Gender Issues Essays (1349 words) - Gender Studies, Gender, LGBT

Gender Issues After reading through my gender log, during the past few weeks, I observed that many people are trained to determine their gender by their biological sex. Some of the people that I have observed and written about would probably never have doubted their sexual orientation. Others have definitely examined their sexuality. Whether this sexuality is male or female is entirely up to them. This is their true sexual identity. Still others that I noticed have actually convinced themselves, whether it is true or false that their biological gender is not, their true gender. The people who seemed that they were completely sure that their gender was solely based on their biological sex, were easy to identify for me. These are the people we have been familiar with all of our lives. These people self-categorize themselves. By acting and dressing according to their gender assignment, these people gave me the impression that they ultimately know if they are male or female. I think that they truly believe, without ever questioning their sexuality that they were born either male or female. They act out their assigned gender roles. They either see their sexuality as, black or white, with no gray areas. In my journal, I wrote about how I observed a man and a woman at a restaurant. The man automatically paid the bill. This is androcentric behavior. It is assumed in our society that the man should pay, although it is becoming more common for women to pick up the tab, or even them both. This is an example of people who believe that their biological gender is their true gender. The second type of person, the person who may have at one time or another wondered whether or not they were gay, is also pretty easy to identify, if you are able to observe and truly learn about their habits. As an example I'll use a male teenager who I went to high school with. I'll call him Joe. Joe was a very good looking male, biologically speaking. When Joe was a small child, I notice growing up with him that he had more female friends and that the boys did not like him very much. Many of the boys would often call him homo, or say go play with your girlfriends. He was very damaged by all of this. He would usually sit with the girls at lunch, but never the boys. He was often picked on in class with taunts and under the breath innuendoes. He did very well in all subjects in school but did best in art class and theater. His general body language was feminine, the way his hands moved and the way in which he would walk, talk, and even carry his books. I notice that he never tried to change his behavior to please others, which seemed to be gender assigned feminine behavior. He would also state I am not gay. His mother actually was going to sue the school to put the responsibility on the school to prevent the students from harassing her son. Joe never conformed, to his biological sexual identity being male. He was who he was and everyone believed he was gay. I don't know if he is or isn't gay because he went to art school in the city. I think he was having an identity crisis. The third type of person is a person who biologically without a doubt is male of female due to society's guidelines of gender. However, this type of person may want to be the opposite sex. They either are kidding or they want to be the opposite sex. Something about it embraces them. This brings to mind a movie I saw the other night, Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, when the serial killer believes he was born a female in a males body. These people are sexually dysmorphic, meaning that their self-concept does not fit their sexual biology. He wanted a total sex change and had many psychologists trying to help him. The psychologists did not agree with his desires and he was prohibited from having the operation because they felt he was not psychologically stable. As a result, his fixation with being female

Light And The Glory Essays - Stamp Act, Quartering Acts, Free Essays

Light And The Glory Essays - Stamp Act, Quartering Acts, Free Essays Light And The Glory The Light and the Glory The United States Constitution has been the bedrock for the longest lasting government in all history. Why is it that our constitution still exists after more than two hundred years? Is it the incredible minds of those that framed it, or is it something else? In 1620, the Pilgrims departed from Holland and set out for America. Ten years later, they were followed by the Puritans. The Puritans and the Pilgrims experienced incredible hardships, which forced their reliance on God. There was little to eat, and shelter was no more than an uninsulated log cabin. As new generations grew up, they began to learn how to grow and harvest crops, which supplied them with plenty to eat, and comfortable lives. They did not have to depend on God for their survival. Gradually, as the people strayed further away from God, there began to be witchcraft and many people with no moral standards at all. These once godly people had forgotten how God had miraculously provided for their grandparents. By the mid 1700s, America was in desperate need of a revival. This burden was laid on a mans heart whose name was Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards, a graduate of Yale at seventeen, began and sustained a revival that changed the course of American history. Along with George Whitefield and countless other circuit riding preachers, Jonathan Edwards brought America down on her knees before God in repentance. America was indeed a new nation. It was about this time that America began to view itself as one nation, not just a handful of independent colonies. The only problem was that the Americans were not the only ones who had settled in the New World. They were bordered on the north and west by the French and on the south by the Spanish. If anyone attempted to settle on the west side of the Appalachian Mountains, chances of survival were slim because of hostile Indians and cruel French trappers. America was far from having enough manpower to take on the French all by themselves. When King George III realized that his prized possession, the American colonies, was in danger of being taken over by the French, he sent troops to push the French- American boundary line deeper into the interior of the continent. This turned into an all out war known as the French and Indian War. Although the beginning of the war favored the French, the British eventually became successful in setting the French-American boundary well past the Appalachian Mountains. Along with the Great Awakening, the French and Indian War would be another turning point in American history because the colonists now realized that they were capable of building an army. The war also unveiled future heroes such as George Washington. Most of all, it brought the colonies together in unity. Relations were now beginning to change between the colonies and England. The colonists were beginning to regard themselves as Americans rather than Englishmen. The colonies were now on a much higher spiritual level than England. King George again realized that his prize possession was in danger of being lost. However, this time it was the colonists themselves that were the threat. To stop the growing rebellion in America, George III appointed a new prime minister George Grenville. Grenville decided to tighten Englands control of the colonial settlement past the Appalachian Mountains. This would result in the Proclamation of 1763 which canceled all the land grants given to the colonies in the past by other kings and parliaments. He also laid new taxes on the colonists that violated their rights because the colonists had no representatives in the English parliament. The Stamp Act and the Quartering Act were just a few of the burdens that Grenville laid on the colonists. William Pitt and Edmund Burke were two men in the English parliament who encouraged Grenville to lift the tariffs and taxes. When Grenville arrogantly refused to lift any of the tariffs or taxes, it was one of the most costly mistakes he would ever make. Burdensome taxes were enraging the colonists. They did owe England a war debt of 37,000,000 dollars, but the Quartering Act had nothing to do with paying money

