Saturday, August 31, 2019

Literature Review on Assertiveness Essay

Literature   Review on Assertiveness Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assertiveness is the ability to express one’s point of view, feelings, thoughts and needs while keeping the rights of others peoples in mind. An assertive individual learns which response to select, whether it can be acting non-assertively, aggressive or assertive on a case by case basis. Nevertheless, acting assertively is not usually the best selection in accomplishing the best possible results. An assertive individual has the capacity to stop and think what is in his or her best interest as well as the interest of others (Peneva, 2013).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The study of assertiveness began in the middle of the 20thcentury whereby it was associated with clinical practice. The clinical psychologists accepted non-assertiveness as a reason for some of the mental illnesses and thus to treat them, they implemented several programs with the main aim of developing assertiveness. In the 70s, when the civil rights movement in America was growing, some psychologists concentrated on assertiveness as a way of protecting the rights of individuals. They claimed that the capability to protect individual human rights in a humane and democratic manner, without prejudice to the fundamentals of others was among the significant features of assertive conduct. Therefore, the political and social associations during the 80s and 90s of the 20th century promoted the interest in assertiveness as a way of strengthening the human potential and attaining maximum individual fulfillment (Peneva, 2013). Various periodicals w ere published targeting professionals and incorporating theoretical description of training programs and studies as well as theoretical positions. The first study on assertiveness was performed by an American psychologist Andrew Salter in 1949 with the main aim of discovering the causes of uncertainty and find a mean to treat or reduce its neurotic influence (Peneva, 2013). According to him, uncertainty occurred due to the prevalence of retention processes over stimulation process in the nervous system. He also claimed that most people in the contemporary society suffered from a disorder of the balance nerve. This formed the theory of assertion, which is based in the premise that every person have certain basic human rights such as the right to make errors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People who are assertive has characteristics such; emotionality of speech, expressiveness of speech, potential to oppose and counter others suggestions, accepting praises, and impulsive in own actions and refusal. On the other hand, individuals who are non-assertive lack the ability to maintain adequate boundaries between his or her rights and those of others. Non-assertiveness happen when one permits his or her boundaries to be restricted. A non-assertive person tends to internalize tensions and feelings and to experience such emotions as anxiety, fear, fatigue, nervousness and depression (Ames, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The review on assertiveness brought about other associated concepts such as professional light, assertive communication, self-confidence and conflict management. Assertiveness has been claimed as the background for understanding these concepts and their independence in assertiveness.Lizarraga.M et al, examined the impacts of teaching self-regulation, assertiveness, and empathy to forty middle school students in a compulsory education setting (Lizarraga et al, 2003). The study involved a quasi-experimental design, which utilized pre and post-test measurement. According to them, assertiveness refer’s to an individual capability to express and advocate interests, ideas and feelings easily without anxiety, but maintaining respect for other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assertiveness is also connectedto self-esteem and self confidence because peoples who feel self-assured and competence interact more naturally and sincerely in establishing relationships. Anna Deltsidou in â€Å"Undergraduate nursing students’ level of assertiveness in Greece,† examined the assertive behavior in students’ interaction with each other as well as their studies in the first and second semester. According to Anna, the concept of assertiveness acquired meaning when defined in terms of chosen indicators such as autonomy, relationship and authenticity (Deltsidou, 2008). The study involved an assertiveness scale that measured assertiveness in relationships, which proved to be valid and reliable to a significant extent.It was concluded that nurses interact with colleagues, patients and other health care professionals whereby the interaction is improved when nurses have a good assertive communication skills.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having the same idea with Anna, Amir Abbassi and Raghu claimed that assertiveness acquire meaning through autonomy, courage, and authenticity (Abbassi& Raghu, 2006). Furthermore, they claimed that assertiveness is a significant notion in counseling, sociology and psychology for dealing with matters in individual characteristics required for functioning various roles in the society. They concluded by claiming that autonomy, courage, and authenticity are interconnected to each other, which are the primary indicators of assertiveness and latter give meaning to assertiveness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a comprehensive body of literature on assertiveness and assertiveness training. All the same, assertiveness is defined as the practice of traits that enables individuals to act in their best interest, express themselves and stand for themselves without denying the rights of others. ArvindSinghal and MotokoNagoya presented the definition of assertiveness in the similar manner through their study on â€Å"Assertive as Communication Competence,† which claimed that there is significant variation between individuals’ attitudes toward performing assertive behaviors (Singhal& Nagao, 1993). Nevertheless, it is clear that some people are more assertive than others. They also argued that assertive communication competence is situational and contextual whereby it vary from situation to situation depending on the gender, and concluded by claiming that there is a need for further investigation on assertiveness as a tool for measu ring communication competence in intercultural settings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Daniel R. Ames explored the varying levels of assertiveness in negotiations and interpersonal conflicts in his article, â€Å"Assertive Expectancies†. According to him, assertiveness is a healthy and desirable behavior for all individuals who interact in a group situation insofar as it militates against personal powerlessness and can lead to personal empowerment, and ultimately benefit the workplace as a whole (Ames, 2008). According to Ames, individuals make idiosyncratic prediction of the social and instrumental implications of a given acquiescent behavior, which is in line with theories of personality that claims that outcomes expectancies shape behavior (Ames, 2008). Thus, it is possible that assertiveness is predominantly the product of expectancies and values, meaning that individuals who expect high assertiveness to be harmful could simply be more concerned with preserving relationships. He concluded by arguing that assertive ness there are many definitions of assertiveness that differ in accordance to the particular perspective or the purpose of the definer as well as the context. However, the meaning of assertiveness must concerns confidence, and behavioral pattern, which are the fundamental components of assertiveness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In describing the behavior of consumer, ClaesFornel and Robertperformed an exploratory study of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and consumer complaining behavior. They defined assertiveness as a complex of behaviors that are produced by an individual in an interpersonal context, which shows an individual feelings, opinions, attitude, wishes, firmly and honestly while preserving the attitude, wishes, rights and opinions of others (Fornell& Robert, 1979). Moreover, they suggested that assertiveness does not concern an undue or excessive amount of fear and anxiety, but represents the standing up of an individual rights without violating the rights of others. This is in line with arguments of mental health scholars who argue that assertiveness is learned and depend on the situation to situation. Likewise, the impacts of assertive training involve increased positive response from others, increased self-esteem and decline in social situations for individuals having gone through a training program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the above literature review reveals, it is clear that the definition and source of assertiveness depend on an individual perception and the situation to situation. The key indicators of assertiveness are courage, autonomy and authenticity. References Abbassi.A, & Singh N, Raghu (2006) Aseertiveness in Marital Relationship Among Asians Indians in the United States. The Family Jounal.14.392-398 Retrived from http://www.sagepub.comAmes, R, D (2008) Assertiveness Expectancies: How Hard People Push Depends on the Consequences They Predict. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.6. 1541-1557 Retrieved from http://www.columbia.eduDeltsidou, A (2008). Undergraduate nursing students’ level of assertiveness in Greece: a Queaionnaire survey. Journal of Nurs Education in Practice 9. 322-330Retrived from http://www.researchgate.netFornell, C & Robert.(1979) An Exploratory Study of Assertiveness, Agressiveness, and Consumer Complaining Behavior.Th Journal for Association for Consumer.6: 105-110 Lizarraga. M, Ugarte. M, Cardelle-Elawar, Iriarte.M &Baquedano.M (2003).Enhancement of Self-regulation, assertiveness, and empathy.Jounral of Learning and Instruction 13. 423-439. Retrived from http// www.elsevier.com/Peneva, I &Mavrodiev (2013).A Historical Approach to Assertiveness.The Journal of Psychology Thought. 6(1) 3-26 Singhal.A, & Nagao, M (1993). Assertiveness as Communication Competence: A Comparison of the Communication Styles of American and Japanese Students. Asian Journal of Communication. 3. 1-17 Retrieved from http://utminers.utep.edu Source document

Friday, August 30, 2019

Iraq war Essay

Fast food became one of the most danger issues all over the world , people are used to eat fast food almost everyday as they see it quicker and more delicious than any other healthy food. People do not know how much they are harming themselves by eating junk food , it leads to a lot of diseases and illness because bodies will be deprived from the healthy food but by eating healthy food people will strength their health. Fast food has unhealthy impact on people’s body but it also remains extremely popular. Government should ban fast food to protect people’s health . there are many reasons why fast food should be banned. This paper will discuss the main reason that leads to overuse fast food and the reasons why fast food should be banned . The main reason that leads to overuse fast food is the frequent advertisements on televisions (2013,04. should fast food advertisement be banned. Retrieved 04,2013) The more they will talk about fast food on television , the more people and children will be forced to buy junk food and this will cause a lot of diseases like the increase of cholesterol , obesity , hypertension, and cancer , those advertisements help parents to consume more fast food and this will apply to children as they spend a lot of time watching the television and learning new behaviors (2012.06 fast food marketing to children. Retrieved 06,2012) the power of advertisements gives children the impression that they can have all they want and it influence parent’s decisions too.(2010,11 fast food advertisement. Retrieved 11,2010) Several advertisements of fast food will cause financial problems almost at all houses as when children, teenagers and adults get used to eat fast food this will cost them a lot of mo ney when they eat it everyday so people will waste their income on buying fast food as they see it easier and quicker . The banning of fast food advertisements will help to ban fast food all over the world as it will have a positive effect towards financial and health problems. The first reason why fast food should be banned is that leads to social problems while eating away from their homes almost everyday because they  Getused to eat fast food sothey became not boned enough with their family and siblings, teenagers see that it is very smart when they go to fast food restaurant with their friends but sadly they do not know how they harm themselves every lunch (2011,01 fastfood. Retrieved from 01.2011) fast food get to distance children and teenagers from their parents and this leads to a lot of social problems , that is why fast food should be banned. The second reason why fast food should be banned is that leads to health problems like obesity.billions of dollars are spent on buying fast food , so parents became lazy to provide their children essential and important nutrients they need (2011,02 how fast food affects child obesity. Retrieved from 02,2011) children became more overweight because fast food contains a high rate of sugar , salts and fats. (his children are not only affected physically but emotionally and mentally as it also leads to psychological problems like depression and may lead to other dangerous actions. Parents should realize the amount of damage they are causing their children by letting them eating a high rate of fast food to support and protect their kids. Fast food became the most dangerous issue all over the world as it has several problems like the social , health ,financial and psychological problems and the main cause of spreading fast food and encourage people to over use junk food is the high percentage of advertisements that leads to death. That is why fast food should be totally and completely banned .

