Reconstruction and protection at NJ shore Assignment

Reconstruction and protection at NJ shore - Assignment Example Dunes and wetlands that formed part of natural defense against tides, floods, and storms that often affect or destroy islands; notably, these protective barriers n were removed during the construction on these islands (Goudas 52). Water that receded from Sandy led to destruction on these islands with some areas or regions on the islands recording an overwhelming destruction that need reconstruction towards rebuilding the New Jersey islands. To help with reconstruction and the protection of the shore of the New Jersey, the project must be designed to reduce property damage and erosions that are associated with the regular coastal hurricane, storms, and northeasters. Reconstruction and protection project include the construction of tall dunes of approximately 22 feet high with about 125 foot long beams that are elevated about 8 feet above the water levels (Goudas 47). The structures of these standards or measurements will be perfect in protecting the island from storm and wave damages. Additionally, sand of approximately 11,000,000 cubic yards should be placed at the beginning of construction. These yards of sands should be followed by a periodic nourishment cycle that will contribute to approximately 2,000,000 cubic yard additional sand for every seven years (Goudas 73). Moreover, the seawalls shall be constructed to block that storm from the sea from causing damage of the island’s structures and infrastructure a s well as human beings. These reconstruction and protection measure of the New Jersey shores shall ensure that the shores are protected from the violent and destructive water waves from the Atlantic Ocean that often affects it. Goudas, Constantine. Soft Shore Protection: An Environmental Innovation on Coastal Engineering ; [first International Conference on Soft Shore Protection Held in October 2000 in Patras, Greece]. Dordrecht [u.a.: Kluwer Acad. Publ, 2003.

Analysis of a Quote by Lyndon B. Johnson Essay Example for Free

Analysis of a Quote by Lyndon B. Johnson Essay â€Å"Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.† said by Lyndon B. Johnson. This quote doesn’t include lots of words, but it does demonstrate some valuable strategies. Before we get into it, there is a necessary story that I should mention below. In 1976, that was the first time that Reagan’s serious run for President. At that time, Gerald R. Ford was leading in the delegate count for the Republican nomination. Reagan realized that he could be lost unless he did something unique. Therefore, Reagan named Senator Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his prospective running mate. Since Ford also was from Pennsylvania State, Reagan wanted to use this way to promote some Ford’s supporters change to support him. In order to destroy Reagan’s strategy, Ford reached Jim Baker to let him break Reagan’s attack, cost what it might. He launched a furious retail campaign to lure one delegate at a time back to Ford. Finally, Reagan have traded his number one chit, the vice presidency, for a total of four delegates. In the next president election, Baker acted as presidential campaign as manager for his old friend George Bush to against Reagan again. However, American voters were not interesting in George Bush this time, so that Reagan surpassed him. Also, Jim Baker was exchanged from loser’s campaign manager to winner’s top advisor somehow. Reagan followed an old rule that is â€Å"Keep your enemy in front of you.† It is a wise choice that Reagan did not chase Jim Baker who is his adversaries away instead he took hostages. In order to make Baker bring the largest functions to benefit Reagan, Reagan put his old adversaries into a position where Baker could not do well unless his president did well. Thus, Baker’s achievements had to enhance Reagan’s; he had no choice to make the Reagan Revolution a winner. Maybe Baker’s abilities and relationships are higher than Reagan’s, however, Reagan knew how to change his adversaries’ position and became one of his men. Never let enemies stand behind us, because they can harm us when they hid in the dark places. Therefore, we should learn from Reagan to keep enemies in front of us, and then they can be used to benefit us and defeat others. It is better to have enemies standing in our camp to attack others, than standing in other people’s camp to attack us.