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Case Study - Essay Example The term Sony’s DNA also indicates the company’s unusual skill for product design and outstanding marketing tactics. This extraordinary flair for design and marketing is the key factor of its dominance in international markets. The major challenge that Sony confronted with achieving synergy was the issue related to its internal convergence. The corporation was unsure how it could achieve seamless cooperation between its subsidiary companies by selling the network vision. In addition, ‘there was little corporation between the content people in the United States and the technical wizards in Japan’. The production units like the Play Station had been enjoying exceed independence by working outside the company’s mainstream and by initiating alliance with other parties. It is uncertain if sonny can endure with this sort of ‘luxury’ in future namely in its innovative processes. Another major problem was the threat from low-cost imitators who already had pirated its content business. As compared to other competitors, Sony had to be highly concerned about factors associated with its copyright. As one of the notable challenges, Sony had been limited access to TV broadcast in USA. Th ey also lacked synergy between hardware and content side of business. Finally, Sony did not have substantial share in mobile industry. Reorganization might be the possible solution to meet these challenges in future. Sony has already identified this factor; and the organization has entered the world of digital convergence. Instead of traditional mode of management, it depends on outsourcing feasibility which allows broad and collaborative knowledge sharing and problem solving. Sony’s cooperation with Intel and Microsoft is an example for this conceptual change. Although this trend of convergence was unfamiliar to Sony, recently it has altered its tactics especially in case of product

The Implications of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis Essay

The Implications of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis - Essay Example Indeed, the stakes are high in the game of global warming. Trillions of dollars, our ability to compete, future energy policy, and our standard of living all hang in the balance. The national media, charged with informing the public on this important issue, has fallen into the trap of politicizing the issue, while truth has become little more that a reluctant victim of the infighting. In fact, on the issue of global warming the media has been accused of being a propaganda mouthpiece for whoever's political influence they happen to fall under. Media propaganda concerning the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis is the result of internal and external information manipulation, an inability to understand the science, and a propensity to serve the special interests that spin the narrative. Accusing the media of purveying propaganda, either knowingly or unwittingly, is a serious charge that needs to be defined and substantiated. The recitation of inaccurate information or the innocent broadcasting of a news item that is 'fed' by a special interest group may be negligent or incompetent, but does not rise to the standard of propaganda. In these cases, the propagandist is the government or organization that feeds a politically biased press release to an innocent reporter under the guise of credibility, and the news outlet is merely an unwitting dupe. Propaganda may also be in the form of information that has been skewed or spun by scientific experts who are pursuing a hidden social or political agenda. In these cases, the news organization does not have the expertise to analyze the highly technical data and they rely on the testimony of experts. Here, the experts who are using skewed science to advocate a controversial social issue are guilty of propaganda, but the media is merely their vehicle. The media rises to the level of a propaganda machine when they knowingly issue false or misleading information whose sole purpose is not to inform, but to sway public opinion to serve their own self-interest. There is little doubt that there are two deeply polarized stands on the significance of man's contribution to the global warming phenomena, and the media will promote the one that serves its best interests. The best interests of the media may be to satisfy a major advertiser, or may be to generate appeal among an audience that is sensitive to political correctness. Opponents of the hypothesis contend that science is merely placing the present in context with the recorded metrological history of about 200 years, and does not account for the natural shifts that take place over tens of thousands of years1. Indeed, advocates do rely on a limited window for their data as Houghton states, "For an understanding of the global warming issue, of most interest is the period of the last 50 years during which greenhouse gases increased substantially as did the global average temperature"2. Constrained by sound bytes and the perceived short attention span of their audience, the media does not have the resources to fully explain the implications of the widely conflicting data. The news outlet, or media source, needs to make a decision in regards to what they will tell their audience and how thoroughly they will explain it. This decision will almost assure them that they will

Has the death penalty in the United States run its course Research Paper

Has the death penalty in the United States run its course - Research Paper Example History of Death Penalty Death penalty law was first established way back in eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. In Britain, hanging became the most common method of executing death sentence in the tenth century A.D. However, in the following century, William the conqueror banned all method of capital punishment for any crime. Again, in the sixteenth century some 72,000 people were executed for capital offences like conducting wedding with a Jew, not admitting to a crime, and treason. Since death penalty is a severe form of punishment, the juries did not convict many defendants if the offense was not grave and this called for reforms in the death penalty in Britain. America was influenced mostly by Britain in the methods of death penalty. When the Europeans settled in the newly found land of America, they continued with their practice of capital punishment. In America, the first ever execution that took place was of Captain George Kendall in the Jamesto wn colony of Virginia in 1608. His crime was that he was a spy for Spain. All colonies did not have the same laws of death penalty. The first implementation held in Massachusetts Bay Colony was in 1630 although Capital Laws of New England were not established until years later. Duke’s Laws of 1665 were put into effect in the New York colony and under these laws capital crimes included striking one’s parents or atheism. Attempts to reform the death penalty occurred for the first time in America when Thomas Jefferson initiated a bill to review Virginia's death penalty laws. According to this law crimes that were to be punishable by death penalty were murder and treason. This law was defeated by one vote. In the nineteenth century many states of America brought down the incidence of their capital crimes. Many states like Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty, although most states continued with their practice of capital punishment. Some states increased t he number of offences to be liable to be punished by death penalty, mainly those committed by the slaves. During the civil war, anti slavery movement began more prominent and as such opposition to the death penalty declined. "Progressive Period" of reform began in the twentieth century in America. During the period 1907-17, death penalty was completely withdrawn in six states. Three states kept treason and first-degree murder of a law enforcement official as the only capital crimes. However, this reform did not last for long due to the chaotic atmosphere in America in the wake of the Russian revolution. In addition to that, America participated in World War I and during this period there were severe class conflicts and the socialists became a threat to capitalism. Due to this reason five of the six states which abolished death penalty again established the law of death penalty. In the 1950s, the number of death penalties made a steep drop as many allied nations either abolished or l imited the death penalty. (â€Å"History of the Death Penalty†) Cost of Execution From economic standpoint it is debatable whether death penalty is sufficiently effective for prevention of criminal activities. There are methods that have been proved to be effective for prevention of crime, but resources that are used for the implementation of death penalty are not available for establishing those methods. Costs involved in death penalty cases are much higher

