The 5 Major Mass Extinctions

Teamwork And Communication As A Nurse Leader - 1828 Words

Teamwork and Communication As a nurse leader, there are many ways to engage staff through various methods of leadership. Creating an environment that values teamwork and communication is a method that would bring about success on the unit through many ways. Teamwork builds trust, creates an environment where the employees are accountable, and sets a moto that everyone is in this together, and no one is left to fend for themselves. In order to have a successful team, there needs to be great communication. Communication skills will be an important asset for the team members to have because it will make the work day flow smoothly and will also keep everyone involved in a patient’s care up to date. Teamwork and communication are needed to provide a positive outcome for the patient; to teach nurses that they are not alone, and that help can be given if they communicate properly; and that patient care and safety is a clear representation of how well a team works and communicates wit h one another. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) provided an example of a situation where there was a lack of communication and a team of people who had not worked together before. The patient elected to have knee surgery and was given the wrong dose of medication because the surgery was rushed and they had new nurses in the operating room who were not familiar with orthopedics and their protocols (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2016c). With the lack of communication, the lack ofShow MoreRelatedTeamwork And Communication Of The Healthcare Field Essay1590 Words   |  7 PagesTeamwork and communication are very important in providing good quality care, especially in the healthcare field. A team is described as a group of people that works together and cooperatively, between each member of the group to reach a common goal (Sullivan, 2013). For a team to function, communication is essential. A report by McKay and Crippen (2008), as stated by Alfaro-LeFevre, (2013) showed that when collaboration is in place, hospitals can decrease their mortality rate by 41%. When mortalityRead MoreEvaluation Of The Joint Commission On The Accreditation Of Hospitals1324 Words   |  6 PagesQSEN Essay Paper Teamwork and Collaboration Natalie M. 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Standard Forms of Building Contract Free Essays

Furthermore, procedures for selecting main contractor and sub-contractor was reviewed and comparison was prepared to show differences between two procedures. A flow-chart diagram was attached in the Appendix to show the procedures. 2 Introduction 2. We will write a custom essay sample on Standard Forms of Building Contract or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1 Background of the Projects The project we are going to bid is a private development, which to construct a 24- storey residential apartment. The form of contract that the client decided to use in the captioned project is Hong Kong Standard Form of Building Contract 2005-With Quantities, which is published by HKIS, HKIA HKICM. The client preferred a single stage selective tendering approach and we are now going to enter the bid. 2. 2 Objectives (i) Understand the procurement strategy adopted (it) Understand the form of contract adopted (iii) Understand how the Client will appoint our company (iv)Understand how our company will appoint a subcontractor (v) Identify differences in tendering procedures 2. 4 Procurement Strategy Figure 1 Organizational structure ofa traditional strategy (RICS, 2013) Based on the above scenario, we assumed the project adopting the traditional rocurement. Traditional procurement is most commonly used approach in the construction industry. It’s standard practice in the industry since 19th century. (RICS, 2013) Therefore, roles and responsibilities of contractors and different project consultants are well understood. In traditional procurement, design process is kept separate from the construction process. (RICS, 2013) The design have to be completed first and full documentation including drawings, specifications are needed before tendering process. In view of the client, he can remain his control over the design and ensuring quality. A contract dministrator will also appointed to monitor the projects, usually the architect or the engineer. In view of cost and contracts, all returned tenders are based on same intormation, the tender prices can be easily analyzed, and no need tor the Contractor to build in a risk premium in the tender sum. If the designed is fully completed, construction costs can be determined with reasonable certainty given that there are no changes in the construction stage. OCT, 2008) However, this procurement method may take longer time because the scheme has to be more or less fully designed before seeking tenderers. Also, fragmented design nd construction process can leads to disputes between the Contractors and the designers, rather than single responsibility in â€Å"design-and-build† method. (RICS, 2013) 2. 