R.E Coursework Religion and Medical Issues Essay Example for Free

R.E Coursework Religion and Medical Issues Essay Ai) Infertility is when a couple cannot naturally conceive a child. There are many treatments to get around infertility; some of these, may however raise moral issues. There are many treatments available; Fertility drugs are one of these, this is where an infertile woman is given drugs, which stop infertility and make a woman capable of carrying a child. These are recognised by the church, as the sacredness of life is not threatened. AIH (artificial insemination by the husband), is another of these treatments. The sperm of the husband is taken and artificially put it in the wife. AID (artificial insemination by the donor), this is for if the man does not produce sperm. An anonymous donor donates his sperm, which is then artificially put into the woman. Gamete storing, is a fairly new process where the gametes are frozen, this means that if one of the parents has a treatment which makes them infertile, they can use the gametes which are stored. Surrogacy. This is where an alien hostess carries the baby. The sperm of the man is artificially inserted into the hostess. This is not recognised by the church because it is very similar to adultery. Aii) Roman Catholics have the view that life is sacred and therefore the sacredness of life must be protected. The church believes that no one has the right to children; if someone is infertile it is because it is supposed to be that way. Any of the treatments, which involve the destruction of embryos, are banned because this is the same as abortion and that is banned in the Catholic Church. The Church bans any of the treatments, which involve artificial insemination by the husband, as this involves masturbation, which is a sin in the eyes of the church. In AID and surrogacy the child does not get to know their biological parents, the church believes that the child has a right to know their biological parents. All forms of fertility treatments involve procreation outside of sex; God intended procreation to be part of the sex act. Other Christian churches allow IVF and AIH as they believe it is a good use of technology to provide families with the happiness of children. God intended families to have children, if IVF or AIH is the only way to do that it should be done. The egg and sperm are from the husband and wife and so it is not counted as adultery and therefore it is still a pure loving act. Some of the embryos are destroyed in these processes; embryos, which are not yet foetuses, so therefore it is not considered murder. The other churches still have major concerns about the other treatments; they have not banned them, however. All churches encourage childless families to adopt as they believe all children should have a loving happy family. iii) Generally Christians believe in transplant surgery and think that it is a good thing. Some Christians have some ethical issues, however. They believe that it would be wrong for rich people to pay for organs. It is well known that some wealthier 1st world citizens would be more than willing to exploit uneducated, 3rd world citizens to save themselves. This is known as the black market. The people in Africa may not be well educated and therefore do not realise that it is dangerous. It could be dangerous as the surgeon in Africa may be using dirty equipment and therefore the African would be vulnerable to infection. It is also exploiting the poor which is condemned by the bible. Some Christians are opposed to using organs from the dead but support using those of the living. They believe that organs such as the heart are an intrinsic part of the individual created by God. Transplanting organs from the dead into the living is usurping the role of God, and humans do not have the right to play God. This is a sin and is condemned by the Bible. Jesus taught us to love thy neighbour. If an organ can be transplanted while someone is alive then it is not vital and transplanting it would be, ‘loving thy neighbour.’ Some Christians believe all transplant surgery wrong and condemn it. They believe that transplants ignore the sanctity of life. This is a great sin in the eyes of the church. They believe that transplanting organs is ‘playing God’ and this is one of the great sins. They also believe that it is very expensive and requires very skilled people of which there are few. It raises the question of when someone is considered dead, as the heart needs to be removed when it is still beating. It diverts recourses from less expensive treatments which could help far more people than transplants. Most Muslims believe that transplants are wrong. They believe that it is against God’s will to remove anything from the body after death this means that none of the organs can be removed. They believe that God created each person and so to remove something from one and put it in another is to act as God which is the greatest sin in Islam. They believe that life is sacred and only God has the right to give and take it.

Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency

Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency:  An Inborn Error of Metabolism Marisa Houser The body’s metabolism is responsible for all the physical and chemical processes that convert or use energy. One of these processes is breaking down and digesting food. (National Institutes of Health , 2014) Food that is not broken down properly can lead to a buildup within the body and can be toxic or interfere with the body’s normal function. This build up can present with many different symptoms. Some of these symptoms can lead to developmental delays especially if left untreated or not controlled.(National Institutes of Health , 2013) The disorders that will not allow the body to properly turn food into energy are known as, inborn errors of metabolism. Though these are considered rare genetic disorders, there are many. Here, however, we will focus on just one, Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency. Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency is the most common urea cycle disorder affecting 1 in every 30,000 people. The urea cycle is the body’s way to dispose of excess nitrogen causing a buildup of ammonia within the body. 34% of patients will present within the first 30 days of life. (Sloas, 2013) These patients appear normal with no symptoms at birth but by day 2 to 3 they are extremely ill when they suffer from the first substantial buildup of ammonia in the body (˃150 µmol/L), also known as a hyperammonemic episode. (Jones, 2013) These patients may present with vomiting, poor feeding, irritability, fever and limpness. Prompt action needs to be taken to avoid critical long term affects. Some long term effects from hyperammonia can include seizures, swelling of the brain, developmental delays and liver failure. Many will not survive their first hyperammonemic episode and those that do will become hyperammonemic again. (Lichter-Konecki U, 2013) Late onset and partial disease of OTC deficiency disorder can also occur. Both late onset and partial disease are rare in both males and females. In either situation most will suffer a hyperammonemic episode at some point in their life. They may show mild presentation or not present at all until they suffer from severe illness, fasting, pregnancy or a new medication. These patients may present with anorexia, fever, irritability, rapid breathing, low muscle tone, vomiting, diarrhea/constipation, altered mental status, sleepiness, combativeness, psychosis, tremor, seizures and coma. (Sloas, 2013) All will also suffer from some type of neurological disorder such as developmental delays, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).(Lichter-Konecki U, 2013) When we eat, enzymes help break the food down so that our bodies can absorb the nutrients from the food. If the enzyme needed to break down the nutrients is nonexistent or deficient it halts one of the steps in the breakdown of our food for energy, and causes disease. When we eat protein it is broken down into essential and non-essential amino acids. The amino acids are converted to pyruvate then to oxaloacetic acid at which point they are introduced to the Krebs cycle. The Krebs cycle is where the majority of the energy from the food we eat is made. (ONeill, 2013) The Urea cycle is made up of five steps. The first step is the conversion of bicarbonate and ammonia to carbamyl phosphate. Next is the formation of citrulline from ornithine and carbamyl phosphate. The third step is the conversion of citrulline and aspartate to argininosuccinate. The fourth step is the cleavage of argininosuccinate to form arginine. The final step is the degradation of arginine to form urea and ornithine. (Figure 1) At this point the urea can be disposed of through the body in urine. This process is catalyzed by the enzymes that exist in the liver. One of these enzymes is Ornithine Transcarbamylase. (Shambaugh III, 1977) Ornithine Transcarbamylase is an enzyme of the liver and intestinal mucosa that catalyzes the breakdown of citrulline from ornithine and carbamyl-phosphate. In OTC deficiency this process is halted. Now the body cannot detoxify ammonia to make urea, a substance that is disposed of through urination and the ammonia builds up within the system. (Herin glake, Boker, Manns, 1997) The 3rd step, the conversion of citrulline and aspartate to argininosuccinate, is the link between the Krebs cycle and the Urea cycle. Figure 1. Urea Biosynthesis (Shambaugh III, 1977) Figure 2 Urea Cycle â€Å"The urea cycle functions primarily in the liver, and is a metabolic pathway that detoxifies ammonia by converting it into urea. Ammonia is generated from the conversion of proteins and nucleic acids in our diet as well as due to normal cellular turnover. Defects of the urea cycle result in hyperammonemia which can progress to brain edema and result in cognitive impairment or death.