History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History - Essay Example The civil rights movement can be considered to have been created by Martin Luther King Jr. due to his influence. After his death, there was a lack of similar leadership, though the inception of the civil rights movement meant that the minority races could stand for their own rights. This was illustrated by the Asian and Mexican communities who joined hands with the black community to fight for their freedom. Martin Luther King’s message of equality did not change. However, without his influence; there was nobody to carry on his push for equality in the United States. This led to the white community oppressing the minority communities and asserting their dominance. (Lansford 65) The only individual who ever came close to carry on Martin’s message and vision was civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson. His attempt was based on establishing change in the United States, and he wanted to do that from the top, by becoming the president. He attempted to become president i n 1988, as he perceived being president would be the best way of being able to implement the vision embraced and conceptualized by Martin Luther King. A major barrier affected the mentality of minority groups, as there had never been a non-white US president. The Civil Rights movement had grown into an important factor due to the influence of Martin Luther King. ... Therefore, the Civil Rights movement has had a major influence in the development of the United States. Essay 2 Under the presidency of Richard Nixon in the 1960s, there was uproar in the ideologies that Nixon condoned in the American society. The most disputable factor was the abortion movement that resulted in abortion becoming legal in California in the 1960s. Another factor was America becoming part of the war in Vietnam, even when it was not necessary. These two factors created a counter-culture that was a rejection of the factors, represented or condoned by Nixon at the time. Counter-culture was the ideology in which individuals in the United States had developed distaste for the mannerisms and methodologies that Nixon implemented in the 1960s. It was the cause of the backlash at the time (Lansford 135). The domestic policies that Nixon used were deemed unacceptable; the major highlight being the legalization of abortion. In a society that was majority Christians and a good num ber catholic, the legalization of abortion in California was a factor that was simply unacceptable, because abortion is not acceptable in Christianity. Nixon based his decision as a measure of birth control and regulation of the American population. This was deemed unacceptable to the Christian fraternity as they considered it ‘Un-Godly’ for an individual to take the life of another individual. It created a huge uproar and dissatisfaction in the presidency of Nixon, and as a result, they were eager to remove him from office as he had decided to go against the wishes of the majority of the American population. In truth, Nixon needed to consider weighing up the options, the implications of creating and

History of Clubs Playing Foreign League Cups Essay

History of Clubs Playing Foreign League Cups - Essay Example Cardiff, one of the main welsh clubs have been in the FA Cup competitions all through. The most remarkable period for the club was in 1920s when they ended up as runners to Hunder field Town FC during the 1924 football league first division on goal differences. This was followed by two FA Cup finals in the year 1925 where they took on Sheffield United. The team's spirit for competing in the English FA Cup did not end there, in 1927, Cardiff took on Arsenal at the final and went on to emerge the winner of the cup. It become the first and only team ever to snatch the FA Cup out of England after the 1-0 win over finalists and English footfall giants Arsenal. The match had also caused much enthusiasm since it was the first game that BBC radio had ever broadcasted to the whole country. This win gave Cardiff much psyche to keep on participating in the FA Cup after other teams had withdrawn. Swansea City and Cardiff city are the only Welsh clubs that have participated at the high level of the English soccer. They both took part in the Country's FA Cup and Division One. During the 1914-1915 season competitions of Southern League, Cardiff finished in the third position. The league was however suspended following the out burst of the world War One. The club also finished fourth in their last season in the Southern League on some hostilities cessation, before it was promoted to football league second division as the most competitive club in Wales. The other southern league clubs later on formed the football league third division. Wrexham, another welsh club that has been in the English side, started their journey to join the English competitions back in 1905 when they beat Kidderminster Harrier and finished sixth in the Birmingham District league. It was... The researcher discusses the issue when some Welsh teams to take part in the English FA Cup. It is stated that during its creation the English league was named the football league. This was because it was meant to allow football teams from other countries in the United Kingdom to take part in the FA cup competitions. The teams started to take part in the FA cup after EUFA allowed clubs to play in the other countries league in early1900. Although the clubs were allowed to play in the English league they could not participate in the European Cup since any team must get the ticket to the league through its domestic league. This decision has hindered the teams from taking part in the European league for that time thus most of them withdrew from the English FA cup competitions and started to play the Welsh League instead for a chance to venture in the European cup. The FA Cup is one of the most competitive in England attracting teams in all levels including the English football super powe rs who have been taking part in all major competitions in the continent. The Welsh clubs, if therefore would win the FA cup in the country would have climbed to high level in the world of football thus get better chance to market themselves as well as the players. A winner of the FA cup meets the premiership champion in the community shield and also gets a direct entry into the European cup competitions. It is concluded that this provides the clubs the best chance to climb to lime light in football competition.

