Analysis of My Last Duchess and Ulyssis

â€Å"My Last Duchess† is a vivid and striking monologue written in 1842. This poem represents the first part of the joint pieces called â€Å"Italy and France†. The poem consists of twenty eight rhyming couplets that are, in my mind, dominated by iambic pentameter. Robert Browning main tool to use in the poem is breaking the lines for regular and irregular pauses. This tool makes the poem very easy and enjoyable to read, and creates easy conversational flow. The poem begins with the line â€Å"Ferrara†. The readers finds himself in a house of a very wealthy duke with a lengthy title and immense power.At the beginning of the poem we are shown that the duke represents the amazing specially made collection of art he possesses. We hear the voice of the main character when he and his guest stop next to the painting with the duke’s last wife. The narrator starts to describe the painting, though rapidly moving to the describing of the duchess herself. From his m onolog it becomes obvious that the narrator considered his late wife to be also one of his possessions that were commissioned for him according to his will.From the very beginning of the poem the narrator is clear to be portrayed as a person depleted of morality and honesty. The poem shows corruption and wickedness of the speaker's character with this presenting similar traits of the society of that time. The people then wanted to possess everything can be naturally possessed or not. In his poem â€Å"Ulysses† Tennyson transports us to the Victorian times. The poem structure is also a dramatic monologue. Throughout the poem Tennyson uses enjambment in order to reproduce the meaning and content of the poem which is that of sailing beyond death.Tennyson’s poem is deep and resonant, he uses high-sounding verse, particularly by setting different vowel sounds closely against each other. In the poem â€Å"Ulysses† the main character is a hero, a warrior and a famous A ncient Greek traveler. He refuses to sit behind and unwind. His whole life is concerned with traveling, taking on adventures, competing and battling, he simply rejects that a man can be an â€Å"idle king† (Davis). Both of the poems, ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning and ‘Ulysses’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, are examples of dramatic monologues.As it was already mentioned above they both exclusively consist of the monologs of the protagonists. In both poems there are powerful noble men ruminating about past, though they are very different. What is also different are the poetic devices used in the poems to present these two main characters. The first difference between the main characters is the way they came into power and how they exercise it. The rich Italian duke has acquired all his riches from the â€Å"nine-hundred-years-old-name†.He was born with lengthy titles, in the family with already established name. In his life he never had to do anything to achieve some position. His whole life he went with the flow, expecting others to admire him and his name and follow his orders. On the contrary, Ulysses has earned his status of a hero after battling in Troy, where he showed his nobility and courage. He is respected by people not because his name tells enough for him and leads to common obedient admiring. They respect him because he is a warrior fighting for Greece.At it can be seen from the previous paragraph the characters of the duke and Ulysses are very different. Even though they both get killed at the end of the poems, the reads see that the ways they took death also says a lot about who they are. Wee see that Ulysses is killed as a hero, while the Duke of Ferrara’s killing is very far from being heroic. What is interesting is that the way the duke was killed was not even personal. Even for his death he gave out orders and expected the job to be done for him.

“A Day without Feminism” Response

After reading â€Å"A Day without Feminism†, I literally said aloud, â€Å"Wow, I’ve taken so many things for granted†. I’m pretty sure my roommate thinks I’m strange for this sudden outburst, but it really shocked me to see how far the women’s movement has taken our society in such a short amount time. In the last paragraph, the question is asked â€Å"Has feminism changed our lives? † The answer to that question is yes. I grew up attending a child-care center, playing in Little League, and taking the classes that everyone in my class took whether male or female. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were what we liked to call â€Å"grandma† books. I won two softball State Championships on the varsity level. I took pre-calculus and calculus, while planning prom and decorating the gym. Girls and young women DO have sex while they’re unmarried (on a pretty frequent basis too). When I make a trip the gynecologist, she always tells me the side effects of my birth control choices. Rarely a day goes by without hearing of another girl who’s decided to explore the lesbian lifestyle. With this being said it’s clear the world I inhabit barely resembles the world these women were born into. Some of these situations that took place just under forty years ago seem completely outrageous. It’s really hard to believe women actually let things like this happen. Examples that stick out in my mind the most include women being â€Å"strapped down and lying down, made to have the child against gravity for the doctor’s convenience† and a woman going â€Å"under the knife to see if she has breast cancer† and â€Å"waking up to find that the choice (Halsted mastectomy) has been made for her†. The conditions of my childhood compared to things like this happening add an overall shock effect in this reading. Although there is such a large shock effect present, I do not feel as if Baumgardner and Richards wanted the shock to overwhelm the reader in a way that seemed outrageous, but they wanted make the reader realize that it would be unfair to consider these advancements as privileges. Privileges are advantages gained usually as a result of wealth or social status, not something fought hard to earn. It’s unfair that we (women) are constantly made to feel that we should be thankful for the social changes that have taken place over the last century. These rights should have never been an issue. They should’ve just been a part of our daily lives, as they were for males. Baumgardner and Richards ask the questions in the second paragraph â€Å"Is feminism dead? † and â€Å"Do we need new strategies? † I feel like the spirit of feminism isn’t dead at all. One milestone, which sticks out clearly in my mind as part of the feminist movement, took place just a short time ago. This milestone occurred around the time that Hilary Clinton entered herself into the race for presidency. It was one of those mountains a woman needed to climb and Hilary Clinton was the first do so. I’m definitely not trying to put Hilary Clinton on a high pedestal. I realize there are many other women who have done phenomenal things over the past thirty years, but it’s just one major example in the progress of feminism I have noticed in my short eighteen years on earth. To answer the second question, I don’t feel like the strategies need to be changed. With writings such as â€Å"A Day without Feminism† floating around and women running for presidency and vice-presidency, I have no doubt that feminism will remain alive until the ultimate goal has been reached. In conclusion, it is essential for us to see change is part of every history and culture. The feministic changes that have been made in the United States were necessary and there is still a lot left to do. After reading â€Å"A Day without Feminism† it’s clear to see our mothers and grandmothers worked hard to make sure we would we would someday reach an even plateau with men and it’s our job to make sure the same is true for future women raised in this country. We should celebrate our female foremothers who had the vision that we should have more. Women have fought for everything we have and we need to continue to the good fight so that one day women will no longer need to fight this fight.

How Rifle Technology Changed the Civil War Essay

How Rifle Technology Changed the Civil War - Essay Example During the civil war, union forces used Gatling’s weapons on a limited basis (Shane Mountjoy). Its increased lethality and range undermined Napoleonic tactics. An infantryman with a rifled musket was a greater threat to artillerymen and cavalrymen (Moorehead). During the civil war, an infantry man with rifle was able to target an artilleryman before they were within the range of canister fire. With rifles, the infantry was able to attack the cavalry soldiers from a greater distance. So, the long range fire power of the rifle reduced the importance of artillery and cavalry. During the Napoleonic wars, they were the important forces. The changes in infantry fire power resulted in shifting emphasis from offence to defence. Napoleonic style warfare emphasised on strong offence for victory. The problem then was how to execute an offensive plan when the tactical defence was much stronger (Moorehead). Frontal attacks were usually avoided and attacked enemy’s flanks. The confederate forces, during the battle of Gettysburg, attacked the union flank at the Little Round Top. But, this operation resulted in heavy causalities for the offence. Offensive tactics were changed by the end of the war. Instead of massed lines, small groups were formed and fire and move tactics were used. When some men advanced, other men gave them protection. It was clear during the battle of Wilderness at Brock Road on 6 May 1864 and Laurel Hill on 8 May 1864, that defensive positions repelled attacks. So, for victory, it became necessary to attack the opponent before he establishes a

Treatment or Punishment for Youth Drug Use Research Proposal

Treatment or Punishment for Youth Drug Use - Research Proposal Example Since punishment is a response to crime that is much older than treatment, we begin by describing the concept of punishment. Punishment refers to imposing some unpleasant consequence for a person for a proven action that is decidedly unacceptable to others (Duff, 2001). Examples of punishment include incarceration, which is the response the United States has historically taken in response to the distribution and use of banned substances like heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. The justification for punishment is typically given as either retribution (i.e. taking something away from an offender in proportion to what the offender took from the victim), deterrence (i.e. using threat of punishment to dissuade others in society from committing a similar act), or incapacitation (i.e. to remove an individual from society in order to prevent him or her from committing more crimes). In the United States, the reasoning for a punishment is left to a criminal court’s discretion based on the i mpact and severity of the crime as well as other factors that might influence whether deterrence or incapacitation is necessary. Arguments in favor of punishment extol its benefits in being the simplest to administer and in sending the clearest message both to the offender and as a deterrent to potential offenders. In addition, favorable arguments point to the effect of punishment on restoring fairness within a community (Baumard, 2012). Serious objections to how fair society is will exist if society negates its objective to punish criminals for wrongdoing because, in a sense, victims are not recompensed for the wrong. Such a thought process behind punishment as retaliation dates back in human history to the way in which cooperation developed: that is, one cannot attack another without risk of being attacked themselves, and the alternative is either avoidance or cooperation. Of course, the limit imposed upon that thought is that retaliation and punishment must be proportionate to th e crime committed, rather than causing an additional harm.

