Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Cardiovascular Disease With Vitamin D Deficiency - 2233 Words

Cardiovascular Disease with Vitamin D Deficiency Introduction Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. the primarily source of vitamin d is exposure to sunlight, and we can find the vitamin D naturally . Vitamin D2 is generally produced in humans from 7- dehydrocholecalciferol upon exposure to ultraviolet light. in addition vitamin D2 and D3 can metabolized by human body (Zhang Naughton, 2008). However, highly prevalent of deficiency of vitamin D in the orarld spicially in United State. Vitamin D deficiency are present in as many as one third to one half of healthy middle-aged to elderly adults. inadequate sun exposure inadequate intake of food that high of vitamin D may causes of low 25-OH D levels ( Autier, Boniol, Pizot, Mullie, 2013). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a most prevalent disease in world population that causes the death through since the 1970s. CVD, which involve with heart, blood vessels or both. Cardiovascular disease imply that any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, such as cardiac, vascular diseases and peripheral arterial disease. There are number of factors that leading the CVD such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, smoking and aging (Tomey windson, 2014). musculoskeletal system is the best characterized form of deficiency of vitamin, as well as cardiovascular system may affect by low vitamin D levels . Clinical studies suggest that there is a relationship between plasma renin activity and low vitamin D level (Holicki chen, 2008).Show MoreRelatedVitamin D plays an integral role in multiple systems in the human body, from its function in600 Words   |  3 PagesVitamin D plays an integral role in multiple systems in the human body, from its function in Calcium and Phosphorus metab olism, to modulation of the immune and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases (Grober et al. 2013). Unfortunately, factors such as diet, geographic position, and skin pigmentation are contributing to an increase of prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency around the world, consequently leading to a higher rate of associated illnesses. Namely, Cardiovascular Diseases such as CoronaryRead MoreSci/241 Final1537 Words   |  7 Pagesnutritional health has been a very important part of my life since 2001 when I discovered I have Crohn’s disease. The food I consume affects my life in serious and immediate ways. Throughout this course I have learned various ways to help improve my dieting and better my overall health with different foods, ways of cooking foods, and supplements to help provide nutrients my body needs. Having Crohn’s disease can often make eating fruits and vegetable very painful. Although I have a chronic illness, I planRead MoreHow Does Vitamin D Improves Th e Plyometric Performance878 Words   |  4 PagesResearch Question: Does Vitamin D improves the plyometric performance in young basketball athletes? Part 1 A fat-soluble vitamin D is an essential vitamin which works as precursor steroid in biological and metabolic processes happening in human body (1). Deficiency of Vitamin D has shown a verity of adverse psychological, skeletal and muscular health issues (2). Vitamin D deficiency rate has been increased remarkably from year 1994 to 2004. There are many factors responsible for this like sunRead MoreVitamin D and Athletic Performance Essay1486 Words   |  6 Pageswithin the body and from that how they can influence the body’s ability to perform while under duress. An example of such would be the stress of athletic performance. Vitamin D, which is also referred to as cholecalciferol, is one of the fat soluble vitamins that have been attributed to influencing athletic performance. However, vitamin D is not as much a â€Å"performance enhancing† nutrient in the sense that when taken in higher amounts it will aid athletic performance, but rather when in deficient amountsRead MoreHypertension And Vitamin D Supplementation2526 Words   |  11 PagesHypertension and vitamin D supplementation Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of worldwide mortality and morbidity and accounted 30% of deaths around the world in 2003 (Vacek et al., 2011). Hypertension is a worldwide epidemic that has a strong association with age and life patterns (Wuerzner, Burnier Waeber, 2012). Hypertension has been considered as a major risk factor of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, chronic kidney disease, mental healthRead MoreThe Truth about Vitamin D Deficiency Essay1642 Words   |  7 PagesVitamin D deficiency: In the event that you avoid the sun, experience the ill effects of milk anaphylaxes, or stick to a strict veggie lover diet, you may be at danger for vitamin D inadequacy. Known as the daylight vitamin, vitamin D is transformed by the body because of daylight. It is additionally happens characteristically in a couple of sustenance’s including some fish, fish liver oils, and egg yolks - and in sustained dairy and grain items. Vitamin D is key for solid bones on the groundsRead MoreVeganism and vegetarianism are becoming a growing trend both are advertised in grocery stores1300 Words   |  6 Pagesreduced risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (Barnard, Katcher, Jenkins, Cohen, Turner-McGrievy, 2009). There are, however, a few possible negative side effects to these diets concerning inadequate vitamin and mineral intake, which could lead to deficiencies or possibly diseases. Cardiovascular Disease CVD prevails in America with 1 out of 4 deaths due to heart disease; that’s eighty million people living with at least 1 form of heart disease (â€Å"Heart Disease,† n.d.). ResearchRead MoreMultivitamin With Coq10 And Alpha Lipoic Acid1231 Words   |  5 Pagesideal product for adults who are looking for vitamin and mineral supplements with superior antioxidant support to minimize the oxidative stress to the cells. Today life style is very stressful and many have poor dietary habits; their diets contain processed and artificial food instead fresh meat/vegetables and fruit. This vitamin and mineral supplement with CoQ10+ALA is a great source for vitamins, mineral and antioxidants. Currently there is no vitamin and mineral supplement that containing bothRead MoreThe Sunshine Vitamin or Vitamin D Essay946 Words   |  4 Pages+Vitamin D and hair growth are inextricably linked, according to research. Vitamin D, otherwise known as the sunshine vitamin, is composed of a gro up of fat-soluble compounds that mainly shapes the development and sustenance of bone health. It primarily regulates the gastric absorption of magnesium, calcium, zinc and other minerals that fortify bone density, strength and structure. +Recent studies have mapped out the connection between vitamin D deficiency and diseases of the skin, heart and prematureRead MoreThe Importance Of Nutrition On Health, Health And Well Being Of Our Population Essay1093 Words   |  5 Pagesstages to the final stages of life nutrition plays a vital role in the life a person. Poor nutrition can be caused by over indulgence or deprivation of essential nutrients and can lead to a decreased immune system which increases susceptibly to other diseases, obesity, poor wound healing and decrease in essential development in young ages. Nutrition is an important aspect in the health and well-being of our population. Educating the public on the effects on health of poor nutrition is key in preventing

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Clash Of Ideologies During World War II - 1104 Words

Trevor Gloede Annucci English 102 9:30 30, April 2015 The Clash of Ideologies With the end of World War II and the decline of fascism, two super powers would fight it out for the next forty years. As the cold war progressed the ideological battled would span across the globe in many small, and mostly third world countries. On such country, located in Indochina known as Vietnam. Once controlled by the French now lay hast to the clash of two super powers that would wreak havoc onto the country. With the USSR’s sphere of influence growing, the United States were increasingly worried about the Domino Theory. Consequently, the US adopted a protectorate attitude of the world, trying to eliminate the spread of communism. Though the Vietnam War’s location was insignificant, its ideological value was significant for the US to support to the anti-communist forces in an effort to undermine the influence of the Soviet Union. With the USSR’s sphere of influence expanding and international pressure on the United States, the US wo uld be persistent in fighting a war to support democracy and eliminate communism. In Mark Lawrence’s book, â€Å"The Vietnam War: A Concise International History† he attributes the stage of this clash between the west and the east to be due from the openness to influence of Vietnam. This stems because of the troubled past of the country. In the late 1800’s while the US was gearing up for a civil war the French had gained control of Indochina, which was made up ofShow MoreRelatedEssay on Consequences of the World War II1306 Words   |  6 PagesIn the World War I individual rights and civil liberty have died. The wartime controls had replaced the free enterprise, exchange controls and import-export regulations had replaced the free trade. The inflation had undermined the sanctity of property. The war had shrunk the rights of individuals and enhanced the power of the State. The politicizing of economic and social life means that every dispute and every disagreement were now become the matter of national interest. This rivalry had startedRead MoreThe Treaty Of The Cold War976 Words   |  4 Pages The Cold War was a unique war, nothing like the wars that had come before. It did not have a clear start, no real first battle to start the hostilities. It could be said that the Warsaw upraising in 1944 was the beginning, though what that symbolized was coming went unnoticed by the United States. It was not until two years later in 1946 that the United States finally realized that they had walked out of the fire World War II and into the frying pan of a new war (International). That kind of subtleRead MoreFrancis Fukuyama s The End Of History985 Words   |  4 PagesLife of Ideology, Life of Conflict: Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington In Francis Fukuyama s â€Å"The End of History?† published in 1989, he posits that with the end of the Cold War, humanity is reaching a point where Western liberal democracy and economic structure is the highest form of ideological development. Other ideologies (communism, fascism, etc.) are vestigial forms of thinking destined to fail and disappear in an inevitable progression towards a liberal system (Fukuyama 1989). In â€Å"TheRead MoreTo What Extent Was the Cold War Inevitable? Essay1178 Words   |  5 PagesExtent Was the Cold War Inevitable? With the end of World War II (WWII) in 1945 began the Cold War, an international conflict that lasted from 1947–1991 and plagued nations across the globe. As the post-war negotiations were deliberated by three of the strongest world powers, the United States (US), Britain, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), disagreements arose that created tension between the US and the USSR and ultimately instigated the infamous â€Å"Fifty Years War† (Crockatt 64).Read MoreThe Cold War And The Soviet Union1814 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Every war is fought three times. First comes the political discussion over whether to start or enter it. Then comes the question of how to fight it. And, finally, there is consideration of what lessons should be learned from it.† -Richard N. Haass. The Cold War was the third major conflict of the 20th century, 1947-1991, and followed just these rules. All three phases can be identified, and all three triggered intense debate. The Cold War was located in the countries of the US, the Soviet UnionRead MoreThe Main Reasons Why Wars Start1856 Words   |  8 PagesWar has always been a part of humanity ever since the dawn of modern humans. Wars have started for various different reasons such as territorial disputes, showcase of power, or a struggle between powers. There are many causes of wars from the different levels of analysis examining the roots of the four levels such as individual, state, interstate, and global level. The main reasons why wars start are problems and conflicts in the state level of analysis. Problems within the state eventually createRead MoreThe Cold War Really Shaped History1983 Words   |  8 Pages The Cold war certainly shaped history in the 1900s as a major global threat due to vast political and military tensions. Historiographical studies have shown that the Cold War was primarily due to conflicting ideologies in the world, in addition to America and the USSR’s ulterior motive for global expansionism. The Americans feared Soviet expansionism across the world, and feared the outcome of Communism spreading. Likewise, the USSR feared a capitalist spread. This essay will outline the differingRead MoreFukuyama s The End Of History?882 Words   |  4 Pagesthat with the end of the Cold War, humanity is reaching a point where Western liberal democracy and economic structure is the highest form of ideological development. Other ideologies (communism, fascism, etc.) are vestigial forms of thinking destined to fail and disappear in an inevitable progression towards a liberal system. In â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations?† published in 1993, Huntington writes that the wor ld is divided into civilizations, based on culture (not ideology or economic factors), and thatRead MoreCompare and Contrast Ww1 Ww21058 Words   |  5 PagesThe World Wars were in some ways similar but also, different. The World Wars had similarities in the way the wars were caused, how the wars ended, in regards to who lost, and propaganda. The casualties, the cost, and the military tactics however, were some of their differences. World War I was caused by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914. However, World War II was caused by the political and economic instability in Germany, along with the bad conditions ofRead MoreTaking a Look at the Cold War1243 Words   |  5 PagesCold war The cold war began in 1945 and last till 1990.It involved many nation but the two main opponents were the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The cold war was a conventional power struggle between the two greatest military powers of the age . However; the Cold War was a struggle for world influence between two ways of life. The conflict in ideologies between capitalism and communism resulted in one of the greatest conflicts of the twentieth century ². The ideology that

