History and Timeline of the Wheelchair

History and Timeline of the Wheelchair It is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, or who invented it. The first known dedicated wheelchair (invented in 1595 and called an invalids chair) was made for Phillip II of Spain by an unknown inventor. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis. The Bath Wheelchair In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair named after the town of Bath. Dawson designed a chair with two large wheels and one small one. The Bath wheelchair outsold all other wheelchairs throughout the early part of the 19th century. Late 1800s The Bath wheelchair was not that comfortable and during the last half of the 19th century, many improvements were made to wheelchairs. An 1869 patent for a wheelchair showed the first model with rear push wheels and small front casters. Between, 1867 to 1875, inventors added new hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881, the pushrims for added self-propulsion were invented. The 1900s In 1900, the first spoked wheels were used on wheelchairs. In 1916, the first motorized wheelchair was manufactured in London. The Folding Wheelchair In 1932, engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in modern use today. That wheelchair was built for a paraplegic friend of Jennings called Herbert Everest. Together they founded Everest Jennings, a company that monopolized the wheelchair market for many years. An antitrust suit was actually brought against Everest Jennings by the Department of Justice, who charged the company with rigging wheelchair prices. The case was finally settled out of court. First Motorized Wheelchair - Electric Wheelchair The first wheelchairs were self-powered and worked by a patient turning the wheels of their chair manually. If a patient was unable to do this, another person would have to push the wheelchair and patient from behind. A motorized or power wheelchair is one where a small motor drives the wheels to revolve. Attempts to invent a motorized wheelchair were made as far back as 1916, however, no successful commercial production occurred at that time. The first electric-powered wheelchair was invented by Canadian inventor, George Klein and his team of engineers while working for the National Research Council of Canada in a program to assist the injured veterans returning after World War II. George Klein also invented the microsurgical staple gun. Everest Jennings, the same company whose founders created the folding wheelchair were the first to manufacture the electric wheelchair on a mass scale beginning in 1956. Mind Control John Donoghue and Braingate invented a new wheelchair technology intended for a patient with very limited mobility, who otherwise would have issues using a wheelchair by themselves. The BrainGate device is implanted into the patients brain and hooked to a computer to which the patient can send mental commands that results in any machine including wheelchairs doing what they want it to. The new technology is called BCI or brain-computer interface.

Organisational Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organisational Creativity - Essay Example The idea box is a creativity technique used to explore new ideas as well as options. The idea box technique works by nudging the thinker to enhance creative thinking and come up with apposite solutions. I choose the idea box techniques because I have used it in the past. Additionally, the technique enables one to play with different ideas as well as possibilities before coming up with a solution. This ensures that the root of the problem is identified and the most appropriate solution applied. Additionally, brainstorming makes this method appealing, since it does not include any predetermined approaches. Therefore, it makes it possible to deal with the problem conclusively without making assumptions. This paper focuses on the use of idea box creative technique in enhancing business performance. The paper will make use of a personal experience to describe the procedure followed while developing and using an idea box to come up with a solution. Additionally, the benefits and shortcomin gs of using the idea box will be identified. Overview of the Idea Box Technique The Idea box is a morphological analysis technique that was invented by Fritz Zwicky. The technique enables a person to examine all the relationships in comprised in multidimensional problems. Additionally, the idea box helps in generation of ideas. By using the idea box, one generates multiple ideas, which can be combined in different ways to produce different creations. Having several combinations increases the chances of obtaining a workable combination. Designing and Using the Idea Box for Creative Thinking My brother Alex owns a coffee retail shop, which has three coffee outlets. When he initially opened the business, the number of customers grew rapidly since there were no coffee retail shops in the neighborhood. The business activities include roasting of coffee beans, sale of coffee beverages and other soft drinks, as well as sale of snacks. After operating his business for some time, another ret ailer opened a coffee shop a few meters from one of my brother’s outlets. This was a threat to Alex’s business since some of the clients started switching to the newly opened coffee retail shop. I was one of Alex employees and he sought my assistance in developing a way to prevent the loss of customers. Additionally, he wanted a solution that would enable his business attract new customers. We thus decided to use the idea box to come up with possible ways of attracting new customers and retaining the existing ones. To develop the idea box we followed a number of steps. To generate the idea box, you have to identify your objectives. The next step is to identify the parameters of the problem. After identifying the different parameters, one makes a list of variations. This is followed by combining the different variations and examining the different outcomes (Desaeyere, n.d.). We analyzed the problem and wrote it as the caption of the idea box. The idea was to improve per formance of the retail business to retain the existing and attract new customers. We realized that there were quite a number of factors that we hindering maximum performance in the retail business. We thus identified the different areas that required to be analyzed. The areas identified were those that determined the performance of a retail business. After analyzing the problem, we came up with four parameters and

