Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Muralism and the Cosmic Affect

03/17/13 Muralism and The Cosmic Race In the Cosmic Race written by Jose Vasconcelo, Vasconcelo writes about the definition of Latin American people and their divine mission in America, while also briefly comparing them to other races such as the Europeans. Vasconcelo states that there are 4 racial trunks, the Blacks, the Indians, the Mongols, and the Whites, while expanding detail with the Whites who he described as organizing themselves in Europe, and becoming invaders of the rest of the world.Vasconcelo gives an example as the Spaniards conquered Latin American, however he believes that their role was just to reintegrate the red world, which he describes as a bridge which has brought the world to a state at which all human types and cultures can fuse together. According to Vasconcelo the faithful Latin-people are those called upon to this divine mission after they have gained freedom. It is safe to say Vasconcelo easily inspired and influenced several aspects of Diego Riveraâ€⠄¢s artwork.While Mexico was under similar circumstances after the Mexican Revolution as Latin America, Deigo Rivera used some of Jose Vasconcelo’s ideas to impart social and political messages. In Diego Rivera’s â€Å"El Hombre en Cruco de Caminos† located in Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, one can see a man who appears to be in control of the Universe with a variety of people in the backgrounds. At one point Vasconcelo states that every ascending race needs to constitute its own philosophy to get to its own success, rather than just learn and copy from the others.This idea is expressed in Rivera’s Mural by the man in the middle who is controlling what seems to be the entire universe. It seems that both of these men understood the ideathat it was time to control themselves. Although Diego was focused on the â€Å"spiritual† liberation of Mexico from its Colonial obsession, the idea of creating and controlling your own ideology and destiny is shared by Rivera’s painting and Vasconcelo’s, The Cosmic Race.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Codependency

Not a formal psychiatric diagnosis, codependency is a psychological syndrome noted in relatives or partners of alcoholics or substance abusers. † How It is created within a person Including the orally of the dysfunction. Also covered are what the symptoms of codependency are. I will also cover how to identify codependency in yourself or others. How the codependency affects a person's wellbeing & how to change that. The conclusion of the paper focuses on how to stop being codependent. This topic is near & dear to me. As I have predisposition towards codependency (more on that later). It seems to be a family tradition.Thinking about my relatives I could label all of them codependent. As well as most people especially In any type of caregiver role or job. Careers that have a propensity toward codependency are nursing or health care including therapists. All run the risk of wanting patients to get better so we can feel validated that we are skilled at our Job. Of course, we all wan t people to be relieved of their suffering but when that goal starts to interfere with our own sense of self, it becomes very detrimental. It goes from healthy caring to over caring & enmeshment, which can ruin our lives.When It started Innocently enough encouraged by society. It seems expected to be selfless, caring & loving to others sometimes to the determent of the self. If the individual is not, then they are deemed selfish & cold, which people would rather be, sick with someone (while helping them of course) then be labeled as self-involved or egocentric. Codependency is also being portrayed in movies. One particular story line about modern day vampires comes to mind. As I watched, I could not help but think wow way to encourage young impressionable minds to become enmeshed & codependent on one another to an extreme.Making statements such as â€Å"l would die for you† obviously not a statement to be taken lightly. Sadly, often they mean it. There seems to be a gender di fference here as well woman are much more likely to become codependents than men are. I liken that to the stereotypical role & societal expectation that woman will be the nurturers & caregivers for everyone in the family. This expectation could be expected at an early age expecting the little girl of the house to take on mommy's role if the mother is absent or sick possibly even too drunk or high to take on her duties.This loud also be the case for a boy whose Daddy is absent or sick. Mom may need the son to be a breadwinner at an early age or help tend the house. Worse, these single parents could expect these children to take on adult situations like bills emotional support or sexual incest. My experience as a codependent started as a child. I grew up in a dysfunctional home where my mother was an alcoholic. Her drinking was a secret from the outside world. My brother was the family scapegoat he had some behavioral issues. My role was the perfect child.There were many empty promise s about the drinking stopping but it never did. I never really understood the impact of growing up with an alcoholic until I learned about codependency. As a teenager, my first dating relationship was unhealthy. In the past, I have found myself in codependent relationships with men. Trying to help them & becoming immersed & obsessed. I have many of the symptoms of codependency that are listed below. I have since vowed that I will no longer enter into a codependent relationship with an unhealthy partner.With the awareness of them & by reading about the disease, I am dedicated to healing that within myself. With some insight into the disease, I see that y entire family is codependent. I tried for many years (l probably still do on some level) to help them to change their lives but I see how that is a futile pursuit. This â€Å"helping† continues to keep me codependent & sick with them. In the end, they are the only family I have & I need to accept them as they are. According to Facing Codependency Pip Melody describes â€Å"five symptoms: 1 . Experiencing appropriate levels of self-esteem (2. ) Setting functional Boundaries (3. ) Owning & experiencing their own reality (4. )Taking care of their adult needs & wants (5. ) Experiencing & expressing their reality moderately. † Codependency is called a disease it is a chronic & progressive illness. It is suggested that codependents want & need sick people around them to be happy in unhealthy ways. For example, a girl who grows up with an alcoholic father will unconsciously marry an alcoholic to perpetuate her addiction to creating, which is like a drug in it of itself.She gets fulfillment or validation while caring for the alcoholic like â€Å"he couldn't survive without me. † The reason it is called progressive is that the sicker people become around us the more intensely we exact. Codependency may not be an illness but it can make you sick & keep people But do not take action. They react to the problems, pains & behaviors of others with a disregard for their own feelings. They Justify theses creating roles as â€Å"helping† someone who has problems who cannot help themselves, I am the only one who can help, or I am the only person that cares.Is a common attitude among codependents. What they are actually doing is enabling the dysfunctional person to continue to be dysfunctional by helping them out of legal, financial, or accountability type situations. The codependent will bend over backwards, dedicating enormous amounts of energy & time & give their last dollars for the sick person. All hoping that the alcoholic or sick person will become better or change because of their help. Maybe the hope is that the alcoholic will become sober if he Just gets through this tough patch or gets the charges dropped.Meanwhile the codependent has done beyond their share of household, parenting & fiduciary duties. All the while, the codependent has lost some of themselves to the sic k people. They have lost their pride their sense of worth, their sense of respect, their time, their money etc. With the grand hopes that the sick person will see what I have sacrificed for them & they will acknowledge this & I will now get my needs met. This is unlikely to ever happen. How are the symptoms created? You guessed it childhood Just like a diseased tree its origin is in the root system.When children grow up in a family, that is less than nurturing or abusive & dysfunctional that creates codependent adults. The type of abuse or neglect that these children sustained can be vast. Abuse can be far & wide. Some forms are emotional, physical, psychological, verbal, or sexual, as well as neglect not providing or their needs or being too lax with them. Alternatively, being too rigid by expecting children to be more mature than they are capable for their age, which would include sharing adult subject matters with them being emotionally dependent, or financially and so on.Regardl ess of how we were treated as children, a core belief that what & how we were treated was normal & or loving. The dysfunction withstood is not recognized until later after the damage has been done. As children, we wanted to please our parents when this was not the case we internalized a sense of failure. We ere up with a distorted sense of what happened to us was normal & appropriate even it was not. We think the way our family & caregivers behaved toward us was correct & they are good people.The confusing part is if they are good & right then why do I feel unhappy or uncomfortable with certain occurrences that took place. How can they be wrong? No dysfunctional family is all-negative or without some good times. That is the main part of the dysfunction where the family or its individuals are not functioning normally. One of the hardest parts for children is the lack of consistency in the histrionically family. Whether it is with their needs being met consistently or how a parent dis ciplined or treated them when they were sober or high the baffling part was it always changed.A