A Bump On Tobacco Road

In North Carolina, the governor may be the top public official, but for the past 200 years tobacco has been king. The state grows half of all the tobacco in the United States, and the original cash crop remains its economic backbone.But beginning next month, North Carolina will be home to one of the nation's toughest youth smoking laws, with a ban on tobacco use in public schools. Most students can't smoke at school anyway, but the law applies to everyone on campus, year-round: parents in the stands at football games, maintenance crews in the school garage, teachers in the parking lot.Getting the law passed was no simple feat in a state that still depends on people lighting up. North Carolina spends just 4 percent of its annual $426 million of tobacco revenue on smoking prevention (less than half the minimum federal recommendation), and, at 35 cents, maintains one of the country's lowest cigarette taxes. In all, it took six years of local advocacy and the votes of all 115 of the stat e's school boards.â€Å"It wasn't easy,† says Mark Ezell, the state's tobacco-free-campus director. â€Å"I got called a Nazi a few times.† Health advocates who want the state to go further are likely to be called a few more things.Source: Philips, M. (2008) ‘A Bump On Tobacco Road’ Newsweek Online [online] available from http;//www.nesweek.com/id/147789> [August 3, 2008]The article I chose has the topic of smoking ban on schools on North Carolina. It is a landmark case on the massive efforts of different groups and individuals to educate the youth on the health risks of smoking. Although there is already an existing law that prohibits smoking of the students in their school premises, the new law was tougher and stricter in sense.For smoking is now a total ban on schools through out the state, not only for the youth but also for the teachers, employees or even ordinary visitors. This will ward off any attempts, influences or temptations of the youth to smo ke by seeing their teachers or adults doing the same thing. This is also a daring step of the state authorities even though they will be having a tough battle against big multinational cigarette companies.The article shows that smoking among the youth is a big problem. Cigarette companies usually on their marketing strategies targets teens, encouraging them to smoke on an early age. If they will be hooked on their youth on smoking, it will be difficult for them to quit smoking while growing, and this means a big sum of money for the cigarette companies. Moreover, smoking is usually introduced by peers on high schools. They usually try smoking because of curiosity, peer pressure or simply they just thought that it is ‘cool’ to smoke, like the Marlboro Man.Companies and their marketing arms promote smoking as part of the ‘youth culture’, that smoking should be experienced by every youth and that smoking is a requisite for them to ‘belong’ on a gr oup. Furthermore, even if smoking is prohibited for students on their school grounds, but visitors, teachers and other school staff are allowed to do so, the students will juts simply question such policies.Why they are not allowed to smoke inside school yet non-students are allowed. So it means, smoking are only banned inside, but allowed outside school premises.And even worst, they will have the perception that when they reach adult age, they are already ‘legally’ allowed to smoke. Lastly, anti-smoking campaigns will be only effective if the people behind it will not only focus their efforts on lobbying to the proper authorities to pass ordinances or laws on prohibiting smoking on public places or schools. They should also intensify their campaign on educating not only the youth, but everybody, on the illnesses and ill-effects of cigarettes on our health.   

Religion And Confession Essay

a. Define your topic in a relatively brief paragraph. The topic I chose is Confession. Confession is a basic part of living a spiritual life. For some cultures and organized religion, confession is a physical act of going to the priest, telling the priest your sins and asking sincerest repentance. One cannot partake of the Feast of the Holy Eucharist without confession because confession clears one’s conscience, is the way of receiving the Lord’s forgiveness. â€Å"Confession is the popular name for the Christian Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation recognized by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The rite consists in the acknowledgment of sins to a priest, who grants absolution in the name of God. Its biblical basis is found in the action of Jesus forgiving sins (Mark 2) and his commissioning of the Apostles to forgive sins (John 20:22-23).† (Favazza, 1982) b. How does the experience of guilt relate to or inform your topic? Guilt directly relates to confession. Confession is the act of asking forgiveness. Others are burdened with the issue of telling one’s sins to a priest who is only human at one end. But more than going through the complications of the process, one cannot go to confession willingly if one cannot first accept his guilt of sins that he committed. There is actually a part in the process of confession when one stipulates the sins that one is guilty of. Confession lets a person open himself to the Lord. â€Å"Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrow, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the want of His children.† (White, p. 101). When the act of letting go of all the fears, desires and wants of a person is also the act of unburdening one’s self to his sins. Only when a man is empty of sins can the love of God enter his heart. â€Å"The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, selfabhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray.† (Easton, 2006) c. What is the relationship of your topic to the experience of justification by faith God`s forgiveness and reconciling acceptance? Confession is a process institutionalized by God to show how forgiveness works. Through confession, one can experience repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation with the faith once again and the joy of feeling accepted by God’s love once more. A sinner who repents and asks forgiveness of his sins that he is guilty of is ready to accept the penalties of his sins. The kind of penalty bestowed upon a remorseful soul shows the kind of justice that faith exemplifies. Nothing compares to the experience of confession when a man is transformed from evil to good, from sinner to follower. â€Å"Confession of sin is also emphasized in the NT (Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5), and with it is connected the promise of forgiveness of sins (I John 1:9; cf. Matt. 6:12), a forgiveness which is based solely on the death of Christ (Eph. 1:7)† (Quanbeck, 1968.) The death of Christ was able to save human souls from damnation to salvation. His dying on the cross was proof of God’s love to save human souls from sins. Without the death of Jesus, forgiveness will not be made manifest. The path of confessions is part of the path towards salvation. Part of Jesus seven last words, â€Å"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,† exemplifies the absoluteness of forgiveness and the love of God to his people. d. In what way does your topic contribute to or inform growth in Christian character and service (commonly called sanctification and victory over sin)? Confession is a part of growing into a full Christian. Human beings will sin against the Lord as he walks the Path. Confession sharpens one’s Christian character because through confessions, a person learns what and how forgiveness is. When people go to confession, the advocacy itself informs other people about how Christians grow in the love of God. Through confession, people can allow themselves to be one with God again through the Holy Spirit. â€Å"Sanctification involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Rom. 6:13; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 Cor. 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Cor. 6: 11; 2 Thess. 2:13). The Apostle’s Creed mentions the basic principle that sanctifies confession in, â€Å"I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.† The Church of God is developed by sinners who have gone back, believed in the â€Å"forgiveness of sins† that is why confessions are important in reminding people of the faith. And so even the most hideous crime and guilt, if confessed with sincerest repentance, has the hope to be forgiven. e. How can your topic help one to know and understand God personally? The ordinary man would not really know how sorry a sinner is. Sincerety can be seen in gestures but this is not enough when it’s a case when one asks forgiveness. People may have an idea how sincere the apology is but in the case of murder in the first degree, at the moment before serving death sentences, at that moment, confession is but a process between you and the Lord. The personal relationship of a person and God is a very special one. The act of confession is a venue where that personal relationship can start and can be kept. This keeping will have great effects towards advocating the sanctity of that kind of relations so that others may be able to have that special relations with God. â€Å"If Christians would associate together, speaking to each other of the love of God and of the precious truths of redemption, their own hearts would be refreshed and they would refresh one another.† (White. p 103) f. What are the social consequences of your topic? In other words, how does your topic affect or inform your relationship to other persons in your life? Confessions better a person. A person who understands and believes in the concept of confessions believes in concepts of forgiveness, repentance, salvation and above all, humility. Amidst the many challenges expected of modern man, the value of confessions will enable a person to keep his morals intact and act ethically in life. Much of evil ways happen because man has forgotten that his life, his body and the resources around him are not his own. They are essentially gifts from God. Abuse of these gifts happen because man thinks he is on top of the food chain, sole predator of all things on earth. When a person forgets that there is a higher being than him, he is corrupted. Confession will be an insitution that will remind that the sinful man is a given thing on earth but due to God’s almighty love, God forgives the sincerely repentful human being thereby giving him another chance to enter the kingdom of heaven. Bibliography Favazza, Joseph, The Order of Penitents (1988); Martos, Joseph, Doors to the Sacred (1982). Holy Bible. Crossway Books; Compact edition (April 2005) W.A. Quanbeck, IDB,I,667-68; R.H. Alexander, TWOT,I, 364-66; O. Michel, TDNT,V, 199-219; V.C. Grounds, ZPEB,I, 937-39. White, Ellen. Steps to Jesus. Adventist Book Center New Jersey; Booklet edition (January 1998)

Mistakes are Steps to Success

Many people think that mistakes just make their life miserable. But, ironically, that is not true. I always thought that making a mistake will make me regret that mistake for the rest of my life. But luckily I fell into the learning side of mistakes. Mistakes are like missions in a game, you may not die or you may die. If you die, you may learn from the mistakes that made you die in the first place. So the next time the same mission comes again you may not die because you have already learned from it. I believe that if you make a mistake, be optimistic and learn from the mistake.It makes you learn something about a situation and actually move on positively with it. When you make a mistake, it opens an automatic door to get to know yourself better. People can often learn more from a mistake than success. Some people may do the same mistake 2 or 3 times and then learn, that totally depends upon how seriously the mistake is. For example if you play with a needle, you might not get hurt the first time, but if you do it wrong the needle might poke a hole in your skin. Next time you do it you might think, NEEDLE=BAD.Sometimes we don’t realize we’re doing something bad until we get hurt and that’s usually how we learn. Everyone has made a mistake in their lives. At least just one, I mean if someone has never made a mistake, well that obviously means he/she doesn’t know anything. Why? Because mistakes are mostly the things that teach us in life. If we were perfect, nothing would make us happy, curious or even sad. I guess that’s a good thing, but that’s not true. I feel that mistakes give us more strength and make us stronger to deal with life.From my previous mistakes, I learned to never let anyone hurt me and crush my feelings, I learned to not show my emotions so much in future relationships, I learned about the kind of person I want in the future and the kind of person I don't want, I learned not to be so needy and to depen d on myself and my family for my happiness. Another false step that really taught me something was to lie to my parents. When we turn teenagers we change our path and do far worse mistakes than we do as kids.Something like that happened to me, I started to lie more and more until my parents would find out everything I lied about; I got phone and my PS3 taken away for a long time and that taught me to be truthful and honest to both of my parents so I won’t be able to suffer and have nothing in my life to entertain myself with. Some mistakes can be learned from, but few cannot. For example, if you’re teacher wants you to study on the computer and you start playing games, you might not get the second chance.Instead you probably will get a detention. I know that it is pretty hard to accept mistakes made by us but it’s easy if we can see our mistakes from a different angle. We usually think the negative thoughts about our mistakes, but we need to understand and accep t that the mistakes we do will bring big changes and make our lives distinct in some sort of way, depending on the mistake. I now realize why mistakes are also helpful and not only hurtful.