Conflict management strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conflict management strategies - Essay Example Our sample case study involves the youth and the mass media fraternity. Recently, the content being aired in most developing countries portrays a lot of violence, sexual violence, risky behaviors, and drug abuse among other morally unethical habits. All these have adverse effects on the minds of the youth. For instance, display of violent behavior triggers bullying and fights in schools. This is because the youth mainly suffer identity crises and will mostly want to associate with actions and people they would want to emulate. Such violent acts could develop into dangerous traits in the youths in the later years of their lives if nothing is done to rectify. Research conducted by analysts indicate that out of every 2000 teens interrogated in every span of three years, 700 had had sexual intercourse by the age of 16. Furthermore, out of this total interviewed a percentage of approximately 90 teens confessed to have contracted pregnancies. In fact, according to a statement issued by the Parent Television Council Website wanted action taken by the government on television station airing sexually explicit content (Leas, 1997). The report also wanted regulation of adverts and use of vulgar language. The complaint in this case study was filled by the parents who wanted the mass media to air rated content for the sake of the youth. There has also been the issue of racism, where the media has been accused of portrayed with some certain stereotypes as being associated with sidelined races.... In fact, according to a statement issued by the Parent Television Council Website wanted action taken by the government on television station airing sexually explicit content (Leas, 1997). The report also wanted regulation of adverts and use of vulgar language. The complain in this case study was filled by the parents who wanted the mass media to air rated content for the sake of the youth. There has also been the issue of racism, where the media has been accused of portrayed with some certain stereotypes as being associated with sidelined races (Chaturvedi & Chaturvedi, 2011). For instance, in America, the media has been accused of portraying the African Americas and Hispanics as less educated, use of vulgar language as well as very violent (Leas, 1997). As much as there could be some aspect of truth, the media ought to not make it worse by showing world, but assist focusing on their strong points in the society (Leas, 1997). Further, the media finds this very hard at times dependin g on the location in which they cover and gather information. The parents’ association has gone further and involved the government to intervene and help resolve the situation by striking a balance (Leas, 1997). Conflict management strategies In the case of conflicts, a number of approved conflict management strategies have been used in the past and are highly recommended. For instance, there is accommodating. This entails one of the conflicting parties to forego their concerns and allowing the other party to satisfy their concerns. This strategy is less popular as both parties would want their grievances addressed in every aspect. Secondly, there is collaborating. This strategy entails all parties expressing their concerns in a bid to come up with a fair and

