Monday, December 30, 2019

Implementing A Big Data Database Platform - 817 Words

Abstract The primary objective of the document is to detail the steps necessary to implement a Big Data database platform to achieve what is called an Enterprise Data Lake and to improve Enterprise Data Hub where all data stored in one place and integrated with existing infrastructure and tools. Relevance Presently, I am working as a Database developer in a Software company. My primary role is to help my clients in implementing appropriate database architecture and analyzing data so that my clients can understand their users better. Introduction The purpose of the research is to collect information and best practices available on the web relevant to implementing Big Data. A secondary purpose is to conduct research on different types of big data frame work. Problem Statement (EDH) is an Enterprise Data hub where all data stored in one place and integrated with existing infrastructure and tools. EDH makes information and data accessible to everyone via tools and application. To Establish Big Data framework as enterprise data hub (EDH) for storing all data, leverage EDH for following areas: Build scalable data platform for Security Analytics and Technical Support analytics. Efficient ways to store large amount of event or machine data; keep security data for longer periods of time to perform analysis on the data. Architectural advantages allow handling larger amounts of data very quickly, and scaling up with the number of events being generated. A variety of analytics canShow MoreRelatedUses Of Nosql Databases On Insurance Industry1417 Words   |  6 PagesUses of NoSQL Databases in Insurance industry in USA 11/29/2015 Introduction The No SQL is applied in the insurance industry to allow the handling of the dynamic client data and the combination of policy using all forms of the object and attributes relationship. The No SQL apply the application of the World Wide Web services layer to allow the No SQL server render the best view of the data. The No SQL exists in different platforms and types to support the diversity of the different insurance agenciesRead MoreImpact Of Big Data On Business Decisions1138 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Since the 1970’s databases and report generators have been used to aid business decisions. In the 1990’s technology in this area improved. Now technology such as Hadoop has gone another step with the ability to store and process the data within the same system which sparked new buzz about â€Å"big data†. Big Data is roughly the collection of large amounts of data – sourced internally or externally - applied as a tool – stored, managed, and analyzed - for an organization to set or meetRead MoreKey Features Of The Database Management System1035 Words   |  5 Pagesof the database management system MongoDB. Day-to-day information is growing in gigantic amount. Generated information include predominant information and it will have to be analyzed for gathering essential expertise. On the whole, relational databases are used so as to system the data. These, ways works successfully for small amount of knowledge. What if the data is very tremendous? To avoid this problems Mongo databases are introduced. MongoDB is a cross-platform document-oriented database. ClassifiedRead MoreImplementing A Dbms System Within Any Organization Large Or Small Requires Proper Planning1318 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Implementing a DBMS system within any organization large or small requires proper planning, analyzing files and shared drives and a knowledgeable DBA (Database Administrator, in-depth knowledge of DBMS architecture. Using a DBMS to store and manage data comes with advantages, but also overhead. One of the biggest advantages of using a DBMS is that it lets end users and application programmers access and use the same data while managing data integrity. Data is better protected and maintainedRead MoreStoring Data On The Internet868 Words   |  4 Pages There is an innumerable amount of data that is being store in the internet every day. However, all this information that is being store must go somewhere to be retrieved. Databases are becoming an essential part of storing data on the internet. At first database were designed for offline purposes, but due to the constantly need to store and retrieve data to and from the interment. Internet databases have designed to make interacting with information online an easier task. There are multipleRead MoreTechnical Program Management Essay1127 Words   |  5 Pagesengagement and training skills.. Managed PlayStation Network’s data platform engineering software development and operations program including release schedule, change control, risk management and overall program health; maintaining documentation, artifacts and project best practices. Technology Tools Experience: Micro-services, Data Access Library, Oracle 11g, Oracle-Exadata - Datawarehouse, Golden Gate, SQL server, Qlikview, Big data, Hadoop, Hive, Informatica, DB visualizer, Composite , SQL, JavaRead MoreSoftware As A Service Essay1086 Words   |  5 Pagesapplication Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platforms of service offerings for big business conditions these are administrations that are not really particular foundation as weve as a rule considered as far as what an IT office may give us traditionally framework benefits or even framework itself would be things like figure apparatuses organize administrations programming stockpiling capacities so separate information store frameworks over which an application engineer would then send a database conveyRead MoreRecent Trends Of Social Crm For Banking Industry Essay1121 Words   |  5 PagesRecent trends in Social CRM for banking industry CRM (Introduction) Customer relationship management (CRM), the word is creating a significant impact in recent years and also stands as the big player for the business success. Any vertical industries from marketing to technology, footstep of the CRM brilliantly walk out in all the areas, and its dependencies create tight conditions. In the past decades, we could have seen that best transformation how the customer care delivered. Especially, InternetRead MoreAn Emerging Class Of Non Relational Database Management System Essay1658 Words   |  7 Pagesclass of non-relational database, used to handle Big Data, it stands for Not Only SQL which solve the problem of processing unstructured data, considering that this non-relational database does not use a schema, and does not relay on the table/key model used in RDBMSs (Relational DataBase Management System). NOSQL have the following characteristic: †¢ Scalability: the competence to store data across multiple data stores simultaneously, moreover enlarge and decrease the size of data stores in response toRead MoreBenefits And Benefits Of The Technology1253 Words   |  6 PagesH technique †¢ Who: †¢ Who might use this technology? †¢ Enterprise Enterprise will be likely to use this technology. In 2017 In-memory database might be used by 30 percent of enterprises (Dutta and Bilbao-Osorio 2012, vom Brocke et al. 2013, p. 152). †¢ Small and Medium Enterprise that cannot afford to buy expensive In-memory solution (Schaffer et al., 2011). †¢ Data driven business Number of Information produced has overtaken Moore’s law in early of the century (Philip Chen and Zhang, 2014). CPU performances

Sunday, December 22, 2019

How Did The Louisiana Purchase And The Adams Onis Treaty...

1. How did the Louisiana Purchase and the Adams-Onis Treaty affect the boundaries of the U.S.? The Louisiana Purchase affected the boundaries of the U.S. because when Jefferson bought the land, the boundaries were not clear. Spain claimed the border was about one hundred miles west of the Mississippi River, while Jefferson was under the impression that it was around eight hundred miles further west, which was defined by the crest of the Rocky Mountains. This lead to four different government-funded expeditions. The first was in 1804 when Lewis and Clark led an expedition westward to determine the upper reaches of the Missouri River. Throughout the expedition Lewis and Clark were instructed to study the Indian culture, such as plants and animals. They were able to explore the Indian culture when they stayed their first winter in huts beside the Mandan Indians. Without the help from the Indians they would not have survived the winter. They also had to draw out the geography of the West . After the treacherous journey, they reached the Pacific Ocean on November 7, 1805. They made their journey back to St. Louis and arrived back in September 1806. The other three expeditions that took place between 1804 and 1806 were to determine the southwestern border. The first group went down the Red River to the Ouachita River, ending in current-day Arkansas. The second group went west into eastern Texas along the Red River and the third group ended up going too far into the Spaniard’sShow MoreRelatedThe Louisiana Purchase Affected The Boundaries Of The United States1713 Words   |  7 PagesThe Louisiana Purchase affected the boundaries of the U.S. because when Jefferson bought the land, the boundaries were not clear. Spain claimed the border was about one hundred miles west of the Mississippi River, while Jefferson was under the impression that it was around eight hundred miles further west, which was defined by the crest of the Rocky Mountains. This lead to four diff erent government-funded expeditions. The first was in 1804 when Lewis and Clark led an expedition westward to determine

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Discerning Contemporary Approaches towards Effective Education Free Essays

