Animal welfare Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Animal welfare - Research Paper Example ey use physiological measures such as plasma cortisol, endorphins, and the heart rate to determine the ability of the animal to cope with the environment. Seeing animal welfare in terms of the body has limitations such as (a) environment and genetics can create wanted physical outcomes but the animal’s mental state is in jeopardy, (b) some physical parameters such as plasma cortisol and heart rate are difficult to interpret because they can be influenced by the negative and positive experiences (Hewson 496). Animal welfare thus integrates the state of the animal’s body and the feelings. Feelings such as fear and frustration form the basis of the animal welfare; if the animal is feeling well then it is faring well. Feelings in animal welfare measures the outcomes like behavior; behavioral outcomes entail things such as the willingness to work and behavioral signs such as frustration and fear (Hewson 496). One of the biggest problems in the animal welfare is how animals are transported and slaughtered. For many years people have been transporting and slaughtering animals. Animals have provided everything mankind has needed like food, and clothing. The modes of transport and slaughter have been inhumane with some of the people subjecting the animals into situations that were unbearable. The animals are left or die in devastating situations; terror, exhaustion, and injury are the outcome of such brutality (Council of Europe 55). It is very difficult and tiresome to convince large animals to go into a certain direction particularly up in a ramp. On the other hand, smaller animals such as the chicken are not exceptional and they can be frustrating. Bone fractures and bruises are common when the meat birds are being harvested for slaughter; they are usually grabbed by the legs and a number of them get injured or bruised in the process (Spedding 51). The major problems in the slaughtering of animals are the lack of pre-slaughter stunning in kosher (schechita) and

Chronology in ‘A Rose for Emily’ Essay Example for Free

Chronology in ‘A Rose for Emily’ Essay William Faulkner takes into account the ever-complicated concept of time in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. It is a manifestation his contemplation on the nature of time. It lacks a standard chronology. Faulkner ensnare almost three quarters of century in a few page story. He does it superbly by avoiding a proper chronological order. Faulkner skillfully put the story up to demonstrate the indefinable and intangible character of time. He constructs it in such a subtle manner that it is hard to detect any chronological order of the plot. Time does not flow in a linear direction but take a circular direction with the progress of story. Fault consciously or unconsciously does not concern himself with specific dates. A handful of explicit dates are cited in the story. But these indications reveal as plenty of information about the linear chronology of the vents. For example, it is quite clear that remittance of Emily’s taxes by Colonel Sartoris takes place in 1894. It is further provided that he is dead for the last ten years and this the time Emily meets the new aldermen. Story further discloses that Emily died at 74. This hint capacitates us to construct a linear chronology of the events. The linear sequence of events in Emily’s life is as follow; Section 4 illustrates her birth during civil war. Section 2 describes a joint ride with her father in an old wagon. Her father dies. Homer Barron appears on the scene and an amorous affairs starts with Emily in section 3. She purchases male lavatory set and outfits for him in section 4. We are again forced to revert back to section 3 when town people degrade him and reverted back and summon her cousin. Section 4 is marked with the arrival of cousins and departure of Homer from the town. He returns back after the exit of her cousins. We again slip back to section 3 where Emily purchase poison from a local vendor and Homer disappears in the next section. Section 2 illustrate stink from her house indicating his death and four aldermen are shown sprinkling water on her grave. Faulkner has used a novel narrative technique as story starts with Emily’s funeral (the end) and concludes with the finding of Homer’s rotten dead body. Faulkner’s concept of time and its effective utilization does not weaken the story but it is the most obvious strength of its plot, construction and thematic expressions. Although presentation of time in this manner is mostly related is subject to philosophical orientation of the author but it had deep impact on the plot. He merges past into present and present into past and this feature of the story captivates the reader. â€Å"Faulkner gives the story a chronology, but as with so many of his stories, we have to sort it out† (McGlynn 461); Furthermore, it hinders the formulation of reader’s judgment about Emily till the end. The effects of this non-linear chronology on the story are beautifully summed up by McGlynn (1969). He says that â€Å"A chronology of ‘A Rose for Emily’ is useful for at least two reasons: it makes the plot more easily comprehensible, and it helps clarify the function of time in the story† (461). By evading a clear and linear chronological order of events, Faulkner attempts to provide his reader a riddle comprised of various bits. However, he provides clues to facilitate this puzzle-solving. The motive behind this exercise seems to involve his reader more deeply in the story. So above-mentioned arguments and supported evidence clearly suggest that time is not present in a simple chronological way in the story but it is manifested in random manner and plot flows with the flow of the consciousness of the narrator and does not follow the rules and principle of chronological time. Works Cited Faulkner, William. 1970. A rose for Emily. Columbus; Merrill. McGlynn, Paul D. 1969. William Faulkner: An Interpretation; The Chronology of A Rose for Emily, Studies in Short Fiction. 6.

