A theatre review of Les Miserables Essay

We went to see a performance of Les Miserables on Thursday 19th October 2000, which was directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caid and written by Victor Hugo and was staged at the Palace Theatre. Brief The performance is set in France after the French revolution, a woman had given birth to a young girl out of wedlock which was unacceptable at the time. She sends her daughter to live with a married couple with a daughter of similar age. The mother sends every last bit of money she gets to the family looking after her daughter to pay for her upbringing. At one point she gets so desperate for money that she turns to prostitution and sells her teeth and hair for money. Whilst all the above is happening a very strong and young man is in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister. He broke his bail because he was fed up of being just a number and starts a new life under his original name Jean Valjean. He stayed in a church over night and the bishop gave him a meal and a place to sleep, in the night Jean Valjean stole a pair of silver candle sticks and run off with them. The police brought him back and confronted the bishop, but to everyone’s surprise the bishop said that he gave the silver to Valjean. After the police left the bishop told Valjean to keep the sticks and use them to start a new life. A young dying woman tells him about her daughter and where she is staying. He makes a pledge to find her daughter and bring her up as his own. He goes and finds her and pays the family she is staying with so he can take her away. Jean Valjean becomes a mayor of a town even though he is still on the run from the police. One policeman catches on and realises that he is an exconvict that has broken his bail and tries to find a way to take him back to prison. The students of the village he is in charge of starts a rebellion and builds barricades to protest against the French army. Jean Valjean’s daughter falls in love with a man that goes into the barricades. Jean Valjean also goes into the barricades, cossets (the girl that he has raised) boyfriend gets shot. Jean Valjean carries him out of the barricades and through the sewers, he saves his life. The main issues of the performance where poverty, rebellion, death and love because the play was set in times of great poverty, the town goes into the barricades and makes a stand for what they believe in. The whole plot starts when Cossets mother dies and Jean Valjean pledges to look after his daughter and love her like his own. The performance is set in France in the early 1830’s, the French government at the time didn’t rally care about the lower class citizens and didn’t put a lot of money into the community, this is when people started to make a stand for their rights. The director tried and succeeded to produce a very dark and unhappy time of life. Most of the poorer people where all dressed in dark and dingy colours which was a lot like the backgrounds and the lighting which in times where shades of browns and dirty yellows. The songs also where a very good example of the mood and atmosphere because most of them where to a steady beat which shows that there life was always the same and never changed they kept to the beat. I had very high expectations of this play as I had heard a lot of good points about this performance. It is not just a run of the mill play, it was a historic master piece that has been a hit in many different countries, such as England, America and France. My initial response was that I was very excited as soon as the safety curtain rose up from the floor of the stage. The first thing I saw was a group of criminals in a chain gang who where singing the song â€Å"look down† which in my opinion is probably the most powerful songs in the whole performance. Main Body of The Review The Performance Space Les Miserables was staged in a Proscenium Arch with a rotating plate in the centre of it that is essential because of several scenes that definitely revolved around the rotating plate. I think that the director chose to use this technique because it gave the audience quite a wide view of what was going on around them. Even though the staging was done very well I didn’t feel very involved except for the marching scene when it felt like the actors where marching right towards us. I think the director wanted to stage the production in this way to make the audience feel involved. The Set The set was fairly large with a rotating plate in the middle, the plate was very symbolic in this performance because it symbolised the lives of the characters because they seemed to be going round in circles. The set also had moving barricades, which were very realistic for the barricade scenes. There is only one set in the whole performance but there are a number of props that come on and off of the stage to set the scene. The barricades are made up of mainly woods such as beds and chairs which shows that the citizens didn’t really have anything but they would put all there household goods up for use if it was going to get them even the slightest bit of respect. The space that was available for the actors was used very well because the performance overall was spread out and wasn’t just crammed into one corner. In my opinion the best use of space and levels was in the scene when Javert jumped off the bridge he didn’t actually move but the bridge rose very quickly giving the impression of him jumping, this scene would only work if the timing was exactly right. The marching scene also relied a great deal on levels because the people would step forward and lean down at the same time which created the illusion of the actors moving forward even though they where just moving backwards and forwards. The Actor And His/Her Performance Jean Valjean Hans Peter Jonssens played Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his poor and dying sister, he was sent to work in the chain gangs he was no longer a person but just a number which was 24601. He broke his bail when he was released from the chain gangs and started a new life. He is physically an exceptionally strong man and a lot of people comment on it. He speaks very firmly to adult men especially Javert and stands upright to show his strength and authority, but when he speaks to women and children he speaks very softly and seems to lean over as if they are equal in authority, he seems to be a true gentleman. Jean Valjean seemed to be a very proud man we can tell this by his body language because he stands upright at all times other than when he speaks to children. I liked the character Jean Valjean which in my opinion meant that it was a successful character. Javert Peter Corry played Javert. He was the good guy but the way he portrayed the character made us hate him. He is a police officer and was in charge of the chain gang that Jean Valjean was in. he remembered him because he was so strong. Javert comes across as a very straight man that will always speak his mind and if he didn’t like you then he would make it quite clear. He is a gentleman and is very religious, he does every thing by the book and treats everybody the same. Javert didn’t really give anything away with his facial expressions, as it was always the same. His posture and body language shows us that he is proud of his authority and is pleased that he is enforcing the law.

