How Does Priestly Present Birling in Act One and Two

Birding is presented as very smug and egotistical when Priestly uses the stage directions ‘confidently' and ‘laughs complacently. These show Birding is not afraid to show his importance and status. It also shows his arrogant nature that emphasizes he wants to dominate the situation, yet when the inspector arrives he loses his authority. ‘Complacently' shows he thinks other people with a lower status are stupid and unimportant.Priestly wants the audience to see Brings inflated opinion of himself and show Birding is the opposite of Priestly moral. Birding especially expresses his self- righteousness to the Inspector when he says ‘l don't see that its any concern Of yours how I choose to run my business'. This shows that Birding thinks he is higher class and more important than the Inspector and he therefore is not worthy of an opinion. It also shows Birding does not like to be challenged so will show off to prove he is better and assert authority.Birding is reve aled to be very selfish and have no understanding of community this is shown when e says ‘a man has to make his own way'. This shows Birding is only worried about himself and his money. It also conveys his lack of empathy towards those not as fortunate as him. Brings selfish philosophy conflicts with Priestly message about responsibility and community which is empathetic by the doorbell. The doorbell gives the audience a clue of what the moral of the play is. Priestly uses dramatic irony to show that Birding is patronizing and as an archetypal capitalist Birding looks down on others.He says ‘that'll have ergot all these capitalist versus labor agitations and all these silly little war scares'. It displays that Birding thinks that Labor are just lower class people that don't know what they're talking about. Also Brings narcissistic attitude emphasizes his lack of empathy like how he doesn't see his employees as people but just cheap labor. Priestly uses dramatic irony to make the audience suspicious of Brings judgment and wonder what else he could be wrong about.In Act Two Birding is shown to be very arrogant when e says ‘l protest against the way in which my daughter, a young unmarried girl is being dragged into this'. This implies Birding is more caring towards Sheila than Eric. This is because Sheila is marrying a rich, respectable man that can be bring good to Brings business whilst Eric isn't doing anything to help Birding make money. ‘Unmarried girl' suggests Birding feels a woman is not strong without a man by her side and see's women as something to make his life more comfortable.In conclusion I think Priestly presented Birding in n exaggerated way that would show the audience what he thinks the world is like. Priestly is showing that he thought the people of 1 912 needed to learn to become a community and be responsible for each other as a war and other horrors is coming soon. He then uses dramatic irony to show that if people h ad seen that they are responsible for each other than a war could have been avoided. Priestly, as a model socialist, therefore wishes that in 191 2 he could have done more about helping others to realist just like the Inspector did.

Food Wastage Essay

1. It is hard to produce food. a) Food takes time to grow and mature. Besides this, there are a lot of factors that contribute towards the production of food. i. Temperature and rainfall are critical elements determining when and how often crops can be sown. While some Asian countries are able to harvest three times in a single year, food production nearly halts during dry seasons in many tropical zones and during winter cold in temperate areas. (DeRose, Messer & Millman, 1998) b) It cost a lot to maintain a good production of food. i. Investments in agricultural intensification, including higher-yield-potential seeds, fertilizers, water management and chemicals for pest control, are costly and make it unlikely that they will be easily or widely available for use by poorer farmers and countries. (DeRose, Messer & Millman, 1998) c) We are starting to lack food production area to support civilizations. i. South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics announced last month that it has signed a 99-year lease on 3. 2 million acres of land in Madagascar, which it will use to produce corn and palm oil for shipment home. (Goering, 2008) ii. The rush to buy or enter long-term leases on land has been fueled in part by the low levels of world grain stocks, despite record harvests this year, and by a growing sense that world markets cannot be trusted to supply adequate grain. (Goering, 2008) 2. People are wasting a lot of food. d) In different occasions, people waste food. i. A significant proportion of food waste is produced by the domestic household, which, in 2007, created 6,700,000 tonnes of food waste. Potatoes, bread slices and apples are respectively the most wasted foods by quantity, while salads are thrown away in the greatest proportion. e) Food products from restaurants and shops are seldom kept when they are not sold after the day. Those foods were thrown away. i. Grocery stores discard products because of spoilage or minor cosmetic blemishes. Restaurants throw away what they don’t use. (Martin, 2008) ii. Supermarkets particularly have been criticized for wasting items which are damaged or unsold (surplus food), but that often remain edible. (Yorkshire & Lincolnshire,2005) f) According to statistic, people waste more food than they eat. i. Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, which is about 12 percent of the total waste stream. ( Trum, 1998) 3. Food wastage causes a lot of problems. g) It affects the environment by increasing waste, and pollutes the area. i. The rotting food that ends up in landfills produces methane, a major source of greenhouse gases. h) Wasting the food we have indirectly causes starvation to other people. It is because the amount of food we waste can actually feed upon many poor people. i. Each year, Americans discard more than 96 billion pounds of good food. If 5% was recovered, it could provide the equivalent of a day’s food for four million hungry people; 10%, eight million; and 25%, 20 million. (Trum, 1998) i) Wasting food also wasted our money. It costs us money to produce food and treat the food waste. i. 1 ton of rice requires a world average of 3419 m3 per ton of water. Imagine the amount of food we wasted. The amount of water wasted is even larger, and we are now low on clean potable water. Call to actions: 1. Registration of World Fund Program (WFP) to favor organizations in providing aids to people who are unable to produce enough food to support them. 2. Audiences should sign an indemnity letter on following the 5 steps towards reduce food waste: plan meal, make detail shopping list and stick to it, serve reasonable size portion food, save leftovers and eat those leftovers.

Summary of Tuesday’s with Morrie

Summary of Tuesdays with Morrie Tuesdays with Morrie, is a look a man dying from a terminal illness and how he chose to deal with his prognosis. The book was written by Morrie Schwartz’s former student, Mitch Albom. Mitch was busy with his career, but one night while watching Nightline in 1995, he rediscovered his old professor, dying with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease is also known as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosisis). ALS is a fatal degenerative disease of the nervous system marked by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. It is a form of motor neuron disease. Morrie did what most people who are aging and dying usually don’t do; he decided to face death with inner dignity and he taught a young man how to live through his impending death. Morrie was a perfect example of the continuity theory. The continuity theory emphasizes that people age best when they are able to view the changes in later life inside an existing thought and behavior pattern. Aging best, in my opinion is not just how long you live, but how you live. Morrie’s behaviors were; to talk about death, maintain social connections by spending time with friends and family, remain mentally active as long as he could, write and mentor Mitch, his former student. Morrie’s thought pattern changes were to write about death, make decisions as to how he was going to live out his remaining time, and anticipate the physical limitations that would occur as the disease progressed. He believed the more you anticipated the loss of physical powers, not just because of a disease, but also because of age, that causes physical limitations, or the end of physical abilities, the easier the adjustment would be. Morrie anticipated the total end of his physical abilities. Morrie’s behaviors and thought about the changes that took place in his life and physical body was the reason he could face his journey from life to death. Anyone going in to the field of gerontology will have to deal with aging clients and the prospect of their clients impending death. Tuesday’s with Morrie brought a realization of how society talks about living, but does not deal with the unavoidable reality of dying which is something all human beings must do. Morrie did not lose his ability to love in the midst of losing his battle with ALS. It was interesting for someone to be so candid about death, how it felt to know that one is dying, and using this as a platform to share with others the journey. Morrie was the epitome of knowing how to die. He possessed altruistic qualities, the belief that acting for the benefit of others is right and good, no matter what one’s own circumstances may be. Morrie was generative in life and generative in the midst of facing his own mortality. His generative behavior was shaped by his unique life experiences, including experiences of suffering. Leaving a legacy to succeeding generations was tied to suffering experiences, to the personal and communal identities that emerged from suffering, to the importance of intergenerational and intragenerational community, and to what men believed others needed from them. Morrie told a story about a male wave that was worried about crashing into the ocean. The male wave met a female wave that was happily head toward the shore. The male wave said you are going to crash into the shore and you will no longer exist. The female wave said I am not just a wave; I am part of the ocean. Morrie did not feel he was just an individual human being, but a part of the whole universe. It will be important for anyone working with the elderly to have the ability to understand from that individual’s point of view. It also impacted me personally because death is something we all have to face one day. It’s part of every human being’s journey. Unknown, but still a road all must travel. Morrie taught Mitch how to live while he was dying. Although Morrie was dying he still felt death was a mystery. Although death is unknown to all human beings, how people choose to deal with it is a decision they can make. The unknown is a fearful thing because it is not familiar. I like Morrie’s experience because he did not deal with the mystery of death, but with the things that were known to him. He used all of the resources he had in order to deal with his situation. Morrie’s use of crystallized intelligence,; the ability of his knowledge grow by taking every piece of life wisdom he had and applied it to his journey into death. His use of semantic memory, the basic facts of life he was able to maintain, helped him to rationally think about his impending inability to speak, go to the bathroom on his own, use his hands, or walk. Morrie dealt with how he would feel; the depression that would set in and he thought about how to handle his emotions as his body shuts down. Tuesday’s With Morrie made me think about death, and how I would handle it. Now death comes in many ways; one may be in a fatal accident, natural death, which I consider unexpected; or by a terminal illness that may be quick or drag on for months maybe even years. However it comes, death remains a mystery. I hope I can deal with the known fact that all must die; and no matter how death comes, that my life counted and that I did what I was suppose to do while here, and I helped others to learn how to live by my life, and ultimately by my death like Morrie.