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Night World Daughters of Darkness Chapter 8 Free Essays

She waited another hour after he set off down theroad, heading east-doing what, she had no idea. There was nothing that way except two creeks andlots of trees. And her house. We will write a custom essay sample on Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 8 or any similar topic only for you Order Now She hoped he was goingto try to walk into town, and that he didn’t realize how far it was. All right, he’s gone, now forget about him. You’vegot a job to do, remember? A slightly dangerous one. And he’s not involved. I don’t believe he knows anything about what happened to Mrs. B. She got the shovel and started down the road west.As she walked she found that she was able to put Ash out of her mind completely. Because all she could think of was what was waiting ahead. I’m not scared to do it; I’m not scared, I’m notscared†¦. OfcourseI’m scared. But being scared was good, it would make her careful. She would do this job quickly and quietly. In through the gap in the hedge, a little fast work with the shovel, out again before anybody saw her. She tried not to picture what she was going to findwith that shovel if she was right. She approachedBurdock Farm cautiously, going north and then doubling back southeast to come in through the back property. The farmland had gone wild here, taken over by poison oak, beargrass, and dodder, besides the inevitable blackberry bushes and gorse. Tan oaks and chinquapins were moving in. Sometime soon these pastures would be forest. I’m not sure I believe I’m doing this, MaryLynnette thought as she reached the hedge that surrounded the garden. But the strange thing was that she didbelieve it. She was going to vandalize a neighbor’s property and probably look at a dead bodyand she was surprisingly cool about it. Scared but not panicked. Maybe there was more hidden inside her than she realized. I may not be who I’ve always thought I am. The garden was dark and fragrant. It wasn’t theirises and daffodils Mrs. B. had planted; it wasn’t the fireweed and bleeding heart that were growing wild. It was the goats. Mary-Lynnette stuck to the perimeter of the hedge,eyes on the tall, upright silhouette of the farmhouse. There were only two windows lit. Please don’t let them see me and please don’t letme make a noise. Still looking at the house, she walked slowly, taking careful baby steps to the place where the earth was disturbed. The first couple of swipes with the shovel hardly moved the soil. Okay. Put a little conviction in it. And don’t watch the house; there’s no point. If they look out, they’re going to see you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just as she put her foot on the shovel, somethingwent hooshin the rhododendrons behind her. Crouched over her shovel,Mary-Lynnette froze. Stop worrying, she told herself. That’s not the sisters. It’s not Ash coming back. That’s an animal. She listened. A mournful maaaa came from the goat shed. It wasn’t anything. It was a rabbit. Dig! She got out a spadeful of dirt-and then she heardit again. Hoosh. A snuffling sound. Then a rustling. Definitely an animal. But if it was a rabbit, it was an awfully loud one. Who cares what it is? Mary-Lynnette told herself.There aren’t any dangerous animalsout here. And I’m not afraid of the dark. It’s my natural habitat. I love the night. But tonight, somehow, she felt differently. Maybe it was just the scene with Ash that had shaken her, made her feel confused and discontented. But just now she felt almost as if something was trying to tell her that the dark wasn’t any human’s natural habitat. That she wasn’t built for it, with her weak eyes and her insensitive ears and dull nose. That she didn’t belong. Hoosh. I may have rotten hearing, but I can hearthatjustfine. And it’s big. Something big’s sniffing around in bushes. What kind of big animal could be out here? Itwasn’t a deer deer went snort-wheeze. It sounded larger than a coyote, taller. A bear? Then she heard a different sound the vigorousshaking of dry, leathery rhododendron leaves. In the dim light from the house she couldseethe branches churning as something tried to emerge. it’s coming out. Mary-Lynnette clutched her shovel and ran. Nottoward the gap in the hedge, not toward the housethey were both too dangerous. She ran to the goat shed. I can defend myself in here-keep it out—hit itwith the shovel†¦. The problem was that she couldn’t see from in here.There were two windows in the shed, but between dirt on the glass and the darkness outside, Mary-Lynnette couldn’t make out anything. She couldn’teven see the goats, although she could hear them. Don’t turn on the penlight. It’ll just give awayyour position. Holding absolutely still, she strained tohear any thing from outside. Nothing. Her nostrils were full of goat. The layers of oat straw and decomposing droppings on the floor were smelly, and they kept the shed too warm. Her palms were sweating as she gripped the shovel. I’ve never hit anybody †¦ not since Mark and Iwere kids fighting †¦ but, heck, I kicked a strangerthis morning†¦ . She hoped the potential for violence would comeout now when she needed it. A goat nudged her shoulder.Mary-Lynnette shrugged it away. The other goat bleated suddenlyand she bit her lip. Oh, God-I heard something out there. The goatheard it, too. She could taste her bitten lip. It was like sucking on a penny. Blood tasted like copper, which, she realizedsuddenly, tasted like fear. Something opened the shed door. What happened then was that Mary-Lynnette Something unholy was after her. Something thatsniffed like an animal but could open doors like ahuman. She couldn’t see what it was-just a shadowdarkness against darkness. She didn’t think ofturning on the penlight-her only impulse was to smash out with the shovel now, to get ft before ft could get her. She was tingling with the instinct forpure, primordial violence. Instead, she managed to hiss, â€Å"Who is ft? Who’sthere?† A familiar voice said,†Iknew you were going to do this. I’ve been lookingeverywherefor you.† â€Å"Oh,God, Mark.† Mary-Lynnette sagged against wall of the shed, letting go of the shovel. The goats were both bleating. Mary-Lynnette’s earswere ringing. Mark shuffled farther in. â€Å"Jeez, this place smells. What are you doing inhere?† â€Å"Youjerk,†Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"I almost brained you!† 0†³You said you were forgetting all this crazy stuff. You lied to me.† â€Å"Mark, you don’t †¦We can talk later†¦. Did you hearanything out there?† She was trying to gather her thoughts. â€Å"Like what?† He was so calm. It made MaryLynnette feel vaguely foolish. Then his voice sharpened. â€Å"Like a yowling?† â€Å"No. Like a snuffling.† Mary-Lynnette’s breath was slowing. â€Å"I didn’t hear anything. We’d better get out ofhere. What are we supposed to say if Jade comes out?† Mary-Lynnette didn’t know how to answer that. Mark was in a different world, a happy, shiny world where the worst that could happen tonight was embarrassment. Finally she said â€Å"Mark, listen to me. I’m your sister. I don’t have any reason to lie to you, or playtricks on you, or put down somebody you like. AndI don’t just jump to conclusions; I don’t imagine things. But I’m telling you, absolutely seriously,that there is something weird going on with these girls.† Mark opened his mouth, but she went on relentlessly. â€Å"So now there are only two things you can believe, and one is that I’m completely out of mymind, and the other is that it’s true. Do you really think I’m crazy?† She was thinking of the past as she said it, of allthe nights they’d held on to each other when their mother wassick, of the books she’d read out loud tohim, of the times she’d put Band-Aids on his scrapes and extra cookies in his lunch. And somehow, even though it was dark, she could sense that Mark was remembering, too. They’d shared so much. They would always be connected. Finally Mark said quietly, â€Å"You’re not crazy.† â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"But I don’t know what to think. Jade wouldn’t hurtanybody. I justknow that. And since I met her , .†Hepaused. â€Å"Mare, it’s like now I know why I’m alive.She’s different from any girl I’ve ever known. She’s ____ she’s so brave, and so funny, and so †¦ herself.† And I thought it was the blond hair, MaryLynnette thought. Shows how shallow I am. She was moved and surprised by the change in Mark-but mostly she was frightened. Frightenedsick. Her cranky, cynical brother had found somebody to care about at last †¦ and the girl was probably descended from Lucrezia Borgia. And now, even though she couldn’t see him, shecould hear earnest appeal in his voice. â€Å"Mare, can’t we just go home?† Mary-Lynnette felt sicker. She broke off and they both snapped their heads to look at the shed window. Outside a light had gone on. â€Å"Shut the door,† Mary-Lynnette hissed, in a tone that made Mark dose the door to the shed instantly. â€Å"And be quiet,- she added, grabbing his arm and pulling him next to the wall. She looked cautiously out the window. Rowan came out of the back door first, followedbyjade,followed by Kestrel. Kestrel had a shovel. Oh. My. God. â€Å"What’s happening?† Mark said, trying to get alook. Mary-Lynnette damped a hand over his mouth.What was happening was that the girls were digging up the garden again. She didn’t see anything wrapped in garbage bags this time. So what were they doing? Destroying the evidence? Were they going to take it into the houseand burn it, chop it up? Her heart was pounding madly. Mark had scooted up and was looking out. MaryLynnette heard him take a breath-and then choke. Maybe he was trying to think of an innocent explanation for this. She squeezed his shoulder. They both watched as the girls took turns with theshovel. Mary-Lynnette was impressed all over againat how strong they were. Jade looked so fragile. Every time one of the sisters glanced around the garden, Mary-Lynnette’s heart skipped a beat. Don’t see us, don’t hear us, don’t catch us, she thought. When a respectable mound of dirt had piled up, Rowan and Kestrel reached into the hole. They lifted out the long garbage-bagged bundle Mary-Lynnettehad seen before. It seemed to be stiff-and surpris ingly light. For the first time, Mary-Lynnette wondered if it was too light to be a body. Or too stiff †¦ how longdid rigor mortis last? Mark’s breathing was irregular, almost wheezing.The girls were carrying the bundle to the gap inthe hedge. Mark cursed. Mary-Lynnette’s brain was racing. She hissed,†Mark, stay here. I’m going to follow them-â€Å" â€Å"I’m going with you!