Discussion Forum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion Forum - Essay Example Confucius lived 2,500 years ago in Lu, a small state in Eastern China. During this time, China was riddled with political strife and confusion during the reign of Zhou dynasty by which it prompted him to develop his doctrine/philosophy of Confucianism on how to create a society that is founded on harmony and balance of which his political environment is devoid. After the died at the of 73, his teachings spread throughout China and its influence still storngly revererates until today. Confucianism as a philosophy and social ethic encourages a lifetime pursuit of moral excellence or to become better founded on the belief that everyone possesses the inherent capability to develop into an autonomous and self-governing person by developing the Ren. Ren is being perfected or inculcated through practice which is facilitated by Li or the process of cultivating one’s goodness. Confucius also cited the Golden Rule or the law that states to treat everybody the way we want to be treated as one of the mechanism that promotes virtue in the indivdual and society as well. The practice of the Golden Rule benefits everyone and such provides the necessary environment to cultivate the

The percentage energy loss when a ball Bounces Essay Example for Free

The percentage energy loss when a ball Bounces Essay This investigation will be to determine the relationship between the length of a conductor and its resistance. The aim is to test a number of different lengths of nichrome wire to measure the resistance of each length. To ensure a safe procedure, a low voltage battery of 12 volts will be used, and the samples to be tested will be located on an insulating mat to prevent any shorts occurring. In addition a 2 Amp fuse will be placed in the circuit as a protective measure. For a fair test, all other parameters that can affect the resistance will be kept constant. These are the sample material, the diameter of the wire, and the temperature of the wire. To keep the temperature of the wire constant, it will be necessary to keep the current flowing in it constant. This is because the power dissipated in the conductor is I2R, so an increase of current by a factor of 2 will increase the power dissipated by a factor of 4, which can seriously affect the resistance. Thus only the length of the wire will be changed, and the corresponding voltage across it to give the same test current will be varied and measured. The resistance of the test sample will then be given by Ohms Law: Resistance = Voltage (Volts) ( Ohm) My prediction is that the resistance of the wire will be proportional to its length, all other variables being kept constant Equipment The equipment used for this investigation consisted of: 1) 12 volt power pack with on/off switch 2) Variable resistor (rheostat) 3) A 2 amp ammeter with digital readout to 0. 001 amp accuracy 4) A 20V voltmeter with digital readout to 0. 01V accuracy 5) Crocodile clips for connection of the test sample into the circuit and the voltmeter to the connecting crocodile clips. 6) Test samples consisting of varying lengths of 24 SWG The equipment and the circuit configuration used is shown in Fig 1. A 12-volt power pack will be connected in series with a switch, a 2-amp fuse, an Ammeter, a variable resistor and a sample test wire. A voltmeter will be connected across the test sample by crocodile clips. The test sample was connected into the circuit using crocodile clips. The voltmeter was connected across the sample into the rear of the crocodile clips. The plan will be to vary the sample length from 10 cms to 100 cms in 10 cm increments to provide a good range of results. Also to take readings of three samples for each length, and average the voltage readings to reduce possible errors. There are four factors that will affect the resistance of a wire. These are: 1. As the length of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire also increases. A variable resistor or rheostat is used to vary the current in a circuit. As the sliding contact moves, it varies the length of wire in the circuit. 2. As the cross-sectional area of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire decreases. An analogy of this is a water pipe, if the diameter of the water pipe is small the water flowing through will. Experience high resistance to the rate of flow. However if the diameter of the water pipe is large, the water flowing. Through it will experience low resistance to the rate of flow. 3. Different types of materials will affect the resistance in different ways. Materials such as copper, are very good conductors, and is used for connecting wires. Other materials such as nichrome (as used in the investigation) have a higher resistance than copper, and so is used in the heating elements of electric fires. 