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Low nurse-to-patient staffing practices impact healthcare in many ways. Studies have revealed a direct relationship between low nurse staffing and outcomes of both the nurses that work in this field and the patients that they serve. Harrington et al. explore the high costs related to low nurse staffing in nursing homes across the U.S., focusing on the need for improved staff ratios and the barriers preventing their implementation and enforcement. High patient-to-nurse ratios in long-term care facilities lead to poor patient outcomes and cost Medicare and Medicaid billions of dollars each year. Implementing and enforcing safe patient ratios that are based on the acuity of residents served is necessary to provide safe and effective holistic care in nursing homes across the U.S.
Get original essayFor many years evidence has shown that nursing homes across the U.S. desperately need to make improvements. In 1987, the U.S. Congress passed the Nursing Home Reform Act in an attempt to address poor outcomes in long-term care facilities, included in this was a requirement for ‘sufficient staff.’ Since that time, many other initiatives aimed at improving care have been developed, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. According to Harrington et al., “These efforts have included revisions in policies and survey procedures, public reporting of nursing home quality, and other efforts that have resulted in some positive changes in nursing home care, such as reductions in the use of physical restraints”. However, despite these changes studies continue to show major deficits in nursing home care leading to poor patient outcomes and increased healthcare costs.
Results of a recent study conducted by the U.S. Office of the Inspector General “found that 33% of Medicare nursing home resident sample experienced adverse events, resulting in harm or death during the first 35 days of post-acute skilled nursing stay”. Skilled healthcare professionals could have prevented over half of these adverse events with proper monitoring and care, and could have saved Medicare 2.8 billion dollars.
As the requirements set by the Nursing Home Reform act in 1987 for ‘sufficient’ staffing continue to prove inadequate, 41 states have since raised their staffing requirements above that set by the federal government. Despite these changes, staffing standards continue to fall short. As advancements continue in medicine, life expectancy and acuity of patients rise, leading to an increased need for more skilled nursing staff to monitor and care for those in need. Thus, the implementation and enforcement of safe staffing ratios must also take patient acuity into consideration.
Having an adequate number of skilled nurses working on the floor, monitoring patients, and overseeing the care provided, improves healthcare outcomes in many ways. In addition to poor patient outcomes and higher costs, low staffing can affect morale, lead to job dissatisfaction, and high turnover rates. Harrington et al. state, “It is likely that adequate staffing levels must be addressed before improvements can be made in other factors such as turnover, management, and competency”. The issue of adequate staffing is central to improvements in healthcare and nursing so much so that staffing levels can be used as a predictor of nursing home deficiencies and hospitalization rates. Despite this knowledge, when the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services created a model for determining minimum staff levels with consideration for resident acuity and compared that number to actual staffing practices, it was revealed that nearly 60% of facilities did not meet the total staff minimum standard, nearly 80% did not meet RN minimum standards, and 54% did not meet minimum standards for nursing assistants.
With all this evidence to support higher nurse-to-patient ratios, one would think the solution is simple. Yet the problem remains. Studies have shown that the best way to improve staffing ratios is through federal and state implementation. According to Harrington et al., “higher state minimum RN and total nurse staffing have been shown to have a stronger effect on nursing home staffing levels than higher Medicaid payment rates”. This is likely due to the fact that there is little to no regulation on how nursing homes spend their profits, and staffing ratios do not influence payments made by Medicare and Medicaid which both focus on cost control rather than the quality of outcomes. According to Harrington et al., for-profit nursing homes make up about 70% of all facilities operating in the U.S., and with the goal of maximizing profits, often operate with lower staff than non-profit facilities. As one would imagine, these for-profit facilities also have more violations and poorer patient outcomes. Market-based strategies aimed at increasing public disclosure and reporting have been implemented in an effort to combat this issue but have had little success showing again that regulatory requirements may be the most effective way to improve staffing ratios and quality outcomes.
The CMS, the agency responsible for federal regulation and standard setting, works with other state agencies to ensure facility compliance. Investigations of completed surveys by these agencies have revealed violations are often under-identified and/or underrated, and penalties are minimized or not issued at all. In addition, Medicare and Medicaid rarely deny facilities access to their program based on violations, leaving little to no incentive for facilities to remain compliant. Even if regulations were being enforced appropriately, the CMS has no guidelines regarding low or inadequate staffing penalties.
Other factors influencing this issue include the divide between liberal political leadership, which is linked to stronger regulation, and conservative political leadership that favors less government intervention. Additionally, nursing home associations and industries have donated money to political campaigns that lend to their interest. One such example is The Kentucky nursing home industry which gave a substantial amount of money to politicians “while lobbying against bills requiring them to hire more employees, increasing fines for violations, and prosecuting elder abuse”. Another factor is the government tends to hire industry managers that may have more conservative views that tend to favor less regulation.
Solutions to this issue are quite complicated and are influenced by many factors. According to Harrington et al., “Economic, regulatory, and political solutions are needed to ensure that all nursing homes provide safe and high-quality of care”. Though the path to solving this issue faces many obstacles, it seems to be heavily paved onto the hands of state and federal regulatory agencies such as the CMS. These regulatory agencies need to not only implement safe staffing ratios, but they need to enforce them. Regulating agencies, as well as nursing homes, need to be held accountable for their role in promoting or preventing quality care outcomes. Additionally, Medicare and Medicaid payments should be linked to outcomes rather than focused on cost-effectiveness. Better incentives should be implemented for having more skilled staff. If steps are not taken to improve staffing in nursing homes, quality care outcomes will continue to fall and patients, as well as the nurses that serve them, will also continue to suffer.
The cost incurred by low or inadequate nurse staffing is far too high, both financially and from a health perspective. Nurses and residents suffer the consequences of nursing home leaders choosing the bottom line over sufficient staffing and quality outcomes. Barriers that must be overcome include issues in economics, regulatory agencies and policies, and politics. Implementation and enforcement of higher staff-to-patient ratios that include resident acuity are vital to safe and effective nursing care in nursing homes across the U.S.
The use of simulators gives the basis for potential research in safe environments based on facts but is currently being underused according to articles mentioning the following “it remains underused in hospitals and other healthcare settings” or “despite the intuitive appeal of simulation as a learning tool, especially for procedural competence, there have been small gains to date”. If the drug/treatment-based simulation works, the potential for real-life success is augmented.
Get original essayThe objectives are to reduce the baroreceptor reflex of the patient, followed by an abnormal reduction in heart rate via propranolol intake, and finally, show the temporary restoration of heart rate homeostasis via atropine application. The main aim is to use a High Fidelity Based Simulation Mannequin to mimic low baroreceptor reflex in, the scenario of propranolol intake and to show that the application of atropine temporarily stabilizes heart rate homeostasis.
Search terms used for the following experiment where done by searching keywords like “Pleomorphic” or “Laryngectomy” on search engines such as “PubMed”. Inclusion criteria involved searching terms in English, fully accessible, and where possible more recent research studies to ensure up-to-date knowledge; further exclusion criteria excluded out of topic based on a general reading of the abstract and results.
The topic being explored involved is a male patient in his early 20s with a Pleomorphic Adenoma (benign salivary gland neoplasm) leading to partial blockage of both glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves, which both behave as baroreceptors transmitters for the homeostasis of mean arterial blood pressure within the body. Note: the patient mentions the medication (propranolol) acquired via “a friend” to reduce anxiety and not another doctor. The simulator is being used to understand situations where the baroreceptor complex for controlling heart rate and contractility has been compromised due to the previously mentioned situation. This experiment covers diagnosis and temporary/permanent treatment for the patient.
Pleomorphic Adenoma leads to partial blockage of both glossopharyngeal and vagal Nerves which behave as baroreceptor transmitters for the regulation of heart rate. Pleomorphic Adenoma is the most common salivary gland neoplasm. Epidemiological studies show 84% presence in parotid glands, 8% in submandibular glands, and 6.5% in minor salivary glands; these benign tumors align with the paths of both the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves, hence partially obstructing signaling and function. This reduced baroreceptor activity leads to reduced heart rate in patients due to deficient baroreceptor reflex and propranolol (beta-blockers) intake.
To understand how the patient’s sinus bradycardia surged from a normal propranolol overdose we must first understand the mechanism behind the reflex. Blockage of the vagus and pharyngeal nerves lead to reduced activity on the Nucleus Tractus solitarius which lowers the activity of the ventral lateral medulla and overall leads to a fall in sympathetic stimulation of the post-ganglionic sympathetic fibres in the thoracic and cervical para-vertebral ganglia. This lowers noradrenaline in cardiac plexus acting on G-coupled receptors, which overall reduces activation of adenylyl cyclase and prevents its formation of cAMP for preventing activation of pyruvate kinase A which can’t phosphorylate DHP Receptors not releasing Ca2+ which in turn cannot act on ryanodine receptors to release Ca2+ and act on troponin and initiate contractions. Results are negative chronotropic and inotropy which lead to sinus bradycardia caused by propranolol and worsened by reduced reflexes.
