Band of Angels essays

Band of Angels essays As the title of this novel races through my mind I image a beautiful young girl living a peaceful life. As the story line unfolds the reader is trapped in a world of disbelief and anger. The main character, Amantha Starr, shows the reader that life is not always what it seems to be. On a plantation near Danville, Kentucky, Amantha grew up knowing only the love of her father, Aaron Pendleton Starr. Growing up as a motherless child many would think that she was lost to the world, but her father and Aunt Sukie made sure that she always had whatever her heart desired. Amantha, also called Manty, remembered a scene from her childhood where her father sold a slave. The slave was a dear friend to Manty, and it was hard for the girl to understand why the slave was sold. Her father doesnt like to talk about it and so the child grows up not knowing why. In August of 1852 Amanthas father decides it was time for her to go to school. On the trip they stopped in Cincinnati where Manty meet Miss Idell, her fathers fling at the time. Miss Idell took Manty shopping for new school clothes and such. Manty enjoyed every moment with the lovely woman. Later that week Manty is sent to Oberlin, Ohio where she is to attend school. She stayed with an n older lady called Mrs. Turpin. On the first day of classes Mrs. Turpin, being the godly woman that she was, cut the beautiful ruffles from Manty dress saying that to be beautiful was to be vain. Over the course of several years Manty too came to believe this. On a trip home Manty tried to convice her father to free the slave at Starrwood, the family plantation. He would not do so, saying that even if he did they would have no where to go and he would still have to feed them. Manty feeling hurt returned to school. Some weeks later a letter came saying that Amanthas father had died. She rushed to her fathers graveside. At Amanthas weake ...

Smallpox essays

Smallpox essays The issue regarding whether or not Americans should get the smallpox vaccine has been quite controversial recently with the prospect of a bio-terrorist attack. Although a threat of this nature might be possible in the future, I feel the medical risks that accompany getting the vaccination outweigh a possible threat of an outbreak. Therefore, I dont feel it as a priority to receive vaccination based on several medical studies surrounding the vaccination. Back in 1980, the disease itself was officially declared eradicated, and as a result, smallpox no longer exists outside the laboratory. However, two official stockpiles remain-one at the CDC and one in Siberia. The possibility that anti-American regimes, such as in Iraq, have obtained samples of the virus and have bred it into their weapons stocks is what has many Americans scared of a possible outbreak. Recently, the Bush Administration has proposed the idea of offering vaccination of the disease to all Americans, yet there are quite some risks associated with getting vaccinations, which have led way to extensive controversy over the issue. Several medical studies have discovered that when getting vaccinated, death may occur in rare cases, along with side effects unlike any other vaccine seen on the market. The unique aspect of this particular vaccine is the fact that the virus is live, meaning it can also be transmitted from the open sore caused by the vaccination to other parts of the body, or to other people. In the 1960s, 20 percent of bad reactions occurred not in vaccine recipients but among their household members and close contacts. Back in the 1960s when smallpox vaccination was still routine, the CDC came out with several shocking statistics if the entire population of the US was vaccinated. Based on those CDC statistics, around 300 people would die and another 7000 would accidentally spread the vaccine virus to somewh...

Implementation Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Implementation Plan - Essay Example This paper will present project plan for an information system. The information systems have turned out to be a vital part of every organization or business. Each business wants better handling, resource management and business operational management. The role of business information system is really vital and necessary. Our business is going to implement a web based business and desires to offer its customers a better business working structure. The e-commerce offers extensive business advantages for getting a better competitive edge in the marketplace. The online business structure is going to strengthen our business. The main goals of our business is to expend the business by capturing vast business market, attracting new customers, discovering new business markets, increasing business revenue and establish a better targeted business marketing. The main reason of launching a new business website is to offer the business a better online business platform that can attract customer, offer online sales, less costly marketing and capturing the cus tomers from the whole world. The scope of the business website is to offer our business to avail the new emerging business facility. This new emerging business facility will offer our business a better marketplace standing and attract more customers. This will also support the manual business practice. This new business information system will effectively manage and handle the business transactions and customers record. This section outlines the resources that are critical for the successful development of the website. For each activity, determine what resources will be required (Note: The resources can be staffing, hardware, software, and so on.). Also assign a cost to each of the resources In this web based business support information system development we can face lot of risks. These can be based on the business