Psychopharmacology Paper Essay

The study of psychopharmacology delves into the alterations in human thinking, mood, and behavior as result of inducing drugs – how psychoactive substances are employed by people to change their moods.   The field involves research and study into the effects of numerous kinds and types of substances, and how it would impact on the psychological behavior of the individual.    Not merely elaborating the ramifications of the use of recreational drugs, the study can be a particularly helpful mechanism in determining how certain drugs can alleviate psychological diseases, like mental disorder.   The substances’ psychoactive relation with brain response and the bio-chemical implications are part and parcel of psychopharmacology.   The psychoactive drugs can be obtained from a wide range of sources, natural and synthetic. These substances interact with the nervous system, and would elicit behavioral and psychological alterations in an individual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The positive aspects of psychopharmacology are mainly its positive clinical effects that allow people with mental disabilities to lead lives that are normal – through the help of drugs like anti-depressants and anti-anxiety.   Also, it allows psychologists to investigate a wide range of behavior-altering substances that can be utilized for clinical purposes that can help countless patients.   Since psychopharmacology would extensively analyze drug effects, then it can suitably identify which substances can be utilized for public use and cure mental and psychological patients. It is an important aspect of mental health that allows for research and development of the field.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conversely, the study has also several identified drawbacks, like the ramifications of drug testing which ultimately would involve humans.   Human testing can have unforeseen implications which can prove to be detrimental to the mental health of the test subject.   A certain drug to be able to be consumed in the market has to go through a tedious process of research and approval by the government, to ensure public safety of the drug use. References Brain, Christine. (2002). Advanced Psychology: Applications, Issues and Perspectives. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes. Meyer, Jerrold, and Linda Quenzer. (2004). Psychopharmacology: Drugs, The Brain and Behavior. United States: Sinauer Associates. Nemeroff, Charles, and Alan Schatzberg. Eds. (2006). Essentials of Clinical Psychopharmacology. United States: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Drawing upon general theories of transitional justice, analyse the Essay

Drawing upon general theories of transitional justice, analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Rwanda's experimental community - Essay Example Since transitional justice is interdisciplinary, it addresses several social elements and provides judicial approaches that the gacaca courts are offering in Rwanda. Rwanda’s experimental Gacaca courts are grassroots, village or community-based hearings wherein the community judges, defends as well as prosecutes individuals accused of genocide crimes1. Based on apparent outcomes of various hearings, the gacaca court system has several strengths associated with sociological, economic, cultural, and psychological benefits. Some of the economic benefits include timeliness, cost, and social drain of individuals in the prison. Besides, social relations effectively addressed by Gacaca courts include the perpetrator’s mentality or mind-set, and the general social objective of creating a unified community as well as country. However, Gacaca courts have several weaknesses, which include procurement of suspects, procedural issues, deprivation of rights of the defendant, and court legitimacy problems2. This essay will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of Rwanda’s experimental community-based gacaca courts based on general theories of transitional justice. It will consider how Rwanda incorporates truth, retributive, and reconciliatory techniques of resolving conflict to address the 1994 genocide cases. Furthermore, the significance of Gacaca courts in attaining social, economic, and political needs of post-genocide Rwanda will be analyzed. Strengths of the Gacaca Courts Economic Benefits Gacaca trials have cost-related benefits because they are carried out in the communities and neighborhoods where the offenses occurred. The community-based Gacaca courts avoid enormous overhead cost that would be incurred by the government such as court costs, utilities, housing, and transportation. Furthermore, judges of Gacaca courts are paid low wages, although lack of financial benefit among judges raises arguments concerning the effectiveness of these Rwandan c ourts. The gacaca trials do not involve lawyers or other sanctioned salaried representation for the defendant, but allows individuals in the community to represent the accused3. However, failure to involve official representation to argue for the accused has several negative aspects associated with the non-existence of due process rights. In this sense, the accused may lack fair treatment in the process. Despite these shortcomings, it is apparent that Rwanda is applying a cost-effective system to deliver justice to her immense population. This is basically attributed to Gacaca courts’ reliance on functioning of judges as members of the community, and voluntary contributions of the communities to the trials. Another economic-related strength of Gacaca courts is timeliness. The Gacaca system avoids the slow-moving process of delivering justice and costs of formal trials that would greatly drain the economy of Rwanda. It also addresses economic drain, which result from the priso n system. By disposing of the cases promptly, the Gacaca system prevents labor drain caused by imprisoned individuals who become unproductive members of the community4. Social-Relations Benefits The Rwandan society benefits on micro as well as macro levels from the gacaca courts, and its capability to consider particular sociological prototypes of perpetrators of the genocide. Most individuals accused at the Gacaca courts do not have

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

What are the characteristics of the radiation emitted by a blackbody - Speech or Presentation

What are the characteristics of the radiation emitted by a blackbody - Please show me your calculations - Speech or Presentation Example Wien’s Law in particular, states that for blackbody emissions, the higher its temperature, the higher either the frequency or the lower the wavelengths of the given predominant light emitted by the blackbody (Mahmoud 568). It can, as well be stated as the wavelength of maximum emitted radiation is often inversely proportional to absolute temperature (T). Mathematically, this law is stated as Peak Wavelength (ÃŽ ») = 0.29/T, where T is in degrees Kelvin, and Peak Wavelength is I centimeters. In this respect, one characteristic of a blackbody radiation is its temperature. Stefan-Boltzmann Law, on the other hand states that the amount of energy that is given off by the black body per second per unit area is always proportional to the forth power of the blackbody temperature. E = Sigma X Temperature to the fourth power (Mahmoud 568). From this law, the second characteristic of the back body radiation is the thermal energy possessed by the radiation. Basing on the Wien’s for mula, T = 0.29/ÃŽ ». Therefore, for the hottest where ÃŽ » = 200nm, the temperature = 0.29/200nm = 0.00145 and for the less hot object whose ÃŽ »= 650nm, T = 0.29/650nm = 0.0004461539. from these results, it is clear that the hottest body is 0.00145/0.0004461539 = 3.25 times that other

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

English essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

English - Essay Example ifies a loss of contact with realism, as well as an overestimation of a person’s own capabilities or competence, especially when the individual displaying it is in a position of authority or power (Moore 34). To consider whether hubris equals megalomania, it is vital to look into the traits of the two, which this paper found to be extremely similar. Individuals who suffer from these two defects have a clear self-focus in interpersonal relations. They also have a problem in sustaining gratifying relationships. Another trait of the two is that people lack emotional awareness (Moore 67). Other traits include trouble with sympathy, problems differentiating the self from others, reaction to any abuse or imagined abuse, weakness to shame instead of guilt, proud body language and obsequiousness towards individuals who affirm and admire them. People who suffer from these two defects also detest individuals who do not like them. They use other individuals without bearing in mind the cost of doing so. They pretend to be more significant than they, in reality, are. They brag (cleverly but tirelessly) and overstress their achievements, arguing to be "skilled" in a lot of things. Finally, individuals who suffer from these defects do not view or observe the world from the perception of other individuals in that they are mostly denial of gratitude and remorse (Emmons 291). Hubris and megalomania might exist in each and every individual. Critics argue that the two are a unique state from which an individual develops the love or affection object. Shelley (34) argues that healthy hubris or megalomania is a vital element of normal growth. According to Shelley (56), the affection of the parents for their children and their mind-set toward their child could be perceived as a reproduction and revival of their own hubris or megalomania. The child has a power of deliberation; the parents arouse that emotion since, in their children, they observe the things, which they have never

Monday, August 26, 2019

International Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

International Community - Essay Example From the appalling crackdown on the visionary expectation of the ardent student protesters some16 years ago to the subsequent repression of all political dissidence, Communist leaders have time and again tended to reassert a blind obeisance to a dogged system of harsh and mechanical one-party rule. Equally alarming is the ostentatious display of military power in response to Taiwanese aspirations for independence over the last two decades, along with the troubling detection of furtive deliveries of military know-how to unstable areas in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. These measures scarcely serve to improve international confidence in the Chinese bid for a responsible position on the world stage of the new century. Admittedly China has recently begun to evince a new, less menacing and forward-looking stance toward proving itself as a responsible collaborator in global interaction as the nation begins to assume a substantial position in the world economy. By assisting in negotiations on the Korean Peninsula, China, in effect, was able to take advantage of her influence in the region in the service of broader international concerns. Domestically, the People's Republic of China has taken steps to free a token number of leading political dissidents in response to Western appeals, and, in diverse rural villages, elections for local leaders have been authorized. Chinese rulers also seem to be dealing moderately with the lately re-annexed regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and so far seem to be restricting intimidation tactics to verbal posturing and a display of military muscle in response to Taiwanese desires for independence.1 It is possible that the menace that some perceive in China as an up-and-co ming superpower with overall goals that threaten American wellbeing and commerce, might, in truth, be an emerging new Chinese generation: a forthright forward-looking dynamic keenly aware that the future depends on a critical modification of policies from the worn-out revolutionary era in the interest of asserting China's rightful place in the broader scheme of a world growing ever more and more interdependent. At least one Chinese insider seems to believe so. From his years spent in the People's Republic as a Red Guard during the infamous Cultural Revolution, Professor Chen Jian brings a quite singular experience and personal familiarity to his study. He is able to appraise the foreign-policy proclivities of the People's Republic from the perspective of an insider seeped in Chinese history. Jian's assessment reflects on much more constrained Chinese objectives than those that bother many outside critics. As a country bent in earnest on certifying for itself a leading role in the global community, Chinese decision makers are certainly cognizant of the imperative to appreciably accommodate current national policies in apparent deference to international standards.2 According to Professor Jian, even though China may boast currently of a ten percent annual economic growth, widespread poverty still haunts its rural interior. The regime can employ its extensive masses in the service of its growing

