Gold Alloys in Colored Gold Jewelry

Gold Alloys in Colored Gold Jewelry When you buy gold jewelry, it isnt pure gold. Your gold is really an alloy, or mixture of metals. The purity or fineness of gold in the jewelry is indicated by its karat number 24 karat (24K or 24 kt) gold is as pure as gold for jewelry gets. Gold that is 24K is also called fine gold and it is greater than 99.7% pure gold. Proof gold is even finer, with over 99.95% purity, but it is only used for standardization purposes and is not available for jewelry. So, what are the metals that are alloyed with gold? Gold will form alloys with most metals, but for jewelry, the most common alloying metals are silver, copper, and zinc. However, other metals may be added, especially to make colored gold. Heres a table of the compositions of some common gold alloys: Gold Alloys Color of Gold Alloy Composition Yellow Gold (22K) Gold 91.67%Silver 5%Copper 2%Zinc 1.33% Red Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 25% Rose Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 22.25%Silver 2.75% Pink Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 20%Silver 5% White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Platinum or Palladium 25% White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Palladium 10%Nickel 10%Zinc 5% Gray-White Gold (18K) Gold 75%Iron 17%Copper 8% Soft Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 25% Light Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Copper 23%Cadmium 2% Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 20%Copper 5% Deep Green Gold (18K) Gold 75%Silver 15%Copper 6%Cadmium 4% Blue-White or Blue Gold (18K) Gold 75%Iron 25% Purple Gold Gold 80%Aluminum 20%

Life Cycle Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Life Cycle Analysis - Case Study Example In the end I have concluded this paper with my final words. The conclusion consisted of possible strategies or plans of action that the company could take to come out of the position it is in at the moment. In the end, I would like to state that the purpose of this paper was only academic and it was not intended to take any unlawful gain from the data used in this paper. Coyote Logistics are industry leader in logistics industry. It was founded in 2006 in Chicago, Illinois. They provide a wide range of services to their clients. These services include: Supply Chain Management, Transportation and Technological Solutions. In terms of revenue the company is going from strength to strength Coyote Logistics' revenue grew 587.5 percent from 2006 to 2008 according to the company. They also increased the number of the employees from 82 in 2006 to about 350 at the end of 2008. In order to qualify, the company had to be privately owned, based in the 20-county metro Atlanta area and not be a subsidiary of another company. It has to have been established in the first quarter of 2006 or earlier, and to have had 2008 revenue between $1 million and $300 million. Coyote logistics is the industry leader in logistics industry. ... If we look at the company from the lens of life-cycle assessment we will determine the company's true worth in the social environment. The Life Cycle Analysis or Assessment is the investigation and it is a means by which we evaluate the true worth of the company for society. It helps us in determining environmental costs and benefits that the company is rendering. These costs are known as social costs. The first thing that used in the life cycle analysis is determining the goal and scope of this analysis. In our case we want to determine the social costs of Coyote Logistics. Coyote Logistics is using modern technology in its operations. So, our scope will deeper in determining how this technology is developed. If Coyote Logistics technology has result in destruction of any natural resources while experimenting then the cost of that natural resources will be apportion to the product in which this technology is used. Similarly, as a result of development of this new technology, some costs would have been reduced and the society would have been benefitted from this cost reduction and these will be considered as possible benefits for the society or social benefits. So, we want to assess the technological aspect of Coyote Logistics and that is where we will set our boundaries. If we do not set these boundaries we will have assess every single detail and that would be impossible to compu te and will be too time consuming. The next step is called Life Cycle Inventory Analysis. In this stage we will collected the data from Coyote Logistic about their products and based on our findings created a model. According to their Coyotelogistics.com, they have been able out perform other companies worth