The diagnosis will involve blood pressure monitoring detecting possible hypotensive states, followed by a type II electrocardiogram measuring the electric activity of the heart, and finally, blood test involving full blood count (normal). Urea and electrolytes should show decreased levels of creatinine in the blood due to possible decreased mean arterial pressure resulting in lower hydrostatic pressure followed by reduced glomerular filtration rate.
The final test will be a full-body computerized tomography which shows the outcome of Pleomorphic Adenoma. Short-term treatments should involve different doses of 5mg of Atropine every 6 minutes at the start and then periodically at intervals of heart rates below 55bpm until the patient has been stabilized. Fine needle aspiration of the of the tumor will be performed for further confirmation of non-malignancy and pleomorphic adenoma diagnosis which can finally be followed by local surgical resection as a possible final treatment.
The heart rate factor of the patient was initially set to 1 (normal), baroreceptor gain set to 100 (overall), cardiac baroreceptor gain set to 10, and peripheral baroreceptor gain set to 10; all demonstrating stabilized individual with a heart rate of 72bpm. This was followed by the application of 2mg of propranolol 30 seconds after the start of the simulation which lead to a peak reduced heart rate 58bpm 5.5 minutes after the start of stimulation; this was done as means to show the effect of propranolol on an individual consisting of normal baroreceptor reflex.
Reduced baroreceptor reflex simulation included a reduction in baroreceptor gain to 40, cardiac baroreceptor gain to 4, and peripheral cardiac receptor gain to 4; this state was set at 6 minutes after the start of the simulation. This was followed by a rapid drop in heart rate which reached 41bpm; the application of 5mg of atropine re-stabilized the heart rate to 68bpm; initially, this application was every 6 minutes but was changed to a periodical basis of when heart rate was minimal below 55bpm, which was done until patient returned to stability.
Effectiveness of Atropine: The addition of Atropine showed to be effective in combating reduced heart in patients with reduced baroreceptor reflex and normal doses of propranolol intake caused by uncontrolled anxiety. This propranolol combating effect can be backed by “Part 7.3: Management of Symptomatic Bradycardia and Tachycardia”. Now although it’s proven to be effective in combating propranolol, it can be argued to be ineffective in specific individuals even in altered states; backed by “Atropine”: “If there is no improvement in the clinical state after repeat doses of atropine, additional treatments with atropine are unlikely to be effective”. Also backed by the “Effectiveness study of atropine for progressive myopia in Europeans” which states: “Moreover, some studies have suggested that atropine is less effective in persons of non-Asian descent.”
Effectiveness of Simulators in Teaching & Research: The use of simulators gives the basis for potential research and teaching for students and healthcare professionals in safe environments according to “Training and simulation for patient safety” which mentions that “Simulation-based medical education enables knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be acquired for all healthcare professionals in a safe, educationally orientated and efficient manner”. Although proven effective for research and training, these simulators are currently being underused for the same cohort according to the same article which mentions that “simulators remain underused in hospitals and other healthcare settings” or “despite the intuitive appeal of simulation as a learning tool, especially for procedural competence, there have been small gains to date”. Possible factors for underuse could include lack of publication to cohort, the difficulty of use, or but mostly fear of use due to the uncertainty present in humans which simulators possibly lack, which leads us to the next point.
Effectiveness of Simulators in Treating & Risks: High fidelity human-based simulators can be effective in treating patients by first “without risk to the patient” simulating the drug and if successful, moved on to human trials as mentioned by the “Improving Patient Safety through Simulation Training in Anaesthesiology: Where Are We?” which states that “If the drug/treatment-based simulation works, the potential for a real-life success is augmented.”
Contrastingly we can argue that because these high fidelity human-based simulators aren’t based on tables of acquired data but on equations working on a single flow, consisting of resistors and capacitors augmented by constants, that the potential for simulating human-based risk factors is low. This is backed by the article: “High-fidelity is not superior to low-fidelity simulation but leads to overconfidence in medical students” which stated that “The use of high-fidelity simulation led to equal or even worse performance and growth in knowledge as compared to low-fidelity simulation, while also inducing undesirable effects such as overconfidence.”
In conclusion, the baroreceptor reflex of the high fidelity human-based simulator was reduced to 40% which lead to sinus bradycardia during propranolol intake in individuals with reduced baroreceptor reflex caused by the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerve obstructions. The addition of 5mg of atropine proved to restore homeostasis temporarily in individuals with a chronic baroreceptor complex deficiency. Although simulations can be very useful for later testing in real-life circumstances, they do not provide proof of demonstrating the concept in an actual human where many factors could wrong. Nevertheless, the use of High Fidelity Human-Based Mannequins is still a great tool for learning, and testing and could be used in the simulation of multiple physiological scenarios.
Operating a High Fidelity Based Simulation Mannequin was a skill I did not yet possess, changing the homeostatic conditions, application of medications, and setting different conditions were skills in simulation I learned and improved with practice, to the point I started to predict the effects of certain simulations, examples included “predicting the effect of propranolol applications higher than 5mg lead to bradycardia in individuals with the normal function” which was tested and proofed.
I think the work has been very valuable in terms of creating a new scenario that future candidates can use to simulate and solve rare cases in clinical scenarios. Now, even though simulations are performed on high-fidelity mannequins, the mannequins are still not human, so we don’t have proof of demonstrating the concept in that area. In terms of changing variables in the experiment, I would have done a higher number of repeats with a wider range of baroreceptor reflex functions and added different scenarios for treating propranolol dependency an effect which would possibly still be present in the patient.
Some minor deficiencies in the experiment included starting off with too high amounts of the atropine (10mg) which caused a significant increase in the heart rate (tachycardia) due to dose surpassing dysfunction of the baroreceptor, this was initially counteracted with 80mg of propranolol but changed to simply adding a reduced 5mg of atropine, a finer solution to stability.
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Get custom essayI see myself using these High Fidelity Based Human Simulators before treating patients, I see it as a research tool to counteract the uncertainty acquired from reading articles, books, and the media. Overall, I have been inspired to use these high-fidelity simulators to simulate drug-based trials for conditions dealing with cardiorespiratory dysfunction; such as hypercapnia, hypoxemia, hypertension, hypoventilation, tachycardia, and bradycardia. I now imagine the many different combinations of drugs and treatments which can be created to counteract such desired conditions.
The High Performance Organization (HPO) Framework is a conceptual, scientifically validated structure that managers can use for deciding what to focus on in order to improve organizational performance and make it sustainable. The HPO Framework is not a set of instructions or a recipe that can be followed blindly. Rather it is a framework that has to be translated by managers to their specific organizational situation in their current time, by designing a specific variant of the framework for their organization (de Waal, (2008).
Get original essayAccording to NECTA a student who has got division I, II, III, or IV has passed the exam. Unfortunatutely, the one got III or IV has low achievement. The focus and determination in the study is to explore and reveal the secret of getting division I or II which is higher achievement.
This report aims to summarise the findings by Dominique Goux, Marc Gurgand and Eric Maurin on high school dropouts. Other literature concentrates on altering students’ academic performance to prevent dropouts; however, this study looks at the idea of changing expectations towards future academic choices.
Get original essayHigh school dropouts are a significant issue within our society today. The world has become increasingly competitive; therefore it is essential to have a strong educational background in order to ensure employment. Dominique Goux, Marc Gurgand, and Eric Maurin discuss how formulating low achieving student's educational expectations lead to a lower dropout rate and grade repetition. They changed student and parents expectations with a non-intensive experiment in France which was facilitated by the principals of 37 schools.
One of the leading causes of dropout behaviour is the failure to develop realistic educational objectives. Economic literature views school as an investment, if the immediate costs are greater than the expected gains, this leads to a higher amount of adolescents dropping out. The article is important as it highlights how non-expensive intervention facilitated by the principal can result in declining high school dropouts. The parent-teacher interaction is important and the researchers have highlighted this as a way to change the aspirations of low achieving adolescents. The article is also important as it shows if a student changes educational expectations it could possibly prevent a student from dropping out in the future.
In many different countries after 9th-grade, students have to apply to a new type of school. These usually include prestigious academic schools and vocational schools. At the end of middle school in France, students can either enter a three-year highly selective academic programme or enter a vocational school that offers both two and three-year programs. An assignment system in France allocates students to their preferred choice using average marks obtained in key subjects. Both three-year programs give access to higher education for students. Therefore, it is more prestigious than the two-year program. Also, students could drop out of the educational system entirely and take up an apprenticeship.
