Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in Essay

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in contemporary American life - Essay Example Technological innovations have deeply impacted the life of the people all over the world, and it has proved to be the single important factor in â€Å"uniting† the world. Even though â€Å"the world is one family,† is the often-repeated slogan, technology and internet revolution have achieved that goal to a great extent in their areas of influence without ever pronouncing it, and without any supporting propaganda. Weaponry and strategies play a prominent role during wartime, and propaganda has even bigger influence. Misinformation to misguide the enemy contributes in a major way to confuse the enemy. A misinformed enemy is the greatest asset to gain advantage in war-situations. Being in Britain, George Orwell watches from close range how the operations in theaters of Second World War are conducted by the powers that have major stakes in the outcome of the war. The broadcasts of BBC are greatly influenced by the dictates of the Government for its overseas propaganda. Per verse double talk is the order of the time. Orwell’s model for the lying Ministry of Truth in his book 1984 is the British wartime Ministry of Information that censors BBC broadcasts. Politicians alone cannot be blamed for the grave societal ills that are always there. Democracy is not choosing one of the two evils (political parties) once in 4-5 years. It is about active participation of the people and their willingness to protest against the smallest deviations relating to the democratic norms in any area concerning the Republic. Life for an average citizen has mostly been the same under all systems at any given time during the course of history—that is, BAD! 1984 and the conditions prevailing in America at present corroborate this fact. The people have got to be ever vigilant and keep themselves in readiness to fight for their rights. 1984 The common man, an ordinary citizen, always receives the first blow and suffers and therefore, he has to remain ever vigilant an d guard his individual freedom and other democratic rights. George Orwell is a revisionist. Officially sponsored atrocity and hate propaganda are not to his liking. History is not imagination; it needs to be subject to free and impartial enquiry and that is possible under the conditions of freedom of speech and writing. Every era has serious issues to deal with, or the issues are made serious by the rulers of the time. As for the political game, one important observation holds good for all the time, past present and future. The â€Å"Powerful Chairs† (politicians and bureaucrats) wish to maintain their hold on â€Å"Chair- less Powers† (the common citizens) for self-aggrandizement. In the present context, they extensively use the economic weapon called corruption. Take the issue of drug culture. Drugs in any form are illegal and they are confiscated and destroyed; besides the involved individuals are arrested and severe punishment follows, upon indictment. In this area , the Government is not willing to accept any new ideas and the drugs are banned outright. Banned in paper, and yet the industry thrives, due to corrupt practices at the implementation level. After the 9/11 incident, the life of the section of citizens and immigrants has been put under legal microscopic examination. The curbs are more or less similar to the ones in vogue as described in the book

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Are Computers Making People Dependent On Technology?

Are Computers Making People Dependent On Technology? Technology comes in many forms and no aspect of our lives is untouched by some form of technology or another. Technology is defined as the practical application of science to commerce or industry. Technological development into present day has been meteoric to say the least. With the advancements of nearly every aspect of human life having some tie with technology, one might start to see a synergistic relationship between humans and technology. However, while some would believe this relationship has been beneficial for us, we believe there have been detrimental effects from our growing dependence on technology. Technology is changing our culture in such a way that we may be expected to be available and online at anytime of the day or night. The technologies that started out to provide assistance in completing our daily tasks have now become a vital part of survival. This paper argues that humans have formed a detrimental symbiotic relationship with technology in its many forms. This paper will investigate the changes that technology has affected, and show that we are becoming less dependent on ourselves and more detrimentally dependent on our technological accomplishments. The way society does business and commerce is very dependent on the reliability on technology and thus, technology failures will cause markets to stop and bring the whole economy to a halt. Vital banking transactions and services may stop and cause wastage in human resources and time. For example, even though the exact reason is still disputed, London Stock Exchange (LSE) had to stop trading on the 8th September 2008. The two main reasons were due to the network software issues that link data from many programs as explained by LSE while the other was due to buggy software upgrade as speculated by external professionals. This had left traders unable to conduct any business which intriguingly could have been one of the best days for markets around the world after a bail out of two large United