string(187) " by which educators create and design appropriate classroom management styles spells the difference between the welcome promotion of learning and the unfortunate frustration of the same\." The pursuit of learning, it must be argued, is an activity that brings into perfection the finest essence of human persons. And the reason for this, as I have mentioned in my previous paper, is quite self-evident: to engage in learning – or any activity analogous to the purposeful acquisition of knowledge – is to nurture the gifts which, at best, summarily render humanity as creatures cut above the rest – i. e. We will write a custom essay sample on Discerning Contemporary Approaches towards Effective Education or any similar topic only for you Order Now , freewill and rationality (Moore and Bruder 67). Thus, the supreme importance of creating welcome avenues for learning needs to be considered as a task second to none. At the very least, all human persons are, by virtue of their innate superiority, necessitated to constantly strive to create windows of opportunities for higher learning, as well as address ebbs of challenges which, if left unchecked, may end up frustrating the correct methodologies to progressive learning. In view of such felt need, this paper argues for the necessity of framing forward-looking goals that can best address the contemporary challenges, which otherwise can pose serious threats to the attainment of quality education. To this end, this study deems it appropriate to limit the discussion into unraveling three concrete goals that may be adopted, in the hope of addressing contemporary concerns to education: first, to rethink the model of educational Psychology operative on most learning institution; second, to revolutionize classroom management towards greater inclusion and participation; and third, to re-conceptualize the appreciation of education as that which prepares students for a greater role in the society later on in their otherwise brief lives. It needs to be firstly pointed out however that in itself, education cannot be reduced into these three goals. The human mind, it needs to be argued, is capable of learning many facets of knowledge; and as a consequence, the goals with which each learning facet takes can be taken distinctly from others. For instance, if one were to pursue an education in Engineering, the specific goals with which his or her learning process takes must see through the need to develop one’s knowledge of precise mathematical theories on the one hand, and skills relative to concrete application of calculated findings on the other hand. The goal of a person studying Engineering therefore falls more into the acquisition of a knowledge that integrates abstract mathematical theories with concrete skills in fine arts and drawing. One does not compare such goal with, say educating someone who, while mentally impaired, manifests strains of learning nevertheless. The point in contention here lies in the plain recognition that learning can and must always be construed with its varying goals, â€Å"depending on the learner’s frame and chosen field of competence† (Ten Dam and Volman 282). Three Forward-Looking Goals It merits firstly arguing that there is a need to rethink the model of Educational Psychology operative on many learning institutions nowadays. Herein it would be necessary to cite that there appears to be two major schools of thought being adopted into the conduct of present-day education: the behaviorist and cognitive paradigms. On the one hand, the behaviorist model of education is most often gleaned on learning strategies that take students as ‘passive learners’ – i. e. , as mere reactors to learning stimuli. The stance, as it were, takes on a highly stereotyped understanding of human behavior; it â€Å"takes the mind of a child as a tabula rasa upon which the message of experience is to be written† (Wartofsky 113). On the other hand, the cognitive model of education adopts a paradigm which is exactly the opposite of the behaviorist model. It believes that learning instruction has to promote the mental abilities already intrinsic to human persons, even before they enter their respective learning places – they are mere mental processes that need to be unraveled. When a learner is therefore taken under the acute lenses of cognitive philosophy, the process of developing the unique abilities of abstraction, analysis, cognition, deconstruction, problem solving and self-reflection are the aspects that act as the crux of one’s learning. There is, however, a danger in choosing only one paradigm to adopt. On the one hand, it is certainly unwise to take learners as though they were programmed to uncritically absorb everything that they are being taught. Learning is not entirely about external influences. On the other hand, it is equally self-defeating to regard students as process-induced organisms, without recourse to appreciating their concrete situations. Learning is not completely about internal processes. This is why, it is imperative to rethink the psychological model of Educational. At best, what appears to be a more promising model to adopt is that which seeks to integrate these twin paradigms into a comprehensive model for education. Concretely, this can be achieved by taking learners as â€Å"highly structured organisms, who in their own unique ways, do try to ‘make sense’ of their life experiences in a manner that is not only active but also constructive† (Wartofsky 113). In other words, what Wartofsky correctly notes stems from a keen, if not correct observation that learning is much more than the acquisition of knowledge and the development of innate skills. Learning, instead, brings into fruition one’s knowledge and skills, by charting how one is able to successfully apply these concepts into prolific results. Secondly, the telling need to revolutionize the pedagogies and strategies pertinent to effective classroom instruction represents an unmistakably rapidly-growing concern for most educational institutions. At the very least, the old model of traditional instruction needs to be supplanted with better strategies which are now available in the field. Learning, it needs to be noted, is a delicate process; it must be attended to only by acceptable approaches and inviting programs. For such reason, Kounin believes that classroom management is of the essence in the entire learning process – i. e. , â€Å"good classroom management† must be considered as an indispensable requisite to student’s learning† (qtd. in Emmer and Stough 104). And there are reasons to think the manner by which educators create and design appropriate classroom management styles spells the difference between the welcome promotion of learning and the unfortunate frustration of the same. You read "Discerning Contemporary Approaches towards Effective Education" in category "Papers" On the one hand, revolutionizing the contemporary approach to learning necessitates a thorough re-evaluation of the technical aspects of classroom management. This re-evaluation process entails, still according to the suggestions of Kounin, putting a fair amount of effort and energy to apply all the three aspects of classroom management into the learning environment: first, to ensure that â€Å"preparations† relative to academic programs and campus regulations are properly articulated and clearly outlined so as to facilitate their effective implementation; second, to determine head-on whether or not the interaction transpiring between the educator and learners during the â€Å"actual† learning process are marked by appropriateness and facility; and third, to determine a program that assesses and monitors how educators are able to â€Å"control† the environment for learning (Vasa 64-66). One may correctly notice that this specific program seeks to guide the learning process before it is undertaken, during its implementation and after the process has been completed. Simply put, the process is comprehensive. And it is with good reasons that a learning institution must adopt such a revolutionary program to guide their respective educational goals and visions into welcome fruition. On the other hand, it has to be likewise appreciated that any effort to revolutionize classroom management cannot stop at ensuring that the aforesaid technical aspects work effectively in the service of efficiency and facility. With equal or more emphasis, there is a need to revolutionize, in a manner being drastic but progressive, the fundamental concept of the learning process itself. Herein, it is wise to reminded what P. Freire has to say about the matter – i. e. , learning cannot be seen as an asymmetrical process, where teachers dole out incremental nuggets of knowledge and students receive them uncritically as though they were nothing but repositories of data and information. When a learning institution engages in this type of one-way instruction, Freire believes that it adopts an unmistakably restrictive â€Å"banking concept of education†. He believes that under this model, â€Å"knowledge is (considered as) a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing† (Friere). Instead, Freire maintains that classroom instructions, as indeed the entire process of education, have to revolutionized so as to cater to the need to â€Å"strive for the emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality† (Freire). For only when educators see the supreme importance of promoting the learner’s concrete appropriation of his or her learning can learning environments break free from the traditional spoon-feeding model of instruction that has long plagued the many educational systems. Thirdly, there is a certainly a need to re-orient the goal of education in respect to its duty to prepare the learners in discerning their chosen vocations relative the needs of the society later on. Nowadays, education is often seen as a personal ticket to success; an instrument which yields a higher rate of success to the top. More and more therefore, the call to recover the thrust of education from this highly individualistic frame becomes even more relevant. As indeed, the need to underscore the intricate relations between the goals of education and the needs of the society cannot be under-appreciated. In ways of more than one, learning is really about participating in the network of relationships latched in humanity’s basic sociality. Learning is indeed about â€Å"the increasing ability to participate in the social and culture practices which are considered important in the society† (Ten Dam and Volman 285). And this does not entail seeing the education of students as a precursor their filling up certain stereotyped roles which a society demands. Ten Dam and Volman believes that â€Å"adequate participation† in the society â€Å"does not mean behaving according to a fixed set of norms, but being able to deal flexibly with the differences and other choices and possibilities† (284). Thus, learning is about empowering the students to discover their inner gifts while they are at school so that they can use them for the sake of society’s wellbeing later. In the ultimate analysis, it must be recognized that â€Å"the content of education has† indeed something â€Å"to do with society’s need for people who are prepared for the conditions of life in a civil society† (Daniliuk 13). To briefly conclude, this paper ends with a thought that affirms the abiding necessity of conceiving forward-looking goals to help address the contemporary conduct of education. Time is indeed changing fast; and so is the manner by which the world understands education and human learning. In order to adapt, challenges must be met with equivalent responses and adequate solutions. Three concrete suggestions have been raised in this paper: to re-conceptualize the model of educational Psychology, to revolutionize classroom management approaches, and to recover the role of education in respect to the needs of the society. Surely, there are still a lot more challenges to hurdle; a lot more Goliaths to slay. For the time being, the world can rest assured that for as long as concrete steps are being framed to address educational issues, there can be little doubt that humanity’s can always strive for constant learning. References Daniliuk, A. â€Å"The Role of Education in the Formation of a Civil Society†. Russian Education   Ã‚   and Society, 50, 5, 2008. Emmer, E. Stough, L. â€Å"Classroom Management: A Critical Part of Educational   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Psychology,   Ã‚   with Implications for Teacher Education†. Educational Psychologist, 32, 2, 2001. Freire, P. â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education†. Ten Dam, G. Volman M. â€Å"Educating for Adulthood or for Citizenship: Social Competence as   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   an Educational Goal†. European Journal of Education, 42, 2, 2007. Vasa, S. (1984). â€Å"Classroom Management: Selected Overview of Literature†. Teacher Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Monograph, 1, pp. 64-74. Wartofsky, M. â€Å"On the Creation and Transformation of Norms of Human Development†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leonard Cirillo Seymour Wapner, editors. Value Presuppositions in Theories of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Human Development. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986.    How to cite Discerning Contemporary Approaches towards Effective Education, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Post-Operative Deep Vein Thrombosis. Answer: Post-operative deep vein thrombosis. Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which there is formation of a clot in the deep venous of the leg occluding normal blood flow. It is manifested by leg pain, edema, erythema and tenderness(Blann, (2015)). In most cases it occurs as a complication following surgery which involved decreased mobility or prolonged bed rest with reduced ambulation (post-op deep venous thrombosis)(Blann, (2015)). Pathophysiology of DVT. Muscle movement usually increases the rate of backflow of blood from the lower parts of the feet to the inferior vena cava. However during decreased or be in immobile state the blood tend to flow backward slowly creating stasis(Cassidy, (2014).). This blood therefore forms a clot due to the accumulation of the clotting factors within the same point causing occlusion of blood flow. It therefore causes formation of thrombi which can easily dislodge and becoming emboli which can lodge in small vessels like the pulmonary and coronary arteries. Relevant history for deep venous thrombosis. Previous knee surgery which poses a greater risk for formation of blood clots that may clog the veins. A history hyperlipidemia. High cholesterol levels in the blood plasma increases blood viscosity reducing the speed of blood flow(Blann, (2015)). As a result blood clots tend to form on the walls of the blood vessels. History of hospitalization decrease ambulation hence causing decreased exercise on the calf muscle lowering rate of backflow of blood. Stress as a result of feeling of overdependence on their to perform daily leaving Risk factors to DVT occurrences. Age-people above 60 years are susceptible to developing DVT due to reduce muscle tone and decreased activity hence reducing the rate of blood flow causing stasis(Blann, (2015)). Prolonged bed rest-the lower limbs remain still for some time restricting calf muscles contraction to facilitate blood flow exacerbating risk for clot formation. Heart failure-people with this condition have limited heart and lung function. The hearth inability to pump blood cause a lot of blood accumulation especially in the lower extremities forming clots(Sun, (2014). Surgery-injury to the veins may increase chances of a thrombi being formed due to high delivery of the clotting factors to the site of injury. Sitting for long period of time-this reduces the calf muscle motility lowering blood flow rate. Musculoskeletal system. Health history. Present history of knee replacement surgery. History of decreased activities of the daily living due to chronic pain while undergoing activities. Past history of osteoarthritis affecting the knee joint. General appearance. The lower extremities of the patient cannot withstand the weight of the body for a long period due to increased pain in the knees. He is anxious of overdependence on others and anticipation of other possible complications. Physical examination. Gait and mobility-he has malalignment of the lower limbs, pain and fatigue when walking or standing, limited mobility due to stiffness of the knee joint and muscle weakness. Posture-the client is leaning on his right side following the knee surgery. Joint function-he has limited range of motion evidenced by pain in attempt to move the knee joint. Skin-has no signs of edema. Cardiovascular system. Health history. History of angina, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. History of pain joint. History of decreased level of activities. The patient easily fatigued when performing tasks of daily living. General appearance. The client is alert and oriented to place, person and time. Physical examination. Inspection-the client has facial grimace, no cyanosis, no pallor, no jaundice. Palpation-there is increased radial pulse rate, edema on the extremities, increased venous pressure. Auscultation-there is presences of heart murmurs and galloping sounds, apical pulse is fast and pounding(Schoenfeld, 2013). Risk assessment. The client is at risk of developing heart failure. This is attributed by the possibility of the dislodgement of a thrombi that might lodge in the coronary artery decreased heart muscle perfusion leading to myocardial ischemia(Schoenfeld, 2013). Hypertension also, can cause heart failure as well as narrowed blood vessels due to cholesterol deposition. This makes the heart to work with a lot of effort to overcome resistance(Moghadamyeghaneh, . (2014). ). Risk for pulmonary embolism caused by the deposition of an emboli within the narrowed blood vessels. Strategies to meet clients need. Pain management. The nurse should assess and rate the pain using the pain rating scale. This helps on determining the type of analgesia to be used. Administer weak opioids such as codeine to cater for both the angina and the knee joint pain(Sun, (2014). This is done while addressing the underlying cause to improve the clients comfort. Coping mechanism; to enable the patient to have the optimum functionality as much as possible. This done through education of the client on the mechanisms of performing activities with minimum energy input for example alternating between standing and sitting(Schoenfeld, 2013). Prevention of DVT. The client has a higher risk of developing DVT and therefore is supposed to be under close monitoring. Use of serial duplex ultrasound scans which can identify smallest forming clots. Constantly also the client should be on medications(Cassidy, (2014).); blood thinners to dissolve any clot that is present from getting bigger, or prevent the formation of a clot. In addition use pneumatic intermittent compression stockings due to decreased mobility(Domeij-Arverud, (2015). According to (Moghadamyeghaneh, . (2014). ) Use of anticoagulants before surgery and after surgery has proved to be effective method of preventing DVT. However some researchers claim that the use of anticoagulants prior to surgery may pose greater risk to postoperative bleeding hence not advisable unless the client has a history of blood clot(Cassidy, (2014).). Use of anticoagulants should be used after surgery in cases where the clients rate of mobility is reduced especially in old age where the client has to be in bed rest for long. Also, following hip or knee replacement(Moghadamyeghaneh, . (2014). ). The client is old and has knee surgery hence there great immobility. Therefore use of blood thinners can help to greater extent in preventing DVT to this client. In North American in the year 1980s use of Doppler ultrasonography scanning became the principle diagnostic tool and use of anticoagulants for management as well as prevention(Moghadamyeghaneh, . (2014). ). Evaluation. Doctors should monitor the client and prescribe the age appropriate medications and make referrals when possible. Nurses on the other should take part in assessing the client, monitoring the progress, advocate for the patient, administer prescribe medication and report any complication, health education to the patient drug compliance and prepare for the follow up. The nurse should ensure that the physiotherapist attend to the client to meet ambulation needs. Also the nurse should check with the doctor to ensure the client is given an appointment date for follow up. Strategies Evaluate pain through direct interaction with the patient. Also act the patient on the ability to undertake the current activities with minimum distress(Cassidy, (2014).). Use the ultrasound scan to check the clot formation constantly to identify if the current medication is meeting the intended need of prevention of thrombi formation. References (Blann, (. B. (2013). Deep vein thrombosis: A multispecialty approach. x. New Delhi: Elsevier. (Cassidy, (. A. (. (2014). ). Graduated compression stockings for prevention of deep vein thrombosis.. The Cochrane Library. (Moghadamyeghaneh, .. (. (2014).). Heparin?based treatment to prevent symptomatic deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism or death in general medical inpatients is not supported by best evidence. Blann, A. .. ((2015)). Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism: A Guide for Practitioners. London: M K Update Ltd. Cassidy, M. R. ((2014).). Reducing postoperative venous thromboembolism complications with a standardized risk-stratified prophylaxis protocol and mobilization program . . Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 1095-1104. Domeij-Arverud, E. L. ((2015). ). Intermittent pneumatic compression reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis during post-operative lower limb immobilisation. . Bone Joint J, 675-680. Moghadamyeghaneh, Z. H. (. (2014). ). A nationwide analysis of postoperative deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in colon and rectal surgery. journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 1994- 2169. Schoenfeld, A. J. (2013). Patient-based and surgical characteristics associated with the acute development of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after spine surger. 1892-1898. Sun, Y. C. ( (2014). ). Deep venous thrombosis after knee arthroscopy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arthroscopy: . 406-412, 406-412.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Inferno By Dante Essays - Divine Comedy, Afterlife, Italy, Virgil

