Heritage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heritage - Essay Example The repairs, alterations and exterior modifications protected the heritage values of the hall. This concept paper seeks to show the historical significance of Petone Labour Hall and the continued importance and identity to the community heritage despite its conversion into mainly a cinema hall. Under the severance, it is identified by the Map Number B5 on location 52 Bay Street, formally refered to as Petone Labour Hall and the legal description is Lot 70 DP 51.The building was constructed using bricks and reinforced with concrete. It comprises a large hall, a stage and a smaller lecture room located at the back. The Light House that is run in partnership with Upper Hut’s luxury 40-seat art house cinema has two theatres where unlike other theatres popcorn is prohibited (Leach et al n.pg). The special features in the Light house include the proposed insulation controls sound effects. The Light House is designed to screen movies that appeal to a larger and wider audience than those in the big chain multiplexes. Alongside the two theatres there are licensed coffee shops. The building was used mainly for entertainment purposes and now that it is a cinema hall, it does not mean it serves a different purpose. However, this preserved the building’s heritage value an d also restored its role as a community entertainment center (Leach and Moulis n.pg). The new face of the building has different accessibility levels from the ground, as well as, the ticketing area and the coffee shops. There are five cinemas access levels from the ground and in every level there are seats set aside for people with disabilities. For example, there are hearing loop for sound transmits directly to the hearing aid for individuals with hearing impairments. It also has an infrared system that consists of listening receiver and a transmitter. This feeds sound into the transmitter then to the individual

Analysis of Ideology in a Chosen Film - Girl Interrupted Essay

Analysis of Ideology in a Chosen Film - Girl Interrupted - Essay Example She is weak, she finds herself drawn to same sex, and depressed. During her stay in the psychiatric hospital, Susanna becomes friend with other ward-mates; a group of different women who are faced with different mental disorders. Susanna’s real life journey in finding her identity, purpose of her being and coping with her personality disorders. The story of the movie holds different themes and set of ideologies in it. Each theme tells the viewer of the reality, a different yet bitter truth that is faced by majority of the young generation and everyday life of a person who has no focus and no direction in life and how world and the society stands against that downtrodden soul. This is a true story of Susanna Kaysen which was earlier published in the form of a book under the same title. However, Susanna has tried her level best to communicate with the audience directly about the problems she was faced with in her life through this movie. This movie unveils the different hidden l ayers in the personality of a young teenager girl which represents the overall young generation and their suffering in a very well directed manner. ... ot deny the fact that culture is the basic key element in the establishment of a society however; our culture has failed to give the rights and the proper status to the young generation which has left them unfocused, directionless and depressed with a blur future. It has been clearly shown in the movie that those young children who do not get enough love from their homes and attention from their parents become the victim of confusion, distress and with the passage of time their personalities become shattered. Strong language has been used in the film which shows that how mentally unstable women use language as a medium to vent out their emotions and feelings of hate and betrayal. It is a common fact that those children who do not get attention from home become use to of using strong language in their daily life because they lack the sense of respect and grace for others and for themselves. This film describes the role of parents in this regard that how their attitude can push their c hild into insanity. It is important to understand that female children are more prone to adopt compulsive personality as compare to males. Gender Exploitation: As the title of the movie says, â€Å"Girl Interrupted,† this movie revolves around the story of a female which is a victim of gender exploitation by the society and also by the culture. It is important to understand that women are the victim of discrimination; they are provided with limited choices with no significant importance given to them by the society. In today’s world, women are faced with prejudices and gender bias by majority of groups present in the society. Similarly, in the movie Susanna is shown as a weak gender which is the victim of inequality, betrayal and harassment. Majority of women are faced with mental stress

