ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
“Everything’s not what it seems”; for some reason, human beings have always been intrigued by the mystical properties of illusion. However, given a choice, most of us have been pre-programmed to accept facts as they are, based on our own experiences in life and common shared experiences. Our prism of objective reality is clouded by misleading judgements so we often fail to put two and two together on what is really the complete, undiluted truth. In this essay, I will discuss the distinctions between virtual and everyday realities while describing my own observations about the cyberspace, a post-modern phenomenon which is successfully eliminating boundaries between reality and illusion. Before the age of exploration began in Europe, most people believed in a flat Earth based on their observations of the Sun slowly descending upon the horizon. To understand why people can be so casually blinded to the truth, Plato proposed what is known as the cave-shadow paradox (Solomon, 2007, p.114). According to it, people residing in a cave who have their backs turned to the light of a flickering fire, are limited by their understanding of reality to shadows formed ahead of their path. Their senses would continue deceiving them as long as they do not make efforts to come out of the cave to observe the real source of illumination – the Sun. This is called the capacity of reasoning. Aristotle, who once studied under Plato, somewhat differed from his mentor by describing the differences between actuality and figments of imagination. He proposed a “graded reality” metaphor which lays down the hypothesis that there are indistinct differences between what appears on the surface, and what is really there (Melchert, 2006, p.84). Aristotle observed that our finite reasoning as human beings is not sufficient to decipher the complete mystery of the universe, so we need to somehow use our intuition and senses to get a better grasp of the truth as it must apply to our daily lives. To further understand differences between virtual and everyday realities, one must conceptualise how these differences can be applied to different facets of life. Michael Heim (1994, p.24), a guru of virtual realism, proposed that the differences between virtual and everyday realities have to be extrasensory and cannot be perceived on their own. Here, the reasoning he provides is simply this that there has to be
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can cause a wide range of infections. Such infections can result in mortality and morbidity. Staphylococcus aureus is “a common pathogen widely common in prosthetic joint infections” (Ng & Awad, 2015, p. 2). The purpose of this study is to understand how an effective preoperative MRSA screening protocol can be used as a powerful strategy to minimize orthopedic surgical site infections (Alexander & Wang, 2015). Search Method A rigorous strategy was used to select the most desirable peer-reviewed journal articles for this study. The major databases used to collect the required information included Science-Direct, the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and Evidence-Based Nursing (EBN). Several keywords were also used to select quality articles for the study. The keywords used are presented below.   * Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)   * MRSA screening   * Orthopedic site infection   * Quality improvement   * Quality healthcare delivery On top of that, a powerful criterion for exclusion and inclusion was used. For instance, articles published within the last five years were considered for inclusion. The other consideration was to ensure the articles addressed the issue of MRSA infection. The selected articles presented evidence-based ideas and arguments. A total of 10 peer-reviewed journal articles were selected for the study. Summary of Research Studies Akhtar, A., Kadir, H., & Chandran, P. (2014). Surgical site infection risk following pre-operative MRSA detection in elective orthopedic surgery. Journal of Orthopaedics, 1 (1), 11117-11120. This article indicates that patients undergoing orthopedic surgery have higher chances of MRSA infection. Over 80 percent of the targeted patients had been colonized with MRSA. The study shows clearly that a preventative or screening strategy can minimize the risk of MRSA infection. Patients should therefore “be sensitized about the increased surgical site infection if colonized with MRSA pre-operatively” (Akhtar, Kadir, & Chandran, 2014, p. 11117). However, the article fails to propose adequate solutions to deal with this problem. Alexander, C., & Wang, L. (2015). Infection control: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . American Journal of Infectious Diseases, 11 (3), 74-82. The scholars conducted an extensive literature review to understand the problem of MRSA infection. After conducting the study, the authors indicated that early isolation and identification for the pathogen could deal with the health problem (Alexander & Wang, 2015). This should also be done at the point of entry. The main strength is that the study offers new approaches towards dealing with various healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Charles, K., Nathan, L., Blake, B., Maureen, S., Gary, S., & David, L. (2016). Is staphylococcal screening and suppression an effective interventional strategy for the reduction of surgical site infection ? Surgical Infections, 17 (2), 158-166. The study analyzed the current use of topical mupirocin in many hospitals as the best procedure for nasal decolonization. According to the aut
