Saturday, August 31, 2019

Intensive care Essay

1. Adam Smith, 77 years of age, is a male patient who was admitted from a nursing home to the intensive care unit with septic shock secondary to urosepsis. The patient has a Foley catheter in place from the nursing home with cloudy greenish, yellow-colored urine with sediments. The nurse removes the catheter after obtaining a urine culture and replaces it with a condom catheter attached to a drainage bag since the patient has a history of urinary and bowel incontinence. The patient is confused, afebrile, and hypotensive with a blood pressure of 82/44 mm Hg. His respiratory rate is 28 breaths/min and the pulse oximeter reading is at 88% room air, so the physician ordered 2 to 4 L of oxygen per nasal cannula titrated to keep SaO2 greater than 90%. The patient responded to 2 L of oxygen per nasal cannula with a SaO2 of 92%. The patient has diarrhea. His blood glucose level is elevated at 160 mg/dL. The white blood count is 15,000 and the Creactive protein, a marker for inflammation, is elevated. The patient is being treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and norepinephrine (Levophed) beginning at 2 mcg/min and titrated to keep systolic blood pressure greater than 100 mm Hg. A subclavian triple lumen catheter was inserted and verified by chest x-ray for correct placement. An arterial line was placed in the right radial artery to closely monitor the patient’s blood pressure during the usage of the vasopressor therapy. (Learning Objectives 6 and 7) a. What predisposed the patient to develop septic shock? b. What potential findings would suggest that the patient’s septic shock is worsening from the point of admission?  c. The norepinephrine concentration is 16 mg in 250 mL of normal saline (NS). Explain how the nurse should administer the medication. What nursing implications are related to the usage of a vasoactive medication? d. Explain why the effectiveness of a vasoactive medication decreases as the septic shock worsens. What treatment should the nurse anticipate to be obtained to help the patient? e. Explain the importance for nutritional support for this patient and which type of nutritional support should be provided f. What are your priority interventions? Nursing/ Medical ( 3-4 ) 2. Carlos Adams was involved in a motor vehicle accident and suffered blunt trauma to his abdomen. Upon presentation to the emergency department, his vital signs are as follows: temperature, 100.9 °F; heart rate, 120 bpm; respiratory rate, 20 breaths/min; and blood pressure, 90/54 mm Hg. His abdomen is firm, with bruising around the umbilicus. He is alert and oriented, but complains of dizziness when changing positions. The patient is admitted for management of suspected hypovolemic shock. The following orders are written for the patient: Place two large-bore IVs and infuse 0.9% NS at 125 mL/hr/line Obtain complete blood count, serum electrolytes Oxygen at 2 L/min via nasal cannula Type and cross for 4 units of blood Flat plate of the abdomen STAT (Learning Objectives 1, 4, and5) a. Describe the pathophysiologic sequence of events seen with hypovolemic shock. b. What are the major goals of medical management in this patient? c. What is the rationale for placing two large-bore IVs? d. What are advantages of using 0.9% NS in this patient? e. What is the rationale for placing the patient in a modified Trendelenburg position? Case Study, Chapter 13, Fluid and Electrolytes: Balance and Disturbance 1. Mrs. Dean is 75-year-old woman admitted to the hospital for a small bowel obstruction. Her medical history includes hypertension. Mrs. Dean is NPO. She has a nasogastric (NG) tube to low continuous suction. She has an IV of 0.9% NS at 83 mL/hr. Current medications include furosemide 20 mg daily and hydromorphone 0.2 mg every 4 hours, as needed for pain. The morning electrolytes reveal serum potassium of 3.2 mEq/L. a. What are possible causes of a low potassium level? b. What action should the nurse take in relation to the serum potassium level? c. What clinical manifestations might the nurse assess in Mrs. Dean? 2. Conrad Jackson is a 28-year-old man who presents to the emergency  department with severe fatigue and dehydration secondary to a 4-day history of vomiting. During the interview, he describes attending a family reunion and states that perhaps he â€Å"ate something bad.† Upon admission his vital signs are a temperature of 102.7 °F, heart rate of 116 bpm, respiratory rate of 18 breaths/min, and blood pressure of 86/54 mm Hg. The nurse also notes the patient has dry mucous membranes and tenting of skin. The physician orders an IV to be started with 0.45% normal saline, and orders a serum electrolytes and an arterial blood gas. (Learning Objective 7) The following results are returned from the laboratory: Sodium (Na+) 150 Potassium (K+) 5.5 Chloride (Cl ¯) 110 BUN 42 Creatinine 0.8 Glucose 86 pH 7.32 PaCO2 35 HCO3 ¯ 20 PaO2 90 O2 Sat 98% a. What is your interpretation of this arterial blood gas sample? b. Explain the high potassium in this patient. c. Calculate the patient’s anion gap: d. What is the interpretation of this anion gap? 1. Complete a plan of care for a patient with an electrolyte imbalance: fluid volume deficit and fluid volume excess; sodium deficit (hyponatremia) and sodium excess (hypernatremia); potassium deficit (hypokalemia) and potassium excess (hyperkalemia). Specifically, include altered laboratory values. 2. Create a Plan care for a patient with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS).

Friday, August 30, 2019

Tripadvisor

1. Why do consumers write reviews? Most users were pleased with their hotel or travel experience, so they wanted to share them to others. On the contrary, some write review because they aren’t satisfied with hotel’s service or facilities and feel disappointed. A few want to have a conversation or take it as a shortcut to reach management. In summary, consumers write reviews because they feel that it is useful to get advice from the website and want to exchange useful information and experience with others. 2. Why is Tripadvisor appealing to consumers?Tripadvisor displays detailed ,rich and relevant data for use by consumers in their travel planning. Tripadvisor can guarantee authenticity by examining all data entered to insure that no fraud data. A sophisticated algorithm is used to calculate the ranking taking into consideration the quantity, quality ,age of reviews and external data . So it provides unbiased information which win the trust of consumers. Potential cons umer can use this vast pool of data to help evaluate alternatives during the consumer decision making process.This â€Å"world of mouth† information is perceived as being more vivid, easier to use and more trustworthy than marketer-provided information. 3. How would you measure how â€Å"engaged† people are with Tripadvisor? Can you suggest some â€Å"actionable† metrics that Tripadvisor might be using in how it interacts with its user base? There are several measures can evaluate how people â€Å"engaged†: * Registration date * Log-in frequency * Numbers of reviews ,photos or videos posted * Update frequency of reviews, photos or videos. How long people remain activity status * Ranking of reviews or photos * Interactive with others on the forums * Average days each user spend on TA * Average time each user spend every log-in. 4. What do hotel owners and property managers feel about Tripadvisor? How does Tripadvisor manage to create the balance between co nsumers and hotel managers? 5. How does Tripadvisor monetize its UGC? How does it differ from many of the other UGC sites on the Internet (pick a few for comparison)? Tripadvisor use three main sources to monetize its UGC: Text links take users to hotels which could charge to TA on a cost-per-click basis. Once user click into the hotel link,the hotel should pay TA from $0. 25 to $1. * Display advertising on the basis of cost-per-thousand impression. That is showing advertising for thousand time then charge once. * â€Å"Business listing† service business owner to promote their TA listing by adding contact information or discount to consumer via coupons. There are many UGC website, some have the same profit model, some have different profit model.Take â€Å"secondlife † as example, its main business are virtual  community and games,its profib model are rental of virtual land, membership fee, Exchange fee of virtual goods. ect. One Chinese SNS website named â€Å"Kaix in†,its profit model are advertising,virtual money to buy game tools. 6. Why has Tripadvisor been so successful in hotel reviews? Why is it not known for restaurants even though it has user reviews on over half-a-million restaurants? 7. Can Tripadvisor replicate its success in China, vacation rentals and flights?If so, how would you prioritize them? So far, it is hard to say whether it is success in China or not. It has several challenges and competition is serious. * China is a huge potential market , but currently there are relatively small portion of population travel frequently, and most travel place are in China. International background is not the unique advantage. * Small portion people will choose online travel booking , most of them will rely on travel agency especially when they are going to travel abroad.When they travel in China,they are prefer to call the hotel for booking rather than online. As we know ,large amount of user are basis of UGC website. Without it, i t is hard to make profit. * There are more than 5 strong local competitors such as â€Å"qyer†,†mafengwo†in China market. These local competitors have the same business model with Tripadvisor but are more familiar with Chinese markets and Chinese travel habits So far ,these UGC travel website are all in the stage of attracting user to visit website and

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A Rose for Emily vs the Lottery

