after release. This National Action Plan required the production of Reducing Re-offending Strategies and linking Action Plans for the delivery of key services which were divided into seven separate pathways including; accommodation, education, training and employment (ETE), mental and physical health; drugs and alcohol; finance, benefit and debt; children and families of offenders; and attitudes thinking and behaviour (Maguire and Raynor, 2006: 4). The delivery of these services enacted by the Home Office (2004) now takes place in a dramatically different organisational framework after the creation of NOMS which brought Probation and Prison under one management system and most importantly for purposes of rehabilitation and resettlement introduced end to end offender management, meaning an offender would now be under the supervision of one manager throughout the whole of their sentence. This new concept of end to end offender management implies the close involvement of partner agencies in service planning and provision (Maguire and Raynor, 2006: 5), and is an important move for third sector organisations such as mentoring projects, who are now increasingly seen to play an influential role in the resettlement of ex-prisoners and reducing reoffending. This optimism for third sector organisations is supported by the Ministry of Justice in reports such as Working with the third sector to reduce reoffending: securing effective partne rships 2008-2011 (2007) and by NOMs in its consultation paper Volunteers Can: Towards a volunteering strategy to reduce re-offending (2007). This newly found optimism for third sector organisations to be able to improve the chances of successful rehabilitation and resettlement thus reducing the likelihood of reoffending, has naturally lead to an increase in the prevalence and use of such organisations including mentoring projects, as part of criminal justice interventions. The Rise of Mentoring Joliffe and Farrington (2007: 2) note that mentoring is used in the criminal justice context to increase the life successes of individuals who are at risk of reoffending by providing direct practical assistance (for e.g. filling out housing applications, assisting in searching for employment) and indirect support (for e.g. by acting as a positive role model). By providing individuals with both of these forms of support, mentoring aims to assist in reducing reoffending and increase positive life outcomes (Joliffe and Farrington, 2007: 10). For the purpose of their systematic review Tolan et al identify the following 4 central characteristics of mentoring; Interaction of two individuals over an extended period of time. Inequality of experience or power between the mentor and the mentee (recipient) with the mentee possessing a greater share. The mentee is in a position to imitate and benefit from the knowledge, skill, ability, or experience of the mentor. The absence of the role inequality that typifies other helping relationships and is marked by professional training, certification, or predetermined status differences such as parent-child or teacher-student relationships (Tolan et al, 2008: 6). Mentoring is a relatively new concept to the UK, especially in the field of criminal justice. It is identified by Newburn and Shiner that mentoring originated as a formal response to social exclusion and social welfare problems in the US (2006: 1), with one of the earliest mentoring programmes being identified as the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) which was established in 1904. The Big Brothers/Big Sisters programme has since expanded rapidly in the US and is used as a template by other mentoring organisations with similar visions elsewhere in the World including the UK (Big Brothers Big Sisters, n.d) through ventures such as The Dalston Youth Project (DYP) and Big Brothers Big Sisters UK (Newburn and Shiner, 2006: 2). Although, despite its increasing popularity mentoring continues to be associated with a number of difficulties. Defining mentoring becomes difficult due to the vast set of practises it can cover including one or all of the following; coaching, facilitating, counselling, befriending, tutoring, teaching, role-modelling, buddying or life-styling (Phillip, 1999; Clutterbuck, 2002). It is these definitional problems combined with the contemporary nature of the intervention that creates further difficulty in assessing the value of mentoring, which is why there is little empirical research evaluating its impact, particularly concerning how or why it is or is not of benefit in promoting desistance (i.e. what aspects of mentoring impact on desistance) and not simply does it reduce recidivism. The Effectiveness of Mentoring Most evaluations of mentoring schemes have originated from the US and report generally favourable findings in relation to reducing reoffending. For example, Becker (1994) studied delinquent youths who were involved in the Partners Inc. Mentoring programme and reported a 65-75% reduction in recidivism. In Joliffe and Farringtons rapid evidence assessment (2007) 18 studies were analysed in order to assess how successful mentoring is in reducing reoffending, with 7 of these showing a statistically significant positive impact on reoffending, demonstrating a 4 to 11 per cent reduction of subsequent offending for those involved in these mentoring schemes. It was noted though that this result was driven primarily by those studies with lower methodological value. The best studies that were designed to provide the most accurate assessment of the impact of mentoring actually suggested that mentoring did not cause a statistically significant reduction in reoffending. It was also noted that due to the restricted time-period that their study had to be completed in, it was unrealistic to be able to include unpublished studies, difficult to obtain materials and foreign language studies. This can reduce confidence in the findings and also results in publication biases due to there being a greater tendency for statistically significant findings to be published over studies that show non-statistically