Starbuck organization was a corporation that was purchasing and roasting high-quality whole bean coffee and later selling them to the market. The corporation also used to purchase, roast, and sell rich brewed coffee and Italian-style espresso beverages through the company’s operated and licensed retail stores. The company expanded in its operations due to the fact that it was the only company that was exporting coffee and it was able to make high sales and it monopolized the market it later experienced a decline in its sales due to the fact some of its stock was been reported to be missing in the store thus it filed its case with the Securities and Exchange Commission so that they would rectify the situation. The company offered shares of 2.8 million shares of common stock at $1.5 per share within a minimum purchase of 600 shares of $900 stock was as per the Securities and Exchange Commission thus it increased the level of its finances. An annual report indicates all the company’s financial and corporate conditions. It also serves as a source of information about a company’s history and its current performance. It is used to help an analyst to understand a company’s financial health or patterns of spending or growth and it also describes the programs and initiatives that a company has undertaken. The Star Buck Company annual report indicated that it wanted to improve its performance by establishing policies that would improve the standards of the shareholders since the company was receiving a lot of profits at the expense of the stakeholders by paying them low prices for their produce. Mr. Howard Schultz was appointed by the board of directors to head the company. He led the company to prosperity by offering unique benefits to its full and part-time partners, health care benefits, and grants in the form of stock options. Business ethics refers to the moral principles that are applied in companies. It provides acceptable behavior for the company both in its strategies and in its formulation. In the case of the Starbuck Company, the role of ethics and compliance in the company in the financial environment was to develop an inclusive workplace culture for its employees that would include programs designed to provide opportunities for employees to share ideas with their management. The benefits that the company acquired from supporting the ethical cultures were increased efficiency in their daily operations and decision-making, employee commitment, product quality improvement, customer loyalty, and improved financial performance. The procedures that the star buck organization had put in place in order to ensure ethical behavior was that it established a program that would be implemented to ensure that the ethical procedures would be implemented. The company ensured that its store partners underwent several weeks of extensive training so that they would understand the operations of the company it also hired experienced personnel with skills and knowledge so that they would run the company effectively. The process that Starbuck organizations used so as to comply with Securit
Race, religion, and ethnicity gained importance with growing importance of issues related to immigration, religion, and ethnicity. These have also increased the incidence of religion and race related violence and terrorism. Post 9/11 these issues have gained predominance in American mind due to the strong identity among Americans based on race, religion, and ethnicity. Understanding inequality based on ethnicity, race, and religion has gained paramount importance in social studies today. The present paper studies three articles based on race, religion, and ethnicity. It studies what these articles have to say about these three impetuses of inequality. The first article reviewed is based on white ethnicity in America (Torkelson & Hartmann, 2010). This study is an empirical research based on white ethnicity in America in twenty first century. This research explores the impact of white ethnicity with self-identity among white Americans, degree of association with the idea of whiteness or color in America, and the impact ethnic identity has on political opinion of the people. The researchers pose a few questions:  1. “How ethnic is white America today?”  2. “What distinguishes whites who profess an ethnic identity from other whites?”  3. How is white ethnic identity relates to political attitudes, racial ideologies, and racial identity salience?” (Torkelson & Hartmann, 2010, pp. 1315-6) A questionnaire survey was conducted to gauge racial and ethnic identification among white Americans. The research findings show that only 14 percent of the white population in America has an ethnic identity, which is greater among non-whites (Torkelson & Hartmann, 2010). There is a high awareness of racial identities among whites, which shows a strong connection between white ethnicity and white racial identity. The second article reviewed is a research on the gap of quality of life based on black and white racial and ethnic divide in America (Coverdill, Lopez, & Petrie, 2011). This article researches the existence of inequality in the quality of life among whites and non-whites including blacks and Hispanics. The data used for the research is a trend data from General Social Surveys to measure quality of life in the US. the research findings suggests that there is a declining trend in the quality of life gap among whites and blacks but still there exists significant difference. The study was further extended for understanding the gap with “other races” i.e. Asians and Latinos. The result suggests that “other races” have a higher gap in quality of life measure compared to whites. With a higher rate of immigration in America, there has been a noted increase in hate crimes against immigr