Measurements of Universal Health in Ethiopia

Measurements of Universal Health in Ethiopia TASK The UK Department for International Development (UK-DFID) has recently decided to allocate funds for establishing universal health coverage in low income countries. The Director of the Global Health Division of the UK-DFID invites you to submit a scoping report with a critical assessment of the type of indicators needed to evaluate and monitor universal health coverage in a low income country of your choice. Your report will be judged on the basis of the following criteria: Illustration and critical assessment of at least 5 relevant direct or indirect indicators (statistics), their sources and overall quality of data. The sources (online) and any other supporting references cited should be numbered either in the footnote or in the Bibliography at the end of the document. Use and reliability of those selected indicators for planning and programme interventions Potential country-specific barriers, where applicable, in implementing the universal health coverage Clarity of presentation, independent critical thinking and creativity One of the main aims of the UK department for international development is to promote the development and eradication of poverty through the establishment of Universal Global Health coverage in low in come countries. As a result this scoping report focuses on Ethiopia a low income region which has a history of high birth rates, famine, war and the second highest population in Africa (91million) [1]. The regions health care system as consequence is among one the poorest in Africa, making it an ideal region in assigning the types indictors needed to provide UGH [2]. In order to monitor and evaluate UGH it is important to firstly acknowledge that there is no one metric measurement or indicator of health, as health differs from one individual to another and as a outcome an average or optimum is often defined to monitor the overall health of the population [3]. The World Health Report 2013 has provided a widely used framework in order to successfully monitor UGH [4]. Figure 1 illustrates the framework which focuses on three main areas of health. Service coverage: the vital health care services that are needed, Financial coverage: Ability to acquire these services without financial difficulty and Population coverage: the number people that have access to these services. The indictors used in this report aim to cover these three dimensions while also being tailored specifically to Ethiopia’s health requirements. Table 1: Statistics adapted from WHO data repository [8] Population using improved drinking-water sources (%) Year Rural Urban 1990 4% 80% 2000 19% 87% 2011 39% 97% Adequate access to clean water is a basic human right and the seventh Millennium Development Goal [5]. Clean water is essential to ample quality of life and is used in a diverse range of fields from basic hydration, irrigation, sanitation to complex health care institutions such as hospitals making it a vital component of health [6]. This indicator is categorised into ether improved or unimproved source with improved sources indicating clean water. This classification makes it a simple indicator allowing identification of areas where safe water sources are abundant and areas that need improved water source access, perhaps through water aid programs. This indicator is particularly useful as it can show the range of human impacts on the quality of water through the presence of nitrate as well as compounds and bacteria which can indicate waterborne pathogens the common cause of disease. [7]. Data is provided through national household surveys, the demographic health surveys (DHS) and RA DW (Rapid assessment of drinking water quality project) which is carried out by both the WHO and UNICEF with the DHS often providing high quality statistics [4]. Table 1 illustrates that the percentage of improved water sources is disproportionate from 97% users in urban area in 2011 compared to just 39% in rural areas in 2011. This suggests that water sanitation programs should be focused in rural areas where there are less people using improved drinking sources. The results also illustrate that although there are far more users of improved sources in urban areas, the number of users in rural area over three decades have seen a greater increase from just 4% in 1990 to over 39% in 2011 which could be attribute to better surveying in these areas in recent times. The indicator however is a proxy to number of people that have access to clean water as it shows the percentage of users of improved sources and not the amount people that have access to safe drinking water, meaning some soci al-economic groups such as the isolated poor or elderly are not accounted for as they are less likely to have â€Å"access† to these improved sources [7]. The indictor is limited only showing percentages for rural and urban areas; an indication of sub-urban regions would provide are more in-depth analysis of overall water quality in the region. Recognition of which gender the improved water source is mainly being used by i.e. men, women or children is also unaccounted for which could be crucial indicator as children are highly impacted from waterborne pathogens [2]. Furthermore even though water is being used from an improved source, this water still needs to be obtained from larger sources leading to possible contamination during transportation or even storage invalidating the indicator. Guidelines presented by WHO for safe drinking water is also assumed constant over time by indictor limiting it accuracy [9], overall this indicator can provide an overview of water quality b ut accuracy of the indicator can be skewed to urban areas. The overall health of the population is often measured by life expectancy, this indicator is widely used and data regarding this indictor is readily available. Life expectancy is a longer term measure of health and an overall indication of health over the years. Life expectancy in Ethiopia has been improving over the years from around 55 years at birth in 2004 to 62 years in 2011[8]. It is an important indicator in reflecting the overall mortality of the population; this is helpful for the governmental as it illustrates the trend through time of the overall population and improvements in life expectancy can reflect better nutrition, hygiene and effective medical intervention within the nation [10]. However unless a comprehensive cohort/period life table is developed, life expectancy at birth assumes that health conditions remain constant throughout the lifespan of the individual, an inaccurate assumption given the higher mortality rates in the first year of life and lower mortality a t around middle age. Table 3: Data adapted from WHO, World Bank and DHS. [8], [10],[11] BCG among 1 year’s olds (%) [8] Under 5 mortality rate per 1000 births [10] Children Fully Immunised (%) [11] Year: 1980 0 240 N/A 2000 51% 146 14.3% 2011 80% 68 24% Vaccination is an essential component of health in many low-income countries with the fourth MDG main aim being the reduction of child morbidity and mortality [5]. Immunisation can help reduce mortality and usually is cost effective while also being an excellent indictor of the health among children. BCG is the best indicator of full immunisation coverage as the WHO states children can be classified full immunised once they have received a tuberculosis vaccination (BCG) [9] therefore a BCG indicator is vital in monitoring health of children. Table 3 illustrates the importance of BCG vaccination with the percentage of coverage improving over the years from no vaccination in 1980 to over 80% of 1 year olds having being immunised in 2012 suggesting an improvement in the protection of children against TB, this is further reinforced by the decline in under five mortality rate. The validity of the indictor can be backed up by it its correlation to under 5 mortality rate; Table 3 illustrate s a linear relationship in increasing immunisation and declining child mortality, showing the success of the indictor in monitoring UGH among children. However universal health through immunisation in reality is hindered by a delay in diagnosis of tuberculosis in Ethiopia which can exacerbate the disease [12], combined with the majority of children and citizens being concentrated in rural areas where there is no real means of transportation available to attend a hospital for vaccination, [2] making the indicator biased to people who can access vaccination facilities. The BCG indicator is effectively used in TB prevention, treatment and psychological suffering through basic programmes such as stop TB strategy programme [4]. Data provides estimations between the accurately reported immunisation figures by national authorities and those where data may present misleading figures [8]. This means the data may not be fully accurate as it is a estimation of actual and misclassified figures. However this indicator is vital for monitoring and guiding disease and eradication programmes and efforts in Ethiopia. Although BCG percentage shows a high coverage over tuberculosis it does to provide accurate analysis of UGH in terms of other diseases such as malaria. The percentage of full immunised children is a better indictor for UGH as it indicates children which are protected against all diseases. However only 24% of children are fully immunised which suggest that although 80% of children are immunised this is misleading as this 80% are only immunised against TB and not other deadly diseases. Although the WHO suggests children are not fully covered against diseases until they are immunised from TB, the immunisation of other diseases prior to the TB vaccination needs to be considered. Anaemia is defined as a condition which is characterised by low levels of haemoglobin in our blood, in the case of Ethiopia anaemia is a major concern with low come groups being among highest at risk [13]. This is an important indicator in children as anaemia is associated with impaired mental and physical development and increasing morbidity and mortality. This indicator is particularly helpful because it has allowed a number of preventions programmes to be put into place such as enhanced outreach Strategy and Targeted supplementary foods intervention programme which aim to improve nutrient in among children. More than 44% of population in 2011 is still anaemic with 21% percent of children having moderate anaemia illustrating the importance of this indicator in monitoring UGH in children and future programme intervention development. However this indicator is constraint to children limiting its capability, it is also misleading as there are also other factors related to anaemia such iron deficiency, and Vitamin A levels which this indictor does not account for providing inaccurate assessment [9]. Table 3: Indicators adapted from WHO, DHS and UN [8],[11],[14] Maternal Mortality Ratio MMR per 100,000 live births [8] Live Births Delivered at Health Facility (%) [11] Births attended by skilled heath Personnel (%) [15] Year: 1990 950 N/A NA 2005 700 5.3% 5.7% 2011 350 9.9% 10.0% Maternal mortality in Ethiopia is among the highest in the world and it is the biggest killer of women in Sub-Saharan Africa with the fifth MDG aiming for a reduction of 75% from 1990 to 2015 [5]. Maternal health is often measured by the maternal mortality ratio which is expected to be useful in indicating the deaths among women, the risk associated with pregnancy, monitoring achievement towards MDG 5 and the capacity of health systems within Ethiopia to provide effective health care [14]. Table 1 illustrates the maternal mortality ratio, illustrating initially that there is reduction in maternal morality in Ethiopia and an improvement over the years with some considerable progress towards MDG 5. However the MMR ratio does not take into consideration several key factors that can impact women during her pregnancy. The indictor is irrespective of the duration of pregnancy and also where the birth took place giving an inaccurate assumption how amount of mortalities. The relationship bet ween the MMR to percentages of live births that took place in health facility shows a poor correlation because although there has been a significant reduction in mortality from 1990 to 2011 this is misleading as only 9.9% of these births took place in adequate well equipped hospitals suggesting MMR should be higher. Measuring mortality is difficult and inaccurate as it is a ratio based on estimations between the total maternal deaths and total live births which does not account for women which have died during the pregnancy. The ratio also fails to show the factors which lead to high or low level of mortality which could prove vital to reducing mortality as an indication of this would allow a focus in future planning to reduce the MMR. Sources of data are varied with different methods being used to derive country estimates, with many rural areas having no data at all making results biased [14]. A more accurate indictor of UGH of maternal health is number of live births in health fac ilities and births attended by skills personal, both indictors show low percentages suggesting and poor health care service as an increase in number births at hospital and with better equipped personnel is likely to reduce maternal deaths. These two indictors also show why maternal death rates are so high as apposed just showing number of deaths. The MMR indictor used is not a reliable indictor of UGH among pregnant women and more focused indictors such one shown in table 3 are recommended for UGH. As stated in the introduction there is no one measure of universal health among a country, individual, or the world. Each indicator has it own weakness and strengths as illustrated above. All the indictors in this report have been chosen as they are most suited to Ethiopia and it requirements, this report suggests that some indictors i.e. Immunisation and percentage population using improved water sources may be better indictors than other such as life expectancy and maternal health in monitoring UGH. However any indictors used to monitor UGH should be chosen for future policy planning, MDG assessments and intervention schemes. Bibliography: 1: The World Bank, working for a world free of poverty. http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ethiopia (Accessed 15 February 2014). 2: Murray, J.S., Moonan, M. Recognizing the healthcare needs of Ethiopia’s children. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 2012; 17(4):339-343. 10.1111/j.1744-6155.2012.00328.x (Accessed 15th February 2014). 3: Abraha, M.W., Nigatu, T.H. Modeling trends of health and health related indicators in Ethiopia (1995-2008): a time-series study. Health Research Policy and Systems 2009;7(1)1-17 http://www.health-policy-systems.com/content/7/1/29/abstract (Accessed 12 February 2014). 4: World Health Organization, research for universal health coverage: world health report 2013. The World Health organisation 2013. 5: United Nations Millennium Development Goals: We can end poverty http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ (Accessed 12 February 2014). 6: Onda, K., LoBuglio, J., Bartram, J. Global Access to Safe Water: Accounting for Water Quality and the Resulting Impact on MDG Progress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2012;9(3)880–894. 10.3390/ijerph9030880 (Accessed 12 February 2014). 7: Bain, R., Gundry, S., Wright, J., Yang, H., Pedley, S., Bartram, J.. Accounting for water quality in monitoring access to safe drinking-water as part of the Millennium Development Goals: lessons from five countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2012;90(3),228–235. 8: The World Health Organisation, Global Health Observatory. http://www.who.int/gho/database/en/ (Accessed 15 February 2014). 9: Central Statistical Agency [Ethiopia] and ICF International. 2012. Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Calverton, Maryland, USA: Central Statistical Agency and ICF International. 10: The World Bank, Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator (Accessed 13 February 2014). 11: Demographic and Health Surveys, Country Quickstats. http://www.measuredhs.com/Where-We-Work/Country-Main.cfm?ctry_id=65c=EthiopiaCountry=Ethiopiacn=r=1 (Accessed 15th February 2014). 12: Demissie, M., Lindtjorn, B., Berhane, Y. Patient and health service delay in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Ethiopia. BMC Public Health 2002; 2(1) 1-7 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/2/23/abstract (Accessed 13th February 2014). 13: Balarajan, Y., Ramakrishnan, U., Ozaltin, E., Shankar, A.H., Subramanian, S.V. Anaemia in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet 2011;378(9809) 2123–2135 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62304-5 (Accessed 16Th February 2014). 14: The World Health Organisation, Indicator and measurement registry. http://apps.who.int/gho/indicatorregistry/App_Main/view_indicator.aspx?iid=26 (Accessed 19th February 2014). 15: UN Data, Statistics. http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=MDGf=seriesRowID:570 (Accessed 19 February 2014).

