A comparison between cardiac CT scanning and cardiac digital subtraction angiography (DSA)

Abstract Coronary artery disease affects nearly one tenth of the UK population and remains the leading cause of death in the western world. To investigate and provide interventions for coronary artery disease, imaging of the coronary arteries to enable visualisation of atheromatous plaque is required. This review looked at the techniques of cardiac computed tomography scanning and cardiac digital subtraction angiography, and their contribution to the investigation of coronary artery disease. Comparison of the procedures considered technique, radiation exposure, contrast agent, clinical indications and efficacy in diagnosis of coronary artery stenosis. On comparison of the effectiveness of the techniques, both were shown to have been effective non-invasive procedures that may be used to rule out diagnoses and avoid inappropriate use of invasive angiography. The research shows mixed evidence for cardiac computed tomography angiography as a test of high specificity, however sensitivity and speci ficity of cardiac digital subtraction angiography is high, and therefore suggest that the techniques may be useful in low risk patients. Introduction Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death in the UK and western world (Hacker, 2013; Liu et al., 2002) and contributes a substantial disease burden, affecting 7% of men and 5% of women in the UK in 1999 (Liu et al., 2002). Coronary artery disease results from the build up of atherosclerotic plaque within the arteries supplying the myocardium. This plaque limits the flow of blood through the arteries, and can cause ischaemia of the heart muscle. If the plaque becomes unstable and ruptures, this may lead to thrombus formation and the complete occlusion of an artery, resulting in a myocardial infarction (McClure et al., 2009). Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a sub-classification of coronary artery disease and encompasses unstable angina, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and ST elevation myocardial infarction. ACS represents a range of conditions that result from thrombus formation in coronary arteries, and if untreated has poor prognosis and high mortality (NICE, 2010). To investigate and provide information for interventions for coronary artery disease and ACS, visualization of the coronary arteries and any lesions caused by atherosclerotic plaque is required. Advances in technology have given rise to several sophisticated perfusion analysis techniques, which provide greater prognostic value than morphological imaging (Hacker, 2013). Perfusion analysis allows the blood flow through the coronary vessels to be observed and any abnormalities in the perfusion can be interpreted as a functional consequence of atherosclerotic changes within the vessels (Hacker, 2013). Currently, UK guidelines (NICE, 2010a) recommend coronary angiogram as first line management for patients presenting with ACS. This enables imaging of the coronary arteries to assess perfusion. It is important to assess the circulation as arteries can be affected from the earliest stages of endothelial dysfunction to high-grade coronary artery stenoses (Hacker et al., 2010; Bugiardini et al. 2004; Kaufmann et al., 2000), and this provides the information necessary for prognosis and intervention. With the advances in technology, there are now various diagnostic tests available to assess coronary artery disease, including coronary angiography and computed tomography (CT) scanning (Gorenoi, Schonermark & Hagen, 2012). This review aims to review the literature on coronary CT scanning and digital subtraction angiography, their clinical applications, techniques and comparative value in coronary artery assessment and diagnosis. Cardiac Digital subtraction angiography Coronary angiography is the conventional diagnostic procedure used in coronary artery disease. It is a minimally invasive technique, whereby a catheter is placed into the radial or femoral artery and is advanced through the arterial system to the coronary arteries. A contrast agent is then injected at the aortic root and allows visualization of the arteries using x-ray in real time at up to 30 frames per second. This allows a view of the extent, location and severity of coronary obstructive lesions such as atherosclerosis and enables prognostic indication (Miller et al., 2008). Coronary angiography also enables catheter placement either side of the lesion to assess pressure changes and determines the degree of flow obstruction (Miller et al., 2008). . Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) again works by introducing a contrast agent into the coronary arteries and taking x-rays in real time, however a pre image is taken by x-ray. This allows for the post images to be subtracted from the original mask image, eliminating bone and soft tissue images, which would otherwise overlie the artery under study (Hasegawa, 1987). Unlike conventional angiography, it is possible to conduct DSA via the venous system, through accessing the superior vena cava via the basillic vein (Myerowitz, 1982). This removes the risks associated with arterial cannulation (Mancini & Higgins, 1985). The procedure can also be performed with a lower dose of contrast agent and be done more quickly therefore eliminating constraints of using too much contrast during a procedure (Myerowitz, 1982). Whilst DSA is the gold standard in arterial imaging of carotid artery stenosis (Herzig et al., 2004), the application of DSA to the coronary arteries is limited due to motion artefacts associated with each heartbeat and respiration (Yamamoto et al., 2009). There are numerous cardiac clinical applications of DSA, it can be used to assess coronary blood flow (Molloi et al., 1996), valvular regurgitation (Booth, Nissen & DeMaria, 1985), cardiac phase (Katritsis et al., 1988), congenital heart shunts (Myerowitz, Swanson, & Turnipseed, 1985), coronary bypass grafts and percutaneous coronary intervention outcomes (Katritsis et al, 1988; Guthaner, Wexler & Bradley, 1985). However, others have suggested that the coronary arteries are not visualized well due to their small size, movement, their position overlying the opacified aorta and left ventricle, and confusion with other structures such as the pulmonary veins (Myerowitz, 1982). Cardiac CT Scanning Development of CT scanning in the 1990s enabled an increase in temporal resolution that was sufficient to view the beating heart, and they now provide a non-invasive technique for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Cardiac CT scans have clinical applications that go beyond perfusion investigation, and can be used to assess structure and function of the heart (for example in electrophysiology disorders or congenital heart disease) due to its ability to provide anatomical detail (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010). CT scans can be used to assess coronary artery disease with and without injection of contrast agent (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010) by calcium scan or CT angiography. Coronary calcium CT scanning uses the evidence base that coronary artery calcium is a correlate of atherosclerosis (Burke et al., 2003) and is a strong prognostic predictor of the future development of coronary artery disease and cardiac events (Arad et al., 2000; Budoff et al., 2009; Achenbach & Raggi, 2010). Calcium is easily depicted on CT scan due to its high CT attenuation, and is classified according to the Agatson score, which considers the density and area of the calcification (Hoffman, Brady & Muller, 2003). Coronary CT angiography (CTA) allows visualization of the coronary artery lumen to identify any atherosclerosis or stenosis within the vessels. Patients are injected intravenously with a contrast agent and then undergo a CT scan. There are limitations regarding the suitability of patients for coronary CTA due to prerequisites of sinus rhythm, low heart rate and ability to follow breath-holding commands. Additionally, obesity presents a problem for patients that cannot fit into the scanner and affects the accuracy of the procedure. (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010). Comparison of cardiac DSA and cardiac CT scanning The technical differences between cardiac DSA and cardiac CT scanning give rise to differences in the clinical indications for the procedures, their diagnostic efficacy and also different risks or relative benefits to the patients. Due to the nature of the images produced by coronary CTA and DSA, each lends itself to different indications for use. Whilst coronary DSA provides imaging of all aspects of perfusion, CTA used with contrast agent also provides this however has the additional advantage of being able to assess structure and function of the heart. Coronary CTA has been shown to have a high accuracy at detection and exclusion of coronary artery stenoses (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010). In a multicentre trial conducted by Miller et al. (2008), patients underwent coronary calcium scoring and CT angiography prior to conventional invasive coronary angiography. The diagnostic accuracy of coronary CTA at ruling out or detecting coronary stenoses of 50% was shown to have a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 90%. This showed that coronary CTA was particularly effective at ruling out non-significant stenoses. Additionally, coronary CTA was shown to be of equal efficacy as conventional coronary angiography at identifying the patients that subsequently went on to have revascularisation via percutaneous intervention. This was shown by an area under the curve (AUC), a measure of accuracy of 0.84 for coronary CTA and 0.82 for coronary angiography. Miller et al.’s (2008) study included a large number of patients at different study sites , and additionally represented a large variety of clinical patient characteristics. The author’s claim that these factors contribute to the strength and validity of the study findings, and suggest that in addition to using patients with clinical indications for anatomical coronary imaging, should be used as evidence that coronary CTA is accurate at identifying disease severity in coronary artery disease. Miller et al. (2008) did however,, find that positive predictive and negative predictive values of coronary CTA were 91% and 83% respectively and therefore suggested that coronary CTA should not be used in place of the more accurate conventional coronary angiography. A low positive predictive value (in relation to the prevalence of disease) was proposed to be due to a tendency to overestimate stenosis degree as well as the presence of artefacts leading to false positive interpretation (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010). Other research providing comparison between coronary CTA and conventional coronary angiogram has highlighted variability in results. A meta-analysis conducted by Gorenoi, Schonermark and Hagen (2012) investigated the diagnostic capabilities of coronary CTA and invasive coronary angiography using intracoronary pressure measurement as the reference standard. The authors found that CT coronary angiography had a greater sensitivity than invasive coronary angiography (80% vs 67%), meaning that coronary CTA was more likely to identify functionally relevant coronary artery stenoses in patients. Despite this,, specificity of coronary CTA was 67%, compared to 75% in invasive coronary angiography, meaning that the technique was less effective at correctly excluding non-diagnoses than invasive coronary angiogram. This research appears to contradict the power of cardiac CTA at excluding diagnoses of coronary artery stenosis as suggested by Miller et al. (2008), he study did combine evidence from over 44 studies to provide their results and therefore had a large statistical power. The authors interpret the results in light of the clinical relevance of cardiac imaging, suggesting that patients with a higher pretest possibility of coronary heart