Monday, September 30, 2019

Division of Labor According to Manuel Ayau Essay

According to Ayau, trade and cooperation is beneficial to all parties despite differences among them in terms of capacity and talent. He states that everyone is made wealthier through cooperation, and how it is that the market economy leads to the benefit of everyone. In our world today, people base their decisions on the comparison of alternative opportunity costs at the margin, so naturally, they choose the least costly option. However, a person can only get rich by enriching others torpedoes claims to the moral high ground of those who propose that government redistribution of wealth is a means to alleviate poverty (Ayau 32). Ayau explains the workings of the free enterprise system, based on the benefits from mutual gains from trade arising from the creative productivity of a market-based and profit-guided system of division of labor. In addition, he explains that the division of labor through comparative advantage, satisfying society’s needs, trading with and by enriching others is the way someone gain wealth. He says people intuitively do what goes by the name of cost/benefit analysis, for they are quite conscious of what they are quite conscious of what they must forgo to acquire whatever they get in exchange. In his example, he explains it through simple diagrams and illustrations, with the same expenditure of time and without increasing individual productivity, the productivity of the combined effort increases the wealth of the group, creating the opportunity for exchange with mutual gain (Ayau 37-41). In the end, Manuel showed how when two participants have different opportunity costs, when trading; this is the key to understanding his attribute of increase in total wealth even when there is no increase in skill, resources, new technology, and etc. In the eyes of Ayau, people subjectively valve what t hey receive more than what they give and that wealth is made through comparative advantage. Works Cited Ayau, F., M., Not a zero-sum game. The Paradox of Exchange. 2007. Part 1, pp.23-50.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Piaget’s stages of development Essay

Sensory Motor Stage Piaget’s first stage of development is the sensory motor stage. This stage occurs between the birth of the child and the age of two. During this stage, understanding comes from touching, sucking, chewing, and manipulating objects. About nine months after birth, the child develops what is called ‘object permanence’. Object permanence is the awareness that objects and people continue to exist even if they are out of sight. The infants have the ability to build up mental pictures of objects around them, from the knowledge that they have developed on what can be done with the object. Through manipulation, babies accumulate information on themselves and the world that lead to the slight understanding of how one thing can cause or affect another, and begins to develop simple ideas about time and space. An example of this would be that a baby can realize that if they cry when they are hungry, the mother will attend to them (Fleck, 1975, p. 3). Preoperational Stage Piaget’s second stage of development was the preoperational stage. The preoperational stage of development occurs between the ages of two to seven years. During this stage, children’s though processes are developing. There is a development of language and use of symbols. Children still use egocentric thought, meaning that they view the world entirely from his or her own perspective. ‘Animism’ is also a characteristic of the preoperational stage. This is when a person has the belief that everything that exists has some kind of consciousness. An example of this would be that a child would believe the sink isn’t turning on because it is sick or that the water will be hot because it’s angry. A child at this stage of development appears to view his social relationships and the physical reality egocentrically. This means that they view the world with a marked tendency to evaluate interaction with others in terms of its contribution to their own experience of satisfaction. So moral realism is an aspect of this stage because children think that their thoughts on the difference between right and wrong are shared by everyone else around them. (Appel, 1977, p. 4). Concrete Operational Stage Piaget’s third stage of development is the concrete operational stage. The  concrete operational stage of development occurs in children between the ages of seven and twelve. Before the beginning of this stage, children’s ideas about different objects are formed and dominated by their appearance. An example of this is that they believe there are less toys when they are all piled up rather than spread out across the floor because it takes up more space on the ground. During this stage, the thought process becomes more rational, mature, adult-like, and operational. Children in this stage of development lose their egocentric frame of thought and begin to think logically. This especially is true for the child’s ability to develop logical thought about an object that they are able to physically manipulate. These children have difficulty understanding abstract, hypothetical questions. Children at the concrete-operational level would be expected to draw on the experie nces of others in evaluating their environment, giving more realistic and natural. (Koocher, 1973, p. 2). Formal Operations Stage Piaget’s last stage of development is the formal operational stage. The formal operational stage of development begins at the age of around eleven or twelve and is fully achieved by the age of fifteen and taken throughout the rest of adulthood. The structures of development become the more abstract, logically organized system of adult intelligence. There are two major characteristics of formal operational thought including ‘hypothetic-deductive reasoning’ and ‘propositional reasoning’. Hypothetic-deductive reasoning means that when faced with a problem, the person is able to come up with a general summary of all the possible factors that might affect the outcome, and the different outcomes possible. Propositional reasoning means that adolescents can focus on verbal assertions and evaluate their logical validity without making reference to real-world circumstances. In concrete operational development, children can only evaluate the logic of statements based off of concrete evidence. Formal operational development brings critical, theoretical, and problem-solving types of thought that gives them much more thought and understanding than they had in the past. (Koocher, 1973, p. 8). â€Å"Are we forming children who are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try to develop creative and innovative minds, capable of  discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life?† –Jean Piaget On August 9, 1896, developmental psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget was born. Jean was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions include a theory of cognitive child development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities. Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults which he disproved showing the strikingly different ways children think in comparison to adults. Piaget’s theories of child development continue to be studied in the field of education. His theory differs from others in several ways. For one, it is concerned with children, rather than all learners. It also focuses on development rather than learning so it does not address learning of information or specific behaviors. It proposes discrete stages of development marked by qualitative differences, rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, and ideas.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

There’s no such thing as a free lunch

â€Å"There is No Such Thing as Free Lunch,† although is a clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ statement, is true. Nothing comes without a price, although whether the price involves money or not, is still there. Corepower Yoga, off Kipling and C-470, offers one free week of yoga to new time customers. The yoga is unlimited for the week and has no strings attached such as continued membership. Although the ad is labeled as free, and monetary it really is, due to trade-offs, benefit/cost analysis, and comparative benefit/cost analysis the free week of yoga comes with a price. The definition of trade-offs is giving up something to get something. Getting a free week of yoga at Corepower Yoga is great, but what if a different yoga center is better? Corepower Yoga does many hot yoga classes. This means that the room will be heated up to one hundred and five degrees and the humidity turned up to fifty percent. This could create a lot of discomfort and strain to new yoga users that they are not ready for. In addition, there are only about six classes a day, so the timing could not be right, considering there is a gap of classes between the times of twelve and four. These things could be wrong for a customer making the trade-off a costly thing. Another cost would be whether yoga is worthwhile or not. This is called benefit/cost analysis. Going to yoga involves working out and time and these are costs. Yoga creates a healthier body, more flexibility, more balance, and increased stamina. These are all positives, but take hard work to reach and maintain, which just one free week will not get you. To reach the full potential, a membership will be required, which is a monetary cost. If the addition of a membership is not taken at the end of the week, the yoga that has been done would not be very effective. A continuous membership costs about a hundred dollars a week for unlimited yoga. Not all people can afford this. One week of free yoga, although technically free, has the potential to cost more later on. This brings up the thought of if this week is a good deal, is it the best deal? This is called comparative benefit/cost analysis. Working out has benefits, but is yoga the best method? A gym also offers good workout potential. There are many different machines, work out classes, possibly tanning, and a very upbeat environment. Yoga is just one class and a very relaxed environment. Yoga created relaxation about life, and helps to distress the body, whereas working out just focuses on toning the body. The membership costs are about the same, but Corepower Yoga offers a free week to test out all of the things it has to offer. Nothing comes freely. Corepower Yoga's advertisement offers one free week of yoga to all new users. This is false advertisement, because it is not free. It must be taken into consideration the time, location, hard work, and the schedule of Corepower Yoga. All of these things cost something, although it may not deal with money are very important to the decision of taking up the offer or not.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Application of Nursing Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Application of Nursing Theory - Assignment Example A nurse manager who has authority over the staff calls them for a meeting whereby they highlight issues affecting their work and carry out collective decision-making. This way, they arrive at good conclusions and each staff is given a goal to attain. After a stipulated period, their work is evaluated whereby each staff is held staff accountable of the already assigned tasks. Nurse mangers can apply this to influence outcomes in patient-care delivery as well as patient satisfactory scores (Meleis, 2011). This theory is well applicable in patient care delivery because the nurses help the patients cope with stress (Meleis, 2011). Stress according to king entails a state where the patients interact with the nurses to maintain a balance for growth (Meleis, 2011). During the transaction between the patient and the health care provider, the patient is given a feeling of control by being involved in decision-making, the nurse listen to their complains as well as offer additional education besides aiding in decision acing (Meleis, 2011). The theory also applies in patient satisfactory scores since as the nurses provide medical and technical information, the patient contributes personal and emotional info. They combine their perceptions and judgments hence drive towards goal attainment (Meleis, 2011). If goals are attained, there will be satisfaction as well as e ffective nursing

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Cultural Transformation in Extended Care Nursing Homes Term Paper

