MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES essays

MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES essays The mitochondrion is the energy manufacturer of the cell. It is equivalent to the engine of a car. These tiny biological machines combine the food we eat with oxygen to produce energy to keep our bodies going. The energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in the form of a chemical called Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The mitochondria is involved in making of steroid hormones and DNA. Each cell in the body contains an average of five hundred, to two thousand mitochondria. When they are dysfunctional, the body can develop energy crisis in the muscles, tissues, brain and the heart. Examples of the mitochondria diseases include: Autoimmune hepatitis is a type of chronic active hepatitis. It is caused by cellular immune reactions. A variety of circulating autoantibodies can be found in the blood og patients with chronic active hepatitis. Other autoimmune diseases are thyroiditis diabetes mellitus and ulcerative colitis. Its complications are liver cell failure, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and it is a disease rare in children. The symptoms for autoimmune hepatitis include dark urine, loss of appetite, fatigue, abdominal distention, and generalized itching and also absence of menstruation. Liver biopsy shows chronic active hepatitis. Prevention of this disorder may not be possible. Awareness of risk factors may allow early detection and treatment. Prednisone or other corticoseriods help reduce the inflammation. Azathioprine or mercaptopurines are drugs usually used to treat immune disorders. Activity should be modified according to the symptoms. In addition, a well balanced diet promotes healing. Parkinsons disease occurs when certain nerve cells or neurons in an area of the brain become impaired. It belongs to a group of conditions ...

How to Afford Private School Tuition

How to Afford Private School Tuition Private school can be expensive, and paying those hefty tuition bills can be a burden for families from all income levels. The average national cost of non-sectarian private schools is approximately $17,000 a year, and the yearly tuition at schools in urban areas such as New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. can be more than $40,000 for just a day school program. Boarding schools are even more expensive. But, that doesnt mean a private school education is out of the question for your family. While you may think that there is little financial aid for private schools, and yes it can be competitive to get financial aid, there are several sources of funding that you may not have thought of. Here are some ways in which you can find financial assistance to pay for private school: Talk to the financial aid officer at your school. The financial aid officer at your school may know about merit and need-based scholarships that your child may be eligible for; sometimes these are not widely promoted. Several private schools offer free tuition for parents earning less than about $75,000 a year. As many as 20% of private school students receive some form of need-based financial aid, and this figure is as high as about 35% at schools with large endowments. Keep in mind that schools with large endowments and longer histories can generally offer larger amounts of aid, but inquire about programs even at schools that are less established. Check out scholarships. There are many scholarships and  even voucher programs  available for students at private schools. The school youre applying to or attending may even have scholarship programs for students; be sure to ask the admission office or financial aid office to find out if youre eligible and how to apply.  There are also regional scholarship programs that can assist with finding scholarships. Some notable programs include A Better Chance, which provides opportunities for students of color to attend boarding and day college-prep schools around the country. Research free or low-tuition  private schools. Private school for free? ​Believe it or not, schools that offer zero tuition  do exist.  There are completely tuition-free private and parochial schools across the country. Check out this list of free private schools. You can also research schools with low tuition rates; with a financial aid package, if you qualify, you could find yourself with an opportunity to attend a private school for little to no money.   Don’t forget to ask about sibling discounts. Many schools will offer discounts if you already have a child at the school, or if a family member has attended previously (often referred to as a legacy student). In addition, some private school financial aid officers will reduce the tuition for families paying college tuition at the same time that they are paying private school tuition. Ask if the school youre applying to offers these kinds of discounts! Take advantage of employee discounts. This may sound odd, but its true. Many private schools offer full time employees free tuition or tuition discounts. If you know you want to send your child to private school and your skill set aligns to an opening at a school you like, apply for a job. Be sure to look at requirements for the tuition discounts, as some schools require that employees work at the school for a certain number of years before they are eligible. If youre already a parent at the school, you can still apply. But youll likely have to go through the same formal job application process as all the other candidates. Dont worry, if you dont get the job, your child can still attend.   Spread out payments with tuition payment plans. Many schools will allow you to spread out your yearly tuition in installments. They may charge a flat fee or interest for this service, so be sure to read the fine print and determine if this is right for you. There are also many institutions that manage tuition payments at private schools across the country. Take advantage of pre-payment incentives. Many schools will offer parents a discount for paying in full by a certain amount. If you have a rewards program credit card, this can be a great way to earn some perks. You can use tax-free Coverdell savings accounts. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, which allow you to save up to $2,000 a year per beneficiary in tax-free accounts, can be used for tuition at private schools. The distributions from these accounts will not be taxed if the amount in the account is less than the beneficiary’s educational expenses at an eligible institution. Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski  - stacyjago

Carbon dioxide emissions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Carbon dioxide emissions - Essay Example During the process of burning fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and gas, carbon dioxide is released. Deforestation can be also a cause of carbon emissions, since the carbon sequestered in trees is released to the atmosphere, as there is shortage of trees to counter balance the gas. Nevertheless, transportation accounts for a high level of carbon emissions since vehicles, trains, planes, boats and trucks are involved in the production of carbon dioxide fumes. In addition, human beings greatly contribute to the emissions of carbon dioxide, through use of electricity in lighting, heating, and air conditioning service. This is because the generation of electricity leads to a high level of carbon dioxide emissions. The industry sector also plays a major role in the emission of carbon gasses; this is due to the processes involved in production and manufacturing of goods. According to Smith (2007), in the past 25 years, emissions of carbon dioxide in Australia have risen dramatically, due to a large number of fossil fuels being burnt in the country. In addition, despite Australia having a population of 0.32% of the world’s population, it produces a very high level of carbon emissions, which is 1.43%, meaning that each person pollution levels are 4.5 times the global average (Smith 2007). In addition, â€Å"over the past 25 years, the growth of carbon emissions in Australia, was twice the growth rate for the world as a whole, twice the growth rate for USA and Japan, and five times the growth rate for Europe† (Raupach, 2007).

