Culture And Socialization

Socialization can be defined as the process by which people learn to become members of a society (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 58). Thus, the socialization process of an individual starts from birth and continues throughout life. The period of socialization helps an individual to develop feelings, perceptions, learn the basics of social interaction and also learn to recognize and respond socially to parents and other important people in their lives (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 58).According to Tepperman and Curtis (2011), â€Å"Socialization is accomplished by many different variables; including ethnicity, family structure, gender, environment and birth order† (p. 58). Socialization perpetuates culture so therefore individuals are affected by socialization and culture in one way or the other. By definition, culture is a set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group (MacNeill, 2012). It is the key to understandi ng how we relate to each other.There are different types of culture around the world, for example, American culture, Chinese culture, and African culture. Tepperman and Curtis (2011) noted that â€Å"Culture is different between places and at different times† (p. 32). Culture consists of a set of principles and traditions which is passed on from one generation to another. Socialization teaches cultural values and norms which provides the guidelines for our everyday life. It is therefore inevitable that socialization influences what we do as humans.This paper will argue that the effects of the principal agents of socialization have led to the continuity of culture. This paper will then discuss some of the attributes of the cultural realms that are connected with the process of socialization. Finally, the essay will conclude with a discussion on the effects of socialization outcomes. The process of socialization starts within the context of the family. The family is considered to be the most impressive agent of socialization because it provides the context in which the first and most long-lasting intimate social relationships are formed.Tepperman and Curtis (2011), explains that â€Å"In families, children learn how to relate to other people, express intimacy, and resolve conflict â€Å"(p. 62). In order to accomplish this, parents internalize social norms and values in their children to behave in socially appropriate ways (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 62). Furthermore, the family is the child’s window to the world. A child’s experience of the world would be framed by his or her family’s social class, religion, ethnicity and so on (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 62).That is to say, a child who does not start the process of socialization within the family context is likely to lack a sense of self-control and other basic social skills which are learned from the family. In addition, the family plays a primarily important role in shaping the child’s attitude and behaviour. Tepperman and Curtis (2011), noted that â€Å" Successful socialization of children involves not only bringing about their outward conformity to parental directives, but also enabling them to become self-regulating, and motivating them so that they become willing to cooperate with parental socialization† (p.62).The social interaction that takes place within the family contest is a major contributory factor to the continuity of culture. The mass media is another principal agent which has been accorded a place of importance in the explanation of socialization. The mass media constitute a key realm of cultural production and distribution. The mass media including magazines, internet, newspapers, radio, television and all means of communication which are directed towards a vast audience in society are deemed to be influential agents of socialization.According to Tepperman and Curtis (2011), the media are â€Å"Instrumental in transmitti ng and reinforcing certain values, social behaviors, and definitions of social reality† (p. 64). The media also contribute to racial and sexual stereotypes – stereotyped portrayal of men and women, racial or ethnic minorities, homosexual men or women, older people, or those with varying abilities shape viewer understanding and socializations (Tepperman $ Curtis, 2011, p. 64). Thus, the mass media is assumed to be significant, with powerful, long lasting consequences. Today there are more televisions and fewer people per household.In other words, more people are watching television alone (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p68). Children spend a great deal of time surfing the internet and watching television. Most of the time, these children are unattended or unsupervised because so many parents are in the labour force spending long hours to provide for their families.As a result of the increasing use of the internet and other sources of entertainment or information such as telev ision, children are more liable to imitate what they see on the television or the internet. There has been a long standing concern that  focuses on violence and pornography in digital media; 20 years ago it was televisions particularly music videos; but movies, comics and magazines have all been considered potentially dangerous sources of influence, especially for young people (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p65).The mass media is a central cultural concern because of the nature of the content that it brings to the vast majority of people (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 45). Through the production and the distribution of information to a wider audience, the mass media serves as a means by which cultural and social continuity is attained.As children move through childhood, there are many environmental influences on their socialization to adult roles. Children gradually move beyond their experience of the family – as they become involved in groups in the neighborhood, other families , peers, play groups and so on (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 64). Peer groups have gained increasing recognition as an important socializing agent for children (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 68). The peer group usually involves children within a given peer group are the same age and come from the same social status.According to Tepperman and Curtis (2011), playgroup provides â€Å"Important opportunities for children to learn to relate to others and increase their social skill† (p. 68). This is achieved by children interacting with their peers in playgroups to develop a frame of reference not based on adult authority (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 68). This is the time children are able to learn among their peers and function independently without supervision from an adult. The peer group exerts great influence especially in the adolescence. Tepperman and Curtis (2011) â€Å"depicts adolescent as a period of testing limits† (p.68).In 2008, Sara, Shmuel and Zinaida conclu ded that â€Å"Adolescents prefer alternative and independent ways, especially with peers, over activities that are organized for them by adults† (p. 373) The school is an important institution which provides an environment for the transmission of social values through teaching and learning. Tepperman and Curtis (2011), argues that the â€Å"School is probably the most important locus of childhood and adolescent socialization because it is central to a young person’s social life and acts as a filter for future occupation choice† (p. 70).In school, children learn discipline, social interaction and other basic skills that are deemed to be appropriate by society. The school also provides a platform for children to mingle, play and interact with peers. Through this, they learn to understand themselves and others. Sara et al. (2008) concluded that the school enables them to socialize outside the family, to establish independence from adults, to practice the skills re quired for entering conventional adult roles, to develop their future adult identities, to express their own interests, and to build their own cultures with their peer groups† (p.373).In the process of socialization, beliefs and values are passed on to children through language practices. Communication is the sharing of meaning by which the thoughts of one person are made understandable to another (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 44). Tepperman and Curtis (2011), defines language as a â€Å"System of words both written and spoken for the purpose of communication† (p. 44). Socialization is realized to a great extent through the use of language, the primary symbolic medium through which cultural knowledge is communicated and instantiated, reproduced and transformed.During this process, individuals learn the language of the culture they are born into as well as the roles to play in life. In addition, the mass media is also one of the most important attributes of the cultural realms that play a variety of social roles in the socialization process. Through distribution and production, the mass media transmit messages to a mass audience. They are the means by which we find out about important political, economic, and social happenings.We rely on them for the information we need to understand our local, regional, national, and global contexts (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 46). Through the mass media, individuals can learn the cultural practices of other countries or culture. For example, through the mass media, people can watch the Chinese New Year celebrations without going to China, the Caribbean Calypso Carnival without going to Jamaica or the Olympics games without visiting the host nation.The principal agents of socialization are the most important contributory factors to ensuring the continuity of cultural attainment. The family, mass media, school and the peer group have been accorded a place of importance in the explanation of socialization. It is i mportant to note, however, that there are also certain attributes of the cultural realm that are connected with the process of socialization. These attributes of the cultural realm includes language, mass media and so on. Thus, there is a circular relationship between culture and socialization.