States mortgage lenders. Reliability of technology cannot be guaranteed at all times. Technology crashes can also cause big companies to lose billions of dollars. An example event known as the Flash Crash (Nanex) on 6th May 2010 illustrates this point. Just hours before the market closed, the market plunged drastically by an average of 5.7% causing major markets around the world to go into a state of panic anticipating an imminent European financial crisis and caused great loses to companies. An investigation was done by Nanex (Nanex) stating that the crash may be due to a software design flaw in time-stamping procedures that accumulated to become a problem. Backlogged requests caused a long queue in the computer server and produced non consistent results to the requester. This further evidenced that such a dependency on technology is detrimental to the society as sudden reliability issues can create chaos all around the world or even cripple an economy. Research shows that people consume 12 hours of media a day, on average, and compared to just five hours in 1960. Rising income in the developed world has led to an increase number of peoples ability to afford personal computers, and connecting them to the World Wide Web (WWW). Rising incidences of internet addiction in one of the worlds largest growing economies, China, illustrates our point. Of the greater than 300 million internet users in China, there are over 40 million who play online games (Sheridan). That makes over 40 million young, impressionable youngsters in China online daily, playing games, mingling in chat rooms, replacing their reality with an online substitute. Communication and socializing becomes something which can be replaced by actions online. One can imagine how suggestible adolescents can find a life online to be appealing. Common adolescent angst from the real world can be replaced by a life online. Addiction is a term describing a physical or physiological de pendence on something habit forming. One may argue that this addiction, to computers in this case, may simply be a phase. However, it can be seen as a serious condition when one considers the fact that centres for dealing with this type of addiction are springing up, some of which are a sub-facility under centres that treat addictions which have long been accepted as severe, such as drugs and alcohol. If the treatment for this is similar to other addictions which are widely accepted as bad, why is this phenomenon not receiving as much attention? Multitasking is a skill often prized in todays fast paced society. However, studies have shown that our brain on computers operate differently from a natural brain. The attention of the present generation is often split between multiple information sources, and it seems vital to be able to be able to manage them all, be they instant messaging (IM), checking e-mails, reading the news, taking phone calls, and so forth. However, some scientists say that these short bursts of information, leading our attentions in many directions, are changing the way we think and operate. Research shows that people who are heavy multitaskers have problems focusing and selecting relevant information. Researchers claim that after prolonged exposure to this kind of operation, the brain is re-wired and the problems associated with multitasking, such as lack of focus are then carried into the natural state of the brain. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Ophira, Nass , and Wagner), a group of over 250 students were surveyed to study the effects of multitasking. The results clearly illustrated our point; that the lightest multitaskers were able to perform better than the heavy multitaskers in simple psychological tests. The tests highlighted the fact that multitaskers were less able to filter out unrelated information. Furthermore, other tests conducted showed that the heavy multitaskers continuously sought new information, instead of using older, more valuable information. Our reliance on technology has dramatically improved communication, making it more robust, efficient and informative. In the current times, the ease of communication has allowed vast amount of data and information to be transmitted all over world instantly. For example, soldiers fighting the war in the Middle East are able to call using Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol and webcam technology to communicate with family members. This has allowed families to be assured that their loved ones are safe especially when news of casualty can be broadcasted within minutes, 24 hours a day. However, with the current efficiency of instant messaging and social networking, more and more people are becoming overly dependent up to the point of addiction. Issues have been raised over employees spending up to 40 minutes per week on social networking sites during working hours, costing employers an estimated US$2.25 billion. The loss in productivity arises not only from the direct loss in the hours working but also from the reduced productivity of employees from social networking sites becoming an additional distraction. On the other hand, social networking sites are also becoming excellent resources for human resource manager as it offers revealing information of potential and current employees social activity. Furthermore, it has been linked to another issue of society becoming dependent on social networking and posting potentially sensitive personal information such as where one is at or what one is doing. The dependence on technology for communication in the society has also meant that humans are increasingly communicating