Impact of Oil Prices on the US Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact of Oil Prices on the US Economy - Essay Example Although the rise in prices of oil has been large it has not been sudden and the economies of the major economic powers have adjusted to the change. The rise in oil prices will definitely result in an across the board change in prices and thus inflation rates will continue to be high. However the likelihood of this leading to a recession in the US and other large economies of the world is remote. Over the last five years, US natural gas markets have known three major price shocks and have continued to present extremely high volatility (BNP-Paribas). In the past sudden increases in the prices of oil have been followed by sharp increase in inflation, followed by a recession. Again there has been a sharp rise in the prices of oil and it is necessary to understand what effects this can have on the economy and take corrective action where possible and required. With the experience over the last 40 years it is now possible to arrive at a clearer picture of what effects an oil price shock can have. Economists have developed conceptual frameworks to assist in understanding the effects of a sudden increase in any of the inputs to production, that is, labour and capital. These models can be extended to include the effect of oil price shock to allow analysis of the effects of such an event. The political events in the Middle-East, that led to rise in the price of oil, and their relation with the recessions in the US economy, since the first big rise in 1973, are listed in Table 1, enclosed. An examination of this information shows the political events in the Middle East that led to price rise of oil and the recessions during the same period. There does not seem to be an immediate relationship between the two, but if we factor in other information such as the timing of the interference of the central banks/ Government by adjusting interest rates and other fiscal measures to bolster the economy, the stocks of oil at the time of the rise in prices and also the size and performance of that segment of the economy which is not connected directly to the price of oil. As the development rates of the world economy reach all time highs the recession another oil price hike may cause will be difficult to control, since simultaneously interest rates are already very low and further tightening of money supply would yield very marginal results. Because of the phenomenal growth of the world economy things have become quite different from what was historically normal. Real oil prices have reached twice their average over the past two decades, Bond yields have reached the lowest ever levels, American savings are at record lows while the current-account deficit is at a record high (Woodall P, 2006). Discussion Rise in prices of gasoline hit us all

Fairly Contemporary Issue about Global Political Economy Essay

Fairly Contemporary Issue about Global Political Economy - Essay Example The dominance is a political one in the sense that the dominant state does have the power to exert influence to other system of states. During the post war, economists have studied hegemony and its' importance in global political economy. Kindleberger raises the thought that the world economy has to have a stabilizer for it to be stable and the stabilizer had to be one state. Keohane, on the other hand, presented the idea that most hegemony is established for self-interest. This he explains that in most cases once the hegemony fades the regimes established does linger in the economy for a long time (Keohane 103). Therefore, we argue: in view of the hegemonic theories by Keohane and Fukuyama how does the rise in power by other states cause the fading of hegemony? And also how does globalization affect the American hegemony? Fareed looks at the Post American world, which he states is not about power shift in the political aspect of the global economy, but rather it represents the rise of the rest of the states in terms of economic growth. Fareed explains that the political stability, economic connection and technological connection have enabled the American dominance in the market to lessen and allow other states to rise above the American dominance. Fareed looks at the world in 1979 where the countries that were considered to have a robust economy were 33 countries (Fareed 30). The rest of the countries were locked out of the economic system. However, Fareed states that the post-war era has seen the collapse of communism systems and the soviet empire and a global market system been born in this new era. Let us consider the case of Russian and its rejection of the American influence. Russian strongly believed that central Asia and its backyard. The political interests of both Russia and the United States of America translate to some form of competition between the two nations to gain control over these regions. However, it is clear that the Russian state and the United States had one common interest to block the emergence of new nuclear power. The rise of Russia against the influence of the Americans was due to the fear that they would lose their control over central Asia if the United States influence continued to grow. The U.S had the upper hand considering their stable economy and their policies that looked good. The situation between the US and Russians over the Middle East does prove that hegemonic influences are usually based on self, and it is true that a better state in terms of the economy does gain the upper hand in the influence. The Russians did manage to get influence once their economy rose to match the Americans economy and this happened once the Soviet Union was dissolved. Fareed examines the fade in American dominance, in fields that are key economic indicators of growth. Fareed gives an example the field of patterns produced where china stands to outdo America. Fareed also gives an example of the expansion of Chinas power in Asia as well as Africa, which in the earlier years was US hegemony. Fareed explains that, in any political system, there can never be two dominant countries. Fareed asserts that the rise of the rest of the world is an economic phenomenon. The shift of dominance from industrial, financial, educational social cultural dimensions is evident. The American dominance is evident at the politico-military level. The rise of the rest of the world does define new roles in the global system not only politically but also

Operatins Management - Cruise Inc. - Case Study

Operatins Management - Cruise Inc. - - Case Study Example NCL generates revenue from every section of the cruise in each and every tour from the company. Every section of the cruise is productive for the firm either through direct or indirect way of generating revenue. This productivity of the firm can be measured from the earning from each activities carried out on the cruise by analyzing the travel partner performances, analyzing cost of sale for the firm and also analyzing the trend of the ticket booking. Analyzing these sections of the firm gives a better understanding of the financial condition of the company. The EBITDA of NCL improved a lot from $6.6 million to $37.4 million in the fourth quarter and a huge increment of over the year from $228.1 million to $324.1 million in the year 2009 (NCL, 2011). Since EBITDA don’t include interest expenses, income taxes and amortization it can also be a good addition if the additional elements are calculated for more accurate productivity measurement. Question 2: Describe the service pack age offered by NCL to its customers. Visit the â€Å"Life Onboard† section of several cruise line websites and the insight provided by the film, â€Å"Cruise Inc† to gain a better understanding of service packages offered by cruise lines. ... The resort vacation experience of the customer on the cruise is the major attraction for the customers. The cabin rates of NCL Pearl ranges from $35 to $2000 per day for each person on the cruise depicts the strategy from the company how they implemented the competitive advantage to grab the market from low to high market segment. The seven specialty restaurants provide foods for every need of the customers with variety of food habits and taste. The company provides over 100 plus activities and services like casino, spa, and art gallery, medical center, laundry and bar to entertain and meet the demand of each and every customer on the cruise (NCL-a, 2011). Question 3: What are NCL’s competitive priorities and why do you believe they follow these priorities? Describe what should be in the service package so that it aligns with the company’s emphasized competitive priorities. The unique services provided by the company to the customers with wide range of services packages are target towards every customer on the cruise. The quality services induce the customers to get familiar with their services and avail a lifetime experience for the entertainment provided by the company. This diversified service provided by the company for every need of the customers and for every customer on the cruise is the major advantage for NCL to attract wide customer base. The competitive price of the cruise and the best buy technique to offer customers guaranteed low price for travelling on the cruise provides a great advantage for the company to attract customers to avail their services (NCL-b, 2011). The club of the company with travel agents for excursion and recommendation of the company for several

The Sales Related Issues of Thorntons PLC Term Paper

The Sales Related Issues of Thorntons PLC - Term Paper Example The industry in which the company operates is very competitive and apt strategies are needed to gain a competitive advantage over other firms. For this purpose a situational analysis will be conducted taking into account both micro-environment and macro-environment. Finally, a SWOT analysis of the company will be conducted in order to understand the present position of the company and the external factors that can benefit or hurt the company in the future. This section will include a commentary on the most important factors of the macro-environment in the chocolate industry. Political The political environment of the United Kingdom is relatively stable. The company does not have to worry about the problems of a turbulent political environment that are prevalent in developing markets. There are although specific regulations regarding marketing of food items that the company has to abide by at all times. In order to prevent childhood obesity, the government is looking to reduce chocola te sizes and that will affect the company (Daily Mail UK, 2009). Regulations such as these can affect a change in production, marketing, and distribution strategy of the company. Economical Economic conditions of the United Kingdom are not ideal and the country is still feeling jolts from the economic recession of 2008. But still, the situation of the chocolate industry is considerably better compared to other industries. The industry has been able to survive the recession and, opposite to other industries, has shown growth as well (Piercy, Cravens, & Lane, 2010). Although the chocolate industry is generally regarded as one of those industries that were able to survive the recession, Hull city’s economic conditions are not good which may not be good news for the chocolate industry. The unemployment level in the city is higher than the country average (Hull City Council, 2011). This is not a good sign for the chocolate companies operating in the region. Socio-cultural The cult ure of gift giving at Christmas is the main reason behind the increase in sales of chocolates in this season.  

