The Era for Stay-at-home Dads Essay

For generations, the gender role stereotype within the family has been the same: the father is a deserved pillar of family, and he has responsibility to be a breadwinner by going out to work to make money rather than staying at home as a homemaker. However, over the past few decades, the conventional gender role stereotypes of family has been largely changed to the point that an increasing number of men choose to be stay-at-home dads instead of being bread-earners. The at-home dad trend is that the father both takes on the role of primary caregiver for children and plays a major part in running the household. Although stay-at-home dads have presented a new perspective on the stereotype of family, some objectors who have satirized the at-home dad phenomenon claim that, despite a new awareness about full-time fathers, stay-at-home fathers are still unacceptable for the majority of general public. Because of this the at-home dad trend has difficulties in replacing the traditional family stereotype of gender roles. Nevertheless, the tendency of the stay-at-home dad is necessary for modern families to follow, being that not only a stay-at-home dad is a helpful decision for children’s education, but also a profitable choice for their wives’ work. What is more, stay-at-home dads make remarkable efforts on marital equality and satisfaction in their marriage and they enjoy their fatherhood a lot. Hence, stay-at-home fathers should be encouraged and understood by the public instead of being ridiculed and prejudiced against. Fathers’ unique parenting style is greatly beneficial for children’s education and makes children become confident, perspicacious, and self-disciplined. Gender role stereotypes in family insists that fathers are not good at educating children compared with mothers, in terms of men do not have the everlasting patience of tutoring and they may more irritable when they are facing naughty children. In fact, fathers’ education approaches are inclined to be more active, practical and strict than mothers (Turner, 2). Stay-at-home dads are the first teachers of their children, they should teach children to deal with various basic problems, not only behavioral, but also emotional. Thanks to stay-at-home fathers’ particular masculine characteristics, they prefer to promote children’s intellectual progress through active playing such as building blocks and doing outside exercises than having inanimate  conversations. Beyond that, stay-at-home dads tend to create practical activities for their children like repairing gadgets and practicing first-aid measures in case children may get into unpredictable troubles in the future. When children come across frustration, stay-at-home fathers give less immediate assistance for children, because they have particular purposes to train their children’s adaptive capacities when children are lost in frustration. In brief, under the guidance of stay-at-home fathers, children will be more brave, intelligent and independent. So, stay-at-home fathers should be trusted completely and given more chances to be involved in children’s education, their particular tutoring has an unexpected and positive effe ct to the children. A stay-at-home dad is a necessary decision to free his partner to devote herself to her own career. Couples are willing to adapt to the brand new family pattern within the stay-at-home dad trend due to the fact that breadwinning mothers and full-time fathers can provide a cost-efficient and profitable life for the family. Orthodox stereotypes of gender roles in family believe that women’s sacred mission is to support their spouses’ careers through concentrating on bringing up children at home. What is more, gender discrimination in the workplace persists that men are more likely to be successful than women in career and this prejudiced verdict deprives women’s working opportunities. However, in recent years, along with the rapid development of economy and society, gender discrimination is not as popular as before. Medved and Rawlins (11) consider that women are perceived to have more potential and are more persevering than men in fierce competition, and they can obtain more unique chances to make their career dreams come true. Meanwhile, in many modern families, women are earning much more than their husbands so that increasing numbers of fathers are pushed to become stay-at-home dads. In addition, most working mothers are anxious about who can take care of their children consider ately and economically. Mothers neither want to hire nurses to take care of children by charging costly and needless expenses nor can they bear to make children unattended and lonely. Therefore, a stay-at-home father is the most appropriate and helpful assistant for his partner to develop her career, as the mother does not need to feel guilty and the family can save a large amount of money. The public should regard stay-at-home fathers as efficient and economic assistants for their wives rather than incapable men, these  selfless fathers make their family more cooperative and economic. Stay-at-home father families promote marital equality and couples benefit from their happy marriage (Schindler Zimmerman, 348). Gender role stereotypes in family regards men as the most authoritative character in the family, while women are submissive followers with their husbands. Obsolete family stereotypes advocate that male chauvinism is a powerful guarantee to maintain the stability and permanence of the family. Therefore, women are in lower status than their husbands in marriage and they feel aggrieved and unfair, because they seem to have tons of housework that never finish es. What is more, women’s spouses are too arrogant to understand their wives’ toilsome dedication for the family. Fortunately, a stay-at-home dad is good for reversing the negative situation of a marriage. Schindler Zimmerman (350) found that leaving a parent at home to take care of children and do housework is a reasonable way to make a stay-at-home parent considerate to their partners. The role reversal of family conveys that stay-at-home dads are householders to perform all household duties so that they can deeply experience their wives’ laborious work at home. Realizing their partners’ incomparable dedication to the families, stay-at-home fathers begin to put their spouses at a high status. Meanwhile, mothers are breadwinners to go to work and they are indeed experiencing the huge pressure on spouses previously in the workplace so that they can comprehend their husbands better. Hence, owing to stay-at-home fathers, marital equality has been rebuilt in which women can be honored and respected by their husbands. In other words, the public should set the stay-at-home dad family as a good example to make more couples enjoy harmonious and sweet marriages. Stay-at-home fath ers enjoy their fatherhood and they cherish the precious time together with their children. An interview record is reported by the New York Amsterdam News that described five girls who are growing up with stay-at-home dads who really enjoy the high quality of life, and their fathers are also willing to be full-time dads due to fatherhood bringing happiness and contentment. Gender role stereotypes in family consider that fathers may get disappointed and bored when they are always staying at home to deal with troublesome children and mundane housework, in view of taking care of children and doing housework are not typical behaviors for men. On the contrary, stay-at-home fathers are proud of becoming caregivers in that  they thoroughly devote themselves to give children satisfactory care and accompany children to have unforgettable childhoods. The majority of ambitious working men who are involved in busy and stressful careers are required to set aside extra hours to complete works so that they have little available time to concern with their children’s growth. Becomi ng stay-at-home dads allows such busy fathers to start new experiences with their children in which they can develop much closer and more trustful relationships with children. Stay-at-home fathers do not need to struggle with contradictory problems like how can they balance the family and the career or what kinds of ways should they use to make up for the absence of fathers’ company like breadwinning fathers do. Moreover, stay-at-home fathers escape from the strong competition in the workplace so that they can recover peace of mind. In a word, stay-at-home dads enjoy the pleasure of fatherhood as they take a more important and active role in bringing up their children. Therefore, the public should know that stay-at-home dads are most willing to witness their children’s growth with delighted and relieved minds, more acceptances for such gentle fathers’ love should be given. The stay-at-home father is an inevitable tendency for modern families which are profoundly influenced by the sustainable economic and social development. Children are the biggest beneficiaries to become strong, self-confident, and wise adults, since they can receive fire-new and high-efficiency education from their fathers. Women in stay-at-home father families are endowed with more fair and respectful treatment in the workplace, and their position in households can be immensely enhanced. Also, couples in stay-at-home father families can harvest more cheerful and enviable marriages. Furthermore, stay-at-home fathers are joyfully intoxicated with witnessing the wonderful growth of children. Gender role stereotypes in family should be updated to adapt the development of society and taken into consideration with a dialectical perspective. What is more, stay-at-home fathers are a potential and vulnerable group which must be encouraged and envisaged by the public rather than being satirized and misunderstood. If people can be tolerant and concerned towards stay-at-home fathers, more families can gain happiness and peace through this family structure. Works Cited Turner, Randell D. â€Å"How Fathers’ Style of Parenting Benefits Their Children’s Development.† Parents as Teachers.org:1-4. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. Medved, Caryn E, Rawlins, William K. â€Å"At-Home Fathers and Breadwinning Mothers: Variations in Constructing Work and Family Lives.† Women & Language. 34.2(2011): 9-39. Print. Schindler Zimmerman, Toni. â€Å"Marital Equality and Satisfaction in Stay-At-Home Mothers and Stay-At-Home Fathers Families.† Contemporary Family Therapy. 22.3(2000): 337-354. Print. Avezzano, Samantha, Lauro, Lucia, Howell, Jack, Robinson, Jah’sway, and Staranko, Shauna. â€Å"Girls with Stay-At-Home Dads Emphasize Quality Time.† The New York Amsterdam News, 8 Feb. 2007: A20. Print.

Between Language Art and Language Play

The two articles delve into the contemporary debate of same sex union. The first one presents the conservative orthodox view of the Catholic faith on same sex union while the second article presents an unorthodox view which is more liberal and accepting. Both article advocate a stand on the same issue and aims to spread the good news of their stand. The two articles tackle the issue of same sex union by giving their own definition of marriage.The orthodox view argues that marriage, as instituted by God, is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong union of a man and a woman joined in an intimate community of life and love and that same sex union is an altogether different thing from marriage since it does not fit the definition. They say that it is not based on the natural complementarity of male and female; it cannot cooperate with God to create new life; and the natural purpose of sexual union cannot be achieved by a same-sex union.The liberal view points otherwise saying that Marriage can b e defined as the unique and special form of committed friendship and this does not say that the persons have to be heterosexually attracted, thus people of the same sex can still be married. This contrasting view is an interesting point for further comparison and contrasting. Both authors use the bible as their authoritative source of arguments. The USCCB in sum claims that what is right is what is written in the bible, Prof.Maguire on his part claims that the bible as a historical account is not an account of what is right, it sometimes contain accounts which recommends what should not be done as depicted by the lesson of particular stories like in the stories about slavery. The liberal view purports that many Catholic theologians agree now with Protestant and Jewish theologians that same sex unions can be moral, healthy, and holy and that many Catholic people are living in same sex unions and adopting children and still practicing their Catholic faith however .While the USCCB cont inues to campaign against the equation of same sex unions to marriage and urges followers to keep their opinions in line with the teachings of their faith and of the bible. While using almost the same source, the bible and the interpretation of the word of God, both authors argue in different directions both of which does not directly rebut each other.