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Organizational Culture and Organizational Communication Essay

Organizational Culture and Organizational Communication - Essay Example Toyota is renowned for its production process, and its innovative management policies and culture. Toyota created and implemented the Just-in-Time method of inventory, which was revolutionary in nature. This concept has proven quite successful for the company. I am truly fascinated by this organizations managerial attributes and culture, which is why I chose to write about this organization. The culture at Toyota, described as ‘The Toyota Way’ is the core that drives the success of this organization. It lays out clear objectives for operations, Total Quality Management (TQM), customer service, employee management. Moreover, it aims to create a harmony amongst all the objectives. Even the logo of Toyota, is a symbol of how these values amalgamate. As we know, the Toyota logo consists of 3 ovular rings. The first ring symbolises the heart of Toyotas customers. The second ring symbolises the care taken by Toyota to manufacture its products. The third ring which joins the other two rings symbolises the joining of customers with their product and creates the ‘T’ of Toyota. (Appendix) Up to the Challenges: Toyota believes in creating value through their production process, and thus delivering high quality products and services to their customers. They plan on creating long term visions which can overcome possible hurdles. Moreover, they believe in accepting challenges and excelling in them through careful analysis before any decision. Kaizen: It means to improve in Japanese. This concept urges the employees of Toyota to keep improving and innovating through learning, creating sound infrastructure and, by promoting education within the organization. It believes that this will help deliver better and improved goods and services to the customer. "Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Mars Reconnaissance Orbits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mars Reconnaissance Orbits - Essay Example Modeling of the MRO came after NASAs successful Mars Global Surveyor that was designed to conduct Mars surveillance from orbit. In its earlier specifications, the satellite design included a large camera for taking high resolution fascinating images of the Mars. This made Jim Garvin, a Mars exploration program scientist with NASA to predict that MRO would be like an orbit microscope. A visible-near-infrared spectrograph was also to be incorporated in the spacecraft. Five months later, after aero braking, the MRO entered began its major science phase after entering its final science orbit. In this way, it joined five other existing spacecrafts in the vicinity of Mars that were either on the planet surface or in orbit. These other active spacecrafts were: two Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and Mars Express. MRO is equipped with a set of NASA’s most powerful scientific instruments used in the analysis of minerals, stratigraphy, ice of Mars and landforms. They include instruments such as radar, cameras and spectrometers. They are significantly used in monitoring of daily surface and atmospheric conditions of the Red Planet, and hosting of new MRO telecommunication systems for further future missions. It is probably remembered for discovery of ice and other startling discoveries on Mars such as dust devils going across the Mars surface and changing of sand dunes in real time as watched by its powerful cameras. The MRO has also helped to establish the cause for the damage of Phoenix spacecraft that went out of touch with the earth and it has generally helped in other spacecrafts to stay in touch with the Earth. The prime scientific mission of the MRO ended in December 2010, even though NASA still believes that the spacecraft can still do well until 2015. Many new things have been learned about the Red Planet courtesy of the spacecraft.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Physics Project (( Radioactive decay )) Lab Report

Physics Project (( Radioactive decay )) - Lab Report Example We used excel tables, bar graphs and smooth line graphs to analyses the data obtained from the laboratory. We found out that during half life time interval the coins will decay to half its initial number just as it will occur with real nuclei decay. Also, that the decay process is an exponential function curve. To decay to zero, we need approximately three times the half-life of the coins. The throwing of the pennies proved to a good model for the nuclei decay process as shown by the normal distribution frequency curves Radioactivity is the natural, spontaneous process in which a nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting particles such as gamma, beta or alpha particles. Past studies (Martin 2006. Pg 15) have shown that these radioactive nucleus though are randomly emitting particle, the time it takes for a particular radioactive element to reduce to half its original amount is always a constant. In this project, we set out to perform a radioactive decay process and find half-life by using the flipping of pennies. We set to investigate if half of the coins decays at each flip and also investigate the relationship between the accumulated coins decayed and the coins left curves. If we assume that the coins were being flipped at equal interval of time (half-life) we wanted also to investigate if the number of coins that decay each time is half the original number. With these objectives, we set the following hypothesis; that tossing a coin is a good model for radioactive half-life (Cook 2010, Pg. 46). Approximately 50% of the coins should decay at each throw and that it should take approximately three shakes to get to zero coins left. In the second set up hypothe\sis were that; four coins should decay most often on the first throw. Our prediction of the percentage decay first throws calculation is 50%. The distribution of the number of coins that decay on the first throw should be bell shaped (Cook 2010, Pg.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Interpersonal Violence Distortion of a Community Essay

Interpersonal Violence Distortion of a Community - Essay Example This may impact on the community negatively and will slow any development that would be taking place. According to Myer and Enns, the whole aspect of Christianity concerns reconciliation among individuals within a community. According to them, Christianity would be fighting oppression and violence in the lives of many individuals. They advocate for this with their foundation rooted on the teaching of the Jewish prophets. These two make references to the holy bible that gives guidelines on peacemaking process. The bible is the main source of restorative justice. Through teaching in the bible, one has a view of how disputes were earlier solved and uses the same in current events. At times, through the readings of the bible, people get to know what steps to take in problem solving. Restorative justice aims at resolving differences that would have risen earlier without causing any harm or even regenerating what had earlier happened. Restorative justice is for the purpose of repairing dif ferential concerns that arise in the community. These two authors emphasize that aspect of restorative justice is embedded in the bible as shown by the church. They have hence based their writings on issues of dispute resolving in the bible. For example before Saul converted to Paul he used to persecute Christians but after converting, he was regarded as a follower of Christ. Acts relating to the issues of personal violence would be grouped family and community types of violence. Further, those aspects relating to the family are grouped into partner, child or elder. Thus, there is child abuse, partner abuse or even elder abuse. Causes of interpersonal violence Writers have emphasized that violence cannot be caused by a single factor but, by a multiple factors. This is because violence is complex and may be as a result of one or more related aspects. These factors are looked into below to expound on the issue of violence. The individual is a factor to this respect. Individuals are di fferent in terms of ideas, feelings, practices, temper level and their views on the issue. The other aspects would be social, community and relationship areas. Interpersonal differences are those differences or disagreements that may come up when one individual in not in moral terms with another in society. Temper level within an individual may lead to violence within a community. We have to understand that there are people who get annoyed easily by unpretentious things. This would provoke such individuals to cause violence which is unnecessary. Violence can also be caused by communal aspects. At times, the community requires people to participate in some activities or even carry its own activities. Many are times when individuals may go against this issue. When asked about the progress of the same, they get annoyed, and cannot contain this pain in them and as a result, they initiate violence. Such aspects lead to serious problems that are harmful to the person and loss to the commu nity at large. There may also be societal aspects that may be a course of generation of violence. A valid action plan is to eliminate what annoys an individual to the extent of committing violence. In fact, Enns and Myers advocate for peacemaking as per the bible. Those annoyed hence should be slow to anger and listen to advice given to them by the medical experts. This would lead to peacemaking process in situations concerning violence. Effects of violence in the community Violence being unethical, impacts on the

Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Please complete the following exercises, remembering that you are in an academic setting and should remain unbiased, considerate, and professional when completing this worksheet. Part I Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: †¢Race †¢Ethnicity †¢Religion †¢Gender †¢Sexual orientation †¢Age †¢Disability Category Stereotype 1 Stereotype 2 Stereotype 3 Age Old people are slow Young people are trouble makers Young people are lazy Gender Men work harder than women Women should do all house work Women have more feelings than men. Race Black people are better at sports Asians are smart White people get better jobs Part II Answer each question in 50 to 100 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. What are the positive aspects of stereotypes, if any? One benefit of stereotypes to those being stereotyped is that the stereotype itself may be positive. Of course, this can backfire if you benefit from a stereotype of a group in which you fit and it becomes clear that the stereotype does not apply to you. One example of a positive stereotype is that Asians are good at math. Another example of a positive stereotype is that Jewish people are good with money. What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorization, which is one of the reasons for prejudice attitudes. Most stereotypes probably tend to convey a negative impression. Part III Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet ETH/125 Version 8. 2 Answer each question in 50 to 150 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. Define stereotypes and prejudice. What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences. Stereotypes are assumed characteristics. They do not have to carry a moral judgment (although many time they do). Example: The French like good cooking. Or, Icelanders dont mind the cold. Prejudice is preferring one kind of person over another. It may be based on stereotypes (I dont like Jews because theyre cheap), or not (I dont like Irish people because an Irish kid beat me up long ago). What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice? The relationship is that one is having the wrong impression of the person before meeting them, the other is GUESSING that they are all the exact same as the one, or two, that you have met. They are both assuming things about someone and judging someone based on the difference in them. It is either from experience or from what you heard but either way it is a judgement before you meet them or after. What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring? Let schools teach children that all people are equal regardless of race, gender, orientation, etc, let governments introduce laws that explicitly promote equality for all. But I think first of all it starts at home. I think if we teach our children that no matter what we are all equal and treat each other with respect. I think that if we all did this and showed them as also as tell them, then all the judgement will die down a lot. Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Total Quality Management in Healthcare Environment