significant findings. However, there are other advantages to mentoring, which may impact on reducing reoffending but which cannot be directly measured (For e.g. improving chances of gaining employment). Most research into mentoring appears to focus significantly on quantitative measures of success rather than qualitative approaches, which might provide a better measure of its benefits. For example when Newburn and Shiner (2006) conducted a study of the Mentoring Plus scheme they did not find it impacted successfully on reducing re-offending per se, but they did find the impact of mentoring was strongest in relation to engagement with education, training and employment (a key pathway to aid reducing reoffending). But similarly to some other studies, they took a cautious approach in their conclusion of their evaluation by stating that mentoring faces an uncertain future (2006: 17) but it has real potential (2006: 16). Clancy and colleagues (2006) have associated through the gate work with lower reconviction rates due to the mentor having already established a positive relationship with the mentee in custody and this being continued after release ( See also; Hudson et al, 2007). This is supported by Hudson et al (2007) who highlight mentoring schemes as a promising strategy to assist ex-prisoners in settling in at their initial accommodation and assisting their progress afterwards. The structure of mentoring can also affect the success of mentoring schemes. Joliffe and Farrington (2007) found that the mentoring programmes that were most successful in reducing reoffending were those where the mentee and mentor met at least once a week and spent longer periods of time together when they met. St James-Roberts et al (2005) also identified that programmes lasting over ten months, including 15 meetings on average, and had a steering group, were recognised as most successful. They found that the characteristics of the mentee also had effects on outcomes too, reporting that mentees who were younger, had a lack of offending history and were female were most successful. Joliffe and Farrington (2007) noted that when mentoring occurred as part of a multi-modal programme, with a larger number of interventions involved, these programmes tended to be more successful in reducing reoffending. Pathfinder studies (Lewis et al, 2007) also provide support for the growth of interventions based around a combination of cognitive-motivational work and facilitating offenders access to service agencies. Other benefits of mentoring on reducing reoffending have come from Clancy et al who completed a review of the Transitional Support Scheme (TSS) which provided mentoring for offenders in Wales. The study concluded that the scheme produced statistically significant changes in offenders attitudes to crime and that offenders found assistance completing forms and managing finances the most useful aspect of mentoring (2004, as cited in Ministry of Justice, 2008: 10-12). Furthermore another vital factor in the effectiveness of the scheme was that the mentors were understood by offenders to be detached from the criminal justice system, therefore mentees were more likely to participate in a relationship with them. The most recent systematic review of mentoring schemes has come from the Campbell Collaboration in the US (Tolan et al, 2008). The study evaluated the effects of the mentoring interventions included in their study on delinquency outcomes for youthand key associated outcomes (2008: 5). The Review concluded that when the 39 included studies were analysed for outcomes measuring delinquency or closely related outcomes it suggests mentoring for high-risk youth has a modest positive effect for delinquency, aggression, drug use, and achievement (2008: 8). They noted that effects were strongest when emotional support was a key process in mentoring interventions (2008: 8). However, Tolan et al are wary not to make any sweeping conclusions about what elements of mentoring make it an effective intervention by stating that the valuable features and most promising approaches cannot be stated with any certainty, putting this down to the remarkable lack of description of key features or basic progr am organization in the studies included in their review (2008: 8). They finally call for more careful design and testing of mentoring effects to provide the needed specificity to guide effective practice of this popular approach (2008: 5). On the whole mentoring seems to be a promising intervention and the elements which have been identified as making it effective, have been highlighted, but there is still a lack of research into mentoring effectiveness from the UK, especially concerning its impact on adult rather than young offenders or at risk individuals. This implies that most mentoring projects in the UK have begun due to a leap of faith. Most studies that have been published into the effectiveness of mentoring so far have also been overly concerned with quantitative analyses of mentoring with the majority only being interested in reconviction rates, resulting in them only been able to provide some general and tentative statements about what specific elements of mentoring might impact on its ability to reduce reoffending. This ignores the possibility that qualitative approaches may provide a better measure of the benefits of mentoring, as they are able to assess the numerous indirect impacts mentoring may have on desistance in the long run. There is also a lack of studies focussing on the thoughts of the service user and as it is ultimately only the offenders themselves who can stop reoffending it is vital that their views on how this should be done are taken into account, this is reinforced by Matzas method of appreciation in which aim is to comprehend and illuminate the subjects view and to interpret the world as it appears to him (1969: 25). The Process of Desistance Farrall and Calverley describe desistance as the process of ending a period of involvement in offending behaviour (2006: 1). This definition recognises that the study of desistance is not primarily