4. As the temperatures of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire increases as well. This is used in resistance thermometers, which use the fact that electricity does not flow so easily through a wire when the wire gets hot. Resistance is the opposition to the flow of charge. In metals, a sea of free electrons enabling it to conduct electricity surrounds a lattice of positive ions. The shorter the length of wire, the less energy is needed to move the electrons across the wire If the metal is attached to a power supply then the electrons flow through the metal but collide with atoms. Resistance is shown below in the diagram below: The resistance of a metal can be regarded as arising from the interaction, which occurs between the crystal lattice of the metal and the free electrons as they drift through it under an applied potential difference. This interaction is due mainly to collisions between defects in the crystal lattice (e. g. impurity atoms and dislocations) also play a part, especially at very low temperatures. Resistance is measured in Ohms (? ) Georg Ohm discovered that the current flowing through a metal wire is proportional to the potential difference across it (providing the temperature remains constant). Therefore: Resistance, R (? ) = Potential difference across the wire (V) I= V i R V= I x R R= V i I TABLE 1 RESULTS: Table 1 shows the data recorded and the resulting values for resistance for each length. These were those separate samples of the conductor tested for each length, and the average voltage was used to determine the resistance volume. Graph 1 plots the resistance against length for the range of test samples from 10cm to 100cm. The graph shows the data to be in very close proximity to a straight line, verifying the prediction to its length. From the best fit line drawn on the graph, the resistance per unit length of 24 SWG nichrome wire is found to be 0. 362 ohm/cm. When current passes down a wire, the wire gets heated. The moving electrons collide with ion and cause them to vibrate thus increasing the temperature ths is a waste of energy-when a current flows, heat is transferred to the air surroundingggs which explains why computers get hot in operation. However we can make use of the heating effect e. g. in fuses which are designed to melt when too much current flows e. g. in kettles. We can calculate the heat transferred per second using the following formula: Power = (Current)2 x Resistance (Watts) = (Amps)2 x (Ohms) (W) = (A)2 x (? ) Length (cm) Current (Amps) Resistance in Ohms (R=V/I) Power (Watts) From the table above we see that there is a relationship between the resistance and the current. We see that from the results table that the power (in Watts) is equivalent to the current (in amps) squared multiplied by the resistance of the wire. From the graph showing Power Vs Length, we can work out the heat transferred in one centimetre of nichrome wire. Power i Length =Thermal energy transferred (J) Length (cm). Current (Amps) Power (Watts)Â   From these results we can work out the coulombs of charge in each separate length of nichrome. This result will then allow us to calculate how many electrons had passed through the wire, which further allows us to calculate the time taken for the experiment to take place.

Farm Size and Productivity Research

Farm Size and Productivity Research 1.0 Introduction The relationship between the size of Farm in hectares and the productivity in Yield/hectares is hotly debated issues in Indian agriculture economics. This issue was first raised by AK Sen in 1960s with respect to Indian economy. The major objective of this paper would be to analyze the relationship and the major factors influencing this relationship along with its implication. The size of holding depends on certain factors and the productivity also depends on certain economic factors. These factors such as irrigation, fertility, labor and capital input have an influence on the relationship between the size of land holding and productivity. Most of the economist like AK Sen and Saini have done their analysis and considered this relationship to be inverse. Countries like USA and Australia have very large holdings and the relationship between size of farm and productivity is not inverse in such cases. The application of Green revolution has been believed to change the inverse relationsh ip to a directly proportional relationship, but still it has been not very clear. Some analysis has been done in the paper related to aggregated data with regard to present status of this relationship by comparing the factors of productivity with the size of holding. Moreover the average size of holding has been decreasing with time due to increase in population and some other factors. At the same time the government has tried to implement policies like land ceiling and consolidation of land in some relatively developed states to solve the problem of excessively large holdings (in Indian average) and small and fragmented land respectively. 2.0 Farm land Holdings, Productivity and the factors influencing them independently Agricultural holding indicates the average size of agricultural land held by the farmers in India.. An economic family land holding can be defined as one which could provide a reasonable standard of living to the cultivator and give full employment for a family of a normal size. There are five categories of farmers in India according to their holdings. A)Marginal farmers (≠¤1 hectare), b)Small farmer (1 to 2 hecteres), c)Semi medium farmers (2 to 4 hectors),d) Medium farmers (4 to 10 hectores), e) Large farmers (>10 hectors). The size of holding would ideally depend on method of cultivation and nature of the crop. Productivity here refers to the productivity of crop output so productivity in agriculture is measured as the output of the crop per unit area. Its unit is yield/hectares. At a national level the demand for agricultural product will keep rising due to increasing population of India and high GDP growth rate so the supply of agricultural products has to match up the increasing demand to keep the prices reasonable. Hence agricultural farm land productivity becomes an important parameter for the economy. India being a huge country, these factors vary a lot from region to region but artificial means can be used to enhance the factors of fertility and irrigation. The following list gives us the factors of productivity Fertility of land Natural fertility cannot be changed but input of fertilizers, farm yard manure and nutrients