Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Human morality Essay

Morality has often been associated with the roles performed by the concept of nature and nurture in relation to the source of moral dispositions. It has been expressed that evolution has provided human beings preconditions of morality, yet it is solely during engagement with an individual’s culture that these preconditions are converted to pure morality. Evolution considers human beings as one of the animal species and thus it is not easy and simple to detach ourselves from the rest of the other biological species in terms of our morals and conducts (Crawford and Salmon, 2004). The concept of morality is thus not an essential part of being human, but its presence makes us adjust to our environments, as well as act in a rational way. Morality also allows human beings to care for other individuals, as well as experience the feeling of wanting something. More importantly, morality provides us an additional characteristic—to want to be decent individuals. There has been significant debate with regards to the implications of morality and that of the concept of evolution coined by Charles Darwin. It has been described in the history of Social Darwinism and the concept of eugenics that it is possible to choose which genes should further proliferation in the next generations and those genes that confer undesirable traits be left out to go extinct in the human race. This concept of eugenics has been attempted in eradicating future generations of criminals as well as sickly individuals that carry heritable medical disorders. Unfortunately, morality is also influenced by the concept of Social Darwinism, wherein there is huge misinterpretation of the theory of evolution, especially that of the concept of fitness. One major issue of misinterpretation is that the followers of Social Darwinism strongly equate the word good to the condition of being highly evolved. Hence any individuals that are not behaving in a lawful manner such as criminals are immediately classified as individuals that belong to a lower level in the taxonomy of human evolution. This concept should thus be revisited so that the term fitness be only associated with physical fitness of an organism as it evolves through time. It should also be known that the fitness of an organism is strongly influenced by an environment, wherein an organism that lives in a harsh environment learns to survive in cruel ecological conditions, and in the case of human beings, in poor social and environmental conditions. Moral dispositions among human beings evolve through the process of natural selection, hence the results of evolution are simply considered to be that of the selfish trait. It is generally accepted that the human brain is comprised of structures that have evolved to follow that â€Å"either-or† way of thinking, wherein the mind is put in a blank non-thinking conditions and the rest of the functions of the brain are at an innate condition. There are also some genetic misinterpretations with regards to human nature, wherein there is so much attention on the transmission of intelligence and other superb human capabilities that is known be better understood that there is also a concept of determinism wherein an individual carries this need to be compassionate to other individuals because they feel a certain peace and tranquility in their bodies, including the brain and the heart. Thus there is an interaction between the environmental and the genes of an individual, resulting in the personality of an individual to sacrifice his own benefits for the good of others. The concept of eugenics thus can not be fully applied to human morality because this concept is affected by multiple factors, mainly by the genetic makeup of the individual, as well as the environmental effects on the physiological brainwork of an individual. Thus, it is very simple for an individual to refrain from stealing even if he is aware that stealing will provide him a source of funds for himself. Reference Crawford C and Salmon C (eds. ). (2004): Evolutionary Psychology, Public Policy and Personal Decisions. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Marketing Strategies Essay

A.1) By using PESTEL analysis we can analyze the macro factors affecting KFC Political Factors: Political factors refer to the government policies such as degree of intervention in the economy. KFC is asked to tell the people safety and health guidelines, KFC is also asked to label the genetically modified food (GM food). It follows the Animal rights campaigns by the government. Economic Factors: These include taxation changes, interest rates, inflation and exchange rates, economic growth. Social Factors: Social factors can have effect on the firms availability of the products, demand of the products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In UK the population has been ageing. This change has affected the cost of the firms due to the pension payment to their old age employees because the firms is committed to the employees who work with the firm from a long cycle period. Some firms have started recruiting old age employees to balance the labor pool. The ageing population has also affected demand, for example the demand for medicines and sheltered accommodation has increased whereas the demand for toys and other young age products has fallen. Technological Factors: New technology brings up new products and new processes of production. MP3 players, high definition TV, online business are all new innovations created by technological advancements. Technology can reduce the cost, improve the quality and lead to innovation of new products. These technological advancements can benefit the consumer as well as the organization. Environmental Factors: Environmental factors include the change in climate and weather. The changes in the temperature can impact many organizations such as farming, tourism, and insurance, with major climate changed due to global warming and with more and more environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a big issue for the companies to consider. The desire of saving the natural resources and environment is having an impact on many industries such as tourism and transportation, for example more taxes are  being imposed on air travel and the success of hybrid cars. and the move towards more eco-friendly products and creating an issue in demand and making new business opportunities. Legal factors: This is related to the legal environment in which the business operates. In recent years the legal changes in UK has affected many firms. The introduction of new age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation, an increase in the minimum wage of the employees and greater requirement for a firm to recycle has affected organization. Such legal changes affect the cost of the organization

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Assignment Checklist Questions Essay

1. Did you adhere to the length requirement of the assignment? If not, reduce your words.Essay will not be accepted if it is more than 50 words beyond the max. The essay contains 1095 words. 2. Did you use MLA first-page format and do it properly? Did you check your first-page against the textbook example? Proper MLA first page format has been used. 3. Did you include a lead in at the start of your introduction? If you don’t know what this is, you are not ready to submit your assignment. The essay contains a captivating introduction. 4. Did you briefly and neutrally summarize both sides of the debate in your introduction and/or did you provide necessary background and then add a transitional sentence before your thesis? The other side of the debate has been briefly addressed. 5. Is your thesis the last sentence of the first paragraph, or do you have a good reason it is not? The thesis is the last statement of the intro para. 6. Did you include a parallel-structured essay map with your thesis sentence? The essay contains a parallel-structured essay map. 7. Have you used third person point of view throughout? Check and make sure you have not shifted into first person (I) or second person (you) without having a good reason. You can use a global search to double check. Third person is used. 8. Does each paragraph have a topic sentence (stated or implied) with at least two supporting points, details, and a conclusion? Each paragraph contains all necessary elements. 9. Did you use a transitional word, phrase or sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph? Did you use transitional words or phrases between sentences within paragraphs, as necessary? Transitions are used. 10. Did you follow all 18 instructions on page two and three of this assignment handout? All 18 instructions have been used. 11. Did you correctly follow the four-step research inclusion method we discussed for both paraphrases and quotations? The four steps are as follows: introduce, present according to MLA, credit your source parenthetically and discuss. Research inclusion methods are followed. 12. Did you check each use of research to determine whether you integrated it? Which integration methods did you use? Check each instance and report it here. Do not skip this step.I am asking if you integrated paraphrases and quotations into your own writing by using either (1) a snippet; (2) a colon; (3) the author, title, or both. Author, Colon and Snippet methods were used. Avoided the use of titled integration due to lengthy titles which made it choppy. 13. Did you make sure that no paragraph ends with a quotation? No paragraph ends with a quotation. 14. Did you check any titles you named in your essay against the handout I put on BB called Titles: Italics vs. Quotation Marks No titles are used. 15. Does your in-text citation properly match the corresponding Works Cited entry? Check this very carefully – remember the first word/first word formula. Proper match of citations. 16. Did you make sure to do your in-text and Works Cited entries correctly? Did you check each citation word for word and punctuation for punctuation against an example from our textbook or the MRU library handout or another reputable source? Make sure you checking against MLA, not APA. In text and works cited entries are correct. 17. Did you create a suggestive, emphatic conclusion rather than one in which you unnecessarily repeat the main supporting points? The conclusion is suggestive and emphatic. Jeremy Roberts Sharren Patterson GNED 1401 26 October 2014 The Importance of Teaching the Holocaust Inhumanity reached a point in the early 1940s that will be spoken about for years beyond our existence. The largest genocide of the 20th century, the Holocaust, was described by Samuel Totten as the â€Å"systematic, bureaucratic  annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators as a central act of state during World War II† (â€Å"A Note†). This significant event in history presents an ongoing discussion regarding its role within high school curriculums. The Holocaust’s profound nature is why numerous individuals avoid teaching the subject in school, despite its historical significance. Farnham states that even though there is â€Å"potential for direct pain and guilt from [teaching the Holocaust], the significance of the subject in human as well as in historical terms is such that the burden [of teaching the subject] must be endured† (â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust† 274). Even though the subject needs to be taught with great care due to its sensitive nature, high school history classes should include the Holocaust because it is a major event that helped shape the world we live in today. Including this act of genocide in curriculums will provide an accurate representation of history, an ethical framework for students, and a foundation for our future history. To better understand history, it is paramount that the most accurate and detailed information about the Holocaust is taught to students. By detailing how and why the event occurred, students will be given an opportunity to fully understand the pain and suffering individuals endured in Germany during this time period. â€Å"One of the values of Holocaust education, one hopes, is that it increases sensitivity to the suffering of others† (Farnham, â€Å"What is† 22). In addition to helping students empathize with the suffering, Holocaust education should also address the role politics and media played in organizing the massacre of millions of individuals. The views that led to this massacre were deeply embedded within the German culture and surrounding countries prior to the Holocaust. However, it was the radical leader, Adolf Hitler, who utilized politics, media, and technology to impose his â€Å"final solution.† The following statement from Totten emphasizes the importance of teaching how the genocide took place: [T]he education that students receive about the Holocaust has to be unique, powerful and bereft of perfunctory nature. . . . [The teachers] also need to appreciate and teach the fact that the persecution and extermination of the Jews . . . was bureaucratic in nature, and that modern technology was used to maximize the killing process. Most importantly, though, teachers and  students need to realize that the Jews were killed not for what they were or for what they practised or believed, but for the fact that they were; that, all Jews were to be exterminated simply because they existed. (â€Å"A Note†) Keeping such a significant event out of high school curriculums might increase the likelihood of misconceptions and stereotypes. Kitson states, there are many students who have misconceptions and stereotypes related to the Holocaust: all Germans are Nazis, the Jews were helpless victims and didn’t fight back, Jews living in Germany were not German, and all victims died in gas chambers (42). Providing accurate information to today’s youth about the Holocaust allows students the opportunity to eliminate misconceptions and understand the suffering that millions of individuals endured because of the tremendous influence and power that Adolph Hitler had. Broadening a student’s view of how and why the Holocaust occurred is just as important as outlining and understanding its unethical nature. Inclusion of this event in high school curriculum will help young students broaden their perspectives, and shape their moral foundation. Farnham asserts this point by stating, â€Å"[t]his is a moral function, for being able to imagine the effect of one’s contemplated deed on another person is necessary to any moral or ethical judgment one might make of a proposed act† (â€Å"What is† 22). Teaching the Holocaust, in combination with using our imagination, allows us to think of the conditions of the victims, and, in turn, increases our empathy towards them (Farnham, â€Å"What is† 22). The subject’s controversial nature will provide the type of engaging context that students require to think critically about the effects of their decisions. In addition, this subject provides context for individuals to examine the â€Å"use and abuse of power, and the role and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and nations when confronted with civil rights violations and/or policies of genocide† (Totten, â€Å"A Note†). In-depth analysis of the Holocaust’s unethical nature will allow students to form and further strengthen their moral and ethical principles to which they hold themselves accountable in decision making. The development of students’ moral and ethical framework is not only vital to their future actions and decisions, but also the future of humanity.  Through the teaching of the Holocaust, today’s youth are given an example of one of the very worst acts of inhumanity. Students will learn that it was not only Germany who was responsible. Numerous countries refused to accept Jewish refugees, and, in doing so, were partly responsible for the events that took place. Totten provides graphic insight towards the inactivity of surrounding nations when he explains, â€Å"Germany alone is not to blame. If Hitler turned Europe into a pressure cooker for the Jews, then much of the free world helped to seal it by refusing to accept Jewish refugees† (â€Å"A Note†). By detailing this fact, students are made aware of the â€Å"danger of staying silent, apathetic and indifferent in the face of others’ oppression† (Totten, â€Å"A Note†). Students will understand how important it is to maintain their values and have the confidence to actually stand up against what they believe is right or wrong. Teaching the Holocaust will allow us to help guide our future generations to make morally sound decisions. There are very few events throughout the course of history which contain such a breadth of material. Learning about the Holocaust can be a transformative experience for students because it engages them to consider numerous elements, including, human rights, morals and ethics, and political injustice. It is for this reason that the Holocaust should not only be taught in high school, but should also be considered as one of the main topics for history classes. Although teaching the topic would not guarantee a world free of injustices or inhumane acts, the implementation of Holocaust into high school curriculums would be a way for the current educated population to help guide future generations towards a better society and a future history that everyone can be proud of. Works Cited Farnham, James F. â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust: A Rationale for Dealing with the Absurd.† The Journal of General Education 33.4 (1982): 273-283. Penn State University Press. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Farnham, James F. â€Å"What is the Value of Teaching the Holocaust?† The Journal of General Education 41 (1992): 18-22. Penn State University Press. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Kitson, Alison. â€Å"Challenging Stereotypes and Avoiding the Superficial: A Suggested Approach to Teaching the Holocaust.† Teaching History. 104 (2001): 41-8. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Totten, Samuel. â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust: The Imperative to Move Beyond Cliches.† Canadian Social Studies 33.3 (1999): 84-7. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Totten, Samuel. â€Å"A Note: Why Teach about the Holocaust?† Canadian Social Studies 31.4 (1997): 176-178. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Completing a threat assessment of ANSAR DINE. This entity poses a Essay