concerned with whether an individual has committed further crime or not but rather the journey towards becoming a non-offender. Maruna (1998) supports this by claiming desistance is not an event but a process (as cited in Farrall, 2002: 65) and Laub et al define desistance as a gradual movement away from criminal offending (1998: 3). It has been widely agreed that one of the most important influences on future offending patterns is a change in offenders thinking as well as their circumstances. For example Zamble and Quinsey who concluded from their study of released male prisoners in Ontario that habitual offending is best predicted by looking at an individuals acquired ways of reacting to common situations (1997: 147) and that pessimistic or negative reactions to common problems for many prisoners can lead them to give up on attempts to lead a crime free life. Similarly Marunas (2000) interview-based study lead to him conclude that what he terms different kinds of narrative (or the personal understandings or accounts of behaviours and situations) can either support desistance or continued offending. Maruna found that a key factor in narratives that promote desistance was the belief that the offender had begun to take control of their life, where as in comparison those still offending seemed to have little vision of what the future might hold, [but] desisting interviewees had a plan and were optimistic they could make it work (2000: 147). DiClemente and Prochaska (1982) identify a broad cycle of change with specific stages; Pre-contemplation Contemplation Action Maintenance, which people might pass through when attempting to change any previously habitual behaviours. A persons readiness can be affected by a range of factors which might include among others; major life events, age, physical and social circumstances and social bonds (Maguire and Raynor, 2006: 24). Burnett instead refers to a zig-zag path of desistance which involves reversals of decision, indecision, compromise and lapses, and suggests that if interventions are to facilitate the desistance process this ubiquitous state of ambivalence should be fully acknowledged and addressed (2004: 169). Another element which many writers agree is a central component in the process of desistance is the generation and maintenance of motivation (See Maruna, 2000; Maruna and Immarigeon, 2004). But however strong a persons narrative or motivation to change is, this can be seriously frustrated by a range of social problems, such as persistent accommodation problems or barriers to employment (Burnett and Maruna, 2004: 8). As people undergo a process of change and begin to desist they will also need new skills and capacities appropriate to their new lifestyle, and access to opportunities to use them (Maguire and Raynor, 2006: 8). They will need to acquire new social and human capital, with human capital referring to the skills and knowledge that an individual possesses and social capital being conceptualised as socially structured relationships between individuals, in families and in aggregations of individuals in neighbourhoods, churches, schools and so on (Hagan and McCarthy, 2007 as cited in Farrall, 2004: 60). It is suggested that if ex-offenders do not have access to these new appropriate social capital and human capital then the process of desistance could be slowed down (Farrall, 2004) which the use of a volunteer mentor would hopefully overcome. Maguire and Raynor (2006) suggest that many of the observations described above from desistance theorists have implications for interventions aiming to reduce recidivism and the following points should be taken into account by those involved in the resettlement of offenders, such as mentors or probation officers, in order to foster change and reduce reoffending; There is a need to respond to offenders individual needs rather than applying a one size fits all series of interventions. It is important that the offender takes the lead in the process of change or that it is understood as a shared effort between the offender and one attempting to foster change in them. Emphatic support required in order to maintain the motivation of the offender. It is imperative that assistance is given in taking advantage of opportunities to improve the lifestyle of the offender and in attaining relevant skills for them. Motivation of the offender can be maintained by overcoming social and practical problems. It should be expected that relapses will occur, whereby the offender falls back into previous patterns of behaviour, but this should not act as an indication that desistance has failed (Maguire and Raynor, 2006: 8). Like many of the studies of mentoring that have already been discussed Maguire and Raynor (1997) also highlight the importance of throughcare, suggesting this may increase the chances of interventions being effective, and the offenders involved desisting. They define throughcare as encompassing the following characteristics; Early preparation for release and planning. Creation of a close relationship with the offender before they are released from prison. A focus on continuity between work started with individuals whilst they are in custody with work taking place upon release. The provision of any required services (for example a drug treatment worker) as soon as is possible after their release (Maguire and Raynor, 1997). As has been proven through the evaluation of previous studies into the impact of mentoring on reoffending, as a rehabilitative intervention and one which aims to aid the resettlement process, it has huge potential to be able to curb offending behaviour. However little research has yet to be done into what impact mentoring can have as part of the whole process of desistance and what it is about mentoring that specifically encourages or discourages the mentees to desist in the long run. Maguire and Raynor (1997; 2006) have gone at least some way to link how interventions should be structured in order to promote desistance, and this dissertation will be exploring this process in relation to the specific intervention of mentoring.