† (Childrens National Medical Center, 2007) OTC deficiency is a disorder involving the mutation of the ornithine transcarbamylase gene, located on the short arm of the X chromosome at position 21.1. (Sloas, 2013) (Figure 3) OTC deficiency is an X linked disorder and therefore will mostly affect males, especially early onset as a baby. More than 300 mutations have been identified in patients that have OTC deficiency. Most are single base alterations that alter the amino acid code. Most families have mutations that only occur within their own genome usually found at the CpG dinucleotides. CpG dinucleotides are where the cytosine nucleotide and guanine nucleotide are next to each other on the DNA. According to the Children’s National Medical Center, these are â€Å"mutation hotspots†. (Childrens National Medical Center, 2007) Figure 3. Cytogenetic Location: Xp21.1. Molecular Location on the X chromosome: base pairs 38,352,482 to 38,421,449 (U.S National Library of Medicine, 2015) There are no measures that prevent OTC deficiency all together, however there are preventative measures that can be used to help reduce or avoid hyperammonemic episodes. Families can provide doctors with their family health history and undergo genetic testing to help the family make informed medical and personal decisions. If either parent is a carrier, testing can be done to diagnose OTC deficiency prenatally. This can help the healthcare team avoid the initial and often critical first hyperammonemic episode. For patients that are not diagnosed prenatally but within the first few days of life, reducing the concentration of ammonia in their system rapidly is critical. This can be done by hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is a process used to clean your blood by pumping it through a special machine. The faster the ammonia level is lowered the greater the chance of avoiding severe brain damage from the buildup of ammonia in the bloodstream. In addition protein intake should be restricted, especially animal proteins as these are high in nitrogen and lead to hyperammonemic episodes. Many partial and late onset OTC deficiency patients practice a vegetarian diet to avoid the risk of elevated ammonia levels. Another course of treatment is finding an alternate pathway for nitrogen excretion. (Lichter-Konecki U, 2013) Phenylbutyrate and oral sodium benzoate are nitrogen scavengers. They provide an alternate way for the body to dispose of nitrogen and safely take in more protein. Liver transplants are a common course of treatment as well. The transplant can prevent reoccurring hyperammonemic episodes and long term neurological effects. These are typically performed by age sixth months. Those diagnosed with partial OTC deficiency or late onset may also be liver transplant candidates if they suffer from frequent hyperammonemic episodes. (Lichter-Konecki U, 2013) Researchers are investigating some new therapies to manage OTC deficiency. Hypothermia for neuroprotection, cooling to body down has been shown to reduce ammonia production by lowering the body’s metabolism overall. Liver cell transplant is being studied to see if I can temporarily stabilize critically patients while they are waiting for a liver transplant. Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are being considered. This therapy would use the patient’s cells to generate stem cells that can then be induced to become liver cells. Gene therapy could possibly be used to correct the disorder in the new cells and then used to for liver regeneration in the patient. (Lichter-Konecki U, 2013) These promising new approaches continue to give hope to patients and their families. Works Cited Childrens National Medical Center. (2007). Welcome to the Ornithine Transcarbamylase website . Retrieved from Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency Website: http://ureacycle.cnmcresearch.org/otc/ Heringlake, S., Boker, K., Manns, M. (1997). Fatal clinical course of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in an adult heterozygous female patient. Digestion 58.1, 83-6. Jones, P. M. (2013). Altered Mental State in a Teenager. Clinical Chemistry 59.10, 1442-4. Lichter-Konecki U, C. L. (2013, August 29). Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency. Retrieved from GeneReviews: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154378/ National Institutes of Health . (2013, June 9). Inborn errors of metabolism. Retrieved from MedLine Plus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002438.htm National Institutes of Health . (2014, August 7). Metabolism . Retrieved from MedLine Plus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002257.htm ONeill, M. (2013, January 4). Metabolic Pathways of Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats in Humans. Retrieved from Ketopia wonderful low card science: http://ketopia.com/metabolic-pathways/ Shambaugh III, G. E. (1977). Urea biosynthesis I.The urea cycle and relationships to the citric acid cycle. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2083-87. Sloas, H. A. (2013). At the intersection of toxicology, psychiatry, and genetics: a diagnosis of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine 31.9, 1420.e5.