Manuscript Introduction and Methods Sections Essay

Manuscript Introduction and Methods Sections - Essay Example Indeed, such a compound might prevent the occurrence of the withdrawal phase and dysregulation of the reinforcement mechanism that is known to be involved in compulsive smoking. Tobacco smoke contians several substances. Of them, nicotine appears to be the critical reinforcing component of tobacco smoke. A large body of evidence implicates a4b2 nAChrs in the reinforcing effects of nicotine. The initial effect of nicotine is probably to activate 42-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors located on dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area; however, it is likely that these receptors are rapidly desensitized, whereas nicotine produces a sustained effect on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (Foll and George, 2007). Bupropion and varenicline are accepted as therapy for niocotine addiction. Bupropion can block nicotinic receptor function. varenicline however is a partial agonist or an antagonist depending on the state of activation of the a4b2 receptors. Through its intrinsic partial activation of the 42-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, varenicline may elicit a moderate and sustained increase in mesolimbic dopamine levels, which would counteract the low dopamine levels encountered in the absence of nicotine during smoking cessation attempts.

Why did the global financial system meltdown in 2008 Essay

Why did the global financial system meltdown in 2008 - Essay Example The increase in the number of bad loans led to devaluation of company assets and the benchmark indices plunged as a result of the erosion of investor confidence. This effect spread across other economies of the world. The national production levels, imports and exports lowered which gave rise to reduction of consumption demand. The fall of consumption in the economy again pulled down the productivity levels thereby forming a vicious circle which prompted appropriate actions from policymakers for economic recovery. Overview and key rational concepts:Â  global financial system meltdown and relevant issues of world economy The global financial meltdown that occurred in 2008 had its root in the economic crisis in US. The economic crisis in US started with the crisis in the housing markets of US. The prices of the housing market were steadily increasing during the middle period of the 1980s to 1990s. The investments in the housing market were lucrative as the investors in real estate and housing properties could realize multiple values of their initial investments within a short period of time. The investment funds were borrowed from the banks and financial institutions. The banks and the financial institutions also observed that their loans could earn them interest repayments in short time and the underlying mortgage properties were also of high value in the market. In the plight of higher growth in short span of time, the financial institutions lacked due diligence while assessing the credit parameters of the borrowers. The policies of the US government also influenced such activities in the market as every citizen of US had a fundamental right of holding housing property. This phenomenon led to the formation of a housing bubble. Due to lack of tighter credit policies, the income level of the borrowers and their past credit history were not fully checked. This caused the housing bubble to burst when the borrowers at one point of time were not able to repay the lo ans. The crisis situation occurred when the weight of bad loans increased beyond proportions (Kates, 2011). The financial institutions and the corporate houses which held the housing properties as underlying mortgages incurred heavy losses as a result of the bad investments. The share prices of the companies including big names like the Lehmann Brothers fell and the shareholders’ wealth was eroded in quick time. This led to a huge crisis in the economy of US that created the financial recession in 2008. The economic crisis in US is also referred to as the subprime crisis. The losses that occurred in the housing market is referred to as subprime because this market had a relatively lesser adherence to credit parameters for lending and included borrowers who could not avail loans from the prime house lending market. The economic crisis slowly and gradually spread to other economies as well and the global financial system was hit by the economic crisis (Allen, 1999). This was th e age of economic reforms by developing countries like China, India which led to its integration with the world trade. The international economy was heavily dependent on the exports and imports of the countries all over the world like US, UK, Canada, countries of the European Union, Middle East, China, India, etc. The economic crisis in US led to the fall of consumption demand and productivity in the economy. As a result of this, the exports and imports of the country hampered which in turn affected the imports and exports of other countries all over the globe. Thus the effect of economic crisis melted down to the economies as well

Emergency Preparation and Response in the World of Corporate Security Essay - 1

Emergency Preparation and Response in the World of Corporate Security - Essay Example In â€Å"Emergency Preparation and Response in the World of Corporate Security† I have carefully studied the fundamental security problems faced by corporate America. The purpose of this research is to provide a framework which security departments in business environments can utilize in achieving their goal of providing a secure workplace for all employees, contractors, and visitors. The security focus is to determine the appropriate actions to be taken during normal activities and steps to take in the event of unusual circumstances.  It is not possible to incorporate a definite preparation and response plan for every potential event that Corporate Security may experience.   The primary focus is to lay a ground work on how policies and procedures are to be implemented and to establish the communication bridge between the chain-of-command. In order to gain an insight on the security issues and problems faced by corporate America, I have gone through websites of companies with security programs in effect. Apart from that, I have also researched companies who have made it their business to provide security services to companies and organizations. I have studied what these companies have to offer their corporate clients and how they manage and overcome security threats. So what is good corporate security? Although ‘security’ is not something practically measurable, however, the degree of preparedness of companies is what can be used to assess the practical vulnerability of a particular company to security threats. Companies must be prepared for unforeseen circumstances in terms of security risk situations. The Corporate Security department in collaboration with senior management of a company must create policies which make the work environment a safer place for employees, executives, contractors, corporate guests and dignitaries. A measurement tool can be devised by analyzing the level of security measures and risk management preparedness of a

The Easiest Teacher-Researcher Data Collection Strategies Essay

The Easiest Teacher-Researcher Data Collection Strategies - Essay Example The focus groups are another strategy that will I would incorporate into my teaching as it an effective way of enhancing peers to learn from each other while assessing themselves. This increases the awareness of the different areas the students have difficulties in thereby prompting them to help each other better. The hardest teacher-researcher data collection strategies to incorporate into my teaching would be digital pictures, weblogs, and videos. As much as these instructions strategies are very effective in breaking the monotony of the classroom thereby rejuvenating the students’ concentration, they also have an equal effect of diverting the attention of the students from the intended purpose. For instance, when a teacher uses a video or the digital pictures teach something, there is a high tendency of more than 60% of the students to remain glued on the video or the pictures long after the teacher has finished using them. This shows that they did not concentrate on the concept taught but rather they were concentrating on the bar picture or the video. I would be comfortable with my colleague taking notes for me while teaching as this is a very important form of feedback that can help me improve my teaching. The notes will also give me a personal reflection of how to prepare my action plan in the future. However, I would appreciate some if some ground rules are followed for this practice in order to avoid conflict. My colleague should not take this opportunity as a chance for her/him to teach me how to teach my lessons or how to improve my practice. The notes alone will give me the feedback I need to improve my practice and teach better. The principle or the university supervisor can support my efforts to collect data by creating an environment that is conducive for learning and the children and their parents can put educational activities before any other activity around the school. This forms healthy school environment where the learning activities produce a lot of data needed to make effective learning decisions.  Ã‚  

Recyclable Drinking Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Recyclable Drinking Water - Essay Example The city chosen for this purpose is Bangkok considering the current flood scenario that has affected the lives of locals and tourists. The shortage of drinking water has jeopardised the physical and mental state along with the health of people. Bangkok is the capital and largest city of Thailand known as a tourist destination across the globe. The influx of tourists from different parts of the world has strengthened the economy of the country boasting on impeccable infrastructure and hospitality that is good enough to allure people across the globe. Bangkok has 50 districts and each district is managed by the district chief appointed by the governor. There is also an elected government body; Bangkok Metropolitan Council that managed municipal ordinances and city’s budget pertaining to infrastructure and other activities. The government of Bangkok of is known as Bangkok Metropolitan Administration that manages the city and its resources in an effective and efficient manner. The re are a number of national and international retailers present in Bangkok with the likes of Tesco, Family Mart and Big C dominating the market. The economic activities are majorly restricted to agriculture and tourism. In Bangkok, Metropolitan Waterworks Authority offers tap water that is used for the purpose of drinking and other activities. Many households have water purifying machines that further purifies water through different mechanisms and processes. At the same time, a number of packaged drinking water bottles are available that can be bought to ensure good quality of drinking water. However, there is no organisation developing or promoting recycled water for the drinking purpose. This marketing plan would ensure successful introduction of the product in the markets of Bangkok... The paper tells about integrated marketing communication as one of the highly preferred marketing tools within the competitive business environment. It can be defined as the coordination and amalgamation of marketing communication tools and functions into a program or function that helps in impacting customers along with enhancing the feasibility and acceptance of the product. However, the common perception states that recycle water is not safe for drinking and can be used in irrigation, industrial usage and flushing toilets. Bangkok has been severely affected by floods creating shortages for safe drinking water. It needs to be mentioned that common people in the city are facing serious water crisis with tap water pouring contaminated and dirty water. On the other hand, packaged drinking bottles are quite limited in the market and the city does not have a marketer offering recycled drinking water. It can be assumed that development of recycled drinking water would help in offering a useful product to the masses using an integrated marketing communication approach. This would also help in assessing the present use of recycled water and its importance and acceptance in the business and social environment. Thus, the marketing plan has a great scope that requires effective planning and implementation. The city of Bangkok has been developing wastewater treatment system from a long period of time and efforts have yielded good benefits in last few years. There are a number of sewerage zones that have helped in improving the overall water shortages in the short as well as in the long run.

