How do Gold Cadillac and Country Lovers differ in their...

How do Gold Cadillac and Country Lovers differ in their presentation of Prejudice? Both Mildred Taylor (Gold Cadillac) and Nadine Gordimer (Country Lovers) grew up in cultures where racism was a part of their everyday life. This theme of racism is reflected strongly in their stories. Mildred Taylor’s experience of racism in the Southern States of America is reflected in the themes and setting of her writing. She was born in 1943, Jackson, Mississippi, the strongest racial prejudice sate found in America. In many of her college preparatory classes, Mildred Taylor was the only black student. She often found herself painfully embarrassed by the lacklustre portrait of black people as presented in history class. Similarly,†¦show more content†¦Due to the system of apartheid, Thebedi and Paulus cruelly murdered an innocent child. This not only destroys their reputation, but it also destroys Thebedi’s husband. He not only loved his wife, but he cared for the baby deeply, even though in his mind he had a feeling it was not his. The narrator of the Gold Cadillac is a young girl, perhaps the age of seven. We see the racial prejudice in the story as a young girl would see it, confused and baffled. This allows the story to me more truthful and innocent. Throughout, the little girl does not understand what is happening, and why is it is happening, especially because life in the South is different from the North. The action’s represented by the young girl, reflects how Mildred Taylor was when she was young. â€Å"In my early years the trip was a marvellous adventure†¦ but I grew up to realise†¦ that the jugs of water and lemonade were because we could not drink from the fountains marked ‘white only’† However, unlike Mildred Taylor, Nadine Godimer’s life does not mirror any of the characters presented in Country Lovers. The energetic tone of Gold Cadillac is achieved through dialogue. The reader is immediately engaged with the details of the family life. This reflects family ties and relationships, which produces a warm impression to the reader. We learn from the tone and the dialogue thatShow MoreRelatedMarketing Management 14th Edition Test Bank Kotler Test Bank173911 Words   |  696 Pagesis the process of aggressive selling and promotion to encourage the purchase of products that might otherwise be unsought by the consumer Answer: C Page Ref: 5 Objective: 2 Difficulty: Easy 5) ________ goods constitute the bulk of most countries production and marketing efforts. A) Durable B) Impulse C) Physical D) Luxury E) Intangible Answer: C Page Ref: 5 Objective: 2 Difficulty: Easy 6) As economies advance, a growing proportion of their activities focuses on the productionRead MoreMarketing Management Mcq Test Bank53975 Words   |  216 Pagesdecreases Answer: D Page Ref: 244 Objective: 2 AACSB: Reflective thinking Difficulty: Moderate 3 Copyright  © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 10) When a marketer expresses his or her vision of what the brand must be and do for consumers, they are expressing what is called ________. A) a brand promise B) a brand personality C) a brand identity D) a brand position E) a brand revitalization Answer: A Page Ref: 245 Objective: 2 AACSB: Analytic skills Difficulty: Easy 11)

CONTENT ON THE INTERNET FREE OR FETTERED Essay Example For Students

CONTENT ON THE INTERNET: FREE OR FETTERED? Essay Focus:This paper examines the nature of the problem caused by potentially offensive material on the Internet and summarizes current efforts to regulate content, along with reactions to those efforts. 1. Introduction: what is the problem?Earlier last year, anyone could have been forgiven for believing that the world had just discovered the Internet, and that it had, in the process, concluded that the Internet was awash with pornographic images, drugs information and general threats to the safety and good order of society. What was worse was that nobody appeared to be in charge of this new phenomenon: indeed, it was proudly proclaimed that no-one owns the Internet, except perhaps the millions of people throughout the world who contribute to it in various ways. This is seen in many quarters as its major benefit freely available information from numerous sources but it has also come rapidly to be regarded in some quarters as its most worrying feature. Everyone with access to the required technology is free to make material available via the Internet, and there appears to be no control over that material and so the cyberporn debate, amongst others, began on the WWW, in the media, an d in legislatures. As a result, suggestions have appeared which link the use of the Internet with the Oklahoma bombing, extremist political groups, the manufacture of ecstasy and other drugs, and with the ready availability of pornographic images and these are all problems which public libraries and schools are concerned about as they move towards providing access to the Internet. There were also fears that it was too easy to find this material inadvertently (as distinct from consciously searching it out): again it was felt that there was a threat to the innocent and the unwary, although an investigation, reported in the Guardian newspaper, estimated (Holderness, 1995) that the odds against finding a random pornographic image thus seem to be worse than 70,000:1. Given that a well-known British broadsheet newspaper recently listed the URL of a World Wide Web (WWW) site which included links to eight so-called top shelf magazines, inadvertent discovery can be regarded as a problem, although some commentators have denied this, saying that it requires effort to find these sites and to download images and so on. Inadvertent retrieval of offensive material is also less likely due to the increasing use of warnings placed at the start of WWW pages: my recent research suggests that the number of these warning signs appears to have grown considerably of 81 sites I investigated, 45% now have a warning notice which, amongst other things, requires users to be over the age of either 18 or 21. In some cases, users are required first to register by quoting a credit card number: this is not used to charge for access, simply to verify age, and a few sites have now begun to quote the Communications Decency Act as a reason for requiring proof of age. !Few if an y of the other sites actively prevent under-age users from accessing the pages, but at least there is no excuse for not knowing what the site contains. Of course, many would argue that such warnings will only serve to encourage access, especially by children and young people. It is not particularly difficult to find this material if one is consciously looking. The adult bulletin board systems advertise freely in many magazines, including some of the now well-established journals for the Internet, while telephone numbers of BBS and network addresses circulate freely in the newsgroups. On the WWW, the various search engines will retrieve Web pages with little difficulty, using keywords in sophisticated search strategies. Professor Harold Thimbleby suggested (Thimbleby 1995) at last years British Association meeting in Newcastle that 47% of the 11,000 most often repeated searches were pornographic, though it is very important to note that this does not indicate what proportion of the total number of searches this represents: unfortunately, Lycos will not release this information, so it is impossible to judge the relative extent of such searches (Whitney, 1996). Thus, enter the word sex on the Lycos search engine (which indexes over 130 million unique URLs, or Internet addresses) and you will told that there are 30,976 documents containing that term. However, of the first 50 URLs listed, 27 (54%) appeared not to contain pornographic images, but were instead either serious discussions of sexual matters, duplicate entries of one site, lists of newsgroups on the