Solar thermal heating systems for domestic use in the uk Dissertation

Solar thermal heating systems for domestic use in the uk - Dissertation Example In the case that solar power is useful in the United Kingdom, the cost of the installation will be put into context with the theoretical energy savings using the information from one British household. This information will be applied to thermal heating systems for use in central heating. In many countries, full solar electricity systems are not viable. In these cases, solar energy can still be utilised to lower the dependence on fossil fuels, and can be transformed into central heating or hot water. These systems do not generally rely on photovoltaic plates to convert the energy, as these are particularly expensive, but instead use one of two main systems: direct or indirect. These systems were tested in the course of this paper and were both found to be cost-effective and viable for the house in question in the United Kingdom. This was compared with the results from using photovoltaic plates to provide electricity to show the difference in benefits gained in the UK. Introduction So lar Power Solar power is one of the most popular renewable energy technologies available (Tiwari, 2002) and is gaining appreciation due to the increasing amount of emphasis on fossil fuels and how they affect the environment. Solar power relies on converting solar energy to usable fuel energy (Larson & West, 1996) generally for electricity. Solar power generally relies on the use of photovoltaic plates, which are essentially cells containing some photovoltaic material which can capture light from the sun and turn it into electricity. They rely on the photoelectric effect. Photovoltaic plates are generally made from silicon (DeWinter, 1990). Solar energy can be directed onto these plates at a greater intensity by using mirrors or lenses to reflect the sunlight onto them. Tracking devices can also be used. In this case, the photovoltaic plates are attached to a sensor mechanism, and can be moved automatically to face the direction in which they will capture most solar energy (Tiwari, 2002). One of the main problems with solar power is that it can only be used during sunlight, meaning that at night time or during dark weather there is no electricity from this method (Tiwari, 2002). To get around this, sunlight should be stored during peak hours for use at later points. There are many storage mechanisms available. One of these is the use of molten salts to store energy at high temperatures. These are a favoured storage type because they are low cost and have a high specific heat capacity (DeWinter, 1990). Another way of storing solar energy is to use rechargeable batteries. These must be of considerable size for use in public solar energy plants. Battery storage can also be used by people with domestic solar energy sources, and a measuring system is available that gives credit to homeowners that supply their excess electricity (Tiwari, 2002). The energy can also be stored in water using a hydroelectricity technique. A final method of storing energy is artificial p hotosynthesis, which relies on nanotechnology to stored the energy in chemical bonds, which can be broken to release the energy again. There are some new sources of solar energy that are being considered, although these are generally not applicable to domestic systems. One suggestion is that solar energy be captured in space. This has the benefit of not using any habitable land and does

Federal Election Commission 558 U.S Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Federal Election Commission 558 U.S - Assignment Example As the report declares  apprehensive about the â€Å"possible civil and criminal penalties for violating  §441b,† it filed a â€Å"declaratory and injunctive relief,† claiming that  §441b is unconstitutional when applied to the said documentary and that the disclaimer, disclosure, and reporting requirements under BCRA, BCRA  §Ã‚ §201 and 311, were unconstitutional when â€Å"applied to Hillary and the ads†. With this, â€Å"the District Court denied Citizens United a preliminary injunction and granted appellee Federal Election Commission (FEC) summary judgment†.From this   paper it is clear that  the Court reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded. They considered the â€Å"continuing effect of the speech suppression† in the Austin case since the issue involves the application of  §441b to the Hillary. The Court overruled the Austin case stating that there is â€Å"no basis for allowing the Government to limit corporate indepen dent expenditures†. It ruled that such restrictions on expenditures under  §441b â€Å"are invalid and cannot be applied to Hillary†. Given this, the Court also overruled the part which â€Å"upheld BCRA  §203’s extension of  §441b’s restrictions on independent corporate expenditures†. However, â€Å"BCRA  §Ã‚ §201 and 311 are valid insofar as applied to the ads for Hillary and to the movie itself†.  The Court considered  §441b’s facial validity claiming that â€Å"any other course would prolong the substantial, nationwide chilling effect caused by  §441b’s corporate expenditure ban†.

Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Human Rights - Essay Example The Nuremburg trials shocked most of the world, including the United Kingdom, when the terrible treatment of human beings was revealed to the world. The trials did help to impact the concept that some sort of universal justice is necessary in order to make individuals feel safe, or just, about the world and the law of the world. The atrocities revealed during the trials turned the stomachs of many of the people, as well as the governments, in Europe. It became clear that some sort of restructuring was needed, and that European countries would need to cooperate in order to attain this reconstruction. Therefore, many countries were inspired to start considering aspects of human rights1 The idea of a human rights list in the United Kingdom and Europe is not a new one. Many individuals were pushing for this after World War II. However, the United Kingdom was also aware that Europe was working on a larger-scale concept of human rights in general, which would eventually become the European Convention. This may have been a reason for the United Kingdom’s delay in making its own list of individual rights. The United Kingdom has followed the laws of the convention for many years. Laws were beginning to be laid down by this new, European group, and all of Europe was eager to follow. For instance, at the Congress of the Hague in 1948, delegates and observers from 26 countries breathed life into the Council of Europe – making human rights its guiding spirit. The Council of Europe was officially launched in May 1949 with founder members Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. These member countries then put together a charter of rights as well as a European court system that would help those individuals who had had their rights violated. They were able to use examples from the United States and hammered out a

Reading Responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading Responses - Assignment Example Further, her contentions that Clinton failed to gauge and evaluate the audience by not fitting the social norms were not appropriately substantiated. The audience would most predominantly be composed of both the male and female gender and the effectiveness of the speaker depends not solely on fitting the social norm, but in addressing the purpose of the speech that caters to the needs of the audience. The arguments that finally shift the blame to the American public for Clinton’s supposed failure as a rhetor was equally ludicrous. An effective rhetorical analysis should have used pathetic, logical and ethical appeals that are fair, objective and credible. Does it mean that because Clinton was manifesting her experience as a lawyer, expert, and advocate, she is already exhibiting a masculine speaking style? Do these roles and responsibilities only fit the male gender and render them befitting for

Ancient Egypt Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egypt Essay When one thinks of â€Å"mummification,† what would immediately come into mind is Ancient Egypt. But according to archaeologists, they discovered that this process is also being practiced in other places such as China and even in the among the tribes in Alaska though they are not identical to that of the Egyptians whose method is more commonly known (Monet). Compared to the other methods which appear to be very simple in terms of process or procedures such as simply putting the corpse in cold or airtight places, the Egyptian method is considered the most elaborate which is still shrouded and mystery as to how the process is exactly conducted. The only way to get an idea on how it was done is to examine the remains for pathological purposes as well as a smattering of surviving texts that have been found (Monet; David 383-384). Egyptian mumification is a two-step process that entailed embalming which made use of chemicals to preserve the remains for a longer duration of time. The second process is wrapping the corpse with layers of linen bandages for the purpose of maintaining its shape through the passage of time (Monet; David 385). Archaeologists are amazed on how â€Å"sophisticated† Egyptians were in developing the technology to make a body â€Å"live forever† and had exceeded their expectations. If there is a reasonable conclusion to this topic, the Egyptians made a significant contribution to modern civilization with this process. While it may be impractical for people to preserve the remains of the decased in this day and age, the practice still has benefits in terms of slowing decomposition and no attempt is made to duplicate the exact methods used. Works Cited David, A. Rosalie, Mummification. Nicholson, Paul T. , and Ian Shaw, eds. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Monet, Jefferson. An Overview of Mummification in Ancient Egypt. 1996. Tour Egypt. Net. 21 Aug. 2010 http://www. touregypt. net/featurestories/mummification. htm.

Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop

Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop 1.1 Background Transportation is a system that considers the complex relationships between networks, the demand and space. Transit on the other hand is dominantly an urban transportation mode. Since transit is a shared public service, it potentially benefits from economies of agglomeration related to high densities and from economies of scale related to high mobility demands. Mass bus transit is highly suitable for any university campus, which experiences a high volume of traffic flow during a fixed time frame. Space on the other hand is limited due to its characteristic built environment. ( Reshmi Mukherjee, 2003) Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private. Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow, and restrain urban sprawl. (Wikipedia, 2011) Public transportation can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. In infrastructure it involve on the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines or terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, bus stops and seaports. Vehicles traveling on the network include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including the financing, legalities and policies (Wikipedia, 2011). An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity buses exist all over the world that are operated by government or private industry, for profit and not for profit. (Wikipedia, 2011). Infrastructure particularly bus stop is one of the important fixed installation that need to take into account. The bus stop is also the most prominent icon of public transit. The locations, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location In most urban areas, public transportation service is provided by fixed-route bus systems. Bus stops are the point of transition where an enquiry starts to become a journey. It is important to consider passenger characteristics (eg access to the bus stop), route characteristics (eg frequency of buses), service identity or the roading environment when determining the location of individual bus stops. The bus stop is also the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems; less busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. (Wikipedia, 2011). 1.2 Problem of Statement Bus is a major demand in Malaysia as public intercity transit. Besides the fees is in low rate it also serve a better public transportation if it has to do with plenty numbers of passengers. Since the bus stop is the most prominent icon of public transit, the location, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location. Present bus stops in Malaysia certainly are inconveniently located. GIS is being used to locate suitable location for the bus stops. As the density of passenger and land use pattern in Shah Alam has changed drastically it is upmost that new bus locations need to be identified. 1.3 Aim The aim of this case study is to locate the best locations for bus stops within the city of Shah Alam using Geographic Information System (GIS). Comparison of the existing and the planned bus stops will be carry out. 1.4 Objectives To compare the criteria of locating bus stop between the existing policy and my observation and to suggest an appropriate location to locate bus stop base on criteria: Standard spacing between bus stop Density of population Non-Resident of UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s students Nearby attractions and major people generators: Schools / educational premises Hospitals Residential Recreational park Shopping area 1.5 Limitations In this thesis, software used is ArcGIS version 9.3 Use the Network Analysis Extension tools options Focused only on the bus transportation provide by the RapidKL company The test network dataset is Section 7, Shah Alam road network 1.6 Assumption In this thesis, there are several assumption made. The bus stops served in transportation industry in Malaysia are certainly not consistently located. This study assumes that bus is the major transportation system used in Shah Alam and there is facilities transportation problem in bus transportation industries at Shah Alam area especially bus stops. The bus stop locations are not systematically located. 1.7 Study Area Shah Alam is the location for study area in this case study. It is because as we can see the major public transportation in Shah Alam is bus. This case study is more focus on students generators especially among UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Non-resident students. From the demographic side, almost all the bus passengers are students. Most of student in UiTM Shah Alam use buses as their main transportation to go to classes. With the capacity of student, it makes the bus services route around the study area more frequently. In current situation, there are many bus stop location is inconveniently located. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses and review current practices of transportation in Malaysia especially in infrastructure of transportation. The discussion start with an overview of transportation in Malaysia followed by category of transportation namely private and public. This discussion is focused on the specification of location of bus stop. Final section will elaborate about the ArcGIS buffering framework, network analysis and its capability and that maybe useful in this study. 2.2 Transportation in Malaysia Malaysia is served by an excellent transport system. Once you are in the country there is always transport available to you to even remote areas. Traveling by road in peninsula Malaysia is popular as it has well- developed network of roads.  There are various options available as to how you might wish to get to a destination.   In Sabah and Sarawak, it is recommended for traveling by four-wheel drive as on unpaved roads, and many remote areas can only be reached by air or river-boats. If you want to see clearly the countryside, traveling by rail is also highly recommended. 2.2.1 Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one to another location. There are many types of modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. (Wikipedia, 2011) Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, and may be roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. 2.2.2 Road A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance. In urban areas, roads may pass through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. The most common road vehicle is the automobile which is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. As of 2002, there were 590 million automobiles worldwide. Buses allow for more efficient travel at the cost of reduced flexibility. (Wikipedia, 2011) 2.2.3 Buses Buses are an inexpensive way to travel in Malaysia. Most, if not all buses in Kuala Lumpur (KL) are air-conditioned but there are still non-air-conditioned buses in smaller towns around the country. Buses plying routes within towns and cities typically charge fares according to the distance covered while interstate buses have fixed rates.Most of areas in Malaysia are using buses as major transportation. Especially in area with major people generator such as in residential, educational, industrial and recreational area. The public bus service in Shah Alam is efficient and covers a wide range of routes, although steps are being taken to constantly improve the services. Strategic bus stops and stations offer passengers plenty of boarding options. Buses are in good condition and fully air-conditioned. Designated bus lanes also enable smooth scheduling of bus services for passengers ease. The bus routes also link to other transportation options like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, train station and taxi stands (Urban Transportation Department, 2008). Rapid KL as one of the bus company in Malaysia operates 134 routes in the Klang Valley including the suburban feeder service to complement the LRT systems. It has two central workshops and 13 bus depots spread across the Klang Valley and plans to gradually introduce more 15 minutes frequency throughout its system is also one of RAPID KLs goals. Today, 15 minutes frequency is operated only at 13 routes at high-density routes (RapidKL, 2008). 2.3 Transportation Facility 2.3.1 Bus Stop A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems but there are also busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. For operational purposes there are three main kinds of stops. First, scheduled stops, at which the bus should stop irrespective of demand. Second, request stops (or flag stop) where the vehicle will only stop on requested and hail and ride stops where a vehicle will stop anywhere along the designated section of road on request. Certain stops may be restricted to set-down only or pick-up only. Some stops may be designated as timing points and if the vehicle is ahead of schedule it will wait to ensure correct running to the timetable. In dense urban areas where bus volumes are high, skip-stops are sometimes used to increase efficiency and reduce delays at bus stops. Fare stages may also be defined by the location of certain stops in distance or zone based fare collection systems. (Wikipedia, 2011) Bus stops are placed in one of three locations: near-side (located immediately before an intersection); far-side (located immediately after an intersection); and mid-block (located between intersections). Each of these locations offers advantages to vehicle drivers and pedestrians. However, the final decision on bus stop locations dependent on ease of operation, transfer situations, space availability, and traffic volumes. Pace performs on-site evaluations of proposed bus stop to analyze operating conditions and identify appropriate bus stop locations. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Near-side bus stop sign placement is generally 10 feet from the corner tangent point and 5 feet from the outer curb. However, site characteristics will ultimately dictate exact sign location. Where site limitations exist, the sign should be setback a minimum of 2 feet. Near-side locations offer a number of features to pedestrians and vehicle drivers. This location allows pedestrians to cross in front of the bus. This location also allows transit users to load and alight from buses close to crosswalks and intersections, thereby minimizing, walking distances to connecting transit service. Far-side bus stop locations are recommended on routes in which buses make left turns at intersections. Once a bus negotiates a left turn, a far-side stop provides a more appropriate service point. Far-side stops also are recommended in locations where dedicated right turn lanes are present. Far-side stops may facilitate easier bus re-entry into traffic due to gaps created by intersection traffic signa ls. Another bus stop location is the mid-block stop. A mid-block location is generally less congested than an intersection. Bus turnouts are most effectively located in a mid-block bus stop zone. Mid block stops are applicable at T-intersections or locations generating a larger passenger volume. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Bus stop is the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. (Texas Transportation Institute, 1996) Bus stops should be at safe locations, no more than 50 meters after a traffic light or road intersection. They should not be located on sloped surfaces which considered unsafe. (Higher Committee of Planning Cities 2000) Good pedestrian facilities often make the trip to stops more enjoyable, thus making it easier for people to choose both modes of transportation to go to work, shopping, or other activities. All transit facilities and the transportation routes that lead to them have needed to be safe, convenient, and accessible. If people do not feel safe or comfortable walking to stops, then they are likely to choose other modes of travel, such as a car. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Socioeconomic data is vital for determining locations for transit routes and facilities. Often, socioeconomic spatial data resides in a zonal layer that may cover a very large area. While socioeconomic data aggregated to these large zones are useful for regional analyses, they canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t support a analysis of accessibility to bus stops. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Since the bus stops would have been installed before many years, the then density of the passengers and land use pattern would have undergone a drastic change and the bus stops would not commensurate with these changes. Hence there is an increasing need for the bus stops to be rationalized. (Mr. G. Saravanan Mr. S. Suresh Immanuel, 2003) 2.4 GIS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (NCGIA, 1990). A geographic information system (GIS) is an information system that is designed to work with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates. In other words, a GIS is both a database system with specific capabilities for spatially reference data, as well as a set of operations for working with data. In a sense, a GIS may be thought of as a higher-order map. (Jeffrey Star and John Estes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990) GIS integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS technology allows us to view, query, and understand data in many ways. We will see the relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of GIS-based maps, reports, and charts. GIS helps us answer questions and solve problems. When viewed in the context of geography, our data is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. (ESRI, 2011). In broad terms, a Geographic Information System could be defined as a set of principles and techniques employed to achieve one (or both) of the following objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Finding suitable locations that have the relevant attributes. For example, finding a suitable location where an airport, a commercial forest or a retail outlet can be established. This is usually achieved through the use of Boolean (logical) operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Querying the geographical attributes of a specified location. For example, examining the roads in a particular locality, to check road density or find the shortest path, and so on. This is often achieved by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clickingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ onto the location or object of interest, and examining the contents of the database for that location or object. 