Total Quality Management in Healthcare Environment EVALUATING HEALTH IMPROVEMENT (UNIT FIVE) BY AKINADE TOYESE In this paper we will discuss how to cultivate total quality management and develop a culture of on-going improvement with focus on a public health organization. We will also identify ways to incentivize employee performance and evaluate incentives in terms of motivational effectiveness. BRIEF SUMMARY OF A PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATION IN NIGERIA AND THE POPULATION IT SERVES The University College Hospital Ibadan is a public health organization which was established in November 1952 by parliament act to respond to the training need of medical personnel and other health care professionals in Nigeria and other West African Sub-Region (UCH, 2015). Her vision is to be the â€Å"flagship† tertiary healthcare institution in the West Africa sub-region, which offers world-class research, training and services, and first choice for seeking specialist health care (UCH, 2015). Although the hospital is primarily a tertiary institution, it has appendages of community-based outreach activities in six cities where it provides primary and secondary healthcare services. It has fifty-six service and clinical departments and runs ninety-six consultative out- patient clinics a week in fifty specialty and sub-specialty disciplines. There are also special treatment clinic for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and the people living with HIV/AIDS (UCH, 2015). However, because of the breakdown and poor state of primary health care facilities in the region (UCH, 2015) â€Å"the hospital still caters for lots of primary and secondary healthcare burden. The number of patients in the accident and emergency of the hospital averages six hundred thousand annually, and about one hundred and fifty thousand new patients attend the various out-patient clinics annually. The institution enjoys a full patronage of both national and international clientele due to its manpower, facilities, and track records†. STEPS TO TAKE TO CULTIVATE TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOP A CULTURE OF ONGOING IMPROVEMENT. Health Care Systems throughout the world are undergoing significant changes. These changes are due to acknowledgment of either medical errors or system errors (Ruiz and Simon 2004). Other factors responsible for these changes include: Legal obligation for quality management (Moeller et al. 2000), the sophistication of medical care and increasing costs of health care (Ramanathan, 2005). Total quality management seeks to create a culture whereby all employees are continually examining and improving the organization of their work with a view to satisfying customer requirements (Goodwin et al., 2006). This is especially critical for health institution in that better health is the â€Å"raison d’à ªtre† of a health system, and unquestionably its primary or defining goal (WHO, 2000). Joiner and Scholtes (1985) discussed total quality management under three key components: the client as the defining factor in determining quality, the teamwork as a means to unifying goals and a scientific approach to decision-making based on data collection and analysis. Furthermore, quality chain idea can be used to cultivate total quality management. According to Morgan (1994) quality chain is described as chain of suppliers and customers. Goodwin et al. (2006) examined the health of the quality chain in four discrete stages: Inspection: Usually an after-the-fact screening process to assess the quality and conformity of services or products produced. Quality control: Monitoring the process of service delivery at each stage in the chain in order to eliminate the causes of unsatisfactory performance. Quality Assurance: Assessment of the systems quality and the steps taken to improve quality. Total quality management: The application of quality management principles at every level of the organization. This medium will necessitate a change in behavior amongst staff to commit to the quality management agenda. Finally, it is recognized that several elements need to be in place to help such organizations move in the direction of improving the quality of care on a systematic basis. These include the availability of training for the staffs, the development of teamwork among the staff, the development of a structure to support quality improvement, and a set of standard measurable targets through which to assess change (Goodwin et al., 2006). WAYS TO INCENTIVIZE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATE MOTIVATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF INCENTIVES Incentives for the employee are to motivate the employee to perform better and have long lasting effect on their performance. If â€Å"you get what you pay for,† then it presumably follows that one should pay for what one ultimately wants (Cutler 2005). If a health program’s primary objective is good patient or population health outcomes, it would seem natural for performance incentives to reward good health or health improvement directly rather than the use of health services or other health inputs. Rewarding health outcomes rather than health input use not only creates strong incentives for providers to exert effort, but it can also create incentives for providers to innovate in developing new, context-appropriate delivery strategies (Grant and Kimberly, 2013: 4). Incentive can be monetary or non-monetary (Asaad Assaf, 2011). The monetary incentive can be performance-related pay such as the increment in salary, bonuses, and other financial benefits such as housing allowance or health care compensation. Non-monetary incentives include: words of appreciation, thank you letter, nomination of department employee of the month, sending an employee to a conference, flexible work hour (Asaad Assaf, 2011). Meanwhile, the extent to which staffs can participate in decision-making and how much support they receive from their managers also motivate the employee to perform better (Goodwin et al., 2006). Nevertheless, there is a need for a public health organization to adopt a method for motivating and rewarding its staffs. Performance-related pay is one approach to using pay to provide an incentive to individuals to work more effectively to meet organizational goals, both in terms of quality and efficiency (Goodwin et al., 2006). Performance-related pay can be seen as one approach to using pay to provide an incentive to individuals to work more effectively to meet organizational goals, both in terms of quality and efficiency (Goodwin et al., 2006). It won’t be encouraging if two persons receive the same pay when one is performing much better than the other. When there is a performance-related pay incentive for a hardworking staff or a job well-done, it will motivate the staff to do more for the improvement of the organization and also encourage the other staff to be effective and hard working in other to meet the organization goals. In conclusion, Goodwin et al. (2006) had explained that â€Å"the experience with PRP is mixed and its transfer to the health sector has been associated with a range of problems: Tension is often created in providing performance-related incentives to individuals, since this can preclude their ability to work towards wider organizational objectives. In health care, team contribution prevails over the contribution of individual members of staff. The power of professional organizations enables them to resist management initiatives. The agency relationship between health care professionals and patients can exclude and disadvantage employers. Employers try to retain insiders rather than recruit outsiders, even if they have to pay more. However, if PPR is applied to the right organization or system-wide needs, it may enable individuals to work more for the benefit of the organization. References: Armstrong, M. H. Murlis, (1994) Reward Management: A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice, London: Kogan Page Asaad, A., F.A. Assaf, (2011) ‘Incentive for Better performance in Health Care’, Sultan Qaboos, University Medical Journal, 11 (2) pp: 201-206, Available at: http://:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121024/, (accessed: 04/04/2015) Cutler, D., (2005) Your Money or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America’s Health Care System,  USA: Oxford University Press. Goodwin, N., G. Reinhold, V. Iles, (2006) Managing Health Services, Understanding Public Health Series, Maidenhead: Open University Press pp. 143-152 Grant M., S. B. Kimberly, (2013) Pay-for-performance incentive in low and middle income country health programs, national bureau of economic research, NBER Working Paper Series, Cambridge, p. 4 Johnson, O. A., (2011) ‘Total Quality Management (TQM) Factors: An Empirical Study of Kwara State Government Hospitals’, Ethno Med, 5(1) pp. 17-23 Joiner, B., P. Scholtes, (1985) Total Quality Leadership vs. Management by Control, Joiner and Associates Moeller, B., J. O’Reilly, J. Elser, (2000) ‘Quality management in German health care the EFQM excellence model’, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 13 pp. 254-258. Morgan, P., (1994) Total quality management, in E. Monica (ed.) Management in Health Care, A Theoretical and Experiential Approach, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Ramanathan R., (2005) Operational assessment in hospitals in Sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Operations Production Management, l25 pp. 39-54. Ruiz U., J. Simon, (2004) ‘Quality management in healthcare: A 20-year journey’, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 17 pp. 23-33. UCH, (2015) ‘UCH vision and mission’, Available at: http://uch-ibadan.org.ng/content/vission-and-mission, (Accessed 06/04/2015) â€Å"University College Hospital, Ibadan†, (2015) Wikipedia, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_Hospital,_Ibadan, (Accessed 06/04/2015)

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis and the History of Its Development :: Evolution Science Biology Research Papers

The Modern evolutionary synthesis is combination of Darwinian evolutionary theory and Mendelian genetics. It is impossible to understand the theory and it's importance to the scientific community unless one understands the history behind the theory. From 1902 to 1953 major publications in the areas of systematics, developmental biology, botany, population genetics, and paleontology sucessfully integrated Darwin's four postulates and Mendelian genetics into a reformation of evolutionary theory. The new theory is referred to as the Modern Synthesis, Evolutionary Synthesis, or the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. These terms can be used inter-changeably. Before one can understand the Modern Synthesis and this analysis there a few defintions that must be explained in order to grasp the concept, espically if a person is not familiar with biological terminology. This list of definitions does not have to be read fully but is provided to refer to when a biological term is not understood... of course maybe not every term that isn't understood, but the majority. -Allele-one of a pair, or series, of alternative forms of a gene that occur at a given locus (location) in a chromosome. -Fitness-the number of offspring left by an individual, often compared with the average of the population or with some other standard, such as the number left by a particular genotype. -Gene-a hereditary determinant of a specific biological function; a unit of inheritance (DNA) located in a fixed position on a chromosome. -Genotype-the genetic constitution (gene makeup) of a an organism. -Phenotype-The observable characteristics of an organism. -Chromosomes-darkly staining nucleotide bodies that are observed in cells during division. Each chromosome carries a linear array of genes. -Mutation-a change in DNA at a particular locations in an organism. The term is used loosely to include point mutations involving a single gene change as well as a chromosomal changes. -Variation-in biology, the occurrence of differences among individuals. -Taxon (plural: Taxa)-any named group of organisms. -Macroevolution-large evolutionary change ,usually in morphology; typically refers to the evolution of differences among populations that would warrant their placement in different genera or higher-level taxa. -Microevolution-changes in a gene frequencies and trait distributions that occur within populations and species. -Inheritance-the hypothesis that phenotypic changes in the parental generations can be passed on intact, to the next generation. -Population-for sexual species, a group of interbreeding individuals and their offspring; for asexual species, a group of individuals living in the same area. -Natural Selection-a difference, on average, between the survival or fecundity of

