Friday, November 29, 2019

The Candymakers Essay Example

The Candymakers Paper The Canebrakes Isabella Cooley 4th hour 3/23/12 In the novel The Canebrakes by Wendy Mass, Logan, Miles, Daisy, and Philip are competing to make the worlds best candy. Logan is the son of the man who owns the candy factory Life is Sweet. When the annual competition comes to see which twelve year old can make the best candy, Logan enters along with 31 other kids but only three others practice at Life is Sweet. Daisy, Miles, and Philip all come eager to make candy, but each is hiding a secret. Which one will become the supreme cankered? The thematic statement I hose was It is better to try something and fail than to never have tried at all. My evidence is that Logan made a delicious candy, but it didnt do what he wanted. He didnt win, but he knew that his dad was proud of him because he tried, and he was proud of himself. In the story, Miles has a burden. He doesnt know how to express what hes going through. One day at the lake, he saw a bee follow this girl into the water. No one else saw her, just Miles. He tried explaining it to people, but they never really believed him. He always felt like that girl was watching him, ling him what to do. We will write a custom essay sample on The Candymakers specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Candymakers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Candymakers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Daisy tells a story one night about how she practiced with her parents at the lake to see how long she could swim under water. Miles is relieved that she is okay, but mad that she never told anyone. On page 352, Miles says, l was on the boat. The one Daisy swam under. Only I didnt see her. All this time thought the girl-I mean Daisy-had drowned and hadnt been able to save her. That statement helped me understand how he felt and how he thought she was dead. When Daisy tells Miles about the boat, he is shocked, but he was wondering why she did it. So, of course she tells him why. She tells him that SSH?s a spy trying to get a secret ingredient for her client. But there is more. Shes thirteen, not twelve. So that means she cannot compete in the competition due to the fact you have to be twelve. Miles is shocked and doesnt know what to do until she says her clients name. Miles tells Philip, and Philip says that is his father. On page 346, it says, Philip reddened and plopped down on a sleeping bag. That would be my father. This shows me that Philip is embarrassed of his dad and basically assumed that would happen. After that, he calls his dad to confront him. His father confesses and makes him a deal saying if he can win the contest, he wont steal the secret ingredient. All the kids have a tough decision: to give up their dream of winning or forget about Philip and win. What would you choose? All the canebrakes decide to help Philip, although they decide Logan should still enter because its his dream. They help Philip and head to the competition. They have another competitor who has an awesome treat, but something is off about it. On page 426, it says, A. J.! Its caffeine! Alex Grubber put caffeine in the I-scream! That definitely helped me understand how the other team had cheated. After all is said and done, they award first place to Philip from Life is Sweet, and the candy shop is saved. Overall, I really liked this book and all it had to offer for me. It had a lot of mystery in it, which I liked. I would recommend this book to people, but warn them that the point of view changes from person to person. I know that some people dont like that in books. But, overall, its a really great book with a great moral.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Sound of a Voice by Henry Hwang