Cultural Assessment – Nursing

Cultural Assessment The population of the United States is continually rising. The birth rate continues to rise, but more importantly, the number of foreign-born immigrants that relocated to the United States in 2003 was a staggering 33. 5 million, and that number rises every year (Jarvis, 2008). With such a large immigrant population comes the need for medical professionals that are culturally competent.Being culturally competent means that the caregivers, â€Å"understand and attend to the total context of the individual’s situation, including awareness of immigration status, stress factors, other social factors, and cultural similarities and differences† (Jarvis, 2008, p. 38). Because the United States is so diverse, it is a federal law that all caregivers must be culturally competent. It should be noted, however, that is not something that can be accomplished so easily. It is a process that can take a lifetime. To become culturally competent one must have knowledge in several areas.These include, but are not limited to, knowing one’s own personal heritage, the heritage of the nursing profession, the heritage of the health care system, and the heritage of the patient (Jarvis, 2008). When performing a cultural assessment of an individual one must take into account five important aspects of the individual’s heritage. These aspects will give the nurse an idea of the patient’s heritage consistency. First, is the individual’s culture. Everyone has a culture. There are four basic characteristics of culture. First, it is learned; from birth one is learning the language and socialization of that culture.Second, it is shared. All the members of the same group share that culture. Third, it is adapted. Culture adapts to environmental and technical factors, as well as the groups availability to natural resources. Finally, it is dynamic. Meaning, it is always changing (Jarvis, 2008). The second aspect of one’s heritage is ethnicity. This is a group within the social system that have a common geographical origin, race, religion, values, traditions and food preferences. The term ethnic is tricky in the United States (US) because of how large the US is, and the large diversity of ethnic differences it has.Religion is the third aspect of one’s heritage. Religion is extremely important because an individual’s religious beliefs play a huge part in one’s health-related behaviors and how someone perceives illness and death. There are roughly 1500 different religions in the United States which is why this aspect is so important when performing an individual’s cultural assessment (Jarvis, 2008). The fourth aspect of one’s heritage is socialization. When someone is raised in a specific culture, the person naturally acquires the characteristics of that group.Many people in the United States are bicultural, acquiring certain customs and traditions of the United States while stay ing loyal to their traditional culture as best they can. Time orientation is the fifth and final aspect of one’s heritage. Every culture has a different understanding of each other’s perception of time. Depending on the individual’s heritage, that person may focus on the past, the present, the future, or a combination of the three. It is important for the nurse to recognize the individual’s perception of time to gain a better understanding of how to individualize a plan of care.To gain a better understanding of cultural assessment and how it relates to health care and being culturally competent, a sit down interview was performed with an 84 year old female of German-American heritage, who believes that any belief or view differing greatly from hers are strange, and usually wrong (Riley, 2008). In order to preserve her right to privacy, she will be referred to as G. E. Heritage Assessment Cultural Group G. E. is 84 years old and was born and raised in the United States. She considers herself an American who is extremely proud of her German heritage. She is 100% of German decent.She had one older sister who is deceased. Her immediate family was all born in rural Illinois. Her father built a house in Coal Valley, IL when she was very young, where she lived until she was married at the age of 18. Her paternal grandparents were both born in Germany. It is unknown what city or village in Germany they came from, other than the northern part of Germany. They immigrated to the United States shortly before her father was born. She remembers her grandparents speaking little to no English, then, eventually broken English. Her father spoke English as a first language and some German. Her mother, her sister and she ever learned the German language. English was the only language spoken in the home. Her father was a coal miner and her mother took care of the home. In her culture, each generation lived in separate homes, whereas in some cultures, mu ltiple generations live in the same household. However, her grandparents and extended family members did live nearby, so she spent a lot of time playing with her cousins, and saw her grandparents, aunts and uncles on a regular basis. They would all get together on Sundays after church, and have lunch together. She lived at home until she married at the age of 18. G. E. ent to public schools, then to secretary school after graduation. Her husband was also 100% of German decent. They had two sons and a daughter. Both of her sons live close by, but her daughter lives in Nebraska. Her daughter and she talk on the phone every day. Her husband was in the US Navy during WWII and her husband and she were very patriotic. Like she has stated earlier, she is an American. Other than that, she did not know much about the war or Hitler or just did not remember. What she did remember when asked about this subject was the fact that a few of her husbands’ ancestors were drivers for Hitler dur ing his reign.Ethnic Group G. E. ’s ethnicity focuses around her family and church. Even though her father’s parents were born in Germany, there is no indication that they were passing down many values, traditions, or food preferences to the new generations. By all accounts, they wanted to completely immerse themselves into the American way of life. The only German recipes that were passed down to her were for sauerkraut, German pigs-in-a-blanket, which included sauerkraut, and German potato salad. Her family also eats a lot of beef, pork, and chicken. Potatoes are also a staple of her diet.For many years, G. E. and her husband would grow a big garden and produced enough vegetables for the entire winter months. Traditions are very important to G. E. For many years her family would come to her house after church for Sunday lunch and also for Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving the grandchildren would come over to decorate the Christmas tree. She still has her famil y over every Christmas Eve. She says she does not cook a meal anymore, she orders a meat and cheese tray, and makes some side dishes. The other family members bring over the desserts.She also used to have a birthday party for her children and grandchildren. She baked a cake and the family would come over and eat dinner. The birthday person got to pick the dinner, and would then open presents. Her grandchildren bring her great-grandchildren to see her at least once a month. She says she enjoys it when they come to visit. She really enjoys seeing the great-grandchildren. She says that it makes her feel proud. Religious Group Religion is the most important aspect of G. E. ’s life besides her family, and always has been. G. E. and her family are Protestants.Knowing that most of her ancestors came from the northern part of Germany, this is interesting because in Germany, Protestantism is practiced predominantly in northern Germany (Fuller & Vossmeyer, 2004), which is where her anc estors lived. This is proof that their religion has been passed down through the generations and still continues to be practiced. Her husband and his family, who are all deceased now, shared the same ethnic and religious background as her family. She regularly attends a Presbyterian church at least once a week and is a very active member of the church.Her husband would fill in as pastor when the regular pastor could not. She practices her religion in her home every day by praying and reading the Bible. G. E. celebrates all of the holidays of her religion which are Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with her family. She states that her religion has no influence on her diet or health practices. G. E. believes in heaven and hell, which is common to many German religions (Fuller & Vossmeyer, 2004). She insists that younger family members who do not go to church attend church with her at least once a year. She does not like the fact that her other family members do not attend church.She feels in order to get into heaven one has to attend church occasionally. Social Group Most, but not all, of her friends share the same ethnic and religious background. She also has a few Hispanic friends whom she enjoys spending time. She still lives in her home in the same neighborhood in which she has lived for over 50 years. The neighborhood is located close to the church and most of her neighbors are close in age. Most of them attend the same church and are of the same ethnic background. She has always had a very active social life which can contribute to her excellent health.She goes to a senior activities hall twice a week to play bingo and has a swimming class twice a week to exercise and socialize with friends. She goes to have her hair done every Saturday which she has done for many years. She regularly goes out to lunch and to watch a movie with friends once or twice a month and is on the phone a lot with family and friends. She made sure to mention is that she absolutely does not like to travel and has never been outside of the United States. When her children were young they would take camping trips to Wisconsin and Minnesota. That was pretty much the extent of her travels.As a result, her sons do not like to travel much either but her daughter enjoys traveling. Her daughter has been to many countries and G. E. does not understand why she enjoys it so much. Time Orientation G. E. ’s time orientation focuses on the present and the future with little to no focus on the past. She feels at her age, focusing on the past is a waste of time. She says, â€Å"I just move on† (G. E. 2011). She does not like to dwell on the past. She says, â€Å"what’s done is done†. Although she misses her husband very much she believes she will meet up with him in heaven one day. She enjoys the thought of that.She does not think of health care in terms of the past either. She follows her doctor’s advice and is open to new treatments and m edications. This is another reason she is in excellent health for an 84 year old woman. She does not like the thought of a doctor not knowing the latest in medical technology and treatments. She also is not bothered if health care personnel are not culturally sensitive to her heritage since she sees herself as an American who is proud of her German heritage. G. E. is uncomfortable with doctors who are not Caucasian. She also does not like to be cared for by male nurses or other male caregivers who are not doctors.Health Related Beliefs and Practices G. E. has health insurance and Medicare, so she is able to see the doctor on a regular basis. Lack of insurance coverage is not a factor for her. She never goes without her medication because of lack of prescription coverage. Also, with the money she and her husband saved over the years, plus both of their retirement packages and social security benefits, she lives comfortably and does not have to worry about not having enough money to l ive out the rest of her life in the lifestyle she leads. Developmental Situation G. E. remembers things her mother did when G.E. was a child to maintain and protect her health. She had to wash her hands regularly, especially before and after meals and after using the bathroom. She always had three meals a day which consisted of foods from all of the food groups. In the winter she could not go outside until she was bundled up. When she did get sick, she had to stay home in bed until her mother thought she was feeling better. This was solely the job of her mother since her father worked long hours in the coal mines. She states that her mother was the stereotypical strict, but loving, German mother.When she started her own family, she ran her home in the same manner. She was raised during the Great Depression and was raised to be hard working and to appreciate what one has, which G. E. has instilled in her children. G. E. is accomplishing all the developmental tasks of her age group an d has successfully resolved Erickson’s last ego stage, which is the psychological conflict of ego integrity versus despair. In this stage, â€Å"resolution to this final conflict occurs when the adult accepts one’s one and only life cycle as something that had to be and that, by necessity, permitted of no substitutions† (Jarvis, 2008, p. 8). Causes of Illness G. E. describes illness as not being able to do the things she normally does and she defines health as having no aches or pains. She rates her health as good to excellent for a woman of her age. She has never smoked, however, her husband smoked a pipe for years. She does not use any devices to help her get around and she still goes up and down the stairs to do laundry. She states she has fallen a few times but has never broken a bone as a