The Nurses Role in Wound Care in the Community Essay

The Nurses Role in Wound Care in the Community - Essay Example Community-based leg ulcer clinics have shown to be very effective; however, there is a need to adopt a well-organised leg ulcer aftercare delivery to reduce the recurrence of leg ulceration and improve the quality of life. Research also revealed that there are significant lacunae with respect to nurse’s knowledge of the principles and practice of wound care. The strategies to improve nurse’s knowledge and future developments in wound care are discussed. The dissertation concludes with recommendations that more high quality clinical research trials be conducted in the future to assess the efficacy of various dressings and adopting the NICE guidelines and the TELER system. Recommendations are also made to conduct a comprehensive education program for nurses at all levels of training and practice. A wound care certification program and an online distance-learning package for acute and chronic wounds for nurses are also recommended. Over the past few decades, the protocols in wound management has changed and evolved rapidly. There has been a shift from dry to moist healing and an increasing trend in the use of modern dressings. Wound management alone leads to a massive drain on health care resources. Diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure sores are frequently encountered clinical conditions and many of these conditions are chronic, leading to repeat visits. There has therefore, been an emphasis on proper wound care and the search for an ideal dressing continues to this day. The aim of this dissertation is to review the literature related to wound care regarding the principles and practice of wound care, methods of wound evaluation and the role that nurses play in wound care management in the community. Both electronic database search and manual search was made for literature related to wound care. Electronic database search included PUBMED and MEDLINE searches. The keywords used included â€Å"wound care,† â€Å"wound

Law Enforcement as a Profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law Enforcement as a Profession - Essay Example The essay "Law Enforcement as a Profession" talks about the law enforcement officials that refer to all appointed and/or elected officers of the law who exercise police powers, specifically, the powers of arrest or detention. The law enforcement officials’ main duty is the imposition of law and order in the community. This duty is performed in a variety of ways, depending on the size and type of the officials’ organization and on their respective jurisdictions. These officials are tasked to fight and arrest criminals, investigate and collect evidence for the prosecution, testify in courts, come up with written detailed reports and attend to the needs of the community in crisis and emergency situations.The educational requirements needed to start a career as a law enforcement officer vary from each country and area. Sometimes high school education is the only requirement. The majority of areas nowadays require an individual to undergo formal job training, which includes taking up of courses in criminal investigation, administration, criminal justice system, corrections, community relations and even the study of criminal law. These educational requirements should be coupled with special skills and other qualifications in order for an aspiring individual to become a law enforcement officer. Special skill requirements usually include above-average communication, judgment, decision-making and listening skills. In some areas, knowledge in accounting, computers, business or foreign languages is a plus factor.

HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in Men Research Paper

HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in Men - Research Paper Example Seppa (2011) explains that though the virus was previously believed to infect women and not men, observations, in history, have indicated high rates of infection among men. This means that while the infection was previously ‘non-existent’ in men, or otherwise previously not detected in men, cases of viral infections have increasingly been reported among men to an extent that men are now equally vulnerable to the viral infection as women are. Further research has also proved that varieties of types of the HPV virus are sexually transmitted and hence the infection in men that occurs during contacts in sexual interactions. As a result, the viral infection in men is not a recent emergence, but has either been existed in history without being noticed, or has taken some time to rise from a zero prevalence rate to its current prevalence rate that equals the rate among women. The history of the relationship between HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in men has also been significantly reported with an increasing trend in men bellow fifty years of age. Marur et al. explains that the cancer has particularly been increasing among the category of men in the past years (2010). The authors particularly relate the cancer to â€Å"human papillomavirus 16 infection† (p. 781). ... Research developments that have revealed the extent of vulnerability of men with respect to Oropharyngeal cancer have also identified HPV as an increasingly developing risk factor towards Oropharyngeal cancer infections (D'Souza, G., & Dempsey, A. 2011). Statement of problem This paper seeks to discuss significant research and data that has been developed over HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in men with the aim of exploring HPV as a contemporary issue facing nurse practitioners and established relationship between HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in men. The paper will also research into the role of nurse practitioner with respect to HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in men. Literature review The general perception that has in the past existed that HPV infections are associated with women and not men is still felt as little research has been conducted to understand men’s opinions and knowledge over the infection. A research conducted by Brewer et al. indicated that a majority of men have not yet understood the relationship between HPV infections and cancer. In the research that sought to establish the perception among heterosexual men and homosexual men, the authors established that men are oblivious of the possible infections that are associated with HPV. Only about 40 percent of the respondents, for example, were aware that HPV could lead to genital warts. Similarly, less than a quarter of the respondents were aware that HPV could cause either anal cancer or oral cancer. There is therefore a high level of ignorance over the relationship between HPV and Oropharyngeal Cancer in men. Though a significant majority of the respondents associated sexual interactions with infections such as â€Å"genital warts and anal cancer,† they did not specifically identify the

Internal auditing, Investor accounting, The process of Remittance, Assignment

Internal auditing, Investor accounting, The process of Remittance, Reconciliation and Reporting - Assignment Example However, the 15th day may fall on a weekend or a holiday making the previous business end of the cycle known as the accounting cutoff. Reporting and remittance are necessary to be done accurately and timely (Jickling 2) Investor Accounting The investor reporting process is a bit different from the remittance process, and it is a process involving submitting of information to Penny Mac portfolio’s accounting activities. It is made up of both and interim and monthly processing. The accounting process cycle that is as earlier said from 16th to 15th determines the timing of the reports. Reporting includes all the different loan-levels apart from third party foreclosure sales and payoffs. Interim reporting is done according to the type transaction with all interim reports being done under five business days. A report once done it is reviewed for any level of discrepancies through daily checks on the databases. The discrepancies thus noted are known as edits and they are made availa ble on a daily basis to investors. Report revisions are allowed so long as they are identified as corrections in the transaction level. The reporting of transaction corrections should not be made later than four business days before the end of the accounting cycle. Remittance Investor remittance is a process that involves the initiation of transferring funds from ones Penny Mac custodial account to that of Penny Mac. The funds are remitted through GPI that is easily accessible through mobile phones or through an Investor Accounting Manager (IAM). The timing of remittances as opposed to reporting which follows the accounting cycle, remittances is based on the option selected. GPI is a third party vendor tasked with the gathering of finances on behalf of Penny Mac. The investor is provided for all portfolios with a toll-free remittance number and an identification number. Funds that are to be remitted by investors must be made available before or on the date due. Due dates might fall on a holiday or a non-working day; hence payment have to be paid on the previous business day and not  later than nine p.m. Reconciliation Reconciliation of the monthly reports gives a summary of the activities that have been processed in the accounting cycle monthly of the Penny Mac individual portfolios. The reconciliation reports thus compiled after thorough analysis are made available at the end of every month through the Service Loans applications and through an Investor Accounting Manager (IAM). This is done after the closure of all books and all the processed loan levels. The reconciliation reports thus arrived at after analysis is used in the custodial account reconciliation process. The monthly reconciliation reports to be reviewed during custodial account reconciliation process are the monthly account statement, the detailed adjustment report, and the loan reconciliation difference. The Loan Reconciliation Difference Report is a detailed summary of all the transactions t he system did not capture in the original cycle. The discrepancies are also arrived at from the daily edit reports. Monthly reconciliation reports are used in the custodial reconciliation in the following ways (U.S. Congressional Budget Office web). Firstly, the report is examined to determine any discrepancies between the Penny Mac system and the investor’s. Secondly, the investor corrects their system taking into account the

Recent scientific discussion has renewed interest in the religious Essay

Recent scientific discussion has renewed interest in the religious aspects of cosmology. What is the anthropic principle and what is its religious significance - Essay Example hropic principle theorizes that the vital requirements for human life, such as the unique properties of water, the Earth’s atmosphere, the Earth’s distance from the Sun, and the solar system’s place in the galaxy, are so specific and perfect to human life that they could not have happened by chance. According to the anthropic principle, these variables had to have been planned this way due to how well aligned they are with the needs of human beings. The religious significance of the anthropic principle is that it suggests the possibility of intelligent design, meaning that the universe was created by a great force who took considerable care to make sure that humans could survive in the universe. To most religious denominations, this great force would be considered God, or another deity. Scientific discussions that have considered the anthropic principle are, by association, presenting the belief that the universe was indeed the result of intelligent design. If this is the case, then the origin of the universe, which is believed to be the result of the Big Bang in the scientific community, could be called into question in favor of a more religious beginning, such as the theory of creation in the Christian-based

Toxic Waste And Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Toxic Waste And Discrimination Essay The discrimination suffered by people of color goes as far as locating them to neighborhoods that are near toxic waste facilities. This is an important issue to address since the discrimination done in this sphere does not only affect difference in treatment per se. It affects the health and well-being of the individuals being discriminated against.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the 20th of the 1987 Toxic Wastes and Race report, the topic of disparity in treatment when it comes to locating people in neighborhoods was once again examined. The study proved that the discrimination, still exists, and in fact, has worsened as years passed by. According to the article by Bullard, Mohai, et.al., the study yielded the following results: People of color make up the majority (56%) of those living in neighborhoods within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the nations commercial hazardous waste facilities[†¦] People of color make up a much larger majority (69%) in neighborhoods with clustered facilities. [†¦] 9 out of 10 EPA regions have racial disparities in the location of hazardous waste sites. Forty of 44 states (90%) with hazardous waste facilities have disproportionately high percentages of people of color in host neighborhoods [†¦] (2007) In summary, the research shows that â€Å"racial and socioeconomic disparities in the location of the nations hazardous waste facilities are geographically widespread throughout the country† and that race is still the one of the main factors in fixing the location in a neighborhood nearing toxic waste facilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was an attempt on the part of the government to alleviate this form of discrimination by conveying critiques on the way EPA disposes of environmental justice issues brought before them. The agency has also met defiance when it comes to proposals that it sought to implement. As reported by the article, the government has already suggested a cut on its budget due to the agency’s failure to review its policies and orders. However, as regards the last measure sought to be taken as regards the issue, the article commented that suggesting said cut on the budget could actually make minorities more exposed to pollution and toxic wastes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article suggests that in order to alleviate this type of discrimination, Congressional oversight hearing should be conducted in order to examine the procedures followed by the agency, as well to review the policies issued by it. The article also suggested the implementation of the Inspector General’s recommendations as regards policy-making of the agency. Lastly, the author seeks to have an enactment of a law which will ensure enforcement of environmental justice issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is believed that the problem could be solved by first disseminating information as regards the subject matter. Through this, people will be aware of what is happening, how their rights are being affected, and how they could seek redress. By disseminating information, the process of government supervision and regulation will be more meticulous since the people affected can actually check if the actions of the government are to their favor and can actually solve the problem at hand. It is viewed that although government should take action in resolving this issue of discrimination in environmental location, the people actually affected should take part so that their opinions on the matter could properly be heard and considered. REFERENCE Robert Bullard, Paul Mohai, et.al.,â€Å"Toxic Wastes And Race At Twenty: 1987-2007 Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the U.S.†, 2007, http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTreport.htm