Health Care Conditions Essay Example for Free

Health Care Conditions Essay As we analyze the factors contributing to health care costs we must find a solution that provides high-quality care for an aging population. Improvements to modern medicine are prolonging life causing a schism between a health care system oriented towards acute care and the increasing chronic care needs of older adults. Studies do show that health care costs for older Americans account for one third of all national health care expenditures. This being said the average expenditure for health care services for adults 65 and over is nearly four times the cost of those under 65. More significant changes need to be considered given the financial crisis our health care system faces. Health care costs are not solely due to longevity; consider increased utilization, new medical technologies, general inflation, fraud, and waste and abuse. This paper will discuss one article to be used in my final presentation on health care for anaging population. Data collection procedures The study on chronic health conditions used a questionnaire presented to study participants by in-person and telephone interview using computer-assisted software. They also used the Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) for age prevalence patterns and to show how chronic condition prevalence varies by age group. The use of the CCHS survey for historical data and comparisons is very appropriate for this study. The use of a questionnaire, while not ideal, is appropriate for the large number of participants. The survey sampled approximately 130,000 people aged 12 years or older. In-person interviews are the most reliable, but the downside to using telephone interviews using computer-assisted software is that participants may go through the questionnaire quickly or skip questions if they are unsure. Identity protection for research subjects Confidentiality is the protection of information that an individual has trusted you with and disclosed to you for a particular reason. Informed consent is a process in which the researcher explains to the participant what steps are taken to keep their information confidential and what would happen if there were a data breach. The participant then has the information needed to determine if this is adequate and whether or not to continue with the project. The article does not discuss the steps taken to  protect the identity of participants. There is no mention of patient record abstraction, personal information collected or informed consent. Reading the article, it is an assumption that the only information collected was the age and number and type of chronic conditions for each participant. Study reliability and validity The reliability of this study, that is, the consistency and repeatability of the measure is high. A question related to the number and type of chronic conditions experienced by each participant is reliable and is measuring one topic. The questionnaire meets face validity – it is a common-sense assessment and the question measures exactly what they want to study. Data analysis procedures To answer the research questions, the researchers used data from the CCHS survey to develop a baseline of the number of chronic conditions within certain age groups. That data was then projected for 25 years based on the target population which was derived from a model of the economic demographic system (MEDS) projection. The hypothesis, â€Å"The expectation is that, as the large baby boom cohort moves into older age categories, the overall proportion of the population with chronic conditions will increase† (Denton Spencer, 2010), is best answered by projecting the number of people in each age group based on historical data and factoring in immigration, emigration, mortality, and fertility rates. I believe this study is quantitative. It involves randomly selected participants, uses face-to-face and phone questionnaires, the data analysis is statistical and is presented in tables and graphs, and is used to recommend a final course of action. The study design is descriptive, also called observational. Validity is important in descriptive studies; the lower the validity, the more study participants you will need. â€Å"For an accurate estimate of the relationship between variables, a descriptive study usually needs a sample of hundreds or even thousands of subjects.