result, and was able to get back up on her own. She has never been hospitalized as a result of an illness, only for an occasional elective surgery.What she believe causes illness are environmental change, God’s punishment, grief and loss, stress and anxiety, incorrect food combinations, poor eating habits, smoking, inactivity, and viruses and bacteria. Cultural Practices in Healing and Health She maintains and protects her health by washing her hands regularly, taking her prescribed medications, staying active, eating a well-balanced diet based on the food pyramid, taking vitamin supplements, seeing her doctors regularly, staying inside when it is too hot or too cold, avoids people who are sick, and does not take on more than she thinks she can handle.When she does get sick she does not make a big deal out of it and does not feel the need to worry family members. She stays at home because she fears getting others sick as well, especially her great-grandchildren. She takes care of herself by getting enough rest, keeping herself hydrated, not eating certain foods she knows will make her feel worse, taking needed medications, and calling her doct or when she feels she needs to be seen. When G. E. feels she needs some lab work done, other tests, or has any concerns, she immediately calls her doctor. She trusts in her doctor’s advice and always follows his or her orders.It is because of all of this, she believes she is still living an active and healthy life. G. E. is also extremely concerned with the health and well-being of her family. When her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are sick, she worries about them and calls them regularly to check on them. She also prays for them to get well. Cultural Expressions of Illness G. E. does whatever her doctor suggests and does not believe he would do anything to jeopardize her health. However, as far as family and friends go, she will not outwardly express indications of pain.She states that it is because she does not want people to worry about her. G. E. believes this is due to her strict German up-bringing and growing up during the Great Depression. She believe s one can never work too hard, so pain is seen as a weakness to her. The more she expresses pain or illness, the weaker she is seen, and possibly unable to effectively take good care of herself. Alternative assisted living is not an option G. E. needs at this point. G. E. feels she does not need it, and she absolutely will not burden her children with having to care for her.Cultural use of Alternative Therapies G. E. sometimes uses home remedies when she is ill. When she was a child her mother would use some vapor rub then put a sock around G. E. ’s neck. G. E. ’s mother would feed her chicken soup and give her juice or hot tea to drink, and keep her in bed. G. E. believes that healing and curing are the same and believes that praying, following the doctors orders, getting recommended treatments and taking prescribed medications brings healing. In the past few years G. E. has used alternative therapies to help with pain and arthritis.She gets acupuncture once a week, a nd sees a massage therapist occasionally. She admits, ten years ago she would have never done these types of alternative therapies, but her daughter is a nurse, and recommended it as an alternative to pain medication. She also admits that it does help, or she would not pay to go, but she feels it does not cure anything. She still has to supplement the pain with medications from time to time. Summary G. E. ’s interview was conducted at her home, and it took about an hour and a half. She would often change the subject, so having to restate questions happened often.She felt comfortable being in her home answering these questions, but often asked why an assessment of this type was so important. She has no issues with cultural sensitivity, or nurses being culturally competent, and has had little experience with other cultures. G. E. does not understand the need for such learning. Her views are ethnocentric, and at 84 years old, that will probably not change. During the interview, both open-ended and close-ended questions were used to gain the most information. She was very open to doing the interview, but stated she did not think she had much to contribute.She states she has lived a wonderful, privileged life with a loving husband, and a great family. She has never been disappointed by her family and is extremely proud of them. The only regret she has, has to do with her sister. They lived about five properties apart from each other, and some land next to her sister that G. E. owned, her sister planted a garden there for years. Well, G. E. gave the property to her daughter and son in-law to build a home. Her sister got extremely upset, which ended up with their families not talking for years. Then she received word that her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, and G.E. called her up, and they reconciled. Unfortunately, she died shortly after that. G. E. has never gotten over that. Because of that, she is continually telling her family not to bicker over the small stuff, and that one’s family is all one has, and the people who love them the most in this world. Even though G. E. will not openly express pain to anyone except her doctor, the rest of her family will openly talk about any illness they have or pain they are experiencing. This is something she practically requires of them. She says it is like â€Å"do as I say, not as I do†.This goes back to her not wanting to be a burden on anyone, yet she has to know that her family is alright. It is perfectly fine for her family to be a burden on her, because to her it is not a burden. She sees it as her responsibility. She states that her family always tells her she will never be a burden, but she is too stubborn to listen to them. She is the mother and she knows best. She says her family jokes to her that they are 50 something year old adults, yet they still feel like children when they are around her and have to do what their mother says or there will be trouble. She fi nds this very amusing.She does not believe in cremation and plans to be buried alongside her husband. She has all of her final arrangements already planned and paid for, again, as not to burden her family. Many members of her family plan to be cremated and she cannot understand why. She believes one’s soul will not go to heaven if the body is cremated. There were no communication barriers while interviewing G. E. It was a very easy and pleasant interview. G. E. enjoyed talking about her heritage and family. G. E. is a very active and healthy woman for her 84 years, and she cannot wait until she can reunite with her husband in Heaven.She prays to her husband every night. Personal Reflection Writing a cultural assessment about someone from a different generation was very interesting for me. While some of the information I received during the interview was similar to my own personal beliefs, most were not. Being two generations younger than G. E. makes a huge difference in certa in beliefs. My mother is 100% Swedish and my father was a Vietnam veteran who is 50% German, with some English, French and more German. Growing up, my family did not follow any ethnic traditions and had no heritage related beliefs other than being American.We were a middle class family and as a child I thoroughly enjoyed life. I have one younger sister, and we, for the most part, were spoiled. I think that has to do with having baby boomers for parents. We took dance classes and I was a gymnast through junior high school. We had a whole neighborhood of other children our age. We were outside from morning until evening, especially in the summer. Both of my parents worked and provided us with whatever we needed. My parents made me attend Sunday school every week until I was about 12. After that, I attended church only a few times a year. Religion does not play a big role in my culture.Even at Sunday school, it did not make much sense to me, but I was too young really understand. My pa rents and grandparents always had a strong work ethic and I also do as a result. My parents wanted me to be my own person and choose my own path as long as it was an honest path. I live within a mile from my parents and from my sister so we see each other frequently. My parents help out my husband and me with our children. I have two sons and a daughter who are ages three, four, and six. One thing that differs from G. E. and me is that I like to know about the past as well as the present and future.One thing that we agree on is that we see our doctor regularly and rely on the latest in medical technology and medications. When we are both ill, we tend to use the same methods to take care of ourselves. However, I am not one to hide any pain or illness I have from my family; when I am sick or in pain, everyone knows about it. Also, the way we in which we raise our children is different. G. E. raised her children in a loving, but more strict, manner. I do not raise my children in such a strict manner. I raise them like my parents raised me. They are very different styles, but I do not know that one is better than the other.They both have positive and negative parts to them. In G. E. ’s generation the woman usually stayed home to take care of the family. In my generation I feel many women enjoy getting an education and usually find it a necessity to work outside of the home. I know I would enjoy the best of both worlds, to contribute to the family income, yet limiting my work outside the home to part time until the children are older. One thing about religion I also learned was how important it was to G. E. Other than her family, her religion was most important to her life, which is very different from me.As I stated earlier, religion has virtually no importance in my life. Also, I do not consider myself to be ethnocentric. I have yet to meet a person whose religion, culture, ethnicity, or heritage shocked or bothered me. As long as I do not feel that I am b eing pushed into one belief or another, I am fine. Everyone needs to find the path that makes one happy, healthy, and whole. I want to be a nurse because I like people. I feel I can make a difference in this career by letting my patients know that I genuinely care for their well-being and want them to lead the best possible life they can.I have been a Certified Nursing Assistant for the last 6 years and I enjoy it. I think by becoming a nurse I can do even more to help them. It is an awful experience to go to see the doctor, and feel like cattle being shipped in and out of the office at record speed. I like the thought of, as nurses, we take a holistic approach to healing that I feel doctor’s lack. Patients need to feel they can openly discuss their problems and that someone is actually listening to them and taking time to talk about it with them without judgment or prejudice; to come up with a plan of care that suits everyone involved, as much as possible.I realize since I d o work in a hospital that there will not always be a happy ending. Some patients can be difficult to care for, but as a nurse, I need to understand that they are there because they are ill, which has an effect on their personality and mental status. I must have empathy for them, as difficult as that may be sometimes. I know that when I am not feeling well, my personality changes, as does everyone’s. I feel the issues I need to work on most is the language barriers when they arise, and patient’s family dynamics. The diverse and often complex dynamics of a patient’s family is extremely difficult to understand.It will take time to develop a way to handle these often difficult situations. No family has the same relationship, so as a nurse I must go in prepared for anything, and keep an open, non-judgmental frame of mind while performing a cultural assessment on the patient. Writing this paper has made me even more sensitive to people’s cultural differences. N o matter what background one comes from, most people essentially want similar things when it comes to healthcare. One wants to be seen as an individual, rather than a number. We want compassionate care. We want to be listened to. We want to get well. We do not want to be judged or belittled.We want to be understood and we do not want to be dismissed as just another â€Å"crazy patient†. Nobody reacts well to negativity especially when there is no need to be. These are the things I must keep in mind while doing cultural assessments in the future. References Alexopoulos Y. (2007). Illness, Culture, and Caring: Impact on Patients, Families, and Nurses. In Chitty, K. K. & Black, B. P. (Ed. ), Professional nursing concepts & challenges (5th ed. , pp. 237-269). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders. Baxter, A. (2001). In search of your German roots, A complete guide to tracing your ancestors in the Germanic areas of Europe (4th ed. . A. Baxter (Ed. ), Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publ ishing. Carter R. (2008). Cultural competence: Cultural care. In Jarvis, C. (Ed. ), Physical examination & health assessment (5th ed. , pp. 35-53). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders. Downing J. (2008). Understanding each other: Communication and culture. In Riley, J. B. (Ed. ), Communication in nursing (6th ed. , pp. 46-62). St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby. Santos S. (2004). In Fuller, B. & Vossmeyer G. (Ed. ) Cultures of the world, Germany (2nd ed. ). Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish.