disease will likely require invasive coronary angiography for revascularisation indicating that coronary CTA may be a helpful technique in those patients with an intermediate pre-test probability of coronary heart disease that will therefore not require invasive angiography. Goldberg et al. (1986) investigated the efficacy of DSA in comparison to conventional coronary angiography in 77 patients. They found that the two angiograms agreed within one grade of severity in 84% of single cases and 90% of multiple cases, identifying both patent and lesioned arteries. The results led the authors to conclude that there was no significant difference between the two methods and that DSA could be used in selective coronary angiography to find results comparable to that of conventional angiography. In addition to being a small study into the efficacy of DSA, the study also had several sources of inherent variability that should be considered when interpreting the results. These included differing sizes of digital imaging screen and non-use of calipers, meaning that the interpretation of the images could vary throughout the study. The authors also suggest that whilst showing strong support for the use of DSA in coronary artery disease, the technique may not actually p ermit better prognostic determinations or clinical judgements that are better than conventional angiography, and therefore the further implementation of the techniques may not be founded or necessitated. More recently, there has been further research looking at the effectiveness of DSA as a way of measuring coronary blood flow. Whilst motion artefacts have proven a problem in lots of past research (Marinus, Buis & Benthem, 1990; Hangiandreou, 1990), recent research has developed methods to minimise these. Moilloi and colleaues (1996) showed that using a motion-immune dual-energy digital subtraction angiography, absolute volumetric coronary blood flow could be measured accurately and thus provide an indication of the severity of any arterial stenosis.This may provide further suggestion for clinical implementation of DSA. Although these studies provide evidence for the efficacy of cardiac DSA and CTA, they often make comparisons to conventional angiography. This is useful as a baseline comparison, however it is difficult to make comparisons between the two procedures directly due to less available evidence making direct comparisons. Lupon-Roses et al. (1985) conducted a study investigating both coronary CTA and venous DSA. The study looked at the efficacy of both techniques at diagnosing patency of coronary artery grafts compared to the control conventional angiography. CT was shown to diagnose 93% of the patent grafts and 67% of the occluded grafts whereas DSA correctly diagnosed 98% and 100% of patent and occluded grafts respectively. Interestingly, the DSA picked up the 11 grafts that were misdiagnosed by CTA and the CTA picked up the 2 grafts misdiagnosed by the DSA. This data may suggest that individually, DSA has a better profile for diagnosis of coronary artery occlusion, however if the two procedures are used in combination exclusion of patent arteries and diagnosis of occluded arteries would be effective (Lupon-Roses et al., 1985). Coronary DSA and CTA are both non-invasive procedures (unlike the conventional coronary angiography where a wire is placed in the coronary vasculature). With the only invasive part of the procedure being the injection of the contrast material into a vein. This presents a significant advantage to both procedures over that of conventional angiography, and may even permit investigation on an outpatient basis (Meaney et al., 1980). Similarly, both DSA and coronary CTA are favoured because of their intravenous approach, eliminating the risks of bleeding or arterial injury from an intra-arterial catheterization and being able to be used in those with limited arterial access. However, although the intravenous approach used in cardiac DSA makes it favourable, it does lead to difficulty with visualisation of the coronary arteries due to the overlying iodinated pulmonary and cardiac structures (Mancini & Higgins, 1985). Therefore,, intra-arterial DSA is also sometimes used (Yamamoto et al., 20 09). As with all CT scanning, coronary CTA carries with it a dose of ionizing radiation (Brenner & Hall, 2007). Studies have estimated that for diagnostic CT scanning, patients are on average exposed to 12mSv of radiation during the procedure, the equivalent of 600 x-rays (Hausleiter et al., 2009). Estimates of radiation doses associated with conventional coronary angiography are lower than that of coronary CTA at 7mSv (Einstein et al., 2007). Additionally, DSA technique reduces the radiation dose from that of conventional coronary angiography as the vessels are visualised more clearly (Yamamoto et al., 2008). The dangers of radiation exposure are increased risk of developing cancer, skin injuries and cateracts (Einstein et al., 2007). It is therefore important that the benefits of conducting the procedure greatly outweigh the risk of radiation exposure. CT calcium scanning provides a low radiation dose at around 1mSv (Hunold et al., 2003). Cardiac CT calcium scanning does not require administration of a contrast agent, unlike in coronary CTA and DSA that use iodine based contrast agents. The risks associated with contrast agent include nephrotoxicity and risks of hives, allergic reactions and anaphylaxis (Maddox, 2002). The amount of contrast agent used is partly dependent on the length of the procedure and how clearly the arteries can be visualised. For this reason, both cardiac CTA and DSA use less contrast agent that conventional coronary angiography (Brant-Zawadzki, et al., 1983). CT calcium scanning of the coronary arteries is therefore recommended in those with less likelihood of coronary artery disease (NICE, 2010). Both coronary CTA and DSA require interpretation by trained physicians, and the importance of training and achieving intra-rater reliability should not be underestimated (Pugliese et al., 2009). Conclusion Overall, both coronary CT and DSA have been demonstrated as effective procedures for the imaging of the coronary arteries in CAD (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010; Miller et al., 2008; Moilloi et al., 1996; Goldberg et al., 1986). Whilst cardiac CT scanning does provide a wider range of clinical applications, allowing assessment of perfusion as well as cardiac structure and function (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010), coronary DSA has many applications that allow assessment of coronary blood flow (Molloi et al., 1996; Katritsis et al, 1988; Booth, Nissen & DeMaria, 1985; Guthaner, Wexler & Bradley, 1985; Myerowitz, Swanson, & Turnipseed, 198). Both cardiac DSA and CTA procedures have their advantages. As non-invasive procedures, these techniques pose less risk to patients, and enable the possibility of outpatient investigation, to be used to rule out diagnoses and to avoid inappropriate invasive coronary angiogram (Gorenori et al., 2012). Additionally, intravenous access is preferential to arterial cannulation for the contrast infusion, removing the risks associated with bleeding or intra-arterial injury. Cardiac DSA exposes the patient to a lower dose of radiation that coronary CTA (Hausleiter et al., 2009; Yamamoto et al., 2008; Einstein et al., 2007), which is beneficial at reducing the risk of genetic mutations and cancer. Cardiac CTA and DSA also have their common disadvantages. The use of contrast agent may present side effects for the patient including kidney damage and risk of allergic reactions and anaphylaxis (Maddox, 2002). For this reason, calcium CT scanning can be useful in patients that are not at high likelihood of coronary artery disease (NICE, 2010b). Additionally, both cardiac DSA and CTA are subject to motion artefacts from respiration and heart beats, which can cause difficulties with interpretation (Achenbach & Raggi, 2010; Yamamoto et al., 2009). In the case of cardiac CTA, this excludes a subset of patients that are unable to follow commands and those who have high heart rates. Overall, cardiac CTA and cardiac DSA are effective, non-invasive imaging techniques for assessment of coronary artery disease. Whilst they are not the gold standards in cardiac monitoring, they can provide important diagnostic information without exposing patients to the risks of invasive angiography. Due to this, their use should be weighted against clinical need, the risks of the procedures, and the suitability of the patient. Interpretation of cardiac CTA and DSA imaging should be by trained individuals. 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The Evolution and Extinction of Mammoths - Term Paper Example Mammoths, belonging to the genus â€Å"Mammuthus†, were very gigantic in comparison to their taxonomic category of elephants. They reached heights up to thirteen feet and weighed around 5 to 6 tons. They had a significant appearance as they had woolly bodies and huge curvy tusks. They were fearless creatures of their era and lived dominantly on the planet until they suffered extinction. As stated earlier, mammoths suffered extinction around ten thousand years back, most of their characteristic features, physical appearance, art of living, and so forth are known by the scientists to a great extent as there are plenty of fossils preserved of these titans which are regularly discovered, studied and examined with scrutiny to know more about these prehistoric animals. Mammoths are not as old as dinosaurs, but the interesting analogy that they share is that both these creatures were gigantic, powerful and dominant in their respective eras, and unfortunately both the creatures were w iped out of the planet due to extinction. It is interesting to note that as mammoths came long after the dinosaurs, because of this their fossils still remain preserved, though not in a very large quantity but plenty enough for scientist to provide a logical explanation for the events, characteristics, and environmental changes prevailed in that era, providing scientists an edge to study and know more about mammoths. With the use of cutting-edge technology that contemporary field of science offers, scientist are able have an in-depth analysis of the skin, tusks, hair, etc to unveil the mystery of mammoths. Last of the mammoths lived in the era when humans were in the Stone Age, and only began their ascent to civilization; hence they both coexisted in the same age. Mammoths were mammals; they produced babies, fed them milk, and nurtured them like other mammals do. It is important to note that mammoths and modern elephants do look the same in terms of size, appearance, and other exter ior features, but reality is far different as mammoths were not the ancestors of elephants. Most type of mammoths wore a hairy cover over their bodies unlike elephants, as it provided mammoths a shelter against extremely harsh environment of the Ice Age. Both mammoths and elephants belong to the same family but were not the ancestors, instead they evolved from a different branch of the tree. Hence it would be more logical to call them as â€Å"close cousins†. Origins and evolving characteristics Major transformations through evolution include M. meridionalis (ancestral mammoth) into M. trogontherii (steppi mammoth), which later transformed into M. primigenius (woolly mammoth) and M. columbi (Columbian mammoth). All these transformations were a result of changes and adaptations to the Ice Age habitat. The origins of these titans date back to almost fifty-five million years ago. Their ancestry can be traced back to Africa where they first existed, later on they moved to Europe, Siberia and then reached North America. As the period of the Ice Age became harsher, it had greatly impacted the features of these creatures and caused them to undergo transformations that best suited to the climate and environment they lived in. In Europe first mammoths dwelled nearly one and a half million years back, in thickly forested areas of southern