Completing a threat assessment of ANSAR DINE. This entity poses a threat to the United States in some way - Essay Example It is advisable that the US government should take this matter into serious consideration due to the fact that being an integrated part of ‘al-Qaeda’ it might raise threat against the interest of the US in the long run. One of such instances regarding this context includes the destruction of the ‘United Nations declared Heritage Sites’ in the area of Timbuktu, by Ansar Dine. This incident has raised severe levels of concerns for both the US as well as the security interests of the world along with bringing forward certain cases of humanitarian crisis2. Furthermore, the killing of ‘Osama bin laden’ (the leader of al-Qaeda) has further intensified the quest of this terrorist organization in the context of jeopardizing the western interests. Before the attack on the ‘World Trade Centre’ also known as (the attack of 9/11), the US government took the activities of this Islamic fundamentalist group in a casual manner. However, the attack of 9/11 completely changed the attitude of the US government towards this terrorist affiliate organization. The current fear of the US government is regarding the driving of the Ansar Dine militants into the ungoverned areas of the Sahara desert by the French army. The reason being, those ungoverned desert areas within Northern Mali can act as a settlement area for the al-Qaeda affiliates such as Ansar Dine3 This in turn has further increased the intensity of threat from this group both from the domestic as well as international perspective. This is due to the fact that Norther n Mali is a deserted border location within West Africa. Due to the geographical location of Mali, it will be easy for this Islamic fundamentalist group to easily smuggle funds, illegal machineries along with weapons from not only other states but also from the neighboring nations thereby increasing the threat intensity of the terrorist

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Political, Social, and Economic Issues in the US between 1795 and 1840 Essay

Political, Social, and Economic Issues in the US between 1795 and 1840 - Essay Example On the political front, Rip could probably be satisfied to learn that George Washington had successfully commanded American forces into victory against attempted invasion. Besides, it could have been a big surprise for Rip to learn that America and Britain were once more working on a common interest to end slave trade after Wilberforce’s arguments gained public support. A planter in South Carolina would be more politically conscious and explain to Rip the strides made since 1795. For instance, Rip would have been informed that South Carolina was very open minded in issues dealing with human rights. He would be informed that slaves were allowed to buy their freedom before the Act that abolished slave trade came into force (White, 17). He would also learn that South Carolina as one of the first thirteen states that formed the federation, had remained committed to political development and had in fact voted for the abolition of slave trade. The British occupation of larger part o f Midwest and the burning of Washington would probably not go unmentioned too. Moreover, Rip would be surprised to tour states like Ohio, Illinois and be informed about the intense economic development in industries. He would probably learn that the economic rivalry between Ohio and Illinois in agricultural products had seen the Old North West farmers make huge efforts toward achieving of their aims. As an agriculturalist, he would also surprise Rip with Monroe’s obsession with production and the subsequent selling of Virginia. PART B The Presidential election of 1800 had been regarded as the revolution of 1800, a transition that saw Vice President Thomas Jefferson beat the President John Adams. The elections were majorly seen as a battle... The Presidential election of 1800 had been regarded as the revolution of 1800, a transition that saw Vice President Thomas Jefferson beat the President John Adams. The elections were majorly seen as a battle for ideology in which the pro-French president lost in favor of the pro-decentralization: Jefferson. The issue of concern was probably on the political direction that the people wanted versus the direction the president wanted. This conflict of interest exposed constitutional flaws with regard to a tie in results. Aaron Burr’s and Jefferson’s candidacy had to be decided by the House of Representatives which eventually elected Jefferson. On a different front, the presidential election of 1924 also came in with challenges given that no candidate acquired the required majority of the electoral vote, prompting the House of representative to vote a presidential candidate. Ironically, the candidate who had acquired majority of Electoral College votes was not the one voted by the House of Representatives. Rationale for determining who goes into the House of Representatives became so difficult to the extent that the top three candidates with majority votes were accepted into the House of Representatives. Both cases were indicators of different vested interest in party politics in the US that is occasionally characterized by propaganda. Politics in the United States has come a long way to achieve democracy that the federation not only enjoys but also offer to the world so freely.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The Europe history after 1st world war Research Paper

The Europe history after 1st world war - Research Paper Example During the 20th century there was sporadic social, cultural and economic change in Europe due to the industrial revolution that started in Britain during the 18th century and later spread to the whole world.The 2 world wars and a great economic depression controlled most of the first quarter of the 20th century2. The First World War was fought for 4 years, from the year 1914 to 1918. The war was fought between the entente powers that included the Belgium, France, Russia, Britain, Greece, Italy, Romania, and the United States of America against the Central powers which comprised of countries such as Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, and Hungary3. The war claimed the lives of over 15 million civilians and military men. It is estimated that over 59 million military men were called to service during the war. Later on the great revolution in Russia destroyed the Transits Monarchy and replaced it with the Soviet Union. Additionally, the Ottoman Empire broke up forming separate nations and most of these nations had their boundaries re-drawn4. A treaty was written, known as the Treaty of Versailles. It marked the end of World War 1, but was harsh on the Germans, blaming them for the full responsibility of the war, hence imposed heavy sanctions on the country. High depts. Incurred in the First World War and loans given Germany caused great economic instability and havoc within Europe between the years 1920 to 1930. In the Soviet Union, people were dying of famine that had partly been contributed by Stalin’s regime. At the end of the 1st World War, the German economy suffered and this is because of the harsh conditions that were placed on it, by the treaty of Versailles, whose intention was to end the First World War. Hitler got into power in the year 1933, and begun his great campaign of building a great Germany. In the year 1929, the crash of Wall Street brought about the great depression that was experienced worldwide. Aided by elements such as