Legalization of marijuana. How can it boost the U.S economy Research Paper

Legalization of marijuana. How can it boost the U.S economy - Research Paper Example Legalizing marijuana will increase the government tax revenue. The government loses huge revenue from the illegal trade and use of marijuana. Marijuana is the most consumed and most traded substance of abuse in the US. Whether legal or illegal consumers must always find a way of getting it and traders have to smuggle it in the country through the black market. The implication of illegal trading of marijuana is the huge loss of revenue the government could raise through taxation. Therefore, legalizing marijuana gives the government a chance to regulate it through taxation hence increase of national income. For example, the state of Colorado estimated a revenue increase of about $67 million from marijuana sales the first year after legalization. Increase in national revenue will contribute to economic growth because the additional revenue can be used to carry out development activities of the government.Legalizing marijuana will increase employment because many people can open up busin esses as traders, farmers, distributors, etc. Increase in employment opportunities in the country is a contributing factor to economic growth through income they earn. Increase in citizens’ income results to increase consumption hence increase in economic growth.The U.S. government incurs huge expenses to the tune of $40 billion to enforce drug regulations every year. Most of the inmates causing congestion in the U.S. prisons are victims of drugs that have not been involved in any crime of violence.

Bloomberg Help Essay Example for Free

Bloomberg Help Essay Introduction In this tutorial I will provide an outline to the Bloomberg Essentials On Line training Program also known as BESS. The Bloomberg Essentials program provides a convenient way to learn the basics of Bloomberg Professional financial information system. The training consists of a series of videos (with scrolling transcripts), on-line Help screens and supporting documents. The video tutorial materials are organized into 8 modules as follows: 1. Bloomberg Core 1. Getting Started 2. Bloomberg News 3. Market Monitors and Launchpad 4. API (Bloomberg Data in Excel) 2. Bloomberg Market Sector 1. Equity Essentials 2. Fixed Income Essentials 3. FX (Foreign Exchange) Essentials 4. Commodity Essentials To earn a certificate or Acknowledgement of Completion, you must view the four Bloomberg Core videos and pass the Bloomberg Core Exam, then view at least one of the Bloomberg Market Sector videos and pass its corresponding exam. For example if you are interested in foreign exchange markets, you might consider viewing the FX Essentials training video and then taking the FX Essentials exam. Keep in mind that you only get two chances to take each exam so you need to put in some serious time and effort into the training materials and mastering the concepts before you take the exam. To get started with the BESS training, you should first create your own Bloomberg login. Bloomberg tracks your progress and exam scores using your unique login. A brief tutorial on creating a Bloomberg login can be foundhere. You may also wish to have a set of headphones or ear buds handy for listening to the Bloomberg videos without distracting others around you. The Bloomberg keyboard has a headphone jack th at (if configured properly) should allow you to listen to the videos in privacy. As you are viewing a video, open up an additional Bloomberg window and type in the commands as they are described. You can also pause the video to do more exploration of a particular function  or rewind the video to listen and watch an example again if you did not understand it the first time. Once the video is over, challenge yourself to run through all of the commands just introduced and then practice them to make sure they stay fresh in your memory. THE BLOOMBERG ESSENTIALS ON LINE TRAINING PROGRAM (BESS) Accessing BESS on Bloomberg To get started, log in to the Bloomberg Professional software using your own Bloomberg login account. If you do not have a Bloomberg account, click here for a brief tutorial on creating a new login. In any window, type in BESS (type the letters BESS followed by the Enter key) to display the Bloomberg Essentials screen as shown below: As you can see from the BESS screen, the videos for each of the modules can be launched by clicking on their titles. Along the bottom of the screen there are links to view and take exams, as well as a link to request the Acknowledgement of Completion. On the following pages, each of the videos is introduced along with some pointers for getting most out of your studying time. Bloomberg Getting Started Essentials The Getting Started Essentials training video is approximately 18 minutes long and provides a basic introduction to the Bloomberg including how the Bloomberg Terminal software is organized, key terms used throughout the Bloomberg system and the basics ways of navigating through the system. Some specific topics include broad market analysis, single security analysis, browsing News and obtaining help. When viewing this video pay particular attention to the key terms and definitions, the various ways of obtaining help, and the special function keys available on the Bloomberg keyboard. The video tutorial begins with a high level overview of Bloomberg’s menu based navigation system starting with the MAIN menu function. This function shows how Bloomberg’s data and screens are organized into market sectors, trading systems, customization and settings tools, Bloomberg Law and Government and Help and Support. The next section of the tutorial introduces the Bloomberg keyboard. The keys are color coded according to their overall purpose such as: Red Keys are used to log into the system (the Red DFLT key) and to cancel a current function(red Cancel key in the upper left corner). Green keys are used for navigation and obtaining help such as the block of green navigation keys on the right for Page Up, Page Down, End, Menu, etc. and the Green Help, Search, News, etc. keys along the top of the keyboard. Yellow keys are the market sector keys. Each one helps in identifying financial instruments or market sectors. These yellow market sector keys include Govt (for Government debt), CORP (for Corporate debt), MTGE for Mortgages, M-MKT for Money markets, MUNI for Municipal securities, PFD for preferred, EQUITY for equities, CMDT for Commodities, INDEX for indexes, CRNCY for currencies (foreign exchange) and finally CLIENT for portfolio management functions. Obtaining Help in Bloomberg There are a number of ways to obtain help in the Bloomberg system. As the tutorial continues, note that Pressing the green HELP key while on any screen will bring up a help screen that explains the function the screen is implementing as well as tips on using the screen and what each field or area of the screen represents. The picture below shows the help screen for the MOST function (Most active equities). Another way to obtain interactive help is to press the HELP key two times. This will open up a chat session with the Bloomberg help desk. Type in any question you might have and a Bloomberg help desk representative will walk you through any functions or screens to answer your question. The third way to obtain help is to press HELP key after typing in the name or ticker symbol of a financial instrument (or any word for that matter). The result will be a list of different search categories matching your query. For example, typing in BOB EVANS provides the search results that follow. Note Bloomberg found results in categories such as Companies, People, News, Law, Equities and Fixed Income.: Content Areas: News, Economics and World Indices The next section of the video tutorial focuses on four major content areas: News, Economic Calendar, World Equity Indices, and Economic Statistics. Bloomberg Top News To access Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N . Bloomberg Economic Calendar The Bloomberg Economic calendar displays prior and announced economic report releases. To access Bloomberg Economic Calendar type ECO . Bloomberg World Equity Indices The Bloomberg World Equity Indices screen displays leading indices from equity markets around the world. This screen allows you to compare both current market levels as well as historical levels. To access the Bloomberg World Equities Indices screen type WEI . Bloomberg Economic Statistics The Bloomberg Economic Statistics screen can be used to display economic indicators such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), unemployment, housing, consumer confidence and many others for dozens of countries around the world. To access the Bloomberg Economic Statistics screen type ECST . Single Security Analysis The next set of functions demonstrated all work on a single security. So to get started with each one, we type in the ticker symbol of a company, then press the EQUITY (F8) key. Then follow this up by typing in the name of the function. Company Description The company description screen provides an overview of the company including its industry, current and historical price chart and data, recent searching and dividend data and other summary information. There are a total of 4 screens (press PG DOWN for additional screen). For example, assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM DES Bloomberg Historical Prices The HP function can be used to view a set of historical equity prices. For  example, assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM HP Bloomberg Graph Prices The GP function can be used to create a price graph of a security. Assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM GP Bloomberg Company News The CN function can be used to search for news articles mentioning a specific security. Assuming the target company is IBM, the command to search for news would be: IBM CN Bloomberg â€Å"Cheat Sheets† In addition to the help screens that Bloomberg provides, there are also â€Å"Cheat Sheets† – one or two page documents – that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg functions organized by asset type or by job function. To get started viewing Cheat sheets, use the function ttCHEAT to bring up the screen: For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below: Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat. Bloomberg Messaging System The last portion of the Getting Started tutorial video introduces the Bloomberg Messaging system. This is basically an e-mail system built into the Bloomberg software that allows you to send messages, screen captures and other materials to others on the Bloomberg network. To get started with the Bloomberg Messaging system, simply press the green MSG button or type in the function: MSG Messages are listed in the inbox click on a message to view its contents. There is a yellow text box used to search for messages and buttons to create