Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Humans Are Responsible For Global Warming Environmental Sciences Essay

Global heating is the following large impact that will convey about a alteration in the conditions forms. By definition, Global Warming is the addition in mean temperature that bit by bit warms the Earth ‘s ambiance. It is a phenomenon, which has been on the rise but in the last century, the addition in the degrees have been dismaying. ( George ChristodoulouA ,2006 ) .Global warming has caused a batch of alterations to the environment on a negative mode. Harmonizing to the survey by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , it is observed that the addition in planetary mean temperature has been caused due to an addition in nursery gas concentrations. ( Slashman, 2007 ) . Global heating can hold many different causes, but it is most normally associated with human intervention, specifically the release of inordinate sums of nursery gases. ( EPA, 2006 ) .It is either caused by either worlds or animate beings, or natural causes. Global heating is no more a myth but a fast approaching world, which in the long term will convey the much feared ice age that will pass over out all populating being on Earth. The latest IPCC study states â€Å" widespread mass losingss from glaciers and decreases in snow screen over recent decennaries are projected to speed up throughout the twenty-first century, cut downing H2O handiness, hydropower possible, and altering seasonality of flows in parts supplied by melt H2O from major mountain scopes ( e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes ) , where more than one-sixth of the universe population presently lives. † ( Geneva, 2010 ) . Global heating has caused a major addition of heat towards the Earth ‘s ambiance and it is still impacting boulder clay today due to human activities. Although some people think that planetary heating happens due to natural factors, it is scientifically proved that worlds are responsible for planetary heating. The intent of this paper is to indicate out the irresponsible people doing planetary heating and to non fault planetary heating occurs due to natural factors. There are many scientific and logical factors of planetary heating are caused by human activities. The chief factor is due to the depletion of ozone bed of the ambiance which happens in the stratosphere. Why the ozone does go dilutant or makes a hole? It is because the release of CFC ( CFC ) gases. Human ‘s utilizations air conditioners to do the hot environment ice chest, but what they do n't look to recognize is that they are doing the ambiance even hotter. Air conditioners releases CFC gas when it is turned on. The CFC gas will respond with the ozone bed and deplete or do a hole. Besides that, iceboxs besides release CFC gases when it is opened. Slowly they start infiltrating into the upper beds of the ambiance and shortly make the ozone rich stratosphere, where they undergo major chemical alterations. ( H. A Khemani, 2010 ) . The CFC gas will shortly disintegrate and the Cl atom will respond with the ozone molecule and alterations to oxygen molecule. As shortly the ozone be d alterations to oxygen molecule the ozone bed will be depleted. The most lurid fact about Chlorofluorocarbons is that they have exceptionally long atmospheric life which, in certain instances, even extends to 100 old ages. This means that if CFC refrigerants are leaked in the ambiance, they will maintain consuming ozone bed for the following 100 old ages to come. ( H. A Khemani, 2010 ) . There are other stuffs used by worlds that release CFC gas such as chemical sprays and combustion of Styrofoam stuffs. Furthermore, the addition of C dioxide degree leads to climatic alteration. Worlds are the chief people to breathe green house gasses to the environment. They emit them in a assortment of ways. The burning dodo fuel by human activities releases green house gas which is C dioxide. When there is a rise in the per centum of C dioxide in the air, the sum of heat captured by the C dioxide besides increases. ( Bidisha Mukherjee, 2010 ) . As the sum of C dioxide degree addition in the ambiance heat is trapped inside the ambiance and causes warming of the Earth. Furthermore, coal combustion of power works besides increases the C degree in the ambiance. Burning coal produces about 9 billion metric tons of C dioxide each twelvemonth which is released to the ambiance, approximately 70 % of this being from power coevals. ( World-nuclear.org, 2011 ) . In add-on mills emit more fume and harmful gases such as C dioxide, A methane, A and oxide. These gases do non merely increase the temperature of t he environment but causes injury to human and animate beings. The combustion of gasolene from transit besides contributes planetary warming on a big graduated table. Burning of gasolene will increase the sum of C monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a really harmful gas that it can do decease to populating beings. Dusts are besides accumulated in the ambiance. Brazil and Indonesia, which contain the universe ‘s two largest lasting parts of rain forest, are being stripped at an dismaying rate by logging, fires, and land-clearing for agribusiness and cattle-grazing. ( Nationalgeographic.com, 2011 ) . Human activities of consuming forest illicitly have cause a major clime alteration to the environment. Men presents are selfish and do things on their favours. They think to upgrade the state with the betterment of engineering. The use of land for development of edifices makes them to cut down woods uncontrolled. Besides, illegal deforestation for importing logs to other states for concern intent causes planetary heating. Trees are needed to cut down the sum of C dioxide in the environment. By disforesting the sum will be greater and the Earth will finally acquire hotter. Excessive film editing of trees for urban usage and other intents is damaging to the environmental balance. ( Manali Oak,2011 ) . Opposition argues more with the point of political relations that plays a function in planetary heating excessively. Even those politicians who are brave plenty to contend for action on the issue are non stating us the whole truth. ( Mark Jeantheau, 2004 ) .The authorities is non responsible for the happening of planetary heating. They do non take any action towards illegal people who causes planetary heating and are money minded. On their head is ever bribe and do non believe about others. Public are non cognizant of this phenomena and take it easy. Government should be blamed for this due for non educating the populace about the effects of planetary heating and point out the effects.

What Are The Concepts Of Sustainability Environmental Sciences Essay

Sustainability as a construct has no universally acceptable definition or a clearly defined planetary modus operandi to measure and mensurate its intergenerational additions. Despite going a really popular term in modern-day society, the construct is mostly context and perspective dependant ; as it can be taken to intend different things to different people, at different minutes in clip ( Kruyt et al. , 2009 ) . â€Å" Before now, many people were non cognizant of what sustainability is, and its deductions to human being. Even as its consciousness is increasing, the built-in ambiguity of the topic remains an issue of planetary argument † ( Mbasuen, 2009 ) . In malice of this equivocal nature, our bounds to technological and economic growings, due to human development as predicted in past scholarship underpin the focal issue on sustainability today ( Malthus, 1798 ) , ( Hotelling, 1931 ) and ( Meadows et al. , 1972 ) . â€Å" In a command, to unknot the mystery of this term, several definitions and visualising images of sustainability have evolved † ( Mbasuen, 2009 ) . However, the most popular of these definitions remains the UN definition in Brundtland Report ( Our Common Future, 1987 ) ; which conceptually explores sustainability in three dimensions to underpin economic, environmental and societal sustainability ; ( Triple Bottom Line ) attack ( Elkington, 2004 ) . However, mainstream sustainability minds â€Å" believe that the definition is obscure and did non underpin any particulars within the myriad of issues concerned with ‘Our Common Future ‘ which we are taking at † ( Mbasuen, 2009 ) . As a effect, many people view the construct to include other dimensions such institutional and even political sustainability, while others such as ( Dietz and Neumayer, 2007 ; Neumayer, 2010 ) pitch their collapsible shelters with opposing positions of weak versus strong sustainability. Despite the elusive nature of this construct, Sustainability Assessment ( SA ) on the other manus is less equivocal, and can be defined as a formal procedure of identifying, foretelling and measuring the possible impacts of an enterprise ( such as a statute law, ordinance, policy program programme and undertaking ) and its options on the sustainable development of society. ( Govender et al. , 2006 ) . It is a new and germinating construct in environmental appraisal, germinating from plants carried out by environmental impact appraisal ( EIA ) and strategic environmental appraisal ( SEA ) practicians ( Sheate et al. , 2003 ; Pope et al. , 2004 ) . It is progressively being seen as a tool in the ‘family ‘ of impact appraisal processes ( Hacking and Guthrie, 2008 ) that is used to develop new techniques and attacks to impact appraisal that are designed to direct planning and decision-making towards sustainable development ( SD ) ( Pope et al. , 2004 ) . It involves the integrating of the biophysical environmental, societal and economic pillars of sustainability into determination devising in a manner that acknowledges their inter-relatedness. ( Govender et al. , 2006 ) . The increasing degree of political committedness to the rule of Sustainable Development has made SA a common determination doing tool ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ; Govender et al. , 2006 ; Pope et al. , 2004 ) . The majority of research on SA has originated in Canada, Europe and the UK, however, there are still really few illustrations of effectual SA procedures implemented in the universe ( Gibson, 2006 ; Pope et al. , 2004 ) . Some illustrations can been seen in Western Australia ( Pope and Grace 2006 ) and South Africa of which many are really illustrations of ‘integrated appraisal ‘ , derived from environmental impact appraisal ( EIA ) and strategic environmental appraisal ( SEA ) ( Govender et al. , 2006 ; Pope et al. , 2004 ) . The term ‘Sustainability Appraisal ‘ is used in the UK to separate conventional SEA with a biophysical focal point from a signifier of strategic appraisal that besides covers societal and economic impacts ( Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005 ) . Govender et al. , ( 2006 ) argue that what is called Sustainability Assessment/Appraisal in some states is fundamentally the same as SEA in South Africa. This whole construct of sustainability or sustainable development was foremost described by the Brundtland Commission in 1987: as † †¦ development that meets the demands of the present without compromising the ability of future coevalss to run into their ain demands † ( World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p.9 ) . The Rio Earth Summit which took topographic point in 1992 farther set out a series of action points for accomplishing Sustainable development ( SD ) and besides advocates the usage of impact appraisal tools to turn to SD ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) . However, as noted earlier at that place seems to be no consensus in the significance of SD as there are several conflicting readings. This was indicated by O'Riordan ( 2000, p.30 ) â€Å" there is no clear understanding as to what sustainable development is, every tract begins and ends at different pointsaˆÂ ¦ † and harmonizing to Williams and Millington ( 2004 ) , this is because the inquiry of how to conjoin demands and resources can be answered in a figure of different ways. For illustration what is sustainable and unsustainable, over what clip span is sustainability achieved and how are natural bounds defined and assessed? ( Barrett and Grizzle 1999 ; Lawrence, 1997 ) . Therefore, for SA pattern to accomplish sustainable results, it needs to acknowledge that different stakeholders have different framings of what SA outcomes should be ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) .Understanding SustainabilityThe being of multiple definitions of sustainable development already po ses a job for sustainability appraisal ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) . Common to all definitions are two cardinal rule ; intragenerational and intergenerational equity and two cardinal constructs ; demands and bounds ( Carter, 2001 ) . How these facets are interpreted has been the issue of argument seen in most literature. One peculiar issue is the different signifiers of sustainability ; weak and strong ( George, 1999 ) . Williams and Millington ( 2004 ) referred to ‘weak sustainability ‘ or ‘shallow environmentalism ‘ as a state of affairs in which one needs to spread out the stock of resources by developing renewable resources, making replacements for non-renewable resources, doing more effectual usage of bing resources, and/or by seeking for technological solutions to jobs such as resource depletion and pollution. Whereas ‘strong sustainability ‘ or ‘deep ecology ‘ is a state of affairs in which the demands that we make on the Earth need to be revised so that we consume less ( that is ; instead than accommodate the Earth to accommodate ourselves, we adapt ourselves to run into the finiteness of nature ) . This statement is further extended to environmental appraisal ( EA ) and many advocators of EA view the integrating of societal and economic issues in SA as a possible mechanism for legalizing the trading off environmental concerns for socio-econmoic additions ( Sheate et al. , 2003 ; Morrison-Saunders and Fischer, 2006 ; Pope and Grace 2006 ) . These differing positions of both strong and weak sustainability can been seen in current patterns. For illustration in Western Australia, SA builds upon a strong civilization of undertaking environmental impact appraisal, enabled by the Environmental Protection Act 1986, to include societal and economic considerations every bit good as environmental issues, thereby maximises ‘win-win-wins ‘ and minimises tradeoffs ( Pope et al. , 2005 ) . Although this tends to back up strong sustainability, pattern nevertheless shows what different as seen in the Gorgon gas development on Barrow Island ( Class A Nature Reserve ) . The Western Australian Government approved the development when environmental impacts were clearly negative ; that is set abouting environmental tradeoffs in favour economic and societal benefits ( Pope et al. , 2004 ; Pope et al. , 2005 ) . This is similar to the ‘weak ‘ construct of sustainability. Besides in the UK, SA in geared towards programs and programmes. Therivel et al. , ( 2009 ) analyzed 45 Sustainability Appraisals conducted in England based on their nucleus schemes ( societal, economic or environmental classs ) . They concluded that the programs will hold good societal and economic effects, but negative environmental effects. They besides pointed out that SA does non place environmental sustainable developments, or the acceptable tradeoff between environmental costs and social/economic benefits. Thereby connoting that SAs are most likely non using sustainability rules, since they are neither placing what ‘living within environmental bounds ‘ are nor proving nucleus schemes against them. The argument about sustainability is fundamentally in three classs ; protecting the natural environment, progressing economic public assistance, and supplying basic human demands. For some people human overuse of the natural environment finally threatens human endurance while others will reason that some depletion of natural resources is inevitable, for economic growing. ( Barrett and Grizzle 1999 ) . This would inevitable impact how results of SA are been seen as been sustainable or unsustainable. Besides existent pattern is different from Governments initial scheme as seen in the Western Australian instance ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) .Time ScalesAnother of import facet in the definition of sustainable development is equity among current and future coevalss. Harmonizing to George ( 1999 ) the duplicate pillars of sustainable development are intergenerational equity ( a necessary status for sustainability ) and intragenerational equity ( a necessary status for development ) . The care of both intragenerational and intergenerational equity ; means that present development must take into history current demands of people present and besides demands of future coevals ( Barrett and Grizzle 1999 ) . This construct was clearly stated in the Brundtland Report ( World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987 ) . Merely as there are different readings of the significance of sustainability, besides there are different positions on how equity should be maintained across coevalss. For Pearce and Warford ( 1993 ) , intergenerational equity, means that development should procure additions in the public assistance of the current coevals provided that public assistance in the hereafter does non diminish, while for Howarth, ( 2007 p.6 ) , who proposed the ‘fair sharing rule ‘ ; â€Å" each member of present and future society is entitled to portion reasonably in the benefits derived from environmental resources. Specific stocks of environmental resources should non be depleted without rendering merely compensation to members of future coevalss † , believes that future coevalss hold a presumptive right to inherit peculiar environmental resources in an unrelieved province. Besides both positions can be said to back up the constructs of weak and strong sustainability. Hence, as noted by Barrett and Grizzle ( 1999 ) , doing environmentally sustainable policy therefore requires the rapprochement of different communities ‘ divergent involvements in ecosystem care and intragenerational and intergenerational distribution. Another job for SA noted by Bond and Morrison-Saunders ( 2011 ) is the uncertainness and vagueness of the boundaries for intragenerational and intergenerational equity. They farther explained that clip continuance of a coevals would change depending on the part were one lives. This can be clearly seen in the different life anticipation values for different states. For illustration, the estimated value for the UK is 80 old ages while that of Nigeria is 47 old ages in 2011 ( Central Intelligence Agency, 2009 ) . A authoritative illustration is the CoRWM radioactive waste study. The study indicated that around 300,000 old ages would hold to go through until radioactive decay would be sufficient for the activity of the fuel to return to that of the natural U ore from which it was originally produced ( CoRWM, 2006 ) . Despite the fact that the general position among the commission is that the present coevals should take the load imposed by its actions from the hereafter, the hard faced is the fact that institutional control, the clip period over which a Government is expected to be in being with cognition and resources to manage any originating issues, was assumed to be a period of around 300 old ages ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ; CoRWM, 2006 ) . Another illustration is the Western Australian Government Gorgon gas development on Barrow Island. Bond and Morrison-Saunders ( 2011 ) indicated that the gas processing installations designed for an operational lifetime of 30 old ages, is at odds with the sustainability standards which promises ‘long-term ‘ economic growing for the Pilbara part and Western Australia in general. This ill-defined significance of footings ( for illustration, â€Å" short, average and long-run † and ‘forever ‘ ) has resulted in how SA is seen to accomplish sustainable results.Reductionism versus holistic theorySustainability appraisal procedure can be carried out by using different attacks and tools runing from indexs to a system-based attack with greater stakeholder engagement. ( Gasparatos et al. , 2009 ) . Amongst academicians/practitioners, there is a current argument on which appraisal procedure ( reductionism or holistic theory ) is best for measuring SA advancement towards sustainability. Reductionism defined by Bond and Morrison-Saunders ( 2011, p.2 ) is â€Å" the interrupting down complex procedures to simple footings or constituent parts † †¦ and â€Å" in the context of SA, this can be illustrated by the attack taken of utilizing a few selected sustainability indexs to stand for the sustainability of a whole system † . Besides Bond and Morrison Saunders ( 2009 ) noted that the cardinal constituent of any SA is holding a suited sustainability index, which are associated with set sustainability aims and marks, to guarantee that undertaking, program or programmes achieve sustainable results. George, ( 1999 ) besides argued that appraisal done aggregately ( holistic theory ) , tends to hide any signifier of possible trade-offs between single facets or constituents. For illustration, impairment in quality of life for some societal groups may non go evident, and potentially unsustainable environmental effects may travel undetected. He suggested that this defect can be reduced if the appraisal is done in item, through single indexs for each of the relevant constituents. Costanza ( 2000 ) and Bond and Morrison-Saunders ( 2009 ) , noted that the flexibleness or â€Å" user friendliness † of reductionism is one of its chief advantages, given its ability to cut down the surfeit of the environmental impacts to a limited set of Numberss in order to incorporate societal, economic and environmental consideration into determination devising. On the other manus, there is besides an statement that environmental systems need to be considered as wholes instead than interrupt down units ( Holism ) . This is because the environment and human societies are complex systems which are dynamic and non-linear in nature, and are besides involved in complex interactions. Hence, understanding this complex system, requires a holistic attack, to to the full measure the cumulative consequence of all impacts moving together to hold unacceptable environmental effects. ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ; Cashmore, 2004 ; Gasparatos et al. , 2009, 2008 ; Morrison-Saunders and Bailey 2000 ) . Steinemann, ( 2000 ) , besides suggested that â€Å" traveling off from analyses of stray hazards and toward a broader apprehension of environment will necessitate a more holistic, incorporate position of impact appraisal † . Reductionism harmonizing to Gasparatos et al. , 2009 ) is presently still the dominant paradigm for sustainability appraisals. There are different grades of reductionism where complex systems are reduced to smaller figure steps or the utmost being a individual value ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) . Examples of reductionist attack can been seen in the UK SAs undertaken for nucleus schemes of 38 local governments in England, where the greatest figure of indexs used was 151 and the lowest 24 ( Bond and Morrison-Saunders 2011 ) .Discussion and DecisionThe success of Sustainability Assessment is dependent on a figure of different readings. The first measure is to admit this different reading, acknowledge that these reading influences what different stakeholders view SA in accomplishing sustainable results. Ideally, SA integrates societal, environmental and economic considerations at every phase in decision-making, but how this integrating should be carried out, without sing one facet more than the other has been a beginning of environmental contention. Some advocators of environmental appraisal suggested that environmental appraisal could lend to sustainability by widening its range to include societal and economic considerations along with environmental 1s ( Pope et al. , 2004 ) , while on the other manus many advocators of environmental assessment position sustainability appraisal with some intuition, seeing it as a possible mechanism for legalizing the trading off environmental concerns for socio-economic addition ( Pope and Grace 2006 ) . Evidences from SA patterns in several states ( for illustration, Western Australian Government Gorgon gas development ) have shown that the weak sustainability or anthropocentricity presently prevails in the universe today. Another facet considered in this paper is the job of intergenerational and intergenerational equity. What approaches would be best to turn to battalion of environmental, societal and economic issues, together with intergenerational and intergenerational equity concerns? A â€Å" pluralistic stewardship † that is, incorporating nucleus elements of anthropocentricity, biocentrism, and ecocentrism, has been suggested by Barrett and Grizzle ( 1999 ) , to be the best attack for SA to accomplish sustainable results. Gasparatos et al. , ( 2009 ) besides suggested that â€Å" methodological pluralism coupled with stakeholder engagement seems a safer way to step † . Hence, one can reason that no 1 valid procedure or point of view can supply an ample and appropriate solution to this issue ( SA accomplishing sustainable results ) . Besides any sustainability construct /related models or procedure must be adapted to suite regional and local conditions ( for illustration the different life anticipation in different states ) ( Lawrence, 1997 ) . In decision, it is apparent that Weak Sustainability with Reductionism remains the prevailing sustainability attacks in current sustainability docket, with strong focal point on short term sustainability additions instead than hunger for intergenerational equity. These different readings of sustainability, ( embracing timescale, reductionist and holistic ) is liken to the statement â€Å" beauty is in the eyes of the perceiver † . In other words, to the EIA practitioner/stakeholder/individual, their significance and reading of the term sustainability would find if SA has achieved sustainable result.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Comparison Of Post Stroke Rehabilitation Health And Social Care Essay