Coca Cola Pr Crisis in Belgium

COCA-COLA CRISIS IN BELGIUM, 1999. Introduction The assignment given was to choose a case with an organization or person that suffered a PR crisis, and didn’t manage it correctly from a PR perspective, such as miss-communications with stakeholders, media etc. I chose to write about the crisis that happened in Belgium in 1999. I will analyze the steps the company took towards to solve the issue, explain what they did wrong, and give my own opinion on how they could’ve handled it better. I will end my case with a final conclusion, and what the situation is today. But firstly I will start by talking a little bit about the Coca-Cola Company.Company Profile The Coca-Cola Company is the global leader in the soft-drink industry, with world headquarters located in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola and its subsidiaries employ nearly 30,000 people worldwide. Syrups, concentrates and beverage bases for Coca-Cola, the company's flagship brand, and more than 160 other soft-drink brands ar e manufactured and sold by Coca- Cola and its subsidiaries in nearly 200 countries around the world. Approximately 70 percent of volume sales and 80 percent of profit come from outside the United States. The European market provides 26% of the company’s US$18B in revenues.Coca-Cola owns a 49% share of the European soft drink market, compared to Pepsi-Co’s 5%. Coca-Cola’s Corporate Mission Statement We exist to create value for our share owners on a long-term basis by building a business that enhances The Coca-Cola Company’s trademarks. This also is our ultimate commitment. As the world’s largest beverage company, we refresh that world. We do this by developing superior soft drinks, both carbonated and non-carbonated, and profitable nonalcoholic beverage systems that create value for our Company, our bottling partners, our customers, our share owners and the communities in which we do business.In creating value, we succeed or fail based on our abili ty to perform as worthy stewards of several key assets: 1. Coca-Cola, the world’s most recognized trademark, and other highly valuable trademarks. 2. The world’s most effective and pervasive distribution system. 3. Satisfied customers, to whom we earn a good profit selling our products. 4. Our people, who are ultimately responsible for building this enterprise. 5. Our abundant resources, which must be intelligently allocated. 6. Our strong global leadership in the beverage industry in particular and in the business world in general.Additionally, Coca-Cola has a stated commitment to social responsibility through philanthropy and good citizenship. The company's reputation for good corporate citizenship results from charitable donations, employee volunteerism, technical assistance and other demonstrations of support in thousands of communities worldwide. Coca-Cola Management From 1984 to 1997, Robert Goizueta ran Coca-Cola like; â€Å"a ship in calm waters† as we m ay say, it was going smoothly. In his 13 years at the helm of Coke as CEO, Goizueta transformed Coke from an Atlanta cola company to an international brand phenomenon.Analysts and employees alike viewed Goizueta like a â€Å"God. † In 1997, Doug Ivester succeeded Roberto Goizueta as CEO of Coke following Goizueta’s death from lung cancer. Ivester, an employee of the company since 1979, had previously been Goizueta’s right hand financial engineer and later his chief operating officer. On the face of it, the transition would appear seamless. Doug Ivester has often been described as a very â€Å"rational† man with a â€Å"bulldog† leadership style. James Chestnut, Coca-Cola’s chief financial officer, says Ivester is a â€Å"terribly rational† manager.He states, â€Å"Doug believes everything should go through a logical sequence. He’s fixed on where he wants the company to be. † Ivester’s recent focus had been on two potential acquisitions to increase Coca-Cola’s presence in Europe: Orangina in France and Cadbury Schweppes. The tactics Ivestor pursued to acquire Orangina and Schweppes, however, has been met with much criticism, especially by Europeans. A July article appearing in Fortune magazine summarized the conventional wisdom this way: â€Å"the way Coke went about the acquisitions – arrogantly, urgently, intensely – absolutely reflects Ivester’s personality.And it’s not working. † Other analysts who have followed Coca- Cola for years believe that if Goizueta were still running the company, controversy surrounding the recall in Europe would not be festering as it was under Ivester. The Source of the Problem The outbreaks appeared to be caused by two sources, contaminated carbon dioxide and fungicide sprayed on wooden pallets used to transport the product. The contaminated carbon dioxide found its way into the product at a bottler in Belgium.The comp any was unable to determine whether the carbon dioxide was already contaminated when the bottler received it or whether contamination occurred later, at the bottling facility. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Anton Amon, Coca-Cola’s chief scientist, said that, â€Å"contrary to Coke procedure, the plant wasn’t receiving certificates of analysis from the supplier of the gas, Aga Gas AB of Sweden. This certificate vouches for the purity of the CO2. † A CCE spokesman confirmed this statement and acknowledged that the company did not test the CO2 batch at the Antwerp plant.In either case, key quality control procedures were not followed. At the Coca-Cola bottling facility in Dunkirk, France, the plant received wooden pallets that had been sprayed with a fungicide that left a medicinal odor on a number of cans. Jennifer McCollum, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, described the substance as p-chloro-m-cresol or PCMC, â€Å"a chemical commonly found in wood pr eservatives and cleaning fluids. † The Environmental Chemicals Data and Information Network (ECDIN) states that PCMC can be absorbed through the skin and cause redness, burning sensation, pain and skin burns.If inhaled, the chemical can cause symptoms such as cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness, and may cause effects on the central nervous system, liver and kidneys. These more severe conditions are said to require large doses or chronic exposure to the chemical. Coca-Cola said that the substance was sprayed on approximately 800 pallets used to transport cans produced in Dunkirk to Belgium. The supplier of the pallets was said to be Dutch. The company, however, declined to name the company, stating only that it was not one of their regular suppliers.The foul odor is believed to have caused numerous symptoms, including upset stomachs, headaches and nausea after drinking the product. Dr. Hugo Botinck, medical director at St. Joseph’s Clinic in Belgium and one of the first physicians to see these patients, stated in an interview that affected persons were treated for, â€Å"headaches, dizziness, nausea and muscular vibration. † He added that, â€Å"some of them were vomiting, but there was no fever. † Bottling and International Distribution One of Coke’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to conduct business on a global scale while maintaining a â€Å"multilocal† approach.At the heart of this approach is the bottler system. Bottling companies are, with only a few exceptions, locally owned and operated by independent business people, native to the nations in which they are located, who are contractually authorized to sell products of The Coca-Cola Company. These facilities package and sell the company’s soft drinks within certain territorial boundaries and under conditions that ensure the highest standards of product quality and uniformity. Coca-Cola Ente rprises (CCE) manages most of the European bottlers. The Coca-Cola Company controls a 40% interest in CCE. Coca-Cola Belgium.Belgium was introduced to Coca-Cola in 1927. Today Belgium is among the world’s top 20 countries in terms of per capita consumption of Coca-Cola products. The Coca-Cola Company currently employs close to 2,000 people and serves up to 30,000 restaurants, supermarkets and other customers in that country. Coca-Cola France. Coca-Cola was introduced in France in 1933. Coke has been the number- one soft drink in France since 1966 with total sales doubling over the past eight years. Coca- Cola France employs more than 1,000 French citizens and has invested more than 3 billion francs in local economy since 1989.Today, French consumers drink an average of 88 servings of Coca- Cola products each year. External Factors Involved In May and June of 1999, it is fair to say that Coca-Cola executives vastly underestimated the sensitivity of European consumers to food c ontamination issues in light of the existing social and political environment. Contributing to the anxiety was the â€Å"mad-cow† crisis that had taken place three years earlier. Additionally, the Coke incident coincided with a recent governmental ban on the slaughter of pork and poultry in Belgium.Earlier in June, cancer-causing dioxin was found in a large shipment of meat, which was believed to have originated through contaminated animal feed. In the end, this scandal forced the resignation of Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dahaene as well as the country’s health minister. With the Belgian government facing elections on June 13, all political platforms were under scrutiny. In the wake of the Coke crisis, European government agencies were scrambling to protect their reputations as watchdogs, taking a high-profile role in contamination issues.Consumers had previously considered Coke invulnerable to contamination concerns due to the artificial, manufactured nature of t he product. In addition to its proximity to other food scares in Europe, the crisis also occurred at a time when Coke was looked upon unfavorably by the European Commission. Earlier in 1999, Coke had made plans to acquire Cadbury Schweppes brands around the world. The European Commission was opposed to this acquisition, viewing Coca-Cola as excessively dominant. The company was forced to scale back its acquisition plans. Coca-Cola’s ResponseBy the time the recall was completed, 249 cases of Coke-related sicknesses were reported throughout Europe, concentrated primarily in Belgium. A total of 15 million cases of product were recalled costing the bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), an estimated $103 million dollars. When the outbreak began, Coca-Cola executives waited several days to take action. Viewing the issue as low-priority, an apology to consumers was not issued until more than a week after the first public reports of illness. Top company officials did not arrive in Be lgium until June 18, ten days after the first incident was reported.The company’s casual and muted approach to the crisis was first made evident in its neglect to mention the May 12 incident – in which affected consumers suffered similar symptoms – once the other cases were reported, beginning in June. Ivester remained largely silent, at least publicly, throughout the crisis. He admitted that he happened to be in Coke’s Paris office on June 11, shortly after the first wave of illness reports surfaced, and was briefed in person on the Belgian situation. Ivester and Belgian Coke executives attributed the problem to a bad batch of carbon dioxide and â€Å"hardly a health hazard. The next day Ivester boarded a plane back to Atlanta, as planned. On June 14, the Belgium government ordered all Coca-Cola products off the market and halted production at bottling plants in Antwerp and Ghent. The government took the lead to protect consumers from the health scare, rather than Coca-Cola management. Coca-Cola issued a statement on June 15 from Atlanta (see Exhibit 1) refuting the contamination claims. On June 16, Ivester released a statement under his name (see Exhibit 2) expressing regret for the problems, but he mostly left the public side of the damage-control campaign to company spokesmen and CCE.On June 18, Ivester realized the magnitude and impact of the crisis and arrived in Belgium for the first time to manage the crisis. Ivester’s mission to Europe was his most visible step during the crisis and came only after the number of reported cases had ballooned to more than 200. Coca-Cola officials avoided the media, however, stating afterward that this decision was in response to a request from the Belgian Minister of Health, Luc van den Brossche, asking that the crisis be handled out of the public eye. ConclusionIn conclusion Coca Cola didn’t handle the situation properly by not communicating in a timely manner with the stakeho lders. The crisis represented vast damages to Coca Cola’s reputation and total cost of 66 million pounds. The main reason for the mistakes it was the lack of authority of local executives (Ivester). Coca Cola identified the reason for the fails in communications and consequently empowered the local teams to deal with this sort of situation. The lessons from this case study show how important it is to communicate with stakeholders.

Evidence Based Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evidence Based Health - Essay Example The sample should be satisfactory in terms of size, representation of the whole population and relevance to the study. Selection of the wrong sample and sample size will lead to poor conclusions and results therefore leading to wrong implementation. The success of any research work depends highly on the selection of the participants and the participation level of the participants. The selection of the participants from those who were to join the university made the research a worthy activity to undertake. Participants selected should be from a group privy to the research outcome (Boyer, 1990, p34-37). The researcher selected participants from a vulnerable group. Though this was not a full representation of the group, the researcher was able to monitor the trends of the students as they continued with their studies. The research was aimed at investigating whether students’ anxieties and depressions increase after entering college, how much adverse life experiences lead to their increases, as well as the influence of adversity, depression and anxiety on test performance. The use of the sample data would enable the researcher establish the level of increase in the student depressions and anxiety and impacts on exam performance. However, the researcher should also have used the continuing students and those who had already completed their studies in order to reach at a conclusive decision and recommendations. The sample selected was to benefit from the research outcome as the recommendations made would impact their lives. The researcher ensured that the privacy of the students is maintained by use of questionnaires where the identity of the students was not to be revealed when answering them. The participants were briefed of the essence of the research but were not given the chance to state their position in participation. The participants were assured of confidentiality and anonymity. In my view,

Human Nature Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Nature - Assignment Example me instances, human beings restrain themselves from pursuing their interest if it results in- harming others, or when it results in aiding other human beings (Williams 102). In the context of the criminal justice system, the concepts of ethical and psychological egoism are very applicable. For instance in the prisoner’s dilemma, where two convicts are given choices to pursue self-interests that may result in them serving minimal, moderate or maximum sentences. I would take pity on the parolee because her actions seem to be motivated by a greater sense of duty to her children, who cannot fend for themselves in her absence. My motivation for feeling pity on her would be the sense of altruistic feeling I would get from not uprooting her family. My motivations are in contrast with Hobbes’ assumption, that even seemingly altruistic behavior has self-serving purposes. On the contrary, it is because I already place value in helping the less privileged and the feeling of happiness, due to helping others, is a by-product of the action and not the main agenda. As a servant of the law, the police officer is bound by rules and ethical conducts of the police force, whose primary aim is an obligation to protecting the people from harm while upholding the law. The officer has an ethical and legal duty to the public and by illegally ‘planting’ evidence to arrest the seemingly guilty sexual offender, the officer has accomplished his ethical duty to the public, by protecting potential victims. By using illegal means for the greater good of the community, the officer has done the right thing. Additionally, the officer does not seem to benefit from the arrest and has in fact risked his freedom, to pursue justice on behalf of the victims and families of sexual abuse. His sole aim is upholding justice and helping others. The motivations that informed the newspaper’s decision to run the story are- correcting the injustice against the wrongfully convicted man, bolstering its