Chronic Opiod Use after Hysterectomy

Chronic Opiod Use after Hysterectomy Specific Aims The rapid increase in the incidence of opioid-related overdoses and deaths has become a big public health threat in the United States. This opioid epidemic affects more women than men due to higher opioid prescribing and dose, longer period use, and more opioid dependence in women.1 From 1999 to 2010, the rate of opioid overdose caused death increased 5-fold among women.2 Besides the illicit purchase for some women, the initial exposure to opioids for many others may likewise come from the regular medical treatment as prescription opioids are widely used for pain management after surgery.3 As such, the critical research gap on opioids use is that the evidence is insufficient to draw conclusions about optimal strategies for initiation and titration of opioid therapy.4 Several observational studies have investigated the patterns of opioid use for noncancer pain in patients pre and post-surgery, and identified the risk factors of chronic opioid use post-surgery.5-11 Most of these studie s examined the prediction of baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients for prolonged opioid postoperative use and suggested that surgery is a risk factor for chronic opioid postoperative use.5-9 Only two studies examined the initial opioid exposure within 6 or 7 days of the surgery date and results are controversial.10,11 One study reported that initial exposure of opioid poses 44% increase risk of chronic postoperative opioid use and another one suggested that this risk would be low and statistically insignificant.10,11 Similar investigation has not been done specifically for hysterectomy, the most frequently performed non-obstetric surgeries in the United States for women of reproductive age.3,12 Pain has been demonstrated as a common symptom before and after hysterectomy.13,14 A small cross-sectional study has examined the predictors for opioid prescription in women of productive age and identified that opioid use was significantly associated with hysterectomy status and pain-related dysfunction.15 Another cross-sectional survey study reported that 32% patients had chronic pain after hysterectomy.14 Neither chronic opioid postoperative use nor initial opioid exposure for acute surgery pain was examined in these two studies.14,15 Filling this gap in knowledge is critical since identifying the risk factors of chronic opioid postoperative use could lead to optimized initial opioid prescribing for acute pain management and reduced chronic opioid postoperative use and improved women health. Our long-term goal is to help reduce chronic use of opioids and optimize the pain management in women after obstetric and gynecologic surgery through identification and dissemination the safer initial opioid prescribing for acute post-operative pain. Our objective here, which is the next step in our long-term goal, is to compare the patters of opioid use pre and post hysterectomy and determine the important risk factors that associate with chronic use of opioids in women post hysterectomy. The national OptumInsight Clinformatics data offers an essential resource to investigate these aims. The availability of clinical diagnoses and pharmacy medical dispensing offers a significant advantage for investigating drug utilization with corresponding clinical conditions in large population. Our team is well suited to conduct this research given extensive expertise in contemporary pharmacoepidemiology, many years of experience on opioid abuse research, prior drug utilization studies using large claims data, and clinical expertise from obstetric and gynecologic physicians. Our specific aims are to investigate patterns and predictors of chronic opioid use in women pre and post hysterectomy with the following analyses: Aim 1: To characterize the patterns of chronic opioid use in women after hysterectomy. Aim 2: To determine the significant risk factors for chronic use of opioids in women after hysterectomy. The first specific aim for this study is to identify patients who chronically take opioids during six months post hysterectomy, and investigate the time and geographical patterns of chronic opioid use in women after hysterectomy. The pattern of chronic opioid use pre- and post-surgery will also be compared in women with varied age, comorbidities, co-medications, as well as types and doses of initial opioid prescribing. The second specific aim is to determine the risk factors that significantly relate to chronic opioid use, and determine if characteristics of initial filled opioid prescriptions significantly associate with the chronic use of opioids after adjusting for other potential risk factors. Many pain related studies have demonstrated that long term opioid prescribing was significantly predicted by patients clinical characteristics and psychosocial factors, including pain conditions, psychiatric disorders, frequency of medical visits, smoking, and pain-related dysfunction.16-18 Therefore, the adjusted covariates in this study would include both demographic and clinical characteristics. B. Significance and Innovation Currently the United States is experiencing an unprecedented opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), opioid-related deaths increased 200% overall from 2000 to 2014.19 During 2014, about 1.9 million people had an addiction of opioids, with overall 47,055 overdose deaths, 18,243 overdose deaths in women, and 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers.20,21 Based on the data reported by the CDC, women are more likely to have chronic pain, be prescribed opioids with higher dose and longer period, and hence progress to dependence.22 Although opioid abuse is a public health crisis, opioid analgesics are still the mainstay for treatment for acute pain after major surgery. In 2014, total 245 million prescriptions for opioids were dispensed from U.S. retail pharmacies.23,24 During 1998-2010, approximately 7.4 million hysterectomies were performed, making hysterectomy one of the most frequently performed surgeries for women in the United States.25 With over 60% of hysterectomies performed abdominally and up to 85% of patients experiencing moderate-to-severe pain after hysterectomy, postoperative pain management becomes very important.26,27 Evidence suggests that intense and long-lasting postsurgical pain can increase postsurgical morbidity, delay recovery, and lead to chronic pain.28 Opioids such as morphine, meperidine, and oxycodone are widely used postoperatively to reduce and manage pain in patients after hysterectomy.29 Women with hysterectomy and high levels of pain-related dysfunction were almost twice as likely to have opioid prescription. More than 85% of women with hysterectomy and a high level of pain-related dysfunction were found to use opioid.15 Hormonal disturbance, hyperalgesia, and iatrogenic effects are potential adverse effects from op ioid use in women after hysterectomy.14,15 The interaction of opioid-induced adverse effects and post-hysterectomy hormonal dysregulation may intensify pain and promote continued use of opioids.15 There are no known studies that evaluate the connection between acute and chronic postsurgical opiate prescription in women experienced hysterectomy. In consideration of the current opioid epidemic it is important to understand how post-surgical pain is managed, and if this setting presents increased risk of opioid addiction among certain groups, or related to particular prescribing practices. The goal of this proposed study is to examine whether opioids prescribed in women following hysterectomy is associated with chronic use of opioids, and to evaluate which factors may predict patterns of opioid use that indicate overuse or addiction. Accordingly, this study first aims to describe the incidence pattern of chronic opioid use in women post hysterectomy. The second aim is to explore the significant risk factors and determine if the characteristics of initial opioid prescribing significantly associate with chronic opioid use after adjusting for other potential risk factors. This study will reveal important insights regarding post-surgical pain management for a common procedure, and determine if certain patient or treatment characteristics increase the risk of chronic opioid use in this setting. We expect that this research will provide evidence for the need to improve clinical practice towards optimized pain management and reduced chronic opioid use in women after hysterectomy through identification the specific opioid, drug type (short-acting or long-acting), and doses that significantly associate with chronic opioid use in women after hysterectomy. Our study will provide sufficient evidence to draw conclusion about optimal strategies for initiation and titration of post-surgery opioid therapy, and enhance evidence-based medicine for opioid use in Rhode Island, and also the United State. This award would enhance my capabilities on handling interdisciplinary studies and further help me to develop my own research projects and seek for external funding. Innovation Our proposed observational studies based on the administrative claims data will allow for investigation of time trends and geographic variation of drug use in large population and address for well-characterized clinical conditions. Our approach will employ state of the art, innovative pharmacoepidemiologic study designs and statistical models, to improve the precision of outcome definition and minimize measured and unmeasured confounding and bias in our estimation of significant predictors for chronic opioid use after hysterectomy. The unintended outcomes from adverse drug effects make the prospective trials unethical. In this circumstance, a well-designed, retrospective observational study with sufficient sample size offers an efficient design to determine if there is an adequate signal for impropriate opioid prescribing to women post obstetrics and Gynecology surgery. The generalizability of study results are guaranteed due to the nationwide large health plan data that the analyses are based upon. C. Approach Data Sources Study data will be derived from the national OptumInsight Clinformatics Data MartTM, a research database spanning January 01, 2010 through December 31, 2013. The Optum Research Database includes about 23 million beneficiaries from the nationwide commercial health insurer, United Healthcare. The data contains health care utilization with transactional reimbursement data from outpatient pharmacy dispensing, inpatient and outpatient services.30 It links administrative enrollment data with the important medical codes including the national drug code (NDC) for pharmacy dispensing, the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code for medical procedure, and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code for diagnosis. The claims data in this database have been adjudicated, ascertained, and deidentified for research purpose. The University of Rhode Island (URI) and OptumInsight Inc have approved utilization of these data. URI already licenses thi s database that it is freely available for faculties to use. Study Population This study will include adult women who receive the hysterectomy surgery between July 01 2010 and June 31 2013 and have at least 6 months of continuous prior coverage under this health insurance plan. This continuous 6-month coverage provides a baseline for defining new drug users, as well as baseline clinical characteristics, such as comorbidities and co-medications. The hysterectomy procedures will be derived from the ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes 68.3x-68.7x, and 68.9x, where 68.3x indicates a subtotal abdominal hysterectomy, 68.4x indicates a total abdominal hysterectomy, 68.5x indicates a vaginal hysterectomy, 68.6x indicates a radical abdominal hysterectomy, 68.7x indicates a radical vaginal hysterectomy, and 68.9x indicates other and unspecified hysterectomy.13,31 Patients with pelvic evisceration (ICD-9-CM: 68.8x) will be excluded. We also will exclude patients with any cancer diagnoses, including malignant neoplasm of the female genitourinary organs-cancer (ICD-9-CM: 179-184), a nd carcinoma in situ of female genitourinary system (ICD-9-CM: 233). Exposure Assessment Opioids in this study include the following medications: codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, meperidine, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. Tramadol and propoxyphene, considered as weak opioids or already off market, will not be included.11,15 The exposure group involves adult women who receive the hysterectomy surgery and fill more than one prescription for opioids on the day of hospital discharge or within 7 days after hysterectomy surgery, provided that they have no exposure to opioids for at least 6 months prior to hysterectomy.11 The 7 days of window is based on the assumption that a filled prescription during this period would likely to treat acute postoperative pain caused by hysterectomy. A comparison group, defined as the patients with no opioids use on the day of hospital discharge or within 7 days after hysterectomy surgery, will serve as a control to make a comparison of risks for chronic use of opioids. The control patients also have no exposure to opioids for at least 6 months prior to hysterectomy. The exposure of opioids will be identified using NDC codes from pharmacy claims data. In this study, exposure assessment includes all characteristics of the initial filled opioid prescription at the day of hospital discharge from hysterectomy or during 7 days post-hysterectomy. The different type of opioids (classified as long or short acting), number of supply days, and oral morphine equivalent daily dose (milligrams) will be assessed and analyzed. Outcome Assessment Since the study focuses on the risk of chronic opioid use after initial exposure to opioids following hysterectomy, patients were followed from the 8th day after hysterectomy to the first day of outcome occurrence. The outcome, chronic use of opioids after hysterectomy, will be defined using trajectory models.11 in which patients with similar patterns of medication filling during follow-up will be grouped together. The trajectory model was initially generated for the purpose of the assessment of medication adherence.32,33 In order to classify the trajectory groups for opioid use during the defined follow-up window, we first generate 6 dichotomous variables to indicate if a study participant fills a prescription of an opioid medication during each of 6 consecutive 30 day follow-up periods.11 we then model these 6 binary indicators of using opioids in each 30 day follow-up period as a longitudinal response in a logistic group-based trajectory.34,35 With a trajectory model, we will estimate the probability of membership of patients in each group, and the probability of the certain opioid exposure over time as a smooth function of time. We will fit the model using 2 to 4 opioid exposure groups with comparison of the Bayesian Information Criterion.36 The number of groups will be chosen based on the value of the Bayesian Information Criterion. In each group, a third-order polynomial (including linear, squared, and cubic terms) of time will be used to model the probability of being exposed to opioids. Patien ts will be assigned to different trajectory groups, which are generated from these models and have highest probability of the membership. Based on the model results, the group of patients with the highest probability of filling opioids over time will be defined as the chronic use. Other trajectory groups were classified as nonchronic users. The trajectory models provide new advanced approaches to utilize the observed data to determine distinct filling patterns of opioids in our study population during the year after hysterectomy surgery. It classifies patients into groups with similar opioid exposure patterns without relying on a priori and subjective cutoff line for the definition of chronic opioid use. The trajectory models will be conducted using SAS Proc Traj (SAS, version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Patterns of Chronic Opioid Use After chronic opioid use is defined using trajectory models, we will compare the frequency of the incidence of chronic opioid use over time from 2010 to 2013. The secular trend will be analyzed using Joinpoint regression program (National Cancer Institute, Calverton, MD) to identify the joint points and slopes. The rates of chronic opioid use in women post hysterectomy will also be compared with varied age, comorbidities, co-medications, as well as characteristics of initial opioids exposure, including opioid types and doses. The geographic variation of chronic opioid use will be mapped and analyzed using ArcGIS 10.5 geographic information systems software (ESRI, Redlands, CA). The opioid prescription policies and socioeconomic status in different states will be compared with the geographic variation of chronic opioid use. Predictors of Chronic Opioid Use We will identify the predictors of chronic opioid use at baseline or the time of the initial opioid prescription. A previous study demonstrated that hysterectomy, older age, and higher levels of pain-related dysfunction were associated with opioid prescription.15 Potential predictors in this study would include age, year of surgery, smoking, illicit substance abuse, alcohol abuse, hysterectomy type, psychotropic medication use, pre-operative depression, pre-operative pain condition, primary indication for hysterectomy, co-medications, and characteristics of the initial opioid exposure. Although the benefits of minimally invasive surgical procedures have been documented,37 hysterectomies performed for benign indications in 2010 in the US still consisted of 40.1% total or subtotal abdominal hysterectomies, 30.5% laparoscopic hysterectomy, 19.9% vaginal hysterectomy, and 9.5% robotic-assisted hysterectomy.21,25 Hysterectomy type has been related to the initial opioid prescription,15 how ever, the results from randomized clinical trials showed that abdominal hysterectomies didnt increase postoperative chronic pain.38,39 The primary indication for hysterectomy is defined based on the following algorithm: (i) precancerous conditions will be assigned the primary indication if endometrial cystic hyperplasia or carcinoma in situ of female genitourinary system is listed as an indication associated with hysterectomy surgery; (ii) whichever is listed first of endometriosis, uterine prolapse, or uterine leiomyoma will be assigned the primary diagnosis associated with hysterectomy if cancer or a precancerous condition is not listed; (iii) endometrial cystic hyperplasia is combined with in situ under precancerous and that pain and bleeding were included as reported reasons for hysterectomy, and (iv) other was assigned the leading for the remaining diagnoses.19 Over 60% of patients have reported pain as pre-operative symptoms for hysterectomy.39 After hysterectomy, the prevalent pain was reduced to 4.7% to 31.9% during 1-2 years after surgery, while new onset pain at follow-up was reported in 1-14.9% patients and increased pain was in 2.9-5% of patients with pre-operative pelvic pain.39 Therefore, in our study, we plan to assess pre- and post-operative pain, as well as the pain conditions, including pelvic pain, back pain, fibromyalgia, and migraine or other headache syndromes using ICD-9-CM codes. Patients with pharmacy claims for opioids or diagnoses for opioid abuse (ICD-9-CM: 304.xx) during the 6-month baseline period will be identified as opioid users prior to hysterectomy. Preoperative depression that has been found significantly associated with postoperative chronic pain,40 will be identified using diagnoses, as well as medication use at baseline. Antipsychotropic medication use will be obtained using prescription information. The psychiatric comorbidity, will be assessed using prescription information instead of ICD-9-CM codes for greater specificity.11 Co-medications refer to the use of other medications on postoperative pain management. The postoperative use of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or Acetaminophen with opioids has been found safe and effective on pain relieve with reduced opioid dose.41 All potential predictors, including characteristics of initial opioid use, will be adjusted in multivariate analyses to identify the significant predictors for chronic use of opioids in patients post hysterectomy. Statistical Analysis Statistical tests and modeling will be conducted to identify potential significant risk factors for chronic use of prescribed opioids in women post-hysterectomy. Categorical variables will be examined and compared using Chi square or the Fisher exact test. Continuous variables will be compared using the student t test. The covariates will be selected from all demographic and clinical variables using statistical modeling. A univariate analysis will be performed with the initial opioid exposure variable and then with each covariate added one at a time to monitor the change of the estimate of the major exposure variable. The covariates that modify the estimate of opioid exposure (variable >5%) or significantly predict the chronic use of opioids will be selected for further multivariate analysis. To account for many confounding factors, we will also utilize propensity score matching method to combine all confounding factors into a propensity score. The patients with initial opioid exposu re will be 1:5 matched with the patients without initial opioid exposure using the propensity score with a caliper of 0.01. A multivariate conditional logistic regression model will be utilized to measure the adjusted odds ratio of initial opioid exposure on chronic opioid use in two matched groups. A probability of type 1 error (alpha) = 0.05 will be considered to be the threshold of statistical significance. Tukey-Kramer method will be applied to correct the inflated p value due to multiple comparisons. Statistical analysis will be performed using SAS software (version 9.4, Cary, NC). Sensitivity Studies In order to address unmeasured confounding factors, sensitivity analyses will be conducted in two sections: subgroup analyses and instrumental variables. Subgroup analysis In order to investigate the effects of initial opioid exposure in women post hysterectomy, multivariate analysis will be conducted in the following subgroups: women with postoperative chronic pain, women without postoperative chronic pain, women with postoperative NSAIDs use, women without postoperative NSAIDs use, women with postoperative Acetaminophen use, and women without postoperative Acetaminophen use. Interactions between the drug exposure and the important factors will be examined in the multivariate analyses. Subgroup analyses will likewise be conducted if the interaction is statistically significant. Instrumental Variable We plan to use propensity score matching to address all measurable confounding factors and generate two balanced comparison groups. However, the unmeasurable confounding factors, like confounding by indication, may still impact the study validity. Instrumental variable is an advanced methodology that has been utilized in pharmocoepidemiological studies to control for the unmeasurable confounding factors, such as confounding by indication. In the sensitivity study, we will use the physicians preference as an instrumental variable and reexamine the initial opioid exposure on chronic use of opioids post hysterectomy. D. Timeline Table. Study Timeline of the Study. Time Period Study Progress Before 07/01/2017 Obtain IRB approval and Optum data use permission 07/01/2017 08/01/2017 Complete data cleaning, manipulating, and variable editing. 08/01/2017 10/01/2017 Complete analyses for demographic and clinical characteristics 10/01/2017 01/31/2018 Complete trajectory modeling to determine chronic opioid use. Analyze the time and geographic trends. 02/01/2018 02/28/2018 Submit an abstract to the annual meeting of International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) 03/01/2018 06/30/2018 Complete analyses for specific aim 1 07/01/2018 01/31/2019 Complete predictive modeling as described in specific aim 2 02/01/2019 02/28/2019 Submit an R21 to NIH, and an abstract to the annual meeting of ISPE 03/01/2019 06/30/2019 Compete analyses for specific aim 2, including all sensitivity studies. Submit a final paper to a high impact journal 09/01/2017 12/15/2017 Complete course PHP 2090 01/01/2018 05/15/2018 Complete course PHP 2470