Robert Brockel Brockel1 Dr. Robert Janusko English 2 19 February 201 Foreshadowing There are many ways that a reader can be prepared for the ending of a story, â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† are two very grueling short stories with a long suspense and a similar plot. The narrator’s stance in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† was first-person observer, which is defined as a single character point of view in which the narrator was is not involved with the story and the narrator’s stance in â€Å"The Lottery† was third-person anonymous which is involves a narrator that does not enter any minds.Both stances conceal the endings and both the stories use imagery and foreshadowing to prepare the reader for the ending. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† contains more direct clues but leaves you second guessing whether what is anticipated really happens. â€Å"The Lottery† is better known for concealing the entire story till the ending. Shirle y Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† is a very surprising story to say the least and gives an overview in the beginning of a small American town of three hundred people that have an annual ritual called â€Å"the lottery. There are significant parts of the story that adumbrate the end of the story and leave the reader in a muddle until the end. First off, in the beginning of the story, the children of the town have just finished school Brockel 2 for the summer on a beautiful June day and they are running around gathering stones to form into a pile. The anticipated ritual is performed to ensure a good harvest even though they do not remember this. One character named Warner quotes an old proverb, â€Å"Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon. Knowing how the story ends its hard to understand that people in an old American town would sacrifice one for the belief that is would give them decent fruitage for the months to come. This story would have a better affiliation with anothe r part of the world where people live in cannibalistic tribes; then it would be easier to predict the ending. Shirley Jackson leaves her audience in the dark until the ending. Tessie’s late arrival at the lottery ritual instantly sets her apart from the crowd of town people, and the Mr.Summers makes a statement to her â€Å"Thought we were going to have to get on without you† (Pg4p9). The town people have prescience about Tessie’s fate. When Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw for him and his mother, no reason is given why Mr. Watson wouldn’t draw as all the other husbands and fathers do, which suggests that Mr. Watson may have been last year’s victim. William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a very chilling story that opens with a brief first-person account of the funeral of Emily Grierson who is an old widow.Her father died when Emily was about thirty and she refused to accept that he was dead for three days. Mr. Grierson choked Emily’s social ability. After a life of having potential husbands rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron who is a northern laborer. Emily buys arsenic from a shop in town for no Brockel 3 possible reason, which gives her neighbors the idea that she is going to kill herself.Whether or not she is going to kill herself, the reader does not know but the fact that the narrator mentions the poison implies that someone is going to die. She then takes the life of the man whom she refuses to allow to abandon her while the house is a symbol of a shield as she is the outsider of the town and no one knows of the death until she passes away. Faulkner describes her later in the story as someone bloated and pallid with steel hair. This signifies death is close by.Her death ignited a great deal of curiosity about her reclusive individuality. After she was buried, a group of local citizens entered her house to see what remained of her life there. The door to her bedroom was locked kicking in the door they see what had been hidden for so long. Inside, among the possessions that were in Emily’s room were wedding material and the horribly decomposed corpse of Homer Barron on the bed. On the pillow beside him was the indentation of her head, and a single thread of Emily's grey hair.This could be foreshadowed by the disappearance of Homer Barron and the horrible odor that was in the air. We learn a lot about the lottery, including the elements of the tradition that have survived or have been lost. We learn about the significance of the lottery and how important it is to the villagers, particularly Old Man Warner. We also read through the entire ritual, hearing characters names and watching the men approach the box to take their slips. But Shirley Jackson never tells us what the lottery prize is until the moment the first rock is thrown at Tessie. A Rose for Emily† Is a very similar situation in the B rockel 4 sense that we learn about almost everything, how queer the life of Emily Grierson is, the struggle she went through with losing her father, and the curiosity of the citizens from the town. The things we are not aware of are concealed within her house until they kick open her upstairs bedroom door. Both narrators, with different points of view, prepare the audience for the story without giving away the ending.

Theoretical dimensions involving criminal behavior Research Paper

Theoretical dimensions involving criminal behavior - Research Paper Example Cultural norms are actions and practices that are well-accepted in society, while deviant actions are those that are not acceptable. All forms of crime are considered deviant. It is not acceptable for a person to break into the house of someone else and take everything. It is not acceptable for a person to randomly kill another person. Thus, deviants, most especially, criminals, need to be punished in order for them to be accepted again into society. Theories on Criminal Behavior One of the sociological theories that were applied to criminal behavior was Durkheim’s concept of anomie. Anomie is the mismatch between a person’s (or a group’s) beliefs and that of the majority. When a feeling of anomie exists, then the two groups can not exist in the presence of the other. One has to give way, usually, the smaller group adapting the norms of the larger group. When the smaller group decides to continue going against the norms, then conflict would occur. The concept of anomie was used by Robert King Merton and other sociologists to develop what they refer to as the Strain Theory. The strain theory states that social structures and norms within society may pressure citizens to commit crime. It follows Durkheim’s study of anomie and suicide. He believed that a person commits suicide due to a feeling of insignificance and alienation. Merton used Durkheim’s views to further explain deviance and criminal behavior. ... et of social relationships in which members of the society or group are variously implicated." Anomie, the state of normlessness, arises when there is "an acute disjunction between the cultural norms and goals and the socially structured capacities of members of the group to act in accord with them." (Merton, 1968) Merton then links all the three concepts and believes that discontinuities between culture and structure cause deviance. Source: Wikipedia.org If Merton’s theory would be applied to the social context at present, an example we can use is the common belief that crimes increase in times of economic crisis. People have certain cultural practices, and these practices are supported by the structure (government and economy). Once the structure breaks down, like in an economic crisis, the people would have to adjust their practices. Those who cannot adjust to the new structure, or those who does not want to adjust, tend to do crimes. It’s like a person who steals mo ney from the bank so that he or she can buy food and other basic needs. Robert Agnew further explained Merton’s theory, believing that a theory should not be tied to social class or culture. He popularized the general strain theory, which focused more on an individual’s immediate social environment. He argued that an individual's actual or anticipated failure to achieve positively valued goals, actual or anticipated removal of positively valued behavior, and actual or anticipated presentation of negative behavior all result in strain. For example, if an individual fails to get the kind of attention that he or she expects from others, then that would cause that individual to feel bad about other people. These situations are more common among children, and if this kind of feeling builds up, then

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Assignment 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment 8 - Essay Example Most workplace violence cases are being reported to victimize the women. It has been reported that about 2 million people across the United States. Workplace violence pros a higher risk to some of the workers likes the workers that are dealing with public affairs, law enforcement workers, community workers, medical staff and taxi drivers. However, workplace violence may impact the other workers. The bank workers that exchange money, transportation workers and workers those work alone during night shift may have reduced immunity against the workplace violence (Mediate.com, 2013). Pre-Event aspect of the workplace violence deals with the aspects that are prior to the assault. These aspects include the inequality; improper behavior of fellow workers, potential objects that can become a tool for any assault. Employers can minimize the workplace violence event by minimizing the pre-event aspects of the workplace violence. Placing cameras for monitoring and maintaining high security come i n the pre-event aspects. Event aspects of the workplace violence deal in condition of assault. In case of assault one must be trained to deal with the workplace violence. Enabling alarm bells and maintaining the security staff will reduce the impact of the event of the workplace violence. Easy escape passage should also be provided in case of assault. Post-Event aspects of workplace violence are the punishment of the culprit by the employers and the by the law. There should be tough punishment for the culprits, so that no one in a workplace environment should think to try any act of assault. 2. Discuss three occupations which are among the most vulnerable to workplace violence and why. The three occupations that are most vulnerable to workplace violence are the law enforcement agents or police officers, security guards or security agents are most vulnerable to the workplace violence. As police officers are there to protect the other citizens from any criminal activity, they are like ly come to come across the workplace violence. It is more likely for the professions that deal with the general public affairs and interaction to be in workplace violence situation as compared to professions (Mediate.com, 2013). Visiting nurses are also vulnerable the most. Most reported cases of workplace violence victimize the women. Sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment are some crimes that victimize women the most, when considering the workplace violence. Taxi drivers work day and night to earn bread for the family. Taxi drivers work alone and thus vulnerable to violent attacks (Dol.gov, 2013). 3. Compare the London train bombings in 2005 and the train bombing that occurred in Madrid, Spain in March 2004. The London Train bombing in 2005 and Madrid (Spain) train bombing in March 2004 nominated a terrorist group â€Å"Al-Qaida†. The London train bombing took 39 person’s life and injured about 700 people in the total of four incidents. Three bombs were d etonated in the train at various locations at about 8:50 and the fourth incident of bomb explosion happened after an hour of the train explosions. All of the attacks were done by suicidal bombers that are the permanent citizens of the United Kingdom. The terrorist choose the busiest underground train to attack and preferred busiest office hours to attack the train. All bombers died in the incidents. The terrorists started their journey from Leeds and travelled to Luton where they collected the bombs packed in their back packs. The

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

How to Do Scientific Research Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

How to Do Scientific Research - Term Paper Example Scientific research allows us to make sense of how things work and why some things look or act the way they do. Scientific research has allowed our advancement as human species in this world. It enabled our superiority and survival among other organisms that inhabit the planet. Through scientific methods of inquiries, observations, experimentations, data analyses and continuous approaches of data verifications, several answers to essential survival needs have been known and developed further for mass benefits. This includes scientific breakthroughs in medicine, human anatomy, diseases, ecology, astronomy, society and various phenomenon relating to humanity and our survival in our environment. It is to be noted that scientific research does not provide absolute answers to questions (Ori 2012). It instead provides answers based on the current knowledge acquired and recent evidence from what is present. That is why asking the right questions and formulating a sensible hypothesis from cu rrent sources of information, are critical to advance our existing knowledge. The solutions that we have right now, the technologies we are enjoying and the existence of rich data sources are the product of all the efforts of scientific research in the past. There are more cures to sicknesses right now because researchers from the past have already discovered these solutions. The sophisticated technologies we are using in computers and network systems are the result of the development of information technologies and facets of circuitries, with applications of social sciences and human response mechanisms. It generally means that the questions that have been asked before have been answered in this generation. Thus, whatever questions and challenges we have in our present time, these will be important on how the future will be shaped. The accumulation of knowledge and its by-products continuously happen, and more discoveries are being known. These are the driving mechanisms on the adv ancements that are yet to occur in the time to come. Conducting scientific research in the light of scientific methods is critical to the validity of results. The validity of conclusions is important to be proven. Ideas can be accepted or rejected based on adherence to scientific standards and measures. This information process or scientific system helps provide consistency on how data are acquired and collected. If proven valid and accepted, the discovery can be adapted as a scientific paradigm that could be used as a sound reference of science. In here, it could be supporting other already existing paradigms that then bring to the unification of ideas, and therefore establish our understanding of that scientific matter. If this is achieved, the system could be used in the application of product development or systems design. This is when solutions are created or developed, and innovations that improve what we currently have are appreciated.

Monday, August 26, 2019

A Great Civil War Hero and a Great Military Commander Whose Name is Case Study - 1

A Great Civil War Hero and a Great Military Commander Whose Name is Hiram Ulysses Simpson Grant - Case Study Example Grant is a complex man (Bartholomees, 2002, p. 133) filled with great contradictions. Drain, the executive producer of American Experience describes him as a man hailed from an educated family, yet a school bus; a man who hates violence and the sight of blood, yet had been a brutal commander (cited in Lasner, 2002, p. 20). A man devoid of any qualities of greatness yet had saved and united this nation. A man of constant failure yet in his not so distinct previous military career had earned President Lincoln’s trust and confidence against the opposition of many, had been able to tame and discipline the seemingly hopeless rowdy Illinois regimen, and had defeated Robert E. Lee’s forces, victoriously ending the bloody Southern rebellion (Goode, 1999, p. 330; Lasner, 2002, p. 20). An honest man yet his administration were best known for many scandals involving his own people – his secretary of war (William Belknap) and private secretary (Gen. Orville Babcock). Among t he major scandals that smeared his term were the Black Friday (September 24, 1869), Whiskey Ring (1875), and Belknap Bribery (1876). (Toppin, 2002, pp. 244-246) Also, a child of the frontier, a drunkard and a stern military commander, yet rarely swears using only the oath ‘doggone it’ and acts with ‘girlish modesty’. According to him, â€Å"no one had seen him naked since he was a boy.† (Goode, 1999, p.330) Civil War brought success to Grant from being a war hero to the White House, becoming the 18th and youngest US President serving two terms (1869-1877).