Cultural Transformation in Extended Care Nursing Homes - Term Paper Example Cultural transformations in a nursing environment refer to the changes in the perceptions of the care providers on the mode of delivery of services to their clients - the residents (Hojlo, 2010). The transformations are necessary due to the need for improved services at the centers. The cultural transformation process is not a simple change but a paradigm shift involving three main stages namely, ‘a time of chaos and confusion, crisis, and acceptance’ (Hojlo, 2010, p.45). This paper illustrates the contribution of nursing to cultural transformation for improved services. It makes use of a practical project that has proved effective towards this objective. Introduction to the project The project is a step towards creating a friendlier environment for the residents in these nursing homes. The entire transformation process is systematic and bound occur in phases. ... There is need for a more one-on-one correspondence between residents and the nursing assistants. On one hand, residents have affairs that require privacy at certain points and on the other hand, there is a need for the residents to engage in some organizational activities. The move is driven by the provisions on the Bill of Rights for the residents in these nursing homes. Just like the other ordinary healthy people, the residents are entitled to good housing environment and follow his or her choice and preferences in various daily requirements. The individuals are entitled to us basic commodities that are in their living environment. The individuals also have the rights to privacy. Overview of the project The project takes on three different dimensions. The first initiative is choice of items in the food menu. It involves discussing with residents and families on the schedule of food items depending on their preference and the bodily requirements. Another initiative is introduction o f various sporting activities. The third component of the project is conducting a get-together occasion in which the residents share their experiences with families, friends, professionals, and other patients. Literature Review The cultural transformations in the nursing homes are inevitable due to the changing needs of the residents in such homes. Person-directed care has a central focus on the needs, interests and the lifestyles preferred by an individual (HealthInsight New Mexico, 2012). This is because every individual has unique needs, strengths, and relationships that should be addressed. The provision of strong health care services requires high levels of competency and professionalism with a major focus on the quality of life and the quality of care given to the residents

Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling Essay

Inventory Management and Production Planning and Scheduling - Essay Example These usually shares 50%-70% of the total items yet contribute only 5% to 20% of their total value. As A items are most valuable in the business operation, stricter and tighter inventory control policies are implemented for their maintenance. For one, A items requires the most accurate and detailed records which are done through a more rigid control on transaction documents. Also, daily updating is done to gain a regular accurate insight of their demand and order quantities. I believe that these tighter inventory policies for type A items are logical. Since they constitute the highest dollar value of the total stock of merchandise, they must be treated with utmost care. These items do entail the stricter documentation as loss of only a minute portion will lead to huge losses for the company as their per unit value is relatively high. Also, inventories with higher values are typically marketed at a higher price to customers. Type A are considered high-end products as they typically require a huge amount of purchasing power from the consumer. Since they are sold to the high-end market, a loss of a single sale of the inventory will lead to a significant loss to the company. Closely monitoring the level of these stocks will yield a higher profitability for any business operation. B items, though given a less strict policy than A items, requires normal control which involves accurate records and timely attention. As opposed to A items which require daily updating, order quantity and order points for B items only need to be revised on a quarterly basis. These stocks require only normal processing, yet they are given top priority when critical situations arise. Moderate control policies are implemented in keeping B items as they comprise only an intermediate value of the company’s total inventory. These items do not require

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Improving Leadership Skills and Academic Performance Assignment

Improving Leadership Skills and Academic Performance - Assignment Example Whilst I have always been extroverted in social and professional situations, prior to this study program, my over-confidence in my capabilities and knowledge complicated being a solid team member when working in groups. For instance, I had previously desired to work independently in most situations, both academic and professional, with minor levels of resentment and animosity when forced to work in team environments. It was not an inherent part of my personality in which I believed that team members were not capable, only that trust in my own talents and ability to organize made it difficult for me to build group inter-dependency and rely on others achieving team goals. Hence, I have come to learn that an effective leader is one that gives others opportunities to excel and make positive contributions to a group. Stover (2004) discusses the concept of tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, in which individuals that maintain a specialized set of talents (tacit knowledge) must convert this knowledge to teach others. Interaction with others, according to Stover, is absolutely necessary for effective knowledge conversion to be achieved. However, as aforementioned, my personal resistance to participative teamwork challenged gaining followership from others as an effective leader. My current study program has given me ample opportunities to work with others and I have made a very competent effort at reducing the internal conflicts that arise when forced to work in groups where all members have a distinct task. Some of these attitudes and resistance to teamwork ideology is likely a product of my cultural background in the Middle East. In my home country, it is common that professional members of an organization, in politics and even general society to maintain high power distance, defined by Hofstede (2001) as a type of inequality where hierarchies are dominant business, social and political structures.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

IP Management assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

IP Management - Assignment Example The maintenance of ownership of the intangible assets is critical in today’s world where a rapid pace of innovation is followed. The value of the largest organizations in the globe are much dependent on the knowledge based innovations and designs within the organization. Therefore, it is critical to manage the intellectual properties efficiently so as to maintain the intangible assets and the value of any organization. Invention plays a critical role in adding value to the business by contributing to different processes with an objective of capturing and generating knowledge within the organization. Therefore, it is imperative to stress on the proper management of the intellectual properties like patents, trademarks and copyrights within an organization. The management of intellectual property encompasses a wide range of activities including the understanding of the intellectual property, the inherent value of the intellectual property and how the intellectual property should be protected from infringements. Intellectual properties are valuable financial and strategic resources of an organization. Therefore like any other asset, the intellectual properties should also be managed continuously. The proper management of the IP would ensure that the organization attains an in-depth understanding of the IP and thus can assess its values and benefits better. The effective intellectual property management would also ensure that the properties are protected from outside risks like infringement, usage and copy by third parties. The management of intellectual property is not a one-time event but a continuous process that is to be continued till the expiry of the intellectual property. The different decisions points to be identified within the life cycle of an intellectual property for the intellectual property management process are given below. Intellectual

Monday, September 23, 2019

Dutch Artwork Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dutch Artwork - Essay Example Also, the woman’s pregnancy is readily noticeable showing that a significant amount of time has passed symbolizing the beginning of new life. Her lowered gaze and left hand gently resting on the table beside the sparkling gold and pearls, suggest that she’s serenely waiting for the empty balance to come to a rest. The woman’s calm, still posture and peaceful face along with the illuminated painting of the â€Å"Last Judgment† illustrate that she’s weighing much more than worldly objects. This mundane, everyday act signifies a larger, more eternal action. The woman’s pensive posture, thoughtful expression, empty illuminated balance, and the stillness of this brief moment all possibly suggest the need to balance the worldly and the spiritual life. Rachel Ruysch's "Flower Still Life" is a striking painting of a bouquet of colorful flowers blossoming beautifully amidst a swirl of leaves and buds. The dark background and tabletop emphasize the viv id brightness and lifelike hues of the flowers, stems, and leaves. The warm and cool tones of the blossoms highlight each flower, making every small bud visible from between the twisted stems and dark leaves.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Travon Eterprises Essay Example for Free

Travon Eterprises Essay Jennifer Nelson, the accountant for Travon Enterprises, performed several low end estimates in preparing the financial statements for the company president.   Her justification for her actions was lack of time and that she did not want to make the financial statements look worse than they are.   Jennifer failed to inform the company president of her estimates.   Jennifer’s decision lacks effective moral decision making.   She could have selected several alternatives as a better course of action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First, Jennifer could have asked for help in getting the accounting done.    Many companies have several accountants that work for them.   Additionally, there may be other employees within the organization who can assist Jennifer in her other duties as she focuses all of her attention on the report.   If those were not available, she could have consulted with the CFO of the company for assistance and support.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second, if estimating was necessary, Jennifer could have used statistical estimating rather than taking all of the low numbers.   Statistical estimating provides effective, balanced estimating that project more realistic numbers.   The company president was meeting to obtain loan financing.   If the actual numbers turned out to be far different than the numbers that Jennifer projected, Travon Enterprises could face losing funding and the project could be dropped, highly affecting the business operations and future of the company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thirdly, Jennifer could have explained to the president her situation and decision to forecast the low estimates.   In doing this, the burden would then have transferred to the president to explain the low estimates, and the president could have Jennifer spend time working on more accurate estimates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally, Jennifer could have taken from her personal time and worked longer hours in order to provide the most effective and accurate report.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If I was in Jennifer’s shoes, I would have taken a combination of alternatives.   First, I would have sought help from my supervisor in completing the project on time.   Second, I would have used statistical estimating.   Finally, if necessary, I would have stayed the extra hour or so to make sure that my work was of top quality.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Evaluation of Rosenbergs self-esteem scale

