Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Why The Farmers Were Wrong The P

Agrarian Discontent in the Late 1800's "Why the Farmers Were Wrong" The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Finally, years of drought in the midwest and the downward spiral of business in the 1890s devastated many of the nations farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the last twe nty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the demonetization of silver as threats to their way of life, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. In his testimony to the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker stat ed, ...the operating expense of this road...requires a certain volume of business to meet these fixed expenses....in some seasons of the year, the local business of the road...is not sufficient to make the earnings...when we make up a train of ten of fifteen cars of local freight...we can attach fifteen or twenty cars...of strictly through business. We can take the latter at a very low rate than go without it. Later, when asked the consequences of charging local traffic the same rate as through freight, Mr. Parker responded, Bankruptcy, inevitably and speedy.... While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, ...ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined. (Doc . H). The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. As a result, many farmers, already hurt by the downslide in agriculture, were ruined. Thus, the farmers of the late nineteenth century had a valid complaint against railroad shippers, for these farmers were hurt by the unfair practices of the railroads. Near the end of the nineteenth century, business began to centralize, leading to the rise of monopolies and trusts. Falling prices, along with the need for better efficiency in industry, led to the rise of such companies as Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which controlled a majority of the nations supply of raw steel and oil respectively. The rise of these monopolies and trusts concerned many farmers, for they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would hurt consumers. James B. Weaver, the Populist partys presidential candidate in the 1892 election, summed up the feelings of many Americans of the period in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising. He wrote, It is clear that trusts are...in conflict with the Common law. They Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Why The Farmers Were Wrong The P Agrarian Discontent in the Late 1800's "Why the Farmers Were Wrong" The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Finally, years of drought in the midwest and the downward spiral of business in the 1890s devastated many of the nations farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the last twe nty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the demonetization of silver as threats to their way of life, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. In his testimony to the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker stat ed, ...the operating expense of this road...requires a certain volume of business to meet these fixed expenses....in some seasons of the year, the local business of the road...is not sufficient to make the earnings...when we make up a train of ten of fifteen cars of local freight...we can attach fifteen or twenty cars...of strictly through business. We can take the latter at a very low rate than go without it. Later, when asked the consequences of charging local traffic the same rate as through freight, Mr. Parker responded, Bankruptcy, inevitably and speedy.... While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, ...ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined. (Doc . H). The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. As a result, many farmers, already hurt by the downslide in agriculture, were ruined. Thus, the farmers of the late nineteenth century had a valid complaint against railroad shippers, for these farmers were hurt by the unfair practices of the railroads. Near the end of the nineteenth century, business began to centralize, leading to the rise of monopolies and trusts. Falling prices, along with the need for better efficiency in industry, led to the rise of such companies as Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which controlled a majority of the nations supply of raw steel and oil respectively. The rise of these monopolies and trusts concerned many farmers, for they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would hurt consumers. James B. Weaver, the Populist partys presidential candidate in the 1892 election, summed up the feelings of many Americans of the period in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising. He wrote, It is clear that trusts are...in conflict with the Common law. They

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Mis Development Essays - Information Technology Management

Mis Development Essays - Information Technology Management Mis Development MIS Development The term Management Information Systems (MIS) has come to refer to a wide range of applications of computers to data processing and analysis problems in the private and public sectors. The pace of developments in computing in general, and MIS in particular, is breathtaking. Traditional concepts of how computers can and should be integrated into businesses are being challenged by worldwide telecommunications and transmission of sound, graphics, and video alongside of text. Virtually all successful businesses use computers extensively. If you don't like computers, and want to have a career in business that involves little use of themthink again. You don't have to like them, but you will have to deal with them extensively. This is a fact of life along with the hole in the ozone, Oklahoma City, TWA 800, AIDS, and The Real World on MTV (now in its fifth season!). Computers can have a profound impact on the way that power is distributed in society. Those who ignore computers are apt to be left out of important decisions. You may even become the person in your firm who has responsibility for your firm's use of information technology. Nevertheless, many people have little understanding of what computers are and what they can do. There is a desperate need in our society for liberally educated people who are able to balance the enormous possibilities of computing with its potentially harmful consequences. In the business world, there has been a gap between those who are computer smart and those who speak the language of business. You need to know enough about computers to be able to: understand how computers support decision making and how they can be used to obtain strategic advantages; understand the challenges posed by the rise of the Internet; understand how the computer works in order to have a feel for the computer's limitations; understand how data is stored and managed; understand how to store and retrieve data yourself; understand the different types of computer systems and when one type or another is appropriate; understand how the overall parts of an MIS system work together and what some of the functions that they accomplish are; understand how to state computer system requirements and understand how computer systems are built; understand how computing is managed in the corporate environment; understand some of the social issues which computers raise. Achieving these objectives will give you the tools you will need to function effectively in the business environment. Bibliography www.gorgetown.com