Kroger Co.s financial position and the role of profitability and Assignment

Kroger Co.s financial position and the role of profitability and shareholder equitys ratios in it - Assignment Example This essay analyzes The Kroger Co. that is rated among the top five players in thirty-eight out of the forty-two major markets. Most of its competitors have experienced negative growth trend in the recent past however, Kroger Co. has successfully managed to keep a smile on its shareholder’s face by steady sales growth in last twenty-nine quarters. Kroger Co. has a substantial customer base and it and it takes great pride in its loyal customer base as approximately one half of US households have a Kroger loyalty card. This has been a result of Customer 1st strategy that Kroger Co. believes in. It has also been popular among shareholders for its consistent dividend payments. In 2010, it gave out $250 million along with maintaining high investment-grade credit rating and reducing its leverage which eventually resulted in capital gain. Profitability ratios are an indicator of a company’s performance over the year. Profitability ratios include operating profit margin, net pr ofit margin, return on asset, and return on equity. Sales increased by 7.1% to $82.2 billion in 2010, which is more than its competitors. Operating profit margin is calculated by dividing the operating profit by the net sales. The operating profit for the year was $2182 M, as compared to net sales of $82189 M. The operating profit margin was 2.65% for the year. Net profit margin is calculated by dividing the net profit after tax by the net sales amount. Net profit for the year was $1116 M and it constituted 1.36% of the sales. ... Kroger has been trying to reduce its long term debt in the past few years which makes the company less risky to benefit shareholders. The company has kept its shareholders happy by giving a return of 21.07%. Shareholder’s Equity Ratio: The most important ratio in determining the impact of equity on the company is to find the percentage of equity to total assets. This ratio will give us an idea of the role of shareholder in the company’s operation. Also, companies take up debt to keep the larger portion of the profit with them (HORNE, James C. Van and Wachowicz, John M., 2008). This is a regular practice of profitable and established firms. Likewise, Kroger Co.’s asset base is majorly financed by debt and only 22.5% of its assets are sourced by shareholder. This is one of the reasons of high return on equity. This ratio indicates that Kroger Co.’s business model is profitable and becoming its shareholder will be profitable in future. Use and Application of Financial Reports Financial statements are an integral document for any company. It is used by stakeholders to assess the financial position and performance of the company. These stakeholders can be classified as internal and external (BRIGHAM, Eugene F. and Ehrhardt, Michael C., 2010). The internal users of these statements are management, board of directors and sometimes the employees as well. The external users include investors, lenders, suppliers and customers, government department and agencies, competitors, media, labor unions, supporters and opponents. Following are the three financial statements that is of prime importance for an investor, Balance sheet: It is also known as statement of financial position. It presents the picture of the company’s

How WOMEN In Saudi Arabia effect the international market and Essay

How WOMEN In Saudi Arabia effect the international market and international business - Essay Example A woman’s starting salary to a man’s in a similar position is relatively low and the similar situation applies concerning promotions to prestigious positions (Freedman 9). International market research encompasses several barriers in different regions particularly in the Saudi Arabia where the concept of woman working is a cultural and religious taboo. However, the unfavorable conditions in the Middle East and the North African (MENA) states complicate that involvement of the women in business even further. Saudi Arabia particularly does not allow women and men to work together and the only place that happens is in the hospitals (Alhujelan 67). Education is paramount for any business interactions and cultural relations. Business customs involves how analysis of different cultures, which interrelates with international marketing. Age maturity is very important when dealing with foreign cultures and business opportunities. This is because international relationships always involve interactions with different persons of varying cultures. Most of these characteristics to deal with international relations mostly result from education, which may be formal or informal. A lot of tolerance, interpersonal skills, flexibly and good communications are paramount to international interactions. These aspects are mostly paramount in matters of management and international coordination. Long are times when women succumbed to pressure due to cultural pressures and religious believes but they are recently going through education. Therefore, women have an equal playing field in terms of job opportunities and capabilities. Equally, women in Sa udi Arabia are defying all odds and are engaging in education despite the labor law dictating that women can only work in field that suit their nature (Profanter, Cate, Maestri and Piacentini 33). The increasing number of women joining careers in the country confirms that things are

Neptun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Neptun - Essay Example This picture of Neptune was taken on August 20, 1989 by Voyager 2. In the center of the image, the Great Dark Spot can be seen. The latitude of the planet Neptune is 22 degrees south and circuits every 18.3 hours. The east and the south of the Great Dark Spot change their appearances constantly in four hours. The internal structure of Neptune can be inferred from the planet's radius, period of rotation, mass, and shape of its gravitational field and the behavior of hydrogen, helium, and water at high pressure. The picture shows a cut-away view of Neptune composed of an outer envelope of molecular hydrogen, helium and methane. Below this region Neptune is composed of a layer rich in water, methane, ammonia, and other elements with high temperatures and pressures. Ice and rock constitutes the core of Neptune. This picture gives a nearly true picture of Neptune taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera (WFPC), with a picture of Triton taken with the HST's Faint Object Camera. Even though, the image of Triton is faint but it clearly shows a bright equatorial region. In the lower left, the south pole is clearly visible. Near the bottom of the image a bright cloud feature can also be seen. It can be seen at 30S and 60S latitude. Another bright cloud can also be seen at 30N latitude in the northern hemisphere. The dynamic nature of Neptune is clearly visible from the fact that the second smaller ... In One feature that is conspicuous by its absence is the storm system known as the Great Dark Spot. HST Observes High Altitude Clouds These three pictures were taken on October 10, October 18 and November 2, 1994 when Neptune was only 4.5 billion kilometers from Earth. The pictures further proved the dynamic nature of the planet as the difference in the temperature between Neptune's Building on Voyager's initial discoveries, Hubble has revealed that Neptune has a remarkably dynamic atmosphere that changes over just a few days. Only in few days, the temperature difference between Neptune's strong internal heat source and its frigid cloud tops were-162 Celcius or -260 Fahrenheit which might be the causes that trigger instabilities in the atmosphere and result in large-scale weather changes. The high altitude methane ice-crystals can be seen in pink. New Dark Spot After the images in June 1994, which showed the disappearance of the Great Dark Spot, on November 2 a new spot, appeared near the limb of the planet. The new spot has high altitude clouds along its edge, resultant of gasses that have been pushed to higher altitudes where they cool to form methane ice crystal clouds. The dark spot may be a zone of clear gas that is a porthole to a cloud deck lower in the atmosphere. Cirrus-like Clouds Bands of sunlit cirrus-like clouds can be seen in this image of Neptune's northern hemisphere. 35 miles mellow, shadows are cast on the blue cloud deck. The width of the white streaky clouds ranges from 48 to 160 kilometers (30 to 100 miles) and extend over thousands of miles. True-color Image The picture taken by Voyager 2 has been edited