The Truth to the Puritanism Lifestyle in American Literature Essays

The Truth to the Puritanism Lifestyle in American Literature There are many suspicions about weather Puritanism is accurately depicted in books. This should clear things up a bit. The depiction of the puritan life style in American Literature is in some ways inaccurate but it is mostly accurate. The Puritans' were very religious but their family and social traditions were vaguely addressed. In literature such as The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", "The Devil and Tom Walker", the Puritan lifestyle is mostly accurately depicted even though some things were left out. These accurate depictions and mostly reflected in crime and punishment, good and evil in society, religious influence, and family and social traditions. In literature, such as The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, crime and punishment were depicted as harsh and unusual, and they were in some cases but, in many cases the punishments were suitable to the crime committed. There is however truth to the stories, there were public confessions, and public punishments. Crimes were not as heavily judged by biblical standards as The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible lead the reader to believe. Judges were not quite as amiss as the stories elude them to be. Good and evil in society was also ill addressed. The puritans know that good and evil was amongst them but it did not run there lives as it was portrayed in the stories. In the Scarlet Letter the characters Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale were the epitome of good and evil. Roger was often referred to as the devil and Arthur was a man of God. In The Crucible witches were everywhere they believed that witches were terrible beings and yet everyone was susceptible to being over ... ...y depicted in the Scarlet Letter but in the book there were not as many sermons or lectures as there were on the true Puritan Election Days. In a nut shell the Puritans? way of life, in American Literature, was portrayed in a slightly harsher manner then the reality of it, but all in all the books were surprisingly accurate. There were certain aspects of puritan life style that were scarcely mentioned and some that were not mentioned at all. There is a great deal to learn about the Puritans and American Literature can only teach a brief synopsize about it. Works Cited Helicon. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." A Sermon by Jonathon Edwards. 2007. Cambridge. 11 Nov 2003 . Stille, Darlene. Anne Hutchinson. Minneapolis: Julie Gassman, 2006. Wilson, George. Literature and its Times. U.S.: Jeff Hill, 1997.

Boundaryless organization

Jack Welch of General Electric (GE) coined the phrase â€Å"The Boundaryless Organization†. He believed and has been proven correct, that GE would be much more effective if the cultural, geographical and organizational barriers that separated the employees become more permeable. He put emphasis on the boundaries’ ability to enable business, rather than get in its way. In the next era of the information age, we will expect to have information from multiple parts of the enterprise at our fingertips, all integrated to suit our specific needs, instantly available, across geographies, time zones and organizational structures.In order to achieve that and to enable the information age to realize its full potential, we need to allow â€Å"Boundaryless Information Flow† – a continuous secure stream of information seamlessly flowing within and among enterprises, across permeable boundaries. To achieve Boundrayless Information Flow, a top manager in an organization n eeds to put in place infrastructure services that bring data sources together and provide that information to those users and applications that need it. Creating the environment for integrated information has been a challenge.What more once regarded as necessary boundaries between the different stages in operational processes designed to achieve the benefits of specialization, now represent silos delivering outmoded solutions, which do not allow for the sharing of information. Barriers at the business and technical level must be broken down. If we take the case and strategic history of JetBlue and put it in the concept of Jack Welch, in my opinion the easiest boundary to remove was the â€Å"cultural boundry† in the whole organization that diverted their direction from bottom to top.For e. g. , simply by implementing the snacks serving instead of food in the flight have ease the passengers of every region, since food is always region specific but snacks are commonly taken in every part of the world. Further this step removed trolley movement within the flight i. e. also a strong step towards passenger comfort. Secondly, the most difficult boundary to remove for JetBlue would be the geographical boundaries.Since, assessing in the synopsis the overall performance of JetBlue, it witnesses their success because of their operation in specific region. However, in my opinion it would be real difficult to further enhance their operations in other regions since the attitude and working environment JetBlue have developed, cannot be managed in every part of the world. (for more details, see the www. opengroup. org/downloads official site)

