How can I learn to recite a poem?

Reciting poetry can be a tricky task, especially when the chosen poem is long. Luckily, you mentioned your assignment is to recite I Have a White Rose to Tend, which is quite short. Translations from the original Spanish are readily available, so perhaps the difficulty of your assignment lies in learning to recite the poem in its original tongue. I hope the following tips are helpful to you.

When learning to recite poetry by heart, it can be helpful to listen to others' readings of the poem. Perhaps you can find a video available online of someone reciting this poem in your preferred language. Close your eyes while listening and take note of the rhythm and pronunciation.

Another helpful tip for memorization of any kind is to practice by hand-writing whatever you are committing to memory. Try copying this poem by hand and see if it helps your memory!

Consider making use of associative memory. Think about each phrase or verse of your chosen poem, and create either a mental image or a physical gesture to go along with this phrase. If you know sign language, or are willing to learn some simple signs, having some motion to go along with your speaking can be helpful in your memory process. 

Finally, I recommend you seek the aid of a friend or family member. You can print out the poem--  or offer them your hand written copy-- and you can practice your recitation with them. If you are stuck and can't remember what line comes next, have your practice partner prompt you with the next word in the poem. This should help you recall the phrasing.

As a general study tip, try reading over your chosen poem (or study materials) right before you go to sleep at night, so that it is fresh in your mind. Short-term memory is converted to long-term memory while we sleep, so if this poem is the last thing on your mind before you go to sleep, it is more likely to become a long-term memory!

How does a social support system affect mental health?

Introduction

Social support is a pervasive phenomenon spanning people’s relationships throughout their lives. In everyday life, particularly in times of distress, people convey a need for support from relatives, friends, partners, coworkers, or other members of their social community. This powerful inclination to seek and provide support is thought to have adaptive evolutionary significance because interdependency may enhance the likelihood of survival, especially when under threat of predation. The human response to seek the presence of others in the aftermath of natural disasters or other trauma testifies to the need for and benefits of social affiliation. Research suggests that social support is sought to such an extent because it is an effective method of coping with stress and may protect against potential adverse mental health consequences.

A primary psychological need to belong may underlie the tendency to turn to others under demanding circumstances. In support of this possibility, aside from fostering adjustment to stressful and demanding events, a sufficient quantity and quality of support are essential for optimal functioning in daily life. It is important that social contact is regular, positive, and meaningful, and that interaction is perceived as having the potential for disclosure of private and sensitive feelings. The need to belong may compel people to provide this kind of emotional support or more tangible assistance to those with whom they have formed interpersonal attachments. Indeed, the theoretical literature has proposed several types of social support in a bid to form a taxonomy of support and to detail the situations in which various types of social support are most effective.

Instrumental and Emotional Social Support

The numerous ways that supportive people can help others have been categorized broadly as either instrumental or emotional in focus. Instrumental support involves the provision of direct, pragmatic assistance aimed at solving problems. This can be by passing on information to facilitate better understanding of a stressful event, by helping to remove obstacles or counteract losses and harm, or by providing goods or financial assistance. Instrumental assistance can reduce the impact of a stressor by promoting effective coping strategies through the distribution of information and by facilitating protective action through the supply of tangible resources. Emotional support, in contrast, is aimed at the person instead of the objective problem or stressor. It may include helping the person escape from negative emotions and feel better, conveying warmth and affection, reaffirming a commitment to a nurturing relationship, talking about emotions, listening to what the suffering person wants to say, and in general encouraging the other person to feel loved, cared for, and valued.

Evidence within the social support literature is mixed as to whether instrumental or emotional support is more important for mental health. In 1999, Chockalingam Viswesvaran and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of social support studies focusing on work situations and found emotional support to be more predictive of good outcomes following stressful experiences. Instrumental support may have a closer relationship with physical health, as demonstrated by Viveca Östberg and Carin Lennartsson, who found economic support to be more predictive than emotional support of good physical health. Emotional support may potentially capture the essence of social support more completely than instrumental support, insofar as it contributes to feeling worthwhile, competent, and esteemed as a member of a group. However, substantial overlap is typically observed in the measurement of both types of support. This may reflect the emotional meaning of instrumental support and how certain emotions facilitate action. For example, information may relieve emotional concerns such as worry and anxiety, and positive emotion may promote problem-solving behavior.

Therefore, although a taxonomy of social support strategies is useful, the distinction between types is by no means absolute, and instrumental and emotional support may interact. As is apparent in the definition of social support, it is important to recognize that it is not enough that support is in place, but rather that the perception or experience of that assistance is required for effects to occur.

Experience of Social Support

Considerable reassurance can be found in simply knowing that one is cared for and that support is available from others in times of distress. Implicit social support refers to the emotional comfort derived from social networks without explicit discussion of problems or stressful events. The perception of social support is the comfort of implicit social support combined with the belief that others can be relied on to provide care and solace when needed. This perception has been shown not to coincide exactly with the actual amount of instrumental or emotional support that one receives. In fact, perceived available social support can be beneficial in reducing stress even if support is not actually used. Sheldon Cohen and S. Leonard Syme in 1985, and several researchers since, have provided evidence that beliefs about the availability of social support are more closely related to mental health than received support. The critical importance of subjective perceptions of social support opens up the question as to what psychological factors may condition how support is viewed.

The extent to which a person feels affective concern from others may be substantially related to factors such as personality, attachment style, and various needs and goals. For instance, Nancy Collins and Brooke Feeney in 2004 showed the construal of supportive interaction to vary as a function of the participant’s attachment style. Insecure attachment is characterized by a diminished expectation that others will be emotionally available and responsive when needed. Such anxious or avoidant people rated messages sent by an assigned partner in a stressful task as less supportive than did securely attached people. The divergence between the support that insecurely attached people feel they need and the support they perceive to be available has been linked to early experiences with parents or other attachment figures. Such experiences are thought to negatively influence both the construal of social support and the cultivation of supportive relationships by enhancing the salience of potential rejection and stimulating avoidance behaviors.

The urge to approach rather than avoid others has been linked to positive emotion, which functions to broaden momentary thought-action repertoires and build personal resources. In the context of social support, considering the well-being of others and having compassionate goals has been shown to build support over time. Jennifer Crocker and Amy Canevello in 2008 demonstrated compassionate goals to increase perceived social support, connectedness, and trust over a ten-week period in first-semester college students. Goals are thought to condition the development of one’s support system. This occurs positively when the focus of the relational goal is on supporting others and responding to their needs rather than obtaining something for the self (for example, promoting a desired self-image through one’s relationships). In this way, responsiveness is reciprocated even though this is not the primary goal of support offered out of compassion.

Protective Role of Social Support

In 1995, Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary proposed that humans have a fundamental need to belong, and that a sufficient quantity of stable interpersonal relationships characterized by affective concern is essential for optimal levels of well-being in daily life. Integration in a social network characterized by mutual obligation and the perception that one is loved and cared for can have ameliorative effects on mental health through promoting a stream of positive feelings, a sense of stability, and a perception that one has a worthwhile role in the community. Evidence supporting the beneficial effects of social integration has been detailed by Sheldon Cohen and Thomas A. Wills, who describe a main effect model of social support. In this model, social integration can enhance well-being without improving the capacity for coping with stressful events. However, the authors show that another form of social support, perceived available support, protects against the effects of stressful events, thus mitigating the relationship between stressors and the development of mental illness. This stress-buffering model has led to the proposition that deficits in social support enhance the risk for depression, alcoholism, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms. Michael Windle in 1992 showed that parental social support, but not peer support, had beneficial stress protective effects. Similarly, Eric Stice and colleagues, in a 2004 prospective study, demonstrated that deficits in parental but not peer support were related to a worsening of depressive symptoms over time and an increased likelihood of the onset of major depression.