Revision of Responding to Pop Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Revision of Responding to Pop Culture - Essay Example Perhaps this twist in â€Å"Chuck† made the TV series a standout from the other series of similar genre because it reached Season 5 which is quite unusual for a spy genre. There is nothing heavy in its dialogue which an average Joe will not understand which explains why the Chuck flick became a hit with the general audience. Agent Walker, Chuck’s love interest also kept the audience glued to their screen as their romance unfolds in the secretive world of espionage. Just do not delve too much on how logical the circumstances of the Chuck series are because you will just be disappointed. The main entertainment factor of this flick is not the soundness of its logic just like CSI series. Chuck only intends to amuse its audience so it did put much emphasis on the logical sequencing of the film. Given this, do not wonder how could have it been possible to build a CIA headquarter beneath Nerd Herd without being notice because it is one of the givens that the film does not intend to explain. This disconnect however does not seem to be an issue with the audience evident with its high ratings and subsequent episodes. The flick only intends to entertain by bringing down the spy culture to the understanding of the masses. It appeals to our subliminal desires of living an action packed and adventurous life such that of a spy by removing the idea that this job is unattainable given the requirements imposed by other spy genre. In Chuck’s world, as long as you are in the right place and in the right time, you could be the â€Å"Intersect† who is the most valuable asset in the espionage world with a bonus of having girl that is way out of your league. If this TV series will be translated into a game just like other spy films, â€Å"Chuck† will prove to be interesting as those secrets imbedded in his brain can provide a wide assortment of possibilities of what the character can do in a lot of

Male vs Female Crime Rates Essay Example for Free

Male vs Female Crime Rates Essay Statistics indicate that men are more likely to commit crime than women. For example, in 2002 80% of known offenders (481,000+) were men. As there are a number of problems with the reliability and validity of statistics, an alternative to information are self-report studies. These are anonymous and some believe because they all but guarantee anonymity they encourage respondents to be more truthful than if they were involved in an interview. In the past, sociologists tended to pay attention to only males committing crimes and ignored gender differences. This began to change in the 1970’s when feminists such as Carol Smart looked into woman and crime and began to ask questions such as: †¢ Why do woman commit fewer crimes than men? †¢ Why are woman more likely to commit to social norms compared to men? †¢ Is there anything distinctive about a womans experience as an offenders and as victims of crime? †¢ Are woman treated differently than men in the justice system? There is now an agreement within sociology that when studying crime and deviance we must take into account gender. This means we must also ask questions about men. What is the relationship between crime and masculinity? Sex role theory: this theory argues that boys and girls are socialized differently, therefore resulting in boys becoming more delinquent. There are different versions of this theory. Edwin Sutherland (1949) stated that there are clear gender differences when it comes to socialization. Firstly, girls are more supervised and more strictly controlled. Secondly, boys are encouraged to take risks and to be tough and aggressive. Therefore, boys have more of an opportunity and an inclination to commit crime. Talcott Parsons (1995) believes that there are clear and obvious gender roles within the nuclear family. The father performs roles which show him to be more of the leader and provider, whilst the mother performs the expressive role of giving emotional support and socializing children. These roles are rooted from the birth of their children as mothers have to give birth and nurse children. Girls have a readily available female role model at home (their mother) whereas boys have less access to their male role model as traditionally the father was out at work for most of the time. Boys will be socialized largely by their mother and will tend to reject behavior that is seen as feminine as they compulsively pursue masculinity. Because of the emphasis on toughness and aggression this encourages anti-social behavior and delinquency. Albert Cohen (1955) believed that if boys don’t have that readily available role model, socialization can be a difficult process. Boys can experience anxiety about their identity as a young man and a solution for this is all male peer groups or street gangs. In these social contexts, aspects of masculinity can be expressed and rewarded. The idea of being tough and breaking rules can help to conform to the idea of masculinity. The feminist perspectives on who is involved in crime starts from the view that society is patriarchal and woman can only be understood under male dominance. Pat Carlen (1990) stated that a womans crimes can be known as ‘the crimes of the powerless’ as many woman who commit crimes are powerless in some way. For example, they live in poverty with little power to change the situation; as children they may have been badly treated and looked after, perhaps being abused by fathers. As adults they have often lived under the dominance of male partners who asserted control perhaps in the form of violence. After interviews with 39 woman aged 15 to 46 convicted of various offences, Carlen drew on the control theory – saying that woman turn to crime when the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. It appeared that the interviewed women turned to crime as a rational choice. Low paid work and unemployment had not led to the standard of living they hoped for, and living an unhappy life as children and as adults was very unfulfilling. Unrewarded by family and the workplace and with little power to change the situation, crime was a rational alternative. However, critics of Carlen claim that her sample of woman was too small to make generalized statements. Her research also suggests that conformity to social norms tends to break down when the rewards for doing so are absent. Conformity and control: According to Frances Heidensohn the striking thing about womans behaviour is their conformity to social norms. Taking in mind the control theory, women have more to lose than men if they deviate from social norms. And looking from a feminist view, she argues that in a male-dominated society the control of woman by men discourages deviance from norms. In the home and family, women still have the primary responsibility for raising children and taking on the domestic work. Their commitment to this also means they are committing to the conformity of the traditional mother-housewife role and socializing their children in terms of society’s norms and values. Women have been socialized to conform. Girls are more strictly supervised and given less freedom, they are expected to perform household duties. These expectations and control have been carried on into adult life. As adults, women are not only controlled by their childhood socialization but also by their male partners. Woman who challenge these traditional roles are often brought into line by men’s financial and physical power. According to Heidensohn, wife battering is an assertion of patriarchal authority. Womens socialization, domestic responsibilities plus the control imposed on them by men discourage the deviance from social norms. Their lives are centered on the home so they have less freedom to go out. As a result they have less inclination, less time and fewer opportunities to commit crime. Beyond the home a womans freedom to deviate from social norms is also limited in a number of ways; for example, some women do not want to go out after dark as they are in fear of getting attacked or raped by men. A young woman’s fear of being attacked by a stranger is five times greater than a young male’s. They are also less likely to deviate from norms of respectability for fear of being labeled promiscuous. In a working environment men are more likely than women to be in control, in positions such as supervisory or managerial roles, and surveys indicate that sexual harassment is common in the workplace and it is a further indication of male power and control which is often experienced as intimidating by women. Both inside and outside the home, there is pressure for woman to conform- and this is reinforced by male power. Crime and masculinities: Research into gender over the last 25 years has mainly been concerned with woman and crime as it was seen as a new topic after decades of research into men and crime. Feminists would focus on woman and men would enter the equation in terms of the control men had over woman. Researchers now recognize that there is another side to gender and crime and start to ask questions such as: Why are men more likely to commit crime than woman? And is there a relationship between male crime and masculinity? Gender identity is a vital part of the individual’s sense of self it is something that people accomplish. People are continuously trying to express and present their masculinity or femininity. And in relation to crime, you can say men commit crime as a means of constructing this masculinity to express to others and themselves. There are a number of different masculinities which are shaped by social class, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation. Men’s position in society provides them with different access to power and resources which leads to different constructions and expressions of masculinity – and this leads to different types of crime. The most dominant form of masculinity is known as hegemonic masculinity. It’s the most ideal form, which is defined through work in paid labour, the subordination of women, heterosexism and the uncontrollable sexuality of men. Most men wish to accomplish this. The alternative is subordinated masculinities. They include masculinities which develop in some ethnic minority and lower class groups and homosexual masculinity. Young middle-class white males are usually able to demonstrate some of the characteristics of hegemonic masculinity through success at school or college. But this comes at a price – subordination to teachers. Some assert their masculinity outside of school through vandalism, petty theft and heavy drinking. White working- class males are less likely to be successful in education. They sometimes resist school and construct their masculinity around physical aggression, anti-social behaviour, delinquency and some cases violence towards gays and members of ethnic minority groups. Lower working class men from ethnic minority groups with little expectation of educational success or secure employment sometimes assert their masculinity in street gangs. With little chance of accomplishing hegemonic masculinity by legitimate means, they are more likely to turn to robbery and serious property crime. Even middle class males who have the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity use crime to express masculinity. James Messerschmidt argues that white collar and corporate crime are not simply a means for profiting the individual or the organization. There are also a means of accomplishing hegemonic masculinity as a successful breadwinner and as an aggressive risk-taking male Working class crime in the workplace can also be seen as a means of accomplishing masculinity. Workers sometimes resist the authority of management by theft and industrial sabotage. Messerschmidt uses the example of African-Americans to illustrate a subordinated masculinity. Lower class African-Americans males often lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity. The pimp and hustler are long-established roles in African-American subculture and are often seen as an alternative to subordinated masculinity. The pimp looks after a number of prostitutes and lives of their earnings. With their expensive car, diamond rings and power over women, Messerschmidt argues that the pimp demonstrates a highly visible alternative masculinity to himself and others.