How Does Fatigue Affect Labour Productivity

1) How does fatigue affect Labour Productivity? Fatigue affects labour productivity by impairing the ability of a worker to carry out his/her required duties as expected and in a safe manner. With increase in fatigue comes a reduction in muscular strength, attention to details and loss of concentration. A worker or employee who is gradually losing strength, losing concentration and not giving attention to details is usually more prone to mistakes and would not be able to work at his/her optimum level.Fatigue has also been known to affect employee health. A common example is Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which is a debilitating chronic illness affecting various people worldwide (Lin et. Al. , 2011). Those affected endure chronic, incapacitating physical and mental fatigue that is not relieved by rest. This illness is exacerbated by physical or mental exertion and is accompanied by impaired memory and concentration, unrefreshing sleep, muscle and joint pain, and other defining sympto ms (www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov).It doesn’t require rocket science to assert that an employee/worker whose health is adversely affected would never perform any given task to satisfaction. 2) Major factors that contribute to increase in fatigue in workers. * Working conditions * Noise: Wokocha and Sopruchi (2010) in their study explained that noise effects are both health and behavioural in nature. He further said that unwanted sound can damage Physiological and psychological health. And any worker whose health is affected cannot perform any given task properly.Noise pollution can cause annoyance and aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, fatigue, make conversation difficult as well as leads to productivity losses due to poor concentration. * Heat stress: heat stress occurs when the body takes in and/or produces more heat than it gives off, thus raising the core body temperature beyond normal. It could happen due to the combinati on of high air temperature, high humidity, high radiation heat input, high energy expenditure (due to physical workload) and high metabolism (Groover, 2007).Heat usually hampers the ability of an employee to work efficiently. * Cold * Humidity * General state of health of employees * Nature of work * Posture during work * Muscular exertion * Tediousness * Stress * Repetitiveness with a short cycle. * Jobs that require high concentrations * Eye strain ( Kanawaty, 1992) 3) How the use of machines negatively affect workers The use of machines especially in manufacturing industries is usually accompanied with noise, vibration, monotony, and high concentration on the part of the workers who use them.The accumulated effects of vibrations usually affect the hands and the arms; monotony creates boredom and a job that requires a high level of concentration usually requires a lot of energy. All these contribute to a gradual reduction in muscular strength and an increase in fatigue; as fatigue increases, attention and concentration decreases, making the worker more prone to injuries and a subsequent loss in productivity. 4) The reasons for giving workers more relaxation allowances for using some machines while others require less.More relaxation allowance| Less relaxation allowance| 1) Partial or complete absence of noise reduction components on machines| Presence of noise reduction components on machines. | 2) A high level of machine vibration| A considerable level of machine vibration| 3) Attention not given to reduction of vibration and noise. | Ergonomically built machines with attention given to noise and vibration reductions. | | | References. Jin-Mann S Lin, Stephen C Resch, Dana J Brimmer, Andrew Johnson, Stephen Kennedy, Nancy Burstein and Carol J Simon(2011).The economic impact of chronic fatigue syndrome in Georgia: direct and indirect costs. Journal of Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation. Volume 9. Retrieved from http://www. resource-allocation. com/co ntent/9/1/1 on 15/11/2012 Wokocha G. A. and Sopruchi Ihenko (2010). Industrial Noise Level and its Impact on Oil Company Workers in Rivers State, Nigeria. Middle Eastern Finance and Economics ISSN: 1450-2889 Issue 8. Retrieved from http://www. eurojournals. com/MEFE. htm on 15/11/2012. Groover, M. P. (2007). Work Systems and The Methods; Measurement and Management of Work. pp 661

MRI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

MRI - Essay Example Due to huge abundance of water in the body, hydrogen atoms are focused upon in this process. Upon applying the magnetic field, the hydrogen atoms align in the direction of the magnetic field. Next, when radio waves are added to the magnetic field, it results in the deflection of the magnetic field and resonation of the hydrogen atoms. Resonation frequency of hydrogen atoms is dependent upon the strength of the magnetic field. Upon the switching off of the radio frequency, the atoms get aligned again, generating a signal which is used to create MRI image. After giving subtle time for atoms to relax, multiple signals are produced to detect abnormalities in the tissues. (Berger, 2002) These signals are generated in the form of an image depicting significant information. (Dawson, 2008) (Blink, 2004) It has wide range of applications in evaluating blood flow in the arteries (Clinical Policy, 2001) and diagnosis of soft tissue problems such as brain tumours, multiple sclerosis, torn ligame nts, shoulder injuries and earlier stages of stroke. MRI offers multiple privileges to probe deep into soft tissues which CT scans or X-ray do not provide. Secondly, they don’t use any ionising radiations and are thus claimed safe as radio waves are found all around and do not damage the tissues. (Berger, 2002) Thirdly, MRI offers diagnosis of a specific area in the patient at various planes unlike CT scan that is limited only to one plane. (WebMD, 2009) However, there are several limitations to it such as 1) high cost of an MRI scan; 2) victims of claustrophobia are hesitant to undergo the diagnosis and condition to hold breath for long durations, 90 minutes or so, is quite uncomfortable for aged patients. (Michaelmas, 2004) Nevertheless, MRI is one of the major breakthroughs in medicine, allowing the doctors and researchers to accurately diagnose disease conditions of ailing humans. Magnetic Resonance Venography (MRV) is another technique based on nuclear magnetic resonance that is used particularly for monitoring the blood flow in veins of the body. (Vega, 2008) A detailed account of the different scenarios at which MRA and MRV are being used is discussed in a report by Clinical policy Bulletins. (Clinical Policy, 2001) The only difference between MRI and MRV is that MRV uses special computer software to generate the images. This paper will discuss the various techniques used in MRV namely Phase Contrast 3D PC MRV, Time of Flight 3D TOF MRV and Contrast enhanced (3D MRV CE) and MRI scanners in general. Phase Contrast 3D PC MRV This technique makes use of velocity induced shifts to measure blood flow. The velocity of blood flow is proportional to the phase shift, thus giving true quantification of blood flow and direction of blood flow. (Lirng, 2010) (Srichai MB, 2009) Signal intensity is encoded by velocity on the MR image, where stationary protons appear in gray colour. Blood flow in one direction is brighter as compared to the flow in the opposite direction. (Srichai MB, 2009) A significant factor called VENC factor, which is targeted to visualize arteries or veins in the region of interest. The higher the VENC factor, the arteries become more clear and vivid on the MRI image; lower VENC factor values help in visualizing veins. The direction of flow and flow velocities can be calculated using the MRI images. (Medical Physicist, n.d.) Various implications of 3D-PC have been explored in the past decade. Stoquart-ElSankari et al investigated

Greek and British Political Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Greek and British Political Systems - Essay Example System of governance: The country was ruled by a monarchy until a military dictatorship forced the king of the country to flee the country in 1967. A democratic form of government was created in 1974 along with the abolition of monarchy. â€Å"A military dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy.† (World Fact Book: Greece: Background). The country which is also known as the Hellenic Republic is qualified to be called a parliamentary republic. Constitution: The constitution of the country was created in 1975 soon after the country adopted a democratic form of government in 1974. it was in effect the adoption of the same constitution that was adopted from the one created in 1952, but removing all clauses that were related to monarchy. Amendments were made in 1986 and 2001. the constitution had causes that were similar to constitutions that were associated with democracies. Some of the major clauses were equality of Greeks, freedom of personality, the inviolability of home and private life, the right of petition, assembly and association, the right to work and unionise, the protection of the environment etc. (The Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes Resolves). Head of state: The head of state in Greece is the president. He is elected by secret ballot by the parliament and has limited powers. The maximum period that a person can be president is two years and during that time no other posts, positions or functions can be taken up. A two thirds majority is needed from the parliament to be elected to the post. The presidents powers are more representative of the country in nature and real powers of governance are vested with the prime minister and the Greek Parliament. Legislative Power: As in most democracies the legislative power rests with the Greek parliament headed by the prime minister. A parliament member can hold the term of office for a period of four years. There are 300 members in the parliament and election is though secret ballot. The president shall appoint the leader of the majority party as prime minister. Judiciary: The country has there types of judiciary namely the civil, criminal and administrative courts. The highest judiciary is the Supreme Court of the country known as Areios Pagos. Administrative Divisions: For the purpose of governance the country is divided into 51 administrative division or prefectures called nomos in Greek. Political Parties: The main political parties in the country is the ruling New Democracy party (New Demkratia), the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Others include the Coalition of the Left and the Progress (SYRIZA) and the Popular Orthodox Rally (LA.O.S). A comparison with the British Political System: System of governance: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also includes Scotland and Wales. Unlike modern Greece, Britain is having an uneasy truce after a long period of violence with Ireland. Britain follows a system known as Constitutional monarchy. The country is one of the longest free states in

Practical lab writeups - see pdf files Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Practical lab writeups - see pdf files - Essay Example The presence of 3 1H peaks indicates that it is not a dinitrate product but a mononitrate product. The presence of the 1H singlet and two doublets indicates that one H is apart and the other two are on neighbouring C atoms, so NO2 is at position 4. So the product is 1,2-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzene, consistent with the melting point. The melting point of the semicarbazide derivative of compound A was found to be 224-225 Â ºC, which means that compound A is likely to be o-chloro-benzaldehyde or p-hydroxy-benzaldehyde. According to the 1HNMR spectrum, with benzene proton peaks around 7 ppm and aldehyde proton singlet, the second functional group should also contain one proton, showing up as a singlet. Therefore, the second functional group is a hydroxy-group, so compound A is p-hydroxy-benzaldehyde. This hydroxyl-group also gives the possibility to from the bicyclic structure of compound B. The H atom of NH will exchange with solvent, so if D2O is added it may be replaced with D. This only influences the peak of the H of NH, which will become a doublet with the second peak (of D) at lower intensity and at higher field (lower