Inferno By Dante Although it is hard to read Dantes triple rhyme, I am thrilled by the Infernos ambiguity and allegoric power. It is really a three-dimensional art. Just like Picasso in his paintings, Dante makes me think about the meaning of the situations and their implications. Moreover, it is as visual as masterpieces of Picasso. Dante makes us believe in his narration involving our senses. This narrative poem astonishes me by the power of the language and by its mysticism. In the first canto we see Dante in the dark wood of error. While he tries to climb up the Mount of Joy, Dante meets three wild beasts, which make him lost in the midway. Dante introduces allegoric symbols of betrayal, violence and hunger. Later in the poem, those major sins described by the author in the circles of hell. Betrayal, the most serious sin that the person can commit, is represented by one of the three beasts. Dante puts sinners of that kind in the last, most horrible circle of hell. A lion is a symbolic creature for this sin. Each beast, like everything else in the poem, displays precise meaning of each sin by its nature. The second by its significance is hunger, which is represented by a she-wolf. This beast is the symbol of all the cravings such as sex, food and money. However, the first beast that Dante sees is a leopard. His spots on the body are very meaningful; they have ability to change if we look at baby deer, for example. Therefore, the leopard is the symbol of trickery, betrayal. The Inferno by Dante as a pure piece of art intensifies our experience of life. For me, it is a chance to examine my own experiences, some outer source that fulfill my inner need of thoughts. Book Reports

Monday, November 25, 2019

Thirteen americans painting essays

Thirteen americans painting essays When trying to understand a painting there are a lot of elements that have to be analyzed. Questions have to be answered and paralleled with other observations. One will realize that most of the choices the artist makes have to do with one question: What is the artist trying to express through his painting? It seems as though in this painting, Thirteen Americans, all Alfred Leslies choices relate back to the answer to that question. Another question that helps with answering the first question is: why are there thirteen people standing there on an enormous canvas? When studying a piece of art, one of the first steps in appreciating what the artist created, is understanding the title. Thirteen Americans and United We Stand go hand and hand. They both represent what our country is built upon, a diverse country with equal opportunities. This painting comprises thirteen Americans of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and both sexes. Without the title, Thirteen Americans, one wouldnt be able to appreciate Leslies message he is conveying. All one would see are thirteen random people standing there, but with one simple word, Americans, one then understands what is being represented. Alfred shows that it doesnt matter who you are or what you look like, in America, you are just as equal to everyone else. When approaching Thirteen Americans, ones eyes are fixed on the vast painting. The size itself helps with communicating what Alfred Leslie is trying to illustrate to the viewers and that is a bold powerful message which is so large that no one can shun it; America stands for equality. Not only does the size force a message to be grasped by the viewer, but the size also creates a sense of realism. The size of the figures are accurate to the size of real life figures giving one the illusion that these painted Americans are just a few ordinary people standing in front of ones self. Loo...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

MEASURING QUALITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MEASURING QUALITY - Essay Example Outcomes define the end results of nursing interventions and are indicators of problem resolution or progress toward problem or symptom resolution. (ANA) The ICNP ® defines a nursing outcome as the measure or status of a nursing diagnosis at points in time after a nursing intervention. (ICNP 2001) There are several indicators used by health care providers in measuring patient outcomes. This paper would only discuss two (2) indicators: (1) functional status and (2) patient satisfaction with care. A patient undergoes functional assessment to determine his/her abilities to perform activities of daily living. Functional status is assessed in terms of the ability to feed, dress, toilet, move, transfer, and ambulate self independently or with some degree of required assistance. This is usually done upon admission, during confinement, and before discharge from the hospital or healthcare institution. The quality of care provided is measured by the difference or improvement in functional abilities upon admission and before discharge. Patient satisfaction with care is measured using customer satisfaction surveys or questionnaires which gauge the ability of healthcare providers to satisfy the needs of the patients. Areas for improvement could be identified using the questionnaires. Immediate courses of action should be instituted to improve on the weaknesses and to commend quality care. The role of healthcare providers in quality care can never be overemphasized. â€Å"As stewards of patient care, nurses maintain a unique role in identifying and guiding the intervention processes central to quality care†. (Gantz, et.al. 2003) Their personal approach to their patients makes them the front liners in patient care. To enable healthcare providers to ensure that the provision for quality care is being delivered, there should be a continuous quality