Monday, August 19, 2019

Technology and the Brave New World :: Brave New World

Technology and the Brave New World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the book Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, was written long ago, its subject   has become more popular since most of the   technologies described in the book have, at least, partially, become a reality.   Huxley's community of Utopia is a futuristic society designed by genetic engineering, and controlled by neural conditioning with mind-altering drugs and   a manipulative media system.   Yet, despite the similarities, the reader also finds   many contrasts between the two societies.   Perhaps the most salient contrast between Huxley’s Utopia and our modern society, deals with the issue of procreation. The majority of babies born in our society today, are still the result of intercourse between a man and a woman.   In many cases the birth of a child is a memorable and joyous event for the woman. In Utopia, however, if a woman is caught bearing offspring, she will be punished by exile. Offspring not produced the society’s way is a threat to the society’s existence, in the eyes of the leaders.   As today, pregnancy, in Utopia, could be prevented using a variety of methods.   Where our society uses male and female birth control methods, Utopia has pregnancy substitute (a procedure   in which Utopian woman are given all the psychological benefits of childbirth   without undergoing   it) and malthusian drill (similar to today’s birth control pills).   However, modern society and Huxley’s Utopia both explore the advantages of artificial reproduction, although Utopia has taken it to the extreme: The   Bokanovsky Process, is a method whereby a human egg’s normal development   is arrested, then buds, producing many identical eggs.   â€Å"My good   boy!†...†Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!†Ã‚   (Huxley, 7).  Ã‚   Not only did this method create millions of â€Å"robot like† citizens for Utopia,   but the leaders have supreme control over any threat of overpopulation. Utopian predestinators   decide the future function of each embryo, essentially   assigning   class status.  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this way, the leaders of Utopia are also able to   keep the social classes balanced in the way they felt benefited everyone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the reader sees some dissipation of social classes in modern society, in Utopia, the class distinctions were palpable. A five-tiered caste system is maintained which ranks Alphas and Betas on top followed by   Gammas, Deltas, and the semi-moronic, ubiquitous Epsilons. The motto   "Community, Identity, Stability" frames the Utopian social structure.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Women of The Color Purple Essay -- essays research papers

In the novel, The Color Purple, there are three main characters who demonstrate meaningful traits of women. Celie, the main character, is the most important of the three. She is influenced by other characters in the novel and is inspired to let herself seek their virtues. Celie's two friends, Shug and Sofia, are both strong women who teach Celie how to achieve the happiness she desires.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sofia is a woman with authority in her life. Her life has been a constant struggle and can no longer endure conflict. She is strong physically and that gives her confidence in herself. The only opinion of any value to her is her own. Sofia is very upset with Celie when she tells Harpo to beat her and she reveals to Celie details of her painful past. 'All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. But I never thought I'd have to fight in my own house. I loves Harpo. God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me.'; (42). Sofia can no longer tolerate this kind of abuse and she thought that when she married Harpo she had finally escaped it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Later Celie admits that she told Harpo to beat her because she is jealous of Sofia. Celie is jealous because Sofia can fight back and she knows she can't. Sofia tells Celie how she feels sorry for her because Celie reminds her of her mother and how she never could stand up against her father. Just seeing Sofi...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Henry Morton Stanley

Nathan C. Thompson EUH1001 Feb 28, 2012 Dr. W. Moody Henry Morton Stanley Born John Rowlands in Wales, or as those of his time knew him as Henry Morton Stanley; was the illegitimate son of John Rowlands and Elizabeth Parry. He grew up partly in the charge of reluctant relatives, partly in St. Asaph Workhouse. After his interlude of dependence on relatives, he sailed from Liverpool as a cabin boy, landing at New Orleans in 1859. There Rowlands was befriended by a merchant, Henry Hope Stanley, whose first and last names the boy adopted in an apparent effort to make a fresh start in life with a new identity; â€Å"Morton† was added later.For some years Stanley led a roving life; a soldier in the American Civil War, a seaman on merchant ships and in the U. S. Navy, a journalist in the early days of frontier expansion. In 1867 Stanley offered his services to James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald as a special correspondent with the British expeditionary force sent against Tewo dros II of Ethiopia, and Stanley was the first to report the fall of Magdala in 1868.An assignment to report the Spanish Civil War followed, and in 1869 he received instructions to undertake a roving commission in the Middle East, which was to include the relief of Dr. David Livingstone, of whom little had been heard since his departure for Africa in 1866 to search for the source of the Nile. On Jan. 6, 1871, Stanley reached Zanzibar, the starting point for expeditions to the interior, and, intent on a scoop, left on March 21 without disclosing his intentions.His secretive conduct caused much offense to the authorities, especially to Sir John Kirk, the British consul, who had been having difficulty in making contact with Livingstone. Leading a well-equipped caravan and backed by American money, Stanley forced his way through country disturbed by fighting and stricken by sickness to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, Livingstone's last known port of call. There he found the old hero, ill and short of supplies, and greeted him with the famous words â€Å"Dr. Livingstone, I presume? A cordial friendship sprang up between the two men, and when Stanley returned to the coast he dispatched fresh supplies to enable Livingstone to carry on. The older man's quest ended a year later with his death in the swamps of Lake Bangweulu still vainly seeking the Nile in a region that in fact gives rise to the Congo (Zaire) River. When Livingstone died in 1873, Stanley resolved to take up the exploration of Africa where he had left off. The problem of the Nile sources and the nature of the central African lakes had been only partly solved by earlier explorers.Stanley secured financial backing from the New York Herald and the Daily Telegraph of London for an expedition to pursue the quest, and the caravan left Zanzibar on Nov. 12, 1874, heading for Lake Victoria. His visit to King Mutesa I of Buganda led to the admission of Christian missionaries to the area in 1877 and to the eventual est ablishment of a British protectorate in Uganda. Circumnavigating Lake Victoria, Stanley confirmed the explorer John H. Speke's estimate of its size and importance.Skirmishes with suspicious tribes people on the lakeshore, which resulted in a number of casualties, gave rise in England to criticism of this new kind of traveler with his journalist's outlook and forceful methods. Lake Tanganyika was next explored and found to have no connection with the Nile system. Stanley and his men pressed on west to the Lualaba River (the very river that Livingstone had hoped was the Nile but that proved to be the headstream of the Congo).There they joined forces with the Arab trader Tippu Tib, who accompanied them for a few laps downriver, then left Stanley to fight his way first to Stanley Pool (now Malebo Pool) and then (partly overland) down to the great cataracts he named Livingstone Falls. Stanley and his men reached the sea on Aug. 12, 1877. Failing to enlist British interests in the develop ment of the Congo, Stanley took service with the king of Belgium, Leopold II, whose secret ambition it was to annex the region for himself.From August 1879 to June 1884 Stanley was in the Congo basin, where he built a road from the lower Congo up to Stanley Pool and launched steamers on the upper river. (It is from this period, when Stanley persevered in the face of great difficulties, that he earned, from his men, the nickname of Bula Matari [â€Å"Breaker of Rocks†]). Originally under international auspices, Stanley's work was to pave the way for the creation of the Congo Free State, under the sovereignty of King Leopold.Author Laura Benet does not disappoint us with this extensive study formerly know John Rowlands in Wales, Stanley's boyhood was harried by poverty, by relatives who treated him as a thorn in the side and by tough years in a workhouse- not the best of conditions for growing up. Amazingly unembittered by this, John went as a youth to New Orleans and had the g ood fortune to go to work for Henry Morton Stanley, a southern merchant who adopted him and whose name John later took. Still another set back, the Civil War, was not enough to dispirit the new Henry Stanley, who found himself in post war years a reporter for the New York Herald.First assignments sent him to Abyssinia and Spain and then the hunt for Livingstone geared the rest of his life as the reporter explorer who left his mark on the opening up of Africa. For an exciting biography, the author dug deep into Stanley's life and made him a full personality in these pages, without ignoring the challenges each journey entailed. I personally found this book to be a very interesting read, it kept me intrigued and involved with an attraction that intensified with each depiction of the stories.I would recommend this book to all readers young and old. For the summary I chose stories about Stanley's most memorable adventures like the search for Livingston, the journey through Africa, and Ki ng Leopold's covert purchase of African territory for best locations. Those stories really helped put Stanley into greatness due to the impact they made, he saved David Livingston, a Nation hero; also help jump start the â€Å"Race for Africa† for King Leopold; all this aside from the fact that he was quite the reporter/adventure/identity thief.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Ethics in Intelligence Essay