Evaluation of Rosenbergs self-esteem scale Psychological tests are tools used to measure differences between individuals or between the same individual under different circumstances. A psychological test is an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior. Before a test is released, researchers have to check its reliability and validity. By the term reliability it is meant consistency of scores obtained by the same person on different occasions. Validity of a test means that it actually measures what is meant to measure. Validity of a test tells the researcher what the test is measuring. In this study, Rosenbergs Self esteem scale is examined thoroughly by first looking at what self esteem is and how it is measured. The conceptualization of self esteem as a phenomenological construct seems to be linked with its measurement. There is plethora of research on the measurement of self esteem and some studies have shown that Rosenbergs scale is valid and reliable for some samples but others find that because self esteem is an unstable characteristic its measurement cannot be reliable. Difficulties in defining self esteem are also linked to its methodological issues as some researchers define self esteem as evaluative and others as descriptive. Problems of measuring a construct like self esteem are identified in this study as well as research on what population Rosenbergs self esteem scale is found to be valid and reliable is encountered. Self esteem promotes behaviors, goals and gives individuals a sense of worth. Some theories suggest that self esteem is a basic human need or motivation. Maslows theory of hierarchy of needs included self esteem by describing two different types of esteem; the need for respect from others and the need for self respect. Without fulfillment of self esteem individuals, according to Maslow could not obtain self actualization. Robson (1989) defined self esteem as the sense of contentment and acceptance that results from a persons appraisal of ones own worth, attractiveness, competence and ability to satisfy ones aspirations. (Columbus, 2006) Rosenberg and social learning theorists defined self esteem in terms of a stable sense of personal worth. These definitions have been applied to global and specific self esteem, meaning that global is an individuals overall evaluation of himself and specific on a facet of the self such as academic competence. This is one of the problems of self report measurements. It looks at what the individual perceives of himself. If an individual perceives himself as competent then the test will result that the person has high self esteem regardless of how competent he really is. Rosenbergs self esteem scale is an attempt to achieve a measure of global self esteem. There is research evidence that this scale is useful for getting a global sense of how a person feels about himself and is a good predictor of other measures of mental health such as depression and anxiety. Unfortunately research shows that it is not such a good predictor for specific domains like academic ability. Self report is one of the most used methods for gathering information on children and adults and its consistent with theoretical concepts of how to obtain information about oneself. Of course, its not without its drawbacks. There are issues on how accessible this information is in the memory, the situations or contexts a person is when they are answering and other factors that might influence how one answers questions about himself. As mentioned earlier cognitive and affective processes are involved in how information is processed through the memory and how its retrieved at a particular moment. A method for finding reliability is based on the consistency of responses to all items in the test. Due to the cognitive and affective processes, there are biases such as self-deception that occur when accessing information. The context and the emotional state where someone is asked to answer self report questionnaire on self esteem involves the situational factors that might influence responds about the self. If for example, someone is asked to answer about his self esteem after getting a promotion it will elicit his response to feel better with himself thus with more self esteem. Self presentation also impedes a persons belief about himself as he might want to be perceived by the researchers as someone with self esteem. It is important to know if individuals are responding honestly as social desirability is a factor tha t alters feelings. These factors may be biasing the responses they are giving. Rosenbergs self esteem scale is a ten item scale that asks individuals to rate themselves using four categories (strongly agree to strongly disagree) on statements regarding their sense of self worth or confidence. The scale is perhaps the most famous and widely used measure of self esteem. It is used with children and adults and is considered to be reliable and valid measure of self esteem. The SES has been validated for use with substance abusers and other clinical groups, and is regularly used in treatment outcome studies. The scale has been validated for use with both male and female adolescent, adult and elderly populations. It has been used with francophone populations but studies about other cultural groups are debateful. That might be the case because of the fact that the concept of self is highly dependent on verbal behavior and social norms in each society. The complexity of the concept as well as the lack of theoretical agreement and empirical data has resulted in acceptin g a general definition of self esteem, which is mirrored in the broad use of Rosenbergs self esteem scale. (Columbus, 2006) Although Rosenbergs self esteem scale has excellent psychometric properties it constitutes a unidimensional scale that does not capture the complexity of self esteem. Unidimensional scales are useful for gathering information on general mental health of individuals. There are a lot of scales that measure aspects of self esteem. Researchers should use measures that are specific to the issue they are investigating whether it is a global sense of self worth or specific evaluation of competencies across a wide spectrum of behaviors. There are allot of studies examining Rosenbergs self esteem scale and their results vary. An important condition influencing the size of a reliability coefficient is the nature of the group on which reliability is measured. A study that examined further support for multidimensionality within the Rosenberg self-esteem scale suggested that Tafarodi and Swann (1995) had another perspective on the relationship of Rosenbergs self esteem scale and the concept of global esteem. They thought that global self esteem is comprised by two separate and different concepts; self competence and self liking. A study examining the psychometric properties of the Rosenberg Self esteem scale in Chinese acute coronary syndrome patients (2006) suggest that the RSES has been found associated with depression. The RSES has also been widely used to gain insight into a diverse range of areas of substantive psychological interest including aspects of gender (Huyck, 1991), aggression and family dynamics (Haj-Yahia, 2001), perfectionism (Stumpf Parker, 2000) and neuroticism (Pullman Allik, 2000). Self esteem is found to be related to basic dimensions of personality as individuals with high self esteem tend to score high on extraversion, agreeableness and openness to experience. A more complex issue is the relation of self esteem and narcissism, as they have been found to correlate. The RSES has been found to correlate well with tests of self concept (Beck, Steer, Epstein, Brown, 1990) thus supporting the construct validity of the instrument. Rosenbergs self esteem scale has been translated into a l ot of languages and is used in diverse populations. One such example is the translation and validation of the Rosenberg self esteem scale in Spanish. The study consisted of the translation, adaption and analysis of the psychometric properties of the scale in a sample of university students. The results showed that the scale presents a unifactorial structure with good levels of internal consistency and stability. Test- retest correlation was good, supporting the reliability of the scale. A recent study (2009) examining the Psychometric Properties of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in African American Single Mothers shows that the scale can be released to other cultural groups. The purpose of this study was because self-esteem has been identified as an important factor in the mental health of African American women. African American women unfortunately experience multiple oppressions related to both racism and sexism, which has an impact on the formation and maintenance of self-esteem. Women with this kind of background, and especially single mothers with low income are correlated with poor self-esteem (Jackson, 2003) The RSE Scale showed adequate internal consistency with an alpha coefficient of .83. Two factors that accounted for a total of 54.7% of the variance were extracted. Self-esteem showed a strong negative relationship with both depressive symptoms and negative thinking. This study provides support for the internal consistency of the RSE Scale and partial su pport for its construct validity in this population. The RSE appears to represent a bidimensional construct of self-esteem for African American women, with the cultural influences of racial esteem and the rejection of negative stereotypes forming a separate and distinct aspect of this concept. As seen above, there is empirical evidence that shows that socioeconomic status plays role in self esteem scores. It is very weakly correlated to self esteem but it seems that wealthy individuals have a bit more self esteem than working class individuals. Researchers who study self esteem generally assume that its a stable trait that predicts future behavior. Research indicates that although self esteem levels can be temporarily elevated or depressed in everyday life studies show the stability of self esteem across years. Test retest is a method for finding the reliability of test scores by repeating the identical test on a second occasion. Test retest correlation of self esteem is comparable to those found for more basic dimensions of personality such as extraversion or neuroticism. There has been research on the stability of self esteem and it seems that it is high in childhood, falls in adolescence and increases during adulthood. A study made in 2006 by Quilty Oakman Risko suggest that although Rosenbergs self esteem scale was developed as a global self esteem factor, there is mixed support for its unifactorial structure. Many investigation of the structure of the scale used factor analysis. Factor analysis was developed as a mean of identifying psychological traits and is used for analyzing the interrelationships of behavior data. Hensley and Roberts (1976) found that an exploratory factor analysis of the scale results in two factors, consisting of the positively and negatively worded items which reflected an underlying response set. A study looking at the norms and construct validity of RSES in Canada suggests that Kaplan and Pokomey (1976) found that while there was a strong unitary factor in the scale, research showed a two factor solution with positively worded items and negatively worded items. These factors were called defense of individual self worth and self derogation accordingly. In 1990 another s tudy looked into the two factor structure of Rosenbergs self esteem scale and studied 1,700 adults in the USA and found the same results. They also argued that the scale can be regarded psychometrically coherent with a unitary structure. These findings indicate that the RSES is a reliable and potentially valid scale for use with Canadian high school students of all ages (Bagley Bolitho Bertrand ,1997) Another study compared Rosenbergs self esteem scale with Coppersmiths self esteem inventory with people with eating disorders. Researchers wanted to see which test would fit best in measuring self esteem so they measured the validity of both tests. The study found that Rosenbergs self esteem scale had better construct and convergence validity than the Coppersmith self esteem inventory at the particular sample. It is obvious that reliability and validity in some samples might not be granted. Reliability is the consistency of scored obtained by the same sample when they are reexamined with the same test on different occasions. Test reliability indicates the extent to which individual differences in test scores are attributable to true differences in the characteristics under consideration and the extent to which they are attributable to chance errors. When the differences are not true they are called error variance and this is a possibility when measuring self esteem. The researcher would have to test the correlation coefficient of two sets of scores. As we can see from studies mentioned when researching the self, the methodological issues are difficult. The researchers should examine each tests reliability and validity before releasing it to the public. The problems of measuring a construct like self-esteem apply on nearly all of the studies that measure elements of the personality. Some researchers assume that phenomena that occur at the cognitive level will be manifested by behaviors that can be observed and measured. Other researchers suggest that behaviors should not be used to measure personality traits because we are unable to determine what cognitive processes might be affecting that trait. They argue that constructs like self-esteem should not be studied because there is no clear way to measure them or even know if you are measuring the right thing. As the majority of the theories suggest, individuals develop their self and self-concept through social interaction. There may be some innate cognitive process that is modified by social interaction or just social interaction, but either way people display behaviors and express opinions about who they are, from a very young age. For this reason it is important that psychologists be able to study and measure this phenomenon. Future work needs to address the issues of theory, definition, and methodology that have remained unresolved across the centuries. A consensus on these issues will lead to better measurement and a better understanding of how self-esteem influences the mental health and behavior of individuals.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Egypts Age Of Reform