Grammar Translation Relevance In Malaysian Classroom Cultural Studies Essay

Grammar Translation Relevance In Malaysian Classroom Cultural Studies Essay Describe any of the language learning approaches and evaluate their relevance to the current Malaysian classroom ELT content. In the process of learning a target language, there are several language learning approaches that could be used by the teachers- Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, Audio-Lingual Method, Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response, Community Language Learning and Communicative Language Teaching. All of these approaches are valuable for them as they help the learners to develop their target language and become fluent speakers. In my personal view, Grammar Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching are approaches that I believe have their relevance to the current Malaysian classroom ELT content. Grammar Translation Method is a traditional method; it was introduced and became popular in the 19th century. For this method, according to Brown (2001), it focuses on grammatical rules as the basis for translating from the second to the native language. The basic approach of this method is the students have to analyse and study the grammatical rules of the target language. They are given explanations on grammar, and after that they will be given sentences which need to be translated from the target language to the native language and vice versa. In short, in this method, it only focuses on reading and writing which are grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary, translation of text and doing written exercises, while other skills are ignored. There are some characteristics of Grammar Translation as stated by Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979: 3) (cited in Brown (2001)). Firstly, the medium of instruction of the classes is the mother tongue, through little active use of the target language. There are also not many vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words, while long, elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given. Next, grammar provides the rules of putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words. Besides, reading of difficult classical texts is begun early, where little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Next characteristic is the only drills for this method are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue. Lastly, this method does not really focus or give attention to pronunciation. Teachers and pupils have their own roles for this method. As the teachers, they have to be skillful in teaching the target language, instead of using text books especially when explaining grammatical rules and patterns. They also need to be proficient in the target language, so that they are capable to provide translation practices and correct exercises made by the pupils. For the pupils, the academic skills is necessary for them as they have to memorise rules and examples when learn using this method. They also have to work hard to produce correct and perfect translations. There are some reasons why Grammar Translation Method is relevant to Malaysian classroom context. If we go to primary school, we can observe that most of English Language teachers prefer to use Malay Language instead of English when speaking or giving instructions to their pupils, especially who are in Level 1 (Year 1, 2 and 3) and rural area school. This is because Malay Language is the first language or their mother tongue, and that is why it is used freely among the teachers and pupils in the English Language classrooms. According to Mohd Sofi Ali (2003), he stated that Some ESL teachers claimed that Bahasa Malaysia had been used to a maximum of 70% in the weak classes, and 30% in the better classes. However, it was not uncommon to see 100% use of Bahasa Malaysia in the weaker classes; it would be an uncommon phenomenon to witness a 100% use of English in all the classes. (p. 4) So, we can see that the use of mother tongue is like their common practice in the classroom and the reason why English Language is not fully used to communicate is that it is easy for them to understand English Language when they learn using their mother tongue. This method is also applicable to Malaysian classroom context because it focuses on translation the target language to native language and vice versa. Translation is applied on learners to facilitate the learning of these difficult words. (Erlina Melati Mahpar, 2007). Thus, it is suitable for the Level 1 primary school pupils who do not yet possess vocabulary in their target language. They will learn to translate words in the form of list or isolated words, and next move to sentences or paragraphs. For instance, the teacher will provide the pupils a text from the target language and they are asked to read it either one by one or the whole class. After that, the teacher will ask them to translate the words into their mother tongue and help them if they are unable to translate. We can see that this activity is actually the same as what the teachers are doing in the Level 1 primary school English Language classroom. This activity is suitable for them as the beginners, where it will not only enhance their vocabulary, it also will increase their confidence to learn the target language. Besides, this method is relevant to Malaysian classroom context because it focuses on teaching of grammar. There are some kinds of knowledge required by the pupils as they learn grammar based on KBSR English Syllabus- word order, Connectors, Verbs, Articles, Prepositions, Modifiers, Nouns and Pronouns. In Malaysia, the teacher will teach the grammar deductively. According to Beare, K. (2010), Deductive is known as a top down approach. This is the standard teaching approach that has a teacher explaining rules to the students. For example, first and foremost, the teacher will teach and explain the grammar rules to the pupils. Next, they will provide some examples to help them grasp the concept and the pattern for their better understanding. The pupils have to memorise all the rules and examples as the teacher will also give them some drills like exercises on constructing sentences or filling in the blanks. So, with their knowledge and understandings, they are capable to do the exercise s correctly and it is effective for the application of grammar and sentence structure. Additionally, this method also focuses on vocabulary. For this method, Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979: 3) (cited in Brown (2001)) stated that Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words. For instance, the pupils have to turn to a list of words taken from the passage of the target language provided and find the synonym and antonym of the words. In this activity, it is a whole class activity and teachers may help them to provide the words if they are unable to find them. This is exactly the same as what the pupils learn in Malaysian primary school. This is also part of the language contents in the curriculum because based on the English Language syllabus, The words in the list are some key words that must be mastered by all learners according to their stages of development. Mostly, the teachers here teach vocabulary by using visual aids like pictures or flash cards. This is because according to Nesamalar Chitravelu et al. (2005), Early vocabulary learning is best su pported by visuals. For example, they want to teach synonym to the pupils. They may show them the word happy in a card and ask the pupils to give the synonym of the word. The teachers may repeat the words regularly or give some drills in order to develop the pupils vocabulary when learning the target language. The next language learning approach is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). According to Richards Rodgers (2001) (cited in Zhuqing Chen (2003)), CLT is originated from the changes in the British Situational Language Teaching approach dating from the late 1960s. Galloway (1993) also stated that Interest in and development of communicative-style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular. From this background, it can be said that CLT emphasises on fluency and speaking skills which is real-life communication. There are some features of CLT. According to Brown (2001), Classroom goals are focused on all of the components (grammatical, discourse, functional, sociolinguistic, and strategic) of communicative competence. Nunan (1991) stated that CLT emphasises on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. Besides, Nunan also stated CLT as an attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom, besides it is an enhancement of the learners own experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. Other feature of CLT is it is learner-centered. This means that teachers only responsible to facilitate and guide the students, as well as allowing them to be in charge of their own learning. Teachers and pupils have to play important roles in CLT. Larsen-Freeman (2000) said that teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more becoming active facilitators of their students learning. So firstly, they are responsible to be the facilitator to facilitate communication as well as to monitor and guide the pupils especially when they are doing the activities. Besides, they need to arrange and set up appropriate tasks and activities for the pupils communication. For the pupils, they are expected to become active and participate in all classroom activities. Furthermore, it is vital for them to communicate frequently inside and outside the classroom in order to develop their fluency. English is taught in all primary and secondary schools in the country in keeping with its status as a second language in the country. (KPM, 2001). Thus, CLT is relevant to current Malaysian ELT content because if we look at the English Language syllabus for primary schools, its aim is to equip learners with basic skills and knowledge of the English language so as to enable them to communicate, both orally and in writing, in and out of school (KPM, 2001) same as the goal of CLT which is according to Larsen-Freeman (2000), it is to enable students to communicate in the target language. In Malaysian classroom, activity which involves real-life situations is applied by the teachers. They cannot take the pupils into all the environments in real life, but they help them locate themselves imaginatively in such situations. (Nesamalar Chitravelu, 2005). If we refer to Year 5 Curriculum Specifications, there is one learning outcomes where the pupils are capable to perform a variety of functions in a social context such as exchanging greetings, making introductions, inviting people, etc. (KPM, 2003). For this activity, Nesamalar Chitravelu also stated that a person would need to understand the situation, listen to the person he is speaking to, understand what the person is saying and at the same time think of what he can say, when it is his turn to speak. For example, the teacher tells the pupils to do the real-life telephone conversations. They have to identify their roles and what the situation is. After that, they will be asked to role-play it with their friends in front of the classroom. This activity is effective and it is a fun way of practicing language among the pupils. Besides, it really gives benefit to them as they give students opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles. (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). In relation with the current Malaysian ELT content, CLT also emphasises on pupil-centered learning, where the pupils are responsible for their own learning. The teachers will only facilitate them and might be a co-communicator engaging in the communicative activity along with the students. (Littlewood, 1981 (cited in Larsen-Freeman (2000)). There are many kinds of pupil-centered activities that can be used in order to teach them the target language- role-plays, information gap, opinion-sharing as well as language games which are conducted either in pairs or small groups. During the school observation, I discovered that Level 2 teachers prefer to use opinion-sharing activities mostly in their class in which students compare values, opinions, or beliefs (Richards, 2006). If we examine the learning outcomes in the Curriculum Specifications of Year 5, it is stated that the pupils will be able to express thoughts and feelings and give opinions on things read, seen, heard and viewed This m eans that they need to interact with others in the classroom and have to be actively participated in all activities. According to Leela Mohd. Ali (1989), each student has maximum time to interact in order to learn to negotiate meaning and she also stated that they are seen as communicators actively engaged in trying to make themselves understood. They have to maximise the use of the target language when they interact and communicate with their friends, as Larsen-Freeman (2000) asserted that they give students valuable communicative pratice. As a conclusion, both Grammar Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching approaches are applicable for the teachers to practice and apply in the classroom. They have to be creative and have good imaginations to modify and conduct activities during the lesson in order to lead to desired learning to the learners, so that they are capable to understand the language and able to communicate with other people either inside or outside the classroom. (2 337 words)