Big issue magazine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Big issue magazine - Essay Example The organization behind the â€Å"big issue† magazine is divided into two parts, where there is the part that produces and sells the magazine to the street vendor network. The other part is a nonprofit foundation that helps the street vendors regains control of their lives (Oxfam, 2004). The magazines have transformed lives of many vendors who are in a position to feed and support their families. However, the sales of the magazines have subsided currently, due to the recession, which has affected advertising and general sales. Prior to recession, national and international donor funding are drying up. This paper will outline a brand-audit that should be performed to improve the image of the magazine and improve sales. How to upgrade the image and improve sales of the â€Å"big issue† magazine Image impacts a lot in a business especially when it comes to selling printed articles. This is the case because the appearance of a magazine determines its ability to attract cust omers in a distance. The â€Å"big issue† magazine falls in this category because image rebranding is needed to improve its old common appearance to a more appealing appearance (Rowell, 2012). The marketing managers should critically look into the image issue of the magazine as well as its contents. The new look of the magazine’s cover should be redesigned attractively is that it can stand out and â€Å"beat† the rest of the magazines. The customers should be able to notice and pick up the magazine instantly rather than flick through other magazines in search of the most interesting magazines. More so, the content in the magazine should be able to be captivating enough to keep the customers coming for more copies every day. In order to achieve this, the marketing team should consider on reflecting a shift to deeper and more political content because politics because politics has interesting contents that everyone yearn to know about. Hence, with these two achiev ements of rebranding the cover and contents of the magazines, customer’s will be change their usual perception towards the magazine by being attracted to it which eventually leads to more sales (Rowell, 2012). Customer service is a crucial aspect in any business and the big issue magazine should consider it in order to improve customer’s perception and increase sales. The vendors of the â€Å"big issue† magazine are homeless people and this has lead to situations where passersby insult and under grade them simply because of their status (Oxfam, 2004). The management of the â€Å"big issue† magazine should take another step of collaborating with numerous colleges within the city in order to offer these vendors with basic customer care skills. This will help them learn people body language and the telltale signs of aggression so as to help in confronting and solving possible disputes before they happen. The vendors will also learn how to be friendly and app roachable which in turn engages customers in conversation. This effort will improve vendor’s ability to attract customers and increase sales of the â€Å"big issue† magazine. Advertising is the basic boost of sales of any business because it reminds customers of their favorite product as well as informs them if there are any changes that their favorite product has undergone. In our case, the â€Å"big issue† advertisement could fall in the two categories of informing customers of the current

Learning outcome Essay Example for Free

Learning outcome Essay 1.1 explain own role and responsibilities and boundaries of own role as a teacher . Write a essay explain the your role and responsibilities including the limits of your teaching role. Word limited (200) 1.2 Identify key aspects of relevant current legislative requirements and codes of practice within a specific context -The student will write a essay explaining the NEW STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS AND TRAINERS. Explaining the new standards expected, including details of Health and Safety. Make a list of location where you can research changes to your subject topic including details of location and the method of research. 1.3 identify other points of referral available to meet the potential needs of students -Draw a mind map for your preferred learning style and include it within your portfolio. 1.4 identify issues of equality and diversity and ways to promote inclusion -Define equality and diversity. -What does the term inclusive mean? (100 words) Place copies of equal opportunities policies from a number of companies if your company does not have any. -Write a short essay explaining the importance to address the issues of qualify , diversity and inclusion within your training area. (200 word) 1.5 Explain the need of record keeping. Write a reflective piece explaining how you feel about keeping paper work and record keeping. (200) 2.0 understand appropriate teaching and learning approaches in the specialist area. 2.1 Identify and demonstrate relevant approaches for a specialist teaching area. -Write a brief essay explaining the approaches for a specialist teaching area. (200) 2.2 Explain ways to embed elements of functional skills in the specialist area. -With reference to an experience teacher you have previously observed in your specialist area. Explain how your teacher can keep up to date with their teaching practice in their specialist teaching area? How can your teaching incorporate communication and numeracy? 2.3 Justify the selection of teaching and learning approaches for a specialist session. in reflective piece explain a teaching session that you have delivered and the reason you have used a teaching approached. If you are not teaching currently, explain a teaching approach that you have seen for a spe cific session. 3.0 Demonstrate session planning skills. 3.1 Plan a teaching and learning session which meets the needs of individual students. -complete a full teaching plan for the micro teaching session. (presentation) 3.2 Justify selection of resources for a specific session. -Write a brief essay of (100) explaining the reason for the use of specific resources within your teaching session. 4 Understand how to deliver inclusive sessions which motivate students. 4.1 Explain ways to establish ground rules with students which underpin appropriate behavior and respect for others. Write a brief statement explaining methods of establishing clear ground rules . Give a examples of a ground rules list. 4.2 use a range of appropriate and effective teaching and learning approaches to engage and motivate students. Feedback sheets for other students 4.3 Explain and demonstrate good practice in give feedback Complete a essay explaining good practice and examples of bad practice. 4.4 Communicate appropriately and effectively with students. copy of the feedback from lead instructions and internal Verifier. 4.5 Reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of own teaching. Complete a reflection on the effective of the teaching method used and the ways you can improve your teaching practices. 5 understand the use of different assessment methods and the need of record keeping. 5.1 Identify different assessment methods -Write a reflection piece on the type of assessment you have experienced during your training time and school experience and the methods that have been effective and ineffective. (200 words) 5.2 Explain the use of assessment methods in different contexts, including reference to initial assessment. -Write a essay explaining the use of assessment methods and the different times you would use this method including details of initial assessment prior to starting a course. Including details of the types of assessment that are suitable for different areas. How can you use this assessment techniques be used to assessment learner progress. 5.3 Explain the need for record keeping in relation to assessment. -Briefly explain the need for record keeping due to the fact and relationship of the awarding bodies and the requirement of tractability of all document and processes.