Friday, July 26, 2019

Alternatives to both criminal and civil court actions in Scotland Essay

Alternatives to both criminal and civil court actions in Scotland - Essay Example Look at the Asylum and the Immigration laws; both are applicable in the whole territory of England (Miller, Richard & Sarat 1980, p. 531). The Employment Tribunals in England have the same jurisdiction as the other courts. Such tribunals are functional within the territory of Northern Ireland. In addition, Military Courts are operating as independent courts in the United Kingdom to deal with the issues of military offences. In Scotland, the Supreme Court is restricted to hear civil cases, appeals of Scottish cases and to determine the violation of human rights (Newburn 2007, p. 159). Courts and the Legal System of Scotland In every democratic state, modern legal framework reflects the confidence of its citizens, which protects them from unfair treatment of State, business entities and people in all fields of life (Miller, Richard & Sarat 1980, p. 534). The legal system of Scotland is based upon its strong traditional values and fairness. With the passage of time, the norms of society have changed radically over the last two decades. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to introduce modern legal institutions, which have the capability and the capacity to deliver in line with the requirement of modern legal framework of justice besides retaining its traditional values (Galanter & Cahill 1994, p. 1339). ... Initially, the procurator conducts preliminary investigations about the issues highlighted in criminal cases and obtains written statements of the witnesses as important ingredients for the prosecution. The procurator may seek assistance of the police to complete investigation where need arises. However, in murder cases, the police officers complete the investigation without involving procurator (Galanter 1985, p. 16). According to High Court procedure, once a person is found guilty of an offence and remanded in custody, he becomes the responsibility of the Crown to bring the case of accused for a preliminary hearing within the specified time. Under the mentioned set up, defendant and petitioner have no right to take a decision on whether to try him by jury or on the summary of procurator. The Criminal Justice Act 1987 delegated power to procurator to offer determinable penalties instead of prosecution. Initially, the maximum amount of penalty was GBP 25, which later on increased to GBP 300 in phases (Bottomley & Bronitt 2012, p. 183). The curator can issue warning, impose penalties, award compensation to the aggrieved party, provide counselling to psychological patients and give them treatment according to the advice of psychiatrist. A fiscal procurator is a part of Court of Lord Lyon. The court in question hears the cases of criminal and civil law. The cited Court is unique in terms of Scottish culture. The court under reference plays a pivotal role regarding to the clan system. If any of the rules related to coat of arms are not adhered, the procurator as an independent official of the court may decide to initiate criminal proceedings against the defaulter (Galanter & Cahill 1994, p. 1345). Judicial

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Organ donation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Organ donation - Essay Example The practice could also become socially destabilizing in that consideration of money to be gained by a person’s family after their death might encourage the altruistic person to refuse lifesaving or preserving medical treatment. With the growth of medical technology such as organ transplants [and donations] other ethical questions have evolved. Some revolve around the medical necessities involved in gleaning organs from a person who may be brain dead but not dead by technical definition. According to â€Å"...current laws it is generally necessary for these [certain] organs to be removed from a heart-beating donor† (Caplan and Coelho 27). Also, recent discussions regarding expanding â€Å"fundamental changes in the permissible limits of organ procurement† (Caplan and Coehlo 30) reinforce a Frankenstein image that does not sit well with many potential donors. Some religions, such as Shinto, also frown on organ donation for the very specific reason that the body of the deceased person must remain in tact upon cremation. No amount of medical rationalizing is likely to change long standing religious

Compare one type of contraception known as Depo-Provera and the Essay

Compare one type of contraception known as Depo-Provera and the biological mechanisms that it uses to different types of contraception and the mechanisms that t - Essay Example Each ml of Depo-Provera contains 150 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate. The chemical name of medroxyprogesterone acetate is pregn-4-ene-3, 20-dione, 17- (acetyyloxy)-6- methyl-, (6 alpha)-. The serum half-life of the drug is 50 days. Following a single dose of 150 mg given intramuscularly, the peak plasma levels of 1-7 ng/ml are attained at 3 weeks. After this peak, the levels gradually decrease between 120-200 days following injection. The effect of liver or renal diseases on the pharmacokinetics of the drug is unknown. It decreases plasma levels of cortisol, estrogen, pregnendiol, progesterone and testesterone. It also decreases levels of gonadotrophins and sex-hormone binding globulin (Drug Label, Depo-Provera). The only indication for the use of this drug is contraception. It is an effective contraceptive with less than 1 pregnancy per 100 users per year (Population Reports, BNET Research). It can also be used in the treatment of endometriosis, abnormal menstrual bleeding or amenorrhea (Chrousos, p.663). Like other progestins, medroxyprogesterone acetate enters the cell and binds to progesterone receptors that are distributed between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. The ligand-receptor complex then binds to a progesterone response element to activate gene transcription (Chrousos, p.663). It prevents follicular maturation and ovulation and causes endometrial thinning. These actions produce the contraceptive effect (Drug Label, Depo-Provera). DMPA is contraindicated in pregnant women. This is because there is some evidence suggesting the development of genital abnormalities in fetuses exposed to this drug in the first trimester. Also, studies have shown that the babies may have low birth weight which can increase the risk of neonatal complications. Though the metabolites of DMPA are secreted in breast milk, no apparent hazard to the feeding baby is known. Other contraindications include vaginal bleeding of unknown

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Evaluating Design Choice and Threats to Validity in an Experimental Coursework

Evaluating Design Choice and Threats to Validity in an Experimental Design - Coursework Example er had selected the quasi design because the research was taking the shape of an experimental research that was going to involve an educational experimentation on the impact of a 2-tier curriculum on the academic performance of students. In quasi design, the most outstanding difference that is observed from other forms of designs is in the selection of respondents because quasi design lacks the fundamental ingredients of random assignment of respondents (Wade et al, 2009). The quasi design was selected based on a number of factors. The first has to do with the fact that the researcher was undertaking an educational experiment and thought that the quasi design was going to ensure accessibility to respondents since there was going to be a very large population to deal with. It has been noted that in situations were there are large populations for the researcher to deal with; working with quasi design reduces the total amount of work that the researcher has to do in a random sampling pr ocedure. Therefore, it was easier for the present researcher to select just a class and use the register system to select the sample size. Another reason behind the author’s rationale for quasi design was in the fact that the quasi design presented itself with the opportunity to undertake individual case studies whiles addressing the original research problem. Such integrated case studies were necessary in testing the variables to the latter. Finally, quasi generally aided in the reduction of overall time and resource needed to complete the research (Broadwings, 2009). This was an important rationale because the researcher was undertaking an academic research that was time bound. Having selected the quasi design, the researcher outlined a number of validities of the research. The first type of validity presented was in the background of the respondents, all of who the researcher noted was having the same educational background and so had an equal chance of meeting the variables set.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Current Events Journal 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Events Journal 3 - Essay Example The Federal government has also contemplated this issue. Many Republican congressmen would go as far as to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. An article by Steve LeBlanc that appeared recently in the Boston Globe examined this issue. An important concept of the Constitution provides that those of a minority opinion cannot have their rights as Americans taken away by those that subscribe to the current majority opinion. Thus, a vote should not determine whether or not gays should be able to marry. Opponents to gay marriage argue that democracy is based on the will of the people thus the decision should be in the hands of the voters. They also say that a judge should not be able to abolish centuries of tradition with no consideration of majority opinion. Being gay is a choice and therefore their civil rights are not being violated and they are not experiencing discrimination. By contrast, a person of minority heritage, women and the disabled do not have a choice. A letter was issued to Massachusetts lawmakers from 165 prominent business and civic leaders asking that legislators frame the gay marriage issue as a civil rights concern when debating the question of amending the State’s Constitution. The letter read, in part, â€Å"†¦we should not write discrimination into the Constitution and oppose efforts to amend the Constitution that would take away rights, including the right of gay and lesbian citizens to marry.† Another letter, released by the four Catholic bishops in the state supported a gay marriage ban amendment. â€Å"The debate over the meaning of marriage should not be limited to government officials since the magnitude of the issue calls for the full participation of the public. Neither the judiciary nor the legislature should substitute itself for the sovereignty of the people, especially on such a foundational matter as the meaning of marriage.† The