Stroke is considered to be the 3rd cause of decease and disablement for 1000000s of people in both developed states ( 1 ) . Stroke is the clinical manifestation of a broad scope of pathologies, with different etiologies and forecasts, and many hazard factors. Stroke is defined as a syndrome characterized by quickly developing clinical symptoms and/or marks of focal loss of intellectual map, in which symptoms last more than 24 hours or take to decease, with no evident cause other than that it is a vascular beginning. Stroke victims who survive the first onslaught may hold prevailing damages such as cognitive damages, upper and lower limb damages and address disablements. The United land ‘s prevalence of shot in the population is estimated to be 47 per 10000 doing stroke the most common cause of big physical disablement ( 1 ; 2 ; 3 ) . Stroke rehabilitation is a chief factor in assisting shot subsisters to recover their functional ability when medical and surgical intercessions are limited ( 4 ) . Physical therapy plays a major function in shot rehabilitation. Physical healers choose the continuance and type of therapy given and supply instruction for shot patients. Stroke rehabilitation purposes at giving the patients the ability to recover maximal and full potency in functional activities and Restoration of motor control ( 5 ; 6 ; 7 ; 4 ) . Three chief factors in rehabilitation contribute to the velocity and quality of recovery. These factors are: intervention session continuance and frequence, type of intervention attack used for rehabilitation, and supplying instruction about the status for patients during and after therapy ( 2 ; 3 ; 6 ; 8 ; 7 ) . Physical therapy rehabilitation for shot patients is designed to impact the disablements and damages associated with station shot conditions. Rehabilitation is chiefly aimed at restricting any impairment of damages and maximising the functional degree for patients enduring from shot. To be able to present this, physical healers should follow a certain set of guidelines which will see better results and avoid unneeded patterns that could protract and detain optimal addition of map ( 5 ; 6 ) . It is ill-defined whether physical healers in Kuwait follow any specific guidelines in shot rehabilitation. Therefore, it would be plausible to larn more about current local rehabilitation processs. This may assist in the farther development of local rehabilitation processs and pattern guidelines, optimisation of intervention and rehabilitation direction, betterment in shot patient ‘s wellness and quality of life, and minimisation of conflicted rehabilitation patterns that prolong therapy which in bend affect and burthen the wellness system with increased figure of patients ( 5 ; 9 ; 7 ; 10 ) . We hypothesize that shot rehabilitation in Kuwait follows general guidelines and scientific discipline based patterns in shot rehabilitation. Therefore the purposes of this survey are to: Explore if stroke rehabilitation in Kuwait follow general guidelines of shot rehabilitation sing frequence of intervention Sessionss and continuance of each session. Investigate if physical healers specialising in the field of neuroscience in Kuwait follow general guidelines of shot rehabilitation sing their intervention attacks. Identify if instruction is being provided for shot patients about their status during and after rehabilitation.Literature Reappraisal:Stroke is defined as a syndrome in which clinical symptoms and/or marks of intellectual map loss develop quickly, and last for more than 24 hours or consequence in decease. Stroke can be classified harmonizing to the cause, which is either ischaemic or haemorrhagic. Ischemic strokes history for 85 % of all shots, while 15 % history for haemorrhagic shots. Over 10 % of patients who had a first shot will hold a 2nd one within a twelvemonth, and the hazard of return within 5 old ages is 15-42 % ( 1 ) . There are a broad scope of conditions that lead to stroke, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Each twelvemonth, 5.45 million deceases are attributed to stroke, and over 9 million survive. Survivors frequently experience a broad scope of prevailing damages. Common damages include Physical disablement, cognitive damage, Lower limb damages, and address troubles. ( 1 ) Rehabilitation is an of import portion after endurance from a shot. Rehabilitation was defined in the New Zealand guideline for direction of shot as ‘a problem-solving and educational procedure aimed at cut downing the disablement and disability experienced by person as a consequence of disease, ever within the restrictions imposed by both available resources and the implicit in disease ‘ ( 12 ) . It ‘s of extreme importance that the shot patient understands, and receives instruction refering his/her status and what restrictions may prevail, even after rehabilitation ( 12 ) . Reker D. M. et Al, researched whether attachment to post shot guidelines was associated with greater patient satisfaction. They used a prospective origin cohort survey design for new shot admittances, including post-acute attention, and they made follow-up interviews at 6 months after the shot hurt. Two hundred and 80 eight patients were included in the survey, from 11 Veterans Affairs medical Centres ( VAMCs ) . The chief result steps used in this survey were: 1 ) conformity with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ( AHRQ ) , 2 ) patient satisfaction with attention provided, and 3 ) stroke-specific instruments. Consequences have shown that, for every 10 % percent addition in guidelines conformity, the mean value of patient satisfaction additions by 1.5 points for the average overall satisfaction mark, which ranges from 4 to 39, and includes points for hospital satisfaction, place satisfaction, and overall satisfaction. The survey concluded that conformity to AHRQ guidelin es is significantly associated with patient satisfaction. ( 6 ) Several comparings between Stroke Rehabilitation Protocols/ guidelines have been performed. This is good in set uping the best intervention, with respects to dosing, strength, continuance, every bit good as efficiency and efficaciousness of intercessions. A survey by McNaughton H, et al 3 examined the pattern and results of shot rehabilitation between New Zealand and the United States installations. This survey used a Prospective experimental cohort design and included 1161 participants from six United States ( U.S. ) Rehabilitation installations and 130 participants from one New Zealand rehabilitation installation, all above the age of 18 old ages. In this survey, New Zealand patients were older than the United States patients. However, the badness of initial shot was higher for the U.S. patients. Despite that fact, patients in the U.S. were discharged earlier. They besides had more intensive therapy, represented in higher continuances spent with physical therapy and occupational th erapy professionals. Besides, U.S therapists tended to pass less clip on appraisal and non-functional activities, while concentrating more on active direction of patients. Consequences showed that, U.S. participants had better outcomes represented by alterations in Functional Independence Measure FIM tonss and fewer discharges to institutional attention ( 13.2 % vs. 21.5 % ) . This survey illustrates that continuance and strength of therapy can be adjusted to derive a better result. Besides, it is of import to cognize which activities are being done in the intervention session, and happen out if they contribute to a better result of rehabilitation. ( 9 ) Horn et Al. investigated the consequence of specific rehabilitation therapies in shot rehabilitation on results, taking into history the differences between patients. In this survey, they wanted to analyze the associations between patient features, rehabilitation therapies, neurotropic medicine, nutritionary support, and clip of get downing therapy with functional results and discharge finish for shot inmates. Discharge entire, motor, and cognitive FIM ( functional independency step ) tonss and discharge finishs were registered for 830 patients with moderate or terrible shots from five U.S. inmate rehabilitation installations. Consequences showed that earlier induction of rehabilitation, clip spent in higher-level rehabilitation activities, such as upper-extremity control, pace and job resolution, use of newer psychiatric medicines, and stomachic eating, were all associated with better results. The survey besides illustrated that a assortment of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy , and Speech Language Pathology activities were correlated with higher or lower FIM tonss. On one manus, more proceedingss spent per twenty-four hours on PT pace activities, OT upper-extremity control activities and place direction, and SLP job work outing activities were associated significantly with higher FIM tonss. On the other manus, more proceedingss spent per twenty-four hours on PT bed mobility and posing, OT bed mobility, and SLP audile comprehension and orientation were systematically associated with lower FIM tonss. ( 10 ) One survey described Physical Therapy intercession for shot patients in inmate installations within the U.S. ( 12 ) . Six rehabilitation installations in the U.S. included 972 topics with stroke hurt. Variables studied were clip spent in therapy, and content and activities that were used in rehabilitation. The average continuance of stay in the inmate installations was 18.7 yearss, and received PT was on an norm of 13.6 yearss. Patient spent 57.15 proceedingss on norm for Physical therapy intervention mundane. Activities of pace, transferring, and pre-functional activities, which include beef uping exercisings, balance preparation, and motor acquisition, were the most performed intercessions. Besides, healers included activities that incorporated different maps into one functional activity. This survey implicated that a focal point of physical healer when supplying intervention is optimising functional activities, as they were the most frequent activities performed. However, activiti es to rectify damages and to counterbalance for lost maps were besides included in the intervention Sessionss. ( 12 ) Brocklehurst, et Al. investigated the usage of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and address therapy for patients enduring from shot, as they mentioned that those intercessions formed the footing of shot rehabilitation. The survey included 135 shot patients from five general and one geriatric infirmary, in South Manchester. Of the 135 topics, 107 received PT, 35 received OT, and 19 received speech therapy. Consequences were obtained after mensurating the rate of alteration in map over a one twelvemonth period. Patients who had more terrible disablements, and the worst forecast, were more likely to acquire physical therapy intervention. Factors that determine type and specificity of physical therapy to stroke rehabilitation were besides examined. Some of the factors were extent of disablement, and disability-associated morbidities, such as faecal incontinency, spasticity, centripetal loss and dysphasia. Even though the most handicapped received the most physical therapy interven tion, they showed the least betterment in map even after six months of therapy. This survey besides concluded that patients whose advancement was poorest, received more physical therapy. ( 4 ) Hsiu-Chen Huang et Al, investigated the impact of timing and dosage of rehabilitation bringing on the functional recovery of patients enduring from shot. In this survey, a retrospective reappraisal of medical charts was done for 76 patients who were admitted to a regional infirmary for a first-ever shot. Patients had multidisciplinary rehabilitation plans, including PT, OT, and a uninterrupted rehabilitation for at least three months. The chief result step for this survey was the Barthel index, taken at initial appraisal, one month, three months, six months and one twelvemonth after shot. Consequences of this survey showed that there is a dose-dependent consequence of rehabilitation on functional result betterments of shot patients. Besides, earlier bringing of rehabilitation is associated with permanent effects on functional recovery up to one twelvemonth post-stroke. ( 13 ) It is ill-defined whether physical healers follow grounds based pattern many states of the universe including Kuwait. There is no uncertainty the epoch of grounds based pattern is upon us for many grounds including better intervention results, patient satisfaction, reimbursement amongst others. In one study survey, conducted by Iles and Davidson, scrutiny of physical healers ‘ current pattern in Australia was undertaken. This survey found that there are several barriers in the manner of evidence-based pattern. Those barriers included clip to remain up to day of the month, entree to diaries, entree to sum-ups of grounds that are easy to understand, and deficiency of personal accomplishments in looking for and measuring research grounds. ( 14 ) Salbach et Al, examined the determiners of research usage in clinical determination devising among physical healers handling post-stroke patients. Two hundred and sixty three physical healers from the province of Ontario, Canada, responded to a study questionnaire, incorporating points for measuring practician and organisational features and perceptual experience of research believed to be act uponing evidence-based pattern. The study besides contained the frequence of utilizing research grounds in clinical determination devising in a typical month. Consequences showed that, merely a little per centum of healers ( 13.33 % ) reported utilizing research in clinical determination devising six times a month or more. However, most healers ( 52.9 % ) reported utilizing research 2-5 times a month, while 33.8 % used research 0-1 clip per month. In this survey, research usage was associated with the academic readying in the rules of Evidence-Based Practice ( EBP ) , research engagement, servi ce as a clinical teacher, being self-effective in implementing EBP, attitude towards research, perceived organisational support of research usage, and entree to bibliographic databases at work. This survey concluded that a 3rd of healers seldom apply research grounds in clinical determination devising. Suggested intercessions to advance research usage included instruction in the rules of EBP, EBP self-efficacy, holding a postitive attitude towards research, and engagement in research. ( 7 ) A survey by Ogiwara, made a comparing between the bases of intervention between Nipponese physical healers, and Swedish healers. They investigated the grounds why the Japanese choose certain attacks of intervention when managing shot patients, and so compared the consequences with those of Swedish healers. Swedish healers attributed their pick of intervention to hands-on experience and engagement in practical classs, in which assorted techniques are taught. Bobath ‘s attack was the lone method that was normally continued to be used after graduation in both states. Consequences have illustrated that Swedish healers were more interested in new methods of intervention ( 91 % ) , whereas merely 77 % of Nipponese healers had an involvement. Implication of their consequences might intend that Nipponese healers are interested in their intervention attack, and besides show that presenting new attacks of interventions takes a longer clip in comparing to Sweden. Additionally, Swedish hea lers tend to do a combination of intervention attacks, while Nipponese physical healers tend to follow merely one peculiar attack. Several grounds were speculated for turn toing the differences in intervention protocols, some of which were: 1 ) diverseness of civilizations, 2 ) diverseness of wellness the attention system, 3 ) handiness of equipment and infinite needed to follow a certain new attack, 4 ) belief of efficaciousness of a certain attack and 5 ) the linguistic communication barrier imposed on Nipponese healer, and handiness of translated literature. This survey showed that there are several barriers and differences encountered when the demand of application of new attacks is desired. ( 8 ) Wachters-Kaufmann et Al, conducted a survey sing the conferring of information for shot patients and health professionals. Their survey investigated how information was provided to patients and health professionals and how they really preferred to be informed. The existent and coveted information correspond in footings of content, frequence, and method of presentations good as the existent and coveted information. The survey was done in the North of the Netherlands and the shot unit of University infirmary Groningen. The General practicians ( GP ) distributed a usher from a community-based survey of cognitive upsets and quality of life ( CognitiVA ) after a shot. The usher was given three months after the shot. For the concluding measuring of the survey, which was 12 months subsequently, the patients and health professionals participated in a telephone study, which asked about three things: 1 ) professional stroke-care suppliers, 2 ) other beginnings of information, 3 ) the usher. Fi fty one patients and 38 health professionals were contacted, of which 18 patients and 11 health professionals declined to be interviewed for assorted grounds. The consequences showed that the GP ‘s, brain doctor, and physical healers were both the existent and coveted information suppliers. As for the content, the existent content was the usher, whereas the desired was largely medical information refering the class of the disease, its cause, effects, and intervention. Sing the frequence, the existent and desired was within 24 hours of the shot, and one twenty-four hours to two hebdomads subsequently, and after two hebdomads. As for the method of presentation of information, the patients and health professionals largely desired merely verbal ( 73 % patients, 89 % health professionals ) . ( 15 )MethodsThis comparative design research undertaking will compare the shot rehabilitation plan implemented in Kuwait with the established guidelines for shot rehabilitation in the United S tates of America. The rehabilitation plan shot patients are having in Kuwait ‘s Ministry of Health infirmaries, specifically, Al-Jahra, Mubarak, Farwanya, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Al-Sabah infirmaries will be investigated. Subjects of the survey will be physical healers practising in the shot rehabilitation field. We will supply physical healers experienced in shot rehabilitation with self-administered questionnaires, which will be collected after one hebdomad. We will besides analyze patient records over a three hebdomad period. To entree the records, we will acquire permission from the caput of the physical therapy section of each infirmary every bit good as each infirmaries manager. Institutional Review Board ( IRB ) blessing will be obtained prior to any informations aggregation. Blessing from the Ministry of Health ‘s IRB will be obtained every bit good as blessing from Kuwait University. Data will so be compared with the established American Stroke Guidelines. All informations gathered during the survey will be kept under lock and cardinal. Any identifiable information obtained from patient files and records will merely be accessible to the primary research worker. No identifiable information will be used for publication intents. Confidentiality will be insured throughout the survey continuance. Subjects: The topics of this survey will be physical healers working in Kuwait ‘s Ministry of Health infirmaries ‘ neurology section and with experience in out-patient shot rehabilitation. Tools: To look into the frequence and continuance of intervention, we will look into the records, which are the patients ‘ files. There is besides a subdivision in the questionnaire that will inquire about the frequence and continuance of Sessionss. As for happening out the intervention attack patients are having, a self-administered questionnaire will be distributed at selected MOH infirmaries, specifically at Al-Jahra, Mubarak, Farwanya, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Al-Sabah infirmaries. Therapists will be given the questionnaire to make full out. In order to measure the type of instruction given to patients, educational ushers, or booklets, about the patient ‘s status available at the infirmary and distributed to patients will be looked at. The questionnaire will besides inquire about different patient instruction techniques used by the participants. For comparing of informations, we will compare the information we obtain with the American Stroke Association guidelines. Questionnaire: The questionnaire will dwell of several inquiries used in the Ogiwara ( 8 ) questionnaire every bit good as others pertinent to our survey population. The questionnaire will dwell of four parts: demographic information inquiries refering the healer ‘s professional history and experience inquiries refering the rehabilitation plan: intervention attack, and frequence and continuance of Sessionss. inquiries refering the types of instruction techniques Each questionnaire will hold a cover missive explicating the intent of the survey, and a consent signifier. Datas Analysis The information will be analyzed utilizing SPSS ( Statistical Package for Social Sciences ) ( v. 15.0 ) to depict agencies, standard divergences, frequences, and per centums. Once the information is analyzed, we will compare the information we collected with the general guidelines and intervention attacks in the literature.Expected Results and RecommendationsOur outlook for this survey is that physical healers in the province of Kuwait will be following the American shot rehabilitation guidelines. Due to cultural differences between the two states, set uping new guidelines for the shot rehabilitation in Kuwait might be necessary, turn toing the nature of referral to physical therapy in Kuwait, and doing recommendations for increasing intervention continuance if needed. Besides, it should be mentioned what type of particular equipment might be used in the procedure of rehabilitation. Mentions Rudd A, Olfe C.W. ( 2002, Feb ) . Aetiology and pathology of shot. Vol. 9, pg 32-36. Hafsteinsdottir T.B, Vergunst M, Lindeman E, Schuurmans M. ( 2010, 29 July ) . Educational demands of patients with a shot and their health professionals: A systematic reappraisal of the literature. www.elsevier.com/locate/pateducou Hoffman T, McKenna K, Herd C, Wearing S. Written stroke stuffs for shot patients and their carers: positions and patterns of wellness professionals. Top Stroke Rehabil 2007 ; 14 ( 1 ) :88-97 Brocklehurst J.C, Andrews K, Richards B, Laycock P. J. ( 1978, 20 MAY ) . How much physical therapy for patients with shot? Vol. 1, 1307- 1310. British Medical diary. Kollen, B, Kwakkel G, Lindeman E. ( 2006, 11 July ) . Functional Recovery After Stroke: A Review of Current Developments in Stroke Rehabilitation Research. Vol.1, No.1, 75-80. Reker D.M, & A ; Duncan P. W, Horner R.D, Hoenig H, Samsa G.P, Hamilton B, Dudley T.K. ( 2002, June ) Postacute Stroke Guideline Compliance Is Associated With Greater Patient Satisfaction. Arch Phys Med Rehabil Vol. 83, pg 750-756. Salbach, M.N, Guilcher JT.S, Jaglal B.S, Davis D.A. ( 2010 ) Determinants of research usage in clinical determination devising among physical healers supplying services post-stroke: a cross-sectional survey. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.implementationscience.com/content/5/1/77 Ogiwara S. ( 1997 ) Physical therapy in shot rehabilitation: A comparing of bases for intervention between Japan and Sweden.vol.9 Pg. 63-69, Journal of physical therapy scientific disciplines. McNaughton H, DeJong G, Smout R.J, Melvin J.L, Brandstater M. ( 2005, Dec ) A Comparison of Stroke Rehabilitation Practice and Outcomes Between New Zealand and United States Facilities. Vol. 86, suppl.2, Arch Phys Med Rehabil. Horn, S.D, DeJong G. Smout R.J, Gassaway J, James R, Conroy B. ( 2005, Dec ) Stroke Rehabilitation Patients, Practice, and Results: Is Earlier and More Aggressive Therapy Better? Vol. 86, pg. 101-114, suppl. 2, Arch Phys Med Rehabil. Life after shot: New Zealand guideline for direction of shot ( November 2003 ) . Jette, D.U, Latham N.K, Smout R.J, Gassaway J, Slavin M.D, Horn S.D ( 2005, March ) Physical Therapy Interventions for Patients With Stroke in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. Vol. 85, num. 3, pg. 238-248, physical therapy. Huang H, Chung K, Lai D, Sung S. The Impact of Timing and Dose of Rehabilitation Delivery on Functional Recovery of Stroke Patients ( J Chin Med Assoc: May 2009, Vol 72, No 5 ) Iles R, Davidson M. Evidence based pattern: a study of physical therapists ‘ current pattern. Physiother. Res. Int. 11 ( 2 ) 93-103 ( 2006 ) Watchers-Kaufmann C, Schuling J, The H, Jong B. Actual and desired information proviso after a shot. Patient Education and Reding 56 ( 2005 ) 211-217AppendixsAppendix 1E. Patient and Family/Caregiver EducationBackgroundThe patient and family/caregivers should be given information and provided with an chance to larn about the causes and effects of shot, possible complications, and the ends, procedure, and forecast of rehabilitation.RecommendationsRecommend that patient and family/caregiver instruction be provided in an synergistic and written format. Recommend that clinicians consider placing a specific squad member to be responsible for supplying information to the patient and family/caregiver about the nature of the shot, stroke direction rehabilitation and outcome outlooks, and their functions in the rehabilitation procedure. Acknowledge that the household conference is a utile agencies of information airing. Recommend that patient and household instruction be documented in the patient ‘s medical record to forestall the happening of extra or conflicting information from different subjects.N. Educate Patient/Family, Reach Shared Decision About Rehabilitation Program, and Determine Treatment PlanAimEnsure the apprehension of common ends among staff, household, and health professionals in the shot rehabilitation procedure and, hence, optimise the patient ‘s functional recovery and community reintegration.RecommendationsRecommend that the clinical squad and family/caregiver reach a shared determination about the rehabilitation plan. A A A The clinical squad should suggest the preferable environment for rehabilitation and interventions on the footing of outlooks for recovery. A A A Describe to the patient and household the intervention options, including the rehabilitation and recovery procedure, forecast, estimated length of stay, frequence of therapy, and discharge standards. A A A The patient, household, health professional, and rehabilitation squad should find the optimum environment for rehabilitation and preferable intervention. Recommend that the rehabilitation plan be guided by specific ends developed in consensus with the patient, household, and rehabilitation squad. Recommend that the patient ‘s family/caregiver participate in the rehabilitation Sessionss and be trained to help patient with functional activities, when needed. Recommend that patient and health professional instruction be provided in an synergistic and written format. Supply the patient and household with an information package that may include printed stuff on topics such as the recommencement of drive, patient rights/responsibilities, support group information, and audiovisual plans on shot. Recommend that the elaborate intervention program be documented in the patient ‘s record to supply incorporate rehabilitation attention. Intensity of Therapy The heterogeneousness of the surveies in all aspects-patients, designs, interventions, comparings, result steps, and results-combined with the boundary line consequences in many of the tests limits the specificity and strength of any decisions that can be drawn from them. Overall, the tests support the general construct that rehabilitation can better functional results, peculiarly in patients with lesser grades of damage. Weak grounds exists for a dose-response relationship between the strength of the rehabilitation intercession and the functional results. However, the deficiency of definition of lower thresholds, below which the intercession is useless, and upper thresholds, above which the fringy betterment is minimum, for any intervention, makes it impossible to bring forth specific guidelines. Partridge et al did non happen any differences in functional and psychological tonss at 6 hebdomads in 104 patients randomized between a criterion of 30 and 60 proceedingss of physical therapy. Kwakkel et al randomized 101 middle-cerebral-artery shot patients with arm and leg damage to extra arm preparation accent, leg preparation accent, or arm and leg immobilisation, each intervention enduring 30 proceedingss, 5 yearss a hebdomad, for 20 hebdomads. At 20 hebdomads the leg preparation group scored better for ADLs, walking, and sleight than the control group, whereas the arm preparation group scored better merely for sleight. The clinical tests provide weak grounds for a dose response relationship of strength to functional results.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Effect of corporal punishment on later delinquency rate Dissertation