Types Of Mobility For Mobile Computing Computer Science Essay

Types Of Mobility For Mobile Computing Computer Science Essay The development in last 20 years in the field of telecommunication and the integration of telecommunication with internet has promised pervasive computing infrastructure. These pervasive systems allow users to access their information on the internet irrespective of their location. In addition, the advancement in devices miniaturization increases the number of portable devices connect to the internet like mobile phone, laptops, palmtops net books, PDAs, etc. In these scenarios we can consider different types of mobility. User mobility, Terminal mobility, Mobile access to resources.  ¿Ã‚ ½User mobility requires providing users with a uniform view of their preferred working environments ¿Ã‚ ½ user preferences and subscribed services ¿Ã‚ ½independent of their current positions in the network ¿Ã‚ ½.[1]  ¿Ã‚ ½Terminal mobility allows devices to transparently move and connect to different points of attachment ¿Ã‚ ½.[1]  ¿Ã‚ ½Mobile access is an emerging issue that involves th e dynamic adaptation of mobile-aware resources and services that mobile users and terminals can automatically retrieve regardless of their current location ¿Ã‚ ½.[1] Having considered the above types of mobility, mobile computing needs an advanced infrastructure which should dynamically trace and relocate mobile users and grant coordination between mobile entities. The infrastructure should also provide proper security level based on cryptographic mechanisms and tools. According to the given research paper three mobile computing services have been proposed: user virtual environment (UVE),mobile virtual terminal (MVT), and virtual resource management (VRM).  ¿Ã‚ ½UVE provides users with a uniform view of their working environments independent of current locations and specific terminals. MVT extends traditional terminal mobility by preserving the terminal execution state for restoration at new locations, including active processes and subscribed services. VRM permits mobile users and terminals to maintain access to resources and services by automatically requalifying the bindings and moving specific resources or services to permit load balancing and replication ¿Ã‚ ½.[1] SOMA-BASED MIDDLEWARE SOMA stands for Secure and Open Mobile Agent. SOMA is a service infrastructure for developing and implementing MA-based internet applications. SOMA consist of 4 layers. As shown in figure 1: Figure 1: http://www-lia.deis.unibo.it/Software/MA/Images/Mobile1.jpg The upper most layer is for mobility support which provides UVE (User Virtual Environment), MVT(Mobile Virtual Terminal), VRM(Virtual Resource Management). The next layer provides naming, security, migration, interoperability, persistence, communication and Quality of Service. The other two layers are a JVM (JAVA Virtual Machine) and a heterogeneous distributed system. SOMA is basically a JAVA based mobile agent which has been designed to provide the requirements of mobility, scalability, dynamicity, security and openness which are the typical issues in the internet scenarios. The two main goals to develop SOMA were interoperability and security. On one side, SOMA is based on detailed security model and provide a good range of mechanisms and tools to develop and enforce true security policies with flexibility. On the other side, SOMA is able to communicate and interact with different components of applications which are designed with different programming languages and platforms. Apart from interoperability and security features, SOMA is automatically and dynamically manageable and configurable and it provides the location abstraction to achieve scalability in a global scenario. The mobility of the mobile devices has introduced new security challenges like mobile can be hacked by the execution of malicious environment, may be cloned illegally to cause DoS (denial of service), or may be denial for roaming. These issues have been overcome in SOMA implementation as SOMA permits to protect both: agents come from malicious hosts and hosts from malicious agents. During the design and implementation of SOMA, number of challenges were faced to provide interoperability like SOMA application as server of COBRA, SOMA as COBRA clients, interoperability between COBRA components and SOMA, etc On the other hand, SOMA is a bit slow because of its extra security mechanisms, it involves different tools and techniques to provide more security which makes it slow as compare to other mobile agents but off course it is more secure than other mobile agents. As the name suggest secure and open mobile agent, its openness has introduced some more challenges to it especially for e-com merce applications so there is a need to improve it as nothing is perfect. Q2: All the MA(Mobile Agent) standards seem to be a promising platforms for implementing and developing applications in distributed, heterogeneous and open environments like the Internet. MAs try to overcome most of the limits of the conventional Client/Server model because of the basic features they have, such as autonomy and flexibility and can effortlessly integrate with the internet to extend accessibility of applications. Most of the application areas, like e-commerce, network management, mobile computing and information retrieval can benefit from the use of the mobile agent technology. There has been a lot of work done in this field. Like many mobile applications have been developed like we studies SOMA, there are some other application as well like SeMoA, Aglets, fraglets, etc. There are some advantages which all the mobile agents try to provide: Dynamic adaptation, flexibility, tolerance to network errors/faults, parallel processing, etc. Dynamic adaptation is the adaptation of t he different host environments. Tolerance to network faults means ability of mobile agent to operate without an active connection between server and client. Flexibility means to only source must be updated whilst changing an action of the agent. Comparing SOMA with other mobile agents, SOMA provides more security and openness as its name says. If we talk about SeMoA (Secure Mobile Agent) it has its own limitations, such as SeMoA is not very strong against a large number of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks like memory exhaustion. On the other hand SOMA has been designed taking into account security as a main property because SOMA protects both: agents come from malicious hosts and hosts from malicious agents. Another problem with SeMoA is that there are many classes in the core package that synchronize on the object of class itself. As local classes are shared and the visibility of local classes is global so any agent that access them and acquires a lock on such class objects blocks other threads to access them. On the other hand if we compare SOMA with fraglets which is very small computer program which has been designed to serve as a part of active network instead of a mobile agent. Fraglets have the ability to execute the codes on the path the travel by such as routers or hubs. Part 2: Q1:. Pervasive computing is a dream of personal computing where future living environments are saturated with non-intrusive, flawlessly operating services available for the user. To fully understand this dream these services are to adapt to the present situation of the environments, together with the economical/social situation of the user. Systems that use data about the state of either its system, users or the environment to settle in their behavior are called context-aware systems. Realizing context-awareness has introduced problems on different level: First, defining a context. Second, how and what can be adjusted when the context changes and where the context adaptation and definition comes from? Third, identify different contexts from sensor. Fourth, how a context can be represented and processed. But before that we have to understand the definition of context. The most cited definition of context by Dey is:  ¿Ã‚ ½Context is any information that can be used to characterize the sit uation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and applications themselves ¿Ã‚ ½.