A computed tomography

A computed tomography 1. Introduction One of the most used techniques in the imagiology field is called Computed Tomography (CT), a method to acquire slices of the body based on the attenuation of X-rays. This monograph will try to compile the most important information about CT, namely its history, physical principles, fundamental instrumentation, data acquisition and processing techniques, as well as its applications. Firstly, a brief tour through the history of the technique will be taken, while some of the most important achievements will be referred. The starting point will be the discovery of the X-rays, then passing through the creation of the first CT scanner and the development of data analysis and processing algorithms. Then, a concise revision of the evolution of the scanners will be done, delineating the different generations of scanners and the key features of each one. In order to understand how an object can be scanned by this technique, a review of the physical concepts that constitute the basis of CT will be done. More precisely, we will discuss the attenuation of radiation while passing through objects. A short description of how X-rays interact with matter and the concept of linear attenuation coefficient will be discussed. The instrumentation needed for CT will shortly be referred, in particular the most important components of a CT scanner will be briefly explained. As data acquired by the scanners are not displayed in the way they are obtained, we will afterward explain the most used methods to process and analyze the great amount of information acquired by the CT detectors. The process of creating a scale to represent data the CT numbers will subsequently be overviewed, in order to understand how images are created and shown to the doctors. A description of how CT allows to distinguish different anatomical structures and how it permits to see just the structures we want will also be done. After that, an enumeration of some of the many clinical applications of CT will be done, knowing at the start that it will be impossible to list all the applications, reason why just a few will be referred. Besides, it is not the main goal of this monograph, although it is essential to understand the crucial importance of CT in the medicine field. Finally, we will try to conjecture about the future of CT, specifically what it can be improved and what are the actual challenges for this technique and how it can be overcame. This monograph is part of the Hospital and Medical Instrumentation course and pretends to be an overall view of CT, reason why there is not exhaustive detail in each section (for more detail in the approached topics, please read the references). 3-Dimensional reconstruction techniques will not be discussed because it is the topic of another group. Incisive instrumentation will not be exploited because it not exploited in the course as well. 2. Historical Background The history of CT started with the discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, which gave him the Physics Nobel Prize in 1901. During 1917, the Austrian mathematician Johann Radon developed a study in which he demonstrated that making several projections in different directions of a material and recreating its associated pattern, it was possible to obtain a slice where one could characterize different densities of the material. The idea of using these mathematical methods to create images of slices of the human body in radiographic films was proposed by the Italian radiologist Alessandro Vallebona in 1930. Between 1956 and 1963, the physicist Allan Cormack developed a method to calculate the distribution of absorbed radiation in the human body based on transmission measurements, which allowed to detect smaller variations in absorption. [2], [3], [4] In the year of 1972, Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1979, shared with Cormack) invented the first CT scanner in United Kingdom when he was working at EMI Company, which, at the time, was actually best known for its connection to the music world. The original prototype, called EMI Scanner, recorded 160 points for each projection in 180 different angles (with steps of 1 °) and each slice took 5 minutes to be acquired. A 180160 matrix was then constructed with these data, which took 2 and half hours to be analyzed until the final 2D-images could be visualized. The first types of scanners required the patients head to be immerged in a water-filled container in order to reduce the difference of X-rays attenuation between the rays that crossed the skull and the ones that only crossed the environment, because the detector had a small range of intensities that it could measure. [5], [6] During the subsequent years, CT scanners increased its complexity, and based on that evolution, we can distinguish five generations of machines that will be discussed in the next section (Section 3). Later, in 1989, it was developed a new technique in which data acquisition was done continuously the spiral CT scanning using the movement of the platform where the patient was lying. [4] Nowadays, CT machines have obviously superior performances than the prototypes of the 70s. In fact, several rows of detectors have been added which now allows registration of multiple slices at the same time the multislices scanners. These improvements allowed to represent data in 10241024 matrixes, which have a 1 megapixel pixel resolution. [7], [8] 3. Evolution of CT Scanners Over the time, the fundamentals of data acquisition and the key characteristics of the machines changed in many ways. This fact, allow us to split the evolution of the CT scanners in five generations. 3.1 First Generation Parallel Beam The first technique implemented in CT commercial machines consisted of the emission of a parallel X-ray beam that passed through the patient until it reached a detector located on the opposite side. Both X-ray and detector were place in the edge of a ring with the patient as the center. The X-ray source, as well as the detector, suffered a linear translation motion to acquire data from all maters directions. Then, the X-ray tube and the detector, was rotated about 1 °, having the patient as isocenter, and a new beam was emitted and the movement of translation restarted. This process was repeated until it reached 180 ° and, for each cycle of emitted beams, 160 projections of the material on analysis were recorded. The highly collimated beam provided excellent rejection of scattered radiation in the patient. At this point, the most used image reconstruction technique was the backprojection. Later in this work (Section 6) we will explain the techniques used in reconstruction. The ti me needed for data acquisition was extremely long (5 minutes per slice), due to technological limitations. [8] 3.2 Second Generation Fan beam In the second generation, the collimated beam was replaced by a fan X-ray beam and the simple detector was replaced by a linear array of detectors. This advance resulted in a shorter scan time, although this technique still continued to use a coupled source-detector translation motion. At the same time, the algorithms used to reconstruct the slice images became more complicated. Because of the vast amount of time needed to acquire data, both the first and second generations of scanners were limited to head and extremities scans, because those were the regions of the body that could remain immobilized during the long scan time. [9], [2], [8] 3.3 Third generation Rotating detectors The third generation of scanners emerged in 1976. In this generation, the fan beam was large enough to completely contain the patient, which made the translation movement redundant and the scanner commenced to execute only the rotational movement. Such as the fan beam, also the detectors became big enough to record all data of each slice at a time. The detector consisted of a line with hundreds of independent detectors that, like as in the second generation, rotated attached to the X-ray source, which required up to 5 seconds to acquire each slice. The power supply was now made by a slip ring system placed on the gantry, which allowed to continually rotate it without the need to reverse the rotating motion to untwist the power cables used before, as it was needed after each rotation in first and second generations. [2], [8] 3.4 Fourth generation Fixed detectors This generation was implemented in the late 70s and its innovation was a stationary ring of detectors that surrounded the patient. In this case, only the X-ray beam had movement. The ring consisted of a 600 to 4800 independent detectors that sequentially recorded the projections, so detector and source were no longer associated. However, detectors were calibrated twice during each rotation of the X-ray source, providing a self-calibrating system. Third generation systems were calibrated only once every few hours. In the fourth generation systems, two detectors geometries were used. The first one consists of a rotating fan beam inside the fixed ring of detectors and the second one has the fan beam outside the ring. These technological advances provided a reduction of the scan times to 5s per image and slice spacing below 1 mm. Both third and fourth generations are available in market and both have success in medical activities. [8], [2] 3.5 Fifth Generation Scanning electron beam The innovation of the fifth generation of CT scanners (early 80s) was a new system of X-ray source. While the ring of detectors remains stationary, it was added a new semicircular strip of tungsten and one electron gun which is placed in the patient alignment. By directing this electron beam to the anode of the tungsten strip, the release of X-ray radiation is induced. This method results in a no moving parts system, i.e. no mechanical motion is needed to record data because the detectors completely surround the patients and the electronic beam is directed electronically. The four target rings and the two detector banks allow eight slices to be acquired at the same time, which reduce the scan time and, consequently, the motion artifacts. This fact led to the reduction of scan time to between 33 and 100 ms, which is sufficient to capture images of the heart during its cardiac cycle, reason why it is the most used in diagnostic of cardiac disease. For that reason, this is also called U ltrafast CT (UFCT) or Cardiovascular CT (CVCT) Because of the continuous scan, special adjustments in the algorithm are needed to reduce image artifacts. [2], [8], [9] 3.6 Spiral Scanners The idea of creating a spiral CT came with the need for scans of 3-Dimensional images. This system to acquire 3-Dimensional CT images was born in the early 90s and consists of a continue translation movement of the table which supports the patient. This technique is based on the third generation of machines and allows scan times of the abdomen to be reduced from 10 minutes to 1 minute, which reduces the motion artifacts. Besides, a 3-Dimensional model of the organ under study can be reconstructed. The most complex innovation of this technique consists of the data processing algorithms, because they must consider the spiral path of X-ray beam around the patient. Technically, this was possible only due to the slip ring system implemented on the third generation of scanner. [9], [8], [10] 3.7 Cone beam After the development of new techniques, detectors, methods and algorithms, nowadays the question is: How many slices can we acquire at same time?. The answer to this question lies in the placement of several rows of detectors and the transformation of a fan beam X-ray to a 3-Dimensional cone beam. Nowadays, manufacturers have already placed 64 rows of detectors (multislice systems) and the image quality reached high levels. Moreover, the completely scan of a structure takes now about 15 seconds or even less. [2] 4. Physical Principles The basic principle of CT is measuring the spatial density distribution of a human organ or a part of the body. It is similar to conventional X-ray, in which an X-ray source of uniform intensity is directed to the patient and the image is generated by the projection of the X-rays against a film. The X-rays are emitted with a certain intensity I0 and they emerge on the other side of the patient with a lower intensity I. The intensity decreases while crossing the patient, because radiation interacts with matter. More precisely, X-rays used in CT are of the order of 120kV and, with that energy (120 keV), they interact with tissues mainly by photoelectric (mostly at lower energies) and Compton effects (at higher energies), although they can also interact by coherent scatter, also called Rayleigh scatter (5% to 10% of the total interactions). Photoelectric effect consists of the emission of an electron (photoelectron) from the irradiated matter caused by the absorption of the X-rays energy by an inner electron of the medium. In Compton effect, a X-ray photon interacts with an outer electron of matter and deviates its trajectory, transferring part of its energy to the electron, which is then ejected. In coherent scatter, the energy of the X-ray is absorbed by the tissue causing the electrons to gain harmonic motion and is then reradiated in a random direction as a secondary X-ray. [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] CT X-rays are not monoenergetic, but for now, to simplify the understanding of this concept, we will consider them monoenergetic. When an X-ray (as well as other radiation) passes through a material, part of its intensity is absorbed in the medium and, as a consequence, the final intensity is lower than the initial one. More precisely, the Beers Law states that intensity transmitted through the medium depends on the linear attenuation coefficient of the material  µ if we consider that we are in presence of a homogeneous medium and the thickness of the material x according to the following expression: The problem with conventional radiographs is that it only provides an integrated value for  µ along the path of the X-ray, which means that we have a 2-Dimensional projection of a 3-Dimensional anatomy. As it can be easily understood, all the structures and organs at the same level will appear overlapped in the image. As a consequence, some details cannot be perceived and some organs may not be entirely seen. For example, it is very hard to see the kidneys in a conventional radiography because the intestines appear in front of them. [15], [16], [11] Moreover, as there are many values of (typically one for each point of the scanned part of the body), it is not possible to calculate their values with one singe measure. However, if measures of the same plane by many different directions are made, all the coefficients may be calculated, and that is what CT does. As Figure 4 shows, a narrow X-ray beam that is produced by the source in the direction of a detector, which means that only a narrow slice of the body is imaged and the value of intensity recorded by the detector depends on all the material crossed by the X-ray in its way. That is the reason why it is called tomography it derives from the Greek tomos which means to cut or section. Many data of X-ray transmission through a plane of an object (an organ or a party of the body) from several directions are recorded and are then used to reconstruct the object by signal processing techniques. These techniques will be discussed later in this monograph (Section 6). The tightly colli mated X-ray beam ensures that no significant scatter is present in order to assure a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a necessary