Shoeless Joe Jackson and His Tragedy

In the short story â€Å"Shoeless Joe Jackson comes to Iowa†, Kinsella provides insight about a man who loves Iowa, his wife (Annie), his daughter (Karin), and lastly baseball. The setting of the story takes place on a rural farm in Iowa where Ray made a baseball field because he was told by a voice of a baseball announcer â€Å"If you build it, they will come†. (Pickering pg 740) Ray and Annie had bought this farm, years ago, to plant and cultivate corn and to raise their daughter in a safe environment. Ray, who was a baseball enthusiast, was told to build this field for â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson and his teammates to play baseball.He had no idea on how or why he might even begin to build this great field. So he started small with the field, he built a magnificent left field first for Joe. All the townspeople had heard what Ray was building and they thought he must have been crazy. Because he was taking a big section of his corn field and was turning it into a baseball diamond, he was going to be losing a huge profit in the harvest season for years to come. His remarkable wife went along with these plans and said,†Oh love, if it makes you happy, you should do it. †(Pickering pg 741) So Ray began on this project which took him several months just to build the eft field for Mr. Jackson, whom he had never even met. So when Ray hears the baseball announcers voice â€Å"If you build it they will come†,(Pickering pg. 740) he ,of course, was Shoeless Joe Jackson. Joe was born in Brandon Mills, South Carolina in July of 1887 and died in Greenville, South Carolina in December of 1951. Joe Jackson was the best left fielder that Ty Cobb had ever seen. Joe’s glove is the â€Å"place where triples go to die. †(Pickering pg. 741) Shoeless Joe Jackson was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early 20th century. He will always be remembered by his performance on the field and for is associat ion with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. The Black Sox Scandal took place during the 1919 World Series. The conspiracy was the result of the White Sox first baseman Arnold â€Å"Chick† Gandil, whose long lasting ties to the underworld, persuaded a friend who was a gambler that a fix could be pulled off. A New York gangster, Arnold Rothstein, provided the money for the fix. Gandil enlisted several of his teammates, motivated by the dislike of the clubs owner Charles Comisky, whom they perceived as a tightwad, to implement the fix.The owner of the Sox had a reputation for underpaying his players for years. Since some of the guys on the team had ties to the mob, it was easy for them to start to resent other players who were straight-laced and followed the rules. There were a total of 8 players involved in the fix of the World Series. Starting pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude â€Å"Lefty † Williams, outfielder Oscar â€Å"Happy† Felsch and shortstop Charles â€Å"Swede† Risberg were all principally involved with Gandil. Although he hardly played in the series, utility infielder Fred McMillan got word of the fix and he threatened that he would go public unless e was in the payoff. â€Å"Sleepy† Bill Burns and â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson, both played for the Los Angeles Angels after the fix of the series, were mentioned in the fix though their involvement has been disputed. I think he was not involved at all but got caught up in some nasty mob dealings. In the infamous World Series, â€Å"Shoeless† Joe Jackson had 12 hits (a World Series record) and a . 375 batting average to lead both teams in the individual statistics. He, also, committed no errors and threw out a base runner at home plate. â€Å"Ultimately, eight Chicago players and various small-time gamblers were indicated in the candal. At a 1921 criminal trial, a strong case was presented to establish that some â€Å"Black Sox† players-as they became known- had in fact thrown games, but all the defendants were found not guilty when prosecutors failed to prove that they had violated any criminal statutes in doing so. †(Morrow pg 1) I, also, found out that there is significant evidence that owner of the Chicago White Sox, Charles Comisky, may have known about the fix and tried to cover it up in order to avoid a scandal. No formal charges have ever been brought up against him or any other officials. In the ook â€Å"Shoeless The Life and Times of Joe Jackson,† there were several letters written back and forth between Jackson and Comisky. Joe Jackson was asking for the loser’s share of the 1919 World Series which amounted to $3,154. 27 per man. Comisky had asked Jackson to return to Chicago to receive the payment but Jackson had prior obligations in Savannah, Ga. These letters continued for several months but to no avail. Ja ckson, also, wanted a new contract worth $10,000 per year. Comisky was only willing to pay him $7,000 per year but had already signed Eddie Collins and Buck Weaver to ontracts that was well above his asking price. Mr. Jackson had started his own business in Ga. which was a Billiard business. He explained, in his letters, that the contract that Comisky had offered was not up to par with the other great players of his era. He explained in one of those letters to Comisky that after taxes and having to live in the city where he played, there would not be enough money to keep the Billiard business on its feet. In the letter, Jackson explains that he has played for less money than any other player of his caliber. He, also, writes that if he cannot pay his asking price thatComisky needs to trade or sell him to another team that would pay him his asking price. Comisky shopped his name around to other organizations and teams but none of them wanted to sign him. In the last letters that they wrote to each other, Comisky explained that he did not receive any other offer from any other team to sign him. Jackson went on to write him back explaining that he would play for anything less than $10,000 per year but he, also, explained that he had heard that Comisky had given a raise of $2,300 to â€Å"Happy† Flesch who had only hit . 192 in the World Series. Finally,Comisky took matters into his own hands and sent Harry Grabiner to Savannah to obtain Jackson’s signature for the new contract. Mr. Grabiner informed Jackson that his new contract with the team would be increased by $2,000 per year and he was pleased with that contract. â€Å"This is where the stories diverge. Grabiner later insisted that Jackson knew that the ten day clause was included in the contract and that Jackson signed it in the house in Katie’s (Jackson’s wife) presence. Jackson claimed that his wife was not home at the time and that he signed it on the hood of the car only afte r Grabiner ssured him that the ten-day clause was not included. That evening, Harry Grabiner, headed back to Chicago with Jackson’s signed contract. The ten day clause appeared in Article 10 on the third of the contracts four pages. †(Fleitz pg 205) In summary Ray was building this field for these 8 players who were banned for life to come play and finish out their careers with nothing hanging over their heads. This field, on Ray’s land, would be famous and all the townspeople could come and watch some of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. Works Cited Fleitz, David L.Shoeless The Life and Times of Joe Jackson. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &Co. Inc. 2001 Morrow, David. Black Sox Scandal. In Campbell, Ballard C. , PH. D. , gen. ed. 2008 Pickering, James H. Fiction 100. Pearson Education. Inc. 2012 Shoeless Joe Jackson and his Tragedy Jason Ebeling English Composition 2 Professor Moeller Nov. 15 2012

Norman Mailer’s Stabbing of his Second Wife, Adele Morales

Mr. Mailer was an eminent individual of America, he was known as a writer, film producer and director. He completed his Bachelors of Science in aeronautics from Harvard University in 1939. He became a very famous personality after writing many prominent novels. He married six times throughout his life. He had nine children, out of which eight were biological, and one was adopted. Norman Mailer was considered   Ã‚  a very gifted and assiduous person. In the year 1960, at a party held at his home, Mailer got drunk and stabbed his second wife, Adele Morale, practically killing her. Adele Morale was hurt in the abdomen and back of the body. Most people believed that Mailer was observed as the victim. Mailer had been motivated to do this by compulsion and mental illness, as there was no other reason which could be concluded for this sinful act. While few people criticize him and believe that Mailer did not have any admiration for women, he affirmed on a converse demonstrate, â€Å"Women ought to be kept in confine.†   In a Harper's Magazine dissertation titled â€Å"The Prisoner of Sex†, he wrote, â€Å"The major accountability of a woman is to be on ground long enough to find the best mate for herself and envisage children who will perk up the species.† So in this research study we have covered all the facts which may be involved in Norman’s stabbing of his second wife, and have described the circumstances which provoked him to perform this violence. Life History ; Achievements of Norman Mailer Norman Mailer was an outstanding personality of the United States of America. He was an author, film producer and director. Normal Mailer was born in New Jersey in 1923. In 1939, Mailer completed his Bachelors of Science in aeronautics from the Harvard University. After completion of his edification, he initiated inscription of novels. In the year 1944, he was driven to the army, where he worked communally as a clerk and rifleman. In the year 1948, he started writing for the novel, â€Å"The Naked and The Death†. In this novel, he elucidated everything which he had perceived in World War II. This novel achieved more accomplishment than it was expected to. It was in 1960 when he wrote many dissertations and became a lead writer. In 1969, Mailer ran for mayor, this time on the â€Å"Secessionist† ticket, which included proposals that New York City become the fifty-first state and that disputes among young criminals be settled by jousting tournaments in Central Park. Mailer's theatrical journalistic approach is presumed to be of highest esteem in the outstanding Armies of the Night. Mailer triumphed six percent of the ballot in a five man competition to turn out to be the Mayor of New York. He recognized the 1968 Republican and Democratic conference in Miami and the Siege of Chicago, and became the first man to corridor the Moon. During his life time, Mailer married six dissimilar women and had nine children from them, eight of which were his biological children and one was adopted. After spending a troublesome life, Mr. Mailer died at the age of 84 in New York, at Mount Sinai Hospital, due to renal failure. [Norm, Rich]. Marriages of Norman Mailer Norman Mailer married six times, his first marriage took place in the year 1943, and last in 1980. His first wife was Beatrice Silverman, they got married in 1943, and he divorced her in the year 1952. Adele Morales was his second wife, they got married on April 19, 1954 at City Hall, but after a few years, he attempted to kill her with a pen knife, and they were divorced after this ghastly incident. Lady Jeanne Campbell was the third wife of Mailer. They married in the year 1962 and were divorced in 1963. He then decided to marry Beverly Bentley in the year 1963. His fifth wife was Carol Steven whom he married in the year 1980; they were separated after one day of their marriage. He committed himself to Norris Church in the year 1980. [Norm, Sherry, Strifto]. The stabbing incident At a revelry in which Mr. Mailer was to announce his Mayoral candidature on the Secessionist ticket, he was heavily drunk and he stabbed his second wife Adele Morale, practically killing her. She was hit in the abdomen and back of the body, and was taken to the hospital at 8 am sharp. She was admitted to the hospital with an abrasion in close proximity to her heart. Shortly after, detectives went to question her about the incident, but they were told that she was in a very critical situation, and she could not answer their questions. The following day, the police was allowed to visit her as she was feeling better than before. She then informed them that her husband stabbed her on Sunday morning at 5 a.m. without any reason. He unexpectedly walked towards her, looked at her and stabbed her with a penknife. Adele refused to press accusation, so Mailer escaped this indignation within a fortnight at a psychiatric unit of Bellevue. This incident became one of the most terrible events of Mailer’s life. It has been a focal point for feminist critics of Mailer, who point to the subject of sexual aggression in his work.   This confrontation made him separate with his beloved wife. Furthermore, they divorced in the year 1962. This incident also blemished his career and the image he had made among fans. He was no more considered as a celebrity after stabbing his wife. Mailer also felt guilty for his act while appearing in a T.V. documentary.   He himself said, â€Å"The stabbing changed everything in my life. It is the one act I can look back on and regret for the rest of my life.† On the other hand, Adele Morales tells news reporters that Norman Mailer was never guilty for his act because if he was, it would show, additionally; he can never accept that he has any weakness in his character. Carl Rollyson unwrapped the biography of Mailer with narrations of John Maloney, an acquaintance of Mailer. It was in 1954, when Maloney stabbed his mistress and escaped. After a few years he was sent to jail but was released when the convict was taken back from his wife. At that moment, Mailer alleged to him, â€Å"God, I wish I had the courage to stab a woman like that. That was a real gutsy act.† That tells one all one needs to know about Norman Mailer’s idea of â€Å"courage.† In some instances, it conveys very modest disapproval surrounded by upscale intellectuals [Norm & Kimball, 2007; Bart, 2007]. Circumstances and Causes of this Incident When the populace attempted to conclude on the subject of Mailer’s stabbing of his second wife, they were frequently bewildered. This was due to the fact that Mailer had a tremendous individuality and overwhelming intelligence, and had written many esteemed articles. While on other hand, he stabbed his wife so it is not very easy to conclude Mailer’s personality and circumstances which drove him to this act. However, we can have a spectacle on what a researcher considered about Norman Mailer, to make a conclusion about the cause of his violent act. Irving Howe believes that Mailer was observed as the victim. He also believes that Mailer had been motivated by compulsivity and mental illness as there was no other reason which can be concluded for this sin. Anyone who reads Mailer’s story would consider him as a victim and they would question themselves additionally, as to what the circumstances were, which forced him to do so. If Mailer’s attempt to assassinate his companion convened with little displeasure, the ‘American Dream’ would not run away so effortlessly. It had its admirer, and on the other hand critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, in an overwhelming review called Norman Mailer’s Luscious Rump, beam a lot, when it was called an appalling novel. Substantially added flamboyance than antagonism, it is a book whose dreadfulness is in actual fact begging description. It can be said that Mailer performed this violent act because he would be mentally depressed at times, as he had a troubling life. However, some people believe that Mailer was thought of as a celebrity who was a drinker and brawler, womanizer, biased campaigner, communal critic, talk-show guest, self-promoter, and symbol of male sexism. The stabbing incident became the evidence of Mailer’s reputation as a boisterous person too [Norm & Kimball]. The above discussion clearly concludes that the causes of this incident may be   some mental illness, or it was his cruel nature towards women which made him   perform this horrible act. References Bart Barnes, November 11, 2007, A blustery force in life and letter retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/11/ST2007111101767.html. About.com, quotes about Norman Mailer previous marriages retrieved from http://marriage.about.com/od/thearts/a/normanmailer_3.htm Richard Avedo, Norman Mailer autobiography retrieved from   http://www.notablebiographies.com/Lo-Ma/Mailer-Norman.html. Mailer a dissenting view, Roger Kimball http://pajamasmedia.com/xpress/rogerkimball/2007/11/10/norman_mailer_a_dissenting_vie.php.                  