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Management - Essay Example One of the greatest differences between marketing to business and marketing to consumers is that B2B marketing is more dependent on relationship building, thus increasing the value of relationship and building brand identity on the basis of personal relationship. Another difference is that the target market is smaller and should be carefully identified. A marketing strategy for the business market should be developed taking into consideration multi-step buying process and longer sales cycle. In addition, while the goal of consumer marketing is to make a shopper a customer (emotional buying decisions can be made), the major aim of business marketing is to provide the business with business value – organizations, in most cases, make rather rational buying decisions. Therefore, multiple individuals within the target organization should be educated on the value of the product, because business procurement is a multi-step process. Historically, the auto industry is heavily affected by the 5 external environments (macro-level). For each of the five (social/cultural, political and legal, competitive, technological, and economic) discuss three aspects within each environment that would impact the marketing planning for the next couple of years.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Create an Excutive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Create an Excutive Summary - Essay Example After conducting a feasibility study of the costs savings by the company, it was found out that the company saves more by deciding to outsource than to insource these services. The benefits of outsourcing far outweigh those of insourcing, by up to $ 579, 523 in savings. These savings come from freeing up of municipality assets, savings from training the municipality’s own employees, improving core business functions due to reassignment of personnel and benefits from lease of excess space. There are various reasons as to why the municipality seeks to outsource for these services. Costs for upgrading maintenance of the new equipment and new technology are absorbed by the outsourced company, costs savings in paying the employees and utility and office space expenses, and improved customer services. However, the municipality is faced with a number of risks if it decides to outsource for these services. Confidentiality of the municipality’s customers might be breached, the quality of services offered could reduce, and the company contracted could close suddenly as well as the municipality losing its control over the collection of scheduled payments. The qualifying agency will take over the utility’s responsibility of processing payment data and convert it into billing statements that will be delivered the customers by the agency in a timely manner. The contracted agency will also be responsible for sending the billing statements to the customer by either electronic means by the use of emails, interactive website billing method, or by mailing hard copies of the bill statements to the customers. The agency will also track payments by the customers and reporting the customers who do not pay. Collection of payments from the customers will be done by the same agency, and will provide the municipality’s customer account database, also

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Colourism In The 21st Century Cultural Studies Essay