can improve the fertility but all these will increase the cost. Irrigation facility Any irrigation project requires heavy investment and it depends on the level of underground water and nearest source of fresh water supply. Labor supply and quality of labor Labor supply will depend on the presence of any other scope of employment and quality will depend on traditional work culture and climatic conditions and both the factors vary a lot in India. Climatic condition Floods and drought due to unpredictable nature of monsoon affect the productivity. Since last three decades economists have been debating over issue of relationship between the size of farms and agricultural productivity in India. The debate was initiated by Prof. Amartya Sen in 1962. According to him with increase in size of farm holding, productivity declines and thus the productivity is more on small farms as compared to large farms. India has a labor surplus economy. The opportunity cost of labor is low. Small farms use much of family labor to the extent that marginal productivity of labor approaches zero. In case of small farms, output per acre is maximized while in the case of large farms using hired labor, output per unit of labor is maximized. The intensity of cultivation in case of small farm is greater than that of the large farm. Moreover, heavy input of labor on small farm is not on one crop only but in two or more crops produced in the same piece of land during a given production year. It is more so in case of irrigated land. Self-employment in the fam ily farm equalizes the opportunity cost which is not different from market wage. Statistical validity of the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity is a confirmed phenomenon in Indian agriculture prior to Green Revolution. Green revolution is a capital intensive programme which was implemented in 1960s for growth of agricultural production. This capital was invested in the form of important factors of production like irrigation, fertilizer, Mechanization, Manure, pesticides, nutrients. The objective of the following analysis would be to determine all the factors like irrigation, fertilizers, Farm Yard Manure and nutrients vary with the size of farm for the present set of data 3.0 Aggregated data analysis For all the graphs below in X-axis, 1 = Marginal holding, 2 = Small Holding, 3 = Semi-Medium holding, 4 = Medium Holding, 5 = Large holding. In Y-axis, graph A), B), C),E),F) are values of percentage and D) is ratio value. The calculations of these percentage value from been mentioned in tables in appendix Graph A) and B) have been taken from table 1.C), D), F) from table 2 As per the graph A) above we can find that the marginal holding has the larger area of farm wholly irrigated about 46% and we can also observe that the percentage of the wholly irrigated land decreases with increase in the size of the holding with large holdings showing the lowest percentage of wholly irrigated area that is about 21%. The second graph B) shows us the percentage of area of different size of holding for wholly unirrigated farm land and it show us, a lot of gap between the marginal holding(44%) and large holdings(55%) in terms of percentage change. As observed from the graph C) the application of fertilizers decreases with the increase in the size of holding with the marginal holding having an area of 77% and large holdings having an area of 52% under the application of fertilizers. The graph D) related to nutrients does not show us the % of area but it shows us the quantity to area ratio. In this case the slope of the graph is steeper and it shows us trend that the intake of nutrients reduces with the increase in the size of holding. The marginal holding has a ratio of 126 and the large holding has a ratio of 56. In case of farm yard manure graph E) there is a slight increase in the percentage application from marginal holding to small holding but after that the fall continues. Here the small holdings has the highest percentage of application that is 34% and the large holding has the lowest percentage that is 18%. Application of pesticides in a in farmland is an important preventive measure to prevent pests. The graph F) does not show a negative trend completely in relation to percentage of area with relation to holding size but the large farm land shows a dip in 4%. The data above is for 2001 agriculture census which is the latest. In post green revolution period the application additional inputs i.e. factors of production like irrigation, fertilizers, farm yard manure, nutrients, pesticides shows that their intensities of application is inversely proportional to size of land.(As studied above with various data and corresponding graphs.). In other words the application of additional factors of production is more in case of small farms compared to large farms. The resultant output which is directly proportional to application of input to a reasonable extent must increase yield proportionately. Thus logically it follows that after green revolution also the inverse relationship between size of farm and productivity should hold good. Its not a direct cause and effect relationship between all the factors of productivity and farm size but there might be some common factors which might be affecting these relationship. On the other hand there can be an alternative hypothesis to this, stating large farm land are in naturally fertile and irrigated regions of this country so they do not need artificial irrigation or fertilizers to enhance their productivity. Therefore a direct inverse relationship cannot be established between Farm size and productivity by only using aggregated data related to factors of productivity. If