Internet, etc. Similarly, a search on drugs found 92% of the first 50 sites (17,504 were found) could not be considered as actively encouraging drug use, and of the first 50 documents listed under explosives, 60% stemmed from organizations with a legitimate interest in explosives such as professional institutions, etc. , although a number of the remaining sites were parts of The Terrorists Handbook, which does give recipes for bomb-making. The problem of accurately calculating the relative volume of potentially offensive material has confused the Internet since its growth first became noticeable. It is too easy to generate figures and then to use generalizations and apply them to the whole of the Internet to create the wrong impression, but it is often this false perception which generates so much concern in parents and legislators. This was a major criticism of the study by Marty Rimm last year which featured in Time Magazine , and was also used by US senators pushing through the Communications Decency Bill. Rimms study (Rimm, 1995) was interpreted by US Senators as proving that 83.5% of the Internet consisted of pornographic images, when in fact he only analyzed the adult sites and then extended his conclusion to the entire Internet. Examining only adult sites, it was hardly surprising that he could claim to have found a large percentage of such images. A more accurate figure has been calculated by Hoffman a!nd Novak , who point out that less than one-half of 1% (3% of 11%) of the messages on the Internet are associated with newsgroups that contain pornographic imagery. (Hoffman and Novak, 1995). The point appears to be that, while this material is available over the Internet, it is not there in the quantities which some people fear, though it is very difficult to change entrenched attitudes. A good friend who is a school librarian, told me recently that she is being given every encouragement to provide Internet access. Her first question was, But how do I stop the pupils finding all the pornography?. Once one page with the sought after material has been found, it is usually possible to link from that page to others on the same theme, just as one can follow citations in a journal article. Some WWW pages are simply that: links to other related pages, like bibliographies of their subject. The conclusion is that material which could give offense and which legislators in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Germany and New Zealand (to name but some of the countries actively investigating Internet content) are concerned about is there, but not in the quantities which some branches of the popular media would have us think. Having said that, it does appear that a lot of use is made of these sites, especially those providing the alleged pornographic images, though last year. The Guardian also found that the pornographic newsgroups generated much less traffic than, say a group listing job opportunities (Holderness, 1995). In a recent analysis, I found a high of 58,198 accesses per day and a low of 198 for 12 randomly chosen sites: the average daily figure for these sites was 14,578 accesses. Again, this figure must be treated cautiously, as it may not, in every case, represent the number of individuals accessing the site, but rather the number of times text or an image was!downlo aded: some accesses may result in multiple downloads. Some sites claim accesses far in excess of this: one million plus in a few months has been seen. This high level of demand is also a contributory factor in the rapid turnover of sites, which close down or are closed down regularly. The most frequent reason for closure is sheer overload on the server involved, which causes problems for other users: 41% of sites closed down in the course of one investigation and the single most frequently cited reason (58% of cases) was system overload. Concern over legal action or breaches of acceptable use policy tend to be less frequently cited as reasons for closure. The JANET Acceptable use policy in the UK already prohibits the use of JANET for a range of materials, including the obscene, libel and copyright infringement (UKERNA, 1995). We might also note that such sites have a relatively short life-span: 87% had been closed down within 6 months of start-up and 43% lasted only 2 months or less. So far, we have considered Internet access to the material which has caused most reported concern to various groups, but if we are considering the question of free or fettered access to networked resources, we might also look at a wide range of material which could be subject to criticism on completely different grounds, if only because of the rapidly increasing demands being placed on Internet bandwidth. Given that the original purpose of the Internet was academic research, why should such recreational material as home pages for football clubs, popular music groups, television or a students interests and hobbies be allowed space on servers? Somewhere on the Internet, Im told, is a list of one young mans CD collection: is this a sensible use of the resources? In the United States at least, the continuation of such sites (as well those containing the potentially more offensive material) are justified under the First Amendment, and they are symptomatic of the change in the na!ture of t he Internet from academic research tool to multi-media information resource. I want simply to raise the question here because it is part of the wider question of Internet regulation some universities do not permit students to maintain their own home pages because it is an inappropriate use of school resources. A further step in this direction has been taken by one British university which logs the thirty most popular URLs each week. The resulting list is examined and access to any sites which contravene user regulations may be blocked. This includes those sites which it is felt constitute a waste of university computing resources, and deliberate or reckless overloading of access links or of switching equipment is prohibited under the UKERNA JANET Acceptable use policy. So, to summarize this first part, we can say that there is material available over the Internet which causes concern in some quarters, either because of its content or because it is seen as a less than appropriate use of computing resources. We can also note that some degree of regulation is already in effect, especially in the university sector, though increasingly service providers are taking note of the problem. CompuServe, a major Internet provider, announced that it was blocking access to some 200 newsgroups, following complaints from the German Government about obscene materials which were being accessed from Germany. CompuServe say that there is no way in which they can selectively prevent access by users in one country, so their action applies to all CompuServe users. In addition, the German Land of Baden-Wrttemburg is investigating Deutsche Telekom to see if it can be considered as assisting in the dissemination of the views of a US-based neo-Nazi (Schofield, 1996)!. Comparing the two plays Essay4. How can we control the Internet?With that in mind, let us turn to ways in which some form of control can be exercised over the material which is currently found on the Internet. 