The Sound of a Voice by Henry Hwang Introduction Life is a puzzle. Whatever it offers or what it fails to offer bears a corresponding consequence. It matters less therefore, the nature of the offer, whether good or bad, the bottom line remains; each has a flaw attached therein. Oscar Wilde gives some insight to this issue to unravel the mystery behind the life. Wilde asserts that, having what one desires is a tragedy just like not having it. Though the words may differ in terms of one’s’ interpretations, they are true and to the point.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Sound of a Voice by Henry Hwang specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For instance, most things that people yearn for, do not even cost money, viz. love, attention, to mention but a few. The tragedy strikes in when the world fails to avail them whereas it can offer a well paying job an example of what people desire. As people strive to meet the job’s demands, a tragedy inform of a mess crops up in their families, as they are too busy with the job to attend to the families’ needs. Playwrights have set out to address this reality, and among them is, Henry Hwang. The Sound of a Voice is among Hwang’s captivating tragic Chef-d’oeuvres, featuring two categories of lonely characters, male and female. Hwang wants to see how the two interact in their endeavors to obey the attraction-repulsion powers of love. The two need the others’ love for their emotional satisfaction. Their world finally fails to provide, hence a tragedy. However, the psychological strength offered, turns out a tragedy as the two groups struggle to maintain their mental uprightness, when they all surrender to their emotional needs. This scenario, coupled with others, concurs with Oscar Wilde words that, In this world there are only two tragedies: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. For instance, the company that the play’s protagonist gets from his female friend after a long period of loneliness is the cause of her death, as elaborated next. Application The company that the woman gets from the man is the root cause of her death. Once a person receives what he/she has been longing for, he/she handles it with a pronounced care and attention. This stands out in the play as the woman gives a warm welcome to the cold-stricken man, who enters her house. The woman in the play has been lonely for a long time since people claim that she is a witch thus avoiding her. When the man enquires to know how frequent she is visited, she says, â€Å"I don’t know†¦perhaps ten years†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hwang, 2003, p. 973). As a result, she longs for company, which she gets from the man. To show the depth of her desire for the man, and how satisfied she feels after getting him, she offers him tea.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OF F Learn More As the woman enters the house to find the man dressing, she assumes he is leaving and gets annoyed of it because this is not what she desires. This atmosphere does not continue for long. In fact, the woman reveals to the man that there are other men, who visit her with a hidden agenda of killing her. She insinuates that the man could be one of them. This realization marks the dawn of her tragedy. The man begins to torment her. The woman says, â€Å"Stop that†¦tormenting me†¦to kill me† (Hwang, 2003, p. 985). From this scenario, it stands out that, though the woman wanted the man for company, what she gets as a result is none but threats of death and torments, which concords with Oscar Wilde’s words. The man is in need of a long-lasting relationship with a caring beautiful woman. However, as the play unfolds, though he gets the woman, the relationship is just but limited and his efforts to maintain it marks his tragedy because they bear no fruits. The story opens with the man visiting the woman. His pronounced loneliness stands out as he spends the previous night in the cold besides a waterfall. To show the degree of his loneliness, he reveals to the woman that, â€Å"The sound of the waterfall put me asleep†¦you see, I can’t sleep in too much silence† (Hwang, 2003, p. 971). These words are a package, sufficient to tell that the man is actually in need of company, and one can insinuate, he has found one in the woman. However, this is not enough of what he is looking for. He symbolically tells the woman that he has a long journey to cover, implying a long-lasting companionship. The woman ought to be caring, and as he can prove from the warm welcome, she really is. The woman passes for a companion as expounded next. She is beautiful and always ready to satisfy the desires of the man. She plays some sweet melodies to him and this pulls him closer to her. He can afford the words, â€Å"We are a team, you and me† (Hwang, 2003, p. 977). However, the deal seems too good for the man and thus he ought to think twice. He thus talks of rumors that men, who happen to visit her never, return. This reveals the real character of the woman. The woman is abusive. She says, â€Å"Then you are a fool to come here†¦they are blind as well as ignorant† (Hwang, 2003, p. 981). The way the play ends symbolizes the man’s effort to look for a long-lasting companion. It ends with the woman exiting the room with the man rushing after her, only for the woman to hang herself leaving the man alone. He fails to get what he wanted: a long-term relationship, hence a tragedy as Oscar Wilde calls it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Sound of a Voice by Henry Hwang specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The love that the man develops turns out to be the cause of his weakness. As the man enters the woman’s hou se, he is yearning for love, which he gets from the woman. In fact, he tells her that she is beautiful and loving, confessing that he has actually been drawn to her. When the woman tells him to kill her, if at all this can make him not to leave her, the man reveals that he lacks, even the energy to kill himself, owing to the evident weakness brought by his love to her. In addition, the woman bears more skills compared to the man. She bears the strength of a man. Though she thought that the skills would help her draw love from the man, they turn to be the source of the man’s unhappiness. The man tells her, â€Å"Yes! Go! †¦the techniques† (Hwang, 2003, p. 980), which among other episodes, show how what the two characters had and what they did not have, turns out to be a disaster. Conclusion Though people desire a lot for their own satisfaction, life seems to offer only two options. They will either get or fail to get what they want. Surprisingly, regardless of whet her people get or fail to get what they want, the upshot is a tragedy. Hwang, in his charismatic masterwork, confirms this through his characters, the man, and the woman. For instance, the man, whom the woman gets after a long period of loneliness, begins to threaten and torment her. This, among other play scripts, concurs with Oscar Wilde word that, ‘in this world, there are only two tragedies: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.’ Reference Hwang, H. (2003). The Sound of a Voice. New York: Theatre Communication Group.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Project planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Project planning - Essay Example Feasibility study is considered as the disciplined study based on three levels. The first level is related to the operational feasibility. The second level includes the technical feasibility. The economic feasibility is identified in the third level. Economic level brings operative and mechanical levels together into a common unit. These three levels of feasibility study are important for the success of a project. The project has earned an important contract from the local health authority to organize and deliver the conferences based on the health issues in the workplace. For the success of the contract, feasibility study is important to determine the economic, technical and operational viability of a project (PMI, 2012; Overton, 2007). The aim of the project is to provide the quality education in terms of health issues in a workplace, which is important for every people (Zilicus Solutions, 2012). The milestones stages of the project have been segregated into set up stage, research and development stage, activation stage and review stage. Based on the milestones stages, the documentations of the objectives as well as goals are to be ensured that they are aligned with the desired project goals. In addition, the significance of the marketing and communication plan should be ascertained. The progress of the different activities should be scrutinised for determining the success rate of the project. The project manager should review the project on a timely basis. In this respect, the project manager would be able to have a better knowledge about the progress of the project. The deliverables or the outcome of the project can be improvement in the several health issues in the workplace. Other outcome can be increased awareness of the local business as well as the agencies of the government of the European Directives regarding such health issues. In