As well as the source of social support, there is evidence to suggest that the type and degree of explicitness of support are important factors in determining the effect of the support provided. Stephanie Brown and colleagues in 2003 found that providing social support to others can be more beneficial to health and well-being than receiving support, and can even reduce the risk of mortality. Actively supporting others may reinforce existing relationships, provide a sense of meaning, and fortify the belief that one is esteemed and matters to others. Explicit acts of support may have potential costs to the recipient, such as leading to perceptions of being a burden, and feelings of stress, guilt, and indebtedness. Support may be most effective when responsiveness is subtle and the receiver is unaware of the explicit action of the support network. For example, when stressful decisions are being made regarding college course selection, job changes, or resolving interpersonal problems, explicit advice from multiple and potentially conflicting sources can interfere with decision making and cause additional stress. Less visible emotional support may reduce the distress associated with major life changes or threatening situations. It is also imperative that there is a suitable match between the support provider and the type of support provided. During times of stress, emotional support may be best received from an intimate partner or one’s immediate family, whereas information and advice may be more welcomed from an expert.

Bibliography

Baumeister, Roy F., and Mark R. Leary. “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation.” Psychological Bulletin 117.3 (1995): 497–529. Print.

Brown, Stephanie, Randolph M. Nesse, Amiram D. Vinokur, and Dylan M. Smith. “Providing Social Support May Be More Beneficial than Receiving It: Results from a Prospective Study of Mortality.” Psychological Science 14.4 (2003): 320–27. Print.

Bruhn, John G. The Sociology of Community Connections. New York: Springer, 2011. Print.

Cohen, Sheldon, and Thomas A. Wills. “Stress, Social Support, and the Buffering Hypothesis.” Psychological Bulletin 98.2 (1985): 310–57. Print.

McDonnell, Roberta. Creativity and Social Support in Mental Health. New York: Palgrave, 2014. Print.

Roy, Ranjan. Social Support, Health, and Illness. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2011. Print.

Stice, Eric, Jennifer Ragan, and Patrick Randall. “Prospective Relations Between Social Support and Depression: Differential Direction of Effects for Parent and Peer Support.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 113.1 (2004): 155–59. Print.

Taylor, Shelley. “Social Support.” Foundations of Health Psychology. Ed. Howard S. Friedman and Roxane C. Silver. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

What are worm infections?

Definition

Parasitic worms are pathogenic organisms that attach to the internal structures of their
hosts, including humans. Worm infections can range from mild
discomfort to severe illness and death. Worms usually enter the body in the form
of eggs or cysts; they then mature within the tissues they infect, including the intestines, liver, muscles, lungs, and brain, and in the bloodstream.

Worm infections are rare in the United States and Europe but are common in
developing nations in Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Parasitic
worms are classified by their shape as either roundworms
(nematodes and nemathelminths) or flatworms (flukes and platyhelminths).

Causes

A worm has three life stages: egg, larva, and adult. Some worms form cysts within a host’s body that can develop into larvae when circumstances are favorable. Eggs or larvae of parasitic worms can enter the body (or host) through the mouth or through skin surfaces. Some are transmitted through an insect bite. This intermediate insect host is known as a vector. Examples of worm infections include tapeworm, hookworm, liver fluke, trichinosis, filariasis, and pinworm.

Tapeworm. Tapeworm infections occur from eating
the raw or undercooked meat of animals infected with the larvae of these
flatworms. Tapeworm infections mainly occur in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle
East, Mexico, South America, Russia, and areas of the former Yugoslavia. In the
United States, some forms may be acquired by swallowing the infected fleas of
infected dogs or cats.

Taenia

saginata infects beef and T. solium infects pigs. The larvae attach to the intestinal wall and mature into adult tapeworms, which can grow to be more than twelve feet long and live many years. Segments of the worm, which contain eggs, are released and then pass from the body in feces. Animals eat the feces, the grass, or other contaminated foods, thus perpetuating the cycle.

Hookworm. Hookworms are roundworms existing as
two types: Ancylostoma duodenale
and Necator americanus
. A. duodenale is found in North Africa, the Middle
East, and India; in the past, the worm was present in southern Europe. N.
americanus is present in the Americas, Southeast Asia, China,
Indonesia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Hookworm larvae live in moist soil. The larvae are able to penetrate the soles of the feet or other skin areas that contact soil. The larvae then enter small veins and the lymphatic system, work their way to the lungs, and enter the alveoli (sacs) in the lung. They are then coughed up into the infected person’s mouth and passed down into the intestines, where they mature into adults. The adult worms release eggs, which pass out of the person’s body in the feces. If the feces are deposited in the soil, the cycle repeats.

Liver fluke. Liver flukes (Fasciola hepatica
) are flatworms that infect the liver of humans and other mammals. They are present in temperate areas where sheep are raised because these flukes use sheep and humans as a host. Most human infections occur in Southeast Asia, northern Africa, South America, and Cuba. Occasional infections occur in the United Kingdom, southern Europe, and Australia. The flukes require an intermediate host such as Galba truncatula
, an aquatic snail, to complete its life cycle. Larvae enter the snail and develop into what is known as metacercariae; these organisms leave the snail and attach to plants such as water chestnuts and watercress. When eaten, further development of the parasite occurs; these organisms then burrow through the intestinal wall and into the liver; they then enter the bile ducts and mature into the adult form. The adults lay eggs, which pass through the bile duct into the intestines; they are then excreted, completing the life cycle.

Trichinosis. Trichinosis is caused by the roundworm Trichinella spiralis
. Infections were once common in the United States; however, they are
now quite rare. Infections are more common in developing nations and in eastern
Europe. Pigs become infected with trichinosis when they eat infected rodents or
meat from other pigs. Humans become infected when they eat infected pork. The
infection is passed in the form of cysts within skeletal muscles. When infected
muscle is eaten, the cysts develop into adults and mate in the small intestine.
Their eggs develop into larvae, which pierce the small intestine and enter the
bloodstream and migrate to other structures such as the heart or eye, or to the
lymphatic system. The skeletal musculature is the only place where they can
survive and form cysts.

Filariasis. Lymphatic filariasis, also known as
elephantiasis, is caused by the roundworms Brugia malayi
, B. timori, and Wuchereria
bancrofti
. About one-third of infected persons live in Africa, about one-third
in India, and the rest in other parts of Asia, the Americas,and the Pacific
Islands. The disease is transmitted from human to human by some species of mosquitoes. Mosquito species that can transmit the disease are Culex
quinquefasciatus and some Anopheles species;
Brugia roundworms are primarily transmitted by
Mansonia mosquitoes. Another type of filariasis is a tropical
skin and eye disease, Loa loa filariasis, which is also known as African eye worm. It is contracted through the bite of a deer fly or mango fly.

In filarial infections, the parasites enter the bloodstream as microfilariae and develop into adults. The adults mate and
produce more microfilariae. If a person is bitten by a host insect, the
microfilariae infect that insect and, thus, complete the life cycle. The
microfilariae travel from the bloodstream into the lymphatic
system, which is a network of vessels that maintain a delicate fluid
balance between body tissue and the bloodstream. They lodge in the lymphatic
system, where they mature into adult worms. These worms live for four to six years
and produce millions of immature microfilariae that circulate in the blood. The
adult worms block the normal flow of lymphatic fluid, damaging the lymphatic
system. Adult Loa loa worms often travel to the conjunctiva (just
below the surface of the eyeball); the worms transit the eyeball in about fifteen
minutes, causing much pain; however, the transit does not usually affect
vision.

Pinworm. The pinworm (Enterobius
species) is a roundworm that is a common intestinal parasite
worldwide. It is most common in children. Persons are infected by eating food
contaminated with the eggs. The eggs hatch in the duodenum (the first portion of
the small intestine). The eggs develop into larvae and migrate toward the colon
(the large intestine). The larvae become adults in the ileum (the lower part of
the small intestine) and mate. After mating, the males die and pass from the body
in the stool. The pregnant females attach themselves to the ileum and the first
portion of the large intestine, where they feed on the intestinal contents. The
female body becomes filled with eleven thousand to sixteen thousand eggs. The
females then migrate to the infected person’s anus, where they release the eggs
and die.

Risk Factors

The major risk factor for many parasitic worm infections is living in an area where the worms are endemic (always present). Infections are more common in slums and poor communities. Poor personal hygiene and poor sanitation increase the risk of infection. Contact with fecal material increases the risk of infection with intestinal worms. In developing nations, humans defecate on the soil or use fecal material (night soil) as fertilizer. Going barefoot in contaminated areas can result in a hookworm infection. Eating raw or incompletely cooked pork increases the risk of trichinosis. Pinworms are more common among people in close contact (such as in a classroom or in crowded living conditions). Immigrants from areas where parasitic infections are endemic can expose the persons of the new country or region to these infections.