Solar Energy Essay -- A Level Essays

Solar Energy Why do we build passive solar homes? Most people familiar with the subject of alternative and renewable energies would reply with a variation of many answers to this question. â€Å"To act locally in an ever expanding global market.† â€Å"The solar panels or photovoltaics will pay for themselves in a given amount of time depending on the system implemented.† â€Å"I would build a passive solar house to take myself entirely off the grid.† These answers seem to be common when it comes to the world of alternative energies. Although the majority may reply to this question with similar answers there has to be a flip side or different view on any topic including renewable energy. â€Å"Green building,† or building with natural supplies is yet another way to recycle the earth’s minimal resources. Combining green building and solar passive idioms is nothing new to the alternative energy market, but it does raise a few different questions about the role of humans co-existing with nature and their living spaces. This paper will discuss the aesthetic values of living in tune with the earth through passive design. For thousands and thousands of years, man lived on the earth as we still do today. Nomadic peoples resorted to hunting and gathering, which gave way to organized agriculture that developed in Mesopotamia. The major step that propelled us into our present day lives was the industrial revolution. Now as â€Å"evolved† creatures we have fallen prey to the technological advances and have come to depend on them, especially with our ever-increasing population on earth. Environmental degradation, over population, war, and economic decay have become mainstays on our agenda as world citizens. These issues must be dealt with o... ...g close to the earth, foraging for food, walking to my destinations and relying on my fellow man for help when I was in need taught me something. Living close to the earth is and will always be the answer to our questions. Passive design and solar technology is just the next step. Most of the technology that has been brought about in the past century or so has been done so under a roof or in the shadow of the industrial revolution. We need to implement the ideas of passive solar upon all people. This would in turn create alternatives to what people had originally thought in the past. Where can we find or develop new â€Å"green† ideas as opposed to other technologies that separate us from nature. A new way of thinking must come about for the good of all mankind. Bibliography Chiras, Daniel. The Solar House. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. Canada. 2002.

Comparing the Flood and Creation in Ovids Metamorphoses and Genesis Es

"Where did man come from? Where did time begin? Who, or what, created all things?" These are questions that mankind has sought to answer from the beginning of existence as it is known today. Many stories and fables have been told and passed down from generation to generation, yet two have survived the test of time and criticism. The Biblical account in Genesis, probably written by Moses around 1500 B.C., and the story of creation and flood in Ovid's Metamorphosis, written somewhere between 8 and 17 A.D., have weathered the criticism and become the most famous. The Genesis account, however, may be the most prominent of the two accounts. Within these accounts, are many similarities, as well as differences, which make these two writings well respected, while holding their own in the literary world. Though both accounts of the creation and flood are well respected on their own, when compared side to side, they are drastically different. Ovid's purpose for writing the creation story is geared more towards explaining creation as it happens, in his opinion, whereas the Bible stresses the fact that the God of the Hebrews is responsible for the world's existence today. Overall, Ovid is very detailed in explaining the formless mass, creation of the earth, waters and land metaphorically. The Biblical account seems to be more plain, simple, and organized; not spending time on intricate detail. There seems to be no specific time frame for creation in Ovid's writing, whereas, the Bible states that it takes God six ... ...mal species. As one can see, when comparing each of the accounts of the flood and creation in Ovid's Metamorphoses and Genesis, there are some very similar actions or events that take place in each of these accounts, while separating themselves a great deal by putting emphasis on very different messages. It is because of these variations in writing and technique that each of these poems have acquired and maintained the respect they truly deserve through many years of evaluation and criticism. Works Cited New American Standard Bible. Nashville, TN: Broadman 1977. Ovid. Metamorphoses. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack. 5th edition. New York: Norton 1987. 549-560.

Theseus Or Hercules? :: essays research papers

Theseus or Hercules? Theseus is most worthy of emulation. He was a great hero in Athens. "Theseus was, of course bravest of the brave as all heroes are, but unlike the other heroes he was as compassionate as he was brave." (p. 159). Theseus also was a man of bravery, intellect and bodily strength. Hercules on the other hand was what all Greece except Athens most admired. He was very strong but wasn't too smart. Hercules never thought of the consequences that his actions would bring about before he followed through with them. First, Theseus was very strong. He fought many terrible horrendous monsters such as the Minotaur, "..a monster, half bull, half human.." (p.151), and went on many great ventures such as the Quest for the Golden Fleece. Theseus showed his great strength in adventures such as the one with the Minotaur. Hercules was also involved in many great adventures in which his great strength was shown. Hercules was much stronger than Theseus, but Theseus made up for this small loss in other ways. Second, Theseus was very smart. Because of his great intellect the Athenians, people who valued thought and ideas, chose him and not Hercules as their hero. Theseus escaped from the Labyrinth and killed the Minotaur. Neither of these tasks were easy and required someone with aptitude unlike Hercules. Theseus always thought things through and made good decisions. Hercules' foolishness was shown on many occasions such as when he killed his family and his music teacher. Theseus' intellect is one very valuable quality which makes him more worthy of emulation. Third, Theseus was very brave. In fact he went on so many great excursions that a saying grew up in Athens "Nothing without Theseus!" (p. 149). When it was time for Theseus to seek his father he would not go by water " But Theseus refused to go by water because the voyage was safe and easy." (p. 149). Theseus insisted to take the way by land. His idea was to become a hero as quickly as possible, and he accomplished his goal by ridding the land of all the banns to travelers on his way to find his father. Theseus had many other adventures. He was on the Argo, in the Caledonian hunt, as well as many others. Hercules also had many adventures but his were often the result of his own

Nt1330

Questions: 1. How many users will we be having? 2. How many different departments will we be having? 3. Which departments will need what permissions as far as access to computers, printers, and scanners? 4. Will everyone be at one site or will we have multiple buildings? 5. And what is our budget for designing the new AD DS infrastructure. 6. Should we buy physical servers for each location? 7. Should we create multiple domains for each department? My answers: I would say that the amount of users we have is about 200.And we will have plenty of room to expand in case we ever need to expand up to another 300 Users if we need to. And we will only have 5 departments (IT, H. R, Distribution, Maintenance, and Staff). As far as what departments permissions go we will have to sit with all department heads and come up with a valuable plan to benefit everyone. And since we are in a trucking distribution company named Spike’s Distro. We will only have one site for our infrastructure.The reason being is because we only have one building that everyone works out of. Our budget for creating this new infrastructure is going to be $35,000 to buy all the servers and switches needed including the computers to hold the active directory and domain servers. And we should buy physical servers as they are more efficient than virtual servers are. We should only create one domain per department. The only time we will need to create more is if we expand to more than one building. Nt1330 Questions: 1. How many users will we be having? 2. How many different departments will we be having? 3. Which departments will need what permissions as far as access to computers, printers, and scanners? 4. Will everyone be at one site or will we have multiple buildings? 5. And what is our budget for designing the new AD DS infrastructure. 6. Should we buy physical servers for each location? 7. Should we create multiple domains for each department? My answers: I would say that the amount of users we have is about 200.And we will have plenty of room to expand in case we ever need to expand up to another 300 Users if we need to. And we will only have 5 departments (IT, H. R, Distribution, Maintenance, and Staff). As far as what departments permissions go we will have to sit with all department heads and come up with a valuable plan to benefit everyone. And since we are in a trucking distribution company named Spike’s Distro. We will only have one site for our infrastructure.The reason being is because we only have one building that everyone works out of. Our budget for creating this new infrastructure is going to be $35,000 to buy all the servers and switches needed including the computers to hold the active directory and domain servers. And we should buy physical servers as they are more efficient than virtual servers are. We should only create one domain per department. The only time we will need to create more is if we expand to more than one building.