premise to obtain a faithful image of the scanned object. For that reason, unlike conventional tomography, in CT, patients structures located outside the area that is being imaged do not interfere. [17], [9], [12] 5. Instrumentation The X-ray system is composed by an X-ray source, collimators, detectors and a data-acquisition system (DAS). X-ray source is undoubtedly the most important part, because it is what determines the quality of the image. [10], [8] 5.1 The X-ray source The basis of the X-ray source (called X-ray tube) is to accelerate a beam of electrons between two electrodes against a metal target and is shown in Figure 5. The cathode is a coiled tungsten filament, which is crossed by a current which causes the filament to heat up. At high temperatures (2220 °C), the tungsten releases electrons, a process called thermionic emission. A 15 to 150 kV potential difference is applied between the cathode and the anode, which forces the released electrons to accelerate towards the anode. [10] When the electrons hit the anode, they produce X-rays by two ways. On the one hand, when an electron passes near the tungsten nucleus, it is deflected by an attractive electric force (because the nucleus is positively charged and the electron has a negative charge) and loses part of their energy as X-rays. As there are an enormous number of possible interactions and each one leads to a partial loss of kinetic energy, the produced X-rays have a great range of energies, as Figure 5 shows. This process is called bremsstrahlung (i.e. braking radiation). On the other hand, if an electron from the cathode hits and penetrates an atom of the anode, it can collide with an inner electron of it, causing the electron to be ejected and the atom to have a hole, which is filled by an outer electron. The difference of binding energy of these two electrons is released as an X-ray. This process is called characteristic radiation, because its energy depends on the binding energy of the electrons, which is characteristic of a given material. [10], [9], [15] The tube current represents the number of electrons that pass from the cathode to the anode per unit of time. Typical values for CT are from 200 up to 1000 mA. The potential difference between the electrodes is generally of 120 kV, which produces an energy spectrum ranging from 30 to 120 keV. The tube output is the product between the tube current and the voltage between the electrodes and it is desired to have high values because that permits a shorter scan time, which reduces the artifacts due to movement (such as for heart scans). [10], [8] Production of X-rays in these tubes is an inefficient process and most of the power supplied to the tube is converted in heating of the anode. So, a heat exchanger is needed to cool the tube. This heat exchanger is placed on the rotating gantry. Spiral CT in particular requires high cooling rates of the X-ray tube and high heat storage capacity. [8] 5.2 Collimators The electron beam released from the source is a dispersed beam, normally larger than the desired field-of-view (FOV) of the image. Usually, the fan beam width is set for 1 to 10 mm (although recent CT scanner allow submilimetric precision), with determines the width of the imaged slice. The collimator is placed between the source and the patient and is composed by lead sheets to restrict the beam just to the required directions. An X-ray beam larger than the FOV leads to a larger number of X-rays emitted than the ones needed to the scan and that has two problems: the radiation dose given to the patient is increased unnecessarily; and the number of Compton-scattered radiation increases. [10], [8] 5.3 Antiscatter grids An ideal CT system only with primary radiation (x-rays emitted from the source) reaching the detector does not exist and Compton scatter is always present. As this scatter is randomly distributed and has no useful information about the distribution of density of the scanned object, it just contributes to the reduction of image contrast and should be minimized to the maximum. This, because unlike photoelectric effect, Compton effect has a low contrast between tissues. As referred above, collimators are useful to limit the X-ray beam to the FOV. However, even with a collimator, 50% to 90% of the radiation that reaches the detector is secondary radiation. To reduce the Compton scatter, antiscatter grids can be placed between the detector and the patient. [10] An antiscatter grid consists of strips of sheets oriented parallel to the primary radiation direction combined with a support of aluminum, which drastically reduces the scatter radiation that has not the direction of the primary one, as illustrated in Figure 6. In order to not lower the image quality because of the grid shade, the strips should be narrow. There is, however, a tradeoff between the reduction of scatter radiation (that improve the image contrast) and the dose that must be given to the patient to have the same number of detected X-rays. [10] 5.4 Detectors At the beginning, single-slice CT scanners with just one source and one detector were used. However, these took much time to acquire an image, reason why the evolution brought us single-source, multiple-detector machinery and multislice systems. The third and fourth generations added a wider X-ray fan beam and a larger number of detectors to the gantry (typically from 512 to 768), which permitted to acquire more information in a smaller time. The detectors used in CT must be highly efficient to minimize the dose given to the patient, have a large dynamic range and be very stable over the time and over temperature variations inside the gantry. Three factors contribute to overall efficiency: geometric efficiency (fraction of the total area of detector that is sensitive to radiation), quantum efficiency (the fraction of incident X-rays that is absorbed to contribute to signal) and conversion efficiency (the ability to convert the absorbed X-rays into electrical signal). These detectors can be of two types (shown in Figure 7): solid-state detectors or gas ionization detectors. Solid-state detectors consist of an array of scintillating crystals and photodiodes, while gas ionization detectors consist of an array of compressed gas chambers to which is applied a high voltage to gather ions produced by radiation in inside the chamber. The gas is kept under a high pressure, to maximize interactions between X-rays and gas molecules, which produce electro-ion pairs. [10], [8] 5.5 Data-Acquisition System The transmitted fraction of the incident X-ray intensity (I/I0 in equation 1) can be as small as 10-4, reason why DAS must be very accurate over a great range. The role of DAS is to acquire these data and then encode it into digital values and transmit these to computers for reconstruction to begin. DAS make use of many electronic components, such as precision preamplifiers, current-to-voltage converters, analog integrators, multiplexers and analog-to-digital converters. The logarithmic step needed in equation 3 to get the values of  µi can be performed with an analog logarithmic amplifier. Data transfer is a crucial step to assure speed to the whole process and used to be done by direct connection between DAS and the computer. However, with the appearance of rotating scanners in third and fourth generations, these transfer rate, which is as high as 10 Mbytes/s is now accomplished by optical transmitters placed on the rotating gantry that send information to fixed optical receivers. [8] 5.6 Computer system The data acquisition of the projections, the reconstruction of the signal, the display of the reconstructed data and the manipulation of tomographic images is possible by computer systems used to control the hardware. Current systems consist of 12 processors which achieve 200 MFLOPS (million floating-point operations per second) and can reconstruct an image of 10241024 pixels in less than 5 seconds. [8] 6. Signal Processing and Analyzing Techniques As data are acquired in several directions (e.g. with increments of 1 ° or even less) and each direction is split in several distinct points (e.g. 160 or more), at least 28 800 points are stored, which means that there must be efficient mathematical and computational techniques to analyze all this information. A square matrix representing a 2-Dimensional map of the variation of X-ray absorption with the position is then reconstructed. There are four major techniques to analyze these data, which we will discuss subsequently. [12] 6.1 Simultaneous linear equations As it was referred above (Section 4), there is a measure of for each pixel, which means that modern CT scanners deal with 1 048 576 points for each slice (nowadays the matrixes used are 10241024). As a result, to generate the image of one single slice, a system of at least 1 048 576 equations must be solved (one equation for each unknown variable), which means that this technique is totally unusable. In fact, imagine that in 1967, Hounsfield built the first CT scanner, which took 9 days to acquire the data of a single slice and 21 hours to compute the equations (and by the time, the matrix had only 28 000 entries). Besides, nowadays CT scanners acquire about 50% more measures than it would be needed in order to reduce noise and artifacts, which would require even more computational resources. [16], [11], [8] 6.2 Iterative These techniques try to calculate the final image by small adjustments based on the acquired measures. Three major variations of this method can be found: Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART), Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) and Iterative Least-Squares Technique (ILST). These variations differ only in the way corrections are made: ray-by-ray, pixel-by-pixel or the entire data simultaneously, respectively. In ART as an example, data of one angular position are divided into equally spaced elements along each ray. Then, these data are compared with analogous data from another angular position and the differences between X-ray attenuation are added equally to the fitting elements. Basically, for each measure, the system tries to found out how each pixel value can be modified to agree with the particular measure that is being analyzed. In order to adjust measures with pixel values, if the sum of the entries along one direction is lower than the experimental measure for that direction, all the pixels are increased. Otherwise, if the sum of the entries is higher than the measured attenuation, pixels are decreased in value. By repeating this iterative cycle, we will progressively decrease the error in pixels, until we get an accurate image. ART was used in the first commercial scanner in 1972, but it is no longer used because iterative methods are usually slow. Besides, this method implies th at all data must be acquired before the reconstruction begins. [9], [16] 6.3 Filtered backprojection Backprojection is a formal mathematical technique that reconstructs the image based only on the projection of the object onto image planes in different directions. Each direction is given the same weight and the overall linear attenuation coefficient is generated by the sum of attenuation in each X-ray path that intersects the object from different angular positions. In a simpler manner, backprojection can be constructed by smearing each objects view back trough the image plane in the direction it was registered. When this processed is finished for all the elements of the anatomic section, one obtains a merged image of the linear attenuation coefficients, which is itself a crude reconstruction of the scanned object. An illustration of this technique is represented in Figure 8. By its analysis, it is also clear that the final image is blurred, which means that this technique needs a little improvement, which is given by filtered backprojection. [12], [9], [16] Filtered backprojection is therefore used to correct the blurring resultant from simple backprojection. It consists of applying a filter kernel to each of the 1-Dimensional projections of the object. That is done by convolving a deblurring function with the X-ray transmission data before they are projected. The filter removes from data the frequencies of the X-ray responsible for most of the blurring. As we can see in Figure 8, the filter has two significant effects. On the one hand, it levels the top of the pulse, making the signal uniform within it. On the other hand, it negatively spikes the sides of the pulse, so these negative neighborhoods will neutralize the blurring effect. As a result, the image produced by this technique is consistent with the scanned object, if an infinite number of views and an infinite number of points per view are acquired. [16], [9] Compared with the two previous methods this process has also the advantage that reconstruction can begins at the same time that data are being acquired and that is one of the reasons why it is one of the most popular methods nowadays. [9] 6.4 Fourier reconstruction The last signal processing technique that will be discussed in this monograph is the Fourier reconstruction which consists of analyzing data in the frequency domain instead of the spatial domain. For this, one takes each angular orientation of the X-ray attenuation pattern and decomposes it on its frequency components. In the frequency domain, the scanned image is seen as a 2-Dimensional grid, over which we place a dark line for the spectrum of each view, as Figure 9 shows. To reconstruct the image, one has to take the 1-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Then, according to the Fourier Slice Theorem, each views spectrum is identical to the values of one line (slice) through the image spectrum, assuring that, in the grid, each view has the same angle that was originally acquired. Finally, the inverse FFT of the image spectrum is used to achieve a reconstruction of the scanned object. 7. Data Display As it was said earlier (Section 6), linear attenuation coefficients give us a crude image of the object. In fact, they can be expressed in dB/cm, but as they are dependent on the incident radiation energy, CT scanning does not use the attenuation coefficients to represent the image, but instead it uses integer numbers called CT numbers. These are occasionally, but unofficially, called Hounsfield units and have the following relation with the linear attenuation coefficients: where  µ is the linear attenuation coefficient of each pixel and  µw is the linear attenuation coefficient of water. This CT number depends clearly on the medium. For human applications, we may consider that CT number varies from -1000 for air and 1000 for bone, with CT number of 0 for water, as it is easily seen from equation 5. [9], [13], [4], [12] The CT numbers of the scanned object are then presented on the monitor as a grey scale. As shown in Figure 10, CT numbers have a large range and as human eye cannot distinguish so many types of grays, it is usually used a window to show a smaller range of CT numbers, depending on what it is desired to see. The Window Width (WW) identifies the range of CT numbers and consequently alters the contrast (as Figures 11 and 12 show), whereas Window Level (WL) sets the centre of the window and, therefore, select which structures are seen. The lowest CT number of the window, which corresponds to the lowest density tissue, is represented in black and the highest Ct number (highest density tissue) is represented in white. 8. Radiation Dose As it can easily be understood, radiation dose given to the patient is dependent on the resolution of the scanner and its contrast, as well as