Introduction To Religion And Ethics Philosophy Essay

Introduction To Religion And Ethics Philosophy Essay Religion represents the worship of God. Human beings were born to believe in god through the religion of his family or ideology of the state is drive upon him from the very beginning of his existence in the world. Moreover, Religion is the principle or beliefs system held to with ardour and faith toward god. Archaeological research explained that religious beliefs have been existent since the first human societies. God gave every individual all intellects to make the right decision and to be wise when facing challenges in the coming future. The believers of religion generally express the mutual culture and values through doctrine, ritual and myth in religion. The knowledge of god is taught through religion institution over years to educate every individual about right belief, moral and ethical values so that they can differentiate the right or wrong behaviour. Furthermore, religion attempts to answer the intrinsic questions to societys condition such as the reason of suffering and punishment during and after life through the relationship to the sacred or perception of the true nature of reality. The purpose of punishment is to let human to understand the consequence of making sins and wrong decision. This is to ensure every individual will be in the right path in life. Hence, the existence of religion is important in societies to create a harmonious environment for human to leave in peace. Over centuries in different nation, many religions were developed in different societies. Therefore, major dissimilarities of religion were confined within a particular society in past. As these religions hold different cultural and value in the belief of god, arguments and misunderstanding between each religion were easily formed. However, Hicks (2003) clarified that societies still have the abilities to develop religious tolerance and acceptance to creates harmony and unite all religion as one. In recent time, religion has changed various countries where people in dissimilar backgrounds or religions can live side by side in a tolerant environment. In addition, the fundamental of religion has proven to have effects on business ethic. Some researches indicated that it is important to provide guidance on accommodating different opinions about religion practice in the organization (Webley, 2011). This is because religion hold the idea that god reveals insights about life and true meaning, while ethics form a humanistic perspective (James.A, 2006). Therefore, all religions believed in one universal value concept do unto others as you would want others to do to you. The concept helps organization to solve conflict of interest and decision making with common humanity and common sense among different religious employees (Webley, 2011). Last but not least, religions beliefs cannot be separate from people in any society or organization (A.Hicks, 2003). It is impossible to divorce the organizations culture with the nature of employees (Admin, 2012). Any organization is expected to consider the existence of every religion in the organization with respect and supportiveness to develop strong ethical value and common interest among employees and managers (Webley, 2011). This could help create a working environment with free of opposing discrimination of differ religion and enable all employees to fully contribute at work. Issues related to the Religion and ethics in organization Although it is believed that religion brings ethic into workplace, argument on whether religion can be accepted to improve peace and ethic still exist in this twenty first century (A.Hicks, 2003). Webley (2011) indicated that religion and the ways it is expressed in public can generate strong emotion and opinions especially in the workplace. Researcher has reviewed the number of ethics issues happened in the companies and other organizations when the employees wish to pursue practices that express their religions conviction while at work (Webley, 2011). However, every individual holds different beliefs according to their religion concept (James.A, 2006). Therefore, conflicts of interest and ethical dilemma sometimes happen between employees as their religion is not the same (Webley, 2011). The issues that caused conflict will be discussed below. Religion discrimination and ethical dilemma Religion discrimination and employees ethical dilemma has indeed arisen in an organization (Hicks, 2003). According to the record by the Equal employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the state and local fair agencies, was prove that there was a positively increase in the number of religious discrimination issues in the workplace (Gregory Daniel, n.d.). Individual in different religion expect to be respect, treated equally and tolerate with their belief in the ethical value of honesty and justice (Admin, 2012). Therefore, the role of ethic is important to provide common understanding among employees and managers to resolve this dilemma. Webley (2011) stated that offering assistance through corporate code of ethic in the organizations policy is a good exercise to resolve furthermost common ethical challenges that are likely to arise. 1.1.1.1 Direct and Indirect Discrimination Discrimination is divided into direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination describe certain employees in religion that are least favourable in an organization are treated unfairly by managers such as dismiss them, refuse to provide training and giving adverse terms and condition (Acas, 2005). A survey conducted by British churchgoers in 2009 found that there was a number of issues are happened in workplace such as faced opposition at work because by the religion, some of employees felt they had been passed over for promotion, beside they also had reprimanded or cautioned because by sharing their religion while work (Webley, 2011). For example, a job interview becomes unfair for Indian applicant because of his religion and culture. Although he has met all the requirement of skill and competences, the organization still decide not to recruit him. Nonetheless, direct discrimination may only be found in limited circumstances where it is easily shown. The most critical is indirect discrimination where organizations have selective policies, criteria and employment rules that are disadvantaging employees or applicant with different religion. It very is unlawful whether it is intentional or not compare with direct discrimination (Acas, 2005). For example, an organization set a dress code policy whereby men are not allowed to wear ponytails. This becomes indirectly disadvantage for Hindu men whom wear Shika. However, to justify this discrimination, the organization much show there is a legitimate aim where the business need and the practice is proportionate to that aim (Garcetti, 2006). Therefore, indirect discrimination is certainly prejudiced some employees in other religion. 1.1.1.2 Harassment and victimisation As stated above, ethical dilemma exists in an organization. This caused many employees to felt stressful when working (Garcetti, 2006). These dilemmas include harassment and victimisation. Harassment is a behaviour that is offensive and distressing. It may be a way of bullying which is obvious or violent to a victim but can also be unintentional or subtle and insidious (Hicks, 2003). Harassment in an organization may involve teasing, sexual contact and unrespecting. These behaviours are upsetting for employees that become a victim. Harassment happens in different way in an organization. For example, it happens because of an employees religion is not the same with majority. Otherwise, the general culture of an employee was teased as jokes which are not tolerable (Hicks, 2003). Victimisation occurs when employees is treated detrimentally. This is because the individual behaviour may be unacceptable in an organization (Acas, 2005). For example, the employees have made a complaint about discrimination or harassment is listed as troublemakers neither rhyme nor reason. These employees were punished and boycotted in the organization. They may face denied promotion and tanning without reasonable right to voice out their dissatisfaction (Acas, 2005). Economic issue Religions should be considered in issues of economics (Gundolf Filser, 2013; Rodgers, 2011). This is because it influences the behaviour of human in ethics as it is related to the market, industry, and activity in basis of labour or investment (Rodgers, 2011). Religion had a connection to morals and the principles should be considered in issues of economics which include immigrant rights, poverty, crime and labour. In the Muslim perceptive, the idea of Quran has a prohibition of social justice and interest. The Quran recognizes ownership of wealth, protecting by legislation, and increase the economic wealth. At the same time, Quran concept provides radical offers about critique of ownership (Koshul College, 2005). Moreover, Pace (2012) explained that religions can be tame materialistically. This can be justified in the Buddhist ethical doctrines. The doctrines are believed to have affected the consumption of clients through compassion, loving kindness, empathetic joy and equanimity. Furthermore, one of the principle Buddhists believe in is the need of saving and not wasting is important. Therefore, any wasting behaviour is viewed as a negative effect on the economic growth that is fuelled by consumption and self-desired (Pace, 2012). Based on the study, materialistic tend to trade-off between satisfying wants and desires for socializing, the more social interactions, and the more economic growth (Beugelsdijk Smulders, 2009). International trade issue In the other words, religion also influences the ethics in international trade. According to Lam (2005), the religiosity can affect a persons preferences with regard to international trade, which is the religion can affects the attitudes towards trade. Besides, religion is playing a significant role in shaping preferences toward free trade. Lam (2005) used the cross-country individual level survey data from the world values survey, he founded the degree of religiosity is positively correlated with protectionism. Religious people are more likely to be protectionist controlling for wide range of economic factors (Patrick Lam, 2005). Religion effect on attitudes towards trade, because the religion serves as a conservative influence on the attitudes of its adherents. Helble (n.d) explained that the shared of religious belief can enhance the trust in the societies. Therefore, it can reduce the transaction costs between trading partner. Futhermore, each religion has its own ethical standpoint towards the activity of trading. Some of the religions perceive trade as a necessity, others as a value creating activity. (Helble, n.d). Conclusion, the religion affect the attitude towards the international trade, beside it also can enhance the trust and ethics between the trading partners. Political Issue Political is also one of the issues of religions affecting ethics. Indeed, politics will be affected by the religious and this is powerfully influenced the political attitudes. Rodgers (2011) stated that the commercial and top management could affect employees conduct in political term. Above and beyond, there is relationship of between political context and public (Rodgers, 2011). Consequently, top managements are responsible to be ethical when come to any decision making for employees welfare and religion practice can help them to make the right ethical decision. For example, William (1991) describe that the use of religious categories to elect who would be selected for compensatory discrimination benefits such as Muslim electorates and reserve legislative seats for the Hindu or Sikh religion in the scheduled castes in India. There are low-status citizens to Islam and Christianity in India (William, 1991). In contrast, a study has found that the employees could affect the organization conduct (Rodgers, 2011). Besides, these effects always have a relationship of ethics in a political context and public. The religious lead the employees to prefer more on redistribution and welfare provisions to the citizen. For instance, different organization in countries like the United States and Muslim-majority countries should follow the moral standards based on their sacred texts (Steffy, 2013). For example, Indian Christians appeal a love-hate relationship with the episcopal forms developed in Europe, but patriarchal and monarchical forms in Indian history, whether Muslim and Aryan (William, n.d). Nevertheless, it is hard for the top managements to find satisfaction to complete equality and happiness among employees (Tjaya, 2009). The political issues will affect the business, investment and market directly as well. This can be proven in the management of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. A research found that these organizations have similar conflicts among the complex multiplicity of ethical, culture and politics in both the United States and China (Tan Tan, 2012). Additionally, the aim of politics and justice includes its concerns on work, knowledge, health, security, the environment and pleasure. The services will link to the ethical improvement of each individual as a social being for the management (Tan Tan, 2012). The importance of religion and ethics to organization and its effects on the organization performance. Before 1957, the Malaysian business sector was controlled by Chinese community and other foreign investor; while Malays were work as farmers and Indians were mainly focus on rubber plantations. After May 13th 1969, the bloody tragedy, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was established to balance the gap between the races in business sector. Hence, the NEP was contributed in Malays community in which successfully produced the excellent Malay business men such as Tan Sri Datos Haji Basir Ismail of Maybank Berhad, Tan Sri Dato Azman Hashim of Arab Malaysian Group and so on. The problems are in the 1960s, the Chinese businessmen started to bully the poor fishermen and farmers by using monopoly-monopsony system in weighing and measuring. While, in Hong Kong in 1983, the Malay businessmen Jahil Ibrahim which is the chief auditor of Bumiputera Bank Berhad involved in the murder crime that related to business. The unethical business practices in organization become more sophisticated. If the organizations believe religions, these tragedies will not happen to the society. Islamic persuades Muslims businessmen must avoid the negative values such as hirs (greed), zulm (cruel), israf (extravagance), bukhl (miserliness), and ihtikar (hoarding of wealth). Of course, Islamic encourage Muslims businessmen to practice istislah (public interest), sabr (ability to stay calm and accept annoying and delay), infaq (spending to meet social obligations), al-adl (justice and fairness), ihsan (kindness), and amanah (honesty). Production and distribution are control by the halal-haram code in order to provide fairness dealing (Muhamad Ghani, 2006). The author of Buddhist Economics, Phra Debvedi said that production is not creating thing but it is transforming somethings into another new things. This kind of transforming can be a positive result or negative result toward ecology. The Agganna Sutta who tell the origin of human world said that human begins and nature are interrelated which means what organization produced will affect the ecology. Thus, the organization should use Right Livelihood approach in their production. Right Livelihood is emphasizing on producing the things that do not harm to the society such as poisons, lethal weapons, dangerous addictive items and etc. Besides that, the organizations must take into consideration in exploitation of nature by produce the goods based on market demand, do not produce