Bad Effects Of Transhumanism Essay

Humans (and transhumans) are marked by a persistent desire to understand and control their environment and experience. Before the development of the scientific method, deductive and inductive logic, game theory, sophisticated epistemic principles and so on, humans resorted to superficial causal explanations based on observation for common phenomena, and theistic explanation for unusual events. Deities were invoked to explain unusual or destructive phenomena, and to try to provide a comforting model of the uncertainties and uncontrollable events in life. Storms, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, epidemics and madness could not be tolerated without some belief about their cause. In the absence of scientific explanation a religious or theistic explanation was almost inevitable. Along with pre-scientific attempts at understanding came a crude attempt at a technology. A tension is evident here: On the one hand religions have frequently declared events to be determined by a divine plan and s o have held attempts at changing things to be futile (this is common in Eastern religions, as well as other religions involving predestination). On the other hand, religions have offered certain limited and carefully circumscribed means of changing and controlling events, such as through prayer, ritual, and magic. The overall result has been entropic and anti-progressive since religious technology is ineffective (with the occasional exception of psychosomatic effects). The role of religion in providing explanations, however poor, of human life and its environment has given way over time to the superior resources of empirical science. Science has been able to explain an enormous variety of phenomena, both commonplace and unusual. Protestations by theists that science has not and cannot explain the origin of life, the origin of the universe, or the nature of consciousness are increasingly ridiculous as we continue to learn and discover. An objection to this view of the origin and strength of religion is that it is unclear why religion is persisting and even growing as scientific triumphs abound. This objection makes two mistakes however. First, as I am showing, there are other sustaining causes of religion that do not entirely or closely depend on the development of science. Second, the apparent strength and resurgence of religion is, I believe, an illusion  generated from a limited perspective. Certainly religion is not declining rapidly, and is continually taking new forms (such as New Age mysticism), but seen over a span of decades and centuries the trend is clear enough. Late twentieth century religion is very much less powerful than religion in the Middle Ages. In the past religion dominated all aspects of life and the idea of a separation of Church and state would have been considered incomprehensible and wicked. DEALING WITH DEATH AND UNCERTAINTY: One of the great tasks before us, as transhumanists, is the reengineering of our consciousness to do away with the powerful desire for certainty of a dogmatic kind. Most humans feel that they cannot bear to be wrong. They fear an unknown future. They readily give up intellectual and emotion independence in favor of faith in another person, whether human or supernatural myth. Humans are also driven to the comforts of religious dogma by the terrible fact of death. Some transhumanists expect religion to automatically decline as technological progress accelerates. Unfortunately, the faster technology and society changes, the greater the uncertainty in people’s lives, so the greater the appeal of religion in all its forms. (Hence the takeover by National Socialism and communism at times of great upheaval.) Scientific and technological progress alone will not abolish religious thinking. Transhumanist philosophies, especially immortalist philosophies such as Extropianism, will be vital to intellectual and emotional progress.

Education and Sustainable Development

Environmental education is a process of learning and teaching of environmental concepts and practices which increases people’s awareness about the environment. It mainly focuses on creation of knowledge and understanding of the environment and its challenges. It also focuses on creation of skills to mitigate environmental problems which are arising day by day and provides a forum for existing environmental knowledge to be exercised. Its objectives are creation of awareness and helping people to develop a positive attitude towards environmental education.Status of environmental education in Kenya In Kenya today, environmental education has enabled learners to play a big role in environmental conservation measures. An example is the Green Belt Movement which has over 600 community networks across Kenya which along with other networks have participated in planting more than 30 million trees on private and public land, protected reserves, sites with cultural significance and urban centers.This has resulted in the transformation of many landscapes (forests, sleep slopes and other degraded areas) and protection and restoration of habitats for local biodiversity (plants and animals). Many communities work with the Green Belt Movement to conserve and harvest water more effectively through construction of dams made of sand. That harvested water is used for household needs, food crops and tree nurseries. A related program with the Green Belt Movement Kenya improves food security i. e. he capacity of families to feed themselves, by promoting planting of fruit trees and indigenous foods including yams, cassava and arrowroots. In Kenya today, many groundbreaking initiatives including environmental education have been launched so that people could identify the sources of their problems including poor use and management of their environment and poor governance at local and national levels. They then identify solutions to those problems hence helping in maintaining a st able environmental state.Environmental education has been a reliable advocate for environmental and human rights by challenging abusive or ill-conceived actions by the previous Kenyan governments and rallying Kenyans to the cause. Through its advocacy and civic education campaigns, environmental education has been instrumental in bringing environmental issues to the Kenyan policy makers’ attention and has enjoyed significant success most notably the protection from wanton destruction of Uhuru Park and Karura Forest, both in Nairobi. This has been achieved through the Green Belt Movement.Environmental education should examine major issues locally and internationally. Currently in Kenya, a certain aspect of environmental education, The Green Belt Movement, has opened the Lang’ata Learning Center in Nairobi which continues to offer environmental education through exchange programs that expose participating groups to community biodiversity issues through discussions with l ocal leaders and excursions to selected areas around the country. Through its Pan African Green Belt Network, the Green Belt Movement has trained representatives from 15 African countries.As a result, several tree planting initiatives have been established in East and Central Africa and in the west. Environmental education in Kenya today has promoted cooperation among very many people. Different people come together in joint initiatives to plant trees or build dams. They also partake in attending and holding seminars and workshops to discuss diverse environmental issues. In this way, people are able to listen to each other’s ideas and suggestions hence enabling exchange of knowledge and skills. They also get a chance to inspire and help each other as they offer a listening ear.Today, environmental education is increasingly becoming a continuous process with so many environmental conservation measures been born and exercised. There thus arises the need to educate people on car rying out these practices. It is also being made continuous by the increasing environmental degradation in our society. People are cutting down trees carelessly and polluting the environment at a very fast rate. As a result, environmental education is being carried out continuously to combat these ill habits. This is being done through initiatives such as the Green Belt Movement.Environmental education has taken a big consideration in development and government plans in Kenya today. The government has planned to build many industries, medical facilities, petroleum refineries and electronic manufacturers. All these will generate hazardous wastes to the environment. Various movements to conserve the environment have recently sensitized the government on the need to institute both incentives and command and control measures to ensure that industries that generate hazardous waste dispose them off responsibly. Opportunities of environmental educationSince environmental education should e nable learners to actively play a role in environmental conservation, it should have a hand in encouraging research and propagation of drought-resistant crops such as cassava, millet and sorghum in order to assure food security. This is particularly important given that climate change is likely to occasion an increasingly higher incidence of crop failure. Environmental education should also have an emphasis on encouraging propagation of indigenous tree species. Although these enrich tree species and are better able to withstand environmental shocks, they are considerably under-utilized in agroforestry.It should discourage illegal logging of trees to meet timber and charcoal needs. This will be done by encouraging the formation of Community Forest Associations (CFAs) in line with the stipulations of the Forests Act and empower them to engage in sustainable forest management. CFAs should be representative of the communities that live adjacent to the forests and include women and margi nalized communities and have strict rules and procedures that prevent their appropriation by the local dominant groups. Environmental education should consider environmental aspects in major development and government plans.It therefore has the opportunity to sensitize the initiation of a range of energy sector reforms that will impel investment in clean and affordable sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and biogas and therein eases the enormous pressure exerted on the country’s diminishing forests and woodlands for wood fuel. Challenges of environmental education Environmental education has suffered from the lack of participation among social groups and individuals. Studies have shown that most people formally educated make little efforts in ensuring that they take responsibility of the environment.This leads to knowledge gained from environmental education being stifled and may not get implemented and spread to other persons. Groups may find it unnecessary due t o lack of incentives to participate in environmental education. The lack of comprehensive strategies is another challenge facing environmental education in Kenya. Kenya has not focused much on inter-linkages between the environment and sustainable development. The environment has been mostly viewed in a great detail from the biophysical view but with less emphasis on the economic and social perspective.This has led to less participatory approaches to environmental education hence hindering its development. There exists a negative attitude among some individuals towards environmental education. Some people are suspicious about environmental education as they fear it may affect their day to day living by e. g. preventing them from logging, use of chemicals on crops e. t. c. This brings a bad image on environmental education especially on less educated individuals. The relevant government authorities are mostly underfunded in their attempts to bring environmental education to the foref ront.The government allocates more funds to other ministries and departments that are seen to bring instant returns to the economy such as agriculture and tourism and thus undermines ministries such as environment. This makes it unable to fund sensitization projects based on environmental education. There is lack of enough manpower to undertake projects concerning environmental education. People mostly in rural areas may end up not getting the relevant information concerning their environment whereas they are the people directly in contact with natural resources such as rivers, forests e. . c. This greatly undermines the spread of environmental education in the country and is a huge challenge. In certain cases, there might be inadequate information on the threats that the environment faces to the people. Theoretical teachings may not be sufficient to convince individuals on why they need to undertake certain measures to prevent environmental degradation and promote sustainable devel opment. Practical case studies may have to be carried out to convince learners adequately on threats on the environment.