School Readiness: Literature Review

School Readiness: Literature Review School Readiness The heart and core of this paper is the increased emphasis on School Readiness. The paper would define the integration, Cognition and Emotion with conceptualization of Childrens functioning at School level Entry. The character of work and society in the United States is changing. The technological nature of the information-based economy is placing increased emphasis on the active role of the individual in seeking out and applying knowledge in diverse ways. The workplace and the classroom increasingly require ready access to information and analytical and creative thinking skills that allow for self-regulated learning through goal setting, strategy use, and self-monitoring. Indeed, some see the ability of our educational institutions to enhance thinking skills and produce self-regulated learners as having broad implications for the future role of the United States in the global economy and the ongoing viability of the democratic process (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 1999; Presidents Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, 1997). PART I Problem Statement From the standpoint of research on learning, the growing emphasis on thinking skills and self-regulation signals the need for increased understanding of the ways in which young children become active seekers and appliers of knowledge (Lambert McCombs, 1998). High levels of motivation and self-regulation are clearly associated with academic achievement independent of measured intelligence (Gottfried, 1990; Skinner, Zimmer-Gembeck, Connell, 1998). The developmental origins of motivation and engaged learning during early childhood, however, are less well known. Parents involvement, peer-group influences, and school characteristics have all been shown to influence motivation and engagement (e.g., Eccles, Wigfield, Schiefele, 1998; Grolnick Ryan, 1989; Ryan, 2000). But childrens characteristics associated with engagement in learning, particularly those related to brain development, have been less well studied. Part II Analysis of Policy Approaches Recent advances in developmental neuroscience indicate the rapid growth and modification in infancy and early childhood of brain areas that subserve self-regulation, including emotion, memory, and attention (Nelson Luciana, 2001). An important next scientific step in the study of self-regulation and engaged learning is the examination of implications of this rapid change and its determinants for functional outcomes, such as the adjustment to school (Byrnes Fox, 1998). To this end, I detail a central role for emotionality and emotion-related functioning in neurological development and childrens adjustment to school. I conclude by suggesting that influences on emotionality can influence the development of neurological interconnections among structures underlying emotion and higher order cognition. As such, these influences on emotionality are particularly relevant to the design and implementation of early compensatory educational programs to promote childrens school readiness (see Nelson, 2000b) and can assist in the ongoing construction of an empirical foundation on which to erect social policy designed to meet Americas foremost educational goal: ensuring that all children enter school ready to learn (Lewit Baker, 1995; Zigler, 1998). However, although my focus is on the development of self-regulation abilities as an aspect of school readiness, only by keeping in mind that readiness is a multidimensional construct involving family, peer, school, a nd community levels of influence will the value of the neurodevelopmental perspective on self-regulation become apparent. Ecologically minded thinkers on readiness focus on transactional, systemic models of influences and seek to define processes at multiple levels (S. L. Kagan, 1990, 1992; Meisels, 1996; Pianta Walsh, 1996). Within this developmental transactional approach, the study of emotionality provides an excellent framework for arraying multiple influences on readiness. Part III- (Recent Legislation) Whether defined as the regulation of emotion in appropriate social responding or the regulation of attention and selective strategy use in the execution of cognitive tasks, self-regulatory skills underlie many of the behaviors and attributes that are associated with successful school adjustment. Researchers have long considered intelligence to be a key predictor of success in school. Indicators of self-regulation ability, however, are independent and perhaps equally powerful predictors of school adjustment. Much of the literature on school readiness points to the importance of self-regulation (Grolnick Slowiaczek, 1994; Normandeau Guay, 1998; Wentzel, Weinberger, Ford, Feldman, 1990). Clear relations between achievement and the percentage of time that students are engaged in academic activities have been demonstrated both in elementary and in preschool regular and special education classrooms (Carta, Greenwood, Robinson, 1987; Greenwood, 1991). Emotionality and regulatory aspects of measures of temperament have also been implicated in school achievement in both regular and special education classrooms. Children who are temperamentally less distractible and exhibit more positively valenced and moderate levels of emotional intensity are rated by their teachers as being more teachable and achieve at higher levels academically than do children without these characteristics (Keogh, 1992; Martin, Drew, Gaddis, Moseley, 1988; Palinsin, 1986). As well, aspects of social and cognitive self-regulation, such as those implicated in friendship and social interaction skills (Ladd, Birch, Buhs, 1999) and in perceived control over learning (Skinner et al., 1998), point to a key role for childrens self-regulatory ability in the transition to school. Further, data from the National Center for Education Statistics survey of kindergarten teachers ratings of child characteristics considered to be essential or very important to being ready to start kindergarten indicate teachers predominant concern for regulatory aspects of childrens behavior (Lewit Baker, 1995). In particular, it is noteworthy that 84% of teachers endorsed that children need to be able to communicate wants, needs, and thoughts verbally, 76% endorsed the idea that children need to be enthusiastic and curious, and 60% endorsed that children need to be able to follow directions, not be disruptive of the class, and be sensitive to other childrens feelings. In contrast, only 21% of teachers endorsed the need for children to be able to use a pencil or paintbrush, and only 10% and 7%, respectively, endorsed knowing several letters of the alphabet and being able to count to 20 as being essential or very important to being ready to start kindergarten. In addition, in a survey conducted by the National Center for Early Development and Learning, 46% of a nationally representative sample of kindergarten teachers indicated that over half the children in their class lacked the kinds of abilities and experiences that would enable them to function productively in the kindergarten classroom (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, Cox, 2000). This suggests that many children are arriving at school without effective self-regulation skills. Overall, the results of these teacher surveys clearly indicate that kindergarten teachers are concerned with childrens regulatory readiness for school activities rather than with more strictly cognitive and academic aspects of readiness. The surveys suggest that teachers are concerned with being able to teach; that is, they are concerned with the capacity of each child to be attentive and responsive and to become engaged in the classroom. Development of Regulation Despite growing interest in self-regulation and evidence for its direct relevance to school readiness, individual differences in self-regulation and the relation of these individual differences to functional outcomes, such as the adjustment to school, have not been studied. The developing cognitive skills that, in part, form the basis for self-regulated learning are generally referred to as executive or metacognitive skills. Executive function is a construct that unites working memory, attention, and inhibitory control for the purposes of planning and executing goal-directed activity (Bell, 1998; Lyon Krasnegor, 1996; Zelazo, Carter, Reznick, Frye, 1997). That is, the construct combines basic cognitive processes within a goal-directed executive that marshals resources toward a desired end state. Normative developmental study of executive function, usually in cross-sectional designs with a battery of neuropsychological assessments, indicates an age-related maturational developmental course for the construct and its component processes (Krikorian Bartok, 1998; Luciana Nelson, 1998; Welsh, Pennington, Groisser, 1991). These findings support the idea that the emergence of behaviors indicative of cognitive processes involved in executive function are dependent to some extent on the development of the prefrontal cortex at ages approximately congruent with school entry (Gerstadt, Hong, Diamond, 1994; Luciana Nelson, 1998). As well, the finding that executive ability and general intelligence are only moderately correlated (Krikorian Bartok, 1998; Welsh et al., 1991) further underscores that executive regulatory skill is an independent contributor to the school-adjustment process. Clinical examination of frontal lobe damage has indicated that frontal dysfunction, depending on t he exact location of the deficit, leaves specific cognitive abilities and general intelligence largely intact but greatly impairs planning, self-monitoring, attention, and responsiveness to impending reward or punishment (Damasio, 1994; Eslinger, Biddle, Pennington, Page, 1999; Tranel Eslinger, 2000). A longitudinal study of the development of one aspect of executive cognition, referred to as effortful or inhibitory control has demonstrated it to be an antecedent of the internalization of norms of conduct in young children (Kochanska, Murray, Coy, 1997). When examined by a multimethod measure defined as the ability to inhibit a predominant response when instructed to engage in a subdominant response (i.e., to be told to wait to eat a cookie or to unwrap a present), effortful control has been shown to increase with age, to be stable, and to become increasingly coherent. As well, several characteristics of children and parents have been associated with the construct of effortful control. Childrens capacity for focused attention in infancy and maternal responsiveness to children, as well as parental personality characteristics such as dependability, prudence, and self-control, have been associated with variation in effortful control (Kochanska, Murray, Harlan, 2000). Similarly, maternal responsiveness in infancy, as assessed by a measure of the affective synchrony of the mother and child in face-to-face interaction, has been identified as a precursor of effortful control at age 24 months. Most notably, however, the interaction of mother–child affective synchrony with child negative emotionality appears to be a highly salient predictor of self-regulation. In particular, the impact of affective synchrony in mother–infant interaction on the development of effortful control is large for children exhibiting high negative emotionality in infa ncy. The effect of affective synchrony on effortful control for infants not characterized by negative emotionality is substantially smaller (Feldman, Greenbaum, Yirmiya, 1999). The role of negative emotionality in early intervention to prevent grade retention is of strong interest. Grade retention appears to be a well-intentioned educational practice that frequently has deleterious consequences for childrens academic and social success in school (Shepard Smith, 1989). In spite of evidence indicating adverse outcomes associated with its use, the practice persists, and effective programs to prevent its occurrence are needed. The continued use of grade retention as a remedial strategy seems to reflect the lack of alternative solutions when teachers have concerns about the academic progress, maturity, and general school readiness of individual children. To the extent to which grade retention is dependent on interrelations among childrens social, emotional, and cognitive adaptation to school, it may be that early compensatory education interventions that specifically address social and emotional functioning can prevent its occurrence. Future Directions Examination of emotionality within early intervention to promote school readiness and prevent grade retention provides a useful model for evaluating the role that programs to enhance social and emotional competence might play in preschool education. The study of emotionality suggests that a particularly promising direction for early intervention efforts may be the implementation in preschool and early elementary school of programs that combine interventions focusing on social and emotional competence with early