Is acupuncture an effetive treatment for Insomnia Dissertation

Is acupuncture an effetive treatment for Insomnia - Dissertation Example The main objective of this research is to conduct a review of literature and assess whether acupuncture is an effective treatment for insomnia. Insomnia Defined Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or to remain asleep for an adequate length of time, so that tiredness is virtually permanent (Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary 2007, p.370). According to the British United Provident Association (2011), primary and secondary insomnia are the two classifications of insomnia. Primary insomnia has no noticeable grounds while secondary insomnia is caused by an underlying problem, such as stressful events, psychiatric problems, medical conditions, drug and substance abuse, certain types of medication and psychological problems such as grief and depression. Moreover, the National Health Service (NHS) described insomnia as either short term insomnia which lasts for one to four weeks, and long-term (or persistent) insomnia, which persists for more than four weeks. According to the NHS (year), if a person has been diagnosed with short term insomnia, their GP will generally advise them on good sleep hygiene, and if the insomnia is affecting him/her during the day, then the GP may prescribe sleeping tablets. Moreover, if a person has been diagnosed with long term Insomnia, their GP will recommend the same as for short term Insomnia, along with cognitive and behavioural treatments (CBT). Additionally, if the patient is over 55 years old, the GP may consider prescribing Melatonin. Kaptchuk (2000, p. 191) describes insomnia in Chinese texts as â€Å"Yang unable to enter Yin†. This typically suggests that Blood or Yin or both are insufficient and not able to sustain the Spirit in the Heart. There is therefore a relative oversupply of the Yang, which is not in equilibrium and is unable to calm down in balance. An oversupply of the Yang or Fire in any other organ can also be a reason for insomnia. The persistent desire to sleep, or oversleeping, is often a sign of Deficie nt Yang, Deficient Qi, or Dampness. Under Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), when a person suffers from insomnia, one generally tends to find that the two organs that are most often out of balance are the Heart and the Liver. Each of these two organs houses a specific aspect of the spirit. The Heart houses the mind (Shen) and the Liver houses the ethereal soul (Hun). If these organs are out of balance, they will not be able to house the spirit properly, and the spirit will wander (Kaptchuk 2000). According to Maciocia (2005) sleep generally depends on the state of Blood and Yin, especially that of the Heart and Liver. During the night the Yin Qi predominates, and the mind and ethereal soul should be anchored in Heart Blood and Liver Blood. If the mind and/or ethereal soul are not anchored, a sleep disturbance is likely to occur. Research Aim The present paper aims to review pertinent literature to ascertain the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of insomia among adults. Research Hypotheses Ho: Acupuncture is not an effective treatment for insomnia. Ha: Acupuncture is an effective treatment for insomnia. Method The current paper makes use of critical review of literature to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment method for insomnia. This entailed the search of

Vygotsky Influenced By Marxism Sociology Essay

Vygotsky Influenced By Marxism Sociology Essay It is known and accepted in professional journals and works that Marxism influenced Vygotsky but why did this not show up in the earlier translations by Western psychologists? Marxism and Vygotsky L.S. Vygotsky was a witness of the Russian Revolution, which was the hot bed of Marxist theory and the forced development of a communist state (Elhammoumi, 2002). This was a period of tremendous stress and change for the Russian people, in which a significant ideological struggle took place (Elhammoumi, 2002). The basic premise to this struggle was between a focus on the private individual and a socially collective existence (Elhammoumi, 2002). At this level of philosophical transformation mixed with the great turmoil of the time, is the perfect environment for innovative scientist to produce new ideas (Elhammoumi, 2002). The same effect is what compelled Vygotskys ambition to be a part of what was called the new socialist experiment (Elhammoumi, 2002). Vygotsky could not have avoided the effect this philosophy had on his life and invariably, his methods based on this, we can deduce that the Russian Revolution is major evidence of the influence Marxism had his lifes work. Another Marxist influences which show in Vygotskys work are the following definitions, directly from Vygotsky work such as the term Adherence, which means the rejection of all non-materialist and non-Marxist theories (Elhammoumi, 2002). Other Marxist associations to Vygotskys work include his belief that society is not made up of the individual or groups of individuals but is the totality of their interrelationships as construed in the Marxist approach (Elhammoumi, 2002). Or the use of statements in his work such as counsciousness is shaped by social relations, which is also an important idea of Marx (Elhammoumi, 2002). Or Vygotskys work in which he advocates that change in human behavior has several elementary origins, such as, the destruction of capitalist forms of organization and production; the withering away of capitalist order and all forces which oppress manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Elhammoumi, 2002). Or that Vygotsky believed that the destruction of capitalism would be instrumental i n freeing mankind from oppressive powers and allow man to liberate his growth (Elhammoumi, 2002). These ideas were commonly held by Marxist ideology and wrapped in Vygotskys historical-social theories (Elhammoumi, 2002). While researching journals for this paper, I came across an abundance of examples which clearly state that the Marxist influence is now widely accepted within the professional psychological arena. With these examples alone, we can easily agree that Vygotsky was not only influenced by Marx, but we could say that his works were integral in developing, at least, the basis of Marxist psychology (Roth, 2007). Why then, was this notion rejected and even suppressed by earlier Western psychologists until a few decades after World War II? The West and Vygotsky There has been much speculation in the psychological community in the past that Vygotsky was not a Marxist per se, regardless of his use of the doctrine in his work (Sheehy, 2004). This idea was due to Vygotskys work being shunned in the Soviet Union grounded by areas in which Vygotsky questioned and disagreed with Marx (Elhammoumi, 2002). This disagreement led some earlier Western psychologists to argue that Vygotsky rejected Marxism altogether, and was not involved in the development of Marxist psychology (Kosulin, 1986). Other Western psychologist had not only separated Vygotsky from Marxism but had included a rejection of what was termed as bourgeoisie humanism (Elhammoumi, 2002). Nonetheless, Marxist and Soviet psychologists knew that Vygotskys work was crucial in linking their proletariat brand of psychology with natural science in order to keep up with the developments being made in Germany and the United States (Sheehy, 2004). In order to solidify this link, Vygotsky would have to officially be a communist, which the Soviets implied (Sheehy, 2004). Accordingly, Vygotskys Marxist influence in many cases failed to be mentioned in earlier Western translations at all importantly, by overlooking the Marxist influence Vygotskys work is significantly weakended (Kosulin, 1986). The possibility of such suppression could lead to a crisis in the advancement in the entire study of psycholgogy (Kosulin, 1986). But, as will be explained later, Vygotsky link to the development of Soviet Psychology was questionable (Elhammoumi, 2002). We have established that the reasoning behind the suppression of Vygotskys Marxist influence, especially for the American psychologists, is the implication that Vygotsky work was directly involved in what eventually became the Soviet totalitarian government, which is now considered a false accusation (Roth, 2007). Do not forget that Vygotsky perviously shared restrictive ideas with Marxism but did not agree on all stances in regards to psychology (Elhammoumi, 2002). And today we understand that much of Vygotskys connection with Soviet Psychology comes from a Soviet Psychologist names Leontiev (Kosulin, 1986). Leontiev rose to prominence after a period in which Soviet officials had rejected Vygotsky due to his work influenced by the Gestalt psychology and the cross-cultural analysis of consciousness which was considered bourgeois and anti-communist (Kosulin, 1986). This prominence was gained by winning then prestigious Lenin Prize for scientific research, which gave Leontiev access to power within the Soviet governing body (Kosulin, 1986). This enabled him to reintroduce Vygotsky into the Soviet scientific world, an in order to avoid questions regarding Vygotskys original shunning, Leontiev named himself the interpreter of Vygotsky (Kosulin, 1986). Because of this, Vygotsky came to be known as a mere predecessor of Leontiev, which enabled Leontiev the freedom to correct the flaws in Vygotskys work thereby creating a solid link to the development of Soviet psychology (Kosulin, 1986). Evidence is now known that this link is a myth. Regardless, at the time, Western psychologists were rightful ly under the impression that Vygotsky and Soviet Psychology were inexplicably linked (Kosulin, 1986). This is, of course, the main reasoning behind creating sanitized translations of Vygotskys work suppressing the Marxist influence, not to mention more personal reasons like the lack of book sales (Elhammoumi, 2002). At the time, due to the Cold War, Western psychologist were uninterested in promoting anyone associated with communism, socialism, or Marxism (Kosulin, 1986). This went on until the late 1970s and early 1980s when Vygotskys involvement in Soviet science began to be questioned (Kosulin, 1986). MY VIEW I can see this point of view (was V a Marxist?), especially by Westerners, after Soviet Psychologists in later years, integrated Vygotsky into their philosophies which were heavily influenced by political doctrine and the Soviet state itself. In my view, it would be difficult to believe it did not, based on the fact he was alive and living in Russia during the Revolution how could anyone, especially an intellectual like Vygotsky, could not be influenced by the break-down of a political system which had been integral in the make-up of Russia for generations. Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), But, I can see why some psychologist believe there was a connection between Vygotsky and the formulation of Marxist philosophy in the late 1920s, since Vygotsky did not die until 1934. The fundamentals of Marxist Instead of viewing these changes through the eyes of politics. Whether or not you agree or disagree or land somewhere in between in regards to Marxism it remains a ground-breaking shift in intellectualism. In order to see this from another view, Russian, in some cases, was still practicing feudalism which was the social and political structure of the Middle Ages! In the 19th century, as the West experienced a new age of industry and innovation. Although, in my view, true Marxism never came to be in its pure form, and instead, we witnessed the dilapidation and eventual fall of a distortion of this philosophy. I, personally, if these statements are accurate, do not want to see any philosophical or scientific works be deluded by political influences. I believe it is important to maintain historical accuracy, or we are no different than the oppressiveness of the former Soviet Union. What is meant by this, per the author, is that Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand and real intellectual wealth of the individual depends entirely on the wealth of his real connections This make sense. (Elhammoui, 2002) It is understood, in my view, that Westerners, Americans in particular, have a deep-seated distrust in anything related to communism based on the Cold War which is the case with Marxism. The main point Elhammoumi is trying to convey is that it is important to maintain Vogotskys Marxist influence in order to maintain a period of major intellectual creativity which occurred during and after the Russian Revolution (Elhammoumi, 2002). First of all, if Marxism was truly so impactful to vigotsky, then the omission of that would not be an accurate translation, which could have possibly left integral pieces out for Western psychologists while working to perfect the science as a whole (Kosulin, 1986). Example of myself or someone I know who experienced this (see directions) Conclusion Paragraph for entire paper SHOULD BE PART OF CONCLUSION Vygotsky, by using the framework of a post-revolutionary Soviet society, was determined to develop a new form of psychology (Elhammoumi, 2002). Just by what we have seen in the previous examples it becomes apparent that within Vygotskys theory, it seems as though he attempted to develop a type of theoretical psychology for Marxism (Elhammoumi, 2002). This brings us to the the issue of the West and Vygostky. TOPIC PAPER 1 7117 Due 3/5 @ Midnight submit to turnitin.com 24 hrs earlier 3 to 5 pages without cover and ref page. Each paper will contain a discussion of, or reflection upon, the topic presented in the course. MUST CITE AT LEAST 2 ADDITIONAL ARTICLES FROM PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS not including those already utilized as part of the course materials. ABSTRACTS are not necessary. Each paper should contain: A summary of ONE major theory/concept (or portion of a theory/concept). At least one example from your own experience or someone you know that is relevant to or illustrates the topic/concept. Your persepective about (a critique of) the theory/concept. You must provide substantive arguments to justify your point of view.