Internet Research and Internet Plagiarism Essay -- Internet Online Com

Internet Research and Internet Plagiarism As wonderful as it is, the Internet is not the be-all and end-all of your research. A college-level term paper that uses only the Internet for information will probably not cover its subject adequately, and thus will not receive a high grade. There are several reasons for this. For one, the Internet tends to cover subjects more superficially than the printed literature, without the depth and context provided by a book. Most Internet sources also lack explicit citations to other sources for reference; such citation is an important part of articles found in professional journals and is one of the ways in which scholarly accountability is maintained. Another important reason that the Internet should not be the primary information source for a term paper is the considerable variation in the quality of information available on the Internet. This variation is due to the Internet's lack of a standard for information quality. Printed, or "hardcopy," literature has a built-in safeguard to promote high quality information -- peer-review. Peer-review means that the editor of the article or book has sent the manuscript to authorities in the subject matter (people like your professors). These reviewers evaluate the manuscript and reach a general consensus that the work meets the required standards. Reviewers cannot advise an editor to reject a manuscript simply because they might disagree with it. They can advise to reject it if there are flaws in the way in which the subject was investigated, if there are major internal inconsistencies, if the manuscript does not adequately deal with important counter arguments, or if the existing literat ure is not adequately referenced. Reviewers commonly off... ...re, because that implies the words are your own. If you find a particularly elegant or useful phrase in the literature, it can be included in the term paper provided the phrase is within quotation marks and its source is cited. Larger textual passages should be indented, but this is very unusual in science articles (it is more common in the humanities and social sciences), and is generally discouraged in scientific writing. Plagiarism can be avoided by reading the source material and taking notes and NEVER copying word for word. This must also apply to the Internet. Never cut and paste from a source into your term paper. As an added disincentive to cut and paste from the Internet, remember that, should your professor suspect that a phrase is not your own, the Internet could be easily searched for that phrase. Plagiarism from the Internet is very easy to catch!

Development of a Clinical Practice guideline for Acute Care Nursing

Clinical practice guidelines are formulated as a necessity to provide uniformity in the nursing field, cut down costs involved and improve the quality of care offered to patients. One of the most important ways of developing a practical and effective guideline is the systematic review of literature on this area since extensive and credible research has been carried out and documented by qualified professionals. It is important to examine whether the formulation of such guidelines has helped influence the conduct of nurses and by extension to evaluate the extent, if any that the provision of health care has benefited from such guidelines.It becomes essential to consider specifically the various areas of intensive medicine since the importance of the department makes it a necessity to have clear, uniform and sustainable practices that fosters discipline, acquisition of new knowledge and a diligence in ensuring that exact and prompt care is administered to save lives. Introduction Nursi ng is a vital part of our society due to the mortal nature of humanity. The average human person cannot live his whole life without need to acquire some medical attention due to either ailment or injury.Nurses therefore provide the necessary care in ensuring that people receive treatment of their various ailments and injuries and hence the role of the nurse is to foster good health and maintain good quality of life. Nurses work under all kinds of environment depending on the nature of ailment, preferences of the patients, personal choices that are influenced by various social and economic factors and in accordance to the laws and guidelines of the various institutions that have jurisdiction over the conduct of nurses under their authorities.These institutions might range from federal and state governments, registration and oversight bodies and specific hospitals in which individual nurses are attached. There are many fields in medicine and nurses work in all these departments depend ing on the specificity of the fields they have received training in. This paper will dwell on the area of acute care provision since as a student specializing in this field; it is common logic that my review should rotate within the educational confines of this field.The area of acute care nursing usually involves attending to patients within the intensive unit set up and is mainly patients whose lives are in danger due to fatal ailments and serious injuries. The history of the development of intensive unit care can be traced to Florence Nightingale and the contribution it has brought to the field of medicine is monumental if the great number of lives saved can be a testimony of its importance and success.It is important that nurses receive sufficient training since their occupation involves saving lives or restoring health regardless of whether assisting medics or administering such services independently. Education then becomes a vital part in the development of the nursing profes sion and hospitals have recognized the importance of education and by extension, hospitals are mandating that their nurses update their training annually (Kurjak & Chervenak, 2006).There is a lot of prudence and common sense behind such directives, most of which are due to the increasing innovations in technology, medicines and methodologies in the field of medicine and nursing. Nurses, especially acute care nurses are required to have accurate knowledge in operating various machines employed in treating patients and since many improvements and new inventions are a daily occurrence, failure to have current knowledge might be a cause for catastrophe and civil liability thereafter.Guidelines are used to ensure that new findings in nursing are used to ensure that gains are felt in the nursing sector to ensure that all stake holders benefit. Good guidelines should be based on evidence and the best way to collect such evidence is through systematic reviews of the existing literature (Sil agy, 2001). However, since several literatures exists on this field and the nature of the many changes in technology and technique that have occurred through the ages, it is necessary to limit your review to materials produced in the near past.The actual period one chooses to examine might be determined by several factors but among them might be the length of the systematic review with a small review like this one going back 5 to 10 years. This means that knowledge contained in these primary documents is current and a reflection of the present condition of nursing sector and guidelines based on such materials will act as an improving factor in the current health service provision.