Creating the Decision Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creating the Decision Environment - Essay Example This is happens because the group welcome outside opinions, so there is no objectivity. This can be prevented by always having a neutral party that hasn’t been part of the group. This brings insight to it, and also leaves room for questioning of that decision and with this, a better decision is made. (Virtualsoft, 2009) Belief in Inherent Morality of the Group: The group has a mindset that the decision they have made is moral and ethical, this is because the group assume that they have done right. To prevent this kind of problem. The group should give the same scenario to an anonymous group of different people and gauge their responses to tell whether their decision is right (Janis, 2009). Collective Rationalization: This happens when the group makes a decision and they believe it rational. This happens when the collection of material is highly selective and biased. This tends to leave out some information that does not fit into the groups’ decision and reason for the s ame. This can cause a big problem because when a decision is made without all the relevant information regarding is examined (Marlene & Antony, 1998). This is mostly because of the close mindedness in the group. This is can be avoided by bringing in experts to examine the problem and advise the group before a group decision can be made. With the inclusion of an expert, critical information is less likely to be omitted. Illusion of unanimity: When the group look to each other to confirm their theories without consulting or involving an outside source (Janis, 2009). This close-mindedness can cause problems during the decision making process. To avoid this, the leaders should not state preference initially. This influences the group and affects the decisions made. Self-Appointed mind guards: this is also as a result of close mindedness, and the avoidance of troublesome ideas, these mind guards are usually to protect the leader. To prevent this symptom, a devil’s advocate should be appointed within the group and the sole purpose should be to critique every decision and look for flaws in it. This individual should ensure that alternatives are explored extensively. Stereotyping: Excessive stereotyping is a major symptom of groupthink; this happens when the group members start forming and constructing negative stereotypes of other rival groups (Janis, 2009). This happens especially if the other group’s opinions or ideas are not the same as theirs. This leads to the group shunning any external input leading to a decision that is a result of close mindedness. This can be prevented in decision making environments by always discussing what is happening with others outside the group (Marlene & Antony, 1998). With this, diversity is brought into the group and the decision in question will have been vetted by different individuals not just the group members, this makes the decision so much better. Pressure for conformity: Another symptom of groupthink is the m embers pressure anyone in the group that expresses an opinion or argument that is against their beliefs or ideas. They make this member or members feel that they have to conform. They make them feel that expressing an idea different from theirs is a sign of disloyalty. So in situation where a member might have a differing opinion they do not express it because they want to

Law & Ciminology, Victimisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Law & Ciminology, Victimisation - Essay Example imple words, no act can be considered a crime, irrespective of how immoral or damaging it may be, unless it has been made criminal by state legislation. This conceptualisation appears straightforward enough. However, it tells us very little about the processes through which certain harmful acts and victims usually come to be identified and recognised as part of the crime problem while others remain hidden. A critical approach to the study of crime and its impact on individuals and society hence requires a reflection on the exact definition of crime, construction of legal conceptions and its victims. Apparently, victims play a major role in initiating the criminal justice process. Without them, much of the work of the criminal justice process would come to a halt. Shapland (1986) asserts that â€Å"the numbers and types of cases entering the system and thereby eventually providing the workload for the courts, prison service and other conventional agencies, appear largely to be determined by the reporting behaviour of victims and witnesses, not action initiated by the police† (p. 210). The fact that only a fraction of crime is reported to and recorded by the police, combined with low clear-up rates, means that only a small proportion of offences ever reach the court. In all these cases, victim experiences can be prolonged and complex. An incident that occurred in perhaps a few minutes can become the subject of a series of inquiries that may last months or years after the event. Victims who come to court expecting that a trial will be an assertion of their wrongs can find that their probity is on trial as well. In Britain, the role of victims within the criminal justice process is mainly confined to reporting the crime and/or providing evidence. The significance of the victims role in these areas is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of offences come to police attention through a victims report rather than through patrolling activities.

Finance for Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance for Innovation - Essay Example This paper illustrates that financial resources are critically essential in all innovation process aspects and all financial sources are significant. A good financial innovator is Kueski.com, a financial innovator located in Guadalajara in Mexico, which chose a banking platform in Mambu cloud to operate its magnificent and fast-growing lending business. Kueski.com is an innovator that offers online loans through a complicated risk algorithm drawing on several sources of data like a client’s social profile so as to assess his/her creditworthiness. Venture capital industry is regarded as a solution for financial innovation since it addresses most needs for technology startups. Venture capital typically funds innovations through rich investors, university endowment funds, pension funds as well as other institutional investors for a certain period of time. Venture capitalists actively invest and are involved in assisting strategy, operations, marketing, and personnel. Usually, the y restrict give restriction to entrepreneurs from getting funds from other potential investors without explicit permission from the venture capitalists. Venture capital involves specialized funds that are invested and managed in companies by people who best understand the industry that they are investing. The funds offered by venture capital and the equity share kept by managers are sensitive to the ability and experience of the capital providers and how mature the firm that is being funded is. Venture capital usually boosts the value of the funded firms especially if the investors are experienced. There are several stages that venture capital provides funds; Venture capitalists provide finance for research, assessing and developing the initial concept of a business before it reaches the startup stage. It finances businesses that require more funds after the development stage to initiate sales and commercial manufacturing.

Public Goods and Common Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Public Goods and Common Resources - Essay Example Turkey being the sixth largest textile industry in the world is losing its comparative advantage in the textile industry. The country is losing its comparative advantage due to loss of cheap labour advantage. The cost of labour escalates every year. Statistics indicate that the prices are currently five times that of China. Turkish textile industry has a comparative advantage over the Indian textile industry as a result of the wide market available. Its proximity to European countries makes it easy to reach out for consumers (Sugur, 2005). This gives the company advantage in transportation and access to a large market share. The professor may start a marketing firm. With the professor’s vast knowledge in economics, a marketing consultancy firm would be appropriate for him or her. This enables the professor to be an entrepreneur in a field he or she is quite sophisticated. The professor would provide consultancy services to the clients just as he or she taught while teaching in the

Measuring Disease Frequency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Measuring Disease Frequency - Essay Example This means that if the birthing process is in order, there can be no odds or complications. c. On the last day of the school year, the number of freshman college students who are at least 15 pounds heavier than when they started the school year. The measurement process that must be used is the so-called cumulative incidence from the start.1 http://www.supercourse.cn/new_scc/ppt/ppt_checkformat.phple.. b. Shorter duration of health condition. Naturally, shorter duration decrease the risk rate prevalence since the number of cases which is usually included as part of the numerator is lesser. Resultantly, there will also be reduction in the prevalence rate. d. Loss of healthy people from the population for other reasons. In this case, the factor of loss of people due to other reasons cannot be a determinant. In short, it has no effect. For example, if we are to calculate the rate of mortality covering persons with tuberculoses and, after say a month, healthy members in the given population disappeared due to migration or travel, such incident or event has no bearing at all to the reckoning of the health risk rate. Works Cited Hami, Dr. Abdul Samad. Measure of Disease Frequency. United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3. Accessed July 1, 2009.