Extraction of Blue Ice Area in Antarctica

Extraction of Blue Ice Area in Antarctica Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY High resolution satellite data has made it possible to obtain optimistic results in feature extraction processes. High resolution World-View-2 data is used for mapping blue ice areas (BIAs) in Antarctic regions. World-View-2 provides extensively high accuracy, agility, capacity and spectral diversity. First high-resolution 8-band multispectral commercial/business satellite is World-View-2 launched October 2009. Working at an elevation of 770 kilometres, World-View-2 gives 46cm panchromatic resolution and 1.85m multispectral resolution. World-View-2 has a normal revisit time of 1.1 days and it is able of catching up to 1 million square kilometres of 8-band imagery per day. Satellite pictures generally track seasonal annual variations in BIAs coverage over the past 30 year on the East Antarctic plateau region. In late studies, the distribution of BIAs can likewise mulled over from the SAR (synthetic aperture radar) images. In SAR satellite image, blue ice can likewise be outwardly perc eived. The amplitude of blue ice is less than that of snow (white), because the ice surface is smoother than the latter. Yet, distinction is not at all that conspicuous when applying Semi-automatic extraction approach. Blue ice can be distinguished effortlessly in the coherence map got from two SAR pictures in a view of higher coherence of blue ice. It is additionally found that the picture texture data is useful for distinguishing various types of blue ice like rough, smooth and level blue ice. In this study, Atmospheric corrected (QUAC) sharpen calibrated image (World-View-2 data) is used for extracting blue ice areas in Schirmacher Oasis in Antarctic region. Extraction of blue ice area in Antarctica deal with the total area of blue ice areas excluding the other feature (non-target) appearing on or near it. Blue ice areas have some specific qualities that make them of special interest for extraction as they are just 1% of Antarctic region. Many remote sensing approaches have been implemented to monitor and map Antarctic BIAs. 3.1 Methodology Protocol The extraction of blue ice areas is simplified by the Methodology protocol. As the whole image takes time for processing, as Schirmacher Oasis is with an area of 34km ², ranks among the smallestAntarctic oasis and is a typicalpolar desert, so the image is divided in 12 test tiles of different parts of entire World-View-2 image to achieve prior results. Atmospheric correction is done with QUAC (quick atmospheric correction) method to obtain better results. Atmospheric correction to each tile added suitable outputs results to workflow. Calibrated data is also used without applying atmospheric correction to it. Multiband image combination was made from atmospheric corrected data and calibrated data of the study area. Alternating snow and blue ice bands surface patterns are generally found in East Antarctica due to which it is hard task to clearly extract BIAs. For feature extraction processes region of interest (ROI) is considered in which blue ice is target and white ice appearing on or near the blue ice is considered as non-target. Methodology workflow is prepared in order to achieve good and prior results comparing with the previous studies. Extraction of blue ice is not that easy task as dust and white snow appears on it as non-target. Various Semi-automatic extraction methods like TERCAT, Target Detection Wizard, Mapping Methods, Spectral Matching and Object Base Image Analysis (OBIA) are used for extracting blue ice areas in Antarctica. The initial results obtained were good but not better enough to keep them prior. Many trials were carried out for extracting blue ice in Antarctica. Prior results were kept in workflow of methodology to compare them with every trial results. Object based and Pixel based both the classification are used in workflow to get good results. From the High resolution World-View-2 data reference data (digitized data) was prepared for blue ice area and extracted blue ice area was obtained from Semi-automatic extraction methods and OBIA. From the extracted blue ice, blue ice is considered as target and white snow appearing on it as non-target. Comparing reference data and extracted data Bias, % Bias and RMSE values were calculated. After that Average for Bias, % Bias and RMSE values is estimated. BIAS= % BIAS= RMSE= Where, Ref A is Reference area and Ext A is Extracted area n= no. of tiles processed. 3.2 Semi-automatic extraction methods The semi-automatic feature extraction approach intuitively makes endeavours to commonly empowering the insight or data of human perception framework to robustly detect the targeted feature and the computer-aided system to bring fast extraction of targeted feature and exact shape representation. In semiautomatic feature extraction strategy, first target feature is detected by human vision and a couple of estimates in terms of seed points or coaching samples concerning the targeted feature on highlight are typically given. The targeted feature is then portrayed automatically by the PC helped calculations. 3.2.1 TERCAT approach (ENVI 5.1 Exellis Help) [33] The Terrain Categorization (TERCAT) tool creates an output product in which pixels with similar spectral properties are clumped into categories. These categories may be either user-defined, or automatically generated by the classification algorithm. The TERCAT tool provides all of the standard ENVI classification algorithms, plus an additional algorithm called Winner Takes All. This is a voting method that classifies pixels based on the majority compiled from all of the other classification methods that were conducted. In this research, the sub approaches for TERCAT are Maximum Likelihood, Spectral Angle Mapper, Parallelepiped and Winner Takes All. 3.2.2 Target Detection approach (ENVI 5.1 Exellis Help) [33] Target detection algorithms work on the principle of extracting target features based on spectral characteristic of initial coaching spectral signatures of target features, and performing end to the background noise using spectral signatures of non-target features. If the users knows that the image contains at least one target of interest, the wizard can be used to find other targets like it in the same image. The workflow can also be accessed programmatically, so the user can customize options if needed. Target detection tools (ENVI 5.1) were executed to perform supervised image processing tasks into workflows (CEM, ACE, OSP, TCIMF, and MT-TCIMF) to extract blue ice areas (BIAs) as target and white ice as non-target. 3.2.3 Spectral Matching approach (ENVI 5.1 Exellis Help) [33] Spectral matching approaches extract the target features that are described in multispectral imagery based on the target feature’s spectral characteristics. Spectral matching algorithms confirm the spectral similarity or matching between input satellite imagery and reference key points to form an output product within which pixels with similar spectral properties are clumped into target and non-target categories. Spectral Matching (ENVI 5.1) were executed to perform supervised image processing tasks into workflows (MF, SAM, MTMF and SAMBM) to extract blue ice areas (BIAs) as target and white ice as non-target. 3.2.4 Mapping Methods approach (ENVI 5.1 Exellis Help) [33] Selected hyperspectral Mapping Methods describes advanced concepts and procedures for analyzing imaging spectrometer data or hyperspectral images. Spectral Information Divergence (SID) is a spectral classification method that uses a divergence measure to match pixels to reference spectra. The smaller the divergence, the more likely the pixels are similar. Pixels with a measurement greater than the specified maximum divergence threshold are not classified. End member spectra used by SID can come from ASCII files or spectral libraries, or you can extract them directly from an image (as ROI average spectra). Mapping Methods (ENVI 5.1) were executed to perform supervised image processing tasks into workflows [SID SV (0.05), SID SV (0.07), SID SV (0.1), SID MV (0.05) and SID MV (0.09)] to extract blue ice areas (BIAs) as target and white ice as non-target. 3.2.5 Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) approach (Ecognition Developer Help) [34] Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA), is an advanced method used to segment a pixel based image into map objects that can then be classified as a whole. This kind of analysis is ideal for mapping with high-resolution imagery, where a single feature (such as a tree) might have several different shades of pixels. The example of rule-set for Trial 1, 2, 3 and 4 for extracting blue ice areas in this research is stated below; For Trial 1: 02.063 50 [shape.: 0.8 compact.:0.6] Creating ‘level 1’ Export view to segmentation (no geo) Unclassified with mean nir-1>=50 and mean nir-1 Export view to assign class (no geo) Blue ice with mean nir-1>=50 and mean nir-1 Export view to merging (non geo) For Trial 2: 02.063 60 [shape.: 0.8 compact.:0.6] Creating ‘level 1’ Export view to segmentation (no geo) Unclassified with mean nir-1>=100 and mean nir-1 Export view to assign class (no geo) Blue ice with mean nir-1>=100 and mean nir-1 Export view to merging (non geo) For Trial 3: 02.063 70 [shape.: 0.8 compact.:0.6] Creating ‘level 1’ Export view to segmentation (no geo) Unclassified with mean nir-1>=150 and mean nir-1 Export view to assign class (no geo) Blue ice with mean nir-1>=150 and mean nir-1 Export view to merging (non geo) For Trial 4: 02.063 80 [shape.: 0.8 compact.:0.6] Creating ‘level 1’ Export view to segmentation (no geo) Unclassified with mean nir-1>=200 and mean nir-1 Export view to assign class (no geo) Blue ice with mean nir-1>=200 and mean nir-1 Export view to merging (non geo) The on-top rule-set is employed to extract blue ice areas as well as non-target depending on their mean band values. OBIA is making considerable progress towards spatially explicit information extraction advancement, such as is required for spatial planning as well as for many monitoring programmes. The Semi-automatic extraction strategies and OBIA utilized in this study to extract blue ice areas (BIAs) are supported differently on different underlying principles. To compare these strategies objectively, we kept the input ROIs (regions of interest or coaching samples) constant for all methods for each tile. ROIs are different for different tiles as the area differs. After classifying the image into target spectra, i.e., blue ice areas, using the Semi-automatic extraction methods and OBIA approaches, the 12 semi-automatically extracted tiles (for BIAs) were vectorized to calculate the area of individual tile.

Industrial Hemp Should be Legal Essay -- Argument for Industrial Hemp

Just the mention of the word Cannabis in today’s society brings about all types of negative connotations. This is understandable due to the major propaganda campaign that has been waged by the U.S. government on the plant. Most citizens have no idea what a mature Cannabis plant looks like, and close to none recognize the thousands of uses it has. This is paper will not discuss whether drug-type Cannabis should be legalized for recreational or medicinal purposes, what it will discuss is the many environmentally friendly products that can be made from non-psychoactive hemp. The Columbia History of the World states that the first archaeological record of human industry is a piece of hemp fabric. This is testament to the fact that the Cannabis plant has been used since the dawn of mankind for all types of purposes, and only lately has fallen out of use due to it’s prohibition by capitalists. Earlier cultures used it for fabric, rope, oil for lighting lamps, medicine, and paper, to name the most important ones. With the rise of technology we have alternative resources to use for those products, but are they superior? Cotton accounts for half of the agricultural chemicals used in America today. Now, forests are cut down to make paper that is inferior to hemp paper in every way. We have all types of petrochemical oils that are used today, but studies have shown that hemp oil can accomplish all of the major tasks that modern synthetic oils achieve. Medicine will not be discussed, but it will be said that Cannabis is listed in the oldest survivi ng medical text, and for thousands of years was used to treat almost every symptom that a human can acquire. Non-Psychoactive Cannabis has been popularly known as Industrial Hemp. There are three main varieties of the plant; ones with good fiber, ones with good oils, and one with good psychoactive properties. Industrial Hemp is very easy to grow and harvest. It does not require an abundance of fertilizers to grow. Nor does it require pesticides/herbicides/fungicides because insects never pose a serious threat due to its alarmingly fast growth rate and natural defense system. Hemp fiber is the strongest natural fiber in the world, the reason why it was used for all ship rigging up to the modern age. Hemp fabric has an excellent texture that gets softer with each use, yet keeps it durability. Despite it’s ... ...to be the staple of Kentucky's economy, too. Willard R. Jillson, in 1942, wrote a speech about the hemp industry in Kentucky and stated, â€Å"Born with the Commonwealth, the story of the hemp industry in Kentucky is, in effect, a history of the state itself.† (1) In a strange dichotomy of policy, even after the government’s war on the plant and its illegalization, during WWII the USDA requested that children’s 4-H clubs in Kentucky grow hemp for the war! The University of Kentucky still has this flier in their archives. The case has been made for why Industrial Hemp should be allowed to be grown by U.S. farmers. It has also been shown that the major reasons against its use are completely unconvincing, for they are based in selfishness, corruption, and misinformation. Industrial Hemp is an environmentally friendly alternative to many of the most used and most polluting resources in the U.S. today. With all the damage being done to the Earth’s environment by modern industry, the time to use Hemp again is more important than ever. So, as one can see, the issue is complex, yet the answer is clear. Unfortunately the antagonist is one of man’s oldest and strongest enemies, greed.