Generally to reduce dropout rates schools may impose strict activities on students in order to raise academic performance however this is not the case with this study, the researchers conducted a large scale randomised experiment that targeted low achieving students. School principals facilitated the experiment, it allowed students to apply to different tracks (options after 9th grade) based on their academic performance. There was two meetings between parents and teachers, the results show a reduction in grade repetition and dropout rates. The results also show a higher amount of adolescents applied for two-year vocational programs and apprenticeships. The results mean that it may not be useful to try to change a student’s academic record; instead, schools should focus on changing student and parents expectations regarding future choices while considering their academic ability. This is shown as a higher amount of students applied to the two-year vocational course; thus the principal has altered their expectations and preferences based on the academic ability of students.
Other researchers have concentrated more on high ability students who undervalue their potential, whereas this article concentrates on low ability students who overvalue their potential, therefore, bringing new evidence on how altering expectations can result in lower dropout rates. Furthermore, many other dropout prevention policies include financial incentives and academic support therefore the experiment carried out contributes to the literature on school dropout rates. The article is supported by other research such as by Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner (2009) who also found unrealistic expectations regarding university entry led to higher dropout rates in USA colleges. Furthermore, other literature supports the idea that unrealistic expectations lead to poor outcomes for students such as research by Gottfredson 1981.
The experiment took place in Paris in the Local Education authority which includes 1.1 Million students. 37 Schools took part which represents 9% of the total schools within the district. Low-income areas within Paris are represented heavily within the sample. Early within the academic year the principles randomly selected 25% of students who are most exposed to the risk of becoming a school dropout. The principals-based their selection on the academic ability of students with the ones selected having the lowest grades. Over half of the selected students had already repeated a school year.
Preselected students were randomised into treatment and control classes by Goux et al. The researchers split half of the classes into the treatment group, and the other half was put into a control group. The randomisation was stratified by the number of pre-selected students, the number of girls and the number of students who had previously repeated a year. In total, they were 97 treatment and 82 control classes. They were no important differences between treated and control classes in terms of characteristics. Only the parents of the 97 treatment classes were invited to attend the meetings. The results are based on a comparison between the treatment and control groups of the pre-selected students.
After each group was split the experimenter invited preselected students’ parents within the treatment group to have two meetings with the principal regarding their children’s future choice of track (options after 9th grade). The reason for the meetings is because it allows the parents to become involved with their children’s future. The meetings took place in January and April before 6 am during the school. LEA experts helped prepare the principals with guidelines for the meetings. These include the academic future for the parent’s children, the procedures of applying for the next track education and how the parents can help. The guidelines included identifying family aspirations; however, only concerning the academic performance of the child. The principles helped adjust expectations based on the academic performance of the adolescents. For example, a principal may suggest the idea of an apprenticeship for a student who is at risk of dropping out of school or repeating a year. The programme allows the parents to understand that two-year vocational qualifications can be a good option and that it may be more suited for their kids who are continually having to repeat the 9th grade.
The principals only invited parents of the preselected children within the treatment group, not the control group. This is shown through the attendance sheet. It shows that the take-up is only large for pre-selected students within treatment groups. Goux et al. found 52% of Parents attended one of the meetings and 21% attended both. Only a tiny portion of families who were not invited turned up. This shows the principal made an effort to call and invite the parents of the preselected students within the treatment group.
The researchers collected data taken from schools during the 2010-11 academic year. The data includes the student’s grades in key subjects such as Mathematics and English. This is very important because those two subjects are key indicators of whether a student will receive his preferred choice of school/apprenticeship after the 9th grade.
The researchers also collected the attendance and the mark taken at the end of year national exam for everyone in the 9th grade. The exam is not compulsory and does not determine if the students will achieve one of their preferred school choices after the 9th grade. The exam is held on the last day of the academic year, and some students are absent on this day even though on this day most students may know if they got accepted onto their preferred track choice. The researchers found absence on this day was higher amongst dropouts.
The next part of data is a questionnaire that parents are asked to complete. The questionnaire included questions about how the parents are involved in their children's future and how they are able to get in touch with school teachers. One of the questions also included the educational expectations of their children etc. In order to increase the response rate, the researchers called non-responders of pre-selected pupils and asked them the same set of questions.
Also, the writers took administrative exhaustive data which gives information about the application and the assignment process for each pupil. The data includes applications for all of the four preferred choices at the end of the year, and the researchers know the rank of each choice and type of school/programme. Also, they know whether a student appealed a decision or decided to retake the 9th grade. The data also includes student's whereabouts one year after the treatment (meetings) year and even two years after. This uses each student's national identification number. The researchers can then tell who is still in school, apprenticeship and who has dropped out of the system altogether.
Y_(is = ?T_i + X_is ?+ U_S +V_s )
The writers analysed the effect of meetings using the following model above. They focused on preselected students. T_i Is the dummy variable (0 or 1) indicating if a student is in a treatment class or isn’t. X_is Is a vector of control variables which include dummies for a variety of different characteristics of the students. The other two variables are fixed effects of school and the potential error term.
At the end of the treatment, the parents became heavily involved with their children’s academic careers. Academic aspirations changed tailored to what the adolescent’s academic record was. This is shown on the options that the adolescents took at the end of the third term.
The results of the experiment suggest that parents adapted their expectations in relation to their children’s academic performance. The researchers found they were an 8% reduction in the number of parents expecting their child will complete a three year academic/vocational program leading to higher education (comparing treatment and control classes). The researchers also found a 3.4 percentage point increase in parents expecting a two-year vocational course. This highlights that the results show a change in academic expectations through meetings with the principal. The article results also suggest very few parents expect their children to drop out of school regardless if they were in the control or treatment group, which agrees with the idea that parents expectations of their child dropping out is extremely rare. This is because parents understand the problems in finding employment if their child was to drop out of high school.
End of Middle school examination C T-C
Fail but present on exam day 44.8 +6.7**
Not present on examination day 10.6 -5.4**
The researchers collected information on the number of students who turned up and took the end of middle school national examination. The exam is not compulsory, and results are not taken into account. Most students know what academic track they are on for the next two/three years before this examination. This allows the schools to find out what academic track each pupil is on, on this examination day. This means that students who do not turn up to the examination are likely to be potential dropouts. Table 1 has two columns, C which is the value of the preselected control group and T-C which is the treatment dummy value. The results of the article show that preselected students in the control group have a higher absent attendance (10.6%) compared to the treated group (5.2% as 10.6 – 5.4 = 5.2). They were no increases in academic performance by people who attended compared to those who did not. This shows that students who did turn up wanted to know about what academic route they are on in the future meaning they are less likely to drop out of education. Furthermore, it shows the experiment had an effect on possibly preventing high school dropouts for the preselected students in the treatment group.
Applications C T-C
At least One two year vocational program 15.8 +4.9
Two year vocational – first choice 11 +3.8
Two years vocational – not first choice 4.8 +1.1
It was found that the experiment had weak effects on the academic records of pupils. The actual aim of the treatment was not to change academic records but to change expectations of pupils which adhere to their academic record. They were no increase in preselected students applying for a three-year program however this may be expected as the expectations of the children may have been changed through these meetings. Table 2 has two columns, C which refers to the average value for preselected students in the control group and T-C which is the treatment dummy value. There is a 4.9 percentage point increase in the number of preselected students who included a two-year vocational course in their applications. They were also a decline in students who applied for three-year vocational courses and students who repeated a year. Two-year courses are easier to be accepted on; therefore this shows the meetings facilitated by school principals may have allowed students to alter expectations and apply for two-year courses as a potential back up. The track choice results show students are realistic about their academic future and their chances of being accepted into a three-year program. The results show that the experiment made students more aware of other choices rather than either applying to three-year programs or just resitting, as fewer students resat and applied to three-year programs.
Student progress after 1st and 2nd year
The number of students who retook grade 9 decreased. The intervention resulted in a higher number of students who received apprenticeships one year later along with less grade repetition. This is a result of the principal changing unrealistic expectations of the students and the parents, by clarifying to them that obtaining a three-year study course is more difficult than they think. For students with poor academic records, the principal convinced parents that an apprenticeship might be their best option in order to get employment rather than a three-year course. The researchers found that the principals managed to induce potential dropouts to consider an apprenticeship and potential repeaters to consider a two-year course. The actual experiment did not induce potential students who wanted to stay in the school to drop out, instead just changed their line of thinking to a more suited two-year course.