† (Hopkins, 2000) Conclusion In conclusion, the study shows that more than two-thirds of the population over the age of 12 has a chronic condition and 90% of them are over the age of 65. The researchers believe that as the participants move into higher  age groups the prevalence of chronic conditions will increase, which this study proves. The prevalence rate in 2005 is 68.7% and the prevalence rate in 2030 is 71.9% which is an increase of 3.2%. But how does this affect health care utilization and cost? With a modest reduction in the prevalence of chronic conditions, one-third of the projected increase in health care spending could be cut by 2030. In this study, a modest reduction is described as reducing the number of chronic conditions by one. Those with three chronic conditions would be reduced to two, two would be reduced to one, and one would be reduced to none. The strengths of this study are the high reliability and validity of the data recorded from the questionnaires. The data analysis and projections based on the target population, adjusted for emigration, immigration, mortality, and fertility was the best option for this type of study. The weaknesses of the study were the inability to abstract data on chronic conditions from the medical records of the participants, and the exclusion of participants in institutions which resulted in an under-estimation of chronic conditions in older populations. Another weakness noted by the researchers was that there was no record of the severity of the condition. This does not allow for accurate accounts of those cured of the chronic condition during the study period. References Denton, F.T., Spencer, B.G. (2010). Chronic health conditions: Changing prevalence in an aging population and some implications for the delivery of health care services. Canadian Journal on Aging, 29(1), 11-21. Doi:http://dx/doi.org/10.1017/SO714980809990390 Hopkins, W.G. (2000). Quantitative Research Design. SportsScience, 4(1), retrieved online May 26, 2014 from http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0001/wghdesign.html

Tissue engineering for skin

Tissue engineering for skin TISSUE ENGINEERING OF THE SKIN (MECH 5510M) LITERATURE REVIEW SID: 200507638 ABSTRACT: This essay is a literature review on the tissue engineering for skin replacement, with regard to the clinical need, approaches various commercially-available products. Skin is undoubtedly crucial in the maintenance of the bodys internal balance also protecting externally. It gets severely compromised in burns, non-healing ulcers, reconstructive surgeries etc. bringing down the patients quality of life drastically. Tissue engineering is a more efficient approach than traditional skin grafting. It is a research area that is forever evolving, where researchers are always working towards one united goal, i.e. to develop in bulk quantities, a skin substitute that can be handled with less care, integrates faster with the bodys natural matrix and costs reasonable. INTRODUCTION: A lot of research has been undertaken in the past to realize that it is possible to generate skin by applying engineering techniques. This is done by growing skin at a faster rate than normal and in an artificial manner4. Skin is the largest most widely spread organ in the human body. Its role is to protect the bodys internal environment from harshness of the external conditions and restrict entry of microbes, by acting as a barrier4. Several situations diseases arise, due to which the skin gets irreparably damaged, thus requiring interventional help in restoring it back to health. Tissue engineering is the application of engineering techniques to develop biological substitutes1. Burns (acute) ulcers (chronic) are the most common conditions which require the replacement of skin. In developing countries (Fig 1)2,3, due to lack of knowledge on safety, a very high number of burns accidents occur every year, and mostly of fatal nature. The fatality is mainly due to pain, infection, loss of body fluids incapability of the body to self-regenerate large amounts of lost skin5. Thus, experimentation in this field was triggered. Many skin diseases, which lead to necrosis, pigmentation problems, also require engineered skin4. CLINICAL NEED FOR SKIN TISSUE ENGINEERING: In most incidents, both the epidermal and dermal layers require replacement. Conventionally, the treatment method involved skin grafting i.e. autologous (self) split-thickness and full-thickness grafting, where healthy skin was taken from other areas of the body and replaced at the injury site. Split-thickness (comprising of the epidermis a part of the dermis) grafting is not a logical method to use, when a large area of the body (>50%) is affected less healthy skin is available. But, it is todays gold standard approach6. Further trauma, due to grafting, can be painful to a patient who is already in a critical state. Also, scar formation post-operatively is another reason for its reduced usage. Full-thickness grafts are suitable to use when the burned area is less than 2% of the total area. These problems could be avoided if skin (of full or partial thickness) were grown artificially and substituted in the place of real skin6. LITERATURE REVIEW: The skin can be broadly divided into two layers i.e. the epidermis dermis. The epidermis is made up of several layers and may/may not consist of extra-cellular matrix (ECM). The layers from surface to deep are: cornified, granular, spinosal and basalar layers. The most commonly found cells here are the keratinocytes melanocytes. The dermis is constituted by GAGs proteins. Within the dermis, fibroblasts are most commonly found8. Several skin substitutes exist for wound coverage in tissue engineering4. It