Effect of corporal punishment on later delinquency rate - Dissertation Example Center of discussion in this paper is corporal punishment as use of physical force to elicit pain or discomfort, but not injury, to correct or punish a particular behavior of a child. Strength of physical force may vary from just a light slap to spanking or lashing with some object. In literature spanking, beating, whipping hitting and other euphemisms has been used for corporal punishment. There are basically three different levels at which corporal punishment are instituted. At a domestic level it involves families where children are punished either by their parents or other senior members of family. At a school level children are disciplined using corporal punishment mostly by the principle of that institution or sometimes by the teachers themselves. The third level is the judicial level where court sentence some form of corporal punishment to modify the anti-social behavior of a criminal. Corporal punishment is an ancient trend. It was associated to religious aspects not long ago in the ideology of original sins and possession by devils. After going through much of the literature the author noticed that researchers are of two different opinions when it comes to corporal punishment. Some believes corporal punishment is incorporated in effective parenting and required to prevent any individual to develop anti-social behavior while others believe that corporal punishment leads to negative emotions capable of invoking anti-social behavior.... The exhibition of these boiling emotions may not be immediate but they will become evident in later on and as I mentioned earlier the picture varies depending on many different elements. It gives birth to a volcano dormant initially; giving a false sense that the treatment of corporal punishment is working but dilemma arise when countdown stop and explosions begins. It is possible for child to develop hatred and anger towards the person institutionalizing the punishment. So it is very important to identify those who are directly involved to understand their influence on the child. As discussed earlier the first two levels of corporal punishment involve parents and teachers. These two are the main institutions to provide the basic learning and guidance that can invoke consciousness in a child and make him a good person. Imagine if they both are at fault in the mind of that innocent child. The consequences can be disastrous. Not all parents react in same way when their child misbehaves . Some will punish regularly, some rarely and others may not punish them at all but majority falls under the second category. (Straus et al 1994). When corporal punishment is properly planned, controlled and without overwhelming emotions it is called Instrumental Corporate Punishment. On the contrary if it is sudden, uncontrolled and with the outburst of emotions it is said to be Impulsive Corporate Punishment. It has been analyzed by many researches that those parents using Instrumental type often punish them on regular basis hence their children are more receptive. It follows the principle of negative reinforcement. When parents use corporate punishment and child complies, it negatively reinforces parents to stop such