Sugar :: social issues

Sugar Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Although a lot of people do not realize that every single gram of sugar decreases the healthiness of the product by a large percent. From the moment infants first taste lactose in the milk, humans seem to find sweetness alluring. The refined sucrose we usually call â€Å"sugar† is very popular product on the market. Even though this product considered very unhealthy and sometimes harmful, I think it still plays its role and still make the world spin. It gives people a lot of energy; it gives us joy and happiness. But in this world, everything has its consequence. After the joy and after the happiness comes diabetes, tooth decay, excess body fat. It’s really hard to believe that something so sweet can produce that kind of damage. So how did sugar became such an important commodity in our community and the rest of the world? Sugar is one of the oldest and best documented of all of the medieval commodities. Exactly what form, quality and price this commodity achieved could be variable enough to create material for disagreement whenever the product is discussed. What we do know is that it was much more widespread than is commonly believed. The discovery of sugarcane, from which sugar, as it is known today, is derived, dates back unknown thousands of years. It is thought to have originated in New Guinea, and was spread along routes to Southeast Asia and India. The process known for creating sugar, by pressing out the juice and then boiling it into crystals, was developed in India around 500 BC. In 510 BC, hungry soldiers of the Emperor Darius were near the river Indus, when they discovered some "reeds which produce honey without bees". Evidently this early contact with the Asian sources of sugar cane made no great impression, so it was left to be re-discovered in 327 BC by Alexander the Great, who spread it's culture through Persia and introduced it in the Mediterranean. This was the beginning of one of the best documented products of the Middle Ages. The sugar wasn’t cultivated in Europe until the Middle Ages. Arabs traders were first to bring sugar to Spain. Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America was the way sugarcane made it to North America. It was a gift from him to â€Å"West Indians†. There this plant found a great environment to spread in. Sugar :: social issues Sugar Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Although a lot of people do not realize that every single gram of sugar decreases the healthiness of the product by a large percent. From the moment infants first taste lactose in the milk, humans seem to find sweetness alluring. The refined sucrose we usually call â€Å"sugar† is very popular product on the market. Even though this product considered very unhealthy and sometimes harmful, I think it still plays its role and still make the world spin. It gives people a lot of energy; it gives us joy and happiness. But in this world, everything has its consequence. After the joy and after the happiness comes diabetes, tooth decay, excess body fat. It’s really hard to believe that something so sweet can produce that kind of damage. So how did sugar became such an important commodity in our community and the rest of the world? Sugar is one of the oldest and best documented of all of the medieval commodities. Exactly what form, quality and price this commodity achieved could be variable enough to create material for disagreement whenever the product is discussed. What we do know is that it was much more widespread than is commonly believed. The discovery of sugarcane, from which sugar, as it is known today, is derived, dates back unknown thousands of years. It is thought to have originated in New Guinea, and was spread along routes to Southeast Asia and India. The process known for creating sugar, by pressing out the juice and then boiling it into crystals, was developed in India around 500 BC. In 510 BC, hungry soldiers of the Emperor Darius were near the river Indus, when they discovered some "reeds which produce honey without bees". Evidently this early contact with the Asian sources of sugar cane made no great impression, so it was left to be re-discovered in 327 BC by Alexander the Great, who spread it's culture through Persia and introduced it in the Mediterranean. This was the beginning of one of the best documented products of the Middle Ages. The sugar wasn’t cultivated in Europe until the Middle Ages. Arabs traders were first to bring sugar to Spain. Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America was the way sugarcane made it to North America. It was a gift from him to â€Å"West Indians†. There this plant found a great environment to spread in.

On Dillard’s An American Childhood

Dillard’s essay An American Childhood relives a moment in the author’s past which she could not forget as the particular event stirs a certain kind of awareness within her; something that she still carries and that continues to affect her even as an adult. It is the idea of carrying through a challenge or task that she is facing at the moment with fervor and conviction, of forgetting everything for the sake of the goal however little or even stupid it might seem to others.This theme is put into words when the author describes how during the chase he realizes â€Å"†¦an immense discovery, pounding into my hot head with every sliding, joyous step, that this ordinary adult evidently knew what I thought only children who trained at football know: that you have to fling yourself at what you’re doing. You have to point yourself, forget yourself, aim, dive (par. 12). †In narrating his experience, Dillard uses several techniques, the most obvious of which is when she compares a general event from his childhood (that of playing ball) to a specific one (an incident which happened one winter when he was seven years old). The general event is supposed to provide the point of reflection to the specific event so that the reader would understand the extent to which the specific event affected her later in life.The lessons, the author says, which she learned from being chased relentlessly by an adult is very much like the lessons she learned from playing ball: giving one’s all without regard for everything else including the question as to whether the pursuit is worth it or not. The exhilaration of living the moment and pouring all of one’s energy like that moment is already the essence of existence. Facing defeat doesn’t even matter. She thinks that grown-ups do not understand this idea therefore she is surprised when the man makes her see that even grown-ups could think and act like they children, too.Although making the connection between the two separate scenes creates a profound effect upon the reading of the essay, Dillard’s engaging writing style is the most effective technique which makes the piece interesting to read. There are only two scenes (on playing ball as a kid and the chase between the kids and the adult after the former throw a snowball on the latter’s windshield) but the narrative is very detailed from the names of the author’s childhood friends to the color and model of the car which they hit with a snowball.The emotions of every moment are well-described. The short sentences approximate the breathless quality of the chase. Even the quality of a child’s imagination is captured by the author as she muses on the possibility of keeping up the run until Panama. The introductory paragraph is a description about how to play ball, the strategies of playing it best, and the need to give one’s all in every task be it in throwing the ball or guarding the b ases.It is simply descriptive and does not give a clue that the preceding paragraphs would be a narrative of the author’s experience. This might not hook the reader who prefers narrative texts rather than philosophical musings. However, the subject of the paragraph, which is about playing a sport, would attract the general reader who, more usually than not, would be a football or baseball enthusiast and thus would understand the idea of giving one’s all in the heat of a game.The final paragraph simply recaps the preceding paragraphs. The chase has ended, they have been caught by the adult and lectured upon, and therefore, the story being told has already ended. The preceding paragraphs already finished the story. The final paragraph where the author is musing about the experience, simply wraps up everything. The effect, however, instead of being a redundant ending provides a sense of closure upon the reader and reiterates the main idea that the author would like the re ader to grasp.