† â€Å"You have to tell Dad if anything happens to me-â€Å" â€Å"I’m going withyou.† There wasn’t time to argue. And something inside Mary-Lynnette was glad to have Mark’s strength to back her. She gasped, â€Å"Come on, then. And don’t make asound.† She was worried they might have already lost the sisters–it was such a dark night. But when she and Mark squeezed through the gap in the rhododendron bushes, she saw a light ahead. A tiny, bobbing white light. The sisters were using a flashlight. Keep quiet, move carefully. Mary-Lynnette didn’tdare say it out loud to Mark, but she kept thinking it over and over, like a mantra. Her whole consciousness was fixed on the little shaft of light that was leading them, like a comet’s tail in the darkness. The light took them south, into a stand of Douglasfir. It wasn’t long before they were walking into forest. Where are they going? Mary-Lynnette thought. She could feel fine tremors in her muscles as she tried to move as quickly as possible without making a sound. They were lucky–the floor of this forest was carpeted with needles from Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine. The needles were fragrant and slightly damp and they muffled footsteps. Mary-Lynnette could hardly hear Mark walking behind her except when he hurt himself. They went on for what seemed like forever. It was pitch dark and Mary-Lynnette very quickly lost any sense of where they were. Or how they were going to get back. Oh, God, I was crazy to do this-and to bring Markalong, too. We’re out in the middle of the woodswith three crazy girls†¦. The light had stopped. Mary-Lynnette stopped, holding out an arm thatMark immediately ran into. She was staring at thelight, trying to make sure it really wasn’t moving away. No. It was steady. It was pointed at the ground. â€Å"Let’s get loser,† Mark whispered, putting his lips against Mary-Lynnette’s ear. She nodded and began to creep toward the light, as slowly and silently asshe knew how. Every few steps she paused and stood absolutely still, waiting to see if the light was going to turn her way. It didn’t. She got down and crawled the last ten feet to the edge of the clearing where the girls had stopped. Once there, she had a good view of what they were doing. Digging. Kestrel had shoveled the pine needles aside and was working on a hole. Mary-Lynnette felt Mark crawl up beside her,crushing sword fern and woodfem. She could feel his chest heaving. She knew he saw what she saw. I’m so sorry. Oh, Mark, I’m so sorry. There was no way to deny it now. Mary-Lynnetteknew. She didn’t even need to look in the bag. How am I going to find this place again? When I bring the sheriff back, how am I going to remember it? It’s like a maze in one of those computer fantasy games-Mixed Evergreen Forest in every direction,and nothing to distinguish any bit of it from any other bit. She chewed her lip. The bed of moist needles she was lying on was soft and springy-actually comfortable. They could wait here for a long time, until the sisters left, and then mark the trees somehow. Takephotographs. Tie their socks to branches. In the clearing the flashlight beam showed a hand putting down the shovel. Then Rowan and Kestrellifted the garbage-bagged bundle-Jade must beholding the flashlight, Mary-Lynnette thought-and lowered it into the hole. Good. Now cover it up and leave. The beam showed Rowan bending to pick up the shovel again. She began quickly covering the hole with dirt. Mary-Lynnette was happy. Over soon, she thought, and let out a soft breath of relief. And in that instant everything in the clearingchanged. The flashlight beam swung wildly. Mary-Lynnette flattened herself, feeling her eyes widen. She could see a silhouette against the light-golden hair haloed around the face. Kestrel. Kestrel was standing, facing Mark and Mary-Lynnette, her body tense and still. Listening. Listening. Mary-Lynnette lay absolutely motionless, mouthopen, trying to breathe without making a soundThere were things crawling in the soft, springy needlebed under her. Centipedes and millipedes. She didn’tdare move even when she felt something tickle acrossher back under her shirt. Her own ears rang from listening. But the forest was silent †¦ eerily dent. All Mary-Lynnette couldhear was her own heart pounding wildly in herchest-although ft felt as if it were in her throat, too.It made her head bob with its rhythm. She was afraid. And it wasn’t just fear. It was something shecouldn’t remember experiencing since she was nineor ten. Ghost fear. The fear of something you’re not even sure exists. Somehow, watching Kestrel’s silhouette In the dark woods, Mary-Lynnette was afraid of monsters.She had aterrible,terrible feeling. Oh, please–I shouldn’t have brought Mark here. It was then that she realized that Mark’s breathing was making a noise. Just a faint sound, not a whistling, more like a cat purring. It was the sound he’d made as a kid when his lungs were bad. Kestrel stiffened, her head turning, as if to locate a noise. Oh, Mark, no. Don’t breathe. Hold your breath-Everything happened very fast. Kestrel sprang forward. Mary-Lynnette saw her silhouette come running and jumping with unbelievable speed. Toofast-nobody moves thatfast .. . nobody human†¦. What are these girls? Her vision came in flashes,as if she were under a strobe light. Kestrel jumping. Dark trees all around. A moth caught in the beam. Kestrel coming down. Protect mark†¦ A deer. Kestrel was coming down on a deer. Mary-Lynnette’s mind was filled with jumbled, careening images. Images that didn’t make sense. She had a wild thought that it wasn’t Kestrel at all, but one of those raptor dinosaurs she’d seen at the movies. Because Kestrel moved like that. Or maybe ftwasn’t a deer-but Mary-Lynnette could seethe white at its throat, as pure as a lace ruffle at the throat of a young girl. She could see itsliquid black eyes. The deer screamed. Disbelief. I can’t be seeing this†¦. The deer was on the ground, delicate legs thrashing. And Kestrel was tangled with it. Her face buriedin the white of its throat. Her arms around it. The deer screamed again. Wrenched violently.Seemed to be having convulsions. The flashlight beam was all over the place. Then it dropped. At the very edge of the light, Mary-Lynnette could see two other figures join Kestrel.They were all holding the deer. There was one last spasm and it stopped fighting. Everything went still. Mary-Lynnette could see Jade’s hair, so fine that individual strands caught the light against the background of darkness. In the silent Bearing the three figures cradled thedeer. Huddling over it. Shoulders moving rhythmically. Mary-Lynnette couldn’t see exactly what theywere doing, but the general scene wasf,miliar.She’d seen it on dozens of nature documentaries. About wild dogs or lionesses or wolves. The pack hadhunted and now ft wasfeeding. I have always tried†¦ to bea very good observer. And now, I have to believe my own eyes†¦ . Beside her, Mark’s breath wassobbing. Oh, God, let me get him out of here. Please justlet us get out. It was as if she’d been suddenly released from paralysis. Her lip was bleeding again-she must havebitten down on it while she was watchingthe deer.Copperbloodfear filled her mouth. â€Å"Come on,† shegasped almost soundlessly, wiggling backward. Twigs and needles raked her stomachas her T-shirt rode up. She grabbed Mark’s arm.†Come onl† Instead, Mark lurched to his feet. â€Å"Mark!† She wrenched herself to her knees andtried to drag him down. He pulled away. Hetook a step toward theclearing. No â€Å"Jade!† He was heading for the clearing. No, Mary-Lynnette thought again, andthen shewas moving after him. They were caught now, andit really didn’t matter what he did. Butshe wantedto bewith him. â€Å"Jade!† Mark said and he grabbed the flashlight.He turned it directly on the little huddle at the edgeof the clearing. Three faces turned toward him. Mary-Lynnette’s mind reeled. It was one thing toguess what the girls were doing; it was another thingto seeit. Those three beautiful faces, white in the flashlight beam †¦with what looked like smearedlipstick on their mouths and chins. Cardinal red, thimbleberry color. But it wasn’t lipstick or burst thimbleberries. It wasblood, and the deer’s white neck was stained with it. Eating the deer, they’re really eating the deer;oh, God, they’re really doing it†¦. Some part of her mind-the part that had absorbedhorror movies-expected the three girls to hiss and cringe away from the light. To block it out with bloodstained hands while making savage faces. It didn’t happen. There were no animal noises, nodemon voices, no contortions. Instead, as Mary-Lynnette stood frozen in an agonyof horror, and Mark stood trying to get a normal breath, Jade straightened up. And said, â€Å"What are you guys doing out here?† In a puzzled, vaguely annoyed voice. The way youwould speak to some boy who keeps following you everywhere and asking you for a date. Mary-Lynnette felt her mind spinning off. There was a long silence. Then Rowan and Kestrelstood up. Mark was breathing heavily, moving the flashlight from one of the girls to another, but always coming back to Jade. â€Å"What areyoudoing out here; that’s the question!† he said raggedly. The flashlight whipped to the hole, then back tothe girls. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"I asked you first,† Jade said, frowning. If ft hadJust been her, Mary-Lynnette would have started towonder if things were so awful after all. if maybethey weren’t in terrible danger. But Rowan and Kestrel were looking at each other,and then at Mark and Mary-Lynnette. And their ex pressions made Mary-Lynnette’s throat close. â€Å"You shouldn’t have followed us,† Rowan said.She looked grave and sad. â€Å"They shouldn’t have beenableto,† Kestrel said.She looked grim. â€Å"It’s because they smell like goats,† Jade said. â€Å"What are you doing?†Mark shouted again, almostsobbing. Mary-Lynnette wanted to reach for him, butshe couldn’t move. Jade wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.†Well, can’t youtell?†She turned to her sisters.†Now what are we supposed todo?† There was a silence. Then Kestrel said, â€Å"We don’thave a choice. We havetokill them.† How to cite Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 8, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Physical Activity And Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease In India