Colourism In The 21st Century Cultural Studies Essay Even though the term colourism, otherwise known as shadeism, has gained popularity in recent years, the concept is deeply rooted in the colonial days of slavery. Defined as a form of  prejudice or  discrimination  in which persons are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to skin color, this light skin versus dark skin issue has had a damaging effect on the psyche of young black Jamaicans today. However, according to Cedric Herring colourism operates in two different ways: interracially and intraracially. Interracial colourism occurs when members of one racial group make distinctions based upon skin color between members of another racial group. Intraracial colourism occurs when members of a racial group make distinctions based upon skin color between members of their own race (3). While I will be analysing both forms of colourism, the focus of this thesis will be on intraracial colourism, specifically within the Jamaican community. After the abolition of slavery in Jamaica, the immersion of a middle and lower class was integrated into the hierarchical structure of Jamaica that previously only claimed whites as the elite. As a result, due to the preferential treatment that was awarded to mulattoes-a treatment that allowed them to have an education-, they became the ruling middle class with the then former black slaves turned peasants as the lower class. To make matters worse, the historical and stereotypical depiction of Africans as ugly, stupid and uncivilized and Europeans as pretty, intelligent and superior only served to brainwash black Jamaicans into thinking that they are the inferior race. Thus, the tendency to perceive or behave toward members of a racial category based on the lightness or darkness of their skin tone has resulted in, not only the segregation of a people within a specific ethnic group, but it has also created, amongst the African Diaspora of Jamaica, extreme methods through which the they will do anything to attain as many refined European attributes as possible. According to William Lynchs letter The Making of a Slave, his secret to controlling slaves is by pitting them against each other, by exploiting differences such as age and skin color that would, after some time, sow dissension amongst them, one that would last for many years to come. While there has been extensive research and academia founded on the topic of racism within the West Indian context during the colonial period, only a few have examined intraracial skin color hierarchies amongst the black race and even less amongst the African Diaspora of Jamaica in the 21st century. It is therefore, the purpose of this study to show how stereotypes and perceptions about light and dark skin signify an inheritance of similar attitudes documented in earlier generations of black Jamaicans, which in turn, sheds light on the ever-present discrimination that continues takes place on a day to day basis in their lives. It is my hope that this study will address the following: Demonstrate the link of Jamaicas colonial past to colourism today Show the medias role toward preference and how it has affected black Jamaicans Explain the extreme measures taken in order to be brown Many historians (Henriques 1953; Norris 1962) have acknowledged the fact that slavery has had adverse psychological effects on Africans (Danieli 394), especially those of a darker complexion. As such, the preferential treatment that was awarded to mulatto slaves (James and Harris 234) has been able to transcend years of black empowerment movements in such a way that it is clearly evident in Jamaicas society today through colourism (Herring 3). According to Carolyn Cooper, the remnants of Jamaicas colonial past are ever present in the social interactions of its people today, no matter the context. Her argument is further supported by Deborah Gabriel (28) who has studied race relations among Jamaicans and attests to the fact that colour prejudice is visible in the societys socio-economic environment. Moreover, Antonio Gramscis cultural hegemony theory, which is explored in the works of Boggs (39), Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez (62), adds another dimension to the analysis of colourism by stating that the superimposition of one culture over another negatively affects their already established social structure. It is common knowledge therefore that the white ideal- through which all analyses of colourism is based- expresses the view that blacks are the inferior race and whites, the superior (Kardiner et. al 315). Even Fanons psychoanalytical theory of racism and the dehumanization of African slaves in the colonial epoch support the idea that white supremacy has led black people to develop an inferiority complex. Yet, despite the call for black unity among the African race advocated by numerous social and political groups such as the Pan-African movements and Rastafarianism (Caravantes 2003), there are still messages being transmitted that stipulate that light skin people are better t han their darker counterparts. Carl Boggs lends aid to this belief through his analysis in the role of mainstream media. His study shows how the elite in society have been able to perpetuate the ideology that whites are the superior race (39). On the other hand, however, Margaret Andersen and Howard Taylor examine the way in which light skin black people are depicted as elite in their own right when compared to their darker counterparts (53). Consequently, the association between white people and light skin people as more intelligent, more beautiful and more civilized can be found numerous media outlets in Jamaica. To add to that theory is the analysis of Buju Bantons song Love me browning by Patricia Mohammed who stated that his song has reinforced and reflected the idea that men value the colour of light skin in women in Jamaica (35). This preference has led to the exacerbation of black womens self-esteem who now take it upon themselves to bleach their skin in an attempt to seem more desirable. According to Natasha Barnes, not only is skin colour used as a handicap to gain social access, it is also seen as a form of economic mobility and stability among the light skin people of Jamaica (*). Therefore, it isnt necessary that black people work as hard as they do to move up the socio-economic ladder because decent job qualifications are not more valuable than the colour of ones skin (Miller, ). However, after having researched the subject for this thesis project, I found that there was an abundance of information based on African American experiences along with the numerous studies which have proven that people with darker skin are subjugated to more prejudice than their lighter skinned counterparts. In fact, very little of the information found related to the theme of colourism as a system of language, internal scripts and external practices that govern the everyday interactions and experiences of young black men and women as it relates to skin tone  [1]  in the contemporary society of Jamaica. While I do agree with many historian sociologists, such as Fernando Henriques and Katrin Norris, who have highlighted the topic of skin politics in Jamaica, I intend to go further by examining the phenomenon of colourism as it relates to present day interactions and experiences. By examining the historical and contemporary significance of skin color, it will be proven that discrimination based on skin color is a present reality that will assume increasing significance in the future as current understandings of race and racial classifications disintegrate.   Furthermore, for the purpose of this thesis I have taken the liberty of looking at numerous primary and secondary sources, such as those written by Marcus Garvey, Dr. Eric Williams, Francis O.C, Anthony Richmond, and David Lowenthal. They have all have given me great insight into historical context of race relations during the colonial period and how black people reacted to this unjust treatment through the various black power movements, especially those executed by Rastafarians. On the other hand, however, due to the fact that this thesis is based on race relations within a specific social group in contemporary Jamaica, many of the research executed had to be done via questionnaires and face to face group discussions with Jamaican men and women. As a result, their responses have allowed me to fill in the information that was lacking in the secondary sources. Through the use of questionnaires, I was able to target audience of ten people in an efficient amount of time. Nevertheless, as with all data collection, some of opinions expressed warranted a deeper analysis of the subject at hand. Consequently, I resorted to focus groups of r people and individual interviews so that greater insight would be given as to why people had certain opinions; to know how they thought or felt about this topic, as it is a term that is rarely used in public spheres, and even less so in private ones. To conclude, this research speaks to the gaps in empirical research and theoretical conceptualizations of colourism by providing an in-depth exploration of skin tone bias and discrimination among African Jamaicans. Additionally, it seeks to develop a foundation for a theoretical framework that captures the key features of colourism in the 21st century. As such, an examination of race relations will show whether or not there is a preference for lighter skin in Jamaica, and if so the extent to which one would go to achieve features that approximate a Caucasian appearance. The origins of colourism The whites claim superiority, as is done all over the world, and, unlike other parts, the coloured, who ancestrally are the illegitimate off-springs of black and white, claim a positive superiority over the blacks. They train themselves to believe that in the slightest shade the coloured man is above the black man and so it runs right up to whiteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ -Marcus Garvey () Colourism exists everywhere in the African Diaspora where slavery or colonization brought with it the imposition of western ideology and white supremacy, (Gabriel, 25). Approximately six hundred thousand Africans came to Jamaica from the Bight of Biafra, the Gold Coast, West Central Africa and the Bight of Benin between 1533 and 1807 (http://www.nlj.gov.jm/NLJ/files/u1/slave_trade_bibliography.pdf, 15/03/2013) to work as slaves on the sugar cane plantation. Upon their arrival, European plantation owners established themselves as superior based on a paradigm through which Africans were biologically and legally inferior because of their skin colour and as such they were forced to endure hard labour. This racist social system, known as white supremacy, resulted in Negro subordination through white domination. However, with the start of miscegenation between white slave owners and African slaves- through rape- a new racial group was created which in turn created a new paradigm. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it was widely held that slaves of colour should not be employed in field labour and that they should be given preference in the training of tradesman, the flower of the slave population.' (Higman, 189). Mulatto children, although most of them were not freed, they were considered better than the black population because of their close proximity to the whites. As a result, they were offered an education, an opportunity through which they held an even greater advantage over the African slaves. Thus, when the sugar plantations experienced a decline in revenue and plantation owners were sinking into debt, some of them left Jamaica, retuning to live in England off the money they had earned through the hard labor of the Africans. This movement off the island by the whites left a void in the social hierarchy, which mulattos came to fill (Gabriel, 27). Consequently, gradations in skin colour through social stratification allowed these mulatto men and women to assume a higher status, socially and economically, according to the lightness of their skin tone. This hierarchical structure persisted even after the complete emancipation of slavery in 1838 with the introduction of freed slaves as lower class, mulattoes as middle class and whites as the elite. Yet, even after more than 200 hundred years of freedom, the idea that a persons destiny is predetermined by their skin tone proves that this historical continuum still exists. Colourism is so deeply embedded in the structure and organization of Caribbean societies that people identify themselves and form relationships according to the standards implemented by the white British (Flynn, 2011). While the 21st century has seen many changes with regards to race discrimination, interpersonal and intrapersonal colourism continues its reigns in Jamaican society. This is ever present in the social interactions among young adults and children who experience discrimination because they are too dark or preference because they are light skin. A standard that is further highlighted by a 22 year old male interviewee who recounted a particular situation in high school where a girl told him outright that she would not date him because he was too dark. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦because internalized racism is so firmly entrenched in the consciousness of black people, they are often unaware that they have a colour complex (Gabriel, 22). Browning, which replaces terms like mulatto, terceroon, quadroon, mustee, musteefino used in the colonial period is a fabled ideal of female beauty and male power in Jamaica society: the just right mix of white and black (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120122/focus/focus5.html, 12/03/2013). However, this term browning also reduces the person being referred to as a mere object, a trophy, a prized possession; they are only seen for the colour of their skin and the socio-economic status attached to their nearness to European characteristics and distance from the African (Henriques, *). As a result, many men and women in Jamaica today are obsessed with trying to attain this ideal because they see it as a sign of upward mobility from their destitute stations. Therefore, while it is totally understandable that e ach person is entitled to their preference, the fact remains that this preference is based on a premise which reinforces the idea that black is undesirable and light skin is ideal. This train of thought is in keeping with the social stratification theory that has been interwoven in the socio-historical tapestry of Jamaica. For a mother to insist that her daughter, black or coloured, gone to buckra [master] house, gone live so that she gone lift de colour was seen as a sign of pride during the days of slavery (Henriques,*). Even now, there are parents who prefer their sons and daughters marry white (Norris, *) because they see it as a chance for their children to move upward in a society that acknowledges and propels the worth of the white bias. Consequently, these children have grown up with the idea that a dark skin tone limits ones chances to a better life and a lighter complexion is the pathway to success. An ideology that is further cemented by the responses given to a survey conducted on this theme of colourism, more specifically preference for lighter skin in Jamaica, through which the majority of respondents despite age, social class and education believ e that if one is fairer in complexion, they are automatically offered more opportunities. Likewise is the case for young adults transitioning from school life to independent status by entering the workforce. I am not surprised that certain employers request light-skinned individuals for recruitmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Appearances do matter in recruitment, and generally speaking, Jamaicans are unable to see the beauty in a man or woman of African descent (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110914/letters/letters1.html, 12/03/2013). Explicit discrimination in the hiring process of many firms is a cause for concern within the Jamaican job market. Historically, darker men and women were not allowed to work in banks, government offices or at the front desk of private businesses until the 1960s (Gabriel, 33). Yet, even though change has been fought for by many involved in the Pan-African and Rastafarian movement, the existence of companies that openly state that they want light skin applicants does nothing for the advancement of a country whose motto recites Out of many, One people . The Acquired Anti-Own Race Syndrome created by Clinton Hutton, a lecturer in political philosophy and culture at the University of the West Indies, Mona refers to the the philosophy and psychology of assumed European world cultural superiority expressed by African peoples in their relations with each other and in perceiving and operating in the world (Hutton, ). Consequently, this ideology expresses the views that both socially and economically, Jamaicans have used the predetermined white supremacy standards to interact with each other. With this in mind, it is no wonder why dark skin Jamaicans think it necessary to try to elevate themselves out of their situations. They are measured by unrealistic goals designed to keep them at the bottom of hierarchical structure and they will remain there if the damaged psyche of those who reinforce these ideals dont change. If not, black Jamaicans will never truly be able to gain access to decent jobs based on merit alone as light skin far outwei ghs education and training skills (Miller, 3164). *** Many sociologists have argued that the mass media promote narrow definitions of who people are and what they can be (Andersen and Taylor, 53). For centuries the media has influenced and propagated the ideal body image for men and women across the globe, which in turn affects their personality, how they interact with one another and their health (Lubkin, 197). Even long before the advent of technological advances the global population has been exposed to paintings of idyllic body images as can be seen in the works of Rubens, Renoir and Raphael who influenced cultural standards for the ultimate body type in their respective eras (Kirsh, 126). As such, one shouldnt be surprised by the outright and even subliminal messages (Jackson, 350) projected to the masses that stipulate what is beautiful and what is not. Televisions, magazines, music and more notably in contemporary societies, the internet, have transmitted these idealistic images that would later epitomize an era. Intrinsically, i t is these major multibillion-dollar media conglomerate companies that concentrate their control on what is assimilated on a day to day basis. Their promotion on what is culturally acceptable has had an explosive effect on the way people think about themselves and about others. According to Italian communist Antonio Gramscis theory on cultural hegemony- through which he broadens the materialist Marxist theory- the ruling class within a culturally diverse society superimposes its values, whether social, economical, political or religious, upon the lower classes, who in turn buy into the status quo operating against their established social structure (Dines and Humez, 62). This dominance of one class or group over another can be used to explain the way in which media is used as a tool by the elites to perpetuate their power, wealth and status [by popularizing] their own philosophy, culture and morality (Boggs, 39). As a result, through analysis of the history of all forms of media leading up to the 21st century, one can easily stipulate that European features and fair skin are more pervasive- no matter the race-, youth is more accepted and beauty is whatever and whomever can approximate to both these ideals. A correlation can then be made between media and th e black ugliness/white beauty binary of imperialism and slavery that has spawned a racialized beauty empire (Rodrà ­guez, Boatcă, Costa, 196). And it is this correlation that highlights the conditions under which black people must perform in order to be successful; the same correlation that stipulates black beauty in the 21st century is a paradox. Marcus Garvey advocated for Black Nationalism whereby he encouraged African people to be proud of their race and see the beauty in their own kind (Caravantes, 2003). This movement de-centered white beautys iconicity through anti colonialist aesthetics focused on natural hair and black self-love so as to redefine blackness through positive valuation (Rodrà ­guez, Boatcă, Costa, 198). In collaboration with Rastafarianism, these Pan-Africanism Movements promoted ideologies like black is beautiful and Im black and Im proud, however, when mainstream media daily bombards the population with images that say otherwise, what is this country Out of many, one people supposed to believe? The idea that political, social and economical institutions have bought into this perception of superiority/inferiority within the African race only serves to reinforce this long standing belief. Advertising agencies have projected this standard at all levels in the Jamaican society. According to Carolyn Cooper, colourism can be found even at tertiary level education. It is the faces of lighter skin males and female students that are used to advertise the institutions at an international level, whereas the darker students were found in the local yellow pages. She further explains another situation in which family oriented advertisements display images of a dark skin father and light skin mother with a dark skin son and light skin daughter. Social ads also show the same thing. They big-up all the light skin girls them. Yuh cant leave yuh house without seein them brownins on billboards, in the news, on party flyers, in magazines. They dominate the industry, says a 23 year old cocoa coloured female interviewee who resides in Trinidad pursuing her bachelors degree at the University of the West Indies. The idea that men are not as affected by skin colour, hair texture and facial f eatures as their female counterparts, demonstrates their social and economical mobility in a patriarchal society despite the colour of their skin. As a result, it is only the representations of dark-skinned African women as those who are not ideal that is subliminally and openly transmitted. Indubitably, when one references Jamaican media, its music is highly influential, beginning with the famous Bob Marley, who put Jamaica on the map musically, with songs that referenced peace and black unity. However, when Buju Banton came out with his song Love me browning in 1992, consisting of the following lyrics: Me love me car, me love me bike, me love me money and ting but most of all me love me browning, it caused an uproar within the Jamaican society who accused him of denigrating the image of black women by promoting a colonial mindset (Mohammad, 35). Yet, even though he sang Love Black woman within that same year as a response to all the negative comments he was receiving, it didnt hide the fact that he was expressing the views of many Jamaican men who had a penchant for lighter-skinned women. Likewise in contemporary Jamaica, with the popularity of skin bleaching in songs from Vybz Kartel, who has also bleached his skin colour because he wanted to show off his tattoos ()*, Jamaicans are bombarded with the views that having a lighter complexion is the way to go. Music videos use women that are fairer in complexion when the song is about love and for dancehall music the predominantly darker skinned women are used to gyrate. Objectified as a sexual creature a darker woman isnt seen as someone a man would want to build a life with because she is considered only within a sexual context. While there have been some transitions in music where dark skin women are used with terms of endearment, the majority of the popular music videos shown still illustrate the European influenced cookie cutter image of women to sell their songs. The media is all about selling goods and selling fantasies is one of their products. It presents men with the ideal woman and vice versa. As such, lighter complexioned men and women, as depicted in all forms of media, are seen as trophies. According to Natasha Barnes, skin colour still serves as a handicap in access to good service, securing decent jobs, housing and other social amenities (Barnes, 286). Thus, a higher complexioned woman is seen as the symbol of a mans success whereas the man is seen as a way out of poverty and an elevation of social status for women. As such, the following statement given by a 20 year old anonymous female in response to a question about social interactions in Jamaica and the perceptions men and women have of each other, will clearly provide insight into the minds of young African men and women of contemporary Jamaica: If you have a light skin man in Jamaica, especially if you come from inner city Jamaica, is like you have gold. Youre introduced to a new world, you meet new people, have more opportunities because his world is completely different to your own. You cant force anyone to think black is beautiful when the evidence around them testifies to the contrary.   And which of our leaders are going from a rich mahogany to a high yellow shade? The poor can only afford bleaching creams, but the  well-to-do have other means (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120226/news/news4.html, 25/01/2013) With particular attention to the Jamaican government ministers and officials, one sees that darker hued representatives are a minority. While it is not the fault of these officials to possess the education necessary that would allow them the chance to enter into such high esteemed positions the questions remain: Were they offered more opportunities due to their skin complexion? With such a high percentage of those who were given questionnaires saying Yes (82%) a lighter skin hue does open more doors for you, doubt still lingers. However, when newspaper ads highlight the fact that there are still proprietors requesting that trainees be brown or light-skinned as a prerequisite for employment in their firms (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110911/lead/lead1.html , 02/02/2013) it supports the idea that discrimination persists to this day. Certainly, the government has spoken out against any form of skin prejudice and promised to take action, even urging people to boycott businesses lacking black faces, but few express confidence that the culprits will ever be named, (http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/09/jamaica-wanted-light-skinned-only-please/, 02/02/2013). A Darker Shade of Pale Weighing about 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) on average and covering some 22 square feet (2 square meters), the human skin is the largest organ of the body, composed of a complex system of cell layers, nerves and glands that not only protects them from but also connects them to the outside world. However, what makes an African persons skin colour different to that of a white person, is the amount of melanin produced in the epidermis. As such, darker-skinned people produce more numerous and deeper-colored melanin particles than their fairer-skinned counterparts, which in turn acts as a benefit since they dont need as much bone-strengthening vitamin D, produced through exposure to UV rays  (http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/skin-article/, 09/03/2013). Skin bleaching, also known as skin lightening or skin whitening, on the other hand, refers to the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to reduce the prominence of skin discolorations and even lighten skin tone by lessening the concentration of  melanin produced. This whitening process can help lighten a tan, fade scars, and alleviate dark patches on the skin through the use of topical skin lightening creams and lotions that often contain plant extracts that have bleaching effects on the skin or chemical agents such as hydroquinone, azelaic acid, and retinoic acid. While several chemicals have been shown to be effective in skin whitening, some have proved to be toxic or have questionable safety profiles. Their harmful effects add to the controversy surrounding their use and the impacts they have on certain ethnic groups who apply skin lighteners to their entire body so as to achieve a lighter complexion. But this can be very risky as the active ingredient in some blea ching creams contain steroids or mercury, a toxic agent that can lead to mercury poisoning causing serious psychiatric, neurological, and  kidney  problem (http://www.webmd.com/beauty/face/skin-lightening-products, 09/03/2013) With a history that can be dated as far back as the Elizabethan age of powder and paint (Williams, 1957), the elaborate white make-up of Japanese Geishas (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/apr/04/japan.nicolemowbray, 08/03/2013) or even the deep rooted desire Indians to have pale skin because it will that is entwined with Indias complex social hierarchy or caste system (Gomes and Westerhof 2001), it is evident that skin bleaching has existed for thousands of years. Yet, despite the warnings given by health officials to educate the masses about the dangers of skin bleaching creams, there are millions of people worldwide who dont heed these messages, particularly Jamaicans, who in fact, have reached dangerous proportions, particularly in the countrys slums. For them, a lighter complexion is seen as a ticket to upward mobility: socially, professionally and economically. As a result, they paste their entire bodies with white cream, don a track suit and intermittently try to refrain fr om the suns darkening powers. The various homemade concoctions such as toothpaste, curry powder, milk powder, household bleach, aloe vera and cornmeal that are used as part of their skin-lightening routine, a routine that some people do up to three times a day, is a way for them to achieve their goal (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091115/news/news3.html, 12/03/2013). Frantz Fanon (1952), the Martinique-born French psychiatrist, used psychoanalytical theory to explore the psyche of the Negro as shaped by the Eurocentric world in which he lives, especially in a colonial context vis-à  -vis skin colour. Although he does not actually reference skin bleaching, he does speak of the inferiority complex engendered in the mind of Black people, who try to adapt to and imitate the culture of the colonizer so as to attain some sort of identity, especially after having been forcibly removed from their own African roots.   With that in mind, the attempt to assign color privilege based upon proximity to whiteness by circumnavigating the parameters of the white/non-white binary racial hierarchy is the spectrum upon which Pigmentocracy, and therefore colourism, is based (Blay, 5). It is the unconscious and unnatural training of black people from a young age to associate blackness with wrongness that has given rise to this widespread global phenomenon of skin w hitening.   The idea that ones destiny is intertwined with the colour of ones skin is ludicrous to some, however, in the lives of these Jamaicans, it is as absolute as night and day. Synonymous with the practice of slaves in the past, men and women are currently trying to ameliorate their socio-economic standing by marrying into families of a higher breed, but the only way to even reach this gateway of social mobility, according to them, is to physically alter their looks as well. Popular Jamaican proverbs like anything too black nuh good, or when yuh black yuh affi stick back and if yuh brown come around reinforce the high degree of colour prejudice existing in contemporary Jamaica today. The White  ideal (Kardiner   Ovesey, 1962) which includes pale skin, long, straight hair, and aquiline features, assesses the enduring influences on societal assessments of human value. Skin bleaching then represents one attempt to approximate the White ideal and cons