4.1 Self-regulationThe most time-honored method is that of self-regulation: individuals or systems managers and administrators control what is made available from the systems under their control. It is they who have been responsible for most of the closures of sites which I mentioned earlier, primarily because of the load such sites place on the server, or because the material does not accord with an acceptable use policy. Many system administrators admit, however, that it is technically very difficult to control which sites their users access (as distinct from the material which users place online), though acceptable use policies are similarly relevant and there is some evidence of various monitoring procedures (which are made known to users) to ensure that use policies are adhered to. It would appear from a 1992 study, however, that obscene or harassing material is not the primary concern of systems administrators: the most frequently occurring incidents are virus infection and the printing o!f non-academic materials on university-owned printers (Stager, 1992). Complaints that, for example, the contents of BBS were obscene were mentioned by less than one third of the computer centre directors in this survey. There is also, as Stager has pointed out, a potential source of confusion in the minds of computer centre directors. More than two-thirds of those asked agreed that university-operated bulletin boards are subject to restrictions if their content is clearly libelous or obscene, but less than half agreed that they had a general understanding of what my campus community considers obscene. Again, we have the problem of defining our terms. I have already mentioned the growing use of warning signs as an example of self-regulation: they do not prohibit access, but no-one can be under any illusion about the content of such sites. Acceptable use policies on the part of organizations (such as universities and private sector companies) and of service providers must also count as self-regulation, and there are instances where these have been used to prohibit access to, and provision of, material judged to be offensive and/or illegal. The UKERNA guidelines are an example, since it as a result of these that many UK universities block access to the more controversial newsgroups, but many such institutions and providers have developed similar policies: many of these are available on the WWW. The British Computer Societys Schools Committee has produced guidelines to prevent computer misuse which recognize the existence of potentially offensive material and give advice on the development of a suitable policy (British Comput!er Soci ety Schools Committee). For many Internet and WWW users, self-regulation is the only way in which to control content, anything else being seen as an infringement of freedom of speech or civil liberty (especially in the United States). In the United Kingdom, this seems, for the moment, to be the route which will be taken by Government, which feels that a code of conduct is the best route forward, and presumably the Internet industry will now sit down to establish that code, preventing the storage and distribution of offensive material. 4.2. Parental/Teacher controlAs Internet access becomes a growing feature of schools and homes, parents worry about what their children are seeing and reading in class or in the privacy of their rooms, and teachers are concerned about the implications if, during one of their classes, a pupil stumbles across or goes looking for a pornographic image, a discussion on abortion rights, or where to buy marijuana. Many have argued that, rather than introduce sweeping legislation which will, it is claimed, be the end of the Internet, parents and teachers should take responsibility for their childrens actions. The analogy is often drawn with teaching our children to cross the road safely and to deal with traffic: we dont let them wander off on their own, but show them the dangers and how to avoid them. Gradually, as they learn and mature, they are allowed to do things on their own. Similarly, it is argued, parents should accompany their children on their first Internet surfing, pointing out the dangers in the process. To help parents and teachers in this, a number of software packages have been developed to shut out access to the more offensive material. Programs like NetNanny, CyberSitter, SurfWatch and Internet Filter block access to sites containing certain listed words: this stop list comes built-in to the software, but it can be added to by parents to suit specific requirements. In some cases, attempts to access prohibited sites are logged and can be inspected by parent or teacher, which could, if it was known, help to stop such attempts. There is even a version for business use: presumably it could also be used to prevent staff from wasting time surfing the Net!4.3 Government legislationHowever, anyone who has kept an eye on the scene over the last twelve months will be aware that the big (and now rather complicated) story in controlling the Internet is the passage of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) through the US Senate, initially accompanied by two other broadly similar bills, plus a fourth which is believed to take a slightly different line and could be more acceptable to the majority of Internet users. The amended CDA was passed by a single vote in a House/Senate conference committee and became effectively an amalgam of two bills passed by the House and the Senate respectively. The three most restrictive bills, which have come in for the most criticism, all seek to make it illegal to transmit indecent material and would make both online service providers and content providers liable. The fourth bill was thought to avoid such action and to empower parents and teachers to control Internet access. The CDA was passed at the beginning of February 1996, and signed into law on 8 February. It was immediately the subject of a law suit to the US Attorney General by the American Civil Liberties Union and 19 other complainants, who have succeeded in having some parts of the act declared unconstitutional: as a result, it is in abeyance at the time of writing. A similar suit has been filed by a coalition of industry and online organizations, including the American Library Association. The chief criticism directed at the act relates to its attempts to make service providers liable and to the fact that, at the last minute, the word indecent was substituted for the word obscene. The argument against this development is that the concept of indecent material is vague but more wide-ranging than obscene, and that it would include not only sexually explicit material but texts which are now regarded as classics of literature. The oft-quoted example is that this bill would prohibit the distribution of such classic works of fiction as Catcher in the Rye or Lady Chatterleys Lover , when most thought that this was a battle already won. The bill would also give the US Federal Communication Commission some authority to regulate online speech. It should be noted that opposition to the CDA is not limited to the online community and such organizations as Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the American Civil Liberties Union, or the Center for Democracy and Technology. Newt Gingrich has already suggested that such efforts are unconstitutional and the US Justice Department has said that the legislation is unnecessary (it believes it has all the legislation they need to prosecute where necessary). Other opponents have said that such legislation will only result in the creation of an underground Internet, where the material objected to will still circulate freely and could still be accessed by those in the know. Not only would this legislation prohibit literary works, but also the serious discussions of many topics and problems to do with sexual matters. There would be a threat to AIDS information, mutually supportive discussions of abuse and many other online forums which, enthusiasts claim, can be very important to those affected. Its effect on discussions of abortion rights have already been challenged as a breach of the US constitution. This is currently the only impending legislation which seeks to control content on the Internet: many other countries are investigating the question, and the UK government, for example, would prefer to establish a code of conduct, as I indicated earlier. However, I think we can be sure that, if the USA passes this or similar legislation, many other countries will face considerable pressure to do likewise: the pressure is already there in the French efforts to introduce European legislation. 