Thursday, November 21, 2019

SWOT Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SWOT Analysis - Coursework Example Walmart also has a very competitive pricing pattern (Kummer). By promoting locally produced food items, they are saving on the side of transportation and middle men and are able to place smaller orders (Kummer). Weakness The prices are not really low but the company is only creating a perception that they are low with the slogan, â€Å"always low prices† (Zenith). It has been pointed out that 80% to 85% of Wal-Mart’s items are more expensive† (Zenith). There has been allegation that the quality of goods sold at Walmart is poor and the service is also not up to the expectations of the customers (Zenith). Another bad reputation of the company has been that â€Å"Wal-mart’s buying practices injure its vendors† (Zenith). Walmart’s poor services to its workers had come under criticism many a times (Zenith). The conventional â€Å"business model and organizational rigidity† of Wal-Mart has been another weakness of this company (Zenith). Oppor tunities It has been an advantage of Walmart that, â€Å"instead of establishing stores near major urban centers where the population concentrates, Wal-Mart expands from its Arkansas base by constructing new stores that are strategically located near distribution centers and in smaller towns† (Rao, Qingyuan yue and Ingram, 7).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Bone Disorders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bone Disorders - Essay Example Bone problems are of different kinds. They may include osteoporosis caused by low density of bone and which makes bones weak and susceptible to breakage, osteogenesis imperfect which increases the brittleness of bones, and Paget’s bones disease which makes bones weaker. In addition to these bone disorders, bones may also develop a range of infections and cancers. There can be many reasons for the development of bone disorders. Some major causes of bone disorders include genetic factors, poor nutrition, and poor rate of rebuilding and growth of bones. The most important modulators of the process by which bones form are hormones. Optimal development and maintenance of bones depends upon parathyroid hormone, estrogen, and testosterone. Of these, the most direct impact on the cells of bone is made by estrogen which interacts with specific receptors or proteins on the surface of osteoclasts and osteoblasts (Zallone, 2006). Bones maintain their strength and integrity through a process of continuous renewal known as remodeling. Accelerated bone remodeling may cause a range of bone disorders that include but are not limited to familial expansile osteolysis (FEO), juvenile Pagets disease (JPD), Pagets disease of bone (PDB), early-onset Pagets disease of bone (EOPDB), and expansile skeletal hyperphosphatasia (ESH) (Beyens and Van Hul, 2007). Many stud ies have concluded that the main cells responsible for causing disease in these bone disorders are bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Connective tissues are unlike the parenchymal organs in that their form and function reflects the extracellular matrices of the matter they are made up of. These different compositions of matrices lend unique appearance and mechanical properties to cartilage, bone, and dense fibrous connective tissue (Teitelbaum and Bullough, 1979). Dense fibrous connective tissue is made up of collagen in the form of well-oriented collagen bundles whose main

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Value added Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Value added - Case Study Example There are various ways that Nike adds value to its products. One of them is through the development of their products using high level of creativity thus making them unique from their competitors. They put the quality of their products into consideration while at the same time ensuring that they consider the preferences and the needs of the customers. As such, they are always all ears listening to the feedback of their consumers and ensuring that they put into consideration the criticisms given to them. They also add value to their products through advertisements to create awareness to as many individuals around the globe as possible. They also conduct celebrity endorsements to their products to ensure that as many individuals as possible associate with their products. Nike also conducts the value addition of their products through improvement and development of new product or series. One example is the KD series which has developed from KD I to KD III series. Each of the series has its own unique design and price. Nike also adds value to their products by involvement in community affairs including events and also fundraisers (Davis, 2010). This enables individuals to see the social responsibility part of the company thus creating a good reputation for the