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Technology Ethic: Stem Cells Essay -- Research Science Biology Essays

Technology Ethic: Stem Cells Stem Cell: Stem cells can be thought of as blank slates or cells that have yet to become specialized. They can be transformed to become cells with special functions. History/Background of Stem Cells: In the mid 1960's, R. G. Edwards and colleagues at Cambridge University began studying differentiation of rabbit embryonic cells in an artificial environment. They manipulated these embryonic cells into specific types of form such as connective tissue and muscle neurons. Richard Gardner, a graduate student of R. G. Edwards, had furthered the experiment with mice blastocoels. As a result, human blast cysts became available since R. G. Edwards' laboratory in the early 1980s. In 1986, Peter Hollands, another graduate student of Edwards, demonstrated that mouse embryonic stem cells could colonize and repair damaged tissues of the haematopoietic system in adult mice. In 1998, James Thomson and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin successfully isolated and grew human embryonic stem cells. At John Hopkins University, John Gearhart successfully isolated human germ cells. From 1999 to 2000, researchers continued to manipulated cells from adult mouse tissues. Types Of Stem Cells: Stem cells can be classified into tree main types: oEmbryonic Stem (ES) Cells oEmbryonic Germ (EG) Cells oAdult Stem (AS) Cells Embryonic Stem Cell: ES cells are undifferentiated cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blast cyst. They are the original cells of our body tissues. ES cells have the potential to transform into 200 different specialized cell types. Human embryonic stem cells are derived from fertilized embryos which are less than a week old. In November of... ...ind. A young woman paralyzed in a car accident now can move her legs and toes as a result of having her own immune system cells injected into her spinal cord. Two children born without immune systems now have functioning ones because of a bone-marrow stem cell treatment. After analyzing stem cell development, I feel that research on ES cells should be stopped because of the many risks involved. Whereas the research on AS cells should carry on for it opposes no hazard to anyone. References: http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm#5 http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/ http://bioethics.gov/topics/stemcells_index.html http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/stemcell/ Mahendra S. Rao, Stem Cells and CNS Development (Contemporary Neuroscience) Kursad Turksen, Embryonic Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols Daniel R. Marshak, Stem Cell Biology