can be broadly divided into temporary and permanent skin substitutes. The table below (Table 1) is a list of all the material options available for skin replacement: Table 1: Temporary and Permanent Skin Substitutes8 Permanent tissue engineering of the skin can be broadly divided into three categories6, 8: Epidermal replacements Generally, using autologous keratinocyte sheets. Replaces only the epidermis, but â€Å"take rates† are very poor, suitable for superficial burn treatment only. Dermal replacements Replaces only the dermal layer. In most cases, it is applied along with an epidermal graft to improve â€Å"take rates†. Dermo-epidermal (bilayer skin) replacements Replaces both the epidermis and dermis. Suitable for full-thickness burns. Skin replacements have two main components i.e. cells and the scaffold. In wound coverage, three types of cells can be used autologous, allogenic or stem cells. Autologous (self) cell usage is the most preferred as it is easily accepted by the patients body does not need incite and anti-immune responses. Allogenic (donor) cells, if used directly can lead to the eventual rejection of the transplant. However, it is used in an acellular fashion, where the donor keratinocytes are removed prior to culturing9. Stem cells have trans-germal pluripotential properties are currently being researched for their poteintial application in skin engineering. Less information is obtained on keratinocyte stem cells. The suggested reason for their longevity is that KSC cycles very slowly and is resistant to mutations8. The type of biodegradable scaffold, either natural or synthetic permits cells to attach onto them and facilitate handling during transplantation6, 9. Rheinwald Green Experiment8: The experiment carried out in 1975 by Rheinwald and Green where human (autologous) keratinocytes were produced in-vitro, proved to be a breakthrough in this field and modified versions of this method are used nowadays. Extracted keratinocytes were allowed to form colonies on a plastic substrate. These colonies expanded to form a sheet. Stratifications arose as the daughter cells, usually at the centre, started multiplying vertically and a 12-cell layer was achieved. To increase the multiplicative capacity of keratinocytes, a feeder layer (comprising murine Swiss 3T3 lethally irradiated fibroblasts) mitogens were introduced to the culture. Epidermal Replacements: A small skin biopsy of the patient is harvested, which is cultured to produce a patch. The full-thickness biopsy of the patients skin is cut finely and enzymes are added to cause disaggregation of the skin into cells. A feeder layer, as mentioned previously, is used to culture these cells in culture flasks. To promote proliferation, epidermal growth factors, enzymes such as insulin, hydrocortisone, cholera-toxin and bovine serum are used. After colonies have been formed, trypsin is added. The KCs are cultured to confluence and later, the sheets are removed from the flasks (using dispase) for use8. The result of this method compared to the split-thickness gold standard is quite poor, as the dermal layer is missing and it depends upon the health of the dermis existing. Also, it is prone to scarring, takes too long, expensive, extremely fragile and has varying â€Å"take† rates6. Dermal Replacements: It was claimed, in 1952, that using only pure epidermal sheets, success would be lesser than compared to those with a dermis10. To accentuate the success of the epidermal transplantation, dermal replacements were constructed. A dermal replacement that covered the affected area with cryoprserved allogenic skin was used minus the epidermal layer was used11, 12. Also, an observation that allogenic keratinocytes elicited more anti-immune response than allogenic fibroblasts, was reported. To reconstruct the dermis, the two-stage Integra application is most widely used now13. This dermis functions as a scaffold for the attachment of keratinocytes and improves vascularization9. Burke et al (1981) developed a dermal replacement, where a collagen sponge was covered with a silastic layer (synthetic). The sponge behaves as a scaffold for the fibroblast cells. This technique was commercialized into a product (Integra Dermal Regeneration Template) 9, 14. A modification to this employed GAGs along with collagen, in the scaffold. Here, a precipitated mixture of bovine collagen fibres and a chondrotin-6-sulfate (GAG from shark cartilage) was freeze dried. This generated a collagen-GAG sponge scaffold, which had a mean pore size. Cross-linkage to strengthen the matrix was done using gluteraldehyde. Finally, the silastic layer was applied. This is available as a product; Integra Artificial Skin (Chamberlain and Yannas, 1999)9, 15. According to Heimbach et al (1988), this is most suitable for burns patients. The concept of using absorbable polymer scaffolds (synthetic) such as polyglactin 910 or polyglycolic acid was the next improvement in dermal replacements. Here, allogenic fibroblasts are enzymatically cultured and this culture is mounted on the