Friday, November 15, 2019

Difference between ETAR and CCC in Calculation of Dose

Difference between ETAR and CCC in Calculation of Dose Abstract Aims: According to the limitations of TPSs dose calculation algorithms, it is important to verify their calculations and to find the amount of differences of their results with actual delivered dose in the patient body for all of radiation situations to find the best and accurate algorithm to choose for use in routine radiation treatment planning. Materials and Methods: After validation of simulated Linacs head in water phantom as a homogeneous medium, the modeled head verified in Rando phantom as a heterogeneous medium for pituitary gland area irradiation. In the second part, ETAR and CCC algorithms were compared for 2 lateral parallel opposed and one oblique (45 degree) fields (3Ãâ€"3 cm2) irradiations at 18 MV using 30 º physical wedge. Results: Our results showed that there are significant difference between ETAR and CCC in calculation of delivered dose in pituitary irradiation. Also, none of the algorithms can predict actual dose in air cavity areas, except Monte Carlo method. Conclusions: As differences between algorithms may have effects on quality of treatment, it is important to evaluate algorithms to choose the best one for use in clinical situations. MC method is a great evaluation tool for comparison of clinical dose calculation algorithms. Keywords: Treatment planning system, Dose calculation algorithm, Monte Carlo simulation, ETAR, CCC Introduction The main objective of radiation therapy is to deliver the maximum possible dose to the target tumor with minimum dose to the normal surrounding tissues [1]. To achieve this, a good understanding of the dose distribution in irradiated tissue and most importantly, experimental verification of this distribution is needed. During the actual radiation treatment planning in clinics, dose distribution calculated by treatment planning systems (TPS). Any deviation in these calculated distribution would lead to difference in patients delivered dose and would have an important effect on quality and effectiveness of the radiotherapy treatment. Most of dose calculation algorithms in TPSs are inaccurate in radiation disequilibrium conditions such as near tissue inhomogeneity like near air cavities and bone-soft tissue interfaces for small and complex radiation fields [2-5]. Therefore, it is important to validate this dose calculations. Common validation is performed by comparisons with measured data which their reliability depends on measurement situations and instruments and several other aspects. So, there are some limitations in this kind of validation such as the fact that it is impossible to verify the dose calculations in some parts of patients body for example in brain irradiation. Currently, it is well known that the Monte Carlo (MC) is the most accurate method for dose calculation [6-10] and with the advancement of computer technology, dose calculation algorithms based on the MC method have the potential to be used to calculate the delivered dose in radiotherapy clinics. But, due to the time consuming process of the full MC calculations and some of the limitations in speed of computers in clinics [11], it is still impossible to use full MC in routine clinical calculations. However, it is most powerful technic to verification of TPSs dose calculations [12-14]. According to mentioned limitation of TPSs dose calculation algorithms, it is important to verify their calculations. There are several studies on MC validation of common dose calculation algorithms in homogeneous medium and simple and also complex radiation fields [15-22], but because of the several complex situations in clinical irradiations, it is important to find the amount of differences of dose calculation algorithms results with actual delivered dose in the patient body for all of these situations to find the best and accurate algorithm to choose for use in radiation treatment planning process. In this article, we compared two dose calculation algorithms of CorePLAN TPS for computed tomography (CT) images of a patient with pituitary adenoma. The algorithms were equivalent tissue-air ratio (ETAR) and collapsed cone convolution (CCC) which are routinely used in radiation treatment planning. The project divided in to two parts: validation of MC model in homogeneous and heterogeneous medium, and comparison of ETAR and CCC algorithms with MC as a gold standard. After validation of simulated head of the medical linear accelerator (Linac) in water phantom as a homogeneous medium, the modeled head verified in Rando phantom as a heterogeneous medium for pituitary gland area irradiation. In the second part, ETAR and CCC algorithms were compared to MC simulation for planned pituitary radiation same as one in Rando phantom. Materials and Methods Monte Carlo Simulations The EGSnrc [23] user code BEAMnrc [24] was used to model an 18 MV beam from a Varian 2100C/D (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA). The Linac was modelled with different component modules (CM). Table-1 shows these components and their materials. The schematic geometry showing the CMs are shown in figure-1. The 3D image created by EGS_WINDOWS [25] program. In this study, ISOURC==19 was used for modelling the incident