Trust in the Press Essay Example for Free

Trust in the Press Essay Trust in the Press is essential in an ever changing society. Not only must the Press be trusted but it must be believed and must behave in an ethical manner. But what constitutes an ethical manner? Laws might be set to achieve certain outcomes and may not necessarily be ethical. What is legal and demanded by law may not be considered ethical from a journalistic point of view. With respect to your personal point of view of the above, discuss what you believe journalists have to do to maintain the trust and respect of the public. The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay introduced the notion of the media as the Fourth Estate; the role of a watchdog that checks on abuses of power by government and professionals.1 Lord Hutchinson, QC defence council for the ABC Case regarding the Official Secrets Act 1989, said it is the task of the press to examine, probe, question and find out if there are mistakes to embarrass the government.2 With such a role of responsibility, it is vital that the public trust what the press tell them. Codes and laws are in place to make sure journalists act as a collective conscience.3 In practice this is difficult as individual consciences come into play, along with the obstacles of time, money and competition that face journalists in their profession. One common rule among journalists is to never reveal your sources. If you do, your career will be tainted with mistrust. This journalistic ethical code secures a relationship with the public and provides protection. But there are laws that contravene this. Section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 says courts have the right to demand that journalists reveal their source if disclosure is necessary in the interests of justice or national security or for the prevention of disorder or crime. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 says police investigating a serious offence can obtain an order requiring the journalist to submit evidence considered useful to the court. It is difficult to defy the law, especially when the consequence could be imprisonment or a fine. However, I would still try to keep my sources confidential; otherwise they could face a fine or imprisonment. I would find that difficult to live with because I am just as responsible for protecting my sources and for imparting the information. In these circumstances I would argue for freedom of expression under the Human Rights Act 1998. Trainee journalist Bill Goodwin appealed successfully with this argument after he was fined for refusing to hand over documents concerning engineering company Terra Ltd. In another case the Guardian exposed their source Sarah Tisdall in 1984 under pressure from the courts. She leaked information about the delivery of cruise missiles to RAF Greenham Common and was jailed as a consequence.4 Where a source has taken the initiative and given a story to the press, especially in matters relating to national security, they must have recognised the risk and it is not unreasonable for them to take the consequences. There are legal reporting restrictions that a journalist can overturn. Section 39 and 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 can be lifted if a juvenile has committed a serious crime and naming them would act as a deterrent to others. Journalists often cite public interest in their reasons for disagreeing with the law and this is an ethical way to maintain the trust and respect of the public. Yet the problem lies in defining public interest. The Press Complaints Commission states that public interest includes: 1. Detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour 2. Protecting public health and safety 3. Preventing the public being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation5 Reporter Ryan Perry went undercover in 2003 as a footman at Buckingham Palace in order to observe their security methods. His report in the Daily Mirror highlighted the need for tightened security and this was achieved. His behaviour, although deceitful, was for the publics safety and I agree with German journalist Gà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nter Wallraff who said, you have to disguise yourself in order to unmask your society.6 The BBC reiterates this in their guidelines for public interest: when dealing with serious illegal or anti-social behaviour it may occasionally be acceptable for us not to reveal the full purpose of the programme to a contributor.7 This is when the ethical behaviour of a journalist starts to depart from the ethical code of the public and indeed the law. I would find it difficult to lie in order to get a story but if it was for the publics benefit, I could do it. I do not think behaving this way, if it revealed vital information, could lose the respect or trust of the public. If the person I was exposing was a family member or boyfriend, I could not report on the story. I would not cover up their crime but similarly, I would not offer them up for public scrutiny. Ethical manner as a journalist is different to ethical manner as a daughter or girlfriend and in this case the personal is stronger than the professional. I do not think Perrys report on Buckingham Palace should have included photographs of private bedrooms and details on the storage of breakfast cereals. This does not come under the Press Complaints Commission code of public interest and I do not think it can be justified as ethical behaviour. Undercover work cannot be held up as ethical when the outcome is less important than the act and Perrys inclusion of these private details undermine the ethical reasons for reporting undercover. When it becomes a matter of what the public are interested in, rather than what they need to know, ethical manners begin to vary between journalists and other factors come into the equation. The media is to a certain extent controlled by the people who own the newspapers, radio stations and television companies. They pay the journalists salary and they ultimately make the decisions. A senior executive of News International said: If an editor went to Murdoch and said that he had carefully examined the PCC code of conduct on chequebook journalism and had come to the conclusion that to pay to get a story would be a breach of the code and, therefore, he hadnt done it, he would be fired.8 This shows that a journalists so-called ethical behaviour is not always their own. However the journalist can decide who they work for. If I was asked to pay for stories that revealed matters that I did not consider of public interest, then I would refuse and work for a different organisation. This is, of course easier said than done and when one organisation is willing to pay for a story, others follow suit to keep up with competition. The public are aware of this and join in the game. Neighbours of Shannon Matthews have begun to charge for their stories, and they know the media will pay. It is difficult not to succumb to this method of journalism when competition is so fierce but then motivation for talking to the press becomes about money rather than truth. The competition and pressure to get a good story causes some journalists to fabricate, especially in the television industry. Regulators Ofcom demonstrated the penalty of misleading the public when they fined ITV à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5.675 million for phone vote scandals. Journalist Max Hastings said deceit is woven into the very nature of television. He described how some camera crews in war zones have encouraged soldiers to open fire so they can film dramatic footage that was missed when it actually happened.9 I understand the desire to produce a captivating documentary but asking soldiers to potentially put themselves and others in danger for dramatic effect, is not ethical behaviour. In television there is a fine line between deceiving the public and assuming they know about the editing tricks of the trade. Filming a sequence over a three-day period but presenting it as one day is not harmful deception but the reality of television production. The BBCs broadcast in 2007 of the Queen storming out of a portrait session was deceiving because editing gave a false representation of the actual events. Ofcom hold a similar view in regard to fairness. They say broadcasters should take reasonable care that material facts have not been presented, disregarded or omitted in a way that is unfair to an individual or organisation.10 When covering a story about parishioners protesting against their church being demolished, I was told by my editor to ask them to shout save our church for the camera. They did this and it brightened up the news package. It could be argued that this was unethical behaviour because it misled the public about the protest; as soon as I had gone, the shouting stopped. I did question my actions. However the desire to entertain the viewer, the opinion of my editor, the willingness of the protestors themselves and the low impact it would have on the public perception stopped me going against the decision. This is a minor case but it shows how potential deception in television is an ever-present reality. The need for impartiality is heavily stressed in journalism codes of conduct. Ofcom states that television and radio programmes must exclude all expressions of the views and opinions of the person providing the service on matters of political and industrial controversy and matters relating to current public policy (unless that person is speaking in a legislative forum or in a court of law).11 To be impartial as a journalist is not as simple as it seems; merely editing requires some personal judgement. As a reporter, it is not that easy to completely remove yourself from a story. Journalist Gill Swain said simply, dont get emotionally involved.12 Yet detach yourself too far and your reporting will get labelled as forensic.13 Sometimes the best journalism happens when you do engage emotionally and follow a story with passion. If Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had not done that, the revelation of Watergate and eventual resignation of US President Richard Nixon in 1974 would have never come about. Personal interest and involvement can be a helpful motive in investigative journalism. A few years ago I wrote about my college boat club in a university magazine. I was told various stories about club money that had gone missing. As a member of that boat club, I felt obliged to find out what had happened and inform university students. After publication the head of the boat club asked me to her office to explain myself. She was unable to deny any of the facts. If I had not had personal involvement in this story, the financial difficulties of the boat club would have not been revealed. Yet the actual writing of the story should be impartial and not convey the opinion of the journalist. The public should trust that you are giving them a fair and accurate report on a matter of importance to them. However, sometimes personal belief and gut instinct that go against codes and ethical manners can benefit the public. During the time Senator Joseph McCarthy made charges that the United States government had been infiltrated by Soviet spies, American journalists had to abide by the strict codes of reporting without analysis or comment. They knew McCarthys claims were false but the journalistic laws meant they were unable to investigate his statements and tell the public the truth. More recently, the Washington Post, New York Times and New Republic all apologised to their readers for not being sceptical when reporting White House claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.14 Part of being a journalist is to face adversity and going against a law or code is sometimes the only way to tell the public the truth, but truth is what ultimately gains their trust and respect. Laws and codes are necessary to provide a benchmark for journalists to work from and maintain professionalism. Without them some journalists would lose sight of what fundamental principles they need to follow in order to behave responsibly. There are times when a journalists own instinct and ethical manner will maintain respect and trust of the public better than the codes. There are also instances when pressure, time and money prevent a journalist from maintaining those codes. Whatever the circumstances, the one rule that should be constant is that journalists are the eyes and ears of the public; their trust and respect should always take precedence. BIBLIOGRAPHY Frost, Chris. Media Ethics And Self-Regulation. Pearson Education Limited, 2000. Harcup, Tony. The Ethical Journalist. Sage Publications Ltd, 2007. Keeble, Richard. Ethics For Journalists. Routledge, 2001. Rosenstiel, Tom and Mitchell, Amy S., ed. Thinking Clearly: Cases in Journalistic Decision-Making. Columbia University Press, 2003. Welsh, Tom, Greenwood, Walter, Banks, David, eds. McNaes Essential Law For Journalists, 19th Edition. Oxford University Press, 2007. Wesbites: http://www.ofcom.org.uk 1 Richard Keeble, Ethics For Journalists (Routledge, 2001) 127. 2 Tom Welsh, Walter Greenwood, David Banks, eds. McNaes Essential Law For Journalists, 19th Edition (Oxford University Press, 2007) 415. 3 Keeble 131. 4 Keeble 29. 5 Tony Harcup, The Ethical Journalist (Sage Publications Ltd, 2007) 36. 6 Harcup 41. 7 Harcup 45. 8 Harcup 112. 9 Harcup 12 10 http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/fairness/ 11 http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/undue/ 12 Keeble 130. 13 Keeble 140. 14 Harcup 17.