5 Contract Choice Since the client has adopted traditional approach, â€Å"Hong Kong Standard Form of Building Contract Private Edition-With Quantities 2005 Edition† (HKSFBC05) has been chosen by the client to use in this tender. This contract is commonly used in private developments in Hong Kong. (KPK, 2010) It is a lump sum contract in which payment will be made at monthly interval. It’s suitable for adopt in medium-large size building orks designed by the Employer, or someone on behalf of the Employer. Drawings and bills of quantities have to provide by the Employer to define the quantity and quality of the work for Contract to price for it. OCT, 2008) The HKSFBC05 contains detailed conditions which regulates the rights and obligations of the Employer and Contractor. Moreover, under Article 34 of the HKSFBC05, an Architect and a Quantity Surveyor have to be named to administer the contract conditions, their power and duties are also described in the Contract. The Architect will be the contract administrator whereas the quantity surveyor will assist im to prepare valuations for interim payments and variations, calculating liquidated damages (LD) and prepare final account, etc. Generally, the price is bases on lump sums and payment to be made in monthly interval. OCT, 2008) 3 Tendering Procedures 3. 1 Definition Tendering is the process by which bids are invited from interested contractors to carry out specific packages of construction work. The process aims to ensure achieving of true competition. Procurement strategy and forms of contract should have decided and confirmed in precedence to execute the tendering process. 3. 2 Main-contract The whole tendering procedures for main contract can be divided at 3 sections as follows:- 3. 2. 1 Establishment of Tender List At the very beginning of the process, the client should have compile a tenderer list, in order to ensure every contractor chosen to tender will be able to meet specified eligibility, if they are appointed. To form the tenderer list, pre-qualification mechanism may adopted. Interested contractors should prove that they meet minimum standards in certain criteria like financial conditions, project experience, protessional competence, etc during pre-qualitlcation. Sometimes, the consultant quantity surveyors will also give advice to prepare a potential tenderer list, depends on the clients need. Generally, 4 to 8 tenders is enough, depends on value and nature of the work. Once the tenderers list is compiled, preliminary enquiry should be made to those contractors on list, asking those potential contractors whether they are interested to bid the project before formal invitation. The outcome of the tender would be more satisfactory if the Contractor can decline at the earlier stage, and saving excessive papers for tender documents. 3. 2. 2 Tender Invitation and Submission During the compilation of the tenderers list, the consultant quantity surveyors should prepare the tender documents concurrently. So, as soon as the tender documents ready to be issue out (i. e. bill of quantities, drawings, specifications and client’s specific requirements), the tender will be issue to the tenderers with the invitation. The good practice in the industry for the tendering period would be a minimum of 28 days in private sectors. This is a suggested fgure for traditional contract with no design responsibility from the contractors. For easier to analyze the capability of each contractor, usually the Employer will ask he tenderers to submit their own qualifications such as preliminary programme for the work, organization chart, etc. Details of those documents should be listed in the form of tender and also in the â€Å"Invitation to Tender† 3. 2. 3 Tender Assessment and Award All tenders should have received on the tender submission date. Sometimes the Employer maybe request the tenderers to submit non-price material such as Job reference, organization chart, financial statement, etc. These materials should be evaluated independently of the examination of the priced documents. OCT, 2012) To xamine the tenders efficiently, an assessment criteria should have established by the Employer. Price-oriented or quality-oriented? The answer should affect the examination process of tenders. For the priced documents (i. e. bill of quantities or schedule of rates), it should be checked to detect any arithmetical errors. Professional practice is that the tendered prices should never be altered without Justification. If there are any errors or discrepancies between BQ pages and the tender sum wrote in the form of the tender. There are procedures set out to deal with the above situation. Details of the errors should be given to the tenderers. If the said errors are rather minor in the contract sum, the tenderers may confirm the errors and abide his tender. Or the tenderers can withdraw his tender if he thinks the errors are unaffordable. However, it’s depend on the tenderer’s commercial decision. Under this procedure, correction of the overall tender price is not permitted. OCT, 2012) It the tenderer decided to stand by his submitted tender and confirmation nas been reached with the Employer, the gross amount of errors should be converted into a discount factor, usually express in percentage of the corrected tender sum. In Hong Kong projects, this factor is usually endorsed together in the letter of intent or letter to acceptance to the Main contractor. Then the factor will be applied to the variation account where related to the BQ or SOR, except those preliminaries, prime cost rates, provisional sums. WSCC, 2010) After checking errors, if there are any changes affecting prices or design, tender queries should be issued to all tenderers and carry out a second tender exercise. All replied tender queries should bind into the contract document as contract correspondences and forming part of contract, especially those with cost mplications. Upon completion of evaluation of retur ned tenders and tender queries, the consultant quantity surveyor should prepare a tender report and recommend the tenderer which he preferred. Then, the letter of intent or letter of acceptance should be sent out to complete the whole awarding process. 