Question: Discuss about the Physical Activity And Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease In India. Answer: Physical activity and risk of coronary heart disease in India The evidence presented in the paper The selected case-control study was carried out with an objective to know the relationship between physical exercise and coronary heart disease (CHD) in the urban areas of India i.e. Delhi and Banglore (Rastogi et al 2004). The urban hospitals of New Delhi and Bangalore were carefully chosen to draw a sample of 350 cases and 700 controls. The cases and controls were matched for age and gender. They were asked certain questions regarding socioeconomic status, smoking history, history of hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia, family history of Cardio Vascular Diseases, dietary intake, types of fat or oils used in cooking, nutritional supplement use, and physical activity. The anthropometric measurments were also taken regarding height, weight, hip waist circumferences, body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio. The data analysis was done using conditional logistic regression where confounders were controlled in the analysis. The results found that 48% of controls and 38% of cases participated in some kind of leisure-time physical activity. The participants who engaged in highest level of leisure-time physical activity had lowest risk of developing CHD. On the other hand; participants with comparatively increased levels of sedentary lifestyles, had higher risk of developing CHD. The paper concluded that leisure-time exercise had a protective effect on heart as compared to sedentary lifestyle. The recommendation of paper was that physical activities in daily lives should be promoted in urban India. Exposure or Intervention The exposure or intervention was leisure time exercise which was assessed with the help of physical activity questionnaire. The metabolic equivalents (MET) or intensity of the reported activities were assessed with the help of Compendium of Physical Activities (Rastogi et al 2004, pg 2, para 5). Outcome The outcome was acute Myocardial Infarction. Cases were the respondents having outcome. Controls were the respondents in which outcome was absent. Cases aged 2174 with a diagnosis of AMI were selected from eight urban hospitals in New Delhi and Bangalore between January 1999 and January 2000 (Rastogi et al 2004, pg 2, para 1). Study Design The study design was case-control study having 350 cases of acute myocardial infarction and 700 controls matched for age and gender. The study used conditional logistic regression for data analysis (Rastogi et al 2004, pg 1, Abstract). Study Population The study population was patients in urban hospitals of New Delhi and Banglore. Main findings of study People with exposure to highest level of leisure time exercise i.e. 145 MET-minutes per day, equivalent to 36 minutes of brisk walking per day, had relative risk of 0.45 (95% CI 0.31-0.66) as compared to non-exercise group. It means leisure-time exercise had a protective effect for the risk of AMI. On the other hand people with greater than 3.6 hours per day of sedentary activity had about 1.88 times (95% CI 1.09-3.20) higher risk of developing AMI, as compared to people with less than 70 minutes per day of sedentary activity per day. Extent to which the observed association between the exposure and outcome be attributed to non-causal explanations Non-causal explanations of the observed association could be attributed to selection and/or measurement bias, confounding, or chance variation. Following section explains all three in detail. Selection and/ or measurement bias The patients in both the groups were matched by age and gender; but there always remains risk of selection bias in the study as the controls were relatively healthy and their ailments were minor, as compared to cases having diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). The studies have shown selection bias to be a common cause of bias in case-control studies (van Rein et al 2014). The selection of controls could also be inappropriate. Also in the present study, the disease is very severe and the chances of pre-mature death are high. Thus the study selected only those patients who survived the condition of AMI and thus had comparatively less severe illness, which is again a major cause of bias (van Rein et al 2014). This is also called survivor bias in case-control studies (ibid). In the discussion section, the author has discussed that controls were chosen from seven different out-patient clinics and in-patient wards; and so there were chances of association being present in one particular group and not in other groups; and such a situation might induced bias in the results. Also the study interviewed only those cases who survived. Thus, although there were 25 cases that did not survive, but they could not be included in the study. Also the author himself has argued the possibility of only health conscious individuals participating in the study, which may have induced bias in the study. Moreover controls in the study were more educated and had lower incomes than cases; which might be the source of bias in the study. Confounding The study adjusted the following confounders: age, gender, cigarette and bidi smoking, BMI, WHR, alcohol intake, education, or income; but there might be other unknown confounding factors which might have introduced bias in the results. One such example is the use of chewing tobacco. Cigarette and Bidi smoking have been adjusted, but not chewing tobacco. There is also a possibility of introducing the bias by doing matching. However matching is supposed to remove bias but studies have shown that it may also introduce bias (Pearce 2016). The reason being; while attempting to match for the confounders; matching may also be done for exposure itself (ibid). Further matched case-control design must include matched analysis (ibid). In this particular research various potential confounders were controlled in the analysis. Thus every possible effort was done to remove confounding. The researcher has also reasoned that physical activity may also be protective for some of the ailments in control group, other than AMI, which may have induced confounding bias in the research. Chance Variation The researcher had set the level of significance at 95 percent, which left only 5 percent chances of chance variation. Chance Variation is inherent in any research based on statistical predictions. Chance variation is also called chance error or random error. It is the difference between the predicted value and actual value/ population value. In other words it is the probability by which the estimates differ from the true value/ population value. In a normal distribution curve, if we take a range up to 1.96 SD (standard deviations) above and below the estimated mean; then there are 95% chances that true value will fall in that range; which will leave only 5 percent likelihoods of any variation from this range, which is called chance variation. There will be 2.5% chances that true value/ population value will fall above this range and 2.5% chances will be that true value will fall below this range. (Sowey, Petocz, 2017) Internal Validity of the study The quantitative research is considered to be internally valid if it could minimise Systematic errors or bias. The researcher has to ensure that the cause-effect relationship is not a spurious one. There are several benchmarks defined by various epidemiologists from time to time; which authenticates the evidence of causal relationship between the exposure and the outcome; within the study. Some of these principles are as follows. The first principle is that the cause must precede the effect i.e. there should be temporal relationship between the cause and effect. The second principle is that covariation between cause and effect should be high. It means, by changing the one, there should be clear and visible change in the other. The third principle is that there should be a dose-response relationship between the cause and effect. It means higher the change in one, higher should be the change in the other or vice-versa (Neuman 2016). These conditions for internal validity of study are f urther deliberated in detail as follows. Temporal relationship Yes, the research have shown that there is a temporal relationship between exposure and outcome. It was a case-control study and the exposure or non-exposure to leisure-time exercise preceded the development or non-development of AMI. Strong relationship Yes, the relationship between leisure time exercise and AMI was very strong as the P value was less than 0.0001 for the relationship. Participants with 35-40 minutes of brisk walking had 55% lower risk of developing AMI as compared to controls who did not exercise. Dose-response relationship Yes, there was a dose-response relationship between exposure and the outcome. Participants in the highest level of physical exercise group had lowest risk of developing AMI and this observation was significant at p0.0001. Consistency within the study Yes, the results were consistent within the study. Age and Sex adjusted analysis showed that leisure-time physical exercise lowered the risk of AMI. After adjusting for confounders like cigarette/ bidi smoking, the leisure time exercise had protective effect on AMI risk. The results were also consistent in multi-variate analysis. Accordance with other evidence Yes, the findings are consistent with other evidence. The findings are consistent with evidence from some recent research. In 2014, Andersen and colleagues found that leisure time physical activity had a protective effect towards the risk of developing AMI and the benchmark of a dose-response relationship also got fulfilled (Andersen et al 2014). Similarly the INTERHEART study of China found a protective role of leisure-time physical exercise towards AMI as compared to sedentary lifestyle (Cheng et al 2014). Moreover in Copenhagen City Heart study, it was found that leisure-time physical exercise had a protective effect in post-MI patients (Saevereid et al 2013). A recent meta-analysis by Claes et al also revealed that home-based physical activity is protective for cardiovascular rehabilitation (Claes et al 2017). Some other studies around the world have also found that exercise-based rehabilitation helps in the improvement of quality of life and functional capacity of heart (Peixoto et al 2015). Also some studies have been mentioned in the article itself. The article talk about one prospective study from US on women that established that more than 3 hours per week of leisure time physical exercise had protective effect on heart. Another cohort study on US men determined that individuals who were doing more than 30 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical exercise had 20 percent lower chances of developing CHD. The selected paper discusses another US-based prospective study on post-menopausal women, which determined that walking daily have a protective effect on heart. Biological Plausibility Yes, the results are plausible in terms of a biological mechanism. The leisure-time physical exercise results in lipid lowering in Atherosclerotic plaques. It also reduces thrombotic potential and increases fibrinolytic potential (Libby 2013). The study has also discussed underlying biological mechanisms due to which physical activity has protective effects on CVD risk. These include reduced blood pressure, increased HDL (High-Density Lipoproteins), increase in insulin sensitivity, improvement in endothelial function, and reduction in atherogenic cytokine production. External Validity The external validity of a research denotes the extent to which the results of the study could be generalised across heterogenous populations. The sampling bias may be a threat to external validity of research if the sample is not true representative of study population (Pearl 2017). In other words the results of the study could be generalised to whole population which is possible when the chosen sample is true representative of the study population. It is always important to reinforce the reporting of results on external validity so that the context of application of results could be understood i.e. whether the results are applicable to local settings or group settings or wider country settings. It becomes important to transform research in to practice as the interventions may also be applicable to similar context or settings (Steckler, McLeroy, 2008). Generalisability This particular research was conducted on hospital patients from the urban settings of Delhi and Banglore. Thus results of the study could be generalised to urban cities of India only, that too particularly Delhi and Banglore. If some other study is conducted by taking controls from general populations, the results might be different. Thus to conclude, the results of this research could be generalised to urban hospital patients of New Delhi and Banglore cities of India. Can the findings be applied to the source population from which the study population was derived? The study population was derived from urban hospitals of New Delhi and Banglore cities of India. The chosen sample was sufficient to generalise the findings to the source population; but as the research was conducted on patients selected from hospitals only, the generalisation of results to general population or whole population of a country or city is uncertain. Can the study results be applied to other relevant populations? The study results are specific to New Delhi and Banglore cities of India as the selected sample was representative of hospital patients of these two cities only; and thus the results could not be generalised to other relevant populations. References Andersen, K., Mariosa, D., Adami, H. O., Held, C., Ingelsson, E., Lagerros, Y. T., ... Sundstrm, J. (2014). Dose-response relations of total and leisure-time physical activity to risk of heart failure: a prospective cohort study. Circulation: Heart Failure, CIRCHEARTFAILURE-113. Cheng, X., Li, W., Guo, J., Wang, Y., Gu, H., Teo, K., ... Yusuf, S. (2014). Physical activity levels, sport activities, and risk of acute myocardial infarction: results of the INTERHEART study in China. Angiology, 65(2), 113-121. Claes, J., Buys, R., Budts, W., Smart, N., Cornelissen, V. A. (2017). Longer-term effects of home-based exercise interventions on exercise capacity and physical activity in coronary artery disease patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of preventive cardiology, 24(3), 244-256. Libby, P. (2013). Mechanisms of acute coronary syndromes and their implications for therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(21), 2004-2013. Neuman, W. L. (2016). Understanding research. Pearson. Pearce, N. (2016). Analysis of matched case-control studies. bmj, 352, i969. Pearl, J. (2017). The Eight Pillars of Causal Wisdom (Lecture notes for the UCLA WCE conference, April 24, 2017). Peixoto, T. C., Begot, I., Bolzan, D. W., Machado, L., Reis, M. S., Papa, V., ... Guizilini, S. (2015). Early exercise-based rehabilitation improves health-related quality of life and functional capacity after acute myocardial infarction: a randomized controlled trial. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 31(3), 308-313. Rastogi, T., Vaz, M., Spiegelman, D., Reddy, K. S., Bharathi, A. V., Stampfer, M. J., ... Ascherio, A. (2004). Physical activity and risk of coronary heart disease in India. International journal of epidemiology, 33(4), 759-767. Saevereid, H. A. S., Schnohr, P. S., Prescott, E. P. (2013). Speed and duration of walking and other leisure time physical activity and the risk of heart failure: the Copenhagen City Heart study. European Heart Journal, 34(suppl 1), P3646. Sowey, E., Petocz, P. (2017). A Panorama of Statistics: Perspectives, Puzzles and Paradoxes in Statistics. John Wiley Sons. Steckler, A., McLeroy, K. R. (2008). The importance of external validity. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1), pp. 910. van Rein, N., Cannegieter, S. C., Rosendaal, F. R., Reitsma, P. H., Lijfering, W. M. (2014). Suspected survivor bias in casecontrol studies: stratify on survival time and use a negative control. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 67(2), 232-235.