Free Essays on Compare And Contrast Protagonist In A&P And A Woman On A Roof

Compare and contrast Protagonist in A&P and A Woman on a Roof A protagonist is a principal character in the story. In the stories â€Å"A & P â€Å"and â€Å"A Woman on a Roof â€Å"have some common in the character of protagonist. Harry is a protagonist in the â€Å"A Woman on a Roof† and Sammy is a protagonist in the â€Å"A & P.† Harry and Sammy’s character should be compare and contrast, because they both are protagonist in the stories. Both of these characters have leading role in the stories. While both young men learn a lesson, Tom is more heroic and who lives in a greater fantasy world. In Both of the stories â€Å"A&P† and â€Å"A woman on the roof â€Å"‘s authors have used heroism, comic contrast and narrative voice to develop the theme of the stories. In â€Å"A his attention becomes fixed on the â€Å"queen† of the three girls. He was ready to checkout those girls until his boss showed up told them they weren’t attire decently. Lengel criticize girls with the comment â€Å"this isn’t the beach†, Sammy sense of heroism is aroused and he said quit. But never wanted to quit, he just wanted to get notice by those pretty girls in bathing suit. But the irony girls never needed his help; they stand up well under the Victorianism of Lengel â€Å"we are decent† said by those girls. While on other side of the ring Tom, the narrator of â€Å"a woman on the roof† had this feeling of that woman on the roof attracted to him. He was very attracted and had a crush on her. Woman’s beauty had turned into him in a stalker. Even though that woman on the roof never liked those guys, Tom still had guts and feelings that he should go and talk to her about him being attracted to her beauty. Comparing bot h of the protagonists Tom is more heroic manner, because he protected the woman on the roof by Stanley’s anger and he went up to talk to her, while Sammy, in fact,... Free Essays on Compare And Contrast Protagonist In A&P And A Woman On A Roof Free Essays on Compare And Contrast Protagonist In A&P And A Woman On A Roof Compare and contrast Protagonist in A&P and A Woman on a Roof A protagonist is a principal character in the story. In the stories â€Å"A & P â€Å"and â€Å"A Woman on a Roof â€Å"have some common in the character of protagonist. Harry is a protagonist in the â€Å"A Woman on a Roof† and Sammy is a protagonist in the â€Å"A & P.† Harry and Sammy’s character should be compare and contrast, because they both are protagonist in the stories. Both of these characters have leading role in the stories. While both young men learn a lesson, Tom is more heroic and who lives in a greater fantasy world. In Both of the stories â€Å"A&P† and â€Å"A woman on the roof â€Å"‘s authors have used heroism, comic contrast and narrative voice to develop the theme of the stories. In â€Å"A his attention becomes fixed on the â€Å"queen† of the three girls. He was ready to checkout those girls until his boss showed up told them they weren’t attire decently. Lengel criticize girls with the comment â€Å"this isn’t the beach†, Sammy sense of heroism is aroused and he said quit. But never wanted to quit, he just wanted to get notice by those pretty girls in bathing suit. But the irony girls never needed his help; they stand up well under the Victorianism of Lengel â€Å"we are decent† said by those girls. While on other side of the ring Tom, the narrator of â€Å"a woman on the roof† had this feeling of that woman on the roof attracted to him. He was very attracted and had a crush on her. Woman’s beauty had turned into him in a stalker. Even though that woman on the roof never liked those guys, Tom still had guts and feelings that he should go and talk to her about him being attracted to her beauty. Comparing bot h of the protagonists Tom is more heroic manner, because he protected the woman on the roof by Stanley’s anger and he went up to talk to her, while Sammy, in fact,...

Useful Tips on Making Money Being a Student

Useful Tips on Making Money Being a Student Easy Ways to Make Money as a Student Every student wants to earn own money. There are many possibilities, such as browsing the Internet, babysitting, tutoring and so on. All these activities will allow you to earn money for a while, but will not solve your financial problems. You will lose your precious time, but will not have the opportunity to learn how to make money. Thus, we offer you some essential keys to making money being a student. There four ways of how to make money in college: Look for an easy job, which will provide you with temporary salary. Usually, such jobs do not have a significant impact on your studying and schedule. In this way, you will get what you want, but, maybe, that it is not the best variant for a young person who wants to become successful because you wont have any prospects of career development. Of course, do not forget about the rare chance to win the lottery. You may invest in your study. It sounds strange, but it works. You enter the college with some goals and aims, which you want to reach. Thus, you can visit some paid courses where you will be able to get practical skills, which you will use to make money in future. You have to understand that only real specialists usually can find a high-paid job. Thus, this variant is with a long-term perspective. Develop yourself outside the college. Sometimes, college cannot give the necessary skills, which you may need in your future. It does not mean you should leave college at once. Formal education still increases your chances to build bright future. Nevertheless, you should use every opportunity to learn something new and reach your goals even if it is far from your profession. For instance, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. chose exactly this way to live their life and they won. Use passive income. There are many kinds of passive revenues. For instance, the interests from your bank account or stock and bonds, your inventions and patenting them, earnings from business or internet marketing. The last is the most popular and the easiest one. You need only three things: a laptop, a few free hours and the necessary knowledge. It is a great chance to start to make money and to become financially independent being a student. To sum up, the most important thing is to decide what you want to do in your life and which of the ways listed above is suitable for reaching your goals.

Analysis of Good Country People by Flannery OConnor

Analysis of Good Country People by Flannery OConnor Good Country People by Flannery OConnor (1925–1964) is a story, in part, about the dangers of mistaking platitudes for original insights. The story, first published in 1955, presents three characters whose lives are governed by the platitudes they embrace or reject: Mrs. Hopewell, who speaks almost exclusively in cheerful clichà ©sHulga (Joy), Mrs. Hopewells daughter, who defines herself solely in opposition to her mothers platitudesA Bible salesman, who turns the clichà ©d beliefs of the unsuspecting mother and daughter against them Mrs. Hopewell Early in the story, OConnor demonstrates that Mrs. Hopewells life is governed by upbeat but empty sayings: Nothing is perfect. This was one of Mrs. Hopewells favorite sayings. Another was: that is life! And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too. She would make these statements [†¦] as if no one held them but her [†¦] Her statements are so vague and obvious as to be almost meaningless, except, perhaps, to convey an overall philosophy of resignation. That she fails to recognize these as clichà ©s suggest how little time she spends reflecting on her own beliefs. The character of Mrs. Freeman provides an echo chamber for Mrs. Hopewells statements, thereby emphasizing their lack of substance. OConnor writes: When Mrs. Hopewell said to Mrs. Freeman that life was like that, Mrs. Freeman would say, I always said so myself. Nothing had been arrived at by anyone that had not first been arrived at by her. We are told that Mrs. Hopewell liked to tell people certain things about the Freemans - that the daughters are two of the finest girls she knows and that the family is good country people. The truth is that Mrs. Hopewell hired the Freemans because they were the only applicants for the job. The man who served as their reference openly told Mrs. Hopewell that Mrs. Freeman was the nosiest woman ever to walk the earth. But Mrs. Hopewell continues to call them good country people because she wants to believe they are. She almost seems to think that repeating the phrase will make it true. Just as Mrs. Hopewell seems to want to reshape the Freemans in the image of her favorite platitudes, she also seems to want to reshape her daughter. When she looks at Hulga, she thinks, There was nothing wrong with her face that a pleasant expression wouldnt help. She tells Hulga that a smile never hurt anyone and that people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not, which could be insulting. Mrs. Hopewell views her daughter entirely in terms of clichà ©s, which seems guaranteed to make her daughter reject them. Hulga-Joy Mrs. Hopewells greatest platitude is perhaps her daughters name, Joy. Joy is grumpy, cynical and utterly joyless. To spite her mother, she legally changes her name to Hulga, partly because she thinks it sounds ugly. But just as Mrs. Hopewell continually repeats other sayings, she insists on calling her daughter Joy even after her name is changed, as if saying it will make it true. Hulga cant stand her mothers platitudes. When the Bible salesman is sitting in their parlor, Hulga tells her mother, Get rid of the salt of the earth [†¦] and lets eat. When her mother instead turns down the heat under the vegetables and returns to the parlor to continue singing the virtues of real genuine folks way out in the country, Hulga can be heard groaning from the kitchen. Hulga makes it clear that if it werent for her heart condition, she would be far from these red hills and good country people. She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about. Yet she rejects one clichà © – good country people – in favor of one that sounds superior but is equally trite – people who knew what she was talking about. Hulga likes to imagine herself as being above her mothers platitudes, but she reacts so systematically against her mothers beliefs that her atheism, her Ph.D. in philosophy and her bitter outlook begin to seem as thoughtless and trite as her mothers sayings. The Bible Salesman Both the mother and the daughter are so convinced of the superiority of their perspectives that they dont recognize theyre being duped by the Bible salesman. Good country people is meant to be flattering, but its a condescending phrase. It implies that the speaker, Mrs. Hopewell, somehow has the authority to judge whether someone is good country people or, to use her word, trash. It also implies that the people being labeled this way are somehow simpler and less sophisticated than Mrs. Hopewell. When the Bible salesman arrives, he is a living example of Mrs. Hopewells sayings. He uses a cheerful voice, makes jokes, and has a pleasant laugh. In short, hes everything Mrs. Hopewell advises Hulga to be. When he sees that hes losing her interest, he says, People like you dont like to fool with country people like me! Hes hit her in her weak spot. Its as if hes accused her of not living up to her own cherished platitudes, and she overcompensates with a flood of clichà ©s and an invitation to dinner. Why! she cried, good country people are the salt of the earth! Besides, we all have different ways of doing, it takes all kinds of make the world go round. Thats life! The salesman reads Hulga as easily as he reads Mrs. Hopewell, and he feeds her the clichà ©s she wants to hear, saying that he likes girls that wear glasses and that Im not like these people that a serious thought dont ever enter their heads. Hulga is as condescending toward the salesman as her mother is. She imagines that she can give him a deeper understanding of life because [t]rue genius [†¦] can get an idea across even to an inferior mind. In the barn, when the salesman demands that she tell him she loves him, Hulga feels pity, calling him poor baby and saying, Its just as well you dont understand. But later, faced with the evil of his actions, she falls back on her mothers clichà ©s. Arent you, she asks him, just good country people? She never valued the good part of country people, but like her mother, she assumed the phrase meant simple. He responds with his own clichà ©d tirade. I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasnt born yesterday and I know where Im going! His certainty mirrors - and therefore calls into question - Mrs. Hopewells and Hulgas.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Research Paper Example The Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 is actually named â€Å"Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act†. As such, the act sought to change the way in which top management, accounting firms, and investors interacted with one another. By certifying the legitimacy of information, the framers of this act sought to correct many of the issues that had seemingly plagued auditors and oversight committees for years. The first of these changes can be described with regards to the creation of a public company accounting oversight Board (PCAOB). Much as the name implies, this particular entity is required as a means of providing a level of oversight with respect to the registration and analysis of compliance that audits and auditors are able to put forward. Through such an entity, the overall level of oversight that auditors and committees can affect is drastically increased; tangentially leading to a situation in which the potential for abuse is subsequently reduced. A further core component of Sarbanes-Oxley is with respect to what is known as auditor independence. By establishing key standards for auditor independence that help to limit conflicts of interest and promote the overall truthfulness, veracity, and reduction in bias, this particular complement of Sarbanes-Oxley is directed at restricting the level of integration that key firms can provide to another. For instance, prior to Sarbanes-Oxley, it was perfectly legal that a particular accounting firm could also serve the joint function of consulting with the same firm that they were hired to analyze and recommend key accounting practices/approaches (Gupta et al., 2013). Naturally, the conflict of interest within such a case is profound and creates a situation in which either the accounting procedures and/or the consulting would be adversely affected by the conflict of interest