Beam Energies Treatment for Lung and Larynx

Beam Energies Treatment for Lung and Larynx Larynx Error Plan Errors: Beam energies for larynx treatment are not correct both fields have 10MV instead of 6MV Field sizes are not right The Right Lateral (RLat) field is too big resulting in shielding errors The Left Lateral (LLat) field is too small and is just skimming the anterior portion of the patients shell The number of fractions on the plan is one (1) instead of 20 daily fractions. The global maximum dose is 110.98% (given as 6103.7 cGy) and is largely outside the Planning Target Volume (PTV), meaning the plan is too hot The 108% region is a hot spot as it exceeds the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU 50 62) maximum value of 107% The LLat field wedge is too thin 1o, so not helping with uniform dose distribution of the plan, hence the right skewed isodoses and the 108% hot spot The plans maximum spinal cord dose of 5112 cGy, exceeds the maximum dose constraint value for the organ of 5000 cGy. Multi-Leaf Collimators (MLC) use on the plan There is not much conformality to the PTV anteriorly from the RLat field There is insufficient shielding of the neck anteriorly Some MLC are not pulled up properly as they are on the field edge which is better shielded by the Primary collimators The RLat field is over-wedged (60o), resulting in the 108% hotspot region The RLat field is not placed optimally re-collimator angle in order to better avoid the spinal cord The Dose Volume Histogram (DVH) data/graph/chart is insufficient as it is only for the spinal cord excluding for example the PTV information The isocentre could be placed more centrally for the plan Criteria use to evaluate the suitability of the treatment plan This is a conventional parallel-opposed field arrangement, which is suitable for head and neck treatment of the larynx (Barrett and Dobbs, Practical Radiotherapy Planning, page 171). Since this is an error plan, the fields do not match in size though they are parallel opposing. The radical dose prescription is 55 Gy in 20 daily fractions of 2.75 Gy over 4 weeks (Barrett and Dobbs, 4th Ed., page 175). This would apply as a prescription for a T1-2 N0 glottic larynx tumour with a volume of 26-49 cm3 (RSCH, St Lukes Radiotherapy Clinical Protocol, Head and Neck Larynx). Use is made of isodose charts, PTV coverage as indicated by the D95 (95% isodose line), maximum PTV dose (Dmax), maximum spinal cord dose, dose volume histograms (for PTV and spinal cord), and departmental protocols to evaluate the suitability of the treatment plan. The Quantec/Emami et. al. (2013) document of Tolerance of Normal Tissue to Therapeutic Radiation provided the dose constraints for the organs at risk e.g. the spinal cord. NICE guidelines only stipulate an offer of choice of trans-oral microsurgery or radiotherapy to people with newly diagnosed T1b-2 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx. The plan is optimised by use of beam modifying devices like wedges and MLC (Barrett and Dobbs, page 171), and checking the effect using the planning software. Solutions to eliminate identified errors: The beam energy needs to change from 10MV to 6MV in the field properties of the planning software. This will ensure adequate coverage of the PTV as a significant part of the larynx is very close to the skin. A less energy beam offers less penetration and lower build up depth (for skin sparing effect) for dose deposition. The RLat field size can decrease slightly anteriorly, while the LLat field size can increase slightly to ensure adequate anterior coverage. The fields could also be more symmetrical. The LLat wedges orientation needs to change so that the Thick end is Anterior as per the setup information (Toe in). The number of fractions is should change to 20 from the current one fraction. This would give the appropriate dose prescription for the plan of 55Gy/20#/4weeks/2.75Gy per fraction The current plan is too hot, so the beam weightings need adjusting downwards until the plan conforms to the ICRU limits of maximum 100% + 7% (= 107%), and the lower limit of 100% 5% (= 95%) of the proscription dose (ICRU). This process can also improve by correcting the wrongly orientated LLat wedge and using a better wedge angle on it, as well as adjusting down the angle of the over-wedged RLat wedge. Correcting the 108% hotspot region is through adjusting the wedge angles, re-orienting the LLat wedge and adjusting the field weightings. The thin 1o LLat wedge angle needs changing up to 30o for the wedge to have an effect on the isodose distribution, on top of reversing its orientation. This would help in creating a uniform dose distribution for the plan and a reduction/elimination in/of hotspots. According to the Quantec/Emami et al. (2013) guidelines, the spinal cord is to receive a maximum core dose of 50Gy, but the current plan is exceeding this limit. Adjusting theÂÂ   collimator angle for the fields to be parallel to the spinal cord will help avoid treating this critical organ This is also aided by reducing the field weightings, adjusting the wedge angles and orientation of one of them, adjusting the field sizes posteriorly. The MLC leaves need to close where they are open outside the treatment field edges. There is a leaf to shield the anterior corner of the neck but is pulled back, so needs to be part of the configuration. There are five (5) pairs of almost central leaves, that are on the field edges inferiorly and superiorly, they need pulling back by 0.5 cm from the field edge so they do not interfere with primary collimation (Royal Surrey County Hospital (RSCH), St Lukes Radiotherapy Clinical Protocols). Adjusting the RLat field size anteriorly will aid in correcting the shielding of the neck and improve conformality to the PTV. The RLat field wedge needs reducing to at most 30o to aid uniform dose distribution and reduction of hotspots. Changing the collimator angle of the RLat field so that it is parallel to the spinal cord, will avoid treating through this critical organ. This will result in reducing the spinal cords maximum dose for the plan to within the organs maximum dose constraint value of less than 50Gy, thus aiding in optimising the plan. The DVH information of the plan should include the PTV data and line plot to enable plan evaluation of its suitability. Making the isocentre more central may improve the uniform dose distribution of the plan. Suitability of Plan and Alternative beam arrangement According to De Virgilio, A., et. al. (2012), there is currently no set therapeutic gold standard for the treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. This contributes to a lack of consistency and inhomogeneity in treatment planning. The plan under consideration is a 2D conventional plan, which in itself is suitable with the exception of the errors, but is not optimal. The identified errors are correctable and the plan optimisable. In remaining with the conventional plan, a third anterior low-neck field with a light weighting (3DCRT) is an option to improve dose distribution and eliminate hotspots. However, this would require the addition of electron beams to match the photon fields, according to Herrassi, M. Y., Bentayeb, F, and Malisan M. R. (page 98-105). Another option is to use Intensity Modulated RadioTherapy (IMRT) with 3 or 5 beams, or Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) with one arc, (Matthiesen C, SinghÂÂ   H, Mascia et. al. (2012)). IMRT offers more conformalit y in regards to carotid arteries as stated by Gomez, D., Cahlon, O., et. al. (2010). Portaluri, M., et. al (2006), suggest that 3D Field-in-Field techniques are a valid alternative as they offer the best global performance when considering PTV coverage and parotid sparing. Conclusion The task was instrumental in reinforcing the importance of understanding the process of treatment planning, and how to check the suitability of the plan before its approval. There is not much information to work with in suggesting alternative beam arrangements. Useful information could have been correct TNM classification, appropriate oncological classification taking into account the anatomic-embryologic and functional complexity of the larynx. There were glaring errors in the plan, and as an exercise, they were useful in sharpening treatment planning knowledge. IMRT is the preferred treatment technique that is efficacious especially for parotid gland and carotid artery sparing. Lung Plan Errors: Beam energies should all be 6MV, some are 10MV on the plan There are too many fields for the plan The LLat beam is going through the contralateral lung The field placement of the right posterior oblique (RPO) is not optimal as its MLCs are shielding part of the PTV contributing to the inadequate 95% dose coverage of the PTV. The global max value of 109% exceeds the ICRU guidelines, meaning the plan is very hot in places. There is an 80% hot spot on the chest, which is very hot for the area close to the skin There are many wedges on this plan resulting in hot and cold spots and a high dose gradient in the PTV. The Right Lateral and Anterior fields are over-wedged, resulting in the 80% and 109% hot spots. The RPO and LLat field wedge angles are not conventional (50o and 33o respectively, when considering the standard wedge angle specifications of 15o, 30o, 45o and 60o. The Lateral fields (Right Lateral and Left Lateral), are too big in relation to the size of the PTV, resulting in unnecessary irradiation of healthy tissue. The current plan exceeds the spinal cord core dose (maximum 50Gy), as interpreted from the DVH data. There is less than 95% PTV coverage laterally , resulting in a max dose to the PTV of 5304 cGy, which is very much less than the expected 6080 cGy (95% of 6400 cGy). Criteria use to evaluate the suitability of the treatment plan Barrett and Dobbs (page 252), acknowledge that there are a number of challenges to covering the PTV fully and remaining within the ICRU constraints, while maintaining acceptable toxicity levels at the same time. A three (3) field conformal plan is normally used for stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A compromise on choosing the best plan is mostly dependent upon the location and size of the PTV, and its closeness to critical structures, like the spinal cord and oesophagus. The plan should try to minimise dose to the contralateral lung as much as possible by using anterior oblique, posterior oblique and lateral beams. Beam modifying devices such as wedges compensate for obliquity at the chest, with MLC shielding conforms each beam to the shape of the PTV (Dobbs and Barrett). Use is made of the Quantec/Emami et. al. (2013), document on Tolerance of Normal Tissue to Therapeutic Radiation in checking dose constraints to organs at risk e.g. brachial plexus, oesophagus and spinal cord. Plan evaluation also uses isodose charts, dose volume histograms and departmental protocols to establish the suitability of the plan. NICE guidelines for Radiotherapy with curative intent for Non-small cell Lung Cancer stipulate that the patient should have good performance status (WHO 0 or 1). It says, CHART should be offered first, but if unavailable then conventional radiotherapy of 64-66 Gy in 32-33 fractions over 6 ÂÂ ½ weeks or 55 Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks is the next option. This plan is for 64 Gy in 32 fractions over 6 ÂÂ ½ weeks, so meets with this criterion. Dobbs and Barrett (page 253), mention that careful evaluation of the plan using DVHs is especially important when considering keeping the V20 below 32 per cent (the volume of lung receiving more than 20Gy of the dose). Solutions to eliminate identified errors: Barrett and Dobbs (page 255), point out that beam energies above 10 MV should be avoided due to greater range of secondary electrons in lung tissue, which result in a wider penumbra and thus more radiation to normal tissue. Beam energy of 6MV is adequate, while use of 10MV is for separation at the centre is greater than 28 cm. (Dobbs and Barrett, page 252). As no mention of the separation, it is appropriate to use 6MV on all the beams for this plan instead on mixed energies. This is a conventional plan, and the common number of beams 3 instead of the current 5. The many fields have not helped in conforming the plan to the PTV and improving the dose distribution, but have contributed in unnecessary irradiation of normal tissues. So, removal of the anterior and left lateral beams, would bring the plan back to a conformal 3 field plan. The right posterior oblique field would need setting at around 215o-225o in order to cover the PTV better and its MLC not to shield the PTV as at the present. (RSCH and London Cancer centre protocols). The left lateral field is treating through the contralateral lung, which is operationally against ICRP (2007), ICRU and IR(ME)R 2000 guidelines of keeping dose as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) to patients, employees and the general public. The corrective measure is to remove the left lateral field from the plan. The gantry angle for the right posterior field is not optimal and moving it to around 215o-225o range would improve coverage of the PTV and avoid the spinal cord, even though the MLC is shielding the cord (ideal) in the current setup but also part of the PTV that is not ideal and compromising the 95% coverage of the PTV. The global maximum value of 109% exceeds the ICRU target of maximum 107% within the PTV. Removing the anterior and left lateral fields, and adjusting the over-wedged posterior and right lateral field wedge angles to either 15o or 30o depending on the uniformity of the dose distribution within the PTV, will rectify this issue. The remaining field weights will need adjusting as well to fully optimise the plan. Moving the RPO beam angle to between 215o and 225o, as well as reducing the wedge angle to 30o and removing the anterior beam from the plan will correct the 80% hotspot region. Removing the anterior field will effectively eliminate the 80% hot spot region on the chest. Removing the left lateral field and wedging the right anterior oblique field will help in reducing or eliminating the 109% hot spot region in the PTV. These measures will also result in more uniformity in dose distribution when combined with adjusting the weights of the remaining fields. The current plan has many wedged fields (some over-wedged), which is rectified by removing the anterior and left lateral field from the plan, adjusting the right lateral wedge angle to either 15o or 30o, and that of the posterior field from 50o to either 15o or 30o and inserting a 15o or 30o wedge on the anterior oblique field. This should improve the uniformity of the dose distribution within the PTV. The non-conventional wedge angles of the posterior and left lateral fields (50o and 33o respectively), have not improved the dose distribution in any noticeable way, as there is still a high dose gradient in the PTV. Reverting to the standard angles and using either 15o or 30o at most, would improve the dose distribution of the plan. The two lateral fields are too big; therefore adjusting them posteriorly would improve the PTV coverage of the plan and less irradiation of normal tissue. The left lateral field however needs taking off the plan altogether. The current plan shows excessive dose to the spinal cord and according to the Quantec/Emami et. al. (2013) document, the maximum core dose to the spinal cord should not exceed 50Gy. Moving the right posterior field angle to 215o-225o range and removing the anterior beam will correct this anomaly The less than 95% coverage of the PTV is achieved by: positioning the posterior field optimally (between 215o and 225o), so that the MLC will not shield the PTV but still manage to shield the spinal cord; adjusting the field sizes of the oblique fields; applying 15o or 30o wedge to the right anterior oblique field andÂÂ   adding MLCs to it so that it conforms the PTV better thus improving the dose distribution to the plan; and applying MLCs to the right lateral field to conform the PTV better. Suitability of Plan and Alternative beam arrangement This plan is not suitable for patient treatment in many respects, as highlighted by the errors identified. Improving it is by reverting to the conventional three field/beam plan, with two right oblique fields and the right lateral field as the third one (Barrett and Dobbs, page 252). Other treatment techniques, e.g. IMRT (with emphasis on carotid sparing), helical tomotherapy, VMAT have been found to offer better results on dosimetric comparisons. However, a multi-modality approach could be the best approach when considering new data coming from immunology, molecular biology and genetics on top of the usual surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment options (Franco, P., et. al. (2016)). Conclusion This exercise highlighted the importance of quality assurance and having several layers of checking the suitability of treatment plans that are eventually used on the patients.