Mental Health Effects Of Exercise Health And Social Care Essay

Mental Health Effects Of Exercise Health And Social Care Essay Objectives: To determine the mental health effects of exercise for people with anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances use disorder. Search Strategy: Clinical trials on anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances use disorder (August 2010) were searched based on Cochraine, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycheArticles, Sport Discuss, and PubMed database. References from relevant papers were also inspected. Selection Criteria: All randomized controlled trials comparing any intervention where physical activity or exercise was considered to be the main or active ingredient with standard care or other treatments for people with anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances use disorder. Data Collection Analysis: Citations and abstract were inspected and the quality is assessed, and the data were extracted. Main result: Ten randomized clinical trials met the inclusion criteria. Trials assessed the effects of exercise on physical and mental health for affective/mood and anxiety disorder, also the consumption change on illicit drugs and alcohol. Overall number leaving the trials were 60%). Exercise effect is higher than standard care alone or adjunct treatment with meditation. Exercise dose differs for underlying fitness level, physical wellbeing, and age. Green environment act as catalyst while smoking behavior block the fitness outcome. BACKGROUND There are about 450 million people suffered from mental and behavioral disorders worldwide. One person in four will develop one or more of these disorders during their lifetime [1]. Mental disorders contribute to almost 11% of 1996 disease burden worldwide and it is predicted that it will increase up to 15% in 2020 [2]. By looking at local context, almost half of Australian population experience mental illness at some point of their lifetime [3], which contribute 13.3% of the total country burden of disease and injury in 2003 [4]. A good mental health enable individual to handle day-to-day events and obstacles, work on their goals, and function effectively in society. Minor disturbances in mental health could with delay early intervention will not only a suffered to the individual but also a burden to their families and society considerably. The economic and personal costs of mental illness are also the major concerned in social and public health. Exercise was believed to enhance individuals ability to cope with and manage their mental disorder apart from its well documented physical health benefit. Improved quality of life is particularly important for individuals with severe and enduring mental health problems as exercise may alleviate depression, low self-esteem and social withdrawal.   Mental disorder is usually determined through clinical diagnoses using the ICD10 or DSM-IV criteria. In Australia, anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder and substances abuse are the main mental disorder in this country [3] thus will be used in this review. Description of the condition Anxiety Disorder Anxiety disorders are a group of illnesses characterized by persistent feelings of high anxiety, extreme discomfort and tension which will significantly interferes with their daily life. Its often come out of the blue and presented with intense physical symptoms such as breathlessness, palpitations, sweating, trembling, feelings of choking, nausea, abdominal distress, dizziness, pins and needles, feelings of losing control and/or feelings of impending doom[4]. Anxiety disorders also affect the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves. There is different number of anxiety disorders which include panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, which most often begin in early adulthood and common among women than men [5, 17]. It is reported that lifetime prevalence of total anxiety disorder was 10.6% 16.6% [23]. Affective Disorder Affective disorder characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood which include manic or depressive episodes, and often combinations of the two. They may or may not have psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, or other loss of contact with reality [9]. This disorder could be categorized into depression, dysthymia, mania, hypomania, and bipolar affective disorder [5]. For lifetime prevalence, the corresponding pooled incidence rates were 6.7 per 100, 3.6 per 100, and 0.9 per 100 for respective major depressive disorder (MDD) dysthymia disorder and bipolar I disorder categories [16]. Substance use disorder Substance use disorder refers to mental and behavioral disorder resulting from psychoactive substance use such as alcohol, opoids, others stimulants, hallucinogens, tobacco and volatile disorders [5]. The focus of this paper will look at the study on alcohol and illicit drugs. In the short term, the individual may perceive these effects as quite desirable however, prolonged and heavy usage may result in physical harm, dependency, and withdrawal problems and long term psychological damage or social harm. This will leads to intoxication, harmful use, dependence, and psychotic disorders [5]. Harmful use is diagnosed when damage has been caused to physical and mental health. Dependence syndrome involve strong desire to take substance and difficulty in control the use, physical withdrawal, tolerance, neglect of alternative pleasure and interest, and persistent use despite harm to self and others. Point prevalence of alcohol use disorder has been estimated to be around 1.7% globally, which higher rate among men 2.8% to women 0.5% [18]. While, the burden attributable to illicit drugs was estimated at 0.4% of total disease burden, and economic cost of this harmful drugs dependents and use in the United State has been estimated to be USD98 billion [22]. Exercise and mental health There is no single mechanism has yet been found to adequately