5. ConclusionThe question of a free or fettered Internet is not an easy one: so many variables come into play, and in many instances we can only have a personal reaction to the problem of offensive material on computer networks. The overwhelming majority of Internet users agree on the need to protect our young people from this material, but the way to do so, they argue, is to involve parents and teachers and to educate our children, just as we educate them about the dangers of road traffic. The problem, it is argued, is not as serious as some would have us think, and legislation is too big a hammer for this particular nut: it would destroy more than it would protect. The next few months are going to be both interesting and crucial to the future shape of the Internet. ReferencesBritish Computer Society Schools Committee (1995) Preventing the misuse of computers in schools, Swindon, British Computer Society. CCTA Ethics Collaborative Open Group (1995) Superhighways Ethics Project: ReportFederal Department of Communications and the Arts, Australia (1995). Consultation paper on the regulation of on-line information services, 7 July 1995. The Guardian (1996). Singapor to censor Internet. 6 March, 12. Hoffman, D. and Novak, T. (1995) A detailed analysis of the conceptual, logical, and methodological flaws in the article: marketing pornography on the information superhighwayHolderness, M. (1995) In search of a sea of sex, The Guardian, 2 August,19. (Also available through the Guardian Online Archives search facility) Information Highway Advisory Council (1995) Connection, community, content: the challenge of the information highway. Final report of the Information Highway Advisory Council, Ottawa, Industry Canada. Merel, P. (1995) Response to consultation paper on the regulation of on-line information services, Electronic Frontiers AustraliaRimm, M. (1995) Marketing pornography on the information superhighway: a survey of 917,410 images, description, short stories and animations downloaded 8.5 million times by consumers in over 2000 cities in forty countries, provinces and territoriesSansom, G. (1995) Illegal and offensive content on the information highway: a background paper. Ott awa, Industry Canada; Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Sector. Schofield, J. (1996) This comment is free for now, The Guardian Online, 26 JanuaryStager, S.F. (1992) Computer Ethics violations: more questions than answers. EDUCOM Review , 27 (4), 1992,Thimbleby, H. (1995) Problems in the global villageUKERNA (1995) JANET acceptable use policy, London, UKERNA, Whitney, T. (1996) Personal communication, 18 January.

Homeostasis free essay sample

Homeostasis by definition is the technical term for the process of maintaining a constant internal environment despite changes in the external environment. The internal environment comprises of blood, tissue fluid, body cell contents and all metabolic processes taking place inside the body. This process is essential to the survival of a person and to our species as a whole. The liver, the kidneys, and the brain (hypothalamus, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system) help maintain homeostasis. An inability to maintain homeostasis may lead to death or a disease, for example diseases that can occur due to the result of a homeostatic imbalance include diabetes, dehydration, hypoglycaemia, gout and any disease caused by the presence of a toxin in the bloodstream. Lucky though medical intervention can help restore homeostasis and possibly prevent permanent damage to the organs. How does Homeostasis Work? Homeostasis occurs due to a control mechanism in the body known as negative feedback. We will write a custom essay sample on Homeostasis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Negative feedback occurs when a key variable, such as the PH of blood and tissue fluid, deviates from the acceptable range, and triggers responses that return the variable to a normal range. In basic terms, negative feedback triggers a response that counteracts the deviation which will allow the variable to stay in the normal range. The brain and nervous system both play a major role in controlling homeostasis mechanisms. This is due to the fact that both help the body to anticipate when key variables might rise or fall beyond the accepted range and send signals to the effectors to reverse the change and re-establish the original state. Homeostasis and heart rate Homeostasis is responsible for managing the heart rate. This is controlled by the autonomic nervous system which as two branches, namely the sympathetic nervous and the parasympathetic nervous system. Both these systems are responsible for managing the heart rate. The sympathetic nervous system is active when the body is undergoing muscular work, fear or stress. It causes each heartbeat to increase in strength as well causing an increase in heart rate. The sympathetic nervous system is boosted by the hormone adrenaline during periods of fright, flight and fight. Its nerves are the cardiac nerves. During exercise, a change in sympathetic activity is the predominant mechanism by which speeding and slowing of the heart is achieved. The parasympathetic nervous system calms the heart output and is active during resting, peace and contentment. The Parasympathetic system is the branch of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) responsible for the body’s ability to recuperate and return to a balanced state (homeostasis). The Parasympathetic functions in opposition to the Sympathetic nervous system. When the sympathetic system activates in response to some sort of stressor, the parasympathetic reacts in turn to bring the body back to a state of equilibrium. The main parasympathetic nerve is the vagus nerve and if this is severed the heart beats faster. During exercise the parasympathetic activity decreases as the increase in heart rate during exercise is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system. Both branches of the autonomic nervous system interrelate with each other through the pacemaker (S-A-node). This is a cluster of cells in the right atrium that regulate the heart to suite the circumstances. The cardiac Centre is found in the brain and is responsible for controlling the impulses of the SA Node; this means that the cardiac Centre essentially controls the heart and the heart rate. The Cardiac Centre controls the heart rate by detecting change in blood PH levels through the use of chemoreceptors, the Cardiac Centre also sends nerve impulses to the pace maker and vagus nerves to change the heart rate. During exercise hormones are secreted by the Adrenal gland therefore increasing the activity of the heart. Internal receptors play a role in the heart rate, chemoreceptor’s measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the body whilst baroreceptors measure the blood pressure. Both of which can have an influence on the heart rate. During exercise the body is deprived of oxygen therefore to absorb oxygen the chemoreceptors increase the rate of respiration. As a result of this the heart rate increases as well. Homeostasis and body temperature Thermoregulation is the term used to describe homeostasis and temperature regulation, which is governed by the hypothalamus gland within the brain, both the hypothalamus and receptors in the skin help monitor changes in external and internal temperature, activating the negative feedback system when temperatures exceed or fall beyond normal levels. When this occurs, the effects of homeostasis and temperature control are visible and voluntary, mainly relating to consciously choosing to take off clothing or putting more on to become cooler or warmer. In response to hotter conditions, the body may also react by producing sweat, which serves as a bodily cooling system. Thermoregulation during exercise will try to