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Kidnapping tourists in mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Kidnapping tourists in mexico - Essay Example The article also has an overview of some of the most dangerous countries for tourists to visit, such as North America/ Mexico, South America, Africa and Asia. Analysis – The article was quite useful and could be used for supplying a lot of information on the subject. Reflection – I found the article interesting and understood that the author has taken a lot of trouble gathering important information. 2. Iuri Tarabanov (2008) World’s Most Dangerous Countries for Tourists. Travel Web Directory. Summary This is a web article that reports on Travel news. The author Iuri Tarabanov sheds light on the world’s top 10 most dangerous countries for tourists. The data collected is from â€Å"iJet Intelligent Risk Systems† and the renowned magazine â€Å"Forbes† has contributed by composing the level or rating of the most dangerous countries for tourists. The agency took into account factors such as security services, terrorism, kidnapping, civil disorder s and other criminal and geopolitical stability factors while doing the rating. Some of the most dangerous countries in the world as noted by the author were Somali, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Sudan, The democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Zimbabwe and Palestine. Analysis The article specifies the different types of dangers significant to each of the above countries and sheds light on the type of danger that is prevalent in these countries thereby creating an awareness on the dangers that tourists are exposed to if they visit them. Reflection The data that was given by the â€Å"iJet Intelligent Risk Systems and â€Å"Control Risks† agencies was not only enlightening but it also served to kindle awareness among the people of the different kinds of risks involved while visiting different countries. This type of article would surely be very useful in my study on dangerous countries for tourists. 3. The Washington Post Newspaper, Athens Travel Forecast. Good Deals f or Tourists who don’t mind occasional risks. Summary The Washington post news article sheds light on the tourism in Athens, Greece. It talks about the beautiful archipelago, beaches and buildings which is a welcome escape for tourists to relax and enjoy themselves. At same time, it warns tourists of impending dangers in the form of strikes and violent protests that suddenly erupt and causes major problems for tourists. The article in the Washington Post also discusses the best restaurants for food, but at the same time it creates awareness on the rising crime in the city and the drug trafficking that takes place there. Analysis The article in the Washington Post gives more details on the beauty spots, food and restaurants found in Athens Greece, but however shed some light on the dangers that the tourists may be exposed to. Though one cannot say that Greece is a highly dangerous country, yet the paper creates an awareness about what to expect if one visits the place. Reflecti on Though the Washington Post is a reliable newspaper, this particular article is not very relevant to my research study because it more describes the beauty and hotspots of Greece but has little on the dangers tourists might be exposed to. However, the article would be partially useful to include in my study. 4. John Keay (2010) The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places,

Saturday, August 24, 2019

American Cancer Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

American Cancer Society - Essay Example e pursuit of eliminating cancer from the global sphere, the American Cancer Society carries on substantial research and educational services internationally. Moreover, the American Cancer Society strategizes its goals and objectives through encouragement in building more cancer research institutes to enhance the global research potential. In fact, the American Cancer Society is found to be the largest voluntary research organization in America in the field of health. An association formed to render public services in the health sphere stands out to become a successful venture if its activities are subjected to due governance and monitoring. In this regard, the American Cancer Society is also governed by two separate and distinct set of body viz. the National Assembly and the National Board of Directors. In turn these two separate bodies are constituted by people both nonprofessionals and medical experts. (American Cancer Society, 2010) American Cancer Society in its bid to create awareness about Colon Cancer conducted an advertising program on a national basis. The voluntary association using Television commercials and print media conducted the advertising program. The advertisements aired in the television channels in the commercials and the newspapers were constructed targeting the general audience. A second group of advertisement was also made to target the African population dwelling in America. This advertisement was also aired but by the use of radio. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the advertisement program a market research activity was also initiated. The Market Research was conducted by targeting a focus group of women in the age group of 50 to 64 years. Moreover, a methodology was also devised to contact the target group of the advertisements conducted. The participants were contacted through telephone on an individual basis. Herein, a set of qualifying criteria was also decided upon. Firstly, it was found out whether the individual was a

Friday, August 23, 2019

Global Logistics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Logistics - Assignment Example Now the main reason behind this feasibility study is that an optimum route and port has to be selected for the transport and shipment of goods from factory and port to the warehouse at Jabel Ali. Also the transportation cost has to be kept in mind so that it doesn’t put load on the cost of the product. The transportation vehicles, their cost and size has to be aligned with the size of the lot produced and the cost incurred in transporting goods to the port in the longer run. This measure will be calculated by comparing lot size, minimum expenditure and time that will be incurred in transportation of material as time is the most critical factor in many cases. Also there are various type of options available during logistics and shipments of goods and various costs incurred with these. The main reason for mentioning this is that the new Factories have been established in territories which are new for the company and the company is not familiar with working of transportation, shi pment and labor costs of these regions. For this survey of these regions has to be done so that a tentative cost structure could be drafted. On formulation of this cost structure further measures will be taken to select an optimum line up or partners so the process of collection of goods from the manufacturing site to its transportation to port through logistic partners and then shipment to the distribution through freight forwarding partners is cost effective and has optimum time line. PROCEDURES (selection of Partners) : Next a suitable selection of trustful Freight forwarders will be done who shall transport the goods from India and Brazil. Now the selection shall involve various steps which shall be quite critical in finding the most suitable freight forwarder. First phase shall include pooling of such forwarders who have a reputable name in the industry and are capable enough to ship the given amount of container each week so that no delay is faced and no risk of inventory stoc k out is faced at the warehouse in Jabel Ali. Now this phase shall give us an opportunity to gather contact with forwarders which shall be useful in future and we’ll have a thorough idea of the market rates. In the next phase the forwarders will be requested to submit their bids for contract. These bids will be thoroughly checked and the one best suited to company’s policy shall be short listed. The criteria for short listing will not be only limited to the best rates given to us but actually the freight forwarding companies who have more inclination to make us their clients rather than just try to get this order. Third phase shall require short listing of the companies and terms will be dealt with them to form long term strategic alliance which shall be mutually beneficial for our company and the forwarding partner. Final phase will be to decide the most trustworthy and beneficial company to partner with. After final agreements and terms are settled the chosen forward er is given contract of forwarding the containers and in return the company promises us the best service. SELECTION OF PORT The selection of port shall be quite critical as it’ll decide the time required to ship container from source to destination i.e. from India and Sao Paolo to Jabel Ali. The main reason behind this step being the most critical is that even if every process i.e. production, logistics etc are following proper schedule but the port selected is a little far away than it’

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Panera Bread Essay Example for Free

Panera Bread Essay Panera Bread is a nationwide known eatery that provides premium foods in a sophisticated atmosphere. Panera Bread is in the line of bakery-cafà ©. They decided to set themselves apart from eateries such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. The stores are equipped with very intimate settings and Wi-Fi. Panera Bread specializes in a variety fresh baked bread and meal options for the health conscience customer. SWOT Analysis Strengths †¢Panera Bread is known nationwide and this helps to attract customers. †¢Panera Bread has an assortment of fresh breads and meal offerings to accommodate those that are health conscience. †¢Panera Bread moved past the fast food market and decided to offer high-quality, premium food to its customers. †¢The overall ambience of the eatery gives an intimate, at home feel that makes the customer want †¢Scott Davis, senior vice president and chief concept office had a clear vision of the direction Panera Bread would take and a clear strategy of how to achieve that goal. Weakness †¢The eatery offers premium, fast dining and the prices may appear to be on the higher end to customers. †¢Panera Bread has not been able to increase the frequency of which customers dine at the eatery. †¢In order to enter as a franchise, Panera Bread has a very strict list of criteria that makes it difficult to qualify. Opportunities †¢Panera Bread can cease the opportunity to offer their fresh baked breads in supermarkets or sell their breads in store to customers. †¢Panera Bread has the opportunity to offer a lower end eating experience. This lower end chain will appeal to potential customers who cannot afford and expensive meal for the family. Threats †¢Panera Bread’s direct competition is fast-casual restaurants. †¢The change in the economy has affected how often individuals and families go outside of the home to dine. Alternatives 1.Offer Panera Bread’s signature dough and bread to local supermarkets or for sell at the Panera stores. 2.Introducing a lower market restaurant. 3.Make entering the franchise easier by making the criteria to qualify less strict. Discussion of Alternatives Alternative 1: Pros: Offering their dough for purchase by customers has the potential to generate more revenue for the company. It will also introduce the Panera Bread brand into households of those who have not visited the restaurant. Cons: The cost to produce the fresh dough to customers may exceed the overall gain to the company. Alternative 2: Pros: Introducing an alternate chain to appeal to a lower income customer base will expand the customer base. With the present state of the economy, families are finding it hard to eat out especially when the prices are high. Cons: This particular alternative detours the company from their clear goal. With so many affordable eateries, Panera Bread strives to set itself apart from the others. Alternative 3: Pros: Easing the criteria would make entry in the franchise easier. This will allow for more Panera Bread stores to open. Cons: Easing the criteria would deteriorate the stability of the franchise. The strict criteria ensure the overall success of the franchise. Recommendations Panera Bread would benefit most by teaming up with supermarkets to supply fresh baked Panera Bread. Even though the company itself does not serve frozen bread, it may be a good idea to offer the frozen dough for customers to purchase.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Characters are similar throughout books Essay Example for Free