Select a notable quote or phrase, which capture your thoughts about Essay

Select a notable quote or phrase, which capture your thoughts about Architecture - Essay Example For building different setups, we require someone who can comprehend our desired ideas and notions and convert them into our dreamt buildings. Jackie Craven (2011) defines architect as â€Å"An architect is a licensed professional who organizes space. Architects design houses, office buildings, skyscrapers, landscapes, and even entire cities†. Therefore, an architect is a person who is a specialist and has gained expertise at designing and construction. He is the one who can help us in constructing the places that inspire us or are part of our dreams. The buildings that we require in our daily lives can be constructed according to our requirements with the support of an architect. We can observe many beautiful and charming buildings at different places in the world such as Taipei 101 of Taiwan, Shanghai World Financial Center of China, Petronas Twin Towers of Malaysia, The Sears Tower of Chicago, Jin Mao Tower of China, Two International Financial Center of China, Shun Hing Sq uare and Burj Khalifa of UAE (Hasan 2008). The mentioned buildings are architectural wonders and are categorized among the world’s tallest buildings. No one can deny the architectural contribution of the designed buildings as without architectural thoughts, designing and construction, such awesome buildings cannot be constructed. Architects change our dreams to reality.

Politics versus need in politics of disaster payments Essay

Politics versus need in politics of disaster payments - Essay Example It also provides funding for rebuilding purposes to the States as well as to offer smaller relief loans at low interest rates to individuals in order to rehabilitate themselves. As a part of its preparedness effort, agency also provides training support to States and other territories in order to increase the overall responsiveness of the States to deal with such catastrophic events on their own. It also offers funds to impart training to the local State employees to better deal with the disasters. The arguments presented by Garrett & Sobel suggest that this funding to the States however have been political motivated. By questioning the public choice model, authors have actually attempted to outline the politics behind the public choices. The arguments indicate that the Congress and Presidential influences are key to the rate of declaration of disasters and subsequent provision of funding to the States. The arguments further suggest that States which are politically more important to the President tend to have higher disaster declaration. Further, the arguments also pointed out stronger correlation with election years and States having Congressional representation on FEMA committee. (Garrett & Sobel, 2003) The above arguments basically indicate the political motives of President and the States to get FEMA funding for the disasters. The overall distribution of FEMA funds therefore is not according to the way public choices should be made. The inability of the bureaus and departments to actually independently and submissiveness to the will of members of Congressional Committees therefore suggest that the overall distribution may not be just and equitable and that the political motives may be significant in making funding decisions. Over the period of time, various criticisms have been raised regarding how the grants and funds are distributed in US. During October 2004, grants were given to five of the most competitive States for