Monday, July 22, 2019

Customer Satisfaction Of Airtel & Grameenphone Essay Example for Free

Customer Satisfaction Of Airtel Grameenphone Essay 1. Introduction The introduction of the telecommunication sector has been pretty late in Bangladesh compared to that of the neighboring countries. The mobile telecommunication service has been doubling on an annual basis over the last two or three years. Now-a-days there are six mobile phone operators in the country with Grameen phone, Robi, Teletalk, Banglalink, Airtel and Citycell. They are offering different new package and offers different value added services to satisfy the customers ‘demands. Customer satisfaction is a fundamental marketing construct in the last three decades. In the past, it was unpopular and unaccepted concept because companies thought it was more important to gain new customers than retain the existing ones. However, in this present decade, companies have gained better understanding of the importance of customer satisfaction (especially service producing companies) and adopted it as a high priority operational goal. Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals. People in Bangladesh are becoming busy day by day and more professional than previous. They need to share more information to each other because demography has changed due to the era of globalization. Mobile phone has introduced a tremendous change in the communication sector in our country. It has changed the communication structure also. People in various occupations and income levels are using mobile phone intensively for their occupational purpose and personal purpose as well. 1.1 Basic information The telecom sector of Bangladesh began its journey with land phone. Then SEBA was the first company to bring cellular telephone services. The telecom sector has completely changed both in terms of coverage and efficiency of services. Cellular telephone services have achieved great commercial success. For most firms, the preeminent goal is to maximize the value of the  firm for its owners or shareholders. Increasing competition (whether for-profit or nonprofit) is forcing businesses to pay much more attention to satisfy customers. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables, which correlate with satisfaction behaviors. For this majority of the firms is trying to be a customer-oriented, customer- focused, or even-customer driven enterprise. Airtel is one of the late movers in telecommunication sector of Bangladesh. And like all other telecom companies, it is trying hard to penetrate the market and get a hold of significant market share t hrough their valued customers. 1.2 Background information Airtel Bangladesh Ltd. is a GSM-based cellular operator in Bangladesh.Airtel is the sixth mobile phone carrier to enter the Bangladesh market, andoriginally launched commercial operations under the brand name WaridTelecom on May 10, 2007. Warid Telecom International LLC, an Abu Dhabi basedconsortium, sold a majority 70% stake in the company to Indias Bharti AirtelLimited for US$300 million. Bharti Airtel Limited took management control of thecompany and its board, and rebranded the companys services under its ownAirtel brand from December 20, 2010. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission approved the deal on Jan 4, 2010. Grameenphone widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 46.04 million subscribers (as of September 2013), Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone operator in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the interna tionally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 55.8% shares of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held. Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh. It also established the first 24-hour Call Center to support its subscribers. With the slogan Go Beyond, Grameenphone promises its customers to bring the best of communication technologies so that they can Go Beyond. 1.3 Objective of the report The objective of the report is divided into two parts. They are specific and  broad objectives. The specific and broad objective of this report is given below: 1. Broad Objective: The broad objective of this report is to find out the customer satisfaction level of Airtel Grameenphone customers. 2. Specific Objectives: The specific objectives will be To find out specific areas of satisfaction of Airtel Grameenphone users To figure out specific areas of dissatisfaction of Airtel Grameenphone users To know the overall satisfaction level of the customers To figure out possible improvement sectors to reduce dissatisfaction To know the better service provider between this two companies 1.4 Literature Review Airtel is the 6th mobile phone carrier to enter the Bangladesh market and launched commercial operation on May 10, 2007. Indias bharti Airtel limited bought 70% share of Warid telecom international. This is the largest investment in Bangladesh made by an Indian company. Airtel offers both prepaid and postpaid connections with lots of diversified packages to its customers. It also offers massive value added services to its subscribers. Below is a description of timeline of Warid Telecom in Bangladesh, Bharti Airtel and its taking over Warid: In December 2005, Warid Telecom International paid US$ 50 million to obtain a GSM license from the BTRC and became the sixth mobile phone operator in Bangladesh. In a press conference on August 17, 2006, Warid announced that its network would be activated two months ahead of schedule, in October, 2006. Again in October, 2006 Warid Telecom put off the launch of its cell phone services in Bangladesh until April, 2007 after its major supplier Nokia w alked out on an agreement over a payment dispute. Warid had a soft launch at the end of January 2007. It gave away complimentary subscriptions among a selected group of individuals, whose job was to make test calls and the operator adjusted its networks quality based on their comments. On May 9, 2007, Warid in an advertisement in some daily newspaper stated that it would be launching publicly on May 10, 2007. However, no call rate or any package details were revealed. The advertisement included an announcement for the people interested to buy Warid connections to bring the documents like ID card, etc., to the  designated franchise and customer care centers. On October 1, 2007, Warid Telecom expanded its network to five more districts raising total number of districts under Warid coverage to 56, said a press release. Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Rajbari and Narail towns were covered by Warid network. On November 10, 2007, 61 districts under Warid network coverage. On June 10, 2008, Warid Telecom expanded its network to 3 more districts Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati. Now all 64 districts of Bangladesh are under Warid network coverage meaning Warid Telecom now has nationwide coverage. On December 20, 2010, Warid Telecom was rebranded to Airtel. Bharti Airtel Limited is commonly known as Airtel. It is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the third largest telecom operator in the world with over 243.336 million customers across 20 countries as of March 2012. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 181 million subscribers at the end of March 2012. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand, and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. Airtel is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource all of its business operations except marketing, sales and finance. Its network—base stations, microwave links, etc.—is maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei, and business support is provided by IBM, and transmission towers are maintained by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India). Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front, which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates. Bharti Airtel began its journey in Bangladesh in December 2010 when it acquired 70 percent stock  of Warid Telecom of Abu Dhabi Group. So, it can be said that Airtel Bangladesh has just completed its maiden year in the country. And within this period of time, the operator has also created a vast job opportunity in diverse segments of the organization and as of August 2013, Airtel Bangladesh has 7.97 million subscribers with 7.3% of market share. Before Grameenphone’s inception, the phone was for a selected urbanized few. The cell phone was a luxury: a flouting accessory for the select elite.The mass could not contemplate mobile telephony as being part of their lives. Grameenphone started its journey with the Village Phone program: a pioneering initiative to empower rural women of Bangl adesh. The name Grameenphone translates to â€Å"Rural phone†. Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh, Grameenphone has come a long way. Grameenphone pioneered the then breakthrough initiative of mobile to mobile telephony and became the first and only operator to cover 98% of the country’s people with network The idea of providing universal mobile phone access throughout Bangladesh, including its rural areas, was originally conceived by Iqbal Quadir, who is currently the founder and director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT. He was inspired by the Grameen Bank microcredit model and envisioned a business model where a cell phone can serve as a source of income. After leaving his job as an investment banker in the United States, Quadir traveled back to Bangladesh, after meeting and successfully raising money from New York based investor and philanthropist Joshua Mailman, and worked for three years gaining s upport from various organizations including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank and the Norwegian telephone company, Telenor. He was finally successful in forming a consortium with Telenor and Grameen Bank to establish Grameenphone. Quadir remained a shareholder of Grameenphone until 2004. Grameenphone received a license for cellular phone operation in Bangladesh from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on November 28, 1996. Grameenphone started operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day in Bangladesh. Grameenphone originally offered a mobile-to-mobile connectivity (widely known as GP-GP connection), which created a lot of enthusiasm among the users. It became the first operator to reach the million subscriber milestone as well as ten million subscriber milestone in Bangladesh. Since its inception Grameenphone has built the  largest cellular network in the country with over 8500 base stations . Presently, nearly 99 percent of the countrys population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone has always been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in t he local telecom market. GP was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it launched its services in March 1997. Grameenphone was also the first telecommunication operator in Bangladesh to introduce the pre-paid service in September 1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced value-added services such as VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, WAP, SMS-based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and many other products and services. In October 2013 the company launched 3G services commercially. The entire Grameenphone network is 3G/EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to high-speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area. There are currently over 7 million 3G/EDGE/GPRS users in the Grameenphone network. Today, Grameenphone is the leading and largest telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh with more than 47.64 million subscribers as of January 2014. Grameenphone has so far invested more than BDT 24,300 crore to build the network infrastructure Grameenphone is one of the largest taxpayers in the country, having contributed more than BDT 35,500 crore in direct and indirect taxes to the Government Exchequer over the years. There are now more than 1600 GP Service Desks across the country covering nearly all upazilas of all districts and 94 Grameenphone Centers in all the divisional cities Grameenphone has about 5000 full and temporary employees. 300,000 people are directly dependent on Grameenphone for their livelihood, working for the Grameenphone dealers, retailers, scratch card outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and others. In this report we tried to discuss the comparative analysis of Airtel 7 Grameenphone over the customers. 2. Research Method 2.1 Data sources †¢ There are two types of data sources are used to obtain the required information. 2.1.1 Primary Data †¢ Direct interview though a survey questionnaire 2.1.2 Secondary data †¢ Commercial websites of Airtel Grameenphone †¢ Online articles on telecommunication sector †¢ Previously conducted research papers on different issues of telecommunication Company‟s magazines, brochures, etc. 2.2. Method of collecting data 2.2.1 Selecting Sample The population of this study are customers of Airtel Bangladesh Grameenphone and we took interview 120 person of different age group in our study. We targeted different people from different age group. The target population were divided among following age groups- 18-30 years 60 30-50 years 30 50-70 years 20 70- above years – 10 2.2.2 Procedure of data collection After determining the target population and sampling frame we were looking forward to conduct the survey for collecting the information. As our extent of the target population was preplanned and structured, therefore, we did not have any trouble to collect the information from the fieldwork. Whenever we found a student who was sitting idle or gossiping with their friends we went to them, cordially introduced ourselves and asked them whether they were using airtel or GP. After receiving a positive response, we provided a questionnaire form and asked them to participate in the survey. Fortunately, no one denied participating in the survey because it did not take more than four minutes to finish. Moreover, every respondent was looking enthusiastic in taking part and some of them were very cooperative and supportive. They also assisted us to find out active airtel GP users. By this way, we collected data from 100 respondents. Rest 20 set of questionnaires were given to my friends and th e neighbors who were the Airtel or GP users. 2.2.3 Method of analyzing data After completing the research survey, we started the data preparation for the project. As soon as we received the questionnaires from the field I kept all the information in Microsoft Excel program. Since, this is a descriptive  research and the data analysis should be done quantitatively. For this reason, we used MS Excel software because we have enough insights of using this program. In the beginning portion of the questionnaire, there were some general questions to aware of the some information about the respondents, for instances, gender, age, duration of the network age and some direct question related to their usage pattern. This information is analyzed collectively rather than individually. Here, no statistical tools have been used. The next section of the questionnaire contains 13 statements. Each of the statements has been arranged in such a way which is directly related to the customer satisfaction factors. 2.3 Limitations of the study The survey is subjected to the bias and prejudices of the respondents. Hence 100% accuracy can’t be assured. The researcher was carried out in a short span of time, where in the researcher could not widen the study. The study could not be generalized due to the fact that researcher adapted personal interview method. It is so difficult to survey questionnaire among target samples. 3. Result Discussions: Findings 3.1. Findings on respondents’ analysis The general analysis of the 120 samples is presented in this section. The main objective of the respondents‟ analysis is to get the overview about respondents. Here, respondent‟s gender, age limit, duration of their network, and usage pattern, etc. have been discussed briefly. There is no statistical tool used to analysis the respondent’s overview because this information will not affect directly to the customer satisfaction factors. For collecting data from the field, the research survey has been conducted among 80 male and 40 female users of airtel GP users. Thus, the ratio of male user is 60% and the ratio of female user is 40%. We have conducted the research on 18-30 years 60 30-50 years 30 50-70 years 20 70- above years 10 From this scenario, it can be said that most of the airtel is more polular in  urban areas in young generation. There were also two direct questions asked to the respondents to know the reason of using Airtel and to know which of the value added services are used by the respondents. Research findings show that 40% of the respondents use airtel only for the lower cost. 20% of the respondents use airtel for the highest FnF benefits. 10% of the respondents said they are using airtel for low on-net tariffs. 30% of the respondents use GP for network, voice quality and for the brand image. 3.2 Findings on questionnaire analysis 1. How many sim do you use? Most of the respondents use 1 sim. Rest others use 2 sims for various purposes. 2. Which company’s sim you are using now? Most of the respondents use Airtel. Those who use 2 sims, they have Grameenphone, teletalk, Robi Banglalink sim. 3. What is the reason behind of your choice? Most of the Airtel users use Airtel for the lower call rate. Grameenphone users use it for better network service. 4. Who is following better business strategy? Most of the Airtel users think Airtel is following better business strategy at this moment to attract new young generation. Grameenphone users think GP should obtain more attractive business strategy to retain the existing customers as well as draw interest to new customers. 5. Who provides more facility for their customers? In this question, most of them think Grameenphone is providing more facilities to its customers. With their network, service customer care outlet around the country Grameenphone is far better than Airtel. 6. Who is more responsible for social welfare?  Most of the respondents expressed that being the most popular largest telecom company, Grameenphone is contributing more for social welfare of Bangladesh. 7. Call Rate  Most of the respondents are satisfied with the call rate of Airtel. Few of them think it is moderate. On the other hand, most of the respondents think call rate of Grameenphone is highly expensive. They are dissatisfied with this. 8. Service.  In service issue, most of the respondents feel moderate with the Airtel service but Grameenphone have many satisfied clients in this regard. 9. Network.  In network issue, Airtel has dissatisfied customers. The respondents are not satisfied at all with the striggling network of Airtel. On the other hand Grameenphone is reigning the telecom scenario with their operative network. 10. Bonus Offer.  The respondents are satisfied with the endless bonus offers of Airtel. Most of them are agreed with that. Contrariwise Grameenphone’s bonus offers are not so much satisfactory to its clients. 11. Bundle Offer.  Most of the respondents are satisfied with the bundle offers of Airtel. A small number of them are moderate with that. Inversely the bundle offers of Grameenphone are dissatisfactory to its clients. 12. Which company’s sim you will suggest for using to your friends? 60% of the respondents told that they will suggest Airtel sim to their friends. Rest of them stated that they will recommend Grameenphone to their friends. 3.3 Best According to Customers 3.4 Reasons of the First Choice: Grameenphone 3.5 Reasons of the First Choice: Airtel 3.6 Competitive Advantage of Grameenphone Airtel 3.7 Customers Recommendations In the respondent‟s opinion and suggestion section, 12 respondents did not put any opinion. However, rest 108 of the respondents shared their valuable opinion regarding Airtel Grameenphone services and those are given below accordingly: Most of the respondents suggested Airtel to upgrade its network coverage as soon as possible. The also suggested Grameenphone to reduce the  call rate. Some respondents also suggested to: Stop sending unwanted SMS Reduce VAS tariffs Increase the validity for bonus talk time Offer attractive handset bundle package