Critical Thinking Assignment Essay

The memorandum from Salvador Monella to the Board of Directors addresses the rising costs of employee healthcare benefits at Penn-Mart. His communication includes an explanation of his purpose in addressing the healthcare costs, findings regarding Penn-Mart’s benefits costs, a recommended program to implement for cost reduction, and a discussion containing support for their recommendation. While some business people may be tempted to simply accept the information presented in Mr. Monella’s memorandum, it is my opinion, after reading Browne and Keeley’s Asking the Right Questions (2012), that adopting a critical thinking approach is the most effective way to evaluate the document. Using a critical thinking approach to evaluate this business document will help a reader to know when to accept and when to reject information they are presented. The reader knows that information that passes the critical thinking questions they ask is worth accepting. Implementing strong-sense critical thinking and using the same skills to evaluate all claims, even one’s own, prevents falling to conventionality. In the tenth edition of Asking the Right Questions (Browne & Keeley, 2012), there are ten critical questions to ask that are presented. The ten questions are: What are the issues and the conclusions?, What are the reasons?, Which words or phrases are ambiguous?, What are the value and descriptive assumptions?, Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?, How good is the evidence?, Are there rival causes?, Are the statistics deceptive?, What significant information is omitted?, What reasonable conclusions are possible? (Browne & Keeley, p. 9) After asking and evaluating each of these questions, a reader will have a solid basis on which to decide if Mr. Monella’s recommendations should be accepted. It is my opinion that his recommendations should not be accepted until more information is provided. Each of the ten critical thinking questions will be evaluated in order to demonstrate how this conclusion was reached. The first question a critical thinker must ask when reading is, â€Å"What are the issues and conclusions?† (Browne & Keely, p. 18) As a reader, it is  important to identify the issue the author is discussing and the conclusion they have drawn in order to successfully form an opinion regarding the information presented. The issue is the topic that an author is addressing, while the conclusion is the message they intend to convey to the reader. There are two types of issues- descriptive issues and prescriptive issues. A descriptive issue poses questions regarding descriptions of the past, present, or future. Prescriptive issues pose questions about actions that should be taken, what is ethical or moral, and what is good or bad; they are issues that require prescriptive answers. In the memorandum, Mr. Monella presents a descriptive issue that requires an answer to describe how the work place will be in the future. How can Penn-Mart control the cost of employee healthcare benefits? The conclusion presented is to implement a new wellness program call the â€Å"Get Well† program. The second question that must be addressed is, â€Å"What are the reasons?† (Browne & Keeley, p. 29) Reasons are the statements an author provides that support or justify their conclusion. As the book states, â€Å"you cannot determine the worth of a conclusion until you identify the reasons.† (p. 29) In order to identify the reasons supplied by an author, a critical thinker must ask why the author believes their conclusion. In the memorandum, the reasons stated support the conclusion of initiating a â€Å"Get Well† program. The memorandum states that data â€Å"indicates that individuals who voluntarily neglect their health account for the greatest impact on the growth in benefits costs.† The data includes smokers, individuals who do not exercise, and those who avoid preventative care in the group in question. The second reason given is that the program will make employees more aware of their own health status and identify issues they can improve to becom e more fit. Other reasons provided by the memorandum are that the initiative aligns with other public health initiatives, there have been other studies on obesity, the initiative will provide initiative for employees to adopt healthier lifestyles, and it will make employees feel better about themselves. After identifying the basic structure of a message, a critical thinker must ask, â€Å"What words or phrases are ambiguous?† (p. 40) An ambiguous word or phrase is one that has multiple possible meanings.  Ambiguous words or phrases in an argument create the need for clarification of the meaning before a reader can fully evaluate the argument. When reading a document such as the memorandum, it is helpful to mark ambiguous words or phrases in statements as they occur. The ambiguous terms identified in the memorandum have been italicized. â€Å"The objective of the ‘Get Well’ program is to†¦help them identify issues that they could mitigate on their own to become more fi t.† (p. 2) â€Å"The ‘Get Well’ initiative completely aligns with other current public health and fitness objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 2) â€Å"There have been numerous research studies on obesity published in scholarly journals.† (p. 2) â€Å"We firmly believe that many Penn-Mart employees want to get fit and that the ‘Get Well’ initiative will provide the necessary incentives†¦ Giving a blood sample and filling out a survey form is not intrusive or burdensome – these are two things that people do routinely. Those who might oppose â€Å"Get Well† are either unfit, or they have something to hide.† (p. 2) â€Å"These recommendations have been thoroughly researched and represent state-of-the-art in our field.† (p. 2) Each of the italicized phrases can either have multiple meanings, or is not specific enough to use to determine the statement’s validity. For example, the suggested program is intended to help identify employee health â€Å"issues,† however different people may consider different things to be health issues. While one person may consider smoking to be a health issue, others may not. â€Å"Completely align[ing]† with objectives may mean that initiatives are designed by the same person, implemented for the same group of people, and intended to accomplish the same goal; however it also may mean that it has the same general objective. Each ambiguous term has the same possibility of containing various meanings. Next a critical thinker must ask the fourth critical question, â€Å"What are the value and descriptive assumptions?† Assumptions are beliefs that are generally taken for granted that support the reasoning and conclusion of an argument. Value assumptions demonstrate a preference for one value over another. Descriptive assumptions demonstrate beliefs about the world. In the memorandum both value and descriptive assumptions are demonstrated. The value assumption demonstrated is equality versus individualism. Mr. Monella states that is unfair to young, healthy people to let employees unequally use healthcare insurance resources. This demonstrates a preference for individualism over equality. The descriptive assumption in the memorandum involves beliefs about Penn-Mart’s healthcare benefits strategy and controlling the cost of the employee healthcare program. It assumes that there are no other ways to control spending, other than by implementing the Get Well program. Fifth, a critical thinker must ask, â€Å"Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?† (p. 74) Fallacies are logic tricks an author may use to lure a reader into accepting their conclusion. There are multiple fallacies in the memorandum. First, the authors claim that the â€Å"Get Well† will make Penn-Mart employees feel better about themselves, which appeals to emotions. The memorandum states that the recommendations have been thoroughly researched and represent state-of-the-art in our field, which appeals to questionable authority; the researchers and qualifications for being state of the art have not been specified. Those who might oppose â€Å"Get Well† are claimed to be either u nfit, or they have something to hide, which attacks person rather than ideas. The final statement, â€Å"to quote the famous Charles Darwin, ‘survival of the fittest’ is a natural part of evolution,† introduces a red herring. The next step in evaluating the conclusion is to ask, â€Å"How good is the evidence?† (p. 92) The memorandum cites data from underwriters that indicates individuals who voluntarily neglect their health account for the greatest impact employee healthcare benefits costs, which is the author using a case example as evidence. The underwriters believe that many Penn-Mart employees want to get fit, which generalizes the desires of a portion of the employees to the entire population. Cited published research studies on obesity appeal to authority. A research study is used as evidence with data from underwriters is cited twice. The â€Å"Get Well† program is claimed to make Penn-Mart employees feel better about themselves, generalizing from the research sample. Finally, an employee survey about satisfaction with their benefits could be a biased survey. â€Å"Are there rival causes?† (p. 128) This question helps evaluate an argument’s strength by examining any other reasonable causes for the event in question. Rival outcomes would provide different causes for the rising employee healthcare benefits costs at Penn-Mart. The memorandum states that the rise in benefits costs is driven by causes such as an aging workforce with tenure. However, other possible causes exist, such as inflation for common medical procedures such as physical examinations. The memorandum also demonstrates the  fundamental attribution error by citing individuals who â€Å"voluntarily neglect their health† (p. 1), although there may be other reasons they do not exercise, such as preexisting conditions like arthritis. While statistics may seem like impressive additions to an argument, they may also be deceptive. They frequently do not â€Å"prove what they appear to prove.† (p. 142) Knowing the unreliableness of statistics makes it important for a critical thinker to ask, are the statistics deceptive? (p. 142) Statistics stating that wages and benefits make up roughly 40 percent of Penn-Mart’s annual budget are cited, however 40% is not clearly defined or accurately identified. Also cited is data from underwriters indicating that participation in voluntary health benefits programs â€Å"peaked at 5% of total FTE’s in 2006† (p. 1), but what does 5% of total FTE amount to? The 5% is again not clearly defined or accurately identified. Equally as significant as the information included in an argument is the significant information that is omitted. Omitting significant information from an argument shapes the reasoning in favor of the author. In order to judge the quality of an argument’s reasoning, a critical thinker must ask, what significant information is omitted? (p. 153) For example, in Penn-Mart’s situation, the potential long-term negative effects of the Get Well program are omitted. Could the program have negative consequences? The suggestions state that employees who do not comply with the terms of â€Å"Get Well† should be given the possibility of paying a fine, declining future healthcare benefits, resigning, or being fired. However, the memorandum does not address what the consequences might be of the majority of employees refusing Get Well would be to Penn-Mart. If the company selects to fire those employees, they may lose many workers, causing the whole organization to suffer. The final question to ask in the critical thinking model is, what reasonable conclusions are possible? (p. 163) As a critical thinker, the objective is to determine and accept the most reasonable conclusion(s) to an argument that most closely adheres to personal value preferences. There are frequently alternative conclusions or multiple conclusions that are possible given the reasoning of an argument. For example, one conclusion to the Penn-Mart situation is that the Get Well program is the best solution to rising healthcare costs. Another conclusion may be that there is another program that may be a better fit for Penn-Mart. After asking and evaluating  all ten of the critical questions to ask, I believe that I have determined the most reasonable conclusion. To determine the best conclusion, it would be necessary to obtain clarification about the ambiguous terms before evaluating the argument’s strength. Without that information it is not possible to make a firm opinion about the strength of reasoning. Until the clarification is provided, it is my opinion that the suggestions of the consultant company should not be accepted. There are too many ambiguous terms and fallacies employed to determine that the argument is strong enough for acceptance. Resources Browne, M. N., & Keeley, S.M. (2010). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Homeless People Should Get Shoulder by Government Essay

Homeless People Should Get Shoulder by Government - Essay Example The struggles of the homeless people are so much that their plight can no longer be ignored by the government. Since nobody desires to live such kind of life, but instead is forced by circumstances such as poverty or unemployment, it is important for the government to realize that it is its responsibility to take care of the less fortunate. Every human being deserves to lead a somehow dignified life. It is simply inhuman to watch someone sleeping in an open ground or on rags somewhere along a major street. Also, it is inhuman to allow an innocent child to continually roam in the streets with nowhere to go when the night falls. These events are enough to cause any person with some sense of humanity to consider helping these people. But since the structures of offering assistance are best carried out by the government, it is important for the people in leadership position to come up with mean of helping the innocent the homeless people (Ontario Municipal Social Services Association). It is important for the government to help homeless children so as to prevent them from engaging in acts of crime. It is basic knowledge that most people who engage in criminal activities either lack knowledge that what they are doing is wrong, or are driven by circumstances to engage in such activities. Statistics carried out concerning criminals activities in America reveal that most of the criminals trace their roots to living a care-free life in the streets of America. Also, further research indicates that these criminals are drug addicts.