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Descriptive statistics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Descriptive statistics - Assignment Example The study will employ a cross-sectional study where the data will be collected using a well-structured questionnaire administered randomly to both the participating and non-participating ELL students in a bid to compare the academic achievements among both groups. An in-depth interview will be conducted with the school counsellors in a bid to get a deeper understanding of the various interventions techniques implemented. According to Clark and Creswell (2010) one cannot analyze their data with statistics unless the data have been recorded in a numeric form. The first step therefore will be to assign scores to the different quantitative responses, followed by data entry done using the relevant statistical software or Excel. The research will examine both the single item scores and the summed scores (Clark & Creswell, 2010) as part of its detailed analysis to address the research question, the descriptive statistics obtained will be summarized in tables. Various outputs from the statistical analysis tools will be included as part of the findings. As per Clark and Creswell (2010) the models will be accompanied by the ANOVA and T-test tables in order to provide detailed statistics relevant in testing the differences between the observed grouped in regards to the academic performance. The descriptive statistics will be employed due to their convenience in providing informative comparison using the means of each attribute as indicator, the research findings will either be expressed as a percentage or as a mean. The descriptive table will contain the relevant standard deviation for the purposes of showing the extent of variability (Clark & Creswell, 2010). An example of a descriptive table is as shown in the table below: Where it summarizes the mean academic score of ELL students participating in the Interventions and those that don’t. ANOVA table is key for

Monday, November 18, 2019

Understanding the sign and symptons of teenage suicide Term Paper

Understanding the sign and symptons of teenage suicide - Term Paper Example Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon despite actions and strategies are not able to stop the deaths of their daughters. The book is about a catholic family that lives in Michigan that is set in 1970s. Father of the family, Ronald is a teacher that teaches math in a private school but the mother is a home maker. Ronald’s family constitute five daughters. Characters in the novel are Cecilia Lisbon, Lux Lisbon, Mary Lisbon and Bonnie Lisbon. Cecilia Lisbon is a sister to Mary Lisbon. She is the main character in the novel with her being shy and this is known by her elder sisters. She is found of invoking Virgin Mary and spend most of her time listening to Celtic music. She commits suicide and after her death it is discovered in her diary entries that she was trying to speak of her sister and her being a single entity. Cecilia attempts suicide several times with firs attempt being slitting her wrists during a bath. The second successful attempt of suicide that becomes successful is during her menstrual cycle when she jumps onto a spiked fence. Lux Lisbon gets in love with Trip Fontaine. Trip Fontaine asks the parents of Lux so that they could be able to attend a dance. The request leads to the girls being locked in the house for most part of winter with dare consequences. This leads to the death of lux in June during winter. Mary Lisbon is the second oldest in the family. She tries to keep her appearance after the death of her sisters through wearing of brighter sweaters. She attempts suicide on the night of June fifteenth but does not die. She spend most of her time sleeping after the attempt. She later dies in July after taking sleeping pills. The book, the Virgin suicide was written by Jeffrey Eugenides. Suicide topic is portrayed in the book with involvement of a Lisbon girls engaging in suicide with unknown reasons. Devices that are used in the book bringing about major topics in the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Data Application Development Earthquake and Breast Cancer