new messages, etc. Bloomberg News Essentials The Bloomberg News Essentials video is approximately 20 minutes long and focuses exclusively on the Bloomberg News functionality. Specific topics include drilling down from the top level news function N down through different news categories to specific news articles. Custom news searches, screens and alerts are also covered. When going through this material pay particular attention to how the Bloomberg news is organized and the various methods used to browse and search for news articles. The Bloomberg Top News Screen The video tutorial begins with a review of the BLoomberg Top News screen. To access Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N or you can type TOP . The default top news screen shows top news world wide. There are a set of Topic heading along the left side in the gray colored sidebar. Clicking on any one of those topics narrows the news search down. Clicking on any news headline will bring up the full news article. Once the news story is displayed, it can be printed, bookmarked by clicking on the star icon (or option 91)), or forwarded to a colleague using the Send Story feature. These are shown in the upper right corner of the screen. If the news story has an attachment it will be available under the 97) selection. In this example there is a chart attached to the story. The search field is in the upper left corner and allows you to search for keywords within the story. Note that this story has 3 pages. By scrolling to the end of the story you can view a section of Related News and Information in addition to the author’s contact information. Customizing Top News The Top news screen can be customized to filter and display only those news headlines relevant to the user. For example, the Top News pages by including only relevant topics selected form the list of categories on the right as  shown here: Bloomberg News Advanced Search The Advanced Search feature can be used to build up a sophisticated search on Bloomberg news (beyond looking for simple keywords). From the Top News screen (N ), pull down the 97) Actions screen and click on the Create Advanced Search menu item. Searches can be saved and associated with alerts so that any new news article matching the advanced search criteria will be brought to your attention. For example, the advanced search below is set up to look for the phrases â€Å"Share Buyback† or â€Å"Stock Buyback† that appear in stories related to the Information technology and Telecommunications industries. The source of the news story should be Bloomberg News (BN). Bloomberg Launchpad Essentials The Bloomberg Launchpad is a graphical user interface that can be customized to create multiple screens or â€Å"Views† made up of market data, charts, news and other components. A view can consist of multiple pages that can be created, customized and saved. While going through this 30 minute video, it is easy to create your own Launchpad views along side the instructional video. Pay particular attention to the types of components (watch lists, news minder, etc.) that can be added to the Launchpad view and the different ways in which these components can be linked. For example, the Monitor (watch list) component has a number of ways in which individual and collections of securities can be added to the watch lists and then linked to other components such as News. Below is an example of a Bloomberg Launchpad view showing a number of different components (click for a larger image). A Market Monitor is in the upper left corner showing major market indexes for North America, Latin America (LATAM), Europe and Asia/Pacific. This monitor is linked to the News/Research pane below such that clicking on a market index will bring up Bloomberg News filtered for that specific index and region. The monitor is also linked to the line chart in the upper right corner so clicking on one of the indexes causes the chart to display. An Economic Calendar is displayed below the line chart showing historical economic indicator  releases. An intraday Market Map is displayed in the lower right corner and is also linked to the Market Monitor. The Market Map is an interactive map showing stocks by market capitalization broken down by industry and sector and colored according to their price gains (green) or losses (red) during the current trading day. Bloomberg API Essentials The Bloomberg API is a spreadsheet Add-in module for Microsoft Excel that provides various methods for bringing Bloomberg data directly into Excel. The Excel API video is the longest and probably the most detailed tutorial in the Essentials collection. Highlights of this 30 minute video include working with the different Wizards that are available to fetch different types of data. These wizards include: Data Navigation – Download data for a single security from a set of categories including Company Summary, Financial/Valuation, Consensus Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group Analysis, Options Credit and FX. Real-Time / Historical Navigation – Fetch real-time and historical market data including intraday and end-of-day data. Equity Screener – The Equities Screen feature allows you to screen stocks based on different criteria. Financials / Estimates – Provides the means to retrieve historical balance sheet and analyst estimates data. Technical Analysis navigator – Similar to the historical data wizard but includes a collection of technical analysis indicators. Ultimately given a description of the final data set required, you should be able to identify the appropriate Wizard to run and/or or Bloomberg Excel function to use to fetch that data. Other features described in the video are the Template Library which is a collection of pre-designed spreadsheets that can be further customized. Below is a picture of the Bloomberg Ribbon bar running in Microsoft Excel 2010. Bloomberg API – Data Navigation The Data Navigation wizard provides a convenient way to download a set of related data for a single security. After launching the wizard and selecting a security (Apple (AAPL) in this example), a list of categories are presented including Company Summary, Financial/Valuation, Consensus  Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group Analysis, Options Credit and FX as shown below: After navigating from Company Summary to Overview, the resulting data can be dropped into Excel using the â€Å"Drag to Excel† button as shown below: Bloomberg API – Real Time / Historical Data The Real Time / Historical data wizard provides a set of steps to ultimately create a formula (or set of formulas) in Excel that will fetch real-time data from the Bloomberg network or populate the spreadsheet with rows of historical data. The icon and drop down menus for the Import Data function are shown below: For example, the Real-Time/Current wizard prompts for a security (AAPL in this example) and then a set of fields (PX_LAST for last price, PX_BID for Bid Price and PX_ASK for Ask price were selected). the result is a set of three Bloomberg BDP functions (Bloomberg Data Point functions) that pull the data from the Bloomberg network into Excel as shown below (note the formula in cell B2): Additional Resources for the Bloomberg Excel API Bloomberg offers additional tutorials and other resources to help you learn even more about the API. An interactive Bloomberg Excel tutorial can launched using command function : XATP XAPI This tutorial launches MS Excel and provides a collection of example worksheets that document the various features of the Bloomberg Excel Add-in. Of particular interest are the large collection of BLoomberg-specific functions such as BDP, BDH, BDS, BCURVE, BEQS, and others. Bloomberg Equity Essentials The Bloomberg Equity Essentials video covers one of the four alternate Market Sectors for the Bloomberg Essentials program. This 35 minute video covers the main functions for researching equities (stocks) using the Bloomberg terminal. Bloomberg Fixed Income Essentials The Bloomberg Fixed Income Essentials video is 25 minute in duration and covers the main functions for searching and analyzing fixed income instruments such as corporate bonds, municipal bond and government treasuries. The Fixed Income video is one of four alternate Market Sector areas. Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) Essentials The Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) Essentials video is 35 minutes in length and covers various foreign exchange instruments such as spot FX, forwards, swaps and interest rate products. Bloomberg Commodities Essentials The Bloomberg Commodities Essentials covers the use of Bloomberg to monitor and analyze the spot and futures commodities markets. This video is 27 minutes long and represents one of the four alternate Market Sector specialties in the Bloomberg Essentials program. In the next pages I will provide some tips on taking the exams. Taking the Bloomberg Essentials Exams Once you have reviewed the four Core videos you will be eligible to take the Core Essentials exam. From the BESS screen click on the link to View and Take Exams. The Master Exams screen will appear as shown below: Usually the first exam to be taken will be the Core Essentials exam with Mnemonic COREESS. When you are ready to take the exam click on this link and the exam will launch. Taking the Bloomberg Essentials Core Exam When the Bloomberg Core Essentials (COREESS) exam launches it will present a notice about the grading policy for the exam. Note that the exam is not graded until answers to all 30 questions have been submitted. Pressing the Menu button will close this notice screen and the exam will start off with question number 1. Below is an example question and answer format (the actual question and answers have been obscured). Answering a question is a two step process: First click on your answer choices, and then click on the red Submit button at the bottom of the screen. You cannot proceed to the next question until the current question is submitted. Note also that the entire exam’s answers are not checked until the last question is submitted. Continue answering questions and Submitting answers until you reach the last (30th) question. Bloomberg University Bloomberg University is a collection of help and documentation guides along with schedules and sign-up sheets for Bloomberg training events. To access Bloomberg University use the code BU to bring up the screen: Of particular interest to new Bloomberg users are the various â€Å"Cheat Sheets† – one or two page documents that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg functions. TO get started viewing Cheat sheets, use the code CHEAT to bring up the screen: For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below: Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat. Conclusions In this series of posts I have covered a very basic introduction to Bloomberg including creating your own Bloomberg account and going through the Bloomberg Essentials training.

