Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Importance Of A Scoring System With Five Risk Areas

The approach I use involves a scoring system with five risk areas that are each scored from one to five, with five being the strongest (least risky) and 0 being the weakest (most risky). The sum of the scores total 25 points. A political risk score of 25/25 is a perfect score or a very safe investment. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is assigned a score of 9/25, meaning the island is a highly speculative investment. Support for each of the risk scores can be found below. Executive Summary Puerto Rico’s credit risk is speculative in a high degree and the situation on the island has reached crisis levels. The island’s government effectively defaulted on its bond obligations in June 2015, seriously limiting its ability to access the†¦show more content†¦The Spanish-American War put the island in the center of the shifting power dynamics between Spain and the United States. After a war and a quick victory, the United States assumed power over Puerto Rico and the two cultures began their complicated political and economic union. As a possession of the United States, the Commonwealth’s economy became directly and often times disproportionally affected by changes in United States policy. The dependent relationship was adopted by both sides with a series of incentives passed by congress that encouraged mainland investors to move money to the island, and the commonwealth passing its own incentive programs to attract mainland companies and invest ors. The result is today’s dysfunctional Puerto Rican economy that can be described as inefficient and noncompetitive. The Jones Act of 1920 was one of the major pieces of legislation that fostered the dependent relationship. The Act calls for all products entering or leaving the island by water to be transported by United States vessels. The law was intended as a protectionist measure for U.S. shipping companies, but it created a huge inefficiency where shipping companies will offload and reload products in Florida before heading towards the island. The result is significantly inflated prices on the island, a problem that still exist today, and the lost opportunity in Puerto Rico never developing its

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass the...

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An Analysis of the Formation of Identity You have seen how a man was made a slave; you will now see how a slave was made a man. Ââ€"Frederick Douglass The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a slave to a man, and thus, the formation of his identity. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, written in the hopes that it would successfully lead to hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of [his] brethren in bonds (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children in bonds to a state less than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not†¦show more content†¦He is also unable to form his identity based on familial relations. Suspecting only that his father was a white man and that it was often whispered that [his] master was [his] father, Douglass was unable to name, let alone have a relationship with, his father (Douglass 255). Furthermore, Douglass writes that he and his mother were separated when he was a baby, and that he was never able to form a relationship with her because he saw her only four or five times (Douglass 256). Finally, he was also lacking a familial relationship with his siblings. He writes that the early separation of [all of them] from [their] mother had well nigh blotted the fact of [their] relationship from [their] memories (Douglass 272). Under slavery, slaves were not given the rights to family that many slaveholders took for granted. Any slave relationship could end at the whim of the master. Every slave family stood the possibility of being sold away from one another and never seeing each other again. Slave women were forbidden from disclosing the identity of a childs father if the father was a white man. If the child was descended from the master, he or she was considered no more human, and no more likely to be spared the trauma of being sold because slaveholders often bought women in childbearing years in order to increase the return on their investment when the children were sold. This created, on the part of Douglass, a lack

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The role of nuclear energy in the field of medicine Free Essays

Nuclear energy is a type of energy which is released by a reaction called as nuclear reaction. There are two main types of nuclear reactions, one is called fission and the other one is fusion: In Fission reaction it releases a nuclear energy when a single heavy nucleus seperates into two smaller ones, causing energy to be released . The most common element used to undergo nuclear fission is uranium because uranium has many favorable properties. We will write a custom essay sample on The role of nuclear energy in the field of medicine or any similar topic only for you Order Now Uranium nuclei can be easily split by applying neutrons at them. The fission reaction is used to make heat for producing steam, which is then used by a turbine to generate electricity. but if in a fusion reaction a two single nuclei combines together to form another nucleus which is heavier. This reaction occurs only under very hot conditions. Nuclear fusion is used to generate a lot of energy in the form of light, hear and radiation. This energy supports life on our planet and it was the only energy early mankind used. 1) â€Å"What Is Nuclear Energy.† What Is Nuclear Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. http://whatisnuclearenergy.net/. 2) â€Å"Nuclear Energy.† ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy.html Picture 1: 1) Picture 2: â€Å"Free Energy: Nuclear Fusion in the Quran.