Henry Viii And Anglicanism Religion Essay

Henry Viii And Anglicanism Religion Essay Many individuals today believe that Anglicanism began with Henry VIII for his simple wish of divorcing his wife in hopes to produce a male heir. Certainly it was established in the era of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, however there were many other influences that contributed to the creation of the Church of England. These influences date back to the early years of Christianity in the British Isles. After doing much analysis on this history, it is safe to say that King Henry was not the only creator of Anglicanism; he was only a contributor to its formation and the final step to its beginning. It is said that among the soldiers living in Britain, some were of Christian faith. St. Alban, the first English martyr, was killed in 209 CE and therefore the Christianity was certainly present by 200 CE. In 400, when the Romans left Britain and many invaders arrived, in the West and North the Celtic people maintained their faith and culture. A type of Christianity grew among these individuals which still influences our spirituality to this date. Celtic Christianity dated between 400 1000 CE. These stories and legends of the Celtic church are told by Saints such as: St. Ninian, St. Calumba and St. Brigit.Governed by chiefs or kings, Celtic society was organized on tribal lines. The Celtic church was controlled around monasteries ruled by abbots who ordained as priests celebrated the sacraments in the monasteries. The land for the monastery was often provided by the tribe or family unit. By 431, Ireland had received its first bishop. The government of the Irish church was controlled by the abbots however by the 1800s .The abbeys promoted learning, taught the children, and fabricated spectacular religious art in the manuscripts, metalwork and stone carvings. The Anglican spirituality had a lot of influence from the Celtic spirituality. There was a very strong sense of the presence of God in everyday life of the Celtic Christians. In all of their daily activities, God is found. There are a vast amount of prayers from the Celtics that have these examples. There is an example in the book A World Made Whole (Fount, 1991): I will kindle my fire this morning, In the presence of the holy angels of heaven. This quote from the prayer shows that God is in their everyday lives, God is not forgotten. The goodness of nature and of human nature are a part of true Celtic beliefs. It sees human as being full of potential and made in Gods image. Jesus came to free our world from its evil forces. This is an optimistic view fits well with the Anglican understanding of creation, i ncarnation, and redemption. Celtic Christianity has a strong sense of the unity. It insists that we are encircled on our pilgrimage by faithfully Christian individuals of an earlier era. God, the Trinity, the saints of old-all are near us and are always accessible to us in our prayers. Celtic Christianity is full of stories, images, art and music. With the arrival of St. Augustine at Canterbury in 597, Roman Christianity returned to Britain. This tradition and form of government spread throughout England steadily. Although Celtic Christianity was slowly concealed by Roman practice, many customs and traditions were kept. It was an era of change and turmoil in the church during the 1500-1600s in Europe. There was dissatisfaction with papal government and abuses of church traditions. Furthermore the availability of new translations of Scripture from Latin into other languages fashioned a craving to look over the ancestry of the Christian faith and a desire to return to the basics of Christian ideas. In Europe individual figures like Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin and Martin Luther encouraged doctrinal and organizational reform. England knew of the effort of these reformers and had the Scriptures in English. However, the church was not extremely affected by them. In reality Henry VIII received from the Pope in 1521 the title Defender of the Faith for his paper criticizing Martin Luther. However, the King was going through some political difficulties. His marriage of almost 20 years to Catherine of Aragon had produced only one living child, their daughter Mary. Henry became increasingly worried because he n eeded a male heir for the throne. Henry decided to divorce his wife and that he was going to marry Anne Boleyn. Securing an annulment and obtaining a papal dispensation to remarry was not an impossible request, however it made Henry anxious. But European politics launched a problematic factor; Catherines nephew was the Emperor Charles V. The Pope was being threatened by the Emperor and so could not grant Henrys request. Henry decided then to remove the church in England from the control of foreign powers. Acts of Parliament were passed, Henrys marriage was declared invalid, and he married Anne Boleyn. The Pope rapidly removed Henry. To gain [a son], he separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and so established the Protestant Reformation in England . Henry took rising control of the church, suspending the monasteries and moving their riches to the crown and declared himself the head of the church in England. Henry ordered the English Bible located in all church es but stayed very conservative in matters of spiritual traditions. Henry was succeeded in 1547 by his son Edward VI. Edward had been well-informed by teachers with Protestant understanding. Throughout his reign the church was progressively more influenced by Lutheran and Calvinist tradition. In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer, drawn up by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was certified. The Act of Uniformity made its use obligatory in all churches in England. This book has become the normative statement of Anglican theology and practice. The book was a compromise between traditionalists and reformers. In 1552, a second Book of Common Prayer was issued. It followed more Protestant ideologies. During the reign of Edward VI, many Articles were published to identify the position of the Church of England on a vast amount of issues. This was an attempt to define a connection between the Old Catholic ways and the new Calvinist reforms. The 42 Articles were proposed in 15 52 and these were not accepted. However in 1559, during the reign of Elizabeth, the Thirty-nine Articles were accepted as a balanced statement of the Anglican position on certain uncertain issues. Edward was then succeeded by his half-sister Mary. As the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Mary wanted to return England to the worship of the Roman Catholic Church. During Marys reign, many reformers were executed however on her death, her half-sister Elizabeth became Queen. She wished to restore stability to the country, while at the same time preserving England from foreign domination. The church then should retain its heritage but remain free of the rule of the Pope. The form of liturgy, the three-fold order of bishops, priest and deacons, the sacraments were all retained. But the differences were that services were in English, the reading of Scripture was encouraged, and clergy could marry. The third Book of Common Prayer was issued in 1559. The aim of the Elizabethan church was to br ing stability to both church and state. The Church of England held together in one family a variety of views by avoiding narrow definitions. Richard Hooker, 1554-1600, was the apologist for the emerging Anglican position. The Anglican approach to theology, the balance of Scripture, tradition and reason was defined by his Treatise on the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. He saw the church as changing and adapting. The church structures its existence by looking at scripture and tradition in the light of reason and experience. Renewal and progress in the 18th century placed a new tension on personal conversion, salvation by faith in Christs agreed death, the sole power of Scripture, and the significance of the lecture of the Word. Influenced by evangelical clergy, the missionary movement brought the gospel to all parts of the world. At home in England, evangelicals played a major role in the abolition of slavery and the reform of social conditions. In the 19th century, the Anglo-Catholic restoration brought a new emphasis to the liturgical and sacramental life of the church. The Oxford Movement aimed at restoring high church ideals to the Church of England. In this movement we have the Low Church that of being the Anglican Church of Ireland and High Anglican Church that being the Church of England. This group of reformers was sometimes called Tractarianists because of the series of writings, Tracts for the Times, in which they set out their views. The movement emphasized the catholic and apostolic nature o f the church, looking back to its historic roots. It placed new importance on the liturgical and sacramental life of the church; the introduction of vestments, candles, ceremonial and ritual followed soon after. Anglo-Catholics were involved in ministry to the slums of large English cities, and in missionary work around the world. During this period, religious orders of monks and nuns were re-established, and this continues in the Anglican Church to this day. In conclusion, after much research it is understood that The Anglican Church was created by many contributions and ideas that dated back to the early years of Christianity in the British Isles. King Henry VIII was the final contribution to its foundation, but would not be here if it were not for the Celtic Spirituality. However to this day there are issues with the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church though would have liked to settle once it left the Roman umbrella will not be in a settle state. It seems as if equilibrium cannot be maintained and there is still controversy to this day with this religion that was created many years ago.

The Role of Advertising in Business Essay -- Role of Market Communicat

1. INTRODUCTION 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 4. SOURCES OF DATA 5. RESEARCH DESIGN 6. CONCLUSIONS 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. INTRODUCTION Advertising in business is a type of marketing communication used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate a customer to take or continue to take some action. The desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering. The primary role of advertising is to inform potential customers of the products and services in the market and convince them to make a purchase. Through advertisements customers are informed of new products, their role, their benefit and the prices at which they are being made available to the customer. It is a technique used to influence people's minds and encourage more sales. The main purpose of advertising is to deliver the proper message to customers and prospective customers. The purpose of advertising is to convince customers that a company's services or products are the best, to enhance the image of the company, point out and create a need for their products or services, demonstrate new uses for the established ones, announce new products and programs, reinforce the individual messages of the sales people, draw customers to the business, and to hold existing customers. Advertising lies in the Promotion part of Marketing Mix, but it applies to all the other P's as well. Promoting one’s business is the key ingredient to making one’s business successful. Promotion, along with a great product, key placement, and a reasonable price, will help a marketer work his way to the top. Promoting does not mean leaving his advertising up to the word of mouth of his current customer. â€Æ' 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Brand Equity & ... ...n their advertising strategies as on their products and services †¢ Consumers’ attitude towards advertisements varies greatly †¢ Advertising is considered necessary for growth and success of big companies these days †¢ A product that is not advertised is lost on the customer. †¢ Advertising is the backbone of today’s sales industry. â€Æ' 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY †¢ DA Aaker, AL Biel- 1993- books.google.com †¢ T Meenaghan - Journal of Product & Brand Management, 1995 - emeraldinsight.com †¢ FM Scherer, D Ross - University of Illinois †¢ WF Mueller, RT Rogers - The Review of Economics and Statistics, 1980 – JSTOR †¢ M Sutherland, J Galloway - Journal of Advertising Research, 1981 - sutherlandsurvey.com †¢ VA Zeithaml, MJ Bitner - 1996 - lavoisier.fr †¢ business-finance.blurtit.com †¢ smallbusiness.chron.com †º Advertising & Marketing †º Advertising †¢ www.advertising.nsw.gov.au