Introduction Many countries in the world depend on the travel and hospitality industry as the major source of revenue. Indeed, the travel and hospitality industry plays a significant role in economic emancipation. In today’s technologically advancing world, and competitive business markets, various organizations must come up with new strategies in order to retain customers and even attract others. Additionally, many business segments focus on modalities of expanding their portfolios in order to increase their market share. In this new area of technological revolution, organizations engage in other activities in order to please their customers. In fact, the main role of corporate events in any organisation or company is to entertain clients so that they become happier than they were before. This is the reason why many organizations continue to employ new strategies in order to attract prospective clients (Holcomb, Upchurch & Okumus, 2007, pp. 461-475). The Intercontinental Hotels Group’s corporate hospitality section is expanding at a fast rate and many clients consider it one of the best. This is simply because the sector has mastered the art of linking spectators and activities in order to offer judicious hospitality products and services to clients. Owing to these facts, the intercontinental hotels group has the responsibility of retaining and attracting new customers by adopting new strategies. This report will assess the intercontinental hotel group – green engage sustainability system as a corporate hospitality event (Paton, 2007, pp. 46-49). Intercontinental Hotels Group Intercontinental Hotels Group undoubtedly runs the biggest multinational hotels in the world. The group has its headquarters in Denham, United Kingdom. It has over 4000 hotels across the globe and enormous accommodation spaces. It also has several brands such as Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and Even. Other brands include Intercontinental and Candlewood Suites. One of the most common features about these hotels is that they run under franchise agreements. In other words, the company runs the affairs of the hotels, but different stakeholders own them. Of all the hotels under the group, investors only own and manage ten. The International Hotels Group also has listed some of its shares in major trading stock markets. For instance, FTSE 100 index, London Stock Exchange, and New York Stock Exchange are some of the stock markets that have listed International Hotels Group shares. Primarily, the Intercontinental Hotels Group manages all hotels owned by the group. It also performs other functions such as franchising the IHG brands in order to attract customers. The hotel mainly involves itself in hospitality activities such as hotel management, accommodation, creation of systems, and sales and marketing of their pro
The concept of reality, as well as the phenomenon of existence in general, has always been the focus of philosophic interpretations and the subject of numerous theories. A range of assumptions concerning the elements and factors that define objective reality have been created; however, Carey’s concept of reality as the phenomenon that exists not only on its own merits, but also as the reflection of people’s perception of the world, deserves a special analysis. Seeing that reality can be viewed as the projection of people’s feelings and experiences on the phenomena that the universe is characterized by, the communication as the means to render one’s idea of reality and its elements can be viewed as the tool defining reality as people perceive it, which makes Carey’s argument entirely valid. There are a range of proofs that Carey hints at communication being the process of creating reality as people see it instead of merely interpreting it. For instance, the very fact that Carey defines communication as “symbolic culture” (Carey “Communication as Culture” para. 10) shows that Carey envisions communication as the process of assigning certain objects and phenomena with denotations, which they presumably did not have before the conversation process started. In other words, Carey obviously means that the communication process allows for constructing a specific world, which exists throughout the conversation and ceases to once the process of information transfer is over and there is no need to sustain the existence of the constructs created in the process. It can be assumed that Carey at some point avers that the social reality is the only reality that people can become a part of in the process of communication. Therefore, the idea of the ex
In 1939, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard who were both college classmates at Stanford University created a company, Hewlett Packard. The company was well known for its management practices, reliable and innovative products. The culture and the management practices, ‘HP way’, were progressive and included a focus on the profits more than revenue growth, full employment, egalitarian pay practices, and flexible working hours. The practices connected with the values of the founders on the importance of profit and people (Beer, Khurana & Weber 2005). In the first four decades, HP sold test and measurement equipments and it was during that time that the HP Way was developed. Beer et al. (2005, p.2) asserts that the products could be sold for high profits since they were based on the leading-edge technology developed at HP. HP launched computer and printer products in the 1970s. Initially, these were for commercial applications but later, the company developed products for domestic use. During this period, big up-front research and development investments was required for the computers. Also, many divisions at HP that worked so well in the instrument business were required. Beer