Monday, November 11, 2019

Fmcg Phd Thesis

PAPER – II MANAGEMENT Note : This paper contains fifty (50) multiple-choice questions, each question carrying two (2) marks. Attempt all the questions. 1. In which competitive structure, under industry equilibrium, Price = LMC = LMR = LAC = LAR condition prevails? (A) perfect competition (B) monopoly (C) monopolistic competition (D) duopoly 2. In the Cobb – Douglas production function, given as, A K a Lb , the sum of a b is equal to : (A) 10 (B) 100 (C) 1 1 (D) 3.In the equation pertaining to National Income, Y C S , the excess of income over consumption is depicted by : (A) Y (B) C (C) Y S (D) Y C 4. The long-run average cost curve takes the shape of : (A) Saucer (B) Inverted Saucer (C) Cone (D) Inverted cone 5. The four functions of infrastructure development under the PPP mode, namely, â€Å"Construct, Run, Possess and Sell-off† are popularly depicted by the acronym : (A) CRPS (B) (C) (D) 6. BOOT BOOM 7. 8.TEAM Organization synergy implies (A) More than propor tionate growth (B) Less than proportionate growth (C) Constant growth (D) Constant fall The two-factor model of motivation theory was propounded by : (A) Herzberg (B) Victor Vroom (C) Porter – Lawler (D) Maslow An approach to study of organizations that looks at an organization as composed of many inter – related parts making up an integrated work is : (A) Functional approach (B) Group approach (C) Systems approach 3 F1602 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. D) Oligopolist approach An organization design that treats the human resources as limited in capability and expects them to just confine to given roles, may be called as : (A) Organic design (B) Proactive design (C) Functional design (D) Mechanistic design The laissez – faire leader is also known as : (A) Democratic (B) Autocratic (C) Free – reign (D) Tree – trunk Under the present conditions and trends, which of the following statements is perhaps the most appropriate : (A) Human resources are expe nsive, while technology is cheap (B) Human Resources are expensive as Technology is (C) Human Resources are cheap as technology is (D) Human Resources are cheap, while technology is expensive BARS, Intra – mural activities, Bedeaux plan and golden handshakes, respectively, refer to certain aspects or components of : Retirement (P), Performance Appraisal (Q), Wage determination (R) and Welfare measures (S) as grouped in : (A) PQSR (B) QSRP (C) QRPS (D) PQRS High potential, but low performance employees may be branded as : (A) Stars (B) Question marks (C) Dogs (D) Answer sheets The ultimate remedy for disposal of an industrial dispute is : (A) Joint management council (B) Conciliation (C) Voluntary Arbitration (D) Adjudication The opportunity to be heard given to every parts to a dispute is necessary as per the principle of : (A) Mutual justice (B) Mutual benefit (C) Natural benefit (D) Natural justice In the valuation model, V C1 / ke g , the growth factor, â€Å"g† is assumed to be : (A) (B) (C) (D) Rising Constant Falling 17.Zero When discounted cash flows, instead of undiscounted cash flows, are used in payback period computation for a project, the resulting pay-back period is : (A) Longer 4 F1602 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. (B) Shorter (C) Unaffected (D) Varying The market beta is always : (A) 1 (B) 1 (C) 1 (D) zero Of the two similar firms of the same risk-class and with same operating income, one employs debt capital of Rs. 50 mn. Given the tax rate of 30%, the value of the all-equity firm shall be poorer, compared to that of the levered firm by : (A) Rs. 15 mn (B) Rs. 150 mn (C) Rs. 1500 mn (D) cannot be said A credit policy of 3 30 , net 60 days, implies an annual interest rate of, taking 360 days? ear : (A) 90 % (B) 180 % (C) 18 % (D) 36 % Multilevel marketing links (A) Producers, intermediaries, wholesalers and retailers (B) Producers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers (C) Producers, retailers and consumers (D) Producers and c onsumers A personal communication method of product promotion is : (A) salesmanship (B) print media (C) television (D) advertisement Virtual marketing is the â€Å"future† which is facilitated by : (A) Customer relationship management (B) Channel management (C) Digital management (D) Internet and Information Technology A pricing strategy which is used to price a product high at the time of launching (A) Dual pricing (B) Penetrating pricing (C) Cost plus pricing (D) Skimming pricing Saturation, a stage to be managed effectively for continuing in the market, relates to : (A) Environment management (B) Product life cycle management (C) Logistic management (D) Channel management The prime concern of production layout is : (A) Process quality (B) Utility maximization 5 F1602 27. 28. 29. C) Smooth workflow (D) Line balancing Production management in respect of complex products involving many outsourced components, has to be fashioned like : (A) An integrated supply chain management (B) An independent production function (C) A mix of fragmented production lines (D) A mix of outsourced activities In assembly – line balancing, reducing the number of work stations is not preferred if it : (A) Reduces Idle time (B) Reduces work time (C) Increases work time (D) Has no impact on idle time The residual component in a time series under the multiplicative model is separated in : (A) Y T S C (B) (C) (D) Y TSC TSCR TSC T S C Y 30. 31. In a queuing system, the queue shall continue to grow when : (A) Arrival rate exceeds service rate (B) Service rate exceeds arrival rate (C) Poisson arrival pattern prevails (D) Idle probability approaches one The distribution in which the tails meet the horizontal axis only at infinity is : (A) Normal (B) Poisson (C) Binomial (D) Exponential The value of , bxy byx , is equal to : 32. 33. A) coefficient of determination (B) coefficient of correlation (C) coefficient of regression (D) coefficient of deviation Among these tests, the te st that tests the equality of means when three or more populations are involved is : (A) â€Å"t† test (B) â€Å"Z† test (C) â€Å"F† test 2 (D) test Even the best of MIS cannot be (A) Substitute for decision making (B) Supportive of decision making (C) Data mining and data processing (D) Data recording and retrieving World Wide Web (WWW) is not written as : (A) WWW 6 34. 35. F1602 36. 37. 38. (B) Web (C) W3 (D) 3W „Spy wars? is a term used in : (A) customer analysis (B) competitor analysis (C) attractiveness analysis (D) new product analysis Appealing to a broad spectrum of customers with a kind of product uniqueness is called : (A) Market niche strategy (B) Best cost strategy (C) Differentiation strategy (D) Cost leadership strategy Establishment of fully- owned new facilities and new operation undertaken by a company from scratch is : (A) Greenfield investment (B) International merger (C) International acquisition (D) Cross-border acquisition Which of t hese is not an obscene gesture? A) The okay sign in Brazil (B) A hearty slap on the back in Switzerland (C) Doing anything with the left hand in Saudi Arabia (D) Thumb between second and third finger in Japan GATT has been replaced by : (A) OPEC (B) WTO (C) NAFTA (D) ASEAN Making people stimulated to greater creativity through a group process is : (A) Brain storming (B) Checklist method (C) Brain writing (D) Big – dream method Find the odd one out from the view point of schumpterian creativity is regard to entrepreneurship : (A) intuitiveness (B) inventiveness (C) innovativeness (D) imitativeness Of these, the one that deals with exploring new business opportunities is : (A) Business venturing (B) Business scouting (C) Business resilience (D) Business tycoons A practice by which organisations spot, motivate and groom entrepreneurs either competitive or collaborative, from among employees, is known as : (A) intrapreneurship 7 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. F1602 45. B) entrapreneursh ip (C) extrapreneurship (D) contrapreneurship One of the external causes for sickness in small enterprises is : (A) Entrepreneurial misconduct (B) Deficient employee skills (C) Lapses and leakages in finance (D) Competition and globalisation Find out from the following, one term very closely associated with personal ethics : (A) accountability and responsibility (B) thoughtfulness (C) integrity and honesty (D) belief systems Find out the major reason for companies building strong ethics (A) Earning more profit (B) Building strong asset fortfolio (C) Avoid negative publicity (D) Muster shareholders support Financial dishonesty could be curbed and booked through promotion of : (A) Adherance to documented cash transfers (B) Enactment of more laws (C) Enhancing the severity of punishments (D) Code of conduct for Corporate Executives From the standpoint of personal choice, the least per capita carbon foot print effecting personal transportation alternative is : (A) Public transport (B) O wn car (C) Hired car (D) Auto rickshaw The scheme that strives to achieve women empowerment through gainful employment persuits is (A) Self Help Group Scheme (B) Home Guard Scheme (C) Single Girl Child Scheme (D) Marriage Gift Scheme 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. ——————— F1602 8 MANAGEMENT Paper – II Answer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A C D A B A A C D C A B B D D 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 B A C A D D A D D B C A C B A 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 A B C A D B C A B B A A B A D 46 47 48 49 50 C C A A A 9 F1602

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Myth of Er From the Republic of Plato