Human Cloning Should Not be Permitted Essay -- Argumentative Persuasiv

     Ã‚   According to Richard Seed, "cloning is inevitable.   If I don't do it, someone else will.   There's no way you can stop science" (qtd. in Kadrey 2001). Depending on one's personal opinion about cloning, human cloning in particular, a quote such as that will most likely either anger a reader or excite them.   Human cloning is one of the hottest topics for debate in society today-the lines are very strictly drawn between those in favor of continuing cloning research and those who are staunchly opposed to it.   Meanwhile, despite public opinion, science trudges on behind closed doors working to clone the first human.  This paper will first provide a thorough, but brief, introduction into the topic of cloning itself, including its history and its mechanisms; then, through a series of carefully thought out points, it will illustrate why human cloning should not be allowed to continue at this point in time. Part A.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The "origins" of cloning are vague and variant from source to source.   It has been suggested that cloning began in 1952 when a team of geneticists removed a nucleus from an embryonic frog cell and placed it into an egg cell from which the nucleus had been removed.   To the amazement of the scientists, a frog was hatched from the egg cell with the embryonic nucleus.   The research was furthered in 1975 when embryologist John Gurdon of Britain attempted to do the same thing with an adult cell.   While his research was not fruitful, it started the ball rolling for later cloning attempts. Research with embryonic cells continued into the 1980s and led to the creation of cloned cows and sheep (Reilly 2000).   Finally, in 1997, scientists were able to take an older cell, that of an adult sheep, and successfully creat... ...."  Ã‚   CNN Online.  Ã‚   29 August 2000:   n. pag.  Ã‚   Online. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/29/pope.cloning/index.html  Ã‚   12 April 2001. Reed, Susan.  Ã‚   "My Sister, My Clone."  Ã‚   Time Magazine.  Ã‚   19 February 2001:   51. Reilly, Philip R.  Ã‚   Abraham Lincoln's DNA and Other Adventures in Genetics.  Ã‚   Cold Spring Harbor, New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2000. Thomas, Cathy Booth.  Ã‚   "Copydog, Copycat."  Ã‚   Time Magazine.  Ã‚   19 February 2001:   57. "Vatican leads chorus objecting to human cloning."  Ã‚   CNN Online.  Ã‚   18 April 2000:   n. pag.  Ã‚   Online. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/18/vatican.cloning/index.html  Ã‚  Ã‚   12 April 2001. Whitehouse, David, Ph.D.  Ã‚   "Cloning humans: Can it really be done?"  Ã‚   BBC News.  Ã‚   9 March 2001:   n. pag. Online.  Ã‚   http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1211000/1211136.stm  Ã‚   12 April 2001.

Cirque

Performers tend to have short racers: the attrition rate Is about 20 per cent a year, whether through Injury or simply deciding It is time to retire. How do you renew the talent pool? The solution. Thirty talent scouts are listed on the Cirque website, and many of them are specialists In specific skills, such as sling or gymnastics and acrobatics. Sources of recruits Include the Olympic Games, the Mongolia State Circus and world championship athletics competitions. Auditions, described by Cirque a â€Å"treasure hunting†, are demanding and can last up to two days.After Minimal screening, potential secrets must demonstrate not just technical proficiency but range. After a long audition, dancers must then show their acting, improvisation and singing skills. Once identified as â€Å"Cirque people†, performers' names are added to the Cirque database to await a suitable role. Then the hard work really starts: they are drilled in their new craft at â€Å"boot camps† fo r up to four months before their first performance. Nevertheless, the Cirque â€Å"immersion programmer† aims to bring out the best in an individual.Key to the transformation process are mentors – veterans who guide new artists and get to know them. Cirque describes itself as a â€Å"family†, a â€Å"band of brothers†. Reinvention is a constant theme. Having redefined the traditional â€Å"big top† circus in the 1 sass, Mr.. Illiberal © keeps audiences loyal and attracts new ones by always offering something different. In the 2006 show Love, Cirque du Sole performs to the music of The Battles. A collaboration between Cirque, producer George Martin – â€Å"the fifth Battle† – and his son Giles, Love is still running at The Mirage in Lass Vegas.A new production is nearly always under way. Each show looks for a new theme, so the repertoire ranges from aquatics (O) to The Battles (Love) to martial arts (KS). The lessons. Managers must plan ahead. Hence, scouts are always sourcing new recruits In order to fill anticipated skills gaps. New techniques are developed constantly. Revealingly, acrobat mentor And © Similar, whose innovations Include a new safety line for aerial acrobatics, is not called creative director but research and development specialist.The focus Is also on constantly devising new content In the form of new themes and concepts. For Instance, for K, Mr.. Albert © asked Robert Leafage, the playwright, director and actor, to craft a show around martial arts. The company develops new products (shows) all the time. Because a show takes so long to create – recruiting performers, devising music, costumes and Infrastructure – It looks ahead to develop tomorrows performers and staging today.Cirque By appending audience, Cirque must do two things: continue to come up with spectacular ideas; careers: the attrition rate is about 20 per cent a year, whether through injury or imply decid ing it is time to retire. How do you renew the talent pool? The specialists in specific skills, such as singing or gymnastics and acrobatics. Sources of recruits include the Olympic Games, the Mongolia State Circus and world hunting†, are demanding and can last up to two days. After initial screening, potential recruits must demonstrate not Just technical proficiency but range. After a long artists and get to know them.Cirque describes itself as a â€Å"family', a â€Å"band of circus in the asses, Mr.. Illiberal © keeps audiences loyal and attracts new ones by he repertoire ranges from aquatics (O) to The Battles (Love) to martial arts (K). The in order to fill anticipated skills gaps. New techniques are developed constantly. Revealingly, acrobat mentor And © Similar, whose innovations include a new safety development specialist. The focus is also on constantly devising new content in the form of new themes and concepts. For instance, for K, Mr.. Illiberal © asked Rob ert to create – recruiting performers, devising music, costumes and infrastructure – it