prevent heat from entering the body; this is done by the hairs on the skin lying flat, preventing heat from being trapped by the layer of still air between the hairs. This is caused by tiny muscles under the surface of the skin called arrector pili muscles relaxing so that their attached hair follicles are not erect. With homeostasis and temperature control in regards to cooler temperatures, the body may start shivering to generate heat through increased activity in the muscles. The adrenal and thyroid glands may produce chemicals and hormones, such as adrenaline and thyroxine to help generate internal heat. When you exercise, your body’s temperature increases, and in attempt to cool you off, your sweat glands the effectors are activated. Heat is generated from a variety of sources. The majority of heat we get is from metabolic processes such as catabolism where energy is transformed during the breakdown of large molecules. These reactions take place across the body and thus are a massive generator of heat. We also get heat from hot food and drinks that we consume as well as from the sun’s rays in extreme cases. However it is important to understand that excess exposure to the sun is not good for your health. When you exercise, the rate at which your body makes energy rapidly increases. This is also known as the metabolic rate. Heat is produced during metabolism, so an increase in metabolic rate also increases heat production. More heat production means a larger rise in body temperature during exercise. For example when we do vigorous exercise our body breaks down muscles fibres and catabolism causes them to rebuild again causing our body temperature to rise due to the heat being generated from the reaction. The skin also has an effect on temperature; functions of the skin include waterproofing the body, protecting the body against radiation and Protecting tissues from friction damage. The skin can help the body lose heat in a number of different ways: Conduction – this is when you body comes in to contact with an object and the heat is generated to the object through the body Convection – this is when you warm up the layer of air next to your skin and it moves upwards to be replaced by cooler air from the ground Radiation – Heat passes from your skin to warm up any colder objects around you and because of this you will warm up by radiation from any object hotter than yourself Evaporation of sweat – When liquid water is converted into water, it requires heat energy to do so. When you are hot, sweating will only cool the skin if it can take heat energy from the skin surface to convert to water vapour and evaporate. Exercise brings about an increase in internal body temperature and skin blood flow. At high environmental temperatures, when skin temperature is elevated, skin blood flow at any given internal temperature reaches higher levels than at cooler skin temperatures. Increased blood flow serves to deliver metabolic heat from the core to the skin. Homeostasis and breathing rate Respiratory rate is controlled by a part of the brain called the medulla, whose main purpose is to maintain a constant rate of respiration. The respiratory rate is defined as the number of breaths a person takes during a one-minute period of time while at rest. The rate of respiration can be influenced by the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, which makes the chemoreceptors aroused, thus leading to impulses being sent by the medulla to the intercostals nerves to increase the breathing rate. The control of the nerves, impulses and the breathing organs in order to create an equilibrium that provides a suitable internal environment is through homeostasis. Like the heart, respiration increases in line with exercise intensity in order to supply the increased O2 demands of the working muscles The internal receptors that are responsible for breathing rate are known as stretch receptors; these receptors are found in the tissues and muscles and have the function of informing the nervous system on the status of ventilation. The autonomic nervous system plays a role in the pace of our breathing; the sympathetic nervous system relaxes the muscles which slow down the breathing rate whilst the parasympathetic nervous system causes contraction. When we exercise our lungs expand, when the lung tissue is stretched by inflation, the stretch receptors respond by sending impulses to the respiratory centre, which in turn slows down the rate of inhalations. As the expiratory phase begins, the receptors are no longer stretched, impulses are no longer sent, and inhalation can begin again. This is called the Hering-Breuer deflation reflex. The respiratory Centre is located in the medulla, the respiratory Centre is known as the involuntary Centre because we can’t control it voluntarily. The respiratory sector consists of two groups of nerve cells referred to as the inspiratory and the expiratory Centre. The respiratory Centre controls the rate and depth of the respiratory movements of the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles. As the carbon dioxide levels increase, as it does during exercise, the respiratory Centre strengthens the signal stimulating the breathing. Responding to this stronger signal, the respiratory muscles increase both the speed and depth of breathing. The inspiratory Centre sends nerve impulses to the nerves of the diaphragm whilst the expiratory Centre sends impulses to the respiratory system, causing relaxation and expiration; because both systems have opposite functions when one is active the other is not. The action of breathing in and out is due to changes of pressure within the thorax, in comparison with the outside. This action is also known as external respiration, when we inhale the intercostals muscles (between the ribs) and diaphragm contract to expand the chest cavity allowing more oxygen to enter the body. Your breathing is under both voluntary and involuntary control, and involves two distinct phases: inhalation and exhalation. Inhalation typically is an active movement, and it involves muscle contraction from your diaphragm, abdominal muscles and intercostal muscles to be maximally effective. When you inhale, your diaphragm contracts and moves downward, away from your chest cavity, and the pressure in your lungs drops, when we exhale your diaphragm relaxes and shifts upward into your chest cavity. Your diaphragm also helps you vomit, expel solid and liquid waste. The abdominal muscles are the muscles help move your diaphragm during inhalation and give you more power to empty your lungs. Your intercostal muscles are important ventilatory muscles, but they should only be actively used during activitiessuch as vigorous exercisethat require significant rib cage expansion and a corresponding increase in oxygen intake. Homeostasis and glucose levels Glucose concentrations in the blood stream are primarily controlled by the action of two antagonistic pancreatic hormones, insulin and glucagon. Glucose is first detected in the bloodstream by glucose transporter receptors expressed on the surface of specialized pancreatic cells known as alpha- and beta-cells. Beta-cells respond to rising levels of blood glucose by secreting the hormone insulin. Insulin restores normal levels of glucose in the blood by signalling body tissues to take up glucose for energy, or to convert glucose to glycogen and lipids as future energy stored in the liver, muscle and fat cells. Basically if blood glucose levels are too high the pancreases will secrete insulin which will help to lower the blood glucose levels In the event of low levels of glucose, the alpha-cells of the pancreas release the hormone glucagon to stimulate skeletal muscle and the liver to breakdown glycogen into glucose and adipose tissue to digest lipids into fatty acids and glycerol. Glucagon also stimulates the liver to synthesize glucose from glycerol in the blood. All these reactions