Symptoms

The symptoms of worm infection vary, depending on the type of worm involved.

Tapeworms. Often, tapeworm infections do not have any specific
symptoms. Weight loss and anemia can occur. Sometimes, a person will notice
tapeworm segments in the stool. Rarely, tapeworms can cause intestinal
obstruction, which produces nausea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain. On
occasion, cysts can form in the brain and the meninges (the
tissues surrounding the brain). If this occurs, the patient may experience
neurologic symptoms such as headaches, seizures, and confusion. On rare occasions,
cysts can form in the eyes, which can cause blindness, or in the spinal cord,
which can result in muscle weakness or paralysis.

Hookworms. General symptoms, such as itching on the soles of the feet, can occur soon after infection. Cough and pneumonitis (lung inflammation) can occur when the worms break into the alveolae in the lungs. When the larvae enter the small intestine, diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort can occur. Heavy infestations result in iron deficiency anemia from intestinal blood loss and malnutrition. Long-term blood loss can result in facial edema (swelling). Children with chronic hookworm infections can suffer from growth retardation and intellectual impairment.

Liver flukes. Infected persons suffer from abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting headaches, and anemia. Some develop jaundice (yellowing of the skin), hives, and muscle pains. Over time, blockage of the bile ducts can occur.

Trichinosis. Within a week after becoming infected, persons
experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, and diarrhea.
After the larvae migrate from the intestines to the muscles, symptoms include
fatigue, muscle pain, fever, and edema (swelling). A characteristic sign of a
trichinosis infection is periorbital edema (swelling around the eyes). Splinter
hemorrhages in the nails may occur. These appear as narrow, red to reddish-brown
lines of blood beneath the nails. Occasionally, the worms invade the central
nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord), where they can produce serious
neurological conditions such as ataxia (a lack of muscle coordination),
respiratory paralysis, and death.

Filariasis. In lymphatic filariasis, the adult worms block the
normal flow of lymphatic fluid, damaging the lymphatic system. This blockage
produces tremendous enlargement of the arms, legs, or genitals, which may swell up
to several times the normal size. The worms also lodge in the kidneys, causing
damage. Loa loa filariasis can also produce swelling of the
extremities. Transit of the worm across the eyeball is a unique sign of this
disease. Lymphedema (swelling of the limbs) can occur if the worms
block lymphatic channels in the arms and legs. Intermittent swelling, known as
Calabar swellings, of the arms can occur because of an allergic reaction. Calabar
swellings may be accompanied by urticaria (rash) and pruritus (itching).

Pinworms. Itching around the anus is a common symptom. The skin around the anus may also be inflamed. Vaginal itching can occur in young girls if the worms enter the vagina rather than the anus.

Screening and Diagnosis

Many worm infections produce an allergic response. Often, these infections will
cause an increase in the eosinophils in the bloodstream, causing a condition known
as eosinophilia. A complete blood count (CBC), including a
differential count, reveals the number of eosinophils present in the bloodstream.
Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell, which increases with an allergic
response. A blood test, which can be done in most medical laboratories, may reveal
specific antibodies to the type of worm present. A more complex but
highly accurate test can be done in a genetics laboratory that can conduct
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing for parasite-specific DNA in a blood
sample.

In cases of suspected tapeworm infection, a stool sample will reveal tapeworm eggs or body segments containing eggs. For hookworms, except for early infections, a stool sample will contain hookworm eggs. For liver flukes, a stool sample is often positive for eggs. Adult worms can sometimes be present in a sputum sample or in vomit.

Trichinosis can be diagnosed after learning the infected person has eaten contaminated meat. If a sample of the meat is available, microscopic examination will reveal cysts. The characteristic signs of periorbital edema and splinter hemorrhages in the nails aid the diagnosis. As in many other worm infections, eosinophilia is present.

For cases of filariasis, examination of a blood sample may reveal the presence of microfilariae. Their presence in the bloodstream is periodic; thus, the sample must be drawn when the microfilaria are likely to be present. Visualization of a worm transiting the eyeball is diagnostic for Loa loa filariasis. A simple card test detects antigens to lymphatic filariasis; however, antibody tests are not particularly helpful with Loa loa filariasis because cross-reactivity between Loa loa and other worm infections often occurs.

For pinworm infections, the worms are seen in the anus, particularly at night when they lay their eggs. Placing a piece of tape against the anus will collect eggs for microscopic examination.

Treatment and Therapy

A number of anthelminthic (antiworm) medications are available to treat worm infestations. Inasmuch as many worm infections can produce anemia, iron supplements are helpful.

Tapeworms can be treated with a single-dose oral medication. Niclosamide is the drug of choice; however, praziquantel and albendazole are also effective.

While still in the skin, hookworm infections can be treated by cryotherapy
(localized freezing). During migration to the intestines and while in the
intestines, albendazole (Albenza) or mebendazole are effective. Triclabendazole is
the drug of choice to treat liver flukes. Resistant strains, however, have been
reported in Ireland and Australia.

If given early, albendazole or mebendazole can eradicate the intestinal worms
and larvae in trichinosis. These medications are less effective after cysts form;
however, they are beneficial if the larvae enter the central nervous system,
heart, or lungs. Analgesics (pain relievers) are given for muscular pain. Over
time, the cysts often calcify; this destroys the larvae, and the muscle pain and
fatigue resolve. Corticosteroids are given to reduce allergic reactions and
inflammation when dead or dying larvae release chemicals within the muscles.

The drug of choice for filariasis (both lymphatic and Loa loa) is diethylcarbamazine (DEC); ivermectin is also effective. Doxycycline is under investigation as a supplementary agent to use with DEC. DEC is most effective against the microfilariae; it is less effective against the adult worms. Sometimes, after receiving a course of medication, the surviving worms are surgically excised. For pinworms, a single dose of either albendazole or mebendazole is effective. These medications are available by prescription and over the counter.

Prevention and Outcomes

Tapeworm infections can be prevented by avoiding raw meat and by cooking meat to a core temperature greater than 140° Fahrenheit for five minutes. Freezing meat to −4° F for twenty-four hours will also kill the eggs. Self-reinfection can be prevented by good hygiene and thorough handwashing after using the toilet.

Hookworm infections can be avoided by not walking barefoot in any area suspected of having infected soil, by defecating only into a toilet connected to a sewage system, and by avoiding the use of human feces for fertilization.

Liver fluke infections can be prevented by the avoidance of eating raw vegetables from any region inhabited by aquatic snails, such as G. truncatula. Filariasis infections can be prevented by avoiding the fly bites that spread Loa loa. Spraying homes with the pesticide dieldrin is an effective method of destroying the insect vectors.

Pinworm infections can be prevented by thorough handwashing before meals and after using the toilet, cleaning toilet seats daily, washing bed linens twice a week, keeping fingernails short and clean, and by not scratching infected areas around the anus.

Bibliography

Bogitsh, Burton J., Clint E. Carter, and Thomas N. Oeltmann. Human Parasitology. 4th ed. Boston: Academic, 2012. Print.

Bruschi, Fabrizio, ed. Helminth Infections and Their Impact on Global Public Health. New York: Springer, 2014. Print.

Gittleman, Ann Louise. Guess What Came to Dinner? Parasites and Your Health. Rev. ed. New York: Putnam, 2001. Print.

Kennedy, Malcolm W., and William Harnett, eds. Parasitic Nematodes: Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Immunology. Boston: CABI, 2013. Print.

Leventhal, Ruth, and Russell F. Cheadle. Medical Parasitology: A Self-Instructional Text. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Davis, 2012. Print.

Matthews, Bernard E. An Introduction to Parasitology. New York: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.

Morand, Serge, Boris R. Krasnov, and D. Timothy J. Littlewood. Parasite Diversity and Diversification: Evolutionary Ecology Meets Phylogenetics. New York: Cambridge UP, 2015. Print.

Muller, Ralph. Worms and Human Disease. 2nd ed. New York: CABI, 2002. Print.

Nagami, Pamela. The Woman with a Worm in Her Head, and Other True Stories of Infectious Disease. New York: St. Martin’s, 2002. Print.