3. 3 Sub-contract The whole tendering procedures for sub contract can be divided at 3 sections as follows:- 3. 3. 1 Selection for a Specific Project When the contract was awarded to the Main Contractor as described above, the Main Contractor takes up total responsibility for the contract work. He cannot complete the hole work using only his own labour and worker. Sub-contractors is therefore needed, especially for E;M services, which require specialist sub-contractors. Each structured main contractor should have his own domestic sub-contractors (DSC) list, the criteria for being qualified into the list depends on different main contractors. Common criteria includes work quality, safety and health record, financial conditions, insurance cover, etc. (CIB, 1997) To appoint sub-contractors for specific project, a preliminary tenderer list should be prepared by drawing up suitable sub-contractors in the company approved list. Confirmations should be seek from potential tenderers if they are interested to tender. Numbers of tenders in the list should between four and six, for â€Å"construct only’ sub-contract. (CIB, 1997) Same as appointing main-contractor, upon complication of tender list, preliminary enquiry should be made with sufficient project details given to the proposed tenderers. Information including conditions of contracts, payment terms, amounts of retention, commencement date and completion date of main contract, etc. Clearly state all necessary information helps to reduce disputes between the main contractor and sub-contractors. CIB, 1997) 3. 3. Tender Invitation and Submission As a formal and good practice, a tender documents for acquiring prices is recommended. By using formal tender documents, offers from different sub- contractors are more easily to be analysed. In contrast, some main contractors may preterred simpler procedures such as asking sub-contractors to submit quotation themselves based on information received. However, in this report, formal tendering proc edure are referred. For content of the tender documents, it’s basically the same with those described above in the Main contract section. The tenders are to be sent out with the nvitations and date for submission of tenders should have stated in the invitations. The time for tendering should be 6 weeks for â€Å"construct only’ tenders. In case of any queries, the tenderers should submit in writing to request for clarifications from the main contractors. (CIB, 1997) Method statements may be requested to submit from the tenderers to better assess their capability for the work and cost incurred by the main contractor for providing temporary working platform and storage space, etc. 3. . 3 Tender Assessment and Awa rd Like the procedure of selecting Main-contractors, only tenders submit by the ubmission date would be evaluated. Non-price material like method statements should be assessed independently, different methods may affect potential costs incurred by the main-contractor. The priced document will be go through checking process first, any arithmetical errors are to be notified to the tenderer and ask whether he will stands by his tender price, procedures are generally same with those above described for main-contract. If it’s possible, the tender prices should never be changed if the scope of works remain unchanged. (CIB, 1997) Subcontractors should then be chosen on the basis of the assessment criteria set own before issuing tender documents. The main contractor may arrange tender interview if he think it is necessary to clarify or amplify the submitted documents. Especially those preliminary items, such as provision of site office, storage, lifting equipment, insurance policy, etc. Responsibility for these items should clearly state and agree before awarding contract. Any matters agreed during the interview should be recorded in writing for further reference. If the main contractor has decided to appoint the tenderers as his subcontractors for the projects, the letter of acceptance should be sent as a formal record here. (CIB, 1997) In case the tendering process for sub-contractors start before the award of main- contract and the preferred sub-contractor’s tender are to be used for main tender submission, the sub-contractor should be notified so the sub-contractor can arrange his resources more efficiently. Upon the acceptance of the main contract tender, the main contractor should also accept that sub-contract tender price agreed before and notify the sub-contractor