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Importance Of A Electrocardiogram

The Importance Of A Electrocardiogram An electrocardiogram is an important part of the initial evaluation of a patient who is suspected to have a heart related problem. There are 12 small sticky electrodes that applied to the patients chest, arms and legs. However, with some systems, the electrodes may be applied to the chest, shoulders and the sides of the lower chest, or hips. The wires are used to connect the patient to the electrocardiogram machine. The patient will be asked to remain very still while a nurse or technician records the EKG. The electrical activity created by the patients heart is processed by the EKG machine and then printed on a special graph paper. This is then interpreted by your physician. It takes a few minutes to apply the EKG electrodes, and one minute to make the actual recording. The EKG is extremely safe and there is no risk involved. In rare cases, some people may develop skin irritation from the electrode adhesive, but no serious allergic reactions have been reported. The EKG can provide i mportant information about the patients heart rhythm, a previous heart attack, increased thickness of heart muscle, and signs of decreased oxygen delivery to the heart, and problems with conduction of the electrical current from one portion of the heart to another. What Is EKG? The basic importance of electrocardiogram are diagnosing irregularities in the heart, record changes in the heart, and establish baseline for other EKG by using the electrocardiogram machine. An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a quick, painless test that records the electrical activity of the heart. It may be taken at rest or during exercise. It is the standard clinical tool for diagnosing arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms) and to check if your heart is getting enough blood or if areas of your heart are abnormally thick. Small patches called electrodes are placed on different parts of the body. Different tracings of the hearts electrical activity can be made and permanently recorded on paper or in a computer. Three major waves of electric signals appear on the ECG. Each one shows a different part of the heartbeat. The P wave records the electrical activity of the atria. The QRS wave records the electrical activity of the ventricles, and the T wave records the hearts return to the resti ng state. Doctors study the shape and size of the waves, the time between waves and the rate and regularity of beating. Importance of Electrocardiogram There are many importance of EKG but these are the main importance, diagnose irregularities in the heart, record changes in the heart, and establish baseline for other electrocardiogram. Diagnose irregularities in the heart means to provide what need to be done in the heart. It is important to know because there are different types of importance that need to be done in order to know the right heart record during the electrocardiogram testing. Some patient base on their history because a lot of their familys having failure heart problem too. This means that they need more exercise and eat more good meals. Arrhythmias may be seen on 12- leads ECGs strips of one more leads. This means that everything is required for the EKG test. It also improves the patient development because the doctor may tell the patient what is right or wrong. Condition Determined by EKG The condition determined by electrocardiogram are previous heart attack, Heart blocked, Enlarged heart muscle, Rhythm disturbances. It takes a few minutes to apply the EKG electrodes, and one minute to make the actual recording. The EKG is extremely safe and there is no risk involved. In rare cases, some people may develop skin irritation from the electrode adhesive, but no serious allergic reactions have been reported. The EKG can provide important information about the patients heart rhythm, a previous heart attack, increased thickness of heart muscle, and signs of decreased oxygen delivery to the heart, and problems with conduction of the electrical current from one portion of the heart to another. Most of the Electrocardiogram physician and basically the one who help other people that has complaining about slow heart beat, fast heart beat, irregular heart beat or any symptom that they may encountered whatever they doing. It is very important to see the physician right away for ch eck up before the heart beat will become severe problem and this will cause them to death. Junctional Tachycardia Junctional Tachycardia is believed to be caused by enhanced automaticity and is commonly the result of digitalis toxicity (Shade Wesley, 2005). Another cause includes myocardial ischemia or infraction. It can also occur at the any age without a patient history of underlying heart disease. The patient will also complain to palpitations, nervousness, anxiety, vertigo, and syncope frequently accompany with dysrhythmia. When the patient get junctional tachycardia they may also sustained with rapid ventricular rates and retrograde depolarization in their atria because the ventricular filling is not as complete during diastole, leading to compromised cardiac output and the patient may occur heart disease. The rate of the person who has junctional tachycardia is 100 to v180v beats per minute and de P waves inverted may immediately precede, occur during the absent or follow the QRS complex (Shade Wesley, 2005). Myocardial Infraction Myocardial infarction is the death of injured myocardial cells. This may occur when the person has a sudden decrease or total cessation of blood flow through the coronary artery. It is also commonly occurs when the intimacy of a coronary artery ruptures, exposing the atherosclerotic plaque to the blood within the artery. The area of the heart normally supplied by the blocked artery goes through a characteristic sequence of events describe as zones of ischemia, injury and infraction. There are also three key EKG indicators of myocardial ischemia, injury, and infarction; they are changes in the T wave, changes in the ST segment, and Enlarged Q waves or appearance of new Q waves. This means that means that anyone of this changes maybe present without anyone of the others. Placing leads on the client and setting machine control This are the steps they physician need to do before hooking up the EKG leads and electrodes to the patient. First wash hands, assemble the equipment like the EKG machine with electrodes, electrodes pad, alcohol wipes or skin cleansing agent, bath and blanket or sheet, and the patient grown. The physicians need also to identify the patient to make sure they have the right patient. Explain what you are doing, and reassure patient that this procedure is painless but the electrodes are sticky and its little bit cold and the patient need to avoid applying lotion before the test. Position the patient on bed or treatment table in a supine position with are relaxed beside their body. Covers the patient with a blanket leaving the arms and legs exposed to provide privacy. Wipe the skin with a cleansing agent to remove oils, scaly skin, or perspiration and the physician are now ready to apply the 12 electrodes. The patient needs to arrive 15 minutes before the test. There is no pain during the test and the result of the test will send it to your doctor and they will share the result with the patient in 2 weeks. There are 12 leads that will be place in the the body which is the arm, legs, and chest. What is Pacemaker? An electronic pacemaker is a small device use to control the heart rhythm. The Pacemaker electrical device use to prompt the pulses of the irregular heartbeat to a normal heartbeat. Pacemaker is people who have bradycardia. Cardiac pacing is a recognized and widely used treatment for patients presenting with bradycardia. Physicians expect patients to return to normal activities almost immediately post implantation. However, patients themselves may perceive interference to pacemaker function by various routine activities and devices, and hence continue to lead restricted, disabled lives. The aim of this study is to determine if routine activities are perceived by pacemaker patients to interfere with their device function (Pacemaker, 2008). This means that most of the patient who needs to have pacemaker is the old people because they starting to have a slow heartbeat and they need the pacemaker in order to help them breathing. The Pacemaker contains two parts the generator and the part s. The generator is tiny, hermetically sealed computer (Fogoros, 2003). This generator is roughly the size of a 50-cent piece, and approximately three times as thick. The battery life of most pacemaker generators today is 5 to 8 years. EKG interpretation Electrocardiograms are diagnosing irregularities in the heart record changes in the heart. The patient needs to arrive 15 minutes before the EKG test. Avoid using lotion around the chest, arms, and legs because the electrodes pads are sticky. For the women they may have to use gown in the hospital to avoid privacy and for the men if they have hairy hair in their chest the physicians may have to shaved if so that the 12 electrodes can hook up good. There are 12 electrodes that need to be connected during the EKG test (Electrocardiogram, 2005). The physician needs to know if the patient has a normal heart beat or irregular heart that why its very important to go see the doctor right away when people have problems about the heart. It is very important because most of the people who having symptoms are just taking any kind types of medication. When the patient taking the wrong medication without the doctor prescription the body will affect and the body will become perilous. Horizontal li nes measure time (1mm square- 0.04 secs), the vertical lines measure voltage (1mm square- 0.01 mV), and the tic mark will identify 6 sec strip intervals. Heart rate computation has the identify rate which measure ventricular rate unless otherwise specified and its also measure the R-wave. They choose to method to determine or make sure that the rate has six second method box and box method. The six second method count the number of QRS complexes occurring within 6 seconds and multiply the number by 10. During the Holter monitoring or electrocardiogram testing make sure that the V3 leads is under the right nipple if the patient is under 15 years old and if its older than 15 they can hook it up like adult. During the hook up of the Holter monitoring the first step they need to do is to take out the battery compartment and place AA battery, then insert the flashcard with the lip facing downward. Second, push the enter key twice, they will hear the beep sound, then you will be able to e nter the social security of the patient by scrolling the up down side to side keys then select ok button. Third, scroll across the top check the channels 1-3 to make sure all the hook ups are all working and good. Fourth, they should also check the first time by scrolling across the date and time. Fifth, check the duration of the scan and pacer detector by going to the settings then go to start and press the enter button. Lastly, issue the patient what they need to do after 24 hours. The physician needs to hand his/her a log sheet for their activities and symptoms. Electrocardiogram Rhythm Sinus Rhythm is a regular normal rhythm of the heart set by the natural pacemaker of the heart called the sinoatrial node or sinus node. It is located in the right atrium and refers to the normal increase in heart rate that occurs during inspiration when they breathe. Its also a small, slow variation of the R-R interval variation of the normal sinus heart rate respiration (Medical, n.d.). There is also sinus tachycardia which means the sinus rhythm is 100 beats per minute. The QT interval decreases as the rate increases. The maximum rate in sinus rhythm is usually 220-age (Medical, n.d.). The sinus bradycardia or slow heart beat is 60 beats per minute and this may due to parasympathetic dominance at rest (Cardiac, n.d.). The premature ventricular complexes are observed in 60 percent of healthy adults in monitoring. This means that the patient can take home the Holter monitoring and they have a log sheet and they have to write the time and what are they doing. The sheet also is very i mportant because it will record all the information that the physicians need it. The Holter monitor is the recording the heart beat the every time the patient realize of feel that they having a funny heart beat they may need to press the middle button of the Holter monitor. Atrial fibrillation is when human has two upper chambers and the two low chambers. The upper chambers are called the left atrium and the right atriums are the plural of atrium in the atria. When the two lower chambers contact at the excessively high rate, and its an irregular way, the patient has atrial fibrillation. (What, n.d.) Atrial flutter is when a patient complaining about their heartbeat. Most of the patient that has atrial flutter heartbeat has stop beating, and they cant realize any feeling. There are also times that when the patient is lying down they may experience fast heart beat. Most old people have experiencing this because of their age. They may need to stop drinking coffee, soda, lemonade or any drinks that has acid because this will may affect their heart beats. For the patient that has atrial flutter they have to go to emergency room right away and make sure the doctors take x-rays of the patients heart and lungs. To prevent this people need to exercise and eat healthy food. Ventricular Tachycardia is very rapid tachycardia. The causes are cardiomyopathy and heart failure can occur without heart disease. Ventricular Fibrillation: Right and Left Main Coronary Artery The right main coronary artery originates from the side of the aorta and passes along the antrioventricular sulcus between the right atrium and the ventricle. They divided into two branches, the marginal artery and the posterior interventricular artery. The portion of the myocardium supplied by the right coronary artery includes the right atrium, right ventricle, inferior and posterior wall of the left ventricle and the one third posterior of the intarventricular septum. The right coronary artery supplies blood to the SA node in about 60 percent of the population and to the AV node about 90 percent of the population. Also the posterior-inferior fascicle of the left bundle branch. The left coronary artery originates from the left side of the aorta. It divides into the anterior descending and circumflex branches. The anterior descending artery perfuses the anterior surface and part of the lateral surface of the left ventricle and the anterior two thirds of the intraventricular septum. The branches of the anterior descending artery, the diagonal artery and the septal perforators, help supply blood to the lateral walls of the left ventricle. The circumflex artery supplies the left atrium, anteriolateral, poster lateral, and the posterior wall of the left ventricle. The heart needs its own blood supply because the demand for oxygen in the myocardial cells is extremely high. The coronary arteries provide a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients to the myocardial cell. The heart works constantly to pump blood to the body, so the oxygen consumption of the heart is greater than that of single organs. The terminal branches of the arteries have many interconnections, forming an extensive vascular network. Reciprocal Changes The reciprocal changes are the mirror image that occurs when you have two leads viewing the same myocardial infarction from opposite angles. The infracted zone is electrically neutral, so the lead directly over the heart registers only an unopposed vector moving away from it. This cause the waveform to be negative. The T wave is flipped because of depolarization abnormalities generated by the areas ischemia and injury. The concept is important to relate while looking at the EKG traces because it shows the different areas of the heart. Reciprocal change was noted in all patients with inferior infarction. This means that the ST segment depression is higher. If the Electrocardiogram traces are change the heart will detect the symptom right away or the ST segment will change. Anatomy and Physiology of EKG The heart is a hollow muscular organ that lies in the middle of the thoracic cavity behind the sternum, between the lungs and just above the diaphragm (Pre-reading). The blood enters to the heart for the major veins of the body. The superior vena cava feed the right atrium and the left atrium. The left ventricle supply the left atrium and the right ventricle are in the middle to return blood in the middle. The heart beat consist of two contractions, when the atriums contract the blood is squeezed simultaneously from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and when the ventricles contract the blood squeeze from the right ventricle through the pulmonary valve and to the lungs. There are also two major veins that deliver blood all over the areas of the body especially in the right atrium. They called this superior vena cava and anterior vena cava. They divides directly in the heart and have different construction. Different Waves P-waves moves in a compression motion similar to the motion of a slinky, while the S waves move in a shear motion perpendicular to the direction of the wave that is travelling. P-wave is basically electrical signature of the current that cause atrial contraction. It is also the portion of the electrocardiogram tracing that represent the depolarization of the myocardium. Its depolarized in the left atrium and reflects to the right depolarization. QRS complex is the portion of the EKG tracing that represents depolarization in the myocardium and the ventricle are activated simultaneously. T-wave is deflection of the normal electrocardiogram following QRs complex and it represent repolarization or recovery of the ventricle. Sinus Arrest A rhythm can also appear irregular when a SA node fails to initiate an impulse. This can be called sinus arrest and is seen as the pause in the electrocardiogram rhythm. They rhythm leading up to the pause looks normal. Sometimes there is also suddenly absence of the P wave as well as the QRS complex and T wave. These are one whos creating gap or pause of the heartbeat. If a SA node fails to fire, then the escape pacemaker from the atria call AV injunction will initiates and impulses. Irregularity may also cause by premature ventricular heartbeat during the electrocardiogram test and the rhythm making R-R interval pause. The rhythm leading up to the pause looks normal if the EKG test is no irregular. A slightly rhythm is where the P-P intervals and R-R intervals vary. The changes of the pacemaker from site to site can lead to this type of irregularities. A cause of the slightly irregular rhythm is when initiation of the heartbeat changes from site to site of each beat. Each of the he art beat is initiates to other area. The QRS ventricle depolarize and it will become larger muscle mass. The ST segment is normally isoelectric and gently blends into upslope of T wave. The point where the ST segment is located will takes off from the QRS ventricle and it goes to the J point.