the low quality products, and choose the production technology that environment friendly. Buddhism also stated that the production should aim for societys happiness and peace (Numkanisorn, 2002a). In all religion perceptive, right acts are not right because god commands them and sees morally right (Martin, 1988). Individuals in different religion respect gods because they are afraid of punishment after death. Religion practice teaches to take action and make decision wisely and follow the guideline set by god. As part of it, it can be apply in an organization, if employees use religion practices in doing their daily works, then they will think twice before making decision. The decision makers will think the effects of the action whether it will harm the society, personal or the environment. For example, for Muslim they got their Islamic law called Syariah (Martin, 1988). They apply this law in their daily life and even though business. This is the religion guideline for the Muslim to behave in the ways that their god think its right to do. For example the Shariah laws that apply in business included there is no element of riba, fraud, gambling and compulsion. PART B: Origin Bloom (n.d.) stated thar religious belief as an evolutionary accident or is supernaturalistic belief, which belief in the reality of the supernatural. This is widespread among human being. Most human beliefs have a connection with evolutionary fitness; they have led to action, such rituals or prayer to survival and reproduction (Inwagen, 2009). People believe in gods and spirits to their religion, this is the principles of human nature responsible for the religious belief in gods and intelligent agents. Therefore, belief in gods and spirits is a sense of the natural and depends on fundamental principles of human psychology (Collier, 2013). Religious beliefs can be explained as an aid to in-group cooperation. This is because cooperation requires penalties for wrong acts. Therefore, those penalties can provide the threat of punishment from omniscient and omnipotent being. Indeed, some cheats can escape human detection, but their each wrong act will be detected and punish by punitive God (Oxford University, 2009). A particular established religion is belief in God or many gods, or neither; revelation through historical scriptures or personal inspiration. Many religious experiences relate the practitioners individual interest. So, people can find their believed symbolic system with meanings that are more communal than temporal life with its mundane expectations (Deacon Cashman, 2010). Therefore, Religion is to build up the justifiability of well motivated and reprehensible behaviors. Besides that, religions also regulate the spheres of human life and conduct. So, religion can be a guiding light through personal and interp ersonal relationships within a milieu (Oiadosu, n.d.). Hence, religious belief will reference to specific situations to make suggestion that what is right and what is wrong. If the suggestion is acceptable, the religious belief cloud analysis the effect of morality by social practices of the community. Hence, the moral principle can be controlled or influences a persons ethics, such code of beliefs and principles (Oiadosu, n.d.). Religious experiences are critical to the establishment of character and virtue. Borrowing from Deacon and Cashman (2010), experiences can be explained as transforming and transcendent, which considered as unusual and of a higher order than most day-to-day experiences. The coded symbolically, cognitive and emotional process influence to generate new modes of experiences. In overall, religious origins are the human value of the emergent emotional experiences that are influencing of religious symbols and practices. Most of the religious experiences are the sense of the sacred and selfless act for another, such as reverence and awe. In addition, religious experiences also can be a sense of unity with the humility; charity, cosmos, and loving-kindness are emergent responses to the universe, these including controlling emotional experience and maintaining mundane relationships with the physical world (Deacon Cashman, 2010) Religion and ethics can be refers to ideas of life, what thing should do and should not do, what is correct and what is wrong. Religion and ethics often link with people, community, or society, because people and society establish norms and values to regulate. These regulations list down what should be done and what should not be done, which morality. Ideologically, these may affect people with physical or psychological balance, which injury, despair and anxiety (Oiadosu, n.d.). So, Morality is an outcome of religion, which God presents in people the sense of what should be done and what should not be done thereby showing about the sense of obligation. Besides that, morality also can be the common sense and past experience over a long period of time that brought about the sense of good and bad. Furthermore, morality has its origin in the society, which inculcates in people the sense of good and bad (Oiadosu, n.d.). Religions require believers of group for participation which remember theological claims and make sacrifices to the gods or the ancestors. These show commitment and cooperate between believers in the group. Hence religion carries two pivotal things, which is epistemic and practical. First, Epistemic describe as virtue of the fact that believers must internalize and sustain counterintuitive. Next, religions also need participants to engage in practices, such sacrifice crops to unseen gods. Indeed, epistemic and practical play a core role of proving religious group membership as well as cooperative and commitment. In addition, believers are more committed to the religion when engage in regular ritual events. This led them to view the ritual as less mundane and burdensome, and may be a perception of enhanced advantages (Michael Moore, 2009) Stories of the origins of religion, about the nature of the cosmos have historically constituted the founding narratives for religion. These stories always normative implicate, which provide the premises for justification. In other word, this can be called as myths. In a period time, ancestors lived in a precarious and full of uncertainty environment, such as harvests, illnesses and war. So, human beings experience fear and anxiety of contingency, and ancestors found them in the extreme situation. Because of fear and anxiety, these motivated them thinking about the secret forces, which personify the hidden powers of nature to dominating their destiny. Hence, passions and imagination require for the development of religious belief, ancestors served to reduce their fear and anxiety in the uncertainty situation. So, people cannot live without these latter beliefs, and this is necessary as well as natural (Collier, 2013). Thus, different myths inform different religions and different paths of morality. These may lead people in different directions. Therefore, people who believe in the truth of stories of religions are regard as fundamentalist. Indeed, all religion impulse to spread meaningful value via story, so stories provide a very clear template for ethics and touchstone for religion. Thus, best religion agent should spread the stories of religion through art, music, ceremony, festivals and literature, generation by generation (Mathews, 2011). Besides that, the religion agents is based on cognitive constraints in simulations of others human minds. So, commitment to gods and spirits is based on motivate each other. Thus, the belief of religion can be influence through petition and prayer serves to decrease anxiety (Collier, 2013). Religious belief is adaptive or maladaptive or perhaps a spandrel. The religious belief often focuses on rationality, reasonableness, justification and warrant by scientific explanations (Oxford University, 2009 ; Deacon Cashman, 2010). Indeed, Religious is adaptations for people, it provides psychological and social benefits to individuals. These contribute psychologically adaptive and effectively in day-to-day behavior, such reducing the angst of uncertain. Besides that, religious is also being socially adaptive to maintain social cohesion. These are contributing the transmission of religious systems and psychological supports. Deacon and Cashman (2010) views as cited in Rappaport (1999) and Wilson (2002), cultural trait might benefit to the people that adopt these practices, which kin reproduction and maintenance of social group. The religious ideas and practices provide transformational experiences and ultimate meaning to believers. Hence, religions can be act as social parasite s on the believers minds and exhibits actions that have been supported only (Deacon Cashman, 2010). Since the 1960s psychologists of religion have used the methodology of psychometrics to assess different ways in which a person may be religious. The people who stand religion as quest may get the Spiritual Support and Spiritual Openness. Spirit and spiritual are words which are constantly used and easily taken for granted by all writers upon religion more constantly and easily, perhaps, than any of the other terms in the mysterious currency of faith (Underhill, 1933). In fact, there is a distinction between being spiritual and being religious. The connotations of spirituality are more personal and psychological than institutional, whereas the connotations of religion are more institutional and sociological. In this usage, the two terms are not synonymous, but distinct. Spirituality involves a persons belief, values, and behavior, while religiousness denotes the persons involvement with a religious tradition and institution. Of course, religion is intimately tied to everyday life, including a wide variety of beliefs and behaviors. Weekly religious meetings guide the faithful throughout life. Obviously, religion can act as a guide of people behavior. And, religion is also tied with sociality. Religion connects individuals to each other and their groups; encourage the communication of community. Religion is a powerful device by which people are absorbed into a tribe and psychically strengthened (Lumsden Wilson, 1983). In this way, both religious bodies and the societies of which they are components strengthen themselves in numbers and importance. The importance of the selected topic and its effects on society and organizations in general In Soulth Delhi, the 23-year-old lady who was the trainee physiotherapist in the private hospital, Delhi with her 28-year-old male friend, a software engineer, were walking home from cinema. Afterward, they took a public transport to go home and inside the bus has five men from the citys slums, a teenage boy, and a bus driver. Her male friend started suspicious because the bus had to deviate from its usual route and the men locked the bus door. What would happen at next? The men beat her male friend unconscious with a metal rod. Then, the five men raped her for almost an hour. The worst thing was the five men pushed a metal rod inside the lady and her internal organs were severely injury. Her and her friend dumped at the roadside with half naked, they felt cold, unconscious, and psychological trauma. After twelve days, the lady passed away in Singapores Mount Elizabeth Hospital (The Nation, 2013). Another case was happened in Sudan, a girl suffered hunger and struggling for survival and the vulture was waiting at there. At the same time, a photographer took a picture of the girl and he just leaves that girl without intervene to save the girl. The photographer was under criticism for unsuccessfully to help the girl. The photographer was Kevin Carter who won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph in Sudan (Paech, 2004). The society is getting sick. What is ethical behaviour? How to differentiate between right or wrong and what should or should not the society to do? The peoples perception toward right or wrong are according to the peoples interest not personals interest. However, religions are encourage society to be ethical, behave in proper ways, and free from social influence (Noor, 2008). Therefore, every religious are teaching how society can live in harmony rather than emotional, cruel, fear, aggressive and so on. Nevertheless, a few religious that are encourage society to act violence. The history of Buddhism is free from bloodshed and violence (Dhammananda, n.d.). According to Dhammananda (n.d., p.8) define religious is the Kingdom of heaven is within. If the society follows religious principle, they can live in peaceful and harmony. Religious encourage people willingness to forgive someone and being kind and pleasant to somebody will lead to peaceful and harmony. If society believe religious, they can avoid dehumanization and doing something for someone without hoping to return back. Religious organization can practice a set of power sources to different source of power which are information, expertise, coercion, reward, legitimacy, and reference to influence society in peaceful (Hossain, 2010). Relevant Theories The term religion are positively influence the ethics theories, the religion effect peoples behavior. Moral value is created basically to maximize the happiness of humans, moral actually come from somewhere which perhaps from the nature of human, the agreement between humans or from the God (Heathwood, 2012). Beside, there is other scholar was claimed that the God was the resources of moral principles. The morality only can be understood through the religion, the morality is dependent on the religion (Maja, 2011). The moral value will lead or influence an individuals decision making, the moral intensity will influence the ethical decision making. Moral awareness will lead or influence the individuals to moral action (Lincoln Elizabeth, 2011). On the other hands, the researchers claimed that people who have the more religious will more likely to behave themselve, the people who less religious will less behave themselve, because the greater religious the greater ethical attitudes (Fogel, Mc Sween, Dutt, n.d.).The researchers also claimed that the religious also play an important role in the coporate social responsibility, more religious greater coporate social resposibility and the opposite of it (Fogel et.al.,n.d.). The religion not only affect the ethics in the humans behavior and attitude, its also affect the ethics in the business such as workpalce. The religion was causes the ethics problems in the workplace. Religion issue was cause the discrimination between the employees religions in the companies. This was causes many unfair problems in the workingplace such as the employees punishment, promote on the jobs, decision making and etc activities at workplace (Gregory Daniel, n.d.). Religion was played important role in the humans life, religion is a system of beliefs and practice for humans to respond their feel. The religion also is a knowledge that justify and control the humans attitude and behavior (Kum Teck, 2010). In conclusion, there are a positive relationship between religion and ethics. Other relevant concepts related to the selected topic Religion can be defined as a set of structured that consist of self-belief, culture and world panorama that link the human being behavior to spirituality and moral values (Geertz, 1973). In history, there are different kinds of reasons to create different religions over time that come with different ways. There is a man we often called prophets who believe that he is the person who can contact with the god. He will start telling the human that he know god and start to gain followers and form the religion. They spread the religions and the moral value written in form of words and at the end it became the value of the religion. Moral values and ethics from religion are widely used by people to apply in their life and workplaces. The workings of the world can be illustrated by religion durin

Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Womens Rights

Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles. Howards End Essay -- Gender Roles, Feminism, Women's Rights Throughout the novel, we are often led to question the gender roles into which the men of Howards End are forced. As the novel is highly feminist, due to the ideas, words, and actions of both the Schlegel sisters, it is merely inevitable that the concept of masculinity should be in the novel as well, for its existence only supplements the feminist themes. However, the pervasiveness of masculinity is multifaceted. We are made aware of Henry’s powerful masculinity, but also of Leonard’s meeker acceptance of manhood not as something taken for granted but as a privilege, a thing to be desired. Coupled with Tibby’s queerness, the range of masculinity portrayed in the novel breaks the mold of stereotype. In this time period, being a man means acting in such a way as to imitate a Wilcox man. This involves essentially running England (albeit perhaps to a lesser degree than the Wilcoxes) while still maintaining one’s gentility. â€Å"If Wilcoxes hadn’t worked and died in England . . . There would be no trains, no ships . . . no fields even. Just savagery† (149). It takes masculinity to essentially run the country, and the Wilcox men have this. They are the ones who have built up society and as such, they are the ideal men to follow in example. A man is allowed to participate in general society much more than a woman–in fact, often he can do whatever he wishes (within basic means) and end up in less trouble than a woman. This is shown clearly when Henry Wilcox is thought just a little bit lesser of when his affair with Jacky is found out, compared to the societal shun that the Schlegels expect once they discover Helen is having a child. Being a man ideally does not mean succumbing to temptation, although Henry, Charles, Leonard, and Pau... ...es gets hay fever, he â€Å"gets quite cross when [Helen] inquires after it† (3). The Wilcoxes are so stagnant in their roles of manliness that they are reluctant to even admit that they could be weak enough to contract an illness. In their eyes, weakness is a characteristic of the female, and certainly not the male. Masculinity is not limited simply to one model in Howards End, that of the Wilcox men, but it is in fact malleable. Although it is not always beneficial (especially in Leonard’s case) to not fit the stereotype, the fact remains that one can still be a man, per se, without having to live up to the stereotype. Indeed, the eccentricity of Forster’s characters allow for the stereotypical male to seem ridiculous and out of place. The novel’s true heroes are those who do not conform (or are not able to conform) and thus break out of their stifling gender roles.