Child Abuse and Neglect :: Violence Against Children

Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children. There can be no single factor identified as the cause of child abuse. However it appears to be influenced by the parents' histories, psychological resources, and economic status. Parenting is not instinctive, it must be learned. While this is often done through experience, education courses for individuals prior to their becoming parents, and close evaluation of questionable homes could enhance parents' knowledge and the childrens' well being. A high percentage of abusive parents have histories of physical and emotional abuse inflicted upon them during their childhood. Thus, they were deprived of parents who taught them how to be good parents. Child abuse scenarios that seem tragic to others are ordinary to parents from abusive backgrounds, and often overlooked. The absence of good parents is detrimental to a child's learning how to fulfill parental roles. The children from abusive households think that an abusive environment is normal, correct, and acceptable. They grow up believing that and emulate that lifestyle. Sometimes abuse does not stem from a lack of knowledge, but rather from a psychological disorder. Many abusive parents have some type of emotional or mental disorder. An dictatorial personality is a common characteristic of abusive parents. Drug and alcohol abuse is also another common trait among abusive parents. Neurosis, mental deficiency, and/or emotional immaturity can also contribute to abuse. Surprisingly, mothers make up the larger percentage of child abusers, about 48 percent, while fathers only represent around 39 percent of cases. The rest of the cases come from friends or other family members. Most abusers range from 20 to 40 years of age, but parents between 16 and 20 years old inflict the majority of fatalities. There are four factors that can be used to identify child abusers. They are Rigidity, problems with self-image, lack of social skills, and lack of self-control. Economic status also plays a role in contributing to child abuse. According to a report put out by Child Protective Services all of the families in their system are considered financially unstable, and less than half hold jobs. There is still no excuse for child abuse , regardless of a person’s history or current condition in life, nothing makes abusing a child right. Child abuse is a cycle and once it has begun it is extremely hard to break.