Theories of Health Change Behaviour

Theories of Health Change Behaviour Introduction To understand the processes and causes of change in health related behaviours still represents a challenging process for health professionals (Orleans, 2000). People’s decisions to engage in such behaviours are affected by factors such as attitudes and beliefs and psychosocial variables (i.e. demographic, psychological or cognitive) which impact the decision-making process of planning behaviours. Thus, it is important to understand the interrelationship between these factors and their influences of adopting and maintaining healthy behaviours. Researchers have attempted to understand and predict health behaviour through the lenses of models and theories of behaviour change. Within the framework of a theory, the researchers get to understand what variables are most important and how to measure them, to formulate research questions based on the understanding of the variables, to test hypotheses regarding behaviour change, and lastly to guiding behaviour change interventions throu gh planning, actions, and maintenance of preventative behaviours (Noar Zimmerman, 2005). Theory-based predictors (i.e. cognitive factors) would provide an organized framework that helps understand and predict health behaviour in a systematic manner (Glanz Maddock, 2000). Theories based on processes of cognitions and thoughts are part of the collection of social cognitive models (SCMs) and focuses on influences of social-cognitive characteristics on decision-making processes. The present essay distinguishes two of SCMs, highly used in understanding the adoption and maintenance of healthy behaviours: the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation (CSM-SR; Leventhal, Diefenbach, and Leventhal (1992)). Both theories suggest that the motivation to change behaviour is driven by social-cognitive beliefs/representations of the health threat and the willingness to avoid adverse outcome. Research applying both theories has a rich history describing their uses in a wide range of behaviours including health (TRA: Cooke and French (2008); CSM-SR: Hagger and Orbell (2003)). Further, both models are based on a set of theoretical constructs and have been used to successfully explain and change behaviours. N evertheless, very little research has concerned empirical comparison of the two (Hunter, Grunfeld, Ramirez, 2003; Orbell, Hagger, Brown, Tidy, 2006) and there is still no consensus that one model is more accurate than the other. Aim This essay’s aim was to review two theories of health change behaviour – the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation – with special emphasis on the similarities and differences and the data needed to critically compare and contrast them. Lastly, the aim was to determine which aspects of the frameworks were most successful at predicting and explaining behaviour. What is health behaviour? It is the goal of many researchers to understand the causes, determinants and processes of health behaviour change (Doll Hill, 1964). The most common study looking into the causes of death is the Alameda County Study conducted by Belloc and Breslow in 1972 which identified seven aspects of lifestyle which predicted mortality: smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, sleeping more or less than 8 hours per night, being either underweight or overweight, skipping breakfast, and eating snacks (Belloc Breslow, 1972). A later British study, the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study associated similar behaviours with lower risk of mortality (Khaw et al., 2008). Kasl and Cobb attempted the first definition of health behaviour as â€Å"any activity undertaken by a person believing himself to be healthy for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage† (Kasl Cobb, 1966). Although this definition includes only preventive health behaviours there are other types of behaviours. Ogden (2007) described illness behaviour as a behavioural action aimed to seek treatment and sick behaviour as a behavioural action aimed to get well (p. 13). There are factors such as individual differences, which influence the change of health behaviours and contributed to the prediction of health behaviours (Baum Posluszny, 1999; Sherman Fazio, 1983). The cognitive factors received the most attention because are considered to cause changes in behaviour and because they are modifiable factors in comparison to, for example, personality. The characteristics of social cognitive factors (e.g. knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs) are involved in the process of decision-making and behaviour control (Fiske Taylor, 1991). SCMs focuse on psychological and social factors and how they influence behaviour change, with a focus on the self-regulation processes and how these relate to behaviour (Conner Norman, 2005). These models are used to ensure a positive change in individual’s behaviour (e.g., changing food intake or increased physical activity) through intervention (Anderson-Bill, Winett, Wojcik, 2011). A very known model used to examine individual’s reactions to illness threats is Leventhal’s (1992) the common sense model of self-regulation (CSM-SR). Another theory focused on motivation to perform health-enhancing behaviours by examining aspects of the cognitions to predict health outcomes is the theory of reasoned action (TRA) designed by Fishbein Ajzen (1975). The models mentioned and many other pr ovide a basis for interventions designed to change health-related behaviours through the emphasis of the rationality of human behaviour. Thus, the prediction of behaviour is considered to be the outcome of the intended behaviour based on a rational decision–making process. Overview of commonly used models Theory of Reason Action (TRA) TRA has been used to predicting the likelihood of performing a specific health-related behaviour based on the compatibility and behavioural intention (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen Fishbein, 1980). The model uses cognitive processes of attitudes toward the behaviour (i.e., feeling positive or negative toward the action) and social normative perceptions (i.e., beliefs of significant others about the individual performing the behaviour) to predict intention of a behavioural action through a rational decision-making process. The theory has been used in a wide range of fields such as information technology (Mishra, Akman, Mishra, 2014), software piracy (Aleassa, Pearson, McClurg, 2010), cyberbullying (Doane, Pearson, Kelley, 2014), hazing (Richardson, Wang, Hall, 2012), domestic violence (Sulak, Saxon, Fearon, 2014), but also in health related behaviour such as substance-abuse (Roberto, Shafer, Marmo, 2014), physical activity (Plotnikoff, Costigan, Karunamuni, Lubans, 2013), diet (Middlestadt, 2012), smoking (Lorenzo-Blanco, Bares, Delva, 2012), HIV prevention behaviours (Jemmott, 2012). Description of the model The design of TRA looks at behavioural intentions of an individual in social context, while investigates the relationships between attitudes, intentions and behaviour. Attitudes toward the behaviour are considered to be a comprehensive gathering of evaluations of the behaviour. As a determinant of intentions, attitudes influence people’s perception, thinking and behaviour. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) have proposed that attitudes should be measured at the same specific level as the behaviour. Thus, a high level of specificity in behaviour with regard to action, target, context, and time, will result in a high prediction of outcome behaviour. Individual’s attitudes can be explained through the set of beliefs about an outcome of the behaviour and the evaluations (favourable or unfavourable) of the expected outcome. The relationship between salient beliefs and attitudes is based on the Fishbein’s (1967) model of summative attitudes, which assumes they influence individ ual’s attitude. The research of Van den Putte (1991) and Armitage and Conner (2001) proved a strong link between attitudes and salient behavioural beliefs. Subjective norms are the second determinant of behavioural intention (Ajzen Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein Ajzen, 1975). This factor is the representation of the individual’s perception of the social pressures from significant others (i.e. family, friends, work colleagues, etc.) about whether he/she should perform a specific behaviour. This is quantified as the product of the normative beliefs (i.e., individual’s perceived behavioural expectations of important others regarding the performance of the behaviour) and individual’s motivation to comply. Once more, the research of Van den Putte (1991) and Armitage and Conner (2001) identified strong correlations between subjective norms and normative beliefs. Empirical support The TRA has been applied to the prediction of a wide range of different behaviours, including health-related behaviours, with varying degrees of success. There are a number of narrative reviews (Albarracin, Johnson, Fishbein, Muellerleile, 2001; Blue, 1995; Cooke French, 2008; Godin, Belanger-Gravel, Eccles, Grimshaw, 2008; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, Biddle, 2002; Hausenblas Carron, 1997; Sheeran Taylor, 1999) as well as a quantitative reviews of the TRA focusing on general and specific behaviours (physical activity: (Blue, 1995; Hagger et al., 2002; Hausenblas Carron, 1997); screening program (Cooke French, 2008), healthcare professionals (Godin et al., 2008), condom use: (Albarracin et al., 2001; Sheeran Taylor, 1999); and ). and general reviews: (Sheppard, Jon, Warshaw, 1988); van den Putte (1991)). The model has been tested by Sheppard et al. (1988), who reported multiple correlations between intentions and behaviour, and attitudes and subjective norms and intentions to be 0.53 and respectively 0.66 (k= 87, and k=87). Similar results were found by van den Putte (1991). These early studies results constituted the basis of the predictive validity of the TRA framework. In their reviews, Hausenblas and Carron (1997) found a medium effect size for the relationship of intention and behaviours of 0.47, in 31 studies with a sample size of 10,621. In addition, Albarracin et al. (2001) and Hagger et al. (2002) found the same higher correlation between intention and behaviour (r=0.5). In the most recent review to date, Cooke and French (2008) computed a lower value of r=0.42 in 19 tests of the relationship between intention and behaviour, which is slightly larger than the meta-analytic reports by Godin et al. (2008) (r=0.31, k=15, N=2,112). In conclusion, research provides evidence that there is a considerable consistency between TRA variables and their intention to predict behaviour change. Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation (CSM-SR) Description of the model The CSM-SR integrates environmental factors and individual beliefs about illness around individual’s common-sense representations of health (Leventhal et al., 1992). The framework outline is based on parallel-processing pathways (Leventhal, 1970). The model is based on two constructs of a) cognitive or objective perpetual pathway with its coping mechanisms and appraisal process; and b) affective or subjective pathway which represents the emotional response to the illness representation with its own coping mechanisms and appraisal processes. The cognitive pathway is based on individual’s beliefs or representations of illness threat and comprises five dimensions: identity, timeline, cause, consequences, and cure/control. Moss-Morris et al. (2002) explored the extent to which individuals can evaluate the coherence of illness representations, or how much individuals comprehend their condition. The pathway uses individual’s beliefs to shape the selection of appropriat e coping strategies (i.e. approach or avoidance), which in turn are appraised in a repetitive process over time. The self-regulation process implies selection and monitoring of behaviour aimed at controlling threat conditions and the illness representations are formed through symptoms perception and social messages from exposure to a wide range of social and cultural factors. A similar process takes place with the subjective or emotional pathway in parallel and in association with the cognitive process just described. The representation of illness triggers the activation of emotional responses regarding health-related behaviours. For example, fear is activated when a woman discovers an unusual lump thinking it might be cancer resulting in states of worry and distress. The efforts of controlling the emotional responses are appraised in terms of their success and lead to refinements of the representation of new coping strategies. Empirical support Up to date research provides empirical support for the interrelationship