child may interpret this inconsistent behavior or treatment as â€Å"their fault† like â€Å"l did something wrong today & Mommy is mad & now she is drinking because I am a bad kid. Later when Daddy comes home there's goanna be a fight & it's all my fault if I could Just be more perfect then there wouldn't be fighting. † This is where the child internalizes shame & not being good enough or perfect heartsickness of codependents are: â€Å"Creating- they may feel responsible for other people's feelings, thoughts, choices, needs, wants, well-being or lack of & their destiny.Feeling compelled to help others with problems & offer unwanted advice, give multiple suggestions, or fix the feelings. They anticipate people's needs. Find themselves saying yes when they want to say no. Find themselves attracted to needy people & vice versa. They feel angry, used & unappreciated. Feel bor ed, empty or worthless when they don't have a crisis or someone to help in their lives. Overcoming themselves. Will give up routines to go out of their way for others. Feel safest when giving to others. Low Self Worth- Come from dysfunctional, repressed or troubled families, which they deny these issues.Blame themselves for everything. Reject praise or compliments. Never feel good enough. Feel they can't do anything right. Feel a lot of guilt. Feel ashamed of who they are. Think their lives are not worth living. Have a lot of â€Å"should†. Have been victims of abuse. Get depressed when not praised or complimented (stroke deprivation). Believe they do not deserve good things. Long for others to like & love them. Settle for being needed. Believe good things will never happen. Repression- Many push thoughts & feelings out of their awareness due to fear & guilt. Are afraid to let themselves be who they are.Can be controlling & rigid. Obsession- They feel anxious about problems & people. Worry about silly things. Think & talk a lot about others. Lose sleep over other peoples issues & behavior. Never find answers. Check on people. Abandon their routine because they are so upset with about somebody or something. Focus all their energy on other people & problems. Wonder why they never have any energy. Controlling- Many have lived with through events & with people who were out of control. Are afraid to let others be who they are & thus allow events to happen naturally.Get frustrated & angry. Feel controlled by people & events. Try to control events & people using various tactics. Denial- Ignore problems or pretend they are not happening. Pretend circumstances aren't as bad as they are in reality. Tell themselves tomorrow will be better. Stay busy so they don't have to think about things. Spend money compulsively. Overeat. Lie to themselves. Become workaholics. Believe lies. Go to Doctors for tranquilizer. Dependency- Look for happiness outside themselves. Don't feel happy, peaceful or content with themselves. Don't love themselves.Worry if others will like or love them. Look to relationships to provide all their good feelings. Often seek love from people incapable of loving. Desperately seek approval & love. Feel terribly threaten by the loss of a person or thing they think provides their happiness. Latch onto whoever or whatever they think can provide happiness. Center their lives around other people. Don't take time to figure out if others are healthy for them to be around. Lose interest n their own lives when they love. Worry other people will leave them. Tolerate abuse to keep people loving them.Don't believe they can take care of themselves. Leave bad relationships to form new ones that are Just as unhealthy. Wonder if they will ever find love. Feel trapped in relationships. Poor Communication- Blame, bribe, beg, coerce, threaten, don't mean what they say, don't say what they mean, don't know what they mean, don't take themselves ser iously, find it difficult to get to the point, gauge their words carefully for desired effect, talk too much, say everything is their alt, say nothing is their fault, lie to protect themselves, have a difficult time people.Weak Boundaries- Say they won't tolerate certain behaviors from others, gradually increase their tolerance until they can tolerate & do things they said they never would, let others hurt them, keep letting others hurt them, wonder why they hurt so badly, complain, blame, & try to control while they continue to stand there, finally get angry & become totally intolerant. Lack of Trust- Don't trust themselves, or others, don't trust their feelings don't trust their decisions, try to trust untrustworthy people.Anger- Feel very scared hurt & angry, live with people who feel the same, are frightened of their angry are frightened of others anger, feel controlled by other peoples anger, feel safer with their anger than with hurt feelings. Sexual Problems- Are caretakers i n the bedroom, have sex when they do not want to, have sex when they rather be held, nurtured & loved, withdraw emotional from their partner, are afraid of losing control, have strong sexual fantasize about other people.Miscellaneous- Codependents tend to be extremely responsible or extremely irresponsible, find it difficult to feel close to people, have a hard time having fun & eyeing spontaneous, become martyrs, sacrificing their happiness & that of others for causes that don't require sacrifice, vacillate in decisions & emotions, stay loyal to their compulsions & people even when it hurts, be ashamed about family, personal, or relationship problems, cover up, lie & protect the problem. Changing Codependency As we can see from the above list, codependency can be easy to identify with.The goal to changing the codependent behavior is not to detach from the person whom we are codependent with but to detach from the agony of involvement. Attachment occurs when we become overly worried about & preoccupied with a problem or a person. This uses up a lot of our mental energy. Obsessing, worrying & controlling are illusions. They are distracting us from ourselves & the real issues. The goal is to change that obsessing & extra energy that we are expending on someone or something other than ourselves. We need to let go with love. This can be done by detaching.Detaching does not mean we don't care about the problem or person that we have been obsessed with. Detaching means, we release the person with love & an attitude that if the problem isn't ours to solve than we can't change it. No matter how much we want someone to change or someone's problem to change WE ultimately are not able to. If the problem is someone else's then we need to realize that it is theirs to deal with not ours! When we detach we accept reality & the facts. It means to live in the present moment. We become neutral. The benefits from detaching & becoming neutral are many.We have a sense of serenity & peace the problem is no longer taking over our lives. If people have created disasters for themselves then we allow them to face those consequences. Without feeling like we are the only one who can rescue them. When we allow someone or something outside of ourselves to control our feelings then we are always at the mercy of something other than ourselves. This creates a victim mentality by giving away our sense of peace to outside sources it manifesting itself into inner turmoil. We are powerless or out of control of our wellbeing.Another key to overcoming codependency is to become less reactionary. We become oversensitive to every emotion, feeling, thought, behavior & problem that comes our way or someone else's. We allow ourselves to get so upset & distracted by little things or big things. That in turn creates a loss of control over our almost manic state. Letting go is a powerful & necessary step to recovery. We let go & let god as the twelve steps of recovery quote. Instead o f trying so hard to make things happen, we Just let go of the outcome instead of trying to control, the outcome.When we try to control results, we never get what we want. We may expend a lot of energy. Expecting if we try harder, we will get exactly what it is we want. Instead, we get frustrated, hurt, disappointed, sick & victimized. We cannot change people. When we think that we can we are deluded. When we try to control another they will either resist our efforts or try twice as hard to prove that we cannot control them. When we detach that person will notice something is different here. â€Å"Why wasn't I nagged or in trouble for this incident that I used to get in trouble for? Eventually they may realize â€Å"Oh no† this person is no longer going to rescue me & now I have to be accountable for myself more. When you remove yourself from the creating role, the other person will notice. They will eventually get the message. Start to focus on your own life. Find what inter ests you & pursue it. It is important to have a healthy interest in yourself & what makes you happy. Fall in love with yourself. Be your own best friend. Stop doing things for others that you do not want to do. Say that one very powerful word â€Å"no† when you want to.If you do say no then do not lay a guilt trip on yourself afterward about saying no. When you start putting your needs above others, you will become more peaceful & feel better about yourself. It is the opposite feeling of bending over backwards for someone & them not noticing. When you go out of your way for yourself, you will feel more valuable. It seems that overcoming codependency is a lifelong Journey with no quick fix available. There will always be people who enter our lives who will test our boundaries & challenge us to stand up for our wellbeing & ourselves.But, if you value yourself & understand, you have this propensity toward being codependent then that awareness will be helpful in creating healthy boundaries with others. As they say, awareness is the first step towards change. It is suggested to work the steps of a twelve-step program to facilitate the healing process as well as to help you bring peace to your new life, success, & leaning. It also helps to relate to others who have had similar experiences with codependency or another 12-step program. Beaten, M. (1992).