Healthcare Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Healthcare Technology - Essay Example 2.0. Brief Overview of WH and its Technological Approaches With regard to the unconventional healthcare services, WH can be considered as one of the major and largest healthcare service providers across the UK and other geographical regions. Since the last four decades, the organisation has been recognised to play a dominant role in serving the UK and overseas clients through its unconventional strategies with expertise in neurosurgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology along with cardiac and neurological rehabilitation care facilities ([1]The Wellington Hospital, 2013). The intervention of computer system has also been widely observed to provide adequate support for WH to enhance its clinical services and ensure satisfaction from the clients. More significantly, the selection, implementation as well as adequate support of the healthcare informatics have been recently observed to play an essential role for the organization to intensify its success potentials. In relation to the present day c ontext, a range of technological attributes are likely to be selected in the WH settings in order to increase the efficiency and the accountability of its varied group of healthcare facilities. In order to inculcate this notion and mitigate the identified challenges in technology integration, the healthcare settings of WH have further been designed to provide adequate access to the patients in procuring quality based healthcare services ([1] The Wellington Hospital, 2013). 3.0. Technologies Used in the WH A successfully integrated technology framework is one of the major resources required in the management of contemporary healthcare organisations to build and maintain strong sustainability in the competitive market. It is in this context that recent studies have inferred that the... This paper stresses that the continuous integration as well as compliance with the advanced technological aspects tend to increase the efficiency of the medical services. In relation to the present technological development of the healthcare services delivered by WH, the integration of GP Liaison system, Telehealth facilities as well as MRI process can be recognised to play an essential role altogether enabling the organisation to provide appropriate diagnosis and treatment facilities to improve the critical health condition of the clients. This essay makes a conclusion that the integration of technological attributes has been identified to acquire a major attention by the healthcare practitioners. As identified in the above discussion, with regard to the valued contribution of technology, the GP Liaison services, telehealth facilities along with MRI imaging services altogether have been recognised to play an essential role for WH to enhance its varied range of medical services for the global clients. The technological attributes existing in these medical services sector ensures the deliverance of adequate benefits to the patients in terms of diagnosing and developing effective care facilities. It also ensures to convey or develop expertise treatment and diagnostic process to consult regarding any critical disease case. Conclusively, it can also be ascertained in this context that the patients of WH can avail various types of healthcare services with the help of technology based healthcare systems integrated in the oper ational system of the organisation.

Archaic age in Greek Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Archaic age in Greek Society - Essay Example The literacy has been spread slowly, which has been lost in dark ages. As a result, the democracy blossomed by the end of archaic age, though there is instability in the society. The most important fact that needs attention regarding the activities of archaic age is regarding the change in the way Greeks constructed their world. The reconstruction includes laws and customs as well as themselves. The above mentioned reconstruction in archaic age has made Greeks unique and different from the people of other parts of Europe. Though there is frustration in the society during this period, it has witnessed gradual changes in all walks of life of Greek society (Carol Dougherty, Leslie Kurke, 2007).1 In the period between Hesiod and Persian, which is known as archaic age, women did develop themselves literally and challenged men in poetry and writing. N.S. Gill (2009) quotes about Sappho who defeated the great Pindar in verse competition five times and these marks the era of advance of women when compared to that of dark ages, when there is no such situation. Artemisia of Halicarnassus was taken as threat by Greeks and they offered a bounty on her head and this gives the instance of prominence, the women got in archaic age, which is in contrast with that of women in dark ages. The contrast is that the women in dark ages do not have that much prominence and used to be treated as things of physical beauty like Helen of Troy. However, Gill claims the evidence regarding women is from Athens and states that in case of middle class and lower classes of society, the women is treated as a liability. The same thing though may be true in case of dark ages, only the evidence regarding wome n as pleasure thing were popular. Though the women are treated as liability, there existed some sort of opportunities and to own property in Sparta and to participate in trade activities. Another important aspect that's a reason to treat a woman as liability in family is the burden of paying dowry and this context is not well observed previously. As it is a convention in archaic age for women to marry a man of older age than her, the lower status when compared to men is clear. However, Priestesses and Prostitutes used to wield power in some contexts (N.S.Gill, (2009).2 Comparison of Situation in Dark Age to Archaic Age Hence, it is clear that the political situation in the society is reason for any development. In contrast to above mentioned activities of women in archaic age, the Dark Age witnessed local conflicts, economic disruptions and movements of peoples between 1200 BC to 1000 BC. As a result Mycenaean civilisation in Greece has been destroyed and thus cities were weakened as well as the kingdoms based on them. The situation is not that much worse in archaic age as it witnessed the rise of women and it is possible with reasonable tranquillity and peace for an extended period of time. Another important contrast between Dark Age and archaic age is that, not many records are available regarding the situation of dark ages, but in case of archaic age,

Comparing handwashing techniques - microbiology Essay

Comparing handwashing techniques - microbiology - Essay Example coli K 12 colony count before and after the hand washing, E.coli K12 strain being the indicator organism used in the study. In normal hand wash, the reduction factor was found to vary from 2.4 - 4.18 where as in case of NHS hand wash the value ranges from 0.86 – 2.91. The average reduction factor was found to be higher in case of the NHS hand wash. NHS protocol of hand rubbing for 30 seconds was found very effective in bringing down the microbial load of the hands. The major objective of the study was to compare the normal hand washing techniques with that of NHS standard techniques (in accordance with BS EN 1500). Assessment was based on the E.coli count before and after the hand washing. E.coli normal inhabitants of the normal intestine and they are excreted out in large numbers to the outside through human faeces. Presence of E.coli is thus an indication of feacal contamination of the concerned food item or object by means of insects or human hands. Adequate hand hygiene is the most effective method of preventing infection in hospitals, homes and workplaces. Health care related problems has been in the air for the past two decades with an alarming rate of nosocomial infections. The public concern on hand hygiene has stimulated a review of the scientific data regarding the same and the development of new guidelines designed to improve hand-hygiene practices in health-care facilities. Proper hand washing using detergents like soap was considered as a criteria of personal hygiene since olden days. In 1843, Oliver Wendwell Holmes brought to light the reason for perpural fever found in parturient women as improper hand hygiene of health professionals. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) in the year 1995 recommended that either antimicrobial soap or a waterless antiseptic agent should be used for cleaning hands upon leaving the rooms of patients with multidrug-resistant pathogens like vancomycin-resistant

Evolution of the Use of Wool Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evolution of the Use of Wool - Term Paper Example Since then, man has made efforts to improve and maximize on it by selective breeding of excess wool producing sheep and also incorporating other qualities into the wool fabric, including mothproofing, stain-proofing, durable creasing and pleating, shrink resistance and shower-proofing (Guthrie 145). Science and technology came in to improve the quality of wool and maximize the products keeping it in the fabrics forefront making it suitable for the modern requirements without affecting its virtues. After man started domesticating sheep, he used to milk it, and whenever it would shed its fleece, it would be collected, spun, and used to weave clothes. It then dawned on a man that killing sheep for meat only was a waste of resources, material, and food. He then resorted to becoming a shepherd and later on came up with a method of producing clothes from the fleece. He used to spin the wool to produce a thread by taking it in one hand and drawing it out twisting it using the fingers of the other hand. This then resulted in a thick yarn that was uneven. Later on, man developed a crude spindle, where he fitted a clay ring or a stone to a short wooden stick end. The ring made it possible to wound the drawn-out yarn on the spindle. This spinning method was later used for thousands of years. The threads were woven to produce clothes, and the first products were made up of a beam from which warps were hung before being weighted by the stones at the lower end. The yarn was then threaded across the warp in such an act of over and under. This system was also used for thousands of years just like spinning (Gleason 185). After the two implements for spinning and weaving spun wool, the first improvement to be done was on the loom. Instead of the vertical suspension of the warp threads from the beam, they were horizontally laid across the frame. Sticks were then tied to with  alternate warp threads, and they would be lowered and raised in turn.  

Linguistic anthropology Essay Example for Free

Linguistic anthropology Essay Linguistic anthropology is defined as ‘an interdisciplinary field dedicated to the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice’ (Duranti, 2001) or ‘investigate the relationship between communication and culture’ (Sociology and Anthropology Website, 2010). It is also ‘the study the role language plays in culturally patterned behavior’ (Stanton, 2000). This branch of anthropology utilizes ‘detailed documentation’ of people’s communicative interaction with each other in any social activity. It also focuses on subjective research through oral interviews, recorded transcription and active participation of the subjects. It has garnered interest from the academic field as more studies had been made with credible sources and maintaining the emphasis on systematic and empirical research. Language and culture are the key factors in the linguistic anthropology; it was often pointed out with linguists that children learn the language along with their society’s culture at the same time. Grammar, syntax, accent, dialects often arrived with surprising results. This branch of study often concludes the identity of the speakers; how they speak, why certain accents are received with prejudice or acceptance, etc. Having a linguist working with me, specializing in Political Science would be a very interesting and intellectual camaraderie. Culture is one of the significant factors in the Political Science field; its study is usually of game play of power and how to apply such influence on people. Linguistic anthropology’s methodology is also similar to that of Political Science. Interaction is necessary to achieve favor from the public masses whether for political campaigns or public relations within the government. Understanding different kinds of languages, even dialects, actually helped tremendously in comprehending the other parties’ identity in Society. Political Science is a study of power play and therefore must utilize soft power as much as possible to avoid damages in one’s society. Positive reinforcement to the different kinds of people, whether they are natives or foreigners, elite or poor, and men or women, would be impossible without understanding the language structure of the said subjects (Duranti, 2001). References: Duranti, A. (2001) Linguistic Anthropology. Retrieved on 5 May 2010 from, http://www. sscnet. ucla. edu/anthro/faculty/duranti/reprints/02ling_anth. pdf Stanton, W. (2000). Linguistic Anthropology of Education. Retrieved on 5 May 2010 from, http://www. gse. upenn. edu/~stantonw/pdf/lae. pdf Sociology and Anthropology Website. (2010). What is Linguistic Anthropology? Retrieved on 5 May 2010 from, http://www. mystfx. ca/academic/sociology/anthropology/LinguisticAnthropology. html