Coke as a mainstay in fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC Personal Statement

Coke as a mainstay in fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC - Personal Statement Example Ever since I was a child, I remember drinking Coke every time I want to get instant refreshment. Coke is there during special occasions like parties and lunches. Furthermorer, it accompanies me even in my everyday undertakings. In fact, Coke is synonymous with refreshment to me. I just love the invigoration that consuming a can of Coke brings me. I drink it whenever I can-when I am stressed out, when I get too exhausted, and when I need an extra dose of caffeine to get me going. I associate Coke with words such as thirst quenching and more recently, with my quest to live a healthier lifestyle. No kidding. I have seen how Coke evolved. Starting from its claim of being a healthy and medicinal drink, it became a mainstay in fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC. The intense competition with Pepsi pushed it to reinvent itself to the protest of its loyal patrons. Thus, the new Coke was rebranded while the original formulation was fortunately retained in the market. The growing health consciousness among consumers urged Coca-cola to reinvent itself by offering better-for-you variants which utilized artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Coke Diet, Coke Light and Coke Zero were launched in the market to the amusement and support of customers like me. Aside from getting rid of unhealthy sugar, this variant is fortified with vitamins, minerals and infused with green tea which suits my lifestyle. The evolution of Coca-cola did not change its promise of providing refreshment to its customers-in fact, it now gives more than that. After my decision of shifting to and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I thought I would have to give up drinking Coke my whole life. However, it seems as if the brand knows my needs that it is willing to adapt and reinvent itself so that I could still drink it whenever and wherever I want. The added vitamins and minerals is really a huge plus for it. I have read somewhere that green tea aids in weight loss by speeding up an individual's metabolism. Yes, instead of making me fat, Coke might actually enable me to lose weight by burning calories at a faster rate. These reasons make Coca-cola the top brand of soft drink for me. Actually, I don't see it as a soft drink now-I perceive it as a health drink. My passion for Coke influences my other purchase decisions especially in choosing which fastfood to dine in. I definitely don't dine out at KFC and Pizza Hut noting that they don't serve Coke but only Pepsi. Yes, sometimes I just get so choosy with the drinks while others see them as minor part of the meal. For me, it makes a lot of difference-I can actually tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. The taste is never the same Yes, I am a self-confessed Coke addict who can't live a day without having a can of this refreshment. Coke does not only add life, for me, it is life itself. Blame it on marketing gurus who worked to formulate a good product which commands global acceptance. Blame it on the intensive and very efficient marketing campaign. Blame it on the proper pricing which made it affordable even with the current recession. Blame it on its wide distribution network which makes it available anywhere I go. I will always consider Coca-cola to be one of the best brands in the world. With the current quest of its company

INDIVIDUAL project plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

INDIVIDUAL project plan - Essay Example The immediate effect on the families includes affording basic needs among them clean food and education. The learned individuals would as well become a role model to other children in their respective communities. This would consequently improve the society well being and general economy. The project is funded with ?500 which is intended to successfully carry out a golf tournament event scheduled for 1st June 2013. The event is planned to attract more than 5000 interested individuals to raise more than ?600,000 to help fund education for various children living in deplorable conditions. Tables of Contents 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.1.0 2. Business case†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2.0 3. Need assessment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...2.1 4. The significance of the project†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.2.2 5. Investigating alternatives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2.3 6. Evaluation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2.4 7. Breakdown structure†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3.0 8. Marketing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4.0 9. Network diagram †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..5.0 10. ... The problems have been perverse in three main cities. These include Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg. It is well known that South Africa has the highest number of street children. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations in the world have attempted to curb the situation without a complete success. However, it is clear that most of the destitute children have reformed given the highest increment of students at both primary and secondary levels. Although these children attend school, it is reported that there have been a tendency of students boycotting classes without teachers' knowledge. It is further noticed that habit of bhang smoking has led to high level of students drop out. Many of them fail to join high school following the high level of dropout at the primary level. It is also realized that some students drop out of school as a result of malnutrition. Many families rarely experience three meals in a day. The families find it prudent to involve their children in their efforts to search for a meal. Girls are extremely affected as most of them are forced to involve in prostitution as well as working as house girls in well off families. These activities deny the girl child a chance to study as their counterparts. Through various researches done, it was found out that if a single student is provided with adequate fees to cater for boarding facilities it is likely that the levels of school absenteeism and dropout would significantly drop. This would ensure that the chance of a student completing a college course is meaningfully increased. Accordingly, the student would become a role model and furthermore help the

Promotion Strategy for Lululemon Research Paper

Promotion Strategy for Lululemon - Research Paper Example Over the years the segment of women’s athletic wear has been majorly neglected. Just like any other form of clothing women sports-wear is very different from men’s. The Lululemon logo depicts the consumer’s health consciousness and their affinity to an elite club of enlightened people who wear similar clothing. According to Nelson (2011) Lululemon’s real genius relies on their Blue-Ocean strategy, which means to create demand in markets where competition is low instead of fighting for a share in a competitive market. So Lululemon emerged as a retailer that targets this niche of women’s athletic wear, and over the years has managed to grab a notable share in the 15 billion USD market for women’s fitness clothing (Helliker, 2010). Lululemon is the first clothing retailer to have adopted the Salon Business Model—which implies that like-minded body and fashion conscious women get together (Nelson, 2011). The main purpose of such a model is to bring together like-minded people who would work together for mutual benefit that would transcend the benefit from the economic transaction. Lululemon started off with niche marketing and was not intended to be mass marketed. The target market of the brand is the affluent, figure-conscious and stylish women (George, 2006, para. 7). Direct Marketing and Personal Selling Lululemon spends very little on promoting the brand through mass media, perhaps occasionally in magazines and newspapers. Lululemon has used â€Å"brand ambassadors† for the promotion of their brands, these ambassadors and not salaried employees but in fact peers or opinion leader that are given $1000 worth of free apparel in exchange for modeling the brand for their clients (Helliker, 2010). Lululemon calls it a stealth strategy not marketing—that has minimum cost and maximum impact. This is a very unique marketing strategy that clearly distinguishes Lululemon from competitors like Nike and Adidas, who spend million in celebrity endorsements. Lululemon has included ambassadors in areas of running, weight-training and men. The men’s fitness wear is also a very rapidly growing segment for Lululemon but still accounts for less than 20% of total sales (Helliker, 2010). According to Kurtz, MacKenzie and Snow, each Lululemon store across the globe has its own promotional strategy which is specific to that area. This could be in the form of painting their store front or covering their windows with slogans. The store hosts their own free yoga classes and store employees are referred to as educators. The company invests extensively in the recruitment and training of these store employees, because eventually these employees play an important role in the promotion of the brand. Personal selling has been greatly influenced with the emergence of e-commerce and the internet. It enables the manufacturer to establish databases and CRM systems to better meet the needs of the customers a nd gather extensive data about them at the same time (Kerin, p253). Internet plays a vital role as consumer promotions are deeply integrated with online product offerings, this can be done so using micro-sites and even email marketing approaches that reach directly to customers at almost no cost (Kerin, p253). Customers can sign-up for

Mentoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mentoring - Essay Example Metros and Yang (2006) trace back the origin of mentoring as a professional activity back to the ancient Greece where the technique was used to impart personal, spiritual and social values in young men. The modern mentoring borrows from the historical apprentice/craftsmen relationship where trade was learnt by young people through copying the master artisan. It was in the 1970s that mentoring was adopted as a career development strategy. Indeed, this cost-saving approach has been universally applied to ensure continuous professional development. This paper evaluates the application of mentoring as a human resource function in the teaching profession. Establishing what mentorship means in the teaching profession and evaluating the resultant benefits, it would be appreciated that mentoring is a universal and cost effective learning and development approach that results in continuous professional development in teaching. Mentoring refers to a relationship where a senior employee takes u p the responsibility of grooming junior or new employees in an organization (Elkin 2006). Interpersonal, political and technical skills would be conveyed from the more experienced employee in this relationship. This makes experience a key concept in mentorship with mentors expected to exude greater experience, achievement and influence. As such, Donnelley (2008) and Rao (2008) refer to a mentor as a counsellor, teacher, skills and intellect developer, guide, exemplar, host and most significantly, facilitator and supporter in the realization of the vision of the kind of life envisioned by the person being mentored, referred to as a protegee. The main objective of mentorship is to help employees attain psychological effectiveness and maturity and also get integrated into the organization. According to Metros and Yang (2006), it provides career advice and personal and professional enrichment to mentees. This could occur at a formal or informal level based on the work culture and top ma nagement commitment. In the teaching profession, the many associated roles including classroom management and discipline, learning new curricula, individualizing student programs, using technology and coordinating extracurricular activities among others could be a challenge for new teachers to handle (Thomas 2012). This could make the achievement of the institutional goals elusive. Mentoring plays a critical role in ensuring that learning institutions achieve their targets. Specifically making an observation of institutions of higher learning, Metro and Yang (2006) observe that these learning institutions previously did not identify or support the professional needs of its staff, focus having been on managing the diverse student clientele. Such practices have however been overtaken by events as more institutions adopt mentorship programs as a way of ensuring continuous professional development for its staff. According to Walcott, the chancellor of the New York City Department of Edu cation, mentorship means much to them, offering crucial support to new members of the profession (2013). At the commencement of each school year, teachers new to the profession would be assigned a mentor to offer personalized support through the first year of their teaching career. In fact, the organization has a system in place to track the mentoring process by matching and documenting all mentoring interactions between the teacher and the mentor. To have

Distance To Galaxy Using Supernova Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Distance To Galaxy Using Supernova - Essay Example Type Ia supernova have proven to be excellent distance indicators when well treated. Although they have virtues that are linked to standard candle, they are not standard candle. Combined with the high luminosity of objects which make them detectable out of redshift near 1, they can be used to measure cosmological distances and provide determination of acceleration of the universe. The assumption that is made is that supernova expands in a spherical symmetric manner. It is unlikely that supernova Ia will provide genuine and detailed results of the peculiar velocity field just because it rarely occurred. The astronomers realized that it was possible to measure apparent magnitude of supernova knowing what its absolute magnitude was. The measured distance was to be used to calculate the distance modulus. 1 square CCD array was used in taking the sample images for later analysis. The images were used to measure properties of the supernova (SN) host galaxies, such as total stellar mass, star formation rate or host galaxy redshift. Finally the apparent brightness and luminosity were combined with the aim of finding distance .During every check-up for the supernova, the value for flux and epoch of the i band maximum,f1 and tpeak was estimated .The flux value of f g, fr and fz for the same epoch was estimated The SNLS result that was released for the first time consisted of photometry and red shift of 40 supernova 1.The result were having griz light curves with photometry covering the epoch of the maximum flux in the i band. The coefficients ci was derived using 20 SNe Ia and later confirmed by another 20SNe Ia.The bias corrected mean and standard deviation of ci computed using the jack-knife technique and the result provided as given below The results obtained for the values of (Zphot -Zspec)/( Zphot +Zspec ) was plotted against the values of Z spec on a graph . This was done for 20 SN Ia and 40 SN Ia. The above calculated value fro

Promotion Strategy for Lululemon Research Paper

Promotion Strategy for Lululemon - Research Paper Example Over the years the segment of women’s athletic wear has been majorly neglected. Just like any other form of clothing women sports-wear is very different from men’s. The Lululemon logo depicts the consumer’s health consciousness and their affinity to an elite club of enlightened people who wear similar clothing. According to Nelson (2011) Lululemon’s real genius relies on their Blue-Ocean strategy, which means to create demand in markets where competition is low instead of fighting for a share in a competitive market. So Lululemon emerged as a retailer that targets this niche of women’s athletic wear, and over the years has managed to grab a notable share in the 15 billion USD market for women’s fitness clothing (Helliker, 2010). Lululemon is the first clothing retailer to have adopted the Salon Business Model—which implies that like-minded body and fashion conscious women get together (Nelson, 2011). The main purpose of such a model is to bring together like-minded people who would work together for mutual benefit that would transcend the benefit from the economic transaction. Lululemon started off with niche marketing and was not intended to be mass marketed. The target market of the brand is the affluent, figure-conscious and stylish women (George, 2006, para. 7). Direct Marketing and Personal Selling Lululemon spends very little on promoting the brand through mass media, perhaps occasionally in magazines and newspapers. Lululemon has used â€Å"brand ambassadors† for the promotion of their brands, these ambassadors and not salaried employees but in fact peers or opinion leader that are given $1000 worth of free apparel in exchange for modeling the brand for their clients (Helliker, 2010). Lululemon calls it a stealth strategy not marketing—that has minimum cost and maximum impact. This is a very unique marketing strategy that clearly distinguishes Lululemon from competitors like Nike and Adidas, who spend million in celebrity endorsements. Lululemon has included ambassadors in areas of running, weight-training and men. The men’s fitness wear is also a very rapidly growing segment for Lululemon but still accounts for less than 20% of total sales (Helliker, 2010). According to Kurtz, MacKenzie and Snow, each Lululemon store across the globe has its own promotional strategy which is specific to that area. This could be in the form of painting their store front or covering their windows with slogans. The store hosts their own free yoga classes and store employees are referred to as educators. The company invests extensively in the recruitment and training of these store employees, because eventually these employees play an important role in the promotion of the brand. Personal selling has been greatly influenced with the emergence of e-commerce and the internet. It enables the manufacturer to establish databases and CRM systems to better meet the needs of the customers a nd gather extensive data about them at the same time (Kerin, p253). Internet plays a vital role as consumer promotions are deeply integrated with online product offerings, this can be done so using micro-sites and even email marketing approaches that reach directly to customers at almost no cost (Kerin, p253). Customers can sign-up for

Distance To Galaxy Using Supernova Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Distance To Galaxy Using Supernova - Essay Example Type Ia supernova have proven to be excellent distance indicators when well treated. Although they have virtues that are linked to standard candle, they are not standard candle. Combined with the high luminosity of objects which make them detectable out of redshift near 1, they can be used to measure cosmological distances and provide determination of acceleration of the universe. The assumption that is made is that supernova expands in a spherical symmetric manner. It is unlikely that supernova Ia will provide genuine and detailed results of the peculiar velocity field just because it rarely occurred. The astronomers realized that it was possible to measure apparent magnitude of supernova knowing what its absolute magnitude was. The measured distance was to be used to calculate the distance modulus. 1 square CCD array was used in taking the sample images for later analysis. The images were used to measure properties of the supernova (SN) host galaxies, such as total stellar mass, star formation rate or host galaxy redshift. Finally the apparent brightness and luminosity were combined with the aim of finding distance .During every check-up for the supernova, the value for flux and epoch of the i band maximum,f1 and tpeak was estimated .The flux value of f g, fr and fz for the same epoch was estimated The SNLS result that was released for the first time consisted of photometry and red shift of 40 supernova 1.The result were having griz light curves with photometry covering the epoch of the maximum flux in the i band. The coefficients ci was derived using 20 SNe Ia and later confirmed by another 20SNe Ia.The bias corrected mean and standard deviation of ci computed using the jack-knife technique and the result provided as given below The results obtained for the values of (Zphot -Zspec)/( Zphot +Zspec ) was plotted against the values of Z spec on a graph . This was done for 20 SN Ia and 40 SN Ia. The above calculated value fro