Egypts Age Of Reform Muhammad Ali Pasha, or Mehmet Ali PaÃ…Å ¸a, was the ruler of Egypt for 43 years (1805 to 1848). He is regarded in history as the founder of modern Egypt. Muhammad Ali was born to an Albanian family in Kavala which is modern day Greece. He worked first in the tobacco industry as a merchant until he became part of the Ottoman army. He first came to Egypt with the army to rid the country of the French expedition. After successfully liberating Egypt in 1801, Muhammad Ali started to gain interest in ruling Egypt. He made efforts to reach the power in Egypt until he successfully did in 1805 (. Throughout his rule, Mohammed Ali introduced many reforms of all kinds in order to achieve his goal which was to turn Egypt into a modern country. Although he was not a pure Egyptian, Mohammed Ali ruled Egypt with love and determination to make it an independent country. He was a true visionary; his efforts of reform indeed were successful in creating a period of renaissance that benefited Egypt in numerous ways. He was able to strengthen, unify, and most importantly modernize Egypt in a period of 43 years. What encouraged Muhammad Ali to insist on reforming Egypt were two reasons. First he felt that it is a country that had such a rich history and civilization, deserved to be modernized and independent. The second reason was that Egypt had a strategic geographical location that he felt had the potential of making it one of the most advanced countries. Mohammed Alis reforms did not only focus on one area, but rather on numerous fields which included the military, agriculture, industry, and education. All in which took Egypt steps further ahead and transformed it from being an ordinary state run under the rule of the Ottoman Empire into being an independent country and one of the most developed countries outside of Europe. His main goal was to build a strong army. However, the shortage of revenue was a major obstacle that hindered him from achieving his goal. As a result, he extended the governments control onto all of Egypts resources in order to enable him to plan and manage a way to generate more revenue that would enable him to carry on his reform plans. Furthermore, Muhammad Ali realized that if he was to build a strong army, he had not only to focus on Egypts military sector, but also on all the other sectors in order to establish a powerful economy. Military Reforms Muhammad Alis military reforms were very smart and served Egypts interest. He realized that the army was not strong enough. Its main weakness was that its soldiers were a mixture between Turks, Albanians, and Mamluks and therefore, there was no sense of nationalism or unity. He also realized that the European armies were more advanced since they were using modern weaponry and techniques whereas his army was not which posed a threat to Egypts security. As a result, Ali was determined to create a new army. He had made several attempts to build a new army. His first attempt on August 1815 was to appoint Egyptian farmers however, together both Albanians and men of religion opposed him and threatened his life which caused Ali create another plan. His second attempt was to appoint Sudanese men, yet his plan also failed primarily due to the fact that Sudanese soldiers had no feeling of nationalism towards Egypt and therefore, were not driven to join the army and protect Egypt. His third and final attempt in 1820 was to once more appoint Egyptian Muslim farmers. This attempt succeeded yet it was strongly opposed by the Turkish aristocrats who feared that by giving Egyptians power in the army that they would use it against the Ottomans (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  , 59). It was also opposed by the farmers themselves since they did not find any benefits to them being part of the army (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  , 142). However, according to Mouriez in his book Modern Egypt from 1840 to 1857 he states that the farmers quickly got used to their new lives as part of the army and were proud to be the army men of Muhammad Ali since they found that the title was prestigious (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  , 59). In a period of 10 years the army reached a total number of 130,000 soldiers which was a relatively large number considering that the population of Egypt as a whole was about 3.5 mi llion (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡,125). In order to train the army, Mohammed Ali used the aid of a French colonel Seve who was later known as Suleiman Pasha after he converted to Islam (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 125). Although he was French, Suleiman Pasha played a huge role into modernizing the army. Mohammed Ali had great hopes in him and trusted that he would be able to make the Egyptian army similar to those armies of Europe. Under the control of Suleiman Pasha, the army moved to Aswan as a location for training. For a period of three years the army was placed under constant training that was aimed at organizing, strengthen, and unifying the soldiers as one (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  , 62). In addition to training the army Mohammed Ali also sent military missions to Europe. This indicates that as a ruler he was not only planning short term goals for Egypt, but also long-term one that would benefit Egypt for more years to come. What is admirable about Muhammad Alis techniques in reforming the army was that he was not ashamed to admit that he wanted to imitate the army of his enemy. In my opinion it was smart of him to seek help from European experts to train the Egyptian army. Industrial Reforms Although Muhammad Ali used the aid of European states, his plan was to use it only for a short period of time. In other words he was clever in seeking foreign help in order to build Egypt, yet the beauty in his plan was how he managed to transform Egypt from a dependent country to an independent country. One of Mohammed Alis main goals was to limit import substitution in Egypt. He wanted to manufacture his own weapons for the Egyptian army and stop depending on European states for aid. However, Muhammad Ali could not have industrialized Egypt without the helping hand of Europe at first. His plan was to import machinery and experts from Europe. Then he would imitate the machinery by building similar ones in Egypt under the supervision of the European experts who trained the Egyptian labor (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 75). One of the most successful industries was the military industry. The reason to why he decided on establishing a military industry in particular was because he usually faced two problems when importing weapons from Europe. First, Egypt did no always have enough money to buy weaponry and secondly, was because often some European countries refused to export their weaponry to Egypt. As a result, Muhammad Ali was determined to make Egypt rely on its own production (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 75). He established the first arsenal in 1816 to produce cannons and munitions. He also established arsenals in Alexandria, Cairo, Rosetta, and Bulaq to produce arms and naval ships. Not only was Egypt now manufacturing to meet its needs, but also it was manufacturing at very high quality (Owen,71). In addition to the military industry, Muhammad Ali established textile factories starting from the year 1815 to further decrease Egypts import bill and to compete against the finished goods coming from India. He would supply the raw materials from Egypts local production of cotton and whenever the factories faced a shortage of raw materials, Muhammad Ali would order that more land be cultivated to produce more output (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 75). Moreover, Muhammad Ali established factories for the production of silk starting from the year 1816 with the first factory in Khoronfish. In addition, there was the establishment of 3 factories for the production of sugar in 1818, and a factory for leather (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 75). Agricultural Reforms Moving to the agricultural reforms, it is clear that Muhammad Ali relied less on European aid and more on the efforts of the government and the locals. Although the reforms might have seemed harsh, yet Egypt would have never been strong without the implementation of Muhammad Alis policies. In order to transform the agricultural sector into a more modern one and in order to increase Egypts revenue coming from this sector, Mohammed Ali had to go through several steps in order to achieve his ultimate goal. First, he ended the Iltizam system in Egypt since he realized that a large part of Egypts land tax was going to the Multazims instead of the government (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 98). He first abolished the Iltizam system in 1812 in Upper Egypt and then in 1814 abolished it in Lower Egypt. In order to replace the Multazims, Mohammed Ali appointed Coptic clerks as the ones responsible to collect the tax. In addition, he used the village sheikhs to perform surveillance among the tax collection in order for him to ensure that the taxes reach the government (Owen,65). Moreover, Muhammed Ali introduced new crops for cultivation. One of the most important crops that were introduced is long staple cotton in 1821. Farmers cultivated long staple cotton intensively. In fact, the government itself encouraged farmers to cultivate it by giving them animals on credit, and cotton seeds for free. In addition, the government distributed cotton gins and presses in villages and used the help of experts from Syria and Anatolia to aid the farmers in the cultivation of the crops. As a result, there was a large increase in Egypts revenue. Almost 33% of revenue coming to Egypt came from cotton, which allowed the government to fund the expansion of its army (Owen, 66-67). Egypts cotton was highly demanded by French and British textile factories. In addition their output increased tremendously in six years from 944 cantars in 1821 to 34,300 cantars In addition, Muhammad Ali introduced a new system to the agricultural sector which is known as the Monopoly system. Under the Monopoly system, Muhammad Ali considered himself as the owner of all the land of Egypt. He nationalized all land in Egypt and banned the private trade of numerous crops. Under the Monopoly system, Muhammed Ali divided the land among the farmers so that each farmer would get from 3 to 5 feddans to cultivate and gave away 4% of the total area of land in each village to the village sheikhs. As long as each farmer paid the land tax, they had the freedom to choose the crops that they were going to cultivate. After the crops were cultivated, the farmers were responsible to hand in all their output to the government. The government would then buy the crops from the farmers at a price lower than the international price and sell it in the international market at the international price. As a result, the money that Egypt would make out of this monopoly would go to the industrial sector in order to achieve the goals of having an industrial sector that was strong enough to compete on its own both locally and on an international level (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  , 156). As a result Mohammed Ali had complete control of 95% of Egypts exports. Meanwhile, h e only controlled 1/3 of the total imports of Egypt. The reason why he did not have much control over Egypts imports was due to the pressure of European states on the Ottoman government set a law in 1820 that allowed foreign merchants to export goods to the Ottoman Empire was an import rate of 3% only. Therefore, despite the fact that Muhammad Ali wanted to protect Egypts local production, he could not go against the laws that the Ottoman empire had set on the importation of European goods (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡,72). In addition, Mohammed Ali increased the area of cultivated land by 164960 feddans. However, in order to increase this area, he had to carry irrigational projects. He ordered the digging of new canals and the clearing of old ones in order to ensure that there was a constant supply of water reaching the lands. Some of the most famous canals of that time and that are still found today are Mahmudiya Canal, the Delta Barrage, and Al Anater Al Khayreia (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 72). Moreover, the government confiscated all the Waqf land since its owners could not proof that their land was in fact Waqf. As a result of Muhammad Alis efforts to transform the agricultural sector, Egypts revenue increased tremendously. Since more land was being cultivated, there was more production. More production meant an increase in exportation, and finally this led to an increase in revenue. Although many could argue that the monopoly system is not a democratic system and therefore, one should not be praised for applying it, in Egypts case applying the monopoly system was the most ideal solution for increasing revenue. However, only because Muhammad Ali was not driven by greed did this system work. However, if it was someone other than Muhammad Ali then there would have been a chance that the money surplus would have gone to waste. Educational Reforms The educational sector is by far the sector that benefited Egypt the most on the long run. In my opinion, if Muhammad Ali was not a believer in education then no matter how much he tried to reform the military, industrial, or agricultural sectors Egypt would have still remained insignificant. Mohammed Ali, highly believed in the value of education. Although, he was illiterate until he reached his forties, Mohammed Ali encouraged Egyptians to read and educate themselves. In fact, Abdel-Rahman Al-Jabarti, an Egyptian historian, mentioned in his chronicale Ajaib al-athar fil tarajim wal-akhbar, that Mohammed Ali admired and was taken by the intelligence and receptivity of learning that was evident in Egyptians. In fact, he tells a story of a man named Hussein Jalabi Ajwa, an Egyptian who invented a devise for grinding rice. When his invention was shown to Mohammed Ali, Ali was very impressed and concluded that Egyptians were in fact smart and therefore, deserved to have schools for education (El Gemeiy). Before Mohammed Alis efforts for reform in the educational sector, education in Egypt was limited to religious studies and Islamic law. Moreover, before his reign Egypt reached a very low state in education. A primary reason to why it reached this stage was due to the fact that the Ottomans did not possess any sort of valuable knowledge that they could pass on. In fact the Ottomans were weak in Arabic which resulted in Turkish becoming the main language (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ). However, seeing European states advance using their modern sciences drove Mohammed Ali to transfer knowledge from the West to the East. His admiration of the European method of education made Mohammed Ali more determined to introduce modern education first time to Egypt. Moreover, he felt that Egypt needed employees who were well trained and specialized; in addition he realized that it needed well trained army officers. As a result, Muhammad Ali introduced a new system of education in hopes that it will elevate Egyptians. The main reason to why Muhammad Ali wanted to introduce a better education was because he felt that by having one it would create a strong backbone for the Egyptian army since the army needed to be updated with the modern military methods (El Gemeiy). In addition, it needed doctors, translators, teachers, engineers and specialized experts in many different fields in order for it to be considered a strong army (El Gemeiy). As a result, Muhammed Ali was keen on introducing secular education. Instead of establishing an educational system that started with primary schools, Mohammed Ali first established specialized schools and then moved to the establishment of middle and primary schools. His plan was to establish specialized institutes, bring foreign instructors to teach, send educational missions to Europe, and finally translated European books into Turkish and Arabic (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ). The process of reforming the educational sector was long, yet it benefited Egypt greatly. During the first stage from the year 1811 to 1836, 67 new schools were introduced in Egypt. Although, all schools were run under the control of the department of Military, each school had its own unique system, meaning that each school created its own rules. One of the most important schools that were established during his reign was the school of Medicine. This school was established in 1827 in an area called Abu Zaabal. Its main goal was to graduate doctors who could work for the Egyptian army. The school grew to be very prestigious. Later in 1830 the School of Pharmacology was established followed by the School of Obstetrics which was established a year later together with the school of Veterinary Medicine. The schools proved to be a great success. In fact they graduated 420 doctors and pharmacists that worked for the army afterwards (El Gemeily). In 1837 the school of medicine was relocated in Cairo and was built by Ahmed Al-Aini. It was later known as Qasr Al-Aini. Furthermore, Muhammed Ali established agricultural colleges. Al-Darsakhana al-malakiya (The Royal Academy), established in the year 1830, was the first agricultural college to be introduced. Not only did it teach agricultural sciences, but also taught Arabic and Farsi. Later in 1833, an agricultural college in Shubra Al Kheima was established. Another college that was established in 1836 was in Nabruh in which its instructors were made up of the Egyptian student body who went on missions to Europe (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  , 162). One of the first schools he established was Al Mohandes Khana (School of Engineering) which was created in 1816. The government imported all the machinery and tools needed for the school from England. In addition, he made its education for free and gave the students a monthly salary. Later in 1834 he created another similar engineering school in Bolak (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  , 162). Moreover, a proof that Muhammed Ali was sincere in his goal of translating Western knowledge to the East, was the establishment of Al Alson Academy, an institute that . Several military schools were established during the reign of Muhammad Ali. The Artillery Academy, the Cavalry Academy, was established in 1831. Their aim was to graduate a labor force that would be useful for the Egyptian army. Furthermore, a naval academy was established under Muhammad Ali. This academy proved to be very successful to an extend that its naval fleet equaled that of the Ottoman Empire not only in size, but also in strength and skill (El Gemeiy). During the period between the years 1836-1841, Muhammed Ali realized that more order should be placed in the educational sector. Therefore, he established Diwan al-madaris (the Department of Schools) to take over the educational sector instead of the Department of Military. Was established in order to organize and take control of the educational sector in Egypt. During this stage the establishment of preparatory schools took place. As was mentioned previously, Mohammed Ali was keen on sending educational mission to Europe. He realized that by sending students to Europe would open these students to a more modern way of thinking so that when they come back to Egypt they can implement what they have seen in Europe. The missions involved all educational fields meaning that students were sent to study military sciences, agriculture, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and many other fields of study. The total number of students sent on these missions added up to 319 students. In my opinion, the educational sector was the sector that received the most beneficial reforms. If it was not for Muhammad Ali, then this sector would have probably remained stagnant. It would have been nearly impossible to modernize and evolve Egypt without having an educational sector. To conclude, Mohammed Alis reforms were aimed at elevating Egypt as a whole. Although his main goal was to create a strong army, Muhammad Ali understood that in order to achieve his goal he has to build a strong economy as well. Many might oppose him for using the aid of European countries especially since he played a role in ending the French Expedition in Egypt, however, in my opinion I find that his plan was ideal. The main reason why is because by doing so Muhammad Ali proves that he is a smart ruler who would do anything to bring his country further ahead. Furthermore, even though he was not purely Egyptian, Muhammad Ali ruled with love for Egypt. As a result, not only did he carry out his policies to achieve short-term goals, but also he established long-term goals that would make Egypt a modern country that was not just a state under the Ottoman Empire. As a result of all the reforms Egypt ended up with more local production, more exports, limited imports, better education, an d a stronger army.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Colon Cancer Awareness :: Colorectal Cancer

In Hacienda Heights, California, Elsie Garcia a 67 year old female patient would evade the colonoscopy screening for four years which would screen for colon cancer is alive and healthy today due to a new test called FIT (fecal immunochemical test) which is less invasive than the American Cancer Society â€Å"Gold Standard â€Å"colonoscopy. She would schedule appointments for the procedure but would cancel in fear of the risk related to having colonoscopies. A Colonoscopy is considered the best way of screening for potential cancerous polyps is considered generally safe but the risk of colon perforation during the procedure is 1 in 1000 cases which would lead to serious complications. Garcia agreed to the FIT screening in which her doctors found blood in her stool. They scheduled Garcia for a follow up colonoscopy which four early cancerous polyps that were removed. Garcia was grateful for the FIT screening and is alive and health today (Szabo, 2014). Anatomy Colorectal Cancer is the third leading cancer in men and women and is considered the leading cause of cancer causing death. In the text Physiology 5th edition, the statistics show that the annual incidence of colon and rectal cancer in the United States is estimated to be 148,810 with a mortality rate of 49,960 (Copestead-Kirkhorn, 2013). The colon is a tube shaped organ in which its primary function is water absorption. It is approximately five feet in length starting from the right side of the abdomen and stretches across to the left side of abdomen appearing to like an upside down â€Å"U† shape. The colon is identified as the right colon, transverse colon, the descending colon, sigmoid colon and the rectum. The blood supply to the colon comes from the aorta which branch out into the mesenteric vessels. In the fat of the mesentery house the lymph nodes which aid in immunity and play an important role in cancer of the colon. There colon has four layers; the mucosa, submucos a, muscularis and serosa which are important in diagnosis and staging of cancer. It is within the mucosa that abnormal tissue growth such as polyps occurs (Bub-Rose-Wong, 2008). Cancer is a condition in which some cells do not follow their cell cycle rules. Every cell in the body has a specific function, the normal cell has growth cycles which are regulated and have a limited life span. The normal functioning cell stay within the boundaries of is organ or tissue of which it belongs to.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