Data Application Development Earthquake and Breast Cancer Data Application Development for Earthquake and Breast Cancer Datasets Abstract-This report is a general study of two datasets, the first contains data from the earthquake occurred in the region of Marche, Italy in the year 2016 and the second dataset is mammography data, with mean values of measurements and structures of tumors found in patients, for both studies different techniques related to data science were applied, with the intention of revealing conclusions that a priori are impossible to visualize. Keywords-Italy Earthquake, Mammongraphy studies, MapReduce algorithm, Python. With the high processing power that modern computers have acquired, one of the scientific branches that have been most developing is data science, which consists of the generalized extraction of knowledge from information and data. Unlike statistical analysis, data science is more holistic, more global, for using large volumes of data to extract knowledge that adds value to an organization of any kind. In this project, the breast cancer dataset contains information on the geometry, size and texture of tumors found in approximately 5100 patients. The main idea with this database is to construct a predictive model that will be able to detect when a tumor is carcinogenic in other words, predict whether the cancer is benign or malignant, from the descriptions of the same one. In the other hand, the second dataset contains information about the earthquake that occurred in Italy in year 2016, contains all the replicas that occurred by three days after and all earthquakes are geotagged, with this dataset the main idea is to do data mining, to visualize the information of an innovative way, applying geospatial theory and statistical techniques specific of data science. A. Italy 2016 Earthquake Dataset This database is Open-Source accessible to the community and is part of the extensive catalog offered free of charge by the Kaggle website, its structure is as follows: template dataset Time Latitude Longitude Depth Magnitude UTC time WGS87 WGS87 Km Richter scale It has 8086 records with full data history, each row represents an earthquake event. For each event, the following properties are given: the exact timing of the event in the format Y-m-d hh:mm:s.ms the exact geographical coordinates of the event, in latitude and longitude the depth of the hypocenter in kilometers the magnitude value in Richter scale The dataset was collected from this real-time updated list from the Italian Earthquakes National Center. From now on we will call this dataset A B. Breast Cancer (Diagnostic) Data Set Features are computed from a digitized image of a fine needle aspirate (FNA) of a breast mass. They describe characteristics of the cell nuclei present in the image. n the 3-dimensional space is that described in [1]. Attribute Information: 1) ID number 2) Diagnosis (M = malignant, B = benign) 2)Ten real-valued features are computed for each cell nucleus: (a) radius (mean of distances from center to points on the perimeter) (b) texture (standard deviation of gray-scale values) (c) perimeter (d) area (e) smoothness (local variation in radius lengths) (f) compactness (perimeter^2 / area 1.0) (g) concavity (severity of concave portions of the contour) (h) concave points (number of concave portions of the contour) (i) symmetry (j) fractal dimension (coastline approximation 1) 3) The mean, standard error and worst or largest (mean of the three largest values) of these features were computed for each image, resulting in 30 features. For instance, field 3 is Mean Radius, field 13 is Radius SE, field 23 is Worst Radius. 4) All feature values are recoded with four significant digits. This database was obtained from Kaggle website. It belongs to their repository and is open to scientist of the world that want to study it. From now on we will call this dataset B Knowledge extraction is mainly related to the discovery process known as Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD), which refers to the non-trivial process of discovering knowledge and potentially useful information within the data contained in some information repository [2]. It is not an automatic process, it is an iterative process that exhaustively explores very large volumes of data to determine relationships. It is a process that extracts quality information that can be used to draw conclusions based on relationships or models within the data. A. Data selection Both databases were carefully chosen based on the following details: Reliable source or repository, which guarantees the reliability of the data, for this report the source is Kaggle who maintain a database open to the public and that users can comment. Data without an excessive amount of white space, since having to fill this spaces with 0 can cause distortions in the model, making the predictions or conclusions of the studies are invalid. That they contain at least 5000 rows, to make substantial the study and the conclusions had measurable. B. information preprocessing For both datasets, some simple statistical tests were performed with the intention of filling the missing data in the most effective way. For example, for the data of the B the standard deviation and the mean value was calculated, besides raising a frequency histogram to check that the data followed a Gaussian distribution, in fact the data is distributed in this way, so it was completed with values taken randomly based on the mean and standard deviation of the data, this way ensures that the missing data does not provide incorrect information. For the data of A, the average values were obtained and the latitudes and longitudes of each exact point where the earthquake occurred, rounded off in order to be able to made a geospatial label with a region of each Italian province. C. Transformation For both datasets, MapReduce algorithm was applied it is based on the HDFS data architecture. The idea is to be able to map key values, with each of the data and its header, so that the access to them is efficient, with this it is tried to give robustly to data, in addition to reducing the processing times. The main idea of this type of algorithm is to be able to maintain the data in distributed systems, although for this project only a single node was configured. D. Data Mining At this stage of the process, it is already clear how are data distributed, and it is where we decide which Machine Learning or Data Mining algorithms to apply. For the case of data set B, we decided Machine Learning algorithm based on logistic regression, starting from the following arguments: It was verified that the data follow a linear distribution and are correlated with each other. As the result is a decision, Benign or Malignant (1 or 0) The most intuitive is to apply the logistic regression to predict the diagnoses. For the second set of data the technique used will be the a posteriori study of the cataclysm with the intention of revealing conclusions about earthquake, focused on the geospatial area, starting with the labeling WGS87 and with the coordinates of each earthquake it is possible to construct a density of earthquakes by region, With this data it is possible to determine which region was most affected, which was the epicenter of the earthquake and to determine if there is a correlation between the depth of the earthquake and the magnitude. There is