Goffman and Music Education Essay

For my career, I intend to teach music privately. I will own my own business in my home and teach students of all ages. As a part of my business I will serve students also in small group classes and other special events that I will design in my business. A ‘typical performance’ would include being in front of any students. For example, a student arrives for a lesson, and I am waiting for him/her. I greet him, and he comes in and begins to prepare his instrument and materials. I may glance over his materials, checking anything he was assigned to practice or work on in the previous week. I may also chat with him about how his week has been. Then, the lesson will proceed, and we will work on performing on his instrument. He will play and I will critique his performance and have him try things different ways until he improves. I may make use of metronomes, tuning devices, or my own demonstration to help him learn. At the end of the lesson, I will assign him new materials to work on or practice, and see him out the door. This performance related to Goffman’s idea of â€Å"rituals† that occur in the social situation. Regardless of my mood or desires, I will ask the student how he is doing and listen to his answers. The lesson will proceed in roughly the same fashion every week. The student will come to expect when I will interrupt his performance to give criticism, because he will come to know what I consider unacceptable. The lesson becomes a series of rituals that are performed week after week, lesson after lesson. The members of my team will consist of all of my students, as well as their parents, many of whom may sit in on lessons always or from time to time. I could not be a teacher if I did not have students, so they are a necessary part of my team. It is the direct interaction between myself and them that sets the â€Å"stage,† as Goffman puts it in his dramaturgical explanation of social behavior. The parents factor in because they change the dynamics of the lesson situation when they are present. In these cases, I may choose to address parents in addition to or instead of the students in certain situations, and I will certainly be aware of their presence as I am working with the student. With some of the younger students, or students who have problems behaving, the parents may play a strong role in the lesson situation, guiding the student’s behavior and attempting to keep him on task. Outside of the lesson situation, it is possible that my mentors could also be considered supporting players, as I may turn to them for help with difficult students or situations to solve, and they may lend me moral support in making decisions about teaching or lessons. All of the people who play into what happens in the lesson situation could be considered team members in some sense, even if they never meet one another. Discrepant roles are likely limited in this situation, since for the most part, there is no audience. However, the teacher himself (i. e. me) might be a discrepant role, since the teacher is leading everyone’s reactions and ideas, and guiding the â€Å"audience’s† perception of the situation. Parents may function in a discrepant role, and well, since as both observers and participants in the situation, they may guide how they want their children to react, and how I choose to react because of their presence. Beyond this, there are probably not other discrepant roles. Should I be teaching a larger group, one student could serve in a discrepant role by more actively participating in the class and showing the rest of the group how to behave and react to what is going on around them. The rest of the class could serve as an audience in that case, assuming that some of the members of the class were feeling rather passive. The communications that would go on in lesson situations could be in or out of character, depending on the student, whether or not the parent was present, and the mood itself. In a general lesson situation where the parent and child were both present and the child was fairly young (not yet a teenager), communication would generally be entirely in character. That is, the communication would be formal and appropriate for the student and parent. However, should the student leave the room and the parent remain, the communication may lapse into out of character situations, where the teacher and the parent are sharing information or commiserating as two adults. It is also possible that if the student is older, teenage or adult, that the communication may be out of character, because of the teacher being able to identify with this student better on a person-to-person level, and not finding the need to remain aloof and professionally distant. In these situations, the communication would move often between in and out of character as the teacher goes from having a general conversation with the student to actually providing instruction. The impression one makes is difficult to manage at times, but it is also important. As a teacher, I would like to be seen as a professional at all times, someone who does not let emotions or outside situations affect my work. I would also like to be seen as energetic, upbeat, and involved in the work I do. This relates to maintaining what Goffman calls the â€Å"front. † The behavior at the front is the professional impression one makes, while behavior at the â€Å"back† or â€Å"sides† is related off-stage behavior in actors. Since teaching is often related to being onstage, this is not a totally foreign concept. As a teacher, I must forget any concerns I have when I enter the room to teach a student. I must focus on them and their needs, and not anything else that is going on in my life, good or bad. This is not always possible, and when it is not, I must explain as briefly as possible, apologize, and continue to try to focus solely on the student. I must also smile and use happy tones of voice when I am speaking, even if I do not feel that way. One of the hardest things in teaching is remaining optimistic and positive even when students are struggling or, more likely, refusing to work. It is difficult for a teacher to see students come into a lesson every week with homework undone and no practicing having been completed. What can I teach a student who won’t work on skills at home? But in order to keep my impressions positive and my front appropriate, I must broach the subject of needing to practice more carefully, so as not to discourage the student or to allow them to see how unhappy I am with their lack of preparedness. Teachers are constantly striving for diplomacy in even the hardest situations. Goffman’s work allows me to look at my future career with a much different perspective. I consider that I am on stage and that I am an actor in a play I have created and entered into, but I do not control all the variables. I control myself, but I react to how my students choose to be. It is interesting to note the possibilities that arise in every situation when there are so many different things happening at once, as Goffman points out. However, it is good to think about and try to use in work situations.

Self-reflexive Essay Example

Self Self-reflexive Essay Self-reflexive Essay Essay Topic: Sunset Boulevard Self-reflexive is a term used for literary works such as poetries, novels and movies that are explicit in reflecting their own processes of artful composition.   These masterpieces are frequently found in modern works of fiction.   These fictions usually comment to their individual fictional status.   Poets, novelists, as well as movie makers use the metafiction or the metafilm technique in dealing with these kinds of fiction; wherein the film is symbol of the production of a movie.   Some parts of the film maybe a part of the writer’s or director’s experience; they may also add cameo appearances and shot the film to familiar Hollywood spots.   This self-reflexive can also be found in earlier movies such as Sunset Boulevard (1950), Singin in the Rain (1952), and The Player (1992). Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder under Paramount Picture is about a less-fortunate screenwriter (William Holden as Joe Gillis) that became a kept man of an aged silent film star (Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond) and lured him to write the script of her comeback film â€Å"Salome†.   Self-reflexivity can be seen in several scenes of the movie. One with be in the first scene where a dead man is seen floating face down a swimming pool. As the story went along, it was explained that the man was no other than Gillis, killed by the brokenhearted Desmond. The ending showed the most apparent self-reflexivity when Desmond told the cameramen and Mr. DeMille that she is already prepared for her close up. These scenes showed the element of metafilm where the film shows that there is a film being done inside the film as shown by the cameras and reporters getting near Desmond. And since the film was mixed with the realities of film-making, other Hollywood legends and stars such as silent-screen director Erich von   Stroheim (playing as Max von Mayerling, the devoted butler of Norma), a famous Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille (playing as himself while doing the Samson and Delilah film when Norma, Joe, and Max went to Paramount), and also the aging silent era stars Norma used to play cards with (Buster Keaton, Swedish-born Anna Q. Nilsson, and H. B. Warner playing as themselves).   They also used the Paramount Studio itself. The movie Sunset Boulevard became the root of all pictures with social context and with regards to the movies it is so far one of the best creation of Wilder.   It was the inspiration for Robert Altman in doing the film The Player in 1992 based on a novel of Michael Tolkin.   In this film, the scene that showed self-reflexivity was shown when Griffin Mill was being blackmailed by the scriptwriter whose script he rejected before. Also, the scene that shows quality scripts and films being rejected by major film studios because of commercial value also show self-reflexivity because it actually happens it reality. In fact, director Altman suffered such discrimination when he was still a beginner. Throughout the film, over 60 cameo appearances of some key Hollywood stars, producers, and directors (all were playing the role as themselves) can be seen.   And since the location of the film was in Hollywood, most of the encounters with cameos were just coincidences and they also improvi sed dialogues. The act of self-reflexivity is shown in the movie because the director’s life has been slightly seen in some parts of the movie. Also, the movie is about Hollywood and the director, being a part of show business in Hollywood, knows what it takes to be in Hollywood and have experienced several situations and struggles from his profession like what the characters from his movie have suffered. A play about a romantic pair, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont, was made in 1927 by Gene Kelly. The story is about the problem regarding the love affair of Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont which was developed from their profession. Being a romantic love pair during their time, they have been so famous that their audience wouldn’t want the pair to be performing without the other.   Yet, struggles came.   Lina have encountered problems regarding her voice and during that time is when Don meets an aspirant actress in the name of Kathy Selden to whom he fall in love after quite some time.   With this, the pair has been found to be in the edge of breaking up which the audience would not want to happen.   In resolution to this problem, Cosmo Brown, Don’s best friend and company to his profession, decided that they should dub Lina’s voice using the voice of Kathy.   But the dubbing was revealed to the audience when Lina made a speech and delivered a song. The act of self-reflexivity by Gene Kelly is shown in the movie because he had also encountered the same situation from his chosen profession as a dancer and choreographer. Self-reflexivity was also shown in the premiere night scene where while Lina was singing, the curtain was raised up and the real singer was revealed to them. As for Altman, a choreographer, he has been able to make a big name to his time. During his time as a choreographer he met Betsy Blair, an aspiring dancer during that time, to whom he falls in love.   This is the same situation as it was shown to his movie were Don met Kathy and falls in love with the latter.   Also the same situation is when Gene doesn’t want to continue his career without the presence of her beloved Betsy.   This was shown in the movie when Cosmo decided to dub Lina’s voice with Kathy’s voice so that they could still work together but with the sacrifice that the audience will not give any interest to Kathy, rather the account is for to Lina. References: Sunset Boulevard; Billy Wilder; William Holden and Gloria Swanson; Paramount; 1950 The Player; Robert Altman; Tim Robbins; Fine Line Features; 1992 Singin’ in the rain; Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, and Jean Hagen; MGM; 1952