Importance of Exercise With Cystic Fibrosis

Importance of Exercise With Cystic Fibrosis Critically analyse how the physiological benefits of exercise contribute to an improvement in coping with the physical demands of everyday life in this client group and how it compares with traditional Physiotherapy Techniques (Postural Drainage and Percussion) Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease very common among Caucasians, but rare in Asians and Negroes. It is an autosomal recessive condition, with an estimated one in twenty of a Caucasian population heterozygous for the condition. The number of live births of children having cystic fibrosis is high; between 1 in 500 and 1in 3000 (P. Howard, 1991 p.137), or 1 in 2000 (P. McGowan, 20003 p.142, G.K. Crompton, 1987 p.289). In the UK a figure of 1 in 4000 is given (W.J.M/ Kinnear et al, 1999 p.52). Kinnear et al (p. 52) also suggest a reason for the extremely high number (1 in 20) of heterozygotes in the population, that perhaps this high number is the result of some selection advantage, in this case possibly providing some protection from severe secretory diarrhoea caused by for example cholera. A mutation in a single gene (called pf) causes a defect in a plasma membrane protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTC). This gene is found on chromosome 7 (W.J.M. Kinnear et al, 1991 p. 52), and it is this gene that normally controls the movement of calcium ions. With it non-functional, calcium ions cannot pass through the membrane (P.H. Raven G.B. Johnson, 2002 p.261). As with many other inherited disorders, the pf gene has pleiotropic effects, i.e. one gene has multiple effects, in this case overly sticky mucus, clogged blood vessels, salty sweat, pancreas and liver failure and many other symptoms (Raven Johnson, 2002, p.253). Sometimes the gene appears to have the correct amino acid sequence but the condition is still produced. This appears to be due to a defect in one of the chaperone proteins, proteins that enable the gene product to fold to its final form. With the chaperone protein defective this does not occur and so cystic fibrosis is still the result (P.H. Raven GB Johnson, 2002 p.44). The table below shows (a) features of cystic fibrosis, (a) and (b) some complications arising from it. FEATURES OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS Respiratory manifestations Gastrointestinal manifestations Recurrent bronchopulmonary infection Meconium ilius Bronchiectasis Rectal prolapse Diarrhoea Failure to thrive Malabsorption COMPLICATIONS OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS Respiratory complications Other complications Bronchiectasis Abdominal pain Cor pulmonale Biliary cirrhosis Haemoptysis Delayed puberty Lobar collapse Diabetes mellitus Allergic aspergillosus Gall stones Sinusitis Growth failure Nasal polyps Male infertility Wheezing Portal hypertension Pneumothorax Rectal prolapse (Definitions:cor pulmonale: disease of the heart characterised by hypertropy and dilation of the right ventricle and secondary disease of the lungs or their blood vessels. Bronhiectasis: a chronic inflammatory or degenerative condition of one or more bronchi or bronchioles marked by dilation and loss of elasticity of the walls. Anon, 2006 in Medline Plus, Medical Dictionary) Other complications can also occur, some these being given by P. McGowan (2003 p.142) as Meningitis, Metastatic abscess (e.g. in the brain, and Amyloid formation (e.g. in the kidney). At present cystic fibrosis is always a fatal condition, death occurring either from the condition itself, or from one of its many complications. However the outlook for the patient, both in terms of life span and quality of life has continued to improve over the last few decades. Where once it was largely a disease of childhood with only about 5% reaching the age of 17, a 1987 publication estimates perhaps 25% surviving to age 20 (G.K. Crompton, 1987 p. 292). By 2003 though, the mean survival had risen to 29 years (P. McGowan, 2003. p.143). There are several methods of treatment for cystic fibrosis, improvements in some of these being responsible for much of the improvement in outcome for patients seen today. These methods will be discussed, in particular the traditional physiotherapy methods of Postural Drainage and Percussion, and compared to the effect of exercise on the patient’s prognosis. But first a brief consideration of the effects of cystic fibrosis so that it is clear what the treatment is aiming to change. Cystic Fibrosis: Signs and Symptoms Cystic fibrosis is primarily a disease of the respiratory system, although various other parts of the body are also affected. It is caused by the gene mutation referred to in the introduction. There are up to 500 different mutations, but 3 main ones, which cause 90% of the cases (W.J.M. Kinnear et al, 1999, p.52). These adversely affect the exocrine glands and the mucus-secreting glands, resulting in excess mucus and difficulty in clearing it. All such glands are affected, thus its wide ranging effects on other organs apart from the lungs, e.g. the pancreas. The excess mucus production is difficult to remove, due to impaired ciliary action in the airways leading to repeat infections and bronchiectasis. The disease is normally present at birth, although initially it may be asymptomatic or confused with other respiratory conditions such as asthma. Early signs of the disease are not always of a respiratory nature however, as some new-borns present with meconium ilius, while in some young children malabsorption and failure to thrive occur (W.J.M. Kinnear et al, 1999, p.52). Respiratory complications are however, the main feature, and generally present by age ten. Thick, viscid mucus is produced which is difficult to shift, and the bronchial obstruction it causes leads to infection. This leads to further obstruction as DNA from dead bacteria increases the viscosity and so produces a cycle of infection and increasing viscosity. Coughs, occasional at first, become more frequent, eventually leading to bronchiectasis with persistant purulent sputum expectoration. There may be blood in the sputum (haemoptysis), wheezing and intestinal obstruction, and the patient may become breathless (P. Howard, 1991, p. 28). These conditions worsen, nutrition may be poor leading to stunted growth, and finger clubbing becomes common as bronchial infection takes hold, and finally, in the terminal stages there may be cyanosis and cor pulmonale As can be seen from the aforementioned, cystic fibrosis is not a straightforward disease, and often, especially in babies and young children positive diagnosis can be difficult. Symptoms may be similar to other respiratory conditions, particularly in the early stages, plus secondary conditions may occur. These include infections such as with Staphylococcal pneumonia, this initial infection allowing further infections with other bacteria, particularly where broad spectrum antibiotics have been used so removing non-pathogens and allowing colonisation by drug resistant Staphylococci. If the patient survives to 16 or 17 years of age gastrointestinal problems may continue, but then respiratory disease tends to dominate, ending with cor pulmonale and/or respiratory failure (P. Howard, 1991, p138). Because of the variety of symptoms and the difficulty sometimes of diagnosing cystic fibrosis, there is no one specific treatment, treatment being aimed at the removal of mucus secretions so aiding prevention and control of pulmonary symptoms (GK Crompton, 1987, p. 291). And this is the more effective the earlier in the disease process it is started. Thus a definite diagnosis as early as possible will lead to more effective treatment. Various tests are carried out when cystic fibrosis is suspected. This may be because of a family history of the disease, failure of the child to grow at the expected rate, gastrointestinal problems or other respiratory problems such as asthma with which it may be confused. Pre-natal diagnosis may be carried out by amniocentesis or chorion-villous sampling if parents are known to be carriers of the condition. Otherwise various tests, e.g. the Guthrie test, the Immunoreactive trypsin test or most commonly the Sweat test (in which raised levels of sodium and chloride in the sweat are taken as a clear indication of the disease and is the most accurate test for this) are carried out. However the sweat test is not always so effective in adults. Traditional Treatments: Postural Drainage and Percussion Once the condition has been diagnosed treatment should be started immediately, even if the child has only minor symptoms or is asymptomatic. Treatment(s) may be based on any or all of the following: Physiotherapy, Antibiotics, DNase (to degrade the bacterial DNA that builds up in the airways, Anti-inflammatory drugs and nutritional support. It is the physiotherapy treatment that will now be considered. The two traditional physiotherapy techniques that are used for Cystic Fibrosis patients are Postural Drainage and Percussion. As the name implies, the former technique centres around placing the patient in a particular posture to facilitate draining of excess mucus from the airways. It is used in the treatment of bronchiectasis and lung abscesses, and the patient is placed head downwards so that the trachea is down and below the affected area so allowing drainage to occur (Anon, 2006). The use of postural drainage has quite a long history, with the first reference to its use in 1901 by W. Ewart in the Lancet (L. Lannefors et al, 2004). Ewart suggested continuous drainage for hours, with the patient sleeping in the position if possible. For postural drainage their are 12 positions, one for each lung unit, and once the patient is in the appropriate one percussion is applied (L.Lannefors et al, 2004). Percussion is a technique used to assess changes in the thorax or abdomen, and is carried out by tapping the surface to deduce the underlying structure. It is â€Å"done with the middle finger of the right hand tapping on the middle finger of the left hand, which is positioned with the whole palm on the body† (Anon, 2006). This can produce four different sounds, sonorous, hypersonorous, relatively dull sound, or completely dull sound, these indicating the structure below. For example a solid mass will produce a dull sound, while a hollow, air-containing structure will produce a sonorous sound. No studies have been carried out on the effects of manual percussion, but it is thought that air trapped between the chest wall and the cupped hand produces a vibratory wave that loosens secretions attached to the airway walls. These two techniques are often used in conjunction, a problem with the postural draining being the time that the