Learning Theories Essay

This chapter takes a brief look at the two major categories of learning theories (behaviorism and constructivism), the major theorists within those categories, and the implications of those theories for the use of multimedia and communications and information technology for learning purposes. A separate section within the chapter provides a brief overview of learning based upon neuroscience and recent discoveries about the functioning of the brain. A series of links are provided to further resources on learning theory, neuroscience, and the brain. pic] Our Technological Revolution and the Implications for the Way We Learn We have all experienced a learning moment when we were so focussed or engulfed in the learning, that everything else did not matter. Candidly, the raison d’etre or motivation for our focus may have been that we had a boss or teacher breathing down our neck or an impending exam was to quantify our level of knowledge or intelligence or a particular moment neces sitated that a skill be learned very quickly. Regardless of the motivating factors for this moment of focussed learning, the experience is what psychologists Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi and Ellen Langer label in their respective theories, as moments of â€Å"optimum flow† or â€Å"mindfulness†. According to psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, optimum flow occurs when: Alientation gives way to involvement, enjoyment replaces boredom, helplessness turns into a feeling of control, and psychic energy works to reinforce the sense of self, instead of being lost in the service of external goals. (Czikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 9) Replicating such moments of optimum flow is the job of educators regardless of the domain, whether it be school, the workplace in job training, or the military, etc. Moreover, certain learning theorists are advocating the greater use of technology, namely computers, in learning situations because they see enormous potential of computer technology to replicate these optimum moments of flow. Learning is a personal act. We each place our own personal stamp on how we learn, what we learn and when we learn. We in effect have our own learning style. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences which acknowledges learning as an holistic experience is, at present, one of the most well known descriptors of human cognitive profiles. The act of learning is paradoxical in nature. It can at times appear to be a very simple act. So simple, that we do not question its presence in how we go about our daily activities, for it is natural to our existence as learning organisms. Yet, when we encounter difficulties in learning something, we no longer take the learning process for granted. It is only then that our metacognition or awareness of how we learn is heightened. Learning is taken for granted as a natural process. As simple a process it may seem, the root of understanding how we learn is not as straight forward. The existence of numerous definitions and theories of learning attest to the complexity of this process. A random sampling of any educational psychology text will illustrate the variance in views to what exactly is learning and how we do learn. In Educational Psychology: An Introduction, for example, the authors write, â€Å"Learning implies a change in the individual as a result of some intervention. It may be viewed as an outcome or as a process. (Belkin and Gray, 1977, p. 211) While this definition reflects a behaviorist view of learning, for it equates learning as an outcome, it is a starting point for the authors to expand their description of learning into many other realms, namely the different theories of learning. They in effect, devote a whole chapter of their text just to describe the many ways of defining learning. While it may seem somewhat premature to evaluate the aforementioned definition of learning and to equate it with a specific theory, it is important to recognize that â€Å"intervention† in the learning process can imply many different things. The degree of intervention, by who or what and how, are the defining factors of a learning theory. These factors help distinguish the many different theories. As you will see these theories are not stagnant. They are evolving and changing as we discover new ways of viewing human cognition. â€Å"The mechanistic model of the mind of the behavior era has given way to the logical-computational model favored by artificial intelligence and cognitive science theorists† (McLellan, 1996, p. 6). Don Tapscott, in his book Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, argues that we are now in a digital era of learning. According to Tapscott, a transformation in learning is taking place from what he labels â€Å"broadcast† learning to â€Å"interactive† learning. No longer are today’s generation of learners satisfied in being the passive recipients of the traditional teaching process, rather, they want to discover it for themselves by becoming interactive with the learning. The net generation children using GlobaLearn [a web site], are beginning to process information and learn differently than the boomers before them. New media tools offer great promise for a new model of learning – one based on discovery and participation. (Tapscott, 1998, p. 127) Tapscott’s thesis that the â€Å"technological revolution† is permeating every aspect of our lives forces us to examine the use of computer technology as learning devices. Such rapid social, economic and general lifestyle change, due in essence to the technological revolution, begs the question – based on learning theory, why does the use of computers as a â€Å"learning† tool make sense? This chapter will answer this question by profiling the many learning theories. [pic] The Spectrum of Learning Theories As a review of the literature of learning theories will illustrate there are many labels being used to describe the many theories. Moreover, there are many theorists associated with each approach. A categorization of these labels and theorists will help in understanding these fundamental theories. The spectrum of learning theories consists of many approaches or ways of explaining how humans learn. A description of each of these theories will suffice in providing you with enough knowledge to critically examine the use of computer technology as a learning device. The resume of each theory will consist of: †¢ the associated names of the theory †¢ a description of the theory †¢ theorists associated with the theory †¢ hyperlinks on the World Wide Web Diagram #1: The two extremes Behaviorism   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Constructivism The extremes of this learning theory spectrum are represented by respectively, the Behaviorist and Constructivist theories of learning. As theories trying to explain the same thing, they are bipolar based on their respective views of how knowledge is acquired and the intervention of tools of learning (teachers or instructors). As a context to better understand all of the theories of learning presented in this chapter, examine these two extremes first and then place the remaining theories onto the spectrum. [pic] Behaviorism The Associated Names of this Theory: Behaviorism labelled as a teaching approach is often referred to as directed instruction. As you compare this theory with the Constructivist view of learning, this label will become self-evident. Also in contrast to Constructivism, it has been labelled an objectivist theory of learning. Theorists associated with Behaviorism: J. B Watson E. L Thorndike B. F Skinner A Description of Behaviorism: The concern or emphasis of Behaviorism is observable indicators that learning is taking place. Contrasting this view of learning is the emphasis of cognitive psychologists who equate learning with the mental processes of the mind. Behaviorists do not deny the existence of these mental processes. In fact, they acknowledge their existence as an unobservable indication of learning. The focus of Behaviorism is on the conditioning of observable human behavior. J. B Watson, the father of Behaviorism, defined learning as a sequence of stimulus and response actions in observable cause and effect relationships. The behaviorists’ example of classical conditioning demonstrates the process whereby a human learns to respond to a neutral stimulus in such a manner that would normally be associated with an unconditioned stimulus. The supporting example often cited with classical conditioning is the case of Pavlov’s dog. The focus of Pavlov’s experiment was the digestive process in animals. In conducting the experiment, Pavlov noticed that the dog would salivate (response), upon hearing the ringing of a bell. This occurred because the dog had learned to associate its unconditional stimuli (normally feeding), with the neutral stimuli of the bell ringing simultaneously with the feeding process. Watson, believed that the stimuli that humans receive may be generated internally (for example hunger), or externally (for example, a loud noise). B. F. Skinner expanded on the foundation of Behaviorism, established by Watson, and on the work of Edward Thorndike, by focussing on operant conditioning. According to Skinner, voluntary or automatic behavior is either strengthened or weakened by the immediate presence of a reward or a punishment. â€Å"The learning principle behind operant conditioning is that new learning occurs as a result of positive reinforcement, and old patterns are abandoned as a result of negative reinforcement. † (Belkin and Gray, 1977, p. 9) In his book entitled, The Technology of Teaching, Skinner wrote: The application of operant conditioning to education is simple and direct. Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement under which students learn. They learn without teaching in their natural environments, but teachers arrange special contingencies which expedite learning, hastening the appearance of behavior which would otherwise be acquired slowly or making sure of the appearanc e of behavior which otherwise never occur. (Skinner, 1968, p. 4) Skinner believed that more complex learning could be achieved by this process of contingencies and reinforcement â€Å"†¦ through successive stages in the shaping process, the contingencies of reinforcement being changed progressively in the direction of the required behavior. † (Skinner, 1968, p. 10) Applying the theoretical principles of Behaviorism to learning environments, it is easy to recognize that we have many â€Å"behaviorist artifacts† in our learning world. A dissection of the traditional teaching approaches used for years would reveal the powerful influence that Behaviorists have had on learning. The concept of directed instruction, whereby a teacher is providing the knowledge to the students either directly or through the set up of â€Å"contingencies†, is an excellent example of the Behaviorist model of learning. The use of exams to measure observable behavior of learning, the use of rewards and punishments in our school systems, and the breaking down of the instruction process into â€Å"conditions of learning† (as developed by Robert Gagne), are all further examples of the Behaviorist influence. With the advent of the computer in school, C. A. I. , or computer-assisted instruction has become a prominent tool for teaching, because from a Behaviorist perspective, it is an effective way of learning. CAI uses the drill and practice approach to learning new concepts or skills. The question acting as the stimulus, elicits a response from the user. Based on the response a reward may be provided. The â€Å"contingencies† of learning are translated into different levels of the program. Rewarding the user to a different level for correct responses follows exactly the approach of operant conditioning. Educators have espoused CAI as an effective teaching approach because it allows for self-paced instruction and it liberates them from the direct instruction of all their students so as to focus on those students with particular needs. Hyperlinks to Behaviorist Web Pages: http://www. coe. uh. edu/~srmehall/theory/theory. html http://tecfa. unige. ch/edu-comp/edu-s94/contrib/schneider/learn. fm. html#REF13085 http://www. sil. org/lingualinks/library/literacy/fre371/vao443/TKS2569/tks347/tks734/ http://mse. byu. edu/ipt301/jordan/learnterm_b. html [pic] Constructivism: The Associated Names of this Theory: Constructivsm is recognized as a unique learning theory in itself. It however, may be associated with cognitive psychology because as a theory of learning it focuses on a learner’s ability to mentally construct meaning of their own environment and to create their own learning. As a teaching practice it is associated with different degrees of non-directed learning. The term constructivsm is linked to Cognitive and Social Constructivsm. Theorists associated with Constuctivism: John Dewey Lev Vygotsky Jean Piaget Jerome Bruner Seymour Papert Mitchell Resnick A Description of Constructivism: The merits of Behaviorist learning theory and of their teaching practices are well documented. They have served well in teaching a growing North American population over the past six decades. Behavioral learning theory manifested itself in creating a systematic approach to teaching. Robert Gagne and Leslie Briggs, in their book, Principles of Instructional Design, combined Behaviorist principles of learning with a cognitive theory of learning named Information-Processing. The focus of the latter theory in this combination was of the internal processing that occurred during a learning moment. The design of instruction must be undertaken with suitable attention to the conditions under which learning occurs. With reference to the learner, learning conditions are both external and internal. These conditions are in turn dependent upon what is being learned. How can these basic ideas be used to design instruction ? How can they be applied to the design of single lessons, of courses, and of entire systems of instructions ? (Gagne and Briggs, 1974, p. 14) Gagne and Briggs’ principles of instructional design broke down the teaching process into a systematic process of nine steps. It is in effect, this type of systematic approach to teaching that acted as the catalyst for the creation of another view of the way humans learn. Behaviorist learning theory had served its purpose and its approach and goals were becoming outdated according to Constructivists like Seymour Papert. Constructivist learning theory sought to improve on what Behaviorist learning theory had already established by focussing on the motivation and ability for humans to construct learning for themselves. It viewed Behaviorism as being too teacher centered and directed. Constructivists regarded the educational system as a process of matching skill objectives with test items. It was void of meaningful learning. They also saw the teaching process focus too much on individual work rather than on group work. The final critique of Behaviorist learning theory from the Constructivist perspective helped define the core of Constructivism. To imply that knowledge is separate to the human mind and that it must be transferred to the learner in a teacher centered approach fundamentally was counter to the Constructivist theory of learning. Constructivists believe that all humans have the ability to construct knowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problem-solving. The extent to which this process can take place naturally, without structure and teaching is the defining factor amongst those who advocate this learning theory. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, observed human development as progressive stages of cognitive development. His four stages, which commence at infancy and progress into adulthood, characterize the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. Seymour Papert, psychologist and contemporary critique of Behaviorist teaching methods, writes in his book, The Children’s Machine: Thus, constructionism, my personal reconstruction of constructivism has as its main feature the fact that it looks more closely than other educational -isms at the idea of mental construction. It attaches special importance to the role of constructions in the world as a support for those in the head, thereby becoming less of a purely mentalist doctrine. (Papert, 1993, p. 42) As the inventor of LOGO, the programming tool for children, Papert too believed that children as learners have a natural curiosity to construct meaning of their world. The educational system as Papert saw it was too structured and it stifled this natural curiosity. The means by which children were being taught relegated them to a role of passive recipients of the teaching hence, they were not motivated to construct any learning for themselves. Learning according to Constructiv ists is a question of motivating an individual to attach new meaning to past cognitive experiences. According to Papert: It [constuctivsm] does not call in question the value of instruction as such. That would be silly: Even the statement (endorsed if not originated by Piaget) that every act of teaching deprives the child of an opportunity for discovery is not a categorical imperative against teaching, but a paradoxically expressed reminder to keep it in check. The constructionist attitude to teaching is not at all dismissive because it is minimalist – the goal is to teach in such a way as to produce the most learning for the least teaching. Of course, this cannot be achieved simply by reducing the quantity of teaching while leaving everything unchanged. The principle other necessary change parallels an African proverb: If a man is hungry you can give him a fish, but it is better to give him a line and teach him to catch fish himself. (Papert, 1993, p. 139) Papert’s desire to have children become motivated learners, critical thinkers, problem-solvers and metacognitionists is to be achieved through educational reform that provides the learner with the necessary tools to participate and to take ownership of the learning process. According to Papert, the computer is the appropriate tool to achieve such desired educational reform. These desired objectives of Papert and others who share the Constructivist view of learning are coming closer to reality as more people discover the power of computer technology. From Donald Tapscott’s perspective, Papert’s desired reality is happening now, as a paradigm shift to more interactive learning due to the exploitation of the digital media is taking place in our learning institutions. Tapscott cites eight shifts in learning today: †¢ From linear to hypermedia. †¢ From instruction to construction and discovery. †¢ From teacher-centered to learner-centered education. †¢ From absorbing material to learning how to navigate and how to learn. †¢ From school to lifelong learning. †¢ From one-size-fits-all to customized learning. †¢ From learning as torture as learning as fun. †¢ From the teacher as transmitter to the teacher as facilitator. Hyperlinks to Constructivist Web Pages: http://www. tcimet. net/mmclass/summer/CHPTales. tm http://www. coe. uh. edu/~srmehall/theory/construct. html http://www. gwu. edu/~tip/bruner. html http://www. mamamedia. com/areas/grownups/people/seymour. html