electron beam. This source is a circular beam with 2-D Gaussian distribution of particles. ECUT and PCUT parameters which used to define the global electron and photon cutoff energy, were set to 0.7 MeV and 0.01 MeV. Also, Electron Range Rejection with ESAVE value of 0.7 MeV in the target and ESAVE-GLOBAL=2 MeV and Directional Bremsstrahlung Splitting with NBRSL=750 were used to minimize the simulation time. Phase Space data were created for open 10 Ãâ€"10 cm2 photon beam and the percent depth dose (PDD) and profiles of measured and simulated data were used for verification of the beam energy and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the incident electron beam in 30 Ãâ€" 30 Ãâ€" 30 cm3 water phantom using DOSXYZnrc code [26]. To drive best estimates for the energy and FWHM of the incident electron beam, the method which introduced by Sheikh-Bagheri and Rogers [27] were used. For comparison between calculations and measurements, all curves were normalized to the center of the field for dose profiles and the depth of dose maximum for the PDD curves. This procedure is suggested by Pemler et al. [28] for MC calculated dose distributions of single electron fields. Differences between the calculated and measured curves for dose profiles, were compared in terms of dose difference (DD) in the low dose gradient areas, and distance to agreement (DTA) in millimeter (mm), in the high dose gradient. For both of Rando phantom and patient studies, CT images of phantom and the patient were used by CTcreate program to make *.egsphant file for irradiation by ISOURC=8 in DOSXYZnrc code. Radiation Treatment Planning The study was done for Rando phantom and one clinical case CT images originally calculated with equivalent tissue-air ratio algorithm (ETAR) by CorePLAN treatment planning system for pituitary gland radiotherapy. Two other dose algorithms were used: collapsed cone convolution (CCC) and Monte Carlo program, BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc codes. The dose calculation algorithms were compared for 2 lateral parallel opposed and one oblique (45 degree) fields (3Ãâ€"3 cm2) irradiations at 18 MV using 30 º physical wedges. Figure 2 shows designed radiation plan for Rando phantom and patient CT images. Dose Distributions In Monte Carlo simulation, dose distributions were calculated with DOSXYZnrc that were used as a benchmark and in Rando phantom study, radiographic (Kodak EDR2) and radiochromic (Gafchromic EBT2) films used to obtain planar dose distributions. All films scanned with Microtek 9800XL scanner. Gafchromic EBT2 films scanned 24 h after irradiation [29]. As the pituitary gland is placed in level 3 in Rando phantom (see figure 3), dose calculations and measurements were compared for the delivered dose in surfaces between layers (2,3), (3,4) and (4,5), in terms of 2D isodose curves. All measurements were repeated three times. Results Validation of Monte Carlo For validation of Monte Carlo simulation, results were compared with measurements in water phantom and 18.2 MeV and 1.5 mm for energy and FWHM of the incident electron beam shows the best match with measurements. Figure 4 shows PDD and dose profile for mentioned energy and FWHM. For PDD curve, dose difference was below 1% and for dose profile, DD and DTA were 0.97%  ± 0.65 and 1.71 mm  ± 1.08 for open field and 1.23%  ± 1.09 and 1.79mm  ± 0.96 for wedged field. Evaluation of Monte Carlo simulation in Rando phantom Simulated Linac were evaluated by comparison with EBT2 and EDR2 film dosimetry in Rando phantom as a heterogeneous medium for pituitary radiation treatment dose calculations. This part of the study performed to make sure that simulated Linac have an acceptable performance in a heterogeneous medium similar to the patient body, where measurement of the delivered dose is impossible. Totally, differences between Monte Carlo and film measurements were 4.93%  ±0.87 for all of the layers. These differences were 4.62%  ± 1.37 for EBT2 films and 5.03%  ± 0.49 for EDR2 film dosimetry. Also, there were 1.2% difference between EBT2 and EDR2 results. Patient study results The final purpose of this study was evaluation of ETAR and CCC dose calculation algorithms in almost small size complex radiation wedged fields. To achieve this, Monte Carlo simulation used as a gold standard to compare these algorithms. Figure 5 shows results of the radiation treatment planning using Monte Carlo method, ETAR and CCC dose calculation algorithms. The differences between Monte Carlo and dose calculation algorithms were 6.40%  ± 3.44 (range: 3.8% to 10.3% ) for CCC and 10.36%  ± 4.37 (range: 5.5% to 13.9% ) for ETAR. Discussion Dose calculation algorithms in treatment planning systems have an important role in radiation oncology departments. Any inaccuracy in predicting dose distribution in patients body will change the quality of the treatment. So, it is important to find the suitable algorithm for dose calculations in radiation therapy process. New algorithms which commonly used in TPSs, beside of their improvements in calculation, may have appreciable inaccuracies in some clinical situations such as small fields, electron disequilibrium and interfaces between different densities [7]. In this study, the differences between CCC and ETAR algorithms were compared to MC simulation