through a device; which reduced human to human first hand interaction. The decrease of interpersonal interaction in turn reduces ones interpersonal skill which is one of the most basic and fundamental way of communication (Wheeler). Interpersonal communication cannot replace communication through emails, text messages and calls as 55% of the communication is conveyed through body language. Eye contact, gestures and facial expressions and the use of tone and inflections in voice communication are often lost through modern communication technology resulting in less expressive communication or miscommunication. In conclusion, we believe that we have presented facts which support our argument that we have grown detrimentally dependent on technology. We have explored the many facets of technological development which are firmly embedded in most aspects of modern life, and we have strived to analyze how the effects of these developments are detrimental on society. We maintain that the ramifications of our reliance on new medicine, social media, and technology in education, commerce and communication are a disservice to society. While we think that these bindings are detrimental, we do not support a complete disconnection from them. We conclude with the fact that while there are indeed benefits to be had from these advancements, but we, as a society should learn to harness the useful ones, instead of allowing them all to run our lives.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Optional Helmet Law Is a Disaster for Pennsylvania Essay -- Argumentat

Optional Helmet Law Is a Disaster for Pennsylvania 1. September 4, 2003 was a sad day for Pennsylvanians. Governor Rendell signed the new motorcycle helmet law into effect, sentencing riders to death and increasing the tax burden caused by this new law. Pennsylvania is the 31st state to repeal its all-rider helmet law (Berenson 2). The new law states â€Å"no helmet is required for a person 21 years of age or older who has been licensed to operate a motorcycle for not less than 2 full calender [sic] years or has completed a motorcycle rider safety course approved by the Department of Transportation or the Motorcycle Safety Foundation† (Lobel 3). This new helmet law has increased accident fatalities and the burden on taxpayers. 2. Motorcycle fatality rates due to riding without a helmet are quickly rising. Nationally, motorcycle fatalities have increased 59 percent since 1997 (Motorcycle 1). Between September and December of 2003 in Pennsylvania, helmetless rider fatalities more than doubled, but fatalities decreased in riders wearing helmets (Wlazelek 1). Similarly, research done by the American Journal of Public Health found that motorcycle helmets severely reduce the presence and severity of head injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents (Rowland 4). Obviously, there is strong correlation between helmet use and the number of fatal crashes. The research done across Pennsylvania in the years following the repeal of the all-rider helmet law suggests that helmets do in fact decrease the risk of serious head injuries and death among motorcyclists. According to Judith Stone, increased deaths were enough for Louisiana to reject helmetless riding and revert back to an all-rider helmet law. Louisiana saw a 100 per... ...aw Repeal Concerns Region’s Hospitals. 17 June 2003. 4 October 2004. . Rowland, Jefferson, Frederick Rivara, Phillip Salzberg, and Robert Soderberg. â€Å"Motorcycle helmet use and injury outcome and hospitalization costs from crashes in Washington State.† American Journal of Public Health 86.1 (1996): 41-42. Proquest (general). Penn Coll. Lib., Williamsport. 4 October 2004. . Stone, Judith Lee. Special Commendation to Louisiana Legislature and Governor Blanco For Reinstatement of Lifesaving All-rider Helmet Law. 18 June 2004. 4 October 2004. . Wlazelek, Ann, and John L. Micek. Optional helmet law effect unknown. 30 August 2004. 29 September 2004. .

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Concept Map Tuberculosis

Schiffman, George. (07, 2011). Tuberculosis. Retrieved from http://www. medicinenet. com/tuberculosis/page4. htm Tuberculosis. (01, 2013). Retrieved from http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/tuberculosis/DS00372/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs Vyas, Jatin M. (11, 2012). Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001141/ Schiffman, George. (07, 2011).Tuberculosis. Retrieved from http://www. medicinenet. com/tuberculosis/page4. htm Tuberculosis. (01, 2013). Retrieved from http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/tuberculosis/DS00372/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs Vyas, Jatin M. (11, 2012). Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001141/ IMPLEMENTATION -Assess respiratory rate every 10-15 minutes Continuously note chest movement and use of accessory muscles during respiration -Auscultate breath sounds and note any areas with adventitious sounds, especially wet crackles -Document any respiratory secretions such as sputum: amount, character, and consistency -Keep patient in high Fowler’s position to allow optimum breathing -Check for obstructions or accumulation of sputum -Ask patient level of discomfort/pain on a scale of 1-10 -Record medication administrations and if therapeutic effects are occurring -Describe procedures and treatment expectations Encourage patient to follow drug regimens IMPLEMENTATION -Assess respiratory rate every 10-15 minutes -Continuously note chest movement and use of accessory muscles during respiration -Auscultate breath sounds and note any