Analysis of China Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Analysis of China Airlines - Essay Example The extent of political multiplicity is not necessarily relevant for understanding the global airline industry, nor is the technological environment as this is relatively homogenous for airlines utilising similar support IT such as e-commerce, on-board entertainment, social media, and software for enterprise resource planning. 1.1 Social Factors The social factors associated with the different target customer segments in the regions serviced by the global airline industry and its competitors is critical to understanding how the business maintains competitive advantages. Each regional culture maintains differing societal views that impact dimensions of service quality, marketing and promotion, and customer relationship management. Customers in Japan maintain distinctly unique cultural values from other Asian nations, scoring high in areas of masculinity as identified by Geert Hofstede. Japanese customers with high masculinity characteristics have significantly high expectations for to p quality service and in product presentation (Hofstede Center 2012). Service failures or product quality occurring on-board will be the most predictable elements of service development with this important revenue-generating market segment. Japanese customers are also recognised as being one of the most risk averse cultures on the planet (Hofstede Center 2012), therefore once a business has managed to establish brand loyalty there is little risk of brand defection (Boone and Kurtz 2007). Customers in China, however, are very hedonistic which was established on the foundation of Confucian-era values (Farh and Cheng 2000). Hedonism involves characteristics of self-indulgence and maximisation of self-utility (Lemos 2004; Overskeid 2002), borne of a collectivist culture where saving face is one of the most top valued social characteristics to achieve group affiliation (Hofstede et al. 2010). This highly collectivist culture demands more attention to achieving excellence in service which translates into a hedonistic measure of self-expansion. Influence from Chinese consumers exert new service quality pressures on labour systems charged with service delivery, thus distinguishing Chinese consumers from that of Japanese high-resource buyers. Social factors continue to impose risks on companies operating in this industry sector, forcing transparency in operations and demanding new emphasis on competency in service delivery. There are global consequences in international markets that have reached market maturity and where airline companies must utilise culturally-sensitive promotions and advertising in order to gain market attention that stresses places more emphasis on culturally-based market research to gain market prominence. 1.2 Economic Factors The fiscal situation in China is relevant for analysis since many airlines in this industry service customers from or to this destination. In 2012, China’s fiscal leadership injected 57.92 billion USD into a strugglin g economy to stabilise interest rates and influence new corporate borrowing (Safe Trading 2013). This has opened new avenues for foreign direct investment and has served to create more favourable exchange rates between Taiwanese currency values and

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity Essay

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity - Essay Example In accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (the Act) 2005 â€Å"any act done or decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in their best interests†1. Such life aspects as financial, health and social care issues can be resolved from the perspective of the best interests of people with mental disabilities. Mental Capacity Act (1983) is another legal authority, which should be followed in the process of dealing with a lack of consent or mental capacity of the patients. It should be noted that consent occurs if the patient is properly informed about the potential medical treatment and is able to agree voluntarily without fraud upon it. In terms of mental capacity, a patient should be well-informed about different processes and results of medical treatment, but it should be noted that a patient may be capable in one sphere and lacking of mental capacity in making critical decisions. In accordance with Section 4 of this Act, there is a need to assess mental abilit ies or disabilities of a patient within 72 hours. The closest relatives or AMHP with one doctor’s support is essential to make some conclusions. Another doctor’s confirm should be received within 72 hours. ... iew of the case on mental capacity 2  tells us as follows: H’s was incapable in different ways and there was a need to solve his future destiny and take care of her. There was a need to improve her consent with regards to sexual relations and there was a need to prevent restrictions imposed on her liberty. Test determining mental capacity of a patient, enabling him to make relevant decisions is based on the following basic principles: first of all, it is necessary to determine whether a current turbulent state of a patient is an impairment or disturbance. Moreover, whether brain functions of a patient is damaged or not or whether a patient is able or unable to make some decisions by him or not. Therefore, it is relevant to weigh decisions and possible ways of communicating potential decisions. There are many different cases, when patients are lacking of mental capacity. Very often patients are in comma or they may suffer from â€Å"locked-in syndrome†. In case a patie nt is unable to communicate his decision, such sings as blinking or squeezing a hand may be positive signs. Therefore, the specialists of verbal and non-verbal communication are relevant in the field of such kind of patients. There is a need to take into account personal concerns and interests of a patient in order not to violate them in the process of decision making. It should be noted that medical personnel of the hospitals is always focused on life benefits of potential medical treatment of a patient or a potential possibility to save his life. Of course, it is necessary for the doctors to assess the capacity of the patients. First of all, it is necessary to assess the written records about a patient’s health conditions; to involve independent decision makers, take care of hospital complaints

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 4

Company Law - Essay Example This will be accomplished by setting out the main features of the limited liability company and the partnership. Once these features are set out, comparisons relative to the advantages of a registered limited liability company over a partnership can be explained and evaluated. The main legal benefits of a registered limited liability company is the existence of perpetual life, its separate legal personality from its incorporators and the limited liability of shareholders and other classes of owners and investors.2 Under UK company law, a company has limited liability status when the shareholders’ liability is limited to the amount that is â€Å"payable for the shares†.3 A registered company simply refers to the fact that the company is registered with the companies’ registrar and is a typical function of UK company law formalities.4 The concept of limited liability was first introduced in UK law under the Limited Liability Act 1855 conferring upon shareholders what was characterized as â€Å"conditional limited liability†.5 Liability was conditional upon providing â€Å"a minimal capital† which necessitated adding the word limited to the company’s name signaling the fact of liability.6 In 1856 the UK introduced the Joint Stock Companies Act which officially made limited liability unconditional. The Companies Act 1862 reflected the concept of limited liability and the era of limited liability was deeply entrenched in the UK’s corporate culture.7 Essentially, what limited liability means is that the shareholders of the company many not be held liable for the company’s debts â€Å"beyond the amount that he has chosen to invest†.8 In other words, if the company is unable to discharge its debts the shareholders cannot be personally liable for the shortfall. A limited liability company also enjoys the status of legal personality which

Foundations of Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Foundations of Literature - Essay Example Neverthless, in order for a story to work it must have some basic elements. It must have a plot—or a narrative in which things happen and unfold. It must have characters—people and actors who do things and with whom the reader can relate. It must have a setting—in other words a place where the action happens. And it must have a point of view—a perspective from which the story unfolds. Without these things, the story would be of little interest to anyone. In order to develop the plot of a story, a solid narrative is most important. Things must happen, characters must act. Otherwise the plot doesnt exist. A plot is a compilation of events, usually leading towards some sort of climax. A good example of all of this is James Joyce’s story â€Å"Araby† is similar to many of the other stories in the collection Dubliners in that romantic ardour or feeling is influenced by the profound Roman Catholicism, which is a staple of Irish life. Many other stories feature narratives about love and religion in which both are often thwarted. The worship of â€Å"holy† figures, dead and alive, colours the lives of the living in Joyce’s stories, no matter how much they might try to blot them out. Plot, narrative, characters and setting are evident throughout the story. Araby is the story of a sensitive boy who worships a friend’s sister from afar. He spends so much time thinking about her that he effectively idealizes her, much as a more religious person might idealize the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ. He imposes unrealistic expectations on the girl and his relationship with her and hopes that she will redeem or save him from the occasional drabness of his life. The overall message of the story is that religion creates unrealistic expectations of the world and costs much more than it is worth. Even if the narrator were able to go Araby and bring back the girl a

Law an Offer and Acceptance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law an Offer and Acceptance - Essay Example An offer can be defined as an expression of a willing to contract, on particular terms which becomes binding, upon the acceptance of the one to whom it was directed to. The expression of a contract generally means the form in which the contract is embodied in. It could be expressed in a letter, in the traditional sense, an email, fax and construed from the conduct of the offeror communicating the main grounds for the contract terms. The case of Smith v Hughes defines what entails intention to create legally binding agreement entails. It was held that the court objectively deduct an intention, not on the basis of the offeror’s intention per se but on the premise of what a reasonable man would construe as intention. However, beyond the classic definition of an offer being a bilateral expression of willingness to contract; there are instances in which the court has interpreted unilateral contract and held that they were legally binding. An excellent example emerges from the case of Calil v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company. In this case, the smoke ball company, made an advertisement in the newspaper stating that it will give a reward of 100 pounds for anybody who used the smoke ball as prescribed and still gets influenza, a cold or a related disease. Calil on seeing the advertisement bought the smoke ball used it as per the instructions and, when she contracted the influenza she proceeded with the lawsuit. Lord Lindley, held that it emerged from the conduct of the offeror a waiver of the offeree duty to notify them acceptance from the nature of the public advertisement; and thus an acceptance by Calil was held to be valid thus they were instructed to pay the price of 100 pounds. There are cases in which an offer may be confused with an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is not an offer, but an invitation of a negotiation of terms of a contract. This was illustrated in the case of Harley v Facey where the owner of some property had indicated that he was w illing to sell his property at a certain rate. The person to whom this was directed took it as an offer and moved to court to enforce the said offer. It was held that it was an invitation to treat thus, made with the intention of receiving offers. There are four kinds of invitation to treat in common law in common law. One is an auction, where a bid is held to be an offer for the auctioneer to either accept or reject. In Payne v Cave, D made the highest bid for an item in an auction but withdrew the bid before the fall of the hammer. It was held that the bid was an offer and thus revocable before acceptance. Acceptance occurs at the fall of the hammer. An advertisement is also an invitation to treat and not an offer. In the case of Partridge v Crittenden, D made an advertisement for the sale of a protected species of birds and was sued under respective Act. It was held that the advertisement was a mere invitation to treat and not an offer. Exhibition for goods for sale like it is do ne in supermarkets constitute an invitation for customers to make offers and are not offers in itself. In the case of Fisher v Bell where it was held, displaying goods with the price on them was an invitation to treat and receive offers which the shopkeeper could either accept or reject. An invitation for tenders is the last example of invitations to treat and not an offer. Response to the tenders is the offers that the person who advertised the tenders can either accept or