results which considered as a gold standard. The study was done for a patient case with pituitary adenoma. To achieve this, the project divided in to two parts. The first step was validation of modelled Linac head in water and Rando phantom as homogeneous and heterogeneous medium. Results of simulated head in water phantom showed that the best match between simulated results and measurement data will appear when energy and FWHM of incident electron beam was set to 18.2 MeV and 1.5 mm, respectively. These amounts were in the range of their resulted amounts in previous MC studies [27, 30-32]. There are several recommendations for evaluate the accuracy of dose calculations in various areas with high or low dose gradient[33-38]. Our results for open and wedged fields in water phantom were in agreement with recommended amounts by Venselaar et al.[33] for dose profiles and also differences between measured and simulated results were under 2 percent recommended in previous studies for PDD curves[12, 27, 33, 39]. Evaluations in Rando phantom study showed 4.93%  ±0.87 for all of the EBT2 and EDR2 layers in comparison with MC simulation. This difference was little than 7% discrepancy reported by Brualla et al.[40] and was more than Dobler et al.[16] results which reported 3% difference between MC and film dosimetry in heterogeneous medium. There would be two reasons for this difference. The first one is the gaps between Rando phantom layers which made by placing the film between them. These gaps are larger for EDR2 films because of the thickness of their cover. While, in MC simulation these distances would not considered in calculations. The second one is the fact that in high density tissues such as bone, as the number of the scattered secondary electrons increases, delivered dose will decrease and this will considered in MC calculations. Because this method considers all of the interactions occur in that tissue and calculates the delivered dose in it. But in film dosimetry, film density is equal to the soft tissue density and bone scatter electrons will cause an increment in delivered dose in the film and this may lead to a disagreement between MC and film dosimetry. Film dosimetry have uncertainties pertinent to several factors such as nonuniform thickness of the sensitive layer, temperature effects, scanner uncertainty and its warm up effect[41-43]. There was 1.2% difference between EBT2 and EDR2 films. EDR2 films are light sensitive and were cut in a dark room; However, this low light may have effects on measurements. Also, EDR2 film processing have remarkable effects on the results while there is no need to process the EBT2 films. Final results showed about 6.4% difference for CCC algorithm and about 10.3% for ETAR algorithm in comparison to MC simulation. Chow et al.[44] evaluated the anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) and CCC in heterogeneous phantom for tangential photon beam. They showed that the mean dose differences between MC and CCC was about 4.6% for 15 MV photon beam with 7Ãâ€"7 cm2 field size. Polednik et al. [17] in comparison between pencil beam (PB) and collapsed cone (CC) algorithms in an anthropomorphic phantom, reported that there is about 6% difference between CC algorithm calculations and measurements. Our results are close to their findings and also Calvo et al. [19] results which reported about 5.6% differences for CCC in comparison with MC. Figure 5 shows that none of the algorithms could predict the actual dose in air cavity except MC. This difference is larger for ETAR. This is due to this fact that ETAR algorithm uses the ratio of two tissue-air ratio (TAR) for inhomogeneity correction and in definition, TAR is ratio of absorbed dose in a given depth in absorbent material to the same depth in a small air region in electron equilibrium situation. Therefore, this algorithm assumes that there is electron equilibrium in all points. So, in bone-air interfaces which there in no electron equilibrium, ETAR will have fault in dose calculations [45]. Also, ETAR only considers primary and scattered photons and doesnt consider the secondary electrons. Hence, it cant evaluate the electron disequilibrium [12, 46-50]. While, CCC models electron transport and will predict the effects of electron disequilibrium in heterogeneous interfaces [51]. Our results showed that CCC algorithm as a model based dose calculation algorithm, have a better agreement with MC simulation and the results of this study confirms the previous studies [15, 52-56]. In conclusion, as differences between algorithms may have effects on quality of treatment, it is important to evaluate algorithms to choose the best one for use in clinical situations. MC method is a great evaluation tool for comparison of clinical dose calculation algorithms. Acknowledgments This work was financially supported by grant no. 90-04-30-15948 to S. R. Mahdavi from the deputy of research of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The data presented here are provided from the K. Tanhas MSc thesis. The authors would like to thank Dr. M. Sohrabpour from Sharif university of technology for his support on this study and physics staff of radiotherapy department of Pars Hospital at Tehran, Iran for their assistance.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