work together to raise glucose levels back to normal. Basically if blood glucose levels are too low the liver will release glycogen into the blood stream to increase the glucose levels in the body. When you exercise, your body responds to the activity by releasing hormones that cause your body to increase blood glucose levels. This occurs through a process called gluconeogenesis or glycogenesis that happens in the liver. Glucose that has been previously converted and stored in the liver as glycogen is converted back to glucose and sent to the muscles. In the muscles, the glucose is broken down to yield ATP, which is the fuel source for muscles. Changes in the body during exercise (general) During exercise your body can undergo a number of changes that have already been mentioned in the document but for the sake of summarising the information here is the effect on exercise on the body. During exercise, your heart rate will rapidly increase due to the amount of exercise you are doing but will slowly return to normal when you are at rest or you get exhausted. If you continue to exercise, your heart rate will increase right up until you near exhaustion, at which the heart rate levels off as it approaches its maximum level. The heart rate of an individual during exercise will be heavily dependent upon the current fitness level of Your body temperature will change depending on the intensity of the exercise you are doing. If the temperature goes to high, you might get overheated and get dizzy; this is why your body sweats, to cool off. This is known as a homeostatic response. If it goes to low, it means you’re not even doing exercise. During exercise especially training that requires explosive movements (sprinting) it is common for sweating to occur and for the body to be feeling tired due to the build-up of lactic acid from anaerobic respiration. Your glucose levels or sugar levels are very important and must not change dramatically during exercise or you might start to experience side effects. You might start to feel weaker and less energetic if your glucose levels get to low whereas if they are too high, you might become really hyper. This is because we rely heavily on glucose for energy in the body. Finally, your breathing rate is determined by the amount of oxygen you take in, which is also affected by the amount of exercise you do. You could get out of breath really quickly if you don’t exercise properly to allow the right build-up of oxygen in the lungs. The breathing rate of an individual is dependent upon their current fitness levels as a fit person would have to take in less breathes to receive oxygen than an unfit person would due the fit person having a lower resting heart rate. Importance of Homeostasis in maintaining healthy functions of the body Homeostasis is incredibly important in maintaining the functions of the body by identifying deviances in the norms and making sure they are taken care of as efficiently as possible. If our body is unable to maintain homeostasis, we get weaker and in the worst case scenario, we effectively die. This is called homeostatic imbalance. Homeostatic imbalance can lead to diabetes and dehydration amongst other problems. Homeostasis in the body is maintained through three of the body’s vital organs, the brain, the kidney and the liver. Together, these organs regulate body temperature, the iron content in our blood, the retention and production of energy and overall blood composition. If homeostasis did not function properly the heart rate would escalate and drop at rapid rates causing death due to the heart either pumping too much causing heart attacks and other ailments or pumping to less causing lack of oxygen to the body. This is due to the autonomic nervous system controlling the heart rate and the internal receptors picking up any deviances. If homeostasis did not function properly the body temperature would not be able to change when conditions are extreme. For example if the temperature was very hot our body would eventually experience severe problems that are associated with heat such as heat stroke and hyperthermia and at a much faster rate than normal. This is because without homeostasis our bodies would not be able to revert back to normal temperatures and mechanisms such as sweating to cool our bodies down would not come into play meaning that are temperature would stay hot which would eventually result in our deaths as are body can only function at a certain temperature otherwise our organs would fail. Likewise if we became cold and homeostasis didn’t help correct the imbalance our bodies would be more likely to contact conditions such as hypothermia which would greatly affect our bodies’ ability for metabolism and other reactions that occur in the body as well as our bodily functions. If homeostasis did not function properly we would likely die due to our chemoreceptors not picking up the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood resulting in poisoning as our bodies would not increase the breathing rate to take in more oxygen and reduce the carbon dioxide. Along with this the respiratory centre would not function properly as would the autonomic nervous system which would mean that if your breathing rate were to increase it would remain at that rate due to homeostasis being unable to correct the deviance. If homeostasis did not regulate blood glucose we would die as glucose are our primary source of energy within the body. Without homeostasis our bodies would not be able to differentiate between high or low blood sugar. If our blood sugar levels were to low the pancreas would not be able to secrete glycogen due to the fact that the Alpha cells would not pick up the deviance. This means that the glycogen would not be able to be converted into glucose because the pancreas would not know to release glycogen. Likewise if blood sugar levels were too high the body would not no to release insulin from the pancreas because the beta cells would not pick up the deviance. This is how diabetes occurs.

Sophie essays

Sophie essays Sophies World, by Jostein Gaarder, is a fantasy novel that explores the history of philosophy. It takes place in Norway in the 1990s. Some of the themes in the book are philosophy and free will. Dreams in the book often foreshadow events that occur later. Sophie is the primary narrator but point of view begins to switch between Sophie and Hilde. Albert Knags point of view is also told in a few pages of the novel. The story comes to a climax when Sophie and Alberto disappear from the party. The falling action is when Hilde gives Albert Knag a taste of his own medicine, while Sophie and Alberto explore life as a spirit. The characters are Sophie, Alberto, Hilde, Albert Knag, Sophies mother, Joanna, Hildes mother, Sophies father, Jeremy, and Hermes. Sophie is the main character. She is a creation of Albert Knags, and is meant to be a birthday present for Hilde. She is the same age as Hilde and their birthdays are on the same day. She learns from Albert but she thinks by herself. She is critical of everyone around her. She is very mature for her age and is quite the little philosopher. Although Alberto knows more about philosophy than Sophie, when they escape Albert Knags mind and gain an existence of their own, as spirits existing within Hildes world, Sophie gets along better. Alberto is Sophies philosophy teacher. He is a true philosopher in the fact that he thinks he knows nothing. He values time spent with company that can teach him something. In the beginning he is the one teaching Sophie but in the end they treat each other as equals. He holds onto his ability to think as the one thing that makes him human. He is great at reasoning and thinking things out. Hilde is Albert Knags daughter. She is why Sophie and Alberto were created. She is compassionate. She is willing to believe in things no matter what anyone else thinks, like Sophie. On her fifteenth birt...