[1] Representation: Unique Identifiers: The system should be able to recognize different type of contexts and environments in the real world. Uniqueness allow the reuse of that information without conflicting between identifiers. For example, If the user is driving a car so accelerometer can be used to detect the speed of the user. Validation: Validation should always be allowed for an information taken by the sensor before performing any action with it. For example, if the accelerometer indicates that the speed of user is fast (i.e. he/she is in the car) this does not mean that he/she is driving, this information should be validated before performing any action. For instance consider the condition that if I am driving I cannot answer the calls so reject the call and send a message saying I will call you later. But if I am in the car but I am not driving than I can answer the calls so the information from the accelerometer has to be validated before rejecting the calls. Uncertainty and incomplete information: As almost all of the context information of the real world is taken from the sensors, the information can be incomplete and uncertain. If we include reasoning uncertainty of the conclusions should follow the reasoning. Simplicity, reuse, and expandability: A system should supply only as expressive representation as necessary to maintain the domain knowledge. A simple representation endorse reuse and expandability. Simplicity, flexibility and expandability are among the requirements of context representation. Generality: Generality of context representation means the ability to support all types of context information. In my estimation, generality of a context representation is mostly described by its conceptual structure. Nevertheless, the clarity of a representation language which is used to generate the context information also vary its ability to generate context information at different levels of complexity. Q2. Introduction WAP (wireless application protocol) is a protocol to offer mobile data services. WAP is an open international standard that permits users to access global information instantly through any wireless device mobile phone, PDA, etc. WAP is normally supported by all operating systems. Browsers that uses WAP are called micro-browser. The rate of transfer of data is still very lower than the normal modem. On the other hand, I-mode is a complete mobile internet service that includes a large range of internet standards such as e-mail, sports results, weather forecast, news headlines, etc. This information is provided to the user by particular services from mobile carriers who charge them for these services. As the rate of transfer of the data is lower than the average modem, i-mode is not good enough for high resolution images and videos, it is basically sufficient for simple graphics and emails. Protocols WAP uses Wireless Markup Language (WML) for communication. while on the other hand i-Mode uses a different type of HTML which is called compact HTML (c-HTML). Capabilities of Devices WAP devices have to have a specific WAP browser while i-Mode supporting devices have to be able to display data from c-HTML. WAP capable devices show only textual information while i-Mode supporting devices shows multimedia images. WAP gives navigation among layered menus while i-Mode gives navigation via hyperlinks. Architecture WAP makes use of a unique language called WML (Wireless Markup Language) for interaction between a specific protocol translation device called a Gateway of WAP (GW) and information on the Internet. The GW communicates between HTML and WML, permits supply of WAP content to a WAP supporting device. iMode obeys a dissimilar approach to allow users to access IP-based services via their portable device. i-MODE is uses packet data transmission technology, a machine using this technology is continuously online. The transfer of the data makes use of the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Graphics: One of the most main difference that appears, are clearly the dissimilar graphic capabilities. While it is right that i-MODE only allows simple graphics, that is much more than WAP. Charges: Another main dissimilarity is the capability of being always-on in i-MODE. As consumer are not charged for how long they serve online, it doesnt seem more suitable, but also less expensive than have to pay for the time they spent online. As it is not needed that dial-up before using the a variety of services based on IP, E-mail has become an SMS (Short Message Service). Part 3: Q1:. In CCA the InfoStations system is an infrastructural system concept offering many time, many-where access to wireless data services sustaining the portable communication process. This concept enables a variety of classes of portable devices to communicate with each other and with a large number of servers. Intelligent agents operating in the portable device users domain (Personal Assistants-PAs) and the InfoStations help to facilitate a contextualized and personalized environment for the system users. System functionality is offered as a set of flexible mobile services. To assist the personalization of these services, the User Agent Profile (UAProf) and Composite Capabilities/Preference Profile (CC/PP) terms are derived to enable the Personal Assistants express capability and preference information (CPI) about both the access device and the user as well. This makes sure that the offered services are adapted to suit the device capabilities, wireless network constraints and the user as well. Behavior of infoStation: Because of the fact that nature of the connection is defused, it is important for intelligent agents to work throughout the architecture. Being a PA (Personal Assistant), the agent may function automatically in order to convince any user service needs they encounter, while in or out of interaction with other agents which are working on InfoStation Centre or the InfoStation. The service sessions may be divided between different InfoStations, the personal assistant can make a service call while within the scope of an InfoStation, and then go out of the coverage area. During this time when the user goes out from InfoStation coverage, the personal assistant functions automatically adopt the functionality of the service till the user has completed the task. The InfoStations houses the Discovery, Presentation and Rendering Self-Service module, which is used to establish connections to mobile devices which enter within range. Also housed is a cache of recently accessed user and service prof iles, as well as a repository of available services.[4] Q2: Behavior of infoStation Centre: The InfoStation Centre stands at the centre of the system, which deals with the formation and updating of contents/objects throughout the system. From InfoStation Centre which acts as a central point, service updates can be spread across the whole system. All the infoStations are connected with the InfoStation centre which acts as a server of these infoStations. InfoStation centre is aware of all the devices connected to the infoStations but it communicates with infoStations only, it does not communicate directly to the devices connected to the infoStations. For instance a mobile device wants to communicate with the other mobile device connected with different InfoStation then the device will send a request to its InfoStation then the InfoStation send this request to InfoStation Centre and then InfoStation centre sends the request to the InfoStation to which the receiver device is connected with. Q3: Bob[ Alice :: .0 ] | Alice [ Bob: ( hello ).0 ] -> Alice [ { hello > hello } ] Q4: Bob[Alice::.0] | Alice[Bob: (hello).0 ] Q6: Bob[Alice::.0 ] |Alice[Bob: (hello).0 ] |IS1[in IS4.out.0] |IS4[0 ]|IS4[in IS2.out.0 ]