Free Hamlet Essays - Hamlet as a Love Story :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet as a Love Story    The part of Hamlet that I would like to discuss is the love story theme. I think that it is very romantic how even in today's society we do not view the other aspects of Hamlet like revenge, delay, and madness but view Hamlet as a love story. I like the part of the love story when Hamlet writes that letter to Ophelia. The poem that Hamlet wrote to Ophelia, "'Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt our love."' I really like this quote because it is very romantic. -Marka Jones The aspect of Hamlet that I find interesting is the appearance of the ghost that Hamlet suspects may be the ghost of his father. Hamlet does not know if the ghost is actually of his father or if it is a demon taking on his father's appearance. How will he know what decision to make if he does not know what the ghost actually is? Also, now I'm wondering if Hamlet makes the wrong decision, will his decision lead to his death? This is the second play of Shakespeare's that I have read that has the appearance of ghosts. Macbeth also had apparitions appear in it. Shakespeare seems to have a method of placing ghosts into his writings, and in Macbeth these ghosts led to the downfall of Macbeth. -Keisha McWhorter "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." "antic disposition." Hamlet states this after he discovers Claudius killed his father. If indeed Hamlet was mad, the fact that Claudius killed his father could have been a cause; however it seems that by the second quote he decided to pretend he is crazy. I do not think that the death of his father drove him mad. -Matthew Kilgore Act 1, Scene 2, Line 66 KING. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? HAM. Not so, my lord. I am too much in the sun. QUEEN. Good Hamlet. Cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know'st 'tis common - all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. In the above conversation the Queen and the King both feel Hamlet meant what he said.