patient must lie in the appropriate position, an hour being suggested as the effective time. For babies and toddlers an hour in this position is only likely to be possible when they are asleep. For older patients compliance with the treatment may be difficult – how many children or teenagers can happily stay still in a particular position for up to an hour without boredom setting in? But what of the actual effectiveness of these techniques? They have been used for a long time now often with modifications to the original method. There is much in the literature concerning these methods but including much that is conflicting, leaving the benefit of these treatments not always clear. There are now many techniques for airway clearance including variations on the two in question, thus it is difficult to make a straight comparison between them all. SG Butler and RJ Sutherland (1998) looked at several airway clearance techniques and concluded that no one technique was shown superior to the others. But a long-term study comparing conventional postural drainage and percussion with the positive expiratory pressure (PEP) technique found PEP to be significantly better. One other study looking at several techniques concluded that there was no particular difference between them, but that all were better than no treatment (J Thomas D Brooks, 1995). More recent papers indicate a lesser use of postural drainage in its original form, for example BM Button et al, (2004), compared traditional postural drainage with a modified form and found that the latter resulted in less episodes of gastro-oesophageal reflux. Similarly a review of the physiotherapy management of hospitalised children (K Farbotko et al, 2005) revealed a significant decrease in the use of postural drainage, but an increase in the use of a modified postural drainage system, and positive expiratory pressure devices. Other methods showed no significant change in their use. Another recent study (F Dennis MJ Rosen, 2006) considered non pharmacological airway clearance therapies by reviewing many papers on the subject, and concluded that such therapies did increase airway clearance, but that their effect compared with the unassisted cough was unknown. Thus there are many studies but they are often not comparable, they assess different methods, do not always have large enough sample sizes to make statistical comparisons, and of course are using different groups of patients who may vary in many ways. For instance in age, sex, seriousness of their symptoms, or in compliance with the treatments. CM Oermann et al, (2000) found that it was the sicker patients who were more likely to be compliant, something that could skew results if not taken into account in further studies. Benefits of Exercise In recent years more emphasis has been placed on the use of exercise as a means of treating cystic fibrosis patients, and for these an improvement in aerobic capacity is particularly useful. Exercise has benefits for all, and changes in both anaerobic and aerobic systems can occur depending on the type of training undertaken. Improvements in anaerobic systems are of more use in preparing for short-lived events requiring power or speed, e.g. weight lifting or sprinting, while improvements in aerobic systems are needed for distance events. In patients whose respiratory systems are compromised as in cystic fibrosis there will often be a reduction in lung volume or distensibility, with a corresponding reduction in vital capacity, total lung capacity and also inspiratory muscle strength (M Estenne et al, 1993). For these patients aerobic exercise is likely to be useful. Aerobic respiration causes various changes in the individuals’ metabolism and in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Some of these are listed below, the list being compiled from Exercise Physiology, by McArdale et al, (1996) Metabolic Adaptations Mitochondria from trained skeletal muscle become larger and more numerous Increased capacity to generate ATP An increase in the trained muscles capacity to mobilise, deliver and oxidise lipids Increased carbohydrate metabolism Selective hypertrophy of fast and slow twitch muscle types depending on use Cardiovascular and Respiratory Adaptations Heart size generally increases Increase in plasma volume Heart rate decreases as a result of aerobic training The heart’s stroke volume and cardiac output increases A significant increase in quantity of oxygen extracted from the blood Aerobic training causes a large increase in total muscle blood flow during maximal exercise Blood pressure is reduced both at rest and at sub-maximal exercise Psychological benefits. A consideration of the above list indicates several changes of interest for the cystic fibrosis patient, for example the increase in oxygen extracted from the blood and an increase in the ability to oxidise lipids. And psychological changes produced by sport or any physical activity are important for both the healthy individual and the CF patient. It can reduce mild depression, aid in sleeping, and give confidence in ones physical abilities, all which will make the patient more confident in themselves and in their handling of their condition. Although exercise alone is not going to replace all other treatments, it has a definite place as one of them, especially in the earlier and milder stages of the disease. An overview of treatment for cystic fibrosis (L Lannefors et al, 2004), describes the methods used at the Lund CF Centre in Sweden, starting in the 1980’s. There the treatment is tailored to each individual, with an emphasis on physical activity and absolutely no use of postural drainage or percussion (not used there since 1983). The treatment is started as soon as the condition is diagnosed and incorporates much physical activity. This is particularly important for babies or very young children, as they need to get used to someone applying physiotherapy. Left to the age of 3 or 4 years the child may not be very amenable to what to them is a boring and pointless activity, but started sooner is more likely to accept the treatment. The activity part of the treatment is tailored for each individual with their input taken into account, and aims to keep air-ways as clear as possible using physical activity, and physical activity as therapy for adults with bronchiectasis has been described ( J Pryor, 2004). Although there appears to be little to back the approach considering the lack of rigorous clinical studies available, it does appear from accumulated clinical experience that patients benefit from it. The paper by DM Orenstein et al, (2004) considers at length strength and aerobic training in children with cystic fibrosis, with many similar points made as in L Lannefors et al, (2004) overview of CF treatments. The introduction to this paper contains a brief review of many others, often showing similarities in results but not backed up by rigorous clinical studies. This study is the first fully randomised trial, measuring fitness, pulmonary function and quality of life, and was tested on a home based exercise programme. The CF patients were chosen according to pre-set criteria and randomly allocated to treatments. Thus the results could be analysed to check for any significant changes in outcomes. Results for this study were not always as expected, particularly for the aerobic training group which showed no increase in measures of aerobic fitness over time. It did not produce any greater fitness or pulmonary function than strength training. However both groups showed significant increases in weight gain, of particular importance, as CF children are often underweight leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The trial did not always give the expected results, but as great care had been taken with the experimental design, at least the results could be properly quantified and analysed. Conclusion In conclusion, it would appear that work still needs to be done regarding appropriate experimental design, to fully understand the rationales for treatment, and to fully appreciate the effect of physical activity on aerobic capacity and disease progression. For as Orenstain et al comment: â€Å"Exercise has the ability to improve the ability of a patient with Cystic Fibrosis to cope with the physical demands of everyday life† (Chest 2004, 126:1204-1214) REFERENCES Anon (2006) Medline Plus on-line Medical Dictionary http://www2.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwmednlm accessed 29/04/06 Butler, SG, Sutherland, RJ (1998) Current airway clearance techniques. New Zealand Medical Journal vol 111:183-186 Button, BM, Heine, RG, Catto-Smith, AG, Phelan, PD Olinsky, A (2004) Archives of Disease in Childhood vol 89:435-439 Crompton,GK (1987) ‘Diagnosis and Management of Respiratory Diseases’ 2nd ed pub: Blackwll Scientific Publications Dennis, F, Rosen, MJ (2006) Monpharmacological Airway Clearance Therapies Chest. vol 129;250S-259S Estenne, M., Gevenois, PA, Kinnear, W, Soudon, P, Heilporn, A De Troyer, A. (1993) Lung volume restriction in patients with chronic respiratory muscle weakness: the role of microatelectasis. Thorax vol. 48(7):698-701 Farbotko, K, Wilson, C, Watter, P and MacDonald, J (2005) Change in physiotherapy management of children with cystic fibrosis in a large urban hospital. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice vol. 21(1)pp13-21 Howard, P (1991) ‘Respiratory Medicine in Clinical Practice’ pub: Edward Arnold Kinnear, WJM, Johnston, IDA. Hall, IP. (1999) ‘Key Topics in Respiratory Medicine’ pub: Biosis Scientific Publishers Lannefors, L, Button, BM Mcilwaine, M. (2004) Physiology in infants and young children with cystic fibrosis: current practice and future developments. Journal. of the Royal Society of Medicine vol 97 (suppl 44):8-25 McArdle, WC. Katch FI, Katch, VL. (1996) ‘Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance’ 4th ed. Williams Watkins, pub: McGowan, P (2003) ‘Respiratory System’ 2nd ed. Mosby, pub. McIlwaine, PM, Wong, LT, Peacock, D Davidson, AGF (1997) Journal of Pediatrics vol 131(4):570-574 Raven, PH Johnson, GB (2002) ‘Biology’ 6th ed. pub: McGraw Hill, Oermannr, CM, Swank, PR Sockrider, MM. (2000) Chest vol 118(1):92-97 Orenstein, DM, Hovell, Mulvihill, MF, Keating, KK, Hofstetter, CR, Kelsey, S, Morris, K, and Nixon, PA. (2004) Strength vs Aerobic Training in Children with Cystic Fibrosis. Chest. vol 126:pp 1204-1214 Pryor, J. (2004) Physical Therapy for Adults with Bronchiectasis. Clinical Pulmonary Medicine vol. 11(4):201-209 J R Soc Med 2004;97(suppl. 44):pp8-25 Thomas, J, Cook, DJ Brooks, D. (1995) Chest physical therapy management of patients with cystic fibrosis: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. vol 151 (3 part 1):846-850