A Midsummer Night?s Dream Essay -- essays research papers

Loves Misfortunes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. It deals with the feelings of love and marriage as well as the laws and social order of the time. The story contains fairies and other mystical creatures who take it upon themselves to guide the mortals in the directions they think necessary. This leads to many hilarious situations and misfortunes for the humans. There are many characters in the play and, for the most part, each one is in love with one of the other characters. The play starts with Theseus, the Duke of Athens, proposing to Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. This is the only couple throughout the play who seem to never waver in their love for each other. These two seem to have a perfect love for each other, much like the love Hermia and Lysander have for each other before the fairies intervene. The other couple in the story that are of royal blood are Oberon, the king of the fairies, and Titania, the queen of the fairies. These two are having a lovers quarrel which has sent the seasons out of order and caused great disorder. Oberon is in love with Hoppolyta and Titania is in love with Theseus. Their lovers quarrels provide much of the comedy in the play. The other four characters caught in love triangles are Lysander and Hermia, who are in love with each other, Demetrius who loves Hermia, and Helena who loves Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia wish to marry each other but Hermia’s father, Egeu...

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Examine the techniques Iago employs to achieve his aims in the play Othello

In traditional Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist is destroyed through their own fatal flaw. The play Othello is different because there is a villain which is unusual for a Shakespearean tragedy. In the play Macbeth, the tragic events occur because of Macbeths own fatal flaw of ambition. However in the play Othello; Iago, one of the main characters manipulates Othello's fatal flaw of jealously which leads to the tragic ending of the play. He says how he is using Othello by â€Å"following him I follow but myself†; he is pretending to be loyal to Othello but is really doing it for his own benefit. Iago plans revenge on Othello when he gives Cassio the job of lieutenant instead of to him; he describes himself as â€Å"worth no worse a place† and is showing that he thinks highly of himself. Even after he manages to get Cassio dismissed and replaces him as lieutenant, he still continues to carry out his plan of destruction. This reveals that the reason of Iagos plans are merely just for fun. Iago deceives everyone even Roderigo who supports him, not knowing everything about Iago's plans, he even questions why he â€Å"ever made a fool my purse† which shows he is only using Roderigo for his own benefit. No-one in the play seems to know what Iago is really like. He manipulates everyone in the play to gain their trust although he only uses them. Cassio praises Iago by saying that he had sung â€Å"an excellent song†, this is because he doesn't know that it was actually because of Iago that he was dismissed from the job of lieutenant. Iago is seen as a manipulative and evil character, he betrays Othello by telling Brabantio that Desdemona is married to Othello; â€Å"you're robbed†¦ an old black ram is tupping your white ewe†, he uses crude, sexual imagery to make their marriage seem worse than it is to make Brabantio angry because his daughter got married without his consent. He constantly makes racist comments about Othello; by referring to him as â€Å"thick-lips† and tries to make him seem like a bad character, because in Shakespearean times it was seen as wrong for a white woman to marry a black man. Iago tries to convince himself that Othello has had an affair with is wife; â€Å"I hate the Moor, And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets He's done my office. † Iago is jealous even though he is not completely sure that Othello has had an affair with his wife. He treats Emilia badly he tells her to â€Å"be not acknown on't† he makes her do what he wants and tell her to pretend she does not know anything about Desdemona's handkerchief. He also makes general bad comments about women; â€Å"she give you so much of her lips as of her tongue† he is saying that Emilia talks too much, something which she shouldn't do. Iago has a general dislike for women and stabs Emilia when she realises what he has done he also causes Othello to hit Desdemona in public and makes him call her a â€Å"whore† to her face. To make Othello jealous he makes out that Desdemona is having an affair but he only hints, â€Å"Lie – † this makes Othello jump to conclusions and finish off the sentences himself; â€Å"Lie with her? Lie on her? † Iago does not try to correct him â€Å"With her, on her, what you will† he just agrees with what Othello is saying. Sometimes when talking to Othello he says something and immediately takes it back to get Othello curious. Othello gave Desdemona a handkerchief which had been passed through his family, Iago tells Emilia to steal it for him and plants it in Cassio's bedchamber. He tries to wind up Othello by discretely reminding Othello that Desdemona did not have the handkerchief anymore: â€Å"But if I give my wife a handkerchief†, he is tormenting him with the thought that Desdemona is not acting truly loyal to Othello, like Emilia would to Iago. Shakespeare uses asides and soliloquies throughout the play as a dramatic technique. While talking to Othello, Iago says â€Å"O, you are well turned now! But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, As honest as I am† it reminds us of Iago's evil nature, and shows how he is planning Othello's destruction. Soliloquies are similar to asides in what they do in the play. They remind us of what Iago is planning and also show us what he thinks about what he has achieved so far.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Bartleby the Scrivener Essay Essay Example