† Pakalert Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/09/24/nuclear-fusion-in-the-quran/. Scientists have discovered that nuclear energy can be used in treating various diseases such as cancer, heart disease, endocrine, gastrointestinal and other abnormalities found inside the body. Nuclear energy provides a good solution in treating certain diseases affecting people in today’s world. In the field of Cardiopulmonary. Nuclear energy is used in scanning and visualizing blood flow and also heart function. In treating cancer diseases such as Melanoma and breast cancer, Nuclear energy can have their lymph mondes located first before doing the surgery. It can also find out whether there are respiratory problems and blood flow in lungs. Another major important use of Nuclear energy is for the treatment of various cancers such as Melanoma and breast cancer. Patients having Melanoma and breast cancer can have their lymph nodes found first before doing the surgery, thyroid cancer and tumors that spread to the bones are also cured by using Nuclear energy. In other diagnostic use of nuclear energy, Nuclear energy is used to evaluate tumors, arthritis, fractures and infenction of bones. Locating the area where there is an infection, identifying problems causing gallbladder inflammation and bleeding into the bowel can be treated using nuclear energy. It can also be used to investigate brain abnormalities, such as loss of memory, seizures and abnormalities in blood flow. â€Å"General Nuclear Medicine.† Nuclear Medicine, General. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2012. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=gennuclear. â€Å"How Is Nuclear Energy Used in Medicine?† Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2012. http://voices.yahoo.com/how-nuclear-energy-used-medicine-5892958.html. The effectiveness of using nuclear energy to solve diseases is very effective because for eg; if a patient having cancer undergoes surgery, before doing the surgery doctors need to locate the specific area where the cancer are located to do this X-ray tomography or (CT) scans work by using nuclear tracers to emmit gamma rays once the rays are inside the body, special cameras are able to pick up the emitted gamma rays and show to the photo of the organ or the part where the cancer is to the doctor. This helps the doctors to successfully treat the patient. Another more advanced technology called a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) isused in determining patients with cardiac conditions, problems in the brain and cancer, first positron-emitting radionuclides are injected into the patients body and then they gravitate to the organ and they begin to quickly decay. They emmit a positron and an electron from inside of the patients body an two very distinct gamma rays which the PET scans and forms an image. The photo helps doctors to locate where the problem is, this is more advanced than CT scans. Comparing methods like CT scans and PET scans to other methods like Endoscopic ultrasound and others to determine where the cancer is to methods like brain scan, the method of CT scans are likely to be more dangerous and may harm the patient because in CT scans they use contrast agents which are chemical substances that are exposed to the human body when they are running the test. Contrast agents like Iodine is the contrast agent which is the most commonly used contrast agent can cause allergic reactions to some patients which includes a rash, a warm sensation or even in a worst case scenario difficulty to breathe normally. Also in CT scans it involves patients to get exposed to ionizing radiation which is known to cause cancer. This becomes a problem for people who need multiple scans and also for children because children are more sensitive to radiation than to adults. So even though CT scans can help doctors to locate where the disease is they aren’t that reliable and can be harmful as well if they are not used properly. â€Å"Symptoms Diagnosis.† Symptoms Diagnosis. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2012. http://www.braintumor.org/patients-family-friends/about-brain-tumors/symptoms-and-diagnosis.html. Cioffi, Rebecca. â€Å"How Does Nuclear Medicine Actually Kill Cancer Cells?† EHow. Demand Media, 30 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 Aug. 2012. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4966096_medicine-actually-kill-cancer-cells.html. Social: The use of CT scans to perform scans inside the body for the location of diseases inside the body can be very useful and can help to treat the patients. But CT scans are high tech devices and are very expensive which are only available in developed countries, for poorer countries like in Africa have no technology and money to get CT scanners and have to rely on alternative solutions to cure their diseases, Which sometimes give inaccurate results. Environment: CT scanners need nuclear energy to produce the image inside the patient’s body. Nuclear energy is one of the world’s most efficient energy producer and electricity. This helps the society very much. But nuclear energy also can cause a great deal amount of damage to the environment. If a CT scanner has a gamma ray leak out it can cause greenhouse gas emissions to rise and harm the environment. Crops and drinking water exposed to gamma ray can cause lung tumor and thyroid cancer if consumed, Animals and marine life will be affected by it also, so people who are responsible for maintenance of the scanners must maintain the machine well or not there will be a great consequence to face. From making this essay I came to know about the great use of nuclear power in the field of medicine, They can detect cancer, tumor and hemorrhage inside a person’s body and help doctors in treating them. But I also learnt that there is a limitation to this technology because some people have allergic reactions from nuclear energy and if exposed too much to a person’s body instead of treating the disease it can cause one, so we must be responsible using this strong energy. How to cite The role of nuclear energy in the field of medicine, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Emergency Preparedness Disaster Management Cycle