Characters are similar throughout books Essay Henrik Ibsens characters are similar throughout his books. There are pairs of characters with similarities in A Dolls House and Ghosts. One such pair is Nora and Mrs. Alving.  Both characters were unhappily married, but had other significant men in their lives. Manders and Dr. Rank both appeared as good friends to the women. This is a similarity, but with the difference that Nora rejected one and Mrs. Alving was rejected by the other. These men helped the women through their problems however and they would do anything for them. To have loved you as much as any one else does? Was that horrid? (A Dolls House, Act II, p. 40) Dr. Rank tells Nora. He is expressing that he has loved her the whole time that she thought they were just best friends.  Mrs. Alving ran away from her husband in their first year of marriage and went to Manders. She had been in love with him, but he respected the sanctity of marriage so had to turn her away. That I was able to turn you from your outrageous intention, and that it was vouchsafed to me to succeed in leading you back into the path of duty and back to your lawful husband. (Ghosts, Act I, p. 89)  Nora and Mrs. Alving both have children that they love very much. Nora is talking to Mrs. Linde, an old friend, when she brings up the topic of her children, So you are quite alone. How dreadfully sad that must be. I have three lovely children. (A Dolls House, Act I, p. 8) Nora often brings up the topic of her children when talking, because she loves them so much and wants to tell the whole world about them. Mrs. Alving loved her son Oswald so much that she sent him away, even though it would be very painful for her, so that he wouldnt become like his father. It was then that Oswald was sent away. He was about seven then, and was beginning to notice things and ask questions as children will It seemed to me that the child would be poisoned if he breathed the air of this polluted house. That was why I sent him away. (Ghosts, Act I, p. 93) She rationalizes her decision. Mrs. Alving and Nora prove that they love their children through their actions in the plays, which are often similar.  As much as Ibsen deliberately made his characters similar, he also made what happens to them different. At the end of A Dolls House, Nora ends being the victor. She leaves her husband because it is what she wants and she knows how to get it. Oh, Torvald, I dont believe any longer in wonderful things happening That our life together would be a real wedlock. Good-bye. (A Dolls House, Act III, p. 68) With this, she leaves her house and the man she was in a loveless marriage with. Mrs. Alving does not have the same fortune as Nora. At the end of Ghosts, her beloved son is left in a vegetative state and she is left to despair over it.  Oswald! What is the matter with you! Oswald! Oswald! Look at me! Dont you know me! I cant bear it! Never! (Ghosts, Act III, p. 128) A main difference in Mrs. Alving and Noras attitudes is that Nora left her husband when she couldnt take it any more and Mrs. Alving waited for hers to die.  Listen, Torvald. I have heard that when a wife deserts her husbands house, as I am doing now, he is legally freed from all obligations towards her. (A Dolls House, Act III, p. 67) Nora tells him. This shows that she is a stronger character than Mrs. Alving, because she actually stood up to her husband and told him that his behavior was unacceptable. I had my little boy, and endured it for his sake I took the upper hand in the house absolutely both with him and all the others. I had a weapon to use against him (Ghosts, Act I, p. 92-93) Mrs. Alving shows that she took the easy way out. She could have stood up to Mr. Alving and taken her son and left, but instead she chose to go along with it, just standing in his shadow and quietly telling him that she was unhappy. The similarities that come out in the characters of Mrs. Alving and Nora are always mixed in with other situations that make them different. Ibsen wanted to prove to his audience that it wasnt always healthy to be in a marriage and by doing this he went against the norms of society. Neither play has a so-called happy ending, because not all the characters have had their issues resolved by the end. The two plays show the different angles that he wanted the audience to be aware of, but their endings repeat a point for clarity.

Environmental Influences on Happiness

Environmental Influences on Happiness Critical Evaluation: The Contagion Effect of Happiness The thought of happiness had sparked much interest among past psychologists. Dated back in the 20th century, happiness had been a rising area of concern. However, many studies have yet to converge on a universal definition of happiness. Despite so, several longstanding studies permit the definition of happiness to be a subjective well-being construct consisting of positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction (Bartels Boomsma, 2009; DeNeve Cooper, 1998; Diener, 2009). In recent years, the factors that predict happiness has caught great amount of attention in the realm of psychology. Specifically, the question lies in whether happiness can be contagious either through the social network or genetic influences. A recent paper by Matteson, McGue, and Lacono (2013) has offered insights to address the discrepancy between social network and genetic influences. The central tenet of the paper investigates the contagion hypothesis of happiness. Specifically, it seeks to find the impact of the well-being of family members on individual well-being. In an attempt to account for previous ethological findings by Fowler and Christakis (2008), the authors had adopted an adoption design as an alternative test of shared environment effects on happiness. A sample consisting of 284 adoptive, 208 non-adoptive and 123 mixed families were selected from the Sibling Interaction and Behaviour Study (SIBS; McGue, Keyes, Sharma, Elkins, Legrand, Johnson, 2007). Results revealed that family members have no similar levels of happiness when they are not genetically related. In fact, the authors have noted that the findings demonstrated the consistency with behavioural genetic literature among genetically related famil y. Hence, challenging the contagion hypothesis. In view of these findings, the current paper will review the findings of Matteson et al. (2013) to further justify and suggest drawbacks that may have been oblivious to the authors. In addition, this paper will employ various key works to provide auxiliary for the review of methodology, results and discussion sections of Mattesson et al. (2013). In Fowler and Christakis (2008) study, a social network analysis was employed to study the impact of happiness level of people in an individual’s social network. However, although Mattesson et al. (2013) had also focused on the contagion hypothesis of happiness, they have noted that both genes and environment could have played a role in the influence of happiness among people. Thus, a superior component of Matteson’s study was that they drew on the adoption design to include both genetic and environmental effects in the investigation of the contagion hypothesis. This had allowed them to examine if genetically unrelated family members in a shared environment would have similar levels of happiness (Matteson et al., 2013). However, an adoptive family environment may not be representative of the general family environment (Lemery Goldsmith, 1999). Rueter, Keyes ,Iacono, and McGue (2009) have noted that the interactions between families could have differed between adoptive and non-adoptive families. This suggests that interaction factors could have impacted child adjustments. In addition, McGue et al. (2007) found that there is an increased in parent-child conflict in adoptive as compared to non-adoptive families. Such factors could have influenced the well-being of adoptees. As a result, the inclusion of adoptees for the contagion hypothesis illustrates that the authors could have oversight the assumption of family environment. Also, it should be noted that instead of a shared environment in adoptive studies, siblings might experience a unique environment instead. A unique environment is an environment that is not shared by siblings or families (Neisser, Boodoo,Bouchard, Boykin, Brody, Ceci, Halpern, Loehlin, Perloff, Sternberg, Urbina, 1996). According to Braungart, Plomin, DeFries and Fulker (1992), siblings raised in the same family might experience a unique environment whereby both siblings may have diverse range of peers, attend different education systems and may experience different style of bonds with their parents. As a result, the authors failed to notice that a unique environment may be experienced by siblings in an adoption design. Future research in this area could include the use of family design (Lemery Goldsmith). Family design enables the assessment of siblings, parent versus off-springs. half-siblings, uncle versus nephew, auntie versus niece, grandparent versus grandchild and first cousin pairs (Pike, McGuire, Hetherington, Reiss, Plomin, 1996). This would allow more in-depth opportunity to investigate both shared and unique environments on the contagion hypothesis as it investigates a variety of relationships as compared to the limited parent-child and sibling relationships in an adoption design. Previous work by Fowler and Christakis (2008) utilized the items from the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) as a measure of happiness. Although the CES-D was developed to examine depression, items pertaining to happiness were chosen to question about experiences and feelings on happiness in the past one week. In contrary, Matteson et al. (2013) had employed a Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire to examine happiness. The MPQ is a personality measure which assesses cognitive and affective components of life. Diener (2009) have noted that test-retest reliabilities have demonstrated that a correlation of .54 to .73 accounts for stability in well-being scales of MPQ. Thus, the use of MPQ could be a reliable measure for the well-being construct of the affective component on happiness. However, the authors could have overlooked the purpose of MPQ as a measure of trait instead of state happiness (Stones, Hadjistavopoulos, Tuuko, Kozma, 1995). As MPQ was mainly developed as a personality measure, the items were inclined towards trait-like properties of well-being and happiness. Thus, the results on happiness construct could have actually reflected the trait happiness instead of state-level happiness. Tellegen (1982) have noted that MPQ is a self report questionnaire to measure the disposition to feel good. Also, the utilization of this measure in other studies tends to yield genetic influences on happiness (Weiss, Bates, Luciano, 2008). In other words, MPQ was oriented towards the assessment of trait happiness instead of state-level happiness. Therefore, the use of MPQ by Matteson et al (2013) may have been an oversight as they failed to recognize that the use of MPQ could have skewed the data towards the findings of trait personality instead of happiness on the ba sis of situations. Hence, resulting in their findings of familial correlations among genetically related instead of unrelated family members. It is suggested that the authors could have employed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) in conjunction with the MPQ to assess the subjective well-being of participants (Hills Argyle, 2002). The OHQ is a 29 item measure that taps on the self-esteem, sense of purpose, social interest and sense of humour. The combination of both OHQ and MPQ would serve as a better stringent methodology to elicit an equal amount of trait and state-level happiness. Extensive studies by McGue et al. (2007) have demonstrated that the Siblings Interaction and Behaviour Study (SIBS) provides a good basis for the selection of participants for adoption design. Participants from the SIBS consisted of adoptive, non-adoptive and mixed families. This allowed identifications of characteristics between biological and adoptive families. Matteson et al. (2013) employed participants from the SIBS which is fairly representative for an adoption design. However, McGue et al. (2007) have noted that in order to differentiate adoptive and non-adoptive families in SIBS, they recruited participants on the basis of selection effects of certain factors. Evidence by Stoolmiller (1999) has shown that selection effects in a research study could actually affect participants who do and do not participate in the study. As cited in Matteson et al. (2013), McGue et al. (2007) have noted that after interviewing non-participants in adoptive and non-adoptive families, non-participating but eligible families differed minimally from participating families. However, the authors failed to recognize that McGue et al. (2007) were unable to interview 27% of non-participating families and this 27% could have differed significantly from the interviewed participating and non-participating families. Ruggles, Sobek, Alexander, Fitch, Goeken, and Hall (2004) concluded that this difference could have resulted in minimal sampling bias. Therefore, the details concer ning recruitment of SIBS sample could have inadvertently influence the results obtained. Furthermore, there are issues regarding the generalizability of the results presented by Matteson et al. (2013). The author did not report in the paper that SIBS samples were recruited from Minnesota only and not internationally. McGue et al. (2007) noted that adoptive families were ascertained from infant placements made by Minnesota agencies and non-adoptive families were determined by Minnesota State birth records. This suggests that the average sample were from Minnesota and hence, the results can only be generalizable to families of Minnesota. Therefore, the sample chosen could have implicated the results. A further consideration influencing the generalizability of the results presented by Matteson et al. (2013) is the choice of participants. Despite the participants being from the SIBS study, the authors did acknowledge that eligibility is limited to siblings of five years apart and adopted siblings who were adopted before age of two years (McGue et al., 2007). However, this age criteria suggest the limitation of generalizing the results to siblings of more than five years apart or adopted after the age of two years. Thus, the age criteria could have been an oversight by the authors as it suggests the inability to further generalize the results to others in a shared environment. Another limitation noted within the research was the onetime assessment of parent’s personality within the three years interval of the study. An established body of knowledge on personality have shown that personality changes throughout the lifespan (Haan, 1981). Findings by Haan (1981) revealed that re-test intervals on personality yielded that it does not remain stable overtime. In addition, Moss and Susman (1980) converged on a conclusion that the increased in time interval between personality tests contributes to the evidence of decreasing stability in personality. Matteson et al. (2013) have taken the changes in personality into consideration. In their study, the authors assessed well-being twice across a three years interval; allowing change over time. However, they had only assessed parent’s personality once. As mentioned, personality stability decreases over time. Thus, neglecting a second assessment of parent’s personality over the three years interval m ay have accounted for important information being overlooked and distorted the results. It is suggested that parent’s personality should be assessed at least twice as it constantly changes across the lifespan (Haan, 1981). Other methodological constraints in Matteson et al. (2013) paper include the use of results after a large dropout rate. Out of the adolescents participating at intake, only 83% returned and completed the well-being measure at follow-up. In other words, 17% of the adolescent have failed to complete the well-being measure at follow-up. It is possible that this 17% of dropout could have found the procedure to be dull or mundane which in turn, inflated the results attained. In addition, the authors had included the scores of the dropouts who had previously completed the intake but not the follow-up. Although they noted that the intake well-being scores of those who did not complete the well-being measure did not differ significantly from the well-being scores of those who did return, it should be known clearly that those results should not be taken into account as it reflected only the intake and not the follow-up scores (Matteson et al., 2013). Thus, it is inappropriate for the authors to make an assumption that the similar results would be obtained for the follow-up. Hence, the comparison was not clear and fair. As a result, the inclusion of the 17% at the intake results could have affected the entire study’s results. In summary, the findings suggest that shared environmental influences on happiness may not reflect contagion effects. While shared environment is an important aspect in the adoption design, it should also be noted that siblings in both adoptive and non-adoptive families may experience unique environments (Neisser et al., 1996). As such, biologically related siblings showed more support as genes could have played a higher factor in the influence of happiness as compared to environment. This suggests that the findings of the paper by Matteson et al. (2013) do provide some novel insights. However, intense research is required to understand more details between shared environment and unique environment. The authors have failed to recognize that despite the high reliability MPQ well-being scale might not be the most suitable measure for happiness. Future research is needed to examine a comprehensive well-being scale to measure happiness as evidence suggests that the use of MPQ well-being scale could have been skewed more towards trait happiness. References Bartels, M., Boomsma, D. I. (2009). Born to be happy? The etiology of subjective well- being. Behavior Genetics, 39, 605-615. Braungart, J. M., Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., Fulker, D. W. (1992). Genetic influence on tester-rated infant temperament as assessed by Bayleys Infant Behavior Record: Non- adoptive and adoptive siblings and twins. Developmental Psychology, 28, 40-47. DeNeve, K. M., Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197-229. Diener, E. (2009). Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities. In E. Diener (Ed.), Assesing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener. Social Indicatiors Research Series 39(pp. 25-65). Dordrecht, NL: Springer. Fowler, J. H., Christakis, N. A. (2008). Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network : Longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study. British Medical Journal, 337, a2338. Haan, N. (1981). Common Dimensions of Personality Development: Early Adolescene to Middle Life. In D. H. Eichorn, J. A. Clausen, N. Haan, M. P. Honzik, P. H. Mussen (Eds.). Present and Past in Middle Life (pp. 117-151). New York: Academic Press. Hills, P., Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1071-1082. Lemery, K. S., Goldsmith, H. H. (1999). Genetically informative designs forthe studyof behavioural development.International Journal ofBehavioralDevelopment, 23, 293-317. Matteson, L. K., McGue, M. K., Lacono, W. (2013). Is Dispositional Happiness Contagious?: The Impact of the Well-Being of Family Members on Individual Well- Being. Journal of Individual Differences, 34(2), 90-96. DOI: 10.1027/1614- 0001/a000103 McGue, M., Keyes, M., Sharma, A., Elkins, I., Legrand, L., Johnson, W. (2007). The environments of adopted and non-adopted youth: Evidence on range restriction from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Behavior Genetics, 37, 449-462. Moss, H. A., Susman, E.J. (1980). Longitudinal study of personality development. In O.G. Brim, Jr., J. Kagan (Eds.), Constancy and change in human development (pp. 530- 595). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Jr., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. F., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.American Psychologist, 51,77-101. Pike A., McGuire S., Hetherington E. M., Reiss D., Plomin R. (1996). Family environment and adolescent depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviour: A multivariate genetic analysis. Developmental Psychology, 32(4), 590-603. Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401. Rueter, M. A., Keyes, M. A. Iacono, W. G., McGue, M. (2009). Family interactions in adoptive compared to nonadoptive families. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 58- 66. Stones, M.J., Hadjistavopoulos, T., Tuuko, H. Kozma, A. (1995). Happiness has traitlike and statelike properties: a reply to Veenhoven. Social Indicators Research, 36, pp 129-144. Tellegen, A. (1982). Brief manual for the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Weiss, A., Bates, T. C., Luciano, M. (2008). Happiness is a personality thing: The genetics of personality and well-being in a representative sample. Psychological Science, 19, 205-210.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Hate Crimes Essay -- essays research papers fc