The major effect of the study within the article is to prevent people from repeating the ninth grade or dropping out. The program resulted in a higher number of students obtaining an apprenticeship within the treatment group however two years later some students could potentially be disappointed with their choice; thus they may have been better off repeating the ninth grade. The school principal may have convinced students of realistic options only in the short run. In order to test this hypothesis, the writers compared grade advancements between treated and controlled students two years after the intervention. If the experiment just delayed grade repetitions and dropouts, then the results must show weaker differences in dropouts and grades. Goux et al found that two years after the experiment the number of students who completed and moved onto their second year of high school is almost the same as the initial gap for access to high school programs between treatment and the control groups. This shows that students were happy with their decision to take part in two-year vocational courses rather than apply for a selective three-year course.
The results show that the difference in dropout rates between the treatment and control group is larger after two years. The experiment resulted in fewer dropouts after the treatment year and fewer dropouts for those who resat the 9th grade (-1.5 percentage points). Overall the experiment reduced dropout rates through two different ways. The first was to help potential dropouts look at alternatives such as apprenticeships after the treatment year. This increased the gap between dropout rates between the treatment and control group and has continued to persist over time. The second way the experiment reduced dropouts is by helping underachieving students look at alternatives such as the two-year vocational programs. One year later the majority of treated students completed their first year of the high school program.
Across the world, students have to pick different educational routes at the end of the 9th grade. The only problem with this is low ability students often aim too high and have unrealistic expectations. Students in France have a negative perception of two-year vocational programs and generally, prefer to go for three-year paths even though they are not academically ready for it. The researchers showed that a simple experiment which is facilitated by school principals could help low achieving students to form realistic expectations based on their academic record. The meetings led to a decrease in the dropout rate by 25%.
The writers show that by adjusting preferences over the academic future of the students, this allowed students to apply and enter better academic tracks that are suited for their abilities. This means that if the program is carried out on a wide scale, it has the potential to reduce dropout rates seriously and to increase future employment. Overall the experiment shows it is possible to influence student choices in a way that will improve their lifelong chances at a very small cost. Preferences and expectations are changeable, and principals are able to alter them for less able students.
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Get custom essayGoux et al. also showed that non-intensive meetings between parents, students, and principals could prevent future dropouts from occurring in high school. Furthermore, the paper shows that educational outcomes of low ability students can be improved with a similar approach to other pieces of literature which considered low aspirations of high performing students. To conclude the paper highlights the alternative of changing student expectations rather than academic performance to reduce dropout rates.
Students need breaks! For some students, a two-to-three-month summer break just isn’t long enough. Some students need time to live, to explore, to understand, to transition, and to find themselves. A gap year is a break in education after completing high school before furthering education at a college or university. A gap year gives students an extended time off. This time off can help students to refresh their minds, focus on personal aspirations, and better prepare themselves for college. Success-seeking students should have the chance and ability to take on a gap year in between high school and higher education due to the possibilities of 0 college preparedness and focus on career goals.
Get original essayWhile being popular in Europe for an extended period, gap years have started to gain popularity here in the United States. Although no formal statistics have been recorded on the participation of students in gap year programs; the American Gap Association, which is based in Portland, Oregon, found results in their surveys that about 30,000 to 40,000 students participate in gap year programs each year. Between the years of 2014 and 2015, the rate of participation had increased about 22 percent.
There are many different routes to take when taking a gap year. Students can intern, work, travel, take part in various programs, or take a break from education and work minimum wage jobs. One may want to focus on working or interning while another may want to focus on traveling. Even though many may want to travel their whole gap year, for some it’s not possible. On the bright side, gap years are full of possibility. Some students can spend their gap years the way they choose.
It is understood that some students don’t have the financial stability to travel and explore as much as others and other students don’t really have their minds set on specific gap year programs or ideas. A Senior Lecturer of Educational Psychology, Gerwels, states that planning out a gap year “can require sacrifices and much more work in the execution than originally anticipated.” Gerwels makes the case that although taking a gap year seems to be an excellent choice for students, students should evaluate the benefits and expenses of their choices before deciding whether they should take a gap year and what exactly they’ll decide to do during their gap year.
Students have different opportunities to take when it comes to a gap. Students must think about what exactly it is they want to achieve or gain during the process. Some students may want to gain more work experience; some students may want to gain more life experience. Some students may simply just want to travel the world and gain more knowledge about the world while others have difficulties figuring out what they’d like to do for their year off.
Students that are really interested in taking a gap year but don’t know the best route to take can be assisted by gap year advisors. Regardless of their financial status, goal-oriented students can always find a way out of no way. Although a gap year may come with expenses, there are various programs that students can be a part of to make their gap year affordable and worth taking.
The Center for Interim Programs consults students and helps them to find their best fit. The counselors involved in this organization help students find their perfect matches based on their “interests and budget.” They make “customized referrals which include: group travel programs, low cost volunteer options, internship placements, language schools, wilderness courses, academic semesters, research trips and much more.”
During his/her gap year, a student can sit down and figure out what’s best for him/her instead of just applying for schools after schools. Some students apply for schools because of their popularity; they like the schools because of their bands, football teams, or just because most of their friends are interested as well. Some students apply for school that has the degree program they’re looking for but just because a school offers a certain program, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their program is the best. The student will have more time to make the right decision.
Fitzsimmons, McGrath, and Ducey point out that students in high school sometimes have their minds set on certain careers and college majors without really taking the time out to figure out if it’s really the best route for them. While some know exactly what they’re getting themselves into, other students apply to various colleges without taking notice of their degree programs or whether the schools are even a great fit for their interests, according to “many observers.” Students sometimes are pressured into applying for schools early to feel as if they’re not “being left behind”; they see it as a need to go ahead and apply early while everyone else is doing the same. Some have described it as “hysteria.”
Also, according to Fitzsimmons, McGrath, and Ducey, many students are quick to feel the thrill of freedom and start to behave self-harming activities. In many colleges, counselors have had to increase their involvement with students due to the needs of the overwhelmed student body. On the other hand, some students who graduated with degrees and have become successful in their fields of study have questioned whether the college experience and struggle were even worth the hassle to make it into the real world. Some experts in their fields of study ended up where they are due to the high hopes their parents or others had for them and not because they had the desire to. They didn’t have the chance to live young and as free as they wanted because their minds were merely on their future and career goals.
According to a part of 2015 National Alumni Survey by Nina Hoe, PhD, Institute for Survey Research, Temple University, and the AGA Research Committee, 92 percent of their respondents had the chance to “gain life experience and grow personally.” A gap year gives students the time to mature and get a better feel of the world as a young adult. Some students transition straight from high school to college and do not know how to handle themselves as responsible adults. They just want to have fun regardless of the possible consequences. Most of the time, students that have unsuccessful freshman years have them due to them not being used to the freedom of doing what they want when they want, always having it easy in high school, or simply because they haven’t matured enough. Taking a gap year gives students the opportunity to gain more knowledge or experience in any aspect that they choose. Taking a gap year doing productive activities can result in students gaining more focus and determination.
Students that have taken gap years off before attending Harvard take on the custom of the
“gap year” from students in the U.K. Although certain countries require students and other people to take part in military service, most students are “effusive in praise” regardless of what was done during their time off. Students that have taken their time off describe it as “life-altering” or as a “turning point.” Their extended transition helped them to visualize their aspirations at a higher level. It helped them to understand more of what they wanted and expected in academics and their future careers. Most of these students agreed that they would take their gap years all over again because of they gained from it.
Being able to understand exactly what one wants in life can better his/her chances to have a successful pathway to his/her future career. The activities students decide to take part in while on their extended break can possibly help them to figure out what their real interests are. The activities students take part in while on their extended break can possibly lead them into a different direction from before. Some students think they have it all figured out in high school only to get to college and realized that they didn’t. Some students get to college and realize the choices they made weren’t best for them. Some students pick the wrong schools, the wrong major, the wrong degree program, or the wrong career path. The gap year gives students more time to get it all figured out. Having more time to analyze one’s aspirations, interests, and goals gives them more time to realize what college and career choices are better for him/her. Some students pick majors and future career goals based on salaries; some students pick majors not understanding exactly what path it will take them in their career.
Even though a gap year can be beneficial to students, results don’t always come out positive for every student that takes them. It is possible for some students to start slacking or fall behind. Some students may get used to the life of not attending school and not want to deal with anymore academic stress. Students that easily begin losing focus are not the best candidates for taking gap years. Not all students should take a gap year; a gap year is not for students that insist on resting and relaxing their whole break. Their gap year taking a downfall is merely their fault because plans aren’t followed through. A gap year is only useful and beneficial to those that take great advantage of it. It must be taken seriously, and students must come to some type of conclusion on what they want to gain from it in the end.
Taking time off can be frightening or “daunting” for some families. Some students find themselves wanting to take the same paths as others around them. Parents often become concerned about whether their child will still enroll after taking time off. Not only is it scary to not know whether a student will lose focus but that they may lose their academic study habits and “skills.” “High school counselors, college administrators and others who work with students taking time off can help with reassurance that the benefits far outweigh the risks.”