Renting, buying, or stealing software

Renting, buying, or stealing software Abstract The software industry is one of the most lucrative business ventures that make enormous contributions to the global economy. The process of software development involves several steps. Currently, the industry is growing at a very high rate. However, software piracy, risks slowing down the growth unless preventive measures are taken to stop the vice.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Renting, buying, or stealing software specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It affects both users and developers. Renting is one of the future prospects of the industry because of its cost effectiveness and high reliability for use by small businesses. In addition, buying and stealing will also determine the future of the software industry. Other factors that affect the industry include hardware theft, which infringes on the privacy of individuals. The software industry has several opportunities for developers. Therefore, it has a brig ht and promising future. Introduction The software industry has grown tremendously over the past few years. Several corporate and individual developers have emerged, and changed the industry tremendously. People develop software for three main reasons. These include fulfillment of certain business needs, fulfillment of certain user preferences, as well as for personal use (Commander, 2005). The process of developing software involves aspects such as research, development, prototyping, and maintenance. Software theft is one of the challenges facing software developers. It involves copying and subsequent use of software despite existence of copyright protection measures (Buxmann et al, 2012). Software sale is a lucrative business that has a bright future. Users buy, rent, or steal software. Current and future status of software Currently, software development is a very lucrative venture. However, its future is under threat due to piracy. The software industry has become very competiti ve with the entry of both individual and corporate developers. Currently, many organizations are changing their businesses in order to embrace technology (Whiting, 2004). Technology plays a critical role in helping businesses improve efficiency, and reduce the cost of operation (Commander, 2005). The information technology industry is providing solutions to businesses and organizations by developing software that caters for their needs. For example, Oracle develops business solutions that help businesses improve excellence, reduce costs, and improve risk compliance. This has created high demand for software and stimulated high competition among software developers (Buxmann et al, 2012). The industry has many opportunities because of increasing demands among various users (Whiting, 2004). Therefore, it has a very bright future. It is possible to make money from the industry by developing software that fulfills the various individual and business needs. Afterwards, developers can eith er sell or let their creations to users. For example, Microsoft makes an annual income of about $54,270 million from sale of software licenses, technical support, and maintenance.Advertising Looking for report on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There are several advantages of renting software especially for small businesses. It is cost effective compared to buying, and it eliminates the need for ins of countries with the high levels of piracy include Armenia (93%), Libya (88%), Yemen (89%), Ukraine (83%), Vietnam (85%), Pakistan (84%), Sri Lanka (90%), Zimbabwe (91%), Bangladesh (92%), and China (82%). Examples of countries with low levels include the United States (20%), Germany (27%), the United Kingdom (26%), and Japan (23%). Software theft is both illegal and unethical. Stealing software and hardware Stealing software refers to copying, illegal use, distribution, or sale of copyright protected software. Peopl e steal software because of poor copyright protection legislation, low income, and high software prices (Honick, 2005). Software theft affects both developers and users. Developers lose money and reputation. For example, in 2010, software vendors in Pakistan lost $ 217 million in revenues. On the other hand, users do not get access to technical support from developers. In addition, they do not get access to updates and may buy products with malware agents or viruses (Fitzgerald, 2012). Software theft is preventable by storing license agreements safely and refraining from accessing suspicious websites. Hardware theft involves stealing of computer devices or constituent parts (Honick, 2005). It exposes the privacy of owners because thieves can access private information stored in computers or external devices. Software theft can be prevented by using real time location systems (RTLS) to track the location of computers, as well as keeping computers in secure rooms and safes (Honick, 20 05).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Renting, buying, or stealing software specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion The software industry has experienced numerous changes in the last decade. Users have the choice of either buying or renting software. Currently, the industry has many opportunities and experiences high competition. It has a bright future. However, software theft threatens growth in the industry. Software theft involves reproduction, illegal use, distribution, or sale of copyright protected software. It is common in countries such as Pakistan, Zimbabwe, China, and Libya. The United States has the lowest cases of piracy. On the other hand, hardware theft involves stealing of computer devices or parts. It promotes violation of individual’s privacy because many people store personal information in their computers and associated devices. References Buxmann, P., Diefenbach, H., Hess, T. (2012). The Software Industry: Economic  Principles, Strategies, and Perspectives. New York: Springer. Commander, S. (2005). The Software Industry in Emerging Markets. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing. Fitzgerald, B. (2012). Software Piracy: Study Claims 57b Percent of the World Pirates  Software. Web. Honick, R. (2005). Software Piracy Exposed. New York: Syngress. Pavley, J. (2013). Renting, Buying, and Stealing: the Future of Software Applications. Web.Advertising Looking for report on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Whiting, R. (2004). Industry Leaders Look to Software’s Future. Web.

Does SAT State Testing Drive SAT Popularity

Does SAT State Testing Drive SAT Popularity SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Curious about which states require the SAT? Could requiring the SAT make it more popular than the ACT? In this post, we'll discuss how state SAT testing could increase nationwide SAT rates, and what to do if you live in an SAT-required or SAT-optional state. What Are the "SAT Required" States? The SAT is a required test in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Connecticut already had a very high SAT participation rate (88%), so jumping to full participation wasn’t an entirely unexpected development. In Idaho, the SAT is administered for free in schools across the state, but students have the option of taking the SAT, the ACT, or the Compass exam to fulfill their testing requirement. According to a New York Times article about the new testing, "Because so many Connecticut public school students take the SAT anyway, replacing the existing high school test, given in th grade, with the SAT would leave young people with one exam fewer on their roster." Notably, Maine used to require the SAT but switched away from it to the Smarter Balanced test (which assesses Common Core standards). However, while Maine no longer requires the SAT, they still fund students who want to take it, so they still have a very high (96%) SAT participation rate. Do State SAT Partnerships Boost National SAT Rates? Although the SAT is taken by all students in four states and the District of Columbia, that pales in comparison to the 18 states that have ACT partnerships. So while state SAT testing boosts SAT participation in a few states, the SAT has actually fallen behind the ACT nationwide. Even in states where the SAT is more popular than the SAT, there have been noted declines in SAT test takers since 2006. Meanwhile, the ACT surpassed the SAT in 2012 as the most popular college admissions exam. The ACT has remained at number one, since1,924,436 students took the ACT in 2015, whilejust 1.7 million took the SAT. Since the ACT has managed to bill itself as a more straightforward test of what is taught in high school, it has scored more state partnerships and is more popular in the west and mid-west. This has allowed it to pull ahead in terms of overall numbers. So even though the SAT has some state partnerships, the ACT is growing faster since it has scored more partnerships and has successfully marketed itself as a more straightforward college entrance exam. Pros and Cons of Requiring the SAT States that require the SAT use the SAT as a gauge of how well their students are getting prepared for college and career in high school. The SAT is often used as a replacement for other th grade or high school tests, with the goal of lessening the exam burden of high school students. So is a state SAT initiative a good or bad idea? Well, there are pros and cons, which we will explore below. Upsides to Requiring the SAT Requiring the SAT and funding it gives all students an opportunity to take the SAT, opening up the door to college applications and saving money for families. This can help simplify the college admissions process, especially for families who have never been through it before. Also, for students planning on taking the SAT anyway, requiring the SAT in school gives students another chance to practice the SAT. This can introduce them to the test in lower-pressure conditions – which could help them when studying for a more serious retake. (However, a caveat to this is â€Å"all scores† schools, which we will discuss below.) If students can maximize their SAT score, they can also maximize their college scholarship opportunities. In short, by simplifying access to the SAT, states can give all students a better shot at getting into and affording college. Downsides to Requiring the SAT Requiring the SAT lowers the state SAT average, since requiring it means non-college-bound students are taking the SAT. This isn’t â€Å"bad† so much as it makes it more complicated to compare SAT averages from state to state. Comparing the state SAT averages in SAT-required and SAT-optional states is like comparing apples and oranges, since the populations of students taking the test are so different. Requiring the SAT alone might not also guarantee an increase in college acceptances and/or scholarships. The SAT is notoriously tricky, and without including test prep in schools, students might not do as well on the SAT as they're capable of. Also, by taking away the ACT versus SAT choice, requiring the SAT could create some testing fatigue for students who want to take the ACT instead. Finally, the SAT might not be the best measure of high school achievement. The SAT isn’t a test of what students have learned in high school, which is why Maine switched over to a Common Core test rather than the SAT. Since the SAT was designed specifically to test "aptitude,"not academic subjects, it's not necessarily a reliable indicator of how well students are doing in high school. What to Do If Your State is SAT-Mandatory So what should you do if you’re in one of the states that require the SAT? If you’re applying to any schools that require all SAT scores ever earned to be sent, make sure to study hard for the school administration of the SAT – since your score will matter! If you’re not applying to any all scores schools, you don’t necessarily have to stress over the SAT being taken at school, but you should still take advantage of it by studying hard, since it’s free. If you get a good score, you won’t have to pay to take the test again! However, if you think you’ll do better on the ACT, you can focus on studying for the ACT and just use the SAT you take in school as practice. Remember, for the vast majority of colleges, you only have to submit the ACT or the SAT – not both. (Some of the "all scores" schools require your complete testing history, meaning any SAT and ACT scores you have, though this is a fairly rare policy.) Remember, you can choose whether you want to focus on the ACT or the SAT. And remember, even if you’re in an SAT-required state, colleges don’t care whether you take the SAT or ACT, so focus on studying for the one test you will do the best on. What to Do if Your State is SAT-Optional First, check to see if the ACT is required. If you’re taking the ACT anyway, and you think you’ll do better on it, don’t worry about signing up for the SAT. If you think you might do better on the SAT, sign up for it. Recognize that if you’re in an ACT state, the state SAT percentiles will be skewed since mainly higher-performing students will be taking it, but don’t let that dissuade you from taking the SAT. If you’re in a state where neither the SAT or ACT is required, just sign up for the test you think you’ll do best on. You can decide which of the two tests to take by trying a practice version of each. What’s Next? If you live in an SAT-required state, you should learn more about the SAT: how long it is, how it's scored, and what you can learn from the directions. If you live in an SAT required state, you may want to take the SAT more than once if you don’t do well when you take the test in school. Decide here if you should retake the test! Did you know the SAT was recently revised?Get a complete guide to the changes on the SAT here! Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Halle Edwards About the Author Halle Edwards graduated from Stanford University with honors. In high school, she earned 99th percentile ACT scores as well as 99th percentile scores on SAT subject tests. She also took nine AP classes, earning a perfect score of 5 on seven AP tests. As a graduate of a large public high school who tackled the college admission process largely on her own, she is passionate about helping high school students from different backgrounds get the knowledge they need to be successful in the college admissions process. 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Company directors and managers goal of maximising profits Essay