between the constructs of identity, timeline, cause, consequences, cure/control, emotions, and coherence and health outcomes (coping: (Heijmans de Ridder, 1998; Moss-Morris, Petrie, Weinman, 1996; Scharloo et al., 2000) and adherence to professional recommendations (Albert et al., 2014; Nicklas, Dunbar, Wild, 2010)). A series of meta-analyses have now been supported the validity of the CSM-SR framework, including narrative reviews (Hoving, van der Meer, Volkova, Frings-Dresen, 2010; Kucukarslan, 2012; Lobban, Barrowclough, Jones, 2003; Munro, Lewin, Swart, Volmink, 2007) and those focused on specific chronic conditions (diabetes: (Hudson, Bundy, Coventry, Dickens, 2014; Mc Sharry, Moss-Morris, Kendrick, 2011); acute myocardial infarction: (French, Cooper, Weinman, 2006); and mixed chronic diseases: (Hagger Orbell, 2003)). French et al. (2006) in a review of eight studies which predicted attendance at c ardiac rehabilitation interventions following acute myocardial infarction reported the constructs of identity (r=0.13) consequences (r=0.08), and cure/control (r=0.11) to be positively significantly associated with attendance behaviour. In addition, Mc Sharry et al. (2011) located nine cross-sectional studies and four RCTs examining the relationship between illness constructs and the HbA1c, and found a similar result for identity (r=0.14) but higher effect size estimates for consequences (r=0.14). Other significant associations were found for timeline cyclical (r=0.26), concern (r=0.21), and emotions (r=0.18). The most recent meta-analysis conducted by Hudson et al. (2014) included nine cross-sectional studies and found that individuals with high levels of constructs of timeline cyclical (r=0.25, depression; r=0.31, anxiety), consequences (r=0.41, depression; r=0.44, anxiety), and seriousness beliefs (r=0.38, depression) and lower perceptions of personal control (r=-0.27, depression ; r=-0.20, anxiety) are more likely to have poorer emotional health. Lastly, Hagger and Orbell (2003) review (N=45) addressed the validity of the model and the average correlations of illness representation dimensions were significantly positive for identity-consequences (r=0.37, p Comparison and contrasting of the models Research focused on comparing and contrasting theories of health-related behaviour change assesses the utility of those theories to advancing understanding of behaviour change processes. The two theoretical models outlined above show a number of similarities and differences. Several observations can be made in comparing the similarities of the models. First, CSM-SR and TRA are both social cognitive models concerned with how cognitive determinants are influencing each other in the regulation of behaviour and how these are applied to the understanding of health behaviours. Second, some constructs are common to both models, for example both CSM-SR and TRA are interested in how social-cognitive representations of health threat can motivate an individual to comply with his/her recommended treatment to avoid an adverse health outcome. Third, the models are used to analyse the influence of perceived factors external to individual on clinical-related behaviour. Moreover, both models explain behaviour change in terms of modifiable variables and support the importance of symptom attribution (Waller, 2006). Forth, CSM-SR and TRA are based on dynamic causal processes. In the CSM-SR, the individual regulates the interactions representations, coping mechanism and appraisal in an attempt to maintain coherence among them. In the TRA framework, changes in attitudes are influenced by changes in behavioural beliefs which ultimately produces changes in behaviour (Sutton, 2001). Lastly, both theories are used in developing intervention strategies, for example, related to help-seeking behaviour, by targeting modifiable variables (Waller, 2006). In contrasting the TRA and CSM-SR theoretical basis, the CSM-SR proposes that for a better understanding of individual’s behavioural adherence, the researcher needs to make reference to individual’s attitudes toward the threatening condition. In contrast, TRA proposes that the motivation needs to be understood through individual’s attitude toward the action of going to the appointment/ treatment (Orbell et al., 2006). The CSM-SR emphasizes the importance of assessment of the likelihood of adherence through the evaluation of illness beliefs constructs (i.e. identity, timeline, cause, consequences, and cure/control), while in the TRA model only a single attitude is used to evaluate outcomes. Another distinctive contrast between the two models lies within the constructs of the framework. While the CSM-SR takes account of the impact of emotional variables, the TRA is almost entirely rational and does not account for emotional factors. Another aspect is that CSM-SR do es not take account of the social influences that might shape illness beliefs or decision-making process, which is assessed by the TRA framework through subjective norms factor. The models also differ in the way they are applied in research literature. The cognitive and emotional constructs of CSM-RS were designed specifically for understanding illness perception and adherence. (Leventhal et al., 1992). By contrast, TRA was designed to predict volitional behaviours, thus it can be applied to various behaviours, for example information technology (Mishra et al., 2014), software piracy (Aleassa et al., 2010), cyberbullying (Doane et al., 2014), hazing (Richardson et al., 2012), and domestic violence (Sulak et al., 2014). Looking at the differences in measuring the components of the models, CSM-SR uses a well-validated set of constructs developed by Weinman and colleagues (Weinman, Petrie, Moss-morris, Horne, 1996). In contrast, the TRA models do not have a method per sei to measure its constructs. Thus, Ajzen Fishbein (1980) provides an extensive details of the constructs for research to develop theory own measures. In conclusion, the TRA and CSM-SR are both social cognitive model and their design is based on interpretation of cognitive factors in relation to behaviour change and each of them have their own weaknesses and strengths. Their contribution is significant and productive in the research literature because researchers can explore and test the theories to increases the understanding of health-related behaviours and help in the development of behaviour change interventions.