explain the diverse range of mental health effects possible through physical activity participation. The plausible mechanisms for psychological change through physical activity and exercise fall into one of three broad perspectives as explained by Mutrie (2003) where there is biochemical changes such as increased levels of neurotransmitters; physiological changes such as improved thermo-genesis, muscle and cardiovascular function and, suggested psychological changes such as social support, sense of autonomy, improved perceptions of competence, enhanced body image, self-efficacy and distraction. Important of review There is a growing recognition that physical activity can enhance mental health (Faulkner 2005). Regardless by this fact, there is still limited evidence to suggest the effects of exercise on anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances abuse reported in the population characterized by these mental illnesses. The purpose of this review is to focus specifically on methodologically rigorous trials in updating current consensus concerning the potential role of exercise in improving the mental health of individuals with anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances use disorder. OBJECTIVES To determine the mental health effects of exercise programmes for people with anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances use disorder, and factors that enhance the effect. METHODS Types of participants Clinically diagnosed adult (aged 17 and above) with diagnosed anxiety disorder, affective and mood disorder, and substances abuse using any criteria, with any length of illness and in any treatment setting. Types of interventions Physical activity or exercise will be the main or active elements intervention studied in this review. As a result of most clinical subjects is under treatment, intervention in conjunction with others will be considered as well. Only interventions which address mental health outcome of exercise, its dosage, and factors attribute to effectiveness will be included. Others exercise study that potentially discussed the outcome of enhancing physical exercise intervention on mental health status will also will be included for prospective review. Types of outcome measures Outcomes were groups according to assessments of mental and physical health, and were grouped by different disorders, factors attribute to effectiveness, and dose exposure outcome. The primary outcome will be mental state score. Search methods for identification of studies Search is restricted to English literature will be used as more time is needed for paper translation. Electronic searches The MEDLINE, PsychInfo, PsychArticles, PubMed, Cochrane, SportDiscuss, SAGE, Springerlink, and JSTOR articles and journal databases (August 2010) were searched using the phrase : [(physical* and (therap* or intervention)) within the same field of title, abstract or index term fields) or ((fitness* or sport* or gym* or exercis* or * danc*) in title, abstract and index fields Reference) or (*exercise* or danc* or physical act* in interventions field in Study)] and also different phrases for disorder studied is added in term, reference and study field: anxiety disorder (panic disorder*or agoraphobi*or social phobi* or generalized anxiety disorde* or obsessive-compulsive disorde*or post-traumatic stress disorde*), mood or affective disorder (depressio*or dysthymi*or mani*or hypomani*or bipolar affective disorde*), and substance use disorder (alcoho*or cocain*or heroi*or ampletamin* or illicit dru*). Data collection and analysis In the selection process, abstracts of research papers were independently assessed by the searches for relevance. When abstract was unclear and disagreements occurred, the full report is required and the assessment process repeated. With resolved disagreement, data is extracted from each study and even from unpublished source for the purpose of this review. Studies are then independently assessed for its methodological quality base on sequence generation; allocation concealment; blinding; incomplete outcome data; selective reporting of the results; and any other biases identified. The standard Risk Ratio and Odd ratios at 95% confidence interval (CI) will be used as interpretation of treatment effect. As a result of continuous data outcome in mental health trials are often not normally distributed, criteria for inclusion is used where the standard deviations and means for the endpoint measures on rating scales is obtained and the standard deviation (SD), when multiplied by 2 had to be less than the mean [19]. Even though some degree of loss to follow up data must lose credibility [19], all trial in the main analysis will be included all. Only study with outcome of more than 50% participation will be interpreted. RESULT Results of the search There are about 264 electronics reports inspected and of these, 254 studies were excluded on the basis of their abstracts. Ten randomized controlled trials (Carta 2008; Jerome 2008; Oeland 2010; Doyne 1987; Kenzor 2008; Murphy 1986; Sinyor 1982; Merom 2007; Ng 2007; and Brown 2010) were included in this review. Additional 6 studies (Mackay 2009; Jokela 2010; van Hauvelen 2006; Perrino 2009; Brown 2005; and Tart 2010) were included for prospective view on exercise effectiveness factors that could be used for implementation of study. Included studies We included ten randomized controlled trials (Carta 2008; Jerome 2008; Oeland 2010; Doyne 1987; Kenzor 2008; Murphy 1986; Sinyor 1982; Merom 2007; Ng 2007; and Brown 2010). All studies have been published since 1982 which illustrates growing attention to the role of exercise as a form of adjunct therapy for the focused mental illnesses. One study (Merom 2007) investigated the effects of an exercise programme on anxiety disorder where brisk walking exercise and others exercises were implemented. The 8 -10 weeks program lengths, with exercise dose of >30 minutes duration, done five times per week have shown a remarkable decrease of