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Fine and Gross Motor Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fine and Gross Motor Skills - Research Paper Example Childcare means ensuring that the environment the baby is growing up in is safe and healthy enough for the child and this is the work of parents, guardians, grandparents and other relatives, babysitters or even nanny, licensed child care centers as well as older siblings. Even when the parents are working and have to leave the child with other people who are capable, they should still ensure that the environment is safe and healthy for the children and communicate the same to those taking care of the children. What should be considered before leaving the child with just anyone is the interaction of that person with the baby, the cleanliness and safety of the environment, activities the child can participate in, the food and beverages being provided and whether they are healthy enough as well as how the person engages in activities with the children. If the staff or individual does not look happy to interact, then the child will not have enough development with that person.  What so me parents do not realize when it comes to reading to children is that it is never too early to do so. The earlier the reading and frequency the more the baby starts learning vocabulary as well as getting their brain cells stimulated to grow. The baby also starts getting and strengthening listening skills as well as gaining memory skills. Reading also promotes bonding with the child with the soothing sounds of a parent’s voice. The baby also starts getting awareness of the world in addition to beginning a reading culture in them. Different age groups have different reading books as well as capacity they can understand. Their concentration span increases with age and hence only a few pages should be read at a time and increase as the child develops. The presence of animals and drawings in a baby’s book helps in learning while encouraging them to repeat as you read along with them builds their confidence and reading skills as they grow up and start pre-school.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Global Demographics and the Death Penalty Essay

Global Demographics and the Death Penalty - Essay Example However, global patterns can be examined which can help uncover the underlying indicators that are common to countries that have the death penalty. The fair institution of the death penalty can be evaluated in the United States. Research can show the motivations, targets, and eventual victims of capital punishment in the world and in the United States. Two thirds of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice and membership in the European Union requires its abolishment. There are still 69 countries that maintain and practice capital punishment. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA were responsible for 94% of the known executions that took place in 2005. China had the greatest numbers of executions and though accurate data is difficult to obtain, at least 1,170 people were confirmed executed in 2005. Other estimates for China range as high as 8.000 ("Facts and Figures"). Though China had the greatest number, on a per capita basis Saudi Arabia had the largest percentage of its population executed. A Saudi was almost five times as likely to be executed than a Chinese and eighteen times as likely as an American. Saudi Arabia's unusually high rate is due to the wide range of crimes that are punishable by death. Renouncing of Islam, witchcraft, sexual offenses, drug dealing, and corruption can all carry a death sentence. China uses the death penalty for criminal activities that range from murder to economic crimes. It should be noted that both China and Saudi Arabia are highly guarded societies. Their legal system is extremely secretive and people charged are afforded almost no legal rights as we perceive them in the United States. There may be no right to an appeal and execution may take place on the same day as sentencing. The denial of rights and the broad range of crimes account for the high rates of executions in both China and Saudi Arabia. While methods of execution have evolved in some countries, others such as Afghanistan and Iran still use the barbaric means of stoning. In nearby Saudi Arabia, beheading is the method of choice. China still uses the firing squad but is slowly moving towards lethal injection. Hanging, which the United States has only recently moved away from, is still found in Japan and Egypt. Electrocution is used only in the United States though most executions are carried out through the more humane method of lethal injection ("Facts and Figures"). Support for the death penalty usually comes from extreme religious positions or totalitarian regimes. The high rate in China is perpetuated by the tyranny of ideology and reflects the mass executions of political foes that have occasionally cropped up around the globe. Castro executed an estimated 1,000 members of the opposition in his first 3 months of power. Still, the mainstay of support for capital punishment is religion. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, the ruling theocracy condemns prisoners for crimes against Islam. In the United States the support comes from biblical justification. In the Scandinavian countries, which are less religious, capital punishment is banned and has little support. Though the Catholic Church officially denounces capital punishment, American Catholics favor the death penalty in greater numbers than the general population (Davis and Smith). Davis and Smith also report

Friday, July 26, 2019

JR Face to Face street art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

JR Face to Face street art - Essay Example JR Face to Face street art Starting his art career from the streets of Paris, the work of JR has often challenges the wide perceptions of images propagated by advertising channels and the media. He seeks to combine art and action dealing with commitment as well as identity and limits. He has been described differently by different people.   Fabrice Bousteau  introduces him as the figure already being regarded as Cartier-Bresson of the 21st century. He began his art career as a teenage graffiti artist who was pulled by the passion and interested in making a mark in the society rather than the interest of changing the world. His work then targeted conspicuous places like rooftops, subways, train and sidewalks and framed them so that they would not be confused with advertising. At the age of 17, he and his friends after finding a camera begun taking photographs and pated them on walls in a bid to send certain messages to the people. His biggest intention of doing art in a large scale was basically to influenc e people to change the world. The particularly aimed at changing the perceptions of the people and their thoughts in order to create a better society, which people are mindful of one another. Without any payment, JR and his friends started out in different cities around the world taking photographs and pasting them on building walls.In the period between 2004 and 2006, he created what is commonly referred to as the portrait of a generation, a project that included young people who were included in the housing program. In large format, he pasted these pictures in large format of walls of houses and commercial buildings in order to bring art closer to the people who do not visit the museums. Initially, it was deemed illegal, but was later legalized and when the City of Paris put his photos on buildings2. Project face to face was meant to bring the true identity of the true Israelis and Palestinians by putting photos of different people face to face. In eight cities of Palestine and Is rael, Marco and JR took the initiative of painting the pictures. While some of the people opposed the move especially the authorities, most of them were excited and supported their work. They volunteered to be photographed and allowed them to paste their pictures anywhere they wanted. In the project, they were constrained with resources. They had no money, and relied heavily on well-wishers3. They got two ladders, which were very old and rusty, a single camera and 20,000 feet of paper. The project however was a big success. They managed to photograph different kinds of people who did different kinds of work. From taxi drivers to cooks, carpenters and teachers, they sought to include all kinds of people in any profession. At one point they put two photographs of a Palestinian and an Israeli and asked people to tell the difference of who was who. By drawing reference to two photographs from the project, this paper will look at the face to face project, comparing them using their simil arities and differences and try to evaluate the impact they had on the people. More importantly however, it will seek to answer the question as to whether JR and his six friends succeeded in their mission. Were they successful in proving that what is perceived to be impossible could be possible? During the whole project, JR and his friends were dedicated to prove to the world that all people were similar regardless of

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Media Concentration and Control Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media Concentration and Control - Assignment Example   In the when corporations are aiming to paint themselves as good corporate citizens, one cannot avoid questioning the extent to which the information fed to the general public is censored. Consequently, it would be rational for the government to limit the level of concentration of media ownership for the best interest of the public. This paper explores the reasons why the government should limit the concentration of media ownership, incorporating the views of various researchers. Concentrated media ownership kills social justice and democracy. Freedman (2014) stated that the Mexican students protested against two major TV channels that had the most influence in the media. Kawashima (2011) argues that the concentrated media ownership is anti-democratic as it restricts cultural diversity and does not allow citizens to make informed decisions and exchange ideas that are important to their public life. Furthermore, Hasmondhalgh (2012) and Baker (2007) argue that media is a cultural industry. Thus, if the power is intensified in few groups, it will transform the cultural industries to capital accumulation firms. This, in turn, can exploit creative labour. Freedman (2014) asserted that the government should not make any extra arrangements to protect the media ownership. Murdoch (2009) argued that media are like any other organisation where if the public does not like the service or the product, it fails. Therefore, the special protection of media services or the me dia concentration is against the basic principles of free market. Baker (2009) supported the argument of media diversity through a normative theory of democracy that suggests the authority should be controlled by public opinion. The media concentration process controls the public opinion. Thus, Baker (2009) suggests that not only the media should diversify in terms of the number of media channels but also the sources of media. Diverse media would push for the overall benefit of the entire society unlike concentration, which works in the best interest of a few individuals pursuing similar goals.  