On a clear, late summer day in September of 2001, the hectic yet peaceful lower portion of Manhattan, New York City was turned into the site of one of the largest mass murders in world history when terrorist attacks turned the once imposing World Trade Center complex to a smoking pile of debris and left thousands of Americans dead, physically and psychologically scarred for life. In the aftermath of this act of aggression, the United States, with the cooperation of allies around the world, launched intelligence collection efforts on a scale that had never before been seen. Some nations would be able to do so as they wished without regard for the privacy or rights of their people, but for a nation conceived in liberty and human rights as the US was, issues of ethics and the preservation of individual rights had to be balanced against the dire need to protect the masses from further violence. This research will focus on the ethics of intelligence collection in the US, Constitutional implications of these efforts for American citizens, and the consideration of how much liberty US citizens should be willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Ethics of Intel Collections, Means and Methods Intelligence gathering has always been an essential part of the preservation of American security, dating back to the days of the American colonies and beyond. In the late 1990s, for all of the violence brewing in other nations and the potential for domestic terrorism in the US, the intelligence gathering efforts of American officials consisted mostly of the analysis of data from the comfort of offices located in the US and some offices scattered across the globe. However, these efforts were initially proven to be weak by international terrorist acts against American military installations in other nations, and the original emergence of Osama Bin Laden as an international terrorist to be closely monitored. With such formidable enemies to consider, it became obvious that the old ways of gathering intelligence were badly in need of change, including the introduction of more field intelligence agents, enhancements to technology, better networking with other nations, and many clandestine activities. With the need to increase and improve all levels of intelligence gathering in the US, the question arises as to how far a nation like the US, which stands as a beacon of righteousness and safety in the world, will be willing to go to gain the level of security that is needed to protect American citizens at home and abroad? The child of this need emerged, known as the Department of Homeland Security, an organization which put on a public front of protection of the US in a manner that is illustrative of ethical behavior and forceful yet proper action. With the introduction of the Department, the public gained a higher level of confidence in the protection they would be receiving. However, many of the methods that were necessary, at least behind the scenes, were of the nature that the general public would frown upon at the very least, and rise up in heated protest against at worst if it were known the full extent of what the Department was forced to resort to in the interest of intelligence gathering. Among the steps that were taken, such actions as the monitoring of telephone and Internet communications, the detention of suspected terrorists and the like began to raise the issue of the appropriateness of such activities in line with the promises and obligations of the US Constitution. Constitutional Implications of United States Intel Collection on United States Citizens The war against terrorism is unlike any other war that the US has seen; fighting an enemy that does not wear a recognizable uniform or hails from any specific geographic location poses quite a challenge and makes the application of conventional warfare tactics all but impossible. Therefore, as with those conventional warfare methods, it is necessary for certain drastic measures to be taken. However, it is important to understand that there are Constitutional implications for such actions, especially in the areas of intelligence collection which require frequent intrusions into the privacy that Americans hold so dear and have fought and died to protect for hundreds of years. First, there are misconceptions about the Constitution that are necessary to point out. Specifically, there is a thin line between the investigation of criminal activity and suspected threats to national security, which of course are in and of themselves criminal but take on an added dimension when one realizes that the safety and future of the nation hangs in the balance. In the interest of national security, it is permissible for the surveillance of Americans, domestically and abroad without the obtaining of search warrants, which are usually the standard procedure when an American is being investigated as a possible criminal, under any ordinary circumstances. In this instance, permissible and acceptable are two entirely different things. While authorities may be allowed to basically spy on their fellow citizens so that the nation is protected, where does this leave those who are the target of the surveillance? The argument can fairly be made that if one is not doing anything wrong, if they are being monitored, they actually have nothing with which to be concerned. Further, if that surveillance yields information on other wrongdoers who are in fact a threat to America, the net result makes all of it worthwhile. The issue of habeas corpus also is a key element in the consideration of the rights the accused. In the past, this legal remedy, in place since the days of the Magna Carta, existed to protect the rights of the accused. Constitutionally speaking, it had been established in the early 1940s that habeas corpus would stand if: â€Å"(1) the conviction is void for lack o f personal or subject matter jurisdiction; (2) the statute defining the offense is unconstitutional, or the conviction was obtained in violation of a federal constitutional right; (3) the statute authorizing the sentence is unconstitutional, or the sentence was obtained in violation of a federal constitutional right; (4) the sentence is contrary to the applicable statute, in excess of the statutory maximum, or otherwise unauthorized by law; or (5) the conviction or the sentence is otherwise deemed subject to collateral attack. † In times of crisis, this right has been suspended in the interest of national security, and has been suspended in the age of terrorism due to the need to make terrorists who are evading capture by authorities accountable in courts of law for their crimes. This, also, however is one of those fine points of law that draw criticism and scrutiny in many cases because anytime a right is suspended, innocent people are affected and their rights are often sacrificed, albeit for the sake of the common good. A closer look at the underpinnings of the Constitution itself reveals some interesting powers that many do not realize exist. For example, the Constitution does in fact give Congress the right to make laws as necessary to allow the Constitution to function as it was intended. This right, however, is akin to a broad stroke of a paintbrush, when the finer details of the stroke are really where the beauty lies. In other words, on the surface, it is true that Congress possesses such power, but this is also a power that is open to interpretation and debate. Where one draws the line between permissible monitoring and the trampling of the rights of the majority is an issue with which the American people are currently wrestling and undoubtedly will continue to do so for many years to come. With this in mind, there surely must be a balance to be obtained between sacrificing for the common good and giving up everything that Americans are constitutionally guaranteed. How Much Liberty Should US Citizens Give Up Under the Notion of National Security? It has been said that liberty is something which can be gained all at once, but often is stripped away one small piece at a time, like the gradual erosion of a mighty mountain. If this is true, the question of how many small pieces the citizens of the US can give away before a landslide consumes them? After the horrible events of September 11, 2001, it became readily apparent that there was a need for American governmental agencies to gather additional power if they were to properly mount an offensive against terrorism and to avert a repeat of the horrible events of that tragic day. This need to gather additional power was viewed by many as a feeble excuse for those within the government who craved power to grab as much as they wished, regardless of the inevitable fallout. Still others saw the sacrifice of a small amount of liberty as the necessary toll that needed to be paid for a much larger amount of overall protection and the long-term survival of the US while others around the world plotted to destroy the most powerful nation on earth. Again, however, as was mentioned at the beginning of this passage, small surrenders can sometimes lead to large damage over a period of time.

High School Drop out Rate Essay

Analysts agree that the rate of high school dropout in the United States has reached catastrophic levels. Credible estimates claim that more than a third of all students that join high school are likely to abandon school before completion. A look at the past decades indicates that this has been a growing trend and is yet to be arrested appropriately. This is a problem that has not been captured in the public glare due to scarcity if data. This paper will provide the available statistics on the rate of high school dropouts; provide an analysis of the possible causes and remedies. Different publications contain valid rates of dropouts; this is because of the existing differences in the definition of a dropout. There are those that graduate after completing the high school syllabus, others that graduate after completing an equivalency test of the same and those that graduate after passing other states based tests. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiles its data using either the event rates, status rates or the cohert rates. Events rates refer to the number of students that drop out of school annually while the status rate takes into account the total number of students that have cumulatively dropped out of school as a proportion of the total population. (National Institute on the Education of At Risks Students, 2006) Indicative reports have it that the rate of school dropout from the 1970s to the 1990s recorded a steady decline; however the rates have stabilized from the 90s to date recording an insignificant improvement. A look at the 1999 and the 2000 reports indicate that 5% of all students that had joined high school in the respective years dropped out within a year. This is in according to the available education department’s event dropout rates. The status dropout rates for 2000 indicate that â€Å"some 3. 8 million young adults were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school. † (National Center for Education Statistics). Other available statistics on the dropout rates focus on the differences between gender and the racial groups. They have indicated that 5. 8% of male students are more likely to dropout compared to whose dropout rate is 4. 3%. The gender disparities in the dropout rate are witnessed across all the ethnic and racial groups with male students being the most affected. The dropout rate for the minority groups has remained higher than that of white Americans. The Latinos lead the group of the minorities with a rate of 27. 5%; African Americans have 13. 6% while the whites have a dropout rate of 7. 9%. This is according to the 1993 survey although these rates have remained fairly constant since then. (National Institute on the Education of At Risk Students, 1996) Having looked at the existing statistics, it is important to look at the reasons behind these statistics. There exists immense research on the causes of high school dropouts but it is important to point out that they focus on a variety of issues depending on the discipline. The ethnographic studies for example may focus on the issues of minorities and the social causes of their dropout. Attempts therefore to establish the specific factors are impeded by the existence of â€Å"a large variety of factors that predict or influence dropout behaviors, ranging from family background to school characteristics. † (Richard, 2002, 120) Scholars however have observed that students drop out of schools either after being ‘pushed out’ by the school environment or after being ‘pulled away’ by factors beyond the school curriculum. (Jay W. , 1999). A survey conducted on the various reasons behind the high school drop out rates revolve around vague reasons such boring classes and hard exams. These though are the pointer towards the major factors that contribute towards high school dropout rates. The causes range from academic challenges, economic, social and personal reasons One of the major ‘push out’ cause of dropout of high school can be traced to the various schools’ requirements to undertake an exit exam as the precondition for graduation. A look at the United States reveals that most states have put forth a requirement for a standardized test to mark the graduation of students from high school. Exit exams were adopted to enable states to standardize their tests and upgrade their diplomas. Where the merits of these exams have been widely noted, criticism has been leveled against them alleging that they exert too much pressure on the high school students. The basic purpose of exit exams is to ensure that the quality of the diploma is maintained, today however it is being seen as pushing students out of school, â€Å"these critics rely upon the push-out-myth- the idea that requiring students to pass exit exams forces students to drop out of high school. † (Jay P. , 2006, 127). The conclusion that stringent exam requirement may push students out of school has been reached after examining performance records and transcripts belonging to those that have dropped out. Studies have pointed out a streak of dismal performance by most of them indicating a sense of hopelessness on the drop outs. Some students have blamed the dismal performance on the lack of motivation by their teachers. Another possible cause of school dropout is peer influence. Peers are an important component to the development of an individual and also as socialization agents. It has been established that the influence of the family to the life of adolescents is fast waning and its place taken over by peers. The issue of how peers influence school drop out rate is broad and has been found to be an important factor. School dropouts have claimed to have been influenced by their peers to quit schools especially for those that had non schooling friends. This is so as peer influence has been found to either be a source of motivation or discouragement. This has been problematic as most of these have plunged into the crime world led by their peers. Working students also find it hard to cope with both tasks and most have even been found to give up education in the belief that they will resume later. Unsupportive parents have also been known to lead their children out of schools due to lack of moral support. Just like there is no single cause behind the high rates of school dropouts, there is no single remedy for the problem. It requires a multifaceted approach that incorporates both students and the teachers. It has been found that most students drop out of schools to escape the taxing nature of academics and exams. While it is not prudent to change the existing exams, it would be appropriate to put measures to ensure that the tests would not be an excuse to drive students out of school. As Marvin (2003, 215) has pointed out, â€Å"states should look for more ways to identify students at risk and consider instituting or adapting existing programs to support students before they drop out. † The best approach hence would be to incorporate a support program to help students cope with the rising challenges. This should include providing extra school tutoring and retake programs for students that perform dismally in the first attempts. This should also include introducing changes to the academic programs to ensure that they are more responsive and relevant to the student lives. The government also should roll out programs that aim towards sensitizing students on the need to stay in school. A number of factors that contribute to high rates of school dropout are social-psychological meaning that they can be eradicated through creation of awareness and general counseling. It is also important to involve students in the process of policy making to ensure that their expectations and views are incorporated and hence make them feel that they have a bigger stake in the school programs. Indeed there much has to be done to reduce the number of students that fail to complete their high school. The dropout rates indicated above are worrisome. More also needs to be done to bridge the dropout disparities across the racial groups. Students should be sensitized on the dangers of dropping out of schools especially as they are exposing themselves to the risks of unemployment as well as crime.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