Daisy Horne Ms. Soppe English 101 18 November 2013 Abortion should be Illegal In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S. This proves many people have desensitized themselves by taking human lives. Also, within the last decade moral values have changed drastically. People have also lost a sense of responsibility. Irresponsibility has led from small actions to big ones, such as getting an abortion. Everyday women choose to throw their own child away. Christians feel that abortion is synonymous with killing a life. Every life is a special one. Every life contributes to a bigger picture but people have given numerous â€Å"excuses† to explain their actions. If a person goes directly to prison for murdering someone then it shouldn’t be any different for a mother aborting her child. God doesn’t give special rights to pregnant women to make abortion okay. Abortion is unacceptable, cruel and an unethical practice that should be illegal. Many people aren’t even aware of what an abortion really is. An abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. There are two types of abortion, medical abortion and surgical abortion. A medical abortion involves taking the drug mifepristone; often called the abortion pill. A woman seeking a medical abortion can obtain one through doctors or through a medical office. Whichever way an abortion procedure is performed it is still wrong and cruel (Lowen 1). It’s personally known that some international ministries have built orphanages because of the lack of children to adopt. One international ministry just recently rescued 8 boys from slavery in Ghana, Africa. Ministries, organizations, and companies globally look for ways to promote a healthy living for young babies. Even i... ... from "What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?" Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 May 2013. Hernandez, Barbara. "Rape Justifies Abortion." Abortion. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 May 2013. ProCon.org. "Abortion ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 8 May 2013. Web. 13 May. 2013. Smith, Mailee R. "Parents Have a Right to Know About Teen Abortion." Teens and Privacy. Ed. Noà «l Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Parental Involvement Laws: Protecting Minors and Parental Rights." Defending Life 2009. Americans United for Life, 2009. 177-179.Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 May 2013. Stacey, Dawn, M.Ed., LMHC. "About Abortion - Abortion Procedures." About.com Contraception. 3 August 2009. The Holy Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Good News, 2011. Print.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Aging & psychosocial

There are several challenges that are often associated with the process of aging. As enumerated by DeLaune and Ladner (2002), the most prominent of which is those which are classified under the broad categories of developmental, mental, physiological, and psychosocial challenges.First, developmental challenges include those which are related to several capabilities and skills that are developed through time (DeLaune & Ladner, 2002). Second, mental challenges include those which are related to their intellectual capacities where there are associations of mental disabilities for aged people (DeLaune & Ladner, 2002).Third, physiological changes include those which affect the physical and bodily functions of the aged where there are oftentimes aging people who have limited capabilities and due to their illnesses, can not do so much as they do before (DeLaune & Ladner, 2002).Within the realms of the challenges stated above, aging people also experience particular problems and this could l ikewise be classified under the categories mentioned above. Among the greatest difficulties of the elderly people include that of physical inability, psychological isolations, and discriminations.As for physical inability, this is sometimes caused by how their physical environments are built (Frank, Engelke, & Schmid, 2003). There are special needs that the elderly require to make their living easier and comfortable and the generic designs that are being placed nowadays including that of the public areas do not address all of these.Thus, they are further limited with regard to the physical activities that they could engage into. With regard to psychological isolations, there is a side of the picture that points towards the elderly people feeling a sense of isolation especially for those who are not living with their kin (Abbot & Payne, 1990).This is likewise true for those who are asked to live in homes for the aged where they are not able to interact with a lot of people. Lastly, t hat of discrimination stems from the perceptions of people that the elderly are â€Å"rigid, unhealthy, unhappy, and unemployable† (Newman & Grauerholz, 2002, p. 501).To a certain extent, it has been considered by Estes (1979) that the major difficulties that are faced by the elderly, for that of the geographical area of the United States are those which are brought about by the perceptions that are formed of them (as cited in Estes, 2001).It is considered by the author that what is known about the aged from the perceptions that are formed of them has affected them in such a way that problems have stemmed from these perceptions.The knowledge that is gathered about the elderly has created a box that has limited their potentials and has formed a particular web of conceptions that direct the image of the elderly people towards a particular direction (Estes, 2001). It is mentioned by the author that â€Å"in an important sense, then, the major problems faced by the elderly are t he ones we create for them† (as cited in Estes, 2001, p. 29).The clear emphasis of the author with regard to the relevance of the Likewise, it can be seen that the, indeed, the physical process of aging also affects the way elderly people interact for their everyday living.For example, it has been mentioned by Edelstein, Goodie, and Martin (2001) that the cardiovascular and respiratory system and the changes associated with it may have a considerable impact on the behavior of the adults together with their moral relationships.Likewise, there are also problems associated with the physical process that occurs especially so that their vision and hearing may be affected such that they have lower levels of capabilities as compared before when they are younger (Edelstein, Goodie, & Martin, 2001).It is not the process itself nor the outcomes for them but the experience that they associate with their external environment that leads them to consider these as their difficulties in life. Ageism, or age discrimination, is a concept which â€Å"is defined as a process of systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish[es] this for skin color and gender† (E. Margolis, H. Margolis, Braun, 1995).As mentioned before, it also affects the way elderly go about their everyday living because there are certain perceptions and notions created of them that may be considered as stereotypes for them to live with. This means that the society has created an image which they have to live with.Likewise, the social institutions accept this as they are without prior consideration to the greater impact that it has over the elderly population. This particular set of stereotypes is evident in the age limit that is given for certain occupations.Where some are considered to be valid, some are purely stereotypes and should not be applied to all of the members of the elderly population.It can not be considered that the difficulties and challenges that are faced by the elderly population may be applied in a universal setting. The characteristic of universality is not applicable to a certain extent because there are still vulnerable groups that may be considered within the group of aging individuals.For example, it has been mentioned by Lustig (2000) that the â€Å"elderly poor women† are among those which experience vulnerability among the aged population (p. 119). This concern gives rise to the special needs that each of the vulnerable groups hold.Likewise, the differences in terms of culture also provide for the variations among the impact that they feel as a result of the challenges and problems drawn from those mentioned above, especially with that of access to social services such as health care (Breitung, 2002). There are differences with regard to the settings to which they have to live with and this produces a source of inequality where some cultures experience better access to socia l services than the rest.ReferencesAbbott, P. & Payne, G. (1990). New directions in the sociology of health. London: Routledge.Breitung, J. (2002). The eldercare sourcebook. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.DeLaune, S. & Ladner, P. (2002). Fundamentals of nursing: standards and practice. NY: Thomson Delmar.Edelstein, B., Goodie, J. & Martin, R. (2001). Aging: Physiological and behavioral concomitants. In W. E. Craighead & C. Nemeroff, The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Estes, C. (2001). Social policy and aging: A critical perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Frank, L., Engelke, P., & Schmid, T. (2003). Health and community design: The impact of the built environment on physical activity. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.Lustig, N. (2000). Social protection for equity and growth. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Life of Andrew Carnegie

A man of Scotland, a distinguished citizen of the United States, and a philanthropist devoted to the betterment of the world around him, Andrew Carnegie became famous at the turn of the twentieth century and became a real life rags to riches story. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835, Andrew Carnegie entered the world in poverty. The son of a hand weaver, Carnegie received his only formal education during the short time between his birth and his move to the United States. When steam machinery for weaving came into use, Carnegie†s father sold his looms and household goods, sailing to America with his wife and two sons. At this time, Andrew was twelve, and his brother, Thomas, was five. Arriving into New York on August 14, 1848, aboard the Wiscasset from Glasgow, the Carnegies wasted little time settling in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where relatives already existed and were there to provide help. Allegheny City provided Carnegie†s first job, as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, working for $1. 20 a week. His father also worked there while his mother bound shoes at home, making a miniscule amount of money. Although the Carnegies lacked in money, they abounded in ideals and training for their children. At age 15, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy in Pittsburgh. He learned to send and decipher telegraphic messages and became a telegraph operator at the age of 17. Carnegie†s next job was as a railroad clerk, working for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked his way up the ladder, through his dedication and honest desire to succeed, to become train dispatcher and then division manager. At this time, young Carnegie, age 24, had already made some small investments that laid the foundations of his what would be tremendous fortune. One of these investments was the purchase of stock in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. In 1864, Carnegie entered the iron business, but did not begin to make steel until years later. In 1873, he built the Edgar Thomson works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, to make Bessemer steel. He established many other steel plants, and in 1892, he merged all of his interests into the Carnegie Steel Company. This act from Carnegie is fitting with one of his most famous quotations, â€Å"Put all of your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket. † This firm became one of the greatest industrial enterprises in America. Carnegie later sold it to J. P. Morgan†s United States Steel Corporation in 1901 for $400 million, which would be a little over $4 billion today! After retiring, Carnegie†s fortune was estimated to be as large as half a billion dollars. From that time on, with the philosophy that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their money, he devoted himself to philanthropy. Although ironic, this man of great fortune strongly believed in the merits of poverty for the development of character and work ethic, and determined that wealthy men should not leave their fortunes to their children, but should give it away, claiming â€Å"The man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced. † The picture of community service, Carnegie is quoted as saying, â€Å"Pittsburgh entered the core of my heart when I was a boy, and cannot be torn out. I can never be one hair†s breadth less loyal to her, or less anxious to help her in any way, than I have been since I could help anything. My treasure is still with you, and how best to serve Pittsburgh is the question which occurs to me almost every day of my life. † Colonel James Anderson, who Carnegie believes to be his childhood benefactor, established a public library in his hometown of Allegheny City. This library was the first opportunity for Carnegie to take advantage of free information, and he developed a vast interest for knowledge, checking out at least one book a week, and developing himself as a young boy. With Colonel Anderson†s generous contribution to his society molding Carnegie†s childhood, and his beliefs on how large fortunes can be used for the betterment of society, it becomes obvious that Carnegie would focus particularly on promoting education, establishing 2,811 free libraries in all. Of these, 1,946 were located in the United States with at least one in every state except Rhode Island. Also, 660 were founded in Britain and Ireland, 156 in Canada, and a handful of libraries were also scattered in New Zealand, the West Indies, and even Fiji. Caregie†s contributions gave existence to his dream of establishing chances of self-education in a time when public libraries were scarce. Not only did he give large amounts of money to libraries, but also to other philanthropic organizations, establishing some of his own. The Carnegie Corporation of New York was established for â€Å"the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. † The $135 million donated by Carnegie was used in grants to colleges, universities, and other educational institutions. Money also went to organizations that conduct basic research and experimental programs dealing with education and public affairs. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was founded to promote international peace and understanding, conducting programs of research, discussion, publication, and education in the international affairs and United States foreign policy. Currently the program focuses on issues such as arms control, international law, and relations between the United States and foreign countries. It publishes the quarterly journal, Foreign Policy, and has offices in New York City and Washington, D. C. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching promotes the dignity in the teaching profession and the cause of higher education. Chartered by Carnegie in 1905 with $15 million, the foundation established the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association in 1918, and currently provides retirement pensions for teachers of colleges, technical schools, and universities in the United States and Canada. Their studies have had much influence on American higher education. Also benefiting from Carnegie†s charity include various Carnegie museums of history, science, and art, Carnegie Hall in New York, and other public spirited organizations. Before 1919, when Carnegie died, he had given away $350,695,653, and at his death, the last $30 million was likewise given away to foundations, charities, and pensioners. He left a mark on society not only through his enormous monetary provisions, but also with his own literature. Carnegie loved to promote his ideas and opinions in print, and has written many works outlining these philosophies, including Triumphant Democracy (1886), The Gospel of Wealth (1900), The Empire of Business (1902), Problems of Today (1908), and an Autobiography (1920) (Mitzen 182). Although Carnegie only stood somewhere between 5†³2†³ and 5†³6†³, he â€Å"had to be a great, tough, disciplined giant of a man. † His commitment to others is not only seen through his many munificent works, but in the way he lived, including his tombstone in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery of North Tarrytown, New York, where the epitaph reads, â€Å"Here lies a man who was able to surround himself with men far cleverer than himself. â€Å"