University of new haven, soccer, moving to another town, upbeat Essay

University of new haven, soccer, moving to another town, upbeat program that helps the community ,playing the piano, going to polish school every saturday for s - Essay Example ersity of New Haven) It is considered the 2nd largest private provider of Protective Services Education which offers a unique combination of forensic science with criminal justice. At least 121 credits are required for a student to earn the BS degree in criminal justice. The most rewarding professions, a graduate of this course can look forward to, are employment in any of the following prestigious institutions: the FBI, the DEA, ATF, the Secret Service, and the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury Border Patrol Military Police, CID IRS, CID, and the CIA. UNH actually â€Å"sponsors 17 variety sports (8 men’s, 9 women’s) which compete at the NCAA Division II level in the prestigious Northeast-10 Conference† (Official Website of University of New Haven). At UNH, the administrators have explicitly emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to the development of the athlete’s life. Opportunities are continuously provided for â€Å"academic achievement, learning in high-level athletic competition and development of positive societal attitude in service to the community†. (Official Website of University of New Haven) The existence of a Polish School dates back to the heirs of Poland wanting to keep their culture, tradition, and heritage intact. The basic teachings include learning the language, literature, geography, history of Poland; as well as the traditional Polish folk dances, songs and catechetical lessons. (Walnut Creek United Methodist Church). The regular session in a Polish school is approximately 21 Saturdays within the school year. The program usually encourage the participation of the parents in activities which would With the onset of the internet age, playing the piano is really as easy as ABC. There are a variety of online keyboard lessons and even free online instructions. Lessons vary depending on the level of the student’s expertise – from beginners to advance. (Free On-Line Piano Lessons Copyright@Gregory D. Ramsey 1996 –

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Not sure - Essay Example claim that man maintains innate inclinations towards morality, which does not let him to go astray quite unbridled without being responsible to some Supreme Being, who has created His voice in every heart in the form of conscience in order to keep the seduction and temptation of the evil away from him. Human nature, according to this distinguished sage, and its impulses as well, if cultivated, turn into moral virtues. Our natures are, he argues, what heaven has given us (6A.15). Since heaven has created human nature in its own image, it has natural tendencies of inclining towards goodness ultimately. Thus, human nature even remaining indulged into the vice of various kinds, eventually inclines to the traits and characteristics attributed to it by birth. Human nature, Mencius further asserts, is what links us with the non-human universe, the normative order of heaven. Consequently, human soul has been created with the gifted moral values Nature looks for in human actions in one way or the other. Indeed, the quality of this relationship is such that Mencius is able to claim that â€Å"If one knows one’s nature, one will know heaven† (Makeham 2001). The same has also been preached by Mencius’ predecessor Confucius, and the very notion has always been endorsed and projected by the future philosophers and thinkers in their respective philosophical works. Illustrious moralist and sage of ancient Chinese civilization Confucius had preached virtue and compassion towards humanity without discrimination through his preaching. He submits that where there exists the razor of iniquity, inequality, evil and social injustice in a society, there is least probability of the blossoming of the plant of goodness, charity, honesty and wisdom, and vice versa (Yu 2012). The same was the notion promoted by the distinguished ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who had declared having knowledge of the universal phenomena as a great virtue that protects humans from going astray and

-Operation and Supply Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

-Operation and Supply Management - Essay Example Six Sigma is a systematic approach that enables working in an organized manner. Six sigma is a path way to implementing Total Quality Management in the organization. Definition of roles and responsibilities is an important feature of six sigma; the definition helps in a great way approaching various tasks. The roles are defined in a specialized manner according to the need of every organization, and it ensures assigning the right job to the right person. The roles are named after martial art ranking namely black belt, green belt and yellow belt along with champions and team leads. Based on the level of achievement these three categories are placed in a chronological order. As would the ranking imply, black belts are the leaders in the front tier who are directly associated with process definition and improvement initiatives .Green belts provide support and assistance to the black belts .Yellow belts are relatively novice and help facilitating the green belts and black belts. The definition of roles and responsibilities help in dividing the task and channelizing it according to the need. Leaders at the top level provide guidelines and help providing direction. Champions constitute the middle management and other concerned officials who are directly involved in taking on an endeavor (Pries, 2006). Team members are essential part of six sigma roles, and they make up for the backbone of any process performed under the considerations of six sigma approach. Six sigma puts equal onus on all of the above mentioned and in such an environment each of the individual is expected to work to their capabilities. A simple solution to obtaining productive results is simply sticking to the basic principles of quality management system which are coherent with six sigma approach. An important characteristic of six sigma approach is the encouragement to participate .Participation allows introduction of new ideas in the organization which in return provides options for

The Labor Movement in the 1920s Essay Example for Free

The Labor Movement in the 1920s Essay As a correction to the wartime effort, inflation and unemployment increased because there was not a need to mass-produce products for war, and America had to return to normalcy. The amount of labor unrest increased during this time period, which is very obvious by the increase of labor strikes. There was a strike by the United States Steel Corporation workers in 1919. They were annoyed with their seven 12 hour workdays a week. The leader of the American Federation of Labor joined the International Workers of the World (which was a communist group dedicated to freeing the bonds of workers) after the strike. A committee published a report that illustrated the horrible working conditions, which eventually caused steel companies to reduce to an eight-hour day. The United Mine Workers went on strike in hope of receiving better wages and a shorter workday. Attorney General Palmer got a court order that told the strikers to return to work. Lewis formally declared the strike over, but it continued for another month until Wilson appointed an arbitrator to decide the remaining issues. The Mine Workers received a 27 percent pay increase, but the same hours. The police in Boston wanted pay raises and sent a group to commissioner Coolidge, to hear their demands. Coolidge fired the group and the rest of the force went on strike. The National Guard restored the peace and Coolidge hired a new police force and granted the demands of the strikers. During this time period a group of stores called chain stores were becoming popular, they spread throughout the country, were owned by one person, and charged lower prices for products. The 122 million U.S. citizens began losing their jobs because of the throng of migrating immigrants who worked for low wages, modern technology becoming useful in the make of products. Working men had a hard time adjusting to women that were also fighting against inequality for the right to work. Because of prosperity, labor unions lost membership from 5 million in the early 20s to 3.5 million by  the late 20s. Corporate and Government attack on labor strikes became extremely intense. People who participated in strikes were beaten and sometimes killed. And last a small fact, the average annual income for the typical American worker was only $1,574.