Roberts, Larry S., and John Janovy, Jr. Gerald D. Schmidt and Larry S. Roberts’ Foundations of Parasitology. 8th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

In "After Twenty Years," what was happening in America at the time of the story to make "Silky" Bob want to go out West to make his fortune?

O. Henry's story "After Twenty Years" was published in 1906. Assuming that it was probably a contemporary story at the time, that would mean that Jimmy Webb and his friend would have parted ways around 1885. Although Bob doesn't say that he went to California, the term "West" definitely implies that as his ultimate destination. And if Bob wanted to make his fortune, California would have been a natural choice. Although the Gold Rush of 1849 was over, other booms were taking place in California, notably oil and real estate booms.

Railroads made it easy and cheap for people to make their way to the West Coast. In 1885 the Santa Fe Railroad entered southern California, and that set up a competition between railroads that led to ridiculously cheap fares. A person could travel all the way from the Midwest states to Los Angeles on a ticket that cost just $1. In 1887 alone, 120,000 people arrived in Los Angeles via the Southern Pacific Railway. A real estate boom was happening there at the same time; an acre lot that cost $100 in 1886 cost $1500 the following year. Between 1884 and 1888 about one hundred towns were planned in southern California. The first oil well had been dug in 1876.

Although Bob could have gotten his wealth legitimately in the West, he chose to run afoul of the law. Wherever there is a large influx of people and a booming economy, those who want to take advantage of others and pursue ill-gotten gain have a better chance of finding that kind of success, so California offered plenty of opportunity for the unprincipled "Silky Bob." 

How does Banquo's reaction to the prophecy differ from Macbeth's? What does this say about his character?

Macbeth and Banquo's friendship suggests that their reactions to the prophecies of the witches might be identical, or, at the very least, similar. However, it is through their differing reactions to the prophecies that readers can see some very fundamental differences in the individual personalities/characters of Macbeth and Banquo. 

When Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches in Act 1, Scene 3, they are both curious about the witches. Banquo actually addresses the witches first: "Live you? or are you aught / That man may question?" He appears curious about them, but more from a disbelieving perspective than one of seeking information from supernatural beings. 

A few moments later, however, after the witches have greeted Macbeth with the three prophecies that will guide the course of the play, Banquo becomes far more interested in their seeing abilities. He, unlike Macbeth, actually asks the witches to tell his future. He says, "If you can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grain will grow and which will not, / Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear / Your favors nor your hate" (Act 1: Scene 3).

This different reaction from Macbeth could suggest to readers that Banquo is, perhaps, the more susceptible character to the witches' influence. (And, had Lady Macbeth not stepped in and motivated Macbeth into action, perhaps it would have been a different play entirely!) His attention to the witches and their prophecies suggests that he is the type of person who, while he may not want to cheat fate, doesn't mind having some extra information to help guide his choices. He appreciates guidance; we see this in his relationship with Macbeth as well. 

Ultimately, Banquo disregards the prophecies of the witches as an amusement or as the musings of crazy people. This is understandable, considering that, though Macbeth's prophecies were specific and direct (Thane of Cawdor, "thou shalt be king hereafter!"), the prophecies to Banquo were stated as riddles: "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater... Not so happy, yet much happier..." and as the seemingly impossible: "Thou shalt get kings though thou be none..." (Act 1: Scene 3).

Overall, we can see that, based on his character, Banquo had an inclination to be far more swayed by the witches than Macbeth; perhaps Banquo was even the original target of their spell-casting, but, because of Macbeth's aggressive ambition and Banquo's tendency to be more of a follower than a leader, he placed less importance on the prophecies than Macbeth ultimately did. 

What attacks Brian as he stands in the lake? Why does it attack him?

As Brian stands in the lake, a moose rushes him and throws him out into the water. The moose then charges a second time and pushes Brian down into the bottom of the lake.

When Brian is able to resurface, he sees the moose calming chewing on a lily pad root not ten feet away from him. The female moose ignores Brian as long as he is not moving from his position. However, she soon becomes agitated when she sees Brian attempt to emerge from the lake water.

The moose charges Brian again, and this time, she pushes him down into the water with her head and hooves, badly injuring Brian in the process. It is at this point that Brian realizes the moose feels intimidated and vulnerable in his presence. The moose's antagonistic stance is a reaction to what she sees as a perceived threat. When Brian realizes this, he refrains from making sudden movements; instead, he slowly inches his way out of the water and crawls to some nearby brush. Eventually, the moose makes her way out of the deeper water and walks away along the shallow shore line.

Differentiate case studies from focus group discussions.

Case studies in social science research involve examining individuals or groups over time and in multiple ways to understand that person or group in deep ways. A case study can investigate the ways in which individuals or groups understand or deal with conflicts or other issues, and this method can produce rich qualitative data that result from direct and indirect observations, interviews, and use of tests and written records. Focus groups, on the other hand, involve gathering a group at one time to ask them questions about their attitudes or opinions. In this format, members are usually only observed once, unlike in case studies, and the data that result are less rich. In addition, focus group members can often interact with each other, so the result of the focus group is in part a result of this interaction. Focus groups do not generally concentrate on the experiences of the individual in a very descriptive way as case studies do; instead, focus groups aim to understand the ways in which people or group feel about an event, product, experience, or other issue. 

The weekly demand for DVDs in Suva is given as follows: Qd = 750 - 50P , where Qd represents the weekly demand and P is the price per DVD. What...

Though it may seem daunting if you're not used to working with demand curves, this question is very straightforward.

We are given that the weekly demand is Qd, the price is P, and the two are related by this equation:

Qd = 750 - 50 P

We are asked to find the weekly demand, so that's Qd. We are given that the price is $5. So all we need to do is substitute in $5 for P everywhere it appears in the equation. It only appears once, so that gives us:

Qd = 750 - 50 (5)

Now it's just arithmetic; remember your order of operations though. Multiplication occurs before addition. 50*5 = 250, so:

Qd = 750 - 250

Then, finally, 750 - 250 = 500, so

Qd = 500

The weekly demand at a price of $5 is 500 units.

What is the mood as Act III, Scene 2 of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

The mood in Act III, scene ii of A Midsummer Night's Dream is multi-layered.  In this scene, we learn from Puck about the effects of the love juice on Titania.  In a humorous exchange between Oberon and Puck, we learn that Titania has fallen in love with Bottom, who has been given a donkey's head by Puck.  The audience is meant to find the situation humorous.

The mood later becomes suspenseful and dreamlike when Helena, Demetrius, Lysander, and Hermia meet again in the woods.  Lysander and Demetrius are both affected by the love juice, creating a suspenseful mood as the audience isn't sure what the end result is going to be.  The scene becomes confusing because we don't know who is supposed to be with who.  The relationships are so mixed up, and the characters are exchanging words/insults so quickly, that it is easy for the audience to get just as mixed up as the characters.

How can I predict the upcoming weather for 1 week starting at June 3rd? Is there any way I can do this?

The instructions for this project give you a huge hint: air pressure. Since you already have 12 days of weather maps, you should be able to identify the following: 

Isobars depict air pressure (atmospheric pressure) on the maps. From this, you should be able to determine high and low pressure systems and cold and warm fronts. You should also be able to infer cloud cover (clear, partly cloudy, overcast) and wind speed and direction (barb points). Finally, you should be able to see air temperature, dew point, and barometric pressure. I'll explain how you can do this (and create your weather predictions) in two steps.

STEP 1:

Firstly, you need to make sure you have air pressure information, which will allow you to make a future weather prediction. Your professor referred you to worksheet 2, so take a look there. Isobars are lines on the map(s) that connect areas of equal pressure. The other information (cloud cover, windspeed/direction, air temperature, dew point, and barometric pressure) can either be inferred as your professor suggests or, if it exists on the maps, directly applied.

If you want to infer the above information using air pressure, keep this in mind:

High air pressure: less clouds, low precipitation, fair weather
Low air pressure: more clouds, high precipitation, rainy/stormy/snowy weather

If you have direct information - great! You can apply that in the next step.

STEP 2:

You will need to put your air pressure (and other) information together to tell a "story" about what might happen in a given area. Firstly, take a look at the isobars - wind direction is closely related to high and low pressure gradients. Wind will typically follow isobars from areas of high pressure to low pressure (that's one way to infer direction!), but can also flow from low to high pressure areas (that's why direction information is helpful). If you have direction information, use it to tell the story. If you don't make an argument for why the wind may move one direction or another. Hint: think about topography and bodies of water.