Many colleges encourage students to take gap years. According to Fitzsimmons, McGrath, and Ducey, “Harvard College encourages admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work, or spend time in another meaningful way.” Colleges support the notion because it benefits the schools as well. Students that take time off come back prepared and have less chances of dropping out.
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Get custom essayIt is up to students to keep their focus. It is up to students to make the right choices. Planning a gap year and taking a gap year takes a lot of determination. It is up to students to ensure that their gap year plans will make and not break them. Students must be goal-oriented for their gap year to be a success. Students that take full advantage of their gap year have better chances at having a successful college career. Not only are there many opportunities that can be taken to have a great gap year but there are many opportunities and possibilities that can result from taking the gap year.
When many of us first entered high school we wished we had a skip button for that phase, but now, I wish there was a rewind button. I can’t believe that this high school journey has come to an end. We don’t need awards or trophies to prove we have something special with us. We are all blessed with talents and are worth congratulating. Along the journey of our school years, we have made many mistakes. Other than stealing someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend. Let’s just leave that. But facts are that our mistakes are just as important as our success. So let’s not aim to be perfect. Instead, it’s better to be flawed. So, thank you, parents and teachers, for allowing us to make errors. Thank you for molding us into the perfectly imperfect beings we are. I may not have learned from all the mistakes but they made me grow. I learned that giving a graduation speech may not be my best choice, 10 hours and 3 speeches later. But then again, I’m killing it right now. Teachers, thank you for the dedication you have committed for all us students and making us realize that being first-in-line isn’t a life or death situation. But more than anything thank you for understanding that our dogs can eat anything from our homework to assignments.
Get original essayEntering high school as a freshman, we didn’t know who we were. What our real identity was. We would search for ourselves in the eyes of others. We’ve spent the last 17-18 years of our lives trying to find ourselves however, this isn’t something that you can Google. Well, you can Google it, but make sure that you turn on the safe search first. There is no telling what your results might be. I thank you for helping us find the answer to the question of who we are. Teachers, you cause every parcel of our earth to laugh while our whole sky has been crying. We all have scars, we all have broken pieces. But the beauty is when all of this comes together to create the real you. You are all about to open new chapters of your books. Shall we turn that page together? You are ready for whatever life dishes out. We are old enough to make our own decisions. Old enough to be an example for youngsters. Old enough to tackle whatever situations life throws at us.
We are the Class of 2020 and we will leave this world better than we found it. I never knew that one day I would be creating the last set of memories with my friends at spare. One day I would be eating lunch in the cafeteria for the last time. One day memories will fade away until I find an old picture that makes me think of one. One day I will be closing my locker and stepping out of high school for the very last time. One day I won’t be in high school because I will be ready to go. This is a universal truth we all have to face that nothing lasts forever. Nothing is eternal. As much as I like new beginnings I have always disliked endings. It’s hard to say goodbye to an atmosphere we are so comfortable with, but endings are inescapable. Like they say ‘leaves fall and you close the book’. I won’t miss coming to school early or the hallways in between class changes. But what I will miss, are the people. In 5 years from now, we don’t know where we will end up, because we don’t have control of our destiny, but we do have control over our fates. It’s sad to leave all this behind but it’s satisfying to know that more doors of opportunity have been opened.
I want to wish all of you, the Class of 2020, to pursue your dreams, and never be put down for things you think you can’t do. After leaving high school we will all set apart, and we don’t know if we might even meet. However, I’m glad to know that every one of you are capable of accomplishing anything you want. I don’t know where your life will take you but I’m sure it’ll be somewhere amazing.
Good evening my fellow classmates, teachers and administrators. My name is Hara Nekkanti, and I stand before you as a graduating student of Kleinburg Public School, and a resident of Kleinburg. No matter how much solace and gratitude is shown towards these teachers, staff and even my classmates, it will never be enough. Graduation is one of the most important parts in life because it fills up the empty chapter in my book of life, so it can stay with me forever as a memory and so much more. This evening is not only about graduation but, it is about recognizing accomplishments from the past and commencing further no matter how much the struggle.
Being accompanied by family undoubtedly helped me become the person I am today. Encouragement was one of the many nice things they have done for me. They have encouraged me to study harder when I did not want to, and push to the limit until my aspirations and dreams in life are reached. Kleinburg Public School is not an ordinary school, it is a school everybody dearly loves and is filled with years of memories. Although this was my first school year here, there is already many great memories that will be remembered. Being part of many clubs in this school, and being active on sports teams really shows how much love is shown towards this school. I would like to specially thank Ms.Anile for dealing with my nonsense throughout the year, and not sending me to the office when you should have. That’s where my next point comes in perseverance and respect. Perseverance and respect are the two things that have been learned by me to follow and use this whole year. One of my favorite quotes is “your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” – Steve Jobs. This quote is followed by me because it relates to another quote “don’t be a follower be a leader”, which tells you to be what you want to be and create your own path not somebody else’s.
The art of listening and being inclusive are still two things that still need to be mastered by me. Listening is key for everything in class, outside class, sports and so on. For all the sport fans out there, if there was 5 seconds on the clock to hit a game winner, the coach would call timeout to tell you the play, but you would have to listen to facilitate that play. Even if you have no interest in what you learn, listening makes you the key to success in the future. There were always people yelling at each other about who gets the basketball court at recess, but if we all played together there would be no problem. That is one thing everybody needs to improve in their lives. We need to stop looking at each other as different people and view each other as one. We are all one and as long as we stay united, nothing can break us.
Last but not least, there is a lot of appreciation shown by me towards Ms.Anile, Mr.Herbert, Ms.Mischenko, Mr. Morandi, the custodians, staff and everybody else for bringing me joy this year. These honorable people helped me build on my mistakes and be a leader following my own path. There is also tons of appreciation toward to my friends by not changing me as a person and being true to yourself by being the people you are. Overall, this year was full of ups and less downs, and this year will never be forgotten in my life.
To explore the planet Venus has been always an interesting subject for mankind. Improving and understanding of Venus is very important. It is second planet from the Sun, It orbits sun at 224.7 days earth. Atmosphere of this planet is very challenging for any kind of surface exploration, atmospheric composition of Venus is approximately 96.5% CO2, 3.5% Nitrogen and traces of SO2,HCL and HF, however atmosphere in Venus is thicker than Earth so nitrogen contents is almost four times than that of Earth. Our main goal is to design a probe that will survive on the surface of Venus, so we would focus on the condition of troposphere that stretches from the surface to 65 km radius of the planet. Air density at surface is 67Kg/m3, temperature at surface is 467°C and pressure at surface is 90 Earth atms.
Get original essayHigh Temperature Electronics play a vital role in missions to Venus. These technologies are still being developed for Venus planetary exploration applications. Due to lack of electronics that collect and transmit the data in Venus’s +450°C, almost all of the proposed missions were for very limited Duration to explore this planetary environment.
In the past, few landers have been sent to the surface of Venus but due to the lack of high temperature electronic components and old technology, they didn’t survive more than almost 2 hours.
Many Agencies have deployed some spacecraft to Venus, more than 23 so far, such as Landers, Balloons, and Probes. Here we have a quick look at the pervious Venus landers:
As can be seen, in all cases the maximum survival time on the surface was 2 hours and 7 minutes. Beside old mechanical technology, no high temperature batteries/electronics were used for these landers.
Thanks to the modern technology, instead of a heavy and big lander, we can have a small
Rover. Due to the hellish situation of Venus, for a long time surface exploring, the rover contains some special components like:
One of the most important parts of a Venus rover which directly connected to high temperature electronics is the pressure vessel with advanced thermal control. It protects the brain system of rover from harsh environment of Venus’s surface (pressure, heat and oxidation). Advanced thermal control system which fits inside the pressure vessel serves two functions.
The first is to minimize the heat transfer from the environment to the electronic devices and the second is to match the heat generated by the internal electrical components such as power system, transmitter, and instruments.
Recent generation of semiconductors, including the silicon carbide (SiC), diamond, and gallium nitride, has enabled the short-term demonstrations of electrical Devices at temperatures from 550°C to 650°C. Until now these devices have given only very few hours durability for operation at these high temperatures. For a long-duration the stability of these devices is very important. NASA Grc developed the SiC-based technology transistor for continuous operation at 500°C for over than 3000 hours.
In this essay, I am going to focus on high temperature electronic aspect of Venus Landers and take a quick look at NASA GRC’s test results on high temperature components and finding the best materials and devices.