The Country Ecuador

Ecuador, a country smaller than the size of Nevada, is located in western South America. It borders the Pacific Ocean at the Equator and is a tropical region. The capital of Ecuador is Quito. Quito is located in Northern Central Ecuador. One interesting fact about Ecuador is that it contains the highest active volcano in the world, Cotopaxi. The volcano is located just below the capita, Quito. Due to their new constitution the economic status of Ecuador, a Third World country, is rising. The GDP is $58.7 billion. The GDP per capita is $4,800. Only 35% of the population are below the poverty line. The lowest 10% of income is shared by 2.3% of the population and the highest 10% are 37.6%. The foreign debt is $12.5 billion. 12% of people who live in Ecuador experience wide spread unemployment. Their industrial production growth rate is 2.4%. The budget in Ecuador is $5.1 billion, not including money from private organizations. Ecuador produces a range of products to be exported. They export 30% petroleum, 26% bananas, 16% shrimp, 2% cut flowers, and 1.9% fish. They export to the United States (39%); Latin America (25%); EU countries (22%); and Asia (12%). Ecuador imports $2.9 billion worth of products. These include transport equipment, consumer goods, vehicles, machinery, and chemicals. They import from the United States (32%), EU countries (19%), Latin America (35%), and Asia (11%). Ecuador†s industrial force produces: petroleum, food, textiles, metal work, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fish, and lumber. Ecuador†s agricultural production includes: bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc, plantains, sugar cane, cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products, balsa wood, fish and shrimp. Ecuador†s social indicators are really not too disturbing. The infant mortality rate is 30.69 deaths/1,000 live births. This is not a very high rate compared to many other Third World countries. The average life expectancy for an Ecuadorian is 72.16 years. The average for a male is 69.54 years, and for females the life expectancy is 74.9 years. The population growth rate is 1.78%. This is not a great increase. The literacy rate for the total population is 90.1%. This is outstandingly high. The main religion in Ecuador is Roman Catholic, which includes 95% of the population. Petroleum, fish, and timber are Ecuador†s three main natural resources. The climate in Ecuador is mainly tropical along the coast, and as one moves inland it becomes much cooler. Arable land makes up 6% of land, along with permanent crops (5%), permanent pastures (18%), forests and woodland (56%), and other areas (15%). Ecuador faces many natural hazards, which include frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity, and periodic droughts. Deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, water pollution, and pollution from oil production wastes are some of the environmental issues facing Ecuador. The government of Ecuador is a unitary republic. Their system is set up much like the United States. The government contains three branches- legislative, executive, and judicial. The people elect the president and vice-president by casting only one ballot. In congress, the representatives are limited to four-year terms. Impeachment of a president, would require support of one-fourth of representatives. In order to actually remove him or her from office it would take a vote of two-thirds of the representatives. On August 10 1998, President Jamil Mahuad took his term as Ecuador†s president, and the new government brought forth a new constitution. Primary and secondary education will be free to everyone, in the new constituiton. Universities will not be included in this; students also will be required, much like in the United States, to pass admissions requirements before entering the university. Education is a major factor in helping the poor of Ecuador, by being educated one can start to help themselves by finding better jobs that pay more. Under the new constitution, the state must now try to sustain economic growth. The new constitution stops the state from changing contracts that have been already signed if the law was not enacted previously. Having this will create more private investment, which will help Ecuador obtain foreign capital. Since the establishment of the new government in 1998, the congress has been receiving pressure from citizens to pass a balanced budget and tax reform. Special interest groups and many other interest groups have slowed the progress ofcongress by raising questions about how this is going to happen and disagreeing with congress†s plans. Congress has been threatened by numerous associations to get the budget bill passed. Questions on whether a legislature should remain are arising. Ecuador is also having problems paying their