Data Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Analysis - Assignment Example However, this region is poorer than other parts of U.S. This can be seen from the economic characteristics of the population. The average family income in this region is $36,299, whereas in the other parts of the U.S, the average income is $50,046. This again reiterates the point that this region is poorer than other U.S regions and luxuries won’t do well in this region. The products that should be developed for this region should be necessities like food, basic clothing and other necessary household items. Another piece of statistic that shows that luxuries cannot prevail in this region is the fact that almost 25% families are living below poverty lines in the region. The total U.S average below poverty lines is only 9%. This shows that designer goods and luxuries won’t do well in this region. However, this region is at par in terms of education with 24% of the people having bachelor’s degree, which is equal to the U.S national average. In short, this market can be served well if the goods produced for this region are cheap and are less costly. The median age is about the same in Chicago and the U.S. This shows that same products can be offered to this region as being offered in the rest of U.S. The median of Chicago 34.1 years, whereas in 35.3 years. This shows the population pattern is more of less very same, and the products that are offered in the entire U.S region can be offered to the region 60616. In Chicago around 79% of the population is above18, whereas the figure reduces to 75% in the entire U.S.A. This can be used by marketing experts when devising the adverts for their product. They should keep in mind to make adverts which are factual because the majority of the population is mature. Here, the information should not be incorrect, because then a lot of people will not buy the firm’s product. Overall, the chunk of population above 18 is quite similar, but in Chicago the share is higher and as a result advertisers should take into

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Human Resource Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example According to Armstrong (2008), with the compilation of the tasks to the human resource department, the scope has also enhanced; hiring, training, etc. all have come well under the umbrella of human resource department. One of the most challenging tasks for human resource department today is the fact that workforce within organization comprises of cross-national individuals i.e. people coming from various backgrounds, cultures, countries, etc. This essay is about how the demographics of a workforce are changing or have changed over a period of last decade or so i.e. identifying the trends and how it poses a threat or otherwise, implying to the human resource management. The following section is about the trends occurring and witnessed amongst the demographics of the workforce at a global scale. The attempt of making the world a global village, in accordance with Mathis (2007), has brought about a lot of changes in the global landscape – particularly there has been a rising trend amongst individuals wanting to move away from their home country in an attempt for enhanced earning, improved life style, and increasing the quality of living for their families in their own regions. As a complement to the same, organizations have also initiated the program of cross boundary hiring, with their own reasons to follow. Firstly, as stated by Bateman (2010) having cross boundary hiring is expensive, which is the downturn of the same; however, in the long run, it is cheaper primarily because in third world countries, very talented human resources are very cheap and easily available. Consider the live example whereby employment posts are held mainly by Asians in countries offering bright prospect of jobs such as UK, US and the Middle East; here individuals get good earnings, mainly due to the currency differential, they earn a lot more then they can do in their home town, and

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Physical Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Physical Science - Essay Example Notably, the conclusion of scientific trails usually emphasizes on a given number of trials so that the findings of the investigation are valid, accurate, and applicable to the natural world (Gauch 58). The fundamental scientific method elements include objective, consistent, observable, pertinent, parsimonious, falsifiable, and reproducibility. Falsifiable – this is concerned with the fact that the hypothesis should sometimes be proven incorrect using observable data set within the experiment; otherwise, the experiment is never pegged on the research hypothesis fully. Consistent – this element requires the use of law of reasoning in formulating the hypotheses and the same should be made consistent with broader and currently understood scientific laws (Murty 43). It is worth noting that it is only in rare cases that the hypothesis within a broader usually turns to be incomplete or incorrect. It is worth noting that effective application of the scientific method elements is significant in eliminating biases, unnecessary complications, and inconsistencies thereby helping in creating an accurate theoretical framework and structure that describe the natural world (Gauch 78). In essence, the scientific method elements usually help in regulating research work and exemplifying the scientific method

Monday, July 22, 2019

Crisps and Snacks Essay Example for Free

Crisps and Snacks Essay Walker Crisps control the largest part of the crisps market in the United Kingdom, but lost significant market share three years ago when consumers began turning to other forms of snack. Furthermore, as the populace is made increasingly aware of the poor nutrition of some snack foods, the high salt content, and high fat content, they appear to be turning away from brands perceived as less healthy. Unfortunately, despite a revamping of products in 2006, most crisps products are viewed as less healthy and nutritious than alternatives such as cereal bars. . National campaigns designed to improve the quality of school lunches were effective at turning parents away from crisps as a lunchbox staple and adult health campaign have lead people to consider other snack options including fruits, nuts, yogurt and cereal bars. In addition, there is some indication that a declining birth rate has also negatively impacted demand for crisps as they tend to be most popular among the males in their teens and early twenties. Older and more affluent snackers choose other options including specialty, private label crisps, corn-based snacks and gourmet crisps with exotic flavors. It also seems clear from evidenced reported by Mintel analysis of the snack food market that there are some areas in which crisps cannot compete, as some consumers, particularly women seem attached to chocolate and sweet biscuits as a preferred indulgent snack. And, there is a marketing nightmare brewing. While crisps must shed their image as fatty, over-salted snacks with no nutritional value if they are to maintain their market share in a health-conscious environment, evidence suggests that men in particular do not want to eat something labeled as â€Å"diet† or â€Å"healthy†. The key appears to be a serious media campaign to change the way people think about crisps. Evidence suggestions that the three trends most likely to impact the crisps market are: a desire to purchase healthier snacks, a desire for classier snacks, and a desire to eliminate snacking in general. The Move toward Healthier Snacks The evidence is clear that the trend in snacking is to find healthier alternatives. Walker crisps was able to regain some of its lost market share in 2006 with the introduction and promotion of healthier, â€Å"baked† varieties, but still faces an uphill battle. In a recent poll, nearly half of the consumers questioned said they would be willing to spend more to be able to buy foods that were free from chemical additives (Mintel, 2007). Since many so-called â€Å"diet† foods are laden with chemicals ranging from preservatives to artificial sweeteners, this may be a market niche that Walkers could exploit with an all-natural crisp. However, it will take a serious marketing campaign to educate consumers about the â€Å"dangers’ hidden in other snack foods. Mintel’s analysis of Walkers marketing expenditures over the last three years has indicated that they have begun to see the value of print advertising that explains the benefits of their newer, â€Å"healthier† product lines. However, it seems likely that Walkers will have to consider a new multimedia advertising campaign that redirects the way people think about crisps. A strict marketing campaign that shows crisp consumption as part of a healthy diet could also help the company retain market share. Currently, consumers are increasingly turning to other snack options in the belief that they are healthier than crisps. It might be advantageous to do a head to head comparison between crisps and several other snacks demonstrating the relative fat content, calories and other nutritional information. For example, the Mintel study showed that 23 percent of consumers snack on cereal bars, often in the belief that they are a healthy sack. However, reading a product label makes it clear that the average cereal bar has as many calories and carbohydrates as a bag of baked crisps. Walkers also needs to continue with current advertising campaigns which explain the change in oils used to create the crisps and the reduction in salt. All of these combined attacks on accepted nutritional ideas can help to recreate crisps in the minds of the consumer. Furthermore, Mintel analysis shows that consumers are less likely to buy branded products or healthy products when buying for use in entertaining. As part of their overall health campaign, Walkers might want to consider an advertising campaign similar to the ones used by American beer companies. â€Å"Friends don’t let friends drink bad beer† could become something along the lines of â€Å"Show your friends you have great taste, buy walker crisps. † Though the concept is a bit loose, it could be refined and would likely results in increased sales for Walkers. The Move to Classier Snacks Another interesting trend within snack food is the move toward hand-cooked or gourmet crisps. These premium brands tend to be smaller manufacturers instead of multinational corporations like Walkers, which is a division of PepsiCo. These brands are gaining in popularity among more affluent, educated consumers. They have shown a preference for exotic flavors like â€Å"Thai sweet chili† and sea salt and malt vinegar instead of the standard crisps (Mintel, 2007). To that end, it is in the best interest of Walkers to continue to expand their line of premium crisps and to develop new flavors that are likely to appeal to consumers. Within this market, it is also important to appeal to the health conscious consumer, so any effort that can be made to create these new flavors using infused oils and natural spices instead of something cooked up with chemicals is a plus (Mintel, 2007). These consumers are more educated and therefore more likely to be well-informed about the products that they are putting into their bodies. These consumers are in many ways the perfect target for an educational advertising campaign which asks why they are depriving themselves of the textures and flavors they love just so that they can eat a cereal bar that tastes like cardboard. This is also a good market to explore because this demographic is less concerned about the price and more concerned about giving themselves a special treat. Often, hey view everything they eat, drink and wear as a form of status symbol and Walkers would do well to establish their premiums brands within this niche. An advertising campaign that reminds consumers that doing something nice for themselves should also taste good would play well to this demographic. The Move Away from Snacking As part of a health-consciousness campaign, citizens of the United Kingdom are being taught that snacking between meals is leading to the Britain’s obesity problem and should be cut out (Mintel, 2007). According to the Mintel poll, fewer people every year admit to eating between meals. While this may be a factor of people not admitting to themselves what their true behavior patterns are, it can mean that they are not planning ahead for snacking and not purchasing traditional snack foods like crisps. One of the best ways to deal with this would be another form of reeducation for the populace. Though dietary requirements are in an ever-changing state of flux as science learns more and more about how the body works, many diets argue that five or six small meals a day maintain blood sugar levels better than the traditional three meals a day. So, even if the addition is simply mid-morning and afternoon tea, Walkers and other snack providers need to change the way the United Kingdom thinks about snacks. Again, the goal is not to have crisps replace full meals like breakfast, but crisps with tea might be a marketing ploy that Walkers could successfully market especially in terms of their premium, exotic brands. Acknowledging that they are competing with scones and sweet biscuits and everything else for every moment the consumer chooses a snack is imperative to Walkers efforts to maintain their market share. Conclusions The simple truth is that snack foods are facing an increased amount of competition every day with more and more companies looking for alternatives to the standard potato crisp. Therefore, companies which rely on crisps as a major segment of their brand identity must find new ways to market and appeal to consumers. Since we have established that current buying behavior seems to be based on perceived nutritional value, perceived class and the perception that snacking makes you fat, an aggressive marketing campaign designed to challenge these notions and change them is necessary. Walks must change the perception of crisps as an unhealthy waste of calories and a blase snack. They must jazz it up and create a desire for people to incorporate crisps into their daily diet. Otherwise, they will continue to watch their market share slip away. WORKS CITED â€Å"Crisps and Snacks†, Mintel Reports, May, 2007.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Changes in Holography