Constructivism, Educational Research, and John Dewey :: Learning Education Essays

Constructivism, Educational Research, and John Dewey ABSTRACT: Schools are expected to transmit knowledge to younger generations. They are, however, also increasingly criticized for distributing so-called inert knowledge, i.e., knowledge that is accessed only in a restricted set of contexts even though it is applicable to a wide variety of domains. The causes of limited knowledge transfer are mostly attributed to the dis-embeddedness of learning situations in schools. Instructional procedures that result in learning in the sense of being able to recall relevant information provide no guarantee that people will spontaneously use it later. "Authentic learning," acquiring knowledge in the contexts that (will) give this knowledge its meaning, is now being presented as an alternative. Underpinning these reform proposals is not only a (growing) concern with efficiency, but is also a new epistemological theory, labelled as constructivism. This paper will, first, focus on the layout of and diverging perspectives within recent constructivist re search in education. Next, the epistemological approach of John Dewey will be discussed, which takes as its starting point the relation of knowledge to action. Finally, we will indicate what a Deweyan approach might add to the constructivist research in education. 1. One indication of the rate of growth of constructivist research in education is the proliferation of its perspectives and positions. Apparently, it is already found wanting to distinguish between different themes, accents, evaluations. Instead, one speaks of contrasting ‘paradigms’. Thus, Steffe & Gale distinguish in a reader entitled Constructivism in education six different "core paradigms", viz "social constructivism, radical constructivism, social constructionism, information-processing constructivism, cybernetic systems, and sociocultural approaches to mediated action" (1995, p.xiii). All of these so-called paradigms reject traditional epistemological claims about knowledge as an objective representation of ‘reality’. Their arguments are, however, only rarely directed against inherited traditional conceptions. Rather, it are the newly formulated alternatives which serve as points of reference. Constructivist ‘paradigms’ are most of all elab orated in debate with fellow-alternatives. The most outspoken pioneer of a constructivist approach to teaching has been Ernst von Glasersfeld, whose ‘radical constructivism’ still is at the center of the debate. Elaborating on the works of Jean Piaget, von Glasersfeld has particularly focussed on individual self-regulation and the building of conceptual structures through reflection and abstraction. According to von Glasersfeld, ‘authentic’ learning depends on seeing a problem as ‘one’s own problem’, as an obstacle that obstructs one’s progress toward a goal. The farthest removed from this individualistic focus seems to be the sociocultural approach that originated with Ljev Vygotskij in Russia.