How Can You Classify Welfare States Politics Essay

How Can You Classify Welfare States Politics Essay Introduction: As I have found it so difficult to structure this essay and formulate a strong line of argument, which would be outlined here, I will limit the introduction to some of my thoughts surrounding issues which may have an effect on the discussion. What authors mean by the term welfare state varies from each classification attempt. This results in different classifications which within the boundaries the author has set can be very convincing. Different measures and types of analysis are used creating different outcomes, different levels, and different understandings of welfare states. Some focus more on expenditure than others, definitions may be broader or narrower. As Cochrane points out à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a loose working definition is required to make comparison possible in the first place (1993) but there is not an overwhelming consensus about what constitutes the welfare state. This is one reason why there is so much controversy surrounding classification, as writers disagree about what the welfare state consists of, and thus use different types of evidence according to their particular view on what makes up the welfare state. However, classifying welfare states helps makes useful generalisations which can enrich our understanding of a complex and important subject. Main body: Early attempts to classify the welfare state of the advanced world did so largely according to expenditure. Wilensky (1975) analyses differences in the levels of government spending, using this criteria to distinguish the leaders from the laggards. Cutright (1965) also bases his differentiation of welfare states primarily on expenditure specifically on social insurance provision. Bonoli (1997) makes the point that This approach, by concentrating exclusively on the levels of expenditure completely neglects other dimensions of welfare provision. Esping-Anderson (1990), in his ground-breaking work The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism makes the point that within expenditure based classifications that all spending counts equally. Of course the level of money a government assigns to its welfare provision is very important in classifying states but the way in which it is spent can have implications for the provision and leads to large differences between welfare states, even if expenditure levels appear similar. Firstly in countries such as Austria, governments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦spend a large share on benefits to privileged civil servants which, Esping-Anderson points out, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is normally not what we would consider a commitment to social citizenship and solidarity. Furthermore, expenditure analysis has tended to neglect for instance whether benefits are means tested or universal. Expenditure can be misleading in other ways too, Esping-Andersen uses the example of Britain under Thatcher, where total expenditure grew, but that it was mainly a function of very high unemployment. Castles and Mitchell (1992) concur; ceteris paribus, an identical input of expenditure will lead to quite different observed levels of poverty and inequality, depending on the distribution of incomes prior to income maintenance expenditures and taxes. Most recent classifications agree that expenditure alone is inadequate criterion to classify welfare states. Esping-Andersen has been praised for highlighting this problem (Bonoli, Pierson Castles) The way in which money is spent is crucially important as is the rights the welfare state grants its citizens. But more than this required, according to Esping-Andersen, who argues further that welfare states can not merely be understood in terms of rights granted. We must also take into account how state activities are interlocked with the markets and the familys role in social provision. Esping-Andersens understanding of the welfare state is thus broader than many other authors in their attempts at classification. This is a major strength as it attempts to include many activities carried out by governments that have implications for the standard of living of its citizens. Esping-Andersen focuses on the notion of decommodifying the impact of diverse systems of social rights (Pierson and Castles). Decommodification is defined as the degree to which individuals or families can uphold a socially acceptable standard of living independently of market participation (Esping-Andersen 1990). As well as firmly moving the emphasis away from expenditure as the sole tool of analysis, Esping-Andersen has been praised for suggesting that the welfare state is about more than just services and transfers (Pierson and Castles 2000). Esping-Andersens three proposed welfare regimes, the liberal, social-democratic and corporatist or conservative are argued convincingly and well supported. The analysis goes beyond merely the descriptive, and attempts to provide common development of the welfare states within each regime type, largely around class and power issues. This strengthens the common characteristics identified by Esping-Andersen in todays welfare states. However, Esping-Andersen has been criticised on a number of grounds. A good classification must result in the welfare states of the advanced world being classified. That is to say, they must fit into the categories proposed, meeting the necessary criteria to be associated with a particular welfare regime of type. Esping-Andersen admits that none of the regimes he identifies can be found in a perfect or pure form. Still, even if we ignore this inevitable consequence of classification, (all welfare states are unique), further objections to Esping-Andersen remain concerning welfare states comfortably fitting into the regimes. A major problem with the three regime types is that Japan cannot be comfortably incorporated, as it possesses features of all three types, and yet it is without doubt part of the advanced world. Esping-Andersen admits this, as Japans level of expenditure is relatively low, similar to the liberal classification, but that unemployment rates are typically low too, more similar to those found in social-democratic regimes. Elements of the conservative/corporatist model may be found too, due to Japans reliance on non-state forms of support from the family and the firm for example. The failure to incorporate Japan into his analysis is clearly an unsuccessful aspect of Esping-Andersens classification attempt. Many alternative classifications have been proposed in response to Esping-Andersens The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, which highlight other deficiencies and problems with the work. Abrahamson (1991) and Leibfried (2000) both point to the difficulty of including various Southern European States into Esping-Andersens three regimes and argue for a 4th world, the rudimentary or Latin rim. According to Leibfried the Southern countries of Europeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦seem to constitute a welfare state regime of their own. Countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece would come under this banner, more easily described as rudimentary and similar to each other than grouped with liberal, social-democratic or conservative welfare states, as they display very different characteristics. Castles and Mitchell (1992), however, use different techniques to establish an alternative 4th world, which they term radical. They base a classification of countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom as radical because these nations equality outcomes are much more favourable than other states which Esping-Andersen describes as liberal. The above countries, according to Castles and Mitchells analysis, do more for increasing equality among their people than the Netherlands does, which according to his [Esping-Andersens] classification is a socialist, high decommodification system. Many criticisms of Esping-Andersen are the basis for new models, adding or adjusting his three worlds. But other criticisms have been launched too, which also apply to those studies stemming from Esping-Andersens three worlds. Allan Cochrane makes the point that the most striking absences from the statistical approaches and indeed (except in asides) from Esping-Andersens regimes are those relating to gender. He notes how the decommodification of labour is tarnished as a tool for classification because of failing to fully consider gender issues, many of which find no expression in aggregate statistics. (Of course this criticism also applies to most other statistics used to support classification attempts.) For instance Esping-Andersen fails to acknowledge the extent to which womens involvement in that sphere is a necessary basis for the commodification of labour. (Cochrane). Peter Taylor-Gooby developed this point arguing that analysis must include both uncommodified care work in th e home and the position of women in the formal labour market and that this will mean different struggles will develop in the various regime types in response to current pressures on the welfare states. Consequently a classification neglecting to investigate these angles will result in presenting welfare states as very different to their true nature. Many have argued that classifying welfare states without understanding issues such as this that they face greatly reduces their value. (Langan Ostner 1991, Dominelli 1991) Both Bonoli, Kemeny, and Castle Mitchell argue that whilst Esping-Andersen criticises over reliance on expenditure as a basis for classification, and that this is a valid and important claim, he is in some ways also guilty of this fault. Each of the three regimes is heavily contaminated by expenditure considerations. Kemeny notes that e-as classification does not make a complete break with the traditional quantification approach. Bonoli maintains that e-a still ends up with a classification overly based on the quantity of welfare provided by individual states. Instead of using spending to measure welfare states he measures decommodification and Bonoli argues that a consequence of this quantitative approach is a failure to reflect the substantial differences which exist in the way welfare is delivered. Other attempts at classification have placed their emphasis on how welfare states have administered welfare provision rather than how much they have spent in doing so. In Bonolis article Classifying Welfare States; A Two Dimensional Approach he notes that Ferrera (1993) and traditional French approaches to welfare state classification (commonly known as the Beveridgean and Bismarckian types) examine the ways in which provision is made, moving away from the quantitative how much approach. Ferrera openly sets out to break with the quantification approach and the French models are considered independent of the quantity of welfare it provides. Ferrera focuses on one aspect of welfare provision the coverage of welfare protection schemes, mainly distinguishing between universal and occupational schemes. Briefly, Bismarckian social policy is concerned with income maintenance for employees, whereas Beveridgean social policy aims at the prevention of poverty (Bonoli). Bonoli, however, highlights that although Ferreras classification is able to account for differences in the way in which welfare is delivered more competently than Esping-Andersen, its obvious weakness is the fact that it now fails to take into account the quantitative dimension of state welfare. Aside from the fact that knowing how much government spends on the ways on which they administer welfare as a useful element in distinguishing welfare states there are other problems. For instance, as with (ironically) some expenditure only analyses, the Bismarckian /Beveridgean approaches do not distinguish between universal and means tested benefits, a distinction which has very important connotations for welfare provision. A major point in Bonolis article is that welfare state classification requires a comprehensive two-dimensional approach considering both expenditure and the way in which that money is spent, as well as other methods such as policy measures. That is to say how welfare is administered. These vital two dimensions are found in some form in Esping-Andersens three worlds, but Bonoli argues this is not adequate, as the two dimensions are limited only to decommodification rather than to the whole analysis. Bonoli attempt at classifying welfare states takes the Beveridgean/Bismarckian approach but adds a new twist differentiating not only the two from each other but also distinguishing between higher spending and lower spending within the regime types. This addresses more fully the issue of two dimensions of analysis. Although Bonolis point that these two dimensions of analysis are required to understand the welfare state, it seems quite simplistic to imply that there are only two hows- the Beveridgean and Bismarckian. Esping-Andersens three regime types appear more convincing generally although Bonoli makes a useful methodological point. Many rival classifications to Esping-Andersens stem form his work, and similar methodology is sometimes used. However, differences in methodology are also common, perhaps due to different understandings of what constitutes the welfare state. Ferreras understanding, it could be argued, is rather narrow, solely concentrating on social protection schemes. It is difficult, apart from in very broad terms to talk in detail about the variations in methodology (although ideally this is what I would like to have done). Conclusion issues, not a comprehensive summing up. The failure to fit Japan into Esping-Andersens three worlds clearly reduces the success of the classification which in many other ways came as a crucial addition to the study of welfare states. But this is an excellent way of examining whether a classification attempt is successful in its main objective that has to allow all welfare states in the advanced world to be comfortable in the classification groups. However, this is very difficult to assess in many of the other cases. Different authors use different ways of formulating classifications, and their methodology leads to different conclusions. Therefore, often the countries discussed do fit generally well into the regimes proposed. But because the criteria for classification varies so much between authors, and because, for instance, Japans relevant statistics are not available to me, it is difficult to know whether all the advanced countries do indeed fit snugly into all the different regimes presented. One could argue however, that most of the authors discussed do succeed in creating classifications which manage to incorporate all the countries they have analysed according to the particular way they have chosen to analyse them, this is largely inevitable! Esping-Andersen has admitted that Japan is a large exception to the rule, but the absence of Japan form the discussion by other authors could also be seen as some sort of failure. Functionalism classification of welfare states is pointless, the fact they exist is the main point? It is also important to remember that although welfare states show enduring characteristics and tendencies that remain over the years, that they are not static, unchanging entities. As such, classification may only really be able to group states according to their past trends and present characteristics, and arguably welfare states could ultimately change regimes depending on government policies. For instance, it could be said that the influence of globalisation may alter welfare states make-up, and make certain classifications void or in need of adjustment.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Analysis of Oklahoma :: essays research papers