Mother Tongue and Foreign Language Learning Essay

These five basic theories are, furthermore, very much complementary to each other, serving different types of learners or representing various cases of language learning. They must not automatically make us presume that first and second language learning are identical or alike processes, though second language learning is strongly tied up with first language acquisition. Obviously, native language growth must pave the way for foreign language growth. Then these five basic language learning theories are fundamental pillars of language learning whose relevance to education is undeniable. The Principle of the Behaviorist Theory The behaviorist theory believes that â€Å"infants learn oral language from other human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and practice. Human role models in an infant’s environment provide the stimuli and rewards,† (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). When a child attempts oral language or imitates the sounds or speech patterns they are usually praised and given affection for their efforts. Thus, praise and affection becomes the rewards. However, the behaviorist theory is scrutinized for a variety of reasons. If rewards play such a vital component in language development, what about the parent who is inattentive or not present when the child attempts speech? If a baby’s language learning is motivated strictly by rewards would the speech attempts stop merely for lack of rewards (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004)? Other cases against this theory include â€Å"learning the use and meaning of abstract words, evidence of novel forms of language not modeled by others, and uniformity of language acquisition in humans† (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). The Background of the Behaviorist Theory I) Behaviorist theory dwells on spoken language. That is, primary medium of language is oral: speech is language because there are many languages without written forms, because we learn to speak before we learn to read and write. Then, language is primarily what is spoken and secondarily what is written. That’s why spoken language must have a pri ¬ority in language teaching. 2)Behaviorist theory is the habit formation theory of language teaching and learning, reminding us the learning of structural grammar. Language learning concerns us by â€Å"not problem-solving but the in ¬formation and performance of habits† (Nelson Brooks, 1960; 46-47). In other words, language learning is a mechanical process leading the learners to habit formation whose underlying scheme is the conditioned reflex. Thus it is definitely true that language is controlled by the con ¬sequences of behavior. 3)The stimulus-response chain, Response, is a pure ease of conditioning. Behaviorist learning theory â€Å"emphasizes conditioning and building from the simplest conditioned responses to more and more complex behaviors† (David S. Palermo, 1978; 19-20). This comes to mean that clauses and sentences are learned linearly as longer and lon ¬ger stimulus-response chains, produced in a left-to right series of sequence like as probabilistic incidents, which are basically Markov’s processes. Each stimulus is thus thc caser of a response, and each response becomes the initiator of a stimulus, and this process goes on and on in this way. 4) All learning is the establishment of habits as the result of rein ¬forcement and reward. Positive reinforcement is reward while negative reinforcement is punishment. In a stimulus situation, a response is exer ¬ted, and if the response is positively augmented by a reward, then the association between the stimulus and response is itself reinforced and thus the response will very likely be manipulated by every appearance of stimulus. The result will yield conditioning. When responses to stimuli are coherently reinforced, then habit formation is established. It is be ¬cause of this fact that this theory is termed habit-formation-by-reinfor ¬cement theory. 5) The learning, due to its socially-conditioned nature, can be the same for each individual. In other words, each person can learn equally if the conditions in which the learning takes place are the same for each person. The behaviorist theory believes that â€Å"infants learn oral language from other human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and practice. Human role models in an infant’s environment provide the stimuli and rewards,† (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). When a child attempts oral language or imitates the sounds or speech patterns they are usually praised and given affection for their efforts. Thus, praise and affection becomes the rewards. However, the behaviorist theory is scrutinized for a variety of reasons. If rewards play such a vital component in language development, what about the parent who is inattentive or not present when the child attempts speech? If a baby’s language learning is motivated strictly by rewards would the speech attempts stop merely for lack of rewards (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004)? Other cases against this theory include â€Å"learning the use and meaning of abstract words, evidence of novel forms of language not modeled by others, and uniformity of language acquisition in humans† (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). Behaviorist theory, which is basically a psychological theory in its essence, founded by J. B. Watson, is actually a theory of native language learning, advanced in part as a reaction to traditional grammar. The supporters of this theory are Leonard Bloomfield, O. N. Mowrer, B. F. Skinner, and A. W. Staats. Behaviorism was advanced in America as a new approach to psychology in the early decades of the 20th-century by making a particular emphasis on the importance of verbal behavior, and received a considerable trust from the educational world of 1950s. The major principle of the behaviorist theory rests on the analyses of human behavior in observable stimulus-response interaction and the association between them. E. L. T. Thorndike was the first behaviorist to explore the area that learning is the establishment of associations on particular process of behavior and consequences of that behavior. Basically, â€Å"the behaviorist theory of stimulus-response learning, particularly as developed in the operant conditioning model of Skinner, considers all learning to be the establishment of habits as a result of reinforcement and reward† (Wilga Rivers, 1968, 73). This is very reminiscent of Pavlov’s experiment which indicates that stimulus and response work together. According to this category, the babies obtain native language habits via varied babblings which resemble the appropriate words repeated by a person or object near him. Since for his babblings and mutterings he is rewarded, this very reward reinforces further articulations of the same sort into grouping of syllables and words in a similar situation. In this way, he goes on emitting sounds, groups of sounds, and as he grows up he combines the sentences via generalizations and analogy (as in *goed for went, *doed, for did, so on), which in some complicated cases, condition him to commit errors by articulating in permissible structures in speech. By the age of five or six, or babblings and mutterings grow into socialized speech but little by little they are internalized as implicit speech, and thus many of their utterances become indistinguishable from the adults. This, then, obviously, means that behaviorist theory is a theory of stimulus-response psychology. â€Å"Through a trial-and-error process, in which acceptable utterances are reinforced by comprehension and approval, and un acceptable utterances are inhibited by the lack of reward, he gradually learns to make finer and finer discriminations until his utterances approximate more and more closely the speech of the community in which he is growing up (Wilga M. Rivers, 1968; 73). To put it in other words, children develop a natural affinity to learn the language of their social surroundings whose importance both over language learning and teaching must never be underestimated. In this respect behaviorist theory stresses the fact that â€Å"human and animal learning is a process of habit formation. A highly complex learning task, according to this theory may be learned by being broken’ down into smaIl habits. These are formed correct or incorrect responses, are rewarded or, punished, respectively ‘. (Hubbard Jones and Thornton Wheeler, 1983; 326). Thus it is clear that the acquisition of learning in infancy is governed the acquisition of other habits. Basic Tenents of Behaviorist Theory The following principles illustrate the operating principles of behaviorism: Counterarguments on Behaviorist Theory of Language Learning Needless to say, language teaching anticipates certain theories on language learning because language learning as a fruitful area that embodies the working of human behavior and mental processes of the learners. Each theory may not be complete model for the investigation of language learning. The following counter-arguments can be made upon the working principles of behaviorist theory: 1) Basic strategies of language learning within the scope of behaviorist theory are imitation, reinforcement, and rewarding. However, researches made on the acquisition of learning have demonstrated that children’s imitation of structures show evidence of almost no innovation; moreover children â€Å"vary considerably in the amount that they imitate† (L. M. Bloom, L. Hood, and P. L. Lightbown, 1974; 380-420). Since children do not imitate such structures like words, phrases, clauses and sentences at the same rate they will naturally learn at different rates even though it must be admitted that imitation is very useful in the acquisition of new vocabulary items. As for reinforcement, â€Å"Unfortunately this view of learning receives little support from the available evidence† (Herbert H. Clark and Eve V. Clark, 1977; 336), for the parents only correct the sample structures, and complex structures are occasionally corrected. 2) In behaviorist theory, the process of learning relies more on generalization, rewarding, conditioning, three of which support the development of analogical learning in children. But it can be argued that a process of learning or teaching that encourages the learner to construct phrases, clauses and sentences modeled on previously settled set of rules and drills is thought to obstruct the instinctive production of language. Then, habit formation exercises may not naturally promote intrinsically oriented language learning. 3) Obstructions made on instinctively-based learning will doubtedlessly harm the creative way of learning. It takes a long time to be capable enough to master a language at least a bit intrinsically. There is a threshold level in language learning. This means that learners must learn consciously supported by repetition and drilling to build up an effective linguistic intuition, acquisition of which marks the establishment of threshold level. Before obtaining the threshold level, the language learner is not creative, cannot use the language properly in new situations in a real sense. it is, then, obvious that the intrinsic learning will be delayed, owing to the Iate acquisition of threshold level because of previously settled set of rules and drills. 4) The rate of social influence on learning is not satisfactorily explained. To what extent and rate, does the social surrounding promote language learning? This question remains unexplained. 5) It is highly unlikely for learning to be the same for each individual; that is, each person cannot learn equally well in the same conditions in which learning takes place, for the background and the experience of the learners make everybody learn differently. In addition, according to Chomsky, there must be some innate capacities which human beings possess that predispose them to look for basic patters in language. 6) The main strategies of the behaviorist theory can only be true for the early stages of learning which takes place when the kids are in infancy and in early childhood periods. Moreover, this theory is fruitful for the most part on animal experimentation and learning. 7) Many of the learning processes are mostly too complex, and for this reason there are intervening variable s, which cannot be observed between stimulus and response. â€Å"That’s why, language acquisition cannot take place through habit formation, since language learners are thrown between stimulus and response chain, for language is too far complicated to be learned in such a matter, especially given the brief time available. CONCLUSION It is clear that language learning and its development, for the behaviorists, is a matter of conditioning by means of imitation, practice, reinforcement, and habituation, which constitute the paces of language acquisition. It must be born in mind that all behavioristic theories of learning are associationistic, including Thorndike’s, Guthrie’s, Hull’s, Skinner’s, and the theory of the school of functionalism. Apparently, behaviorism has its shortcomings, but it cannot be denied that learning process is for the most part a behavioristic processing, a verbal behavior. In language teaching area, behaviorism establishes the basic background of exercises, either oral or written in viewing language as stimulus and response. In addition, it gives a great deal of insight into the recognition of the use of controlled observation to discover the laws of behavior. It has exerted a great impact by influencing many teaching methods on the area of language teaching, for example, Audiolingual Method, Total Physical Response, and Silent Way embody the behaviorist view of language; also, British Structuralism has created the theory of language called Situational Language Teaching. In a word behaviorist theory aims at discovering behavioral justifications for designing language teaching in certain ways, being a hub a of many language teaching and learning theories. It must not be forgotten that it has given a push for the creation of empiricist language learning which became very fashionable in U . S. A. and in Europe. BIBLlOGRAPHY Bloom, L. M. (1974). â€Å"Imitations in Language Development: If, When, and Why†, â€Å"Cognitive Psychology†, pp. 380-420. Brooks, Nelson (1960). â€Å"Language and Language Learning†. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. Clark, Herbert and Eve Clark (1977). â€Å"Language and Psychology: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics†. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich. Jones, Hubbard and Thornton Wheeler (1983). † A Training Course for TEFL†. Oxford University Press. Palermo, David S. (1978). â€Å"Psychology of Language†. Dallas: Scott, Foresman and Co. Rivers, M. Wilga (1968). â€Å"Teaching Foreign Language Skills†. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Strategic supply chain & logistics management Essay

Strategic supply chain & logistics management - Essay Example 4 Innovation in Firms †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Outsourcing †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 How Prada can improve supply chain †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 B. A New Company with Li & Fung †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Consumer Insight †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 Consumer Experience .†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 Meaning of Consumer Insight â⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 17 Database Marketing and Consumer Insight †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 19 Getting into Consumer Insight †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 21 Zara and Li & Fung †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 22 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 23 Bibliography †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 25 Executive summary There are two important parts for this paper which involve supply chains for Prada and Li & Fung. First, we dealt on the concept of supply chain strategy for Prada and then we dealt on Li & Fung in the final part. We begin with the concept of supply chain management as it is practiced and defined in the age of globalization. Supply chain is now focused on customer needs and wants. This practice has been recommended by managers and firms in their constant dealing with customers. The first part is about Prada’s supply chain. Supply chain management is practiced differently by firms. In the part of Prada, we recommended that another fashion and apparel company Liz Claiborne be made as model considering that this company manages an effective supply chain, which is subcontracting. Liz Claiborne was able to tap an emerging demographic at the time of its founding – the working women of America. Prada also has its own demographic, the young and adult demographic who are crazy of fashion. Another major part of the paper is about supply chain for a new company in collaboration with Li & Fung. The main point discussed is consumer insight. This is significant because consumer in sight is necessary in the establishment of a new company and how to deliver the product to the end user. Supply chain management cannot be effective without consumer insight. Production and manufacturing have to be applied with knowledge about consumer needs and wants. Consumer insight is the â€Å"voice of the consumer† which influences the decisions of management with respect to how a product or service should be delivered to the customer. A. The strategy that Prada uses to remain competitive in the marketplace and how supply chain can be improved to help support this strategy Introduction In studying the strategy Prada uses to remain competitive, we refer to other organisations. But of course we respect and admire Prada’s own strategic supply chain and its management of retail stores worldwide. The company manages a good supply chain which still can be improved. Its website is state of the art. Supply chain strategy involves â€Å"designing, managing and improving product and service flow processes that span functions, organisations and countries in attempts to serve downstream customers’ and ultimately end-use customers’ ever changing desires, needs and expectations, i.e., to help create superior value for and with them over time†