debt. They have defaulted on their interest payments on Brady and Eurobonds. With the already week financial system, some analyst believe this may cause bankruptcy for new institutions. Electricity prices have always been a sore spot in Ecuador. Since the lack of enforcement of the new budget and tax reform, outrage is even more prevalent. CONELEC, the National Electricity Council, has been pressed with the issue of how to implement the higher taxes. Many ideas have been brought to the forefront. One idea is to base the price of electric off the price of the exchange rate of the United States dollar. Another idea is to not enforce the increase until January and then increase the price 34%. After January keep increasing the price monthly until Ecuador breaks even. Ecuador has a new government and with that comes conflicts. They have an excellent government system working for them, but as in every society someone wants to change that. Ecuador is working on convincing some of the old institutions that the government they have now is good. The government is doing good things for the economy by helping reducing the number of the poor. Ecuador†s economy will probable thrive as soon as the bugs are worked out of the system. A volcano threat in Ecuador has forced many individuals to leave their homes. The Tungurahua volcano, located about 120 miles south of Ecuador†s capital Quito, blanketed the area with ash. The Tungurahua volcano is 5,000 meters high and it spews about 10,000 tons of vapor a day. Many experts believe there is an 80% chance that the Tungurahua volcano will erupt. Only minor eye irritations and respiratory problems have been reported as a result of the volcanic gases and activity. Economic development seems to be doing well along with the reduction of poverty since the new constitution was established in 1998. Although I would have liked to have a law that even though primary and secondary education is free-that it is required one attends until a certain age. With a lot of Ecuador†s economy based on agriculture I am concerned that even though education is free, one†s children may not be able to attend due to the need to be on the farm. Education coincides with poverty reduction so I find that the two go hand in hand. Poverty can not be solved in one day, but I do think that education is the right approach. I think there should programs set up to go to the older population and help educate them as well so that they understand why it is important for their children to receive and education. Ecuador is a complicated country with many strong attributes. The country essentially is starting over with a new government, which will take time for everyone to adjust. Ecuador†s economic data and social indicators look good for Ecuador†s future.

Joseohines Influence on the great Napoleon essays

Joseohines Influence on the great Napoleon essays A young woman by the name of Josephine Rose-Marie Tascher arrived in France from the tropical island of Martinique in the midst of the greatest political and social up heaving. With her innate grace and charm she secured herself a position of prominence that enabled her to capture the affection of Napoleon Bonaparte an up and coming French artillery officer from Island of Creole (www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc.html). This was the beginning of one of histories most passionate and extraordinary love affairs. Napoleon instantly fell in love with Josephine and they married on March 8, 1776. The marriage of Josephine and the great Napoleon was one of turbulence, yet Josephine had a great impact on his decisions and his rise to power and fame. Josephine was a respectable and likable person with a high social status which aided to Napoleon and his advancements. Emotionally, Napoleon was affected greatly by Josephine both directly and indirectly. Josephine's influence on Napoleon's emot ions was profound in the way that it affected his decisions and actions. Also, Josephine was a smart and intelligent woman whose opinions were of great value to Napoleon and he often took them into consideration when making extremely important decisions. Socially, Josephine had a great impact on Napoleon's advancements and his success in many areas of life. Early on in the marriage Napoleon discovered how useful Josephine could be to forwarding his position in society and in the military. He often made her his advocate, taking her along when he went to ask an important favour of someone (Erickson 132). She would often speak on his behalf because her remarkable social skills, amiable personality (Cartland 104), and because of her high social status that she obtained from her first husband1. Remarkably, it was Josephine who in the winter of 1795 asked that Napoleon be given command of the Italian army (Erickson 132). Sure enough shortly after her...