Major World War I Battles Essay

1914- The First Battle of the Marne. Up until September of 1914, the German army had steadily advanced through Belgium and France and was nearing the capital of France, Paris. Luckily, in the First Battle of the Marne, six French armies and one British army were able to stave off the German advance and set the stage for trench warfare for the next four years. 1915- Second Battle of Ypres- This was the second battle for the city of Ypres, which was located in western Belgium. For the Germans, this marked their first widespread usage of poison gas during the war. At Gravenstafl, Canadian troops were able to hold off the Germans by urinating into cloths and covering their faces with it. 1916- Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was meant to be Germany’s final push to break through French lines. A common expression was â€Å"to bleed the French white†. Both sides suffered immense casualties; however there was no clear victor even though the Germans were forced to withdraw. 1917- Battle of Caporetto. In this battle, otherwise known as the 12th Battle of Isonzo, Austro-Hungarian forces reinforced by German infantry finally broke through the Italian front line and routed the entire Italian army. Poison gas and storm troopers effectively contributed to the massive collapse of the Italian army. 1918- Battle of Cantigny. This was the first major battle involving U.S. forces up until that point in World War I. While, Cantigny was a relatively easy objective and was overshadowed by larger battles occurring elsewhere on the front, this battle was significant in demonstrating that the U.S. forces could be trusted to hold their own. 1. Up until the U.S. entrance into the war, the U.S. had already been providing massive amounts of supplies to the French and British, despite their claims of neutrality. This one-sided trading led to German attacks on U.S. merchant vessels and was one of the reasons the U.S. entered the war. The American Expeditionary Force did not actually face many battles as they arrived in Germany in early 1918. They did prove their worth and strength however in the Battle of Cantigny, where solely U.S. troops were able to capture the town of Cantigny and repulse several fierce German counterattacks. 2. Women had a huge role in the war effort at home, while African Americans directly contributed to the war effort. Women filled many of the jobs men left behind, especially in factories that were now facing huge demands for war supplies and low numbers of workers. Without women rising to fill these ranks, the American war effort would have been severely hindered. African Americans, although still discriminated and segregated in units, fought bravely and fiercely in World War I and earned the respect of many soldiers around them. 3. U.S. society