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Character analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Character analysis - Essay Example Sammie was identified specifically to be 19 years old; therefore, still a teen-ager but on the verge of being an adult. Concurrently, Queenie, was also a teen-ager, together with her two other friends, Plaid and Big Tall Goony Goony, whose vivid descriptions were effectively narrated by Sammie. They were initially described as wearing just their bathing suits and were not even cladding any footwear. It was evident that they share the same age ranges since Sammie’s description included physical features that enhance feminine curves and emphasize their sexualities. This is consistent with Worsley’s (2011) findings that â€Å"the observed relationship between females' perceived weight status and their self-concepts suggest that body image may be of greater importance for girls than for boys of this age† (Worsley 231). Likewise, both manifested a rebellious attitude through defying traditional values. Sammie immediately quit his job with the hope that the teen-aged g irls would hear his open assertion of siding on their behavior, despite the manager’s antagonistic remarks. ... Sammie’s quitting his job for the sake of showing off for the sake of the teen-aged girls was done without regard for his parents feelings. Likewise, Queenie’s open display of their physical traits through wearing only bathing suits in a shopping center could be a product of outright spur of the moment decisions that would obviously earn the ire of her parents, should they have known about this. Finally, when confronted with a challenging situation, Queenie, who was admonished by the manager for wearing bathing suits in A & P, tried to rationalize that she was being requested by her mother to pick up an important item. As such, having said her piece, she left instantaneously and was even indifferent to the supposed bravery of Sammie for having defended their stance. Sammie was apparently mirroring their behavior of deciding at the spur of the moment, by quitting his job, in response to the situation. His lack of extensive maturity and rationality left him alone in the e nd, with the teen-aged girls nowhere to be found – his defensive stance in their behalf, apparently being disregarded. On the contrary, these two characters exhibit disparities in terms of exuding an air of unrestrictedness and freedom. While Queenie was obviously enjoying the ability to do whatever she wants through wearing a bathing suit, with friends, in a shopping mall; Sammie has to contend working at A & P which could have been perceived as confining and restrictive. Queenie allegedly exemplifies possess more independence; while Sammie, despite having a job, could be interpreted as doing so for the sake of his parents’ wants – thereby indicative of being dependent on their preferences. The rationales for their behaviors were premised from the concept that â€Å"adolescents aren't reckless

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Theories and ideologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theories and ideologies - Essay Example In other words, democracy promotes the involvement of citizens in projects or activities that affect their lives within a country. Such projects or activities cut across voting, making laws, participating in public policy formulation, and general country governance.1 It is important to note that democracy has its liberal and conservative sides. Conservative democracy is relatively restrictive in some issues. For example, both men and women could be voters within a given jurisdiction, but this right may not necessarily promote property ownership among women. Even though an aspect of democracy is identifiable in such a case, property ownership remains under a traditionalist approach. In other words, traditional factors result in conservatism even though the society could be said to embrace democracy. Human nature, beliefs, and culture are critical components of conservative democracy. In contrast, liberal democracy is characteristic of widespread exposure to international concerns, interests, or developments. Liberalism does not only promote equal voting rights for both men and women, but also advocate for the practice of free and fair elections.2 The ideology of liberal democracy, therefore, encompasses more than just participation in elections. In addition, liberal democracy practices support the realization of equality and civil rights in society. The idea is to treat all persons as equal in a Free State or society. Most importantly, liberal democracy advocates for press freedom, free practice of religion, private property, and free trade.3 While democracy is its simplest form is easy to comprehend, conservative democracy is relatively reluctant to accommodate the aforementioned aspects of liberal democracy. In this respect, there is clear-cut difference between liberal and conservative democracy. The theory and ideology of democracy gives rise to

Friday, July 26, 2019

Critical review of methogolgies used within identifed lit serached Literature

Critical of methogolgies used within identifed lit serached articles - Literature review Example Alcohol addiction is seen in the dimensions of tolerance and dependence. â€Å"Tolerance is a state of adaption in which more and more alcohol is needed to produce desired effect. Physical dependence means upon interruption of drinking, a characteristic withdrawal syndrome appears which is relieved by more alcohol intake† (Suillivan, 2012, p. 13). This implies that alcohol tolerance is a situation where a person has come to a point where his body and system desires specified volumes of alcohol to function. This means the person has gotten to a point where drinking is more of a norm and his body has come to terms with the fact that alcohol is essential to his wellbeing and continuous existence. Physical dependency on alcohol implies that a person seem to get social challenges like seeking to be away from other people when s/he does not get to consume alcohol. In other words, physical dependence or alcohol addiction implies that a person cannot socialize or relate to others when that individual does not consume an amount of alcohol that s/he is used to. Alcohol addiction is therefore a maladaptive pattern of alcohol consumption that involves alcohol abuse and dependence on alcohol (Shenton & Turetsky, 2010). Numerous treatments have been put forward for dealing with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction. One of such treatments is the drug, Acamprosate. Acamprosate works to reduce dependency and desire for alcohol. It therefore helps to cut down on the volume of alcohol consumed and enables a person to become more independent of alcohol. Acamprosate is said to work best where there is a support from a group or an expert in order to enable the patient to get guidance and assistance in abstinence. Acamprosate can therefore be said to be a drug that works with the combination of an administrator or a medical professional as well as other behavioural scientists like psychologists and counsellors who provide various

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Million American Jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Million American Jobs - Essay Example Therefore, the parents and educators could do a much better job of guiding kids into fields where the jobs are, which would raise the payback for getting a college degree and encourage more to attend. Colleges could help by offering more three-year programs and other ways to cut costs.† (Newman, 2011) III. Help small businesses find foreign customers.Ordinarily, small business can go global by finding foreign markets for theirproducts.However this is usually hard for the small businesses who usually target the local market. With the advancement of technology small business can reach global markets by the use of digital marketing. There are now more business connection networks that help in advertising. Therefore this breakthrough of sales makes many to have trust in the business and thus venture upon it creating employment. IV. The state should welcome more immigrants and investors.†Foreigners who want to come to America get an undeserved bad rap. Immigrants create businesses at a higher rate than home-grown Americans and make an important contribution to the economy. To address concerns about low-wage illegals, new policies could allow well-educated foreigners to stay in the country after earning a degree, or offer citizenship in exchange for a commitment to start a business or buy a house. â€Å" (Newman,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

History phase 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History phase 3 - Essay Example Its accession number is 10.125.130, can be viewed in gallery 774. Irvin Lyion, the author of an 18th century book on furniture provides the modern-day readers with the original details related to the object in the Metropolitan museum. Page 198, of his book shows that the oval table with falling leaves was sold in 1669, from a man known as Antipas Boyes from Boston. The location of the owner of the table coincides with the information at Metropolitan Museum, which shows that the table could be found from different geographical locations, such as Boston and New England, as note from the title of this book. From Lyion’s table, it is also clear that the table was on sale at a price of  £ 3.10. It is also evident that tables with an oval top with falling leaves and at times with folding parts were fashionable in England for one of two decades (Lyion 199). As stated by Lyion, the tables were in existence in the latter part of the 17th century and later became common during the 18th century. This information also coincides with the information o f the oval table at the Metropolitan Museum. As describe by Lyion, people used to call them â€Å"oval tables† and loved them because they occupied small space in the house. Though the oval tables were narrow in frame, Lyion states that the leaves were often large and had many legs to support their weight. From this source, I also learnt that these tables were not only used at homes, but in hospitals such as the hospital that Lyion mentions on page 199, the Heriot Hospital in Edinburgh. Others could also be found at the Connecticut Historical society of Hartford. The legs of the table were plain before 1750s, but after this year they were all made with certain patterns (Lyion 201). In Brock Jobe’s book on Portsmouth furniture, he also provides his readers with details of the 17th century tables and when most of these tables were made. For

Soft system Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Soft system Methodology - Essay Example Compare to hard problems soft problem are difficult to define. Feasibility study is an important phase in the software development process. It enables the developer to have an assessment of the product being developed. It refers to the feasibility study of the product in terms of outcomes of the product, operational use and technical support required for implementing it. Economic Feasibility: It refers to the benefits or outcomes. We are deriving from the product as compared to the total cost we are spending for developing the product. If the benefits are more or less the same as the older system, then it is not feasible to develop the product. In the present system, the development of the new product greatly enhance the accuracy of the system and cuts short the delay in the processing of Birth and Death application. The errors can be greatly reduced and at the same time providing great level of security. Hence, we do not need any additional equipment except memory of required capacity. Operational Feasibility: It refers to the feasibility of the product to be operational. Some products may work very well at design and implementation but may fall in the real time environment. It includes the study of additional human resources required and their technical expertise. Technical Feasibility: It refers to whether the software that is... Technical Feasibility: It refers to whether the software that is available in the market fully supports the present application. It studies the pros and cons of using particular software for the development and it's feasibility. It also studies the additional training need to be given to the people to make the application work. Implementation Plan The main plan for the system developed is to upgrading and existing system to proposed system. There are mainly 4 methods of upgrading the existing system to the proposed Parallel Run System Direct Cut-Over Method Pilot System Phase-in Method Parallel Run System: It is most secure method of converting from an existing to anew system. In this approach, both the systems are run in parallel for a specific period of time. During the period of if any serious problems were identified while using the new system, the new system is dropped and the older system is taken at the start point again. Direct Cut-Over Method: In this approach, the existing system is converted to the new system abruptly, some times over a weekend or even overnight. The old system is used until a planed conversion day. There exist no parallel activities. Pilot Method: In this approach, a working version of the system is implemented in one art of the organization such as a single work area or department. When the system is deemed complete it is installed through out the organization either all at once (direct cut-over) or gradually (phase-in). Phase-in Method: In this method, a part of the system is first implemented and over time, other remaining parts are implemented. SYSTEM ANALYSIS Analysis is the detailed study of the various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside of the system. A key question is:

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

15 - 20 Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

15 - 20 Discussion - Essay Example t has said that, death penalty is imposed â€Å"not upon those who commit the worst kind of crimes but upon those who have the misfortune of to be assigned the worst lawyers†.  (Bedau and Cassell, 2005, p. 209). Bright believes that poor people who are accused of capital crimes are often assisted by lawyers who are not well skilled and hence not in a position to defend his client from the death penalty. In Bright’s opinion money gains a prime importance in the courts of America. In the courts the one who lacks adequate wealth has to go through the ordeal of death penalty because the accused is not able to afford a proper lawyer for the case. The wealthy on the other hand can afford a lawyer who will take their case seriously and help them to achieve desired ends. Not only that Bright has also said that the courts sometimes do not even bother to look into the case carefully if a poor person is involved and gives a judgment of death penalty to the poor. Therefore accord ing to Bright death penalties take place in America on the basis of wealth and are not based on the merit of the case and so it is better that death penalty is altogether abolished so that the poor do not suffer merely based on the fact that they are poor. (Recinella, 2004, pp.230-235). Louis P. Pojman on the other hand supports death penalty. Pojman believes that those who commit gruesome crimes deserve to get adequate punishment and death is the most proper punishment for them. He has said that it is the duty of the society to give death penalty to those who deserve it. Pojman also holds the opinion that death penalty is required as a deterrence to fight the crimes of the society. He is also well aware of the fact that abolition of death penalty does not help to civilize a society. He says in spite of the fact that in America death penalty is discriminatory in nature it does not mean that the society has to do away with death penalty. He says that if a criminal commits crimes like murder he should

Monday, July 22, 2019

Great expectations Essay Example for Free

Great expectations Essay Chapter 11 sees Pip on his second visit to Satis House, and the early introduction of several important characters such as Jaggers and Herbert, who play vital roles in Pips later life and great expectations. Ms. Havishams poisoned and hateful mind can be seen through her malicious thoughts that are reflected through her choice of words: I am yellow skin and bone. She has clearly brooded a great deal over her past and has lived the majority of her adult life full of contempt and bitterness for the entire male race. An air of Mystery is given to the fact that we do not actually know the cause of Ms. Havisham resentment, all we do know is that she was once to be married, and due to some occurrence or misfortune, the wedding did not take, but everything, from that fateful day, has stayed still. The time has stopped at twenty minutes to nine, and even her bride-cake is still there. One assumes, after reading the Chapter, that the mystery plot will be solved eventually, and the suspense lures the readers further into the novel . The suspense that surrounds the character of Ms. Havisham is half-satisfied when the readers find out the truth of what actually happened to Ms. Havisham, (that she victim of a conspiracy of which her money was the ultimate motive), in Chapter 22 from Herbert. Satis House is dismal and unchanging. Like the bride-cake, which now has black fungus growing out of it and speckled-legged spiders with blotchy bodies running to it, Ms. Havisham has also deteriorated. The vermin, the poison and the hate also rush flood to her mind, causing her to lose all control of any logical decisions or rational thoughts. Like the cake, Ms. Havisham is also dropping to pieces, covered with dust and mould. Ms Havisham could be described as being Satis House herself, she has become part of her landscape, as she herself says: It and I have worn away together. All the death images, corpse-like, shroud, grave-clothes, all symbolise the slow death of Ms Havisham, the cruel image of her rotting and decaying a result of her twisted, evil mind. The suspense and thrilling horror surrounding Ms. Havisham sustains the readers attentions, as they listen attentively to hang on to every word she speaks, in the hope of any clues to what tragedy she was victim of that has made her into the person she is. The dull nonsensical conversations made by the relatives emphasise just how intriguing Ms. Havishams character is. Her dramatic flairs of speech and over-exaggeration: when they lay me dead captures the readers much more than the repetitive, irrelevant conversation made by the relatives. Ms. Havishams relations are characterised as being money-greedy, selfish people. Their only reasons for visiting their half-sister is simply for her large fortune and in the hope that they, once she is finally dead, will inherit each large portions of her money. The dreary, dull conversations that seem to have no concluding points underlines the uselessness and narrow-mindedness of these people. Certainly, the descriptions of the relatives are far from flattering: so very blank and high was the dead wall of her face. Dickens has chosen to make these characters into comic figures. They represent Dickens view of the majority of middle-high class of society, educated yet still fools. Camilla, in particular, provides entertainment for the audience with her ridiculous self-pitying airs: I cried about it from breakfast to dinner. Her pretence is obvious, and one may guess from Ms. Havishams contempt for her relations that she understands that they care not for her but for her money: when you come to feast upon me. Ms. Havishams relations are the image of a selfish and materialistic side of society. The readers are given an early introduction to the character of Jaggers, Pips future lawyer and guide to his fortune and the world of industrious, educated so-called gentleman. Again, like Ms. Havisham, the readers are lured into the burly man on the stairs. The description is mysterious and surprisingly detailed for just a stranger: eyes set very deep in his head. When Pip states: He was nothing to me, and I could have had no foresight then, that he would be anything to me Our suspicions are nearly confirmed that Jaggers will play an important part in Pips later life. Jaggers description is interesting when one looks for clues in his personality, his eyes also being described as being: disagreeable sharp and suspicious, a clue to Jaggers alertness and ability to see through people as if they were transparent. His bushy black eyebrows that wouldnt lie down but stood up bristling symbolises Jaggers habit of attentively understanding a persons mind by every move that they make. The hands that smelt of scented soap is Jaggers future tagline or reference to himself, the idea of washing away the guilt of dealing with guilty criminal convicts. Herbert, the Pale young gentleman is first introduced in this chapter, as an unhealthy boy, with pimple on his face and a breaking out at his mouth, yet, his brave attitude and desperation to fight a fair and just battle appeals to the readers. As he says to Pip after he has been so easily defeated: That means you have won. Even Pip is surprised by his moral integrity: He was so brave and innocent, his ability to accept defeat and fight an unlikely battle gains respect from the readers, and Herbert is seen as a comical figure at his vain attempts fight back at Pip. He later carries the image of honesty when he is an adult, and represents the gentleman whose of free-spirit, whose cares lie not in money and reputation, but in the happiness of life. In Chapter 11, we are introduced to several new characters and are given distinct and sometimes obvious clues to Pips later life. They later play a great influence on Pips thoughts, actions, and journey to become a true gentleman.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Effect of Music on Heart Rate | Experiment