2.4.1 GIS in Transportation GIS has been recognized for many years now as an invaluable tool for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining transportation systems. As the gateway to economic development and, subsequently, a healthy economy, transportation infrastructure represents one of the largest and most critical investments made in any nation, at whatever stage of development. Similarly, for many firms in the transportation industry, profitability and a strong competitive position depend on a safe and reliable system. Roads are the main arteries of a modern societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s infrastructure, contributing heavily to the distribution of goods and persons. GIS provides many helpful applications for ensuring a smooth transportation flow. Customer satisfaction, competitive position, timely response, effective deployment, and profitability are all positively affected (GISDATA Group, 2009). Being able to visualize your assets and the surrounding environment when you build, upgrade, or repair transportation infrastructure helps you prioritize your work and make the right decisions. A geographic information system (GIS) software platform will allow you to do all this and much more. With Esrià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s GIS technology, you can build dynamic and rich mapping applications that will keep everyone from the project team and government officials to field staff and the public in the know. (ESRI, 2011). GIS contain data related to location points, lines (commonly roadway links and corridors), and polygons. Analysis tools that are part of GIS software packages can be used to relate these data. The use of GIS to manage data can simplify the analysis of transport systems and can enhance the decision-making process (Worldbank ). 2.4.2 The Importance of Geospatial Data The nature of any natural or economic activity with a spatial dimension cannot be properly understood without reference to its spatial qualities. Spatial data have two essential parts: location and attributes. A GIS requires location references. Typical location references are latitude and longitude and national grid references such as the National Grid. However, other geospatial codes can also be used to identify location, such as postcodes. Attributes. Any locality would have a number of characteristics or properties associated with it. These attributes are usually kept in tables, containing such information as vegetation types, population, annual income, and so on. GIS systems store and process data in two formats, vector and raster. In the vector data model, the world is represented as a mosaic of interconnecting lines and points representing the location and boundaries of geographical entities. In vector data models, the data are represented as: arcs (lines) polygons (traversed areas) points (labelled nodes) nodes (intersection points) 2.4.3 Existing GIS Based System A Spatial Locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Allocation GIS Framework for Managing Water Sources in a Savanna Nature Reserve. (Source: www.nceas.ucsb.edu) Associated with the establishment or removal of water sources in savanna ecosystems is the issue of the effects of such management actions on animal movement and habitat selection, longer term implications on population levels, and impacts of such change on habitat degradation and soil erosion. Extant metrics used to describe the spatial distribution of water sources on the landscape often fall short of providing source-specific information, making them hard to apply in small-scale management settings. Using the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (KPNR) as a case study, comparison between of a: buffer framework which is to describing distances to water, a nearest neighbor framework, spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) created in a geographic information system (GIS) These three frameworks can be combined into one GIS to demonstrate site-specific information on water source distribution, in addition to system-wide descriptions. The visually accessible quality of a GIS allows qualitative input from managers and property owners to achieve quantifiable management goals. The duality of database and visual representation provides a useful tool to assess the role of individual water sources and can easily be updated to reflect changes in their distribution. In this study, seasonal effects on the water source distribution are modeled first. Then two hypothetical management scenarios are modeled based on realistic management options for this reserve. For the first management scenario we map the resulting distribution when all artificially supplemented water sources are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"turned onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the dry season. Fig 1: Location of KNPR (Klaserie Private Nature Reserve) Water sources in this study include seasonal pans, artificial pans and catchment dams as point sources and two major river courses, the Klaserie and the Olifants, which have perennial segments in KPNR. Buffer framework For the buffer framework, the locations of all the water sources tabulated during the wet season were buffered in concentric 1 km rings and clipped to the reserve boundary to assess the area of the reserve at different distances to water (Fig. 2a); this process was repeated for the dry season water sources (Fig. 2b) and then for the two hypothetical management scenarios and the results tabulated for comparison. Fig 2(a): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR wet season Fig. 2(b): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR dry season. Nearest neighbour framework The locations of the wet and dry season water points were used to calculate the nearest distance to river sections and then to nearest water source. The nearest neighbour distance between two point water sources was calculated as a vector, by minimizing the results of a triangular matrix calculator for Euclidian distance in Microsoft Excel ©. The lesser of the distance to nearest river or nearest neighbour was taken as the nearest neighbour distance to water. Spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) The simplest spatial representation of an unconstrained locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation model of supply points to demand regions uses the Dirichlet tessellation to generate Voronoi or Thiessen polygons (Okabe et al. 1992). A tessellation is essentially a mosaic, a tiling created in a geometric plane. This tessellation is created by the intersections of perpendicular bisectors between each point in a set. The three frameworks used to assess the change in distribution of water points in the reserve yielded generalizations, which are useful as descriptors of system change, but can be hard to translate directly into management action on specific water sources. The advantage of the SLAF over the two other frameworks is that the area of the polygon associated with each water source is visually Optimization of Bus stop locations using GIS as a tool for Chennai city- Acase study, R.Sankar, 2003 In a developing country like India every advancement depends upon the funds available. This influencing factor is considered as there is huge need of finance for the development of infrastructure such as laying of good, strong roads. The road grade is essential for having bus routes in a particular area. It is not possible to have bus stops in the interior where the grade is poorer. The density of population and the infrastructure go hand in hand, this is the reason for having many bus stops in close proximity in the main roads. While considering the financial status of the government it is also necessary to consider the status of the public. In a higher middle income, higher income groups the dependency on the public transit system is less making it less imperative to have more bus stops. Conversely the lower income group and the economically weaker section entirely depend upon the corporation buses for their transit. Finally the locations are graded based on the risk factors. The s ites selected should not be near the junctions. Dangerous turnings are avoided. Methodology Data collection is taking on the ground using GPS and the map of road network which include the position of each bus stop in term of coordinates. There are about 41 bus stops between Vadapalani and Besent nagar, which is the study area. There are about 21 roads in the selected route. The network map is digitized. Digitization is done manually using On-screen method. The errors in the original maps will be transferred and they are likely magnified when digitized using GIS. Here arcs and nodes are defined by the user. The projection used here is polyconic which is considered the best suited for India. Arc View and Arc Info are the softwares used for digitization, transformation/projection and analysis. Analysis Buffer analysis is made to determine the effected area. The minimum and maximum distances are given. Selected route in the network map which are given as buffer distances. If there is overlap in the buffers then a common point can be considered for the location of the stop such that there is no overlap. This point is selected considering other criteria also. Confluence of all parameters is essential before arriving into any decision. The similar way if the distance between two buffers are more this indicate that the area in the in between region is not properly served by any of the bus stops. In this case new bus stops can be created. Thus it is necessary to calculate based on all the parameters that none of the areas are under served or over served. The route analysis was made the impedance value and the speed is given based on the vehicular volume on each road. The bus stops can be minimized in roads where there the existing traffic is high, additional positioning of these stops would add up to the traffic congestion. The locations of important centers such as hospitals, schools etc are also estimated for their proximity to the stops using the route analysis module. The time gained due to the reduction of the stops vice versa is also projected by having each location as a node and by giving a positive or negative value for the calculation of impedance. The demographic characteristics are also computed. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter will explain the methodology adopted in this study. The explanation starts with the introduction of adopted method for literature review, the method for data acquisition and the type of data acquired, data preparation and processing and followed by performing data analysis and results documentation and recording methods. Project Planning Data Preparation and Processing Data Acquisition and type of Data acquired Analysis and Results Fig. 3.1: Methodology Flow Sequence 3.2 Research Methodology Project Planning Selection of hardware and software (ArcGIS) Selection of study area (Shah Alam) Selection of data Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired Spatial data 1) Land use map 2) Route map 3) Layer Trace existing bus stop location using handheld GPS (X,Y). Attribute name 1) Road name 2) Building 3) Population UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s NR student source from HEP UiTM. (X,Y) Data Preparation and Processing Creating different Themes Digitizing Scanning Digitizing Creating Attribute Tables Analysis and Result - - Compare existing bus stop location with the recommendation as requested safety reasons. Proposed new bus stops based on the location of resident for Non-Resident students. Compare the distance between two consecutive bus stops with the standard distance of travel by man by walk which is 400m. (source from MBSA) Fig 3.2: Flow Chart of Methodology Phase 1: Preliminary Study Project Planning 1. Selection of Study Area The city of Shah Alam has to be selected as study case area which covers section 2 until section 24. This study emphasized in the area with educational institutions especially UiTM since this study is focused on non-residents students. 2. Selection of Hardware and Software Hardware for scanning, digitizing, and processing has been determined. Software that will be used is ArcMap. This software helps in digitizing also analysis. 