Wind direction can also tell you quite a bit about how clouds (and precipitation) are moving. If the wind is flowing from west to east, will it be bringing precipitation from a coast? On the other hand, will westerly winds be moving precipitation away from the area? Can you infer whether or not there may be rain/snow in you area? Next, look at wind temperatures. Is the wind moving from warmer to colder areas? From colder to warmer areas? If the area is getting colder and wetter, will it be cold enough to snow?

Your professor isn't looking for a spot-on 100% accurate prediction - that's tough even for the experts. What she/he is looking for is your line of reasoning. Why do you think the weather will be dry and cold, warm and moist, windy and rainy, etc...? She/he gives you a huge hint in suggesting that this information can all be inferred from isobars, so be sure to refer to your older assignments and/or textbook to make sure you have a firm grasp on that subject.

How does Edmund Gettier's article "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" actually undermine epistemology?

Gettier’s assertion in this article is that a person can be justified in believing a proposition is true, that proposition can actually be true, and yet that person cannot be said to have knowledge that the proposition is true. He gives the example of Smith and Jones, who have both applied for a job that Smith has reason to believe that Jones will be hired for. Smith has supposedly been told by the president of the company that Jones will be hired, and Smith has just counted ten coins in Jones’s pocket, and from this information he infers conjunctive proposition (a) “Jones will be hired and Jones has ten coins in his pocket.” (a) entails: (b) “The person who will be hired has ten coins in their pocket.”

Gettier’s point is that if we want to claim that the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge are that:

S knows that P IFF*

i. P is true,

ii. S believes that P, and

iii. S is justified in believing that P.

We find that there are all sorts of ways for this to occur in which we don’t intuitively consider the result to be knowledge. An educated “lucky guess” is not the same as knowing something.

I’ve modified the pronouns here to be gender-neutral to show another example of Gettier’s conclusion. Smith can be completely correct and justified in believing (b), but Smith didn’t know that Ms. Jones, who also applied for the job, and also has ten coins in her pocket, is the one who will be hired. He has a justified true belief that is not knowledge because he doesn’t know that the company president meant that Ms. Jones would be hired, not Mr. Jones. So it is possible to be justified in believing a false proposition or an objectively true proposition understood wrongly. 

The second example that Gettier uses talks about all the evidence that Smith has that Jones owns a Ford. This example shows that Smith’s evidence, when you add a few more details, doesn’t actually indicate that Jones owns a Ford, although Jones does in fact own a Ford. So the justified true belief turns out to be a coincidence rather than knowledge.

Does Gettier’s answer to the question of the status of justified true belief undermine epistemology? Technically, since epistemology is the study of knowledge, what can be known, and the ways in which we are able to know things, it can’t be undermined as a whole so easily. Since Gettier’s article establishes an argument against calling justified true belief knowledge, but does not establish (or even address) an answer to the question of whether we can have knowledge in the first place, I would not say that it is a step toward undermining epistemology. There could be other ways to define knowledge, and even if we are still having trouble defining knowledge that doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t know anything. If this article were an argument against our ability to know things for sure, and we all agreed wholesale with it, it could pose a threat to epistemology as an area of study. But for the most part, one person’s position on a topic doesn’t discourage the rest of us from studying it.

 *(IFF stands for if and only if.)

What is "love" being compared to in the poem "Love (III)" and how do you know this is an extended metaphor?

At first, it would seem that the speaker is addressing the abstract notion of love. Thus, he is speaking to a personified love and that is why the "L" is capitalized. This reading does not contradict but in fact supports the added meaning that "Love" is God as well. When he speaks to Love, he is speaking to God, but he speaks to the abstract notion of love because God's love is so all-encompassing. 

So, in the extended metaphor, he talks to the abstract idea of love but he means God. This is confirmed in the final stanza when he substitutes "Lord" for "Love." 

In the first stanza, Love/God welcomes him but he feels unworthy, so he withdraws. Love/God draws nearer and attempts to make him feel welcome. In the second stanza, still feeling unworthy, the speaker says he can not even look upon "thee" (Love/God). God responds that he made the speakers eyes to look upon him. In the final stanza, the speaker answers that this is true: "Truth, Lord." Here, "Lord" replaces "Love" and this proves the extended metaphor that Love is God. 

In the end, the speaker finally submits to the idea that he, a human, can not be perfect. This is something that God fully knows and it is why God continues to welcome him even with his imperfections. The idea that God is Love indicates that it is God's nature to necessarily welcome him. 

Why should the colonies be independent?

There were several reasons why the colonists wanted to be independent. One reason had to do with tax laws the British passed for the colonies. The colonists felt the tax laws were illegal. In Great Britain, citizens have representatives that vote for proposed taxes. The colonists didn’t have representatives in Parliament. Thus, the colonists had no representatives that could speak about and vote on the proposed tax laws. The colonists were opposed to the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts because they had no say in the passage of these tax laws.

The colonists also felt the British were trying to control them. The Proclamation of 1763 prevented the colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British gained this land from France as a result of winning the French and Indian War. However, the British were concerned the Native Americans, who didn’t support the British, would attack the colonists if they moved to this area. The colonists were upset because they wanted to own land. Some colonists defied the British and went to this area in violation of the law. When the British required the colonists to provide housing for the British troops who were enforcing the Proclamation of 1763, the colonists weren’t pleased. They were beginning to think the British were trying to control what they could and couldn’t do.

Tensions increased in the 1770s. In March 1770, the Boston Massacre occurred. This was the first time colonists were killed as a result of actions by the British military. In December 1773, the colonists, who were upset by the Tea Act, dumped a large amount of tea into Boston Harbor. The British wanted to punish the colonists for this action, so they passed the Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts punished the colonists, especially the colonists in Massachusetts, for the Boston Tea Party. The colonists refused to obey the Intolerable Acts. The colonists also formed their own militias. After the battles at Lexington and at Concord, in April 1775,  resulted in many casualties on both sides, more people began to realize that the colonists should declare their independence from British rule. This formally occurred when the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

In Maniac Magee by Jerry Spineli, why did Maniac choose The Little Engine That Could as Grayson's first book?

Jerry Spinelli never writes why Maniac Magee chooses The Little Engine That Could.  Maniac never explains it either, so it is left up to the reader to hypothesize a reason.  

I think Maniac chose the book for a few reasons.  First, it is not a difficult read.  That is important though, because Grayson is learning to read for the first time in his life. Maniac needs a book that is accessible for a beginning reader. 

Second, the book has a motivating message.  The engine keeps up positive thoughts and is eventually able to accomplish a large goal. That is the message that Maniac wants Grayson to learn.  Reading may seem like a daunting task, but if Grayson continues to think that he can do it, then he will be able to really do it. 

What's a simile from the story "After Twenty Years"?

The only obvious simile in the story occurs when Bob is telling the policeman, whom he doesn't recognize as his old friend Jimmy Wells, about the strong friendship that had existed between the two youths until they parted company twenty years ago. Bob says,

He and I were raised here in New York, just like two brothers, together.

This helps to explain why Bob would have gone to so much trouble and expense to come all the way from Chicago to New York to keep a dinner date with Jimmy. They grew up together in New York but were not blood relatives. If Bob had actually been Jimmy's brother, the reader might wonder how Jimmy might have acted when he realized Bob was the man wanted by the Chicago police. Would Jimmy have turned his own brother in?

O. Henry is using the simile of "just like two brothers" for two reasons. One is to suggest that Bob's comparison will make a strong impression on the cop, which it apparently does, because Jimmy can't bring himself to make the arrest himself. The other reason O. Henry uses that simile is to impress on the reader as strongly as possible how close the two young men were twenty years ago. The reader has to understand how hard it must have been for Jimmy to double-cross his "brother," as well as to understand the emotional impact that deception and double-cross would have on Bob.

What does Friar Laurence say will happen when Juliet drinks the potion in Romeo and Juliet?

Friar Laurence says that the potion Juliet drinks will mimic death. 