no period after the et in the Latin abbreviation et al. The abbreviation i.e. means that is, and the abbreviation e.g. means for example. The implementation was made in Python version 2.7. There are a few key libraries that will be used. Below is a list of the Python SciPy libraries required for implement algorithms for B: Scipy, numpy, matplotlib, pandas sklearn, patsy and statsmodels. And other few more for implement A: Pandas, Numpy, Matplotlib, Basemap, Shapely, Pysal, Descartes, Fiona, Pylabs and Statsmodels, and the architecture for store and read the data is the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) is the primary storage system used by Hadoop applications. HDFS is built to support applications with large data sets, including individual files that reach into the terabytes. It uses a master/slave architecture, with each cluster consisting of a single NameNode that manages file system operations and supporting DataNodes that manage data storage on individual compute nodes. In the next image, Fig. 1 are exposed the workflow diagram for the Machine Learning algorithm applied to B dataset Figure 1: Workflow for Machine Learning algorithm And in the second one, Fig. 2 the workflow for dataset A, this workflow was constructed from the selected methodology, the idea is to follow this pattern of work to increase the productivity of research as they are work frames highly tested by qualified researchers in the area. Figure 2: Workflow for Data Mining research For the data set B, a recursion stage is considered in case the final predictions are not satisfactory, this would entail rethinking the model and to get everything values again. For data set A, the diagram is focused on maximum representation of the data to extract a substantial number of conclusions from graphs. A. Dataset A The first result obtained is a map of the central region of Italy with each of 8000 points where earthquakes occurred. Figure 3: Scatter ploting with administrative subdivision Weve drawn a scatter plot on Italy map Fig. 3, containing points with a 50 meters diameter, corresponding to each point of A dataset. This is a first step, but doesnt really tell anything interesting about the density per region merely that there were more earthquakes in Marche Italy region than in the outer places. Figure 4: Density ploting with administrative subdivision Now we can see how was the distribution Fig. 4 of the earthquake. It is clear on the map that the regions most affected were Lazio, Marche and Umbria. Figure 5: Magnitude rolling mean Most of the earthquakes occurred at a depth of 10km. This can be seen in next graph Fig. 6 by a frequency histogram of depth. Figure 6: Frequency Histogram The following table shows the 5 earthquakes with the greatest impact and their regions where they occurred. table II: Greater magnitude earthquakes Time Region Depth Magnitude 2016-08-24 Lazio 8.1 6.0 2016-08-24 Umbria 8.0 5.4 2016-10-26 Umbria 8.7 5.4 2016-10-26 Brescia 7.5 5.9 2016-10-30 Brescia 9.2 6.5 B. Dataset B We are going to look at two types of plots: Univariate plots to better understand each attribute. Multivariate plots to better understand the relationships between attributes. 1) Univariate Plots: We start with some univariate plots, that is, plots of each individual variable. Given that the input variables are numeric, we can create box and whisker plots of each. Figure 7: whisker plots Fig. 7 gives a much clearer idea of the distribution of the input attributes It looks like perhaps most of the input variables have a Gaussian distribution. This is useful to note as we can use algorithms that can exploit this assumption also this can be seen in Fig. 8. Figure 8: Frequency histogram 2) Algorithm evaluation: In this step we evaluated the most important algorithms of Machine Learning in search of which is best adapted to the data. we used statistical methods to estimate the accuracy of the models that we create on unseen data. We also want a more concrete estimate of the accuracy of the best model on unseen data by evaluating it on actual unseen data. That is, we were held back some data that the algorithms will not get to see and we will use this data to get a second and independent idea of how accurate the best model might actually be. We split the loaded dataset into two, 80% of which we used to train our models and 20% that we will hold back as a validation dataset. We evaluated 6 different algorithms: Logistic Regression (LR) Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN). Classification and Regression Trees (CART). Gaussian Naive Bayes (NB). Support Vector Machines (SVM). This is a good mixture of simple linear (LR and LDA), nonlinear (KNN, CART, NB and SVM) algorithms. We reset the random number seed before each run to ensure that the evaluation of each algorithm is performed using exactly the same data splits. It ensures the results are directly comparable. Figure 9: Algorithm comparison LR: 0.658580 (0.027300) LDA: 0.661676 (0.026534) KNN: 0.606749 (0.023558) CART: 0.569616 (0.041578) NB: 0.621194 (0.032784) SVM: 0.641823 (0.025195) The LR algorithm was the most accurate model that we tested. Now we want to get an idea of the accuracy of the model on our validation set. This will give us an independent final check on the accuracy of the best model. It is valuable to keep a validation set just in case you made a slip during training, such as overfitting to the training set or a data leak. Both will result in an overly optimistic result. We can run the LR model directly on the validation set and summarize the results as a final accuracy score, a confusion matrix and a classification report. The accuracy is 0.75 or 75%. The confusion matrix provides an indication of the 25 errors made. As we can see the data science has a wide field of work, in areas so diverse that for the case of this report ranging from medicine to cartography and seismology. With this report, it is evident how important the Machine Learning algorithms in cancer diagnosis, although this small case in study is not perfect, there are more advanced tools and more sophisticated algorithms that allow penetrating in this field of An amazing form, the author recommend a degree project where Deep Learning algorithms and deep neural networks are applied in the diagnosis of diseases. It is certainly a prominent field. On the other hand, in the first dataset, it was possible to explore tools for the management of maps and the placement of big amounts of data on these, with the main idea of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹exposing results that looking at the raw data is impossible to observe. This allows you to find new points of view about phenomena already happened and learn from them to improve infrastructures or tools. In short, data science is a field in full swing that will give much to talk about in recent years, we live in an age where information is power and manipulate and understand information are the tools of the future. References K. P. Bennett and O. L. Mangasarian: Robust Linear Programming Discrimination of Two Linearly Inseparable Sets, Optimization Methods and Software 1, 1992, 23-34 Williams, G. J., Huang, Z. (1996, October). A case study in knowledge acquisition for insurance risk assessment using a KDD methodology. In Proceedings of the Pacific Rim Knowledge Acquisition Workshop, Dept. of AI, Univ. of NSW, Sydney, Australia (pp. 117-129).