3. Selection of Data To select data, it needs to relate with problem statement. Data has been gathered from many of sources that will be explain in Data Collection. Phase 2 : Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired 1. Spatial Data Spatial data is data pertaining to the location and spatial dimensions of geographical entities Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop 1.1 Background Transportation is a system that considers the complex relationships between networks, the demand and space. Transit on the other hand is dominantly an urban transportation mode. Since transit is a shared public service, it potentially benefits from economies of agglomeration related to high densities and from economies of scale related to high mobility demands. Mass bus transit is highly suitable for any university campus, which experiences a high volume of traffic flow during a fixed time frame. Space on the other hand is limited due to its characteristic built environment. ( Reshmi Mukherjee, 2003) Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private. Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow, and restrain urban sprawl. (Wikipedia, 2011) Public transportation can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. In infrastructure it involve on the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines or terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, bus stops and seaports. Vehicles traveling on the network include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including the financing, legalities and policies (Wikipedia, 2011). An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity buses exist all over the world that are operated by government or private industry, for profit and not for profit. (Wikipedia, 2011). Infrastructure particularly bus stop is one of the important fixed installation that need to take into account. The bus stop is also the most prominent icon of public transit. The locations, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location In most urban areas, public transportation service is provided by fixed-route bus systems. Bus stops are the point of transition where an enquiry starts to become a journey. It is important to consider passenger characteristics (eg access to the bus stop), route characteristics (eg frequency of buses), service identity or the roading environment when determining the location of individual bus stops. The bus stop is also the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems; less busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. (Wikipedia, 2011). 1.2 Problem of Statement Bus is a major demand in Malaysia as public intercity transit. Besides the fees is in low rate it also serve a better public transportation if it has to do with plenty numbers of passengers. Since the bus stop is the most prominent icon of public transit, the location, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location. Present bus stops in Malaysia certainly are inconveniently located. GIS is being used to locate suitable location for the bus stops. As the density of passenger and land use pattern in Shah Alam has changed drastically it is upmost that new bus locations need to be identified. 1.3 Aim The aim of this case study is to locate the best locations for bus stops within the city of Shah Alam using Geographic Information System (GIS). Comparison of the existing and the planned bus stops will be carry out. 1.4 Objectives To compare the criteria of locating bus stop between the existing policy and my observation and to suggest an appropriate location to locate bus stop base on criteria: Standard spacing between bus stop Density of population Non-Resident of UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s students Nearby attractions and major people generators: Schools / educational premises Hospitals Residential Recreational park Shopping area 1.5 Limitations In this thesis, software used is ArcGIS version 9.3 Use the Network Analysis Extension tools options Focused only on the bus transportation provide by the RapidKL company The test network dataset is Section 7, Shah Alam road network 1.6 Assumption In this thesis, there are several assumption made. The bus stops served in transportation industry in Malaysia are certainly not consistently located. This study assumes that bus is the major transportation system used in Shah Alam and there is facilities transportation problem in bus transportation industries at Shah Alam area especially bus stops. The bus stop locations are not systematically located. 1.7 Study Area Shah Alam is the location for study area in this case study. It is because as we can see the major public transportation in Shah Alam is bus. This case study is more focus on students generators especially among UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Non-resident students. From the demographic side, almost all the bus passengers are students. Most of student in UiTM Shah Alam use buses as their main transportation to go to classes. With the capacity of student, it makes the bus services route around the study area more frequently. In current situation, there are many bus stop location is inconveniently located. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses and review current practices of transportation in Malaysia especially in infrastructure of transportation. The discussion start with an overview of transportation in Malaysia followed by category of transportation namely private and public. This discussion is focused on the specification of location of bus stop. Final section will elaborate about the ArcGIS buffering framework, network analysis and its capability and that maybe useful in this study. 2.2 Transportation in Malaysia Malaysia is served by an excellent transport system. Once you are in the country there is always transport available to you to even remote areas. Traveling by road in peninsula Malaysia is popular as it has well- developed network of roads.  There are various options available as to how you might wish to get to a destination.   In Sabah and Sarawak, it is recommended for traveling by four-wheel drive as on unpaved roads, and many remote areas can only be reached by air or river-boats. If you want to see clearly the countryside, traveling by rail is also highly recommended. 2.2.1 Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one to another location. There are many types of modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. (Wikipedia, 2011) Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, and may be roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. 2.2.2 Road A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance. In urban areas, roads may pass through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. The most common road vehicle is the automobile which is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. As of 2002, there were 590 million automobiles worldwide. Buses allow for more efficient travel at the cost of reduced flexibility. (Wikipedia, 2011) 2.2.3 Buses Buses are an inexpensive way to travel in Malaysia. Most, if not all buses in Kuala Lumpur (KL) are air-conditioned but there are still non-air-conditioned buses in smaller towns around the country. Buses plying routes within towns and cities typically charge fares according to the distance covered while interstate buses have fixed rates.Most of areas in Malaysia are using buses as major transportation. Especially in area with major people generator such as in residential, educational, industrial and recreational area. The public bus service in Shah Alam is efficient and covers a wide range of routes, although steps are being taken to constantly improve the services. Strategic bus stops and stations offer passengers plenty of boarding options. Buses are in good condition and fully air-conditioned. Designated bus lanes also enable smooth scheduling of bus services for passengers ease. The bus routes also link to other transportation options like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, train station and taxi stands (Urban Transportation Department, 2008). Rapid KL as one of the bus company in Malaysia operates 134 routes in the Klang Valley including the suburban feeder service to complement the LRT systems. It has two central workshops and 13 bus depots spread across the Klang Valley and plans to gradually introduce more 15 minutes frequency throughout its system is also one of RAPID KLs goals. Today, 15 minutes frequency is operated only at 13 routes at high-density routes (RapidKL, 2008). 2.3 Transportation Facility 2.3.1 Bus Stop A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems but there are also busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. For operational purposes there are three main kinds of stops. First, scheduled stops, at which the bus should stop irrespective of demand. Second, request stops (or flag stop) where the vehicle will only stop on requested and hail and ride stops where a vehicle will stop anywhere along the designated section of road on request. Certain stops may be restricted to set-down only or pick-up only. Some stops may be designated as timing points and if the vehicle is ahead of schedule it will wait to ensure correct running to the timetable. In dense urban areas where bus volumes are high, skip-stops are sometimes used to increase efficiency and reduce delays at bus stops. Fare stages may also be defined by the location of certain stops in distance or zone based fare collection systems. (Wikipedia, 2011) Bus stops are placed in one of three locations: near-side (located immediately before an intersection); far-side (located immediately after an intersection); and mid-block (located between intersections). Each of these locations offers advantages to vehicle drivers and pedestrians. However, the final decision on bus stop locations dependent on ease of operation, transfer situations, space availability, and traffic volumes. Pace performs on-site evaluations of proposed bus stop to analyze operating conditions and identify appropriate bus stop locations. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Near-side bus stop sign placement is generally 10 feet from the corner tangent point and 5 feet from the outer curb. However, site characteristics will ultimately dictate exact sign location. Where site limitations exist, the sign should be setback a minimum of 2 feet. Near-side locations offer a number of features to pedestrians and vehicle drivers. This location allows pedestrians to cross in front of the bus. This location also allows transit users to load and alight from buses close to crosswalks and intersections, thereby minimizing, walking distances to connecting transit service. Far-side bus stop locations are recommended on routes in which buses make left turns at intersections. Once a bus negotiates a left turn, a far-side stop provides a more appropriate service point. Far-side stops also are recommended in locations where dedicated right turn lanes are present. Far-side stops may facilitate easier bus re-entry into traffic due to gaps created by intersection traffic signa ls. Another bus stop location is the mid-block stop. A mid-block location is generally less congested than an intersection. Bus turnouts are most effectively located in a mid-block bus stop zone. Mid block stops are applicable at T-intersections or locations generating a larger passenger volume. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Bus stop is the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. (Texas Transportation Institute, 1996) Bus stops should be at safe locations, no more than 50 meters after a traffic light or road intersection. They should not be located on sloped surfaces which considered unsafe. (Higher Committee of Planning Cities 2000) Good pedestrian facilities often make the trip to stops more enjoyable, thus making it easier for people to choose both modes of transportation to go to work, shopping, or other activities. All transit facilities and the transportation routes that lead to them have needed to be safe, convenient, and accessible. If people do not feel safe or comfortable walking to stops, then they are likely to choose other modes of travel, such as a car. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Socioeconomic data is vital for determining locations for transit routes and facilities. Often, socioeconomic spatial data resides in a zonal layer that may cover a very large area. While socioeconomic data aggregated to these large zones are useful for regional analyses, they canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t support a analysis of accessibility to bus stops. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Since the bus stops would have been installed before many years, the then density of the passengers and land use pattern would have undergone a drastic change and the bus stops would not commensurate with these changes. Hence there is an increasing need for the bus stops to be rationalized. (Mr. G. Saravanan Mr. S. Suresh Immanuel, 2003) 2.4 GIS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (NCGIA, 1990). A geographic information system (GIS) is an information system that is designed to work with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates. In other words, a GIS is both a database system with specific capabilities for spatially reference data, as well as a set of operations for working with data. In a sense, a GIS may be thought of as a higher-order map. (Jeffrey Star and John Estes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990) GIS integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS technology allows us to view, query, and understand data in many ways. We will see the relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of GIS-based maps, reports, and charts. GIS helps us answer questions and solve problems. When viewed in the context of geography, our data is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. (ESRI, 2011). In broad terms, a Geographic Information System could be defined as a set of principles and techniques employed to achieve one (or both) of the following objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Finding suitable locations that have the relevant attributes. For example, finding a suitable location where an airport, a commercial forest or a retail outlet can be established. This is usually achieved through the use of Boolean (logical) operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Querying the geographical attributes of a specified location. For example, examining the roads in a particular locality, to check road density or find the shortest path, and so on. This is often achieved by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clickingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ onto the location or object of interest, and examining the contents of the database for that location or object. 