areas with adventitious sounds, especially wet crackles -Document any respiratory secretions such as sputum: amount, character, and consistency -Keep patient in high Fowler’s position to allow optimum breathing -Check for obstructions or accumulation of sputum -Ask patient level of discomfort/pain on a scale of 1-10 Record medication administrations and if therapeutic effects are occurring -Describe procedur es and treatment expectations -Encourage patient to follow drug regimens PLANNING -Goals include treating any abnormal results such as dyspnea, abnormal breath sounds, irritability, and reducing or eliminating sputum levels -Give patient therapeutic effects regarding abnormalities found with little or no side effects -Help patient in making lifestyle changes that include making a safer work and home environment and getting the people who have the most contact with the patient treatment PLANNING Goals include treating any abnormal results such as dyspnea, abnormal breath sounds, irritability, and reducing or eliminating sputum levels -Give patient therapeutic effects regarding abnormalities found with little or no side effects -Help patient in making lifestyle changes that include making a safer work and home environment and getting the people who have the most contact with the patient treatment TUBERCULOSIS TUBERCULOSIS DIAGNOSIS Ineffective airway clearance related to poor cough ef fort as evidenced by abnormal breath sounds and dyspnea -Risk for infection related to settled secretions as evidenced by wet adventitious lung sounds such as crackles, and excessive sputum -Deficient knowledge related to condition, treatment plan, self-care and discharge needs as evidenced by questions/requests for information, statements about the problem, and the development of preventable complications DIAGNOSIS -Ineffective airway clearance related to poor cough effort as evidenced by abnormal breath sounds and dyspnea -Risk for infection related to settled ecretions as evidenced by wet adventitious lung sounds such as crackles, and excessive sputum -Deficient knowledge related to condition, treatment plan, self-care and discharge needs as evidenced by questions/requests for information, statements about the problem, and the development of preventable complications ASSESSMENT -Check for vitals; check for abnormal breath sounds, especially for wet crackles on inspiration -Assess for dyspnea, if using accessory muscles for respirations, or if the pt has elevated shoulders -Assess level, color, and consistency of any sputum Check for restlessness, irritability, or anxiousness -Report history of the patient, any existing illnesses such as pneumonia, cancer, family hx, workplace, home life, and lifestyle ASSESSMENT -Check for vitals; check for abnormal breath sounds, especially for wet crackles on inspiration -Assess for dyspnea, if using accessory muscles for respirations, or if the pt has elevated shoulders -Assess level, color, and consistency of any sputum -Check for restlessness, irritability, or anxiousness Report history of the patient, any existing illnesses such as pneumonia, cancer, family hx, workplace, home life, and lifestyle NURSING PROCESS NURSING PROCESS EVALUATION -Assess if medication and procedures are performing therapeutic effects -Check for levels of discomfort/pain on a scale of 1-10, make sure vitals and lab results are within normal ra nges -Check if patient’s secretion amount diminished or stopped -Assess if patient’s restlessness and irritability was alleviated -Check if patient is continuously taking prescribed medications to prevent spread of disease EVALUATION Assess if medication and procedures are performing therapeutic effects -Check for levels of discomfort/pain on a scale of 1-10, make sure vitals and lab results are within normal ranges -Check if patient’s secretion amount diminished or stopped -Assess if patient’s restlessness and irritability was alleviated -Check if patient is continuously taking prescribed medications to prevent spread of disease ETIOLOGY -Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. uberculosis) by breathing in air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person, resulting in primary TB -Risk factors include those who life with others who have active TB, poor or homeless people, elderly, infants, nursing home residents, prison inmates, alc oholics, IV drug users, those with malnutrition, working in health care, workers in refugee camps -Factors that elevate chances include diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, chemotherapy, and certain types of drugs ETIOLOGY Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) by breathing in air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person, resulting in primary TB -Risk factors include those who life with others who have active TB, poor or homeless people, elderly, infants, nursing home residents, prison inmates, alcoholics, IV drug users, those with malnutrition, working in health care, workers in refugee camps -Factors that elevate chances include diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, chemotherapy, and certain types of drugsPATHOGENESIS -Droplets of fluid containing tubercle bacilli are released into the air and are taken into the nasal passages and lungs of a susceptible person nearby -Once inhaled, tubercle bacilli reach alveoli where macrophages take them up; ba cilli then multiply and spread through lymph vessels into the lymph nodes and finally to distant organs; can remain ‘alive’ or become ‘inactive’ -Immune system responds which causes damage to the tissues; cells attack the bacilli, thus killing the