Company directors and managers goal of maximising profits - Essay Example Company directors’ and managers’ goal of maximising profits Managers and the directors set objectives which they struggle to attain of which the main objectives are earning profit, adding to wealth of shareholders, growth and customer satisfaction etc. Directors, at times, are more concerned with growth of the company and addition to the wealth of the shareholders while meeting the expectations of the shareholders with considerable profits as they are the ones owning the business. The prime responsibility with which the directors are entrusted is to maximize the profits for the shareholders of the company who are the actual owners of the company and to them the directors are accountable to. Since the directors of the company are the representatives of the shareholders and act on behalf of the shareholders, the onus lies on them to keep the interest of the shareholders in mind to the add to the wealth of the shareholders who have invested in the company for the same. The key purpose of the board of directors along with the managers is to make sure the prosperity of the company through jointly handle the affairs of the company, at the same time meeting the suitable welfare of its stakeholders especially the shareholders. Klaus J. Hopt mentioned in his research that â€Å"Being responsible for the going concern of the company the directors hold themselves liable and accountable to the shareholders and aim at maximizing their returns, where the law also directs them the same.†

Price Elasticity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Price Elasticity - Essay Example In this case, if goods A and B are complementary, they have to be purchased together for a consumer to reap their utility. Complementary goods have a negative cross elasticity of demand; this implies that the demand of good A increases when the price of good B is decreased, where goods A and B are complementary goods. Conversely, the demand for A is decreased when the price of B is increased. This basically means that when higher quantity of A is demanded due to price decline, the demand of B will equally increase since A cannot be used without B. substitute goods exhibit positive cross-price elasticity of demand. Suppose X and Y are substitute goods. When price of Y goes up, consumers will go for X at a cheaper price but with similar utility as Y The income elasticity of demand measures the degree of change in demand of a commodity in response to changes in consumer’s income level. Inferior goods are those goods that a person may consider using when they do not have enough money, for example a cheap car. With little income, the demand for cheap cars will go up. Once the income increases, people tend to prefer more expensive cars and hence the demand of cheap cars goes down. Normal goods have a normal demand curve. In this case, the demand of a normal god will increase as the level of income increases. Conversely, the demand of a normal commodity will decrease with the level of income (Tobin, 1987). Various aspects including the availability of substitute products or goods, necessity degree and the greater the elasticity of good demand mostly influence the price elasticity of goods demands. Generally, demand tends to be elastic when there is availability of substitute goods in the market (Landsburg, 2011). In this case, the greater the substitute products in the market would result to demand elasticity. The best example is the Coca-Cola and Pepsi situation where the market is always flooded with availability of substitute products thus making the demand

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 227

Assignment Example Biodiversity and abundance in the same water is also average, relatively lower than site three because of less favorable habitats in agricultural lands. Site two, on the other hand, is an urban area. The Institute for Natural Resources, nd, paragraph 4 describes water from such sites to have the lowest biodiversity and abundance due to less favorable habitats, high concentration of dissolved heavy metals like Lead and Copper from industries as is the case here. The water also has the lowest pH as a result of dissolved acidic gases from the atmosphere, highest conductivity due to high concentrations of dissolved salts picked up by run-off. Furthermore, it has high Biological Oxygen Demand due to high temperatures from rooftops and pavements. Site three is open woodland. Water from this site has the highest biodiversity and abundance due to favorable habitats, low Biological Oxygen Demand because of low temperatures, lowest conductivity due to low concentrations of dissolved salts. In addition, fecal bacteria are high due to uncontrolled wastes. The same has lowest concentrations of nitrates, phosphates, Copper, Lead and dissolves salts due to absence of pollutants (Institute for Natural Resources, nd, par

Describe an imaginary place that young children would enjoy.Write the Essay

Describe an imaginary place that young children would enjoy.Write the description so readers can visualize as they read - Essay Example The maids bring them whatever they wish for. They take the children to swings and play games with them. The garden is followed by a huge row of palaces made of pearls and gold. They are made for kind and gentle people to live in who are all dressed in crimson. As children pass by them, they welcome them and offer them to come into their palaces. The palaces have jewels scattered all over and the children jump and play with joy. The sky is full of colors, and there are rainbows of striking colors which no one has seen in this world. The children can touch the rainbows and climb over it waiving at each other with amusement. Lovely parrots and pigeons fly over them singing songs in their sweet voices. The children then jump over the soft clouds which offer them cozy beds made up of water vapors, on which the children lie down to take the sweetest sleep they can ever get.

Social Behavior in Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Behavior in Animals - Essay Example The while-tail is one such species. It is a medium-sized deer that is native to the United States. Most deer species, including the white-tail, live in herds. The white-tail deer will migrate depending on temperature, the phases of the moon and the barometric pressure. The white-tail socializes on the basis of sex with the exclusion of the mating season. The doe, which is the female deer, and the fawns, which are the infant deer, group together. The bucks, which are the male deer, live together segregating themselves from the does and fawns. The purpose of this is to give time to the does to bring up the fawns. The buck’s social life is all about dominance. Though they co-exist together and live as a herd, there is always that one buck that is considered to be the leader. The leading buck is supposed to be given preference when it comes to mating and any other buck that wishes to take his place must challenge him. The bucks not only challenge the dominant buck but also have ch allenges amongst themselves. If a buck wishes to challenge another male, he will lay down a scent by peeing over his tarsal glands by rub-urinating. The buck also does this as a way of inciting a female to mate with him. This is their way of communicating; the white-tail also bleats as a way of communicating. The aspect of socialization among the deer is portrayed as one of living together. Just as pointed out earlier, socialization traverses through virtually everything. The ant exemplifies a social life that is near to, if not, perfection. An army ant is mostly found in heavily forested areas that are in most cases humid. An army ant colony has three major divisions. They are the queen ant, the soldier ants, and the multipurpose soldier ants. Each of them has its own distinct duty in the colony. The duty of the queen ant is to ensure the continuity of the colony. Sarkar says that she does by laying eggs which can be as many as between 100,000 to 300,000 within a 5 to 10 day spun ( 67). The socialization of an ant revolves around the life-cycle of the colony. The life-cycle of an army ant colony has two major phases. The two phases include a stationary phase and a migratory phase. The stationary phase takes place when the queen ant is pregnant. The queen and is in most cases expected to lay over 50,000 eggs and this causes her abdomen to swell. At this stage, the colony is, in essence, stagnated at one particular place. The soldier ants divide themselves into groups. One group is responsible for the protection of the queen, another is responsible for fetching food and the other is responsible for building the nests. The multipurpose soldier and has the duty of also fetching food and making the nests for the eggs which will be hatched. The worker and also has the duty of cleaning the colony’s habitat and if necessary, expanding it. The second phase of the life-cycle of an ant is the migration. This phase is triggered by the hatching of the eggs. The ants have to migrate in search of a new habitat that will accommodate the whole colony. The integrative input of every ant is vital for the survival of the colony. It is the same unity that sees ants create ant hills which are over 10 feet high.  