Whistleblowing and the Consequences

Whistleblowing is an act that has become more prevalent in the corporate and private sectors. A whistleblower is described by Liuzzo (2013) as â€Å"†¦a person who reveals to a governmental authority, or to news media, confidential information concerning some wrongdoing or conduct that he or she regards as unethical† (p. 28). Some of the most notable cases in United States history have involved corporations, utility companies and the President. Some cases have been so extensive that they have brought about the collapse of corporate giants and even garnered the resignation of the President prior to his impeachment.The following will outline some notable cases, reasons why some people decide to â€Å"blow the whistle† and steps that the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has taken to secure the rights of those who report violations in the workplace. With greater frequency, internal organization constituents such as employees and board members are repo rting issues of wrongdoing by their companies, instead of the reports coming from external auditing agencies (Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005, p. 277).Whistleblowing is further defined as, â€Å"the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to effect action’’ (as cited in Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005). Companies try to anticipate the possibility of unfaithfulness by demanding employees sign an employment contract or non-disclosure agreement, which would render the disclosure of company business a serious offense. Employees who feel an unjust action is taking place within their organization have two channels to approach to address the issues.An internal channel consists of reporting the offense to company management so that they have the opportunity to research and contend with the offense(s). This is the most beneficial to any organization as it allows them to determine solutions and their internal issues stay safeguarded. Instead of lengthy investigations and legal troubles, companies could save thousands of dollars if the employee brings to light an issue internally to management, which provides the information to the people who are best able to resolve the situation.Although internal channels are best for organizations, they  may not be the best option for the employee to ensure compliance. External channels would include news media and government officials. People who decide to use the external route are considered whistleblowers. Organizations are least likely to welcome this form of disclosure, as their profits will likely plummet while the bad press spreads. Some employees go this route without discussing the issues with corporate management because they do not know who to talk to or they feel that their concerns will not be addressed. People also go behind their employer’s back bec ause they are afraid of retaliation and being labeled a trader by co-workers.The use of the word whistleblowing actually goes back more than 100 years and had nothing to do with corporate espionage or wrongdoing. The term came about in 1863 in the federal government’s False Claims Act (Eaton & Akers, 2007). The Act was initially enacted to incent consumers to report acts of wrongdoing against the government. According to Eaton and Akers (2007), Congress revived the Act in 1986 and retaliation legislation was added. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 strengthens the protection for employees who disclose waste and fraud.In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was added after the collapse of Enron to hold publicly held corporations accountable for their actions. Whistleblowing statutes may vary from state to state. There are some states that only allow protection to a whistleblower if he or she is a public employee or is working for a government contractor (Whistleblower, 20 08). Some statutes allow for only the person blowing the whistle to have protection against employer retaliation, while others allow co-workers that are supporting the whistleblower in their effort protection.This is why it is vital to research the law within the state the injustice occurred. Whistleblowing cases have been steadily increasing year over year since an additional 21 federal laws have been put into place to coincide with the OSH Act 1970. Each law outlines what is considered a discriminatory act and the deadlines around filing a complaint. Due to the protection that these laws provide, more and more people are coming forward and disclosing issues within their knowledge. OHSA protection means that companies cannot take â€Å"adverse actions† against employees for uncovering the truth (Occupational  Safety & Health Administration, 2012).These actions include, but are not limited to firing, demoting, harassing threats, and reducing pay and/or overtime. Constant up dates to whistleblowing laws are allowing more industries to outline the rights of those who are thinking about disclosing misdeeds. Violations that are being reported include issues with airline and workplace safety, consumer products, food industry safety, and securities fraud. As of March 31, 2012, OHSA has reported a 139% increase in yearly reported cases from 2005 through 2011 (Occupational Safety & Health Administration, 2012).During the same period, only 2% of the cases determined were given merit, 22% were settled and the remaining 77% were either dismissed or withdrawn. These statistics lend credibility to the determination of the people who are blowing the whistle and trying to make the world a safer place for all. Although the constant updates to the laws are beneficial, in come cases anonymity would be advantageous for the whistleblower. The implementation of a whistleblowing policy within companies, organizations and schools is encouraged to avoid damaging public attent ion and loss of internal morale.The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners compiles data every other year on fraud cases both in the United States and internationally. The 2012 â€Å"Report to the Nations on Fraud and Abuse† provides the following statistics for those organizations surveyed between January 2010 and December 2011: (1) 5% of annual revenues are lost to fraud each year, (2) The medium loss to fraud was $140,000, with one-fifth of the cases involving over $1 million, (3) Most frauds occurred for 18 months before detection, and (4) Most frauds were detected through employee tips (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2012).A 5% loss to fraud each year is far from an insignificant amount to a company, and the statistic proves that providing employees with guidelines for revealing fraud can save a company thousands of dollars each year. The creation and inception of a whistleblowing policy is a small price to pay for safeguarding a company against losses to fi nancial and human capital. Whistleblowing happens for a variety of reasons, including identifying corruption, public safety and securities fraud.Sometimes the whistleblower is a direct employee of the company brought under scrutiny, while others have inside knowledge of wrongdoings through a working relationship. Although whistleblowing happens all around the world, the United States has had its share of famous cases that brought about new regulations to control further corruption in business dealings. Three cases and their outcomes are: 1)In June 1972, a break-in at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D. C. led to the resignation of the then current President, Richard M. Nixon.One of the perpetrators was a former CIA operative and a current security advisor to the President’s re-election campaign. Notebooks containing the phone number for â€Å"E. Howard Hunt (W. H. )† were found on two of the men, and these clues gave rise to intense media attention (Woodward, 2005). The United States Senate started an investigation to determine how far reaching the scandal was. A confidential informant, later dubbed â€Å"Deep Throat†, provided Washington reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein insight into misdeeds by the President and his advisors.