Friday, November 29, 2019

3 Types of Parenthetical Problems

3 Types of Parenthetical Problems 3 Types of Parenthetical Problems 3 Types of Parenthetical Problems By Mark Nichol 1. The survey found increasing demand for customer experiences that are difficult, if not impossible to deliver with legacy systems. Writers sometimes carelessly neglect to close a syntactical door after opening it. In this case, â€Å"if not impossible† is a parenthetical interjected into the main clause, so a comma must follow as well as precede it: â€Å"The survey found increasing demand for customer experiences that are difficult, if not impossible, to deliver with legacy systems.† 2. Similar to the Internet in the 1990s that transformed business models to adopt e-commerce and new ways of working, cryptocurrencies and blockchain have the potential to disrupt in ways not even imagined. There is only one Internet, but this sentence implies that more than one exists, and that the one in question transformed business models in the manner described, but the reference to transformation is parenthetical, and nonessential to the main clause, so it should be set off with a comma as a parenthetical by preceding which, which replaces that to signal the nonrestrictive nature of the parenthetical: â€Å"Similar to the Internet in the 1990s, which transformed business models to adopt e-commerce and new ways of working, cryptocurrencies and blockchain have the potential to disrupt in ways not even imagined.† (The comma that separates the subordinate clause, â€Å"Similar . . . working,† from the main clause, â€Å"cryptocurrencies . . . imagined,† doubles as the parenthesis-closing punctuation mark.) 3. Three board members, John Doe, former CEO of World Wide Wickets; Jane Smith, CEO of Global Tetrahedron; and James Jones, executive director of the Church of the SubGenius; voted against the measure. The series of names and job titles is parenthetical to the main clause, â€Å"Three board members voted against the measure.† However, the punctuation marks that open and close the parenthetical do not match, and all the semicolons are problematic because they syntactically cut off â€Å"voted against the measure† from the rest of the sentence. The simple solution is to replace the overkill semicolons with commas because the sentence structure precludes confusion about the corresponding names and titles: â€Å"Three board members, John Doe, former CEO of World Wide Wickets, Jane Smith, CEO of Global Tetrahedron, and James Jones, executive director of the Church of the SubGenius, voted against the measure.† Alternatively, if the writer insists on using semicolons, splice the two parts of the main clause into one uninterrupted statement as a setup to a list that follows a colon: â€Å"Three board members voted against the measure: John Doe, former CEO of World Wide Wickets; Jane Smith, CEO of Global Tetrahedron; and James Jones, executive director of the Church of the SubGenius.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?The Parts of a WordTypes of Ignorance

Monday, November 25, 2019

Social Security Disability

Social Security Disability The Social Security Disability Administration has Added Three New Compassionate Allowances Conditions The Social Security Administration put the Compassionate Allowance Program in place to properly identify claims where the applicant’s disease clearly meets the administrations standard of disability.Acting commissioner of Social Security, Nancy Berryhill, recently announced the addition of three new Compassionate Allowances conditions to the current list. These conditions include:Vanishing White Matter DiseaseCongenital Myotonic DystrophyKleefstrsa SyndromeNancy Berryhill explained, â€Å"Social Security is committed – now and in the future – to continue to identify and fast-track diseases that are certain or near-certain to be approved for disability benefits.†To read the full press release click here.The Compassionate Allowances Program does not cover all medical conditions, but there is still help out there for those in need of social security disability benefits.With the IT program in place, those who have been diagnosed with a medical condition not co vered by the program can utilize the benefits of the Social Security IT program. This program allows Social Security to obtain ones medical records much faster and more efficiently bypassing the wait of health care organizations.It is important for all applicants to keep detailed medical records throughout the application process. In order for the Social Security Administration to make an accurate determination of ones conditions the applicant must submit detailed medical records.Trying to secure disability benefits on your own is very complicated. Especially when significant medical conditions are a factor, it extremely beneficial to hire an experienced Michigan disability lawyer.There are many steps in the social security disability benefits application process, and an experienced disability lawyer can guide you through and handle many of the steps for you.If you are unable to work due a medical condition, mental illness or permanent disability call Disability Attorneys of Michiga n at 800-949-2900 for help today. And if you have tried to get disability benefits on your own, and have been denied, don’t give up, call us for help.Call Disability Attorneys of Michigan at 800-949-2900 for a free confidential consultation. We’ll let you know if we can help you get a monthly check. It is very difficult trying to get social security disability benefits on your own in Michigan. Don’t worry; just call Disability Attorneys of Michigan for help.If we do not win your disability case, you owe us nothing. We only get paid if we win your disability benefits claim.Disability Attorneys of Michigan works hard every day helping the disabled in Michigan get the disability benefits they need. If you are unable to work, contact Disability Attorneys of Michigan for a free consultation at 800-949-2900.Let Michigan’s Leading Social Security Disability Law Firm Help You Get The Benefits You Deserve.Disability Attorneys of Michigan. Compassionate Excellence.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Discuss whether the division between virtual and real is becoming more Essay

Discuss whether the division between virtual and real is becoming more blurred through the use of augmented reality - Essay Example It is a part of common sense that we rarely can view it. It is an idea according to which each individual has a mind. The constituents of the mind include faiths, apprehensions, anticipations, motivations, yearnings, etc. The continuity of our minds is the source of our personality and identity as individuals. In the past couple of centuries we have also become convinced that this common-sense psychology is rooted in the brain. These mental conditions and occurrences are somehow going on in the neurophysiological systems of the brain. So this leaves us with two stages at which we can illustrate and elaborate human beings: a level of common-sense psychology, which seems to operate well enough in practice although not scientific; and a level of neurophysiology, which is definitely scientific. However, the most modern specialists know very little about the level of neurophysiology (Searle, 2007, p. 1). What we call minds are merely very complicated digital computer programs. Mental states are only computer states and mental procedures are computational systems. Any process whatever that had the correct program, with the correct input and output, would have to have mental conditions and systems in the same literal sense that we do. The programs in question are "self-modifying" or "self-structuring" "systems of representations" (Searle, 2007, p. 2; Calvin, 1987). The fast progress of computers may indicate the possibility of these machines replacing human brain and emulate human intelligence. It is apparent that at least some human mental capabilities are algorithmic. It follows that a person could not find out that the brain or anything else was inherently a digital computer. A person can allocate a computational interpretation to it. Some physical arrangements make possible the computational application much better than others. That is why we put

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

AMP for business and management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 15000 words

AMP for business and management - Dissertation Example Moreover, one of the main points of importance of the World Trade Organisation lies on its ability to increase the quality of the products and services being offered whilst ensuring that a significant reduction in terms of costs is attained. Pertinently, the World Trade Organisation also allows access to untapped markets and has helped countries and governments in their battle against poverty (Winters, McCulloch and McKay 2004). The World Trade Organisation has contributed to the fight against poverty. Unfortunately, it remains a known fact that not all countries have actually received benefits from free trade that the World Trade Organisation promises to promote. Notwithstanding the inability of the World Trade Organisation to successfully aid countries and governments in their fight against poverty, a number of global companies has benefitted from it because of its capacity to promote free trade. In this regard, it is of utmost significance for countries that wish to go global to t ake free trade into consideration so as to effectively affect their transactions in a quite complicated market environment (Winters, McCulloch and McKay 2004). Background, Aims and Objectives Based on the foregoing section, the promotion of free trade through its liberalization has fueled globalization (Goldstein 2007). Cogently, it has given companies the needed access to markets that were once untapped. In the same manner, the promotion of free trade has arguably enabled global companies to actually take advantage of different countries by helping them mitigate their costs and reach their bottom lines. From its inception, even during the time when it was still known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) until today, in its current form, the World Trade Organisation has worked actively to attain greater trade liberalization (Thirlwall and Pacheco-Lopez 2008). Apparently, the World Trade Organisation has given paramount concern to the need to help nations attain their full potential whilst at the same time, providing solutions to the different concerns of their member countries. In the recently concluded Uruguay Round, the World Trade Organisation has successfully entered into better binding agreements that could help them solve pertinent trade issues. Undoubtedly the Uruguay Round, in this respect has been more successful as compared with the previous WTO Rounds in the past (Thirlwall and Pacheco-Lopez 2008). The recently concluded Uruguay Round, aside from what has been previously mentioned, was also successful in terms of increasing the opportunities related to Trade Liberalization. Interestingly, the entrance of the People’s Republic of China has likewise resulted to a significant increase in the global market size, taking into consideration the fact the country has the largest population worldwide. The entry of the Chinese into the World Trade Organisation has likewise resulted to the significant refurbishment of their economic polic ies, their social and legal systems. The Chinese government has also effected a reduction in their tariff rates that previously discouraged the foreigners from entering their market (Goldstein 2007). Finally, the Uruguay Round has resulted to the rise of the private sectors within the member countries thereby enabling them to attain a significant growth in their countries. Consequently, the rise of the p