Organization value's Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organization value's - Research Paper Example Perhaps, the conflict weakened the foundation of the university’s mission and vision. A large number of people in the university, such as senior administrators, discovered that severe problems continue unresolved. Demands to the administration led to the formation of a committee tasked to identify the issues that the university’s important constituents had. What followed is a comprehensive assessment of senior administrators. The general findings showed that most British and Irish students and employees had little or even no knowledge of the decisions and actions of the administrators due to poor information sharing. In contrast, the American employees stated they were aware of what should be performed and how it should be realized. In order to concretely ascertain the dissatisfaction with the process of information sharing in the university, I conducted small interviews with some of the administrators, faculty staff, and students. Some of the students and employees bel ieved that the administration could work by itself and should be doubted to work for their best interests. Only the administrative personnel expressed high satisfaction with the process and outcome of information sharing in the university. The responses of the students express a considerable degree of ‘uninformed’ stances. ... and I know that these are not reliable sources of information.† The opinion of the faculty staff on the poor system of information sharing is expressed in the statement, â€Å"Honestly, I am not informed of the steps that are being taken to build the assets of the university. Our administrators do not show genuine commitment to the people at the university, especially with regard to sharing of information and values. Apparently, the dissatisfaction among the employees and students at the university is rooted in the lack of information, but with the Irish people this lack of information is a defense mechanism against accountability. The Americans and British demand information for the purpose of learning. The Irish are more contented with the lack of information for the purpose of blaming. This is a major issue for the university. The responses of the faculty staff, mainly British and American, express discontentment with the administration of Americans and British, whereas the most positive opinions of top administrators originate from the Irish employees. This phenomenon is conceivably brought about by differences in cultures and values within the organization. The Effect of Cultural Diversity and Poor Information Sharing Practices on the University’s Organizational Values The Irish groups demonstrate greater power distance over the British and American personnel. The latter groups demand that they have the right to question or challenge those in authority. My interview reveals that a number of American and British faculty members believe that it is their duty to oppose those in the top echelons. This opposition occurs in person, in the form of debate. On the other hand, Irish personnel dislike opposing those in power. The more relevant the concern is to them, the