polymer scaffold for integration). Due to this, an ECM consisting of collagen, growth factors, GAGs etc. is formed, which stays active even after it is frozen17. This was commercialized as Dermagraft 8, 16. Two-stage dermis application has shown proven results, and now clinical trials are being conducted to examine the applicability of one-stage dermis, such as Matriderm 6. The dermal replacements essentially require an epidermal covering. Dermo-Epidermal Replacements: These are available both as autologous or off-the-shelf products. In autologous DED replacements, both keratinocytes and fibroblasts are harvested from the patient and are added to the collagen-GAG scaffold. Cultivation of this in culture medium is for around four weeks. This is a more permanent solution 6, 18, 19. The first model of todays Apligraf was done by Bell et al (1979)20. DEDs use human keratinocytes fibroblast cells (allogenic) within a scaffold. Morphological studies after using Apligraf reported the presence of a well-defined epidermis, with all four layers, as in the natural skin, and seeded allogenic fibroblasts aligned in a normal manner within the collagen matrix 8, 21. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PRODUCTS: CONCLUSION FUTURE AIMS: Tissue engineering of the skin was the first to be approved by the FDA has evolved a great deal, from the first application of only cultured keratinocytes to the use of biological skin substitutes. Research is still in-progress to develop skin in bulk quantities, mainly for burns patients, and to mimic all the mechanical and properties and functions of the natural skin. The state of the art results can be achieved now by using cultured keratinocyte cells with the dermal replacement, Integra, in full-thickness, small and clean wounds. This has shown optimal results in cosmesis and wound closure8. However, this branch of tissue engineering is still very much in a developing level. Studies to analyse how to reduce various risks in patients, who receive donor cells should be done. Also, a main difficulty is in getting the cells to attach to the dermis, post-transplantation. Burns patients are highly susceptible to various problems, thus there is a need for materials that present lower risk than animal/human materials. Mainly, it is ideal if the graft starts to behave like natural skin soon after grafting, which is possible only with rapid vascularization and cell implantation. Also, low expense of these products is extremely desirable. REFERENCES: Nerem R M. 1992. Tissue engineering in the USA. Medical Biological Engineering Computing, Vol 30, pp. CE8-CE 12. Burn Incidence and Treatment in the United States: 1999 Fact Sheet (The Burn Foundation, Philadelphia, 1999). Rose, J. K. Herndon, D. N. Advances in the treatment of burn patients. Burns 23 (suppl. 1), S19-S26 (1997). McNeil S. 2007. Progress and opportunities for tissue-engineered skin. Nature. Vol 445 (22), pp. 874-880. Pomahac B, T. Svensjà ¶, F. Yao, H. Brown and E. Eriksson. 1998. Critical Reviews in Oral Bioogy and Medicine. Vol9; pp. 333-344. Bottcher-Haberzeth S, T Bedermann, E Reichmann. 2009. Tissue engineering of skin. Burns, doi:10.1016/j.burns.2009.08.016 Burn Injury Occurrence is higher in Developing Countries. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn Price R, E Anthony, S Myers and H Navsaria. Chapter 17: Tissue engineering for Skin Transplantation. In: Clemens van Blitterswijk, Peter Thomsen, Anders Lindahl, Jeffrey Hubbell, David F. Williams, Ranieri Cancedda, Joost D. de Bruijn and Jà ©rà ´me Sohier eds., Tissue Engineering. Elsevier Inc, Pp. 507-532. Morgan J R, R L Sheridian, R G Tompkins, M L Yarmush and J F Burke. 2004. Chapter 7: Applications of Materials in Medicine, Biology and Artificial Organs (7.12). In: B D Ratner, A S Hoffman, F J Schoen and J E Lemons eds., Biomaterials Science. Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 602-614. Billingham, R.E. and Reynolds, J. 1952. Transplantation studies on sheets of pure epidermal epithelium and on epidermal cell suspensions. British Journal of Plastic Surgery, Vol 5, pp. 25 36. Cuono , C.B. , Langdon , R. , e t al. 1987. Composite autologous-allogeneic skin replacement: development and clinical application. Plastic Reconstruction Surgery, Vol 80, pp 626 637. Heck , E.L. , Bergstresser , P.R. , e t al. 1985. Composite skin graft: frozen dermal allografts support the engraftment and expansion of autologous epidermis . Journal of Trauma, Vol 25, pp. 106 112. Heimbach, D .M., W arden, G .D., e t al. ( 2003 ). Multicenter postapproval clinical trial of Integra dermal regeneration template for burn treatment. Journal of Burn Care Rehabilitation, Vol 24, pp. 42 48 . Burke, J.F. , Yannas , I.V. , e t al. ( 1981 b ). Successful use of a physiologically acceptable artificial skin in the treatment of extensive burn injury. Annals of Surgery, Vol 194, pp. 413 428. Chamberlain L J, Yannas I V. 1999. Preparation of collagen-glycosaminoglycan copolymers for tissue regeneration. In Methods in Tissue Engineering, J R Morgan and M L