Monday, November 18, 2019

The Case Study of Aalsmeer Flower Auction, Introducing an Information Essay

The Case Study of Aalsmeer Flower Auction, Introducing an Information System - Essay Example A range of facilities are available at the auction, such as access to marketing channels and financial information, storage facilities and management of logistics. Prices of flowers are determined at these auctions because it offers a nodal point where suppliers and buyers can meet, and the prices set at the auction are also used in other parts of the world as price indicators. The auction also provides a place where growers who bring their flowers in large quantities at optimum transportation costs and can then break them down into smaller quantities for specific buyers and thereby improve efficiency. While this has been a good arrangement for several years, certain developments have created a problem situation where the level of business at the auction may be compromised. These developments are as follows: (b) While growers are able to achieve efficiency by getting savings in transportation costs, retailers are unable to achieve similar efficiencies because consumer tastes are changing and in order to satisfy those changing tastes, retailers need access to fresher flowers, smaller quantities, larger number of varieties and more than one delivery every week, thereby making the supply based auction unviable in a situation where demand might need to drive supply. (c) The voice of retailers and their changing demands has become sharper, because of the mergers and acquisitions among them. Growers are also becoming more interested in using electronic means to sell their products. In view of the above, the Alsameer Flower Auction has felt the threat to its existing business processes and experienced the need to bring about structural and operational changes to improve their market share, strengthen their connection with wholesalers and retailers, reduce the transaction costs and enable innovation. In order to achieve these aims, the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Gender Inequality In The Labour Market

Gender Inequality In The Labour Market Sex is what distinguishes men and women biologically, namely it describes the physical qualities which derive from variations in chromosomes, hormones and genitalia. Gender refers to a set of culturally defined characteristics which determine societys view of people as masculine or feminine. Sociologists have long debated over the causes of unfair sexual divisions of labour. Some have forwarded biological explanations, whereas others hold responsible the socialisation of gender roles. In this essay I will look at how the nineteenth century socialisation of gender roles is believed to have affected womens position in the labour market. I will then consider the increasing feminisation of the labour market and seek to explain the persistent inequalities between men and women. However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been an increasing feminisation of the workforce. According to Ulrich Beck, women are setting the pace for change (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 647). In Becks view, we are moving into the second modernity (as against post modernity). He argues that in our society, characterised by risk and uncertainty, women have realised the importance of self-reliance and have sought to widen their participation in the labour market and as a result have changed the social discourse. This has been made possible by a number of factors. The increased possibilities of an education, the development of domestic appliances, the growing tendency for smaller families, the Feminist Movement of the 1970s, the steady expansion of the service industry, the increase in living costs and the consequent need for two incomes are all factors which have generated a shift in traditional family patterns and significantly changed the gender division of labour. A UK Labour Fo rce survey conducted in 2005 suggests that the rates of employment for women of working age have risen to 70% in 2004 compared to 56% in 1971. In contrast, employment rates for men have declined from 92% to 79% (Giddens, 2006, 755). Despite womens increased participation in the labour market, barriers to equality remain. Although 75% of women of working age are in employment in the UK, it has been shown that in high-earning, high-status professions they are severely under-represented (www.employment-studies.co.uk). 2005 demonstrated, in terms of vertical segregation, that 83% of chief executives, 71% of sales managers and 70% of management consultants were men, whilst 96% of dinner ladies, 95% of receptionists and 76% of cleaners were women (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 124). Different reasons are held responsible for such disproportion. One argument is that jobs are highly gendered, with a tendency for high-status, high-paid jobs to be male-dominated because they have traditionally been perceived as masculine. Radical feminist Sylvia Walby claims women are subjugated by patriarchal values that discriminate and confine them to specific areas of work (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 113). Not only are women under-represented at the highest levels of the occupational structure, they have likewise not achieved equality of pay, despite liberal feminists success in campaigning for equal pay legislation. The wage gap was once thought to be narrowing, however, new figures suggest that the pay divide is still a matter of concern today. According to the Office for National Statistics, the pay gap between men and women in full-time work has increased to 17.1% since 2007 (The Guardian,15/11/08). The median full-time gross weekly earnings per week for men in 2007 were  £498, whilst for women they stood at  £395. In 2008 they stand at  £521 for men and  £412 for women. It has been calculated that over a lifetime, women working full-time will earn an average of  £369.000 less than their male colleagues. This result, according to the annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, places Britain 81st in the world ranking in terms of equal pay for men and women in sim ilar jobs (The Guardian,15/11/08). Part of the reason would appear to be because of horizontal segregation. Much of the female workforce is clustered into a range of semi-skilled, low-status and poorly paid occupations. Across the occupational structure, men predominate in such lines of work as manufacturing, construction, IT and business industries. Conversely, women are overwhelmingly represented in health and social work, teaching, catering and cleaning (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 123). Feminists, therefore, see this as a reflection of the two spheres ideology. 2005 demonstrated, in terms of horizontal segregation, that 79% of social workers and 73% of teachers were women. In the same year, 90% of the construction industry and 76% of people working in transport were men (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 123). In addition, the fact that many women work in the part-time sector can be part of the reason for the poor levels of pay they are subject to. Occupational segregation has been used to explain such high concentration of women in part-time work. Despite the disadvantages it involves, part-time work seems to remain a popular choice for women. In 2004, 5.2 million women in the UK were in part-time employment, compared to 1.2 million men (Giddens, 2006, 757). Social forces such as limited childcare assistance and gender discrimination have also been held responsible for such large numbers of women in part-time work. Many women seeking full-time employment often face unjust hurdles which men do not encounter: a Fawcett Society study (the leading liberal feminist organisation) reveals that 52% of employers consider the chances of a new member of staff becoming pregnant before employing them (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk). However, whilst it is possible that this may discourage many women who intend to have children from looking for full-time work, this is not on its own sufficient reason to explain such a heavy influx in the part-ti me sector. Catherine Hakims preference theory suggests that womens position in the labour market depends entirely on the rational choices they make (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). Hakim identifies two types of women: those who commit themselves to full-time careers or those who prioritise their domestic responsibilities. According to Hakim, many women have different work orientations than men, leading them to choose part-time occupations which enable them to balance their domestic and professional lives. Rosemary Crompton and Fiona Harris agree that womens position in the labour market is influenced by their decisions. They argue, however, that the choices women make are not always rational, but are the results of the practical challenges and cultural norms they may face. Crompton and Harris believe that women often start a career committed to the idea of full-time employment and the family sphere in equal measure, but in later life might have to compromise one or the other for a variety of rea sons. There is, therefore, an important debate between feminists. Additional theories have been advocated by sociologists to explain womens continued limitations in the job-market. Talcott Parsons functionalist human capital theory suggests that womens natural role is that of childcare. The theory implies that women are likely not to commit to a career or gaining qualifications, preferring to dedicate themselves to their children (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). According to Parsons, this lack of commitment or skills renders women less valuable to the employer, and is ultimately the reason for womens disadvantaged position in the labour market. However, critics of the theory point out that it does not account for the large number of women who dedicate themselves to a career and still end up in lower-paid, lower-status jobs (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). Barron and Norriss dual labour market theory promotes the idea of two labour markets: a primary sector in which professionals and skilled workers belong, characterised by highly paid and secure jobs, and a secondary sector, consisting in lowly paid, less secure jobs mainly occupied by unskilled labourers. According to Barron and Norris, women are more likely than men to work in this sector because they are less interested in wages or status, a view which echoes that of Hakim. Transition from the secondary to the primary sector is rare, ending in confinement within a range of low-paid jobs for ones entire working life. The theory is criticised by feminists for not being able to explain why skilled women often earn less than men in similar work, or why they get promoted less often than men in the same job (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 126). In the past century, women have made a revolutionary ascent in the labour market even if many work in the part-time sector. However, the rate of improvement seems to have stalled rather than grown. Despite legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), vast inequalities remain in Britain, especially in terms of pay and status. It might well be that more radical reforms need to be made. In Norway, for example, hundreds of women have benefitted from a new act, passed in 2003, which stipulates that companies must increase the number of women on their boards to 44.%. This now means that Norway heads the league table for gender equality, 12 places above the UK (The Guardian, 17/11/08). This suggests that post-feminists are mistaken in believing there is no more for feminists to do. A third wave of feminism, as suggested by Katherine Rake, or new feminism, to use Natasha Walters term, may be precisely what is needed.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essay --

What assessment data is relevant to this patient that must be recognized as clinically significant to the nurse? The patient's vital signs are within normal limits for his age and patient has had good enteral intake for nurses shift and has had good output. Patient shows no signs of retractions and has good aeration. Patient IV access has been changed to a saline lock to keep the line open. Patient has no pain at this time. Rationale: has the status of the patient improved or not as expected to this point? What data supports this evaluation assessment? The patient has improved as was expected as evidenced by vital signs within normal limits for his age and patient has had good enteral intake for nurses shift and has had good output. Patient shows no signs of retractions and has good aeration. Patient’s IV access has been changed to a saline lock to keep the line open. Patient has no pain at this time. What pre-procedure teaching is needed for Jaxon and his family regarding the PICC insertion? What are appropriate techniques should be used for the teaching? Teach the family tha...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Ancient Greek Musical Instruments

Lyra: originally called Chelys, because of the tortoise shell used as its sound box. According to Nicomachus of Gerasa (Ist cent. AD), the tortoise-shell Lyra was invented by god Hermes, who gave it to Orpheus. â€Å"Orpheus taught Thamyris and Linos, and Linos taught Hercules. When Orpheus was killed by the Thracian women, his lyra was thrown into the sea, and washed ashore at Antissa, a city of Lesbos, where it was found by fishermen, who brought it to Terpander, who in turn carried it to Egypt and presented it to the Egyptian priests as his own creation. We don't know how many strings the original Lyras had. By the time of Terpander (8th-7th cent. BC) Lyra was a seven stringed instrument and from many ancient sources we know that this type remained in use for a long time during the classical period. The addition of an eighth string in the 6th century BC is credited by Nicomachus of Gerasa to Pythagoras. By the fifth century there were Lyras with anything from 9 to 12 strings. The strings (neura) were made of animal gut of sinew, but there are also references of strings made of linen or hemp.Lyra was mainly used for the musical education of the young, and by amateur players in general. Cithara plucked instrument with 5 strings originally, but later with as many as 12 strings. Cithara was bigger than the Lyra and it was the principal concert instrument played by professional musicians, the citharodes. According to Plutarch, cithara was designed by Cepion, a student of Terpander. Many instrument names like guitar, cittern, zither etc. derive from the word cithara. Barbitos or Barbiton is an instrument of the Lyra family and resembles a Lyra, but it has longer arms and narrower sound box.Musicians of the School of Lesbos, like Alcaeus and Sappho, are frequently depicted in vases playing the Barbitos. Phorminx probably the oldest of the Cithara type instruments. From references in ancient sources (Homer, Hesiod, Aristophanes) we know that Phorminx was richly dec orated with gold and ivory, and accompanied the singing of the epic singers called rhapsodes. Epigonion belongs to the psaltery family and it is the instrument with the largest number of strings, sometimes as many as forty (Polydeuces).It may owe its name to the fact that it was played ‘on the knee' – Greek ‘epi gonu', or maybe because its inventor was someone named Epigonus. Pandouris or pandourion, also called trichord because it had three strings, is the first fretted instrument known, forerunner of the various families of lutes worldwide. Source of our knowledge about this instrument is the Mantineia marble (4th cent BC, now exhibited at Athens Archaeological Museum) depicting the mythical contest between Apollo and Marsyas, where Pandouris is being played by a muse seated on a rock.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Oryx & crake study notes