Juliet married Romeo in secret.  When he got himself banished for brawling in the streets and killing Tybalt, she would have been forced to marry another man.  Since she did not want to marry Paris, she went to Friar Laurence for help.  He knew her situation because he had secretly married her to Romeo. 

She told him she wanted to kill himself, but he had other ideas.  He told her that he would give her a special "vial" to save the day.

When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humour, for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease:
No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest;
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall,
Like death, when he shuts up the day of life … (Act 4, Scene 1)

Friar Laurence was gifted with herbs and potions, and knew just the trick.  He had developed a special potion which had the qualities to mimic death. If Juliet drank it, everyone would think she was dead and she would be buried in her family’s tomb.  Later, she could be reunited with Romeo. 

The problem was that Friar Laurence was also supposed to get word to Romeo, but a plague delayed the letter.  Romeo killed himself after thinking she was dead, right there in her tomb.  She awoke to that.  Seeing he had taken poison, she stabbed herself.

After Juliet died for real, Friar Laurence explained to her parents and Romeo’s parents what happened.

Then gave I her, so tutor'd by my art,
A sleeping potion; which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death: meantime I writ to Romeo,
That he should hither come as this dire night,
To help to take her from her borrow'd grave,
Being the time the potion's force should cease. (Act 5, Scene 3)

Friar Laurence took full responsibility, but the Capulets and Montagues forgave him.  They were devastated by the loss of their children, but they realized their part in their deaths.  With their children's deaths, they buried their feud.

What if everyone were the same? Stress the two advantages of everyone being completely equal.

If everyone was of equal strength, looks, and intelligence, etc., there would be less feelings of inadequacy, envy, and jealousy. If everyone was equal in every way, everyone would have the same thoughts, bodies, movements, tastes, preferences and so on. So, with everyone having the same preferences in terms of sexuality, music, culture, movies, etc., each person would have no problems relating to one another. With so many shared interests, it would lead to easy conversations in which everyone was in complete agreement. And with the mental distractions described in this short story, people would be generally unaware that they are being conditioned in these ways. So, they would not wonder about an alternative society in which people are different. Any such thoughts would fade away with the onset of a mental interruption and they would return to the blissful ignorance of living in complete equality. 

But clearly, Vonnegut is making the opposite case. Such complete equality would erase difference. And without difference, meaning itself is lost. Simply put, if everyone is the same then there is nothing unique about any one person. Think of this etymologically. If every noun looked the same and meant the same thing, then there would be only one word. This would fundamentally eliminate meaning. "What is a bear?" A bear is a bear. I am you. You are me. There is no meaning because there is no difference between things. And in terms of the self, individuality is lost. The sense of self is lost. And with a society which embraces total equality, there would be no impulse, motivation, or intent to improve one's self, mentally or physically. 

How have morals changed since Edgar Allan Poe published the Tell-Tale Heart?

Morals - individual and collective - are constructs used by societies to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Although we tend to talk about them as though they are universal standards by which we all live, they are actually very specific to individual cultures at a particular point in history. This means that at any given time, what one culture considers morally acceptable, another might consider entirely unacceptable. For example, until the early-to-mid 20th century, there were still a few tribes in remote parts of the world that practiced cannibalism for spiritual purposes. In almost all other parts of the world this behavior would have been shocking and completely amoral, but for that tribal culture it was considered acceptable under certain circumstances.

Edgar Allan Poe was alive during the first half of the 19th century and the Tell-Tale Heart was published towards the end of his life in 1843. During this time, slavery was still legal in many parts of the country, women rarely worked outside the home, and immigrants or people of color were very often treated as though they were inferior to whites.

These are only a few of the major differences between the early-to-mid 19th century and today, but you'd probably agree that enslaving others, treating women as servants, and generally treating minorities as though they are inferior are, by contemporary standards, pretty amoral.

Why would war be used to gain territory and increase power?

As a general matter, people in a given territory are not going to willingly hand over their land to another nation.  This means that if a nation wants a particular territory, it is likely that a war will be necessary.  There are means of conquering a people economically, for example, by investing so heavily in a region that one controls a substantial amount of economic activity, production of goods and services, and hiring and firing, for instance.  Nevertheless, that is a form of war, too.  People want autonomy, not another nation taking over and telling them what to do. There have been few if any instances of a people handing over the keys to a kingdom when a foreign power comes knocking.  But there is a wonderful satire called The Mouse That Roared (Arnold) in which a country in dire financial straits declares war on the United States, wanting to lose, so it can enjoy the American largess historically available to countries the United States has defeated. Generally, though, war is the only way to gain a new territory.   

As Maniac meets more people, he sees that not everyone is "color blind" the way he is. Why is Maniac "color blind?"

There is one quote that I love that seems to really nail Maniac's "color blindness."  The quote is from chapter 16.

He didn't figure he was white any more than the East Enders were black, He looked himself over pretty hard and came up with at least seven different shades and colors right on his own skin, not one of them being what he would call white (except for his eyeballs, which weren't any whiter than the eyeballs of the kids in the East End.)

Which was all a big relief to Maniac, finding out he wasn't really white, because the way he figured, white was about the most boring color of all.

I think a large part of Maniac's color blindness is the fact that he doesn't see himself as a single color.  When he looks at himself or other people, he doesn't see single colors.  He sees a bunch of different colors at the same time.  To Maniac, calling somebody a single color is just silly.  

I think another reason that Maniac is color blind to skin color is because Maniac judges people for what they do, how they act, and how they treat other people.  Maniac's vision is deeds based, not skin color based.  That's why Maniac wasn't suspicious of Mars Bar until Mars Bar pulled a massive mood swing on Maniac for taking a bite of the offered candy bar and hit Maniac.  Maniac judges people for how they treat him.  Black and white people have both been mean and nice to Maniac, so Maniac doesn't believe skin color has anything to do with.   

What was Myrtle's "tragic achievement" in The Great Gatsby?

In Chapter VIII, Nick sees Gatsby alive for the last time, but he has to go to the city and leave Gatsby on his own.  He describes taking the train and crossing to the other side of the car when the train goes through the valley of ashes and passes the spot where Myrtle had been killed by Gatsby's car.  He describes the way he imagines young children still "[search] for dark spots in the dust, and some garrulous man [tells] over and over what had happened [...]."  For now, everyone is still terribly and morbidly interested in Myrtle's death, but, eventually, the children will stop looking for blood in the dirt and the man will tell the story of her death so many times that he will grow tired of the telling, and it will stop seeming like a real event.  Thus, when Nick says that Myrtle's "tragic achievement" will be forgotten, he is referring to her death.  It is the major event of her life -- the violence and drama of her death -- and it is really the only story about her that will be told again and again because she accomplished nothing else of general interest. 

`int_0^(pi/6) sqrt(1 + cos(2x)) dx` Evaluate the integral

`int_0^(pi/6)sqrt(1+cos(2x))dx`

Rewrite the integrand by using the identity:`cos(2x)=2cos^2(x)-1`

`=int_0^(pi/6)sqrt(1+2cos^2(x)-1)dx`

`=int_0^(pi/6)sqrt(2cos^2(x))dx`

`=sqrt(2)int_0^(pi/6)|cos(x)|dx`

`=sqrt(2)int_0^(pi/6)cos(x)dx` (as `0<=x<=pi/6=>cos(x)>=0=>|cos(x)|=cos(x)` )

`=sqrt(2)[sin(x)]_0^(pi/6)`

`=sqrt(2)[sin(pi/6)-sin(0)]`

`=sqrt(2)[1/2-0]`

`=sqrt(2)/2`

`=1/sqrt(2)`

A lens forms an image 15 cm away. The object is located 10 cm from the lens. What is the focal length of lens? What type of lens is it?

To solve, apply the thin lens equation.

`1/f = 1/d_o + 1/d_i`

where 

f = len's focal length

`d_o` = object distance

`d_i` = image distance

Plugging in the given values, the formula becomes:

`1/f=1/10 +1/15`

`1/f=1/10*3/3 + 1/15*2/2`

`1/f=3/30 + 2/30`

`1/f=5/30`

`1/f=1/6`

`f=6`

Therefore, the focal length of the lens is 6 cm.

Take note that a converging lens has a positive value for f. And a diverging lens has a negative value for f.

Since the resulting value of f is positive, then, the it is a converging lens.

What are biometrics?