Tourism Policy And Planning In Australia Tourism Essay

Tourism Policy And Planning In Australia Tourism Essay Tourism makes an important contribution to Australias export earnings. The objective of tourism marketing is not merely to increase international visitor arrivals, but primarily, to increase expenditure injected into Australia on goods and services purchased by tourists. Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the importance of enhancing Australias tourism yield by attracting visitors from high-spending markets (sited in the Australian Government 2004; Dwyer et al.2007). To market Australia as a tourist destination, Tourism Australia works closely with the travel industry, the Government and the State/Territories. The demand function for international tourism for a given destination may be expressed as a function of income, prices, and marketing expenditure. Australia has had one of the strongest performing economies of the world. Australia has an efficient government sector, a flexible labour market with a very competitive business sector. Such environment is a key driver o f tourism activity. The policy settings set by the government are designed to deliver a vibrant tourism industry that makes a strong contribution to the economy. In Australia tourism is increasingly seen as an instrument for sustaining indigenous communities, many of whom look to tourism for a better future. The Australian federal, State/Territory governments has sought to create tourism policies to facilitate market growth and product development in the indigenous sector. On 5 June 2003, the Federal government released a draft medium to long term strategy to help grow a sustainable Australian tourism industry and better position it against future shocks by making it more robust and flexible. Main key themes of the strategy include sustainable growth and diversification of the Australian tourism product, and a focus on business yield and niche markets. The shift from an emphasis on quantity to quality is important for reducing pressure on infrastructure, protecting the environment, encouraging diversification and product development and improving profitability in the industry. Australian environment is unique from the unspoilt beaches, tropical rainforests, rugged mountain ranges and vast tracts of desert. Some few examples of Australias natural wonders include the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is as big as the total combined area of the UK and Ireland which contains more than 1,000 islands, from sandy bays to rainforest isles. The Wet Tro pics World Heritage Area Tropical North Queensland is the sort of place that someone would like to travel, it covers 900,000 hectares. The Uluru Ayers Rock is considered one of the great wonders of the world and one of the Australias most recognizable natural icons. Australians care about their unique environment such as sustainable tourism is an important factor in policy making. The Australian government is committed to and works closely with the tourism industry to deliver an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism product. A significant contribution to tourism is made by cultural tourism. The experiences generated by Australian performances, visual arts and our heritage are unique. Australias National Tourism Policy the broad mission statement of Australias Federal government in relation to tourism policy is to contribute to Australias economic and social well being through the development of policies that achieve on internationally competitive tourism sector focused on sustainable growth. In the year 1998 a National Action Plan for Tourism was released by the Federal government to provide direction for tourism policy formulation and industry planning. Some of the key objectives of the Plan included developing potential new and emerging markets through targeted marketing strategies. Encouraging the development of efficient and competitive transportation networks, Fostering regional tourism development, enhancing industry standards and skill levels, improving the industrys information base, encouraging the conservation and preservation of Australias unique natural and cultural heritage, encouraging diversification of the industrys product base and reinforcing Australias image as a safe and friendly destination. The whole of the government approach pursued in Australia is intended to ensure a sound economic foundation that aims to create an optimum policy environment for tourism development. Community involvement is an important factor that is likely to significantly influence the sustainability of any tourism development. The involvement of locals in the planning and operational stages can ensure that development will be socially and environmentally responsible and that resulting impacts will be perceived as appropriate by the host community. Tourism businesses in Australia will continue to face a range of short- and long- term external shocks and challenges in major climate change reports. Climate change is an example of a material threat to Australias tourism industry. The Australian government should try controlling the number of visitors arriving in Kakadu Park which is a World Heritage site, the government can either do so by limiting numbers to match capacity rather than having the tourists concentrated in time in a focused tourist season. The Australian government realized in 1990s that tourism was affecting wildlife in the park. A number of bird species includin g red-winged parrots, sulphur coackatoos and shiny flycatchers were recorded as being highly disturbed when tourist boats passed them. Most activities done at the Great Barrier Reef which is made up of some 600 islands, 300 cay (reef islands) and almost 300 submerged reefs. The chef activity on the reef is scuba diving and snorkelling. There is increase in environmental impacts by these human activities which include physical destruction of reefs by anchors and divers feet and hands. Divers can even cause damage to the coral merely by resting on it, as it so sensitive. Some boats end up polluting the water by releasing sewage, furthermore divers feed or touch fish which leads to the modification of fish behavior. The Australian government should have a pandemic preparedness and planning for the Australian Tourism Industry for example an influenza pandemic in Australia would be unlike any other modern disaster and would create new challenges for communities and business that operate within them. Should an influenza pandemic emerge, the tourism industry is likely to be impacted by temporary measures to prevent its tra nsmission and spread, such as restrictions on travel, closer of public places, reduced consumer confidence. My personal critique of the policies are by developing potential new emerging markets through targeted marketing strategies the Australian government should try improving their international marketing strategies and effectiveness through a greater focus on regional dispersal and by freshing and enhancing the brand Australia. Encouraging the development of efficient and competitive transportation networks can only work if the government helps to facilitate the development and growth of sustainable air, sea and land transport services and key tourism infrastructure. Fostering regional tourism development can be achieved by supporting domestic tourism marketing and doing promotions, which include regional promotions by advertising in the newspapers or television. The policy of enhancing the industry standards and skills levels can be achieved by the government ensuring training delivers skills appropriate for the tourism workforce and businesses and promote improved productivity. Improving the industrys information base can be achieved by improving tourism information, research and forecasts to more effectively serve the needs of industry and government. Encouraging the conservation and preservation of Australias unique natural and cultural heritage policy can be a success if only the Ministry of Tourism in Australia improves Australian knowledge of Australia by encouraging domestic travel. A healthy tourism sector contributes to the economic and social well being of Australians. Major policy challenges for the future include coordination of all levels of government working towards an agreed framework between the various levels of government on the national coordination of tourism development will assist in clarifying the roles and responsibilities between the different levels of government.