anxiety among patients in the intervention group. Compare with others mental illness studies; there are numerous studies on affective and mood disorder. Reviewed studies shows that exercise does work to reduce depression and anxiety in bipolar patients with just one hour per week of simple group brisk walk exercise for 8 months lengths (Carta 2008); and for major depression patient, the positive outcome were observed after 150 minutes per week group walking for 8 week length program. Greater total time exposure will give better significant outcome for bipolar patient (Ng, 2007) and the severity of affective/mood psychiatric problem does not influence the exercise outcome (Jerome, 2008). Oeland et al (2010) have demonstrate that, increased in physical activity will tremendously leads towards better body physiology changes among these patient. Their depression level were found to have further decrease with high level intensity exercise compare to low density exercise at equivalence dose (4 times per week with 60 minutes duration) of e xposure (Doyne 1987). The main outcome measured for Drugs and Alcohol use disorder is the percent day abstinence (PDA). Structured group exercise were found leads towards better PDA outcome as adjunct therapy for drugs addicts and alcoholic patients (Murphy 1986; Sinyor 1982; Brown 2010) at the minimum of 8 weeks intervention (Murphy, 1986) to 12 months intervention(Sinyor 1982). The effective dose reported in these studies is 20-70 minutes exercise routine for the least once a week. Unstructured exercise has demonstrated lower outcome in Kendzor (2008) and Sinyor (1982) studies, verified by their respective intervention group and control group outcome. 1. Methods: All trials were randomized. The duration of the trials ranged between 8 weeks (Murphy 1986) and 24 months (Ng 2007). 2. Participants: All trials included people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, affective or mood disorders, and alcohol or drugs use disorder using DSM-IV criteria (Carta 2008; Jerome 2008; Oeland 2010; Doyne 1987; Kenzor 2008; Murphy 1986; Sinyor 1982; Merom 2007; Ng 2007; and Brown 2010). Only one study does not use in- or outpatients (Murphy 2007). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 80 years. 3. Setting: Three studies were conducted in community centre (Kendzor 2008; Murphy 1986; Sinyor 1982), one offered in the university (Doyne 1987), and the rest is offered in and outpatient services. 4. Study Size: The smallest sample size is 16 participants (Brown 2010) and the largest number of participants in sample is 620 people (Kendzor 2008). 5. Interventions: All study using exercise as their main activity used to measured the outcome. The experimental conditions identified in each of the included studies differed in exercise duration and intensity. The exercise activity intensity are from a simple walking to high intensity supervised structured aerobic exercise. Most selected studies implement consistent duration of exercise 20-60 minutes five times per day for the least 8 weeks. Only well structured supervised intervention implements increase intensity (Sinyor 1982; Brown 2010). All exercise programmes were in addition to participants usual care except intervention in Murphy, Pagano and Marlat (1986) study. 6. Control interventions: Standard care: Participants continued with their usual treatment in Carta 2008, and addition with Group Cognitive behavior therapy and just education benefit of exercise for Merom 2007, Oeland 2010, Doyne 1987, Kendzor 2008, Sinyor 1982 and Brown 2010. There are two control groups in Murphy, Pagano Mariat (1986) study which one group in meditation intervention while the others were not in either exercise or meditation. These participants were university student not with any treatment for excessive alcohol intake. Only Ng 2007 does not implement control in their intervention. 7. Outcomes: Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) is a 21 item self report questionnaire designed to measure the severity of a range of symptoms common to both Depression and Anxiety. Each item is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all over the last week) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time over the past week). Merom 2007 and Ng 2007 used this scale. World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF Version (WHOQOL-BREF) is scale to assesses physical health, psychological, social relations and the environment on a five-point scale where 1 = poor QofL and 5 = good QofL. Carta 2008 and Oeland 2010 use this scale. The Clinical Global Impression Severity scale (CGI-S) is a 7-point scale that requires the clinician to rate the severity of the patients illness at the time of assessment, relative to the clinicians past experience with patients who have the same diagnosis. Considering total clinical experience, a patient is assessed on severity of mental illness at the time of rating 1=normal, not at all ill; 2, borderline mentally ill; 3, mildly ill; 4, moderately ill; 5, markedly ill; 6, severely ill; or 7, extremely ill. Ng 2007 used this scale. The Clinical Global Impression Improvement scale (CGI-I) is a 7 point scale that requires the  clinician  to assess how much the patients illness has improved or worsened relative to a baseline state at the beginning of the intervention. Rated as: 1, very much improved; 2, much improved; 3, minimally improved; 4, no change; 5, minimally worse; 6, much worse; or 7, very much worse. Ng 2007 used this scale. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a screening battery designed to measure attention and processing speed, expressive language, visual-spatial and constructional abilities, and immediate and delayed memory.  Jerome 2008 used this measurement for to records schizophrenic patient activity. Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90) is used as a screening measure of general psychiatric symptomatology. It includes dimensions measuring somatization, obsessive-compulsive, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. This was used by Jerome 2008 Center for Epidemiologic Studies depressive scale (CES-D) is a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population. The items of the scale are symptoms associated with depression which have been used in previously validated longer scales.  It was found to have very high internal consistency and adequate test- retest repeatability. Validity was established by patterns of correlations with other self-report measures, by correlations with clinical ratings of depression, and by relationships with other variables which support its construct validity. This was used by Jerome 2008. Beck Depression Inventory  (BDI) is a 21-question  multiple-choice self-report inventory, used for measuring the severity of  depression from a psychodynamic  perspective. In its questionnaire is designed for individuals aged 13 and over and composed of items relating to symptoms of depression such as hopelessness and irritability, cognitions such as guilt or feelings of being punished, as well as physical symptoms such as fatigue,  weight loss, and lack of interest in sex. Used by Doyne 1987 and Kendzor 2008 Figure1: Methodological quality summary: review authors judgments about each methodological quality item for each included study. Adequate Sequence Generation Allocation Concealment Blinding? Incomplete Outcome data addressed Free of Selective Reporting Free of Others Bias Merom et al 2007 + + + ? + Carta et al 2008 + + + + + Ng et al 2007 + ? ? + Jerome et al 2008 + + + + Oeland et al 2010 + + + + + + Doyne et al 1987 + + + + + Kendzor et al 2008 + + ? ? Murphy et al 1986 + + + + + Sinyor et al 1982 + + + + Brown et al 2010 + + ? + Risk of bias in included studies Allocation: All study reported as randomized. Blinding: None of the studies were double-blinded. The reported results may exaggerate estimates of treatment effect and None of the studies reported any test of blinding Incomplete outcome data: Most of the studies have withdrawal from the sample population as the highest reported were in Sinyor (1982) study which around 60% remains in the study, which were due to self withdrawal from being participant after undergone first phase of treatment. Selective reporting: Most study report the mean and standard deviation. Others source of bias: most of the study have tendency of selection bias, measurement bias and error due to effect of confounding especially effect of group therapy and regular undergone treatment. DISCUSSION Ten studies were included in this review. Overall, these studies showed that exercise therapy can have an impact on mental health outcomes like mental state and general functioning with no adverse effects. There are various studies looking at the impact of exercise towards anxiety in non-clinical samples using DASS and SCL-90 questions tools, which were excluded for reviews apart from the reason of its non-clinical trial study design. Compare to usual treatment alone and GCBT, prolonged and frequent exercise conducted in group for at least 8 weeks were significantly effective in reduce anxiety, depression and stress among patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia. Similar effect was observed for bipolar disorder and major depression in addition to their usual treatment, regardless of the psychiatric condition severity and exercise intensity (Jerome 2008). Clinical trials have shown high day abstinence from drugs and alcohol best occurs in well structured, high intensity group exercise among alcoholic and drugs addict, in addition to their usual treatment for the problem. Kendzor 2008 study has demonstrated there was no effect of individual low density physical activity towards reducing the heavy drinking habit. We could conclude that, the minimum effective dose for exercise to mental status is 40-60 minutes session, repeated 3-5 times per week for continuous 8 weeks duration. This dose works for low endurance brisk walking exercise with a proper warming up session. Increases in exercise intensity will give better physical fitness, and ideal weight management. Type of exercise, its intensity, and dose is modified base on underlying fitness level and age (Jerome 2008; Jokela 2010; van Hauvelen 2006; Perrino 2009). Others factors that could affect exercise effectiveness is the exercise environment. Mackay Neill 2009 study shows that there is significant relationship between anxiety changes and green environment. Exercise intensity works for depression (Brown 2005; Jerome 2005) and substance use disorder (Sinyor 1982; Brown 2010) but not for anxiety (Mackay Neill 2009). It is found that smoking behavior will delay exercise fitness effect (Tart 2010). AUTHORS CONCLUSION Implication of practice People with mental illness The results of this review indicate that there are various benefits of exercise to individuals with anxiety disorder, mood and affective disorder, and substance use disorder, which can improve components of mental health by participating in structured group exercise. Limited number of studies on proper intensity and dose of exercise towards the improvement of mental health for the different population group and underlying psychiatric problems has cause difficulties for medical practitioner to come out with clear guidance to the patient. Physician, physiotherapist, professional physical trainers, and health educator should be consulted for better support and advice towards implementing exercise as treatment intervention. It is clear from this study that, exercise works as adjunct therapy for identified psychological problems and high intensity exercise work for substance abuser and depression patient. The best effect of exercise is that it conducted in group and being supervised. Pati ent with anxiety does responds to high intensity exercise but the effect is not much different compare to low intensity exercise. Current guidelines for lifestyle activity and exercise appear do not really work for the justified mental disorders. Therefore, accumulating 