Changes in Holography 001 Looking Back, Moving Forward How was 2004 for you? For the industry as a whole, reviewing the developments that we covered last year in Holography News, we can conclude that it was a good year for most, with many positive developments that set the scene for 2005 and beyond, but with sufficient clouds on the horizon to prevent any complacency. In terms of markets, in the high security arena the growth of holograms on banknotes continues apace (see page 3) and this will continue to be key market notwithstanding the recent news that the new $100 and other denominations will not, in all likelihood, include a holographic feature. In other high security markets, passports took something of a back seat, for holograms at least not because of technology concerns but because of the current pre-occupation with biometrics. But elsewhere in document protection, AAMVAs specification of holograms on all US driving licences was a significant boost for the industry, while the tax stamp market continues provide significant high volume opportunities for suppliers. There were few major developments in brand protection although the use of holograms as the prime authentication feature on a new labelling program for pharmaceutical products in Malaysia, and the Olympics 2004 merchandising program demonstrated the continuing success of hologram s in these areas. On the downside, the FDAs controversial decision to adopt RFID-based track and trace as the solution to product safety and supply chain management for pharmaceuticals in the US could have unwelcome consequences for the industry should drug regulatory authorities elsewhere in the world follow its example. In packaging, meanwhile, as the Stock watch article in this issue (see page 6) points out, it is barely possible to go out nowadays without seeing holography embellishing shop shelves on all manner of goods from luxury high end to everyday items. Innovation and Development On the technology front, holography continued to demonstrate its inherent capacity for innovation and development. The integration of holograms with other technologies for enhanced security and functionality continued apace examples including Schreiners KeySecure technology, Securiketts Authentikett labels, combined hologram/DNA/RFID labels from ADNAS and Holomex and enhancements to teas scribos Holospot system (see page 8) to name but a few. In the banknote market, De La Rue, Louisenthal and Kurz all launched new security features during 2004 based on combinations of substrate, thread and foil technology. In terms of production, Newmec and Gidue both entered the market with foil applications systems, General Vacuum launched its new compact metalliser while Spatial Imagings new Lightspeed digital hologram printer marked the beginning of new era in large format hologram origination. Aside from the developments in the ‘conventional market for authentication and decorative devices, holography is also beginning to demonstrate its potential for use as a tool as well as a feature. Examples of this potential include Smart Holograms development of reflection holograms as medical diagnostic devices and holographic data storage systems from Optware. Publicly-listed companies were covered in detail in the December issue of Holography News. But there was news from many other qua rters as well, including the expansion plans announced by ABNH, ITW Covid, AFC and Holoshape, and AET Films move into wide embossing on the packaging front. Louisenthal, a major player in the banknote industry, revealed that it now offers full-scale hologram production, including origination, while its former strategic partner in foils, Hueck Folien, joined the ranks of banknote suppliers with its first order for stripes for the Thai currency, signalling a potentially significant new entrant to the market. Its arrival was partially offset by AOTs decision to abandon banknote foils, while the bankruptcy of another high security supplier, Mantegazza, was staved off by its acquisition by Italian security papermaker Fabriano. Outside of the traditional industry centres of Western Europe and North America, the Far East, India and Eastern Europe and the CIS countries continue to play an increasingly important role not just as markets for western companies but as major centres of developm ent in their own right. Russia, a hotbed of scientific innovation, held its first regional conference this year; the commitment amongst Indian companies to quality and industry standards is an inspiration to us all, while all eyes are currently on China, the location for the 2005 Holo-pack†¢Holo-print which will provide the first opportunity for many western hologram companies to witness the strength and scope of this massive market. 2004s Downside So much for the positive. On the downside, RFID continues to position itself, and be viewed in some quarters, as the ‘silver bullet antidote to counterfeiting and diversion, new technologies such as Nanoventions claim their superiority over diffractive features and high quality counterfeit holograms have been discovered on currency notably the euro. The latter, in particular, is leading to a perceptible sense of disenchantment with holograms in terms of their claimed security benefits, technology proliferation and lax standard s amongst suppliers. This topic has been covered exhaustively in recent issues of Holography News and was one of the main topics for discussion at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague, a positive outcome of which was the openness of debate and willingness amongst industry participants to work collectively to address the real issues that are causing concern and counter the misperceptions behind them. All in all, not a bad year for the industry. Provided the concerns leading to disenchantment in some sectors continues to be recognised and addressed with appropriate measures, and provided hologram companies continue to invest in the new products and techniques that form the lifeblood and future of this industry, 2005 could be even better. 002 A Watershed Year for the IHMA In his Chairmans report to the Annual General Meeting of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Hugues Souparis identified the launch of the Secure Hologram Producer Certification Scheme as a watershed for the Association (se HN Vol 18 No 3). This Scheme, run in co-operation with Intergraf, should make a significant contribution to improving procedures in the secure hologram field, and help to raise customer awareness of the need to source secure holograms from a qualified secure producer. Souparis company, Hologram Industries, was the first to be certified, but several others have now applied. Another important development during the year had been the negotiations with the Hologram Manufacturers Association of India (HoMAI), aimed at building a strong relationship between the two associations and serving as a model for the IHMAs relationship with other regional or national hologram associations. An important part of the planned relationship was that the IHMAs Hologram Image Register and HoMAIs Hologram Registry would be linked so that all searches for a hologram match on either database would cover both databases, improving the likelihood of identifying matches which resulted from attempts to source illicit copies of a hologram already in use. He reported that Despite the news that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is casting its net wider for security features (see page 1), banknotes continue to be a good market for the holography industry. A number of new banknotes have been introduced during 2004, including two major currencies the new Canadian dollar series which features a stripe and the two higher denominations of the newly-designed Japanese yen, each with a patch. Kurz was the supplier for both, the latter understood to be the largest single hologram order for banknotes in the industry. Other currencies that have introduced holograms to all or most of their the Board was in discussion with the China AntiCounterfeiting Technology As sociation (CATA) with a view to CATA establishing a hologram section, and that the IHMA was also in preliminary discussions with Russian producers interested in an industry organisation there. Souparis also reminded members of IHMAs links with Interpol and other international and national police organisations, saying that he hoped to build on these contacts in the coming year. New Board Members In the elections at the AGM, Souparis was re-elected Chairman a post he can hold for another two years. Wilfried Schipper (Hologram Company Rako) was elected as the European representative on the Board, with Alkis Lembessis (Cavomit and Taurus) as his deputy; Umendra Gupta (Holostik India) was re-elected as Asian representative, with Khalid Khanani (Metatex) as deputy. Randy James (Pacific Holographics) was elected as deputy North American representative and since the AGM the Board has co-opted John Halotek (ITW Covid) as the North American representative, there being no accepted nomination at the meeting. Alex Goncharsky (Computer Holography Centre, Moscow) and Ken Traub (ABNH) remain on the board for a second and fourth year respectively. Spreading the Word In addition to the objectives above, a key task for the IHMA in 2005 and thereafter will be to promote the positive benefits of holograms, particularly as authentication devices, as a counter to disenchantment with the technology in certain quarters, notably some parts of the high security sector. A proactive PR campaign, a greater presence at industry conferences, an improved website as a communications tool both for members and users, and a drive to increase the membership and the visibility of the IHMA are all currently underway. The hologram industry is one of the few in the authentication sector to have its own association and the IHMA is committed to building on this position and the strengths that a collective voice can provide for hologram companies. Contact: www.IHMA.org. 003 General Vacuums New Compact Metalliser (Pg # 5) General Vacuum, manufacturer of vacuum metallising equipment, unveiled further details of its new compact Holosecâ„ ¢ metalliser (see HN Vol 18 No 2) at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague. Vacuum metallisers have until now been supplied with production widths of 800-3000m, limiting their use both financially and for production purposes among small and narrow-web hologram producers and forcing these to buy in their film and foil pre-metallised from wide web suppliers. The Holosec was designed to fill this niche and enable narrow-web producers to bring metallising in-house, thereby increasing their security of production and enabling them to take advantage of the specialised treatments the system offers. The Holosec combines the vacuum chamber, unwind and rewind units, plasma pre-treatment, demetallization and evaporation source within one compact unit with a footprint of 2m x 3m. In addition to the conventional aluminium used for holographic films and foils, it can coat silicon oxide, chrome, silver and copper and zinc sulphide for high refractive index films. It also offers pattern demetallisation with in-line registration and plasma pre-treatment that enhances the sur face energy of the films to improve adhesion and hence quality. The run rate varies from 10m to a maximum of 200m per minute. General Vacuum, formerly Valmet and now part of the Bobst Group, declined to give prices for the Holosec, stating that these depend on specification. But it can assumed that they will be considerably lower than the prices for wide web systems. When questioned at Holopack.†¢ Holo-print about the risks of spreading low-cost secure hologram production technology in the market, Dr Nadir Ahmed, who gave the presentation on behalf of his former company, commented that the company would check the legitimacy of customers before supply. To date, two machines have been sold with other orders in the pipeline for early 2005. Contact: Andy Jack, General Vacuum Equipment. Tel: +44 1706 622442; [emailprotected] 004 Menzel Vision System for Web Guiding Menzel, a German company specialising in machinery for finishing and inspection machines for textiles, expanded into similar equipment for the plastic films industry in the late 1960s, and at Holopack†¢ Holo-print exhibited a machine vision system for control of web handling machines for holographic films. The system keeps web lines in register to improve the accuracy and quality of slitting, winding/re-winding, stamping and other hologram finishing processes. Based on the companys experience building textile and film web guiding systems, the hologram guiding system can be set to read the edge of the hologram film or a specific part of the pattern in the hologram the camera scans across the width of the film to record the edge position, the registration mark position or the position of a specified image element. Once programmed, it feeds the image data to a sensor and a controller, which in turn adjusts the web guides to maintain the position of the web. The Menzel vision system for holographic film costs around â‚ ¬17- 20,000, depending on the configuration required. Contact: www.menzel.net. 005 Optical Document Security The third edition of the reference book Optical Document Security is now available from publishers Artech House. Written by Rudolf van Renesse, an expert in the field and editor and co-author of the two previous editions (published in 1994 and 1998 respectively), the book provides a comprehensive and cohesive treatment of all aspects of optical document security, according to its publishers. The books contents have been substantially updated and revised from the previous edition, and expanded to include coverage of additional security features and evaluation. The introduction on the theory of colours is followed by chapters on light interference and diffraction, substrate-based security, printing inks and printing techniques, printed security patterns (including screen decoded images and digital watermarks), diffractive- and interference-based security features, security design and evaluation and an introduction to biometrics. The emphasis is on both the physics of security features and their value in resisting counterfeiting, while the chapter evaluating security design looks at the human factors of first line document inspection. The books 350 pages contain over 270 black and white illustrations, including live security documents, and an appendix with samples of important security features. In addition, a CD-ROM is included which contains all illustrations of the book in full-colour. Author Rudolf van Renesse was senior research engineer in the Optics Department of TNO Institute of Applied Physics in The Netherlands and is now an independent consultant on document security for government departments and banking and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in the areas of holography, optical inspection techniques, and the theory of colors and document security, and is the author of more than 80 publications in these areas, as well as a contributor to Holography News and its sister publications Authentication News and Currency News. Optical Document Security is available at the discounted price  £72/$118 from Artech House www.artech-house.com 006 Display Holography on the Rise Photopolymer is making progress winning projects that perhaps embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply We feel for Nick Hardy and Valerie Love of OpGraphics, the British company that has listed its DuPont photopolymer hologram production equipment for sale on eBay. Op has been producing display holograms for the gift and promotional trade since 1983, originally on Agfa silver halide films, then in the 1990s Nick Hardy started working with DuPonts holographic photopolymer, partly because Agfa ceased production of its holographic films, partly because the photopolymer reflection holograms had lower noise and were more light efficient. Unfortunately, when DuPont Authentication Systems was established as a joint venture with Label Systems Inc, the company decided to restrict the distribution of its unexposed photopolymer film to authorised security hologram producers. Op were among the hologram producers which were given notice of a cessation of supply. They tried to fight this under competition law in the UK, but despite their significant investment in DuPonts production equipment and the time to perfect their processes, this was to no avail. The result: holographic production kit being offered on eBay. The Year of Photopolymer? The timing could not be more poignant as there appears to be an upsurge of interest in photopolymer holograms could 2005 be the year of photopolymer? The year has started well for DAS with NASCARs announcement of its licensed product authentication label, a numbered photopolymer reflection hologram (see page 4). To date, the North American sports licensing authentication projects have been dominated by embossed holograms. NASCAR (the most popular motor sport organisation in North America) may not rival the big national sporting leagues in popularity, but big race meetings such as Daytona and Indianapolis attract large crowds of eager souvenir hunters. Last year, DAS released its izonâ„ ¢ advanced photopolymer holograms, offering instant holo portraits on the film, making it particularly suitable for ID documents. And across the Pacific, Dai Nippon and Nippon Paint Co announced that Teikoku Piston Ring Co had become the first major customer for authentication holograms on Secure I mageâ„ ¢ hot-stampable photopolymer. So photopolymer is making progress in the brand protection market, perhaps winning projects that embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply. Two announcements do not make a fully-fledged market, but do represent progress. Coming Full Circle And now, coming full circle, Liti Holographics has announced that it is shipping a new instant holographic film suitable for reflection holograms for the home and hobby market (see page 3). Meanwhile, silver halide display holograms remain a force in the marketplace. Slavich continues to find a market in Russia and beyond for its silver halide plates and films, and Colour Holographics, which took over the production and supply of HRT holographic plates, finds a steady if not spectacular market. The company is finding a ready market for its own large format co lour holograms, while other silver halide display hologram producers remain in steady production. The availability of compact LED lights which illuminate holograms at a very high quality, and the improved recognition by holographers that they have to deliver a complete, lit and framed installation, is boosting the readiness of display artists and interior designers to consider display holograms as a medium. As one who first got involved in holography because of the excitement of such 3D images, it is reassuring and somewhat surprising to see the continuing interest in full parallax holograms, complementing and supplementing the large volume market of embossed holograms. 007 Litis New Reflection Film Liti Holographics, which offers low cost portrait hologram kits selling for $99 (see HN Vol 18, No 9), has launched a new hologram film. According to the company, this film has all the ‘instant hologram qualities of its previous film but is now capable of making reflection as well as transmission holograms. The new film is red-sensitive, making it compatible with both the Litiholo and other hologram kits, as well as red laser diodes and even helium neon lasers. Contact: www.litiholo.com 008 Nigerias New Pharma Certificate NAFDAC, the Nigerian Food Drugs Agency, has introduced a new certificate to be issued to authorised imported and domestically produced pharmaceuticals. The new certificate is being produced by a security printer in the UK and includes a hologram among its security features. This follows participation by Dr Dora Akunyili, Director of NAFDAC in the first Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting, where she made contact with possible suppliers among the exhibitors. 