Primary Health Care And Improving Polypharmacy Nursing Essay

Primary Health Care And Improving Polypharmacy Nursing Essay Polypharmacy is common in older people around 20% of people over 70 take five or more drugs (Milton, J et al. Prescribing for older people. BMJ 2008; 336: 606-9) With reference to both literature and your CBM experience discuss how the Primary Health Care team can work together to improve both compliance and concordance in relation to medication in patients. Polypharmacy is defined as: the use of a number of different drugs possibly prescribed by different doctors and filled in different pharmacies, by a patient who may have one or several health problems [1]. The World Health Organisation estimates that only 50% of patients who suffer chronic diseases comply with treatment recommendations [2]. During day four entitled A Pill for Every Ill? at our GP practise we discussed and learnt about the issue of polypharmacy and how it effects compliance (The extent to which the patients behaviour matches the prescribers recommendations [3] ) and concordance (a concept in which doctor and patient agree therapeutic decisions that incorporate their respective views [3] ) in patients. I also got the opportunity to interview patients about their medication use. From interviewing two patients I found that they all took a number of different drugs for several health problems not simply for one. All of the patients were over the age of sixty and had initially presented with one health problem. Later, further health complications arose that led to more health conditions/problems and consequently increased polypharmacy. The first patient I interviewed took eleven different tablets and had two inhalers. He had had asthma since his childhood and carried an inhaler with him. He initially presented with type two diabetes mellitus twenty years ago and was prescribed medication to help control his diabetes. However, he had a heart attack ten years ago but was unfortunately not prescribed certain preventative heart medications for nine years and consequently only began to take his full course of heart medications a year ago. He has now been prescribed with GTN spray and eight tablets including beta blockers, statins, aspirin and GTN spray. He takes five of these tablets in the morning and three at night. He is on repeat prescription for all his medications and he picks up a blister pack/ dosette box from the pharmacy every month with his medication in, so that he can remember what to take and when to take it. When asked he said he was very happy with how clearly the tablets, inhalers and the side effects o f both had been explained to him. He does not pay for his medications because he is an old age pensioner. He does not feel he suffers any side effects from the medications. He has regular appointments to have blood taken so that he can be monitored so that if necessary, changes in his medication can be made. The second patient I interviewed took nineteen different tablets. She had presented with angina and was prescribed heart medications (beta blockers, statins, aspirin and GTN spray). She later became hospitalised due to an infection in her leg for which she was prescribed antibiotics which she was still taking at the time. Two years ago she began to suffer from severe pain up her back, at the side of her face and at the back of her head. She consulted because of this pain and after a number of follow ups with a specialist at hospital; it was found that the pain on the side of her face and back of her head, was being caused by a large vein lying on a nerve in her face causing painful muscle spasms. Due to the pain in her back, she found it hard to climb the stairs. She was prescribed codeine for the pain by sticking patches on to her skin (to change every day) to give her a continuous dose over a longer period of time than tablets would. The codeine tablets were prescribed for instance s when the pain became too severe that the dose being administered by the patches wasnt enough. The lady explained that she did not suffer any side effects from the medications she took. She is on repeat prescription for all her medications which she takes daily at different dosages for each medication, apart from the antibiotics for which she is on the last course. She does not have to pay due to her being an old age pensioner. To remember to take her medications, she keeps them all in a box by her bed. She has never been in a situation where she completely ran out of medicine because she has the help of her family who go to the pharmacy to pick up her medicines for her. I found the interviews I conducted very interesting and helpful in understanding the important issues of compliance and concordance with patients that arose from polypharmacy. In relation to compliance and concordance, both patients gave a lot of importance to the fact that every time they were prescribed a medicine, the GP would take time to explain why they were prescribing the drug, explaining the way the drug worked, the dosage required and answering any questions they had about the medicine. Whilst studying literature on the topic, I came across an article about a randomised control trial in patients with heart failure and how the intervention of a pharmacist may possibly increase compliance with the patients [4]. It is a fact that patients with heart failure have several prescriptions and for that reason sometimes have problems being compliant and taking full courses of their medication at prescribed times. The trials objective was specifically to see if pharmacist intervention improves medication adherence and health outcomes compared with usual care for low-income patients with heart failure [4]. 39% of the 314 patients with low income were assigned intervention while the remaining 61% remained with usual care. Both groups were followed for 12 months. The group subject to intervention underwent 9 months of multilevel intervention by the pharmacist with a 3 month follow up period. The intervention was designed by an interdisciplinary healthcare team who helped patients with low health understanding and inadequate resources to manage their medication. The results of this trial showed that during the 9 months of intervention, compliance to take medication in the group with normal care was 67.9% whilst in the intervention group it was 78.8%. This difference of 10.9% was found to be statistically significant; therefore these results prove that intervention by a pharmacist does increase compliance in patients. However, in the 3 month follow up these results dissipated. The rate of compliance reduced to 66.7% in the group with normal care and 70.6% in the group with intervention. The difference of 3.9% between the two groups was found not to be statistically significant meaning there was no lasting effect on compliance. Medication was taken at the correct time 47.2% of the time by the normal care group and 53.1% of the time by the intervention group. This soon lowered to 48.9% and 48.6% in the normal care and intervention group respectively in the 3 mo nth follow up [4]. For there to be a lasting effect on increasing compliance and as a subset, taking the medication at the correct times, it was necessary to continue intervention. This study was useful in helping find a method of increasing compliance; however, it was not clear exactly how this intervention worked. I understood it involved helping patients manage their medication better but not how exactly and also involved educating them better about the drugs. In relation to this essay, this study has these limitations but at the same time it reveals useful methods to increase compliance which I can not ignore. There are proven reasons other than the ones explained above, for non-compliance. These include being male, being a new patient, having a shorter disease period and work and travel pressures [5]. Non-compliance entails the disadvantage of patients not following a strict routine of taking medication which consequently causes further ill health and possible bacterial resistance