Final English Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever had a crime committed against you? In today’s society we are faced with crime all around us. There are crimes committed out of rage, revenge, jealousy, love, greed, etc; but there is another type of crime, or one could say act of violence, called hate crimes. Have you ever thought maybe that crime was committed against just because of your racial background, or religious beliefs? Throughout this country’s history, hate crimes have taken place, either by known groups who hate and, most commonly, individuals that are inspired by hate. Not until recently have the people of this country ever wanted to pass a law that would punish the guilty to an even higher extent because the crime was committed out of hate. There are two sides to every issue. Whether or not the issue is valid or if it is an unrealistic concept created by the media or by the federal government, then, in my opinion, passing a law of this type is totally unrealistic. It is a lmost impossible to prove that a crime is committed out of a bias hate. I feel that a law that punishes hate crimes should not be passed. One main question that would be asked is, â€Å"Prove it?† Saying just that, in some cases destroys the effectiveness of the law, especially if and when the crime is committed when both parties share the same sexual, ethnic or religious back- ground. Now, I think that the money grubbing lawyers and the media would love this new law because, for one, the prosecuting lawyers would, in many cases, use it against the defendant, especially if it was a white vs. black case, or vice versa. The media would emphasize racial discrimination just because the general public, especially minorities, love controversies that may make them sympathetic. Also, I would think that this law would tie up more court time. If you think about it, there would be more cases popping up all over the place and also what ever case is going to be herd the word, hate, would probably be thrown in there as well which would drag the case out even longer. Maybe, not as much in criminal cases, but more so in civil s uites. Look at how â€Å"sue happy† the public is now. This law would only add to it. For example, people sue their neighbors for their pets going to the bathroom on their lawn. How ridiculous is that? Another example is a lady put here dog in the microwave t... ...t â€Å"rape with hate† or â€Å"murder with hate.† You should be punished for the actual crime, not your feelings that go along with it. Now even if this law were passed, would the police and courts enforce it? If they didn’t, what would be the point of passing it to begin with. I guess you could say that about any law but in my eyes I could see our â€Å"system† twisting everything around. They would probably convict innocent people of â€Å"Hate crimes† and let the guilty people of â€Å"Hate† go. I don’t think it is fair to add another category to the crime list that could in the long run, ruin some peoples lives. I just think that it is wrong. I hope you see my point of view and agree with my opinion. Bibliography Jacobs, James. Hate Crimes. Challenging Intolerance 14 Nov. 2000 >http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=PA0212H- s57549sl&type=ART&artno=†¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Grigera, Elena. Hate Crimes. Corrections Today   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  14 Nov. 2000 >http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=PA0212H-s57520sl&type=Art&artno= Walker, Samuel. Hate Speech. The History of an American Controversy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Monday, August 19, 2019

Television and Media Essay - TV Violence and Children :: Media Argumentative Persuasive Argument