009 Pharmaceuticals: a Hologram Market Expanding or Threatened? At the time of writing, the 2nd Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting has just finished in Paris, organised by Holography News publisher, Reconnaissance International. One of the themes to emerge during the course of the 21/2 day meeting was the importance of authentication of genuine products as part of the system to combat counterfeit medicines, heard from speakers from national drug regulatory agencies and from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Several of the speakers implied, but Dr Thomas Zimmer of Boehringer Ingelheim explicitly stated, that the ideal authentication device for pharmaceuticals is not yet available. As Dr Zimmer was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeit Group of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), his observations must be taken seriously by suppliers or aspiring suppliers of authentication products to the pharmaceutical sector. To date holograms have been the leading device used for overt authentication on pharmaceuticals, so the claim that the ideal device is not yet available can only be interpreted as a challenge to hologram suppliers. Either holograms have failed to deliver what the pharma sector requires or hologram manufacturers have not succeeded in persuading their customers to use all the levels of security that a hologram can offer; that is first, second and third levels overt, covert and machine read. To implement covert and machine read requires additional investment by customers in training, reading tools and for machine read infrastructure. Ideal Sector The pharmaceutical sector is ideal for the introduction of such an infrastructure. Another call at the Global Forum was for increased harmonisation of authentication and inspection systems. In a sector which is as regulated and as controlled as this one, where all medicines (at least, the legitimate ones) are distributed through a controlled system in a willing partnership between manufacturers, distributors, retailers and governments, training and equipping those who handle the goods to examine the authentication device should be feasible. As should the introduction of a machine-read infrastructure, assuming that there is commonality of what is to be read. The call for greater harmonisation results from the heterogeneity in the sector at present, which makes inpsection and examination a harder task for all involved. At present each hologram supplier offers its own proprietary method of encoding and reading hidden data. It is impractical for a warehouse or pharmacist to be equipped with numerous hologram reading systems, each one required to read the differently encoded information on the holograms from each of the many manufacturers whose medicines they provide. Equally, government inspectors are not able to carry around numerous handheld devices. But as the well-established precedent of credit cards and bar-codes shows, distributors and retailers will equip themselves to read standardised codes if the equipment footprint, cost and training required is minimal and the compatibility is maximal. Can the hologram industry achieve this for the pharmaceutical sector? That is to say, will the hologram industry recognise that here is a cause where collaboration on the adoption of a common approach to encoding and decoding could offer the industry the opportunity to capture that market for many years to come? Because once established, any competing technique has not just to prove itself superior, but must also overcome the inevitable reluctance of a whole sector to change the way it does things. Huge Advantage The hologram industry starts with a huge advantage because holograms have an established customer base in the Pharma sector. And holograms are perceived by the public as a mark of authentication the public may not know how to examine a hologram but its presence gives a level of comfort. Yet if the industry takes no coherent action to work together, it will squander this advantage. The Pharma sector (manufacturers, regulators, even patients groups) is making a case for the ideal authentication device, without perhaps realising that what is actually needed is an authentication system. That system could be built around holograms but it could alternatively be built around other types of device. There are many alternatives all seeking to usurp holograms from their number one spot. Recently, RFID has made the running, in lobbying and PR terms at least, but other technologies taggants, magnetics, complex bar-codes and others are all looking for their ‘killer application and see th e pharma sector as ripe for their efforts. The pharma sector is giving mixed signals about the use of holograms. On one side, Pfizer, in its current generation of product authentication, is currently using colour shift inks instead of holograms as the basis for its solution; on the positive side, Malaysias Meditag uses a three-level hologram (overt, covert and machine-read) at the heart of a system of registration and inspection. Can the hologram industry not individual suppliers, but the industry working together persuade the whole pharmaceutical sector that Malaysias is the way forward, not Pfizers? The RFID industry successfully lobbied the US Food Drugs Administration anticounterfeit task force so that it has identified RFID as the best way forward, although it has left the door open for other technologies by not mandating the use of RFID. This is the example the hologram industry needs to follow, because it has to persuade governments, distributors and manufacturers that the pharma sector can continue to use or even, needs to use holograms at the heart of an integrated system of authentication. The prize is immense, because other market sectors would follow the pharmaceuticals sector. There is no consolation prize, because surrendering this market sector to an alternative technology would give an unavoidable signal to other market sectors. 010 HoloTouch Progress HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, a development company based in Darien, Connecticut working in association with Atlantex Corp, has launched the BeamOne HoloTouch evaluation unit, a working demonstration of its noncontact control technique. HoloTouch was founded by R Douglas McPheters to exploit its patented process for projecting a real holographic image of a keypad or similar finger-tip control board such that passing a real item, such as a finger, through the image, activates the control (US Patent 6377238 see H N Vol 17 No 6). Atlantex specialises in helping bring new products to market, especially in the field of electronic controls and computer accessories . The BeamOne is a four-button box to issue instructions to a PC, to which it is connected by a USB cable. The holographic image of the buttons float about 4 (10 cm) above the BeamOne box and can be programmed to instruct the computer to perform the required functions. It is fully functional, priced at US$1995, but is characterised by Atlantex and HoloTouch as an evaluation device. Nonetheless, it has been chosen by readers of Control Engineering as ‘the most innovative human-machine interface featured in Control Engineering during the past year. McPheters identifies HoloTouch as suiting applications where non-contact is important, such as in a sterile environment, or where switches or buttons cannot be made rugged enough for the environment. The hologram image can also be larger than the keypad it mimics, making it suitable where the device is small or vision may require assistance, such as for sight impaired people or while driving a vehicle, where a quick glance at a small but ton can be dangerous. The hologram is also, of course, intrinsically illuminated, so it is useful for night time or dark environments. HoloTouch and Atlantex are looking for applications partners who will adapt the HoloTouch technique into their own control devices. www.HoloTouch.com HoloTouch Selected for FastTrack HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, the company that has developed a holographic interface for contactless control devices, has been selected for Connecticut Technology Councils FastTrack scheme for promising high-technology start-ups. FastTrack is an advisory and matching programme that helps start-ups with innovative ideas and rapid growth potential to gain seed-stage capital and business planning input through the mobilisation of a network of investors, advisors, professional service providers and industry contacts. Commenting on the scheme, HoloTouch founder and president R Douglas McPheters said: ‘FastTrack offers potentially valuable assistance in connecting us with mentors and advisors and can promote our partnering with companies who see value in our innovative touchless, holographic actuation and control technology. The company has already partnered with Atlantex Corp to launch the BeamOne HoloTouch unit. This enables operators of control boards such as keypads to enter commands simply by passing a finger through holographic images that represent these commands and float in front of the device (see HN Vol 19, No 3) and is suited for applications where non-contact is important for operability of hygiene, including consumer electronics, kiosks, ATMs and medical equipment. HoloTouch and Atlantex have also announced that the BeamOne is now available with relay output, extending the technologys reach to electronic equipment controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). BeamOne already offers communication with PCs through USB, serial and other ports. According to McPheters, this latest development means that the technology can now be used in a numerous industrial applications as well, such as factory floor equipment. McPheters will be presenting a paper on the HoloTouch technology at Holopack†¢ Holo-print 2005. Contact: www.holotouch.com 011 Holotek Doubles Sales and Profits Holotek Technologies Ltd, of Sanzao Zhuhai in China, has doubled its sales and profits in 2004 and is aiming to achieve at least 50% growth in 2005. Its 2003 audited sales of RMB103m ( ±US$12.5m) rose to RMB210M ( ±$25.5m) in 2004, with net profit climbing from RMB58m ( ±$7m) to RMB123.5m ( ±$15.2m), but note that the 2004 figures are not yet audited. Although the company was not liable to tax in its first years of operation (as a start-up in the Zhuhai Economic Zone), these margins of almost 60% make Holotek probably the most profitable holographic producer in the world, both by margin and in its dollar figure. 98% of these sales are for packaging, mainly for transfer metallising of cigarette liners and cartons; 85% is on OPP with the reminder on PET. Holotek has been through ownership changes since we first reported on the company (see HN Vol 17 No 6). It was set up by Fong Teng Technology of Taiwan, but government regulations limit the investment that can be put into a mai nland Chinese company from Taiwan. FT has accordingly sold its interest to four private shareholders, including the CEO Mark Chiang (as a minority owner), and Holotek operates as a subsidiary of Aimrich which is registered in Samoa. The company has also divested its former 49% holding in Yong Feng Tian Technology, a Shenzhen company that produces cigarette packaging materials. All these changes mean Holotek has also postponed its plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It had originally stated its aim was to float this year with a market capitalisation of US$150m, but it is now aiming for floatation in 2008 with a Changes in Holography Changes in Holography 001 Looking Back, Moving Forward How was 2004 for you? For the industry as a whole, reviewing the developments that we covered last year in Holography News, we can conclude that it was a good year for most, with many positive developments that set the scene for 2005 and beyond, but with sufficient clouds on the horizon to prevent any complacency. In terms of markets, in the high security arena the growth of holograms on banknotes continues apace (see page 3) and this will continue to be key market notwithstanding the recent news that the new $100 and other denominations will not, in all likelihood, include a holographic feature. In other high security markets, passports took something of a back seat, for holograms at least not because of technology concerns but because of the current pre-occupation with biometrics. But elsewhere in document protection, AAMVAs specification of holograms on all US driving licences was a significant boost for the industry, while the tax stamp market continues provide significant high volume opportunities for suppliers. There were few major developments in brand protection although the use of holograms as the prime authentication feature on a new labelling program for pharmaceutical products in Malaysia, and the Olympics 2004 merchandising program demonstrated the continuing success of hologram s in these areas. On the downside, the FDAs controversial decision to adopt RFID-based track and trace as the solution to product safety and supply chain management for pharmaceuticals in the US could have unwelcome consequences for the industry should drug regulatory authorities elsewhere in the world follow its example. In packaging, meanwhile, as the Stock watch article in this issue (see page 6) points out, it is barely possible to go out nowadays without seeing holography embellishing shop shelves on all manner of goods from luxury high end to everyday items. Innovation and Development On the technology front, holography continued to demonstrate its inherent capacity for innovation and development. The integration of holograms with other technologies for enhanced security and functionality continued apace examples including Schreiners KeySecure technology, Securiketts Authentikett labels, combined hologram/DNA/RFID labels from ADNAS and Holomex and enhancements to teas scribos Holospot system (see page 8) to name but a few. In the banknote market, De La Rue, Louisenthal and Kurz all launched new security features during 2004 based on combinations of substrate, thread and foil technology. In terms of production, Newmec and Gidue both entered the market with foil applications systems, General Vacuum launched its new compact metalliser while Spatial Imagings new Lightspeed digital hologram printer marked the beginning of new era in large format hologram origination. Aside from the developments in the ‘conventional market for authentication and decorative devices, holography is also beginning to demonstrate its potential for use as a tool as well as a feature. Examples of this potential include Smart Holograms development of reflection holograms as medical diagnostic devices and holographic data storage systems from Optware. Publicly-listed companies were covered in detail in the December issue of Holography News. But there was news from many other qua rters as well, including the expansion plans announced by ABNH, ITW Covid, AFC and Holoshape, and AET Films move into wide embossing on the packaging front. Louisenthal, a major player in the banknote industry, revealed that it now offers full-scale hologram production, including origination, while its former strategic partner in foils, Hueck Folien, joined the ranks of banknote suppliers with its first order for stripes for the Thai currency, signalling a potentially significant new entrant to the market. Its arrival was partially offset by AOTs decision to abandon banknote foils, while the bankruptcy of another high security supplier, Mantegazza, was staved off by its acquisition by Italian security papermaker Fabriano. Outside of the traditional industry centres of Western Europe and North America, the Far East, India and Eastern Europe and the CIS countries continue to play an increasingly important role not just as markets for western companies but as major centres of developm ent in their own right. Russia, a hotbed of scientific innovation, held its first regional conference this year; the commitment amongst Indian companies to quality and industry standards is an inspiration to us all, while all eyes are currently on China, the location for the 2005 Holo-pack†¢Holo-print which will provide the first opportunity for many western hologram companies to witness the strength and scope of this massive market. 2004s Downside So much for the positive. On the downside, RFID continues to position itself, and be viewed in some quarters, as the ‘silver bullet antidote to counterfeiting and diversion, new technologies such as Nanoventions claim their superiority over diffractive features and high quality counterfeit holograms have been discovered on currency notably the euro. The latter, in particular, is leading to a perceptible sense of disenchantment with holograms in terms of their claimed security benefits, technology proliferation and lax standard s amongst suppliers. This topic has been covered exhaustively in recent issues of Holography News and was one of the main topics for discussion at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague, a positive outcome of which was the openness of debate and willingness amongst industry participants to work collectively to address the real issues that are causing concern and counter the misperceptions behind them. All in all, not a bad year for the industry. Provided the concerns leading to disenchantment in some sectors continues to be recognised and addressed with appropriate measures, and provided hologram companies continue to invest in the new products and techniques that form the lifeblood and future of this industry, 2005 could be even better. 002 A Watershed Year for the IHMA In his Chairmans report to the Annual General Meeting of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Hugues Souparis identified the launch of the Secure Hologram Producer Certification Scheme as a watershed for the Association (se HN Vol 18 No 3). This Scheme, run in co-operation with Intergraf, should make a significant contribution to improving procedures in the secure hologram field, and help to raise customer awareness of the need to source secure holograms from a qualified secure producer. Souparis company, Hologram Industries, was the first to be certified, but several others have now applied. Another important development during the year had been the negotiations with the Hologram Manufacturers Association of India (HoMAI), aimed at building a strong relationship between the two associations and serving as a model for the IHMAs relationship with other regional or national hologram associations. An important part of the planned relationship was that the IHMAs Hologram Image Register and HoMAIs Hologram Registry would be linked so that all searches for a hologram match on either database would cover both databases, improving the likelihood of identifying matches which resulted from attempts to source illicit copies of a hologram already in use. He reported that Despite the news that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is casting its net wider for security features (see page 1), banknotes continue to be a good market for the holography industry. A number of new banknotes have been introduced during 2004, including two major currencies the new Canadian dollar series which features a stripe and the two higher denominations of the newly-designed Japanese yen, each with a patch. Kurz was the supplier for both, the latter understood to be the largest single hologram order for banknotes in the industry. Other currencies that have introduced holograms to all or most of their the Board was in discussion with the China AntiCounterfeiting Technology As sociation (CATA) with a view to CATA establishing a hologram section, and that the IHMA was also in preliminary discussions with Russian producers interested in an industry organisation there. Souparis also reminded members of IHMAs links with Interpol and other international and national police organisations, saying that he hoped to build on these contacts in the coming year. New Board Members In the elections at the AGM, Souparis was re-elected Chairman a post he can hold for another two years. Wilfried Schipper (Hologram Company Rako) was elected as the European representative on the Board, with Alkis Lembessis (Cavomit and Taurus) as his deputy; Umendra Gupta (Holostik India) was re-elected as Asian representative, with Khalid Khanani (Metatex) as deputy. Randy James (Pacific Holographics) was elected as deputy North American representative and since the AGM the Board has co-opted John Halotek (ITW Covid) as the North American representative, there being no accepted nomination at the meeting. Alex Goncharsky (Computer Holography Centre, Moscow) and Ken Traub (ABNH) remain on the board for a second and fourth year respectively. Spreading the Word In addition to the objectives above, a key task for the IHMA in 2005 and thereafter will be to promote the positive benefits of holograms, particularly as authentication devices, as a counter to disenchantment with the technology in certain quarters, notably some parts of the high security sector. A proactive PR campaign, a greater presence at industry conferences, an improved website as a communications tool both for members and users, and a drive to increase the membership and the visibility of the IHMA are all currently underway. The hologram industry is one of the few in the authentication sector to have its own association and the IHMA is committed to building on this position and the strengths that a collective voice can provide for hologram companies. Contact: www.IHMA.org. 003 General Vacuums New Compact Metalliser (Pg # 5) General Vacuum, manufacturer of vacuum metallising equipment, unveiled further details of its new compact Holosecâ„ ¢ metalliser (see HN Vol 18 No 2) at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague. Vacuum metallisers have until now been supplied with production widths of 800-3000m, limiting their use both financially and for production purposes among small and narrow-web hologram producers and forcing these to buy in their film and foil pre-metallised from wide web suppliers. The Holosec was designed to fill this niche and enable narrow-web producers to bring metallising in-house, thereby increasing their security of production and enabling them to take advantage of the specialised treatments the system offers. The Holosec combines the vacuum chamber, unwind and rewind units, plasma pre-treatment, demetallization and evaporation source within one compact unit with a footprint of 2m x 3m. In addition to the conventional aluminium used for holographic films and foils, it can coat silicon oxide, chrome, silver and copper and zinc sulphide for high refractive index films. It also offers pattern demetallisation with in-line registration and plasma pre-treatment that enhances the sur face energy of the films to improve adhesion and hence quality. The run rate varies from 10m to a maximum of 200m per minute. General Vacuum, formerly Valmet and now part of the Bobst Group, declined to give prices for the Holosec, stating that these depend on specification. But it can assumed that they will be considerably lower than the prices for wide web systems. When questioned at Holopack.