I see now after reading Oklahoma why this musical has remained so popular throughout the years. I’ve always found it easier to watch a musical as opposed to reading one. However, the lively, upbeat tempo of the musical really made me feel that I was watching it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Oklahoma taking place shortly after the turn of the century I think it brought on a whole new genre of entertainment to people. Although the plot is very simple and predictable it was portrayed in an upbeat way that people where not used to seeing. One observation I had from the reading Oklahoma was the clever way they used the music as part of the dialogue. Most plays use song as a way to keep the audience entertained. However, I think Oklahoma used the music to tell the stories of the characters in the play. Several characters were introduced during songs of the musical. The characters would sing songs either about themselves or others in the play. It was a way for them to express their feelings about one another and allow the story to progress on in a smooth manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the characters in the play seemed to be fairly young, energetic people. Their problems were so much more manageable and yet handled in a way that did not affect society. Their idea of marriage was so simple. They all knew they would be marrying someone from their territory and raising a family without ever leaving to see what was outside of the territory. To me, that seems like such a sheltered way to live your live. But now day’s things are so much more complicated. Problems that could be manageable are blown out of proportion and marriages end in divorce and broken families. People are constantly moving and unsettled. Stabbings that occurred accidentally in that time are committed on purpose or for no reason today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reading Oklahoma has really opened my eyes to how much traditions and society have changed.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The State of Despair in American Beauty Essay -- American Beauty Films

The State of Despair in American Beauty In life, everyone must make choices. Choices give an individual the freedom to decide upon the path to which they will follow. Since it’s beginnings, the film making industry has focused on showing the direct relationship between the choices that people make and the resulting consequences they must face. In the movie American Beauty, the character of Lester Burnham must make many important choices that could either lead to his ultimate happiness, or draw him further into his despair. In the movie American Beauty, it is evident that Lester Burnham is in a state of despair. Lester’s dull and monotonous voice introduces the audience to his daily routine of life. When Lester declares plain and simply, â€Å"This is my neighborhood, this is my street, this is my life,† he exposes the lifelessness and unhappiness to which he has become accustomed. The hopeless tone that Lester has set continues when he cynically comments, â€Å"jerking off in the shower will be the high point of my day.† He realizes his family life is no better when he becomes aware that both his disdainful wife and his troubled daughter consider him â€Å"a gigantic loser.† It is easy to recognize and understand Lester’s disheartenment through analysis and symbolic car scene. In this scene, Lester sits slouched down in the back seat with a look of emptiness while his daughter Jane sits up front, next to his wife Caroline who is driving the car. The symbolism is shown through Carolyn driving the car, as she drives the family (especially Lester). She has evolved into the decision-maker, and leader of the Burnham family. Sitting in the backseat, Lester avoids further conflict with his wife, leading him to become an even unhappier and more desperate person. It is understandable why Lester feels like a sedated visitor in his own life. It is also easy to empathize with Lester when he states that he feels â€Å"in many ways already dead.† For Lester, his life at work is nothing better than his life at home. After fourteen years on the job, Lester is asked by an efficiency expert at work to write a memo justifying his position. This requires making the first of several choices, which will ultimately affect his future happiness. Should he justify his job and continue to provide for his family or choose freedom and a new life? To answer this question the audience must examine... ....† This is the first time in the movie in which it is apparent that he wants to know his own family and is just working out how to go about doing it. But it also allows Lester to be happy, happy for Jane to experience the â€Å"best thing he once had† a true loving relationship with Carolyn. Lester finds himself not sad that he is now missing that loving relationship, but happy that he got the chance to experience it at one point. By the end of the movie, Lester actually seems sincerely happy in his thoughts, in his mind and in his life. This is the happiness that he has been searching for all along. The discovery of happiness and the extinction of despair are two of the greatest feats known to humans. Everyone chooses which of the two will ultimately rule their life, but sometimes life itself can get in the way. Lester Burnham is a man with limits, a man without the freedom to know himself, but with the ability to overcome these boundaries. Throughout this movie Lester is taken down a path to which hedonism is the roadblock and morality is the hidden passage. For some the choice will never be able to be made, but to Lester, life was much too beautiful to ignore the possibilities.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

lucid dreaming :: essays research papers

Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. The term was coined by Frederik van Eeden who used the word "lucid" in the sense of mental clarity. Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream. Often this realization is triggered by the dreamer noticing some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as flying or meeting the deceased. Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream; they just suddenly realize they are in a dream. A minority of lucid dreams (according to the research of LaBerge and colleagues, about 10 percent) are the result of returning to REM (dreaming) sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness. The basic definition of lucid dreaming requires nothing more than becoming aware that you are dreaming. However, the quality of lucidity can vary greatly. When lucidity is at a high level, you are aware that everything experienced in the dream is occurring in your mind, that there is no real danger, and that you are asleep in bed and will awaken shortly. With low-level lucidity you may be aware to a certain extent that you are dreaming, perhaps enough to fly or alter what you are doing, but not enough to realize that the people are dream representations, or that you can suffer no physical damage, or that you are actually in bed. 1.2 IS LUCID DREAMING THE SAME AS DREAM CONTROL? Lucidity is not synonymous with dream control. It is possible to be lucid and have little control over dream content, and conversely, to have a great deal of control without being explicitly aware that you are dreaming. However, becoming lucid in a dream is likely to increase the extent to which you can deliberately influence the course of events. Once lucid, dreamers usually choose to do something permitted only by the extraordinary freedom of the dream state, such as flying. You always have the choice of how much control you want to exert. For example, you could continue with whatever you were doing when you became lucid, with the added knowledge that you are dreaming. Or you could try to change everything--the dream scene, yourself, other dream characters.