Reducing Inequalities in Healthcare

Reducing Inequalities in Healthcare Background Equity in health and reducing inequalities are considered as the main goals of all health systems (1) which is the absence of systematic disparities in health or in the social determinants of health between social groups with different levels of social advantage(2). Health inequalities are structural and systematic differences in health status between and within social groups in society. There is a difference between the inequality and inequity in health so that inequity is regarded as avoidable inequalities (3). The term health inequity has been recognized as a root cause affecting health and is closely related to social determinants of health (SDH)† including place of residence, race/ethnicity/culture/language, occupation, gender/sex, religion, education, socioeconomic status, and social capital requirements. Inequity in health is more important than other inequities because the health is the first prerequisite to achieve other capacities(4,5). Studies, for example, show that the richer individuals are healthier than the poorer ones(6). However inequalities do exist in health care (notably in access to care), they should not be considered as the principal cause of inequity in health status(7). In response to growing concern over the continuation and expansion of these inequalities, the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health was established and made recommendations to develop and systematically monitor the equity in health and social determinants of health at the local, national and international levels. They may lead to design appropriate interventions and facilitate evidence-informed policy-making process(8). Monitoring health inequalities through producing appropriate evidence can promote accountability and continuously improve equity-oriented health plans including moving toward universal health coverage(9). Given the importance of the issue, various countries have initiated the development of such surveillance systems(10). Health equity surveillance systems include the analysis of groups in terms of socio-economic status, age, gender, race, ethnicity, residence and other key factors determining socio-economic advantages or disadvantages (11) The above list of factors identified may not include the underlying causal factors and pathways of health inequality from the developing countries perspective. As there are differences from country to country, addressing health inequalities may need country-specific indicators. Identifying causal factors at country level is essential for prioritizing policy interventions (12). The accurate selection of appropriate indicators can affect the proper and reliable measurement of inequality rate. General important considerations for selection the indicators include the cost of data collection, data quality issues, availability of data for monitoring at proper time intervals, cultural appropriateness, sensitivity to the policy interventions and the required technical capacity for the analysis(13, 14). Some countries use the World Health Organization health equity indicators. In Iran, the basis for development of health equity indicators was the Urban HEART (urban health equity assessment and response tool) indicators. Urban HEART, developed by WHO, is a simple tool and guide to identify health inequity in urban areas which was tested in some countries including Tehran (Iran)(15,16). In this regard, In Iran the responsibility of the development of health equity indicators was delegated to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. To develop these indicators, several expert meetings were held and 52 indicators were determined using the Urban HEART and after several refinements. Some of these indicators are international and some other are based on the local circumstances of Iran. The indicators have been determined in five domains including health (20 indicators), human and social development (17 indicators), economic development (4 indicators), physical environment and infrastructures (7 indicators) and governance (4 indicators). In addition, appropriate practical classification variables to calculate were determined for each indicator. Data associated with 12 indicators will be collected using survey studies while data related to 40 other indicators will be gathered through the routine data recording system(14). To ensure the enforcement of the health equity indicators, they were announced to the relevant organizations after its approval. In order to plan for reducing inequalities, stakeholders should have sufficient knowledge and awareness of the issue of the equity in health and its indicators and reach a consensus about the system for monitoring these factors. It is necessary to clarify challenges and consequently relevant scientific and practical solutions can be applied using the international, national and local evidence. Objectives Given the importance of awareness of the health equity indicators and its implementation challenges and lack of study in this area in the country, this study aimed to investigate stakeholders perspective on equity in health and its 52 indicators in Iran. The results of the study can help policy makers to better understand the issue in order to effectively plan and implement the health equity indicators. Materials and Methods In this qualitative study, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and the review and analysis of relevant documents including meetings minutes, working plans and working progress reports. The interviews were conducted using a topic guide developed according to a literature review and expert opinion. It was pilot tested using interviews with three policy makers and executives and based on their comments it was revised and finalized. The participants were given the information sheet and consent form prior to the interviews. After research ethics committee approval, interviews conducted in-person on a one-to-one basis after consent was provided by the research director and two trained colleagues. All interviews were recorded and later transcribed verbatim. A framework analytical approach was used for data analysis. Participants were selected using purposive sampling method and were policy makers involved in developing the indicators and executives responsible for implementing and calculating the indicators. A total of 23 individuals were invited, 8 of whom refused to take part in the study for various work-related reasons or the lack of willingness to participate. There were five policy makers and 10 executives. Among the executives, two were governors of major cities. Interviews continued until data saturation was reached and no new code was found. The focus of the policy makers’ interview questions was primarily on the process of indicators development and participation and interaction of various sectors in this process the developing indicators as well as steps of indicators development process. Executives answered questions mainly regarding their perception of the health equity and related indicators’ calculation and implementation processes. The member check strategy was used and the comments were incorporated in the final analysis. It helped to ensure that the findings were congruent with participants perceptions, beliefs and opinions. All the stages in the study were recorded to make it possible to track of each stage and clarify the procedures. Discussion The equity and equity in health are not only the issue of international interest but also have been considered in Iran development plans. Furthermore, committee on social determinants of health in the final report from the World Health Organization (2008) titled closing the gap in a generation emphasized on national and global health equity surveillance systems for routine monitoring of health inequity(8). The issue of stewardship in health equity is a matter of great importance. Health system need to lead by taking a stewardship role in supporting a cross-government approach that focuses on the social determinants of health and performing as catalysts to all society. The Health in All Policies programs of the European Unionand South Australia promote inter-sectoral collaborations to health equity (17). The establishment of a common language for health sector and other agencies is considered as an important challenge in its leadership. Gopalan et al. suggested that a lack of awareness among stakeholders restricted the inter-sectoral convergence on combating health inequities(18). In Iran, the Ministry of Health is the steward of health equity goals and it is suggested that a secretariat or an independent office be established for health equity. According to the definitions of equity concepts provided by the stakeholders, the difference between viewpoints is obvious and their perceptions on the main concepts of equity in health are different from each other. This study showed that many executives and some policy makers disagreed on key concepts of equity in health and the executives had insufficient information about the concept of equity in health as desired by the policy makers. In general, many executives considered the equity in health mainly as fair access to and distribution of health system resources. Also, Low study showed that access to health services alone is not sufficient to achieve equity in health(19). However city governors and medical science universities are executives responsible for implementing the indicators in the region, they lack sufficient attitudes and awareness towards the issue of equity in health. It seems that orientation programs by the Ministry of Health should be more comprehensive and with an aim of emphasizing a higher priority of the issue for executives. The establishment of these indicators requires capacity building, training and shifting the attitudes of the executives implementing this program. So training and improving the awareness of the key actors are main effective steps for the establishment of health equity indicators. Training and improving the awareness of executives are facilitated by providing regulatory requirements helping the decision-making. Beheshtian et al suggested that the Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making (COMD) model for more intersectoral collaboration and consensus among other areas can be used in Iran (14). After the development of the indicators and in the establishment step, interaction between politicians, policy makers and regulatory authorities is essential in order to establish these indicators. There are some challenges regarding the calculation of the health equity indicators in the country. However 40 out of 52 health equity Indicators are collected through routine system, investigation and survey are needed for remaining 12 indicators. The routine system itself needs to be reformed and improved including hardware and software improvements. Furthermore, the preparation and participation of organizations to change their statistics and reporting systems are also required. Therefore, gaining a wide intra and intersectoral participation is needed to collect data for the indicators and change statistical forms. This participation should be established at levels of policy makers and high authority officials. In addition to the above mentioned issues, creating the infrastructure for electronic data recording and defining access level may help to the establishment of the indicators. The establishment of indicators requires financing, training and empowerment of organizations employees, legal requirements, and finally a clear action plan. A report from the Pan American Health Network on the development of health equity indicators in Canada also cited the similar challenges such as the need for financial resources, being time consuming as well as limitation of sources of information (20). As the establishment of the indicators is in its the primary steps, so the executives responsible for implementing the indicators have not had the possibility for complete and necessary adaptation to ministry of health instructions and gaining more support for the executives, training them as well as laying the proper groundwork for calculation these indicators are obviously necessary. It is debatable whether these indicators show the extent of the health equity in the country. Many policymakers stated that the World Health Organization and international indicators provided the basis for the country indicators but some changes were made in them according to cultural and social conditions of the country. In this regard, an important point mentioned by the policy makers is that as these indicators had not previously been identified, so the development of them can be considered as a positive step and they will be revised in the future according to feedbacks from universities and other organizations. Braveman in his study argued that data utilization to develop interventions is far more important than data collection itself(2). The results of this study are in consistent with those of current study, because many policy makers argued that the establishment of these indicators can be helpful if appropriate interventions are developed based on information they provide. It is, therefore, necessary to specify solutions for using the indicators in decision making. Policy making for reducing inequity in health is too difficult because it is an intersectoral policy making requiring various areas and organizations involvement and this, in turn, demands the specification of common goals, integrated accountability and increased organizational responsibilities (14). Overall, the results of the study showed the inadequate awareness of stakeholders on equity in health, lack of proper infrastructure and insufficient support from stakeholders are the important challenges regarding the establishment of the indicators; these findings are consistent with those of a study by Gopalan et al(18). Limited access to some policy makers and executives was a limitation. A small number of the governors and executives were interviewed while there were more policy makers and stakeholders participating in the development of the indicators. Conclusion: As the establishment of the indicators is in its the primary steps, so the executives responsible for implementing the indicators have not had the possibility for complete and necessary adaptation to ministry of health instructions and gaining more support for the executives, training them as well as laying the proper groundwork for calculation these indicators are obviously necessary. The development of the indicators requires a shared understanding among policy makers and executives. As the attention has been focused recently on the issue, in addition to knowledge improvement, proper solutions with intersectional collaboration approach in order to tackle challenges should be considered. References: 1. Murray CJ, Frenk JA. Framework for assessing the performance of health systems. Bull World Health Organ 2000; 78(6):717-31. 2. Braveman P, Gruskin S. Defining equity in health. J Epidemiol Community Health 2003; 517:254-8. 3. Whitehead M. Whitehead M. The concepts and principles of equity and health. Int J Health Serv 1992;22(3):429-45. 4. Marmot, M. Achieving health equity: from root causes to fair outcomes. The Lancet 2007;370(9593): 1153-63. 5. ONeill J, Tabish H, Welch V, Petticrew M, Pottie K, Clarke M, et al. Applying an equity lens to interventions: using PROGRESS ensures consideration of socially stratifying factors to illuminate inequities in health.J Clin Epidemiol 2014;67(1):56-64. 6. Exworthy M, Blane D, Marmot M. Tackling health inequalities in the United Kingdom: the progress and pitfalls of policy. Health Serv Res 2003; 38(6 Pt 2): 1905–22. 7. Davidson R, Kitzinger J, Hunt K. The wealthy get healthy, the poor get poorly? Lay perceptions of health inequalities. Soc Sci Med 2006; 62(9):2171-82. 8. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008 .Available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241563703_eng.pdf 9. Hosseinpoor AR, Victora CG, Bergen N, Barros AJ, Boerma, T. Towards universal health coverage: the role of within-country wealth-related inequality in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Bull World Health Organ 2011; 89(12): 881-889. 10. Cristina C, Caroline C. Can we build on existing information systems to monitor health inequities and the social determinants of health in the EU? Brussels: Euro Health Net, 2010. 11. Kelly PM, A. Bonnefoy J, Butt J, Bergman V. The social determinants of health: developing an evidence base for political action. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2007. 12. Eshetu, EB, Woldesenbet SA. Are there particular social determinants of health for the world’s poorest countries?.Afr Health Sci. Mar 2011; 11(1): 108–115 13. Wirth M, Delamonica E, Sacks E, Balk D, Storeygard A, Minujin A. Monitoring health equity in the MDGs: a practical guide. Center for International Earth Science Information Network, 2006. 14. Beheshtian M, Manesh AO, Bonakdar SH, Afzali HM, Larijani B, Hosseini L, et al. Intersectoral Collaboration to Develop Health Equity Indicators in Iran. . Iran J Public Health 2013;42(1):31-5. 15. Asadi-Lari M, Vaez-Mahdavi MR, Faghihzadeh S, Montazeri A, Farshad AA, Kalantari N, et al. The application of urban health equity assessment and response tool (Urban HEART) in Tehran; concepts and framework Med J Islam Repub Iran 2010;24(3):175-85. 16. Asadi-Lari M, Vaez-Mahdavi MR, Faghihzadeh S, Cherghian B, Esteghamati A, Farshad A. Response-oriented measuring inequalities in Tehran: second round of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART-2), concepts and framework. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2013;27(4): 236-48. 17. Baum F.E, Bà ©gin M, Houweling T.A, Taylor S. Changes not for the fainthearted: reorienting health care systems toward health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Am J Public Health. 2009; 99(11): 1967–74. 18. Gopalan SS, Mohanty S, Das A. Challenges and opportunities for policy decisions to address health equity in developing health systems: case study of the policy processes in the Indian state of Orissa. Int J Equity Health 2011; 10(1):55. 19. Low A, Ithindi T, Low A. A step too far? Making health equity interventions in Namibia more sufficient. Int J Equity Health 2003; 2(1):5. 20. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. Indicators of Health Inequalities. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. [cited 2014 Sep 24]; Available from: URL: http://www.phn-rsp.ca/pubs/ihi-idps/pdf/Indicators-of-Health-Inequalities-Report-PHPEG-Feb-2010-EN.pdf Acknowledgements The authors would thank people who participated in this study and Iran University of Medical Sciences for financial support. Financial Disclosure There is not any conflict of interests. Funding/Support This work was supported by Iran University of Medical sciences [IUMS/SHMIS-15748]. Authors’ Contributions Ravaghi and Oliyaee Manesh jointly designed the study. Arabloo and Goshtaei collected the data. Ravaghi, Goshtaei and Oliyaee Manesh contributed to data analysis and interpretation of the results. Arabloo, Goshtaei and Abolhassani prepared the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Speaker Recognition System Pattern Classification