Question: Discuss about the Emergency Preparedness for Disaster Management Cycle. Answer: Disaster Management Cycle Dangertown experiences the preparedness stage in the disaster management cycle. Dangertown has experienced severe rain due to which the banks have burst. Housing developments on the flood plains have worsened the effects of flooding. Moreover, previous floods in the current year contaminated the towns water. The town is prone to floods due to which there is a need to achieve a satisfactory level of preparedness or readiness to respond to emergency situations (Whybark, 2015). Figure 1: Disaster Management Cycle Source: (Whybark, 2015) Identification of Hazards From the given scenario, it is analyzed that Dangertown faces several risks as the town has extensive refinery production capacity. Injury or illness - With the exposure of Hydrogen Sulfide in the air, the people in the town shall be exposed to toxic gases that could lead to life-threatening situations if not handled effectively (Lim et al., 2016). Fatality - Much of the industrial installation in the Dangertown Refinery is old and there have been a number of accidents and deaths in the previous years. Critical Facilities- The toxic emissions of the gas would also lead to closure of schools and offices as the people in the community would complain of nausea and headaches (Smith 2013). Lifeline- Hydrogen sulfide gas may mix in the flood water thereby contaminating it for few weeks. Property damage- The property such as homes and corporate buildings can be damaged due to floods (Smith 2013). Environmental impact- The gas is highly flammable and produces toxic gases when burnt causing severe environmental damage (Smith 2013). Hazard and Risk Analysis Hazard Impacts Likelihood Consequence Severity Total Health Business Fatality Due to Hydrogen Sulfide gas explosion in the oil and gas refinery, the deaths have been caused people previously. The gas is highly flammable and with increased or uncontrolled concentration of H2S in the air, it can lead to further deaths. The effects depend on the level and time of exposure to the gas. Increased concentrations lead to death. The flood also has a chance of creating a mudslide as the mountains lie at the western edge of the down that can tragically cause deaths (Osha.gov, 2016). 5 2 - 10 Injury or Illness In the previous times, the leak of gas has affected the community. The industrial installation in Dangertown Refinery is old and is prone to accidents. The illness depends on the level of concentration of the toxic gas and there are possible impacts such as nausea, conjunctivitis, loss of smell, paralysis, knockdown or airway problems (Osha.gov, 2016). Floods can cause water-borne as well as vector-borne diseases such as typhoid, malaria, yellow fever and various others (Who.int, 2016). 6 3 - 18 Critical Facilities Critical facilities such as schools would be affected as the air quality is hampered. The children would get nausea and headache as the air would be unfit to breathe. The gas is colorless and odorless due to which the gas cannot be detected easily. The presence of the gas can be felt with the deteriorating health (Miller, 2015). 4 - 2 8 Lifelines The chemical property of hydrogen sulfide allows the gas to dissolve in water. As the gas can dissolve in water, it has a risk of mixing in the water pipelines or water supply from which the town receives water. The town is prone to floods which too causes hindrance in the water and power supply. The power can be interrupted for a few days while water supply can be interrupted for a few weeks (Velasco, Cabello, Russo, 2015). 4 - 3 12 Property Damage Floods cause damage to property in the form of damage to homes and businesses. In the given case scenario, Dangertown has ongoing housing developments on the flood plains thereby worsening the effects of flooding. Floods affect the existing paved streets, roads, buildings, vehicles and land. The primary and secondary effects may result in damage to bridges, canals, sewerage systems, roadways, and transport infrastructure. The town would suffer from land infertility as a major issue due to erosion of top soil (Penning-Rowsell et al., 2012). 4 - 1 4 Environmental Impact Floods impact the natural environment negatively as it causes loss of biodiversity and wildlife in the flooded region. The habitat potential and food present in the ecosystem is damaged. Riverbank erosion shall cause degradation of sedimentation. The local infrastructure is also affected thereby hampering the landscape. The emission of hydrogen sulfide also leads to delirious effects on plant survival and growth (Lisjak et al., 2016). 5 - 3 15 Economic and Social Impact Flooding of areas leads to several socio-economic negative impacts. Floods lead to damage of human life, livestock, crop destruction, deterioration of health condition and various others. The commutation to places within the town becomes difficult as there are hindrances in vehicles. The costs of removal of property and increased vulnerability would increase living cost. The people might have to relocate thereby suffering mass migration. The flood victims would also be psychologically affected as it can deeply affect their children and family. The economic losses can traumatize and cause stress (Rojas, Feyen, Watkiss, 2013). 