formally. Letter of acceptance should be sent to the preferred tenderers as a formal contractual record. (CIB, 1997) Conclusions Tendering procedures for main contract and sub contract has been briefly laborated in above passage. Major differences is illustrated by Figure 2 below. Description Sub-contract Compilation of Tenderer List Consultant QS or Employer Main Contractor Tendering Period 8 weeks minimum 6 weeks minimum Nos. of Tenderers Figure 2 Comparison of Tendering Procedures For the tenderer list, the one used for tendering for main contract are usually recommend by the consultant quantity surveyors or the client have its own preferred list, based on reputation. In contrast, each main contractor have its own sub- contractors list based on their specialized trade. For the tendering period, the codes suggested 8 weeks minimum for main contractors to prepare their tender for the Employer while 6 weeks minimum was suggested for sub-contractors to prepare their tender for main contractors. For numbers of tenderers, it is necessary to have sufficient numbers of tenderers to enable a fair competition. It’s suggested 4-8 tenders will be enough for tendering of main contracts, depends on the value and nature of the projects. Fewer numbers of tenderers would be enough for selecting sub-contractors, 4-6 tenderers is suggested in the Codes, depends on different trades. How to cite Standard Forms of Building Contract, Papers

Enzymes Lab free essay sample

Introduction Enzymes are protein based structures that help speed up chemical reactions. They help these reactions keep up with the everyday metabolic needs and other like functions of organisms. Enzymes are also considered catalysts, due to the lowering in activation energy, in which they are not consumed or changed at any point during the reaction. These enzymes have three main protein structures that help keep them formed and intact. Stage 1 of these structures is the primary structure, which is a unique sequence of amino acids. These unique sequences, when either folded or coiled into a chain, make up the second stage, the secondary structure. Once all these coils are folded into a three dimensional structure, the molecule is in the tertiary structure. These structures are all maintained by the formation of weak hydrogen bonds, and stronger covalent bonds. When enzymes are in the tertiary structure, they have the capability of having a specific substrate enter the active site. Once the substrate enters the active site, it forms a short transient stage known as the enzyme substrate complex. This is where, if the substrate(s) fit, the enzyme will produce specific product through the reaction process of catalysis. The enzyme being studied, catechol oxidase, is a common and well known enzyme that helps in the process of bruising and browning in fruits and vegetables (Danyk, 2013/2014). It is known as catechol oxidase because the phenolic compound, catechol, is being oxidized into quinones, in this case, benzoquinone. Enzymes activity is able to be sped up in many ways, including pH, increase in temperature, and the amount of substrate concentration. As the temperature increases, the rate of collisions between reactants also increases. This increase in rate affects the enzymes because the substrates move in and out of the enzyme faster, until the point at which a temperature will be too hot and it will rupture the bonds in potato juice being used. The acidity or alkalinity of a solution works in the same way, as high acidity or basicity will cause degeneration of the proteins as well. As for  substrate available, there will come a time where the enzyme cannot attach and release the substrates any faster, resulting in a plateau in the benzoquinone concentrations. (Danyk, 2013/2014) In our experiment we used potato juice extract to determine the influence of pH, temperature, and substrate concentration on the rate of enzyme activity. This being said, the increased speed of catechol oxidase should help produce higher concentrations of benzoquinone in the solutions. Methods and Materials The enzyme catechol oxidase was placed into a high speed blender to form a juice. All tests were watched for 5 minutes with gentle shaking at 1 minute intervals, and then placed into the 3 °C ice baths and arranged from palest to darkest. Tubes were placed into 3 °C ice baths in order to stop reactions. For the substrate concentration with 5mL of pH7 buffer was added to each of the six tubes. Respectively, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 drops of catechol were added to each of the tubes. To equal out the amount of solution in each of the test tubes, respectively 23, 22, 20, 16, 8 and 0 drops of pH 7 buffer were added. 