Bartleby the Scrivener Essay Essay Example Bartleby the Scrivener Essay Essay Bartleby the Scrivener Essay Essay Essay Topic: Bartleby the Scrivener Bartleby the Scrivener Outline I. Introduction: A. Plot Overview B. Thesis Statement: The short story Bartleby the Scrivener is very difficult to interpret. However, I am going to interpret what I believe the reader should know for certain about Bartleby and why Melville provides so little explicit information about Bartleby. II. About Bartleby A. Bartleby is very complex character B. He is passively stubborn C. He looses interest in his work III. Why Melville provides little information about Bartleby? A. To connect with the reader B. To leave room for interpretation IV. Conclusion: A. Restate thesis B. Reflections â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street† The short story Bartleby the Scrivener is very difficult to interpret. The author uses vague and confusing language to describe the Lawyer’s employee named Bartleby. However, I am going to interpret what I believe the reader should know for certain about Bartleby and why Melville provides so little explicit information about Bartleby. The short story Bartleby the Scrivener centers on a scrivener name Bartleby for a law firm. The story is narrated by the Lawyer, who employs Bartleby, and tells the story of his strangest employee Bartleby. The Lawyer has two other scriveners, Turkey and Nippers, and an errand boy, Ginger Nut but finds Bartleby to be the most interesting of all the scriveners. As the story begins, the Lawyer realizes he needs another copyist. Bartleby answers the ad, and the Lawyer hires him. Bartleby writes swiftly and accurately for the first few days. The plot of the story revolves around Bartlebys refusal to carry out his employers orders. When asked to perform a task, Bartleby frequently responds, I would prefer not to(pg. 160). This particularly passive form of resistance causes his employer much concern. Eventually, Bartleby refuses to do anything at all and simply stares vacantly at the wall. The narrators feelings for Bartleby alternate between pity and revulsion. The lawyer ends up firing Bartleby; however Bartleby prefers not to leave. After the narrator attempts to reason with Bartleby, the scrivener is forcibly removed and imprisoned. The narrator visits Bartleby to find him in the same state of mind preferring to even eat. When the narrator visits again a few days later, he discovered Bartleby dead. Bartleby had starved. The Lawyer then ends his narration of the story with the one clue he was ever able to discover about Bartleby which was a rumor that the late scrivener once worked at the Dead Letter office, and was fired after the administration changed hands. This left the narrator along with the reader to wonder whether it was this job, sad and depressing as it is, that drove Bartleby to his strange madness. The reader is left wondering what happened to this rather strange man and attempting to describe or understand Bartleby is complicated. It is difficult to attempt to describe Bartlebys because the reader is practically given no information on him besides the physical characteristics. However, there are a few things the reader should know for certain about Bartleby. For one, we know that Bartleby is a complex character and passively prefers not to discuss his life and his past. Bartleby is homeless and does not eat much. He’s also passively stubborn and very set in his ways. Melville uses the adjectives to describe the scrivener: pallid, forlorn, even cadaverous. These adjectives paint an unhealthy image of Bartleby of physical weakness. However, Bartleby’s passive resistance to anything demanded for him to do or suggested to him is unbreakable making him incredibly mentally strong. Bartlebys quiet but impenetrable resistance ends up isolating him from the rest of the characters in the story. The decline of Bartleby pointed out through numerous details of the story, forces the reader to make conclusions about the Bartleby’s character. Bartleby’s death suggests the effects of depression. He literally had no motivation to survive so he refrained from eating. However, we really never know why or what causing this odd behavior because Melville provides little information about the character Bartleby. The way Melville provides so little explicit information about Bartleby is particularly important to this story. In fact we dont know anything about any of the characters beyond what theyre like in the office, not even our narrator. He could have chosen any number of different angles from which to provide information about Bartleby. His choice of the lawyer allows us to get close to Bartleby, but still feel profoundly mystified by him. Melville leaves out a lot of explicit information about the scrivener and through this perspective, we quickly identify with the conflicted feelings of the Narrator. The story draws the reader in emotionally as if though the reader, like the Narrator, is involved in trying to deal personally with Bartleby. Through his telling of the story, the reader begins to strongly identify with the narrator and see Bartleby as both pathetic and a little frightening. We also see everything through Bartlebys coworkers, who are directly affected by the scriveners inaction. Also the story takes place in a law office populated by a set of odd men, whose relationships with each are suppose to be professional in nature. So I believe Melville provided little information because the business-based world in which the characters operate had no room for personal interaction. Melville’s technique keeps the reader fully engaged with the story as it headed towards its tragic ending. Even though the story â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener† portrays the decline of Bartleby character as seen by the Lawyer and the author provides the reader with little information about Bartleby, it still allowed the reader to fully engage and appreciate the story. Also there were a few things the reader could have interpreted for certain about Bartleby even though Melville provided so little explicit information about Bartleby. sparknotes. com/lit/melvillestories/section2. rhtml bartleby. com/129/

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Disclosing Medical Errors, How Soon The Patient And Family Member