An Examination of Relationship Between Anxiety and Insomnia

Anxiety is commonly associated with insomnia. Many research have been done in this area. The results of the previous research studies often revealed strong relationships between anxiety and insomnia. Often, anxiety and insomnia can be frequently associated with depression. This research study was conducted among Hunter College students in order to investigate a relationship between anxiety and insomnia. There were 22 students participating in the research, between ages 18 and 34. Twelve of them were males and ten were females. There was a multiple-choice questionnaire, adapted from other research studies, with four possible answers from 0 – not at all bothered to 3 – severely bothered. The obtained results fully supported the hypothesis that there is a significant positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia. The higher is anxiety level, the higher is insomnia level. Nevertheless, the research had its own limitations, and further modifications of a research design could be done in this area of study. An Examination of a Relationship Between Anxiety and Insomnia Anxiety is commonly associated with insomnia. A number of research studies in this area support the idea that insomnia and anxiety have common mechanisms that underlie or maintain these difficulties (Fairholme, 2012). Some studies investigate the association between anxiety, depression and insomnia, which often co-occur at the same time (Jansson-Frojmark, 2008). However, the question about cause-effect in this relationship between anxiety and insomnia still remains. In his article, Pacana (2010) stated that the anxiety disorders became the most common mental disorders in the United States. Nineteen percent of the population suffers from these afflictions every year. There are six major types of anxiety – Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Phobias, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Approximately one fifth of individuals seek treatment for these disorders. The estimated coast of anxiety disorders in the country is about 50 billion dollars in any given year. Pacan (2010) also wrote, that anxiety is a â€Å"product â€Å" of the central nervous system’s physiological and emotional response to ambiguous sense of fear or threat. Anxiety may appear even when there is no presence of actual life or health threats. Sometimes, anxiety can be so overwhelming and exhausting that it becomes a threat itself after a while. An Anxiety Disorder develops after the anxiety becomes severe, easy to trigger, occurs too frequent, or stays for too long. According to Pacan (2010), an anxiety is difficult to describe or measure. Luckily, psychologists have a number of tools for assessing a person’s level of anxiety. A Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is one of the methods administered by Aaron Beck. It’s a 21question multiple-choice questionnaire that measures an individual’s anxiety level. There are four possible answers for each question scored from 0 (NO not at all) to 3 (YES and I could barely stand it). Each answer indicates the emotional state of an individual in the last week, expressed as common symptoms of anxiety (such as unsteadiness, wobbliness, nervousness, or difficulty in breathing, etc. ). The cumulative scores range from 0 to 63, which measure the anxiety level. The higher the score is, the more severe is the anxiety level. The higher scores indicate that an individual may have very serious and health-threating implications, like sleep disturbance or more severe form of sleep deprivation – insomnia. Jansson (2007) indicated that insomnia is another prevalent condition in the population of the United States and worldwide. The prevalence of insomnia ranges from nine to twelve percent in adulthood. Generally, insomnia is viewed as a persistent condition and defined as number of intertwined conditions, such as difficulty getting to sleep at bedtime, waking up too early in the morning, not getting enough sleep at night, etc. Individuals experiencing insomnia also complain about negative daytime symptoms, like distress or impairment in social, or other vital areas of functioning. According to Bogan (2007), insomnia is associated with significant health-related consequences. The estimated healthcare coast of insomnia in the United States is approximately 14 billion dollars. People with abnormal sleep are more likely to experience anxiety and depression and suffer other serious consequences, like drug or alcohol abuse and an increased incidence of medical and psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, severe insomnia may cause driving-related accidents and an overall increase in mortality rate. Although there are many factors that can contribute to sleeping disturbance, one of the most known is Anxiety. Buckner (2008) stated that insomnia is commonly associated with anxiety, and that sleep quality impairments, such as insomnia, can constitute a significant risk factor for development of anxiety disorders. The study used bivariate correlations to examine a relationship between social anxiety and insomnia in the undergraduate students. There was an association found between social anxiety and sleep dissatisfaction, sleep-related functional impairment, perception of a sleep problem to others, and distress about sleep problems. Jansson-Frojmark (2008) conducted research study about bidirectional relationship between anxiety and depression and insomnia. The revealed results indicate that anxiety and insomnia are significantly inter-correlated. The study used bidirectional correlation to demonstrate the relationship between anxiety and depression separately, and then their relationship with insomnia, using a prospective design in the general population. Although the research showed the bidirectional interrelationship between anxiety, depression and insomnia, the question about cause-effect relationship, where anxiety and depression influence insomnia, or vise versa, still remains. In 2012, Fairhome conducted research study about emotional disorders, insomnia, and common factors that underlie or maintain these difficulties. The results supported a hypothesis that common mechanisms are involved for emotional disorders and insomnia. One of the factors that may explain these mechanisms is anxiety sensitivity (AS). AS might function as a mechanism for the maintenance of sleep deprivation in order of anxiety and mood disorders. Anxiety sensitivity is a fear of anxiety-related sensations, which has been theorized as a heritable risk factor involved in development and maintenance of emotional disorders. For instance, an individual can believe that racing heart will cause a heart attack or that temporal loss of a sense of reality will transform into insanity. That is, an individual’s faulty beliefs of the danger of emotional disorders or sleep disturbance may increase physical symptoms of anxiety or insomnia, or both. The aim of this research study is to examine the relationship between anxiety and insomnia among college students. It was hypothesized that there will be a positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia, that the higher is an anxiety level the higher is an insomnia level. Method Participants A convenience sample of Hunter College students was used. There were 22 participants (N = 22) voluntarily participating in the research study, from the ages of 18 to 34 years old, with an average age of 21 (SD = 3. 28). There were twelve males (54. 5%) and ten females (45. %) of different demographic backgrounds, living mostly in the city of Manhattan or the other four boroughs of New York City. All of the participants were randomly selected and were proposed to participate in the research. Materials A questionnaire form was used to collect the data (See Appendix). Twenty questions about anxiety were adapted from Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck, 1988), and 20 questions about insomnia were a dapted from Pittsburg Insomnia Rating Scale (PIRS) administered by Moul, D. E. and other researchers in their preliminary study of the test-retest reliability and concurrent validities of the PIRS in 2002. There are 66 questions (For example, â€Å"Consider the quality of your sleep in the last week: Difficulty getting to sleep at bedtime†) multiple-choice questionnaire with four possible answers for each question (For example 0 – Not at all bothered; 1 – Slightly bothered; 2 – Moderately bothered; 3 – Severely bothered) (Moul, 2002). The ordered response options for the questions were adapted from PIRS (Moul, 2002). For the answers for each of 40 questions the Likert scale was used from zero to three (0 – Not at all bothered, 1 – Slightly bothered, 2 – Moderately bothered, 3 – Severely bothered). I went to the third floor of the Hunter College (695 Park Ave building), during the fall 2012 semester and started asking passing by students to participate in my research. Each participant received a consent form and a self-report questionnaire. They were asked to fill in questionnaire about factors that influence good sleep patterns. The participants were told to finish all 40 questions by filling in the numbers that best corresponded to their opinion about each item. After the data was collected, the cumulative scores for anxiety and insomnia were counted for each participant, and the data were collected in an excel file. Then the SPSS program was run in order to organize and interpret the raw data. Results A total number of 22 participants (N = 22, SD = 3. 28) participated in the research. Ten of them were females (45. 5%) and twelve were males (54. 5%), with an average age of 21 (36. 4%), a variance of 10. 7, and a range of 16. The youngest participant was 18 years old, and the eldest was 34 years old (See Table 1). The mean anxiety score was 15. 95 (SD = 10. 55), with a range of 40. A mean score for insomnia was 24. 27 (SD = 15. 63), with a range of 54. The minimum scores for anxiety and insomnia were zero and five, and the maximum scores were 40 and 59. To determine whether there was a significant positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia, the Pearson’s Correlation test was conducted. There was a significant correlation obtained for anxiety and insomnia, r (22) = . 74, p < . 01 (See Table 2). Discussion The obtained results fully support the hypothesis that there is a relationship between anxiety and insomnia. The results indicate that the relationship between anxiety and insomnia is strong and positive (See Figure 1), meaning that anxiety and insomnia levels change in the same direction. For instance, when the anxiety level goes up, the insomnia level goes up too. Generally speaking, the association between anxiety and insomnia indicates that individuals who are vulnerable to stress and other emotional disturbances are more likely to experience sleep deprivation at normal sleep time hours. Individuals who suffer from bad night sleep are more likely to feel anxious the next day. In this research the minimum score of zero for anxiety (See Table 1) indicates that at least one participant did not fill in any number other than zero within the anxiety questions in the questionnaire. However, the minimum score of five within the insomnia questions means that all of the participants experienced insomnia at the time of conducting research. All of that could probably have different explanation for student’s insomnia. It could be caused by something other than anxiety, like a physical problem, or loud neighborhood, etc. The student could simply not be honest about his or her anxiety, filling in zeros for every anxiety question. The results that were obtained in this research study are very similar to the results from previous research studies about anxiety and insomnia relationships, which were mentioned above (Buckner, J. D. , 2008, Fairhokme, C. P. , 2012, Jansson-Frojmark, M. , 2008, and Jansson, M. , 2007). In the Fairholme (2012) research it was discussed that individuals with anxiety sensitivity have a fear that their sleeping problems are related to some kind of health problem, which can make the individuals even more anxious and more likely to acquire serious disorders, like chronic insomnia. In this case a situation becomes a vicious circle. An individual gets more anxious because cannot sleep well at night, and he or she gets problems with falling asleep because he or she is too anxious about whole situation. It is possible that some of the students from our research have AS, which affected their good sleep patterns. This research results do not show any evidence for cause-effect relationship between anxiety and insomnia, though. It is hard to say whether anxiety causes insomnia, or the other way around, or whether anxiety and insomnia cause each other. It is hard to draw serious conclusions about what actually caused insomnia and anxiety in the observed students in this research study. It is also hard to say if participants had anxiety, or depression, or both due to the lack of possibility to differentiate anxiety from depression in this research. Sometimes anxiety and depression have the same symptoms, and that could have resulted in some errors in the questionnaire in this research. In the Jansson-Frojmark (2008) research study it was stated that relationship between anxiety and depression and insomnia is inter-correlated. Moreover, it was said that these three factors could simply co-occur in some cases. For example, an individual suffers from anxiety, which makes him or her experience insomnia, and whole that situation makes an individual be depressed. In this study, the combination of anxiety, depression and insomnia could be present conditions for some or for all of the participants. Although we cannot approve a cause-effect relationship between anxiety and insomnia, it is essential to say that sleep quality impairments can serve as a significant factor for anxiety disorders development or vice versa. According to Buckner research study (2008) individuals with history of insomnia are at greater risk for the later emergence of an anxiety disorder. When an individual had bad night sleep, he or she can feel weak, disorganized, tired, or simply he or she can feel moody or even mad. If the individual experiences the same problems over and over again for a long-term period, he or she can develop a fear from experiencing problems with sleep. For example, â€Å"I am so afraid I will not be able to fall asleep tonight again, and that makes me so anxious. After a while, that fear of insomnia can be transformed into an anxiety disorder. In this research a maximum score for insomnia is 59, comparing to anxiety maximum score of 40 can indicate that on average insomnia occurs in bigger degree than anxiety in these participants. That could possibly mean that insomnia in the participants was associated with factors other than anxiety during the time of conducting the study. For example, a partic ipant has a snoring roommate, or there is construction outside making an annoying noise early in the morning. In this case, without talking to each participant individually, it is impossible to conclude what was a real reason for the sleep disturbance, and for how long a participant has been experiencing it. There are few possible limitations of this research study, like a small size of a sample, specific population – Hunter College students, and lack of access to information about participants. The convenient sample size is not quiet enough for generalizing the obtained results. Twenty-two participants cannot fully reflect the real situation regarding relationship between anxiety and insomnia. Small sample in this research could lead to getting a Type I error, the obtained result is probably not significant as we think it is. Perhaps, most of the participants were interested in the research just because they did have both problems – anxiety and insomnia presented in their lives at a moment of conducting the research study. Moreover, any college students often have anxiety and insomnia occurring in the end of the semester (the research study was conducted in the end of the semester of fall, 2012). Conceivably, students were getting through the tests and exams at this particular time, and all that could cause anxiety and insomnia during a short-term period. Another reason to be concerned about a validity of the results is that we do not know enough information about the participants, like if they have anxiety or insomnia occurred earlier, and how many times before. Some of the participants could simply be taking some medications, which were prescribed to prevent or trigger the emergence of anxiety and insomnia. Despite these limitations, this research study contributes to the future revenue of anxiety and insomnia research studies. For the future work in this area, it would be interesting to add some questions about depression to questionnaire, and ask more details about participant’s life events and possible stressors. Gender differences may also play a substantial role in this research study. Females are more likely to experience emotional disruptions than males. For instance, according to Bogan (2007) young women are especially vulnerable to insomnia and it seems to increase with age by 20% – 50%. Men experience insomnia 1. 4 – 1. 7 times less than women. It is essential to make a gender type as an independent variable for the future research design.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Gilgamesh