How was the La Pachuca symbolized during the Zoot Suit Riots Research Paper

How was the La Pachuca symbolized during the Zoot Suit Riots - Research Paper Example The La Pachuca symbolized the concept of complete equality between men and women, as well as a race, while using style and statements to show a sense of identity to the time frame. Defining La Pachuca The concept of La Pachuca rose at the same time as the Zoot Suits of the Chicano movement. The main ideal was based on creating a sense of identity in which all individuals from Mexico, Spain and the Latin decent had a combined identity. The Zoot Suits were the masculine interpretation of creating a modern and new style which set apart this sense of identity. The main concept was to remain as outsiders from the rest of society because of the ethnicity and decent. However, this was combined with the modernist approach of the Zoot Suits, which mimicked the time frame and other concepts of culture. Typically, those who wore these suits were attributed with gang violence and the ethnic race. The La Pachuca mimicked this ideal with the same association of belonging to the Chicana movement wh ile intertwining contemporary style with ethnicity from the feminine style of the time (Ramos, 562). The main approach which the women used in the Zoot Suit movement was based on creating a male like mimic and counterpart to the men of the movement. The women wore baggy pants with a high waste, followed by a t-shirt or blouse. The hair was pulled back with a â€Å"puff† on the top or a short cut of the hair (see Appendix A). This particular style was followed with the more feminine approach. This included a pencil skirt which went to the knees and also which had a high waste. This was accessorized with fishnet stockings, platform heels or sandals. The women would wear this with suspenders and a v-neck sweater or blouse over the top. If the hair was placed down, then it would be curled but would keep the same high top as the other styles used for the time. The women were also known for wearing darker lipstick and were often dressed with the same tattoos as men. The ideology wh ich was created, while moving into a slightly feminist approach, always mimicked the male Zoot Suiters and the style which was taken to distinguish them as Latin American and a part of the rebellion and movement of the time (Ramirez, 1). La Pachuca as a Symbol of Equality The first way in which the representation of the La Pachuca became a symbol was through the definition of equality which was exhibited. The subculture of the Zoot Suits was based on creating a sense of equality in American society for Chicanos that had immigrated to America and were interested in working with the same opportunity as other ethnicities in the country. The inability to have the same equality led many to gang activities and to outbreaks to try to point out the need to have this equality. The Zoot Suit Riots were a symbol of this desire and gathered attention in the national community to begin changing the consciousness of those in society toward culture in general. The Pachuca dressed similar to the me n and was known to have the same identity while taking place in the riots of the time. The representation of this showed that both the men and women of the Chicano / a ethnicity were looking for the same equality in society and deserved to be shown equal merit in terms of national identity (Ramirez, 9). The similarity of the zoot suit and the dress of the La Pachuca were furthered with the overall symbolism that

Social Behavior in Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Behavior in Animals - Essay Example The while-tail is one such species. It is a medium-sized deer that is native to the United States. Most deer species, including the white-tail, live in herds. The white-tail deer will migrate depending on temperature, the phases of the moon and the barometric pressure. The white-tail socializes on the basis of sex with the exclusion of the mating season. The doe, which is the female deer, and the fawns, which are the infant deer, group together. The bucks, which are the male deer, live together segregating themselves from the does and fawns. The purpose of this is to give time to the does to bring up the fawns. The buck’s social life is all about dominance. Though they co-exist together and live as a herd, there is always that one buck that is considered to be the leader. The leading buck is supposed to be given preference when it comes to mating and any other buck that wishes to take his place must challenge him. The bucks not only challenge the dominant buck but also have ch allenges amongst themselves. If a buck wishes to challenge another male, he will lay down a scent by peeing over his tarsal glands by rub-urinating. The buck also does this as a way of inciting a female to mate with him. This is their way of communicating; the white-tail also bleats as a way of communicating. The aspect of socialization among the deer is portrayed as one of living together. Just as pointed out earlier, socialization traverses through virtually everything. The ant exemplifies a social life that is near to, if not, perfection. An army ant is mostly found in heavily forested areas that are in most cases humid. An army ant colony has three major divisions. They are the queen ant, the soldier ants, and the multipurpose soldier ants. Each of them has its own distinct duty in the colony. The duty of the queen ant is to ensure the continuity of the colony. Sarkar says that she does by laying eggs which can be as many as between 100,000 to 300,000 within a 5 to 10 day spun ( 67). The socialization of an ant revolves around the life-cycle of the colony. The life-cycle of an army ant colony has two major phases. The two phases include a stationary phase and a migratory phase. The stationary phase takes place when the queen ant is pregnant. The queen and is in most cases expected to lay over 50,000 eggs and this causes her abdomen to swell. At this stage, the colony is, in essence, stagnated at one particular place. The soldier ants divide themselves into groups. One group is responsible for the protection of the queen, another is responsible for fetching food and the other is responsible for building the nests. The multipurpose soldier and has the duty of also fetching food and making the nests for the eggs which will be hatched. The worker and also has the duty of cleaning the colony’s habitat and if necessary, expanding it. The second phase of the life-cycle of an ant is the migration. This phase is triggered by the hatching of the eggs. The ants have to migrate in search of a new habitat that will accommodate the whole colony. The integrative input of every ant is vital for the survival of the colony. It is the same unity that sees ants create ant hills which are over 10 feet high.  

Primary Goals of RCRA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Primary Goals of RCRA - Essay Example Subtitle D focuses mainly on the state and the local government. This is because these two entities are charged with the responsibility of regulating planning and overseeing the implementation for solid wastes that are not harmful. This waste range from household garbage to nonhazardous industrial solid wastes. On the other hand, elimination of generated waste focuses on the hazardous wastes. According to this manual, it is this subtitle that came up with a federal program which ensured that hazardous wastes in the U.S were properly managed (U.S Environmental Protection Agency 1990) According to Luther, in the 1980, just a month before the hazardous waste regulation was passed, the RCRA was debated by the congress. Later on, a Representative Tom Bevill introduced an amendment to the solid Waste Disposal Act. This required that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bring to halt the obligation of the toxic waste regulatory constraints for fossil fuel combustion waste until collected data regarding potential dangers it posed on human health could be analyzed. The amendments passed in October 1980 excluded a number of wastes from subtitle C. She has it that, the wastes included refuse from the combustion of coal, solid wastes from the mining and dispensation of mineral resources and minerals, and cement dust. Luther further says that RCRA subtitle D manages wastes effectively and is opted for by many states and industrial organizations. States are able to regulate wastes easily (Luther 2010) In a nutshell, the RCRA oversaw the proper management of the environment in the U.S. It ensured that human health was not tampered with in any way. Organization of the Act into subtitles also ensured that generation of wastes was eliminated. Lastly, it ensured that wastes provided an important resource for the production of