Disclosing Medical Errors, How Soon The Patient And Family Member Disclosing Medical Errors, How Soon The Patient And Family Member Should Be Informed Who Should – Article Example Disclosing Medical Errors Insert Insert Disclosing medical Errors A medical error is a failure or inability of a planned course of action to be addressed as intended or using the wrong plan to accomplish the aim, but devoid of intentional or reckless actions that may harm the patients (NCC MERP, n.d). This paper discusses medical errors, who should be informed and how soon the patient and family members should be informed. Experts have highly encouraged professional disclosure of medical errors whenever they occur. Globally it is said that error is human, but it raises the question whether the clichà © covers such critical group of professionals or whether the errors that have been made so far are insignificant for other physicians to learn from them. Currently, there is no consensus on modalities and processes of reporting near misses. Patients require information on medical errors from an ethical standpoint so as to make informed decisions about subsequent treatments (Gallagher, 2 007, pp. 2713-2719). The greatest bottleneck to free disclosure of medical errors is the fear of increasing malpractice claims on the medical fraternity as well as vulnerability to medico-legal action. Disclosing such errors to patients themselves by the physicians may be perceived as the most straight forward affair in the making but is rather a challenging task. It raises fears of what one would expect in the following times (Wagner, 2012, pp. 63-69). The fear of going through such ordeal might make one feel less obliged to seek medical attention, and the "I’d rather not be told" sentiment from patients reveals less reacceptance of such errors. Many medical scholars have thus advocated for disclosure of such errors to family and not patients as this might predispose patients to sadness, anxiety, depression and trauma. The desired recuperation for patients might be delayed. Family members, therefore, encourage knowledge of what transpired, the consequences of an error on th eir health, the reasons for it happening, mitigation of such malfunctions, and the proper measures for the prevention of such errors in the future. Such reporting should also be timely as soon as such error is committed and noted as a possible point of professional malfunction by the physician. The family members are required to take the necessary course of action since they hold responsibility and reaction in trust of the patient (Garbutt, 2007, pp. 179-185).ReferencesGallagher, T. H., Studdert, D., & Levinson, W. (2007). Disclosing Harmful Medical Errors To Patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(26), 2713-2719. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra070568Garbutt, J., Fraser, V., Dunagan, W. C., Hazel, E., Marcuse, E. K., Krauss, M. J., et al. (2007). Reporting and Disclosing Medical Errors: Pediatricians Attitudes and Behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 161(2), 179-185. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://dx.doi.org/10 .1001/archpedi.161.2.179NCC MERP About Medication Errors. (n.d.). NCC MERP About Medication Errors. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from nccmerp.org/aboutMedErrors.htmlWagner, L. M., Harkness, K., Hà ©bert, P. C., & Gallagher, T. H. (2012). NursesÊ ¼ Perceptions of Error Reporting and Disclosure in Nursing Homes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 27(1), 63-69. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0b013e318232c0bc

Sunday, November 3, 2019

What Are the Political, Economic and Social Challenges of Women in the Assignment - 1

What Are the Political, Economic and Social Challenges of Women in the Developing World - Assignment Example By allowing women to have a voice with respect to the political process, a whole new range of political perspective is opened up for analysis. Conversely, culture itself oftentimes plays an even more powerful role than does the democratization of a nation. For this reason, in nations where the harsh constraints of a conservative interpretation of religion is the norm, it is likely that even if women have the right to vote, the traditional cultural understanding of gender roles and the female’s place within society will be primarily interpreted through such a cultural lens and therefore work to diminish the overall rights enjoyed by women on aggregate. Such examples of the constricting role of culture within the political sphere can aptly be recognized in multiple regions the world over; oftentimes the result of the prevalence of extreme adherence to a particular form of religious belief. 2. What are the political, economic and social challenges of women in the developing world ? (5pts) Such an impediment strongly reduces the competitiveness of society in terms of the global economy. Furthermore, as previously discussed, the key political challenge that women face within many developing countries is under-representation in the political process; either due to a systemic form of sexism or a cultural tradition that does not put a high level of emphasis on women in positions of authority and/or power. As such, without the requisite representation of women in the political process, it is hard to generate a degree of interest among the female electorate the commit to participation due to the fact that there is little interest in a process that they may otherwise see as completely male-dominated (Adjei et al 234).  

Friday, November 1, 2019

The role of family members in the prospects of female entrepreneurs Literature review

The role of family members in the prospects of female entrepreneurs - Literature review Example The paper tells that business as a profit-oriented initiative primarily entails risk. This is the tone of the works of authors such as Timmons and Spinelli and Ward and Aronoff who put forward conceptual definition of enterprise as a pursuit of opportunity that requires the investment of resources and the exercise of control. The definition involve the variables such the requirement of considerable investment that one cannot control and the role of people and their motivation towards the enterprise's cause and objective. For these prior works, family becomes an inevitable model - ready and stable - that could address the social, economic and psychological challenges involved in starting and managing businesses. Indeed, even the most liberal and sophisticated economies such as those in Europe and the United States, family-owned businesses constitute as much as 85 percent of the respective aggregate enterprises. There is no business landscape wherein family-owned or controlled business model thrives than in Asian countries such as China. The cultural and social contexts underscore tight familial relationship as ideal, which naturally extend to business pursuits because it provides mechanism of effective control and support. Zapalska and Edwards work tells us more about this in detail with their in-depth analysis of the Chinese Confucian thought and how and why it places great importance to the family. As has been the case in China, the culture emphasizes respect for the elders as well as high regard for authority and the hierarchy on social and organizational levels.