Effect of Music on Heart Rate | Experiment Daniella Urteaga Background Information: The heart is a vital organ made of cardiac muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. Heart rate is associated with the contraction of the different chambers of the heart, and is considered myogenic. As a result, the heart beat is controlled independently of the central nervous system and is instead controlled by the pacemaker, also known as the Sino arterial node. The node sends signals through nerves in the heart to other nodes such as the AV or atrio-ventricular node and these result in the contraction of the chambers (Copeland, 1991). Heart rate is the number of heart beats per unit of time, typically expressed in beats per minute or bpm. The average heart rate at rest under normal conditions of adolescents and adults is 63.3 bpm  ± 13.1 bpm, with variability of 3.2 bpm  ± 2.1 (Leschka, 2006). Other factors also have an influence on the heart beat and heart rate such as the medulla of the brain of the hormone adrenaline. External stimuli or external factors also result in alterations of the heart rate. These include physical and emotional factors. One type of external stimuli that is shown to have effects on the heart rate is sound, specifically music. Music is currently being considered to be used as therapy for coronary conditions as well as on anxiety (Smolen et al, 2002). In addition, music is widely prevalent in the lives of adolescents. Teenagers in this day are age are exposed to music on a regular basis and a majority of adolescents living in the United States own mp3 or I-Pods (Epperson, 2011). Also, there are music therapies available for autistic patients that show improvement in their communication skills and behavior over time because of the certain music played in the therapy session. Sound has been shown to have effects on the heart rate. The average volume at which adolescents listen to music is 80 decibels which is approximately 80% volume on a music player using standard headphones (Epperson, 2011). Increasing volume has been shown to increase the heart rate, and decreasing volume has been shown to lower the heart rate (Okamoto, 2011). In addition, studies have been conducted that investigate different genres of music and their effects on heart rate as well as other heart application such as blood pressure. Personal Engagement Statement: The reason for doing this experiment is to see to what extent are we affected by music on a physical level. The reason I decided to focus on musics physical effect is because of how it is mostly known to have a more mental and emotional effect on our mood. I want to investigate how an everyday thing like music can cause physical change in our bodies by the different type of genres that come with it. This topic idea was also influenced by the fact I have been involved in musical groups, orchestra and mariachi, since I was 12 years old. The contrast between these two distinct musical groups, one soothing and the other festive, lead me to inquire upon musics effect in general. I want to not only know the difference between classical and mariachi music, but also take into account all the other music with varied tempos. Exploration: The topic I will be conducting an experiment on will be the study of musics effect on our heart rate. My research question my whole experiment will be based on is: What effect does the different genres of music have on an adolescents rested heart rate? The dependent variable of this experiment is going to be the heart rate because it will change or not due to the music, and I am going to measure the heart rate by beats per minute. My experiments independent variable will be the genre of music since it will not depend on the other variable for change. The controlled variables of this experiment will be the musics volume, headphones used, starting heart rate, the device used to play music, and the age and gender of the test subjects. Hypothesis: If the music is loud and has a fast tempo, then I believe your heart rate will increase because the tempo causes people to breathe faster. However, music with a slower and softer tempo, like classical music, causes the opposite effects on your heart rate. The research that helps back my hypothesis up is how Sakamoto found, for the Journal of Sound and Vibration, that there was an increase in systolic and diastolic pressure, which are the first and second reading in blood pressure, during exposure to steady noise and music with high intensity peaks. Since heart rate and blood pressure work interchangeably, like when exercising, it is a strong indicator heart rate will be affect by the musics genre based on the research. According to a study performed in Japan, hearing classical music results in a small variance of Mayer Wave which results in the lowering of the heart rate (Mamoru, 1998). This is because the sympathetic nerve is suppressed by the sound of classical music. In addition, rapid changes in volume and fast paced tempos cause the heart rate to increase (Epperson, 2011). These elements are what techno songs are composed of, and therefore an increased heart rate can be predicted upon listening to them. Independent Variable: The independent variable is the genre of music the subject is exposed to while their heart rate is being measured. The levels of the independent variable will include five different genres of music. These will include classical music, pop music, jazz music, techno music, and country music. These genres vary in style and tempo or speed. Dependent Variable: Heart rate which will be measured by beats per minute Controlled Variable: Volume of music, headphones used, starting heart rate, device used, age, gender, the quietness of room environment, and the position of subject while exposed to music. Materials: Headphones, iPhone for the music, stopwatch, paper, calculator, and pencil. Procedure: Data Collection will be a sample size of at least 30 trials ranging from the age of 14-18. For each age year, in total 5, there will be at least six trails for each subject that is of ever age, turning out to be 30 trials in total. My subjects will have a variety of males and females. Make sure to pick a quite outside or room environment where there is minimal distractions or conversations. Allow the subject to sit in the chair in an upright position, ensuring that his/her back is against the backing of the chair and his/her feet are firmly planted in the ground. Place headphones in the subjects two ears, but do not play any music yet. This is to ensure that the act of wearing headphones is not an additional factor. Conduct the first trial for the experimental control. Allow the subject to sit in the chair for three minutes without the addition of music to rest their heart rate as much as possible. Write down resting heart rate of subject by finding their radial pulse. (To find the radial pulse I will put my index and third finger on the subjects wrist nearest their body. I will use the pads of my fingers. Place them just below the wrist creases on the thumb side. Press lightly until I feel the blood pulsing under their skin). Once three minutes have passed, measure subjects heart by using beats per minute. In order to do this begin the stop watch after the first pulse is felt. Count the number of pulses felt until the stop watch reads 60 seconds Allow the subject one minute of silence before continuing with the rest of the trials. Conduct the trials involving the different levels of the independent variable. Set the volume on the iPhone to medium volume. After one minute of silence since the first pulse reading has elapsed, begin playing the pop music. (Ensure that the iPhone is set on repeat in case the song is too short. If this step is forgotten, the song may switch and the trial will not be valid for use) Allow the subject to listen to the song for three minutes on a constant volume. During the three minute time interval, note any changes in heart rate when finding their radial pulse. As the subject listens to the music, note changes in facial expression, skin temperature, skin color (paleness or redness), and involuntary movement as qualitative data. Allow the subject one minute of silence before continuing with the rest of the trials. Repeats steps 6a- 6g for all genres of music (jazz, classical, techno, and country). Repeat steps 1-5 until I get a sample size of 30 trials. Calculate the average for each subject and the respective genres of music in order to make a representation of the data. Measure the percent change in the pulse comparing the experimental control and all genres of music bpm in order to calculate the effect of the intensity of physical effect on the heart rate. Ensure collection is significant, relevant data by pooling the data. This will make sure that there is analysis even if this sample size may be too small to evaluate the effect or relationship of the study. Safety, ethical or environmental issues: To make sure this experiment is conducted in the safest and ethical manner, I will make sure the songs chosen are censored from any explicit language during the trials. Also, I will make sure the volume of the music is not very loud for the subjects to prevent any hearing injuries to take place. I will also make sure the headphones used while this experiments are always clean for each subject to prevent any possible ear infections. Data Collection: Qualitative: During this experimental procedure, I noticed various qualitative observations. Each genre of music seemed to have a different effect on the subjects. Some effects were subtle, while others were more noticeable. No changes in the skin color or body temperature were noted in this experimental procedure. However, slight movements were present. During the classical music, subjects made subtle swaying movements and briefly closed their eyes like showing they were relaxed into it. During the pop and rap music, the head swaying became more upbeat and the subjects smiled or lightly chuckled while their eyes were open. The rock genre and techno genres had similar movements and expression as the pop music. Quantitative: Table 1: Displays heart rates (bpm) of ten subjectsduring resting heart rate, classical, pop, country, jazz, and techno hearings for six trials. Subjects Trials Resting (bpm ±1.0) Classical (bpm ±1.0) Pop (bpm ±1.0) Country (bpm ±1.0) Jazz (bpm ±1.0) Techno (bpm ±1.0) Subject 1 (14 years old) 1 61 60 74 63 68 75 2 63 61 72 61 69 73 3 63 60 75 60 69 74 Subject 2 (14 years old) 4 64 57 73 60 67 74 5 62 57 75 59 69 76 6 63 58 74 59 70 75 Subject 3 (15 years old) 1 62 62 70 62 72 73 2 62 61 71 62 73 75 3 63 61 70 60 71 76 Subject 4 (15 years old) 4 63 63 69 58 74 72 5 63 62 67 60 74 71 6 62 63 68 57 73 71 Subject 5 (16 years old) 1 63 61 76 59 72 74 2 65 62 74 59 71 77 3 65 60 76 61 72 76 Subject 6 (16 years old) 4 65 59 75 62 74 75 5 66 61 73 60 73 76 6 64 59 74 63 75 78 Subject 7 (17 years old) 1 62 60 75 57 70 78 2 61 62 73 56 72 75 3 63 64 77 58 69 76 Subject 8 (17 years old) 4 64 64 72 60 75 73 5 64 63 68 63 73 72 6 66 64 71 59 77 72 Subject 9 (18 years old) 1 60 58 76 58 73 73 2 59 61 74 56 70 73 3 59 59 75 59 74 71 Subject 10 (18 years old) 4 63 59 69 62 72 72 5 67 60 72 58 71 70 6 65 57 71 60 71 73 I conducted the mean of the different bpm values for resting and the five genres of music (classical, pop, country, techno, and jazz) for each of the five subjects. This statistic allowed me to observe the average heart rate of each subject under the influence of the different music genres. Through this analysis, I was able to collocate the data and compare the differences in the bpm for each music genre. It gave me the ability to determine if a certain genre caused a larger average bpm for the subject and how it changed based on the intensity of the genre. I conducted the range of bpm of all six trials for each type of exercise. This statistic allowed me to identify the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value for bpm during each music listening. It gave me the ability to determine the distribution of my data for each different genre of music. Due to its small number, this value showed me that my average bpm for each exercise was overall pretty consistent, and did not fluctuate greatly during the three trials for each age section. I conducted the standard deviation of heart rate bpm from all six trials for each genre of music conducted. This statistic allowed me to obtain a more detailed and accurate estimate of the dispersion in the data values because one outlier can greatly exaggerate the data in the range, therefore making it inaccurate. The standard deviation showed me the relation of the bpm for all three trials to its mean value. Since it was a small value, it showed me that the bpm levels stayed mainly constant throughout the trials with a small dispersion of data. I conducted a percent change in order to determine the change in my bpm values between each genre of music and resting. By doing so, I analyzed by how much of a difference (bpm) value there was for each genre of music compared to resting. This was done to see if there was a significant increase or decrease in the bpm values between the genres of music and resting. Table 2: Displays average heart rate of ten subjects (bpm) and average data dispersion for eachgenre of music   Ã‚   Subject Genre of Music Average (bpm) Range (bpm) Standard Deviation Subject 1 (14 years old) Resting 62.3 2.0 1.2 Classical 60.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 73.6 3.0 1.2 Country 61.3 3.0 1.2 Jazz 68.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 74 2.0 1 Subject 2 (14 years old) Resting 63 2.0 1 Classical 57.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 74 2.0 1 Country 59.3 1.0 0.6 Jazz 68.6 3.0 1.5 Techno 75 2.0 1 Subject 3 (15 years old) Resting 62.3 1.0 0.6 Classical 61.3 1.0 0.6 Pop 70.3 1.0 0.6 Country 61.3 2.0 1.2 Jazz 72 2.0 1 Techno 74 3.0 1.5 Subject 4 (15 years old) Resting 62.6 1.0 0.6 Classical 62.6 1.0 0.6 Pop 68 2.0 1 Country 58.3 3.0 1.5 Jazz 73.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 71.3 3.0 0.6 Subject 5 (16 years old) Resting 64.3 2.0 1.2 Classical 61 2.0 1 Pop 75.3 2.0 1.2 Country 59.6 2.0 1.2 Jazz 71.6 1.0 0.6 Techno 75.6 3.0 1.5 Subject 6 (16 years old) Resting 65 2.0 1 Classical 59.6 2.0 1.2 Pop 75.3 2.0 1 Country 61.6 3.0 1.5 Jazz 74 2.0 1 Techno 76.3 3.0 1.5 Subject 7 (17 years old) Resting 62 2.0 1 Classical 62 4.0 2 Pop 75 4.9 2 Country 57 2.0 1 Jazz 70.3 3.0 1.5 Techno 76.3 3.0 1.5 Subject 8 (17 years old) Resting 64.6 2.0 1.2 Classical 63.6 1.0 0.6 Pop 70.3 4.0 2.1 Country 60.6 4.0 2.1 Jazz 75 4.0 2 Techno 72.3 1.0 0.6 Subject 9 (18 years old) Resting 59.3 1.0 0.6 Classical 59.3 3.0 1.5 Pop 75 2.0 1 Country 57.6 3.0 1.5 Jazz 72.3 4.0 2.1 Techno 72.3 2.0 1.2 Subject 10 (18 years old) Resting 65 4.0 2 Classical 58.6 3.0 1.5 Pop 70.6 3.0 1.5 Country 60 4.0 2 Jazz 71.3 1.0 0.6 Techno 71.6 3.0 1.5 Table 3: Displays total average bpm of all ten subjectscombined, average data dispersion for each genre, and comparison of average bpm of genres and resting using percent difference Subject Music Genre Total Average (bpm) Total Range (bpm) Standard Deviation Percentage Difference from Resting Combined (10) Resting 63 8.0 1.8 0.0 Classical 60.6 7.0 2.0 -3.8 Pop 72.7 10.0 2.7 15.4 Country 59.7 7.0 1.6 -5.2 Jazz 71.7 10.0 2.1 13.8 Techno 73.9 8.0 1.9 17.3 Conclusion: The results supported my initial hypothesis; however, they were not statistically significant. Initially I hypothesized that classical music would result in a lowering of the heart rate while techno music would have the most influence on raising the heart rate. According to my results, the percent difference between resting and classical music is -3.8% and the percent difference between resting and techno music is 17.3%, supporting my hypothesis. Country music also lowered the average heart rate by a lower -5.2%, while pop and jazz music heighted the heart rate by 15.4% and 13.8% respectively. The more upbeat songs such as the pop, jazz, and techno appeared to have increased the heart rates of the subjects as predicted, and the slower more relaxed songs such as the classical and country music lowered the heart rates. This experiment can be expanded to possibly aid in the development of new therapeutic methods based for cardiac conditions based on music. It can also be used to help aid in the stressful lives of teenagers, often resulting in higher-than-normal heart rates (Smolen et al, 2002). The results of my study, although not statistically significant support the findings of other scientists researching the field. Increases in systolic and diastolic pressures during exposure to steady noise and music with high intensity peaks are present (Epperson, 2011). This would account for genres of music such as techno that have a consistent beat and high peaks of volume. The opposite can be observed for classical music that constantly changes in rhythm and lack