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay Example for Free

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay 1. Describe the standard policy regarding confidentiality for a police psychologist. Be sure to address handling records, being a counselor versus evaluator, and your role during critical incident debriefing. Different legal foundations have set standards regarding the standard of confidentiality for every police psychologist. Psychological services for the police have considerably grown providing a number of clinical and occupational functions. They include operational support services, training, research and counseling services. However, handling confidentiality matters have grown recently and an evaluation between counseling roles and evaluation abilities. By and large, the police psychologist is an evaluator and therefore at liberty in making independent and fair assessments. He/should should prove high levels of confidentiality in records concerning work fitness. This is to imply that a police psychologist should be professionally sound in matters of handling records. Any disclosure of the records pertaining physical fitness can only be done during times of necessity. The evaluation process should avoid discrimination or unfair justice to the assessed. Like an evaluator, he should posit high morals concerning fair assessment of the fitness to work by the police officers. This is presumed important because the assessment regarding work fitness is what shows whether an officer can perform or not. They should maintain highest caution in protecting the confidential information that is stored in various media forms and the regulation for such disclosures should be within the limits of the law. Above been record keepers, police psychologists should obtain adequate permission before recording any images or voices from individuals with whom they are giving services. The confidential information that is obtained from the people is only useful for professional or scientific purposes allied to the concerned persons. Police psychologists are also counselors. They should offer counseling services to client who has various social problems such as family matters, unfitness for work and other issues. Like a counselor however, he is supposed to ensure confidentiality in all matters under concern for a particular person under the counseling service. Conceptually, a police psychologist should have the professionalism for addressing critical incident debriefing. This should involve encounters that relate to urgent matters. In the debriefing process, he should be professionally tactful to avoid arousing discomfort, instability of the mind, stress, shock and social inadequacies to the person he is offering the service. Critical incidence debriefing should therefore be structured in a manner that is comfortable to the client and which should not destabilize the state of the client’s mental stability. 2. What elements in an assessment are required to ensure reliability in a pre-employment screening? How do these factors predict performance? Evaluations by psychologists for pre-employment test for physical fitness have grown to be subject of extreme importance. This has been a concern that arises from police violations and misconduct from the civil rights. The pre-employment evaluations have been described as a tool for evaluating a police physical fitness in his/her duty. However, this growing demand for pre-employment and comprehensive psychological evaluation has stood in conflict with values about disability and privacy accommodating issues. Pre-employment evaluation has been argued as a cornerstone factor towards guiding the safety of the public. This is because only officers who are physically fit for the profession are the one offered with employment at the expense of those who show no substantial qualifications into their physical fitness. Physical fitness for the police officers is a growing requirement from state of the modern police departments which are allied to various law and order provision that does not hesitate physically fit and able professionals. Elsewhere, since the selection, hiring and training process of the police officers is a highly costing exercise, it would rationally be uneconomical to incorporate officers who have no substantial qualification in to the profession.   Ã‚  When these officers have consecutive personal crisis that come along their way such as family and marital problems, depression and stress, divorce, memory lapses and accidents, their physical insufficiencies may have negative influences in their functionalities. They are paused with various risks and stress factors that often keep them astray from their work. Officer’s physical fitness remains a mandatory factor in their service delivery. However, impaired officers have showed higher chances of identification while at demanding situations, have high probabilities of removal from their working positions and have more referrals for treatments. However, this evaluation should not violate the individual’s psychological requirement and perhaps violating their privacy. Therefore, some physical complications should be addressed in specific organizational development and management techniques. Various police agencies use contract and in-house services in conducting this fitness evaluation. In the process, they involve in psychology counseling in evaluating possible psychological stigma that may be held by the evaluation. It is therefore of great substance for evaluation of physical fitness in response to fitness for work. 3.   Ethical issues in fitness for duty evaluation. The psychological test for fitness of work in the police department is a compliment of various ethical issues. At one level, every information whether collected through tapes or images should be done at the request of the individual in service. No forced sourcing of information for record purposes should be from forced attribute of the individual in the evaluation. Either, every information obtained from the evaluation process should be used solely for research work in an adequate area of concern or coined towards an issue related to the police professionalism. The collected information should not be for personal use by the evaluator. Either, it demands professionalism that personal information retrieved in the evaluation process of fitness for duty should be treated with a lot of confidentiality. No personal information should be retrieved, disclosed or magnified for any public use unless for the interest of the sake of professional good which includes the individual him/herself. (h ttp://www.danielrybicki.com/wfstud3b.htm) Inquiry for the evaluation should be guided by fundamental limitations of the requirement of the disclosures of the confidential information. The counselor/investigator should not be inquisitive of confidential information which is of no substance to the profession. The psychologist should ensure the most minimal levels of intrusion into privacy as possible. Oral and written reports should only include the information that is relative for the need for which the inquiry was constituted. In any external consultation with his/her colleagues the psychologist should ensure that the no disclosure of confidential information with which it can easily lead to client disclosure unless with a prior authority of this client. The psychologist should take all the reasonable steps in minimizing and correcting misrepresentation or misuse of the professionalism. He/she should avoid any unfair discrimination that comes up against the respondents. He should not act in a manner of denying the respondent possible chance of promotion to the SWAT team. His/her mode of conduct of the evaluation should not have conflicted with the law and regulations. His evaluation process should be guided by the requirements of law and professionalism. 4. Lopez’s process of counseling bears various ethical concerns. It should concur with the provision of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At one level, homosexuality should be understood as a social matter and not surgical. It is a situation which affects the social and psychological attitudes of Lopez. The feeling of homosexuality may mean aspects of depression and tress which is complimentary psychological attributes associated which her sexual situation. Generally, this psychological depression may be a factor towards the rationale for been physically unfit for the work. However since homosexuality is among the many senses of disability, the provisions of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would require that she still continue in her capacity. One important factor/attribute that she should embrace is personal acceptance of her situation. Since this is not a surgical problem but social issue, unfitness for job would only occur due to the levels of depression and low self-esteem which comes as a result of low self evaluation. Personal acceptance would give her strength and therefore restore her fitness for work.

Factors Affecting Contrast In An Xray Image Health Essay

Factors Affecting Contrast In An Xray Image Health Essay To test resolution, a line pair guage is used. To measure MTF in an x-ray system, the sine wave equivalent of a line pair gauge is used. The closest distinguishable pair of cycles determines the best MTF, it is quoted in cycles per mm [2]. A common way to express the system resolution is to quote the frequency where the MTF is reduced to either 3%, 5% or 10% of the original height [3]. MTF and spatial frequency are related by MTF curves. Examples of MTF curves are given below; Mammography System: Fig 2: MTF curve for a mammography system [4]. Chest Radiography System: Fig 3: MTF curve for a typical chest X-ray. Three different detector types are indicated on the plot [5]. Fluoroscopy System: Fig 4: MTF curve for a Fluoroscopy system with plots shown for individual components of the imaging process. The film and the optics have excellent resolution. The MTF of the imge intensifier is shown to have a limiting resolution of approximately 4.8 cycles/mm. The TV camera is the worst in the series, it limits the MTF of the overall image during live fluoroscopy and videotaped imaging. [6] Question 2: Contrast is the variation in brightness or optical density across an image. Factors affecting contrast in an x-ray image include the tube output, or the kVp. This is a measure of the energy of the x-ray beam leaving the x-ray tube and passing through the patient to form an image. X-rays with higher kVp can penetrate deeper into materials. In an image with the correct kVp bone is white and soft tissues and air are gray/black. If the kVp is too high, the x-rays will pass through even dense bone, creating an image that is mostly black with indistinguishable features [7]. The opposite occurs when a kVp which is too low is used. The most suitable kVp depends on the feature under investigation. Also among the factors affecting the image contrast is the patient. The density, the atomic number Z and the thickness of the part of the patient being imaged. Denser tissue, tissue with higher Z or tissue of a greater thickness results in lighter areas on the image because they have blocked the x-r ay from exposing the image receptor. Variation in contrast occurs because tissues in the body attenuate x-rays differently. The human eye can percieve a difference of approximately 2% in contrast between adjacent areas [8]. The final influence on image contrast to be discussed here is the image receptor. In film imaging, the contrast of the resultant image depends on the sensitivity of the film used. To produce an image with the correct contrast, a film with corrresponding sensitivity must be chosen before imaging. In digital imaging, there is no fixed sensitivity. It has the advantage of being able to record the full range of exposures and digital processing after imaging can be used to improve the contrast in the image. Image contrast can be evaluated using a densiometer. This device emits light of a known energy. The light is reflected back from the image and detected by the densitometer. The difference in energy between emitted and detected light is used to compute the optical density (blackness) in that area. Since contrast is the variation in optical density, this method can be used to survey the contrast in the image. Question 3: The following description is based on an article from the NDT database [9]. Spatial resolution of an x-ray system is limitied by the size of the focal spot. Fourier analysis can be used to calculate the focal spot size. X-rays are passed through a test object with a known pattern. This test object is placed between the x-ray source and detector, the arrangement is shown in the figure below. The focal spot of the x-ray is not assumed to be point-like, as the detector is moved away from the source, the detected focal spot appears larger. Blurring of the image by the detector is included, this blurring is related to the point spread funtion (psf) of the detector. Otherwise, an ideal detector is assumed. Image deterioration due to noise is also factored into the description. Fig 5: Setup for determing the focal spot size. The X-ray source, the flat object, and the intensity distribution measured at the detector system lie in different planes for which different coordinate systems with the variables (x, y), (x, y) and (x, y) respectively, are used. This is done in order to include magnification effects in the calculations. The measurement of the x-ray transmission, t, is derived mathematically. This is done by convolving the intensity distribution of the focal spot f with the transmission profile of the flat object g and the detector point spread function d. Also, t is deteriorated by noise, which is taken into consideration by addition of a noise term n to the result of the convolution. In order to take into account the geometrical magnification, V, of the setup, these functions are represented in one of these planes (here the plane of the detector), whereby the physical magnification effects of the setup were observed before the convolution is accomplished, this is shown in the second part of the equation below. The magnification is the distance between the source and the detector system divided by the distance between the source and the object. The Convolution Theorem states that the Fourier transform of a convolution is the product of the Fourier transforms. Conversely, the Fourier transform of a product is the convolution of the Fourier transforms. Using the above equation, a deconvolution of t with gâ‚ ¬Ã‚  (â‚ ¬Ã‚  d yields an estimate of f. In a technique like this, a suitable test object is measured. The resulting image corresponds to a convolution of the test object with the intensity distribution of the focal spot and other factors. Information on the focal spot is derived from this measurement using knowledge on the test object and other influencing values which means that the convolution process is undone to a certain extent. Also, with the presented method an arbitrary two dimensional intensity distribution can be measured, regardless of shape. According to the convolution theorem, a convolution in the spatial domain corresponds to a point-by-point multiplication in the corresponding Fourier domain. Furthermore, according to the addition theorem, an addition in the spatial domain corresponds to an addition in the corresponding Fourier domain. (Note: lower case letters represent functions and upper case letters represent the Fourier transforms of the equivalent functions.) The initial equation now becomes; At certain spatial frequencies | N | can be significantly higher than| F Æ’-â‚ ¬Ã‚  P |. At these spatial frequencies division of T by P mainly increases noise and deteriorates the image quality. This is due to the fact, that information on F is lost at these spatial frequencies. For that reason, independently of the deconvolution method applied, all spatial frequencies which are contained with high intensity in | F | should be contained with high intensity in |P| in order that | FÆ’- P | is significantly larger than | N |. This means that the test object (in combination with the detector imaging properties) should contain the major spatial frequencies which are required to describe the focal spot with sufficient intensity. In this case F can be restored well at these spatial frequencies, which yields a good estimate of f. Question 4: Using a bar phantom similar to that used for determining resolution can lead to an error determining the focal spot size. This is because the line pairs are aligned in one direction only. For accurate measurement of the focal spot size, many images with the bar phantom at different angles would be necessary [10]. To overcome this problem, a star phantom is used. This is a disc of alternating Lead spokes and x-ray transparent material. At a particular diameter of the focal spot the image of the spokes blurs, i.e., adjacent spokes cannot be distinguished from each other. The diameter of the blur is an indication of the focal spot size [11]. Fig 6: Star pattern for testing focal spot size [12] Question 5: 5a. The most obvious parts of a CT scanner are the moving patient table and the gantry or tube. Conventional projection radiography is limited because it collapses 3D objects onto 2D images. CT has a rotating system of emission and detection and so it can give accurate 3D diagnostic information about the distribution of structures inside the body. Inside the gantry there is the X-ray tube, x-ray detectors and slip-rings. The X-ray beam is collimated and radiates in a fan-beam shape. The x-ray emitter and detectors rotate in the gantry to measure projections that form an image that is a slice though the body. There are brushes around the rotating slip-rings to transmit signals. In CT, the linear attenuation coefficient, ÃŽÂ ¼ is measured. This tells how much intensity is lost as the beam travels through the medium. This distribution of ÃŽÂ ¼ is the basis of image formation. There are two distinct motions of the x-ray beam relative to the patients body during CT imaging. One motion i s the scanning of the beam around the body. The other motion is the movement of the beam along the length of the body.   This is achieved by moving the body through the beam as it is rotating around Fig 7: External appearance of a CT scanner. [13] Fig 8: Basic schematic of the construction of a CT scanner. Fig 9: CT image quality and electromechanical acceptance tests. The Priority column indicates which of the tests are the most important. [14] 5b. CT images are formed by multiple intersecting projections. This is illustrated in the figure on the left. In the bottom right section, it is seen that the combination of the projections causes blurring in the final image. The blurring goes as 1/r, i.e., it is proportional to the distance from the centre point. The 2D Fourier transform of 1/r is 1/à Ã‚ . Since the inverse of 1/à Ã‚  is |à Ã‚ |, it is possible to compute the 2D Fourier Transform of the blurred image, multiply the Fourier transform of the resultant image by |à Ã‚ | and the calculate the inverse Fourier transform to obtain a sharper image [15]. Fig 10: On the left, unfiltered back projections and on the right, filtered back projections. The conversion is done in the spatial domain by convolving the projection with the IFT of |à Ã‚ |. Fig 11: The mathematics of the image reconstruction process, can be expressed compactly in the above equation, where the terms have been grouped to reflect the filtered-back-projection approach [15]. 5c. The fundamental system performance indicators are CT number, resolution, noise, and patient dose.26 The accuracy of CT numbers is measured by scanning a water-filled phantom at least monthly. The CT number for water should be zero over a 20-cm-diameter phantom, with a variation of less than 1 CT number. Deviation from the expected CT number of 0 for water at any energy is adjusted by applying a correction factor for the pixel value. Constancy of the value should be monitored with a daily scan. An overall check of system performance is obtained from semiannual measurements of CT image noise, defined as the standard deviation of CT numbers in a region of interest. Constancy of performance is checked by evaluation of the standard deviation in the daily water scan mentioned previously. Resolution is measured by scanning phantoms on a monthly basis. Of particular importance is low contrast resolution, which is a sensitive indicator of changes in component performance as they affect noise. Patient dose is evaluated semiannually. Specially designed ionization chambers provide measurements from which the dose may be calculated for the exposure conditions (narrow beam, variable slice thickness) used in CT. The values should agree with manufacturers specifications to within 20%. [hendee]