Snowman living conditions are as follows he sleeps on a metal cot with mattress, he is homeless, and he drinks water with twigs and dirt in it from a runoff. 2. Snow man revises some of his thoughts in the chapter the voice because he misses human to human contact and he keeps hearing different woman voices in his head. 3. Snowman Is like the abominable snowman because he is mysterious, alone, and thinks he is an urban legend. 4. Can't find words ;you did this;. 5.Animals were being burned in the bond fire witnessed by young Jimmy, they were being burned because of the disease. 6. The confrontations are important between Jimmy parents in the bond fire chapter because it got Jimmy out of trouble for burning his hair. 7. The goal of the pigeon prove that at organic farms was to grow extra organs so they will have spares when the need them. 8. Ramona is one of Jimmy dad's coworkers what Jimmy notices about her is that she is much younger than Jimmy's father and that she inquired about J immy's mother although. The planeloads are the cities. The compounds are much different from the cities they are protected, don't have diseases in them, and have a lot more security. 10. I think Jimmy's mother means that she thinks she Is infected but not by the same virus but something that isn't contagious or dangerous and it affects her own mental ability.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

French Revolution essays

French Revolution essays On AUGUST 10, 1792, enraged Parisian men and women attacked the kings palace and killed several hundred Swiss Guards. The result of this journee was the radicalization of the Revolution. Louis and Marie Antoinette were forced to flee the Tuileries and took refuge in the Legislative Assembly itself. The royal family was placed under house arrest, and lived rather comfortably, but the king could not perform any of his political functions. Although the revolutionaries had drafted a constitution, now they had no monarch. By September, Paris was in turmoil. Fearing counter-revolution, the sans-culottes destroyed prisons because they believed they were secretly sheltering conspirators. More than one thousand people were killed. Street fights broke out everywhere and barricades were set up in various quarters of the city. All this was done in order to consolidate the Revolution to keep it moving forward. On September 21st and 22nd, 1792, the monarchy was officially abolished and a republic established. The 22nd of September, 1792 was now known as day one of the year one. In December, Louis XVI was placed on TRIAL for violating the liberty of his subjects and on January 21, 1793, Louis was executed like an ordinary criminal. From this time on, the Revolution had no recourse but to move forward. After the execution of Louis, the National Assembly, now known as the National Convention, faced enormous problems. The value of paper currency (assignats) used to finance the Revolution had fallen by 50%. There was price inflation, continued food shortages, and various peasant rebellions against the Revolution occurred across the countryside. France was close to civil war. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries found themselves not only at war with Austria and Prussia, but with Holland, Spain and Great Britain. As the Revolution stumbled under the weight of foreign war and civil war, the revolutionary leadership grew more radical. Up to Jun...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Take home exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Take home exam - Assignment Example The attitude of the customers also gets influenced by the promotional activities carried out by the company such as advertisement. Irrespective of the nature of the customers, it is the duty of the marketers to properly understand the needs of the customers. In doing so the marketers would be able to develop goods or services which would meet the need of the customers a lot more precisely than the competitors, The main problem is that the consumer decision making process is a complex on and understanding the mindset of the consumers correctly is quite difficult. The customers do not actually make purchases without thinking carefully about the needs. Wherever there is a presence of the choice, decisions are also usually involved and these decisions are most of the times influenced by changing motives. The organization that can understand why customers make decisions such as who buys the products; how they buy; where they buy; why they buy; would have more chances to become successful. The philosophy that guides all the marketing activities is the core concept of marketing. The idea that an organization should look to try to satisfy the needs of the customers through coordinated activities that allows the marketers to achieve the marketing objectives; The marketing concept states that a business should first understand the needs of the customers and then develop the products accordingly. ... To implement the marketing concept a company must have good information regarding the needs and demands of the customers to develop a customer oriented strategy (Pride and Ferrel 4). As far the topic of forcing the customers to buy products that the customer may not is concerned; it can be said that the core concept of marketing actually puts the customers at the very beginning of the marketing process. Before developing any products the marketers usually go for a market research to understand the need and demand of the customers and then only the products as per the needs of the customers are developed. Any great innovation including the launch of the smart phones is actually a result of the understanding the customer demand through he market research. Addition of mp3 players of cameras are actually augmentation. The core product of a cell phone remains to be the on the go telecommunication facility provided by the phone. But features such as cameras or mps players actually were lov ed by the customers. Hence the marketers realized that the customers are actually looking for total package in a cell phone and hence the marketers such as Apple and Samsung decided to launch smart phones. The same principles can be applied in case of automobile manufactures also, in the initial days, very few automobile manufacturers used to provide financing and hence the customers had to look for other means to go for financing. But now all most all the companies provide the facility of car financing. This again shows the importance of understanding the customer demand. To conclude things it can be said that the marketers do not force the

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Success in Social Commerce Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Success in Social Commerce - Research Paper Example As the result, Google Analytics and Facebook Connect (Tonkin, Whitmore, & Cutroni, 2011) have now come up with tools and strategies that are showing positive ROI to marketers. In addition, a number of market research companies have carried out researches to understand the relationship of social media experience with consumers’ purchasing decisions. The results indicated that ‘like’ button acts as a significant factor that influences users to purchase a product/service from a specific retailer. In this regard, marketers are now looking at different ways of transforming experiences into measurable returns that will allow a rapid evolution of social commerce (Blanchard, 2011).While the paper is focusing primarily on ‘return on investment’, it is imperative to understand that ‘return on investment’ is usually considered as metrics that is not the case. ROI itself requires metrics for measurement of its business value, and business experts hav e come up with the following equation to calculate return on investment of something:ROI = Benefits - Costs x 100 = Percentage Return on the InvestmentThe equation of ROI is self-explanatory; however, the paper will now include an example that will clarify the applicability of ROI in social commerce largely. Sea World San Antonio is a venture of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (2013). The company created different content based on interests and attitudes of these roller coaster fans.... This paper is an attempt to understand different aspects of social commerce that will allow a comprehensive understanding of complexities that revolve around success of the notion. Discussion While social commerce presents an interactive shopping platform to consumers, it is imperative to see the potential of social commerce from businesses’ perspective. From retailers’ point of view, it has been an understanding that the social commerce has been successful in providing opportunities to retailers to engage people in exploration of their products by creating viral experiences (Ickler, Schulke, Wilfling, & Baumol, 2009). In addition, social commerce enables retailers to bring their products to a place where people interact with each other that is contrary to traditional shopping trend where people have to reach to the place to buy something. Another distinction from traditional commerce is that social commerce focuses on socially enriched relationships rather than one-to- one relationships that usually exist in traditional commerce settings. Rather, social commerce promotes dependence on interaction and experience of users with users; in other words, consumer-to-consumer communication that results in buying or selling of any product or service. The reason this paper is including detailed discussion on distinction of social commerce from other traditional types of commerce is the need for realizing the complexity that exist in social commerce, which will only enable its critical understanding that is essential for understanding different aspects of its success. For instance, as discussed earlier, ‘return on investment’ (Marsden, 2010) is the metric that business organizations usually use in traditional commerce setting, and

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Motivation Plays a Major Part in Second Language Acquisition Research Paper

Motivation Plays a Major Part in Second Language Acquisition - Research Paper Example As the paper outlines, there are some people who seem to patronize their own language so much that they refuse or find it hard to learn a second language. As every individual talk with ease in their native tongue, learning to communicate in a second language becomes more difficult particularly if the learner's environment is unsupportive. If the learner's family, workmates, and friends are not proficient at the new language the learning process would be hard to attain as the learner will not be able to apply the second language in everyday life.  Motivation is one of the keys to acquiring a second language. A number of students are motivated to learn a second language with their desire to travel and have a better future, or when a student has developed a particular liking in knowing about the customs and language of a country of interest. The educators also play a vital role in keeping the second language learner motivated.  Recently, discussion on the role that motivation plays in second language acquisition is prevalent. In this paper, I would like to present the arguments for and against the idea that motivation indeed plays a major part in learning a second language.  Motivation can lead to language acquisition when done in a manner which is higher than what would be the case when it would be inexplicably missing. In such circumstances, there is a need to inculcate the right kind of attitude and feelings in individuals who want to acquire a second language for their own betterment that they understand the need to be motivated at all possible times [Dornyei, Csizer & Nemeth, 2006]. It is for this reason that Gardner and Lambert (1972) opined that there are in essence a couple of different types when one talks about motivation in the related segments. These could be attributed to the integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. The difference between these is that integrative form of motivation is more inclined with the establishment of the secon d language within the environs of a particular individual; on the other hand, a learner who has an instrumental motivation aims to learn the second language due to the sound performance of a single function or reason for that matter. Thus, there is a huge difference as far as their overlapping methodologies are concerned. In the integrative form of motivation, the learner has generated positive vibes and feelings with the purpose; but in the instrumental sense of motivation, the feeling is just present to capture the functional basis than anything else. The role here is to integrate the language that is being learned rather than use it for a functional reason and then discard when the intent was consummated. The second language acquisition process thus becomes more significant when the need is to seek it from the integrative stance rather than the instrumental basis. The integrative motivation of second language learning does wonders to the learner than instrumental motivation since the individual's interest grows beyond the mere curiosity of mastering the new lingo; the student/learner also delves into the various cultural ideologies, the people, and the set of customs that surround the new language learned.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Gender and Power in the Media Essay Example for Free