â€Å"Deep Throat† continued to tell Woodward & Bernstein to â€Å"follow the money† until they eventually uncovered the illegal indiscretions happening in the White House (Arnold, 2008). On May 31, 2005, Vanity Fair magazine released the announcement that former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt was in fact â€Å"Deep Throat. † Felt was convicted of authorizing illegal FBI searches in 1980 and was later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. 2)Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a former vice president and head of research and development for Brown and Williamson, disclosed deceptive practices by tobacco companies in the manipulation of nicotine.He communicated that they knew nicotine was addictive, but failed to act upon it (Arnold, 2008). Jeffrey also insisted that the company ignored research proving that flavoring added to cigarettes caused cancer, along with concealing damaging documents that could be used against them in cases brought by sick patients. â€Å"Jeffrey considered the whistleblowing a great personal risk to himself and his family but still decided that it was for the better good of people and society for the practice to be exposed† (Whistleblower Center, n. d.)Testifying as a master witness, he helped the formation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that implemented a $246 billion settlement against large tobacco giants. Wigand was fired from his position prior to blowing the whistle, and he described his subsequent harassment in an interview on 60 Minutes in 1996. Becoming a whistleblower had damaging effects on Wigand’s life, some of which he has overcome after a great many years. He no longer had any privacy, and his reputation was ruined. D eath threats against him precluded that he needed around-the-clock bodyguards for several years.His wife divorced him and took his two children to live with her in another state. A critically acclaimed movie titled The Insider was made about his story in 1999 and it highlighted the harassment that he endured. After the movie came out, Jeffrey was in demand to speak at schools and health organizations about the dangers of tobacco and smoking (Salter, 2002). Salter also states that Wigand became a teacher and eventually reconciled with his children. 3)One of the most famous whistleblowing cases in recent history involved the collapse of the energy giant, Enron.Executive Sherron Watkins disclosed extreme accounting irregularities to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and expressed her concern for the collapse of the company (Arnold, 2008). After Lay did nothing and Watkins was demoted, Enron shares fell to $1 in November 2001 from a mid-2000 high of $90. In their book The Smartest Guys in the Room, McLean and Elkind surmise, â€Å"The Enron scandal grew out of a steady accumulation of habits and values and actions that began years before and finally spiraled out of control† (2004, pgs.  132-133).Deceptive accounting practices hid billions of dollars of debt from failed transactions, and Enron pushed auditors Arthur Anderson to ignore and not report them either. Many of the firm’s executives were convicted and spent time in prison. The auditing firm of Arthur Anderson was indicted and found guilty in District Court, but the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction. By this time, Anderson’s reputation had been marred and most of their customers abandoned them. This led to the shutdown of the firm.The lies and deceptions by both Enron and Arthur Anderson helped to create the previously mentioned SOX legislation. Several studies have been done on whistleblowers over the years to determine the motivation behind their actions. â€Å"While results seem t o differ slightly across studies, whistleblowers (as compared with inactive observers) tend to have good job performance, to be more highly educated, to hold higher-level or supervisory positions, to score higher on tests of moral reasoning, and to value whistleblowing in the face of unethical behavior† (as cited in Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005).This information indicates that someone with a lot of responsibility in an organization will have the knowledge of unethical, internal practices. A person of high moral judgment is more likely to turn in a company for violating various laws and standards, than someone who is okay with cutting corners to keep him employed. Before becoming a whistleblower, a person must have absolute certainty that a protected Act is being violated. The OSHA website contains a list of the Acts and their descriptions to determine which one is being breached. It will also provide the type of communication for the complaint (i.  e. telephone or writi ng. )Adherence to the guidelines is important to ensure that protection coverage is available in the case of retaliation by an employer. In addition, weighing the many pros and cons before making a decision to blow the whistle on a company or organization is vital. Whistleblowing should not be taken lightly, and the decision should be carefully thought out. Aggressive documentation of the issues and conversations with company management is extremely important. Researching which authority to approach is highly imperative.Although law protects whistleblowers, they sometimes will incur job loss, harassment, intimidation and even loss of property or life while pursuing the issue and resolution. Long, drawn-out court cases can lead to a loss of income and notoriety. Lengthy investigations can lead to secret personal issues becoming known. Lots of support from family and friends is needed during an investigation because the intense scrutiny can break down a person’s will. A person needs to be certain that they are prepared for an onslaught from the government and media prior to proceeding with their disclosure.Conversely, whistleblowing will give a person a moral sense of pride. Standing up for what you believe in will show people that you are not afraid to fight for what is right. Whistleblowers may also be looked upon as trustworthy since they are looking out for the welfare of others. Sometimes it is possible to obtain reward sums of money from the government for uncovering injustices. Lastly, if a whistleblower is unjustly retaliated against, they may obtain monetary remedies from their companies for retaliation.A recent tax fraud case against the Swiss bank USB AG awarded the whistleblower a record $104 million reward provided by the United State Internal Revenue Service (Temple-West & Browning, 2012). In a rare case like this, the whistleblower spent time in prison for his wrongdoing, but then was handsomely rewarded for turning in his employer for prom oting an illegal act. People have deeply personal reasons for blowing the whistle. Some may see it as a safety concern, while others who have participated in illegal acts have had a guilty conscience that they want to unburden.Hundreds of cases are reported, dismissed and/or won each year with the help of OSHA. Being a whistleblower is not something to be taken lightly as many questions must be raised before proceeding with the act. Numerous laws have made it easier for people to come forward when they witness misdeeds by those in charge, but knowing history and potential outcomes prior to voicing concerns will enable a person to deal with the backlash. Having good moral judgment and standing up for what you believe in will allow a person to live their life with few worries and a clear conscience.