we observe the distribution of various size of holding throughout India in table 3 of appendix larger and medium size holdings are mostly found in bigger states like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra which are not densely populated but have a larger area. The more densely populated states like West Bengal and Kerala have more number of marginal and small holdings. The natural factors of productivity are distributed among these states so the main hypothesis cannot be rejected. The alternative hypothesis can be true in some regions but not true everywhere because the different sizes of holding have been di stributed as per density of population and not as per natural factors of production. Although it can be said that inverse relationship between productivity and farms size is present in some areas of India but it is not a general law for the whole country. 4.0 Methodology for analyzing disaggregated data The analysis above shows us the analysis done for aggregated data but this same analysis can also be done using disaggregated sample data taken from various villages. If the sample data is taken from nearby villages then the conditions like Fertility , Irrigation, climatic condition and labor can be assumed to be constant. Y1,Y2,Y3,Y100 can be the data set for productivity in yields/hectares X1,X2,X3,X100 can be the data set for size of holding hectares The data above can only be obtained by doing a doing a direct survey in a particular area having common factors of productivity. Then we can do a regression analysis for the dataset having Y = Productivity and X = Size of farm land. The relationship thus obtained either positive or negative can be used to find out the relationship between productivity and size of farm for a particular area at a micro level. And this method can be used in various areas of the country having same factors of productivity . And then the trends can be observed whether its positive or negative or has no affect. This kind of analysis using disaggregated data can be done by also taking the same crop . 5.0 Labor as a factor As discussed before labor input is an important criteria for better productivity in farm land and becomes more important if the process in more manual .In Indian agriculture the Farm land labor can be divided into two type, family member workers and the other is hired workers. Generally in case of smaller size of holding the family members are mostly involved in the cultivation process and in larger farms it is a mix of both. In case of a marginal and small holding where in most of the cases only the family members are involved in farm cultivation the marginal productivity is not a factor. If required all the family members can be involved in the agriculture productivity process because the situation is more desperate and as result the intensity of cultivation is also more. The owner of smaller farm land does not have to employee hired peasants but in case of larger farms the situation changes. In case of larger farm land the owner has to take the marginal productivity of hired labor into consideration. As the intensity of cultivation for the small farm is more, the application of fertilizers, farm yard manure and nutrients might be affected as per the aggregated data analysis done before. As the small farm owner is more desperate even he can use manual means of irrigation to irrigate his land and its not possible in large farms due to its large size. It can be argued that the large farm owner would have more access to mechanized methods and capital for investment so his productivity can be higher at least after green revolution. Here the problem looks more like management of farm input resources rather than their availability. The better management of resources for small farm owner with more intensive cultivation has a bigger impact on productivity than the impact of advantage the large farm owner has in terms of more mechanization and capital availability. But the characteristics of land size holdings that is reduction in the average size of holding with time . Even the relationship between irrigation and fertilizers is also very direct. If one wants for apply more fertilizers then the irrigation facilities have to be very good so as per the irrigation data and fertilizers data both seem to follow the same pattern even if we consider labor not be a major factor here. This is clearly evident in Table 2 where more fertilizers are always applied when irrigation is high. 6.0 Changing pattern of Size of Farm land holding with time The tables 4 and 5 in appendix shows us the distribution of holdings in various states of India but there is one more important factors to this analysis that is the average size of holdings have been decreasing with time. The number of marginal holdings and small holdings have increased and the also area under marginal holdings and small holdings have increased. At the same time the number of Medium and Large holdings have decreased and also has the area under them decreased. There are two major reason for such a trend, they are as follows Increasing population With the rapid increase in population the same area of cultivable land is getting divided among more people. As a result of this the size of the holdings is reducing and area under marginal and small farms increase. To control the growth of rural population is even tougher in rural India due to lack of awareness of people due to limited education. Law of inheritance Under Hindu as well as Muslim Law of inheritance the landed property of a person has to be equally divided among all his sons and daughters which has led to more and more division of land and hence increase in marginal and small farms. Even if the land size is large now, it will get sub-divided when it goes to the next generation. Decline in the joint family system Earlier lot of families used to be joint families but this has declined over time and people generally prefer to stay with only single families. As a result the farm land is also divided more. Slow growth in handicraft industry In the villages the handicraft industry used to a source of employment for the village labor. But it has not grown sustainably with increase in rural labor so the rural population have had to depend more on agriculture as a source of employment. 