I am going to explain the solution in detail. Generally, high temperature electronic components for a Venus lander divided into three categories: Active devices, passive devices, packaging materials and high temperature pressure sensors. We are going to take a look at these categories and their subsets.
Solid state (SOI Devices): By using an active thermal control which contains a powerful cooling system, we can keep the temperature of inside of pressure vessel ~300°C (theoretically). In that case, Low power SOI-based electronics which operating at 300°C, can be considered for use inside the thermally controlled Venus Lander. These electronics are currently used in oil drilling equipment. Such electronics would help to relieve thermal control load and dramatically increase mission survivability and lifetime and also leakage current may be managed.
By using passive thermal controls, wide bandgap semiconductors have to be considered for temperature above 300°C. Taking a look at table above, it can be seen that Gallium Nitride, Silicon Carbide, Diamond and Thermionic Vacuum Devices are all be able to operate at temperature of planet Venus (~500°C). But considering facts such as cost, lifetime and range of technology, Silicon Carbides (SiC devices) are the best choice for this task.
However on paper, maximum operating temperature for SiC is 600°C, but problems with diffusion and oxidation of metal contact layers dramatically reduce both operation temperature and lifetime. In that case, proper metal layers must be chosen to reduce diffusion and oxidation. Also other facts such as integration and metallization process must be considered.
Recently scientists at NASA Glenn team invented new type of SIC device. 4H-SiC based JFET integrated circuits (24 transistors, with 2 levels of the metal interconnect) and ceramic packaging for over 1000 Hours consistent function at 500°C for testing in Earth’s atmosphere. This is a one big step forward for Venus landers because this SIC device doesn’t need cooling or thermal system or even a pressure vessel. The current, voltage and some key parameter characteristics are very good as shown below.
Steps of Venus surface test on 4H-SiC JFET.
a) The complete assembly showing SIC Ring Oscillator chip before heated testing.
b) Complete assembly prior to the heat testing show the mesh screen cap that permits chip
immersion in simulated Venus atmosphere during the test.
c) And after the 1000 hours of s Venus surface conditions testing the following mesh screen cap removal.
d) During the electrical testing conducted with the chip is disconnected from the short circuited feed through by the removal of nickel alloy wires.
It is inherently high temperature device which controls the electric current between the electrodes in evacuated reservoir. Vacuum tube relies on thermionic release of electrons from the hot filament. They are among one of first and oldest high temperature electronic devices. Although by inventing transistors in 1950s these tubes almost faded from electronic industries, they are still useful for some cases related to microwave, high-frequency amplifiers and especially for pressure sensor pre-amplifier for Venus rovers. The figures below show vacuum tubes and a concept of inner components.
For Venus rovers, using TVTs can be considered because the cathode is designed to run at 700 to 900°C. Yet, these tubes still need to be optimized for harsh environment of Venus because there are some challenges ahead of using them for Venus rovers. Challenges related to packaging, high level of integration, lifetime, power supply, size and weight. The graphs below indicate the Influence of temperature on thermal vacuum tubes.
Recent tubes use the cathode of filament. This is a direct heated tube. The figure and concept below show vacuum tube including the heater and cathode and grid and anode.
As mentioned before, TVT devices can be used for high temperature pressure sensor amplifier in a Venus rover. The thermionic vacuum tube pre-amplifier was evaluated at room
temperature and 500°C. The results are shown below:
Resistors: For a Venus rover, resistors are essential needs to enable a high temperature wireless system. High temperature resistors are one of the big challenges for Venus missions and this technology is still under development. Currently H.T. resistors are able to operate at +500°C but with limited lifetime. There are some factors for choosing the best resistor for Venus rover such as:
By looking at table, we can see that Ruthenium Silver and Ruthenium Oxide resistors have highest maximum operating temperature. Also Ruthenium Oxide has superior stability, low thermal stress and low noise. But the main problem with these two resistors is that ruthenium is very rare and hard to find. In that case the cost of these resistors would be high. So technically we should look for another type of high temperature resistors.
On the other hand we have Thin-Film and Thick-Film resistors. The noticeable advantage of these resistors is that they rely on ceramic substrate and they don’t need mechanical attachment anymore. Recently a new type of thin film (NiCr) nickel chromium resistors have been introduced by the scientists. The resistors NiCr are stable within nearly 10% to the 300°C. They have high rate of stability and low noise (not good as ruthenium resistors). But the most advantage is the lower price. In my opinion, and considering the cost, stability and maximum temperature factors, NiCr thin film resistors are the best choice for a long time surface mission on Venus. Capacitors: Beside resistors, capacitors are also key elements of high temperature wireless system for Venus rovers. Current capacitors are not ready for a long time surface mission on Venus. This technology is still developing. Innovations on all fronts, including materials, device designs, and packaging are being pursued. Before making a capacitor for extreme harsh environment, we should consider some parameters such as capacitance,, leakage current, equivalent series resistance, voltage rating, dissipation factor, dielectric absorption, and volumetric or weight efficiency. Here we are going to take a look at some of famous high temperature capacitors.
X7R: Capacitance is a strong function of temperature. High current leakage at the elevated temperature.
NP0: Stable up to nearly 500°C with zero coefficient of capacitance. Dissipation problem at high temperatures.
Piezoelectric: Composition selected to peak in capacitance and dissipation factor for specified temperatures. Difficult to implement.
Diamond: Theoretically functional to almost over 500°C with stable, high capacitance. Still under development to achieve uniform diamond film and stable metal contacts.
Air Gap/Parallel Plate: Low capacitance, but stable over entire range of temperature. Very large area capacitors would be required.
All mentioned capacitors have limited life time for harsh environment of Venus but recently, a new design for high temperature capacitors has been invented by scientists. It is known as MIM (Metal Insulator and Metal) capacitors.
MIM capacitor is composed of the two parallel plates with dielectric layer between plates. Microstrip line is connected to the each plate.
I believe MIM capacitors which based on SiC technology are the best choice for Venus rovers. Yet these capacitors still need optimization due to limited life time. Expectation is by +2020, scientist can make MIM capacitors with long lifetime.
Oscillators: Oscillator is One of important component of the wireless sensor system for signal generation, which is modulated by sensor and the data will transmit to the cooler environments.
At this moment, the Glenn team in NASA is working on high temperature oscillators so that SiC devices advancement can be achieved, as well as for improvement of passive devices. The figure below shows a prototype of H.T. oscillators that has been tested by Glenn team in condition similar to surface of Venus.
Oscillator with SIC MESFET and capacitors with ceramic Chip, spiral inductor, and interconnects.
For harsh environments, packaging is require for operation of Sensors and electronics technologies beyond those for regular electronics and sensors. For Venus missions, sensors and electronics must to operate at the temperatures of about 500°C and the above. For that case, the packaging materials and basic components, such as substrate, metallization material(s), electrical interconnections (such as wire-bonds), and die attach must be operable and reliable in high temperature (500°C) and chemically reactive (especially oxidizing and reducing) environments.
These packaging components might also experience high dynamic pressure and high acceleration, depending on the application. These harsh operation environments are far beyond those which commercially available packaging technologies can withstand; therefore, development of high temperature and also harsh environment packaging technologies is necessary to implement high temperature sensors and microelectronics in Venus missions.
Interconnect: The main concern with the selection of interconnects material combinations involves Inter diffusion of the pad and wire metals. The formation of brittle intermetallic phases and voids, due to diffusion at higher temperatures, decrease the strength and conductivity. Such these problems can be reduced via the use of a mono-metallic interface. Al-Al pads with melting temperature of Aluminum and Au-Au with melting temperature Gold are the best choices in order to use for harsh environment of Venus’s surface. But beside temperature, oxidation and stresses must be considered. In that case Au-Au seems to be better choice since it has better stability and reliability.
Die Attach: The main purposes of a die attach material is to secure a die the substrate, to ensure electrical connection to the backside of the die, and to ensure that the die does not fracture following power and temperature cycles. Exfoliation stresses at the edge of the die can cause horizontal crack propagation and die lifting. Strong die attach materials concentrate thermal stresses in the die, which can cause die fracture and lifetime
The researchers of Glenn team of NASA had done some tests on some new die attach materials in a situation similar to surface of Venus. The following texts are some parts of results: “Ceramic substrates and precious metal thick-film metallization have been proposed for packaging of harsh environment electronics and sensors, based on their excellent stability at high temperatures and in chemically reactive environments. As a packaging substrate material, aluminum oxide has acceptable variation of 0.5 inch AlN (Aluminum Nitride) and Al2O3 (Aluminum Oxide) high temperature chip-level packages. AlN PCB designed for AlN packages.