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Fear of Flying: More Than a Feminist Novel :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

Fear of Flying: More Than a Feminist Novel The fears of Isadora: Her religion (Semi-Jewish), her love life (second husband, seventh analyst; Bennett), her gender (a woman in America! In the sixties!), her career (Writer: one book), sex (are women supposed to enjoy that?), her mother (Jude, an artist who danced naked in France), her sisters (all married, with at least two children apiece), her children (none), her name (Isadora White? Isadora Wing? Isadora White Stollerman Wing Goodlove?) and flying; Isadora has a fear of flying. Some would say that Fear of Flying , by Erica Jong is merely a feminist novel. It is, but it's more than that. Fear of Flying is a novel about a woman in search of her name and the source of her fears; it is a novel about inner conflict. The main character of the novel is Isadora, a woman in her early thirties in the late sixties. What begins as a work related trip to Vienna with her analyst husband ends as a journey filled with personal revelations. At the conference Isadora develops an infatuation which fuels her need to discover "what is wrong" with her. Traveling throughout Europe with a man who is not her husband she discovers her true self through her complete loss of security. Therein lies the principal irony of Fear of Flying; the journey that the main character takes in order to gain the traits that she sees in her heroines only leads her to find that they were hidden within herself. Isadora is the charicature of irony itself. The opening chapter sets the tone for the entire novel, which is written like a conversation with one's analyst: casual but intimate. Her odyssey, in fact, begins on a plane full of psychoanalysts. As she puts it: she'd been "treated by at least six of them. And married a seventh." (p. 1) This is a great example of Isadora's outwardly nonchalant views of her own problems. Her own view of her life and her inner monologue pull the reader into her literal and symbolic fear of flying and her lifelong struggle with them. From the beginning she shares with us thirteen years of analysis and counting, yet it is the 336 pages in which we watch her slowly untangle her own conflicts that show the readers the lesson which we were intended to learn. Isadora is an extremely intelligent character.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Ethical Dilemma Essay