7.0 Problems related to subdivision of land holdings If the fragmentation and subdivision of land continues at this rate then average size of the holdings will become even smaller and there will be more marginal holdings. Application of new technology becomes more difficult. A lot of cultivable land will be lost in making boundaries. One may argue that as in case of India the productivity of farm land will be more due to more intensive cultivation. But the per capita income of the owning family of the farm reduces with reduced farm land. Moreover if the whole family is involved to increase the intensity of cultivation the labor might be under employed for the same return. If the labor is flexible then he can move to a bigger farm as peasant if there is a demand. As seen from the statics the number of large holdings is reducing in the country and hence is the employment opportunity for hired peasants. Another factor which limits the labor flexibility is when labor tries to move from one region to another language is a big barrier. Altho ugh Hindi is Indias national language and English is the official one still lot of rural population speaks only the local languages and to be more specific only the local dialect. Skill becomes a barrier when the labor wants to move to industry in urban sector. As per our analysis till now the inverse relationship between the productivity and size of farm does hold good at least in some areas of the country if not throughout the country. At the same time if the farm land gets more divided and sub-divided the holding no longer remains economic for a single family. The ideal holding size has to be somewhere between the smaller and large holdings of around 4-5 hectares. The farm size are large and they are well managed and supervised by using modern methodology like it is done in USA and Australia they achieve high productivity. But the same thing is not easy to achieve in India as discussed beforehand. The government has introduce land ceiling in some developed states. This means that family owning excessively large farm land have to give up their excessive land to public authorities and it will be distributed among families having uneconomic holdings. This process is not at all easy because if the land is fertile than none of the owning fami lies would like to give up their land and also have to think about their future generations. Moreover any kind of ceiling will go against the market forces of demand and supply and affect the prices of land. When we talk about division and fragmentation then in many cases the farm land of a single owner is scattered throughout the village. In that case all the land in the village can be converted into a compact block and then the same land can be proportionately distributed among all the families which is called consolidation of Farm land. In states like Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh this process has been taken up seriously but in some other states like Assam and West Bengal the process has not even started. There are few reasons for which consolidation process is not easy. People in India are more attached to their piece of land, if someone has a better piece of land he would not like to sacrifice them. Both land ceiling and consolidation of farm land are policies to reach tha t optimal size of holding but they have not been easily to implement for the factors as mentioned before. 8.0 Final remark The inverse relationship between size of holding and productivity was considered to be very strong when it came for the first time under observation of AK Sen. But after the green revolution this relationship should have change to a directly proportional one as per expectation. This might be happening in some areas of India but still there are areas where the inverse relationship between size of farm and productivity still exists. As per the aggregated data analysis the factors of productivity are being affected by some common factors which helps to maintain the inverse relationship between productivity and size of farm in some areas. As mentioned before these common factors are intensity of labor and problems of management and supervision in large farms. At the same time the size of the land holding have been reducing which is leading to more uneconomic holdings for small farm owners. At this point the government should implement the policy of land ceiling and consolidation of holdi ngs judiciously in order to increase the number of semi-medium and medium size holding where optimal productivity can be achieved along with economic holding. In long term consolidation of holdings and cooperative farming should be encouraged in an organized way. The proper management of labor along with other factors of productivity and usage of mechanized technology in large farms would go a long way to improve productivity in larger consolidated farms. This would be made easier if lesser population is dependent on agriculture only if more employment opportunities are created in other sectors and the rural population upgrades to new skill requirements of the market.