Dielectric constant and dielectric loss in the temperature range from 25 to 500°C for a wide frequency range. AlN was proposed to package high temperature SiC MEMS and power devices because it possesses a low thermal expansion coefficient and high thermal conductivity. Recently, ceramic (aluminum nitride and aluminum oxide) substrates and gold (Au) thick-film metallization based chip-level electronic packages and printed circuit boards have been designed and fabricated for testing high-temperature devices. The electrical interconnection system of this advanced packaging system, including the thick-film metallization and wire bonds, has been successfully tested at 500°C in an oxidizing environment for over 5000 hours with DC electrical bias. Electrically conductive die-attach materials with low curing temperature are being developed for packaging of SiC devices.
An 96% aluminum oxide based packaging material system was successfully used to facilitate the test, previously described above, of an in-house-fabricated SiC MESFET under electrical bias in a 500°C air ambient for more than 2000 hrs. The packaging components continued to successfully operate without observable electrical degradation for the full duration of the 500°C test that exceeded 2000 hours in duration. Further, the demonstration of a functional 500°C amplifier, discussed above, highlights the most recent progress in printed circuit board level packaging and passive devices for 500°C and is a significant step towards 500°C and Venus missions. “
As noted, high temperature thermal vacuum tubes can be used for high temperature pressure sensors of Venus rovers. But due to the limitations such as lifetime, these devices are not good as SiC for high temperature pressure sensors.
Customary pressure sensors are temperature limited while SiC-based pressure sensors have a much wider temperature range and have the added benefit that high temperature SiC electronics can be integrated with the sensor. By expanding SiC technology, progress has been made in both SiC pressure sensor micromachining and packaging. The resulting sensors have shown the capability to withstand high temperatures with improved reliability and operation up to 600°C. These temperature ranges are more than adequate for Venus missions. Furthermore, high temperature operation (600°C) of a SiC pressure sensor and anemometer has been previously demonstrated as separate discrete sensing devices.
High temperature electronics play a significant role in Venus missions. Although this technology is still under developing but with help of new generation of SiC semiconductors, designing a Venus rover for a long time surface exploring is closer to reality than before.
During recent years a significant progress has been achieved in both high temperature active devices and electronic packaging. Designing a Venus rover requires more than high temperature electronic. The mechanical part of this task is still a challenge.
NASA (GRC) is now leading the development of sensors and Electronics which is capable in harsh environments (500°) for prolonged time stable operation . This includes the recent development of SiC JFET technology.
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Get custom essayFor building electrical devices, 4H-SiC JFET with long life time and superior stability is the best semiconductor for extended Venus operations. Working on Venus projects has helped us to improve our knowledge about high temperature electronics in other aspects, such as oil drilling. Sending a rover to surface of Venus for a long time exploration is not yet possible but, it is predicted that within few years (perhaps +2020) we can achieve this goal.
Marketing is basically something done by a business to achieve customer satisfaction and to maximize profits. It is done in order to give rise to revenue for the brand, company or organization by capturing attention of the audience. Marketing is something that requires planning, strategies and implementing. While there have been various way people have done marketing in the past, in today’s time, technology has become a major tool.
Get original essaySocial media is something that almost everyone uses and it has influence on a large amount of audience. It covers people of different age groups, preference, taste, etc. and gives the businesses an opportunity to display their brand in before a large amount of their target audience. While social media had a huge impact before as well, people got really dependent on these platforms. With lockdowns being implemented everywhere, people were stuck at home with nothing else to do. Everyone got into social media platforms and that’s where a lot of us spent our time. Businesses were able to cease this opportunity in order to promote their businesses and make up their brands.
Marketing through social media has become so prominent that platforms like Instagram and Facebook now have promotion tools updated in them which enable users to promote their businesses efficiently. This also encouraged a large amount of people to start their own E-businesses. This paper looks into the role of social media in marketing, in today’s time and how it has opened a new area of exploration for businesses.
The first thing that most of us do in the morning after waking up, is check our phones. Especially after the pandemic, most of the people depend on the internet for news. Everyone feels the need to know what is going around them, in order to be aware of their surroundings. This is where the role of social media comes in. Social media has now taken over many jobs. It provides news to people, enables them to share information, helps them start businesses, helps them promote those businesses, raise awareness against major issues prevailing, etc.
Due to the above reasons, it can be said that social media has become the backbone of our society. It’s accessible to everyone for free and encourages productive interaction to a huge extent. The interactions on social media earlier were limited to people joining communities but now people have also started contributing. From Instagram to YouTube, people have started contributing and interacting way more than earlier and this has led to social media being a strong tool for marketing. People of all ages, castes, race, gender are at this point part of this community in one way or another.
One of the key points about marketing is the importance of relations. Be it of business with another or be it that a business has a with their consumer. Relations are valued. The communities on social media offer a platform for businesses to find, attract and utilize the resources and promote their brand, products and services. Without any restriction of age and without it being too complicated, social media has become a place where literally anyone can do business which is a factor of huge benefit in today’s time. Though traditional ways of marketing still exist, it is rare for business to not promote themselves on social media.
The objective of this paper is to highlight the significance of social media especially after Covid-19 hit us and its role in marketing. The facilities it provides and how it has become a widely used, effective tool of marketing. This research has been done using descriptive method and the content of this paper has been collected from secondary data. The data was collected by reading and observing work of other author. Their work includes case studies, articles, etc. I’ve compared, combined and summarized the data I got over the internet by using google scholar, research gate, etc. and other commercial information sources. The data collected has been used as content for this paper after evaluation of its reliability.
Social media allows you to interact with your customers. It is a creative approach of marketing that can be done without overwhelming the audience. It gives you a platform to let people know about your business while being able to remind them about the services you have to offer. Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitters have hashtags and keywords that not only allows you to attract potential customers but also for the prospective customers to find you. Unlike other methods of marketing, social media marketing is free and affordable.
Social media not only opens up a new platform for you to promote your business also opens up a whole new world of opportunities. It enables you to creative a brand and then further letting you promote and grow it. When it comes to E- businesses the main goal is the purchase of their products and services. Social media provides the required and relevant statistics based on what the likes and dislikes of the consumers are. Hence, the ability to attract the required target audience and have an insight on their preferences becomes very beneficial for the business.
When it comes to B2B companies they do business with other businesses and not public consumers as such but even with B2B businesses, human relations matter. Social media acts like a conductor when it comes to improving relations. The impact of social media on improving human relations really came into effect after the pandemic when everyone was separated. It gave B2B companies a place to meet prospective partners.
One of the most important aspects of social media is the access it gives its users to information. Information about anything, is just a click away. From skill development to new ways to endorse a product, everything can be found on social media. While social media has proven to be both harmful and useful, the positive side of it has overpowered the negative because the power of being able to share and get information and the change it brings into businesses in general is huge.
Social media has become a channel for brands to get through to their target audience or customers directly. Social media marketing has grown to the point where brand influencers are on a rise. Most of the brands are now contacting influencers on Instagram, YouTube, etc. to promote their products and services. By using social media influencers, brands are able to make promotional content that the audience can relate to.
International businesses believe that social media promotion is the new potential marketing tool that has a huge impact and the scope is so high, that it is still growing. Not having a stand on social media nowadays puts the brand at a disadvantage especially if their competitor is already promoting on social media. The brands and companies that have resorted to social media marketing have become more sophisticated.
Nowadays, social media has become a necessity. It is used for accessing information and news, for communication, for social interactions and even decision making. It helps you share and create information and has no geographical barrier. Social media has had a great influence on news and journalism as the internet has become the fastest way to find or spread information. Marketing tools on social media have become an essential. Even small businesses are resorting to social media to promote their products and services. The possibilities of social media have become endless, and it is very unlikely that it will lose its significance. During the time of “social distance” social media became a place where people came together, this way the pandemic increased the usage of social media. Since so many people are online and are spending time one their devices, which is why online ads are getting more interactions nowadays. Social media with story and video formats have increased to the point where the year-on-year impressions have increased by 20%.
Social media has now started affecting the decision-making skills of people. A study by Neilson Social Media Report stated that, the people who are actively on social media are easily influenced offline as well. There are so many people posting blogs, reviews and reports about various products and services that are offered by different brands. Consumers read these blogs and reports before consuming those. Good reviews would not only increase sales, and make greater promotions but also create good public image for these brands. Social media gives consumer a platform to interact with each other and lets them talk about the various products and services companies have to offer.
With the mobility of the public being restricted, going shopping was out of the picture. Online shopping became a daily thing for people which is why online advertising is the go-to place for businesses. Some popular brands that heavily rely on social media marketing are, PlayStation and Nike. While the pandemic created a havoc, this is a way business could take advantage of the situation, and calm the storm of economic crisis. Companies and organizations need to use such opportunities of consumer behavior shifts to sustainably survive.