Theory guiding the study In nursing, an extensive and wide body of knowledge exists and extends from grand to mid-range theories. Consequently, research in nursing is based on theories that guide or drive the practice. Grand theories in nursing are broad in nature and do not necessarily present some variables subject to empirical testing. However, nursing research and practice should be based on those theories that provide strong basis for elements of any study. This study has based its process on Orem’s theory of Self Care. The central concept of Orem’s theory attempts to address the deficits in self-care practice as well as the role of nurse professionals in helping their clients (patients) to take care of themselves during and after recovery. In developing the concept, this theory considers a number of factors, both external and internal. For instance, it considers the environment of the patient’s home, communal resources and social support systems that provide support to the patients and affects their ability to take care of themselves. The theory places a great emphasis on self-care paradigm, which incorporates aspects of self-care and its relationship with the self-care agency. Noteworthy, the self-care paradigm involves caring for oneself with an aim of promoting individual wellbeing and health. An individual’s ability to perform self-care behaviours needed for health maintenance is the optimal aspect of self-care, which involves both the self-care agency and the self-care behaviours. According to Kearny-Nunnery, 2008), this concept of self-care is subjected to the influence of a number of factors. For instance, patient factors such as age and gender, family and family system factors, the environment, cultural influence, health care system and the current state of health are likely to have a significant effect on the individual’s ability to incorporate self-care behaviours. According to Sodserhamn (2000), a phenomenon known as self-care deficit is a major problem affecting self-care paradigm in practice. By definition, self-care deficit is a situation that results when an individual’s abilities to meet self-care agency needs are fewer than the demands for self-care. According to Soderhamn (2000), self-care agency develops as a need for personal interaction with the current environment and health situation. It encourages the individual patients to prevail over an array of obstacle
A good teacher under the discipline of special education has implicit understanding of the needs of students with special challenges. Such a teacher will have a desire to go out of his or her way to reach out to every student within a class. As a teacher under the sub discipline of special education I play a leadership role in ensuring that my students are motivated and inspired to learn despite their circumstances. However, this cannot be achieved working alone. It requires a collaborative approach that involves teachers, students, caregivers, and the society at large. Schools form a system that contributes towards the existence of the greater society. Within this system, the teacher assumes the role of a leader to give direction and guidelines to students in addition to supporting the substance of a school. The leadership roles of teachers may either be formally or informally assigned. Nonetheless, teachers would still play the following leadership roles in their capacity as teachers: resource providers, instructional expert, curriculum consultant, classroom supporter, learning facilitator, and student adviser. The teacher as a leader is guided by the ethics of care and connectivity. Care and responsibility develops from an individual’s feeling of interconnectedness with others. It is contextual and arises from experience. It is on one hand characterized by nurturance and an emphasis of responsibility to others. On the other hand it is characterized by rationality that emphasizes on individual rights. Within the context of education, ethics of care has to be pursued by teachers and located within the framework of friendship. The friendship is further based on love and trust. The teacher as a leader is also based on the philosophical model of democracy and dialogue. The concept of dialogue has been described by philosophers as a true human feature. It is a prerequisite for working with each other in creating a cultural world. Without dialogue teachers and other stakeholder of a school can never work together for a common goal. This implies that as teachers become instructional specialists, curriculum specialists, classroom supporters, learning facilitators and mentors, they utilize the concepts of dialogue and democracy. Parents and guardians are an essential part of the learning process. They enable teacher to understand students and also assist teacher to implement curriculum. As a leader, the teacher has to therefore build relationships with caregivers and involve them in the growth of their children. This is a critical aspect of special education where the input of the caregivers is highly appreciated for proper development of these children with special needs. I therefore see myself as a leader within the school setting on a mission to ensure that my students are successful in their quest for education through building effective relationships with students, col