Speaker Recognition System Pattern Classification A Study on Speaker Recognition System and Pattern classification Techniques Dr E.Chandra,  K.Manikandan,  M.S.Kalaivani Abstract Speaker Recognition is the process of identifying a person through his/her voice signals or speech waves. Pattern classification plays a vital role in speaker recognition. Pattern classification is the process of grouping the patterns, which are sharing the same set of properties. This paper deals with speaker recognition system and over view of Pattern classification techniques DTW, GMM and SVM. Keywords Speaker Recognition System, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW), Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), Support Vector Machine (SVM). INTRODUCTION Speaker Recognition is the process of identifying a person through his/her voice signals [1] or speech waves. It can be classified into two categories, speaker identification and speaker verification. In speaker identification task, a speech utterance of an unknown speaker is compared with set of valid users. The best match is used to identify the speaker. Similarly, in speaker verification the unknown speaker first claims identity, and the claimed model is then used for identification. If the match is above a predefined threshold, the identity claim is accepted The speech used for these task can be either text dependent or text independent. In text dependent application the system has the prior knowledge of the text to be spoken. The user will speak the same text as it is in the predefined text. In a text-independent application, there is no prior knowledge by the system of the text to be spoken. Pattern classification plays a vital role in speaker recognition. The term Pattern defines the objects of interest. In this paper the sequence of acoustic vectors, extracted from input speech are taken as patterns. Pattern classification is the process of grouping the patterns, which are sharing the same set of properties. It plays a vital role in speaker recognition system. The result of pattern classification decides whether to accept or reject a speaker. Several research efforts have been done in pattern classification. Most of the works based on generative model. There are Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) [3], Hidden Markov Models (HMM) , Vector Quantization (VQ) [4], Gaussian mixture model (GMM) [5] and so forth. Generative model is for randomly generating observed data, with some hidden parameters. Because of the randomly generating observed data functions, they are not able to provide a machine that can directly optimize discrimination. Support vector machine was introducing as an alternative classifier for speaker verification. [6]. In machine learning SVM is a new tool, which is used for hard classification problems in several fields of application. This tool is capable to deal with the samples of higher dimensionality. In speaker verification binary decision is needed, since SVM is discriminative binary classifier it can classify a complete utterance in a single step. This paper is planned as follows. In section 2: speaker recognition system, in section 3, Pattern Classification, AND overview of DTW, GMM, and SVM techniques .section 4: Conclusion. SPEAKER RECOGNITION SYSTEM Speaker recognition categorized into verification and identification. Speaker Recognition system consists of two stages .speaker verification and speaker identification. Speaker verification is 1:1 match, where the voice print is matched with one template. But speaker identification is 1:N match, where the input speech is matched with more than one templates. Speaker verification consists of five steps. 1. Input data acquisition 2.feature extraction 3.pattern matching 4.decision making 5.generate speaker models. Fig 1: Speaker recognition system In the first step sample speech is acquired in a controlled manner from the user. The speaker recognition system will process the speech signals and extract the speaker discriminatory information. This information forms a speaker model. At the time of verification process, a sample voice print is acquired from the user. The speaker recognition system will extract the features from the input speech and compared withpredefined model. This process is called pattern matching. DC Offset Removal and Silence Removal Speech data are discrete-time speech signals, carry some redundant constant offset called DC offset [8].The values of DC offset affect the information ,extracted from the speech signals. Silence frames are audio frames of background noise with low energy level .silence removal is the process of discarding the silence period from the speech. The signal energy in each speech frame is calculated by using equation (1). M – Number of samples in a speech frames, N- Total number of speech frames. Threshold level is determined by using the equation (2) Threshold = Emin + 0.1 (Emax – Emin) (2) Emax and Emin are the lowest and greatest values of the N segments. Fig 2. Speech Signal before Silence Removal Fig 3. Speech Signal after Silence Removal This technique is used to enhance the high frequencies of the speech signal. The aim of this technique is to spectrally flatten the speech signal that is to increase the relative energy of its high frequency spectrum. The following two factors decides the need of Pre-emphasis technique.1.Speech Signals generally contains more speaker specific information in higher frequencies [9]. 2. If the speech signal energy decreases the frequency increases .This made the feature extraction process to focus all the aspects of the voice signals. Pre-emphasis is implemented as first order finite Impulse Response filter, defined as H(Z) = 1-0.95 Z-1 (3) The below example represents speech signals before and after Pre-emphasizing. Fig 4. Speech Signal before Pre-emphasizing Fig 5. Speech Signal after Pre-emphasizing Windowing and Feature Extraction: The technique windowing is used to minimize the signal discontinuities at beginning and end of each frame. It is used to smooth the signal and makes the frame more flexible for spectral analysis. The following equation is used in windowing technique. y1(n) = x (n)w(n), 0 ≠¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  n ≠¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  N-1 (4) N- Number of samples in each frame. The equation for Hamming window is(5) There is large variability in the speech signal, which are taken for processing. to reduce this variability ,feature extraction technique is needed. MFCC has been widely used as the feature extraction technique for automatic speaker recognition. Davis and Mermelstein reported that Mel-frequency cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) provided better performance than other features in 1980 [10]. Fig 6. Feature Extraction MFCC technique divides the input signal into short frames and apply the windowing techniques, to discard the discontinuities at edges of the frames. In fast Fourier transform (FFT) phase, it converts the signal to frequency domain and after that Mel scale filter bank is applied to the resultant frames. After that, Logarithm of the signal is passed to the inverse DFT function converting the signal back to time domain. PATTERN CLASSIFICATION Pattern classification involves in computing a match score in speaker recognition system. The term match score refers the similarity of the input feature vectors to some model. Speaker models are built from the features extracted from the speech signal. Based on the feature extraction a model of the voice is generated and stored in the speaker recognition system. To validate a user the matching algorithm compares the input voice signal with the model of the claimed user. In this paper three techniques in pattern classification have been compared. Those three major techniques are DTW, GMM and SVM. Dynamic Time Warping: This well known algorithm is used in many areas. It is currently used in Speech recognition,sign language recognition and gestures recognition, handwriting and online signature matching ,data mining and time series clustering, surveillance , protein sequence alignment and chemical engineering , music and signal processing . Dynamic Time Warping algorithm is proposed by Sadaoki Furui in 1981.This algorithm measures the similarity between two series which may vary in time and speed. This algorithm finds an optimal match between two given sequences. The average of the two patterns is taken to form a new template. This process is repeated until all the training utterances have been combined into a single template. This technique matches a test input from a multi-dimensional feature vector T= [ t1, t2†¦tI] with a reference template R= [ r1, r2†¦rj]. It finds the function w(i) as shown in the below figure. In Speaker Recognition system Every input speech is compared with the utte rance in the database .For each comparison, the distance measure is calculated .In the measurements lower distance indicates higher similarity. Fig 7. . Dynamic Time Warping Gaussian mixture model: Gaussian mixture model is the most commonly used classifier in speaker recognition system.It is a type of density model which comprises a number of component functions. These functions are combined to provide a multimodal density. This model is often used for data clustering. It uses an alternative algorithm that converges to a local optimum. In this method the distribution of the feature vector x is modeled clearly using mixture of M Gaussians. mui- represent the mean and covariance of the i th mixture. x1, x2†¦xn, Training data ,M-number of mixture. The task is parameter estimation which best matches the distribution of the training feature vectors given in the input speech. The well known method is maximum likehood estimation. It finds the model parameters which maximize the likehood of GMM. Therefore, the testing data which gain a maximum score will recognize as speaker. Support Vector Machine: Support machine was proposed in 1990 and it is one of the best machine learning algorithms. This is used in many pattern classification problems. such as image recognition, speech recognition, text categorization, face detection and faulty card detection, etc. The basic idea of support vector machine is to find the optimal linear decision surface based on the concept of structural risk minimization. It is a binary classification method. The decision surface refers the weighted combination of elements in a training dataset. These elements are called support vectors. These vectors define the boundary between two classes. In a binary problem +1 and -1 are taken as two classes. The size of the margin should be maximized to characterize the boundary between two classes. The below example explains pattern classification by using SVM. In the fig 3(a), there are two different kinds of patterns taken for process. A line is drawn to separate these two patterns. In the fig 3(b),by using a single line the patterns are separated, the patterns are presented in two dimensional space. The similar representation in one dimensional space in the fig 3(c), a point can be used to separate patterns in one dimensional space. a plane that separates these patterns in 3-D space ,represented in the fig 3(d),is called separating hyper plane. . The next task a plane should be selected from the set of planes whose margin is maximum. The plane with the maximum margin i.e. perpendicular distance from the marginal line is known as optimal hyper plane or maximum margin hyper plane as shown in fig 3(f). The patterns that lie on the edges of the plane are called support vectors While classify the patterns, there may exist some errors in the representation, as shown in the fig 3(g), such types of errors are called soft margin. Sometimes ,these errors can be ignored to some threshold value. The patterns that can be easily separated using line or Plane are called linearly Separable patterns .Non-linear separable patterns (fig-j,k,l)are difficult to classify. These patterns are classified by using kernel functions . In order to classify non-linear separable patterns the original data’s are mapped to higher dimensional space using kernel function. CONCLUSION In this paper we have explained about speaker recognition system and discussed about three major pattern classification techniques, Dynamic Time Warping, Gaussian mixture model and Support Vector Machine. SVM will work efficiently on fixed length vectors. To implement SVM the input data should be normalized for better performance. In future, we have planned to implement these techniques in speaker recognition system and evaluate the performance. The performance of the models will also be evaluated by incrementing the amounts of training data. REFERENCES [1] Campbell, J.P., Speaker Recognition: A Tutorial, Proc. Of the IEEE, vol. 85,no. 9, 1997, pp. 1437-1462. [2] Sadaoki Furui., Recent advances in speaker recognition,Pattern Recognition Letters. 1997,18 (9): 859-72. [3] Sakoe, H.and Chiba, S., Dynamic programming algorithm optimization for spoken word recognition, Acoustics,Speech, and Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on Volume 26, Issue 1, Feb 1978 Page 43 49. [4] Lubkin, J. and Cauwenberghs, G., VLSI Implementation of Fuzzy Adaptive Resonance and Learning Vector Quantization, Int. J. Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, vol. 30 (2), 2002,pp. 149-157. [5] Reynolds, D. A. and Rose, R. C. Robust text-independent speaker identification using Gaussian mixture speaker models. IEEE Trans. Speech Audio Process. 3, 1995, pp 72–83. [6] Solera, U.R., Martà ­n-Iglesias, D., Gallardo-Antolà ­n, A., Pelà ¡ez-Moreno, C. and Dà ­az-de-Marà ­a, F, Robust ASR using Support Vector Machines, Speech Communication, Volume 49 Issue 4, 2007. [7] Temko, A.; Monte, E.; Nadeu, C., Comparison of Sequence Discriminant Support Vector Machines for Acoustic Event Classification, ICASSP 2006 Proceedings, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Volume 5, Issue , 14-19 May 2006 [8] Shang, S.; Mirabbasi, S.; Saleh, R., A technique for DCoffset removal and carrier phase error compensation in integrated wireless receivers Circuits and Systems, ISCAS apos;03. Proceedings of the 2003 International Symposium onVolume 1, Issue , 25-28 May 2003 Page I-173 I-176 vol.1 [9] Vergin, R.; Oapos;Shaughnessy, D., Pre-emphasis and speech recognition lectrical and Computer Engineering†,Canadian Conference on Volume 2, Issue , 5-8 Sep 1995 [10] Davis, S. B. and Mermelstein, P., Comparison of parametric representations for monosyllabic word recognition in continuously spoken sentences, IEEE Trans. on Acoustic, Speech and Signal Processing, ASSP-28, 1980, No. 4. [11] Sadaoki Furui., Cepstral analysis technique for automatic speaker verification, IEEE Trans. ASSP 29, 1981,pages 254-272. BIOGRAPHIES Dr.E.Chandra received her B.Sc., from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore in 1992 and received M.Sc., from Avinashilingam University ,Coimbatore in 1994. She obtained her M.Phil. In the area of Neural Networks from Bharathiar University, in 1999. She obtained her PhD degree in the area of Speech recognition system from Alagappa University Karikudi in 2007. She has totally 15 yrs of experience in teaching including 6 months in the industry. Presently she is working as Director, Department of Computer Applications in D. J. Academy for Managerial Excellence, Coimbatore. She has published more than 30 research papers in National, International Journals and Conferences in India and abroad. She has guided more than 20 M.Phil. Research Scholars. Currently 3 M.Phil Scholars and 8 PhD Scholars are working under her guidance. She has delivered lectures to various Colleges. She is a Board of studies member of various Institutions. Her research interest lies in the area of Data Mining, Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Speech Recognition Systems, Fuzzy Logic and Machine Learning Techniques. She is an active and Life member of CSI, Society of Statistics and Computer Applications. Currently she is Management Committee member of CSI Coimbatore Chapter. K. Manikandan received his Bsc from Bharathidhasan University, Tiruchirappalli in1998 and received his MCA from Bharathiadsan University, Tiruchirappalli in 2001. He received M.Phil in the area of soft computing from Bharathiyar university, Coimbatore in 2004. He has 12 years of experience in teaching. Currently, he is working as a Assistant Professor, Department Of Computer Science, PSG College of arts and Science, Coimbatore and pursuing PhD in Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.He has presented research papers in National and International Conferences and published a paper in International Journal. His Research Interest is Soft Computing . He is Life a member of IAENG. He has guided more than 4 M.Phil Research Scholars. Currently 3 M.Phil Scholars are working under his guidance. He has delivered lectures to various Colleges. M.S.Kalaivani received her BCA from P.S.G College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, in 2005 and received her MCA from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli in 2008.She has 4 years of working experience at software industry. Presently, she is working as a Research Scholar, Department of Computer Science, P.S.G. College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. Her research interests are Machine Learning and Fuzzy logic.