Biometrics is the practice of using an individual's physical or behavioral characteristics for identification and verification purposes. The methods employed in biometric identification range from simple fingerprinting to retina scans and DNA testing. Most commonly, biometric identification is used as a means of improving the security of personal electronic devices, but can be utilized in a wide variety of other applications as well. However, while the use of biometric technologies is becoming increasingly widespread, critics argue that the shortcomings of such technologies present significant risks to the general public.

History

The concept of biometrics as it is understood today dates back as far as the late nineteenth century, when fingerprinting was first developed as a tool for law-enforcement officials. In the 1870s, British physician Henry Faulds devised the first substantial system for classifying human fingerprints. After Faulds' system was refined and improved by Francis Galton in the 1890s, fingerprinting was quickly adopted by law-enforcement agencies for criminal-identification purposes. In just a few decades, fingerprinting became one of the leading forms of identification in America.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government began requiring photo identification in addition to fingerprinting for critical personal identification documents such as driver's licenses and birth certificates. Gradually, over the course of the remainder of the twentieth century, continued research led to the emergence of many other biometric technologies that have become commonplace today.

Biometrics: Types and Applications

Today, biometric technologies have many possible applications. In general, biometric technologies are categorized according to their mechanism of analysis. The two largest categories are visual biometrics and behavioral biometrics.

Visual biometrics use human characteristics that are visually identifiable. Fingerprinting is perhaps the most fundamental example of a visual biometric. Iris and retina recognition, in which special machines are used to identify people by the unique features of their eyes, are also visual biometrics. Finger and hand geometry, in which identity is determined through verification of the specific geometric features of those extremities, is another.

Behavioral biometrics involve the observation of various human behaviors for patterns that are unique to specific individuals such as walking style, signature, and manner of typing. In some cases, a person's online habits can also be used as a behavioral biometric.

Other types of biometrics include auditory biometrics, olfactory biometrics, and chemical biometrics. Determining a person's identity based on the sound of his or her voice is an example of an auditory biometric. An olfactory biometric identifies people based on smell. Chemical biometrics include advanced forms of biological identification such as DNA testing.

As the field of biometrics has evolved and broadened, the number of technological innovations making use of biometric data has risen dramatically. Many modern electronic devices, such as cell phones and tablets, use fingerprint recognition to confirm user identity and thereby protect private information. Fingerprinting technologies are also used to confirm the identity of students and facilitate other processes in some schools. Many modern casinos rely on facial-recognition software to identify cheaters.

Some biometric technologies are used on a broader scale. The social media website Facebook utilizes facial recognition software to help users tag their friends in the photos they share. Some advertisers use data they acquire about people's Internet habits to tailor their ads to people's specific interests. A number of financial institutions now use customer voice imprints as part of their ongoing efforts to prevent fraud. In its Next Generation Identification system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has built a massive database of fingerprint, iris scan, and facial-recognition information that it uses to identify suspects and solve crimes.

Criticism

Though it has yielded numerous technological advancements that serve to improve security and convenience, biometrics continues to be highly controversial. Many critics see biometrics as a flawed science that should only be used with great caution, if at all. Specifically, criticism of biometrics is often based on one of two main arguments: (1) biometrics is subject to certain technical limitations, or (2) it presents problematic legal, ethical, or social concerns.

Critics who focus on the technical limitations of biometrics point out that many of these technologies are inherently flawed and prone to error. Facial-recognition software, for example, may not be able to account for the natural changes that occur because of aging. Similarly, voice-recognition systems may also fail to recognize an authorized user whose voice has changed, perhaps because of a cold or other illness. Such limitations, critics argue, make biometrics potentially unreliable and sometimes even dangerous.

Those who criticize biometrics because of its legal, ethical, or social implications focus on the way biometrics may negatively affect the public's freedom and security. Many argue that the compiling and storing of biometric data may constitute a violation of personal privacy, particularly when there is a lack of appropriate legislative oversight. Indeed, privacy concerns are one of the leading obstacles facing biometric technologies, such as Facebook's facial-recognition software, which uses biometric data to identify people without their permission or knowledge. More broadly, these critics fear that biometrics will ultimately dehumanize people until they are seen as little more than sets of data and then discriminate against them based on this data.

Bibliography

Dredge, Stuart. "10 Things You Need to Know About Biometrics Technologies." Guardian. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/17/10-things-to-know-about-biometrics

Peterson, Andrea. "The Biometrics Revolution Is Already Here – And You May Not Be Ready For It." Washington Post. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/17/the-biometrics-revolution-is-already-here-and-you-may-not-be-ready-for-it/

"Types of Biometrics." Biometrics Institute. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/pages/types-of-biometrics.html

Yesil, Bilge. "Biometrics." In Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Print.

In Chapter 5 of Bud, Not Buddy, Bud's mother discusses the opening and closing of doors. How does this metaphor relate to Bud's life?

In Chapter 5, Bud's mother tells him to remember that no matter how bad things look, "when one door closes, don't worry, because another door opens" (Curtis 43). Angela Caldwell's metaphor regarding the opening and closing of doors represents Bud's challenges and opportunities that he encounters throughout his life. Bud endures many trials and tribulations throughout the novel and every time he seems to have failed, another opportunity presents itself that Bud is able to take advantage of. For instance, when Bud misses the train to Chicago he is forced to walk towards Owosso and eventually gets picked up by Lefty Lewis, who takes him to Grand Rapids. After missing the train, Bud is upset and feels that he will never meet his father, but when Lefty Lewis arrives, another "door opens" which leads Bud in the right direction. When Bud initially meets Herman Calloway, he believes that Herman is his father. Herman views Bud with contempt and Bud begins to worry that he will be sent back to Flint, Michigan. Later on, it is revealed that Herman is actually Bud's grandfather, and Bud lives happily with the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Essentially, the "door closes" when Bud finds out that Herman is not his father, but another "door opens" when he discovers that he is Herman's grandchild. Bud's entire journey is a series of negative and positive experiences that correlate with his mother's metaphor of doors opening and closing.

Why is it important to know why Friar Lawrence is the one to blame for Romeo and Juliet's death in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet?

Is Friar Laurence the one to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths? He certainly blames himself, but finds it important to explain his reasons: “And here I stand, both to impeach and purge / Myself condemned and myself excused.” The prince seems to absolve the friar, telling him they “still have known thee for a holy man.” Some actors have said that the friar tells everyone what happened as a kind of confession, telling the story to work through his personal guilt.

Whatever his reasons, Friar Laurence is the most knowledgeable about why Romeo and Juliet committed suicide. He describes the reasons for their actions. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, the friar is not an impetuous youth. He is known as a wise “holy man.” Therefore the friar would be listened to much more than Romeo and Juliet.

Friar Laurence describes how desperately in love Romeo and Juliet were. His report makes it clear that the two killed themselves because they knew they could never be together, only because their families warred. The prince believes him, and the parents do not contradict the respectable friar. They must face the fact that they partially contributed to the deaths of their children. Lord Montague and Lord Capulet make a treaty, referring to Romeo and Juliet as “Poor sacrifices of our enmity!” Through the friar’s testimony and a few other forms of proof, the Montagues and Capulets can finally make peace.

What is a medical diagnosis?

Indications and Procedures

When individuals see health care professionals for treatment, they are evaluated to determine the nature of their concerns. The process of evaluation usually involves a combination of assessment, screening, reassessment, and then formal diagnosis. They typically initially describe their experience, concerns, and history, and then the professional asks more questions and may follow up with screening questions.

Screening questions identify risk for any more serious conditions and for which additional assessment is needed. Screening is inexpensive and involves a small amount of time on questions that are easy to ask and answer, providing a determination of whether the person is at risk for a specific problem. If the screening result is positive, then the risk is there and further evaluation is needed; if it is negative, then the risk is deemed absent and no further evaluation is needed. Unfortunately, no screening process is perfect, and so sometimes there are false negatives. This is why it is important that if problems continue, individuals seeking care get second opinions or return for evaluation.

If a screening result is positive, then additional assessment is conducted to determine if a diagnosable condition is present. This usually involves a complete symptom history, comparing the symptoms described to known disorders, and doing differential diagnosis. If the information collected does not yield anything, then the screening process resulted in a false positive. If, on the other hand, the collection of information yields enough information to show that the criteria for a condition are satisfied, then a diagnosis is confirmed. The most common diagnostic systems in use are the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 (rev. 5th ed., 2013), and the International Classification of Diseases
(2011).