Concepts of Death in Medicine

Concepts of Death in Medicine Hufsa Ali The concept of death is one that has been shrouded with mystery and wonder for as long as humans have lived and died. The understanding and implications of death have varied greatly across eras and cultures. Historically, there has been little consistency in the understanding of the concept of the event of death, the moment at which one is dead. The Oxford English Dictionary defines death as â€Å"the end of life; the permanent cessation of the vital functions of a person [] or organism[2].† This definition, while precisely written, leaves considerable ambiguity about the diction of the definition itself. It is uncertain what is meant by â€Å"life† and â€Å"vital functions† of a person or organism. Further, one may question whether the vital functions of humans as persons differ from those of humans as organisms. Is death a process rather than an event? If so, when does it begin and end, and when is it appropriate to declare death? Is it possible that a human m ay experience two deaths, death of the person and death of the organism? If so, which death is relevant to medicine? In this paper, I will review the evolution of the definition of death in the Western world in the context of advancing medicine, and explore the implications in relation to organ donation. The philosophical examination of human death has concentrated two underlying questions: what is human death, and how can we determine that death has occurred?[3] The first question addresses the concept or definition of death, while the second concerns developing the corresponding standards: criteria and clinical protocol to be used to declare death. Examples of the answer to the first question include death as the functions of an organism or human death as the irreversible loss of personhood (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011[4]). Examples of answers to the second questions include the cardiopulmonary standard, the whole-brain standard, and the cerebral standard. It was not until the last century that seeking answers to these questions became the source of a painstakingly complex on-going debate about death, personhood and medicine. Prior to the advent of the stethoscope in the 19th century, cessation of breathing marked the occurrence of death (Daroff)[5]. Then, the loss of pulse became the characterizing event (Jennett, 2001). The Fourth Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary was published in 1951, reidentifying the occurrence of death as the â€Å"cessation of life, defined by physicians as a total stoppage of heart of the circulation of the blood†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [6][7] in the United States. The definition of death (particularly the distinction between death of the body and death of the person) was not relevant because the death of the brain and the rest of the body tissues occurred concurrently. Cardiopulmonary failure inevitably led to irreversible loss of all brain functions, and the irreversible loss of all brain functions quickly led to cardiopulmonary arrest. The issue of distinguishing between cardiopulmonary failure and brain function failure was not clinically relevant until the invention and widespread use of mechanical resuscitation and ventilation devices[8]. A stopped heart could now be restarted and blood could be oxygenated without functioning intercostal and pleural muscles, after the tissues of the brain had began ischemic necrosis[1]. Although they were still occurring, the functions of circulation and respiration were being performed by mechanical respirators and defibrillators. While this did not meet the criteria for death as defined in 1951, it is important to note that such patients would have met the criteria for death as soon as the use of life-support machines was discontinued. Essentially, this meant that either death could be reversed, or that death could be delayed well beyond the failure of vital organs. This also meant that a body with irreversible loss of brain functions could be indefinitely kept â€Å"alive.â €  This highlighted the distinction between neurological failure, and circulatory and respiratory failure. During the 1950’s, several physicians around the world began to recognize the futility of continuing treatment for patients who had lost all neurological functions. In 1954, a neurologist practicing in Massachusetts, Dr. Robert Schwab, noted this while examining a comatose brain hemorrhage patient who was on a respirator. â€Å"The question was, ‘Is this patient alive or dead?’ Without reflexes, without breathing and with total absence of evidence of an electroencephalogram, we considered the patient was dead in spite of the presence of an active heart maintaining circulation. The respirator was therefore turned off and the patient pronounced dead.† In 1959, four French neurologists came to the same conclusion. However, they some of them preferred the term coma dà ©passà ©, meaning â€Å"beyond coma† (Mollaret, 1959)[9]. This was the prognosis of certain death, they argued, but not did not meet the criteria for death itself. Schwab disagreed, stati ng that death of the the death of the nervous system would be death of the patient. In 1963, he proposed criteria to consider certain patients dead in spite of continuing cardiac function: loss of reflexes, a flat EEG, and apnea[10][2]. Over the next five years, he reported having treated 90 such patients. None of them survived and autopsies showed that every one of them had pervasive tissue necrosis in their brains. His findings went on to greatly influence the legal and medical redefining of death. Meanwhile, there were developing concerns about the futility of extensive, expensive medical care for patients whose deaths were imminent and inevitable. In 1957, Pope Pius XII proclaimed that physicians were not obliged to give â€Å"extraordinary† treatment in such cases[11]. In 1962, psychiatrist Frank Ayd published a paper in which he contended that there was a moral obligation to withdraw care when death was inevitable. In 1965, THe American Medical Association held it’s First National Congress on Medical Ethics and Professionalism to detail guidelines for end-of-life-care.[12] As the initiation of the transition from heart to brain criteria for death, the field of organ transplantation was developing. The first successful kidney transplant was performed between live twins in 1954 by Dr. Joseph Murray. Eight years later, Dr. Murray performed a kidney transplant from a cadaver donor. In the years following, liver, lung and heart transplants were performed, using organs from cadavers. Most of the recipients died soon after the surgery. There was the idea that â€Å"live donors† would improve the chances of survival, but physicians were weary about using vital organs from patients that were â€Å"alive† by cardiopulmonary criteria, even if they had lost total brain function. The ethical standard regarding organ retrieval is the Dead Donor Rule (DDR), which prohibits organ vital procurement from donors that have not yet been declared death. This limits possible sources of organs to cadavers that still have salvageable tissues and organs. As medica l technology prevented more and more â€Å"deaths† through advancements in life-support technology, it also accelerated the demand for organs of dead donors, as the capacity to perform successful transplants increased. This growing concern for organ transplantation sources, coupled with the futility of having â€Å"hopeless† patients on artificial ventilation and resuscitation created a climate that facilitated the major change that occurred at the end of the 1960s. In 1968, an Ad Hoc committee was formed at Harvard University to address the â€Å"ethical problems created by the hopelessly unconscious patient[13].† The committee developed criteria similar to the concept of â€Å"coma dà ©passà ©.† Patients who met the criteria[3] would be considered essentially dead, but not actually dead. The final report was titled â€Å"A Definition of Irreversible Coma: Definition of Brain Death.† While this report didn’t explicitly realign the definition of death to brain-based criteria, it outlined appropriate standard of care for comatose patients whose deaths were inevitable and imminent. It was never said outright, but they implied that the death of the brain is the death of the patient, and hinted that the cardiopulmonary criteria for death were obsolete[14]. On the same day as the publication of the Harvard report, the 22nd World Medical Association (WMA) met and announced the Declaration of Sydney. The declaration distinguished the gradual process of the death of cells and tissues from the death of the patient. â€Å"Clinical interest lies not in the state of preservation of isolated cells but in the fate of a person [] the point of death of the different cells and organs is not so important as the certainty that the process has become irreversible.† While it has been overshadowed in the United States by the Harvard report, the WMA’s declaration was the first major committee distinguishment between the death of the body and the death of the person. Throughout the 1970’s, widespread acceptance of the implied Harvard definition grew among the medical community. State legislatures and courts began legally recognizing some form of death based on brain-criterion, although there was little consistency among the criteria across jurisdictions. In 1971, Mohandas and Chou (neurologist and psychiatrist, respectively) published their â€Å"Minnesota Criteria,† based on autopsy discoveries that identified the destruction of the brain stem as the cause of brain death. Thus, the requirement for the EEG was eliminated[4]. Because both respiratory control and consciousness originated [15]in the brain stem, the loss of brainstem function equaled death of both persons and organisms. In the UK, the criteria for brain death was tweaked to exclude the EEG requirement, which meant a patient with detectable cortical activity would be dead in the UK and alive in most of the US. The President’s Commision for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research was formulated in 1979 to clarify brain death and other biomedical ethics issues. The committee published a report in 1981 that provided a clearer and more practical definition of death than the previous, conceptually ambiguous ones that had been used before. The commission reasoned that death occurred when the â€Å"body’s physiological system ceases to constitute an integrated whole[16].† Because the brain functions as the â€Å"great integrator and regulator,† the death of the organism occurs when the total brain functions are lost, and the organism disintegrates to a collection of it’s parts. As a result, the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) gave both brain-based and circulatory-respiratory-based criteria a â€Å"separate but equal† status in the eyes of law and clinical care. In the United States, death could now be det ermined by the â€Å"irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions† or â€Å"irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain.† While the UDDA recognized the whole brain standard as a means to determine death, it did not specify the neurological test criteria to be used. It also did not specify the amount of elapsed time required before stopped circulation can be considered irreversible. Different hospitals, providers, and associations used varying sets of tests to determine death. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) attempted to standardize the clinical protocol used to determine death using brain criteria. Tests to be performed were similar to the Harvard report criteria, without the EEG requirement and the 24-hour repeat was left unaddressed. While the UDDA and AAN’s guidelines have brought consistency to the clinical process of determining death, there has been widespread disagreement about the criteria of death itself. The traditional criteria for determining death, the cessation of heartbeat and breathing, have been updated by the UDDA. The circulatory-respiratory standard holds death as the irreversible cessation of circulatory-respiratory function. Leaving aside the implications of word â€Å"irreversible,† this definition may still not be entirely accurate nor practical. Rather than changing the reality of the nature of death, life-support devices and other technologies of modern medicine have shined a light on an aspect of the process of death that was not visible before. Before the possibility of mechanically and artificially continuing respiration and circulation, the failure of these processes were associated with the occurrence of death. However, after such â€Å"death† could be reversed and put off indefinitely, it became apparent that the onset of cardiopulmonary failure was not the moment of death, but simply indicative of death. As Bernat, Culver and Gert argue, heartbeat and regular breathing usually indicate life, but they do not constitute life (Bernat, Culver, and Gert 1981)[17]. â€Å"Life involves the integrated functioning of the whole organism.† Brain-based criteria better suited this understanding of life because the brain is responsible for much regulation of the entire organism. Thus, including brain-based criteria to declare death is seen as an â€Å"update† to the previous understanding of death, not a complete overhaul of it. The transition to brain-based criteria is nowhere near free of criticism. For some, one of the most obvious flaws in the logic behind the brain-based criteria for death was its basis on the idea that the brain is the sole organ responsible for integration of the organism as a whole. If death is defined as the irreversible loss of functioning of the organism as a whole, then only after the complete cessation of all whole-body integrating functions may a patient be considered dead. While the brain plays the biggest role in integrating interdependent functions of the body, somatic integration is a holistic phenomenon that involves organs and tissue systems throughout the body. Immune responses, regulation of blood glucose levels, and hematopoiesis are regulatory functions that can continue to occur without the entire brain (Shewomn, 2001)[18]. Therefore, if the definition of death is understood to be the end of the existence of the organism as an integrative whole, then the death of the whole brain does not necessarily mean the biological organism has died. Brain-based criteria may have been a step in the right direction, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. The significance and necessity of the brain may lie in another aspect of it’s function; one that cannot be attributed to any other part of the body: personhood. The brain is the origin of human thought, reasoning, consciousness, emotion, and self-awareness. If the entire brain is dead, than the human person is dead, even if the human organism continues to live. Another problem with the development of brain-based criteria is again unrelated to the concept itself, but how it came about as standard of care. The ethically dangerous notion that the climate of evolving medical innovation, particularly organ transplantation, had influenced and driven the acceptance of whole-brain death is a very concerning one. When the Harvard committee met to discuss brain death in 1968, they seemed to be concerned about two things: the futility of spending resources on patients with no chance of recovery, and the idea of wasting the organs of these patient’s bodies. Their main focus of concern seemed to not be the well-being of the patients at hand, but protecting the physicians who would withdraw care from patients that would previously have been considered alive. Without the redefinition of death, doctors would have been morally responsible for the death of such patients. Officially, the reason the Harvard committee cited for their efforts was to free up resources spent in vain on untreatable patients. Murray, who was on the committee specified that the primary concern was the dying patient, and that organ transplantation was â€Å"distinct and unrelated,† ()[19] However, many have been skeptical of this separation, arguing that the motive for changing the definition of death had everything to do with organ transplantation. Neurosurgeon Richard Nilges, calls attention to the fact that respiratory and other life-support technologies had been in use for nearly two decades before the hasty formulation of the Harvard committee, and no one had so loudly expressed the urge to end such care. Instead, he points out, that the Harvard committee met less than a year after the first successful heart transplant surgery.[5] Based on the heart-lung criteria of death at the time, the act of removing the heart from a â€Å"live† patient on life support w ould have been the cause of death of that patient. Nilges suggests that a second, underlying reason for changing the criterion of death was the underlying motivation behind the Harvard report: providing organs for transplantation. This situation was an ideal one for organ transplant advocates, because it was an â€Å"opportunity to tailor the definition of death to fit the moral acceptability of transplanting living hearts. Taking a beating heart from a body is not equivalent to taking innocent human life if ‘brain dead’ individuals are ‘defined’ as already dead.† Interestingly, Nilges is not against the idea of using brain-based criteria for death in organ donors. Rather, he disagrees with the way this criteria is practiced. His experience working with such patients and organ transplant teams has left him with disdain towards the practice of organ transplantation. In his paper titled â€Å"Organ Transplantation, Brain Death, and the Slipper Slope: A Neurosurgeon’s Perspective,† Nigles proposes a causal relationship between the changes in the understanding and practice of death declaration to the desires of the insatiable transplant advocates. He recalls trying protect his dying patients from transplant teams, who he compares to hungry vultures eyeing a small, dying animal. He criticizes the unofficial leeway allowed when diagnosing whole brain death, pointing out that over 20% of patients declared dead on brain-based criteria actually had brain activity detectable by an EEG. Save for the finale: [HANS JONAS: uncertainty about border b/w life, death[20]] [1] Necrosis, death of tissue, can be caused by ischemia, insufficient blood supply to those tissues. Brain tissue is among the body’s most sensitive to ischemic hypoxia, and is the earliest to die. It is possible for the rest of the body to regain function after a period of time without oxygen, but the brain to have lost it permanently. [2] Schwab’s criteria were: loss of reflexes (dilated and fixed pupils, no elicitable reflexes, and no independent movements), a flat EEG (electroencephalogram detecting no electrical activity in the brain), and apnea (inability to spontaneously breath). [3] Harvard report criteria included the following: (1) deep coma, no withdrawal from painful stimuli, (2) cranial and spinal arreflexia, (3) apnea, persistent after disconnected from ventilator for 3 minutes, (4) flat EEG, no detectable electrical brain activity, (5) exclusion of hypothermia or drugs, which may sometimes cause false-negatives in the above tests, and (6) evaluation repeated twice, 24-hours apart. [4] The brainstem is the pathway through which the brain (cerebrum and cerebellum) sends and receives signals to and from the rest of the body. If the brain stem is dead and all brainstem functions are lost, then the communication between the brain and spinal cord is severed. A body of a patient with a dead brain stem is functionally equivalent to that of a patient with whole brain death. Thus, any electrical activity in the cerebrum is not going to affect the outcome of tests of the rest of Harvard criteria. [5] The first successful heart transplantation was performed in December of 1967. The committee developed their criteria in August of 1968, a mere eight months after the heart transplant. [1]Write later [2]Cite oxford english dictionary [3]either cite Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Definition of Death [4]Written 2007, revised 2011. Review? [5]Fix citation [6]Cite this [7]Black Laws Dictionary, 1951. 4e [8]cite source: either de goergia, stanford, or daroff [9]#8, De Geogia [10]cite swchab, from de georgia, pg 674 [11]Citation needed [12]another someone talks about this conference, but says something more relevant. [13]cite: beecher. (From De Georgia, 674. bottom left. [14]cite this [15]use a different word. Plagiarism [16]cite this: de georgia, #48, 49. pg 676 [17]cite. (stanford encyclopedia, 1. mainstream view) [18]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11588655 [19]Murray, letter to Beecher, calling for committee formulation/meeting. De Georgia # 26, pg 675 [20]#40 De goergia, pg 676