Gender and Power in the Media Essay Media is the best avenue for companies to advertise their products, especially if they want to reach a greater scopre of target consumers. Every day, persuasion through the television, internet, and radio commercials, as well as in printed ads and billboards will make them sell more of their products in an effectual manner (Allen). Radio and television are the two channels where most Americans get information, especially news, aside from the Internet, magazines, and many others. And because of these two media, they can definitely change the way audiences perceive things in society, especially the youth, who may be more vulnerable to media influence compared to adults. This may partly be attributed to their inexperience. It affects how they decide on things that matter greatly to them and to others (Reed). The core and obvious difference is that the radio only produces sound, while the television produces both sound and images. The radio was formed from different ideas coming from Michael Faraday’s electromagnetism, to James Clark Maxwell’s treatise on electricity and magnetism, to Heinrich Hertz’ Hertzian waves, down to Gugliemo Marconi’s wireless telegraph and signal company (the world’s first radio factory) and tuned syntonic telegraphy (Parker). The radio was first used as a transmitter of information, especially for the ships who sails long distances (Parker). This later on became a major requirement for ships, especially to have radio auxiliary power and two operators with a licensed driver after the Titanic sank in early 1900’s (Schoenherr). Previously, the programs in radio were only for musical and talk show purposes. However, starting 1940, the programs in radio also offered drama and news (Schoenher). In California, KALW San Francisco is one of the stations that operated in FM as it was aired on September 1. 1941. It was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission on March 10, 1941, to broadcast educational programs. Its first program was Schoolcast. The listeners of this program were mostly soldiers training in tanks as their radio is reached by the signal of the station (Tripod. com). Radio was even once classified as monopolistic competition, as only few individuals or group of people operate the radio industry in some states. But with the Telecommunications act of 1996, ownership was also granted to some groups (Drushel). Nowadays, there are registered and licensed 643 public and private FM and AM radio stations available for the listeners in California. One of these is 102. 7 KIIS FM or KISS FM in Spanish located in Los Angeles (SHG Resources State Handbook and Guide). The station was first heard in 1948. Presently, it was owned and managed by Clear Channel Communications. The station is actually a result of change formats, purchasing, and trade frequencies among defunct radio stations, individuals, and companies. Today it the stations is also known as LA’s #1 Hit Music Radio Station as it is one of the highest rated Radio station in the United States, and is recognized as 2007’s station of the year. The station plays RB, pop, and rock music. They said that their play list is based on the likes of their listeners. Unlike any other station, they censor the songs before they play it on air. One of the popular personalities in the station is Ryan Seacrest. In society, some topics are beyond common knowledge, for example technical terms that are medical in nature and only medical experts can further explain. By having discussions on the radio or in television or having these placed in an article will allow information for more people, especially if these concern health and safety of the majority. Critical issues need to be exposed, analyzed, evaluated, and properly addressed, thus the role of media is vital in this stage (RadioIslam. org). Popular media, like FM Radio programs, particularly KIIS FM, in the late capitalist societies became the primary source of knowledge and experience virtually about anything, including gender. It is said that they are important in the creation of power relations in society (Hains). Take for example the social status of women and men. In the construction of gender and sexuality, it is said that the school, particularly the teacher, plays a very important role in this crucial stage. As expected, one can only be masculine and feminine. In some cases, some of the abuses of these children are coming from male teachers, whether this be physical or verbal. Some experts opine that femininity is always shown as sexual appeal, while men are sex seekers. Students would favor a woman teacher rather than a male teacher because they act as mothers and more overtly show concern for their students. To some students, male teachers are impatient. Male students are punished heavily by male teachers as compared to female students. Having said all of these, we can say that both sexes experience harassment and abuse from both sexes, and not just the females (Chege). The media can use their influence to expose these problems and seek help and justice for this people, who at an early age have been subjected to such trauma. Moreover, it may be worth noting that media may also be partly blamed for reinforcing both the abusive behavior of the teacher and the shame felt by student over her stigma (Chege). Previously, females were viewed as passive. They are not allowed to work and usually stay at home, doing the chores of a wife, and only serve as trophies of their husbands. Worse, they are not allowed to go to school as it was believed that only men can seek education since they are the heads of their families. They are always expected to watch themselves and to act according to the norms of society, especially in the eyes of men as she is the object of men’s sight. Her skin must be supple, hairless, and smooth. Her face must be free of wrinkles, with no signs of stress or whatsoever. Her lips must be kissable, and her eyes mysterious. Women are said to be more restricted with their movements. They must be cross legged when sitting, and toes pointing only in straight or inward directions. Aside from these, they are also trained to show their smiles more than men do. They must stand with stomach in and chest out. If any of these are violated, it means that they violated norms of morals, speech, and movements. Moreover, women tend to occupy the lower and marginalized positions in a company, or even in society. Most women are given reproductive, productive, and community work. Reproductive tasks would include giving birth, feeding and educating her kids, taking care of her husband and children, and other domestic tasks. Her productive work would mean to produce products and services for others’ consumption. Community work would entail her to support different activities that will directly benefit society through volunteerism. However, not all women are given the chance to enjoy community work, since they are burdened by her reproductive and productive functions. Men tend to be more powerful in most realms. Needless to say, they occupy most of the highest positions in industrial organizations and society; thus the glass ceiling phenomenon (Chege). On the other hand, men are expected to be active, and to make things happen. They go out of their houses to work, and were sent to school whether they like it or not. Men are allowed to sit with legs apart so they can move loosely from one place to another (Employees. oneonta. edu). Nowadays, as media plays a greater role in building society, things have changed. There is equality among men and women. Women are more empowered to do things that men usually do. Media brought the new concept of a woman, someone who is ideal. For most, what is beautiful is a woman who is firm, with a narrow hip, with a small breast, and slim, as evidenced by the models in the cover of a magazine. For those who do not posses this kind of body, dieting is an alternative. Another way is to have surgery in order to enhance one’s physical attributes. Diet and surgery are some of the popular topics both in print and non-print media (Employees. oneonta. edu). Women are becoming more liberal as evidenced in the paper of Izabel Magalhaes. She said that it the responsibility of media especially radio in introducing the said concept to these women. Media is more open about talking about women’s stories that discuss their sex experiences at the expense of entertainment of others (Magalhaes). They say what they feel; they enact what they think (Employees. oneonta. edu). Women would go to school and get the job opportunities opened for men, and nowadays, women excel in different fields, almost overtaking men in different positions and levels. Some male workers would even be surprised that their boss is a woman In KIIS FM; men are not the only DJ’s in the station. There are also women who work everyday for the station. Even in describing the achievements of a woman, some adjectives that are associated with men are actually used. Those words are not anymore exclusive to men. The main reason is that men are usually viewed as individuals with physical strength. Nowadays, physical strength is not the only issue, topics about men’s health, fashion, and trips are now being featured by the media. This time, the notion that men only desires for women is not anymore true, since nowadays they are also interested in fashion, health, and many other things like women do (Magalhaes). As what have mentioned a while ago, media, particularly radio is also used to attract possible buyers by different companies. It is said that advertising, such as those in radios, contributes in representing and constructing gender identities in urban region which also exists in the past. The interests of large corporations are presented to the people, and whoever has the most interesting advertising skills and features will be favored by the consumers (Magalhaes). Alternatives were provided in front of us everyday, both are competitively packaged. Women are now represented by these advertisements as liberal, yet viewed as a commodity to be used by the society. Men on the other hand, are presented to be not only dominant over women, but with other types of men as well: disabled, heterosexual, homosexuals, and many others. At some point, women remains presented as incapable and dependent on men, and that it is assumed by the society that their existence is for the purpose of men’s pleasure. Some advertisements would use adjectives for a product that is a characteristic of a woman (Magalhaes). The choice of words will trigger our minds to think of different things. But because of these, more women are verbally harassed by men, whether in public or in private places. This injury is transformed into grievance, and lastly to a dispute. These situations encouraged more women to aspire greater positions in the society like in Congress, in the courtroom, or in media, and to acquire greater power. It is assumed that the media can change an individual’s outlook in life, behavior, ethics, and values. The combination of media with law, for example, has goals of transforming the society, using naming, blaming, and claiming. Naming would imply discussing harassment and defining it; blaming would mean identifying the suspect for harassment; and claiming would demand for the transformation of grievance into a remedy. In this situation, media can be used to educate the people in the different harassments that women acquire. But despite this fact, until now, there are still women who remains marginalized in the society. They still remain powerless and voiceless against the criminals (Laniya). Aside from advertising, media is also influential in the political realm. In every Presidential election, candidates would use the media to reach more people, and to persuade them to vote for him or her, such as in the case of the United States. This scheme started in 1930’s and 40’s when President Roosevelt used the radio to campaign in such a conversational manner with the people. Its success triggered other U. S Presidents to follow him, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Aside from media exposure for these candidates, media can also be a source of funds for the candidates (The University of Texas at Austin). The voter’s idea of the personality of the speaker either make or break them. However, we should remember that personality and leadership is not really together. There were presidents who are idolized for their great leadership, but not for their personality. There were inefficient leaders who are revered for their personality (The University of Texas at Austin). Television and radio debates are important especially in educating the voters about who the deserving candidate They scrutinize the past and present of this candidates. But although media affects our decision regarding this matter, studies would show that face to face contact is still the most effective medium to get votes from the people. In election histories, it is said that a well oiled political machine, particularly with good relationship with the media, is more likely to win the elections (The University of Texas at Austin). In this juncture, we can say that indeed, media has the power to make a change, but not as much powerful as we do (The University of Texas at Austin). The real problem is that people does not have the power to control the media. It is said that in this setting it is the minority that dictates the people the things that they want others to know, the events that will only be consider for reporting, the facts that will be examined and evaluated, and many other instances. This minority controls the media, which affects the politics of the country, then way wee live, the way we talk, the way we think, and many others. The discussion on radio and televisions regarding any political issue that directly affects the interest of the people is only limited, as it is restricted to discuss some sensitive issues. Take for example if the discussion on the radio program is anti-Semitism, the station would not actually invite true anti-Semitist. In this case, the discussion is not really a discussion of the topic at all. Investigative journalism on the other hand, plays as a hero in revealing to us the hidden truth, up to some point that they already invade public lives (RadioIslam. org). The music played on the radio affects our moods and our emotions. Music can trigger sad and happy memories, depending on the song played at the program. Radio stations can dictate what kind of music and genres society ought to appreciate, and which singers ought to be popular. It modifies choice of music into something that favors the capitalist. Other artists may not be given the chance to be heard and present their talent (RadioIslam. org).