The TV Made Me Do It Essay -- essays research papers

Violence on TV affects how children view themselves, their world, and other people. In fact, experts warn that viewing violence can have lifelong harmful effects on children’s health. By the time children complete school, the average child will witness more than 100,000 acts of violence on TV, including 8,000 murders. The more violence children watch on TV, the more likely they may act in aggressive ways, become less sensitive to other’s pain and suffering, and be more fearful of the world around them. Since we live in a violent society, we’re constantly hearing arguments that seeing TV violence, particularly children, desensitizes us so we accept real violence more easily and maybe it even triggers real violence. The theory behind the TV attacks is always the same: if Bobby commits a crime, he’s not responsible and his parents are not responsible: something else is responsible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The problem in this society isn’t the easy availability of drugs, or guns, or television, although all are scapegoted. All of these things simply do only what we have them do. All supposedly scientific studies on the subject of TV violence causing real violence are based on a theory of cause-and-effect that goes against humans having the capability of making responsible, moral choices. So is the media causing the nation to stray away from the â€Å"old fashion valuesâ€Å"? We are voluntary beings by nature: we chose what we do and what we make of ourselves. For example, you take...

Nintendo The Survivor Essay -- Video Games Nintendo Essays

Nintendo the Survivor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Work hard, but in the end it's in heaven's hands." This is a quote from Game Over about the meaning of the word "Nintendo." In the video-gaming market, though, it was really in consumers' hands. Nintendo has always needed to adapt to survive in the market. Nintendo always needed to be on top; it was a company that needed to be ahead of the rest. Nintendo had to set new standards, or improve on an existing product or idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Dutch and Portuguese first brought their card games over to Japan 355 years ago. For the longest time, the kuruta (playing cards) in Japan were Dutch and Portuguese. Fusajiro Yamauchi came along and integrated the cards into existing Japanese games that originally used clams and stones. Fusajiro called these cards Hanafuda (flower cards), and many varieties of games were made using these cards (Game Over). In 1889, Fusajiro founded his own playing card company (Company History). Using the Japanese Kanji characters - nin, ten and do - Fusajiro named his company Nintendo (Game Over). As quoted from the book Game Over, the Kanji characters Nintendo meant "Deep in mind we have to do whatever we have to do," or even "Work hard, but in the end it is in Heaven's hands."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To gain more business, Nintendo needed to reach other regions of Japan. To do so, Fusajiro decided to have symbols painted on the cards that reflect the characteristics of various regions of Japan. Nintendo then signed up with tobacco shops to sell the Nintendo Hanafuda easily around the nation. All was doing modestly well until the Yakuza showed up. The Yakuza, the Japanese equivalent to the Mafia, set up many gambling parlors in Japan. Hanafuda were used for a variety of card games in these parlors, and like in casinos: new games were started with new decks. With these bustling gambling parlors going through so many Nintendo brand playing cards, Nintendo profited handsomely (Game Over).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1907, Nintendo started manufacturing western-style playing cards for bringing out a wider variety of card games from the United States of America. In 1927, Nintendo started to put fancy backing on the cards (they were originally blank). In 1949, Nintendo's current president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, came into office (Game Over). Four years later Nintendo became the first company in Japan to manufacture plastic-coated cards. This was done to... ...d a little more excitement to its new system. Nintendo started to release Game Boy Color Games that featured four to five Game & Watch games.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nintendo has come a long way. From selling trading cards in Japan in 1889 to planning a state-of-the-art video game systems for the millennium. Nintendo changes to meet the demands of their customers, so that they will continue to buy Nintendo products. In the end, Nintendo always seems to come out on top with setting a new standard in the video game systems industry. Nintendo is a survivor and a revolutionist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To the best of my knowledge, the information above and below is correct. The information above contain some editorial wording. The information below may be slightly incomplete, there were other Nintendo Power references I could not track; The book Game Over contains many other references. Works Cited "Company History of Nintendo of America Inc." 9 Nov. 1999. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.html. "Game Boy Advance." Incite: Video Gaming Dec. 1999: 154. "Nintendo 64 Hardware." 13 Dec. 1999. http://www.nintendo.com/n64/expansionpak.html. "Out of the Shadows: Nintendo 64 Debuts in Japan." Nintendo