TV Violence and Children      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children from the ages 6-11 spend more time watching television than they do in the classroom.   The level of violence that they see on prime time television is about five violent acts per hour and the level of violence on Saturday that includes cartoons morning programming is about 20 to 25 violent acts per hour.   At this rate, the average American child will see 8,000 murders before they finish elementary school!      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a child sits in front of baby-sitting television, her eyes are glued to the viewing of shoot em' up rip em' up kind of entertainment.   We have to remember that the entertainment media plays an extremely powerful role in the formation of values and morals, to all youngsters' minds of all ages, all socioeconomic levels, and all levels of intelligence.   These programs "play" with kids' minds; these programs have a tremendous negative effect on our children.   We, as a society, must save our future and take an active role in protecting our children from the violence on our television.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Television cartoons often feature dehumanized characters, such as Transformers and the Ninja Turtles, who engage in the destructive acts of violence by fighting our real life social problems. With acts of violence, kids learn to think that's how they should solve their problems.   MTV's Beavis and Butt-head   encourages fire, smoking, foul language, drinking and stealing.   With these bad attitudes seen depicted as normal on TV   shows kids are lead to believe it is cool be have that type attitude   Is this what we really want our society, especially our younger generation, to believe?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we truly thought that television had no impact on viewers, why would companies spend billion of dollars on television advertising?   If commercials have an effect, then so do the shows that the children watch.   For example, youngsters mimic many of the violent acts that they see such as Beasvis and But- head.   One day, a five year old boy watch his favorite cartoon, Beavis and Butt- head, and sees the characters pull one of their famous arson stunts.   And the result, he sets his own house ablaze and his younger sister is killed.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children do learn from television especially when they lack direct exposure or first hand experience with violent grotesque acts. These do take a toll on children and the way they will view life as they grow up.   I know some who that are sweet, innocent, full of dreams, hopes, laughter, and life.   These kids have learned about there environment from their parents, not by watching television.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Advancements in Technology That Help Children with Disabilities Essay

Advancements in Technology That Help Children with Disabilities Over the past few decades there have been major advancements in technology, especially technology that helps children with disabilities in learning and participating in the classroom. Three recent technologies being used are the cochlear implant, the Fluency Master, and the FM System. Each one helps children with special needs become able to learn and participate in school as well as children without disabilities their age. The cochlear implant is a device used by profoundly deaf people. â€Å"About 6,000 individuals have had cochlear implants, since the late 1980’s. The cochlear implant is the first, and still the only neural prosthesis that is aiding a significant portion of a disabled population† (Hear). If a child is born deaf they are usually implanted young because doing so will help them have a greater chance of being on grade level in school and not have such a large learning gap. â€Å"The earlier a deaf child receives a cochlear implant, the better the child’s speech development† (Hear). Speech development is very important to young children because they need to know how to communicate with teachers and classmates. Communication is the basis for learning. â€Å"Being aware of sounds appears to help language development, and this can help narrow the gap in language skills hearing-impaired children experience compared with their hearing peers† (Hear). Cochlear implants can greatly improve a deaf child’s developmental abilities. â€Å"We have found that when a child receives a cochlear implant, the child begins to develop language skills at about the same rate as a child with normal hearing, said researcher Dr. Mario A. Svirsky† (Hear). The cochlear implant i... ...reference/tech/techgloss.html Phonak Hearing Systems. Improving the quality of life for people with hearing impairment. http://www.phonak.com/index.cfm?do ERIC Documents. Using Assistive Technology in the Inclusive Classroom. www.cooklibrary.edu ERIC Documents. Emerging Trends in Technology for Students with Disabilities: Considerations for School Personnel. www.cooklibrary.com National Association for Speech Fluency http://www.stutteringcontrol.com/ Traditional Speech Therapy for Stuttering. http://www.rickywburk.org/speech/therapy.htm The Power Stuttering Center, http://powerstuttering.com/ The American Society for Deaf Children http://www.deafhoosiers.com/Parents/ASDCPositionPaper.pdf Rosenthal, Paula, J.D. FM Systems Help Children Learn http://www.baby-place.com/articles/fm_system.htm Hear This Organization. http://www.hearthisorg.com/

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Establish and adjust the markrting mix Essay

1. Research Your Choice of organization Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)- one of the most known fast food chains in the world started in the early 1930’s by Kernel Sanders in the Southern USA as a small franchise operation. Colonel Sanders has become a well-known personality throughout thousands of KFC restaurants Worldwide. Quality, service and cleanliness (QSC) represents the most critical success factors to KFC’s global success. KFC has a number of ambitious aims and objectives: To increase its percentage share of the fast-food market. To improve profit margins year-on-year to fund the growth of the company. To return profit on investments to owners and franchisees. The way that KFC reaches these targets is decided by the company’s internal strategy and objectives. Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to build customer relationships a. Marketing Strategy KFC used the Demographic Segmentation, Geographic segmentation, and Psychographic segmentation. In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups based on an age, gender, family size, income, occupation, religion, race and nationality. KFC divides the market on demographic basis in this way: ïÆ'Ëœ Age is between 6-65. Gender is both males and females. Family size is 1-2, 3-4, 5+ Income is Rs 10,000 n above. Family lifestyle is almost all. KFC has outlets internationally and sells its products according to geographic needs of the customer. In India KFC focuses how geographically its customers demand different products. In north India Chicken is the main selling product, while in the south the Veg. items sell more than the chicken. Dividing a market into different groups based on social class, lifestyle, or personality characteristics is called psychographic segmentation. KFC divides market on the basis of psychographic variables like: Social class- Upper and Middle class. Lifestyle is not specific. Personality is ambitious and authoritarian b. Target Marketing As the outlets of KFC are in posh area and prices are too high (overhead expenses-rent, air-conditioning, employees), so KFC targets upper and middle classes. Target market depends upon size and growth rate of population, Company resources and structural attractiveness of market segment. c. Market Positioning For a product to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable place relative to â€Å"Competing products in the minds of target consumer.† In KFC feedback is taken from the customer in order to know the customer demands and then improvements are made in products. KFC focuses on pure and fresh food in order to create a distinct and clear position in the minds of customers KFC has a strong brand name and they are leading the market in fried chicken. 2. Identify the Key Characteristics of their products and services and their significance to the market. Product Line: KFC product line includes all chicken based products. Burgers: The burger category includes the Zinger Burger, Colonel’s Chicken Burger, Colonel’s Fillet Burger, SUB60 and 80, and Zinger Jr. They have also introduces a Fish zinger burger. Chicken Pieces: The chicken involved the product line with different number of chicken pieces like 1 piece, 2 pieces, 5 pieces and 10 pieces chicken. Combos: The combo includes the different meal as Chicken Meals, Sandwich Meals and Family Meals. Desserts & Beverages: The desserts and beverages offered by KFC are Fruit Salad, Regular & Large Drink, Regular & Large Mineral Water, Tea, Scoop of Walls Ice cream and Coffee. Snacks & Side Orders: The snacks and side orders served by the KFC are Arabian Rice, 5 & 10 Pieces Hot wings, Dinner Roll, Regular & Large Fries, Hot Shots, and Corn on the  Cob, Hot & Crispy Soup and the Cole Slaw. 3. Review pricing policy and analyse pricing variables to determine their effect on demand.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Phobias and Addiction Paper

Phobias and Addiction PSY 300 October 22, 2012 Phobias and Addiction Learning a behavior is gaining knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or conditioning. For example, most people learn to wake up at the sound of an alarm clock. Through the process of conditioning, he or she awakens at the sound of the alarm. The alarm becomes the signal to start the day. Often what happens is that some people condition themselves to awaken at the same time every day without even hearing the alarm.In the late nineteenth century Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was the first to systematically study classical conditioning (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Classical conditioning is a process when a neutral stimulus brings forth a reaction corresponding with a stimulus that automatically brings forth that reaction (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Pavlov effectively produced a conditioned reaction in dogs to a specific stimulus in systematically planned procedure (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Produced in a similar process are phobias, addictions, and the process of extinction.The following considers how phobias develop through classical conditioning, how addictions develop through operant conditioning, how these two types of conditioning differ, and finally covering the process of extinction and how it is achieved in both types of conditioning. Classical and Operant Conditioning Classical and Operant conditioning are processes in which the brain connects and understands different things. Both depend on the modifications that arise in behaviors when derived from the setting or the behavior itself and necessitate a systematic process.Classical and operant conditioning, otherwise known as associative learning, developed from the behaviorist perspective (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Both procedures share â€Å"common features such as extinction, prepared learning, discrimination, generalization, and the possibility of maladaptive associations† (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, p. 193). In c lassical conditioning the stimulus that gives off a reflexive response is substituted with a different stimulus (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).In operant conditioning the preferred behavior results according to consequences whether positively or negatively reinforced making that behavior occur more or less frequently (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). It is through these processes that some humans develop phobias and addictions. Phobias through Classical Conditioning According to â€Å"Kowalski & Westen†, (2011), â€Å"a phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or situation (p. 167). When someone reacts to this irrational fear, his or her response is extreme anxiety such as hyperventilating, increased heart rate, extreme emotions, and sometimes fainting (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).A famous example of the creation of phobias in classical conditioning occurred during the Little Albert experiment conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayners (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). For example, tho ugh Albert did not initially fear white rats, when a loud noise occered with the white rat the conditioned response became fear (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This created a phobia of white rats and other objects used during the experiment (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). For Albert, classical conditioning created these behaviors.Addictions through operant Conditioning Another difficult and often destructive behavior is addiction. The results of addictions can often be poor health, disease, crime, mental illness, and even death. According to the â€Å"American Psychological Association† (APA), (2012), addiction is defined as â€Å"is a condition in which the body must have a drug to avoid physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms† (Addictions). The â€Å"drug† to an addict is not always a substance; it is sometimes an activity such as gambling, sex, or eating.Addiction is often associated with operant conditioning (Antczak,  2011). A person has natural survival met hods, the pleasure or pain response, which either causes the feeling of pleasure when the action is to survive or pain in the actions that decrease to chance of survival (Antczak,  2011). These responses occur as a result of the release of neurotransmitters in the brain (Antczak,  2011). Pathways form in the brain and neurotransmitters reinforce them with the experience of pleasure or pain (Antczak,  2011).Using drugs for example often result in both pleasure and pain responses. Initially the drug creates the feeling of pleasure. This â€Å"high† can cause the person to seek out this altered state therefore creating an addiction. After the high an addict often experiences ill feelings or pain. Often, the addict will seek out those feelings of pleasure to avoid the pain and distress when they are not using the addictive substance. This pattern of a connection between behavior and consequence is operant conditioning (Antczak,  2011).Extinction In classical conditioning learned responses can be extinguished, which is the process of extinction (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). After extinction, recovery is often short term. Extinction initially weakens the remaining association to the learned response, but extinction does not occur unless the reactions of consistent. For example, a parent seeks to have his or her child fall asleep on their own at night and eventually succeeds after having the child cry to sleep on his or her own for a period of time.If this process is consistently repeated, the child eventually will fall asleep on his or her own. After some time, if one parent rushes to the child when he or she cries, the parent will once again struggle to get the child to fall asleep in his or her own and fail to extinguish the behavior. According to Kowalski & Westen, (2011) extinction in operant conditioning occurs if enough trials pass in which the operant is not followed by the consequence previously associated with it (p. 78). If the behavior does no t emit either a positive or negative consequence, eventually the behavior will not occur (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Conclusion Associative learning covers both classical and operant conditioning and both succeed in a number of settings. To maintain positive behaviors sustain and reinforce connections or extinction ultimately will occur. People learn from experience, and associations made and the resulting behaviors have a powerful influence in the brain.Some associations result in phobias or addictions and although extinction can occur, the process of changing a response is difficult. Classical and operant conditioning allow people to survive, thrive, and adjust to a continually changing situation.References American Psychological Association. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. apa. org/topics/addiction/index. aspx Antczak, A. (2011). Yahoo! voices. Retrieved from http://voices. yahoo. com/classical-operant-conditioning-phobias-addictions-10159457. html Kowalski, R. , & Westen, D. ( 2011). Psychology  (6th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Jasper Jones Essay