2.4.1 GIS in Transportation GIS has been recognized for many years now as an invaluable tool for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining transportation systems. As the gateway to economic development and, subsequently, a healthy economy, transportation infrastructure represents one of the largest and most critical investments made in any nation, at whatever stage of development. Similarly, for many firms in the transportation industry, profitability and a strong competitive position depend on a safe and reliable system. Roads are the main arteries of a modern societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s infrastructure, contributing heavily to the distribution of goods and persons. GIS provides many helpful applications for ensuring a smooth transportation flow. Customer satisfaction, competitive position, timely response, effective deployment, and profitability are all positively affected (GISDATA Group, 2009). Being able to visualize your assets and the surrounding environment when you build, upgrade, or repair transportation infrastructure helps you prioritize your work and make the right decisions. A geographic information system (GIS) software platform will allow you to do all this and much more. With Esrià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s GIS technology, you can build dynamic and rich mapping applications that will keep everyone from the project team and government officials to field staff and the public in the know. (ESRI, 2011). GIS contain data related to location points, lines (commonly roadway links and corridors), and polygons. Analysis tools that are part of GIS software packages can be used to relate these data. The use of GIS to manage data can simplify the analysis of transport systems and can enhance the decision-making process (Worldbank ). 2.4.2 The Importance of Geospatial Data The nature of any natural or economic activity with a spatial dimension cannot be properly understood without reference to its spatial qualities. Spatial data have two essential parts: location and attributes. A GIS requires location references. Typical location references are latitude and longitude and national grid references such as the National Grid. However, other geospatial codes can also be used to identify location, such as postcodes. Attributes. Any locality would have a number of characteristics or properties associated with it. These attributes are usually kept in tables, containing such information as vegetation types, population, annual income, and so on. GIS systems store and process data in two formats, vector and raster. In the vector data model, the world is represented as a mosaic of interconnecting lines and points representing the location and boundaries of geographical entities. In vector data models, the data are represented as: arcs (lines) polygons (traversed areas) points (labelled nodes) nodes (intersection points) 2.4.3 Existing GIS Based System A Spatial Locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Allocation GIS Framework for Managing Water Sources in a Savanna Nature Reserve. (Source: www.nceas.ucsb.edu) Associated with the establishment or removal of water sources in savanna ecosystems is the issue of the effects of such management actions on animal movement and habitat selection, longer term implications on population levels, and impacts of such change on habitat degradation and soil erosion. Extant metrics used to describe the spatial distribution of water sources on the landscape often fall short of providing source-specific information, making them hard to apply in small-scale management settings. Using the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (KPNR) as a case study, comparison between of a: buffer framework which is to describing distances to water, a nearest neighbor framework, spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) created in a geographic information system (GIS) These three frameworks can be combined into one GIS to demonstrate site-specific information on water source distribution, in addition to system-wide descriptions. The visually accessible quality of a GIS allows qualitative input from managers and property owners to achieve quantifiable management goals. The duality of database and visual representation provides a useful tool to assess the role of individual water sources and can easily be updated to reflect changes in their distribution. In this study, seasonal effects on the water source distribution are modeled first. Then two hypothetical management scenarios are modeled based on realistic management options for this reserve. For the first management scenario we map the resulting distribution when all artificially supplemented water sources are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"turned onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the dry season. Fig 1: Location of KNPR (Klaserie Private Nature Reserve) Water sources in this study include seasonal pans, artificial pans and catchment dams as point sources and two major river courses, the Klaserie and the Olifants, which have perennial segments in KPNR. Buffer framework For the buffer framework, the locations of all the water sources tabulated during the wet season were buffered in concentric 1 km rings and clipped to the reserve boundary to assess the area of the reserve at different distances to water (Fig. 2a); this process was repeated for the dry season water sources (Fig. 2b) and then for the two hypothetical management scenarios and the results tabulated for comparison. Fig 2(a): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR wet season Fig. 2(b): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR dry season. Nearest neighbour framework The locations of the wet and dry season water points were used to calculate the nearest distance to river sections and then to nearest water source. The nearest neighbour distance between two point water sources was calculated as a vector, by minimizing the results of a triangular matrix calculator for Euclidian distance in Microsoft Excel ©. The lesser of the distance to nearest river or nearest neighbour was taken as the nearest neighbour distance to water. Spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) The simplest spatial representation of an unconstrained locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation model of supply points to demand regions uses the Dirichlet tessellation to generate Voronoi or Thiessen polygons (Okabe et al. 1992). A tessellation is essentially a mosaic, a tiling created in a geometric plane. This tessellation is created by the intersections of perpendicular bisectors between each point in a set. The three frameworks used to assess the change in distribution of water points in the reserve yielded generalizations, which are useful as descriptors of system change, but can be hard to translate directly into management action on specific water sources. The advantage of the SLAF over the two other frameworks is that the area of the polygon associated with each water source is visually Optimization of Bus stop locations using GIS as a tool for Chennai city- Acase study, R.Sankar, 2003 In a developing country like India every advancement depends upon the funds available. This influencing factor is considered as there is huge need of finance for the development of infrastructure such as laying of good, strong roads. The road grade is essential for having bus routes in a particular area. It is not possible to have bus stops in the interior where the grade is poorer. The density of population and the infrastructure go hand in hand, this is the reason for having many bus stops in close proximity in the main roads. While considering the financial status of the government it is also necessary to consider the status of the public. In a higher middle income, higher income groups the dependency on the public transit system is less making it less imperative to have more bus stops. Conversely the lower income group and the economically weaker section entirely depend upon the corporation buses for their transit. Finally the locations are graded based on the risk factors. The s ites selected should not be near the junctions. Dangerous turnings are avoided. Methodology Data collection is taking on the ground using GPS and the map of road network which include the position of each bus stop in term of coordinates. There are about 41 bus stops between Vadapalani and Besent nagar, which is the study area. There are about 21 roads in the selected route. The network map is digitized. Digitization is done manually using On-screen method. The errors in the original maps will be transferred and they are likely magnified when digitized using GIS. Here arcs and nodes are defined by the user. The projection used here is polyconic which is considered the best suited for India. Arc View and Arc Info are the softwares used for digitization, transformation/projection and analysis. Analysis Buffer analysis is made to determine the effected area. The minimum and maximum distances are given. Selected route in the network map which are given as buffer distances. If there is overlap in the buffers then a common point can be considered for the location of the stop such that there is no overlap. This point is selected considering other criteria also. Confluence of all parameters is essential before arriving into any decision. The similar way if the distance between two buffers are more this indicate that the area in the in between region is not properly served by any of the bus stops. In this case new bus stops can be created. Thus it is necessary to calculate based on all the parameters that none of the areas are under served or over served. The route analysis was made the impedance value and the speed is given based on the vehicular volume on each road. The bus stops can be minimized in roads where there the existing traffic is high, additional positioning of these stops would add up to the traffic congestion. The locations of important centers such as hospitals, schools etc are also estimated for their proximity to the stops using the route analysis module. The time gained due to the reduction of the stops vice versa is also projected by having each location as a node and by giving a positive or negative value for the calculation of impedance. The demographic characteristics are also computed. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter will explain the methodology adopted in this study. The explanation starts with the introduction of adopted method for literature review, the method for data acquisition and the type of data acquired, data preparation and processing and followed by performing data analysis and results documentation and recording methods. Project Planning Data Preparation and Processing Data Acquisition and type of Data acquired Analysis and Results Fig. 3.1: Methodology Flow Sequence 3.2 Research Methodology Project Planning Selection of hardware and software (ArcGIS) Selection of study area (Shah Alam) Selection of data Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired Spatial data 1) Land use map 2) Route map 3) Layer Trace existing bus stop location using handheld GPS (X,Y). Attribute name 1) Road name 2) Building 3) Population UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s NR student source from HEP UiTM. (X,Y) Data Preparation and Processing Creating different Themes Digitizing Scanning Digitizing Creating Attribute Tables Analysis and Result - - Compare existing bus stop location with the recommendation as requested safety reasons. Proposed new bus stops based on the location of resident for Non-Resident students. Compare the distance between two consecutive bus stops with the standard distance of travel by man by walk which is 400m. (source from MBSA) Fig 3.2: Flow Chart of Methodology Phase 1: Preliminary Study Project Planning 1. Selection of Study Area The city of Shah Alam has to be selected as study case area which covers section 2 until section 24. This study emphasized in the area with educational institutions especially UiTM since this study is focused on non-residents students. 2. Selection of Hardware and Software Hardware for scanning, digitizing, and processing has been determined. Software that will be used is ArcMap. This software helps in digitizing also analysis. 3. Selection of Data To select data, it needs to relate with problem statement. Data has been gathered from many of sources that will be explain in Data Collection. Phase 2 : Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired 1. Spatial Data Spatial data is data pertaining to the location and spatial dimensions of geographical entities