Factors That Led to the Growth of the Concept of New Public Management Essay

New Public Management is an attempt to reorient and restructure public bureaucracy in the era of globalisation, liberalisation. Following are the main factors which contributed to the growth of New Public Management perspectives: 1. Reaction against Bureaucratic Administration and Elephantine growth of governmental expenditure: The impact of globalisation has been significant on the public administration. The globalisation prompted such changes such as increased interdependence among states, reduction intrade barriers among nations, growing use of information and communication technology and close realignment of public and private sectors. The prevailing state bureaucracy was not able to face these challenges as it was too unwieldy, unresponsive, inefficient, ineffective and not suitable to face emerging competition. In the decade of 1980, the bureaucracy came under severe criticism for the above deficiency. Also, in 1970s and 1980s, due to public welfare orientation, there was an excessive growth in government expenditure which was poorly managed by the large state bureaucracy. Under these circumstances both the size and role of the state was questioned under the prevailing conditions. 2. Impact of Neo-liberalism: The political ideology of neo-liberalism has held a dominating presence during 1980s and 1990s as far as the nature and role of the state is concerned. Neo-liberalism advocated dominant presence of markets against state, rolling-back the state in welfare activities, maximizing individual liberty and freedoms. The tenets of neo-liberalism have close bearing on the rise of New Public Management. 3. Hold of New Right Philosophy in U.K. and U.S.A.: The New Right philosophy with more efficient allocation of resources through market mechanism and less role of the state in social and economic sphere held its sway in 1970s in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Thus, it is not surprising that the new public management perspective was most popular in these countries. 4. Washington Consensus: The Washington consensus is a set of economic reform measures evolved in 1989 by IMF, World Bank, U.s. Congress and scholars such as Williamson to restructure economies in view of financial crisis of 1980s in Latin American countries. It is a structural adjustment and economic stabilisation programme which advocated trade and financial liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation of domestic markets. The tenets of Washington consensus bear close affinity with the New Public Management perspective. 5. Influence of Public Choice Approach: The public choice approach pro-pounded byeconomists such as Fullock, Niskanen, Buchanen, argues that the dominant feature of human behaviour is self interest, which should be maximised through the arrangement of multiple public service agencies that would amplify the scope of people’s choice. It emphasises on the competition and efficiency among the multiple public service delivery mechanism. This approach has influenced the fundamental principles of the New Public Management. Thus, the New Public Management perspective is the result of a number of pull factors such as inefficiency of the state and traditional bureaucracy and certain pull factors such as neo-liberalism, New Right Philosophy, public choice approach and Washington consensus which inter alias supported roll-back of the state, dominance of Market mechanism and need of competition and efficiency

Comparing the Perversion of Values in The Great Gatsby...