http://www. mamamedia. com/areas/grownups/home_alt. html http://lynx. dac. neu. edu/home/httpd/t/tjohnson/papert%20history. htm [pic] Fitting the other Theories onto the Spectrum The two extremes of the spectrum have been outlined (refer to diagram #2). Inherent within each of these two extremes are related theories. Diagram #2: (Spectrum Summary) Behaviorism   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Constructivism   Directed Instruction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Non-directed Instruction Objectivist   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Constructivist Teacher-centered   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learner-centered Behavioral observations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cognitive operations Focus on the individual   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Group work is emphasized More focussed on one approach   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   More holistic in approach Fundamentally, Constructivism is a cognitive learning theory because of its focus on the mental processes that construct meaning. Other learning theories equated with cognitive psychology are: Information-Processing theory, Scaffolding theory (associated with the Russian philosopher Lev Vygotsky) and Brain-based learning theory (associated with neuroscientists such as Marian Diamond and Robert Sylwester and educator Susan Kovalik). Information-Processing theory regards human learning as being analogous to a computer and its ability to store memory. As humans we process information initially with our senses. This information is either processed into our short term memory or it is lost. If this information is used and practised it is only then put into long term memory. Lev Vygotsky thought that our cognitive development was directly related to our social development. The culture we live in influences our social and cognitive development according to Vygotsky. He further recognized the differences of how the world is seen by children and by adults. Vygotsky labelled this difference in cognitive ability as the â€Å"zone of proximal development†. The job of educators was to identify this zone and to find out where the child was situated in this zone and build upon their specific level through a â€Å"scaffolding† process. Building from what the learner knows is in essence, anchoring the learning on past experience. Such anchoring is fundamental to Constructivist theory of learning. Computer technology is viewed by Seymour Papert as an excellent means to anchoring learning to meaningful experiences. The complexity of understanding how humans learn is reflective of our complexity as biological, social and cognitive animals. Many theories exist, all focussing on different aspects of our make-up as humans. Each theory is an attempt to explain how we learn, act and behave: Sigmund Freud focussed on our sub-conscious, Skinner on our observable behavior, cognitive psychologists on our mental processes, humanistic psychology on our social and interpersonal development. Howard Gardner took a more holistic approach in describing our cognitive profiles. His classification of human intellectual ability into seven intelligences incorporates many aspects of psychology to define the cognitive behavior of humans. Before moving on to Multiple Intelligences , refer to the following hyperlinks for information on other learning theories. http://mse. byu. edu/ipt301/jordan/learning. html [pic] Theory of Multiple Intelligences: Human intelligence should not be equated solely with linguistic or logical-mathematical intelligence alone, according to Howard Gardner. As the author of a new way of looking at human intelligences, Gardner, a Harvard professor, identified a total of seven different intelligences that humans may possess. His list includes: †¢ Linguistic intelligence †¢ Logical-mathematical intelligence †¢ Spatial intelligence †¢ Musical intelligence †¢ Bodily-kinesthetic †¢ Interpersonal intelligence †¢ Intrapersonal intelligence Gardner is working on more intelligences that qualify as cognitive processes: â€Å"Multiple intelligences theory, on the other hand, pluralizes the traditional concept†(Gardner, 1993, p. 15) Gardner’s fascination with human intelligence and how the brain works was started with an investigation of people who had experienced brain damage of some sort. He recognized that not all abilities, whether cognitive or motor-sensory, were eliminated from the individual’s repertoire despite having endured some form of brain damage. Gardner hypothesized that we possess more than one form of intelligence. The theory of multiple intelligences provides a more holistic view of the intelligence of humans. Gardner advocates that we may all attempt to develop each of these intelligences to our optimum level. However, we may be more adept in only certain of these intelligences. We may however, aspire through practice and development to improve in the remaining intelligences. The use of technology appeals to this view of intelligence in that Gardner’s theory acknowledges that cognition is not a linear process. The computer as a learning tool has enormous potential in developing the different forms of intelligences of Gardner’s theory. Hyperlinks to Multiple Intelligences Web Pages: http://www. athena. ivv. nasa. gov/curric/weather/adptcty/multint. html [pic] Learning Theories and the Brain What is Learning? Learning is the process by which we receive and process sensory data, encode such data as memories within the neural structures of our brain, and retrieve those memories for subsequent use. The variety of information stored within such memories is enormous, including such items as: how to control your sphincter muscle until a socially appropriate occasion, how to identify mommy in a crowd, how to ride a bicycle, what is the shortest path to grandmother’s house without going near the lair of the wolf, what is the tune for Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, and what a philosopher means when she says â€Å"The cat is on the mat. All learning takes place within the brain, and as our understanding of the underlying structures and processes of the brain increases we can begin to apply that knowledge to improve our construction of learning environments. Our ability to describe and understand the basic processes by which our brain learns has been enhanced by recent technological developments and by the accumulation of long-term studies in human and animal populations. Of particular benefit has been the development of brain-imaging techniques that allow us to observe the operation of normal human brains during the performance of a variety of tasks. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and similar technologies have allowed researchers to map neural activity during sensory data processing and monitor the transfer of information into long-term memory. Researchers have also made great strides in determining the basic mechanisms that underlie the transmission of information within the brain. Such research on brain structure, neural transmitters, and the process by which memories are stored and retrieved have allowed the development of neuro-physiological models of learning. Although neuroscience has provided us with an increasingly rich and accurate descriptive theory of learning within the brain, we still need prescriptive theories of how to maximize the efficiency and capacity of human learning. To some extent all learning theories are prescriptive and seek to minimize the time required to transfer information into memory and maximize the efficiency of retrieving that information. Our current knowledge of the brain, and our speculations regarding the evolutionary function of learning, should assist such prescriptive theories in designing learning environments that provide for maximum learning efficiency. In particular, prescriptive theories informed by our current knowledge of neuroscience should allow us to evaluate the role of multimedia in learning environments. We should also be able to maximize the impact of multimedia in such environments through application of learning theories and our knowledge of the human brain. Learning environments should not be construed simply as the traditional formal classroom within the context of institutionalized public education. Such environments occur within the workplace, the home, and other social institutions as communication and information technology continues to penetrate Western society. We should also be aware that the use of multimedia will have an impact upon the development of the human brain, particularly when such techniques are used with children and adolescents whose brains are still developing and maturing. [pic] The Brain The three-pound universe that is our brain consists of more than 100 billion neurons and the associated structures that organize, nourish, and protect their functioning. Each neuron may have between 5,000 and 50,000 connections to other neurons, forming a dense connective mat that allows the storage of enormous amounts of information. It is important to remember that structures within the brain continue to develop until late adolescence and that neurons will continue to grow connections to other neurons throughout adult life. [pic] Brain Structures The diagram above shows four basic structures in the brain that are important for bodily functions and for learning and memory. The brain stem is primarily concerned with basic survival functions and the regulation of body systems. The cerebellum is involved in the performance of automatic movement patterns (walking, running, touch-typing, and other physical skills that can become part of automatic procedural memory). The limbic system is responsible for the processing of short-term memory into long-term memory as well as the generation and regulation of emotions. The cerebral cortex is the area of the brain in which sensory data is received and analyzed, decisions are made, and behavioral responses are activated. Information is received from the major sensory organs of the body: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin; and is held briefly in sensory memory. The further processing of that information appears to be dependent upon the state of emotional arousal of the brain and the utility of such information for potential survival. Long-term memories are generated through the growth and spread of neural connections between those modular structures that contain the memory (Sylwester, 1995, pp. 89-90). The more often such structures are activated and the stronger the connections become to associated structures, the more easily such memories are retrieved and used by the brain in decision making and conscious thought. To some extent the driving forces behind the way our brain processes sensory input and makes decisions are the survival imperatives that accompanied human physical and cultural evolution. Our brains reflect the importance that survival places upon evaluating potential threat situations, making a quick response, and focusing all body resources on support of those functions that may lead to continued survival. In high-threat situations the focus of the brain will be almost exclusively upon what is identified as the potential threat while the body shuts down relatively unimportant systems to concentrate on those involved in the fight-or-flight response. Low-threat situations allow the brain to sample and evaluate a broader spectrum of sensory input and to analyze such input for future use. Thus a large looming shadow in the cave mouth tends to generate fear, prompting the body to shut down digestion, pump more adrenaline, and prepare the cerebellum to handle the process of running while the cerebral cortex looks for places to hide or make a stand. Strong negative emotion tends to evoke the fight-or-flight physiological and mental responses that shut down high-level cognition. A premium should therefor be placed upon the reduction of those factors within a learning environment that give rise to negative emotions. At the same time, sensory input that does not receive attention is not available for processing through short-term into long-term memory. Clearly a balance must be struck between too much and too little stimulation in learning situations. Some stimulation and motivation is necessary for the learner to pay attention to the data that they are required to learn; on the other hand too much stimulation (particularly in a negative context) is liable to create anger or fear as an emotional response, either of which can serve to reduce the amount of learning carried out within the environment. It appears that the limbic system plays an important part in the process of storing information as long-term memories. Those activities that provide an emotionally supportive environment may well have a positive effect upon the processing of information into long-term storage and subsequent retrieval of those memories. Group activities, co-operative learning, role-playing, and simulations tend to provide emotional support and emotional context for learning. Retrieval of long-term memories is enhanced when a large number of connections have been established between the neural modules that store such memories. To some extent our growing knowledge about the organization of the brain tends to support those theories of learning that can generally be labeled as constructivist. That is, situated knowledge that is connected to a large number of other memories is more apt to be recalled than is unconnected knowledge that has been learned by rote. Because the process of creating connections between ideas and memories is essentially carried out through a process of rehearsal and review, learners should be encouraged to review knowledge that is being learned and attempt to build connections to that knowledge that is already easily retrieved from long-term memory. Such cognitive tools as narration, story-telling, constructing metaphors, and making comparisons are strategies that help to build and maintain connections. The construction of knowledge is essentially the growing of connections between the neural modules that contain individual memories. [pic] Implications for Learning Theory If the apparent symmetry between contemporary brain-based learning theories and constructivism is accurate, then basic guiding principles of constructivism should be used in designing learning environments. These principles include: 1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which students are actively trying to construct meaning. 2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. Parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated facts. 3. In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to understand the world, and the assumptions that support those models. 4. The purpose of learning is to construct one’s own meaning, not to have the â€Å"right† answers by repeating someone else’s meaning. Learning is inherently inter-disciplinary, and the only valuable assessment of learning is assessment that is part of the learning process and that provides students with information on the quality of their learning. (On Purpose Associates, 1998b) Such learning environments should also be designed around the ideas that come forward from brain-based learning. That is, they should employ the three instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning: â€Å"orchestrated immersion, where learning environments are created that fully immerse students in a learning experience; relaxed alertness, where an effort is made to eliminate fear while maintaining a highly challenging environment; and active processing, where the learner consolidates and internalizes information by actively processing it† (On Purpose Associates, 1998a). Learning environments constructed with these principles in mind will tend to be organized around thematic units featuring knowledge in depth and the exploration of projects that have real meaning for the participating learners. [pic] Implications for Multimedia How should we then use multimedia presentations of information to effectively learn in the context of current brain-based learning theory? The communications and information technology that constitutes contemporary multimedia platforms has some significant advantages in creating a learning environment, but there are some pitfalls that must be accounted for as part of the learning process. Multimedia, at its best, allows us to bring the real world to the learner through the use of sound and video. Such connection to the real world should serve as a factor in motivating students, and as a factor in providing them with additional connections to other knowledge structures. At the same time, multimedia allows students to experience information through multiple modes of presentation. Such multi-modal learning should help to build connections within the learner’s brain if only because multiple modes of reception will engage different areas of the learner’s brain. Contemporary multimedia platforms allow a greater degree of learner control and more freedom for the learner to undertake self-directed exploration of the material. Such self-directed learning is likely to be more meaningful and more connected to existing knowledge structures within the learner’s brain. Therefore, we should see advantages for learning programs that include multimedia presentations. Learners should also gain from the possibility of self-paced instruction based upon contemporary multimedia learning technology. Whenever possible, immediate feedback should be built into a multimedia program to assist students in forming correct connections prior to reinforcing connections between new and old information incorporated within existing knowledge structures. Designers of multimedia instructional packages should take comfort in the strengths of multimedia, but they should also be aware of potential problems in using multimedia with learners. Although current multimedia technology allows excellent presentation in both video and audio modes, and provides some tactile feedback through the use of keyboards, there is little to offer students who need tactile experience ? multimedia is essentially a bimodal presentation strategy unless additional work is done to prepare material for students. Even the best multimedia programs cannot provide the total stimulation that natural environments provide? we have yet to incorporate smell or taste into such presentations, and tactile sensations are still limited. More importantly, there is a clear danger that multimedia programs may be used to substitute for interaction with other learners. We should not be seduced by technical virtuosity or cutting-edge visual and aural effects, there is still a need for human interaction and emotional support. Above all else, we should beware of the tendency to substitute passive learning for active learning. Multimedia provides significant advantages in presenting information to learners, particularly if sufficient resources have been invested to create presentations that make full use of current technology. Presentation of information, no matter how technically sophisticated, is not enough; learners must interact with content to construct their own meanings and integrate new knowledge into the dense web of neural connections that is mind and memory. [pic]