Creative narration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creative narration - Essay Example As good practice, all people that were coming had to queue in order to create and maintain order since the doctor did not have many aides; in fact, most of the people have health challenges that would not have required the doctor to have a nurse or anther aide. When I arrived at the hospital, I found people calmly settled and having their health needs being attended to. Mr. Williamson winked when he saw me because we were great friends; I also worked in the same hospital but in a different department. Then as the process was smoothly taking place, something happened that disrupted the doctor. A small boy came running and shouting for the doctor’s attention, other people had tried to urge her to calm down first before raising her sentiments. However, the boy seemed to be in a much hurry and went on to shout for the attention of Mr. Williamson. Mr. Williamson was always known to be an arrogant doctor especially to people that he thought were below her in terms of experience or on other careers. This ego made him shout back at the boy, urging him to make the queue and wait for is turn like any other people. My efforts to have the doctor give the boy a minute because he may have wanted to communicate an emergency issue of concern. Persistent efforts of the people on the queue to make the boy explain his concerns bore not fruit because the boy insisted that he wanted to speak to Michael’s Father, who was Mr. Williamson. Soon, the people on the queue were attended to; it was now the boy’s turn to have his issue addressed. I moved closer to listen to the boy’s concern because by this time, he was almost sobbing, with tears rolling down her chicks. The boy explained that the crocodile in the river that flowed behind the hospital had attacked Michael when they were playing and he had run to call for assistance from his father. The doctor was dumb-founded, lacking words to

U.S. Military Aviation Training and Environmental Regulations Research Paper

U.S. Military Aviation Training and Environmental Regulations - Research Paper Example Though in many cases the US military protects the wildlife, noise, air quality and endangered species are issues over which they sometimes dispute with the local communities. This paper is structured around the influence of environmental laws on the US Air Force training activities and inventory. Environmental laws went hand in hand with the lawsuits against the US Air Force. Technological changes brought along an increased use of the airspace. However, laws were based on the ancient Roman law, which was developed at a time when airplanes did not even exist as an idea. Thus, lawsuits preceded the legislation, which will be described in the 1946 the United States vs. Causby (1946) case in particular. Legislation then affected not only the usage of airspace but also of technology and structure of the US Air Force bases. Environmental laws interplay with the current events. Be it endangered species or noise levels, the September 11 attacks changed the dynamics of lawsuits against the US Air Force. It will be shown later on in this paper that recent events, such as the financial crisis, have led to conflicting interests of local communities and local authorities with regard to the US Air Force training activities. Through the interaction of the three interest groups it will be shown how environment is treated by some interest groups as a secondary concern. Military pollution is decreasing and smaller than commercial pollution levels. Utilization of commercial aircraft is higher than for military, standing at 4.7 times per day versus 0.35 respectively (Waitz et al., 2005, p. 334). However, military aircraft are noisier because of the kind of thrust engines employed by these aircraft. Waitz et al. (2005) argued that noise pollution increased from 1960 to 1995 for new military fighter aircraft (p.337). However, because of fleet reductions and a reduction in number of operations, the noise contributions decreased overall on a national level (Waitz et al., 2005, p.329). With regard to emissions, according to Waitz et al. (2005), the US Air Force contributes insignificantly to the overall US impact on the climate, amounting to 1 percent of the total climate impact (p.338). The commercial aircraft fleet burned by 2000 around 7 times the amount of fuel used for military aviation (Waitz et al., 2005, p.337). Moreover, the US military protects wildlife by offering it large, untouched areas. The US military administered over 25 million acres of land in 1994, being one of the largest stewards of federal land (Wheeler, 2006, p.440). However, urbanization pushes wildlife into military bases as cities and suburban areas expand (King, 1996, p.3). Thus, any reduction in training area has not only an adverse effect for the military, but also for the environment (Wheeler, 2006, p. 441). Rand Corporation assessment indicated that the US military is one of the friendliest users of environmental resources (Wheeler, 2006, p.445). Still, the US Air Force has been su ed for decades over endangered species and air pollution. Following paragraphs will provide examples of lawsuits and corresponding legislation. Before the 1960’s, the US law was based on the Roman law maxim cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum, according to which whoever owns the land also owns the airspace above it (King, 1996, p.5). The corresponding law was formulated during the ancient Roman times, when technology was based on horsepower. Airplanes were not discussed as a possibility by the intellectuals of

CTV Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

CTV - Assignment Example Firstly, technology management issues must be identified and discussed. Secondly, the situation prior to the incident must be discussed. Thirdly, the events that occurred during the collapse of the building should be elaborated. In this context, lack of a predetermined evacuation process deserves special mention. Fourthly and finally, the aftermath of the incident should be analysed. In recommending solutions to the earthquake resistant building design issues as witnessed in this case study, it is considered an imperative to advocate for modernising the building code and construction methods. Moreover, supervisory committees consisting of engineering professionals must be created that can consistently monitor the cityscape on the basis of practical professional knowledge. This kind of overseer committees can provide more authentic technical evaluations in the context of commercial building maintenance and management. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Analytical discussion 4 2a. Issues in technology management 6 2b. Issues before the disaster 7 2c. Issues during the collapse 7 2d. CTV Building disaster aftermath 8 3. Summary and concluding remarks 8 4. Recommendations 9 Reference List 11 Appendix 13 1. Introduction The CTV Building disaster of February 2011 has become a landmark incident in the world of engineering and construction sciences. CTV Building disaster received much of the limelight because on the day this building collapsed due to an earthquake, other buildings in the vicinity remained far less damaged than it. The earthquake that hit Christchurch on 22nd February 2011 left scars of destruction all over the city but that did not reach the unprecedented disaster that took place at the CTV Building. According to MacRae and Dhakal (2011, p. 5), some buildings had suffered â€Å"partial collapse† (e.g. PGC Building) or â€Å"total collapse† (e.g. CTV Building). Several people died and things went wrong especially in the CTV building, w here over a hundred persons died. However, most of the other buildings across Christchurch withstood the shocks of the February earthquake. Buildings such as the Forsyth Barr building lost only staircases and noticeable distortion of concrete structures could be noticed mainly at the basement or ground floor areas. 2. Analytical discussion Although this paper is aimed at exploring the management specific issues of CTV Building disaster, technology related problems and contextual analyses of engineering issues cannot be avoided. In fact, technology management itself can be regarded as an integrated part of the whole commercial building management task which is a continuous and active process in itself. Christchurch is situated in an unsafe zone and a powerful earthquake had already hit the CTV Building back in September 2010. A very important note in this milieu has been explicitly mentioned by Isaac Davison from The New Zealand Herald: â€Å"The Royal Commission also found that aft er the first major quake in September 2010 the CTV building was "green-stickered" by a rapid assessment team and later by three council building officials, none of whom was an engineer.† (Davison 2012) In this observation, Davison has mentioned the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission’s final report regarding the disaster (see Final Report: Roles and Responsibilities 2012). This commission had been delegated the task to investigate the issues

Korean 180 C-problem set 14 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Korean 180 C-problem set 14 - Essay Example The people in the country are being used as tools for the leaders to achieve that political environment that they desire, but not one that will necessarily work. B) The myths in North Korean ideology are considered backward-looking because they are past events that have been brought into the present and given specific meaning. Many of these events are fabricated or exaggerated, which makes them different from the historical events, but acts as a tool of rallying the population for the country’s cause. For example, there are myths about how the country once operated as a Communist state where everyone only took what they needed. This myth is used in order to show the population what the ideal society would look like. This is an effective manner of manipulating the population into acting according to the government’s political ideologies. C) Ideology prevents North Korea from moving forward into a modern society because it is very difficult for outsiders to understand the political ideologies that are held in the country. Since it is difficult for outsiders to understand, it is also difficult for outsiders to understand how the populations could take these ideologies seriously, which means that the rest of the world sees North Koreans as being less sophisticated than people of other nationalities are. D) Even though the idea of Juche is based on national pride, North Korea has received help from other communist countries. While this is somewhat awkward, it is justified because Kim Il Sung argued that the most important thing is to strengthen the Communist movement worldwide because this would end up being in North Korea’s best interests. Kim said that internationalism and patriotism are interchangeable because they will both further the international Communist movement, which is something that would help North Korea in the long run. This was simply a manner of Kim getting the help he needed from other countries without losing the nationalist support in

Implementation and Evaluation Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Implementation and Evaluation Plan - Assignment Example During planning for the implementation process, precision of relevant details and focused execution is of essence. There are various approaches which have been fronted by many medical practitioners and scholars as being effective in this process (Canadian Council on Smoking and Health, 2003). As has been noted in earlier discussion, effective cessation interventions for tobacco related issues require a healthcare facility-based program, which was approximated to take a minimum of at least 6 weeks. This would combine various methods and tools to assist in the implementation process. While carrying out this plan, the participation of all stakeholders is of greater importance since owning of any program by those affected is one sure way of ensuring it is well implemented. The implementation plan would take the following steps: Determining the first program and type that needs to be addressed Here, the cessation intervention programs will take into account the three most important types of gaining change. These would be the awareness of the effects and necessity of changing the behavior, supportive environment that would ensure the nurses are not attracted to smoking and are encouraged by the efforts, and the change in lifestyle for these nurses to start seeing some of their normal practices as actually being abnormal. This implementation part requires that the health facility identifies prior to implementation the strengths and relevant weaknesses of the nurses to ensuring that the above aspects of change are realized. In this case, we take advantage of the strengths that these smoking nurses have to adapt to change by using them to conquer their weaknesses. This is because the implementation program is geared towards making sure that we have a long-term effect and change in behavior in that the cessation would last longer (Royal College of Nursing, 2002). While creating awareness; the level of awareness for participants is increased by creating an interest in the topic. In this case, newsletters, health fairs, posters and testing for toxic levels could be realized. This simply works by motivating the nurses to attend the intervention program. In lifestyle change, the behavior of the participant is changed. This will be done through modification processes, skill building to tackle the urge for smoking and using the experiential learning processes. This kind of implementation practice should be done throughout the period allocated for the intervention program. Supportive environment will be given so as to ensure that a long term, healthy and sustained lifestyle is achieved by these nurses. This will be implemented by putting much emphasis Determination of the level of intensity of the intervention program In the implementation process, the level of intensity in which the intervention program is being carried out will help in the determination of the degree of success, and this is affected by the amount of resources in place, time that has bee n allocated for such an exercise, and the human resources available in the carrying out of the process. It is expected that the level of awareness for nurses attending the intervention for cessation of smoking might not be high since most of the nurses might assume they already know enough. However, it is envisaged that since an enabling environment that supports change of behavior would have been put in place, including best exercise facilities, provision of healthy foods