The Florence Baptistery :: essays research papers fc

People often try to imitate a finished product if it has become popular. When this is done after several years it is considered a revival. Usually the artist or patron has a purpose such as modeling after a powerful culture or religious significance. They may slightly change or mix other styles to make the best of past and present. In Florence Italy there stands a baptistery. It resides west of the Florence Cathedral, which was modeled after the baptistery. The Cathedral began in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio. Although the two resemble each other, they are considered to be from two different styles. The Baptistery of S. Giovanni is categorized as Romanesque while the cathedral is considered Gothic. The exterior of the cathedral doesn't appear to be Gothic, it's the interior that is. The baptistery possesses an octagonal structure with an extension to the west. This extension was originally an apse. There are doors to the north, south, and east sides. All of the doors are decorated with beautiful sculptures. The first doors were done by Andrea Pisano and set the standards for the next to come. The second set, the first done by Lorenzo Ghiberti, were originally hung on the east end, but were soon moved to the north side to make room for the final set. These final doors, by Ghiberti, have earned the name 'Gates of Par adise.'; The name S. Giovanni was given to the baptistery because of the remains of Piazza S Giovanni found beneath the floor in a medieval cemetery. Historians have argued the baptistery's date for a few hundred years and it is still completely unsure what is it. The first recorded documentation of the baptistery's existence was March 4th, 897. Many have come to agree that the original constructed was during the 6th and 7th centuries and much of the restoration happened around 1059. Through the years nature's forces have taken their toll upon the San Giovanni. Several restorations have been made to the exterior and the interior since the 10th century. The most drastic change done would have to be the exterior marble. Around 1293 the corner pilasters were reconstructed with alternating slabs of green and white marble. This technique wasn't ever seen in the Florentine school and was assumed to have originated in Pisa. The use of alternating marbles and the arcade sills wrap around th e entire building. It gives a sense flowing continuity.