compensatory education. Such programs would provide an exceptionally strong model for the promotion of school readiness and school success. As noted above, several early compensatory education interventions have demonstrated cognitive benefits to program recipients. Several school-based programs to enhance social and emotional competence have also demonstrated benefits to childrens social competence (see Eisenberg, Wentzel, Harris, 1998, for a review). An interesting area in which programs focusing on social competence interface with more cognitively oriented programs is problem solving related to the development of executive cognitive functioning. A particular example of the executive cognitive problem-solving approach to the promotion of prosocial behavior and social competence is the Promoting Alternative Thinking Skills (PATHS) curriculum, an intervention curriculum with demonstrated benefits to young childrens social competence, emotion regulation, and problem-solving skills in the early elementary grades (Greenberg, Kusche, Cook, Quamma, 1995). The neurobiological approach to early childhood education and school readiness is premised on the idea that the school classroom represents a distinct context within which specific regulatory demands are made of children. Children are expected to adapt to a socially defined role for which they may or may not have been previously socialized. Differences among children in the capacity for regulation within this environment, as well as differences in supports for childrens self-regulatory attempts both within and without this environment, are important to conceptualizations of readiness that view the transition to school within an ecological framework (Meisels, 1996; Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, Cox, 1999). From the foregoing, it can be seen that a focus on childrens characteristics in the development of readiness does not preclude study of the influences of parents, schools, and communities. On the contrary, when viewed from the ecological contextual perspective that drives much of the resea rch on child development, it necessitates their inclusion. Researchers concerned with readiness over the past two decades have rightly moved from static child-focused conceptions of readiness embodied in academically oriented standardized tests of ability or aptitude. An exclusive focus on childrens cognitive skills and abilities in the assessment of readiness has proved to be of limited benefit (Pianta Walsh, 1996). This fact has rightly led researchers to seek alternative definitions for and determinants of readiness. This recognition of readiness as a socially constructed phenomenon has led to a broadening of the research base to include a focus on schools and teachers and the development of educational policies geared toward maximizing childrens potential for success in school (Graue, 1993; NAEYC, 1990; Willer Bredekamp, 1990). Continued efforts to foster readiness with an eye toward the neurobiology and psychophysology of childrens emotionality and regulation may be particularly likely to yield long-term benefits. In this, measures of biologically based processes can serve as both predictors and outcomes in the evaluation of programs to promote readiness and success in school. Programs to foster regulation can use physiological and neurocognitive measures to identify individuals at high risk for poor school outcome because of negative emotional reactivity. Treatment Ãâ€" Risk interactions can be specified that can increase the precision with which intervention effects on outcomes are estimated. Although-brain imaging techniques are perhaps not currently usable with children younger than seven years of age because of features of the assessment, magnetic resonance imaging and perhaps, under certain conditions, positron emission tomography could be used, along with physiological and neurocognitive assessments, as outcome measures of the efficacy of preschool interventions. Programs could demonstrate efficacy through assessments of behavioral outcomes and underlying neurobiology and physiology. As in the studies by Fox et al. (2001) and Davidson and Rickman (1999), which indicated change over time in emotional reactivity and EEG measures of frontal asymmetry, intervention studies might demonstrate change in frontal asymmetry and emotionality in response to curricula designed to reduce stress, foster emotional competence, and enhance attention, working memory, and other components of cognitive self-regulation. As noted by Nelson (1999), neuroscientific measurement techniques and knowledge of neural plasticity and human development are now sufficiently advanced to inform the conceptualization and evaluation of interventions to promote competence and foster resilience. PART IV Conclusion In conclusion, the neurobiological approach to the study of readiness can now supplant nativist or idealist conceptions of readiness that focus exclusively on maturation. The maturational view, primarily associated with Arnold Gessell (1925), posited that readiness comes about through the gradual development of abilities that facilitate learning: being able to sit quietly, to focus on work, to attend, and to follow directions. Certainly, there is some maturational component to the neurodevelopmental view of readiness; however, the traditional maturational view has been fully supplanted by an epigenetic conception of relations between nature and nurture (Elman et al., 1996). Indeed, the ideas that fostered the replacement of the traditional maturational view with an epigenetic conception of development were clearly in place in Gesells time, most notably in the work of Myrtle McGraw (1946/1995). Although any explicitly maturational view is and always has been unsuitable as a theoretical basis for child study, the child characteristics important for readiness that such a view purports to explain remain vital to the construct. In their modern form, however, these characteristics are now tethered to a comprehensive and ecologically sensitive framework relating neurobiological and behavioral research. Behavioral scientists, educators, and policymakers studying readiness and school adjustment should be aware of this. To this end, I have attempted to propose a conception of readiness that maintains a focus on relevant aspects of child functioning in a way that is theoretically and empirically well established and that has demonstrated or demonstrable links to family, peer, classroom, school, and community influences on readiness and school achievement.

Normandy Invasion :: essays research papers

As they prepared for a cross-Channel assault on France, the Western Allies built up on British soil one of the largest and most powerful invasion forces in history. For 2 months before the landing, while troops, equipment, and supplies poured into Britain, the Allied air forces bombed railroads, bridges, airfields, and fortifications in France and Belgium and continued their attacks on German industrial centers. Postponed by delays in gathering the necessary landing equipment and by weather and tidal conditions, Operation Overlord, with Eisenhower in command, began on June 6, 1944, afterward known as D-Day. Throughout the preceding night, paratroopers were dropped behind German coastal defenses to sever communications and seize key defense posts. Hundreds of warships and innumerable small craft supported the invasion. Between 6:30 and 7:30 A.M., waves of Allied troops moved ashore between Cherbourg and Le Havre in history's largest amphibious operation, involving approximately 5,000 ships of all kinds. About 11,000 Allied aircraft operated over the invasion area. More than 150,000 troops disembarked at Normandy on D-Day. Because all major French ports in the north were mined and fortified, the Allies improvised two artificial harbors, with pontoons, breakwaters, and sunken ships. One of the harbors was destroyed by a severe Atlantic gale, but the other worked perfectly. Twenty pipelines below the Channel were used to bring in critical supplies of gasoline for the tanks. The Germans had anticipated an Allied invasion of western Europe at about this time but were surprised by its location. Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of German forces in the West, had expected the Allies to take the shortest water route and land at Pas de Calais. A British intelligence operation called Ultra, having broken key German ciphers, learned of his misapprehension. To capitalize on the situation, the Allies stationed a phantom army in Kent that reinforced Rundstedt's mistaken opinion. It may also have influenced Hitler to decide against sending reserve panzer divisions to Normandy, a decision that greatly facilitated the landing and the establishment of beachheads.

Sophie Treadwell and the Centaur of the North :: Sophie Treadwell Essays

Sophie Treadwell and the Centaur of the North In August 1921, an extraordinary meeting took place between two very different people which would result in a brief and unlikely friendship. For four days at an isolated and picturesque ranch called Canutillo near Rosario in northern Mexico, the infamous Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa played host to an intrepid American newspaper correspondent and playwright named Sophie Treadwell. The resulting article that ran on the front page of the New York Tribune on Sunday, August 28, 1921 entitled "A Visit to Villa, A Bad Man Not So Bad" earned Treadwell international notoriety. Recognized for her expertise on the people and politics of Mexico, she would go on to write a series of articles on the topic of Mexican affairs. At that time Mexico was still reeling from a bloody Revolution that saw the ousting of the progressive but tyrannical regime of Porfirio Diaz and three more successive regimes. Treadwell's sympathetic treatment of Mexican affairs allowed her to access people and information that were unavailable to most. As a result, Sophie Treadwell brought to her readership enhanced understanding of important people and events in Mexico; most notably that of Francisco Villa. That an American woman received so much respect and was able to accomplish so much in a country which at the time was generally resentful of Americans as well as totally male dominated attests to the ambitiousness and cultural sensitivity of this noteworthy writer of fact and fiction. Born October 3, 1885 in Stockton California, Sophie Anita Treadwell's ancestry was a mixture of Mexican, English, German, and Scot. The daughter of a judge, she described herself as "a Californian, a mixture of the old 49er and the original Mexican"(Wynn 1). Her family life was marred by the marked absence of her father, of whom she said; "The first thing I remember of my father is that he wasn't there" (Wynn 4). Despite this, it was her father, a theater fan, who introduced Sophie to the theater. Though she would until very recently remain an under-appreciated and unknown playwright, the theater was to become the main focus of her endeavor for much of her life. Upon her graduation from high school in 1901, Treadwell intended to pursue a career in stage acting.

Informative Speech COM 1301

COM 1301, Section 05 October, 9th 2012 Mars Search Laboratory (MSL) Life on earth is getting more and more difficult, earth is overpopulated and global warming is treating our existence on earth every day. Living on another planet is on the solution that may pop out in our mind, this solution is what a space rover is trying to answer. In exactly one month and three days ago, a high technology rover lander on Mars, for those who did not hear about it let me show you some pictures (showing pictures to the audience), the rover is about 1000kg and a car size.Curiosity is special because it process information for itself and then sends the result back to earth. Two main objectives of Mars are1. Discover traces of past life.2. Analyze Mars habitability It is difficult not to get excited about NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, it’s the most ambitious exploration vehicle yet sent to Mars.The big science question for the Mars Exploration Rover is how past water activity on Mars has i nfluenced the red planet's environment over time.While there is no liquid water on the surface of Mars today, the record of past water activity on Mars can be found in the rocks, minerals, and geologic landforms, particularly in those that can only form in the presence of water. That's why the rover is specially equipped with tools to study a diverse collection of rocks and soils that may hold clues to past water activity on Mars. Project scientist Grokzinger says: â€Å"Curiosity is not a life detection mission. We are not actually looking for life, we don’t have the ability to detect life if it was there. But let me show you something (shows picture of river ) this river is located in Spain, it reaches high temperatures about 40 °C and it’s very acidic, it has a Ph about 2, knowing that the Ph scale goes from 0 to 14 from the most acidic to the least acidic. Well, surprisingly this river holds life! Scientists have recently taken a sample from this water and disco ver bacteria in it! This can be the absolute evidence that life can emerge from extreme conditions.A part from discovering traces of past life, the other mission of Curiosity is to identify if Mars can be a shelter of life, Mars Science Laboratory is equipped with an instrument that measures the level of radiation. This will be critical to put a man on Mars and determine the type of protection. At last but not least, Scientists expect from Curiosity a major discovery, it involves analyzing rocks of the landing area, hoping to discover traces of past life and analyzing Mars habitability.To conclude let me show you the latest picture received from the rover (showing picture: trace of robot step) as you may see, this is a trace of the robot on the sandy surface of Mars, this is a small trace of a robot, a giant leap of mankind, Thank you.

Shizz

Industrial Marketing Research PHASE 2 1) What are the strategy components of the NPD â€Å" New product Development† ch 7 * The expected life cycle of the product ( 2 years – 5 years ) before we develop it or 10 years. e. g. Peugot 504 Model 1968 was expected to stay in the market undeveloped for 5 years, it stayed for 17 years and there is still demand which affected the demand of other Peugot Models * How are you going to approach the market? * Why are people going to accept your product? Attributes of new products which affect their acceptability Relative advantage: the perception that the idea is better than the one it supercedes * Compatibility. Consistency with existing values, past experience, and needs of a firm’s buyers and influencers * Complexity: more complex ideas are adopted more slowly. * Trialability: if a firm can try out a small aspect for a new idea it will be accepted more quickly than a firm has to make a major switch * Observability: if the effects of an innovation can be easily observed this innovation maybe adopted more quickly. NPD Process Opportunity identification and selection: where new product opportunities are identified and selected. * Concept generation: research with customers and preliminary analysis take place. * Concept evaluation: careful review of new product concepts on technical, marketing and financial variables. Choose the most promising concepts to move forward to the next phase. * Development: both technical and marketing development takes place. Prototypes are designed and tested and the production pro * Launch: how are you going to launch this product and for which prospects? ) Description of services offered (Pure Services/ Pure tangible goods) as well as pricing strategies of services. Ch 8 Combinations of service and physical product * Pure tangible good: products no service * Tangible good with accompanying services: this is a tangible product with services added, highly technical products usually are more dependent upon services such as planning, installation, training, and maintenance. * Hybrid: equal offering of goods and services, so the service portion of the offering is equal importance to the tangible product offering * Major service with supporting goods and services.The most important part is the service but some goods and supporting services are required e,g, business travellers on air line they need food. * Pure service: the offering is primarily a service, such as consulting or advertising, very little tangible goods are required. * Phase 2 is an application of chapter 7 & 8 * Each member of the group should participate * A presentation is required next week in the tutorial * All members of the group should be present * You will be graded individually upon your presentation not how correct your research is * We will explain in the tutorial this week how this phase will be done.