†¢ Holo-print about the risks of spreading low-cost secure hologram production technology in the market, Dr Nadir Ahmed, who gave the presentation on behalf of his former company, commented that the company would check the legitimacy of customers before supply. To date, two machines have been sold with other orders in the pipeline for early 2005. Contact: Andy Jack, General Vacuum Equipment. Tel: +44 1706 622442; [emailprotected] 004 Menzel Vision System for Web Guiding Menzel, a German company specialising in machinery for finishing and inspection machines for textiles, expanded into similar equipment for the plastic films industry in the late 1960s, and at Holopack†¢ Holo-print exhibited a machine vision system for control of web handling machines for holographic films. The system keeps web lines in register to improve the accuracy and quality of slitting, winding/re-winding, stamping and other hologram finishing processes. Based on the companys experience building textile and film web guiding systems, the hologram guiding system can be set to read the edge of the hologram film or a specific part of the pattern in the hologram the camera scans across the width of the film to record the edge position, the registration mark position or the position of a specified image element. Once programmed, it feeds the image data to a sensor and a controller, which in turn adjusts the web guides to maintain the position of the web. The Menzel vision system for holographic film costs around â‚ ¬17- 20,000, depending on the configuration required. Contact: www.menzel.net. 005 Optical Document Security The third edition of the reference book Optical Document Security is now available from publishers Artech House. Written by Rudolf van Renesse, an expert in the field and editor and co-author of the two previous editions (published in 1994 and 1998 respectively), the book provides a comprehensive and cohesive treatment of all aspects of optical document security, according to its publishers. The books contents have been substantially updated and revised from the previous edition, and expanded to include coverage of additional security features and evaluation. The introduction on the theory of colours is followed by chapters on light interference and diffraction, substrate-based security, printing inks and printing techniques, printed security patterns (including screen decoded images and digital watermarks), diffractive- and interference-based security features, security design and evaluation and an introduction to biometrics. The emphasis is on both the physics of security features and their value in resisting counterfeiting, while the chapter evaluating security design looks at the human factors of first line document inspection. The books 350 pages contain over 270 black and white illustrations, including live security documents, and an appendix with samples of important security features. In addition, a CD-ROM is included which contains all illustrations of the book in full-colour. Author Rudolf van Renesse was senior research engineer in the Optics Department of TNO Institute of Applied Physics in The Netherlands and is now an independent consultant on document security for government departments and banking and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in the areas of holography, optical inspection techniques, and the theory of colors and document security, and is the author of more than 80 publications in these areas, as well as a contributor to Holography News and its sister publications Authentication News and Currency News. Optical Document Security is available at the discounted price  £72/$118 from Artech House www.artech-house.com 006 Display Holography on the Rise Photopolymer is making progress winning projects that perhaps embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply We feel for Nick Hardy and Valerie Love of OpGraphics, the British company that has listed its DuPont photopolymer hologram production equipment for sale on eBay. Op has been producing display holograms for the gift and promotional trade since 1983, originally on Agfa silver halide films, then in the 1990s Nick Hardy started working with DuPonts holographic photopolymer, partly because Agfa ceased production of its holographic films, partly because the photopolymer reflection holograms had lower noise and were more light efficient. Unfortunately, when DuPont Authentication Systems was established as a joint venture with Label Systems Inc, the company decided to restrict the distribution of its unexposed photopolymer film to authorised security hologram producers. Op were among the hologram producers which were given notice of a cessation of supply. They tried to fight this under competition law in the UK, but despite their significant investment in DuPonts production equipment and the time to perfect their processes, this was to no avail. The result: holographic production kit being offered on eBay. The Year of Photopolymer? The timing could not be more poignant as there appears to be an upsurge of interest in photopolymer holograms could 2005 be the year of photopolymer? The year has started well for DAS with NASCARs announcement of its licensed product authentication label, a numbered photopolymer reflection hologram (see page 4). To date, the North American sports licensing authentication projects have been dominated by embossed holograms. NASCAR (the most popular motor sport organisation in North America) may not rival the big national sporting leagues in popularity, but big race meetings such as Daytona and Indianapolis attract large crowds of eager souvenir hunters. Last year, DAS released its izonâ„ ¢ advanced photopolymer holograms, offering instant holo portraits on the film, making it particularly suitable for ID documents. And across the Pacific, Dai Nippon and Nippon Paint Co announced that Teikoku Piston Ring Co had become the first major customer for authentication holograms on Secure I mageâ„ ¢ hot-stampable photopolymer. So photopolymer is making progress in the brand protection market, perhaps winning projects that embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply. Two announcements do not make a fully-fledged market, but do represent progress. Coming Full Circle And now, coming full circle, Liti Holographics has announced that it is shipping a new instant holographic film suitable for reflection holograms for the home and hobby market (see page 3). Meanwhile, silver halide display holograms remain a force in the marketplace. Slavich continues to find a market in Russia and beyond for its silver halide plates and films, and Colour Holographics, which took over the production and supply of HRT holographic plates, finds a steady if not spectacular market. The company is finding a ready market for its own large format co lour holograms, while other silver halide display hologram producers remain in steady production. The availability of compact LED lights which illuminate holograms at a very high quality, and the improved recognition by holographers that they have to deliver a complete, lit and framed installation, is boosting the readiness of display artists and interior designers to consider display holograms as a medium. As one who first got involved in holography because of the excitement of such 3D images, it is reassuring and somewhat surprising to see the continuing interest in full parallax holograms, complementing and supplementing the large volume market of embossed holograms. 007 Litis New Reflection Film Liti Holographics, which offers low cost portrait hologram kits selling for $99 (see HN Vol 18, No 9), has launched a new hologram film. According to the company, this film has all the ‘instant hologram qualities of its previous film but is now capable of making reflection as well as transmission holograms. The new film is red-sensitive, making it compatible with both the Litiholo and other hologram kits, as well as red laser diodes and even helium neon lasers. Contact: www.litiholo.com 008 Nigerias New Pharma Certificate NAFDAC, the Nigerian Food Drugs Agency, has introduced a new certificate to be issued to authorised imported and domestically produced pharmaceuticals. The new certificate is being produced by a security printer in the UK and includes a hologram among its security features. This follows participation by Dr Dora Akunyili, Director of NAFDAC in the first Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting, where she made contact with possible suppliers among the exhibitors. 009 Pharmaceuticals: a Hologram Market Expanding or Threatened? At the time of writing, the 2nd Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting has just finished in Paris, organised by Holography News publisher, Reconnaissance International. One of the themes to emerge during the course of the 21/2 day meeting was the importance of authentication of genuine products as part of the system to combat counterfeit medicines, heard from speakers from national drug regulatory agencies and from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Several of the speakers implied, but Dr Thomas Zimmer of Boehringer Ingelheim explicitly stated, that the ideal authentication device for pharmaceuticals is not yet available. As Dr Zimmer was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeit Group of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), his observations must be taken seriously by suppliers or aspiring suppliers of authentication products to the pharmaceutical sector. To date holograms have been the leading device used for overt authentication on pharmaceuticals, so the claim that the ideal device is not yet available can only be interpreted as a challenge to hologram suppliers. Either holograms have failed to deliver what the pharma sector requires or hologram manufacturers have not succeeded in persuading their customers to use all the levels of security that a hologram can offer; that is first, second and third levels overt, covert and machine read. To implement covert and machine read requires additional investment by customers in training, reading tools and for machine read infrastructure. Ideal Sector The pharmaceutical sector is ideal for the introduction of such an infrastructure. Another call at the Global Forum was for increased harmonisation of authentication and inspection systems. In a sector which is as regulated and as controlled as this one, where all medicines (at least, the legitimate ones) are distributed through a controlled system in a willing partnership between manufacturers, distributors, retailers and governments, training and equipping those who handle the goods to examine the authentication device should be feasible. As should the introduction of a machine-read infrastructure, assuming that there is commonality of what is to be read. The call for greater harmonisation results from the heterogeneity in the sector at present, which makes inpsection and examination a harder task for all involved. At present each hologram supplier offers its own proprietary method of encoding and reading hidden data. It is impractical for a warehouse or pharmacist to be equipped with numerous hologram reading systems, each one required to read the differently encoded information on the holograms from each of the many manufacturers whose medicines they provide. Equally, government inspectors are not able to carry around numerous handheld devices. But as the well-established precedent of credit cards and bar-codes shows, distributors and retailers will equip themselves to read standardised codes if the equipment footprint, cost and training required is minimal and the compatibility is maximal. Can the hologram industry achieve this for the pharmaceutical sector? That is to say, will the hologram industry recognise that here is a cause where collaboration on the adoption of a common approach to encoding and decoding could offer the industry the opportunity to capture that market for many years to come? Because once established, any competing technique has not just to prove itself superior, but must also overcome the inevitable reluctance of a whole sector to change the way it does things. Huge Advantage The hologram industry starts with a huge advantage because holograms have an established customer base in the Pharma sector. And holograms are perceived by the public as a mark of authentication the public may not know how to examine a hologram but its presence gives a level of comfort. Yet if the industry takes no coherent action to work together, it will squander this advantage. The Pharma sector (manufacturers, regulators, even patients groups) is making a case for the ideal authentication device, without perhaps realising that what is actually needed is an authentication system. That system could be built around holograms but it could alternatively be built around other types of device. There are many alternatives all seeking to usurp holograms from their number one spot. Recently, RFID has made the running, in lobbying and PR terms at least, but other technologies taggants, magnetics, complex bar-codes and others are all looking for their ‘killer application and see th e pharma sector as ripe for their efforts. The pharma sector is giving mixed signals about the use of holograms. On one side, Pfizer, in its current generation of product authentication, is currently using colour shift inks instead of holograms as the basis for its solution; on the positive side, Malaysias Meditag uses a three-level hologram (overt, covert and machine-read) at the heart of a system of registration and inspection. Can the hologram industry not individual suppliers, but the industry working together persuade the whole pharmaceutical sector that Malaysias is the way forward, not Pfizers? The RFID industry successfully lobbied the US Food Drugs Administration anticounterfeit task force so that it has identified RFID as the best way forward, although it has left the door open for other technologies by not mandating the use of RFID. This is the example the hologram industry needs to follow, because it has to persuade governments, distributors and manufacturers that the pharma sector can continue to use or even, needs to use holograms at the heart of an integrated system of authentication. The prize is immense, because other market sectors would follow the pharmaceuticals sector. There is no consolation prize, because surrendering this market sector to an alternative technology would give an unavoidable signal to other market sectors. 010 HoloTouch Progress HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, a development company based in Darien, Connecticut working in association with Atlantex Corp, has launched the BeamOne HoloTouch evaluation unit, a working demonstration of its noncontact control technique. HoloTouch was founded by R Douglas McPheters to exploit its patented process for projecting a real holographic image of a keypad or similar finger-tip control board such that passing a real item, such as a finger, through the image, activates the control (US Patent 6377238 see H N Vol 17 No 6). Atlantex specialises in helping bring new products to market, especially in the field of electronic controls and computer accessories . The BeamOne is a four-button box to issue instructions to a PC, to which it is connected by a USB cable. The holographic image of the buttons float about 4 (10 cm) above the BeamOne box and can be programmed to instruct the computer to perform the required functions. It is fully functional, priced at US$1995, but is characterised by Atlantex and HoloTouch as an evaluation device. Nonetheless, it has been chosen by readers of Control Engineering as ‘the most innovative human-machine interface featured in Control Engineering during the past year. McPheters identifies HoloTouch as suiting applications where non-contact is important, such as in a sterile environment, or where switches or buttons cannot be made rugged enough for the environment. The hologram image can also be larger than the keypad it mimics, making it suitable where the device is small or vision may require assistance, such as for sight impaired people or while driving a vehicle, where a quick glance at a small but ton can be dangerous. The hologram is also, of course, intrinsically illuminated, so it is useful for night time or dark environments. HoloTouch and Atlantex are looking for applications partners who will adapt the HoloTouch technique into their own control devices. www.HoloTouch.com HoloTouch Selected for FastTrack HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, the company that has developed a holographic interface for contactless control devices, has been selected for Connecticut Technology Councils FastTrack scheme for promising high-technology start-ups. FastTrack is an advisory and matching programme that helps start-ups with innovative ideas and rapid growth potential to gain seed-stage capital and business planning input through the mobilisation of a network of investors, advisors, professional service providers and industry contacts. Commenting on the scheme, HoloTouch founder and president R Douglas McPheters said: ‘FastTrack offers potentially valuable assistance in connecting us with mentors and advisors and can promote our partnering with companies who see value in our innovative touchless, holographic actuation and control technology. The company has already partnered with Atlantex Corp to launch the BeamOne HoloTouch unit. This enables operators of control boards such as keypads to enter commands simply by passing a finger through holographic images that represent these commands and float in front of the device (see HN Vol 19, No 3) and is suited for applications where non-contact is important for operability of hygiene, including consumer electronics, kiosks, ATMs and medical equipment. HoloTouch and Atlantex have also announced that the BeamOne is now available with relay output, extending the technologys reach to electronic equipment controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). BeamOne already offers communication with PCs through USB, serial and other ports. According to McPheters, this latest development means that the technology can now be used in a numerous industrial applications as well, such as factory floor equipment. McPheters will be presenting a paper on the HoloTouch technology at Holopack†¢ Holo-print 2005. Contact: www.holotouch.com 011 Holotek Doubles Sales and Profits Holotek Technologies Ltd, of Sanzao Zhuhai in China, has doubled its sales and profits in 2004 and is aiming to achieve at least 50% growth in 2005. Its 2003 audited sales of RMB103m ( ±US$12.5m) rose to RMB210M ( ±$25.5m) in 2004, with net profit climbing from RMB58m ( ±$7m) to RMB123.5m ( ±$15.2m), but note that the 2004 figures are not yet audited. Although the company was not liable to tax in its first years of operation (as a start-up in the Zhuhai Economic Zone), these margins of almost 60% make Holotek probably the most profitable holographic producer in the world, both by margin and in its dollar figure. 98% of these sales are for packaging, mainly for transfer metallising of cigarette liners and cartons; 85% is on OPP with the reminder on PET. Holotek has been through ownership changes since we first reported on the company (see HN Vol 17 No 6). It was set up by Fong Teng Technology of Taiwan, but government regulations limit the investment that can be put into a mai nland Chinese company from Taiwan. FT has accordingly sold its interest to four private shareholders, including the CEO Mark Chiang (as a minority owner), and Holotek operates as a subsidiary of Aimrich which is registered in Samoa. The company has also divested its former 49% holding in Yong Feng Tian Technology, a Shenzhen company that produces cigarette packaging materials. All these changes mean Holotek has also postponed its plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It had originally stated its aim was to float this year with a market capitalisation of US$150m, but it is now aiming for floatation in 2008 with a