in the long term. Once these issues have been recognised through discussion between a patient and a practitioner; there are two interventions proven to significantly increase compliance. These methods were proven useful in a study conducted to look at ways in which compliance could be increased in patients with ulcerative colitis [5]. In both instances it is necessary for there to be a good relationship between the patient and practitioner where the patient feels comfortable to talk openly about their problems. Educational intervention can be provided [5]. This is comprised of verbal explanation of the dosage re gime and how the drug itself works. Written information on the drug is also provided to educate the patient further. Once the patient feels they are sufficiently equipped with knowledge on the drug and have agreed to take it, the practitioner and patient draw up a self-management programme collaboratively. However, this method of intervention has its drawbacks due to time constraints many doctors are under. They can not find the time to go through this lengthy process with every patient. This problem could be overcome by having another member of the primary healthcare team take care of this process such as a pharmacist who is qualified to answer questions on medications. The second intervention is based on the patients behaviour [5]. It involves making it easier and more memorable to take their medication. This is done with the use of calendar/blister packs which are made/provided at the pharmacy. The blister packs serve as reminders or cues. They have the day and time at which each tablet should be taken on the back so it becomes harder to get confused and to miss tablets, therefore improving compliance. This is a cheap and cost-effective method which has been proven to improve compliance. The interventions together optimised compliance when they were adapted to individual patient needs in the study involving ulcerative colitis patients. To investigate methods to improve compliance I first need to make clear some of the reasons for poor compliance. For this I will use a study based on the causes of non-compliance to statin therapy as a major challenge in cardiology, as my evidence [6]. This study found that there were a variety of factors that caused non-compliance. These include patient, practitioner and system factors [6]. Patient factors include comorbidities (two or more coexisting medical conditions or disease processes that are additional to an initial diagnosis [7]) which increase polypharmacy which decreases compliance and also financial constraints in being unable to buy prescribed medication. Practitioner factors include poor communication skills, time constraints and poor doctor-patient collaboration. System factors include medication costs, lack of clinical monitoring and drug side effects [6]. These valid points presented by the study highlight where the changes need to be made in the Primary Healthcare team to improve compliance in patients. Some of the causes of decreased compliance above have apparent solutions. Financial constraints on patients could lead to a means tested system where patients that earn less than a certain amount receive medications free. This would eliminate the problem of patients not being able to obtain their medications. Practitioners could be sent on courses to improve their communication skills so that patients feel they are being listened to more and so they feel they understand the drugs and side effects so they feel comfortable being compliant. The idea of communication courses for doctors will also have a good impact on doctor-patient collaboration thereby increasing compliance. Medication costs could only be decreased when patents on specific drugs run out and other drugs companies compete for business thereby decreasing costs. Drug side effects are simply a limitation of the technology companies have at the moment, to formulate drugs. When technology advances, so will mans ability to dec rease the number and severity of side effects. However, doctors can also regularly review medication to reduce side effects by switching a patients medication to another drug with similar effects but fewer side effects. This will increase compliance because drugs will increasingly only have the desired effects and little or no side effects. Many of the system factors that lead to decreased compliance are in fact not in the control of the primary healthcare team, such as controlling the medication costs which are set by the drugs companies and drug side effects. The patient factors leading to decreased compliance are very personal and individual to the patient. However, the primary healthcare team can be useful in helping these problems to be overcome by, for example, sorting medicines into a dosette box for a patient who is very forgetful. The practitioner factors that lead to decreased compliance are indeed the same reasons that cause decreased concordance as well as other reasons. Improving concordance is linked to improving compliance. In fact improved compliance in certain cases is a direct consequence of improving concordance. For this reason tackling the problem of decreased concordance is a key issue in the primary healthcare team. Decreased concordance is a result of intentional non-compliance by patients [8] due to time constraints a doctor is under, poor doctor-patient relationship, poor communication skills of the doctor including poor explanation of the patients conditions [9] and the drugs they are taking and poor appearance/professionalism. Time constraints are a problem because GPs feel pressured to rush everything necessary leaving the patient feeling ill prepared. Government initiatives to set a minimum time limit on how long any consultation should last, could be a possible answer to this problem. This would give doctors more of an opportunity to ask more open questions and more probing questions into how the patients life is affecting their health/compliance. Patients are given the choice of asking to have appointments with doctors they believe they have better relationships with, however, if it is noticed that a pattern is emerging when a certain doctor is consistently not asked for, then a review can take place to investigate why the care given by a particular doctor is not good enough. The doctor can be sent on courses in improving care and be sanctioned if deemed necessary by the General Medical Council through fitness to practise measures. If the NHS makes sure that the doctors are provided with more than enough information to educate them on the drugs they prescribe, the likelihood of poor explanations by doctors to patients on their medications is more unlikely. Doctors should also avoid the use of medical jargon and use simpler language that the patient is likely to understand to improve concordance [9]. If this is the reason for poor communication of doctors then poor concordance is also solved. However, poor communication on the part of the doctor can be due to number of different non-intentional problems including family problems. If this is the case then support services can be made available to the doctor to improve his condition/practise. This has the wider effect of improving appearance/professionalism if this is also suffering. Compliance and concordance are of great importance because a decline in either can lead to an exacerbation of the underlying illness or in many cases of polypharmacy, an exacerbation of comorbidities. In conclusion, there are many simple methods in improving compliance, in certain cases as a result of improving concordance. The doctor-patient relationship is key in improving compliance as it involves a mutual understanding and importantly lends help in listening to complaints of patients and finding methods for them to remain compliant. The simplest methods such as the use of dosette boxes, having doctors that are knowledgeable about the drugs they prescribe and taking the time to explain them to patients, are the most useful methods of improving compliance and concordance.