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Effect of Phototherapy on Sleep Disorders

Effect of Phototherapy on Sleep Disorders In the natural world, the light – dark cycle entrains our rhythm. Light is a very effective ‘Zeitgeber’. In the presences of environmental time cues, sleep-wake physiology, and gene expression continue to exhibit a near-24-hour circadian rhythm regulated by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in the Hypothalamus. Phototherapy is an accepted modality for non- pharmacological management of Circadian Disorders such as Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, Insomnia etc. This review discusses the physiological principle and highlights evidence based literature of phototherapy and its management in Sleep Disorders. Introduction; Living organism’s exhibit a biological periodicity, this rhythm when occurs on a 24 hour cycle is known as ‘Circadian Rhythm’. A rhythmic biological cycle that displays an endogenous entrainable oscillation of less than 24 hours in known as ultradian rhythm. and that last for more than 24 hours is known as Infradian rhythms. Circadian Rhythms generate rhythmic cycling of sleep patterns, food intake, sexual behavior, core body temperature and secretion release of hormones such as ACTH, Prolactin, Gonadotorophin and Melatonin. Circadian Rhythms are generated by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) of the Anterobasal Hypothalamus. Pineal gland regulates the rhythmic production and release of melatonin. The duration, phase and amplitude of melatonin and cortisol secretion, are influenced by changes in light-dark cycles. The plasma levels are low during day time and are high at night. This rhythm is maintained by the SCN and is entrained by the light-dark cycle. Low light intensities like 100 to 500 lux also have been shown to suppressed levels of melatonin. Phototherapy or light therapy utilizes light boxes which are typically LED square bright lights, ranging from 8-12 x 12-24 inches that emit 10,000 Lux (highest Lux) light, cool color temperature light acts as natural sunlight without the harmful effect of UV rays. This mode of entraining the sleep wake cycle is an accepted modality and mainstay treatment in the non-pharmacotherpeutic management of Circadian Rhythm Disorders. Principles of Phototherapy The goal of the Circadian Rhythm is to maintain a bridge between sleep patterns and the internal clock that is set at a optimally synchronized time. This results in a normal sleep-wake pattern. The Biological Model-Phase response curve The Phase Response curve is modulated by two efficacious modalities i.e. light and melatonin, both of which are exploited to entrain the circadian cycle. Bright light is very helpful in synchronizing the human rhythms and the melatonin serves as a ‘‘dark pulse’’ helping to induce night-time behaviors. Bright morning light advances circadian rhythms; bright evening light delays them. Melatonin in the evening advances circadian rhythms; melatonin in the morning delays them. Circadian Disturbances and Insulin Resistance Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is a multifactorial disorder, of which Circadian Disturbances is one of the lifestyle factors that contribute to it. Sleepdisturbances including sleep insufficiency, sleep loss, sleep fragmentation, are connected to abnormal Glucose Metabolism and thus, increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Studies in rodent models suggest that disruption of Circadian Rhythms leads to impaired glucose homeostasis and beta-cell failure, culminating in increased susceptibility to Type 2DM. Disturbed Circadian Rhythm is causative factor in the recent epidemic â€Å"Obesity†. In controlled clinical studies, acute 1-3 week circadian misalignment (alone) or in combination with sleep restriction results in dysregulation of glucose homeostasis and consequent glucose intolerance attributed in part to loss of beta-cell function as well as decline in insulin sensitivity. CIRCADIAN RHYTHM PROBLEM CONTRIBUTES TO INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohns disease (CD), is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory disorder of the intestinal tract. Study says that sleep disturbances are one of the main reasons of pathogenesis of the patients with IBD. In addition melatonin plays a vital role in regulation of inflammation as well as immune system and antioxidant system in the intestinal disorders. (16, 17) CIRCADIAN RHYTHM and visually Impaired Bright light has been shown to suppress Melatonin secretion even in visually impaired subjects which substantiates the fact that non-visual photoreceptors in the eye mediate the Circadian Rhythm regulating effects of light CIRCADIAN RHYTHM AND IMMUNITY Sleep restriction and sleep deficit increase your vulnerability to disease. The immune system is connected to the sleep regulatory system and actions of the immune system to fight disease.Sleep is regulated partly by immune system components called cytokines. Blood counts of T-cells and levels of proinflammatory cytokines are high during the night while leukocytes and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 go up during daytime. Changes in the immune system seem associated with the onset of narcolepsy, which has a neurological cause (brain cell death) inflammatory diseases increase cytokine levels and make people feel fatigued. This is a good thing during a short-term injury or illness, as it drives the person to rest. For those with chronic inflammation, however, the immune system keeps them tired for long periods, which may explain symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue disorder. The trouble in sleeping that people with those conditions experience is not due to just the discomforts of the illnesses, but because the sleep regulation system is affected. The different phases of sleep are responsible for different functions within our bodies. The first and second phases involve settling in, resulting in rhythmic breathing and a lowered body temperature. The third and fourth stages are when our bodies are working to restore themselves. During this time our muscles relax and the blood supply going to them increases. Our bodies use this time to repair tissue damage and grow new tissue. Important hormones are released and our energy is renewed. These stages appear to be a critical factor in maintaining a healthy immune system and any sleep disturbance that impacts them, impacts our health. It is becoming increasingly evident that disruption of daily rhythms, such as from sleep deprivation, affects the immune response. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), is an immune system protein that can sense bacterial and viral DNA Role of Phototherapy Cognitive Impact Light intensity has a direct impact on cognitive performance and alertness and on the subjective feeling of sleepiness. The researchers found that volunteers subjected to higher light intensity during the afternoon were more alert all the way into the early evening than those who were not. But when subjected to light intensity 10 times weaker, they showed signs of sleepiness and obtained lower scores on the memory tests. Artificial light is used to phase shift circadian rhythm and help improve performance, sleep, and well-being during shiftwork simulations , this was proved in study designed for NASA personals during t he prelaunch week. The treated subjects were self exposed to 10, 000 Lux. The treated personnel showed a positive result reporting better sleep, performance, and physical and emotional well-being than control subjects and rated the treatment as highly effective for promoting adjustment to their work schedules for the study. Nocturnal alertness, performance, and daytime sleep could be improved by light exposure of tolerable intensity and duration in a real work place. This was proved in a cross-over design study conducted on 12 night Shift nurses with three different treatment procedures: Room Light (RL) exposure in the night followed by a 1hr sunlight or 10,000 lux light next morning(08:30 to 09:30), Bright Light (BL) a 4-hour nocturnal light exposure of 4,000-6,000 lux (from 01:00 to 05:00) and Bright Light with Sunglasses (BL/S) the same nocturnal light exposure as in BL was done with light attenuation in the morning. Nocturnal alertness was measured by a visual analog scale. Daytime sleep was recorded with actigraphy. Nocturnal alertness was the highest in the BL/S. The improvement was maximized by attenuating morning light. Sun-Downing phenomenon Sundowning is a clinical phenomenon characterized by the emergence or increment of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, anxiety, agitation, aggression, pacing, wandering, resistance to redirect screaming, yelling and so forth observed late afternoon, evening or at night and occurs among cognitively impaired, demented, or institutionalized elderly patients. In a 6-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial the effects of bright light therapy combined with melatonin on motor restless behavior in demented patients had been evaluated. This study concluded that bright light therapy (10,000 lux bright light) has a positive effect on motor restlessness in subjects with dementia. Mood disturbances Manic-Depressive Illness (MDP): MDP is recurrent illness in which episodes of Mania and Depression occur and remit spontaneously. Several clinical studies say that disturbance in the Circadian Rhythms play a crucial role in its pathophysiology. Melatonin secretion shows abnormal levels in some bipolar patients (MDP). Patients with MDP exhibit circadian sleep wake rhythm in which patients spent one complete sleepless night in between two nights of normal sleep. In a study, 143 patients with a major depressive episode in the course of bipolar disorder (DSM-IV criteria) treatment with 3 consecutive totalsleepdeprivation cycle (each composed of a period of 36 hours awake followed by recovery sleep), light therapy, and lithium rapidly decreased the depressive suicidality and prompt antidepressant response in patients with drug-resistant major depression in the course of bipolar disorder. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is typically characterized by instability and impaired behaviour , affectivity, interpersonal relations and lifestyle. This open study assessed 13 female patients for the effectiveness of the application of bright light (10,000 lux, 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. for 6 weeks) added to SSRIs in drug-resistant depressed patients with comorbid BPD who did not show any improvement to 6-week administration of antidepressants. The participants were regularly evaluated using the CGI, HAMD and MADRS scales and the BDI and BDI self-report inventories. All the assessments proved that the application of Bright light leads to a significant improvement. SAD: Phototherapy acts through Retinal Melatonin or Rhodopsin, which regulates Dopamine release in the eye where it acts as the main neurotransmitter. The retina-SCNvpineal gland forms a link, which is disturbed in SAD. By suppressing retinal Melatonin, Phototherapy has been suggested to correct the underlying biochemical abnormality seen in SAD and thereby inducing clinical remission.In Non- Demented people, light therapy is an accepted and validated treatment for seasonal affective disorder, but has also been reported to be effective in Non –Seasonal Depression (15). Recently it has been noted that exposure of SAD patients to natural sunlight in the morning hours resulted in complete remission of depressive symptoms. In the study, N=24(12 SAD patients and 12 controls) were exposed to morning light therapy in the winter and the melatonin profiles being sensitive to light were measured before and after treatment. The SAD Patients showed a phase advance of melatonin rhythms in response to phototherapy which showed an association between phase position and phase shift in the SAD patients. This instability may be secondary to impaired serotoninergic function in the afferent pathways to the suprachiasmatic nuclei. This seems to be a significant advancement in the etiology of SAD that links light with Mood Disorders. In Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is common when vitamin D stores are typically low. wavelengths between 280-320 nm which are Broad-spectrum light therapy that allow the skin to produce vitamin D. In a prospective, randomized controlled trial was conducted N=15 subjects with SAD (8 subjects-100,000 I.U. of vitamin D and 7 subjects–phototherapy). At the onset of treatment and after 1 month of therapy subjects different depression scale were administered. Vitamin D status improved in both groups (74% vitamin D group, p ADHD Morning bright light therapy is associated helps reduce both subjective and objective measures of core ADHD pathology, improves mood symptoms, and phase advance in circadian preference. Multiple regressions showed that the shift toward an earlier circadian preference with LT was the strongest predictor of improvement on both subjective and objective ADHD measures. In the Elderly The risk of developing depression increases with old age. The occurrence of a major depressive episode in Alzheimer’s disease is as high as 20-25%and minor depressive symptoms occur in an additional 20-30% (9, 10). In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, patients with early Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Subjective Memory Complaints (SMC)(N=79, Age = between 50 75). Patients were exposed to ~10,000 lux for two years, the active condition or ~300 lux in the placebo condition, daily, for two half-hour sessions at fixed times in the morning and evening. Neuropsychological, behavioral, physiological and endocrine measures are assessed at baseline and follow-up every five to six months. The evaluation showed long-term daily bright light prevented worsening of sleep-wake rhythms and depressive symptoms in elderly people with memory complaints. Elderly experience increased difficulties with sleeping, and thus could be one of the contributing factor for mood problems.(11) Factors contributing in Aging process Aging process | | Impaired Ocular light transmission due to age related eye deficiencies | | Requires high demand of light intensities inorder to maintain a sufficient input to SCN | | Diminished SCN input | | Arrhythmia in the Sleep Wake cycle Studies report that it is possible to reactivate the SCN and improve ‘Sleep –Wake Rhythm’ by applying extra light. Light therapy provides a safe treatment option (13).It’s reported that, bright light therapy is decreasing common health issues (14). In 10 Alzheimers patients with sundowning behavior and sleep disturbances were studied for a week who received 2 hours/day of exposure to bright light between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. The results showed that the proportion of total daily activity occurring during the nighttime decreased during the light-treatment week. The relative amplitude of the circadian locomotor activity rhythm, a measure of its stability, increased during the light-treatment week. This kind of effect mediated through a chronobiological mechanism. Artificial light is used to phase shift circadian rhythm and help improve performance, sleep, and well-being during shiftwork simulations , this was proved in study designed for NASA personals during t he prelaunch week. The treated subjects were self exposed to 10, 000 Lux. The treated personnel showed a positive result reporting better sleep, performance, and physical and emotional well-being than control subjects and rated the treatment as highly effective for promoting adjustment to their work schedules for the study. In study bright light exposure improved sleep quality in 7-18% subjects, the study consisted of 13 interventional studies with 1154 participants. Jet lag causes distress to the number of travelers impairing sleep, mood and cognitive performance. Timed exposure to bright light and melatonin administration can help to reduce symptoms. Specific recommendations using bright light and melatonin for eastward and westward travel before and after departure are provided for time zone changes of up to 6, 7–9 and 10 or more hours. Timed bright light and melatonin administration, by helping to adjust underlying circadian rhythms to the new time zone, can serve to mitigate the symptoms of jet lag. Reducingthe symptoms of jet lag by this methods can lessen the mood, cognitive and behavioral symptoms resulting from these desynchronized rhythms.(