Maximum Likelihood Estimation Examples

Maximum Likelihood Estimation Examples Suppose that we have a random sample from a population of interest.  We may have a theoretical model for the way that the population is distributed.  However, there may be several population parameters of which we do not know the values.  Maximum likelihood estimation is one way to determine these unknown parameters.   The basic idea behind maximum likelihood estimation is that we determine the values of these unknown parameters.  We do this in such a way to maximize an associated joint probability density function or probability mass function.  We will see this in more detail in what follows.  Then we will calculate some examples of maximum likelihood estimation. Steps for Maximum Likelihood Estimation The above discussion can be summarized by the following steps: Start with a sample of independent random variables X1, X2, . . . Xn from a common distribution each with probability density function f(x;ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k).  The thetas are unknown parameters.Since our sample is independent, the probability of obtaining the specific sample that we observe is found by multiplying our probabilities together.  This gives us a likelihood function L(ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k)   f( x1 ;ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k) f( x2 ;ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k) . . .  f( xn ;ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k) ÃŽ   f( xi ;ÃŽ ¸1, . . .ÃŽ ¸k).Next, we use Calculus to find the values of theta that maximize our likelihood function L.  More specifically, we differentiate the likelihood function L with respect to ÃŽ ¸ if there is a single parameter.  If there are multiple parameters we calculate partial derivatives of L with respect to each of the theta parameters.To continue the process of maximization, set the derivative of L (or partial derivatives) equal to zero and solve for theta.We can then use o ther techniques (such as a second derivative test) to verify that we have found a maximum for our likelihood function. Example Suppose we have a package of seeds, each of which has a constant probability p of success of germination.  We plant n of these and count the number of those that sprout.  Assume that each seed sprouts independently of the others.  How do we determine the maximum likelihood estimator of the parameter p? We begin by noting that each seed is modeled by a Bernoulli distribution with a success of p. We let X be either 0 or 1, and the probability mass function for a single seed is f( x ; p ) px (1 - p)1 - x.   Our sample consists of n  Ã‚  different Xi, each of with has a Bernoulli distribution.  The  seeds that sprout have Xi 1 and the seeds that fail to sprout have Xi 0.   The likelihood function is given by: L ( p ) ÃŽ   pxi (1 - p)1 - xi We see that it is possible to rewrite the likelihood function by using the laws of exponents.   L ( p )   pÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi Next we differentiate this function with respect to p.  We assume that the values for all of the Xi are known, and hence are constant.  To differentiate the likelihood function we need to use the product rule along with the power rule: L ( p )   ÃŽ £ xip-1 ÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi - (n - ÃŽ £ xi )pÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n-1 - ÃŽ £ xi We rewrite some of the negative exponents and have: L ( p ) (1/p) ÃŽ £ xipÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi - 1/(1 - p) (n - ÃŽ £ xi )pÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi [(1/p) ÃŽ £ xi  - 1/(1 - p) (n - ÃŽ £ xi)]ipÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi Now, in order to continue the process of maximization, we set this derivative equal to zero and solve for p: 0 [(1/p) ÃŽ £ xi  - 1/(1 - p) (n - ÃŽ £ xi)]ipÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi Since p and (1- p) are nonzero we have that 0 (1/p) ÃŽ £ xi  - 1/(1 - p) (n - ÃŽ £ xi). Multiplying both sides of the equation by p(1- p) gives us: 0 (1 - p) ÃŽ £ xi  - p (n - ÃŽ £ xi). We expand the right hand side and see: 0   ÃŽ £ xi  - p ÃŽ £ xi  - p n pÃŽ £ xi   ÃŽ £ xi - p n. Thus ÃŽ £ xi p n and (1/n)ÃŽ £ xi   p.  