Influence of culture on health care practices Essay

Current trends of an increasingly multicultural society emphasize the need for nursing education programs that effectively address cultural issues. To understand the diverse cultural backgrounds of clients, nurses must strive to be culturally competent (Marcinkiw 2003). Cultural competence requires the building of cultural awareness, knowledge, skill, encounters, and desire in the nurse. Clients will feel respected, valued, and have a greater desire to achieve mutually agreed upon health care goals if the nurse is culturally competent. The purpose of this essay is designed to show the cultural competence in the nursing profession by providing a guide that is useful for implementing cultural sensitivity in nursing education and practice. Diversity. It is a word that means something different to each and every person. Bacote, 2003 asserts that the changing demographics and economics of our growing multicultural world, and the long-standing disparities in the health status of people from culturally diverse backgrounds has challenged health care providers and organizations to consider cultural diversity as a priority. However, health care providers must realize that addressing cultural diversity goes beyond knowing the values, beliefs, practices and customs (Bacote, 2003). In addition to racial classification and national origin, there are many other faces of cultural diversity. Religious affiliation, language, physical size, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability (both physical and mental), political orientation, socio-economic status, occupational status and geographical location are but a few of the faces of diversity (Bacote, 2003). I would like to share thoughts concerning the complexities involved in caring for people from diverse cultural background; I came from different country myself. My understanding of whole Health care system in Australia was a lot different from past experience in my country of origin. As most foreigners it was just a matter of time before I could get use to the system of medical care. And skills like: listening, understanding, respect for my belief systems and ability to build trust were very important to me. Now I could tell that there is range of cultural behaviors and the need to understand people’s actions from their own cultural perspective in health and illness. Cultural values give an individual a sense of direction as well as meaning to life. These values are held on an unconscious level. There is a direct relationship between culture and health practices (Bacote, 2003). In fact, of the many factors that are known to determine health beliefs and behaviors, culture is the most influential (Bacote, 2003). Recently I heard an excellent paper where cultural supervision was discussed (Westerman 2004). There, I become more acutely aware of the importance of cultural differences vis-à  -vis Aboriginal societies. Although I had been aware of these differences before, I now came to see that there were many cultural subtleties that require specialist knowledge and approach. According to Driscoll (2007:80) there is another kind of knowledge that can only develop when one has direct and deep experience of another cultural group. Cultural groups can be ethnic groups, or groups we sometimes refer to as sub-cultures (Driscoll & Yegdich 2007). A humanistic and scientific area of formal study and practice in nursing is called transcultural nursing, it is focused upon differences and similarities among cultures with respect to human care, health, and illness based upon the people’s cultural values, beliefs, and practices, and to use this knowledge to provide cultural specific or culturally congruent nursing care to people (Leininger 1991). Leininger notes the main goal of transcultural nursing is to provide culturally specific care. But before transcultural nursing can be adequately understood, there must be a basic knowledge of key terminology such as culture, cultural values, culturally diverse nursing care, ethnocentrism, race, and ethnography. Singelis (2005:4-5) believes that to be culturally competent the nurse needs to understand his/her own world views and those of the patient, while avoiding stereotyping and misapplication of scientific knowledge. Cultural competence is obtaining cultural information and then applying that  knowledge. This cultural awareness allows you to see the entire picture and improves the quality of care and health outcomes. Adapting to different cultural beliefs and practices requires flexibility and a respect for others view points (Singelis 2005:5). Cultural competence means to really listen to the patient, to find out and learn about the patient’s beliefs of health and illness. To provide culturally appropriate care we need to know and to understand culturally influenced health behaviors (Singelis 2005:5). Also Singelis (2005) highlights that to be culturally competent the nurse needs to learn how to mix a little cultural understanding with the nursing care they offer. In some parts of the Australia culturally varied patient populations have long been the norm. But now, even in the homogeneous state of Queensland where we reside, we are seeing a dramatic increase in immigrants from all over the world. These cultural differences are affecting even the most remote settings. Since the perception of illness and disease and their causes varies by culture (Germov 2005: 155), these individual preferences affect the approaches to health care. Culture also influences how people seek health care and how they behave toward health care providers. Furthermore Germov (2005:155) asserts that how we care for patients and how patients respond to this care is greatly influenced by culture. Health care providers must possess the ability and knowledge to communicate and to understand health behaviors influenced by culture. Having this ability and knowledge can eliminate barriers to the delivery of health care (Germov 2005: 154). These issues show the need for health care organizations to develop policies, practices and procedures to deliver culturally competent care (Germov 2005). Developing culturally competent programs is an ongoing process. There seems to be no one recipe for cultural competency. It’s an ongoing evaluation, as we continually adapt and reevaluate the way things are done. For nurses, cultural diversity tests our ability to truly care for patients, to demonstrate that we are not only clinically proficient but also culturally competent, that we care. Meyer (1996) describes four major challenges for providers and cultural competency in healthcare. The first is the straightforward challenge of recognizing clinical differences among people of different ethnic and racial groups. The second, and far more complicated, challenge is communication. This deals with everything from the need for interpreters to nuances of words in various languages. Many patients, even in Western cultures, are reluctant to talk about personal matters such as sexual activity or chemical use. How do we overcome this challenge among more restricted cultures (as compared to ours)? Some patients may not have or are reluctant to use telephones. We need to plan for these types of obstacles. The third challenge is ethics (Meyer 1996). While Western medicine is among the best in the world, we do not have all the answers. Respect for the belief systems of others and the effects of those beliefs on well-being are critically important to competent care. The final challenge involves trust (Meyer 1996). For some patients, authority figures are immediately mistrusted, sometimes for good reason. Having seen or been victims of atrocities at the hands of authorities in their homelands, many people are as wary of caregivers themselves as they are of the care. Holland, Jenkins, Solomon and Whittem (2003) assert that in a multicultural society it is important for nurses to consider how to preserve the individual patient’s social, cultural, spiritual, religious and ethical needs in order to help the patient understand, agree and cooperate with any planned care. There are many traditions and beliefs associated with health and illness that can alter a person’s behavior when they become ill and the nurse must seeks to understand how this may be observed in their patients (Holland, Jenkins, Solomon and Whittem 2003). This discussion has highlighted importance of cultural diversity as a priority and that it has many other faces in life. It is clear that there is a direct relationship between culture and health practices. As individuals, nurses and health care providers, we need to learn to ask questions sensitively and to show respect for different cultural beliefs. Most important, we must listen to our patients carefully. The main source of problems in caring for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds is the  lack of understanding and tolerance. Very often, neither the nurse nor the patient understands the other’s perspective. Therefore cultural diversity tests our ability to truly care for patients, to demonstrate that we are not only clinically proficient but also culturally competent, that we care. References: Bacote, C.J. (2003) Many Faces Addressing Diversity in Health Care. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (Vol. 8:1-2). Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin [05.05.07]. Driscoll, J. & Yegdich, T. (2007). Practicing Clinical Supervision. A Reflective approach for health care professionals (2d ed.). Bailliere Tindall. Elsevier. Holland, K., Jenkins, J., Solomon, J. and Whittem, S., (2003). Applying the Ropper Logan. Tierney Model in Practice. Churchill Livingstone. Germov, J. (2005). Second Opinion. An Introduction to Health Sociology (3rd ed.). Oxford. Leininger, M. (1991). Transcultural nursing: the study and practice field. Imprint, 38(2), 55-66. Retrieved from: http://www.culturediversity.org [05.05.07]. Marcinkiw, K. L. (2003). Nurse Education Today. 23(3), 174-182. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com [05.05.07]. Meyer, C.R. (1996).Medicine’s melting pot .Journal for Primary Care Physicians (79:5-5). MinnMed. Singelis, T. M. (2005). Teaching about culture, Ethnicity and Diversity: Exercises and Planned Activities. London: Sage Publications. Westerman, T. (2004). The value of unique service provision for Aboriginal people- the benefits of starting from scratch. The Mental Health Services. (Sep.1-3) Conference Inc. of Australia and New Zealand.