In Craig Silveys outrageous novel Jasper Jones, the younger characters are faced with a loss of innocence. They have to find out the hard way the world is not what it’s portrayed to be. Throughout the novel the characters are dragged through violence, destruction and death and uncover the truth about mysteries and lies. Body Paragraph 1 Throughout the novel Charlie the protagonist, has lost most the innocence out of all the characters and has to learn to truth about a lot of things. Over the â€Å"hottest summer in Corrigan† Charlie is confronted about many truths including the truth behind the myth of Mad Jack Lionel and the truth behind his mother’s hurtful behaviour. However the truth that has the biggest impact on Charlie has to be the dark secret that jasper exposes Charlie to. Charlies visions of the world, his way of life are about to change forever. Charlie’s exposure to Laura’s suicide and the events leading up to it force him to confront the darkness in the world and as a result he loses his last shred of innocence. The truths Charlie comes to realise and the actions he takes are shown near the end of the novel when he says I â€Å"finally have the right words in me.† Body Paragraph 2 In the novel jasper is seen as an outcast by most of Corrigan, and is treated this way as well. Jasper has already matured to a certain point but there are still things that he hasn’t realised the truth about yet. Jasper has to overcome the truth about his mother and the truth about Mad Jack being his grandad and the truth behind Laura’s suicide. Laura’s suicide took Jaspers last bit of innocence from him he had to find out who committed this terrible crime and he wanted to bring them to justice. Jaspers mentality changes throughout the whole novel and when he finally admits Laura’s gone. Jasper decides to leave Corrigan for good and this is a sign of maturity. Body Paragraph 3 Jeffrey Is Charlies best friend and neighbour. Jeffery is Vietnamese living in the 1960s in an Australian town, and he has to grow up with adversity and  realisation of the truth that he is an outcast because of his race. Jeffery has quite a lot of maturing to do, supporting this is the extremely stupid conversations he and Charlie sometimes have. Jeffery has realised that it doesn’t matter what anyone says to him he had to believe in himself and Jeffery got his time to shine. He has come to realise the horrible truth that his family is not respected and is seen as a lower class of society and come to realise that whatever race you are dictates your â€Å" status † in the community. His mentality also changes throughout the entire novel. By the end of the novel he believes in himself and has earned his respect in the community. Body Paragraph 4 Eliza doesn’t really make an appearance in the novel until about halfway through, but by that time we are shown that Eliza is already quite matured and grown up. Eliza has to realise that her sister committed suicide to escape her violent father and Eliza come to the realise the truth about human nature that it isn’t all nice smiles and hellos people hurt other people on purpose just because they want to. Eliza shows just how grown up at the end of the novel when she sets her house on fire to try to escape from the harsh memories. Conclusion In conclusion all the characters in the novel were greatly affected by Laura’s death it lit a fuse that made the whole town explode into utter chaos and Jasper Charlie and Eliza were stuck In the middle of it. In addition all of the character had to grow up in their own way just to survive in this small outback town.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Course notes conflict recreation Essay

Major factors behind outdoor recreational conflicts have been found to be: 1. Activity Style: The various personal meanings assigned to an activity. differences in personal meanings assigned to an activity, 2. Resource Specificity: The significance attached to using a specific recreation resource for a given recreational experience. differences in the level of significance attached to using a specific recreation resource, 3. Mode of Experience: The varying expectations of how the natural environment will be perceived. c) differences in expectations of the natural environment, 4. Lifestyle Tolerance: The tendency to accept of reject lifestyles different from one’s own. (d) differences in lifestyles. According to Jacob and Schreyer (1980), there are four major classes of factors which contribute to conflict in outdoor recreation: (a) differences in the level of significance attached to using a specific recreation resource, (b) differences in personal meanings assigned to an activity, (c) differences in expectations of the natural environment, and (d) differences in lifestyles. Users who become â€Å"attached† to a resource are believed to develop a sense of possession or perception of the place as a â€Å"central life interest. † The degree to which a particular activity or place represents a central life interest can vary substantially among groups using an area, even among groups participating in the same activity. Thus, one individual or group may believe they are more attached to an area or an activity than a competing individual or group. This perception of differences can initiate feelings of conflict. Variation in the personal meanings visitors attach to particular activities may also be linked coping are strategies as those that people use more typically during active participation (recreationists can respond to unwanted situations by substituting one place for another, by altering their use patterns, and by maintaining satisfaction by enjoying different activities. ? Displacement ? change activity pattern if negative setting, experience change ? temporal: shift visit time (weekend–weekday, peak–off-peak ? spatial ? intersite: shift from one area to a different area ? intrasite: shifts within recreation area (e. g. , other campsite) ? Rationalization ? recreation voluntary, investment of time, money, effort ? reduce internal conflict, report high satisfaction, low conflict & crowding regardless of actual conditions. ? Product Shift ? alter definition of recreation opportunity in congruence with conditions experiences; change way think about area Major factors behind outdoor recreational conflicts have been found to be: 1. Activity Style: The various personal meanings assigned to an activity. 2. Resource Specificity: The significance attached to using a specific recreation resource for a given recreational experience. differences in the level of significance attached to using a specific recreation resource, 1. Activity Style: The various personal meanings assigned to an activity. 2. Mode of Experience: The varying expectations of how the natural environment will be perceived or in other words, differences in a person’s expectations of the natural environment. 4. Lifestyle Tolerance: The tendency to accept of reject lifestyles different from one’s own. (d) differences in lifestyles. When a conflict is asymmetrical such as those identified in between hikers and trail bikers (Ramthun, 1995;Watson et al. , 1991), and water skiers and fishermen (Gramann & Burdge, 1981) one way conflict relationships often based on stereotyping from one group to the other based. These conflicts often require management intervention. Substitution alternatives (Shelby & Vaske, 1991), is a coping behavior where a recreationists use behavioral choices when faced with an unwanted crowding or other undesirable situation. Alternatives that can be substituted include the resource, timing of participation (temporal substitution), and mode of participation (activity substitution). In other words, substituting one place for another, changing when they go or how they participate, but still keeping their satisfaction by enjoying different activities. This paper specifically examines the issue of participant skill level as a factor in out-group and in-group conflict by conducting surveys with skiers and snowboarders at five different Colorado ski resorts. Two particular hypotheses were tested: 1) individuals with greater skills in skiing and snowboarding would experience more conflict than those with less ability, and 2) across all skill levels, skiers and snowboarders would experience more out-group than in-group conflict. A total of 383 skiers and 212 snowboarders were asked to rate their skill level on a four-point scale (beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert). Conflict was measured by asking respondents the frequency with which other skiers or snowboarders a) failed to be aware of others around them, b) were not keeping an adequate distance from others, c) failed to yield the right of way to the downhill skier/snowboarder, d) behaved in a discourteous manner, e) cut others off, and f) failed to be aware of and yield to less advanced skiers/snowboarders. The results of the study supported both hypotheses. As perceived skill level increased, out-group and in-group conflict increased for both skiers and snowboarders. Within each skill level, skiers reported more unacceptable behaviors by snowboarders than with fellow skiers, and snowboarders also identified more out-group than in-group conflict. Conflict is between different activities. Conflict can be as great or greater within the same activity as it is between different activities. While earlier studies were generally limited to conflicts caused by other activities, some researchers have included both in-group and out-group comparisons in their assessments. Thapa (1996) found that skiers were as likely to attribute conflict to other skiers as they were to snowboarders. Todd (1987) found that conflict among Delaware River canoeists was more likely to be caused by other canoeists than other water-based recreationists like motorboaters, tubers or rafters. Additionally, the intra-activity conflicts among river users were more likely to result from other members of one’s own group (intra-group conflict) than from other canoeists (inter-group conflict). Some conflict is not activity-based, but rather, based on undesirable behaviors that may be exhibited by participants in any activity. Gibbons and Ruddell (1995) found more goal interference attributed to discourteous behavior than to encounters with helicopter skiers. Todd (1987) also found that some conflicts perceived by canoeists resulted from non-. In-group conflict is when the recreationists are participating in the same activity such as the conflict between conoeists on the same river or skiers on a mountain. Out-group conflict is conflict between different users/activities. In the same example above, the out group conflict would be with canoeists and motorboats user or with skiers and snowboarders. Some conflict is not activity-based, but rather, based on undesirable behaviors that may be exhibited by participants in any activity. Thapa.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Brain Structures involved in Risk-Taking