Decision Making with a Neonatal Ethical Dilemma

Decision Making with a Neonatal Ethical Dilemma Natalia Perdomo Introduction Ethical dilemmas have been at the forefront in the healthcare industry. Nurses are constantly faced with situations in which difficult decisions must be made. It is crucial to determine at what point autonomy outweighs patient wellbeing. Gather Data The ethical situation presents a woman delivering a baby in a country hospital after suffering complications. These complications cause inadequate oxygen delivery to the baby. The baby is supported by nutrition and hydration and currently in an unresponsive state to verbal and tactile stimulus. The NICU staff and nurse have never experienced this situation in the past and are unaware of how to proceed. The parents are in a state of extreme grief while the staff feels overwhelmed and uncertain in regards to a solution. Information not presented in this case includes reassessment of Apgar score, gestational age, weight of infant or type of delivery as well as mother’s medical history. Key Participants The key participants in this dilemma include the parents, the NICU staff and the nurse who is primarily responsible for the mother’s care. When considering the mother’s perspective, it is crucial to understand the many factors that play into her thought process. She has been through a difficult labor and is stated to be weak and grieving. When asked to make a decision, she feels competent enough to make a valid decision. The father, who is also grieving, agrees with his wife, who is in a distressed state. Both parents are saddened by the condition of the infant and feel there is no choice other than to discontinue life support measures because they value quality of life and do not want their infant to endure suffering any longer. The NICU staff, who pride themselves in valuing patient autonomy, want to be as supportive as possible and perform in the best interest of the patient. The nurse and staff agree that the mother does not have decision-making capacity at the time of the decision. The nurse demonstrates an ethical struggle, as she needs to fulfill her supportive role towards her patient. She feels that by not offering enough information, she cannot assist the parents in making the best decision or intervene due to her lack of knowledge. Statement of Ethical Problem of Conflict The ethical conflict rests on the nurse in this case. The conflict is whether she should support the decision of her patient to discontinue nutrition and hydration or whether she should seek out alternative options to convince her patient to reassess her decision. Review of Literature When dissecting a situation such as this one, it is critical to understand the key points in their entirety to determine the most effective approach. According to Conde-Agudelo and Romero (2012), an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is known as a rare and fatal obstetric condition associated with severe symptoms such as sudden cardiovascular collapse, respiratory distress, altered mental status and fetal distress. It is currently the second leading cause of maternal death in the U.S. and must receive prompt and aggressive treatment by a multidisciplinary team. The fetal distress caused by AFE results in hypoxia of the neonate, which in consequence may cause life threatening injuries and lifelong disability. Anju, Naijil, Paulose, Roshni and Shilpa (2012) state that hypoxia may cause multi organ failure and functional damage especially to the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. The authors also note that because hypoxia has the potential to induce neuronal death in vulnerable brai n regions, impairment of cognitive function can be detected later in life. In addition to the effects of the AFE, it is crucial to understand the hormonal process contributing to the emotional state in the postpartum period. After a woman gives birth, the levels of estrogen and progesterone decline rapidly. Harvard Medical School (2011) explains that due to the plummet of hormones immediately after birth, emotional instability may result as these reproductive hormones interact with neurotransmitter systems that affect mood and mental health. Expected post partum emotions, according to Turner (2012) include feelings of tiredness, anxiety, tearfulness, lack of energy and insomnia. There are many laws that serve to protect the rights of the infant and child. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) states that the child â€Å"shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care.† Although care and protection of the infant is essential, there are always exceptions. In the court case Miller v. HCA (1990), a premature infant was born with multiple complications and a poor prognosis. The parents made it clear they wanted no measures taken to save the infant. However, the physicians intervened regardless and initiated life sustaining measures. These parents valued quality of life and disagreed with life sustaining measures due to likelihood of severe and permanent physical and mental impairments in the future. When their autonomy was not respected and the infant was kept alive, the parents became respon sible for the life of a child with severe disabilities. Aladangady and Rooy (2012) clarify that babies with poor prognosis should have treatment decisions made jointly by the health care team and infant’s family while considering the best interests of the baby and current clinical condition. Ethics committees in hospitals serve as resources to the providers as well as the patients and should be considered as they provide ethics education. However, Gaudine, Lamb, LeFort and Thorne (2011) assess barriers to requesting an ethics consult, which include consult worsening the situation, unhelpful consultations, solutions conflicting with good practice and working with unqualified ethics consultants. Supporting Principles or Theories Burkhardt Nathaniel (2014) define autonomy as the â€Å"freedom to make choices about issues that affect one’s life, free from lies, restraint, or coercion† (p. 60). This principle respects each individual and highlights his or her uniqueness and value within a society. There are four basic elements that determine autonomy. The autonomous person must be respected, have the ability to determine explicit personal goals, have the capacity to decide on a plan and have freedom to autonomously act upon choices made. Children, fetuses and individuals with mental impairments are not considered autonomous; therefore, they are unable to make informed choices. The principle of beneficence according to Burkhardt Nathaniel (2014) requires that nurses act in ways that will benefit their patients by doing good. There are three major components within this principle, which include doing or promoting good, preventing harm and removing evil or harm. By striving to act in ways that are morally and legally correct, it allows the nurse to gain trust from her patients as well as from society. Within the context of the situation, the two ethical principles presented oppose each other in regards to the ethical dilemma of the nurse. By supporting the decision to discontinue hydration and nutrition, the nurse is respecting the patient’s autonomy. The baby does not possess autonomy and therefore, cannot make decisions. The parents possess the right to make decisions as they see fit and the nurse must respect their freedom. The nurse abides by the principle of beneficence by choosing to seek out options to provide the best possible alternatives within her scope of practice. By doing this, she can educate the parents and give them an opportunity to make an educated decision, which may facilitate reassessment of the decision to prevent any further harm to the neonate. Desired Outcome for All Participants The desired outcome for the situation presented is for the country hospital’s NICU staff to work together and form a plan of care that is in the best interest of the neonate. The plan of care should be discussed with the parents and they should feel confident with their informed decision. Once the plan is discussed with the parents and they are in agreement, the NICU team will work together to implement the plan. Options The nurse may support her patient’s wishes to have life sustaining measures withdrawn in the infant. Within the mother’s current emotional state, this action may seem as the most reasonable but down the line, she may feel extreme guilt and regret. This decision may trigger moral distress amongst the nurse and NICU staff due to their lack of knowledge and guidance in the situation. However, by supporting the decision the nurse demonstrates respect for patient autonomy. If the infant is disconnected, the staff may speak to the parents about providing palliative care and donation of the infant’s viable organs. The nurse may also choose to reassess both mother and baby for a week due to the mother’s initial lack of decision-making capacity. This option violates patient autonomy as the parents wish to disconnect hydration and nutrition. By keeping the baby in its current state, it may cause difficulties for the parents as they value quality of life and disagree with life sustaining measures. However, this option provides the nurse with an opportunity to intervene, consult specialists, research and learn about the mother’s condition and most effective implementation. By reassessing both patients for a week, it buys the infant some time to recuperate from birth trauma and allows the mother to reach optimum health in order to make a rational decision. Another option that may be considered in this situation is to consult the hospital’s ethics committee. Since the nurse is unsure of whether to support parents or encourage them to reassess their decision, she may call in a third party to intervene. This option also goes against the patient’s wishes and may cause them to lose trust in the nurse, which may result in stress on the patient-nurse relationship. The patient and her husband may also refuse to speak to the ethics committee altogether. However, if the patient and her husband consider the option of speaking to an ethicist, it allows them to discuss their decision-making process and values with an unbiased party. By incorporating another person who was not initially involved in the situation, it will assist in relieving some distress the staff feels in regards to the dilemma. Decision and Justification The best decision in this case is for the nurse to reassess both the patient and infant for a week due to the mother’s initial lack of decision-making capacity. Although this choice goes against the autonomy of the mother, it is a decision that is made in the best interest of both the mother and the infant. Extra time allows the nurse to obtain research about AFEs and clinical manifestations to better aid her patient. As stated earlier, one of the main symptoms of an AFE is altered mental status, which may explain why such a rash decision was initially made. The nurse is aware of the altered mental status and must intervene due to the principle of beneficence. During this time, the nurse may consult with a neurologist to observe the mother’s neurologic status and monitor for any impairment. Furthermore, the nurse may consider consulting a neonatologist to determine possible treatment options and prognosis of the infant. This option serves as the most effective over the others because it involves the most thought out process. The option to support her patient’s wishes and autonomy is not in the best interest of the mother or baby, as the nurse is aware of the mother’s lack of decisional making capacity. It is the nurse’s responsibility to do good within her scope of practice and seek out the best option for her patient; this option does not allow her to do so. Requesting an ethics consult would involve more staff in this very delicate situation and most likely negatively affect the nurse-patient relationship by further upsetting the patient and her husband. Effectiveness of Decision The decision that is chosen by the nurse is effective because it involves the implementation of a plan that is carried out by the staff, as well as other collaborative means such as neurology and neonatology. This decision provides the nurse with an opportunity to research options with the patient’s best interest in mind while providing the patient with the prospect of healing. Meanwhile, the infant may receive an appropriate evaluation to determine likelihood of survival. If after further assessment possession of decisional capacity is confirmed, along with confirmation of infant’s unchanged state, the parents may then restate their wishes to disconnect nutrition and hydration as they strongly value quality of life. At this point, the nurse may feel confident in her decision to support the patient’s autonomy as the appropriate measures were taken. Conclusion This scenario is one of many in which a nurse may be faced with a difficult decision. Assessment is the key component in determining whether or not autonomy outweighs patient wellbeing. Once a conclusion can be deferred, the nurse can then implement the most effective plan of care. References Aladangady, N., Rooy, L. (2012). Withholding or withdrawal of life sustaining treatment for newborn infants. Early Human Development, 88, 65-69. Anju, T.R., Naijil, G., Paulose, C.S., Roshni, T. Shilpa, J. (2013). Neonatal hypoxic insult- mediated cholinergic disturbances in the brain stem: effect of glucose, oxygen and epinephrine resuscitation. Neurological Sciences, 34(3), 287-296. Burkhardt, M.A., Nathaniel, A.K. (2014). Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing (4th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Publishers. Conde-Adudelo, A. Romero, R. (2009). Amniotic fluid embolism: an evidence- based review. American Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology, 201(5), 445e1-445e13. Declaration of the rights of the child. (2014). In United Nations Cyber School Bus. Retrieved, from https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/huma nright s/resources/child.asp Gaudine, A., Lamb, M., LeFort, S.M. Thorne, L. (2011). Barriers and facilitators to consulting hospital clinical ethics committees. Nursing Ethics, 18(6), 767-780. Harvard Medical School. (2011). Beyond the â€Å"baby blues.† Harvard Mental Health Letter, 28(3), 1-3. Michigan State University. Case Study: Miller v. HCA. Retrieved from https://www.msu.edu/course/hm/546/miller_v_hca.htm Turner, S. (2012). Postpartum emotions. Midwifery Today, 12(5), 33-36.