Yarmush eds. Humana Press, pp. 3-17. Hansbrough, J.F. , Cooper , M.L., et al. 1992a. Evaluation of a biodegradable matrix containing cultured human fibroblasts as a dermal replacement beneath meshed skin grafts on athymic mice. Surgery, Vol. 111, pp. 438 446. Cooper , M.L. , Hansbrough , J.F. , e t al. 1991. In vivo optimization of a living dermal substitute employing cultured human fibroblasts on a biodegradable polyglycolic acid or polyglactin mesh. Biomaterials, Vol. 12, pp. 243 248. Pham C, Greenwood J, Cleland H, Woodruff P, Maddern G. 2007. Bioengineered skin substitutes for the management of burns: a systematic review. Burns; Vol. 33, pp. 946-57. Boyce ST. 2001 Design principles for composition and performance of cultured skin substitutes. Burns; Vol. 27, pp. 523-33. Bell , E. , Ivarsson , B. , e t al. 1979. Production of a tissue like structure by contraction of collagen lattices by human fibroblasts of different proliferative potential in vitro. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 76, pp. 1274 1278. Parenteau , N.L. , Bilbo , P. , et al. 1992. The organotypic culture of human skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts to achieve form and function. Cytotechnology, Vol. 9, pp. 163 171. Apligraf Structure vs. Skin Structure. Available from: http://www.organogenesis.com/images/apligraf_main3.jpg Fig. 3, Collagen GAG scaffolds for Tissue Engineering. Pek et al, 2004, Biomaterials. Available from: http://web.mit.edu/dmse/csg/Tissue_Regeneration.html Fig. 3, Collagen GAG scaffolds for Tissue Engineering. OBrien et al, 2004, Biomaterials. Available from:http://web.mit.edu/dmse/csg/Tissue_Regeneration.html

Bipolar Disorder and the Essay example -- Biology Essays Research Pape

Bipolar Disorder and the "War on Drugs" Bipolar disorder, also known as, "manic-depressive illness," is a brain disorder that results in unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. More than two million American adults (or, about one per cent of the population aged eighteen and older in any given year) are afflicted by this affective disorder (1). Yet, because it cannot be revealed by a blood test or other physiological means, patients may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Fortunately, once one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the acute symptoms of the disease can be effectively mitigated by lithium and certain anticonvulsant drugs, the most popular being Depakote (also known as valproate). However, not all drugs are created equal. The New York Times recently featured an article elucidating that Lithium, the first drug utilized to treat bi-polar disorder, is more conducive to preventing suicide in people who have manic-depressive illness than Depakote, what has become the most commonly prescribed drug (2).. The new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that patients taking Depakote were 2.7 times as likely to kill themselves as those taking lithium (2).. Although studies conducted prior to this have concluded that lithium could in fact prevent suicide, this report is the first to compare suicide and attempted suicide rates in lithium and Depakote users (2). Approximately fifty years ago, lithium "opened the modern era of psychopharmacology (3)." Its therapeutic effect is indeed very rapid. Administered in the form of lithium carbonate, it is most potent in treating the manic phase of a bipolar affective disorder; once the mania... ...ring of patients and critical treatment experimentation and evaluation may help physicians soon find peace. Sources Cited 1. National Institute of Mental Health: Bipolar Disorder http://%20www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm 2. New York Times, 9/17/03: An Older Bipolar Drug Is Linked to Fewer Suicides in a Study (Denise Grady) 3. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2001. Long-term Clinical Effectiveness of Lithium Maintenance Treatment in Types I and II Bipolar Disorders (Leonardo Tondo, MD) http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/178/41/s184%20 4. Physiology of Behavior (textbook, 7th edition, Neil R. Carlson) 5. American Psychiatric Association. Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Patients With Bipolar Disorder; Part B: Background Information and Review of Available Evidence http://www.psych.org/clin_res/bipolar_revisebook_5.cfm

The Keebler Company :: essays research papers fc