30 drops of potato juice containing the catechol oxidase enzyme were then added to the solution, and then timed for 5 minutes at room temperature. The pH treatment only required 5 test tubes, with 3mL of matching buffer (pH4, pH6, pH7, pH8, and pH10) in the appropriate tube. Following this, 10 drops of both potato juice and catechol are added to the tubes, and then timed for 5 minutes at room temperature. For temperature, 6 test tubes were required, and placed in their appropriate temperature treatments all with 3mL of pH7 buffer in them. These tubes were place in either 3 °C, 12 °C, 20 °C, 35 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C baths for 15 minutes to warm each tube up to the appropriate temperature. After the 15 minutes, 10 drops of both catechol and potato juice are added to each of the pH7 solutions. After arranging all the solutions from palest to darkest in their respective treatments, the spectrometer would be needed. Starting with the palest and moving to the darkest, all absorbance was measured at 460 nm. Once all these  readings are found, divide by 0.0078 to calculate the benzoquinone concentration ( µm). Mean and standard deviation were both calculated using Microsoft Excel 2007. Results Based off the class date and the means calculated, it was found that all treatments had a point in which there would be no more benzoquinone released due to bonds breaking. The trend found when working with the amount of substrate availability showed a gradual plateau at concentration of about 85-90  µm (Figure 1). But based off the data collected, until this point, amount of substrate available did have an impact on how the concentration of benzoquinone. After the results were calculated, there was a peak at which it had the highest concentration of benzoquinone, pH7. As the pH got lower, so did the benzoquinone concentrations. As well, when the pH got higher, more bonds would degenerate, causing the benzoquinone concentrations do be lower (Figure 2). The results were seen and could be predicted as to almost be a bell curve trend. Temperature had almost the same effect as pH did. When the temperature reached a certain point, bonds started to be broken throughout the reaction. This caused almost a bell curve in the results. The point at which the highest benzoquinone concentration was found was at about 15 20 °C (Figure 3). Even though the class data pointed out there was a higher concentration at about 70 °C, in general there was a bell curve to the results. Figure 1: Mean amount of benzoquinone concentrations from potato juice at different amount of substrate available including standard deviation with n=6. The bars above and below represent the standard deviation for the class. (n=6) Figure 2: Mean amount of benzoquinone concentration from potato juice when working with different pH including standard deviation with n=5. The bars above and below represent the standard deviation for the class. (n=5) Figure 3: The mean amount of benzoquinone concentrations from potato juice at different temperatures including standard deviation with n=6. Bars above and below represent the standard deviation for the class. (n=6) Discussion The results seen during this experiment supported the hypothesis that temperature, pH, and the amount of substrate available all increase the rate of enzyme activity. This is proven by the results discovered in the reactions done. During the reactions, after putting them through the spectrophotometer, the results matched that all treatments would increase the rate at which catechol oxidase works. Both temperature and pH showed a peak before dropping again after a certain point, and the amount of substrate availability showed a gradual plateau. As temperature increases, so does the frequency of the at which substrates collides with active sites. This is due to the increased rapid moving of the substrates. Once the temperature reaches a certain point, in this case about 15-20 °C, the temperature actually starts to rupture the weaker bonds in the active site. This is why there is the drop in the benzoquinone concentration (Reece, 2011). However, in the graph, there was an unexpected result found at the reaction at 70 °C (Figure 3). This result was not seen to be possible, but it was evident that at the 2 tables, due to the cloudyness of the reaction, more light was absorbed in the spectrophotometer. Both the pH reaction and the amount of substrate available both agreed with the hypothesis given, and followed the trend lines expected. No unexpected results came from these 2 reactions. Both these reactions followed different trend lines, due to the effects of the treatments. PH was able to degenerate the ative sites, where as the amount of substrate just made it too much to actually coninue the reation any faster. Thats why there is a plateau when working with the amount of substrate. PH also works the same as temperature, where all enzymes work best at an optimal pH. Most enzymes work best at an optimal pH of 6-8. Beyond these optimal pHs, the active site usually degenerates, and in this labs case, they did degenerate, leaving a peak and drop in the reations. To conclude, with the exception of the skewed result during the temperature readings, all three followed the general and predicted trend lines of the reaction. And with the reactions following the proper trend lines, it is evident that there is an understanding of how temperature, pH, and amount of substrate available affect the rate at which enzymes work Literature Cited Danyk, Helena. 2013. The Cellular Basis Of Life Laboratory Manual. Department Of Biological Sciences. University Of Lethbridge. Reece, J.B., L.A. Urry, M.L Cain, S.A. Wasserman, P.V. Minorsky, and R.B. Jackson. 2011. Campbell Biology, Ninth Edition. Pearson Benjamin Cummings, San Fransisco, CA.