Universal Soldier

As a college student in the early 1960s Buffy Sainte-Marie became known as a writer of protest songs and love songs. But unknown to most of the mainstream public, she was even then spending as much time around the drum at a small Indian reserve in Canada as she was in front of a microphone on the concert stages of the world. Having written â€Å"Universal Soldier†, one of the anthems of the 60s peace movement, she was nonetheless absent from the big mass protest marches, in favor of shedding her light on Indian rights and environmental issues, which she still does today. Analysis of the song Universal Soldier Five foot two and six foot four were the height parameters for soldiers in 1961. Fighting with missiles and with spears symbolize the future and the past, soldiers are soldiers: only the equipment is different. The ages 17 to 31 were age parameters to be a soldier during the 1960s and soldiers have been around for centuries. Soldiers are also religious people and not confined to just one religion and though religion forbids it, he chooses to be a killer. No matter what side he’s on, it’s still absurd. Soldiers are not just from some far away enemy country but from â€Å"our† country too thinking that fighting will end all fighting. Soldiers are on all sides using violence as an act of peace having a responsibility overlooked for humanity. Soldiers learn nothing from history so do not see obvious outcomes of repeating it. We can't blame just the leaders and each individual has a choice. We are all responsible – civilians, voters and soldiers.

Anna Karanina essays

Anna Karanina essays L.E.A.P. Journal for Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy A. Section covered: Part 1 and 2 (pages 17-245) B. Summary: This story first starts out with chaos in the Oblonskys household. Prince Stephen Oblonsky's wife Dolly found out that he was having an affair with their childrens French governess and threatened to move out of the house and take the kids with her. Stephen Oblonsky does not feel bad for having an affair. What he feels bad for is getting caught by his wife. Even though he is upset he is happy to hear the news that his sister, Anna Karenina, is coming to town though. Later in the section Anna convinces Dolly to stay with her husband and not move out. It did not take much to convince her because her threats were empty. Oblonsky is the head of a distinguished Government Board in Moscow. He is glad to leave his house and go to work to meet his friend Levin after a committee meeting. He remembers that he friend Levin is in love with his sister-in-law Kitty Shcherbatskaya. He later asked her to marry him, but she declines his proposal. Kitty is waiting to marry Count Vronsky. When Anna comes to town her and Vronsky fall in love despite that she is already married. Kitty realized that Vronsky was not going to marry her. She got sick and went abroad to recover. Anna lies to her husband which make them drift farther apart, but she and Vronsky draw closer. C. Analysis: The way this book is starting out it seems like Leo Tolstoy has written it about the love and the marriage of higher powered figures in Russia. He started out the story with the fighting in the Oblonsky household. That seems to refer to the downside of some marriages because Dolly found out about her husband cheating on her. In the Oblonsky house Tolstoy also shows loyalty from Dolly. She knows her threats were empty and she knows that she will forgive her husband. Tolstoy shows different angles with each couple. Anna and her husband Karenin are wel ...

Reflection on Buddhism and Ones Life Essays

Reflection on Buddhism and Ones Life Essays Reflection on Buddhism and Ones Life Essay Reflection on Buddhism and Ones Life Essay Essay Topic: Siddhartha Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Reflection on Buddhism and one’s life The mystery in all Buddhism followers takes us back to the very beginning, which is at the conception of Buddha. Buddha’s mother, Maya had a dream that showed her that an animal in the form of a white elephant and with six tusks had entered her womb. After consulting with her gods, (Das, 11) she learnt that the white elephant symbolized great wisdom, and loyal power, and she would soon bear a powerful child. Her pregnancy grew, and unlike other women, she did not experience pains during labour. Infant she gave birth while standing. This truly demonstrated that this child was unique. After the birth of the boy, it was further realized that he was extra ordinary since as an infant he was the same size as a six-month-old baby. He also had thirty-two marks of a great man. Normally these meant the child would either be a powerful king ruling quarter of the world or a Buddha. The child was then named Siddhartha that depicted ‘he whose purpose is accomplished’. Sadly, se ven days after his birth his mother died and her sister took over in raising the boy. The boy grew up in a royal family and had all he desired at the incarceration of the palace. After this, the four encounters, which are also known as the noble truth, came to being (Wilkinson, et al, 25). One time when Siddhartha was riding his chariots outside the palace, he saw a very ill man and a corpse being carried by mourners. The site traumatized him and immediately he wanted to leave home to became an ascetic, and forsake kingship. When Siddhartha was almost thirty years of age and seven days away to being crowned as the next king, he made plans of his escape. At the time, he had already gotten his first son. It was difficult for him to leave, but he had already decided. He managed to escape without anyone noticing with the help of superficial powers. The first six years after leaving, he spent with two famous ascetics, trying to learn their system to get a lasting solution to human suffering. However, he did not feel like he accomplished his mission, so he further joined a company of five other ascetics for more learning. He still did not get the satisfaction he seeked. One day when he was relaxed, he looked back into his youth and settled into a calm and peaceful state by letting his mind settle. He realized that his feeling of peace was the one thing he had been seeking (Nhat, Ha?nh, 50). This is where the Buddhist mediation theory came into being leading to the cessations, which are known as four noble truths The first noble truth stated that life is full of suffering and hence at some point in life everyone gets to experience suffering (Bstan-?dzin-rgya-mtsho, 23). The second noble statement was that suffering is caused by attachments. This meant that it is the attachments that we bind ourselves with that cause suffering. For instance, if we bind ourselves with anger and ignorance, suffering will surely follow us. Thirdly, the noble truth stated that abandoning our attachments brings release to suffering. This clearly teaches us that if we learn to let go of bindings such as pain and anger, we can attain peace, which in return reduces suffering (Novak, Philip, 69). Finally, the last noble truth tells us that we can release bindings by practicing the eight fold paths which consists of, right opinion, right intension, right conduct, right effort, right concentration, right speech, right livelihood and right mindfulness This particular Zen Koan is rather interesting as it proves to us that mindfulness is particularly important (Huikai, 62). It states that on a windy day, two men were arguing about a shaking banner. The first said, â€Å"The banner is moving and not the wind†. While the second said that, the wind was moving and not the banner. A third person happened to pass by and uttered to them that it was neither the wind nor the banner that was moving but the minds of the two men. To avoid suffering one should perceive to live a life filled with good morals, charitable behaviour, mediation, perseverance and most importantly keep the four noble truths at heart. Work cited Bstan-?dzin-rgya-mtsho. The Four Noble Truths. New York: Mystic Fire Audio, 1997. Sound recording. Das, Gupta S. Buddhism, Reflection on Religious Conversion. New Delhi, India: Cyber Tech Publications, 2010. Print. Gard, Richard A. Buddhism. New York: G. Braziller, 1961. Print. Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Internet resource. Hirota, Dennis. Toward a Contemporary Understanding of Pure Land Buddhism: Creating a Shin Buddhist Theology in a Religiously Plural World. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press, 2000. Internet resource. Huikai, and Thomas F. Cleary. No Barrier: Unlocking the Zen Koan : a New Translation of the Zen Classic Wumenguan (mumonkan). New York: Bantam Books, 1993. Print. Humphreys, Christmas. Buddhism. London: Cassell, 1962. Print.. Nhat, Ha?nh. The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy Liberation : the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Other Basic Buddhist Teachings. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Print. Novak, Philip. The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions. San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. Print. Wilkinson, Philip, and Steve Teague. Buddhism. New York: DK Pub, 2003. Print

Automated Diabetic Retinopathy Detection System

Automated Diabetic Retinopathy Detection System ABSTRACT DETECTION OF EXUDATES USING GUI Automated diabetic retinopathy detection system is an essential requirement due to developing diabetic retinopathy patients around the globe. The primary intention of the research is to detect exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. In this particular study, we provide an efficient method for identifying and classifying the exudates as soft exudates and hard exudates. Apart from these, this study compares three methods namely Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization, Histogram Equalization and Mahalanobis Distance for enhancing a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface with the help of MATLAB. From the findings of the study, in the image enhancement application of blood vessels, Mahalanobis distance is recognized as the best algorithm. It was evident from the analysis that the monitoring and detecting exudates in the f undus of the eye are essential for diabetic patients. Moreover, it shows that hard and soft exudates are a primary tool of diabetic retinopathy that can be quantified automatically. In addition to these, it appears that drawbacks must be resolved to predict an appropriate detection method for exudates in digital fundus images. From the findings, it was evident that suitable algorithm has to be selected and verified on several images which provide likely and excellent outcomes. LIST OF TABLES Comparison of Histogram Equalization (HE), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis Distance(MD)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 LIST OF FIGURE Image before enhancement Histogram before enhancement Image after histogram equalization Histogram after HE Image after CLAHE Histogram after CLAHE Image after Mahalanobis distance enhancement Histogram after Mahalanobis distance enhancement Flow chart of the method CIELab color space Input image K- means clustered image Morphological image Dilated image Eroded image Optic disc detection Exudates image   Hard and soft exudates Input DFI   Enhancement methods of DFI Step-1 of exudate detection Step-2 by giving input image Step-3 enhancing input image Step-4 exudates image of abnormal eye Normal eye output displaying no exudates LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHE Adaptive Histogram Equalization CIE Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage CLAHE Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key DRD iabetic Retinopathy DFI Digital Fundus Image HE Histogram Equalization MD Mahalanobis Distance MM Mathematical Morphology RGB Red, Green, Blue RRGS Recursive Region Growing Segmentation Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background: Diabetic retinopathy is a common disease nowadays that can prevail in anyone having type 1 or type-2 diabetes. The opportunity of being influenced by this d isease relies on the time duration of a person having diabetes. Long-term diabetes leads to greater blood sugar level that causes harm by changing the flow of blood in retinal blood vessels. It is similar that in the previous stage DR shows no symptoms and hence without facing medical investigation it is not feasible to predict the existence of the disease. Exudative retinopathy is a condition referred by the occurrence of yellow or white mass that exists due to leakage of proteins and fats along with water from vessels of blood in the retina. It is important to predict the exudates occurrence in fundus oculi because the collection of these exudates may lead to complete loss of vision (Manpreetkaur, 2015). Walter et al. (2001) has mentioned that the disease of DR evolved exudates in eye fundus. The physicians regard exudates as one of the primary indicators of DR severity. Exudates are yellow spot resided in fundus. This disease of diabetes causes leakage of fluid from vessels of bl ood. For a long time, uncontrolled diabetes may evolve as exudates in eye fundus. The exudates initiate to develop in little number and size. If the diabetes is not monitored or controlled for a long time the number and size of exudates will grow. The exudates growth in eye fundus may cause blindness. Tasman and Jaeger (2001) have stated that exudates seem as bright deposits of yellow-white on the retina due to lipid leakage from abnormal vessels. Their size and shape differ with various stages of retinopathy. These lesions are related to many diseases of retinal vascular involving DME (diabetic macular edema), DR (diabetic retinopathy), retinal venous obstruction, hypertensive retinopathy, radiation retinopathy and retinal arterial microaneurysms, capillary hemangioma of retina and disease of the coat. Welfera et al. (2010) have stated that exudation is a hazardous case because it can lead to a loss of vision when existing in the central macular area. Thus such lesions must be pred icted, and appropriate medical intervention must be acquired to avoid damages to visual acuity of the patient. Automatic exudates detection in DR patients’ retinas could enhance early prediction of DR and could support doctors track the treatment progress over time. Thus it can be inferred that exudates detection by computer could provide a precise and rapid diagnosis to specialist examination and support the clinician to acquire timely decision to take proper treatment. Problem Statement: Diabetes is a rapidly developing common disease among people globally which causes various organs dysfunction. Diabetic retinopathy is the primary blindness cause in adults. Sometimes, due to long-term diabetes, the retinal blood vessels are harmed, this eye disease is known as diabetic retinopathy. It is essential to automatically predict the lesions of diabetic retinopathy at an early stage to hinder further loss of vision. Exudates are significant diabetic retinopathy symptoms. Exu dates are bright lesions that are an important sign of this disease. It is the major signs of DR a major vision loss cause in diabetic patients. Primary concern of the research Aim: The primary goal of the study is to analyze an automated way for exudates in eyes. Objectives: To examine the causes of exudates in diabetic retinopathy patients. To analyze the types of exudates used in digital fund images. To evaluate the different enhancement methods used to predict the exudates in fundus images. To determine the drawbacks of enhancement methods of exudates in digital fundus images. To propose a promising algorithm to detect the exudates in digital fundus images. Limitations of the study: This study is limited to diabetic retinopathy patients. This study is restricted to exudates detection only. This study evaluates an automated way for exudates in eyes. The structure of the thesis This argument is made up of the following five chapters: Chapter 1: This is the introduction section that gives the necessary research background andconcepts related to the research. Chapter 2 : This chapter is the review of literature that analyzes several existing worksrelated to finding an automated way for exudates in eyes. Chapter 3: This chapter describes the design of the system that explains in detailabout the enhancement methods applied in digital fundus image for detection of diabetic retinopathy. Chapter 4: This chapter discusses the implementation plan of digital fundus images and compares different researches done by authors and depicts the results of the proposed system. Chapter 5: This is the conclusion section that gives the outcome of the research byanswering the research questions and recommendations for future improvement. In addition to that, this thesis has bibliography containing the sources used in collecting secondary data in the study and an appendix that has tools like questionnaires are utili zed in the gathering primary data for the research. Chapter-2 Literature Review Introduction : This chapter provides an overview on the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. This chapter discusses in detail about the digital fundus image. In addition to these, this chapter discusses in detail about the classification of exudates in retinal images. Apart from these, this study provides the comparison of Histogram equalization (HE), contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis distance (MD) methods to enhance the digital fundus image for detection. Literature on Digital fundus images The benefits of digital imaging are rate of access to information (images), quick and accurate duplication, chronicling and transmission, and prompt access to the outcomes. The imaging technique can be rehashed if the nature of the underlying result is deficient. Despite the fact that film-based images can be digitized (to registe r macular color thickness conveyance from two different wavelength-based pictures or to evaluate the status of the optic nerve), quick access to the images is unrealistic, as it is important to build up the film first. This deferral keeps the picture from checking the outcomes and in this manner redressing any issue in the procurement procedure, which can be efficiently accomplished in digital imaging at no extra cost. The digitization of fundus photos was tended to by (Cideciyan et al., 1991) who proposed a nonlinear rebuilding model fusing four parts: the eye, the fundus camera, the film and the scanner. Scholl et al. (2004) observed digitized images to be valuable for evaluating age-connected maculopathy and age-connected macular degeneration. Comparison Table 1: Comparison of Histogram Equalization (HE), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis Distance (MD) Histogram equalization Contrast limited adaptive histogram equalizatio n Mahalanobis distance This technique is based on the specification of the histogram. CLAHE is considered as the necessary preprocessing step, and it has the tendency to generate the images for extracting the features of a pixel in the classification process. This method has carried out by identifying the pixels of the background images only by leaving the foreground images. HE is relatively straightforward technique and an invertible operator. Indiscrimination is one of the biggest disadvantages of this method. CLAHE is also denoted as the automatic and efficient method to detect the exudates effectively. The selective enhancement of MD has created the fewer artifacts for further processing than HE and CLAHE. HE has used the neighborhood-based approach on the pixels, and it has the tendency to operate based on the modification of histogram to obtain the new images efficiently. The technique of CLAHE has the capabilit y to provide the green channel image enhancement with high quality. This method can produce the similar curve to the Gaussian-shaped curve ideally. HE has uniformly distributed the output histogram by using the cumulated histogram like the mapping function. CLAHE has limited the process of amplification by clipping the histogram at the predefined value. MD algorithm has given better histogram result when compared to HE and CLAHE Research gap : This study examines about the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. The research gap predicted in this study is that there are many studies on the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. But no studies have clearly determined the successful approaches towards the detection of diabetic retinopathy in fundus images. Detection and classification of diabetic retinopathy pathologies in fundus images have been investigated by Agurto (2012). He s tudied the effects of image compression and degradation on an automatic diabetic retinopathy screening algorithm. In addition to these, the Agurto et al. (2012) investigated the detection of hard exudates and red lesions in the macula using the multi-scale approach. Walter et al. (2002) carried out an investigation to contribute the image processing to the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. Authors also focused on automatic detection of diabetic retinopathy from eye fundus images (Manpreetkaur, 2015). There are also studies that are focused on coarse-to-fine strategy for automatically identifying exudates in color eye fundus images. Chapter-3 Research Design Introduction: This part examines the design of the study to determine an automated way for finding exudates in eyes. This study compares three methods namely CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization), Histogram Equalization (HE) and Mahalanobis Distance (MD) for enhancing a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface in MATLAB. Research design: The reason of the study is to detect exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. In this particular study, we provide an efficient method for identifying and classifying the exudates as soft exudates and hard exudates. The retinal image seen in the CIELab space of the color is pre-processed for eliminating noise. Further, a network of blood vessels is removed for facilitating detection and removing the optic disc. At the same time, optic disc is removed using the technique of Hough transform. Candidate exudates are identified using the method of k-means clustering. At last, exudates are categorized as the soft and hard one by their threshold and edge energy. Developed method has yielded better outcomes. Histogram Equalization: Histogram equalization is a technique for adjusting image intensities to enhance contrast. HE is an operatio n that is based on histogram specification or modification to obtain new pictures. The objective of this contrast enhancement technique is to get a new enhanced image that has a uniform histogram that only plots the frequency at each gray-level from 0 (black) to 255 (white). Each histogram represents the frequency of occurrence of all gray-level in the image. Figure 1: Image before enhancement Figure 2: Histogram before equalization Figure 3: Image after histogram equalization Figure 4: Histogram after histogram equalization Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization: CLAHE is considered as a locally adaptive method for contrast enhancement. CLAHE is an enhanced version of adaptive HE (AHE) method. The technique AHE has a realistic restriction that homogenous part in the image leads to over-amplification of noise due to thin series of pixels are plotted to a whole range of visualization. In the meantime, it was noticed that contrast limited AHE (CLAHE) was designed for preventing this noise over-amplification in homogenous regions. CLAHE restricts the sound amplification in the image in such a way that image looks like very real. Figure 5: Image after CLAHE Figure 6: Histogram after CLAHE Mahalanobis Distance: Image enhancement using the Mahalanobis distance method is performed by identifying the background image pixels and eliminating them, leaving only the foreground image. It is based on the assumption that in image neighborhood N, the background pixels has significantly different intensity value than those of the foreground pixels. For each pixel (x, y) in the picture, the mean  µn (x, y) and the standard deviation à Ã†â€™n (x, y) of the statistical distribution of intensities in N are estimated. The sample means;  µn is used as the estimator for  µn (x, y) and the e sample standard deviation; à Ã†â€™ n is the estimator for à Ã†â€™n (x, y). If the intensity of pixel (x, y) is close to the mea n intensity in N, it is considered to belong to the background set ÃŽÂ ². As defined mathematically in Eq. 1, the expression implies that pixel (x, y) belongs to ÃŽÂ ² if the stated condition is satisfied. Those images would later be combined to evaluate the MD image, which can be segmented using the threshold t to identify the background pixels. Figure 7: Image after MD enhancement Figure 8: Histogram after MD enhancement Summary: This research compares three methods namely CLAHE, HE, MD to enhance a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface in MATLAB. It was evident from the above findings that candidate exudates are identified using the technique of Mahalanobis Distance enhancement.

Financial Economic Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial Economic - Case Study Example C) The choice getting 10000Kr in this coming September could resolve the exchange rate issue. In case of the other option to get paid in September and February have equal chances of gain and loss. So I will get the money in September and will keep that till the end of First so that I can get the 4% interest from the US bank. I will repeat the same for the following year. So for the first year I will get 1040$ and the next year it depends on the exchange rate. In case if the exchange rate increases say, 12Kr/$. I can convert the dollars to Sweden Kr. So that if I can put that amount in bank and I can get interest from the Sweden Bank. And If exchange rate found to decrease say 10Kr/$ then I will convert the Kr to dollars. The only risk in this type is in case after converting the dollars to Kr if the exchange rate Kr/$ does not decrease that could be a loss. But thinking in terms of interest from the Sweden bank could compensate the loss.

PA Mod 2 New Homeland Security Challenges Assignment

PA Mod 2 New Homeland Security Challenges - Assignment Example For example, following the rail system bombings in both London and Madrid, a number of suspected terrorists were arrested in Florida, Britain and Canada with the help of the cooperation between the locals and law enforcement agencies. Consequently, this is a likely indication that such campaigns are important in the achievement of the goals of community policing because they may provide key information that can be used to identify suspects and prevent terrorist attacks (McGarrell et al. 142). At a time when asymmetric terrorism is increasingly posing the greatest threat to our homeland security, such campaigns as used in the Dearborn case also help in the achievement of community policing goals because they encourage community members to voluntarily provide information that may lead to the prevention of crime and terrorist activities, and the improvement of public security. According to the current homeland security policies, emergency responses to terrorist attacks should be based on an interrogated approach between law enforcers, DoD, FEMA as well as other emergency response agencies based on intelligence gathering. Yes. Although both community policing and zero tolerance policing are all designed to help fight against crime and criminal activities, zero tolerance policing often works against the goals of community policing particularly with regard to the efforts of logical crime prevention. For example, most citizens and members of the communities generally view the street sweeps aimed at enhancing zero tolerance policing to be biased, brutal and militaristic. In this regard, zero tolerance policing may actually discourage community members from actively participating in community crime prevention initiatives that involve cooperating with the police. Zero tolerance was supposedly initiated to help crack down low level crimes such as scribbling graffiti, loitering and other related

The Implications of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis Essay

The Implications of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis - Essay Example Indeed, the stakes are high in the game of global warming. Trillions of dollars, our ability to compete, future energy policy, and our standard of living all hang in the balance. The national media, charged with informing the public on this important issue, has fallen into the trap of politicizing the issue, while truth has become little more that a reluctant victim of the infighting. In fact, on the issue of global warming the media has been accused of being a propaganda mouthpiece for whoever's political influence they happen to fall under. Media propaganda concerning the Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis is the result of internal and external information manipulation, an inability to understand the science, and a propensity to serve the special interests that spin the narrative. Accusing the media of purveying propaganda, either knowingly or unwittingly, is a serious charge that needs to be defined and substantiated. The recitation of inaccurate information or the innocent broadcasting of a news item that is 'fed' by a special interest group may be negligent or incompetent, but does not rise to the standard of propaganda. In these cases, the propagandist is the government or organization that feeds a politically biased press release to an innocent reporter under the guise of credibility, and the news outlet is merely an unwitting dupe. Propaganda may also be in the form of information that has been skewed or spun by scientific experts who are pursuing a hidden social or political agenda. In these cases, the news organization does not have the expertise to analyze the highly technical data and they rely on the testimony of experts. Here, the experts who are using skewed science to advocate a controversial social issue are guilty of propaganda, but the media is merely their vehicle. The media rises to the level of a propaganda machine when they knowingly issue false or misleading information whose sole purpose is not to inform, but to sway public opinion to serve their own self-interest. There is little doubt that there are two deeply polarized stands on the significance of man's contribution to the global warming phenomena, and the media will promote the one that serves its best interests. The best interests of the media may be to satisfy a major advertiser, or may be to generate appeal among an audience that is sensitive to political correctness. Opponents of the hypothesis contend that science is merely placing the present in context with the recorded metrological history of about 200 years, and does not account for the natural shifts that take place over tens of thousands of years1. Indeed, advocates do rely on a limited window for their data as Houghton states, "For an understanding of the global warming issue, of most interest is the period of the last 50 years during which greenhouse gases increased substantially as did the global average temperature"2. Constrained by sound bytes and the perceived short attention span of their audience, the media does not have the resources to fully explain the implications of the widely conflicting data. The news outlet, or media source, needs to make a decision in regards to what they will tell their audience and how thoroughly they will explain it. This decision will almost assure them that they will