The Community of Nursing: Moral Friends, Moral Strangers, Moral Family

Unlike bioethicists who contend that there is a morality common to all, H. Tristan Engelhardt (1996) argues that, in a pluralistic secular society, any morality that does exist is loosely connected, lacks substantive moral content, is based on the principle of permission and, thus, is a morality between moral strangers. This, says Engelhardt, stands in contrast to a substance-full morality that exists between moral friends, a morality in which moral content is based on shared beliefs and values and exists in communities that tend to be closely knit and religiously based. Of what value does Engelhardt’s description of ethics as moral friends and moral strangers have for nursing? In this essay, I attempt to show how Engelhardt’s description serves to illustrate how the nursing community historically had been one of moral friends but has gradually become one of moral strangers and, hence, at risk of failing to protect patients in their vulnerability and of compromising the integrity of nursing. Building on Engelhardt’s concepts, I suggest we might consider modern nursing like a moral family to the extent that members might at times relate to one another as moral strangers but still possess a desire and a need to reconnect with the common thread that binds us as moral friends. Nursing is a practice discipline. Given the challenges of modern bioethics, an applied ethic is needed to give moral direction to clinicians as we strive to conduct ourselves ethically in the practice of our profession. To that end, nursing should reflect upon and seek to reconnect with the content-full morality that is historically and religiously based

Evaluation of dual purpose softball gloves

The aim of the present study was design and evaluate a multi-purpose softball glove that would increase player safety while eliminating the need for multiple types of gloves. The construction of the Dual Purpose Softball Glove is likened to that of a typical batting glove with added padding on the dorsal side and an elastic seam on the palm allowing the glove to be reversed and worn on both hands. The placement of the padding was determined by a force sensor test. The padding decreased the force felt from the ball, thereby decreasing likelihood of injury. A surveyed comparison of the Dual Purpose Softball Glove and user\u27s preferred method of insert in softball gloves, showed that users prefer the Dual Purpose Softball glove to no mitigation, yet prefer batting gloves overall

THE IMPACT OF INCREASED DIVIDEND ANNOUNCEMENTS ON STOCK PRICE: A TEST OF MARKET EFFICIENCY

The purpose of this study is to test the semi-strong form efficient market hypothesis by analyzing the effects of increased dividend announcements on stock price. Specifically, is it possible to earn an above normal return on a publicly traded stock when the firm announces an increased dividend? Numerous past studies suggest that with a company\u27s increased dividend announcement goes a positive signal about the firm\u27s future, thereby significantly increasing the firm\u27s stock price. Likewise, the positive signal implies that the firm now attracts a new breed of investors, thus driving up demand for the firm\u27s stock. According to the semi-strong form efficient market hypothesis, it is not possible to consistently outperform the market - appropriately adjusted for risk - by using public information such as increased dividend announcements. This type of information should impound stock price sufficiently fast to disallow any investor\u27s earning an above normal risk adjusted return. Evidence here supports the positive signal associated with the sample of increased dividend announcements examined. Likewise, the study results support the semi-strong form efficient market hypothesis

Ocon at War: the Oconomowoc Home Front During the Second World War

ABSTRACT OCON AT WAR:THE OCONOMOWOC HOME FRONT DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR This thesis will examine the local home front propaganda in and around Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (Waukesha County) during the Second World War and compare the Oconomowoc area propaganda to Wisconsin overall and to the national experience. Enlistments, war bond sales, USO events, parades, radio programs/speeches, films, music, popular books/comic books, and images, are the main types of “cultural locations” that I am using as propaganda. I have found solid examples of posters and advertisement images from local newspapers that provide a wealth of information about the way fear, love, guilt, and patriotism were used to persuade people to support the war in various ways. I believe this thesis will complement the existing body of work on the World War II home front and will also augment the present knowledge of Wisconsin history.To build on the scholarship of Wisconsin history, I have analyzed the local home front propaganda in and around Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (Waukesha County) during the Second World War and how it compared to Wisconsin overall and to the national experience. I chose to delve deeper into experiences of local communities rather than nation-wide themes to learn more about every day, mundane life during extraordinary times, and the types of propaganda to which the home front was exposed. The amount of self-sacrifice and teamwork demonstrated during the war seems unimaginable in our current politically polarized moment and leads to the question, “What did the daily lives of Oconomowoc citizens look like during the Second World War?” After careful study one can say that nothing radical happened in Oconomowoc during the war; the citizens encountered propaganda in much the same way people did in other towns across the nation. Yet their response was vastly different from that of people who lived in large cities during the war. Without the same level of smaller-town closeness and interconnection, residents of cities like Madison and Milwaukee would not have had the same types of experiences and interactions Oconomowocians did. Home front life in a big city would have afforded some level of anonymity that those who lived in Oconomowoc would never know