4 - 2 8 Risk Profile Frequency 6 Injury or Illness 5 Fatality Environ-mental Impact 4 Property Damage Critical Facilities Economic and Social Impact Lifelines 3 2 1 Consequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Risk Reduction Measures As discussed in the previous sections, floods can cause severe financial and economic losses. The above risk profile indicates that the people of Dangertown must be prepared for any emergency. Instead of putting emphasis on designing safety into the system from the beginning, the major emphasis instead is placed on recovery from adverse events or investigating them after they occur. Six steps can be followed to reduce risk for people in Dangertown (Ericson, 2015). Firstly, there is a need to understand the risk. The people must be educated about the types of risk. Secondly, a scheme must be planned to manage the identified risk and hazard. Next, the property in the risky areas must be surveyed. Fourthly, design and specification must be compiled for risk management (Chen Wu, 2015). However, a few risk reduction measures can be adopted by the oil and gas refineries to prevent spills: A systems approach can be followed for improving or enhancing the learning process in the industry. The industries can conduct a hazard analysis called HAZOP (Ericson, 2015). The technological and operational design must be improved for maintenance and performance audits. The maintenance and safety equipment must be standardized. The company safety management system must be enhanced. In this given scenario, the factory had a faulty valve that led to toxic gas leakage. The factories must conduct an overall assessment and audit of physical structures. The entire factory must be repaired and no faulty valves must be present. The safety engineers must be integrated into operational decision making. The industry must conduct strong safety programs and engineers must advise the management for both short-term and long-term engineering designs. New safety implications of decisions on operations must be made. The organizational culture of the organizations must be enhanced. The management com mitment to safety must be legitimately followed (Ericson, 2015). Flood prevention is necessary as it causes severe damage. For reducing risk of floods, warnings and watch notice must be provided so that the people get sufficient time to evacuate the regions. The management must not wait for the catastrophic event to happen. The weather conditions must be regularly checked at locations of high-risk. The weather reports must be monitored and broadcasted in the local news media (Ericson, 2015). The communities must also educate the people on the methods and commutation to evacuate the place. Strategic designation of such flood ways, with policies that compensate people who live within them, can be critical to reducing the damage of massive floods. A big piece of this measure includes the protection, restoration and reconnection of floodplains, which is some of the richest habitat in the world. This obviously has the additional benefit of letting floodplains do what they do best: take in water when the river is high (Chen et al., 2012). Requirement for Emergency Plan According to the risks identified in the risk profile form, there is a need to create a plan for managing hazards as the risks involved in the scenario can cause disruption in human, economic and environmental forces. There is a need to reduce the intensity of the risk through community awareness and protection of vulnerable structures. The emergency plan for risk management can help in guiding people during an emergency. The planning process shall help in managing resources such as food supplies, equipment and training personnel. The emergency plan shall help in preventing fatalities and injuries, protecting the environment, accelerating resumption of normal operations and reducing damage to properties. The planning process involves a health and safety committee that shall help in efficient communication, periodic drills and ensure adequate performance (Kim, 2014). References Chen, J., Guo, S., Li, Y., Liu, P., Zhou, Y. (2012). Joint Operation and Dynamic Control of Flood Limiting Water Levels for Cascade Reservoirs.Water Resour Manage,27(3), 749-763. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11269-012-0213-z Chen, S. Wu, C. (2015). Annual landslide risk and effectiveness of risk reduction measures in Shihmen watershed, Taiwan.Landslides,13(3), 551-563. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10346-015-0588-z Ericson, C. (2015).Hazard analysis techniques for system safety. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Interscience. Kim, H. (2014). Learning from UK disaster exercises: policy implications for effective emergency preparedness.Disasters,38(4), 846-857. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/disa.12084 Lim, E., Mbowe, O., Lee, A., Davis, J. (2016). Effect of environmental exposure to hydrogen sulfide on central nervous system and respiratory function: a systematic review of human studies.International Journal Of Occupational And Environmental Health,22(1), 80-90. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10773525.2016.1145881 Lisjak et al.,. (2016).Hydrogen sulfide: environmental factor or signalling molecule? - PubMed - NCBI.Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23347018 Miller, E. (2015).The trouble with Casey - Boulder Weekly.Boulder Weekly. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/the-trouble-with-casey/ Osha.gov,. (2016).Safety and Health Topics | Hydrogen Sulfide - Hazards.Osha.gov. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hydrogensulfide/hazards.html Penning-Rowsell, E., Yanyan, W., Watkinson, A., Jiang, J., Thorne, C. (2012). Socioeconomic scenarios and flood damage assessment methodologies for the Taihu Basin, China.Journal Of Flood Risk Management,6(1), 23-32. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318x.2012.01168.x Rojas, R., Feyen, L., Watkiss, P. (2013). Climate change and river floods in the European Union: Socio-economic consequences and the costs and benefits of adaptation.Global Environmental Change,23(6), 1737-1751. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.08.006 Smith, K. (2013).Environmental hazards. London: Routledge. Velasco, M., Cabello, ., Russo, B. (2015). Flood damage assessment in urban areas. Application to the Raval district of Barcelona using synthetic depth damage curves.Urban Water Journal,13(4), 426-440. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1573062x.2014.994005 Who.int,. (2016).WHO | Flooding and communicable diseases fact sheet.Who.int. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from https://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/ems/flood_cds/en/ Whybark, D. (2015). Co-creation of improved quality in disaster response and recovery.Int J Qual Innov,1(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40887-015-0001-y