This means that the maximum likelihood estimator of p is a sample mean.  More specifically this is the sample proportion of the seeds that germinated.  This is perfectly in line with what intuition would tell us.  In order to determine the proportion of seeds that will germinate, first consider a sample from the population of interest. Modifications to the Steps There are some modifications to the above list of steps.  For example, as we have seen above, is typically worthwhile to spend some time using some algebra to simplify the expression of the likelihood function.  The reason for this is to make the differentiation easier to carry out. Another change to the above list of steps is to consider natural logarithms. The maximum for the function L will occur at the same point as it will for the natural logarithm of L.  Thus maximizing ln L is equivalent to maximizing the function L. Many times, due to the presence of exponential functions in L, taking the natural logarithm of L will greatly simplify some of our work. Example We see how to use the natural logarithm by revisiting the example from above.  We begin with the likelihood function: L ( p )   pÃŽ £ xi (1 - p)n - ÃŽ £ xi . We then use our logarithm laws and see that: R( p ) ln L( p ) ÃŽ £ xi ln p (n - ÃŽ £ xi) ln(1 - p). We already see that the derivative is much easier to calculate: R( p ) (1/p)ÃŽ £ xi - 1/(1 - p)(n - ÃŽ £ xi) . Now, as before, we set this derivative equal to zero and multiply both sides by p (1 - p): 0 (1- p ) ÃŽ £ xi -  p(n - ÃŽ £ xi) . We solve for p and find the same result as before. The use of the natural logarithm of L(p) is helpful in another way.  It is much easier to calculate a second derivative of R(p) to verify that we truly do have a maximum at the point (1/n)ÃŽ £ xi   p. Example For another example, suppose that we have a random sample X1, X2, . . . Xn from a population that we are modelling with an exponential distribution.  The probability density function for one random variable is of the form f( x ) ÃŽ ¸-1 e -x/ÃŽ ¸ The likelihood function is given by the joint probability density function. This is a product of several of these density functions: L(ÃŽ ¸) ÃŽ   ÃŽ ¸-1 e -xi/ÃŽ ¸   ÃŽ ¸-n e -ÃŽ £ xi/ÃŽ ¸    Once again it is helpful to consider the natural logarithm of the likelihood function.  Differentiating this will require less work than differentiating the likelihood function: R(ÃŽ ¸) ln L(ÃŽ ¸) ln [ÃŽ ¸-n e -ÃŽ £ xi/ÃŽ ¸] We use our laws of logarithms and obtain: R(ÃŽ ¸) ln L(ÃŽ ¸) - n ln ÃŽ ¸Ã‚   -ÃŽ £xi/ÃŽ ¸ We differentiate with respect to ÃŽ ¸ and have: R(ÃŽ ¸)   - n / ÃŽ ¸Ã‚   ÃŽ £xi/ÃŽ ¸2 Set this derivative equal to zero and we see that: 0 - n / ÃŽ ¸Ã‚   ÃŽ £xi/ÃŽ ¸2. Multiply both sides by ÃŽ ¸2 and the result is: 0 - n ÃŽ ¸Ã‚   ÃŽ £xi. Now use algebra to solve for ÃŽ ¸: ÃŽ ¸ (1/n)ÃŽ £xi. We see from this that the sample mean is what maximizes the likelihood function.  The parameter ÃŽ ¸ to fit our model should simply be the mean of all of our observations. Connections There are other types of estimators.  One alternate type of estimation is called an unbiased estimator.  For this type, we must calculate the expected value of our statistic and determine if it matches a corresponding parameter.