How Much Is Enough? First Steps to a Social Ecology of the Pergamon Microregion

In this study, we present a transparent and reproducible approach to model agricultural production with respect to environmental characteristics and available labour. Our research focuses on the city of Pergamon and its surroundings, with an emphasis on the transition between the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Period, where widespread demographic changes took place. We investigated the degree of local self-sufficiency using different concepts of a city’s complementary region. Using simple topographic derivatives, we derive a measure of environmental suitability that we translate into a carrying capacity index. Our results show that workforce was not a limiting factor for local self-sufficiency. However, environmental carrying capacity may have been limiting in a scenario with a large population. An active investment into the environment, e.g., by the construction of terraces, could have helped to increase the degree of self-sufficiency. Future research should investigate the level of resilience of such a coupled socio-ecological system in relation to environmental and socio-cultural dynamics

The importance of sprayer inspections in the EU from a chemical industry perspective

The legal requirements for sprayer inspection schemes reflect that Crop Protection has to be seen as a process, which includes the user, the application equipment, the infrastructure and the Plant Protection Product (PPP). EU directives set the legal framework for crop protection product registration and practices. For sprayers, or pesticide application equipment (PAE), the EU Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticide (SUD), with its focus on risk reduction, requires the implementation of regular sprayer inspection and certified repeated trainings for users, advisers and stakeholders. The EU Machinery directive amendment lists the technical requirements a sprayer should fulfil which include environmental aspects for the first time. Standards are used to define technical performance requirements and how these should be tested. In Europe the CE label certifies that the PAE complies with the harmonized standards. The Crop Protection industry supports the implementation of PAE inspection schemes and supports the main objectives. These cover all aspects of operator safety, to optimize efficacy and to reduce PPP losses and reduce unintended environmental impacts. According to the relevant directive, all sprayers in use should have been tested at least once by 2016, however this has not yet been achieved. Implementation of inspection procedures are not yet well harmonized, which makes it difficult to compare tests results. Current inspections are mainly developed for field crop and bush / tree crop sprayers. Inspections for other types of PAE are generally not available, mainly because the respective technical standards are missing. TOPPS surveys in EU countries show that the need for advice on spraying is considered largely insufficient and varies significantly between EU member states. Countries with many farmers and a large variety of crops in general have higher needs for advice. The established sprayer inspection stations represent a possible opportunity to develop further competences in order to give application advice to farmers. This would require an appropriate training program for the sprayer inspectors, so that advice on e.g. better adjustment of sprayers can be further transferred by them to farmers. PAE will be a key element in further risk reduction requirements and may become more regulated and integrated in crop certification schemes. Therefore, it is necessary to follow comparable and consistent procedures which are both auditable and broadly accepted. The SPISE working groups gather experts from various countries eager to find solutions to the challenges.The legal requirements for sprayer inspection schemes reflect that Crop Protection has to be seen as a process, which includes the user, the application equipment, the infrastructure and the Plant Protection Product (PPP). EU directives set the legal framework for crop protection product registration and practices. For sprayers, or pesticide application equipment (PAE), the EU Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticide (SUD), with its focus on risk reduction, requires the implementation of regular sprayer inspection and certified repeated trainings for users, advisers and stakeholders. The EU Machinery directive amendment lists the technical requirements a sprayer should fulfil which include environmental aspects for the first time. Standards are used to define technical performance requirements and how these should be tested. In Europe the CE label certifies that the PAE complies with the harmonized standards. The Crop Protection industry supports the implementation of PAE inspection schemes and supports the main objectives. These cover all aspects of operator safety, to optimize efficacy and to reduce PPP losses and reduce unintended environmental impacts. According to the relevant directive, all sprayers in use should have been tested at least once by 2016, however this has not yet been achieved. Implementation of inspection procedures are not yet well harmonized, which makes it difficult to compare tests results. Current inspections are mainly developed for field crop and bush / tree crop sprayers. Inspections for other types of PAE are generally not available, mainly because the respective technical standards are missing. TOPPS surveys in EU countries show that the need for advice on spraying is considered largely insufficient and varies significantly between EU member states. Countries with many farmers and a large variety of crops in general have higher needs for advice. The established sprayer inspection stations represent a possible opportunity to develop further competences in order to give application advice to farmers. This would require an appropriate training program for the sprayer inspectors, so that advice on e.g. better adjustment of sprayers can be further transferred by them to farmers. PAE will be a key element in further risk reduction requirements and may become more regulated and integrated in crop certification schemes. Therefore, it is necessary to follow comparable and consistent procedures which are both auditable and broadly accepted. The SPISE working groups gather experts from various countries eager to find solutions to the challenges

Calculating the Fine Structure of a Fabry-Perot Resonator using Spheroidal Wave Functions

A new set of vector solutions to Maxwell's equations based on solutions to the wave equation in spheroidal coordinates allows laser beams to be described beyond the paraxial approximation. Using these solutions allows us to calculate the complete first-order corrections in the short-wavelength limit to eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies in a Fabry-Perot resonator with perfectly conducting mirrors. Experimentally relevant effects are predicted. Modes which are degenerate according to the paraxial approximation are split according to their total angular momentum. This includes a splitting due to coupling between orbital angular momentum and spin angular momentum