The article Ethical Dilemma presents the formidable role and functions of a nurse and other healthcare providers as it tries to preserve and uphold the dignity of life until its last breath. The authors Cynthia Kellam Stinson, MSN, RNC, CMS; Jennie Godkin, MSN, RN; and Rutchie Robinson,RN, MSN, all respected and reputable professionals in their field, have illustrated a real life situation coupled with an analysis that will hopefully give a well-grounded judgment and management to everybody working to perfect their roles in the care of patients most especially those stricken with debilitating diseases. Ethical Dilemma showcased a case where an ill-stricken patient’s supposed request was granted, however, the decision to grant was eventually found lacking and wanting. The patient named Mr. Antonio had been a vibrant 60-year-old Associate Professor in the Music Department of a university before he developed a type of Parkinson’s disease. The disease advanced and had its toll on the well-being of the patient and brought tremendous concern on his family which eventually led to seeking the aid of a long-term care facility to ensure that the patient is perfectly cared for. During his confinement in the long-term care facility, the patient went through personal bouts of self pity and despondency. All these feelings were manifested in his disposition and appetite. It was not clear if he clearly expressed that he no longer wants to eat and drink but it was stated in the article that for several times he would not swallow the food once it entered his mouth and will instead spit it out. The question if it was a qualified case of VSED or voluntarily stopping eating and drinking then surfaced. The concern if the patient made an informed and competent decision came out; and if the family and the healthcare providers made a well discerned decision when the caring steps taken were based on the later behavior of the patient was also asked. To further define the case, the authors used relevant legal and social issues that arose from similar situations in the past. Another enlightening presentation of the article is the possible physiological issues of the Ethical Dilemma 2 patient’s situation. The authors’ analysis of the case came into full circle when it reconciled the realizations and resolutions to the practice of nursing care and the indispensable role of a multidisciplinary group comprised of the family, the healthcare experts such as physicians, nurses, dietitians, psychiatrist, and should be joined too by lawyers, social workers, and a spiritual advisor to ensure a better health care for patients. This case surely taught important lessons to concerned healthcare practitioners although it took one life as an example. The article says that the patient’s autonomy must be respected and healthcare providers must avoid inflicting more harm on the patient in the process of caring for him, however, additional harm befell the patient in the article when the healthcare providers failed to thoroughly and adequately discuss the benefits and risks of VSED and even the pros and cons of inserting a percutaneous endocopie gastrostomy (PEG) tube into the patient’s stomach and even allowing the patient to be fed with exclusive soda. The American College of Physicians and the American Society of Internal Medicine’s Position Paper provided guidelines for VSED. It clearly stated that VSED was appropriate for a terminally ill patient provided the patient was competent to make decisions after a comprehensive psychological assessment of the patient to rule out depression, spiritual suffering, and assessment of motives. These conditions were not observed in the case of Mr. Antonio. In the second to the last paragraph of the article, it was mentioned that in the last 21 days of the patient, there were instances that he stared at the nurses with pleading eyes. Could this mean a contradiction of how matters in his situation were interpreted? It is possible that there was a point that the patient wanted to stop eating and drinking because of depression, but a good facilitation to make him further understand his situation and realize what can still be done, the patient might just decide to fight his battle. It is a fact that Parkinson’s disease, and any of its’ type, is a progressive, debilitating illness and all measures of treatment and Ethical Dilemma 3 dealings should have evolved on this reality with complete consideration of how the patient will respond to the situation. Nurses aren’t just around to merely nurse and purely attend to ailing patients, their skills and most importantly their presence can help patients bear the pain of their illnesses. It is right to call them advocates and it may be an overwhelming job but there’s so much fulfillment involved when they listen to the patients’ plight, help patients find the truth and share that faith and courage to face their situations. Nursing as a profession entails many things thus the mention of countless points to consider in carrying out the job. Mastery of each point most especially the ethical theories will make a better nurse and will increase the chances of saving more lives. Insights learned, realizations, and resolutions should be lived. The article made a very good point when it enumerated a list of possible improvements such as enhance quality care in the ICU through educational preparation of staff, patient, and family; emotional preparation of practitioners, family, and patient; flexible staffing; provision of privacy for patient and family; maximum communication between family and staff; spiritual support to the family; ongoing evaluation of patient; and stress debriefing program for the staff. All of these measures should be implemented for a better health care system. It should not wait for another patient to experience the same situation. Health care providers should be proactive and must always be prepared should another patient will need their expertise and attention.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Stock Market and Disk Drive Operations

Question: – Why is Seagate undertaking this transaction? Is it necessary to divest the Veritas shares in a separate transaction? Who are the winners and losers resulting from the transaction? Solution: – Seagate is undertaking this transaction to generate significant wealth gains for Seagate shareholders. There is a value gap generates due to Seagate’s VERITAS stake. VERITAS stake value exceeds the entire market capitalization of the Seagate. Seagate faces two problems because of VERITAS stake. First, the company’s core disk drive operations were not receiving full value in the market. Second, the company would incur a significant tax liability if the company attempt to monetize its VERITAS stake be selling the shares. Yes, it is necessary to divest the VERITAS shares in a separate transaction. It helps the company to save itself from tax liabilities and distributing the VERITAS stock tax free to its shareholders. The Seagate shareholders are definitely winner if the two-step transaction will happen. The shareholders of Seagate get higher value of disk drive operations and tax free shares of VERITAS. The Seagate Management is also winner. They get rid of tax liabilities related to VERITAS stocks and get full value of disk drive operations. The VERITAS also feel like winner as they get higher number of stocks in exchange of lesser number of stocks. Question: – Does the negative value of Seagate’s operating assets imply markets are inefficient? Solution: – The negative value of Seagate’s operating assets implies that markets are inefficient. The core disk drive operations do not receive its full value in the market. Seagate’s Management thinks that disk drive operations value is larger than what the value is in market. This shows that markets are inefficient. Question: – Why might a negative value exist? Solution: – Tax liabilities: – The negative value of the Seagate’s operating assets is due to tax liabilities which the company is facing because of VERITAS stocks. Other liabilities : – Fear that managers will destroy value: – The negative value of the Seagate’s operating assets is not due to fear that managers will destroy value. Moreover, the investors have trust in the managers of the Seagate that’s why they want to retain the top management of the Seagate in the newly build company.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Presidents Drug Policy essays