Communication Barriers in an Organisation

Question 1. Identify and critically discuss the communication problems and barriers in the communication scenario depicted in the video clip. (563 Words) According to Dr Robbins’s book on Organizational Behavior 2003, effective communication is summarized as the means of encoding a message from the sender, clearly to the receiver through a channel without the actual message being negatively fragmented in the process. Communication problems and barriers occur when the information is distorted before reaching the receiver, creating conflicting assumptions and perceptions than what was intended (Deborah J.Barrett, (2002) Diagram 1 below illustrates an example of a communication model. Decoding Decoding Receiver Receiver Channel Channel Encoding Encoding Source Source Diagram 1: MESSAGE MESSAGE MESSAGE MESSAGE FEEDBACK. Sourced from: Stephen P. Robbin (2003), Organizational Behavior, 10th Ed, Prentice Hall, pp 285. Jack demonstrated poor communication skills when addressing the ne ws. His approach is erroneous, failing to ascertain their reaction and sensitivity when he addressed changes. Jack failed capture the forthcomings of the group’s â€Å"openness to change† (Anuradha Chawla and E.Kevin Kelloway 2003) The employees in the scenario feels uncertain regarding the â€Å"security of their position, their future roles and responsibilities† (J. Allen et al. , 2007 pp. 359 – 364) and how these changes might bring significant impact to them. In effect of Jack’s misreading body language, tone, and other non-verbal forms of communication exhibiting nervousness and guilt, the group is showing signs of disappointing acknowledgement, It could be from rumours they have heard and relied due to the lack of proper information received. Gray & Laidlaw, 2002) Jack’s inability to create the sense of trust in the management’s decision and effective selling of the benefits of change, (Philip. A, 2005) has made matters worse. C laudia Peus et al, 2009 supported Oreg’s research of co-relations in pointing that affective, cognitive and behavioral resistance towards change exist when trust in the management is nonexistent. Jack’s communique method was antagonistic, choosing bad choice of words in his communique’ which prompted the group to ask about their future state.Reeta Raina, 2010 quoted Harris & Nelson’s work in 2008 that key towards quality leadership is conceivably the effective communication flow of a story. The method of Jack’s communication somersaulted the group into a defensive mode, causing them to respond negatively on the received information, prompting the concerned about the enormity of the changes and its impact on their job. The group is portraying emotional interferences by interrupting Jake’s conversation, persistently asking about their job security.Jake has unintentionally sparked fear in the group, threatening their physiological contracts (Jo b securities, job commitments, personal commitments, future planning) (Clutterbuck, 2005) The group is adamant to know what the changes are and Jack refused to provide them with reasonable information and to try and counter the negative perception that was piling up. Lack of information is also known as one of the most influential factor of employee’s decision making in the events of change. Empirical investigation conducted by Allen et al. 2007) also suggests that employees who receives judicious, precise, and â€Å"useful communication (termed as â€Å"quality change communication†) more often than not revealed lower levels of uncertainty and a higher level of openness to certain degree of change. Entering the critical analysis of the video clip, the communication barriers and problems between Jake and the group could best be summarized using the table below. Table 1: The encoded message from Jake, the barriers and problems of communication and the message decoded b y the receivers. Information addressed by Jack. Barriers & Communication Problems| Message Received by group. | Jack spoke about â€Å"a lot of changes† that is going to take place in an alerting manner rather than an evocative manner, implying that the changes is irreversible. | Lack of Sensitivity to Receiver. Failure to identify the emotional state of the group and the openness in digesting change management. Failed to find the right setting to address the news more effectively. | These changes might imply drastic alteration to their working style, job roles and responsibilities.The fact that the changes are imminent, they feel like being pushed to the edge, emotions of anger, anxiety, stress and confusion builds up. | Jake announced the news in a provocative, informal manner instead of a suggestive, tolerable and informal approach. He mentioned, â€Å"for those of us who’s still around† and â€Å"some of y’all wouldn’t agree with† in the video suggesting that these changes might affect the end outcome of the group’s physical and emotional contributions to the company. | Lack of Basic Communication Skills.Bad choice of words, incepting negative thoughts and perceptions about the looming changes. Speaking in gaps creating the opportunity to negative assumptions and perceptions. Heavy physical movement, misreading of body language, tone of voice, heavy denials. Sending out conflicting messages. | These changes are going to affect their job security in the company. Their contributions towards the company is not appreciated, having not consulted them before changes is being decided. Injustice.Jake’s contradicting speech suggests there are some information that is being withheld from them, creating uncertainties and doubts of the real truth. | Jake stated and suggested that if the group does not like the changes; they could source for a job elsewhere, giving them no choice but to accept the changes even if it affects them adversely. | Lack of freedom of choiceAntagonistic approach towards addressing the outcome of the changes. Assumptions that these changes have already been decided and it will create a negative impact. Lack of empathetic values| The group believes that hey have no say and their opinions are deemed non- valuable by the management in the implementation of the changes. They feel that they’ve been squeezed to a tight corner without choices or opportunity to fend for themselves if these changes are to have an undesirable effect on them. | Jake addressed that there have been changes which already have been decided by the management prior to him communicating with the group. | Emotional Interference. Failed to protect the rights of the employees| One of the group members asked why the need arise to consult them if the changes have already been decided. Jake gave an excuse of the entailing details of the changes that he wouldn’t want to pre-amp the management i n addressing the news. | Lack of informationUnreliable source of informationDistrustful| Jake did not answer the question that was raising heavy uncertainties and negative perceptions of the change. The group is exhibiting signs of disappointment from their faces, and their tone of voice has changed from query to cynical. | Jake informed that there is going to be a formal meeting coming up and most of the decisions that might affect the group will be decided then. Defensiveness| The group is no longer interested in what Jake is explaining. feels that their rights as an employee to know more information about their job security is violated resulting in a defensive mode of action, bringing the matter up with the union | The group is disappointed that their opinions are not appreciated in the changes that is going to take place resulting further confrontational suggestions such as the worker’s union. â€Å"Lacking freedom of choice about change usually provokes more resistance than change itself† (W.Warner Burke et al. , 1996 pp. 25 – 30) Question 2: Critically discuss the impact the communication problems and barriers you have identified in question 1, may have on the perceptions and attitudes of employees in the communication scenario. (528 words) Perceptions and attitudes are behavioral components of individuals’ perceived notions, reactions and sensing of information and how it’s interpreted. (Robbins, 2003) Three main communication barriers and problems identified of how the information was disseminated to the group is the lack of ommunication skills, lack of freedom of choice, and lack of information which co-relates significantly towards the attitudes and perceptions of the employees. Jack inability to deliver the message clearly instigated negative perceptions, signifying signs of adversity. This constructed gaps in which ‘gives room’ to openness of rumors (G. David, 2011) and negative attitudes to cultivate . The employees displayed unfavorable facial expressions, emotional reactions and body language upon their self-perceived evaluations of the information, thus manifesting into defensive and retaliating attitude.Rupert Eales-White 2004 pp. 235 suggests in his research that there are two gaps in perceptions which are the conscious intent of the leader (Gap1) and the manifestation of that intent (Gap2) This determines the affect of an attitude is adapted when poor communication is at place, referring to the diagram below. Diagram 2 Conscious Intent Subconscious Intent Stress Poor Communication Manifestation Words Tone of voice Body Language Environment Poor Listening Mindset Impact Gap1 (Leader) Gap1 (Followers) Conscious Intent Subconscious Intent Stress Poor Communication ManifestationWords Tone of voice Body Language Environment Poor Listening Mindset Impact Gap1 (Leader) Gap1 (Followers) Source: Industrial and Commercial Training Volume: 36 Issue: 6 2004, pp. 235, Figure 1. Based f rom the video clip, the employees are portraying signs of anxiety and fear in losing their jobs. Their psychological contract (Job commitments, personal commitments, organizational commitments and job satisfaction) is threatened. This is supported by Charissa Freese et al. , in her research of 2011, in which she concurred with the research of Turnley and Feldman, 1998; Pate et al. 2000 (longitudinal); Kickul et al. , 2002 on the threats to psychological contracts due to fear and anxiety of â€Å"losing the known and tried†(W. Burke et al. ,1996) Lacking freedom of choice in voicing their opinions, the employees feel that Jack and the company has failed to keep their end of the bargain in their relationship that arises from the â€Å"mutual obligations between them and the company†, which also have shaped and govern their job attitude, well, normally in the perception of the employees. (Charissa Freese et al. , 2011- pp. 05, quoting Rousseau’s 1995 opinions) Unab le to influence the change process from taking place, the employees may also experience frustration, a downward slump such as lower productivity, higher absenteeism and work stress, which are; according to Maria Vakola and Ioannis Nikolaou’s 2005 research, agrees with previous research of Schabracq and Cooper, 2000; Murphy, 1995; McHugh, 1993 that it also contributes to lower motivation and morale, decline in work performance, elevating turnover rates, sick-leave, lower job satisfaction and commitments, poor internal ommunication as well as conflicts. According to Maria Vakola and Ioannis Nikolaou’s 2005 research which elaborated on British Industrial Society Survey 2001, shown that 91 per cent of the 492 human resource and personnel professionals questioned believed stress to be a problem in their organization’s effectiveness. Furthermore, lack of consistent information is a determinant of organization members to be exposed to rumors – reckoned as  "one of the greatest dangers during crises – as well as to spreading defeatist declarations†,( G.David, 2011) George also quoted Czarnecki (2007, 93) in his work, whom believes that essential justifications of internal communication is â€Å"avoiding the gap between the unusually high interest of staff members eager to find out what is going on and the small amount of information being disseminated by the organization†. Question 3: (Make Recommendations). Draw up a table and summarize how the problems and barriers you have identified in question 1 could have been prevented.Table 2: Recommendations| Rationale| Reflect positive, clarity, and congruent verbal and body language cues emphasizing on good communication skills when addressing change or any topic that might trigger selective perception or behavioral resistance. | In communicating, the speakers will subconsciously send body language and verbal cues. Being consistent with verbal cues and body language portr ays convincing and truthfulness.In Deborah’s work on change communication 2002, she quoted Roberts, 1954 pp. 388 who stated; â€Å"therefore, the orator must not only try to make the argument of his speech demonstrative and worthy of belief; he must also make his own character look right and put his hearers, who are to decide into the right frame of mind†| Openness for Change and presentation of information. | The degrees of which the employees may accept the news positively from Jack depends on how open are they towards the idea of changes.The approach should be made progressively rather than antagonistically. In Richa Awasty’s et al. , research in 2011, she quoted Dent and Goldberg’s suggestion that â€Å"employees may not be necessarily resisting the change itself, but rather perceived undesirable outcomes of change or the process of implementing the change† therefore the changes are not necessarily of adverse outcome, but perceived to be due to the mindset of the employees at that particular period and the way the information is presented. Identifying Psychological traits, emotions and feelings, avoiding sensitive words that may ignite negativity. | Although professional relationships entail some boundaries when it comes to interaction with colleagues, it is important to demonstrate sensitivity, and to really care about the people you work with. If you don’t care about them, it will be difficult for them to care about you when it comes to working together. | Provide useable, practical information to avoid lack of information to the employees involved in the change. If employees are not given adequate information nor allowed to contribute to the solution of problems, they may revert to being the cause of them, resulting in increased absenteeism, lower productivity and grievances and so on (Hubbards1999, Hargie et al. 1999, Armour 1998). Raina Reeta,2010. | Give opportunity for the employee’s leader to attend and discuss to ensure they don’t feel like they’re lacking freedom of choice in facilitating the changes. | A relative lack of employee participation in such change is likely to lead to more negative attitudes about the change (Reichers et al. 1997). Liz Jones(2008) | Uncertainties. | | * Dysfunctional responses. Ignoring or not responding to a comment or question quickly undermines effective communication. Likewise, responding with an irrelevant comment — one that isn't connected to the topic at hand — will quash genuine communication. Interrupting others while they are speaking also creates a poor environment for communication. * Lacking Confidence. Lacking confidence can be a major barrier to effective communication.Shyness, difficulty being assertive, or lack of self-worth can hinder your ability to make your needs and opinions known. Also, a lack of awareness of your own rights and opportunities in a given situation can prevent you from expressing yo ur needs openly. Strategies for Effective Verbal Communication * Focus on the issue, not the person. Try not to take everything personally, and similarly, express your own needs and opinions in terms of the job at hand. Solve problems rather than attempt to control others.For example, rather than criticizing a co-worker’s personality, express your concerns in terms of how to get the job done more smoothly in the future. * Be genuine rather than manipulative. Be yourself, honestly and openly. Be honest with yourself, and focus on working well with the people around you, and acting with integrity. * Empathize rather than remain detached. Although professional relationships entail some boundaries when it comes to interaction with colleagues, it is important to demonstrate sensitivity, and to really care about the people you work with.If you don’t care about them, it will be difficult for them to care about you when it comes to working together. * Be flexible towards other s. Allow for other points of view, and be open to other ways of doing things. Diversity brings creativity and innovation. * Value yourself and your own experiences. Be firm about your own rights and needs. Undervaluing yourself encourages others to undervalue you, too. Offer your ideas and expect to be treated well. * Present yourself as an equal rather than a superior.Even when you are in a position of authority, focus on what you and the other person each have to offer and contribute to the job or issue. * Use affirming responses. Respond to other in ways that acknowledge their experiences. Thank them for their input. Affirm their right to their feelings, even if you disagree. Ask questions, express positive feeling; and provide positive feedback when you can. Resources * Beebe et al. Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others 2nd Canadian Edition. (Scarborough, Ontario: Allyn and Bacon, 2000). Some additional ideas have been added.