Concepts And Definitions Of Disability Essay

The contemporary conception of disability proposed in the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) views disability as an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Disability is the interaction between individuals with a health condition (e.g. cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or depression) and personal and environmental factors (e.g. negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation, or limited social supports). Long ago there was great confusion over the meaning of terms such as impairment, handicap, or disability. Then, in 1980, the WHO provided great service by offering a clear way of thinking about it all in a little book called â€Å"International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps†. All these terms refer to the consequences of disease, but consider the consequences at different levels. The disease produces some form of pathology, and then the individual may become aware of th is: they experience symptoms. Later, the performance or behaviour of the person may be affected, and because of this the person may suffer consequences such as being unable to work. In this general scenario, Impairment was defined as â€Å"any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function.† Impairment is a deviation from normal organ function; it may be visible or invisible (screening tests generally seek to identify impairments). Disability was defined as â€Å"any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.† Impairment does not necessarily lead to a disability, for the impairment may be corrected. I am, for example, wearing eye glasses, but do not perceive that any disability arises from my impaired vision. A disability refers to the function of the individual (rather than of an organ, as with impairment). In turn, Handicap was defined as â€Å"a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from impairment or a disability that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors) for that individual.† Handicap considers the person’s participation in their social context. For example, if there is a wheel-chair access ramp at work, a disabled person may not be handicapped in coming to work there. Here are some examples: Impairment – Speech production; Disability – Speaking clearly enough to be understood; Handicap – Communication I – Hearing; D – Understanding; H – Communication I – Vision; D – Seeing; H – Orientation I – Motor control, balance, joint stiffness; D – Dressing, feeding, walking; H – Independence, mobility I – Affective, cognitive limitations; D – Behaving, interacting, supporting; H – Social interaction, reasonableness Here is a diagram that suggests possible parallels between the impairment, disability & handicap triad, and the disease, illness and sickness triad. (The squiggly arrows are intended to indicate a rough correspondence) â€Å"Patients do not come to their physicians to find out what ICD code they have, they come to get help for what is bothering them.† A Positive Perspective? Quality of Life and the International Classification of Function The focus on disability takes a somewhat negative approach to health, perhaps not unreasonable since doctors are supposed to cure diseases. But starting in the 1980s clinicians began to set goals to achieve when the disease could not be cured, beyong merely controlling symptoms. The notion of Quality of Life gained prominence as a way to emphasize a positive perspective on health – health as a capacity to function and to live, even if the patient has a chronic condition. A central aim of care was to enhance the quality of the patient’s function, and hence their ability to life as normal a life as possible, even if the disorder could not be cured. This notion was a further extension of handicap, covering maintenance of normal function, but adding psychological well-being and, if possible, positive feelings of engagement. Measurements of quality of life extend the disability focus beyond the ability to perform â€Å"activities of daily living† to include a broad range of functioning (work, home, play) and also the person’s feelings of satisfaction and well-being. This is necessarily a qualitative and subjective concept, judged by the patient in terms of the extent to which they are able to do the things they wish to do. In this medical context, quality of life is distinct from wealth or possessions, and to amke this clear you may see the term â€Å"health-related quality of life.† Reflecting these evolving ideas, the WHO revised its  Impairment, Disability and Handicap triad in 2001, re-naming it the International Classification of Function (ICF). This classification system provides codes for the complete range of functional states; codes cover body structures and functions, impairments, activities and participation in society. The ICF also considers contextual factors that may influence activity levels, so function is viewed as an interaction between health conditions (a disease or injury) and the context in which the person lives (both physical environment and cultural norms relevant to the disease). It establishes a common language for describing functional states that can be used in comparing across diseases and countries. The ICF therefore uses positive language, so that â€Å"activity† and â€Å"participation† replace â€Å"disability† and â€Å"handicap.† The ICF is described on the WHO web site. Impairment, Disability and Handicap Sheena L. Carter, Ph.D. The words â€Å"impairment,† â€Å"disability,† and â€Å"handicap,† are often used interchangeably. They have very different meanings, however. The differences in meaning are important for understanding the effects of neurological injury on development. The most commonly cited definitions are those provided by the World Health Organization (1980) in The International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps: Impairment: any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function. Disability: any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being. Handicap: a disadvantage for a given individual that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal As traditionally used, impairment refers to a problem with a structure or  organ of the body; disability is a functional limitation with regard to a particular activity; and handicap refers to a disadvantage in filling a role in life relative to a peer group. Examples to illustrate the differences among the terms â€Å"impairment,† â€Å"disability,† and â€Å"handicap.† 1. CP example: David is a 4-yr.-old who has a form of cerebral palsy (CP) called spastic diplegia. David’s CP causes his legs to be stiff, tight, and difficult to move. He cannot stand or walk. Impairment: The inability to move the legs easily at the joints and inability to bear weight on the feet is an impairment. Without orthotics and surgery to release abnormally contracted muscles, David’s level of impairment may increase as imbalanced muscle contraction over a period of time can cause hip dislocation and deformed bone growth. No treatment may be currently available to lessen David’s impairment. Disability: David’s inability to walk is a disability. His level of disability can be improved with physical therapy and special equipment. For example, if he learns to use a walker, with braces, his level of disability will improve considerably. Handicap: David’s cerebral palsy is handicapping to the extent that it prevents him from fulfilling a normal role at home, in preschool, and in the community. His level of handicap has been only very mild in the early years as he has been well-supported to be able to play with other children, interact normally with family members and participate fully in family and community activities. As he gets older, his handicap will increase where certain sports and physical activities are considered â€Å"normal† activities for children of the same age. He has little handicap in his preschool classroom, though he needs some assistance to move about the classroom and from one activity to another outside the classroom. Appropriate services and equipment can reduce the extent to which cerebral palsy prevents David from fulfilling a normal role in the home, school and community as he grows. 2. LD example: Cindy is an 8-year-old who has extreme difficulty with reading (severe dyslexia). She has good vision and hearing and scores well on tests of intelligence. She went to an excellent preschool and several different special reading programs have been tried since early in kindergarten. Impairment: While no brain injury or malformation has been identified, some impairment is presumed to exist in how Cindy’s brain puts together visual and auditory information. The impairment may be inability to associate sounds with symbols, for example. Disability: In Cindy’s case, the inability to read is a disability. The disability can probably be improved by trying different teaching methods and using those that seem most effective with Cindy. If the impairment can be explained, it may be possible to dramatically improve the disability by using a method of teaching that does not require skills that are impaired (That is, if the difficulty involves learning sounds for letters, a sight-reading approach can improve her level of disability). Handicap: Cindy already experiences a handicap as compared with other children in her class at school, and she may fail third grade. Her condition will become more handicapping as she gets older if an effective approach is not found to improve her reading or to teach her to compensate for her reading difficulties. Even if the level of disability stays severe (that is, she never learns to read well), this will be less handicapping if she learns to tape lectures and â€Å"read† books on audiotapes. Using such approaches, even in elementary school, can prevent her reading disability from interfering with her progress in other academic areas (increasing her handicap). Gale Encyclopedia of Education: History of Special Education Top Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Education Encyclopedia Special education, as its name suggests, is a specialized branch of education. Claiming lineage to such persons as Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard (1775 – 1838), the physician who â€Å"tamed† the â€Å"wild boy of Aveyron,† and Anne Sullivan Macy (1866 – 1936), the teacher who â€Å"worked miracles† with Helen Keller, special educators teach those students who have physical, cognitive, language, learning, sensory, and/or emotional abilities that deviate from those of the general population. Special educators provide instruction specifically tailored to meet individualized needs, making education available to students who otherwise would have limited access to education. In 2001, special education in the United States was serving over five million students. Although federally mandated special education is relatively new in the United States, students with disabilities have been present in every era and in every society. Historical records have consistently documented the most severe disabilities – those that transcend task and setting. Itard’s description of the wild boy of Aveyron documents a variety of behaviors consistent with both mental retardation and behavioral disorders. Nineteenth-century reports of deviant behavior describe conditions that could easily be interpreted as severe mental retardation, autism, or schizophrenia. Milder forms of disability became apparent only after the advent of universal public education. When literacy became a goal for all children, teachers began observing disabilities specific to task and setting – that is, less severe disabilities. After decades of research and legislation, special education now provides services to students with varying degrees and forms of disabilities, including mental retardation, emotional disturbance, learning disabilities, speech-language (communication) disabilities, impaired hearing and deafness, low vision and blindness, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, and severe and multiple disabilities. Development of the Field of Special Education At its inception in the early nineteenth century, leaders of social change set out to cure many ills of society. Physicians and clergy, including Itard, Edouard O. Seguin (1812 – 1880), Samuel Gridley Howe (1801 – 1876), and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787 – 1851), wanted to ameliorate the neglectful, often abusive treatment of individuals with disabilities. A rich  literature describes the treatment provided to individuals with disabilities in the 1800s: They were often confined in jails and almshouses without decent food, clothing, personal hygiene, and exercise. During much of the nineteenth century, and early in the twentieth, professionals believed individuals with disabilities were best treated in residential facilities in rural environments. Advocates of these institutions argued that environmental conditions such as urban poverty and vices induced behavioral problems. Reformers such as Dorothea Dix (1802 – 1887) prevailed upon state governments to provide funds for bigger and more specialized institutions. These facilities focused more on a particular disability, such as mental retardation, then known as â€Å"feeble-mindedness† or â€Å"idiocy†; mental illness, then labeled â€Å"insanity† or â€Å"madness†; sensory impairment such as deafness or blindness; and behavioral disorders such as criminality and juvenile delinquency. Children who were judged to be delinquent or aggressive, but not insane, were sent to houses ofrefuge or reform schools, whereas children and adults judged to be â€Å"mad† were admitted to psychiatric hospitals. Dix and her followers believed that institutionalization of individuals with disabilities would end their abuse (confinement without treatment in jails and poorhouses) and provide effective treatment. Moral treatment was the dominant approach of the early nineteenth century in psychiatric hospitals, the aim being cure. Moral treatment employed methods analogous to today’s occupational therapy, systematic instruction, and positive reinforcement. Evidence suggests this approach was humane and effective in some cases, but the treatment was generally abandoned by the late nineteenth century, due largely to the failure of moral therapists to train others in their techniques and the rise of the belief that mental illness was always a result of brain disease. By the e nd of the nineteenth century, pessimism about cure and emphasis on physiological causes led to a change in orientation that would later bring about the â€Å"warehouse-like† institutions that have become a symbol for abuse and neglect of society’s most vulnerable citizens. The practice of moral treatment was replaced by the belief that most disabilities were incurable. This led to keeping individuals with disabilities ininstitutions both for their own protection and for the betterment of society. Although the transformation took many years, by the end of the nineteenth century the size of institutions had increased so  dramatically that the goal of rehabilitation was no longer possible. Institutions became instruments for permanent segregation. Many special education professionals became critics of institutions. Howe, one of the first to argue for in stitutions for people with disabilities, began advocating placing out residents into families. Unfortunately this practice became a logistical and pragmatic problem before it could become a viable alternative to institutionalization. At the close of the nineteenth century, state governments established juvenile courts and social welfare programs, including foster homes, for children and adolescents. The child study movement became prominent in the early twentieth century. Using the approach pioneered by G. Stanley Hall (1844 – 1924; considered the founder of child psychology), researchers attempted to study child development scientifically in relation to education and in so doing established a place for psychology within public schools. In 1931, the Bradley Home, the first psychiatric hospital for children in the United States, was established in East Providence, Rhode Island. The treatment offered in this hospital, as well as most of the other hospitals of the early twentieth century, was psychodynamic. Psychodynamic ideas fanned interest in the diagnosis and classification of disabili ties. In 1951 the first institution for research on exceptional children opened at the University of Illinois and began what was to become the newest focus of the field of special education: the slow learner and, eventually, what we know today as learning disability. The Development of Special Education in Institutions and Schools Although Itard failed to normalize Victor, the wild boy of Averyon, he did produce dramatic changes in Victor’s behavior through education. Modern special education practices can be traced to Itard, and his work marks the beginning of widespread attempts to instruct students with disabilities. In 1817 the first special education school in the United States, the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb (now called the American School for the Deaf), was established in Hartford, Connecticut, by Gallaudet. By the middle of the nineteenth century, special educational programs were being provided in many asylums. Education was a prominent part of moral therapy. By the close of the nineteenth century, special classes within regular public schools had been launched in major cities. These special classes were initially established for immigrant students who were  not proficient in English a nd students who had mild mental retardation or behavioral disorders. Descriptions of these children included terms such as steamer children, backward, truant, and incorrigible. Procedures for identifying â€Å"defectives† were included in the World’s Fair of 1904. By the 1920s special classes for students judged unsuitable for regular classes had become common in major cities. In 1840 Rhode Island passed a law mandating compulsory education for children, but not all states had compulsory education until 1918. With compulsory schooling and the swelling tide of anti-institution sentiment in the twentieth century, many children with disabilities were moved out of institutional settings and into public schools. However, by the mid-twentieth century children with disabilities were still often excluded from public schools and kept at home if not institutionalized. In order to respond to the new population of students with special needs entering schools, school officials created still more special classes in public schools. The number of specia l classes and complementary support services (assistance given to teachers in managing behavior and learning problems) increased dramatically after World War II. During the early 1900s there was also an increased attention to mental health and a consequent interest in establishing child guidance clinics. By 1930 child guidance clinics and counseling services were relatively common features of major cities, and by 1950 special education had become an identifiable part of urban public education in nearly every school district. By 1960 special educators were instructing their students in a continuum of settings that included hospital schools for those with the most severe disabilities, specialized day schools for students with severe disabilities who were able to live at home, and special classes in regular public schools for students whose disabilities could be managed in small groups. During this period special educators also began to take on the role of consultant, assisting other teachers in instructing students with disabilities. Thus, by 1970 the field of special education was offering a variety of educational placements to students with varying disabilities and needs; however, public schools were not yet required to educate all students regardless of their disabilities. During the middle decades of the twentieth century, instruction of children with disabilities often was based on process training – which involves attempts to improve children’s academic  performance by teaching them cognitive or motor processes, such as perceptualmotor skills, visual memory, auditory memory, or auditory-vocal processing. These are ancient ideas that found twentieth-century proponents. Process training enthusiasts taught children various perceptual skills (e.g., identifying different sounds or objects by touch) or perceptual motor skills (e.g., balancing) with the notion that fluency in these skills would generalize to reading, writing, arithmetic, and other basic academic tasks. After many years of research, however, such training was shown not to be effective in improving academic skills. Many of these same ideas were recycled in the late twentieth century as learning styles, multiple intelligences, and other notions that the underlying process of learning varies with gender, ethnicity, or other physiological differences. None of these theories has found much support in reliable research, although direct instruction, mnemonic (memory) devices, and a few other instructional strategies have been supported reliably by research. The History of Legislation in Special Education Although many contend that special education was born with the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975, it is clear that special educators were beginning to respond to the needs of children with disabilities in public schools nearly a century earlier. It is also clear that EAHCA did not spring from a vacuum. This landmark law naturally evolved from events in both special education and the larger society and came about in large part due to the work of grass roots organizations composed of both parents and professionals. These groups dated back to the 1870s, when the American Association of Instructors of the Blind and the American Association on Mental Deficiency (the latter is now the American Association on Mental Retardation) were formed. In 1922 the Council for Exceptional Children, now the major professional organization of special educators, was organized. In the 1930s and 1940s parent groups began to band together on a national level. These groups worked to make changes in their own communities and, consequently, set the stage for changes on a national level. Two of the most influential parent advocacy groups were the National Association for Retarded Citizens (now ARC/USA), organized in 1950, and the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, organized in 1963. Throughout the first  half of the twentieth century, advocacy groups were securing local ordinances that would protect and serve individuals with disabilities in their communities. For example, in 1930, in Peoria, Illinois, the first white cane ordinance gave individuals with blindness the right-of-way when crossing the street. By mid-century all states had legislation providing for education of students with disabilities. However, legislation was still noncompulsory. In the late 1950s federal money was allocated for educating children with disabilities and for the training of special educators. Thus the federal government became formally involved in research and in training special education professionals, but limited its involvement to these functions until the 1970s. In 1971, this support was reinforced and extended to the state level when the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) filed a class action suit against their Commonwealth. This suit, resolved by consent agreement, specified that all children age six through twenty-one were to be provided free public education in the least restrictive alternative (LRA, which would later become the least restrictive environment [LRE] clause in EAHCA). In 1973 the Rehabilitation Act prohibited discriminatory practices in programs receiving federal financial assistance but imposed no affirmative obligations with respect to special education. In 1975 the legal action begun under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations resulted in EAHCA, which was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. EAHCA reached full implementation in 1977 and required school districts to provide free and appropriate education to all of their students with disabilities. In return for federal funding, each state was to ensure that students with disabilities received non-discriminatory testing, evaluation, and placement; the right to due process; education in the least restrictive environment; and a fre e and appropriate education. The centerpiece of this public law (known since 1990 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA) was, and is, a free appropriate public education (FAPE). To ensure FAPE, the law mandated that each student receiving special education receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Under EAHCA, students with identified disabilities were to receive FAPE and an IEP that included relevant instructional goals and objectives, specifications as to length of school year, determination of the most appropriate educational placement, and descriptions of criteria to be used  in evaluation and measurement. The IEP was designed to ensure that all students with disabilities received educational programs specific to their â€Å"unique† needs. Thus, the education of students with disabilities became federally controlled. In the 1982 case of Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the level of services to be afforded students with special needs and ruled that special education services need only provide some â€Å"educational benefit† to students – public schools were not required to maximize the educational progress of students with disabilities. In so doing the Supreme Court further defined what was meant by a free and appropriate education. In 1990 EAHCA was amended to include a change to person-first language, replacing the term handicapped student with student with disabilities. The 1990 amendments also added new classification categories for students with autism and traumatic brain injury and transition plans within IEPs for students age fourteen or older. In 1997, IDEA was reauthorized under President Clinton and amended to require the inclusion of students with disabilities in statewide and districtwide assessments, measurable IEP goals and objectives, and functional behavioral assessment and behavior intervention plans for students with emotional or behavioral needs. Because IDEA is amended and reauthorized every few years, it is impossible to predict the future of this law. It is possible that it will be repealed or altered dramatically by a future Congress. The special education story, both past and future, can be written in many different ways.