Past, Present, and Future of State University :: Argumentative Essays

Past, Present, and Future of State University The structure and workings of the university are ever changing. The university of the past is not like the university of the present and the university of the present will not be like the university of the future. This â€Å"adaptation† to the times is what can make some universities great or make some universities among the worst in the nation. In the past the university was very set in their ways. They did things the way they wanted them done. They paid no heed to the rest of the society and the way the ones paying the bills wanted them done. In the past the professors would lecture endlessly to the students. This endless lecturing often left the students bored and with no idea what was really said to them in the lecture. This is no way to try and teach students, students need interaction with the professors that are paid to teach them. As Paulo Freire believed there needs to be communication between the students and the professors and the class should not be totally memorization. Freire also believes that when the professors are active and the students are passive there is no learning there is only memorization. This is the way that things were done in the past. All classes were based on memorizing the material with no interaction. When all you do is memorize you do not put the material to use you just remember it for a short time and then you forget it forever. Freire says that when the teachers are rated on how well the student memorize the material, they are just passing the students on ignorance. The university should also teach the process of critical thinking not just how to learn facts. In the present many universities have either changed or are changing the way that they run their university. The universities now are taking on many of the beliefs of the major educational philosophers in order to make changes in the teaching methods. Universities are breaking down many of the divides between majors that they offer. By breaking these barriers the universities are becoming less specialized and more diverse. This goes along with the ideas of Berry.

Miller :: essays research papers

Throughout history people have enjoyed a democracy which basically puts the way that society runs in the hands of the people who live in it. In the essay â€Å"Severing the Human Connection† by H. Bruce Miller there is a valid argument that our society has turned for the worse. In the past our society has expected everyone to behave in a manner which benefits everyone in it, everyone should respect and cherish the freedom and therefore the freedom should stay. But as we all see and experience every day there is a strong fear of detection and punishment which becomes the only deterrent of crime. Pre-paid gas stations, burglar alarms in every house, guards everywhere, anti-shoplifting tags etc. People tend to behave pretty much the way others expect them to behave. And, as stated in the essay, if the prevailing assumption is that people are crooks more and more of them will be crooks. Because our society treats everyone like a criminal our society has become harsh, unfeeling, pa ranoid, and punitive. The human connection has been severed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A society, which assumes its members are honest, tends to be more human and comfortable for the people who live in it. As we drive down the streets of our respected cities we have to worry about certain things like; Is my seatbelt on? Does my license plate show 100%? Am I driving within the five mile per hour cushion of the speed limit? Etc. And as we wonder about all these things we pass cops left and right who are just waiting for someone to mess up or be suspected of DWI or car theft or something even worse. Is it just me or is it annoying to see a selected few criminals who do break the laws ruin it for the rest of us who don’t. Now we have to worry about making small mistakes, which is very uncomfortable to most of us, and sometimes can lead to bigger problems. â€Å"Society can and does execute its own mandates; and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.

Epistemic Opacity

Michelle Freeman 05/24/2012 English 101 Epistemic Opacity Computers, tablets, I-phones, I-pads, cellular phones, e-readers and more are now considered daily necessities as well as pleasure apparatus’ that society relies on exponentially to get through each day. From the time we wake until we lie our heads down at night, society is constantly â€Å"plugged in† to some sort of technological advance. Due to this dependency on these electronic devices, society has succumb to a world of bits and bytes with no real consideration to how these tools work or provide the connection(s) we have come to count on.Sherry Turkle, an Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology states in her essay How Computers Change the Way We Think, â€Å"Some thinkers argue that the new opacity is empowering, enabling anyone to use the most sophisticated technological tools and to experiment with in complex and creativ e ways. But it is also true that our tools carry the message that they are beyond our understanding. It is possible that in daily life, epistemic opacity can lead to passivity† (568).Epistemic opacity is a fancy way of saying that the understanding of how something actually works does not mean that you don’t know how to use or work that same something. Take a lawnmower for example; a person of general intelligence understands that gasoline needs to be put into the engine in order for it to run. That same person understands that depositing of oil is equally important for the engine to maintain lubrication and cooling. A turning of a sharp blade that is powered by the engine is what cuts the grass.Intellectually we understand not only how to use the lawnmower but how the lawnmower actually works. Typically we are not passive in our acceptance of such general day to day use items, such as said lawnmower. Technology however, is different. The intellectual understanding of t echnology and how it actually works does not seem to be a priority for the masses of today. The importance of understanding of personal technologies is key to counteracting this opacity that appears to be more and more prevalent as technological developments continue to progress.By not paying attention to the basic understanding of technology, we are willingly and openly allowing ourselves to be directed and manipulated in a way that removes individual opportunity for growth and understanding where technology is concerned; our development in this arena is left to creators of technology to decide. Intellectual lack and lesser intelligence regarding these tools of technology does not appear to be the consensus opinion among our fellow citizens but rather there is the general thought that we are all part of a growing technological wave that makes us all smarter and more advanced.However, in all actuality, it is more that cognitively people are running the risk of intellectual deficienc y and passivity as Turkle expresses. Turkle states that soon after she joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 70’s, which was coincidentally the end of an era of the slide rule and the beginning of the era of personal computers, she witnessed several senior professors in engineering complaining that the transitions from slide rule (a mechanical analog computer used primarily for multiplication and division) to calculators had affected their students ability to deal with issues of scale (564). The Professors were arguing that when students used slide rules, they had to insert decimal points themselves. They insisted that inserting the points themselves required students to maintain a mental sense of scale, whereas those who relied on calculators made frequent errors in orders of magnitude. Because of this, the students with calculators had lost their ability to do â€Å"back of the envelope† calculations, and with that, an intuitive feel for the material† (564).It is possible that because society accepts at face value the technology that we have come to depend on, that the level of passivity is leading to a reduced intelligence as a whole. Personal experience has led me to witness many people more interested in the brand, make and model of their personal technological items than as to how these items send, receive, record and process information. The general core mechanics of each individual piece of technology should be made common public knowledge.It is not so much that people need to understand the inner workings of every motherboard out there; as it is that we receive a general understanding of how personal technologies work. How does a touchscreen actually operate? How can picture messages float through the air and land inside another phone or make their way to someone’s email inbox? What do we know really about the implication of radiation, if any regarding consistently placing technology aga inst the sides of our heads?I cannot answer these questions and many others because that information is not something readily available to or sought after by the general public. Society accepts openly that these technological items do what they are marketed and sold to do. Through blind acceptance we become susceptible to a possible deprivation of necessary knowledge. It is important to comprehend the effects and/or implications of daily use, in order to facilitate continued intellectual growth that parallels the technological boom.Charles McGrath, writer and editor for the New York Times, touches on epistemic opacity in his essay The Pleasures of the text. McGrath is referring to text-messaging when he states â€Å"text-messaging is â€Å"lateral† rather than â€Å"penetrative,† and the medium encourages blandness and even mindlessness† (474). McGrath suggests that as Americans we use text-messaging with no real consideration or thought. He is referencing a com mon practice among individuals who use text-messaging to convey quick, mindless jargon in an efficient and non-personal way (474).This line of thought connects to opacity in that it shows how text-messaging is just one example of many how society has become so relaxed and comfortable in the use of technology that not only do we not consider how technology works, we have taken it even further and we don’t even truly consider what we put out into the world with our technological devices. Society has become lazy where this is concerned. Turkle supports this idea in her aforementioned essay when she expresses her personal witness to the psychological effects of computational objects in everyday life.She states that passivity regarding technology is becoming more and more apparent in that the â€Å"people who built or bought the first generation of personal computers understood them completely. The next generation of operating systems were more complex, but they still invited tha t old-time reductive understanding†. Turkle states that contemporary information technology encourages different habits of mind. She goes on to say â€Å"today’s college students are already used to taking things at (inter)face value† (568). I witness this daily in my own life every time I see my children access all different types of technology.When I ask them to explain the deeper operation of the technology they are currently using, they cannot do it. They explain it is not important to be able to use the current chosen technology. This attitude causes me concern because I worry that they are becoming a culture that does not ask the deeper questions. They just accept at (inter)face value as Turkle expressed. To grow along with the technological boom and to understand the deeper reasoning behind the operation of said technology will keep minds active and aware.It is important that resignation to acceptance of our technological world does not continue to grow an d expand. We can accomplish this by thinking for ourselves, preparing for our children and teaching future generations they must not blindly accept what is given to them. If they do, opacity and passivity will prevail to the point that we are all walking around filled with intellectual knowledge that has been directly controlled, removing individuality of thought and expression.Technology today is an amazing and powerful thing, at times it might even be considered beautiful. I personally look forward to technological advances and the wonderful happenings that will accompany these events; however, it must not be at the cost of our own personal intellectual development. Opacity and passivity are not conducive to society maintaining an upward intellectual growth regarding technology. Let us grow with and because of, technology.