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY - Essay Example Other research has offered a concrete evidence favoring instability in the yield curve of the United States. The evidence is referenced with a rising theory on the side of macroeconomic where the inflation dynamic and real activity was characterized by significant period variation in various industrialized economies. The function of this paper double folds. First, the paper assesses the extent of period variation in the changes of some yield curve and macroeconomic variables. Secondly, the paper investigates if the term structure analysis can shed new dimensions of the performance of UK macroeconomic of the last five years. It is emphasized that various present studies have analyzed the UK macro economy dynamics and its term structure in situ. There is also a systematic investigation on the evolution of the connection between the yield curve and the economy over time. The paper specifies the relationship between finance and macro like in Nelson-Siegel model UK yield curve from 2008-2 012 Financial Instrument for the Yield Curves Gilt-edged securities Normal gilt is a sure way by the nation to make payments of the guilt. A fixed cash payment is made semi-annually until a maturity date is attained. At maturity, the holder receives the terminal coupon and the principal. The index-linked gilt is generated to protect the investment value (Mishkin, 2012). General Collateral sale and repurchase agreement The transactions of selling and repurchasing involve the temporal exchange of gilt and cash between partners; gilts are used as collaterals. The fund ‘slender will hold gilt as collateral, so is safeguarded when the borrower defaults. The repo of the General Collateral is the rated for repurchasing agreement where gilt may be utilized as collateral. Therefore, the General collateral was closer to the risk-free rates. The contracts of Repo are traded actively for maturities annually. The rates prevailing on the Repo contracts are equal to the yields of the convent ional gilts maturity (Ritter , Silber, Udell ", 2009). Interbank loans An interbank loan is a loan where the lender receives a certain agreed sum at call. The loan was not tradable. The offer rate was the interest rate the bank was willing to lend cash to financial institutions. The offer rate was calculated by mean of the medium offer rates that was collected at 11 am from 16 financial institutions. Short sterling future A short sterling contract was the future contract of sterling interest rate that settled on the LIBOR rate that prevailed on the delivery date of the contract. The contracts were traded and standardized between the Options Exchange and London International Financial Future members. Forward rate agreement This is the Over the Counter contract where the counter parties decide to exchange the difference in the LIBOR rate and agreed interest rate. We calculated the payment against the principal. The instrument allowed organizations to be held in future lending rate s and interbank borrowing. Unlike the future contracts, the instrument was a bilateral agreement having no secondary market (Madura ", 2008). Swaps This is where the two counterparts decide to exchange the payments of interest rates for payments of floating interest rates, based on the notional principal at the beginning of successive periods. The instrument was equal to a

Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Review - Essay Example The informal networks within the organization are rarely depicted (if they are known at all!) The background concepts you have seen before. Remember Appendix A? I am still amazed at how the work ÃŽ ¿f Randolph and Dess has persisted. We still use much ÃŽ ¿f the terminology they coined. Some distinction is made about the differences between line and staff personnel. The concept ÃŽ ¿f line vs. staff authority is not really addressed. Line authority is clear positional authority to make decisions relating to the work ÃŽ ¿f the firm. Classically this means the manager on the line producing the product. Line authority is real, legitimate authority--within the legitimate realm ÃŽ ¿f the manager. Staff authority is advisory--staff experts make recommendations that line managers may use or not. The information perspective--asks managers to assess the uncertainty in the external environment. Two possible strategies: design structures in the organization that increase information gathering about the environment. Or, design flexibility into the organization. Environmental uncertainty is affected by the complexity ÃŽ ¿f the external environment and whether that environment is stable or rapidly changing. Higher complexity and rapid change creates the most uncertainty. This harkens back to the idea that mechanistic organizations tend to be possible in very stable environments and organic organizations tend to be successful in complex, unstable ones--like the microcomputer industry. Randolph, W. Alan; Gregory G. Dess. The Congruence Perspective ÃŽ ¿f Organization Design: A Conceptual Model and Multivariate Research Approach. Academy ÃŽ ¿f Management. The Academy ÃŽ ¿f Management Review (pre-1986); Jan 1984 Management has a specific economic & social objective hence is can be applied everywhere. It is a continuous, multidisciplinary, dynamic process. "Management is a multipurpose organ that manages a business manages a manager and manages workers and work" as defined by Peter Druker.