Atlantis :: essays research papers

Atlantis: We will never know Fantasy is a tough sell in the twentieth century. The world has been fully discovered and fully mapped. Popular media has effectively minimized the legend and the fantastic rumor, though to make up for this it has generated falsities not as lavish but just as interesting. Satellites have mapped and studied the earth, leaving only a space frontier that is as yet unreachable. But standing out is a charming fantasy the modern world has yet to verify or condemn: the lost continent of Atlantis. The father of the modern worlds perception of Atlantis is Plato (circa 428- circa 347 b.c.). (1) The Greek philosopher spoke in his works Timaeus and Critias of a continent in the Atlantic ocean larger than Africa and Asia Minor combined which rivaled Athens as the most advanced in the world. (2) According to the legend surrounding Platos dialogues, the island of Atlantis was violently thrown into the sea by the forces of nature, and its few survivors managed to swim ashore and relate their story. (3) There the legend was passed by word of mouth until an Egyptian priest related the story to Solon, a character in Timaeus. The priest admired the achievements of prehistoric Athenians, because when the rulers of Atlantis threatened to invade all of Europe and Asia the Athenians, on behalf of all Greeks, defeated the Atlanteans to avoid enslavement. (4) The works of Plato opened the floodgates to endless speculation on whether the continent described was fact or fiction. Atlantis has since been placed in Spain, Mongolia, Palestine, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Brazil, Sweden, Greenland and Yucatan. Every nook and cranny of the globe has been hypothesized; mountain peaks, desert lands, the ocean floor and even the barren wasteland of Antarctica have been mentioned in theories. (5) While some of these theories are compatible with Platos works and are within relative reason, numerous crackpot theories have been developed using the lost continent as a basis. One of these theories, posted on the computer internet where it has access to over fifteen million people, talks in twenty-one pages of pre-historical lands with names like Oz and Luxor. These world wide web pages list over two hundred separate articles of proof for the existence of Atlantis, as in the following: (6) Most all ancient civilizations believed in the TITANS, the race of giant humans that inhabited Earth long ago. Different races knew them by different names. These 7 to 12 foot humanoids were thought to be legendary until the excavation of over a dozen skeletons 8 to 12 feet tall, around the world, shocked archeologists. These skeletons were positively human.

Autistic Savants Essay -- essays papers

â€Å"Autistic Savants† Autism is a biological disorder that affects a child’s motor and social skills. These children cannot work in social settings like school and so many of them feel left out not because they are different, but because they don’t know how to interact with others. It seems that everyone knows about autism very well; however, there are some children who are autistic yet they have a very special ability in one area. These children are called autistic savants. Autistic savants are individuals with an amazing skill or ability that most people do not have. There is an estimated prevalence that 10% of savant abilities are in autism. Children with autism have savant abilities, which mean they excel in certain areas like music, art, and mathematics. Leslie is an extraordinary person who happens to have a couple of handicaps such as: blindness, autism, and cerebral palsy. Though he has these three handicaps, which is not a good combination at all, he is still very happy. Leslie has gone through many different things; for instance, his blindness happened at birth when the doctors noticed that his eyes were not open and had to remove them both when he was 6 months old. Although Leslie was put up for adoption at birth he did not think that his foster mother, May Lemke, was not his real mother, though she cared for him as much as she did her own children. One night, when Leslie was about 14 years old May was watching â€Å"Sincerely Yours.† The program featured- Tchailovsky’s Piano concerto No. 1 in the middle of the night May heard some noise downstairs and went to investigate. Leslie was playing on the piano Tchailovsky’s Piano concerto No. 1. Leslie just played by ear. When he was 22 years old Leslie gave his first per... ...al abilities, they can process the square root of 12034 in a matter of seconds; however, simple mathematics are very difficult for them to understand. No one really knows how they can process such high numbers, but some say that it is just too simple and easy to figure out that they don’t understand. There seems to be many people that are autistic savants or just have savant abilities. Many researchers have theories of why some autistic individuals have savant abilities. Dr. Rimland, Mark Rimland father, has a theory that these individuals have incredible concentration abilities and focus their complete attention on a specific area of their interest. It does not seem that Dr. Rimland is able to prove his theory, so we will never really understand how individuals have savant abilities. It seems that the most common type of autistic savants is mathematical abilities Autistic Savants Essay -- essays papers â€Å"Autistic Savants† Autism is a biological disorder that affects a child’s motor and social skills. These children cannot work in social settings like school and so many of them feel left out not because they are different, but because they don’t know how to interact with others. It seems that everyone knows about autism very well; however, there are some children who are autistic yet they have a very special ability in one area. These children are called autistic savants. Autistic savants are individuals with an amazing skill or ability that most people do not have. There is an estimated prevalence that 10% of savant abilities are in autism. Children with autism have savant abilities, which mean they excel in certain areas like music, art, and mathematics. Leslie is an extraordinary person who happens to have a couple of handicaps such as: blindness, autism, and cerebral palsy. Though he has these three handicaps, which is not a good combination at all, he is still very happy. Leslie has gone through many different things; for instance, his blindness happened at birth when the doctors noticed that his eyes were not open and had to remove them both when he was 6 months old. Although Leslie was put up for adoption at birth he did not think that his foster mother, May Lemke, was not his real mother, though she cared for him as much as she did her own children. One night, when Leslie was about 14 years old May was watching â€Å"Sincerely Yours.† The program featured- Tchailovsky’s Piano concerto No. 1 in the middle of the night May heard some noise downstairs and went to investigate. Leslie was playing on the piano Tchailovsky’s Piano concerto No. 1. Leslie just played by ear. When he was 22 years old Leslie gave his first per... ...al abilities, they can process the square root of 12034 in a matter of seconds; however, simple mathematics are very difficult for them to understand. No one really knows how they can process such high numbers, but some say that it is just too simple and easy to figure out that they don’t understand. There seems to be many people that are autistic savants or just have savant abilities. Many researchers have theories of why some autistic individuals have savant abilities. Dr. Rimland, Mark Rimland father, has a theory that these individuals have incredible concentration abilities and focus their complete attention on a specific area of their interest. It does not seem that Dr. Rimland is able to prove his theory, so we will never really understand how individuals have savant abilities. It seems that the most common type of autistic savants is mathematical abilities