Summary Virtual Meeting Analyzer A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L.

Summary Virtual Meeting Analyzer A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. This article details the aspects of a Virtual Meeting Analyzer. This is an upcoming web application that can be used to analyze the dynamics of a social meeting. According to the article, evaluating the social networks that result from meetings could help in improving communication in social meetings.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Summary: â€Å"Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings† by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the article notes that there are many complexities involved in this process (Privitera, Martino Gamberini, 2012). The Virtual Meeting Analyzer (VMA) is a web application that is modeled to overcome such complexities. The article begins by noting that prior to VMA social meetings were analyzed using arcs and nodes. The nodes in this case represent the social agents whil e the arcs represent the nodes’ interrelationships. According to the article, social network analysis is currently used in psychological research activities. For instance, it can be used to monitor social groups or initiate organizational interventions. VMA simplifies the analysis of small social meetings of less than thirty participants. There is no expertise in social network analysis or computer science that is required when using VMA. Other software programs that were previously used for this task did not have this element of simplicity. These programs also incorporated manual coding and this left room for errors. According to the article, VMA has four modules. Each of these four modules corresponds with the activity being performed. The four modules include configuration, recording, meeting creation, and temporal analysis. The meeting creation module allows the user to create a new meeting or load a previous one. The configuration module accounts for characteristics of t he meeting’s environment. The recording module allows the user to record all the communication events in a meeting. This module is instantaneous.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The temporal analysis module provides a temporary description of the social network. When the network develops, the temporal analysis module updates these developments. The article then outlines the considerations that were made during the development of the VMA web application program. The most important developmental consideration was that VMA could be accessed through any internet-enabled device. The article continues by claiming that VMA web applications can work with a wide range of browsers (Borgatti, Everett Freeman, 2001). The next part of the article details the application’s evaluation. According to the article, the evaluation’s main objective was meant to prove that VMA could be used by users with no technical background. The evaluation was conducted using two different scenarios to guarantee effectiveness. In the first scenario, a VMA user was presented with thirty-five questions. The questions investigated the device’s navigability, design, visibility, comprehensibility, and error handling. This second scenario investigated the effectiveness of the application’s inner workings. The article notes that both evaluations revealed positive feedback from the participants. Among the highest rated components of VMA included the application’s meeting creation and participant positioning modules. In the second scenario, participants were able to discover who the leader of the network was using VMA. The results of the evaluations have since been used to develop updates for the application. The article continues to note that most of these updates will focus on the interoperability between the application and web browsers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Summary: â€Å"Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings† by Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The article concludes by posting the results of the evaluation conducted through the questionnaire. The replies for most of the thirty-five questions asked were positive. Impact of VMA on Psychological Research VMA technology is used as a tool of social network analysis. Social network analysis (SNA) is one of the methods used in psychological research. SNA was first used as a research methodology in 1989 (Fogg Tseng, 1999). Before that, a book published in 1934 touted for SNA’s inclusion in the research methodologies regimen. VMA represents the current trend that uses SNA methodology. The tool employs the latest technological advancements especially the advent of high-speed i nternet. VMA will have quite a significant impact on how research is conducted in the psychology field. Most of the existing SNA tools feature backdated technology that does not match the current trends. VMA is the exception to this trend. VMA will feature simplified architecture that will simplify research activities. Currently, most psychological research is not funded by external sources. This means that most psychologists have to fund their own projects (Martino, Spagnolli Gamberini, 2009). Therefore, VMA is going to assist researchers in cutting research costs. The tool also cuts back on the number of personnel required to undertake a research project.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, the tool does not require researchers to engage in further training. All these aspects are cost cutting and this could translate to more research projects in the future. For instance, the above article takes note of the ease of operation that comes with the new VMA. Another aspect of VMA that will affect research is its efficiency. According to research conducted on the VMA, it was discovered that the tool is over three times more efficient than its viable alternative. This translates into reliable research findings because of the reduced incidences of human error. The tool also includes several new components that will make researchers’ work easy. For example, VMA allows users to add notes, new participants, and even modify the content of earlier notes (Cross, Borgatti Parker, 2002). VMA is a trending research tool in psychological research. Over the next few months, its impact will start being felt. The tool will simplify current research and open avenues for futuristic research. List of References Borgatti, P., Everett, G. Freeman, C. (2001). UCINET V Network Analysis Software  Manual. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies. Cross, R., Borgatti, P. Parker, A. (2002). Making Invisible work visible: using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration. California  Management Review, 44(2), 25-46. Fogg, J. Tseng, S. (1999). Credibility and computing technology.  Communications of the ACM, 42(5), 39-44. Martino, F., Spagnolli, A. Gamberini, L. (2009). Presence in the age of social networks: augmenting mediated environments with feedback on group activity. Virtual Reality, 13(3), 183-194. Privitera, A., Martino, F. Gamberini, L. (2012). Virtual Meeting Analyzer: A Web application to visualize and analyze social networks emerging in group meetings. PsychNology Journal, 10(1), 39-51.