Cultural competence and its promotion in the education system Essay Example for Free

Cultural competence and its promotion in the education system Essay The demise of racial segregation in the 1960s saw the emergence of cultural diversity with colored and non colored students now being taught under the same roof. From then on, schools have seen an increasingly diverse mix of students, matters having been complicated further by globalization, which has resulted in more diverse cultures making the United States their country of choice. Diversity is good and must be appreciated; the only problem is that if not handled well it may have the potential of creating apathy between the different cultures making up the cultural mix so that instead of a system becoming a cultural melting pot, it becomes the crystallization chamber. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of culture in molding competent students. Cultural competence More often than not, competence is construed in its narrowest definition, which is mostly in reference to acquisition of the necessary skills for the performance of a job. For this paper however, competence will be in reference to both culture and knowledge. Ahlawat and Ahlawat (2006) found the influence of globalization to be so enormous to the extent that multicultural diversity is now amongst the key ingredients for students aspiring for a global career. An equally important finding is by Thomas (2006), who emphasized the importance of cultural intelligence in the business environment. The role of culture within the organizations is captured by Berrell and Gloet (1999), who did a study on influence of culture in organizational culture and found it significant. The study implies that for one to blend seamlessly in to an organization there must be a level of cultural competence because there seems to be a thin line between the culture within and without the organization. For instance, according to the study, an organization within Malaysia will most likely have a culture similar to that of Malaysian people. If one has problems adapting to the Malaysian culture then the person’s work output may be greatly limited. The role of the education system in such a scenario will be to create a culturally competent global citizen. It cannot of course be expected that students will be trained to adapt to certain cultures only, instead, skills to adapt to diverse cultures will be imparted. Such a skill is given by Arizaga, Waldo and Castellanos (2005), who found that teachers who participated in multicultural enhancement program showed increase cultural competence in the form of listening and expressive skills. Evidently, these are adaptive skills that once acquired may be applied in any cultural setting. Educator’s role in promoting cultural competence The design of the education system should ensure that it produces tolerant people capable of adapting to any cultures. One of the ways given by Arizaga et al (2005) is by having multicultural enhancement programs to promote listening and expressive skills. Pope and Mueller (2005) also emphasize the need to integrate diversity issues in designing education programs. This can perhaps be described as the cornerstone of achieving cultural competence because if its importance can be taken in to account in the training of educators then eventually the educators that will end up in the field preparing the students will know what it entails to be culturally competent, and will thereafter pass on the skill. Pope, Mueller and Reynolds (2009) appear to agree with the importance of having culturally competent educators when it pays tribute to student affairs professionals for the increased number of multicultural scholarships in the last three decades. The emphasis should therefore be on getting culturally competent educators on board the educational system if substantial results are to be expected. . Further to that, the authors are also urging the educators not to simply embrace diversity; they should actually seek it proactively. In addition to promoting cultural competence in as far as interacting with people from other ethnic, racial and national cultures, the education system should promote tolerance to homosexuals. This is according to Liang and Alimo (2005), who suggested that the education system could promote a more positive attitude of heterosexual students towards homosexual students by encouraging interaction between the two groups, something the study found to increase tolerance between the two groups. An equally important aspect of attitude development in the education system is the acquisition of positive views of self worth and meaningfulness Coll and Zalaquet (2007). Its importance in promoting cultural competence may not be obvious, but it is not hard to imagine how a person with a feeling of high self worth and meaning will find it rational to respect other people’s rights. A challenge to achieving cultural diversity is presented by Salazar (2005) who cites challenges faced by counsellors of color. Counselors of color according to the research are faced with prejudices in their interactions with white middle class students. Sadly, this may be an in built mentality, which may take some time to get rid of but fortunately, cultural competence presents one of the remedies to this inappropriate attitude. Implications of the findings Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that the education system plays a big role in shaping the national psyche. Among other functions, Gay (2009) says that education plays an important role bringing up constructive students. The element of constructiveness goes beyond cultural competence and ropes in other areas such as raw knowledge and social skills. In fact, according to the article the education system may play role in promoting democracy. The upshot of all this is that an educator must realize that the challenges and objectives of the education system are dynamic and for one to remain relevant, it is important to continuously adapt to the changes. For instance, a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that the education system would want to promote tolerance towards homosexuals; these were outcasts for whom there was little concern. However, the reality of the output focused employment present today has ensured increased tolerance to such people and thus the need for a change in approach. An educator will be differentiated from any other knowledgeable person from their ability to produce all rounded graduates. Some of the important traits to be considered include cultural competence and tolerance. For example, if the task is to teach students mathematics without considerations to the other aspects then that can even be done by anybody with the basic knowledge needed to teach the particular subject. The professional educator must be easy to differentiate from other people possessing the same level of knowledge, and one of the hallmarks of this is the ability to produce culturally competent students among other things. Conclusion From the study, cultural competence has proven to be a very important subject area for one’s development. Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that they will acquire some of their lifelong traits there. Global occupational mobility is on the rise and one of the key ingredients to it is cultural competence. People with less of it will have a very hard time adapting to the different work environments that will be made available by the increased mobility. One’s work output is not a function of skills competence only; it must also include the person’s ability to work with people, which means adopting the narrow minded definition of education will produce half baked students. References Ahlawat, S. , Ahlawat, S. (2006, ). Competing in the Global Knowledge Economy: Implications for Business Education.. Journal of American Academy of Business, 8(1), 101-105. Arizaga, M. B. , Waldo, M. , Castellanos, L. (2005). Multicultural Sensitivity and Interpersonal Skills Training for Preservice Teachers. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 198-202. Berrell, M. , Gloet, M. (1999). Reflections on the cultural dimensions of educational administration. EAF Journal, 13(2), 10. Coll, J. , Zalaquet, C. (2007). The Relationship of Worldviewsof Advisors and Students and satisfaction with advising: A Case of Homogenous. Journal of College Student Retention, 9(3), 273-281. Gay, G. (2009). Similar Concerns, Different Perspectives of Social Studies and Multicultural Education. Social Studies Review, 48(1), 25-27. Liang, C. , Alimo, C. (2005). The Impact of White Heterosexual Students’ Interactions on Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of College Student Development, 46(3), 237-250. Pope, R. , Mueller, J. (2005). Faculty and Curriculum: Examing Multicultural Competence and Inclusion. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6), 679-688. Pope, R. , Mueller, J. , Reynolds, A. (2009). Looking Back and Moving Forward: Future Directions for Diversity Research in Student Affairs. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6), 640-659 Salazar, C. (2005). Outsiders in a White, Middle-Class System: Counselor Educators of Color on Academe. Jounral of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 240-252. Thomas, D. (2006). Domain and Development of Cultural Intelligence: The Importance of Mindfulness. Group Organization Management, 31(1), 78-99.