Violence as Displacement: The Erotic Gaze in Gladiator and Fight Club :: Essays Papers

Violence as Displacement: The Erotic Gaze in Gladiator and Fight Club On the screen, two men writhe and grapple on the cold concrete floor. One man on top, holding the other from behind in a chokehold that causes the man on the bottom to succumb to the more powerful man. The dialogue by the narrator states that, â€Å"Sometimes all you could hear were the flap, hard packing sounds over the yelling, or the wet choke when someone caught their breath and sprayed† (Fight Club). The soundtrack consists of a few notes repeated over and over again in a steady rhythm to the action that is happening on the screen. The camera focuses on a close-up of the face of the man on bottom as he contorts into an expression of both pain and pleasure and moans loudly. Finally, the two men get up after the action is finished and embrace. Panting and moaning, the last shudders of pleasure leave their bodies as the scene fades out and begins again with another couple struggling on the cold concrete floor. The scene described above sounds as if it should be found in a pornographic video displayed on the shelves of a sex shop located in the back alleys of Soho in London. However, this scene is taken from director David Fincher’s widely popular film Fight Club. Even though the scene has an intense air of the homoerotic, the characters in the film are actually fighting and not having sex. Steve Neale addresses this phenomenon in his article â€Å"Masculinity as Spectacle†. He upholds the view of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey by maintaining that the spectatorial look in mainstream cinema is always male. A problem arises when the look of the spectator is forced upon an erotic shot of a male figure. The article states, â€Å"that in a heterosexual and patriarchal society, the male body cannot be marked explicitly as the erotic object of another male look: that look must be motivated in some other way, its erotic component repressed† (Neale 14). The e rotic component is repressed with violence or with mutilation of the male body. This repression is often found in the action genre in such films as Gladiator and Fight Club where the female object of the spectator gaze is replaced with male figures.

Friday, July 19, 2019

My Truly Great Grandmother :: Personal Narrative

My Truly Great Grandmother It is obvious that my mother loved her grandmother, Matilda. Affectionately referring to her as "Tillie," my mom's eyes wander, and the corners of her mouth climb the sides of her face as she tells me about the red haired, freckled woman. My Aunt Beth's response is similar as she recalls sitting on Tillie's lap, singing along to the familiar folk tunes and hymns that poured from her mouth, filling the air with a strange tonal fragrance. My grandmother, Tillie's daughter, shares with me the secret of family dance sessions when her father, Ira, was not home, and the generosity of a mother who, save for a single time when hunger got the better of her, always saved the extra piece of pie for one of the children. Though she died three years before my birth, I have met my great grandmother many times through these stories and through my imagination. The stories about Matilda are enchanting and often funny, as she loved to tease. One story in particular has grabbed my attention for many years and has never let go. It is a brave story of changing cultures and giving up comforts. When she was 15, Matilda loved playing piano, dancing, and wearing fancy hats in her Methodist home. That year, she met Ira Miller, a Mennonite by tradition, and four years later, they were married. Ira was not fully committed to the Mennonite way of life, and was much in love with Matilda, so he lavished on her all sorts of worldly possessions, including a beautiful emerald engagement ring. No ring could have better complemented her speckled skin and fiery hair. By the time they were married, Matilda, had grown discontent with the Methodist church, and the young couple decided to live as Mennonites together. Unfortunately for Tillie, the strict rules of the denomination demanded a great change in lifestyle before membership was granted. No Mennonite home could shelter such a worldly item as a piano, and dancing was strictly forbidden. The beautiful hats she loved to wear would have to be replaced with a plain, white head covering. The emerald ring, so perfect on Tillie's hand, along with her wedding band, had to be sold, as Mennonites did not wear jewelry. Though they were difficult lifestyle changes, Tillie willingly relinquished all these items to commit to an unfamiliar culture.