Chemicals That Could Make You Fail a TSA Swab Test

Chemicals That Could Make You Fail a TSA Swab Test If youre flying, you may get pulled aside by a TSA agent for a swab test. Also, your baggage may get swabbed. The purpose of the test is to check for chemicals that might be used as explosives. The test cant check for all the chemicals that might be used by terrorists, so it looks for two sets of compounds that can be used to make many types of bombs: nitrates and glycerin. The good news is the test is highly sensitive. The bad news is, nitrates and glycerin are found in some harmless everyday products, so you could test positive.   Getting swabbed doesnt seem to be particularly random. For example, some people get swabbed nearly every time they fly. This may be because theyve tested positive before (possibly related to a penchant for making smoke bombs and other small pyrotechnics) or because they meet some other criteria. Just expect to be swabbed and be prepared. Heres a list of common chemicals that may cause you to test positive. Avoid them or else be ready to explain the test result, because it can take a while for TSA to complete its evaluation of your belongings, which can translate into a missed flight. Common Products That Test Positive Hand soaps that contain glycerin (Rinse very thoroughly after washing your hands.)Lotions that contain glycerinCosmetics or hair products, which may contain glycerinBaby wipes, which may contain glycerinCertain medications (such as nitroglycerin and other nitrates)Lawn fertilizers (Nitrates: Wash your hands and especially your shoes.)MunitionsAccelerantsFireworks and other pyrotechnics What to Do If Youre Flagged Avoid becoming hostile and aggressive. It wont speed the process. Youre likely going to get patted down by an agent of the same gender who will also empty your bag for additional testing. Theres a chance your luggage may get pulled, although this rarely happens; its also unlikely that you will miss a flight because of the test. Be aware of chemicals in your environment and able to trace your steps to help TSA identify the source of the triggering compound. Sometimes you wont have any idea why you flagged the test. But, careful attention to hygiene may help you avoid the situation. The best advice is to arrive early enough before your flight to get through security. Try to avoid the problem, plan for it, and dont overreact if it happens to you.

Federal Bailout Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Federal Bailout - Research Paper Example With these higher unemployment numbers and the fear amongst those in the banking industry, more and more restrictions were placed upon the opportunity to guarantee new credit to consumers, while the already issued credit lines were at risk of being defaulted on. As a way to intervene in the matter, the federal government would seek to purchase existing debt from major banks, in the hopes of creating more room for new growth. Like anything else the government seeks to do, their plan for the banking industry would have its supporters, along with its vocal naysayers. With a considerable amount at stake going into the Presidential election of 2008, it would become important for both candidates to respond in their own ways, to the legislation that was being proposed by their fellow elected representatives and such legislation, that would be signed into law by the very man that each candidate was hoping to replace come November 2008. At the beginning of debate towards the end of the third quarter in 2008, the initial proposers of such action, would be then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. This action would see support from both men, the White House, along with both Presidential candidates and the Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. Considerable opposition to the plan itself, would come from many Republicans, who felt it would be too much government control. In this case, â€Å"The first proposal for a sweeping bailout of financial institutions came at the height of the panic in mid-September, 2008. Mr. Paulson, with the backing of Mr. Bernanke, asked Congress for $700 billion to use to buy up mortgage-backed securities whose value had dropped sharply or had become impossible to sell, in what he called the Trouble Asset Relief Program, or TARP. As originally outlined, the

HRA335; Mod. 8 - Case Study- Hiring FBI Agents Essay

HRA335; Mod. 8 - Case Study- Hiring FBI Agents - Essay Example The implementation of multiple hurdle approach is most pertinent when the training activities are considerably long and expensive owing to various types of complexities (Smith & Angie, 2011). In relation to the selection procedures in FBI, the implementation of an effective set of multiple hurdle approach can be considered as an effective technique to select and recruit appropriate as well as flawless applicants for the agent posts. With reference to case, it has been observed that the recruitment and selection of agents in FBI validates a series of assessment methods while making any hiring decisions. In this regard, the implementation of an effective multiple hurdle approach will enable the department to recruit successfully, as the job roles of the agent involves various types of uncertain situations associated with different criminal activities (Phillips & Gully, 2012). However, the implementation of the approach also identified to pose certain limitations, as applicants might not qualify in each step of the assessment consecutively. The lengthy process in the assessment approach may lead to create negative attitude and behavioral characteristics of applicants due to a number of hurdles in the selection process. The selection technique in the multiple hurdle assessment approach tends to involve a wide number of assessment activities. The primary objectives of the selection approach is to clearly identify the capability of applicants in terms of managing capabilities or their ability to make effective decisions concerning various types of uncertain situations. In this regard, the approach involves multiple phases in selection procedure prior to make final hiring decisions of the applicants for any specified job roles (Smith & Angie, 2011). According to the observation of the case, it can be ascertained that the selection process in FBI involves a number of stages