Abraham Lincoln Essay -- essays research papers

Lincoln   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No president of the United States ever assumed office under more difficult conditions than Abraham Lincoln. By the time of his inauguration day, a large portion of the South had already seceded as soon as they heard of his election. Nor did he have the support and confidence of a large portion of the North either. To most Americans, Lincoln was a relative unknown and his homespun image and penchant for humor often led both his opponents and his staff to underestimate him. General McClellan dismissed his commander-in-chief as a buffoon while the abolitionist Wendall Phillips described Lincoln as a ‘first-rate, second-rate man’ who was always ‘waiting like any other servant for the people to come and send him on any errand they wish.’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Such estimations show that Lincoln’s true intelligence and political acumen were widely misunderstood, perhaps owing to the fact that he was a complex and very private man, not readily given to sharing his inner thoughts with even his closest advisors. He also appeared on the surface to be a man of great contradictions. He was anti-slavery and yet he hesitated to free the slaves. He was a staunch believer in the Constitution and yet he suspended the writ of habeas corpus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The answer to these seeming contradictions lies in Lincoln’s character. He was both a man of high ideals and a pragmatist. His paramount goal was the preservation of the Union. W...

Locating Tetrahedral and Octahedral Voids Essay

The close packed structures have both octahedral and tetrahedral voids. In a ccp structure, there is 1 octahedral void in the centre of the body and 12 octahedral void on the edges. Each one of which is common to four other unit cells. Thus, in cubic close packed structure. Octahedral voids in the centre of the cube =1 Effective number of octahedral voids located at the 12 edge of = 12 Ãâ€" 1/4 = 3∠´ Total number of octahedral voids = 4 In ccp structure, there are 8 tetrahedral voids. In close packed structure, there are eight spheres in the corners of the unit cell and each sphere is in contact with three groups giving rise to eight tetrahedral voids Circles labelled T represent the centers of the tetrahedral interstices in the ccp arrangement of anions. The unit cell â€Å"owns† 8 tetrahedral sites. Circles labelled O represent centers of the octahedral interstices in the ccp arrangement of anions (fcc unit cell). The cell â€Å"owns† 4 octahedral sites. Illustration 16. In a solid, oxide ions are arranged in ccp. Cations A occupy one – sixth of the tetrahedral voids and cations B occupy one third of the octahedral voids. What is the formula of the compound? Solution: In ccp with each oxide there would be 2 tetrahedral voids and one octahedral voids 1/3rd octahedral voids is occupied by B and 1/6th tetrahedral void by A. Therefore the compound can be Illustration 17. In a crystalline solid, having formula AB2O4, oxide ions are arranged in cubic close packed lattice while cations A are present in tetrahedral voids and cations B are present in octahedral voids .

Albert Camus and Bohemian Rhapsody Comparison - 1695 Words

Combining the writings of â€Å"Queen† and Albert Camus Albert Camus was one of the most renowned authors during the early twentieth century. With writings such as The Stranger, and The Plague, Camus has struck the world of literature with amazing works that are analyzed to a great extent. This amazing success was not just handed to Camus on a silver platter however; Albert endured many hard times and was often encumbered with great illness in his short life. These hardships that Camus had to face, emphasized in his writings and literature. Camus’ work is very closely related to songs written and sung by a band named Queen. Queen’s song, â€Å"Bohemian Rhapsody†, is one of few songs, that correlate to Albert Camus views on the Absurd, which†¦show more content†¦Freedom; In a world devoid of external significance and meaning, man is free to create his own happiness. The loss of external values is also liberation from our dependence on them. The man speaking in Bohemian Rhapsody talks about feeling liberated and free after he has left â€Å"real life†. Passion; Recognizing and living with the absurd entail a passionate consciousness of each moment of experience. What we lose in quality of experience derived from external values we gain in quantity of consciousness and passion derived from our awareness and rejection of the absurd. The existentialism of Albert Camus is based on his view of life as the Absurd. This sense of the Absurd derives from the realization that man is destined to die, as if being punished for a crime he never committed. There is no reprieve, and this makes life absurd (Peyre). There is no God in Camus’s conception, and those who hope for an afterlife are thus to be disappointed. Camus understood that the fact that there is no God also means that there is no meaning or purpose to life outside of living life to the fullest, and that there is a destined end. The one saving grace in the world seems to be the fact that while there is no God on which man can depend, man can live as if he can depend on his fellow man, even though he and they will all die (Sprintzen). This is another absurdity, but it is based on the fact that the