Free College Essays - Our Town by Thornton Wilder :: Wilder Our Town Essays

Our Town by Thornton Wilder The Stage Manager is a man of many roles. Usually a stage manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his usual function in a play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor. Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the theme of universality in the play. The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and subtle hints about the future. "I’ve married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don’t know? M†¦.marries N†¦.millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will-once in a thousand times it’s in teresting"(699). Here the Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emily’s future. He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin’ to be a great engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about are great events in George, Emily, and Joe’s lives. The Stage Manage emphasizes that the short things in these people’s lives are overlooked. There isn’t realization that it is the small parts of their lives that make a difference. His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage Manager’s narration shows casualness. The casualness connects the Stage Manager to the audience. "Presently the STAGE MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouth†¦he has finished setting the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is evident since he smokes a pipe, wear s a hat, and leans formally against the proscenium pillar. He also greets and dismisses the audience at the beginning and end of each act. The stage manager interrupts daily conversation on the street. The Stage Manager enters and leaves the dialog at will. He is also giving the foresight of death in the play. His informality in dress, manners, and speech, connects the theme, universality, of the production to the audience.

Wyoming-Colorado Border Wars Essay -- USA Geography History Essays Pap

Wyoming-Colorado Border Wars Deep in the heart of the American West lie two of the largest, most rugged, beautiful states in the nation, both of which have long been engaged in a heated rivalry. North and South from one another, Wyoming and Colorado have been at a border war since before either even gained statehood. With 97,195 square miles, Wyoming is the 10th largest of all 50 states. While the state is vast in land, it is scarce in population. As of 2005, a mere 509,294 residents inhabit â€Å"The Cowboy State† making it the least populated state in the nation (Wyoming facts, demography). Colorado, however, has a population of 4,159,000 according to the 2000 Census. Colorado is the 8th largest state in the nation encompassing 103,598 square miles (Colorado, facts). These â€Å"neighbors† however, have had anything but friendly relations. From water rights to football games, the infamous â€Å"Border War† has raged for over a century and will not likely cease in the near future. Long before interstates, college sports teams and cross-country travelers divided and merged the two states of Wyoming and Colorado, a natural border acted as a divider between the two. Near Carr, Colorado any traveler venturing down Interstate 25 drives directly through Natural Fort. A very interesting and large rock formation, Natural Fort once acted as a rest stop for travelers between Colorado and Wyoming. As cities in both states grew closer to one another it was closed, however, it still acts as a natural border between the two states. Natural Fort served first as the site of a battle between the Blackfeet and Crow Indians. On November 21, 1834 rival tribes, the Crow and Blackfeet, came across one another. Taking refuge within Natural Fort, the B... ...ns to find balance occur more frequently as time goes on. References The Bronze Boot. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Wyoming Athletics from http://wyomingathletics.com/trads/bronzeboot.html (October 19, 2005). ROTC Traditions Continue During Border War. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from University of Wyoming from http://uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=3101 Gibbard, F. (March, 2005). Wyoming v. Colorado: A "Watershed" Decision. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from The Colorado Lawyer from http://www.cobar.org/tcl/tcl_articles.cfm?ArticleID=4063 U.S. Supreme Court. (1940). State of Wyoming v. State of Colorado (309 U.S. 572 (1940), No. 10) from http://waterplan.state.wy.us/BAG/platte/briefbook/LaramieRiver1922.html Natural Fort, Carr, Colorado. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Wallpaper Dave's Gift Shop from http://wallpaperdave.com/fort.htm