Osmolarity: Concentration and Sucrose Solutions Essay

My group and I conducted the experiment that estimates osmolarity by change in weight of potato tubers, this was conducted in order to explore the process of diffusion and osmosis and more importantly to investigate the question of â€Å"Does different concentrations of sucrose solutions have an effect on the final weight for the potato tubers?† In this experiment we estimated the osmolarity of potato tuber cores by submersing different potato cores into sucrose solutions of 0.0-0.6M, and weighing the potato. The results showed the weight of the potato tubers had the highest percent change in weight meaning that they weighed more than the initial weight in sucrose solutions from 0.0-0.3M; it also showed that sucrose concentrations from 0.4-0.6M the weight of the potato tubers decreased. My group and I concluded that the osmolarity of the potato was about 0.4M since the weight of the potato decreased by about -1.3%, which was the closest value to the initial weight of the potat o tuber. We also found that the potato was hypertonic to sucrose solutions of 0.0-0.3M and hypotonic to 0.5-0.6M. Introduction: Diffusion and osmosis are two types of passive transport. Diffusion is a random movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. According to the book Biological Sciences, â€Å"Osmosis is a type of diffusion that occurs when solutions are separated by a membrane that is permeably to some molecules but not to others, that is, a selectively permeable membrane† (Scott 2011). To further explore the process of diffusion and osmosis, we conducted an experiment that would demonstrate these processes and also investigate the question of â€Å"do different concentrations of sucrose solutions have an effect on the final weight for the potato tubers?† In my group’s experiment our goal was to estimate the osmolarity of potato tubers from weight change. The hypothesis for this experiment was, â€Å"if the concentration of the sucrose solutions in which the potato cylinders are in is changed, then I hypothesize that the final weight o f the potato will also change.† And the prediction that my group and I formed was â€Å"if the weight if the potato tuber changes when submerged in different sucrose concentrations, then I predict the weight change will decrease as the sucrose concentration increases.† In my group’s experiment, several potato tubers were tested in different sucrose solutions ranging from 0.0-0.6 M. The potato tubers were then submerged into all the solutions to test osmolarity and to see what would happen to its mass if they were in different sucrose solutions. To fully understand the purpose and understand the results obtained there were three major concepts important to know, they are hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic. According to the journal The American Biology Teacher, â€Å"An isotonic solution is when the solute concentration inside a system is equivalent to the solute concentration outside of a system, thus resulting in no net change of diffusion. In a hypertonic solution, the solute concentration outside of a system is larger than the solute concentration within a system, so water diffuses out of the system to attempt to even out the ratio disparity; this results in the system shrinking in mass† (Marvel, Kepler 2009). In a hypotonic solution however, the solute concentration is greater within the system than outside of the system, so water diffuses into the system; this results in the system being â€Å"bloated†. Materials and Methods: The materials that my group and I used in our experiment was 1 large potato, a cork borer this is necessary to obtain seven potato tuber cylinders. Forceps were needed and a balance that weighs to the nearest 0.01g, a Petri dish, razor blade, paper towels, ruler, calculator, and also necessary for the experiment to work was sucrose solutions from 0.1-0.6 molar. Deionized water was used to represent 0.0 molar in our experiment and seven 250ml plastic cups. First, my group and I obtained 50ml of deionized water and 100ml of each of the sucrose solutions and put each solution in separate and labeled 250ml paper cups. Then by using a cork borer we obtained seven cylinders form the potato by pushing the borer through the length of the potato and removing the potato from the borer. Making sure none of the cylinders were damaged, we modified the length of each cylinder to 5ml and repeated this step seven times until we had a total of seven undamaged cylinders of equal length with the peels removed from each length using a razor blade. We then placed all seven cylinders into a Petri dish and kept them covered to prevent from drying out. Before weighing each of the cylinders we placed each one between folds of a napkin to blot out the sides and ends and then weighed them individually to the nearest hundredths of a gram on the balance. After doing this step we recorded the results in our table. After weighing the potato cylinders we immediately placed each in different molar solutions starting with 0.0M through 0.6M. After the cylinders were submersed in the cups we recorded the time witch was 3:20 pm. We then took the cylinders out of their solutions at 4:30pm and calculated the incubation time to be 1hour 10 minutes. The instructions said to leave for 1.5 hours to 2 hours but due to time constraints we took them out a little earlier. After removing the cylinders from each sample we blotted each with a paper towel to remove excess solution only. After doing this my group and I recorded the final weights of each of the cylinders in the chronological order in which they were initially placed, and recorded it in our table. After recording our data we finally calculated the percent weight change for each of the cylinders. Our group then decided what the variables were and agreed that the independent variable was the concentration of the sucrose solution and the dependent variable was the percent change in weight. This experiment was repeated only once in the given time we had. Results: The osmotic concentration was determined by measuring the percent change in mass of the potato cylinders. Change in mass was measured of seven solutions, each containing different levels of concentration 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6M. The percent change in mass decreased as sucrose concentration increased, therefore, relative osmotic concentration also decreased as sucrose concentration increased. However, the osmotic concentration of 0.3 M sucrose solution was relatively greater than that of 0.2 M sucrose solution. In sucrose concentration 0.6 M, the osmotic concentration decreased almost double from that of 0.5, and significantly from those of all other sucrose concentrations. The osmotic concentrations were greater than zero in sucrose solutions of 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 M; these cells were hypotonic, meaning the potato had more solute. The osmotic concentrations were less than zero in sucrose solutions of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 M; these cells were hypertonic, meaning the solutions had less solute. Osmotic concentration decreased as sucrose concentration increased and cells became more concentrated. Table 1: Data for Experiment Estimating Osmolarity by Change in Weight Sucrose Molarity (M)|0.0|0.1|0.2|0.3|0.4|0.5|0.6| Final weight (g)|2.57|2.43|2.48|2.24|2.21|2.05|1.82| Initial weight (g)|2.23|2.18|2.28|2.03|2.24|2.19|2.06| Weight change (g)|0.34|0.25|0.20|0.21|-0.3|-1.4|-0.24| % change in weight|15.2%|11.5%|8.8%|10.3%|-1.3%|-6.3%|-11.7%| Discussion: When starting this experiment my group and I formulated and agreed upon the hypothesis of â€Å"â€Å"if the concentration of the sucrose solutions in which the potato cylinders are in is changed, then I hypothesize that the final weight of the potato will also change.† My group and I also agreed upon the prediction of â€Å"if the weight of the potato tuber changes when submerged in different sucrose concentrations, then I predict the weight change will decrease as the sucrose concentration increases.† After conducting the experiment and obtained our results, we found that our results support our hypothesis and prediction. The experiment supported our prediction because the sucrose solution diffused from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration, thus affecting the final weight of potato cylinders when submerged in varying amounts of sucrose concentrations. According to the article Diffusion, Osmosis and Cell Membranes,†There are two ways that th e molecules in a solution move: passive transport and active transport. Active transport requires that the cell use energy that it has obtained from food to move the molecules (or larger particles) through the cell membrane. Passive transport does not require such energy expenditure, and occurs spontaneously (Mccandless 1998). Because the molecules in the sucrose solutions in our experiment were moving with the gradient meaning they were moving form areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration we found that the movement of the molecules was passive transport. The principle means of passive transport is diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. In the solutions ranging from 0.0-0.3M the potato acted as the ‘system’ and the solution concentration inside the system was greater than outside which was the sucrose solution, so water diffused into the system (potato) and caused it to become bloated. In the sucrose solutions 0.4-0.6 it was hypertonic because the solution concentration was larger than the system’s concentration so the cylinder decreased in size. This experiment allowed us to take a closer look at the biological process of life and how and why it works the way it does. This experiment allowed us to a take a deeper look into the mechanisms of diffusion and osmosis and apply it real life examples. According to the book, Cell and molecular biology: concepts and experiments,† When a diluted solution and a concentrated solution are separated by a membrane, there is a net transfer of the solvent from the diluted solution to the concentrated one. Entry of water into root hairs and movement of water within the plant body are good examples of osmosis† (Karp 1991). Osmosis plays a significant role in life first, â€Å"the entry of water in to the roots from the soil takes place by this process, cell to cell diffusion of water is controlled through this process, young cells require turgid condition for their growth which is fulfilled by osmosis, and last turgidity of cells is maintained by the process of osmosis† (Karp 1999). A few errors were made in the experiment but none were significant enough to heavily affect our results. For example, the lengths of the individual potato cylinders may have differed slightly; we may have made mistakes when measuring a specific amount of the sucrose concentrations. We also believe that the potato cylinders should have been incubated longer, ours incubated for 1 hour 10minutes and the instructions said to incubate for at least 1.5 hours. For the most part these mistakes seemed to be small and not significant because in the end our prediction and hypothesis was supported. I thought that this was an interesting lab to participate in especially because this experiment has been conducted several times by other biology labs, I don’t really believe there were any significant weaknesses to our experiment except maybe the time. It would have been better to have more time to further explore our results. This experiment was conducted smoothly and without complications, and even better supported our prediction. Some questions that would be interesting to be answered by further research is would temperature affect the rate of diffusion in sucrose concentrations? Works Cited Freeman, Scott. â€Å"Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells.† Biological Sciences. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2011. 90-91. Print. Karp, Gerald. Cell and Molecular Biology: Concepts and Experiments. New York: J. Wiley, 1999. Print Marvel, Stephen C., and Megan V. Kepler. â€Å"A Simple Membrane Osmometer System & Experiments That Quantitatively Measure Osmotic Pressure.† The American Biology Teacher 6.7 (2009): 355-62. Print. Mccandless, John. â€Å"BIOLOGY.ARIZONA.EDU.† BIOLOGY.ARIZONA.EDU. University of Arizona, 27 Feb. 1997. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .