English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 60

English - Essay Example One of the topics that I will be involved in research about it is microfinance. It involves providing of banking services to the low-income earners. It is evident that microfinance enables the low-income earners to be self-sufficient by providing a means of insurance, saving money and borrowing. My research on the topic will boost my marketing skills in the bank sector and I will be able to add more value. The other topic that I will be involved in research about is psychology. It entails the scientific study of human mind and its functions. It is apparent that the research on psychology will help to improve my marketing skills and I will be able to handle different people. Also, I will be able to know the reasons behind the people’s preferences in the business world. For my essay to be factual, I will refer information from the books of Sarkar and Sundaresan about microfinance. I will refer my research on the topic of psychology from McKenna book of business psychology and organizational

Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Human Rights - Essay Example Articles published within the convention contain numerous provisions meant to govern the conduct of state offices and authorities in relation to individuals and the society at large (Smith 65). After finalizing all articles in the convention, appropriate legal systems took over as the guardians of human rights; hence are responsible for conducting legal contentions relating to the conventions’ provisions. In this context, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights poses as a judicial body responsible for oversight and advocating for acknowledgment of human rights within American societies. In this essay, we will appraise one illustrative case conducted under the jurisdiction of Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In late 2005, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) started hearing a case of Atala Riffo and Daughters Vs Chile. The case was an appeal on a prior ruling by a Chilean court system concerning child custody. In early 2005, Chilean legal system accorded full child custody to a father of three daughters within a divorced family setting. The earlier decision resulted from the consideration that the daughters’ mother had a non-conventional sexual orientation, thus will not deserve the custody of her daughters. In 2012, IACHR gave out a verdict, which ruled in favor of the daughters’ mother. ... IACHR said that American Convention provides detailed and positive rights awarded to people belonging to non-conventional sexual orientations. In this case, the Chilean government went contrary to provisions of the convention in establishing its early ruling. With respect to the case on Atala Riffo and Daughters Vs Chile, Chilean court violated the law regarding sexual orientation envisaged within the American Convention on Human Rights. Within chapter 2, article 24 of the American convention, every American citizen should receive equal treatment before the law (Schutter 45). The provision emphasizes that all individuals, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation remains equal under the law. In addition, the article postulates that the state shall not direct any discrimination towards any individual; hence all people deserve equal protection of the law (Schutter 52). In addition, the other provision violated is found in chapter 2, article 10 of the American Convention on Human Rig hts. This provision states that every individual has a right to proportional compensation from damages suffered after a court sentence, in which the final verdict resulted from a miscarriage of justice. Finally, the third provision violated by Chilean court is regarding the rights of Children. According to article 19 of the American Convention on Human Rights, every child has a right to be heard, both at family and state levels, in order to determine whether the child has been injured by an act under deliberation (Schutter 61). With respect to Chilean Supreme court ruling, Atala, who is the lesbian mother of three daughters, received direct discrimination as a result of her sexual orientation. Chapter 24 explicitly asserts that all individuals are subject to equal treatment under

Lord Liverpool’s Government Essay Example for Free

Lord Liverpool’s Government Essay Liverpool faced many economic and financial problems, as well as some political problems. Some of these problems included national debt, unemployment, wars with France and America and popular protest groups. Each of these factors also contributed to the popular unrest which occurred during this period. Liverpool was highly effective in defeating Napoleon and also in dealing with protest groups. Additionally he was also successful in bringing about some economic prosperity as well as reducing the deficit. However he was least effective in gaining the support of Prince Regent. Liverpool was most successful in winning the war with Napoleon in 1815. Liverpool had been the only person which had been able to defeat Napoleon to date which consequently made him seem unbeatable. During the war Napoleon implemented an ‘economic blockade’. In response the British tried to stop America from trading with certain countries, this hardened American opinion of the British and they now wanted independence. This eventually led to another war, however this was resolved in a few years. Liverpool’s military success led to him gaining much support and therefore strengthening his position. Liverpool was also successful – to an extent in restoring economic prosperity. The war had disrupted British trade and economy and it had also encouraged British economy to over specialise in war industries which resulted in inflation and rising prices. The Corn Laws which were implemented in 1815 caused bread prices to rise rapidly in the poor harvest of 1816; this angered many working class people and caused a lot of popular unrest, it also made Liverpool very unpopular, the corn laws benefited the upper classes. Additionally by 1815 Britain had and  £861 million national debt and the deficit had reached  £13 million. The income tax which had been imposed in 1799 and brought in  £15 million was defeated by 37 votes and abolished in March 1816. This meant that the government lost a substantial amount of revenue therefore worsening the economic state of the coun try. Further the end of the Napoleonic war in 1815 caused depression as the economy shifted from a war economy to a peacetime one. Liverpool’s government thought lower tariffs on imported goods would mean lower prices for costumers and therefore increasing demand and stimulating trade which would mean economic prosperity. Liverpool’s main source of revenue was the indirect tax. During this time the government was also under increasing pressure gain the support of the people as in the election of 1818 they had lost seats. The government was severely embarrassed over its handling of Peterloo, the spy system and the Queen Caroline Affair. Matters were only made worse by Castlereagh’s weak defence of the government position in each of the matters. The government was in deep embarrassment and on the verge of losing support from voters. As a response Liverpool shuffled the cabinet in 1822. Canning was appointed as foreign secretary. This was highly controversial and further cabinet changes took places. This was an attempt to make the restore the people’s faith in the government and Liverpool hoped to regain some credibility. This reshuffle provided the impression of change, however this was not really the case therefore it wasn’t particularly effective in solving any problems. There was also much radical threat in Britain at the time. During this time Liverpool did several things to try and suppress radical action: introduced the six acts, suspended the Habeas Corpus and the Seditions meeting act. Also people were transported and some were executed due to Luddite protests. These acts allowed the magistrates to take action necessary in order to prevent any action which seemed revolutionary. This made the government seems repressive and reactionary. This was also the first time any government had to deal with mass protest and therefore it could be said that perhaps for the experience they had, the government dealt with matters fairly effectively. Although there are perhaps better ways in which it could have been handled the government was somewhat effective in oppressing revolutionary protest. Liverpool was clearly most effective are regards military action – winning the war with Napoleon and also restoring the peace with America. As regards to the economic and financial problems Liverpool was somewhat successful in reducing the problem rather than getting rid of it.

Overview of Sarcopenia

Overview of Sarcopenia Background Sarcopenia is age related disease with symptoms of loss of muscle mass, strength and function. Elderly over the age of 65 years are vulnerable to sarcopenia [6]. It is estimated that approximated 5-13% of older people aged 60–70 years are suffered from sarcopenia [8]. The proportion is about twice higher among elderly at the age of 80 or above [8]. Studies also found that sarcopenia is more likely seen in older men than older women [16,26]. Sarcopenia gains intensive attention from public and increasing researches indicated that it is a major clinical problem for older people. Risk factors of sarcopenia Current research found that lifestyle factors, including physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol consuming [3]; and biological factors, including older age, gender, decreased hormone level, motor unit remodeling and reduced protein synthesis [3,25], contribute to development of sarcopenia. Motor unit remodeling comes up of age and leads to replacement of fast twitch motor neuron[22,25] which results in less precise control of movements, less force production and slowing of muscle mechanics[22,23,25] as remodeled motor unit are smaller in size and slower to contract. Therefore, loss of fast twitch fibers increases risk of having sarcopenia. In addition, protein synthesis, growth hormone (GH), testosterone (T) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are considered to be associated with sarcopenia as well [25]. It is well known that protein is important in muscle repairmen. And GH, T and IGF-1 are involved in protein metabolism and maintenance [23]. Different studies agreed that protein synthesis rate decreases throughout the natural aging process [24] and leads to loss of muscle mass. Thus, low protein synthesis rate, along with decrease in these hormones level provide possible occurrence of sarcopenia [25]. Consequences of sarcopenia Sarcopenia causes serious consequences not only at individual level but also at societal level. On the one hand, loss of muscle mass, strength and function lead to adverse health outcome in terms of frailty, disability, morbidity and mortality [8]. Essentially, sarcopenia is about twice as common as frailty [9]. Also, sarcopenia occurs with other morbidity in some times. Some of the co-morbidity are obesity [4,13], hypertension, osteoporosis [12] and type II diabetes [5,14,15]. Moreover, research suggests that loss of skeletal muscle strength may predict future mortality in middle-aged and elderly [2]. On the other hand, sarcopenia is linked with increased healthcare expenditure. In United States, the estimated direct healthcare attributable to sarcopenia represented about 1.5% of total healthcare expenditure in 2000 [21]. Diagnosis of sarcopenia according to different consensus panels Although research working in the area of sarcopenia is expanding exponentially, a universal definition is still under development. On average, current definitions are including muscle mass, muscle strength or even physical function. In 2010, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) published guidelines to help identify sarcopenia [1,9]. According to the EWGSOP, a person will be classified as having sarcopenia when two of three follow criteria were statisfied: (A) low muscle mass and (B) low muscle strength and/or (C) low physical performance [1]. Low muscle mass is defined as muscle mass ≠¥2 standard deviations below the mean of reference population [8], calculating by equipment such as DEXA-scanners. Low physical performance is defined as gait speed ≠¤ 0.8 m/s in the 4 meters walk test for both males and females [8]. International Working Group on Sarcopenia (IWGS) suggested diagnosing sarcopenia when the following criteria are fulfilled: (a) gait speed was < 1 m/s and (b) low muscle mass (cutoff value is similar to EWGSOP) [8]. The European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Special Interest Groups carried out that the cut off values for low muscle mass is defined as percentage of muscle mass > 2 SDs below the mean of reference individuals; for walking speed is < 0.8 m/s in the 4 meters walk test [1]. Measurement of muscle mass and muscle strength Muscle strength is mainly assessed by handgrip. While physical performance can be measured using simple tests such as the short physical performance battery test, usual gait speed or the timed get-up-and-go test; it is difficult to assess muscle mass in practice. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is recently proposed as the gold standard for muscle mass measurement. Other methods include bioelectrical impedance, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, urinary excretion of creatinine, anthropometric assessments, and neutron activation assessments can be used for measurement of muscle mass as well [8]. The process is complicated and need participation of professionals. Prevalence of sarcopenia varies as use of cut-off points relies on different instruments used for assessing muscle mass and strength and function. SARC-F, a newly developed simple questionnaire, has been regarded as rapid diagnosis test for sarcopenia. It contains five components: strength, assistance in walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs and falls. A question will be asked to assess each component variable. Scores range from 0-10, with 0-2 for each component [7]. Details of SARC-F are shown in table 1. Cut-off score A research conducted in Hong Kong tests the validation of SARC-F as a screening tool for sarcopenia in community. It found that SARC-F is able to predict future adverse outcomes with comparable power to other criteria. It also found that SARC-F has excellent specificity (94.4%) and negative predictive value but poor sensitivity. With high specificity, SARC-F is useful for screening out older adults with sarcopenia. Poor sensitivity may due to the number of participants classified as having sarcopenia represent only a small proportion of the total population studied [10]. Another research applied SARC-F in mainland China to screen sarcopenia and physical disability. It published that poor physical performance and grip strength were associated with SARC-F defined sarcopenia. But there was a very weak correlation to muscle mass in physically active outpatients. It pointed out potential explanation that the weak correlation may partly due to only small sample measured by DXA or BIA [11]. Relevance to Public Health Sarcopenia is coming of age. Elderly population is expected to remain on a rising trend in most of developed countries. In Hong Kong the proportion of the population aged 65 and over is projected to rise markedly from 13% in 2012 to 30% in 2041 []. It means that increasing population will suffer from sarcopenia. It is not surprise that sarcopenia increase the risk of physical disability. The risk of disability is 1.5 to 4.6 times higher in older persons with sarcopenia than in older persons with normal muscle. Men are at greater risk of sarcopenia related disability than women [16]. Recent estimates indicate that approximately 45% of the older U.S. population is sarcopenic and that approximately 20% of the older U.S. population is functionally disabled [21]. It is important to note that physical disability is associated with an increased risk of nursing home placement, home healthcare and hospital use [21]. And these healthcare services need extra healthcare expenditure to support. To sum up with information above, sarcopenia is becoming big challenge in public along with the rise of older population. It is cause serious health consequences in persons and make economic burden in countries.

Communication Traits of Happy Couples Essay -- Relationships

There are couples who are happy and there are those who are not. The success rate of marriages in America has fallen; fifty percent of all marriages will not make it to the end. Fifty percent of all marriages today, who enter into a â€Å"lifelong† commitment, will end in divorce. In search of a solution and an explanation researchers have turned to look at couples who are happy and those who are not, through all stages of a relationship. They have found that many of the traits that begin in a dating relationship will carry over into a marriage. Researchers have turned to the ways in which these happy couples communicate and the ways that not so happy couples communicate in order to find a common thread between couples who stay committed to one another while being satisfied in the relationship. There are communicative traits practiced by these couples who are happy. Those traits include but are not limited to successful conflict resolution, communicative responses to situati ons which threaten your relationship, the use of rituals to build relational quality and intimacy, the role of affection in relational satisfaction. There is a correlation between successful conflict resolution and relational satisfaction in a relationship. It is important to note that not only is it important for conflicts to be resolved in a relationship but the way in which those conflicts are handled has a direct effect on the satisfaction and the success of the relationship or the marriage. It often times is not the subject matter of the fight which affects the relationship the most, it is the way in which the conflict is handled, â€Å"How couples argue and disagree about issues appears to be more consequential to the success of a marriage than what they ar... ...d and Dating Relationships,† 256. Kennedy-Lightsey, Booth-Butterfield, â€Å"Responses to Jealousy Situations That Evoke Uncertainty in Married and Dating Relationships,† 256. Kennedy-Lightsey, Booth-Butterfield, â€Å"Responses to Jealousy Situations That Evoke Uncertainty in Married and Dating Relationships,† 256. Kennedy-Lightsey, Booth-Butterfield, â€Å"Responses to Jealousy Situations That Evoke Uncertainty in Married and Dating Relationships,† 258. Angela Hoppe-Nagao, Stella Ting-Toomey, â€Å"Relational Dialectics and Management Strategies in Marital Couples,† Southern Communication Journal 67 (2002): 151. Hoppe-Nagao, Ting-Toomey, â€Å"Relational Dialectics and Management Strategies in Marital Couples,† 151. Kory Floyd, â€Å"Human Affection Exchange: V. Attributes of the Highly Affectionate,† Communication Quarterly 50 (2002): 135.

Character Development in Edward Abbeys The Monkey Wrench Gang Essay

Character Development in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang    Search and Rescue, Utah State Police, and Bishops of the Church of Latter-Day Saints chase a group of bridge destroying, billboard burning, bulldozer mutilating eco-terrorists through the desert of the Southwest. The group known as the Monkey Wrench Gang consists of four very different characters: Seldom Seen Smith, also known as Joseph Smith, George Washington Hayduke, Doctor A. K. Sarvis, and Bonnie Abbzug. Each character has his own opinion of why nature needs to be saved. The group decides to make their mark on nature by "taking care" of the different machines, roads and bridges that are destroying it. With all the destruction the gang is causing, being caught is expected. However, the gang narrowly escapes the law numerous times. After finally giving in to the pressures of being good citizens and serving time in jail for destroying public property, the gang reunites for their final destructive mission: Glen Canyon Dam. Edward Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), uses language, appearances, actions and opinions to make each character likable to the conservative reader. Abbey uses his strong feelings about the beauty of the Southwest to shape the opinions of each of his characters. Doc Sarvis, a medical surgeon from Albuquerque, has no strong or lasting relationships. "His few close friends were always sent away, returning rarely, the bonds of affection no stronger than the web of correspondence" (12-13). Doc?s closest friend, and coworker, is Ms. Bonnie Abbzug. Doc and Bonnie spend most of their downtime destroying billboards with economic meanings, because "Somebody has to do it" (43). Such billboards worthy of destruction read "Marine Corps bu... ...ng nurse on the right buttock and shambled on shaky hind legs out the side door up the alleyway . . . into the padded darkness of the nearest bar" (213). With Smith being the logical member of the gang, "he listens with the concentrated intensity of a buck in hunting season" (337). When he finally hears something, "he stops. Suddenly. Doc, Bonnie and Hayduke stumble into his rear like the Three Stooges, three clowns in a silent movie" (336). While reading The Monkey Wrench Gang, many images appear in one?s mind. The uses of Edward Abbey?s skill of developing characters through language, appearance, actions and opinions make this novel more enjoyable to read. The shaping of each character persuades the reader to believe that, "Oh my desert, yours is the only death I cannot bear." Work Cited Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. 1975. New York: Avon Books.

Describe and Evaluate two theories of the formation of romantic relationships Essay

In 1970 Byrne and Clore introduced the reward/ need satisfaction theory for the formation of relationships. They suggested that we are attracted to individuals whose presence is rewarding for us, and that naturally we find stimuli rewarding if it meets an unmet need; the more rewards someone provides for us, the more we should be attracted to them. They believed that the formation if relationships was linked with the idea of classical and operant conditioning, with operant conditioning we are likely to repeat behaviours that leads to a desirable outcome and avoid behaviours that lead to undesirable ones, so we enter the relationships because the presence of some individuals is directly associated with reinforcement, making us have positive feelings, which makes them more attractive to us. For classical conditioning, we tend to prefer people who we associate with pleasant event, so for example if we meet someone somewhere where we are having a good time, then we will associate this person with this good time and find them more attractive in the long run. Byrne and Clore believed that the balance between positive and negative feelings in a relationship was crucial as relationships where the positive outweigh negative feelings were more likely to develop and succeed. Griffitt and Guay (1969), participants were evaluated on a creative task by an experimenter and then asked to rate how much they liked the experimenter. The rating was highest when the experimenter had positively evaluated the participant’s performance on the task. This study supports the claim that we like people who are associated with pleasant events. This provides strong support that similarity is important in attraction, but also highlights reciprocal liking also is factor in the formation of relationships; however this may not be the only factor influencing this. The experiment was only of an imaginary description, the participant is unlikely to truly demonstrate how they feel towards the stranger. The experiment doesn’t demonstrate interaction of people, but rather just presents a statement about them, which reduces how far conclusions can be drawn. Although similarity may be a factor, how people socially interact is also important to how a person perceives another. In a laboratory experiment, Lehr and Gehr (2006) studied participants of both sexes to test the importance of reciprocal liking. Knowing that someone likes you is particularly rewarding and so is more likely to end up in mutual liking. Participants were given a description of a stranger, with varying degrees of similarity of the strangers attitude to the participants. In each description was a statement that the stranger either liked or did not like the participant. Researchers found significant effects for attitude similarity and liking. However this study doesn’t have ecological validity from where it was done in a lab setting and didn’t reflect real life situation or conditions However Cate et al (1982) asked 337 individuals to assess their current relationships in terms of reward level and satisfaction. Results showed that reward level was superior to all other factors in determining relationship satisfaction, however this theory only explores the receiving of rewards, the results may not be completely accurate though as some people may have picked the socially desirable answers. These studies all ignore natures influence on attraction and that it is to some extent an evolutionary need to have a partner that meets physical requirements. This model may be very culturally bound as all the studies done were in the western world’s individualistic cultures. In other cultures one partner may not expect rewards and may be entirely giving, or arranges marriages will also go against this theory as the long term is made to happen. For example, Lott (1994) suggests that in many cultures women are more focused on the needs of others rather than receiving reinforcement. This suggests that this theory is not a universal explanation of relationship formation and therefore culturally biased. However, this theory is supported by another theory on how relationships are formed Byrne, Clore and Smeatons Similarity Theory (1986) states that it is important that people are similar in order to be able to form a relationship. They theorise that there are two stages to deciding who to seek relations with first we sort out the people most dissimilar to us and secondly then seek out those who are most similar. Caspi and Herbener found that in married couples, those who were the happiest were those with the most similar personality traits.