Being stuck at home, there wasn’t much that people could do which is why creating relatable, interesting content in terms of advertising would attract consumers by large extent. It also increases consumer relations. Making an effort with maintaining a good social media account, helps in improving consumer relations.
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Get custom essayTo conclude, in today’s time and the time to come social media will remain to have a major impact on the public. The large variety of audience it covers makes it the perfect place to do marketing of your brand, company or organizations. While the world had paused and the economies had slowed down, the internet was running faster than ever. Businesses were able to cease that opportunity and use this fast-racing platform to increase their sales. Even teens have been able to start small online businesses and run that successfully. This is not only encouraging to the you to become more productive but also for all those people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
Helen Keller once wrote in her famous essay, that "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.” Like most middle-aged married women, Nadine – the main character in "Nadine at 35: A Synopsis" – faces many of the common problems that exist in a family with kids. But it is her pessimism and passive lack of interest that drives these problems and causes them to piral out of control. Her consistent focus on minor irrelevant problems prevents her from seeing what is happening around her family, and from fighting to find a solution. If Nadine were to direct as much attention to her family as she does to her "oozed-out" brain cells, perhaps she would encounter less problems and have a healthier relationship with her husband.
Get original essayThe fact that Nadine repeatedly mentions the on-going loss of her brain cells and vocabulary, whether being an actual physical condition or simply a metaphor for aging, certainly does not help the situation. Her blindness to the real problems that occur around her everyday is the reason for her feeling like she has no control over the fate of her life, which is why she continuously fools herself into tackling the wrong problem. Throughout this short story, Nadine lists several things she has accomplished; such as finding a job, buying a car, and renting a housekeeper. Although these changes are positive and can often be helpful when trying to move on and make a change, she doesn't seem to mention putting any effort into first figuring out why she is in the place she is in, which obviously is not a very happy one. She is in a race against time, but she forgets to stop for a second to make sure that her shoes are even on right.
Nadine's love life is clearly not very successful both during and after her husband's "escape", but once again, she puts the blame on the wrong things. Her "word loss" and large family are definately not the reason her husband left, and also do not have to stop her from trying to find a new lover instead of resigning to celibacy. Some would say that according to the Law of Attraction, this is bound to happen. She cannot expect to find what she is looking for if she constantly thinks of all the reasons why it cannot happen, it is a fool's errand. Perhaps a change in her outlook on the world could help her with her feeling of exhaustion and lack of energy, and would stop her from feeling surprised when she feels joy, like when she describes her job.
Buying new objects, getting haircuts and masturbating, are temporary solutions to escape real, life-long problems. They provide a short period of joy instead of first trying to work out what causes the sadness in the first place. Nadine herself admits that "she didn't even know he was lost" when her husband left. And instead of asking herself "why is this happening?" and "what can I do to change this?", she proceeds to ramble on about their changing bodies. The way she can escape this vicious cycle, and gain back the control over the important things in her life, would be to ask herself, what is it that she is doing wrong and can change, rather than putting blame on things she cannot control, like time. She needs to realize that constantly reminding herself of the many things she is losing, will only bring forth more feelings of loss rather than feeling of gain, and conversely. Changing your attitudes towards life, changes your relation to time, and what it represents.
As George Clinton of "Funkadelic" once said, "You rise as high as your dominant aspiration, you descend to the level of your lowest concept of your self.” This statement is important to remember, and applies directly to Nadine’s life. The proof lies in her tone and pessimistic style of presenting life. Seeing her basic responsibilities as a mother in such a negative way and not wanting to fight for what is right for her, is the very reason she constantly feels lost and out of control. Having a “what the hell?” attitude towards life does not fix any problems, and is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. Unless she realizes this and focuses her energy in fixing her actual problems, Nadine will continue straight ahead on this not-so-satisfactory road until she eventually really does run out of time.
Justice and revenge are two similar terms between which exists a very thin line. Both have the intention of correcting some wrong action, whether physical or intangible. The difference lies within how action is taken against the wrongdoer: revenge is emotion-driven, personal, and intentionally harmful, whereas justice seeks rational, fair balance without unnecessary suffering. Despite their dissimilarities, justice and revenge are considered to be exactly the same in Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, especially by the antagonist Hindley Earnshaw.
Get original essayHindley is the only biological son in the Earnshaw family, and as “a boy of fourteen,” he is nearly fit to be a man (Brontë 37). His family are landowners who own servants that “[hang] about the farm ready for anything that anybody would set [them] to” (Brontë 36). Because they live on a farm and not in an elite mansion like Thrushcross Grange, they aren’t exactly part of the upper class, but their ownership of servants demonstrates that the family is still financially well-off. Besides his societal standing, Hindley appears to have a serene family life. Hindley’s father, Mr. Earnshaw, clearly dotes on him, referring to him as “[his] bonny man” and allowing him to “choose what [he would] like” Mr. Earnshaw to get for him on his trip to Liverpool (Brontë 36). All in all, Hindley has a great life: he’s a white young man whose home life is financially stable and loving.
Hindley’s life is forever altered when “a dirty, ragged, black-haired child” is rescued from the Liverpool streets by Mr. Earnshaw (Brontë 37). Nothing is known about the boy, except that he was “starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb” (Brontë 37). Even so, the boy is integrated into the family and “christened him…‘Heathcliff’…[after] the name of a son who died in childhood” (Brontë 38). From that point on, Heathcliff steadily rises to the rank of his foster father’s favorite. His high status, protected by Mr. Earnshaw, gives Heathcliff the power to manipulate his siblings into giving him whatever he desires. He repeatedly blackmails and provokes his older foster brother Hindley. Hindley is then enraged and humiliated that he can’t fight back because he’d face his father’s wrath if he “attempted to impose upon, or domineer over, [Mr. Earnshaw’s] favourite” (Brontë 41). Being Mr. Earnshaw’s only biological son, Hindley was once held in very great esteem—until he was replaced by Heathcliff as the “favourite” (Brontë 38). From the beginning, young Hindley “[regards]…Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent’s affections and his privileges” (Brontë 38) and as time goes on, his resentment only increases.
Hindley hates Heathcliff for two reasons: one, Heathcliff is “as dark as if [he] came from the devil,” while the Earnshaw’s all possess white skin (Brontë 37). Racism was alive and well in the early 1800’s (in fact, slavery hadn’t even been abolished yet in England during this novel’s timeframe, and it is referred to by Heathcliff himself in Chapter 11). From this, and because Heathcliff is described as “dusky” (Brontë 54) and called a “gipsy” (Brontë 40) several times throughout the novel, it can be inferred that Hindley’s prejudice against Heathcliff is stirred by racism.
However, Hindley’s rage is more than skin-deep: he primarily despises Heathcliff because the latter boy snatched away Mr. Earnshaw’s affection and Hindley’s seat of power. Hindley feels that he is entitled to more power and love than Heathcliff because he was raised as a gentleman, whereas Heathcliff was picked up off the streets. The class structure was extremely important in 19th century England, and the dark-skinned orphan boy Heathcliff violates all rules of conduct by maintaining power over his older, white brother.
Heathcliff’s reign doesn’t last forever. When Mr. Earnshaw dies and is replaced by his eldest son Hindley as the family’s father figure, Hindley takes his opportunity to knock Heathcliff down to the lowly rank of “any other lad on the farm” (Brontë 46). Hindley “[drives Heathcliff] from [the family’s] company to the servants…[and] deprived him of the instructions of the curate” (Brontë 46). Hindley was never really deprived of his comfortable societal status or any necessities; he simply received less attention and more criticism than Heathcliff. Hindley’s goal isn’t treating Heathcliff the same as he was when he was a child; Hindley takes his childhood neglect too personally, and wants Heathcliff to feel even more degraded than Hindley himself had. Heathcliff is an impressionable young man during this time, so he thinks Hindley’s revenge is the only way to correct injustice. From then on, he devotes his life to searching for justice in the form of revenge, first on Hindley and later on the Edgar Linton as well. Thus, the events of the rest of the book can be traced back to Hindley’s inaccurate understanding that revenge and justice are equal.
Hindley’s search for justice isn’t even successful because “Heathcliff [bore] his degradation pretty well” with the help of his foster sister Cathy (Brontë 46). Later on, it would be Cathy, not Hindley, who makes Heathcliff feel ashamed of his ploughboy status. Abusing Heathcliff doesn’t bring Hindley happiness, either, or bring back his father’s attentions; Hindley becomes a drunk, Mr. Earnshaw stays dead in the earth, and Heathcliff eventually carries out his own plans of revenge against Hindley that result in the alcoholic’s death. The story of Hindley’s miserable, vengeful life and Heathcliff’s repetition of revenge serve to remind readers that justice and revenge are not the same concepts, and one cannot receive justice through revenge.