Obesity in Australia :: Health, Diseases

Obesity is becoming a major health problem in developing countries like Australia, North America, Europe and other developing nations. The Australian Diabetes, obesity and life style study (AUSDIAB) predicts the changes in glucose indices; health behaviour and incidence of diabetes in 5 year follow up experiments among 5842 participants (Barr et al., 2007). This study suggests that a large number of Australians suffered mortality due to cardiovascular diseases associated with abnormal glucose metabolism every year. The Framingham Heart Study revealed that hypertension, diabetes and left ventricular remodelling lead to the development of congestive heart failure (Levy et al., 1996). The Framingham Heart Study also found that a 5% increase in weight increases the chance of hypertension by 30% over a four-year period of time. An increased sympathetic activity, impaired renin-angiotensin system, retention of fluid volume, peripheral vasoconstriction, dyslipidaemia, increased blood visco sity due to the increased haematocrit and fibrinogen may increase pressure overload on heart in obesity (Schunkert, 2002). Several studies also suggest that the cause of hypertension itself may contribute to left ventricular hypertrophy in obese individuals as the increase of BMI increases the chance of hypertension (De Simone et al., 1994; Avelar et al., 2007). High dietary fat intake increases the expression of angiotensin IB(AT1B) and Endothelin A (ETA) receptors (Neilsen et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). Plasma concentrations of angiotensin II and endothelin 1 (physiological vasoconstrictor agents) were increased in both obese patients and animal models (Barton et al., 2000; Neilsen et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). Recent studies have shown that reduced synthesis of nitric oxide (NO; a major vasodilator) from L-arginine in endothelial cells is a major factor contributing to the impaired action of insulin in the vasculature of obese and diabetic subjects. Obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Growing evidence suggests that arginine plays an important role in regulating metabolism of energy substrates in mammals (Frank et al. 2007; Jobgen et al. 2006). NO is synthesized from L-arginine by NO synthase. As a signalling molecule, physiological levels of NO stimulate glucose uptake, as well as glucose and fatty-acid oxidation in skeletal muscle, heart, liver, and adipose tissues (Jobgen et al. 2006). Nitric oxide also inhibits the synthesis of glucose, glycogen and lipid in liver and adipose tissues and enhances lipolysis in subcutaneous adipocytes (Jobgen et al. Obesity in Australia :: Health, Diseases Obesity is becoming a major health problem in developing countries like Australia, North America, Europe and other developing nations. The Australian Diabetes, obesity and life style study (AUSDIAB) predicts the changes in glucose indices; health behaviour and incidence of diabetes in 5 year follow up experiments among 5842 participants (Barr et al., 2007). This study suggests that a large number of Australians suffered mortality due to cardiovascular diseases associated with abnormal glucose metabolism every year. The Framingham Heart Study revealed that hypertension, diabetes and left ventricular remodelling lead to the development of congestive heart failure (Levy et al., 1996). The Framingham Heart Study also found that a 5% increase in weight increases the chance of hypertension by 30% over a four-year period of time. An increased sympathetic activity, impaired renin-angiotensin system, retention of fluid volume, peripheral vasoconstriction, dyslipidaemia, increased blood visco sity due to the increased haematocrit and fibrinogen may increase pressure overload on heart in obesity (Schunkert, 2002). Several studies also suggest that the cause of hypertension itself may contribute to left ventricular hypertrophy in obese individuals as the increase of BMI increases the chance of hypertension (De Simone et al., 1994; Avelar et al., 2007). High dietary fat intake increases the expression of angiotensin IB(AT1B) and Endothelin A (ETA) receptors (Neilsen et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). Plasma concentrations of angiotensin II and endothelin 1 (physiological vasoconstrictor agents) were increased in both obese patients and animal models (Barton et al., 2000; Neilsen et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). Recent studies have shown that reduced synthesis of nitric oxide (NO; a major vasodilator) from L-arginine in endothelial cells is a major factor contributing to the impaired action of insulin in the vasculature of obese and diabetic subjects. Obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Growing evidence suggests that arginine plays an important role in regulating metabolism of energy substrates in mammals (Frank et al. 2007; Jobgen et al. 2006). NO is synthesized from L-arginine by NO synthase. As a signalling molecule, physiological levels of NO stimulate glucose uptake, as well as glucose and fatty-acid oxidation in skeletal muscle, heart, liver, and adipose tissues (Jobgen et al. 2006). Nitric oxide also inhibits the synthesis of glucose, glycogen and lipid in liver and adipose tissues and enhances lipolysis in subcutaneous adipocytes (Jobgen et al.