The founhder of the company, Godfrey Keebler, started with jus a small bakery in Philadelphia, PA in 1853. During the next two generations, local bakeries popped up around the country, including Strietmann, Hekman, Supreme and Bowman. With the introduction of cars and trucks (carrying the Keebler logo), bakery goods could be distributed beyond the neighborhood and regional distribution began. In 1927, United Biscuit Company of America was formed. By 1944, there were 16 bakeries in the network from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City and their cookies and crackers were marketed under a variety of brand names for the next 22 years. Due to tremendous growth and modern business practices in centralized management, product consistency and quality, efficient use of facilities, cost control and mass advertising, the company needed to operate under one name. In 1966, â€Å"Keebler† was judged to be the most sound and memorable. Over the years, Keebler has acquired several other producers of cookies and crackers (i.e., Bake-Line Products, Inc. – The nation’s leading producer of private-label cookies and crackers in 1993; merger in June 1996 with Sunshine Biscuit Company – now owned by Keebler Foods Corporation). Keebler/Sunshine merger brought together two of the oldest and most respected names in the U.S. biscuit industry. Keebler and products are sold in more than 75,000 retail outlets nationwide, including Puerto Rico and selected international markets. The Keebler company seems to have more than one target market. With variety of products they offer, the company appears to be targeting just about every segment of the population: + Parents of young children + Young adults + Older adults + People who enjoy snacking + People who enjoy sweets/deserts The market segmentation is largely homogenous in that the segmented groups: + Are generally young children or adults who are relatives of young children ++ Starting at the age of 3 years old, and going up + People who don’t have time to prepare foods all the time + Some brands target older people (i.e., Club Crackers, etc.) Keebler, in maintaining success in the market, emplys the 4P’s as follows: Product: The company produces a physical good – Cookies/Crackers. In doing this, the company became diversified by the use of several product lines, not just one line of cookie or cracker. Also, in acquiring other businesses, the company thought it best to keep the originating firm’s brand name vice-carrying its name on the new product (i.e., Sunshine company). In thins regard, Sunshine’s Cheeze-It cracker line would not risk losing customers who are accustomed to that logo on the product or the name being used in association with the product.

Administrative Decentralization

In a centralized organization, the decisions are made by top executives or on the basis of pre-set policies. These decisions are then enforced through several tiers of the organization after gradually broadening the span of control until it reaches the bottom level.In a more decentralized organization, the top executives delegate much of their decision-making authority to lower tiers of the organizational structure. As a correlation, the organization is likely to run on less rigid policies and wider spans of control among each officer of the organization.This paper will consider administrative decentralization, the benefits and potential pitfalls as it pertains to local emergency services. The first section reviews the term administrative decentralization and its various forms. While its followed by the benefits and pitfalls in relations to local emergency servicesAdministrative decentralizationAdministrative decentralization seeks to redistribute authority, responsibility and financ ial resources for providing public services among different levels of governance. Its is the transfer of responsibility for proper planning, financing and public functions management from central government to the local governments, semi-autonomous public authorities or corporations, or area-wide, regional or functional authorities.An example of administrative decentralization is the power of a field office to settle certain claims against the central administration (decentralization â€Å"government† Encarta student 2008). Governments in developing countries have variety of administrative decentralization policies.These range from those that are more widespread in scope and designed to transfer development planning and management responsibilities to local units of government. Others have been more narrowly conceived, deconcentrating or reallocating administrative tasks among the units of central government.The three major forms of administrative decentralization — dec oncentration, delegation, and devolution — each have different featuresDeconcentrationThis is the weakest form of administrative decentralization and is used most often in unitary states. It distributes decision making, authority and financial and management responsibilities, among various tiers of the central government.It can simply shift responsibilities from the central government workers who are in the capital city to those working in local regions, provinces or districts, or it can create strong field management or local administrative capability under the supervision of   the central government ministries.DelegationDelegation is another form of administrative decentralization. It’s more extensive form of decentralization. It works by transferring of responsibility for decision making and administration through semi-autonomous bodies. Such bodies are not wholly controlled by the central government but they are somehow accountable to the government.This is usual