The Myth of Er From the Republic of Plato The Myth of Er from Platos Republic tells the story of a soldier, Er, who is thought to be dead and descends to the underworld. But when he revives he is sent back to tell humanity what awaits them in the afterlife.    Er describes an afterlife where the just are rewarded and the wicked are punished. Souls are then reborn into a new body and a new life, and the new life they choose will reflect how they have lived in their previous life and the state of their soul at death.   The Myth of Er (Jowett Translation) Well, I said, I will tell you a tale; not one of the tales which Odysseus tells to the hero Alcinous, yet this too is a tale of a hero, Er the son of Armenius, a Pamphylian by birth. He was slain in battle, and ten days afterwards, when the bodies of the dead were taken up already in a state of corruption, his body was found unaffected by decay, and carried away home to be buried. And on the twelfth day, as he was lying on the funeral pile, he returned to life and told them what he had seen in the other world. He said that when his soul left the body he went on a journey with a great company, and that they came to a mysterious place at which there were two openings in the earth; they were near together, and over against them were two other openings in the heaven above. In the intermediate space there were judges seated, who commanded the just, after they had given judgment on them and had bound their sentences in front of them, to ascend by the heavenly way on the right hand; and in like manner the unjust were bidden by them to descend by the lower way on the left hand; these also bore the symbols of their deeds, but fastened on their backs. He drew near, and they told him that he was to be the messenger who would carry the report of the other world to men, and they bade him hear and see all that was to be heard and seen in that place. Then he beheld and saw on one side the souls departing at either opening of heaven and earth when sentence had been given on them; and at the two other openings other souls, some ascending out of the earth dusty and worn with travel, some descending out of heaven clean and bright. And arriving ever and anon they seemed to have come from a long journey, and they went forth with gladness into the meadow, where they encamped as at a festival; and those who knew one another embraced and conversed, the souls which came from earth curiously enquiring about the things above, and the souls which came from heaven about the things beneath. And they told one another of what had happened by the way, those from below weeping and sorrowing at the remembrance of the things which they had endured and seen in their journey beneath the earth (now the journey lasted a thousand years), while those from above were describing heavenly delights and visions of inconceivable beauty. The story, Glaucon, would take too long to tell; but the sum was this:- He said that for every wrong which they had done to any one they suffered tenfold; or once in a hundred years- such being reckoned to be the length of mans life, and the penalty being thus paid ten times in a thousand years. If, for example, there were any who had been the cause of many deaths, or had betrayed or enslaved cities or armies, or been guilty of any other evil behavior, for each and all of their offences they received punishment ten times over, and the rewards of beneficence and justice and holiness were in the same proportion. I need hardly repeat what he said concerning young children dying almost as soon as they were born. Of piety and impiety to gods and parents, and of murderers, there were retributions other and greater far which he described. He mentioned that he was present when one of the spirits asked another, Where is Ardiaeus the Great? (Now this Ardiaeus lived a thousand years before the time of Er: he had been the tyrant of some city of Pamphylia, and had murdered his aged father and his elder brother, and was said to have committed many other abominable crimes.) The answer of the other spirit was: He comes not hither and will never come. And this, said he, was one of the dreadful sights which we ourselves witnessed. We were at the mouth of the cavern, and, having completed all our experiences, were about to reascend, when of a sudden Ardiaeus appeared and several others, most of whom were tyrants; and there were also besides the tyrants private individuals who had been great criminals: they were just, as they fancied, about to return into the upper world, but the mouth, instead of admitting them, gave a roar, whenever any of these incurable sinners or some one who had not been sufficiently punished tried to ascend; and then wild men of fiery aspect, who were standing by and heard the sound, seized and carried them off; and Ardiaeus and others they bound head and foot and hand, and threw them down and flayed them with scourges, and dragged them along the road at the side, carding them on thorns like wool, and declaring to the passers-by what were their crimes, and that they were being taken away to be cast into hell. And of all the many terrors which they had endured, he said that there was none like the terror which each of them felt at that moment, lest they should hear the voice; and when there was silence, one by one they ascended with exceeding joy. These, said Er, were the penalties and retributions, and there were blessings as great. Now when the spirits which were in the meadow had tarried seven days, on the eighth they were obliged to proceed on their journey, and, on the fourth day after, he said that they came to a place where they could see from above a line of light, straight as a column, extending right through the whole heaven and through the earth, in colour resembling the rainbow, only brighter and purer; another days journey brought them to the place, and there, in the midst of the light, they saw the ends of the chains of heaven let down from above: for this light is the belt of heaven, and holds together the circle of the universe, like the under-girders of a trireme. From these ends is extended the spindle of Necessity, on which all the revolutions turn. The shaft and hook of this spindle are made of steel, and the whorl is made partly of steel and also partly of other materials. Now the whorl is in form like the whorl used on earth; and the description of it implied that there is one large hollow whorl which is quite scooped out, and into this is fitted another lesser one, and another, and another, and four others, making eight in all, like vessels which fit into one another; the whorls show their edges on the upper side, and on their lower side all together form one continuous whorl. This is pierced by the spindle, which is driven home through the centre of the eighth. The first and outermost whorl has the rim broadest, and the seven inner whorls are narrower, in the following proportions- the sixth is next to the first in size, the fourth next to the sixth; then comes the eighth; the seventh is fifth, the fifth is sixth, the third is seventh, last and eighth comes the second. The largest (or fixed stars) is spangled, and the seventh (or sun) is brightest; the eighth (or moon) coloured by the reflected light of the seventh; the second and fifth (Saturn and Mercury) are in colour like one another, and yellower than the preceding; the third (Venus) has the whitest light; the fourth (Mars) is reddish; the sixth (Jupiter) is in whiteness second. Now the whole spindle has the same motion; but, as the whole revolves in one direction, the seven inner circles move slowly in the other, and of these the swiftest is the eighth; next in swiftness are the seventh, sixth, and fifth, which move together; third in swiftness appeared to move according to the law of this reversed motion the fourth; the third appeared fourth and the second fifth. The spindle turns on the knees of Necessity; and on the upper surface of each circle is a siren, who goes round with them, hymning a single tone or note. The eight together form one harmony; and round about, at equal intervals, there is another band, three in number, each sitting upon her throne: these are the Fates, daughters of Necessity, who are clothed in white robes and have chaplets upon their heads, Lachesis and Clotho and Atropos, who accompany with their voices the harmony of the sirens- Lachesis singing of the past, Clotho of the present, Atropos of the future; Clotho from time to time assisting with a touch of her right hand the revolution of the outer circle of the whorl or spindle, and Atropos with her left hand touching and guiding the inner ones, and Lachesis laying hold of either in turn, first with one hand and then with the other. When Er and the spirits arrived, their duty was to go at once to Lachesis; but first of all there came a prophet who arranged them in order; then he took from the knees of Lachesis lots and samples of lives, and having mounted a high pulpit, spoke as follows: Hear the word of Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity. Mortal souls, behold a new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to you, but you will choose your genius; and let him who draws the first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honours or dishonours her he will have more or less of her; the responsibility is with the chooser- God is justified. When the Interpreter had thus spoken he scattered lots indifferently among them all, and each of them took up the lot which fell near him, all but Er himself (he was not allowed), and each as he took his lot perceived the number which he had obtained. Then the Interpreter placed on the ground before them the samples of lives; and there were many more lives than the souls present, and they were of all sorts. There were lives of every animal and of man in every condition. And there were tyrannies among them, some lasting out the tyrants life, others which broke off in the middle and came to an end in poverty and exile and beggary; and there were lives of famous men, some who were famous for their form and beauty as well as for their strength and success in games, or, again, for their birth and the qualities of their ancestors; and some who were the reverse of famous for the opposite qualities. And of women likewise; there was not, however, any definite character in them, because the soul, when choosing a new life, must of necessity become different. But there was every other quality, and the all mingled with one another, and also with elements of wealth and poverty, and disease and health; and there were mean states also. And here, my dear Glaucon, is the supreme peril of our human state; and therefore the utmost care should be taken. Let each one of us leave every other kind of knowledge and seek and follow one thing only, if peradventure he may be able to learn and may find some one who will make him able to learn and discern between good and evil, and so to choose always and everywhere the better life as he has opportunity. He should consider the bearing of all these things which have been mentioned severally and collectively upon virtue; he should know what the effect of beauty is when combined with poverty or wealth in a particular soul, and what are the good and evil consequences of noble and humble birth, of private and public station, of strength and weakness, of cleverness and dullness, and of all the natural and acquired gifts of the soul, and the operation of them when conjoined; he will then look at the nature of the soul, and from the consideration of all these qualities he will be able to determine which is the better and which is the worse; and so he will choose, giving the name of evil to the life which will make his soul more unjust, and good to the life which will make his soul more just; all else he will disregard. For we have seen and know that this is the best choice both in life and after death. A man must take with him into the world below an adamantine faith in truth and right, that there too he may be undazzled by the desire of wealth or the other allurements of evil, lest, coming upon tyrannies and similar villainies, he do irremediable wrongs to others and suffer yet worse himself; but let him know how to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible, not only in this life but in all that which is to come. For this is the way of happiness. And according to the report of the messenger from the other world this was what the prophet said at the time: Even for the last comer, if he chooses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a happy and not undesirable existence. Let not him who chooses first be careless, and let not the last despair. And when he had spoken, he who had the first choice came forward and in a moment chose the greatest tyranny; his mind having been darkened by folly and sensuality, he had not thought out the whole matter before he chose, and did not at first sight perceive that he was fated, among other evils, to devour his own children. But when he had time to reflect, and saw what was in the lot, he began to beat his breast and lament over his choice, forgetting the proclamation of the prophet; for, instead of throwing the blame of his misfortune on himself, he accused chance and the gods, and everything rather than himself. Now he was one of those who came from heaven, and in a former life had dwelt in a well-ordered State, but his virtue was a matter of habit only, and he had no philosophy. And it was true of others who were similarly overtaken, that the greater number of them came from heaven and therefore they had never been schooled by trial, whereas the pilgrims who came from earth having themselves suffered and seen others suffer, were not in a hurry to choose. And owing to this inexperience of theirs, and also because the lot was a chance, many of the souls exchanged a good destiny for an evil or an evil for a good. For if a man had always on his arrival in this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to another life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would be smooth and heavenly. Most curious, he said, was the spectacle- sad and laughable and strange; for the choice of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a previous life. There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus choosing the life of a swan out of enmity to the race of women, hating to be born of a woman because they had been his murderers; he beheld also the soul of Thamyras choosing the life of a nightingale; birds, on the other hand, like the swan and other musicians, wanting to be men. The soul which obtained the twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this was the soul of Ajax the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the injustice which was done him in the judgment about the arms. The next was Agamemnon, who took the life of an eagle, because, like Ajax, he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings. About the middle came the lot of Atalanta; she, seeing the great fame of an athlete, was unable to resist the temptation: and after her there followed the soul of Epeus the son of Panopeus passing into the nature of a woman cunning in the arts; and far away among the last who chose, the soul of the jester Thersites was putting on the form of a monkey. There came also the soul of Odysseus having yet to make a choice, and his lot happened to be the last of them all. Now the recollection of former toils had disenchanted him of ambition, and he went about for a considerable time in search of the life of a private man who had no cares; he had some difficulty in finding this, which was lying about and had been neglected by everybody else; and when he saw it, he said that he would have done the same had his lot been first instead of last, and that he was delighted to have it. And not only did men pass into animals, but I must also mention that there were animals tame and wild who changed into one another and into corresponding human natures- the good into the gentle and the evil into the savage, in all sorts of combinations. All the souls had now chosen their lives, and they went in the order of their choice to Lachesis, who sent with them the genius whom they had severally chosen, to be the guardian of their lives and the fulfiller of the choice: this genius led the souls first to Clotho, and drew them within the revolution of the spindle impelled by her hand, thus ratifying the destiny of each; and then, when they were fastened to this, carried them to Atropos, who spun the threads and made them irreversible, whence without turning round they passed beneath the throne of Necessity; and when they had all passed, they marched on in a scorching heat to the plain of Forgetfulness, which was a barren waste destitute of trees and verdure; and then towards evening they encamped by the river of Unmindfulness, whose water no vessel can hold; of this they were all obliged to drink a certain quantity, and those who were not saved by wisdom drank more than was necessary; and each one as he drank forgot all things. Now after they had gone to rest, about the middle of the night there was a thunderstorm and earthquake, and then in an instant they were driven upwards in all manner of ways to their birth, like stars shooting. He himself was hindered from drinking the water. But in what manner or by what means he returned to the body he could not say; only, in the morning, awaking suddenly, he found himself lying on the pyre. And thus, Glaucon, the tale has been saved and has not perished, and will save us if we are obedient to the word spoken; and we shall pass safely over the river of Forgetfulness and our soul will not be defiled. Wherefore my counsel is, that we hold fast ever to the heavenly way and follow after justice and virtue always, considering that the soul is immortal and able to endure every sort of good and every sort of evil. Thus shall we live dear to one another and to the gods, both while remaining here and when, like conquerors in the games who go round to gather gifts, we receive our reward. And it shall be well with us both in this life and in the pilgrimage of a thousand years which we have been describing. Some References for Platos Republic Suggestions based on: Oxford Bibliographies Online Ferrari, G. R. F. .Reeve, C. D. C. .White, Nicholas P. .Williams, Bernard. The Analogy of City and Soul in Platos Republic. The Sense of the Past: Essays in the History of Philosophy. Edited by Bernard Williams, 108-117. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.