Humanities: Cultural Change Essay

In Babcock’s book, he discusses the ways in which cultural change is influenced by various social pressures (2006). In looking to the concept of cultural change, it is important to note that the ways in which people are pressured within societies is able to be ethical, positive, and constructive as well as unethical, negative, and destructive. There are some people who believe that popular cultural change always flows in a constructive direction, yet without democratic discussion flowing from a moral and spiritual place, there is the ability for popular movements which are harmful for society. It is important to recognize that cultural change is often merely the whims of popular ideological culture, rather than principled and faith driven movements of true justice. Cultural Change Cultural change is influenced by a wide array of people with a wide array of belief systems, and it is important to pay attention to the ways in which extremist and negative beliefs are able to creep into mainstream society. The United States has always been mired in a pool of a variety of many splintered belief systems, and through these beliefs, mainstream culture has often changed in ways which are actually harmful to humanity. It is necessary for morally upright, faithful citizens to stand their ground in professing their spiritual and moral convictions, because without them, popular culture reigns, often without the consideration of God and the true ethical rights of humanity. Conclusion Cultural change is often dominated by selfish and materialistic ideologies, ideas about freedom being equated with irresponsibility. The liberty loving culture of the United States needs to first and foremost recognize that true liberty stems from right action, from relational and social considerations. Without love and care for oneself and one’s neighbor, popular cultural changes are often merely greedy flights of fancy.