40-60 minutes of proper physical activity on most or all days of the week is a good guideline. This should be continued for minimum of 8 weeks for a better mental status outcome. Cessation of smoking will further ensure better health benefit. For physician, health educator, physiotherapist and professional physical trainers Regular exercise is known for its physical, mental, and social benefits. It is a multidimensional approach that requires physician, health educator, physiotherapist and professional physical trainers to ensure patients to become and staying active for its physical and psychological benefit. Proper information guidelines to patients are essential in the long run. Health practitioners should also be equipped with this latest information and as well emphasize on the safety of intervention to avoid negative effect of exercise especially muscle injury if not properly done. Side effect of medication and structural barrier for intervention (socio economic status, infrastructure) as well as underlying medical condition should also be considered before recommend this intervention to the patients. In others word, exercise intervention is personalized to suit individual situation. For policy Structural barrier may limit patient participation into exercise intervention in mental disorder treatment. It is shown from the studies that patients with mental health have better chance to improve their morbidity when adhere into exercise intervention as adjunct treatment for their underlying psychological problems. Proper guidelines for health practitioners and patients are required for better communication to deliver the information for both. Multidisciplinary approach should be emphasized in this practices which could profound positive impact on patients health and wellbeing. More time is required to deliver and explained this message to patient as the program is personalized to fit individual underlying social and physical wellbeing. Policymakers should consider the implementation of this multidisciplinary programmes approach within their respective treatment facilities. They should also consider to provide better exercise facilities in the community thus as well promotes gree n environment and the establishment of well structured community exercise group program for a long term benefit. There is chances that continuous exercise program could be used as prevention of acquired mental health problems due to life-style changes. More evidence on this is required and with such evidence support, cost benefit or cost effective analysis of preventive exercise intervention in mental health could be established. In long-standing, this could be helpful in reducing pharmaceutical cost for mental health in a country. Implication for research General There are various established measurement used in reporting mental health outcome thus cause difficulties to compare the study results. It is recommended that in research practice for mental health outcome, the measurement should be standardized. Specific It is important in future for us to have a clear define duration, frequency and intensity of exercise program for each mental health disorder; considering the underlying medical and physiological wellbeing of individual. Study on the changes of fitness level due to the intervention is progressively in practices, and in any future research it should be reported in the record. Mental health is a complex discipline where there is no clear cut point of disease and always presented with a comorbid condition of either other mental disorder or chronic diseases. This should as well to be considered in future research especially in intervention study. It is also a challenge in the research of this area to ensure the finding is free from cofounding effect of biological and social diversity in the complex global society. In the end, with the establishment of complete study in mental health area could contributes a better theoretical background to explain the mechanism of this diversification. T his will help as well towards low cost of treatment in mental health disorder in the future. REFERENCES 1. World Health Organization (2005). Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice. Geneva: WHO Press. 2. Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care 2000, Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health: A Monograph. Canberra: Mental Health and Special Programs Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. 3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007). National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results. Canberra: ABS. 4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2006). Australias Health 2006. AIHW. Canberra: AIHW. 5. Australian Bureau of Statistic (2008). National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results. Canberra: ABS. 6. Jerome G.J, Young D.R, Dalcin A et.al (2009). Physical Activity Levels of Persons with Mental Illness Attending Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs. Schizophrenia Research. 2009; 108; 252-257 7. Tart C.D, Leyro T.M, Ritcher A, Zvolensky M.J, Rosenfield D, Smith J.A.J (2010). Negative Affect as a Mediator of the Relationship between Vigorous-Intensity, Exercise and Smoking. Addictive Behaviors. 2010 (35); 580-585 8. Mackay G.J, Neill J.T (2010). The Effect of Green Exercise On State Anxiety and The Role of Exercise Duration, Intensity, and Greenness: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2010; 11; 238-245 9. Perrino T, Mason C.A, Brown S.C, Szapocznik J (2009). The Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms And Walking Among Hispanic Older Adults: A Longitudinal,Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis. Aging Mental Health, 14: 2, 211 219 10. Doyne, E. J., Ossip-Klein, D. J., Bowman, E. D., Osborn, K. M., McDougall-Wilson, I. B., Neimayer, R. A. (1987). Running Versus Weight

The Cycle of Technology Integration Essay -- Education Teaching

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