Presidents Drug Policy essays The President's National Drug Control Strategy 2004 focuses on three key areas: the prevention of drug use, providing treatment for drug addiction, and damaging the economic basis of the drug trade. In the strategy, the President notes a special role for law enforcement, school and community. In addition, the arrest of drug dealers is an important component of the policy. Despite its many positive points, like a focus on treatment, the President's drug policy has several important flaws. Overall, the President's drug policy will be held to be successful if it holds up to long-term goals like reducing drug use and crime that is associated with the use of illegal drugs. Law enforcement plays an important role in the President's drug policy. Importantly, the policy proposes "close alliances between treatment and law enforcement" as part of a larger alliance between the community and government. As an example, the policy notes the case of Shirley Morgan and the growing drug trade in rural Portland near Mount Hood. She headed a community group that coupled a volunteer coalition that collected intelligence on drug activities with the activities of the local police In addition to the need for community involvement with law enforcement, the policy notes the importance of law enforcement targeting higher ups in the drug trade. As such, the policy notes the efforts of the multi-agency Special Operations Division (SOD), which works to coordinate the action of different federal agencies with state and local agencies, including Columbian and Mexican counterparts. This coordination plays an important role in stopping "trafficking organizations can span dozens of states and hundreds of jurisdictions." School and community are important components of the President's drug policy. As noted earlier, the policy focuses keenly on the cooperation of community groups with ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Spread of English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Spread of English - Essay Example For this reason, the explosion of English as lingua franca of globalization is considered a triumph for America. It amounts to a global conquest for American culture and way of life, considering that language serves not only as medium of communication but also as repository of national identity, culture and even body politic. In that sense, the American English that is sweeping the planet in lockstep with globalization also poses a threat to the competitiveness and cultures of UK, not to mention France, Germany, Spain and other European Union member-countries. It will destroy or at least marginalize much of local cultures (The Economist, 2001). That this inexorable spread of English in its present form is a triumph benefiting no one else but the US is demonstrated by the increasing interest around the world in things American. Everyone has heard of the worldwide phenomenon called "McDonaldization," in which consumers swear by the same tastes for food and service. McDonald's is of course synonymous with America and as McDonald's stores saturate the planet and find enthusiastic acceptance everywhere, it promotes American values and culture and fortifies its position as a world power. This global homogenization of consumer culture is only one indication of the growing predominance of America put on track by the spread of its brand of English. In 2004, a study called Research International Observer (RIO) was mounted to determine the extent by which US-made consumer goods have homogenized consumer tastes and needs around the world. The survey was held at a time when anti-American sentiment was especially strong because of perceived US intervention in the internal affairs of other sovereign nations. It was found that consumer goods that mirror American cultural values are in fact held in high esteem around the world although some may fault American politics and policy (Tait, 2004). A group of respondents in Panama, for example, agreed that however ugly America and its politics are, "all we care about are their brands." The Turkey respondents echoed the same view, saying "our political view has nothing to do with our behavior as consumers." At the rate this language- driven Americanization process is going on, Cohen (2006) and Graddol (2006) indicate that it is only a matter of time before American politics, warts and all, gains the same level of blind acceptance as all made-in-the-USA products. Globalization There is no doubt that such spread of English has political underpinnings, the same way globalization was politically oriented when the rich and powerful nations first embarked on it over 100 years ago. At the start, globalization was called by another name, which was colonization (Thurow & Lessard, 2002). In the poorer countries, the colonizers sought gold mines, oil fields and raw materials that would enhance their wealth. Among the more active colonizing powers in the early days were England, America, France, and Spain. They occupied the poorer countries and effectively enlisted these colonies in the community of nations. In the process, the colonizing powers introduced their colonies to their respective languages to facilitate communication

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 19

Sociology - Essay Example On the other hand, there is the individual autonomy. The individual professional autonomy of the physician is not only limited to his/her ability in making clinical decisions and in securing the necessary medical services for patients but it also encompasses the autonomy in pertinent to control over one’s own work, which may include the structure and schedule of the work (Stoddard et al, 2001). In line with this, allied health professions have challenged medicine’s professional autonomy. Currently, physicians’ economic stature is challenged from two sides. One is the increasing income gap between the specialists and the general practitioners and the other is coming from the National Health Services, which now requires doctors to produce job plans for the working week, the presence of preauthorization requirements, reducing their freedom to refer and their employment contract being held by Health Authorities (Harrison & Ahmad, 2000). In the same regard, the politi cal standing of medicine’s professional autonomy has been opposed by the inceptions of governmental guidelines, bodies and policies that allow stronger governmental regulations. This is perceptible in terms of clinical audits, and the creation of governmental bodies like the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), National Services Frameworks (NSF) and Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), which provide the guidelines and frameworks that, limits medicine’s professional autonomy (Harrison & Ahmad, 2000). Finally, the clinical autonomy of the physician is challenged by the following concept of patient at the centre of care, of the practise of team management of care, which works on the supposition that health care providers are all equally important in rendering health care services, and that clinical decisions ought to be substantiated and justified by external research findings (Harrison & Ahmad, 2000) These