The epic of Gilgamesh is about the ruler of uruk Gilgamesh and his quest to receive everlasting life. Gilgamesh wanted to receive everlasting life because he saw his best friend enkidu die of a slow agonizing death witch lead Gilgamesh to put his own mortality to question.. Enkidu died this death as punishment for the thing he and Gilgamesh did like kill the bull of heaven and chop down all the trees in the cedar forest after killing the demon humbaba. So Gilgamesh goes to the end of the earth to find utnapishtims to grant him everlasting life. Utnapishtims tells him he can have everlasting life if he can stay awake for 7 days Gilgamesh fails immediately and ends up going back to uruk but before he goes back utnapishtims tells Gilgamesh about a flower that restores youth , so Gilgamesh gets the flower but it gets stolen so he leaves with nothing but knowledge witch he shares with his people. The main character is Gilgamesh he is a hero, fiercest of warriors he is two thirds god one third human and has super natural abilities.. fter seeing his friend enkidu die he goes off on a quest to get him out of the house of dust and gain everlasting life. Gilgamesh had to prove himself many times in the story by defeating challenges that faced him , killing the bull of heaven, when utnapishtim told him to sleep for seven days, getting the flower that restores youth and fighting offa pack of lions that the gods sent after him. The was an abundant presence of mythical beings the sun god, enlil the god of earth ,wind and air, and anu the god of the sky. His journey takes him to supernatural places such as the underworld the twin peaked mountain called mashu and on a boat journey through the waters of death. The story reaches a low point when Gilgamesh’s’ friend enkidu dies also when he failed utnapishtims challenge to stay awake for a week. The resurrection of the story was when Gilgamesh was told about the flower that restores everlasting life. He returns to uruk after the flower was stolen by a snake with much wisdom that he shares with his people. Gilgamesh’s characteristics define him as a quest hero. He is two thirds god and one third mortal and he is the strongest of men, he is ruler of uruk , the greatest of warriors and ambitious builder Gilgamesh surrounded his city with magnificent walls and glorious ziggurats, he was physically beautiful, immensely strong, and very wise. Gilgamesh’s flaws and virtues are very oversized. He goes on an epic quest after his best friend dies. He visits places that are supernatural and cannot be visited by humans. he was faced with many challenges that he over came to complete his quest. Sumer was one of the earliest civilizations of the near ancient east, located in the southern part of Mesopotamia. The term sumerian refers to the people who speak the Sumerian language. Sumer ancient Egypt and indusvalley civilization were considered the first settled society in the world to have all the features needed to have a civilization. The history of Sumeria dates back to the beginning of writing and law which the Sumerians were accredited for inventing. And was essential for maintaining order within city-states. For centuries city states used Sumerian law, which established penalties for certain offenses. This represents recognition that society can’t function without respect for life, property and shared values. The Sumerians were non Semitic people and were at one time believed to have been invader, as a number of linguists believed they could possibly detect a substrate language beneath Sumerian. However, archeological record shows clear uninterrupted cultural continuity from the time of the early unbaid period settlements in southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian peoples farm land was mad fertile by slit deposited by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. By the late fourth millennium B. C. E. , sumer was divided into about a dozen independent city states, whose limits were defined by canals and boundary stones. Each was centered on a temple dedicated to the particular patron deity of the city and ruled over by a priest and or king, who was tied to the city’s religious rites. The principle Sumerian sites were the cities of mari, agade, kish, borsippa, nippur , isin, adab, shuruppak, girsu lagash, ur and eridu . he minor cities wear sippar , kutha, dilbat, marad, kisurra , zabala, umma , kisiga, awan, hamazi, eshnunna akshak, and zimbir. The Sumerian city-states rose to power during the prehistorical ubad and uruk periods. The historical record opens with early dynastic period from ca. the twenty ninth century B. C. E. , but remains scarce until the lagash period begins in the twenty sixith century. Classical sumer ends with akkadian empire in the twenty fourth century. Followed by the gutian period, there is a short â€Å"Sumerian renaissance† in the twenty second, cut short in ca. 000 B. C. E. by Amorite invasions. The Amorite â€Å"dynasty of isin† persists until ca. 1730 B. C. E. when Mesopotamia is united under Babylonian rule. Recapping my essay Gilgamesh is an epic about the ruler of uruk who went on a quest to find everlasting life but in the end Gilgamesh did not find everlasting life. His characteristics match that of an epic hero and the sumer civilization was one of the first civilizations to have all the essentials to be a civilization and the Sumerians were credited for inventing writing and law and wear a great civilization.