infectionPATHOGENESIS -Droplets of fluid containing tubercle bacilli are released into the air and are taken into the nasal passages and lungs of a susceptible person nearby -Once inhaled, tubercle bacilli reach alveoli where macrophages take them up; bacilli then multiply and spread through lymph vessels into the lymph nodes and finally to distant organs; can remain ‘alive’ or become ‘inactive’ -Immune system responds which causes damage to the tissues; cells attack the bacilli, thus killing the infectionSIGNS/SYMPTOMS -Common symptoms include unintentional weight loss, fatigue, fever, night sweats, chills, loss of appetite -Cough persisting three weeks or more, coughing up blood or sput um, or chest pain when breathing or coughing -If spread, TB of the spine leads to back pain and TB of the kidneys cause blood in the urine SIGNS/SYMPTOMS Common symptoms include unintentional weight loss, fatigue, fever, night sweats, chills, loss of appetite -Cough persisting three weeks or more, coughing up blood or sputum, or chest pain when breathing or coughing -If spread, TB of the spine leads to back pain and TB of the kidneys cause blood in the urine COMPLICATIONS -Medicines for TB can cause side effects such as liver problems, changes in vision, orange/brown colored tears or urine, rash -TB of the bones: joint destruction -TB of the brain: meningitis; swelling TB of liver or kidneys: impaired filtering of waste -TB of the heart: inflammation; fluid collections; impaired pumping abilities; cardiac tamponade COMPLICATIONS -Medicines for TB can cause side effects such as liver problems, changes in vision, orange/brown colored tears or urine, rash -TB of the bones: joint destru ction -TB of the brain: meningitis; swelling -TB of liver or kidneys: impaired filtering of waste -TB of the heart: inflammation; fluid collections; impaired pumping abilities; cardiac tamponade TREATMENT/MANAGEMENT Patient recommended to stay in isolation and on bed rest until no longer contagious -Inactive TB: antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is prescribed for six to twelve months; not prescribed to pregnant women; can cause liver damage and peripheral neuropathy -Active TB: INH is also prescribed along with rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide; may also receive streptomycin; may be taken from months to years -Drug resistant TB: everything with active TB with several other drugs; longer treatment; may require surgery to remove damaged lung tissue TREATMENT/MANAGEMENT Patient recommended to stay in isolation and on bed rest until no longer contagious -Inactive TB: antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is prescribed for six to twelve months; not prescribed to pregnant women; can cause li ver damage and peripheral neuropathy -Active TB: INH is also prescribed along with rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide; may also receive streptomycin; may be taken from months to years -Drug resistant TB: everything with active TB with several other drugs; longer treatment; may require surgery to remove damaged lung tissue

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Attitudes Toward Life

Attitude Toward Life I have always heard it said that people are the same under the skin, and in many ways it's true. People have similar impulses, hopes, and dream. However, people vary widely in their attitudes toward life. A person with a negative attitude puts a pessimistic twist on life even when good things happen. If she has a front-row center seat at the concert, she complain the her neck hurts from sitting so close or that the music is too loud. if he has a new job, he complains that the hours are too long and the benefits inadequate. When I congratulated my friend tim on his new job, his response was typically negative. It's okay, I guess. † he said,†but the money and the chance for advancement aren't that great. I'm just binding my time until some thing else comes along. â€Å"negative people can turn even good fortune into bad luck. A positive person, on the other hand, can find the good in almost anything. my coworker mario always says, â€Å"Something good is going to happen today. â€Å"At first, I thought Mario's good cheer was just a false front. But I have worked with him for a wile now and I have begun to see that there is nothing fake about his optimism . He really does look for good things to happen, and he sees failure as an incentive to work harder.Any doubt I had about Mario's attitude evaporated when he confided that his wife has cancer . â€Å"It's made me realize what's important in my life, â€Å"He said, â€Å"and its made me closer to her than ever before. † Even tragedy has its positive side to a positive person like mario. The person with a wait-and-see attitude withholds judgment on everything. if you ask him how he is today, he may cautiously reply, â€Å"So far, so good. † he sees no point in committing himself when unexpected disaster or great good fortune may befall him at any time. My elderly neighbor is a classic example of the wait-and-see person. he last time I saw her, I asked about her ch ildren and grandchildren. she told me that her daughter and son-in-law had just celebrating their Twenty-fifth anniversary. When I commented on how long their marriage had lasted, my neighbor shrugged. Yes, I quasi its a good marriage, she said. â€Å"Time will tell. † Attitude toward life shape the way we see the weld. S negative perso finds the bad in everything, while a positive person looks for good. and the person with a wait-and-see attitude, like someone watching a play, sits back and wait for the next act to unfold.