Evolutionarily speaking, humans, as a species, may long have possessed a risk-taking personality (Zuckerman, 2000). Being risk-takers, our ancestors have been able to survive and pass on their genes to their offspring. Their primary means of survival, which is hunting for wild animals for food, and also their means for propagating their genes, mating, are examples of risky behaviors manifested by humans of centuries ago. However, despite our innate nature of being risk-takers, individuals differ in their levels of risk-taking trait, believed to be a function of heredity.According to Zuckerman (2000), the sensation-seeking trait which encapsulates the risk-taking behaviors, is 60% genetic –higher than the average, which points to 30% to 50%. But aside from genetics, he also mentioned that other factors which might affect a person’s level of risk-taking are the biochemistry of neurotransmitter systems and the structure and function of the brain. Brain structures There has been a significant amount of research covering the relationship of various areas of the brain with risk-taking behavior.Most of them have identified particular brain structures as being connected with the persistence of risky behavior in humans. The primary structures that have been identified are located in the Frontal and Parietal lobes, suggesting the involvement of working memory and imagery in the selection process, respectively. Risks were found to produce higher activation than certain alternatives in both of these lobes (Gonzalez et. al. , 2005). This indicates that considerably more cognitive effort is involved in the selection of a risky gain than that of a guaranteed one.In particular, structures such as the: (1) inferior pre-frontal cortex (Paulus et al. , 2001), (2) nucleus accumbens, (3) orbital frontal cortex, (4) the insula (Critchley et al. , 2001), (5) the ventrolateral and ventromedial frontal cortices (Elliott et al. , 1999; Rogers et al. , 1999; Elliott et al. , 2000), (6) the amygdala (Trepel, et al. , 2005), (6) the anterior cingulate cortex (Elliott et al. , 2000), and the (6) parietal cortex (Paulus et al. , 2001) have been reported to be activated in studies on risk-taking.The pre-frontal cortex, located in the frontal lobe, was found to affect the estimation of future outcomes and appraisal of risky choices. Significant prefrontal activation was observed in many other risk-taking studies (Ernst et al. , 2002; Paulus et al. , 2003; Krain et al. , 2006; Van Leijenhorst et al. , 2006). The dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, in particular, was found to be responsible for a person’s ability to plan for future actions –a required step in a decision-making task under a risky situation. On the other hand, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex has another specific function in decision-making under risk.This area of the brain is activated when the person faced with a risky decision-making task anticipates losses in the said task (Tre pel, et al. , 2005). However, this area may be less influential than another area identified, the nucleus accumbens (located in the brainstem), in terms of evaluating reward (Galvan et. al. , 2006). This area of the brain was found to be correlated with subsequent risk-taking behaviors since the activation of the nucleus accumbens is consistent with the idea that risk-taking behavior may be reinforcing.This is due to the findings that anticipation of risky outcomes activates reward-related systems (Kuhnen & Knutson, 2005). The amygdala, on the other hand, is also responsible for emotion and learning (Trepel, et al. , 2005). It is one of the areas that influence reward processing in risk-taking tasks (Steinberg, 2007). According to Trepel (2005), people who have lesions in this structure are more prone to choose the option which entails more risk.This is because the amygdala is shown to be an essential structure in the anticipation of losses in a risky decision-making situation. The right insula was observed to have significantly stronger activation in subjects who selected a risky response in a risky-gains task. In addition, the degree of activation of the insula was correlated to the probability of selecting a safe response after a punished response. The degree of harm avoidance and neuroticism of the subjects’ affected the activation of the insula as well (Paulus et. al. , 2003). Objectives of the StudyThis research study aims to demonstrate the differences in activation in the brain structures of people from different developmental stages and genders while perceiving or engaging in a risky behavior using an fMRI imaging technique. Also, the participants’ risk-taking behaviors will be assessed through a scale and the results will then be compared with those of the results of the fMRI scan. The researchers would also like to determine if there are certain brain structures that have developed further because of individuals heightened tendency to engage in risky decision-making.It is hypothesized that results of this experiment will be similar to the findings of the previous researches, that the prefrontal cortex and other associated regions would be the areas responsible for risky decision-making. Also, it is assumed that there would be differences based on the participants’ ages, when it comes to risk-taking trait and that these differences would also manifest in the development of the certain brain parts responsible for their behavior. For the people assessed as risk-takers, those areas that are responsible for their increase in risk-taking behavior are more developed than the other parts of the brain.METHODOLOGY Participants A total of 18 participants will take part in this experiment. This will comprise of six adolescents (age 7-11), six young adults (age 21-29) and six middle-aged adults (age 38-50). Each group will be further composed of three males and three females. Adolescents are defined as participants age d 7 to 11, while adults are those aged 23-29. Subjects would be screened to make sure that they have no history of neurological or psychiatric disorder. Adolescent participants will be volunteers from the Psych 101 subject pool while the adult participants will be volunteers from internet advertisements sent by the researchers.Participants below 18 years old would be required to have their parents’ consent before participating. Materials Cognitive Appraisals of Risky Events Scale (CARE). The CARE is a 30-item self-report measure that consists of six factor-analytically derived scales that represent six categories of risk-taking behavior (Fromme, Katz, & Rivet, 1997; Appendix B). Its scales involve (1) Illicit Drug Use, (2) Aggressive/Illegal Behaviors, (3) Risky Sexual Activities, (4) Heavy Drinking, (5) High Risk Sports, and (6) Academic/Work Behaviors.The CARE uses a seven point Likert scale (1=not at all likely; 7=extremely likely) to rate three types of outcome expectanci es: (1) Expected Risk (ER) or likelihood of a negative consequence, (2) Expected Benefit (EB) or likelihood of a positive consequence, and (3) Expected Involvement (EI) or the likelihood of engaging in the activity in the next six months. The CARE has also been used to assess participation in prior risk-taking behavior (Katz et al. , 2000). Risk Perception Questionnaire.The risk perception questionnaire will measure the risk perception or the perceived adverse consequence and risk preference which describes whether one believes the benefits inherent in an activity outweigh the costs, or vice versa (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005). Along with the CARE, participants will be asked to rate the risk involved in engaging to these behaviors. For each scenario, the participants will be asked to provide a rating from 1 to 7: (1) If you did this activity, how scary are the things that could happen?(1 = Risks are not scary at all; 7 = Risks are very scary); (2) If you did this activity, how much ar e you at risk for something bad happening? (1 = I would be very much at risk; 7 = I would not be at risk); (3) How would you compare the benefits (or pleasures) of this activity with the risks (1 = Risks much greater than the benefits; 4 = Risks equal the benefits; 7 = Benefits are much greater than the risks); (4) If something bad happened because of this activity, how serious would it be? (1 = Not at all serious; 7 = Very serious).The higher the ratings for each scenario would mean higher risk and risk perception for the behavior to elicit. Procedure – Pretest The aim of the pretest is to come up with one highly representative scenario for each of the six domains of risky behaviors used in the study of Fromme, et al (1997). After consolidating as much scenarios possible of risk taking in coordination with the domains from literature, the researchers will administer a pretest mechanism to figure out which scenario to use for the fMRI part of the experiment.A very brief prete st form will be given to the participants asking the scenarios that come to mind when they imagine each of the six domains. The question for the preliminary form will be very direct and open-ended in questioning. This pretest sheet will be administered to at least 50 adolescents, 30 young adults, and 30 middle-aged adults – different from the pool that the researchers will use for the fMRI part. Once all data are consolidated, the researchers will determine the central themes that are used to depict any of the six domains.The central themes that come up will be used as the scenarios that will be read aloud for the participant when they become asked to appraise different risk-taking situation during the fMRI task. Procedure – Experiment A brief introduction to the research will be given to the participants. The participants will then be asked to fill up a written consent form. The participants will be asked to be tested in the Clinical Neuropsychology Research. They wil l be led to a private room and, after giving out informed consent and completing a demographic questionnaire.When the participant enters the experiment area, he or she will be asked to complete the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events Scale (CARE) (Fromme, Katz & Rivet, 1997) with the Risk Perception Questionnaire. The participants will be asked to rate the following factors: Risky Sexual Behavior, Heavy Drinking, Illicit Drug Use, Aggressive and Illegal Behaviors, Irresponsible Academic/Work Behaviors and High Risk Sports in terms of expected risk, expected benefit and expected frequency of behavior. After the pen and paper part of the experiment, the participants will then be asked to schedule an fMRI.They will be asked their contact numbers so that the researches can remind them of the schedule for their interviews. The researchers will ensure that confidentiality and anonymity will be granted for the participants of the experiment. During the fMRI session proper, the researchers will explain thoroughly the process that they will go under. Each participant will be asked to take off all metal accessories that they may have because it might disrupt the data that will be collected by the machine, both seen at the Appendix at the end of this proposal.They will also be asked to wear a hospital gown when they go under the fMRI machine. They will be instructed that they must avoid movement because it might also disrupt the data that would be collected. Once inside the fMRI machine, the researchers along with licensed medical practitioners will give instructions to the participant via microphone in an adjacent room filled with the controls for the machine. The researchers will narrate the scenarios which were found to be most fitting according to the pretest and then ask the participants to think of what they will do in those situations.So that the researchers are assured that the participants will really appraise the tasks, they will be told that they must know the ir answers fully after being inside the machine because they will be asked to explain them to a panel. They will also be given two minutes for each situation to think about what they will do. Six situations will be presented, each will reflect the domains of risk-taking as provided by literature. During the time given for them to think, the machine will take images of their brain.As what research claims as optimal (Horwitz, 2000), images will be taken 2-3 mm apart for every 5-7 seconds to maximize spatial and temporal resolution respectively. This aims to see which brain areas are used when thinking about what they would do in risky situations. After the images of brain activation are taken using the fMRI, the participants will be briefed fully on the nature of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the data from both the questionnaire and the fMRI images will then be assessed for analysis.The researchers will try to determine whether the results from the self-report translat e to the activation of certain brain parts that have been found to take part in the decision making process of risk taking and appraisal. The areas that the researchers will look out for are orbito-frontal cortex, the prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens. The insula, the ventrolateral and ventromedial frontal cortices, the anterior cingulated cortex and the parietal cortex. Supporting structures like the calcarine sulcus, precuneus, thalamus, cingulated gyrus and superior temporal gyrus will also be closely observed for activation in the brain image.The data will then be compared to the responses of the participants in the CARE scale and the Risk Perception Questionnaire. The cumulative score of each participant should correspond to the brain areas that are hypothesized to be related to the decision making processes involved in risk taking behaviors like the prefrontal cortex (for estimation of future outcome), the nucleus accumbens (for the activation of reward-related system d uring risky-gains situation), the right insula (for harm avoidance and risk appraisal).