Breaking Down The Metamorphosis Essay -- essays research papers

Breaking Down â€Å"The Metamorphosis†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Franz Kafka’s beginning of his novel, â€Å"The Metamorphosis,† begins with what would seem a climactic moment: â€Å"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.† From this point on, the reader is determined to make sense of this transformation. However, the reader later comes to realize that Gregor is actually not an insect, but this metamorphosis into a vermin was purely symbolic. It symbolizes the degrading lifestyle that Gregor leads to support his family. This leads the reader to understand Gregor’s absurd dilemma.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gregor’s insignificant and outcast lifestyle of supporting his family proves that â€Å"the universe is irrational, and man’s place in it is absurd.† This is proven by the fact that Gregor is working to pay off his father’s debts and provide for his family. His work is mundane, and strictly business. Yet, when the metamorphosis of Gregor takes place, his family practically shuns him from their contact. Still however, Gregor’s first thoughts after believing that he is an insect, are to get dressed and go to work. This attitude is seemingly absurd, however Gregor is so deep into trying to help his family, that he makes an attempt at ignoring the impossibility of working.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea that â€Å"Humankind is disconnected from reality,† is set in stone by Kafka when he writes about the transformation of Gregor’s families’ lives, and his own. The Samsa’s treated Gregor simply as a means to get out of debt, although the reader comes to realize later that the family was not as bad off as Gregor had believed. Also, the father returns back to work after Gregor cannot, which proves that his disability not nearly as severe as he had Gregor believed. Although Gregor is the family member that turns into a bug, he remains the only one of them to retain humanity. The family cannot grasp that the bug in the bedroom is Gregor, their son and brother. They disconnect themselves from him, forgetting that they have known him his entire life, and once perhaps loved him. After his metamorphosis, Gregor became the member of the family in need, yet instead of helping him, as he helped them, Gregor became a burden to the family. T he family, especially the father and mother do not make an attempt... ...top loving him. Without his initial function, he became an outlaw of family life. Gregor eventually wanted the family to give up all hope in him, a hope that he wanted to exist but did not. â€Å"He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s.† Immediately after this line, Gregor Samsa committed suicide. As a the family came to learn of Gregor’s death, the father said, â€Å"Well, now thanks be to God.† The sister appears to not be upset, but rather in a state of disbelief that the burden on their family is finally gone. When Gregor’s mother learns of his death, she questions it, to check the validity, and then tell her daughter to come join them with a â€Å"tremendous smile.† However, it is arguable whether he killed himself, or Gregor died of a broken heart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story of Gregor Samsa and his metamorphosis is one of sorrow, but more a story to unveil the cruelties of Humankind. Kafka’s brilliance and understanding of human nature can not be fully grasped by quickly reading the story, but instead divulging into the hidden messages Kafka inserts within the text.

Critical Movie Review Psychology: Girl, Interrupted Essay

Critical Movie Review â€Å"Girl, Interrupted† This movie revolves around a young woman named Susanna in the 1960s who is experiencing mental issues and ends up in a mental institution. Her journey focuses on her relationship with several of the other patients and nurses. At first she doesn’t believe she is ill, and resists her treatment, instead befriending another patient, Lisa, who takes her on many adventures inside and outside of the hospital. Lisa leads her down the wrong path which ends in the death of a former patient. This event leads Susanna down the right path and she dives into focusing on making herself well. The lead characters include Susanna, a young woman with borderline personality disorder. She doesn’t know what she wants to do or where to go in life. She finds herself admitted into a mental institution after taking a bottle of aspirin and drinking a bottle of vodka. Lisa is a â€Å"lifer† patient in the ward, and she clearly has some major personality, social and mental issues. It was never clearly spoken what her diagnosis was, however, some of the other girls on the ward mention sociopath, and criminally insane. She has no empathy for others around her unless it benefits her. She is manipulative and conniving. She uses the weakness of the minds in her circle to get what she wants. This intrigues Susanna, who befriends Lisa, to Susanna, she personifies freedom. Another character is Valerie, a black woman, and head nurse of Susannas ward. She doesn’t take any lip, and is a very strong mother figure in the story. Valerie is a single mother, and I believe this ad ds to her strength with dealing with the girls in the ward. There are several mental disorders depicted in Girl, Interrupted. Susanna has borderline personality disorder. This was portrayed very well, considering the clinical description of the disorder. She feels that time can go backward and forward, she frequently has flashbacks, is generally pessimistic, tends toward the company of men, whereas she is quite promiscuous. Susanna also made a feeble attempt at suicide by taking aspirin and vodka, which is what landed her in the hospital. Our book states that one thing borderline disorder sufferers do is threats or attempts at injuring themselves for attention. I believe that the talk and attempts at death are more a call for help than a desire to injure oneself. Lisa, well, she is textbook sociopathic. She is classically crazy, and portrayed well. Lisa has no empathy or feelings unless she can be benefited. She latches herself onto Susanna because she sees that Susanna can be manipulated. Lisa shows a lot of violence and false threats to acts of violence. I also believe that Lisa loves the attention, and craves it. She also gets off on pushing peoples buttons, to see how far she can push a person. This was perfectly shown when she and Susanna run away and stay with a former patient, Daisy. Lisa pushes Daisy’s buttons to a point that she hangs herself. This was a turning point in the movie where Susanna realizes that she needs and wants to get better, as well as being able to see Lisa for who she really is. Susanna initially has issues coping with her diagnosis. She believes that her being in the mental hospital is a ploy and a way to hide her by her parents. She doesn’t really understand why she is the way she is, or why she thinks the way she thinks. Befriending Lisa, is her way of rebelling in a small way. She struggles with her diagnosis but after Daisy’s death, she becomes committed to getting better. She uses the resources of the hospital to get everything off her chest, which makes her feel more normal. Wynona Rider and Angelina Jolie did a fantastic job portraying Susanna and Lisa. Ms Rider has always been a fantastic actress and her look is perfect in portraying the malaise of Susanna. You really begin to believe and feel what Susanna feels. One begins to understand the pain and suffering that Susanna is going through. She wants to fit in, maybe too much. Yet she does not want to be like her mother. She wants to be different. She is ambivalent. Ms Jolie, well, she gets the Oscar for being able to show how smart a crazy person can be. Sometimes we think of a person with a mental issue as drooling and head banging. Lisa is very smart. She sees the world like no other person can see it. Lisa believes this is an advantage, that she can see the real truth. Ms Jolie put you right in the middle of that image and almost made one afraid to open their door to a stranger. I love this movie. It has been in my collection for years and I have watched  in many times. This time through though, I was really focused on the girls’ behavior and the symptoms they displayed. I’ve always thought this movie applied to me a lot, helping me to suppress some of the feelings I have sometimes, and revealing that I need to stay on my meds as well. It also helps me know that â€Å"crazy† isn’t always â€Å"crazy† and that there is a way to get well, and stay well.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Essay

Oliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens. The novel follows an orphan boy named Oliver through many trials and tribulations he must endure. Through this he does have a few kind, compassionate, and stable people to rely on. Two of the most important were Nancy and Rose Maylie. Within this essay I will give a detailed description of both Rose and Nancy and also compare and contrast the two. First I would like to introduce you to Nancy. Nancy is the only female character of Fagin’s group. Being a part of this group Nancy must steal from the rich in order to make money for basic necessities and keep her relationships with the crew. This lifestyle puts he in the criminal social class or otherwise know as the lowest of the low social class. Nancy, much like Oliver, was also an orphan growing up. She acquires no formal education; therefore she can neither read nor write. Even though Nancy was not blessed with the luxury of the basic upbringing, she maintains very impressive street smarts. She displays this when bringing stolen goods to Fagin that are bundled like a baby so it is not witnessed as suspicious. Nancy may have been a criminal but she had a great heart. She had a great relationship with all of Fagin’s boys and cared for all of them. She also cared greatly for her boyfriend Bill Sikes who, in my opinion, did not return this love. Bill was very abusive towards Nancy and seemed to threaten her on a regular basis. When confronted with the question, â€Å"Do you love me Bill?† by Nancy, he did not directly answer and proceeded to ignore the question. In the end it was also Bill who ended up murdering Nancy. Apparently, Bill Sikes thought Nancy telling Mr. Brownlow and Rose where to find Oliver was punishable by death. By following through with the action of â€Å"peaching†, Nancy shows how much she truly cares about Oliver. Another major character in Oliver’s life was Rose Maylie. Rose Maylie was a ward of Mr. Brownlow, therefore also making her an orphan. Mr. Brownlow was an Upper Middle Class man, which made Rose and Upper Middle Class â€Å"Victorian woman.† She, like many others from her social class, was well educated. She even was very talented at playing the piano. Mr. Brownlow’s grandson, Edward, wanted to marry Rose. Rose, seeing that Edward’s thinking was wrong, expressed to him how against the idea she was; something very uncommon for that day in age. Oliver was brought into the home by Mr. Brownlow after Oliver was wrongfully accused of pick pocketing him. While Oliver is changing into clean, more appropriate clothing, Rose notices scars on Oliver’s back due to beatings. From then on Rose feel obligated to protect poor Oliver. She becomes somewhat of a sister figure to him. Throughout the novel Rose protects and defends Oliver. As you can see Nancy and Rose are different in many ways. However, both women do have a few things in common. Rose and Nancy both had very different social classes.