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Buddhism in the United States

It has almost become part of a regular routine. Like a habit. Practitioners enter this type of monastery to chant and meditate using Tibetan mantras while sitting cross-legged on mats, simultaneously being led by a lama. Their surroundings – bright Tibetan paintings – depict of a scene quite unfamiliar from their own. Indeed this picture can portray an Asian vista, but it is not in Asia.This is private in the Rime Center, located just off Interstate 35 in Kansas City, identified as one of approximately 1,000 Buddhist centers in the United States (Browning, 2007). In 2006, National Geographic magazine accounted that Buddhism has become one of United States’ religion with an increasing number of supporters, given an estimated 1. 5% of the country’s total population (Jan Hai, 2006). This is strongly held up by an established 2,000 Buddhist societies and associations of various sizes found in the United States (Jan Hai, 2006).To further highlight the prevalenc e of Buddhism in the West, Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader, has done several visits to cities of the United States for public talks and other forms of assemblies with young peacemakers, scientists, the academe, business executives and to all other budding faithful Americans (Lampman, 2006). According to the 2006 edition of the Christian Science Monitor, â€Å"Dalai Lama’s visits spotlights the fact that with 1. 5 million adherents, Buddhism is America’s fourth largest religion. †Buddhism is steadily growing in the region and is incessantly spreading as American-born leaders present this traditionally ancient belief structured into the Western perspective and conditions (Lampman, 2006). America, with its diverse environment and cultures for Buddhism, lays out a unique history on how this religion laid its foundation and further distinguished itself towards a continuing process of development in the nation (Wikipedia, 2007). Buddhism making History in the United St ates Buddhism originated as a progeny of Hinduism in India (Zukeran, 1994). Founded by Siddharta Gautama (the Enlightened One) in the 6th century B.C. , Buddhism’s central focus is to sought the answer of the existence of pain and suffering in this world (Browning, 2007). The basic teachings of Buddhism – the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path – aim to address these. It is only through the total self-annihilation of desires made by following these teachings is one able to attain the eternal state of being called, Nirvana (Zukeran, 1994). This belief was carried on to various parts of Asia, with almost every denomination represented: Southeast Asian, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Korean, Chinese and Japanese varieties of ancient Buddhism (Gross, 2005).Buddhism endlessly spread across Asia. James Browning, an English Pastor of Englewood Baptist Church noted that Buddhism came to the United States in the 20th century due to three factors: (1) large number of Asian Bu ddhist immigrants, and the contact of Westerners with Asia during and after the World War II; (2) diaspora of Buddhist leaders from Tibet, China and Southeast Asia instigated by the Marxist Revolutions; and (3) the various missionary activities of Buddhist teachers in the United States (Browning, 2007).With the Asian immigrants spreading across the United States with their teachings in Buddhism, American intellectuals were starting to become involved and took interest to this religion or belief. (Wikipedia, 2007). To name a few, Englishmen William Jones and Charles Wilkins initiated translation works from Sanskrit to English to comprehend the ancient religion. Even Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson took the extra mile in understanding the Buddhist philosophy and published later the first English version of the Lotus Sutra.Henry Steel Olcott was the first popular American to publicly convert himself to the religion. And the most remarkable event in the history of Buddhism i n America was when the World Parliament of Religions was held in Chicago in 1893 to pave way for a public forum wherein Buddhists can freely communicate with the rest of the Western public (Wikipedia, 2007). Types of Buddhism in the United States With the successful emergence of Buddhism in the United States, even to date, both immigrants and native-born continue to practice Buddhism in diverse forms (Browning, 2007).According to some scholars such as Charles Prebish, three broad types of Buddhism in America are predominantly being carried out (Wikipedia, 2007). The oldest and largest is the â€Å"immigrant† or what is called â€Å"ethnic Buddhism†. The next oldest and what is accorded to be the most evident is the â€Å"import Buddhism†, which is also sometimes called as â€Å"elite Buddhism†. Finally, the newest sect of Buddhism actively purported in America from various backgrounds is the â€Å"export† or â€Å"evangelical Buddhism† (Wiki pedia, 2007).The differences and distinctions of these three types will be elaborated further below. Immigrant Buddhism is largely the Buddhist tradition brought about by the early Asian Buddhist settlers in the United States. This is home to the Buddhists from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and from nearly all other Buddhist country in the world over (Wikipedia, 2007). The largest national immigrant Buddhism in the United States is the Buddhist Churches of America or the BCA. Japanese immigrants founded this organization and are linked with the Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land) branch of Buddhism.Its model has incorporated certain devotional practices with the likes of American Protestantism (Browning, 2007). Import Buddhism on the one hand, has its nature as its definition. As American intellectuals seek the truth and pursue a quest from a variety of countries in Asia, three trends of Import Buddhism have emerged, as follows: Zen, Tibetan Buddhism and Vipassana (caused b y Theravada Buddhism). (Wikipedia, 2007). Several Zen centers are already situated in the United States with emphasis on sitting meditation (zazen), and are being taught by a master (roshi).Zen is able to attract individuals due to its minimalism, its center of attention on both spontaneity and discipline, its mystique, its appeal with the arts (examples of its respective poetry includes haiku, gardening, ink landscape paintings, and No Theater) and its likeness towards martial arts (Browning, 2007). Tibetan Buddhism stems from its ancestors’ teachings with the most prominent Buddhist teacher in the world as their current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. He has attracted a number of celebrities in the Hollywood arena and ahs established a series of meditation centers, also called as Dharmadhatu (Wikipedia, 2007).Currently there are four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism in the West: the Gelug, the Kagyu, the Nyingma, and the Sakya (Wikipedia, 2007). The last trend of Import Buddhis m is Vipassana which is rooted from Theravada teachings. With a rough translation of â€Å"insight meditation†, Vipassana’s ancient meditative practices aim to simplify ritual and other ceremonial activities in order to achieve a more effective and available-to-all type of meditation. This sect is more open to lay involvement which sets Theravada differently amongst other teachings (Wikipedia, 2007).Import Buddhism was earlier noted as an â€Å"elite Buddhism†, reason being is the nature of its origins. The elite American society with its keen interest to know more of the religion tends to go overseas in various Asian regions to pursue their explorations. Lastly, Export Buddhism focused on recruiting converts from the public, one of which is Soka Gakkai’s Nichiren Buddhism. Nicheren Shoshu of America or NSA’s goal is world peace and harmony which can be achieved by the total transformation of lives. Their central focus in their meditation centers a re on the Buddhist sculpture, the Lotus Sutra. (Browning, 2007).NSA actively promotes its chanting of mantra expressing its allegiance to the Lotus Sutra. The most distinct feature that sets Soka Gakkai apart is its meditative technique solely articulated through chanting. Over the years, Buddhism in the United States has developed and made itself suitable to its environment. With the numerous sects branching out from Buddhism, it is not unlikely that another trend has developed in the West: socially engaged Buddhism. With the notion of quietism and passive approach to the society, this new trend sets to bring forth Buddhism in a different angle – moving it outside its norms.Engaged Buddhism is simply to apply its values and teachings to a wider and more involved spectrum in the society. This may concern the environment, political issues and community welfare. (Wikipedia, 2007). Role of Buddhism in Revolutionizing the West With all these sectors of Buddhism prevalent in the U nited States, another question boils down, regardless which sect you are involved into: What is it in Buddhism that has created an enormous appeal, interest and following in the Western way of living?Perhaps what is drawing people is Buddhism’s non-missionizing approach that suits the American’s search for more meaningful spiritual ways (Lampman, 2006). According to Lama Surya Das, a highly-trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition, â€Å"they are not building big temples, but offering wisdom, and ways of reconciliation and peacemaking, which are so much needed. † (Lampman, 2006). Westerners are in search of meaning of their traditional spiritual practices, and they have found answers in the transformative practices of meditation.Though this may suggest Buddhism as being able to serve as one of the answers being sought after by the faithful Americans, it should also be noted that the entry of Buddhism in the United States, particularly in North America was not as natural. Americanization of Buddhism: Its Limitations Americanization of Buddhism has emerged due to the convert Buddhists whose concerns are primarily different from those of traditionally Buddhist populations (Gross, 2005). Convert Buddhists find the Asian culture forms encase Buddhism in an uncomfortable manner (Gross, 2005).They have therefore developed approaches to Buddhist teachings that suits best their new religious identity in the Western point of view. In addition to the controversial topic of â€Å"Americanization† of Buddhism, the role of women was also tapped as another concern in the United States. It can be observed that in almost all major world religions, it is always male-dominated, similar to that of Buddhism. With Japan as an exception, another feature to note is that all traditional Buddhist societies or associations are empowered by lay-monastic dichotomy.Male denouncers for their religion are often labeled with prestige and honor, yet it is the other way around for women. Finally a deeper complication surfaced. The very teachings of Buddhism, when extrapolated, can be seen as depicting mostly lineage ancestors of men (Gross, 2005). Nevertheless, this did not hinder American women from participating in American Buddhism. It is apparent that women had taken the task in meditation centers and other Buddhist forums.Based on some observers, they claim that this is the most noticeable difference between Asian and American Buddhist centers (Gross, 2005). This seemingly key concern of women involvement in American Buddhism can be highly attributed to the second wave of feminism simultaneously occurring when the Asian Buddhist immigrants arrived in the United States. They say that if it were not for this coincidence, the face of American Buddhism will have changed forever (Gross, 2005). Buddhism Side by Side ChristianityAmerican Buddhism clearly made its mark in the region being the fourth-largest religion, after Christianity, Juda ism and Islam (Lampman, 2006). According to Dr. Seager, a professor of religious studies in Hamilton College, immigrants from Asia may have accounted for 67% of the total and the converts around one-third. Christianity being the number one religion practiced in the United States can be set in a comparative study between Buddhism to further illustrate what sets the two apart and how the two are so different (Zukeran, 1994). Here is a brief review of these two religions.As much of the Buddhist scriptures, Lotus Sutra for instance, were written hundreds of years after the death of Gautama, the factor of accuracy is questioned. In Christianity, however, the Bible is made of human testaments, of eyewitnesses surrounding the life of Jesus and the events taking place then (Zukeran, 1994). The concept of â€Å"God† also differs between the two religions. Buddhists claims that the Absolute does not play a vital role in their everyday living, unlike for Christians, where God is the cen tral of the universe – omnipotent and omniscient.The Christian God is a personal god (Zukeran, 1994). It was also made clear that Buddha is not deity. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed to be God, the Saviour of mankind. Although various sects in general sees Buddha as having a status of god, Buddha clearly and solely sees himself as the way-shower of Nirvana (Zukeran, 1994). The final distinction that can be illustrated further here is the concept of the final destination – where does one religion aim to go to? Buddhism does not aim for salvation or life after death as with Christianity.After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians no longer fear death as they themselves have witnessed that their God did conquered the grave. Buddhists hope to enter the state of Nirvana, despite its unclear description of what it really is (Zukeran, 1994). Intensification of Buddhism in the United States Finally, Buddhism has definitely proven its firm foundation in the Western cul ture when the variety of Buddhist groups started establishing institutions of higher learning in America. (Wikipedia, 2007). Naropa University was the first four-year Buddhist College in the U.S, founded by Chogyam Trungpa. It is a fully accredited institution which offers degrees not necessarily or not directly related to Buddhism. His Lai University is also another Buddhist university. There is also the Dharma Realm Buddhist University which is a four-year college university offering mainly subjects into Buddhism, but also including generalized ones. BCA runs its own Institute of Buddhist Studies in California which offers a seminary-type of Buddhist Studies (Wikipedia, 2007). The contemplative practice of Buddhism infiltrated successfully that of the United States.The Buddhist experience continuously challenges its practitioners and adherents to cope with the cultural demands and social implications, at the same time, to reap and share the merits of this religion. It goes on furt her, as the sphere of influence of Buddhism in the United States is still in-progress. References James Browning. (2007). Buddhism in the United States. Retrieved from www. ethicsdaily. com Jan Hai. (2006). Spread of Buddhism. Retrieved from www. bjreview. com Jane Lampman. (2006). American Buddhism on the Rise. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from www. csmonitor.com Pat Zukeran. (1994). Buddhism. Retrieved from www. leaderu. com Rita M. Gross. (2005). How American Women Are Changing Buddhism. Retrieved from www. shambhalasun. com Ven. Mahinda Deegalle. (2004). Buddhist Experience in North America. Retrieved from www. uri. org Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2007). Buddhism in the United States. Retrieved from www. wikipedia. org Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2006). Buddhism in the United States. Retrieved from www. wikipedia. org Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2006). Timeline of Buddhism. Retrieved from www. wikipedia. org