Technological Considerations in Interface Design

Technological Considerations in Interface Design Technological Considerations in Interface Design Physical characteristics of the device and device internal software affects the screen interface design. Graphics compatibility for Screen design must be ensured with the following system components: System power. Screen size. Screen resolution. Display colors. Other display features. Development and implementation tools being used. System platform being used. Platform style guide being used. Information Retrieval (IR): it concerns with the study of finding required data. i.e., IR helps users to notice data that matches their data desires. Technically, IR studies the organization, acquisition, distribution, storage, and retrieval of data. Information retrieval models An IR model directs how a document and a query are characterized and how the significance of a document to a user query is defined. Following are the main models in IR Boolean model Each document or query in Boolean model,is treated as a â€Å"bag† of words or terms. Mathematically for a given collection of documents D, let V = {t1, t2, ,t|V|} be the set of distinctive words/terms in the collection. V is called the vocabulary. A weight wij> 0 is associated with each term tiof a document dj∈D. For a term that does not appear in document dj, wij= 0. dj= (w1j, w2j, , w|V|j), Query terms are combined together logically using the Boolean operators such as AND, OR and NOT. Example : ((data AND warehousing) AND (NOT text)) Vector space model (VSM) In VSM too, Documents are treated as a â€Å"bag† of words or terms. Each document is represented as a vector. However, the term weights are no longer 0 or 1. Each term weight is computed based on some variations of called Term Frequency TF or TF-IDF scheme. Term Frequency (TF) Scheme: The weight of a term tiin document djis the number of times that tiappears in dj, denoted by fij. Normalization may also be applied. ,, Here, tf: still term frequency idf: inverse document frequency. n: total number of docs dfi: the number of docs that ti appears. 1.5.5 Popular HCI Tools HCI Browser This Browser (HCIB) is designed and implemented by the research team of North Carolina University. It can be downloaded fromhttp://ils.unc.edu/hcibrowser . Following are the features of HCI Browser: Web presenting task can be evaluated using this tool. designed to assist research activities in HCI through internet Can be added as an add-on to the Firefox browser. Presents operations for users working in toolbar area. Presents the following to the users: administer pre- task questionnaires administer post-task questionnaires event data of searching and browsing activities. Saves the following events of browser: Pages loaded Links clicked Window and tab focus changes Open/close windows and tabs Back/forward button clicks Typed URLs Scrolling History/bookmarks menu Closes windows automatically. Generates a new log file for each process Includes the following entries for log file: login time, session id, user id, and Process id Sketch Tools Natural art work designers are in need of many free form software tools to express their sketching designs. Right now, existing software tools support pen and ink input to certain extent only. There is a need for intelligent software that can sketch, recognize and convert the natural sketches automatically. Following are such tools: Inkkit It is a toolkit used to sketch diagrams. It can be applied over a range of domains. This software is able to run on a Tablet PC. InkKit consists of the following: User Interface The user interface is supported by two main views: sketch pages This view supports easy drawing process. portfolios. Here this point displays a set of sketches. These sketches can be linked to enable relationships. Recognition Engine The power of InkKitis its recognition engine To recognize a specific diagram, it creates a diagram domain and provides examples. The sketches on this user interface design will normally be converted into both HTML and Java. It is a research tool designed for non-commercial purpose. Freeform Freeform tools provide a pen based interface. This tool is mainly used to design controls in the forms by hand sketching. Requirements :Visual Basic Features: Designs of user interfaces are quicker and easier than creating them with a form builder. SketchNode Sketchnode is a tool used to draw graphs with edges and nodes easily. This tool runs on Tablet PC. Design in this tool can be either done by pen or using drag and drop interaction. Optimization algorithms are used for transforming of not clear graph into a clearer one. Features: supports both low and high fidelity graph rendering. Easy design process No convolution of images due to optimization. Intelligent Mind Map Humans effectively and effortlessly split between drawing and writing ink. This split is difficult to achieve in digital systems. This tool supports for the informal document on the tablet PC by recognition and ink reflow techniques. TATool This tool is designed to generate task representations in hierarchical manner. This research was carried out in the Patras University. The original task of this TATool is to analysis the task in interactive system design. It is recognized as a common tool to design hierarchical structures and Visualized objects This tool TATool generates output in XML form and an RTF report. This software runs only on Windows OS. It maps user-system interaction’s recorded events to the process model. COGTool It is one of the HCI tools used to predict total execution time for a skilled user for performing a particular sequence of actions on a system. The predictions made by CogTool are based on, a psychological theory of human cognitive and motor capabilities, called the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM). Following are the features: automates the application of KLM to specific problems, providing an alternative to time-consuming and expensive user testing. predicts what KLM can predict, that is, execution time for a skilled user of a system. Drawbacks It cannot predict learning time, problem-solving paths, or user satisfaction with a system. CMTool CMTool aims to achieve the task modelling process. Any major task can be splitted into many sub tasks by divide and conquer strategy and organising the task in hierarchical structure. This tool uses this hierarchical way along with logical operators such as AND , OR , NOT to solve the sub task. Following are its features: supports graphical and character notations for task representation. supports temporal analysis for each task supports relational database, grouping the various systems analyzed, with additional identification information. supports quantitative analysis tools for the task metrics provides various representations of data in the form of tree view , report view , structured view. automates synthesis of task structures already stored 1.6 Architecture of HCI systems Architecture of a HCI system should describe the working procedure of cooperation between inputs and outputs. There are two standard HCI architectures as follows: Unimodal systems Multimodal systems 1.6.1 Unimodal Architecture Modality means an independent single channel. Unimodal systems are designed based on single modality. They are further classified based on the nature as follows: Visual Audio Sensor 1.6.1.1 Visual HCI: Its application areas are facial expression analysis, Body movement tracking, gesture recognition and Gaze detection. Table 1.7 – Visual HCI Research areas 1.6.1.2 Audio HCI This uses various audio signals to acquire information. They are helpful, unique and trustable. It’s application areas are speaker recognition, musical integration, auditory emotion analysis and Human made noise or sign detections. 1.6.1.3 Sensor HCI It uses atleast one sensor between user and computer to enable interaction. Examples of sensors are not limited to pen based interaction, joysticks, mouse-keyboard, haptic sensors, taste or smell sensors, pressure sensors and motion tracking sensors. 1.6.2 Multimodal Architecture It combines multiple modalities. Here modalities refer to communication channels. The channels are sensors for sight ,taste , hear ,smell and touch. Gesture ,speech and gaze are common forms of input models. The examples of multimodal applications are not limited to smart video conferencing, driver monitoring, intelligent games, helping disable people and smart homes. 1.7 Advances in HCI Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence: It is also known as third way of computing that is interaction among many computers and one person. The evolution is as follows: First way of computing main frame era many people one computer. Second way of computing PC era one person many computers. 1.8 Overview The remaining part of this book includes both theoretical material and practical approaches to designing user interfaces. The topics include: Usability engineering principles Experimental and prototype cognitive architectures Design of effective spoken dialogue systems Role of recommender [e1]systems in web technologies Advanced visualization techniques based on ontologies Intelligent and adaptive HCI Ubiquitous computing and Ambient Intelligence. 1.9 HCI Sample Exercises Application of Weber’s Law in the design of Human Interfaces Weber’s Law It states that the size of the observable various is a constant proportion (K times) of the actual stimulus value. Stimulus intensity must be changed with a minimum amount to create a observable difference in sensory experience. Weber’s Law to user interfaces Information in a computer can be displayed in various formats such as text, pictures, drawings, maps, graphs, videos etc. This information may be from small to large in size with respect to the following: Brightness loudness line length visual weight of fonts in typography color matching Weber’s law helps to analyze and design the above effectively. Procedure Changing Shape – Rectangle Experiment Design a form with the following : 6 rectangular blocks -objects with different colour a stop clock timer -to observe the time value Start button -to start the event Text box -to display the time value Reset button-to restart the experiment Press â€Å"START†button. Observe all blocks minutely and identify the one that expands in breadth after some time. Stop timer themoment difference is identified. Record time. Repeat steps 2 to 5 and plot graph between% colour differenceandnumber of attempts. Repeat same experiment by pressing â€Å"RESET† button. Changing Shape Circle Experiment Design a form with the following six circles-object with colour a stop clock timer -to observe the time value Start button -to start the event Text box -to display the value Reset button-to restart the experiment Pressâ€Å"START†button. Observe all circles minutely and identify the one that expands in radius after some time. Stop timer themomentarea difference is identified. Record time and the % noticed difference or the %area difference. Repeat steps 2 to 5 and plot graph between% radial differenceVsnumber of attempts. ChangingColor CircleExperiment Design a form with the following 6 circles-object with colour a stop clock timer -to observe the time value Start button -to start the event Text box -to display the value Reset button-to restart the experiment Pressâ€Å"START†button. Observe all circles minutely and identify the one that changes colour after some time. Stop timer the moment colour difference is identified. Record time and the % noticed difference or the %area difference. Repeat steps 2 to 5 and plot graph between% colour differenceVsnumber of attempts. Discussion Good user interface design can be made by avoiding uneven size or mismatching colour controls. GOMS(Goals,Operators,Methods, andSelection rules) Objective To build a GOMSmodelforcomparing the actualtimetaken for a task by two interfaces and predict the best one. Experimental Procedure Design twodifferent user interfaces with the following controls: Label-to display users with questions Text box-to receive information about the user Button-to perform action Timer-to inform time to the user List box / option button-to display answers to the questions Make Interface-1to have list-boxestoinput user responses. Make Interface-2to haveradio-buttons toinput user responses. Use this interfaces to rate understanding of few core subjects. Pressâ€Å"Start†button tostartrecordtime beforeshowing responses to interface-1 Giveresponses for each subject using interface-1. Pressâ€Å"Stop†buttonto stop recording of time after finishing all responses. Repeatsameprocedurefromsteps 5to7forinterface-2. Observation: There might be a difference in the task completion time, because of Difference in interaction elementschosen andtheir layout a cognitive / perceptual factor is contributing to task completion time An interaction task is always guided by the user goals, interface operators andalternative methods available on interface for achieving those goals. Colour Design for a User Form Objective To apply colour theoryand features required for colour textand background legibility in creating attractiveuser form. Basics Primary Colours: colours that cannot be created by mixing others. e.g. Red, yellow and blue. Secondary Colours:colours achieved by a mixture of two primaries e.g. Green, orange and purple Tertiary Colours:colours achieved by a mixture of primary and secondary hues. e.g. Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green yellow-green Complementary Colours: colours located opposite each other on a colour wheel. Analogous Colours:colours located close together on a colour wheel. Procedure Design a form thatconsistsoftwosections Contentwindow Colour- settingwindow Design a Content Window with broad blackoutline. Split broad outline as three or more sections based on the usage withthin blackborders. Selectanyofthesesectionsbyclickingwithintheboundary. Change selection section border colour into red. Use coloursettingwindow tochange colours of the selectedsection. Design a Colour settingwindow(Textcoloursetting) Place three text boxes and slider to receive RGB colour values. Design a button to apply the computed RGB colorvalue. Design a Colour-settingwindow(Bakgroundcolour setting) Place three text boxes and slider to receive RGB colour values. Design a button to apply the computed RGB colourvalue. Apply colour brightness difference and colour difference formulae to see if they really work in practiceimproving legibility of the colour text. Observations: Allows user to apply various colours to text as well as its background andcreate differentcolourcontrasts. Review Questions How do you justify HCI as an interdisciplinary research domain? Why is HCI so important? Describe the framework of the three level model of HCI. Summarize the factors in HCI. Describe the framework of broad HCI issues and concerns. Discuss on the design principles of HCI Summarize advanced I/O devices [e1]Recommender or recommended