ly done by designating responsibilities by creating various forms of public enterprise, housing authorities, transportation authorities, and special project implementation units. These bodies have an enormous caution in decision making. The organization may be excluded from certain law and constraints on regular civil service personnel. They may also charge the customers directly for product consumption.DevolutionDevolution is the third form of administrative decentralization. Governments delegates functions, by transferring authority for decision-making, finance, and management to semi-autonomous units of local government with corporate status.It usually transfers responsibilities for services to districts that elect their own mayors and councils, generate their revenues, and have independent authority to make investment decisions. In such a system, local governments have plain and lawfully recognized geographical boundaries over which they exercise power and within which they perf orm public functions.This form of administrative decentralization underlies nearly all political decentralization.Community services produced by local government include water provisions, wastewater disposal and creating and maintaining streets and parks, education and social welfare, infrastructure development and protecting the citizens’ legal security and the exercise of public authority and police power.Benefits of administrative decentralization in local emergency servicesIncrease coordination; since power has been brought closer to people, it makes the citizen contribute in one form or the other in reducing the risks of hazards. There is also increase in self reliance of the population at reducing risk of hazards and also helps in disaster prevention.Its also believe that bringing power close to people enhance vertical linkages and flexibility among the administrative agencies hence facilitating planning and implementation of local emergency service policies.Administrat ive decentralization also helps government in post-disaster relief compensation programs and international assistance may also act as ‘incentives’ for people to locate to disaster-prone areas. There’s also effectiveness in development and conservation, planning and implementation of various local emergency system.Potential pitfalls of administrative decentralization pertaining to local   emergency   Ã‚  servicesEquilibrium in empowerment; as stated earlier the objectives of a decentralized administration are good, this is characterized by public empowerment, effectiveness in development, increased efficiency and increased coordination. There is usually a problem in achieving equilibrium between the people of different geographic location or in different communities in people empowerment.Administrative decentralization; it's not absolute in its purpose nor is it always efficient or just. It may assist in programs that alleviate poverty or sustainable forest ma nagement but it is not always sufficient. It’s usually a long term process which is to be achieved in stages or phases. The local government also tends to lack the skills in proper management of disaster.Weak; decentralizing power does not mean doing away with control, hence it tend to be more effective under a strong central government. Hence effectiveness might not be accomplished under the weak form of government.Policies; administrative decentralization policies especially those involving devolution should address existing corruption and potential new structures before initiating the necessary change to address them.Staffs; another problem that tend to arise from this form of decentralization pertaining to the local emergency services is the transfer of power to officials who care more about their self interest than the welfare of the community. This can lead to corruption. Another problem may also arise when power is been devolve to an incompetent official.ConclusionCons idering the merit and demerits of administrative decentralization of governance, proper implementation and designation of power and it monitoring will help to prevent local emergencies and its proper management if it occurs. Its makes life better and brings out their innate potentials because they are allowed in the decision making process.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ReferencesDecentralization Thematic Team.(2008). Different forms of decentralization. Decentralization. Retrieved July 7, 2008. From www.ciesin.orgIan, Ferguson, Cherukat, Chandrasekhar an. (2004). What effect is decentralization having on the quest for sustainable forest management in the Asia-Pacific region?   Path and pitfalls of decentralization. Retrieved July 7, 2008. From www.itto.or.jpJean, Bonnal. (2008). A history of decentralization.   Decentralizatio n. Retrieved July 7, 2008. From www.ciesin.orgJohn, Cohen, Stephen, Peterson. (2008). Administrative Decentralization: A New Framework for Improved Governance, Accountability, and Performance. Retrieved July 7, 2008. 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