Chemistry Investigation to find the Empirical Formula of Magnesium Oxide Essay

During the experiment the crucible used was slightly damaged however did not continue to break or cause any inconvenience to the investigation. For approximately ten minutes, no reaction was visible. The substance contained no odour. After approximately fifteen minutes the piece of magnesium commenced to burn with an overall duration of twenty minutes. When burnt, the magnesium converted to bright orange colour. During the reaction the lid of the crucible was lifted to see any changes or if the magnesium had combusted, and whilst doing this white smoke escaped the crucible which may perhaps be magnesium oxide. By the completion of the reaction, it was noticed that not all of the magnesium was combusted and left some silvery remnants. *Missing numbers are due to incomplete number of trials by the groups and/or the results lacked in validity Data Processing From the data collected from the reaction of magnesium (mg) with oxygen was used to calculate the empirical formulae and to obtain the uncertainties. The tables are arranged in a chronological order of the process of data. With the process of data will produce the empirical formulae which will be used to compare with a theoretical value. A graph is included to assist in the comparison of the theoretical empirical formulae to the experimented empirical formulae in a visual format. Sample Calculations To acquire the data required to evaluate the empirical formulae, the mass and moles of Mg, O and MgO were required to be calculated first. Once that is completed, there would be enough information to then calculate the empirical formulae to then compare it to the theoretical value. Table 2 – Sample calculation when finding the mass and mole of the magnesium, oxygen and magnesium oxide (g), percentage uncertainty and empirical formulae. Conclusion and Justification The hypothesis of this investigation was that the mass of magnesium after combustion could be used to calculate the empirical formula of magnesium oxide and it has been established that the hypothesis is supported. Throughout the processing of data many results were removed die to the lack of validity. Thus, the data collected provided inaccurate results. When represented in Graph 1 the result did not was not equivalent to the theoretical ratio of 1 : 1. Nevertheless, when displayed in Table 6 the average ratio was 1 : 1 matching the theoretical of 1 : 1 which supports the hypothesis. Evaluation of Data In Graph 1, it was noticed that there were many random errors with the experiment. Such as, the constant opening of the lid when checking for the combustion during the investigation would have caused temperature changes thus, slower the combustion of the Mg. As displayed at the bottom of each table, many of the collected data were disposed as they were not valid. With many of the data remove the number of trials decreased along with the reliability. The precision of the data can be shown by the R2 on Graph 1. The R2 value represents the decent fit to which the range from 0.1 to 1. In this investigation, the R2 value is 0.0351 which indicates that the data was not accurate which in turn reveals that there was perhaps lack of precision. Which again adds the inaccuracy of the data that does not agree with the theoretical value of 1 : 1 to be imprecise. Overall, this investigation has provided data that is neither precise nor reliable due to the trials completed by group of researchers. Also, the empirical formula may have been affected by the rounding of three decimal places. However, the rounding of the decimal places may not significantly affect the reliability of the experiment. Suggestion for Improvements At the beginning of the experiment, the Bunsen burner was not under the crucible and We had to move the Bunsen burner directly under the crucible. Because of this it may have affected how much heat interacts with the magnesium. In a replication of this investigation it is advised that the Bunsen burner is to be placed directly under the crucible. This should also be written in the method. A Major error in the experiment was that many of the trials within the raw data were removed do to the lack of validity. These were generally due to the miss interpretation of mass or the mass had not been recorded. Because these errors came from having too many researchers doing each trial, perhaps having a smaller group of researcher will able to generate reliable results by reducing the random errors. The method required the lid to be lifted up quickly .However, due to infor a while the lifted was lifted up and not placed down until after a few moments and the heat or magnesium oxide could have escaped from therefore affecting the results. And so, if this repeated the lifting of the lid should be constantly and quickly. Or, utilise a transparent crucible that allows the observation of the Mg but still containing the MgO. The window was open during the experiment which caused the loss of MgO due to the strength of the wind. To minimise the loss of MgO it would be recommended for the experiment to be conducted within a fume cupboard so that no wind could increase the loss of MgO when opening the lid or as stated before a transparent crucible would allow the observation of the Mg without the need to open the lid of the crucible.

Barn Burning by William Faulkner Essay

The theme of Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† is the inner conflict a person feels between one’s innate moral beliefs and one’s loyalty to his or her family. This theme can be extended to any institution which encourages or demands actions of an individual that conflict with a person’s moral beliefs; for example the story could apply to an individual whose employer demands he or she do some immoral or illegal in one’s job. Faulkner wrote this story in the third person. The narrator has limited knowledge, knowing Sarty’s, the main characters thoughts, but not the thoughts of others. The Rural South and an unspecified amount of time after the Civil War provide the settee for the story. Faulkner made extensive use of metaphor in the story. He writes about a clock that no longer runs but has been stuck at 2:14 for years. This is an indication that although Sarty has hopes that his father will change, there is no change in the family’s life and his father will remain the same. They will continue to move frequently and his father will always find an excuse to burn barns. Sarty compares the size of the large pure white house where the de Spains live with a courthouse. This represents Sarty’s belief in justice and truth. This is in sharp contrast to both the unpainted, small house occupied by Sarty’s family and the stiff black coat Abner Sarty wears. The black color is the opposite of the white that represents justice and truth. The coat is stiff suggesting that Abner resistant to change, reinforcing the metaphor provided by the nonworking clock. By having the main character, Sarty, leave his family at the end of the story, Faulkner appears to believe that obeying one’s conscience is more important than loyalty to one’s family, employer, country, or other entity. Faulkner’s use of imagery and the timeless theme of â€Å"Barn Burning† provide a story that is and should be read by people everywhere.

Civil Engineering- Retaining walls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Civil Engineering- Retaining walls - Essay Example This force translates into moment by multiplying it by the moment distance, M of each section (Craig 166). M is the distance from the ‘toe’ of the wall to the centre of gravity of each section. Centre of mass acts at â…” of distance from the apex to base or â…“ of distance from the base to apex, for triangular sections. Centre of mass acts at the centre of section, for rectangular sections. Summation of the individual sections’ resisting moments gives the overall resisting moment. The force, Pa, acts at a distance â…“ H since the effective pressure region is triangular. The resulting moment is Pa multiplied by â…“ H. the factor of safety Fsot is the ratio of moment due to resistance to the moment due to net active thrust. The sliding resistance is the ratio of (the reaction force of the wall multiplied by the coefficient of sliding, 0.44) to the driving force offered by the soil to the wall (Craig 189). The reaction of the wall is the summation of the wall’s section forces, in his case 23.3 k. In question 2, the angle Ï• is 26o, and c is still zero; therefore, the wall exerts a triangular pressure distribution region. Given both the active and passive pressure co-efficient, Ka and Kp respectively, calculate Pa and Pp. The passive pressure is due to the resistance of soil to lateral forces. Ka and consequently, Pa are calculated as in problem 1 while Kp = [(1+ sin Ï•)/ (1 - sin Ï•)]. Pp = Â ½KpÃŽ ³ H2– 2c (√Ka) (H) but this reduces to Pp = Â ½KaÃŽ ³ H2 since c is zero (Craig 166). The factor of safety, Fsot, as in problem one is the ratio of the summation of resistance moment by the wall to moments due to active thrust of the soil. The factor of safety due to sliding limit is the summation of wall section’s reaction force multiplied by sliding coefficient, 0.45 divided by the thrust force of the soil to the

Hip-Hop as an Integral Part of African- American Culture Essay

Hip-Hop as an Integral Part of African- American Culture - Essay Example There is a wide range of African-American music for instance gospel, jazz, blues, soul and hip-hop. However, hip-hop is the most important music genre that has greatly influenced the culture and identity of the African American people. To the African American people, hip-hop is encompasses more than music to include other components such as language, clothing and way of life. African Americans use hip-hop to express black culture and identity in society. To the African American community, hip-hop is part of the black identity and culture.Hip-Hop originated in the African-American community in the late 1970s as a form of music as well as an artistic culture in New York City. The late 1970’s was an important time in the history of the African American people as it marked a period when both the black middle and working classes were struggling to move out of poverty. Hip-Hop originated from other traditional forms of African American music such as jazz, soul and gospel. It was cre ated by African Americans like Herc who was working and had the ability to create a form of music and culture that expressed and shaped the culture of black people in New York City in the 1970s. However, since the development of hip-hop culture the society associated hip-hop with negative messages from the American urban streets such as drugs, violence and crime. Hip-hops representation in the media and the society is contrary to the original purpose that was to offer black people a forum to express personal feelings in an artistic and rhythmic manner (Reese par. 5).The different elements of hip-hop culture provide avenues and creative outlets through which African American people can practice and express the black culture. Most people use hip-hop to express their political and emotional feelings to the rest of the world.  

Learning Theories and Role of Memory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Learning Theories and Role of Memory - Essay Example The six principal types of learning theories include behaviorism, cognitive theory, social learning theory, social constructivism, multiple intelligence theory and brain based learning. In the paper, the main focus has been on explaining the cognitive and behavioural theories. Along with this, there is comparison and contrast made between the two selected theories. Memory plays a pivotal role in making decisions since an individual is required to make a choice from the available alternatives. Marketers have to understand that memory has a significant role in the decision making process of the consumers. Marketing ploys are the skilled tactics which are used by marketers to raise awareness among the customers and also drive in more purchases of products and services for the company. It is generally a marketing trick which is used for attracting customers. The customers make use of memory to get information and clearly understand the marketing ploys and respond in an intelligent manner by opting for the best products. For explaining the concepts in an effective manner, examples have been used in the paper. Cognitive Learning Theory The basic focus underlying theory of cognitive learning explains the importance of brain as an incredible network for processing of information and interpretation of what people learn. It is the theory of learning that helps in explaining the behavior of people by understanding their thought processes (Leonard, 2002). The underlying assumptions provide that humans are logical and rational beings that make such decisions and choices that are rational according to them. The cognitive theory is categorized as social cognitive theory and cognitive behavioural theory. Cognitive behavioural theory is focused on the negative thoughts and behavior that is connected to a specific object, and these negative thoughts are replaced by rational and positive thoughts. On the other hand, social cognitive theory relates to the ways and methods through which individuals can learn to model the behavior of other people. This theory can be applied in an advertising campaign and peer pressure. The word cognitivism implies an unobservable and unnoticeable change in the mental knowledge of the people. This theory relies on the assumption that individuals are actively involved in the process of learning. The theory’s followers also believe that learning involves the development of mental associations which are not shown in the observable changes in the behavior of the people. Another general assumption of the theory states that knowledge is an organized form which is gained through the process of learning. This process involves relation and connection of new information with the previously accumulated information. Thus, this theory emphasizes how people think, how people understand and how people know. This perspective focuses on the fact that learning is undertaken by the process of transformation of information into knowledge wh ich is already stored in the mind. Learning is said to take place when new knowledge is gained, and there occurs a modification in the existing knowledge that is already present in the human mind. This theory portrays a positive perspective of development and focuses on conscious thinking of individuals. It emphasizes the active construction of an individual that leads to the acquisition of knowledge and learning. Hence, this theory implies that different processes that lead to learning can be explained through the analysis of mental processes. With the help of effective process of the cognitive approach, learning can be easier that leading to the acquisition

U.S. Constitution In 1787 and Today Research Paper

U.S. Constitution In 1787 and Today - Research Paper Example In the United States, the senate voted for the change of rules that enabled the republican to prevent the president Barack Obama nominees for the top administrative posts (Abegg, 2013 p. 219). The senators approved the partisan measures that were to ban the filibuster so as to prevent the nominated personnel from being confirmed (Ford, 2013, p. 214). Harry Reid in his speech about supporting the measure, he accused the Republicans of preventing the nominees in the pursuit of unrelated legislative expectations or goal. Reid argued that the republicans used the filibuster laws weapon for preventing president Obama from choosing and appointing an executive representative and also, appointing the judges. The blocking of the filibuster law does seem constitutionally because, on the other hand, the filibuster acted as the weapon barrier to prevent the president from passing many bills, but they had a right to their opinion (Steffen, p. 202). After the law was blocked, the senator’s power was deducted from the senate to the president. The president was enacted with so much power than before the bill was changed in 2013. This law was mostly used by the republicans more tha n three times in November to block president Obama from confirming votes on the judges nominated to fill the vacancies on the United States for the Washington DC (The Guardian). Reid also argued that the Republicans objected the bills not because they do not have the qualifications, but just because they wanted just to undermine the government, they were elected to work for (Kenneth, 2013, p. 129). Senator Dan Coates reacted by saying he change of the rule was an idea of weakening the founding fathers of the democracy, and he said it was yet another power grabbing from the republicans. Senator Kelly Ayotte reacted to the rule by saying that the grab of the power is so much disappointing to all the republicans in the United State government, she said

See word Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

See word - Assignment Example Sharing personal details and daily agenda on their social network can be hugely dangerous for them as cyber criminals can access them through hacking and exploit the same for their vested interests. Opening emails from unknown source and downloading information from non-trusted sites could seriously threaten the information security. Most importantly, as social network sites are most vulnerable to cyber-attacks, users must avoid using them through corporate setting as important corporate information could be leaked and go to unscrupulous hands. When personal computers are turned into ‘zombie computer’ through the malicious software like malware by cyber criminals who have hacked the personal accounts of individuals, the users do not require any actions as they are unaware of the fact. This is a critical issue as users’ not being aware that they are being tracked by cyber criminals, tend to work on computer and internet as normal, using passwords to log on to their individual/ corporate accounts on corporate site or sharing personal information on their social network. Consequently, unintentionally they disclose their confidential passwords to attackers and allow them access to their private and confidential information, including corporate

Collaborative design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Collaborative design - Essay Example The intention of the current project is to revisit the strengths and capacities of XNL-enable X3D standard for the capture of engineering information, particularly those dealing with design. These include the structure of the product, the bill of materials, and the encoding and categorization of the product. The term CAD means Computer-Aided Design .CAD software is used for drawing tools basically to explain the geometries which are used by the manufacturing portion, i.e. the CAM part of the program. It explains the path that helps directing the motion of a machine tool, to the machine in the exact shape drawn. A product is usually physical; nevertheless, it can also be metaphysical. It may serve as a strong determinant as far as our positioning in the world is concerned. This can pilot us to be at an angle toward a social milieu in product design (Slack 2006). Design is a form of expression which serves as the avenue whereby desires of the customer or the market are made into a product that aims to satisfy these desires. Such product hence generates revenue. A cleverly designed and marketed product brings a company or designer to an iconic status. Thus, a wise investment in design results to a generous return on investment. In addition, it can also offer a unique stance in a highly competitive world (Slack 2006). The compass of design is substantial, covering graphic communications to integrated systems and then from information technology to urban environments. While globally it is described as the formation and development of all man-made products; it is fundamentally perceived as a device for improving the quality of life (Taschen 2001). Designers are not futurologists; however, they have to be in line with clearly identifying the relationships of the past, present and future as well as the prospective effects of political, social, and emotional impacts of

The Muslim Empires Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Muslim Empires - Essay Example Emperor Selim annexed Syria, then Cairo, before calling himself the new caliph, Muhammad’s successor. The Ottomans also conquered North Africa. From 1521 onwards, under Suleyman the Magnificent, the Ottomans advanced to Belgrade, Hungray, Austria, and Vienna. The Ottoman Empire lasted until the eighteenth century, but was challenged by the growing Austrian Empire in Southeastern Europe and Russia in the north. The government of the Ottoman sultan administered a diverse population through appointing pashas who managed new territories through collecting taxes, paying a fixed percentage as tribute to the central government, and preserving peace and order. The bey refers to the chieftain or tribal leader and who served as pashas too. Tribal disputes were resolved through tribal law, while Islamic law was secondary. In addition, the sultan ruled through an imperial council, which met four days a week and where the grand vizier served as the chairman. Ottoman rule was more localized than those applied in Europe and Asia. The Ottomans declined by the seventeenth century due to various reasons, including Suleyman’s execution of two capable sons and increasing social unrest (due to corruption and economic difficulties). The Safavid dynasty began with Shah Ismail. Ismail conquered Iran and Iraq in 1501. The Safavids attained the peak of their ruling under Shah Abbas. Furthermore, they ruled a mixed-race and mixed-religion Persia. They used Shi’ism as the unifying force. Their empire disintegrated in 1723 due to succession conflicts and attacks from the Ottomans. The shah was like the sultan who claimed divine quality. Furthermore, the Safavid appointed people to senior management positions by merit than birth. The Safavid shah was also like the Ottoman sultan who traveled regularly to the city to check his subordinates for moral or religious transgressions. Babur established the Mughal dynasty. He conquered Kabul in 1504. He expanded his

Could the south have won the civil war If so how, if not then why not Essay

Could the south have won the civil war If so how, if not then why not - Essay Example The north had a largely urbanised background with flourishing industrial capabilities. Rapid technological developments were shaping how things had been done for centuries. The railroad was expanding westwards and liberty was in the air. Large manufacturing concerns were being established. Management was evolving to promote efficiency and innovation. Furthermore, a class of individuals was emerging that were to become the modern American middle class. These groups were ardent political supporters of anti slavery drives though their numbers were as yet not very significant. On the other hand, the south was predominantly agricultural. Farm labour consisted of slaves whose ancestors had been imported from Africa. Conservatism was rampant and white supremacy was considered as an ultimate truth. Capital was abundant too as the large farmers had no one to share profits with. Cotton was the mainstay of the southern economy. It was exported to cotton mills in Europe and in the north. Militar y tradition was more rampant in the south than in the north. Boys were taught how to ride and shoot at an early age given the agrarian society’s feuds. The war began as the south gathered its army and invaded Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Then President Abraham Lincoln urged northern states to assemble a volunteer army to deal with the situation. This caused another four states to drift over into the southern camp. The south’s position was strengthened at this point in the war. If the south had wanted to make major strides in the war, it ought to have been better planned and organised than it was. The attack of the Confederate army on Fort Sumter caught the north off guard. The south could have achieved major victories if it invaded with a larger army that engaged more targets simultaneously. This would have helped the south in causing panic and confusion in the ranks of the north. The overwhelming display of power may even have led to more accessions by Union states. Furthermore, the organised all out attack would have sent the Union running and figuring out what to do next. However, what happened on ground was entirely different. The Confederacy’s attack on Fort Sumter served as a rallying point for the northern states. It alerted them to the danger posed by the South. The Union was both proactive and swift in its reaction. An army of volunteers was assembled on ground while a naval blockade was imposed. The Union’s land armies could not achieve victories in the beginning. The level of organisation and the equipment used were not up to the mark. However, the naval blockade served as a double edged sword. On the one hand, the export of cotton virtually ended and on the other hand imports could not be brought in to reinforce the Confederate army’s stock. As mentioned earlier, cotton was the mainstay of the southern economy. Loss of cotton exports meant that revenue generation suffered gravely in the south. The naval blockade also had another profound effect. Foreign intervention was discouraged from taking any real part given the naval blockade. Foreign intervention could only be possible if the naval blockade was removed and foreign troops and supplies could flow into the south. No external power was ready or willing to support the South’s cause by direct military involvement. Another notable issue is the way in which this war was conducted on either side. Initially the south was very aggressive. It

The City of Miami of Florida Essay Example for Free

The City of Miami of Florida Essay Miami is considered the largest city in the state of Florida. Many tourist articles describe this city as a unique city of contrasts, contradictions, and extremes. Currently, the city of Miami is home for many celebrities, entertainers, athletes, retired families and upcoming tourist and immigrants who migrated to this tourist center of a city. Unfortunately, the city also has a negative side; Miami Florida has served as a refuge for the famous and infamous, including gangsters during Prohibition, serial killers, deposed Latin American dictators, sheiks, rock stars, artists, writers, athletes, and just about anyone starting over. As political conditions in the Western Hemisphere fluctuate, Miami continues to be a destination for waves of refugees (Miami, 1998). According to the Encyclopedia or Urban America (1998), Miami currently has the largest percentage of foreign-born residents of any metropolitan area in the United States. With over half its population of Hispanic origin and more than one-fifth black, many from the Caribbean, Miami is multiculturalism. Immigrants, who choose to migrate in the city of Miami, are presented with the opportunity and the lifestyle of starting from the very bottom of the financial and social pyramid, work hard, and abide by the laws and regulations with the expectations of success and benefiting their families. The Cubans, Nicaraguan, and Haitian are working hard to gain one common goal, success, and climbing their current financial status. The American dream is more than just alive in the minds of the immigrants who migrate to this preferred destination. The city of Miami is also known as Magic city, known for the diverse and ethnic culture in South Florida. The City of Miami is also the home for the Miami heat basketball team and the Miami Dolphins football team. The City of Miami has been the vacation hotspot for college spring vacations and family vacations for the social life offered in the City. According to the Census of 2000, Miami’s population is made up of 362,470 and by the end of 2011; the population is expected to increase to 390,191 individuals. The Census of 2000 also illustrates that the city of Miami has a sixty percent Hispanic population, a twenty-three percent of African American population and only a twelve percent of Caucasian population. Individuals between the ages of twenty to forty-four make up more than thirty-nine percent of the population, followed by people who are between the ages of sixty to seventy four, which makes up about twenty percent of the city’s population. Unemployment rate is as low as ten percent (Miami Government, 2011). Population of Miami (Florida) Miami is the State of Florida’s largest city as well as the largest city in Miami-Dade County. Dating back to the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the City of Miami had an influx of Cuban immigrants and over the years developed into a major city and became a cosmopolitan. Many immigrants fled countries that had a crumbling economy or imposed political sanctions or persecution. Along with immigrants, Miami has a large population of retirees from the North and Midwest. The large migration to Miami brought other changes, resulting in Miami having the image of an international city making it a gateway to Latin America. Miami has experienced major population shifts throughout its history. Over time, more people have migrated from rural to urban regions of Florida in search of a change in lifestyle, economic pursuits, and social structure. Miami’s population shift as the upper as well as middle classes matriculates outward from the city centers with the poorer citizens being left behind within the inner city, often living near enclaves of the very rich. This matriculation causes the suburbs to expand and combine with the suburbs of nearby metropolitan areas to form a megalopolis, or a vast regional city in which many metropolises merge. Only Texas and California have as many urban centers separated by miles of terrain. Urban centers grow to a certain level, after which economic improvement allows many citizens to move away from city centers not to rural areas but to new suburban developments. The issues faced by the City of Miami are no different from those of other American cities. Miami too experience an increase in crime to overcrowding, from deteriorating race relations to deteriorating urban services and a reduced tax base. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the total population of Miami is 399, 457. The two largest racial make-up of the population is 72% Caucasian and 70% Hispanic with 19.2% of the population being comprised of Afro-Americans.† For years, Florida has suffered the highest crime rate of any state and the highest rate of violent crime per capita with Miami being the epee-center. Compared to many other cities, Miami is relatively less wealthy and has a high volume of poverty stricken areas. A contributing factor to high crime rates and areas is poverty. These areas such as Liberty City or the Pork and Beans Housing Projects are areas with more impoverished residents and are likely to see more frequent violence and drug crimes, in particular. As the economy continues to take a downward spiral it is likely that the Miami police department will post increases in their crime statistics in these areas. Crime rates tend to increase with the increase of job loss. Families are struggling with the lack of disposable income, and a weak job market offering little opportunity, some people may turn to criminal activity. The current unemployment rate in the City of Miami is 11.5. The living wage for Miami-Dade County is $11.36 per hour with health benefits, or $13.01 per hour if health benefits are not provided. Tourism is a major industry for Miami, and many visitors never see the â€Å"under-belly† of Miami because of the citys highway system, allowing political leaders to ignore the poorer-high crime areas while catering to these visitors. All this means its violent crime problem is unlikely to abate soon. The total crimes for the population are about one and a half times the national average for all crimes. In reality; however, violent crime in Miami has increased and contributing to this problem is Miamis growing population. The city has a mixed racial makeup with a large black and Latin population. At the same time, Miami also may be the nations capital of multiculturalism of the very sort sought by other American cities as the population changes. Many American cities have encountered increasing problems along with growth. Poor high crime areas in Miami cannot develop the necessary tax base to pay for better schools to education the next generation so it will not have to live in poverty. Miami is considered to be more dangerous than many other city of size. New Orleans is considered the most dangerous of all, followed by Camden, New Jersey. In 2008 the City of Miami Gardens was ranked as the thirteenth most dangerous city with a population in excess of 75,000 out of all cities in Florida. The expansion of the prison system by an additional 1,865 beds will be needed to handle the influx over the next five years. Official projections; however, suggest the number of beds that will be needed is far from adequate. When individuals violate the laws of the land, they are housed in a facility ran by the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. The county jail is comprised of five correctional facilities: the Pre-Trial Detention Center, Womens Detention Center, Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Training and Treatment Center, and the Metro West Detention Center. These facilities hold on average 7,000 inmates, who are awaiting trial or are serving sentences of 364 days or less. Currently Miami-Dade County Jail houses about 6, 224 inmates. Of these 6, 224 inmates, 3, 412 are Afro-American; 1,700 are Hispanic with 2, 808 Whites being incarcerated. The department has a Boot Camp Program for youthful offenders, a Work Release Center and a medical unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The space problem also plagues the juvenile system, in which a shortage of beds forced authorities to put young offenders back on the street to await space in a juvenile facility. While waiting, it is not surprising that these young offenders commit more crimes. Public Attitude High crime rate has plagued the city of Miami, â€Å"Florida† for decades. Even though including all crimes, the crime rate for the total population is about one and a half times the nation average. These crimes include high statistics in murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults. Miami experience approximately 20 murders per 100,000 people compared to the national average of just seven. Miami experienced 537 robberies per 100,000 residents, more than twice the national average of 206. Aggravated assaults are 927 per 100,000 people nearly three times the national average of 337. The city of Miami is also less wealthy than others, and poverty is a major contributing factor for high crime rates. Residents living in impoverished areas are likely to experience more violent and drug crimes than others. Citizens believe that with the economic downturn in full force, they will see an increase in crime statistics in the upcoming years because as unemployment rises, so does the crime rates. Families face less money to spend and without work or money to occupy some people, they often turn to criminal activity. Many residents believe that the lack of Fortune 500 companies is the main obstacle facing Miami’s growth and evolution to a top-tier city. They think that the continued development of the downtown and Brickell area, expansions of the airport, and the addition of the new baseball stadium will make the city more attractive. Citizens believe Miami has the potentials of Hong Kong, but the problem with the city is its lack of honest government, not with crooks, and criminals. They understand that they must learn to vote for what is best for their community, not the ghetto, not Cuba, not Venezuela, areas the majority of citizens migrate from. Intelligent, educated people are leaving in masses going to other states is another problem because it will not help attract Fortune 500 companies. Citizens believe that until all these issues are addressed and resolved, Miami will continue to move in the wrong direction, just a party city with no jobs (Paez, nd) Change of location All big cities have downtowns as an important of their central point of their city however, unlike Miami, Fl not many cities have as much to do like Downtown Miami does (Castelo-Blanco, 2010). Miami’s violent crime rate is the highest in the country, considering they have high indecencies of robbery, and assault. Thankfully in terms of other cities their murder rate is relatively low. Miami, like many cities property values fluctuate all, depending on the crime around the area. Home prices around the Miami areas is range from Coral Gables of 210K – 250K, it appears that the most crime in Miami does occur in the North Miami Beach area. The home values in that area range from 43K – 72K, while in other areas such as South Beach homes range from the 750K Millions. Although Miami is a beautiful place to visit and stay for some time police reports suggest that they travel with a contingent of large people and stay in areas where it is highly lit and populated such as downtown, Miami. The crime rate in Miami has caused much separation in the difference and quality of living for people in Miami, as one travels down the Dolphin Expressway, people can notice a culture change in which areas are not in shabby condition by illegal activities. One of the unique tools the Miami-Dade police department allows residents to do is use the crime mapping program that helps empower the community by putting valuable public safety information at the community’s fingertips. The Miami-Dade shows they there were 140 crimes between March 22nd, 2011, and March 28th, 2011. The Hollywood police department 139 from March 27th, 2011 through April 2nd, 2011, and the Plantation police department had 53 crimes between March 27th, 2011 and April 2nd, 2011 all ranging from theft, assault, and illegal drug activity. This program shows clearly that home prices and transportation levels change as people choose to live away from the city center. Miami downtown is the party center and where the night life lives however it is so close to higher crime areas that people choose to live in areas such as Miami Beach, South Beach, where homes cost 10 times more than areas in North Miami Beach. Hotspots As mentioned Miami Florida is known as a beautiful vacation spot. Many tourists come to Miami to vacation because of the lovely atmosphere of Downtown Miami and South Beach. Miami is also known as a celebrity hotspot many celebrities are known to have condos along South Beach or either own a home on Star Island. Although Miami is known to be a beautiful vacation area unfortunately just as many other cities it has its hotspots for criminal activity. In Miami there are quite a few hotspots, which consist of major criminal activity such as robbery, assaults, murder, and mainly the possession of illegal drugs. These hotspot areas are Overtown, Little Haiti, Opa Locka, and Liberty City. In Miami there is a program called Weed and Seed, which initiatives when begun, was to focus on the drug sales and prostitution that ran rampant through the criminal hotspot areas mainly in Little Haiti and Liberty City. Recent news that has occurred in the hotspot areas of Miami, FL, is the killing of seven African American men. Research states, â€Å"Over a seven-month period between July 2010 and February 2011, Miami police — mostly officers on specialized task forces — shot and killed seven men, at least two of whom were unarmed. The succession of shootings, which came after a few years of relative calm, awoke old tensions in the Overtown, Little Haiti, and Liberty City neighborhoods, and caused a political firestorm at City Hall (Miami Herald, 2011). These three areas mentioned are known for their criminal activity however the slaying of seven African American men over a seven-month period has made members of the community and family members of the deceased outraged. The people of the community are looking to have the Chief of the City of Miami Police Department removed because they feel as though City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito is doing little to nothing about the situation or the officers involved with the shootings. This only leads people to believe that the crime rates in the hotspot areas may increase because the members of the community are furious with the police departments. Conclusion In 2010, there were a total of 31,000 crimes where 6,000 were violent crimes and more than 24,000 crimes were property crimes. With a crime rate of 86 per one thousand residents, Miami has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities. Because the city of Miami is considered a tourist city with all the visitors as well as the diverse individual all fighting for obtaining the American Dream; many people commit crimes to climb the social and financial ladder faster. Many people must start at the bottom to arrive at the top is frustrating to many causing them to commit crimes. References Miami, Florida. (1998). In Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcurban/miami_florida. Miami Government. (2011). About the City Of Miami. Retrieved from http://www.miamigov.com/press/pressreleases/miami/AbouttheCity.asp. Miami Herald. (2011). Families of men shot dead by Miami police get their say. Retrieved from http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/23/2130756/families-of-men-shot-by-miami.html Paez, Adolfo L., Ed., Miami: Public Attitudes about Crime. A National Crime Survey Report. Institution: Bureau of the Census (DOC), Suitland, Md. Roman, C. G., Cahill, M., Coggeshall, M. (2005). The Weed and Seed Initiative and Crime Displacement in South Florida: 5-6. Retrieved from http://www.statenet.com/welfare/flborland.html. Retrieved from www.miamidade.gov/corrections/facilities.asp Retrieved from http://www.floridahistory.org Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Miami, _Florida

Female Participation in the Labour Force

Female Participation in the Labour Force INTRODUCTION Female participation in the labor force has been a compelling issue throughout the history. It is also a very dynamic topic in all countries independent of that development level. It’s because, the place of women in work life can be considered as brand-new subject compared to that of men in all societies. Therefore, from 1980’s the states which are more classified as welfare states like Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands have been trying to implement some social policies in order to increase women participation in the labor force. In this paper, I would like to propose a study to find out the relation between female participation in the labor force and social policies implemented by states. My plan is more to focus on women’s point of views and their perception of family policies. More specifically, I am interested in mothers and what sort of influences that family policies have on mothers in terms of their participation in work life. The reason makes me sceptic about this issue is that family policies can have negative results on mothers which is considered as ‘’mommy track’’ in the literature. (Ejnà ¦s, 2011, p.242) [1] As I mentioned before both women studies and welfare state studies are new phenomena and there is barely a research especially on mothers and the consequences of the policies rather than type of policies. For this reason, I believe there is a lack in the literature that allows me to make a research on this crucial issue. If there is a significant relationship between female participation in the workforce and family policies done by state? Even though my starting point is thinking that these policies have negative results on women’s participation in labor force. In literature there is quite disagreement in interpreting policies’ results as good or bad. However, even current literature is rich about consequences of family policies, there is still lack of study which looks at the issue from mothers’ point of views. Hence, through this study I would like to contribute to literature while showing mother’s perception of family policies. The proposal begins with literature review. Second, it describes offered methodology and then finally I will elaborate what kind of further studies can be done depending this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Although traditional family structure, which encourages male participation in the labor force for breadwinning, is chancing recently, parenthood still has a huge negative effects on female. That is because women are still recognized as most important caregivers. Most of the time, the place of women has been fixed within the private sphere, in other words within their home life. Thus, literature of family policies’ effects on the labor force mostly focuses on women and especially mothers. As I mentioned above, despite the fact that researchers use the same subject for their research, there is a disagreement about how do they describe the effects of family policies. Now, I will summarize some important works which try to understand issue of family policies and its effects on the female participation in the labor market. OECD (2005) focuses on the consequences of policy reforms and policies that regulate female participation in the labor market. The author accepts the flexibility of working-time arrangements, family taxation, to support to maintenance and care of children as indicators of policies that affect female participation in the labor market. OECD claims that more flexible working-time causes more opportunity to access to part-time works for women increase female participation. Moreover, if second earners of home and single earners are taxed in the same way, it would be an increase in female labor force. In addition to that according to OECD findings childcare subsidies and parental leave promote female participation but there is a trick in parental leave if it is more than 20 weeks, it begins to create negative consequences on participation rate. On the other hand child benefit reduces women participation in the labor market after the birth. Basically, they claim that longer prental leave du ration and high child benefits lead to ‘sit back and earn’ idea in families. The author uses OECD’s database and analyze 17 OECD countries for panel data regression. (OECD, 2005) Mandel and Semyonov (2006) try to understand women participation in labor market and their occupational achievement among welfare state. They assumed that the state has two dimension; as a legislator and as an employer. For both two perspectives, they claimed that family policies in welfare states increase women participation in the workforce. However, this situation does not solve the problem of gender inequality and gender wage gap. Either women get paid with lower salaries because of their ‘excuse time’ or maternal leave is given one-sided which creates an unequal division of labor between father and mother to take care their babies. They analyze 22 countries and their findings depend on Welfare State Intervention Index and Luxemburg Ä °ncome Study. (Mandel Semyonov, 2006) Warnecke (2008) conduct a research about that although Spanish government try to regulate family policies such as maternal leave, child benefits and child provision, why there is a still lower female participation in the workforce. She claims that all social policies’ consequences differ in different countries and on different group of women in one country. In the Spain case; the maternal leave has a negative impact on mother’s decision about returning work force. That is because there is a social support for a traditional division of labor in Spain. Woman who uses maternal leave start to see her child as a main occupation and do not want to reenter her position in the worklife. The author uses one case study as a method for her study.(Warnecke, 2008) Another one case study analyzes Sweden. Evertsson and Duvander (2011) analyze Sweden because that there is flexibility about length of maternal leave. They claimed that if the length of the maternal leave, which is one of the most important family policy as they claim, is more than 3 years, women would become less willing to go back to their job. In addition to this, employers become skeptic about women’s productivity and work effort. Accordingly, even though some women want to go back to their job, they have hard times to find one and because of the less opportunity of finding a job, their salaries are considered as favour by employers and they are generally lower compared to male workers who are count as more constant and reliable for companies. (Evertson Duvander, 2011) Ejnà ¦s (2011) aims to show relationship between family policies and mothers’ choices between work and childcare and perceived occupational consequences of that choices. He analyzes maternal leave and child care in 5 different countries depending on Round 2 of the European Social Survey. He uses â€Å"multivariate logistic regression model† for his research. (Ejnà ¦s, 2011, p. 246) His findings show that long maternal leave policies discourage women to go back to their work but on the other side of the coin, short maternal leave and lack of child care force women to choose early return or unemployment. In the case of mother’s perception, long maternal leave and childcare provision reduce mothers’ negative feeling about their career. METHODOLOGY First of all, family policies and mothers’ perception of career are the main concepts in this research. Family policies aim to increase women participation to labor force and they are regulated by state. These policies try to regulate market itself by taxation or women’s participation to work force. In this research, I will use length of maternal leave as an indicator for family policies. That is because only maternal leave has direct effects on mothers’ daily life. In addition to that, generally, most of the researchers consider that maternal leave is the most important measure. (Henning, Gatermann, Hà ¤gglund, 2012) I will use OECD (2005) database for operating family policies. Another concept is mothers’ perception about their future and present career. I mean that I will research mothers’ feelings and opinion about their present and future career after the maternal leave. What are the effects of state policies on mothers’ subsequent lif e outcomes? I will use mothers’ feeling and opinions about that they whatever they will come back to labor market or not as an indicator. I will use my survey’s result for operating mothers’ perception. Secondly, my research question is the following: is there a relationship between the length of maternal leave and the perception of mothers’ about their career? Accordingly, my hypothesis is that there is a relationship between the length of maternal leave and the negative perception of mothers’ about their career. In this hypothesis, the length of the maternal leave is the dependent variable and mothers’ perception is the independent variable. I measure mothers’ perception in the nominal and ordinal level by doing survey. I use ratio level of measurement for length of maternal leave. I will use qualitative methods to conduct this research. That is because mothers’ perception about their career is an empirical variable. I mean that it is a human behavior and linked to how mothers feel and act. In addition to this, I want to show that deeper causes of mothers’ non-reenter in labor market and I will not use numerical and statistical variables for my research. This kind of variable is measured by qualitative methods. Although qualitative method is the most appropriate method for my research, there are some possible disadvantages. First of all, qualitative methods are more expensive from quantitative methods and it takes more time than other methods. Secondly, in qualitative methods, researches’ bias effect is inevitable but I try to reduce this effect by my research design which I you will show next paragraph. Finally, qualitative methods are not generalizable easily because it is not statistical. I will plan to conduct a survey. This survey should be a personal interview. My target of survey must be mothers who have at least one year work experience before having baby. That is because I want to eliminate mothers who have already no willingness about their future and present career. In addition to that, I will choose mothers that are in the decision making process about their career. This process corresponds to one month ago before that maternal leave is finished. Moreover, interviewers of my research should be women. That is because mothers are more comfortable about their feelings in front of their fellows. As I mentioned above, I have a target group for my research, so my sample must be non-probabilistic and it should be purposiveness. I want to choose sample groups through Austria, France, Denmark, and United State of America, Australia and United Kingdom. I choose first three of them because that they have the longest maternal leave process. I choose United State of Ameri ca, Australia and United Kingdom because that they have the shortest length of maternal leave. (OECD, 2005) After that for each country, I will try to access mothers who have at least one year work experience by using data from public employment offices or ministries of labor. Possible questions that the survey includes will try to figure out women’s perception with as little bias as possible. For instance, participants will be asked how much time they have spent at home just because to take care of their children. This question aims to understand that to what degree women have dependency to their homes and children. Subsequently, the participants will be asked some questions about family policies of their countries. Potential questions for this section would be: (1) How maternal leave affects your feeling and opinions about your business life? (2)Why do you work before having baby? (3) Does your children have any health problem? (4) Do you have any relatives who can help you about childcare? (5) What do you think about the length of maternal leave? (6) Do you think maternal leave changes your perception about your career? (7) Are you divorced/single parent? Question 3 and 4 aim to understand if mothers are not returning their work because of economic difficulties or not and the rest of the questions intend to focus on mothers’ perception and their psychological condition about maternal leave and working after birth. Finally, I want to discuss my measurements’ reliability and validity. It should be known that each respondent has different characteristics. This diversity might reduce our survey reliability. For making my survey is more reliable I will use split half method- designing the same question in different words to eliminate different characteristics of respondents. I assume that these qualitative questions combined with field work will give me consistent results about women’s perception of maternal leave and their participation in the labor force. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH TOPICS In this section, I will discuss further research question that would be asked based on my potential results. First of all, I am aware that even though women perception will give us a different angle while critising family policies of the states, the culture and family structures that women are part of are very influential on women decisions. For this reason, more anthropological researchs can be done to figure out the divergence of reentering decisions of women. Each country can be elaborated with their different cultural rituals and it can be seen that to what extend that particular culture fosters gender stratification. Secondly, I will conduct my research in country-level. But, it is possible that even within a country, the regions can affect policies, perceptions and opportunities of women to return the work life. Thus, regional-level survey may help us to see regional differences if there is any. Finally, I believe the most important aspect of my research is to be based on my main target group, mothers. Thus, in any case the attempt to understand mothers’ perception on maternal leave will be valuable for further researchs both culturally and politically. REFERENCES Ejnà ¦s, A. (2011). The Ä °mpact Of Family Policy And Career Ä °nterruptions Of The Negative Occupational Consequences of Full-Time Home Care. European Societies, 239-256. Evertson, M., Duvander, A.-Z. (2011). Parental Leave- Possibility or Trap? Does Family Leave Lenght Effect Swedish Womens Labour Market Opportunities? European Sociological Review, 435-450. Henning, M., Gatermann, D., Hà ¤gglund, A. E. (2012). Pros and Cons of Family Policies for Mothers Labour Market Participation . Ä °nternational Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 502-512. Mandel, H., Semyonov, M. (2006, may). A Welfare State Paradox: State Ä °nterventations and Womens Employment Opportunities in 22 Countries. American Journal Sociology, 1910-1949. OECD. (2005). Female Labour Force Participation: Past Trends and Main Determinants in OECD Countries. OECD ià §inde, Economic Policy Reforms 2005: Going for Growth (s. 161-174). OECD Publishing. Warnecke, T. L. (2008). Women as Wives, Mothers or Workers: How Welfare Eligibility Requirements Ä °nfluence Womens Labor Force Participation -A Case Study of Spain- . Journal of Economic Ä °ssues, 981-1004. [1] Ejnà ¦s citied this concept from Fraser,N., 1994,’After the family wage; Gender eqiuty adn the welfare state’, Political theory 22(4): 591-618

Lazy, Decision Tree classifier and Multilayer Perceptron

Lazy, Decision Tree classifier and Multilayer Perceptron Performance Evaluation of Lazy, Decision Tree classifier and Multilayer Perceptron on Traffic Accident Analysis Abstract. Traffic and road accident are a big issue in every country. Road accident influence on many things such as property damage, different injury level as well as a large amount of death. Data science has such capability to assist us to analyze different factors behind traffic and road accident such as weather, road, time etc. In this paper, we proposed different clustering and classification techniques to analyze data. We implemented different classification techniques such as Decision Tree, Lazy classifier, and Multilayer perceptron classifier to classify dataset based on casualty class as well as clustering techniques which are k-means and Hierarchical clustering techniques to cluster dataset. Firstly we analyzed dataset by using these classifiers and we achieved accuracy at some level and later, we applied clustering techniques and then applied classification techniques on that clustered data. Our accuracy level increased at some level by using clustering techniques on datas et compared to a dataset which was classified without clustering. Keywords: Decision tree, Lazy classifier, Multilayer perceptron, K-means, Hierarchical clustering INTRODUCTION Traffic and road accident are one of the important problem across the world. Diminishing accident ratio is most effective way to improve traffic safety. There are many type of research has been done in many countries in traffic accident analysis by using different type of data mining techniques. Many researcher proposed their work in order to reduce the accident ratio by identifying risk factors which particularly impact in the accident [1-5]. There are also different techniques used to analyze traffic accident but its stated that data mining technique is more advance technique and shown better results as compared to statistical analysis. However, both methods provide appreciable outcome which is helpful to reduce accident ratio [6-13, 28, 29]. From the experimental point of view, mostly studies tried to find out the risk factors which affect the severity levels. Among most of studies explained that drinking alcoholic beverage and driving influenced more in accident [14]. It identified that drinking alcoholic beverage and driving seriously increase the accident ratio. There are various studies which have focused on restraint devices like helmet, seat belts influence the severity level of accident and if these devices would have been used to accident ratio had decreased at certain level [15]. In addition, few studies have focused on identifying the group of drivers who are mostly involved in accident. Elderly drivers whose age are more than 60 years, they are identified mostly in road accident [16]. Many studies provided different level of risk factors which influenced more in severity level of accident. Lee C [17] stated that statistical approaches were good option to analyze the relation between in various risk factors and accident. Although, Chen and Jovanis [18] identified that there are some problem like large contingency table during analyzing big dimensional dataset by using statistical techniques. As well as statistical approach also have their own violation and assumption which can bring some error results [30-33]. Because of these limitation in statistical approach, Data techniques came into existence to analyze data of road accident. Data mining often called as knowledge or data discovery. This is set of techniques to achieve hidden information from large amount of data. It is shown that there are many implementation of data mining in transportation system like pavement analysis, roughness analysis of road and road accident analysis. Data mining techniques has been the most widely used techniques in field like agriculture, medical, transportation, business, industries, engineering and many other scientific fields [21-23]. There are many diverse data mining methodologies such as classification, association rules and clustering has been extensivally used for analyzing dataset of road accident [19-20]. Geurts K [24] analyzed dataset by using association rule mining to know the different factors that happens at very high frequency road accident areas on Belgium road. Depaire [25] analyzed dataset of road accident in Belgium by using different clustering techniques and stated that clustered based data can extract better information as compared without clustered data. Kwon analyzed dataset by using Decision Tree and NB classifiers to factors which is affecting more in road accident. Kashani [27] analyzed dataset by using classification and regression algorithm to analyze accident ratio in Iran and achieved that there a re factors such as wrong overtaking, not using seat belts, and badly speeding affected the severity level of accident. METHODOLOGY This research work focus on casualty class based classification of road accident. The paper describe the k-means and Hierarchical clustering techniques for cluster analysis. Moreover, Decision Tree, Lazy classifier and Multilayer perceptron used in this paper to classify the accident data. Clustering Techniques Hierarchical Clustering Hierarchical clustering is also known as HCS (Hierarchical cluster analysis). It is unsupervised clustering techniques which attempt to make clusters hierarchy. It is divided into two categories which are Divisive and Agglomerative clustering. Divisive Clustering: In this clustering technique, we allocate all of the inspection to one cluster and later, partition that single cluster into two similar clusters. Finally, we continue repeatedly on every cluster till there would be one cluster for every inspection. Agglomerative method: It is bottom up approach. We allocate every inspection to their own cluster. Later, evaluate the distance between every clusters and then amalgamate the most two similar clusters. Repeat steps second and third until there could be one cluster left. The algorithm is given below   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   X set A of objects {a1, a2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦an}   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Distance function is d1 and d2   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   For j=1 to n   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   dj={aj}   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   end for   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   D= {d1, d2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..dn}   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Y=n+1   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   while D.size>1 do -(dmin1, dmin2)=minimum distance (dj, dk) for all dj, dk in all D -Delete dmin1 and   dmin2   from D -Add (dmin1, dmin2) to D -Y=Y+1   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   end while K-modes clustering Clustering is an data mining technique which use unsupervised learning, whose major aim is to categorize the data features into a distinct type of clusters in such a way that features inside a group are more alike than the features in different clusters. K-means technique is an extensively used clustering technique for large numerical data analysis. In this, the dataset is grouped into k-clusters. There are diverse clustering techniques available but the assortment of appropriate clustering algorithm rely on the nature and type of data. Our major objective of this work is to differentiate the accident places on their frequency occurrence. Lets assume thatX and Y is a matrix of m by n matrix of categorical data. The straightforward closeness coordinating measure amongst X and Y is the quantity of coordinating quality estimations of the two values. The more noteworthy the quantity of matches is more the comparability of two items. K-modes algorithm can be explained as:   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   d (Xi,Yi)=   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (1)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Where   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   - (2) Classification Techniques Lazy Classifier Lazy classifier save the training instances and do no genuine work until classification time. Lazy classifier is a learning strategy in which speculation past the preparation information is postponed until a question is made to the framework where the framework tries to sum up the training data before getting queries. The main advantage of utilizing a lazy classification strategy is that the objective scope will be exacted locally, for example, in the k-nearest neighbor. Since the target capacity is approximated locally for each question to the framework, lazy classifier frameworks can simultaneously take care of various issues and arrangement effectively with changes in the issue field. The burdens with lazy classifier incorporate the extensive space necessity to store the total preparing dataset. For the most part boisterous preparing information expands the case bolster pointlessly, in light of the fact that no idea is made amid the preparation stage and another detriment is that lazy classification strategies are generally slower to assess, however this is joined with a quicker preparing stage. K Star The K star can be characterized as a strategy for cluster examination which fundamentally goes for the partition of n perception into k-clusters, where every perception has a location with the group to the closest mean. We can depict K star as an occurrence based learner which utilizes entropy as a separation measure. The advantages are that it gives a predictable way to deal with treatment of genuine esteemed attributes, typical attributes and missing attributes. K star is a basic, instance based classifier, like K Nearest Neighbor (K-NN). New data instance, x, are doled out to the class that happens most every now and again among the k closest information focuses, yj, where j = 1, 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ k. Entropic separation is then used to recover the most comparable occasions from the informational index. By method for entropic remove as a metric has a number of advantages including treatment of genuine esteemed qualities and missing qualities. The K star function can be ascertained a s: K*(yi, x)=-ln P*(yi, x) Where P* is the likelihood of all transformational means from instance x to y. It can be valuable to comprehend this as the likelihood that x will touch base at y by means of an arbitrary stroll in IC highlight space. It will performed streamlining over the percent mixing proportion parameter which is closely resembling K-NN sphere of influence, before appraisal with other Machine Learning strategies. IBK (K Nearest Neighbor) Its a k-closest neighbor classifier technique that utilize a similar separation metric. The quantity of closest neighbors may be illustrated unequivocally in the object editor or determined consequently utilizing blow one cross-approval center to a maximum point of confinement provided by the predetermined esteem. IBK is the knearest-neighbor classifier. A sort of divorce pursuit calculations might be used to quicken the errand of identifying the closest neighbors. A direct inquiry is the default yet promote decision blend ball trees, KD-trees, thus called cover trees. The dissolution work used is a parameter of the inquiry strategy. The rest of the thing is alike one the basis of IBL-which is called Euclidean separation; different alternatives blend Chebyshev, Manhattan, and Minkowski separations. Forecasts higher than one neighbor may be weighted by their distance from the test occurrence and two unique equations are implemented for altering over the distance into a weight. The qua ntity of preparing occasions kept by the classifier can be limited by setting the window estimate choice. As new preparing occasions are included, the most seasoned ones are segregated to keep up the quantity of preparing cases at this size. Decision Tree Random decision forests or random forest are a package learning techniques for regression, classification and other tasks, that perform by building a legion of decision trees at training time and resulting the class which would be the mode of the mean prediction (regression) or classes (classification) of the separate trees. Random decision forests good for decision trees routime of overfitting to their training set. In different calculations, the classification is executed recursively till each and every leaf is clean or pure, that is the order of the data ought to be as impeccable as would be prudent. The goal is dynamically speculation of a choice tree until it picks up the balance of adaptability and exactness. This technique utilized the Entropy that is the computation of disorder data. Here Entropy is measured by:   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Entropy () =   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Entropy () = Hence so total gain = Entropy () Entropy () Here the goal is to increase the total gain by dividing total entropy because of diverging arguments by value i. Multilayer Perceptron An MLP might be observed as a logistic regression classifier in which input data is firstly altered utilizing a non-linear transformation. This alteration deal the input dataset into space, and the place where this turn into linearly separable. This layer as an intermediate layer is known as a hidden layer. One hidden layer is enough to create MLPs. Formally, a single hidden layer Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) is a function of f: YIà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢YO, where I would be the input size vector x and O is the size of output vector f(x), such that, in matrix notation   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   F(x) = g(ÃŽÂ ¸(2)+W(2)(s(ÃŽÂ ¸(1)+W(1)x))) DESCRIPTION OF DATASET The traffic accident data is obtained from online data source for Leeds UK [8]. This data set comprises 13062 accident which happened since last 5 years from 2011 to 2015. After carefully analyzed this data, there are 11 attributes discovered for this study. The dataset consist attributes which are Number of vehicles, time, road surface, weather conditions, lightening conditions, casualty class, sex of casualty, age, type of vehicle, day and month and these attributes have different features like casualty class has driver, pedestrian, passenger as well as same with other attributes with having different features which was given in data set. These data are shown briefly in table 2 ACCURACY MEASUREMENT The accuracy is defined by different classifiers of provided dataset and that is achieved a percentage of dataset tuples which is classified precisely by help of different classifiers. The confusion matrix is also called as error matrix which is just layout table that enables to visualize the behavior of an algorithm. Here confusing matrix provides also an important role to achieve the efficiency of different classifiers.   There are two class labels given and each cell consist prediction by a classifier which comes into that cell. Table 1 Confusion Matrix   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Correct Labels Negative Positive Negative TN (True negative) FN (False negative) Positive FP (False positive) TP (True positive) Now, there are many factors like Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, error rate, precision, f-measures, recall and so on. TPR (Accuracy or True Positive Rate) = FPR (False Positive Rate) = Precision = Sensitivity = And there are also other factors which can find out to classify the dataset correctly. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 2 describe all the attributes available in the road accident dataset. There are 11 attributes mentioned and their code, values, total and other factors included. We divided total accident value on the basis of casualty class which is Driver, Passenger, and Pedestrian by the help of SQL. Table 2 S.NO. Attribute Code Value Total   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Casualty Class Driver Passenger Pedestrian 1. No. of vehicles 1 1 vehicle 3334 763 817 753 2 2 vehicle 7991 5676 2215 99 3+ >3 vehicle 5214 1218 510 10 2. Time T1 [0-4] 630 269 250 110 T2 [4-8] 903 698 133 71 T3 [6-12] 2720 1701 644 374 T4 [12-16] 3342 1812 1027 502 T5 [16-20] 3976 2387 990 598 T6 [20-24] 1496 790 498 207 3. Road Surface OTR Other 106 62 30 13 DR Dry 9828 5687 2695 1445 WT Wet 3063 1858 803 401 SNW Snow 157 101 39 16 FLD Flood 17 11 5 0 4. Lightening Condition DLGT Day Light 9020 5422 2348 1249 NLGT No Light 1446 858 389 198 SLGT Street Light 2598 1377 805 415 5. Weather Condition CLR Clear 11584 6770 3140 1666 FG Fog 37 26 7 3 SNY Snowy 63 41 15 6 RNY Rainy 1276 751 350 174 6. Casualty Class DR Driver PSG Passenger PDT Pedestrian 7. Sex of Casualty M Male 7758 5223 1460 1074 F Female 5305 2434 2082 788 8. Age Minor 1976 454 855 667 Youth 18-30 years 4267 2646 1158 462 Adult 30-60 years 4254 3152 742 359 Senior >60 years 2567 1405 787 374 9. Type of Vehicle BS Bus 842 52 687 102 CR Car 9208 4959 2692 1556 GDV GoodsVehicle 449 245 86 117 BCL Bicycle 1512 1476 11 24 PTV PTWW 977 876 48 52 OTR Other 79 49 18 11 10. Day WKD Weekday 9884 5980 2499 1404 WND Weekend 3179 1677 1043 458 11. Month Q1 Jan-March 3017 1731 803 482 Q2 April-June 3220 1887 907 425 Q3 July-September 3376 2021 948 406 Q4 Oct-December 3452 2018 884 549 Direct Classification Analysis We utilized different approaches to classify this bunch of dataset on the basis of casualty class. We used classifier which are Decision Tree, Lazy classifier and Multilayer perceptron. We attained some result to few level as shown in table 3 Table 3 Classifiers Accuracy Lazy classifier(K-Star) 67.7324% Lazy classifier (IBK) 68.5634% Decision Tree 70.7566% Multilayer perceptron 69.3031% We achieved some results to this given level by using these three approaches and then later we utilized different clustering techniques which are Hierarchical clustering and K-modes. Figure 1   Direct classified Accuracy Analysis by using clustering techniques In this analysis, we utilized two clustering techniques which are Hierarchical and K-modes techniques, Later we divided dataset into 9 clusters. We achieved better results by using Hierarchical as compared to K-modes techniques. Lazy Classifier Output K Star: In this, our classified result increased from 67.7324 % to 82.352%. Its sharp improvement in result after clustering. Table 4 TP Rate FP Rate Precision Recall F-Measure MCC ROC Area PRC Area Class 0.956 0.320 0.809 0.956 0.876 0.679 0.928 0.947 Driver 0.529 0.029 0.873 0.529 0.659 0.600 0.917 0.824 Passenger 0.839 0.027 0.837 0.839 0.838 0.811 0.981 0.906 Pedestrian IBK: In this, our classified result increased from 68.5634% to 84.4729%. Its sharp improvement in result after clustering. Table 5 TP Rate FP Rate Precision Recall F-Measure MCC ROC Area PRC Area Class 0.945 0.254 0.840 0.945 0.890 0.717 0.950 0.964 Driver 0.644 0.048 0.833 0.644 0.726 0.651 0.940 0.867 Passenger 0.816 0.018 0.884 0.816 0.849 0.826 0.990 0.946 Pedestrian Decision Tree Output In this study, we used Decision Tree classifier which improved the accuracy better than ear

The Mental Health Effects of Maquiladora Work on Mexican Women :: Essays Papers

The Mental Health Effects of Maquiladora Work on Mexican Women: Sources of Stress and its Consequences â€Å"The U.S.-Mexican border es una herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. . .†-- Gloria Anzaldua Introduction Submerged in the impoverished urban border culture which they helped create, the maquiladoras draw young women north from all over Mexico’s interior. The women migrate with hopes of acquiring jobs in the booming foreign-owned factories and are plunged into a new border â€Å"country† that is far from a promised land. Maquiladoras are a financial endeavor for foreign industrialists who hope that by situating factories in Third World countries they will substantially cut production costs. The industrialists have been accused of taking advantage of Mexico’s cheaply accessible labor force and less restrictive health and safety codes in order to achieve these lower production costs. While preliminary surveys on the effects of maquiladora work on women’s physical health show little to no adverse side effects, researchers and advocates are not completely convinced that long term health effects will prove positive. The emotional and psychological stresses of working in a maquiladora are tremendous and should be examined just as seriously as the physical effects. The female workers live a life of insecurity, instability, oppression, submission, and exhaustion. They face jolting lifestyle changes and even when working full time, have trouble making enough money to cover basic living costs. They are pawns in a First World economic strategy that hopes to wring as much cheap labor out of the women as it can, paying female workers in Mexico’s northern states an average of only four dollars a day for workdays that typically run from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. High levels of stress accountable to both working in the maquiladora itself and the to lifestyle it promotes attribute to depression, substance abuse and even physically manifested ailments. This paper will examine the different sources of stress that affect the mental health of female maquiladora workers in an attempt to understand the overa ll health issues of the border culture. Overview of Potential Stressors Affecting Mental Health A great majority of maquiladora employees are young women who have migrated to the border area from â€Å"supporting agricultural [regions]† (Cravey, 6). Migration, itself, is a complicated process which could have profound affects on the mental health of maquiladora workers. Migration has been found to have negative effects

Native American Schooling Essay -- essays research papers

Native Schooling For many years Native American people have been discriminated against in the United States as well as in the Public School system. Beginning with the common-school movement of the 1830s and 1840s, which attempted to stop the flow toward a more diverse society, the school systems have continued to be geared exclusively toward WASPS (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants). Native Americans have been forced to abandon their culture and conform to our â€Å"American† ways (Rothenberg, 1998, pp. 258-259.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas L. McKenney focused on deculturalizing the children through public schooling (Spring, 1997, p. 16). McKenney served as superintendent of Indian trade for fourteen years. After that office was abolished in 1823, he was appointed as the first head of the Office of Indian affairs. His idea was that a person could â€Å"civilize† the Native American children in schools when they were away from their parents. He tried to force assimilation on these Native American children. He wanted them to convert to Christianity, and adopt the WASP’s beliefs and morals. In 1827 McKenney wrote to the Secretary of War, James Barbour stating that, â€Å"children, who only needed to be protected from evil . . . and under the conditions of isolation and education Indians could be civilized in one generation (Spring, 1997, p.18).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Missionaries were sent to the tribes to spread the word of Christianity under the Civilization Act. Today the act of sending in missionaries would be viewed as a violation of the First Amendment. The amendment states that there shall be no governmental support of any religion. In that time though they were still beginning their school day with a reading from the Protestant Bible (Spring, 1997, p. 18). The Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches brought into existence the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in 1810. Their mission was worldwide and they sent missionaries abroad as well as the Native American tribes. According to Spring, the missionaries viewed the Native Americans as foreign â€Å"heathen.† A powerful example of the path to deculturalization was Reverend James Ramsey’s visit to a Choctaw school in 1846. As quoted in the Spring text, Ramsey stated, â€Å"`I showed them [on a map] that the people who speak t he English language, and who occupied so small a part of ... ... p. 103), which encouraged Indian involvement in the school systems. This required a separate local committee to represent the population if the majority of the school board was not Native American. This committee was given control over all Native American education programs affiliated with the United States Government. The ideals of this act were expanded upon in 1988 with the Tribally Controlled Schools Act. This act provided for grants to be given directly to tribes to fund the operation of their schools. With these positive modifications equality is in the possible, but distant future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Native Americans have been oppressed for hundreds of years since the their land was taken from them. The United States Government simply expects the Native American’s to assimilate to our society. Their culture and tribal ways have been stolen without a second thought. The government should provide some sort of retribution for these people. Perhaps Native American culture should be taught in our schools as well as American culture. Hopefully, someday everything will be equal in the world as well as in the public school system no matter what the person’s heritage.

Socrates - Definitions of Piety Essay -- Socrates Plato Philosophy

Socrates - Definitions of Piety   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Periclean age (around 400 B.C.) in Athens Greece there was a man named Socrates. He was considered a very wise man by the Athenians. However there were men in power who did not care for him or his teachings; Claiming that he corrupted the Athenian youth and did not believe in the Greek gods, Socrates was put on trail. On his way to his trial Socrates met a man named Euthyphro, a professional priest who is respected by the "authorities" (those who want get rid of Socrates). Euthyphro is at the court house to prosecute his father for murder. Socrates finds this to be interesting. If Euthyphro can properly explain why he is prosecuting his father for murder Socrates might have an understanding of piety. This would help Socrates to defend himself, for the prosecutors know and think highly of Euthyphro. Socrates could then draw parallels between himself and Euthyphro, who the citizens' highly respect, thus bringing him respect, and freedom. This is where Socrates begins his dialogue with Euthyphro seeking the definition of piety. Socrates wants Euthyphro to teach him the meaning of piety since Euthyphro considers himself an authority on the subject. In this dialogue Euthyphro gives Socrates four different definitions of what he believes piety is, none of which prove satisfactory to Socrates, leaving the question unanswered in the end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first definition that Euthyphro provides to Socrates is that "the ..

Rheumatoid Arthritis Essay

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) belongs to a class of autoimmune disorders that cause chronic joint inflammation as well as inflammation of the tissues surrounding the joints (Goronzy & Weyand, 2001, p. 55). Other organs in the body are also affected when the cells fail to differentiate self from non-self. The failure of the immune cells to differentiate the body’s own cells from the foreign or intruding cells leads to autoimmunity where the immune cells attack the body’s own cells. Usually, the immune system is organized in a way that it seeks and destroys the body’s invaders particular the pathogens. The antibodies in patients with autoimmune diseases always target the body’s own tissues and cause inflammation. The effects resulting from the self-attack spreads to multiple body organs and this condition is commonly referred to as rheumatic arthritis (Arthritis Foundation, 2010). Epidemiology Rheumatoid arthritis is perhaps the commonest of all rheumatoid diseases and it affects about 1. 3 million people in the U. S alone (Arthritis Foundation, 2010). Women are three times as riskier than men to be afflicted by the disease although the disease is common among all races in equal magnitude (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 1). The numbers of women suffering from rheumatoid arthritis are currently on the increase despite the recorded decline in numbers a few decades ago. The use of contraceptive pills containing insufficient estrogen as birth control measures has been blamed for the reduced immunity among women thus the increased cases of RA (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 5). Environmental factors such as cigarette smoking are also to blame for the increase in disease cases among women. Although the general smoking rates have declined in the United States, the rates of women smokers, separately considered, have not declined though. While genetic factors such as the role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1 alleles have for long been suspected to cause aberrations in proteins in immune cells, this has not been proved yet (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 5). The risk among women has also been linked to the deficiency of vitamin D. Rheumatoid arthritis usually afflicts individuals of a wide range of ages although it is commonly begins after one has attained the age of 40 although it is rare beyond the age of 60 (Silman & Pearson, 2002, p. 267). It has also been shown that rheumatoid arthritis can occur in multiple members of the same family. This observation suggests the propensity that the disease is inheritable (Goronzy & Weyand, 2001, p. 55). A specific gene is suspected to be the underlying reason for the strange behavior of the immune cells attacking the body’s own cells. Pathophysiology and Pathogenesis Arthritis refers to some form of inflammation that occurs at the joints. Joints are points where two bones join each other and are critical for locomotion process. Rheumatoid arthritis results to the inflammation of the joint which is accompanied with severe pain, swelling, redness and stiffness in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also lead to severe inflammation in tissues surrounding the joints such as ligaments, tendons and muscles. Chronic inflammation in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis can result into complete destruction of the bones, cartilage and ligaments thus leading to serious joint deformities. Usually, destruction of the joints can occur in early stages if development but gets worse as one advances in age (Arthritis Foundation, 2010). The main cause of RA is not well known although bacteria, viruses and fungi have for long been in the suspect list without any of the biological agents been proved. As for this reason, intensive research efforts are being invested in the identification of the causal agents for RA. Genetic causes and environmental infectious agents have been associated with the deranged immune system which goes out of control and attacks the body’s own cells (Goronzy & Weyand, 2001, p. 55). The deranged immune system results into massive joint and organ inflammation which leads to rheumatoid arthritis. The common organs affected include the eyes and the lungs. Specifically, the activation of lymphocytes marks the start of the process of inflammation. In the inflamed cells, a number of chemical messengers are expressed including the interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) (Gupta & Fomberstein, 2002, p. 3). Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis experience episodic inflammatory symptoms depending on the extent of individual tissue inflammation. The disease is overly active following extensive tissue inflammation and becomes inactive after inflammation has subsided. The condition undergoes remission following treatment or spontaneously and this can last for several days to years. In remission stage, patients feel well again until the conditions flares (return of symptoms and course of the disease). Active symptoms of RA include energy loss, lack of appetite, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, stiffness and low-grade fever. The reddening and swelling of the joints at the point of inflammation is indicative of RA. The joints also become tender and overly painful and the synovium, which is the tissue lining the joints, gets inflamed leading to overproduction of joint fluids or synovial fluid (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 26). The inflammation of the synovium (synovitis) results mainly from its thickening. A number of organs and other body parts are affected in rheumatoid arthritis because the disease is a systemic condition. Specifically, the disease affects several body joints which are inflamed in a symmetrical manner mainly involving the small joints of the wrist and the hands (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 12). The wrists and the hands are affected and the patients afflicted by the disease get it difficult to even open jars and turn door knobs. RA also affects a number of small joints of the feet. However, when a single joint is affected, the arthritis presents as joint infection or gout. Damage to tissues, bones and cartilages results from chromic inflammation and this can eventually lead to a complete cartilage loss and bone and muscle weaknesses and erosion. Joints will become deformed, destroyed or may completely lose function. The vocal cords can be affected to a level of influencing the voice tone. The effect to the cricoarytenoid joint has been suggested to influence the voice tone and cause voice hoarseness of the afflicted individuals. Inflammation of the glands located in the mouth and eyes often cause dryness, a condition known as Sjogren’s syndrome. Chest pain associated with shortness of breath, deep breathing or coughing results from pleuritis or the inflammation of the linings of the lungs (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 18). Lungs tissues may become scarred, inflamed or rheumatoid nodules may form in the lungs. The pericardium or the tissues that surround the heart may become inflamed (pericarditis) and lead to massive chest pain especially when afflicted individuals lean forward or lie down (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 19). The total erythrocytes and leucocytes count immensely reduces and a reduction in red blood cells leads to anemia while a decrease in leucocytes results to the enlargement of the spleen, a condition known as the Felty’s syndrome (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 17). The region around the fingers and elbows may experience firm lumps known as the rheumatoid nodules (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 16). While rheumatoid nodules do not lead to any significant symptoms, they can be infected occasionally. In RA patients, the nerves may become pinched around the wrist area and result to carpal tunnel syndrome. While it is rare for patients to suffer from vasculitis, the condition is one of the serious complications associated with RA and can totally impair the supply of blood to the tissues and lead to necrosis or tissue death. In vasculitis, tiny black spots around the beds of nails or ulcerations of the legs are commonly visible. Treatments To date, there is no specific known treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. However, modern interventions have been directed towards reducing pain and inflammation of the joints and maximizing the functioning of the joints. With proper management such as X-ray monitoring, the damage to joints and improvement of joint functions can be achieved. A combination of medication, sufficient rest, joint protection, patient education and exercise to strengthen the joints has been proved effective (Clair, Pisetsky, & Haynes, 2001, p. 146). The treatment plan is not uniform among all patients but depends on the disease activity, general health of the patient, the age and occupation of the patient and the type of joints affected by RA. In all the treatment plans, there should be total cooperation between the patient, doctor and the family members. There are two main classes of drugs used in the management of RA: the first-line drugs or the fast-acting drugs and the second-line or the slow acting drugs. Among the first-line drugs include aspirin and corticosteroids such as cortisone which are used in the management of joint inflation and pain. Second-line or slow acting medications, also known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) include agents such as methotrexate, hydroxycholoroquine and gold (Arthritis Foundation, 2010). These agents increase the chances for disease remission and prevent any progressive destruction of the joints but do not act as anti-inflammatory agents (Arthritis Foundation, 2010). Since the level of destructiveness from RA varies with individuals, treatment options also differ among individuals. For instance, patients with less destructive forms of RA can be advised to have sufficient rest or given analgesic or anti-inflammatory drugs to manage the condition. Second-line medications can be administered in a timely manner to improve the function and minimize joint destruction and disability within a short period following disease diagnosis. However, a great percentage of individuals suffering from aggressive form of RA require second-line drugs like methotrexate as well as the anti-inflammatory drugs. Different second-line drugs can also be given in combination regiment. In severe deformities of the joints, surgical procedure may be recommended to correct the deformities (Arthritis Foundation, 2010).

Son of the Morning Star

Son of the Morning Star Analysis Evan S. Connell has a unique writing style. While most stories are told from beginning to end, Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn (North Point Press, 1984) begins with the aftermath of The Battle of the Little Bighorn. It is then followed by numerous events which led up to this battle. Connell chose this non-linear writing style in order to distribute the details he finds most fascinating and interesting to share with his audience. Using the conclusion of the battle as the introduction of the narrative creates a suspenseful tone.In the beginning of the story, the setting is the battle field which The Battle of the Little Bighorn had taken place a few days earlier. Lieutenant James Bradley has led his troops to the land where they discover the corpses of which they believe are General George Armstrong Custer’s troops. Custer himself was nowhere in sight. Even after a reward was offered upon his retrieval he could not be found . The deserted battle field raised questions and the men began to imagine what had happened days prior to their arrival.The author writes, â€Å"While discussing the day’s events around a campfire most infantrymen predicted more unpleasant news†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 3) The troops discovered a woman who was present during the battle and described to them what she had witnessed. The woman’s recollection of her experience opens up the story to a chronicle of the events which happened during the battle. The reader is given details regarding to Custer’s entrance and also each opponent’s fighting style: â€Å"Instead, Reno’s men dismounted and formed a skirmish line. Then they began to retreat. They ran very fast, she said, dropping guns and cartridges.She was disgusted by the conduct of these whites, saying they must have been seized with panic worse than that which seized her own people. † (pg. 7) As the plot approaches its conclusion, the reader is taken back to the aftermath of the battle and receives a tale told by a Cheyenne woman named Kate Bighead. She delivered a short story about the corpses she saw laying on the battlefield, one in particular she identified as General Custer: She said two Southern Cheyenne women were at the Little Bighorn and when the fighting ended they went to the battlefield.They saw Custer. They knew him well†¦they recognized him even though his hair was short and face was dirty. (pg. 422) Although the plot of this story does not have a chronological structure, it develops a more personal connection because the characters in the story are directly speaking to the audience as they give their personal accounts on the battle. For example, it had already been said that Reno was dead; however, an outburst made by Reno himself is mentioned shortly after. â€Å"The major was swigging at a flask when DeRudio splashed by. What are you trying to do? ’ Reno asked. ‘Drown me before I am k illed? ’† (pg. 50) Evan S. Connell’s work, Son of the Morning Star is an extraordinary and captivating narrative. He has an acquiring mind and was not afraid to step away from the traditional form of writing. Behind the chaos there is meaning. The writing style presented in this story is untraditional which could possibly lose the attention of the reader; however, this was a valid decision. ? Based on its cover the reader might think that the entire story is about General Custer and his troops.Despite expectations, the audience actually catches a glimpse of both the lives of Custer as well as his opponents. The author gives the reader a little information on the background of Crazy Horse, formerly known as Curly. â€Å"Curly did not reveal this manifestation to anybody until he was sixteen and ready to become a warrior†¦Except for moccasins and breechcloth he rode naked. † (pg. 67) The author also gives the reader the opportunity to read a few journal entries about Crazy Horse. These entries come from the diary of Jesse Lee, â€Å"Saturday, Sept. th, 1877. Everything is quiet and I think will remain so. Crazy Horse’s body was brought to this agency and put on a little platform, Indian fashion, on the hill overlooking the post, not half a mile away. † (pg. 75) He also includes a background on Chief Gall as well, providing facts about his birthplace and family. For example, he writes, â€Å"He was not a hereditary chief. The family seems to have been undistinguished, and because his father died at an early age the boy was regarded more with sympathy than respect.So it appears that not through any legacy did he become a chieftain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 376) Throughout the story, the audience develops an idea of the motives of the Native Americans during the battle. The reader becomes aware of what Sitting Bull was thinking: If Sitting Bull did indeed call off the attack it was not because of any affection for whites, who , he hated with abiding and impenetrable rancor, but because he understood how vindictive they could be. If all the soldiers were slaughtered the whites would insist upon another battle†¦ (pg. 6) The audience was not only given an idea of what they were thinking before the battle. The author also makes a point to include a song that the Indians wrote after they had defeated General Custer and his men, â€Å"At that time the Indians did not realized they had fought Custer†¦when they found out, they sang about him. David Humphreys Miller transcribed one such kill-song†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 54) With the erudition given in the story, the reader concludes that the Native American leaders were fully developed human beings. Connell includes information regarding Chief Crazy Horse’s smart battle technique.For example, there are quotations given from a journalist: At critical moments Crazy Horse would dismount before shooting: â€Å"He is the only Indian I ever knew who did t hat often†¦he didn’t like to start a battle unless he had it all planned out in his head and knew he was going to win. (pg. 63) Chief Gall was compared to other great leaders and his leadership skills are described by his people including Lieutenant Godfrey, â€Å"He perceived Gall as a man of tremendous character natural ability, and great common sense, a chief whose massive physiognomy reminded him of Daniel Webster. (pg. 375) The comments made about these two leaders in particular demonstrate their equality of humanity compared to Custer’s men. Not only does he give details about the lives of the Native Americans but Connell also gives insight on the lives of those who fought with General Custer. The reader is given an idea of the reputation and trial of Benteen. For example, â€Å"In this, that Major Frederick W. Benteen, Ninth Calvary when in command of the Post of Fort Du Chesne, Utah, was found drunk†¦Specifications 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th were id entical, only the dates changed. (pg. 34) The reader also gathers information about Major Marcus Reno regarding his leadership and his behavior thus similar to that of Benteen’s. â€Å"Reno got demerits easily, almost deliberately†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 40) He also writes, â€Å"At least it failed to mollify the exasperated colonel because Reno found himself saddled with another charge†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 45) Although a great deal of this piece is devoted to the lives and motives of the Native Americans, the author also takes time to write about Custer’s men as well.Including battle experience as well as family history, Connell captures the importance of The Battle of the Little Bighorn. Throughout the non-linear story, the reader is taken back and forth between stories about Custer’s challengers and his troops. The author’s objectivity is apparent because the reader is given the opportunity to capture the battle from both perspectives. ? Before The Battle o f the Little Bighorn, General Custer had celebrated many victories; however, this battle ended in tragedy.Unaware of what caused the downfall at Little Bighorn, many have speculated possible causes of Custer’s defeat. These possibilities include Custer’s sanity, his confidence and other stereotypes. In the story, Connell’s collection of stories told by Sioux woman and other survivors give the reader ideas of what might have been the cause of this disastrous downfall. When looking back on the battle a discussion between an Indian and General H. L. Scott reveals a possible cause of this defeat.For example, Connell writes: During subsequent conversations Feather Earring emphasized that if Custer had approached diplomatically the Indians would have gone back to the reservations†¦General Scott observed that such a method of dealing with the hostiles had not occurred to anybody. (pg. 414) Shortly after this discussion more information about Custer’s skewed communication with the Indians is unveiled. If this miscommunication had never occurred the battle would have been avoided altogether.A Sioux chief gives his recollection on the events occurring prior to the battle: He asked Custer to promise that he would not fight the Sioux. Custer promised†¦After we got through talking, he soon left the agency, and we soon heard that he was fighting the Indians and that he and all his men were killed. If Custer had given us time we would have gone out ahead of him, but he did not give us time. If we had gone out ahead of Custer he would not have lost himself not would his men have been killed. (pg. 415) The attack had been approved by his officers, however, there had been some objections.Some of his troops did not believe the plan was logical but Custer’s confidence does appear to take over his mentality. He ignores a suggestion made by Gibbon, â€Å"Custer, instead of proceeding at once into the valley of the Little Big Horn, even should the trail lead there, should continue on up the Rosebud, get closer to the mountains†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 255-256) Losing touch with reality Custer continues to explain his plan to attack, â€Å"the combined forces would count coup on Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall†¦and all the rest† (pg. 56) Custer’s plan includes a victory rather than an alternative in case of any misfortune, he left no room for the unexpected. Although Custer’s plan seemed a little unrealistic his stubbornness was not the only thing to lead to the downfall at Little Bighorn. Many troops give their comments regarding Major Reno’s choice of leadership, â€Å"several military analysts believe Reno should have stayed there instead of doing what he did. They point out that his battalion so near the village would have engaged a great many warriors, thus allowing Custer’s plan to unfold. † (pg. ) It is also mentioned that Reno had an altercation with one of the Indian s which he encountered, â€Å"Reno misunderstood a figure of speech, taking I as an insult, and threatened to shoot High Bear-who responded by drawing a knife. Another scout, invoking Custer’s name, jumped between them and managed to prevent a bloody settlement. † (pg. 10) Not only was Reno’s lack of intuition a cause of defeat but it is also possible that his belligerent temperament lead to Custer’s labefaction. After analyzing the attitudes and actions of Custer and his troops, the reader can infer many causes that led to this disastrous defeat.Based on the strategic analysts’ comments, Reno could have used better instincts when leading his men into battle. It is possible that if the major would have had stronger intuition Custer’s men would not have suffered as much as they did. The reader can conclude that there was a sense of overconfidence made not only by Major Reno but Custer as well; however, if Custer had kept his promise to Sioux the entire battle could have been avoided. Custer and his five companies certainly underestimated their Native American opponents.