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Ib Psychology Bla

Discuss the use of technology in investigating one cognitive process-Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disorder that results in memory loss, impaired thinking and personality change. No blood test, brain scan, physical exam can definitely diagnose Alzheimer's disease. PET scan detect radioactively tagged glucose that are injected into a patient’s body before the imaging.Glucose enters through blood stream and brain. The most active brain areas need sugar, while damaged and less active areas need much less. By detecting the weak radiation signal from the sugar molecules are they travel throughout the brain, PET scanners can map out the brain. Using PET scans, researchers can show that early stages of Alzheimer’s disease has a reduction in brain metabolism in hippocampus.Masconi(2005) have developed brain-scan-based computer and found out that in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease there is a reduction in brain metabolism in the hippocampus. He also found out that early signs of reduced metabolism in hippocampus was associated with later development of Alzheimer disease. Therefore, PET scan is useful in finding out the early development of Alzheimer’s disease. MRI scan uses magnetic and radio waves to provide very clear and detailed static 3D images of brain structure.MRI scan can show images of shrinkage in the hippocampus; this shrinkage reflects death of substantial numbers of brain cells. The phenomenon can be detected even before symptoms interfere with daily functions, helping patients to prepare for Alzheimer’s disease. Goshe et al (2000) looked at MRI result for 119 patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment. He was 100% accurate when determining which patients had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and which had no symptoms.The study reported a 93% accuracy rate when researchers were asked to distinguish between patients with no sympt oms and those with mild cognitive impairment, but not yet diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This shows that MRI scan is very accurate in determining whether the patient has Alzheimer symptoms. According to above examples, PET scan finds out early development of Alzheimer’s disease, while MRI scan determine whether the patient shows symptoms. It is clear that Alzheimer’s disease can be investigated through PET scan and MRI scan.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Global Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Global Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Apple was the pioneer in the mobile industry to give the facility of an Ecosystem to their customers. An ecosystem is connecting the company and its features with customers by means of a computer network. By using this technology, Apple was able to be connected with its remote vendors and buyers and giving them flexibility and choice in acquiring the company’s facilities and products. An important purpose the ecosystem serves for the Apple Inc is in the inventory management by keeping a check of the demand to supply ratio of the product. To reach the global market, the company has to have a very good estimation of number buyers interest and the number of suppliers or distributors. In addition to this, it also helps in maintaining customer trust and loyalty, by keeping in direct touch with the merchandisers. Apple included the features of apps download, iTunes and many other logistics in its cloud computing network. Again this was the management strategy which saved the company from investing in help centers or customer service departments. This simplifies the process of the supply chain, where the management can easily access the data of customer visits, downloads, complaints, and feedback. This speeds up the process of filtering of information and enabled managers to make decisions regarding product advancement or improvement before customers are bored or annoyed with the product(Blaisdell 2012). It is certain that the growing fame and wide acceptance of Apple iPhones and their other devices bring the challenge of delivering devices to various distributors, and not knowing exactly how many have been sold. Moreover, the procedure for purchase for high consumers is also complicated and slow, where the supplier first reports to the main distribution unit before making a large order. Managing the supply and purchase rate efficiently is one of the prime challenges a company faces in launching the product globally.Â