American Was in Vietnam essays

American Was in Vietnam essays In late 1973, the cease fire was broken by the sending of 18 divisions from North Vietnam into the south. This, in time, would become one of the worst blood baths of the war. This continued through 1975, when the enemy came to be in near Saigon, and elements of the underground political opposition came into the open and held meetings to voice their antigovernment feelings. The government moved in and on March 27 1975, arrested a number of poeple suspected of plotting a coup. On April 2 1975, the South Vietnamese Senate even adopted a resolution holding President Thieu personnally responseable for the detiorating situation and asking him to take immediate steps to form a broader cabinet. It was speculated that to save what they could, the government should send a plenipotentiary to Paris and ask the Fench governmentto act as official intermediary in negotiations to be conducted with the Communists. But President Thieu appeared only Demands that President Thieu should resign and transfer his powers at once to General Duong Van Minh were resurrected in earnest. A coalition government led by General Minh, it was said, stood a better chance of being accepted by the Communists; if so, more bloodshed could be averted. On Monday April 21, during a meeting at Independance Palace, President Thieu announced his decision to step down. He inferred that the United States wanted him to resign, and whether or not he consented, certain generals would press for a replacement. As required by the Constitution of South Vietnam, he was prepared to transfer the presidency to Vice President Tran Van Huong. Finally, he asked the armed forces and the national police to fully support the new president. In the evening of April 21, 1975, the televised transfer of power ceremony took place at Independance Palace. After President Huong took over, he immediatly wen...

Peep vs. Peek

Peep vs. Peek Peep vs. Peek Peep vs. Peek By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, What exactly is the difference between peep and peek? The words are similar in meaning. In fact, peep may derive from peek. And peek may come from an earlier word that still exists in in Scots dialect and dialects spoken in northern England: keek. keek: to look secretly, as through a narrow aperture, or around a corner. peek: to look through a narrow opening; to look into or out of an enclosed or concealed space; (also) to glance or look furtively at, to pry. peep: to look through a narrow aperture, as through half-shut eyelids or through a crevice, chink, or small opening into a larger space; (hence) to look quickly or furtively from a vantage point; to steal a glance. Peep and peek are often used in connection with children, who â€Å"peek at Christmas presents† and â€Å"peep out from under furniture.† Shakespeare has Cassius use the verb peep to convey the idea that Romans had become as powerless as children compared to Caesar: Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. –Julius Caesar, I,2, 136-139. Peep also means, â€Å"to emerge or protrude a very short distance into view; to begin to appear. For example: Just then the  sun began to  peep  over the eastern hills.   Another word that may be related to peep is the verb peer: peer: to look narrowly or closely, esp. in order to make out something indistinct or obscured; to look with difficulty or concentration at someone or something. Here are some examples of the use of peek, peep, and peer from the Web: She was  afraid  Arthur Kincaid  would peek  at the  will, learn of the contest, and try to destroy the clues. [The suspect] was arrested Monday after residents at a Gretna housing complex said they  saw him peeping  into several windows.  Ã‚   [The use of iPads in trendy restaurants] solves the issue of diners having to peer at the menu in the dim lighting. As for the reader’s question regarding the difference between peep and peek, I have to say that in most contexts they are probably interchangeable. One difference is that peep is the usual choice when someone is attempting to see another person in an act meant to be private. For example: A man working towards a PhD at Delaware University is in custody on suspicion of using spy cameras to peep [at] women going to the bathroom. Because this kind of peeping is so common, states have what are called â€Å"peeping Tom laws† to punish it. Note: The expression â€Å"peeping Tom† derives from the legend of Lady Godiva, the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia (d. 1057). The lady begged her husband to lift certain heavy taxes he had imposed on his tenants. He said he’d do so if she would ride naked through the streets of Coventry. With only her long hair to cover her nakedness, she rode through Coventry. The population respectfully stayed indoors and didn’t look, with one exception. A tailor named Tom peeped through his window. According to legend, he was immediately struck blind. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing LightEnglish Grammar 101: Verb MoodBail Out vs. Bale Out

Week 6 reading Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 6 reading - Article Example It has contributed to medical technology especially by helping treatment. Porter Beer is a dark beer made from brown malt. Brown malt was pale in color and was made from barley that was sprouted and then toasted. The process involved heating towards the end where some of the barley grain was burnt. This process also gave a smoky taste to the porter beer. However, this smokiness was not fit to be consumed which is why it was kept in wooden vats to reduce the smoky flavor2. The result of the process was a dark beer with a thick consistency that also included a tinge of yeast. Porter beer is significant in technology because it was an innovation of the time as coffee-roasting technique got to be applied at malt brewing. A whipstaff is a bar which is attached to the tiller. It is a mechanical component that helps in steering. It is an important component and its invention was a huge success in engineering the sailing ship. It was a sophisticated technology of its time. The history of the ship steering wheel lends itself to the whipstaff which aided turning of the wheel. Moreover, it added convience for steering because it held the tiller. It is one of the earliest form of engineering design that added convenience for steering and paved way for further innovation in steering technology, especially for sailing ships. 2. London was an active site of production during the period of industrialization. With the onset of industrialization, it grew to become one of the fastest growing industrial city. The presence of River Thames provided a great opportunity for the construction of a canal and dock complex so as to help with the transportation of goods. London soon became a trade hub and a growing site of textile production. Textile mills were initiated as industrialization hit the city. London soon became an industrialized city with mills and factories characterizing its routine life where often families including children and women were employed. With growing