Perversion of Values in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman Throughout History there are many examples of perversions, from sexual, social to the very morals themselves. One of the greatest examples is the continuous corruption of the American Dream. As the Dream evolves, it tends to conform to the illicit dealings of the time and immortals of society. No longer is an individual interested in working hard to achieve goals, it is desirous of the quick fix. Society wants its wishes and wants them now. This social attitude is thoroughly explored in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and by Arthur Miller in his Death of a Salesman. As the instantaneous achievement becomes more valued it gives rise to the lie, the†¦show more content†¦So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. The above quote found on page 170 in the Great Gatsby clearly shows the invention of the lie. Gatsby created a fantasy world, which he revolved his life around. Gatsby created the illusion, and then proceeded to lie to himself and everyone around him. However, Gatsbys continuous fib backfires, as the evolving stories get circulated and result in rumors, Ive put it down here with the idea of exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedents, which werent even faintly true. (Fitzgerald 120) Instead of making Gatsbys past more real, the lie resulted in an obstruction of his dream to fit in with society. The results of the lie were similar in the Death of a salesman. Willy Loman lie about his success and distorts his job performance. Willy lies that he is Vital in New England. (Miller 16), which is obviously not true. Unlike Gatsby who lies about his past, Willy tells falsehoods about his accomplishments. I did five hundred gross in Boston ... Well, I - I did - about a hundred and eighty gross in Providence. Well, no - it came to - roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip. (Miller 35) Willy lives in a

Eu vs Nafta - 1729 Words

Abstract The paper addresses important concerns of the European Union and the NAFTA, NAFTA’s functional structure. A brief introduction if NAFTA and EU confront one another. Executive Summary Some would doubt that the formation of NAFTA was the American response to the European Single Act that formed the EU, which is made up of 27 countries. There is nothing to gain for both the blocs. However in some areas, â€Å"peaceful co-existence† and some form of â€Å"stricter ties† between the EU and NAFTA would prove to be beneficial for both. Introduction The NAFTA and the European Union comprising of 27 countries comprise the biggest blocs in the world. The two trade blocs are also highly interdependent through foreign direct investment. In 2007,†¦show more content†¦The Euro was approved for equity and debt trading, bank transactions, business-to-business and payments by cheque. The euro transformed Europe (Warner, 1998) from â€Å"a jigsaw of costly protected markets into a vigorously competitive economic bloc, thereby enhancing international trade in the area†. The NAFTA: A Regional agreement without institutions NAFTA represents a market of 379 million people with $6.5 trillion in production. The drive behind NAFTA was the establishment of a free trade area. Despite being a trilateral, it aimed at increasing international trade through the elimination of trade barriers. NAFTA could become more competitive in the world economy. The primary purpose of NAFTA is to assist the North American region in becoming more economically competitive with the rest of the world. It consists of US, Canada and Mexico. They set the rules regarding trade, investment and the provision of services. Despite the fact that free trade provides benefits, removing a trade barrier could cause damages to the shareholders and employees of the industry. The groups that get affected by foreign competition use politics to get protection from imports. E.g. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, US gaining from removing trade restrictions on textiles and apparel would have been nearly $12 billion in 2002. The EU has become more economically integrated by becoming a common market. This removes barriers to production, like capital and labor.Show MoreRelatedNafta Vs Eu International Integration1601 Words   |  7 PagesWednesday, May 11, 2016 Paper Assignment – NAFTA vs EU International Integration With the development of the world economy, all countries are natural to trade and communicate with other people, especially their neighbors. Regional economic integration plays a very important role in the post-war period. This essay is aimed to compare the progress of the strategic competition between the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and their impacts on the United States. 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