Case Analysis Memo Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis Memo - Case Study Example The performance of employees is often found to be derailed by the threat of losing a job, but sometimes it may also prove as a driving force, for the employee to work hard and perform well for the survival. The status of the company mainly deals with it health, whether it has sufficient sources to balance the inputs and outputs, and does the company has enough revenue generation capacity to pay all the employees. Mistrust is another problem that was found prevalent among the employees of the company. The employees were often found complaining of problems with the pay bills and distribution of bonuses. They raised the issue of biasedness to be present among the ranks within the organization. The problem was of the transference. Employees were not aware of the proceedings that were carried out behind the scene, and the end of every month they found some discrepancy between what they expected to earn, and what they had actually earned. Another problem that was found closely associated with the level of mistrust among the employees was the absence of equality; rather the employees complained that there is unequal distribution of bonuses. Explicit rewards are those gains that can be measured. They are based on simple mathematics principles, where an individual is paid according to his or her performance. Further, a company can use an explicit reward scheme to motivate its employees, through setting clear bonuses, and defining the tasks. It is often observed that managers are too much occupied by traditional notions like presence and absence, they pay people for their regularity, but regularity is not always equal to productivity. The purpose of paying bonuses for regularity is to ensure the presence of individuals at the job site, and provide maximum output. However, employees may get regular but their productivity is found to be unsatisfactory. Giving autonomy to the employees can work in two ways it can work as a reward as well as motivator for better

Give an account of how the monoamines Essay Example for Free

Give an account of how the monoamines Essay Before any detailed explanations of how monoamines act as transmitters and their prime functions in the brain, I feel it is appropriate to describe what transmitters are and outline their functions in the nervous system as well as the criteria needed for a transmitter. The definition of a neurotransmitter is chemicals that are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between neurons. (wikipedia, 2006) Moreover, for these substances to be classified as a neurotransmitter, certain criteria must be met as follows. Firstly, it is synthesized when required endogenously at the pre-synaptic side of the cell and stored in vesicles. Secondly, an adequate amount can be released to cause a response on the post-synaptic neuron. Finally, an inactivation mechanism is required to terminate its effect upon cell. Neurotransmitters are agonists and may produce fast or slow sequence of events which could be either excitatory or inhibitory. The effect is largely determined by the receptors that the neurotransmitters bind onto. Neurotransmitters are usually small molecules and are packaged into small vesicles. When a neuron receives an action potential that travels along the axon reaching the synapse, the pre-synaptic membrane of the neuron becomes depolarized. This leads to the opening of calcium channels and an influx of calcium ions, which causes the vesicles to be released by exocytosis to the synaptic cleft and the neurotransmitter molecules are then free to bind to receptors that sits on the post-synaptic membrane of the neuron. Neurotransmitter receptors are commonly divided into two types: the ionotropic receptors and the metabotropic receptors. The first group of receptors is ligand-gated ion channels and its opening or closure of channel depends on the binding of neurotransmitters. The rate of transmission for ionotropic receptors is fast. The latter group passes on signals through second messengers such as G-proteins and they have slower neuromodulation. There are three major categories of neurotransmitters: the amino acids, peptides, monoamines and the last group we will be concentrated on. Monoamines include chemicals such as dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NA) and serotonin (5-HT). Dopamine is responsible for emotional arousal; NA causes wakefulness and arousal whereas 5-HT has a role in memory, patterns in sleeping and emotions. Each of the neurotransmitters will now be introduced in more details. Dopamine is naturally synthesized inside the body by rewarding experiences; it is a neurotransmitter that acts on the brain as well as a neurohormone that is released by the hypothalamus. Generally, functions of DA in the brain include movement, cognition, prolactin secretion regulation plus motivation and pleasure. DA have other functions in the brain, however, it centrally plays a role in the pleasure reward system. The presence of an unanticipated reward induces activations to DA neurons and we tend to repeat certain behaviors to gain rewards again due to the feelings of reinforcement and motivations. Thus DA is believed to set up new motor sequences for repeated behaviors and reward system. Often this system has an association with the use of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines which can increase the concentration of DA in the brain leading to addiction of drugs. On the other hand DA is also released with the occurrence of unpleasant experiences and we learn to keep away or remove the unlikable stimuli. The most common and recognizable symptom of Parkinsons disease is the shaky hands, where patients are less able to control their motor movement. The cause of the disease is principally understood as shortage of DA and death of DA neurons in nigrostriatal pathway. Evidentially DA has an affect on the basal ganglia motor loop which impinges on the brain to control our motor movements. The frontal lobes of the brain are the region responsible for most of the neurocognitive functions, where DA controls the information flow from other sections of the brain. Any disorder in this area can bring about reduced functions in memory and attention. As mentioned before, DA plays a role in regulation of prolactin secretion in which DA act as a neuroendocrine regulator to inhibit prolactin release from anterior lobe of pituitary gland. Receptors for DA include D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5 and D2 receptors are associated with sociability. Anxiety patients are found to have low D2 receptor binding. Other behavior disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and psychosis are related to DA system disruption. Treatment for these disorders often uses the blockade mechanism of the D2 receptors or blocking the reuptake of DA transmitters. Norepinephrine (NA) belongs to the catecholamine family, which are chemicals that are made from the amino acids tyrosine. In the nervous system, NA acts as neurotransmitters and the noradrenergic neurons are responsible for the release of NA. The function of NA in the brain is as a stress hormone, where one is subjected to stressful environment, NA is released. It acts on the adrenoreceptors which are divided into the alpha and beta type and each of these have their own subdivisions. Norepinephrine also implies a role in depression and the chemical serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are used to treat depression. SNRIs are antidepressant and they function by increasing the concentration of NA at the postsynaptic cells as well as the amount of dopamine due to the availability of NA transporters to some dopamine. SNRIs has an inhibitory effect on the NA transporter reuptake mechanism by preventing transporters to recycle NA transmitters, which stop the NA transporter to recycle dopamine as well and prolongs the effect of dopamine transmission. The correlation between the two transmitters is effective on the antidepressant aspect. Serotonin (5-HT) is derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan and it is a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. 5-HT is made in serotonergic neurons of the Raphe nuclei in the brain. The neurotransmission for 5-HT is relatively different compared to DA and NA. Instead of releasing the neurotransmitter from a synaptic bulb, 5-HT is released from serotonergic swellings along the axon. Classically transmitters after the release stage will usually bind to receptors that sit on the post-synaptic membrane. However, in the case of 5-HT, the receptors specifically for it not only present post-synaptically but also at areas such as cell bodies and dendrites. The termination pathway of 5-HT is via the actions of the 5-HT reuptake transporter present at pre-synaptic membrane of the neuron. There is a broad classification of 5-HT receptors, from 5-HT1 to 5-HT7, and there are subdivision of the 5-HT1, 5-HT2 and 5-HT5receptors. Most of the 5-HT receptors uses the G-protein coupled mechanism traduce signals, except the 5-HT3 receptor which is a ligand-gated ion channel. For 5-HT1 receptors, the subdivision includes 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D. Generally with selected agonists binding to the receptors their functions in the central nervous system are inhibition of neuronal effects and behavioral effects for example, sleeping, and anxiety. But for 5-HT1D it has a role in cerebral vasoconstriction. At the 5-HT2A receptors it involves neuronal excitation which is the opposite of the 1A, B subtypes as well as learning. 5-HT2C receptors are responsible for secreting cerebral spinal fluid to the spinal cord for lubrication and other functions. The 5-HT3 receptors with a selection of specific drugs binding, it brings about anxiety plus neuronal excitation. For some of the other receptors of 5-HT, their roles in the nervous system are unclear and some are responsible for the gastrointestinal tract contraction and motility; vascular constriction or dilation. Clinically, 5-HT is used in the treatment of epilepsy and depression. Although histamine is the chemical that has many involvements physiologically in the human body, it also acts as a neurotransmitter. Four histamine receptors have been discovered ranging from H1-H4. However, only the H3 receptors are mainly engaged with the central nervous system. The cell bodies in the posterior hypothalamus release histamine and it plays a part in sleeping pattern modulation. Histamine releasing disorders are associated with inability of attention maintenance. Schizophrenia also has an association with low concentration of histamine in blood level. References: Book resources:Essential psychopharmacology 2nd edition, Stephen M. Stahl Online resources: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Monoamine_neurotransmitter http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dopamine http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Norepinephrine http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Serotonin http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Histamine.