An example of how diagnosis may work is as follows. A person comes to an emergency room, has alcohol on the breath and no other medical problems, and is screened positive for alcohol problems by a nurse asking a few questions. Additional assessment is done by a psychologist, and they determine that the individual meets the criteria for alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence is a condition with seven criteria, and an individual who demonstrates three or more in any twelve-month period qualifies for the diagnosis. The patient might report having tolerance (using more to get the same effect), withdrawal (insomnia when stopping using), and a persistent desire to quit, all in the past year. The psychologist then diagnoses the patient with alcohol dependence, and treatment will address that problem.

Uses and Complications

Diagnoses are useful in facilitating effective and quick communications among treatment professionals and other stakeholders in the care of the client. These stakeholders include other treatment providers, insurance companies, researchers in epidemiology and other areas of science, and the clients and their families.

One complication related to diagnoses, however, is that some diagnoses have symptoms that overlap and that methods of differential diagnoses are always developing. As such, it is possible for misdiagnoses to occur. When this occurs, individuals may be treated for the wrong problem, or even overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed, and thus not properly treated. As such, it is often advised for more serious conditions that are costly to treat for patients to use multiple methods of diagnosis and even seek secondary opinions to confirm the diagnosis.

Perspective and Prospects

All forms of healers and health care providers have been involved, since the beginning human societies, in the process of diagnosis in one form or another. As science has advanced in its understanding of causes of death and illness, procedures for diagnosis have also evolved. The procedures and rules for making diagnoses in many areas of health care continue to evolve as new technology and research develop. New technologies take many forms, ranging from improved questionnaires, to new interview procedures, to automated tests and screening online, to the use of new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to even the use of virtual reality-assisted robots entering the body and allowing diagnosticians to see what is happening inside specific organs. All these methods aid in quicker diagnoses and faster paths to effective treatment.

One challenge to evolving diagnostic methods is that the world has become more interconnected over the last century. As a result, it is important for diagnosticians of all types to recognize cultural differences in terms of how symptoms are experienced, expressed, and understood. This is true for both physical and mental health problems. Therefore, relevant screening, assessment, and other diagnostic technologies may need to adjust both in terms of how early symptoms are identified and in how information about diagnoses is conveyed to individuals of different backgrounds. This is the case as well because while diagnosis does involve technology, it is also a procedure involving human communication. As definitions and understandings of illness and health vary by culture, so too will communications about diagnosis need to adjust as cultures and health care providers interact more and more.

Bibliography

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. Rev. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Author, 2013.

Doherty, Gerard M., and Lawrence W. Way. Current Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment. 13th ed. New York: Lange Medical/McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Helman, Cecil G., ed. Culture, Health, and Illness. 5th ed. London: Hodder Education, 2007.

Merck Research Laboratories. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. 19th ed. Whitehouse Station: Author, 2011.

World Health Organization. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems: 10th Revision–ICD-10. 2010 ed. Geneva, Switzerland: Author, 2011.

Where does most of the action take place in Black Beauty by Anna Sewell?

Anna Sewell's classic is set in 19th-century England and revolves around the life of a horse, Black Beauty.  The story is a first-person narrative of his life from the perspective of a horse including confusion about the ways of humans.  Most of the action in the story revolves around Black Beauty's various stables. 

His first and perhaps favorite housing is at Birtwick under Squire Gordon.  Throughout his life however, Black Beauty is sold a number of times and treated poorly by many of his owners.  Lady Anne of Earlshall Park is one aristocrat who poorly manages her stables leading to a high turnover and many injuries to the horses.  The cab companies in London also mistreat Black Beauty, save for Jerry Barker.  At the conclusion of the story, Black Beauty arrives under the care of James Howard, once a groom at the neighboring Birtwick estates, who almost killed Black Beauty when he was younger.  Black Beauty spends the remainder of his days happily ensconced at the Blomefields estate.

The earlier chapters detailing Black Beauty's exposure to the world hold most of the action.  This is when he was still stabled at the Birtwick estates.  Black Beauty witnesses the death of his brother Rob Roy, was nearly killed by the stable boy James, saved the life of a man foolishly trying to cross a dangerous bridge at night and almost succumbed to a fire.  Although the events take place away from the estate, Black Beauty always details his pleasure at arriving home.    

Why does the Radley place fascinate Scout, Jem and Dill?

The Radley place fascinates Dill and the Finch children because of the mystery that surrounds it.

After Dill Harris arrives in Maycomb,

[T]he Radley place fascinated Dill....In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the corner....(Ch.1)

The house resembles an old haunted house: It is darkened to a dull grey; on the long unpainted exterior of the house, there are dilapidated shutters that "drooped over the eaves of the veranda." (Ch.1) Large oak trees darken much of the yard in which no grass grows. The broken remains of a picket fence "drunkenly guarded the front yard" (Ch.1) where only wild, tough grass and "rabbit-tobacco" grow wild. Rumors of the house's being occupied by "a malevolent phantom" abound.
Other rumors that circulate through Maycomb suggest that this phantom goes out on moonless nights and peers into people's windows. If this "haint" breathes on any azalea bushes at night, they are wilted the next day. When chickens or pets are found injured, it is because the phantom has been responsible, even though there is proof that a man called Crazy Addie was the culprit.

In addition, there is suspicion of what goes on in the Radley house because the occupants do not come outside; they do not go to church, and they never talk with any neighbors. Rumor also has it that Boo once stabbed his father in the leg with a scissors when he was thirty-three years old.
Thus, it is because of all this mystery that Dill wishes to make contact with Boo Radley, who seems to be insane. With such intense curiosity assisted by his creative imagination, Dill draws Jem and Scout into engaging in the adventure of learning more about the phantom who dwells inside the dark, sequestered house in their neighborhood.

What makes Alice different from others? Why do you like the character?

Alice is an individualist."Characters" in the Study Guide for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland describes her as:

...a curious, imaginative, strong-willed, and honest young English girl.

She is not content to be a typical docile, demure, quiet, obedient little Victorian girl. She gets bored with sitting around reading books--especially books with no pictures in them. She wants some adventure in her life. No doubt she gets some of her ideas about the possibilities of adventure from the books she reads--the ones she enjoys. She would like to explore the world. It is easy to relate to her because we are kept in her point of view throughout the entire book; and we can identify with her motivation, which is to get back home. Alice is courageous. In spite of being lost, and in spite of running into all sorts of strange creatures and situations--most notably the Queen of Hearts who wants to have Alice's head chopped off--the little girl remains unflappable. There is an element of danger throughout the story because the strange world has not been thoroughly explored, and may never be completely explored because it is infinite. Anything could happen.

Alice strongly resembles Dorothy in the Oz books, which is understandable because L. Frank Baum was directly inspired by the two books about Alice by Lewis Carroll. Dorothy has a similar strength of character. She could be described as:

...a curious, imaginative, strong-willed, and honest young Kansas girl.

Dorothy becomes the leader when she encounters the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, because, albeit she is only around six years old, she is a real human being while they, along with all the other characters, are only illusions. The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the counterpart of the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Both provide the greatest danger to the intrepid heroines. Both these little girls are motivated to get back to their respective homes, but neither of them seems to be in any particular hurry to get there. Wonderland and Oz are far more interesting than the stodgy places Alice and Dorothy came from. 

What are two positive attributes of social media?

One good thing about social media is that it allows people to stay in touch with people who have moved away. In today's society, people move for careers, relationships, and other reasons. Social media allows one to stay in touch via chat and pictures with people they might not have seen in years. They may even arrange meetings. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Vk are some of the most used sites in the word because people crave contact with each other even if they have not seen each other in years.  

Another good thing about social media is that it alerts people to causes. Gofundme is a crowdsourcing website that allows people to ask for donations for things like medical bills and college funding. Social media also calls attention to government corruption by the people experiencing it firsthand if they wish to report it on social media. Social media gives everyone a voice and makes it nearly impossible to silence anyone.  

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being tested for diseases?

There are a wide variety of diseases that you could be referring to in your question. I will try to address them in two groups: infectious diseases and genetic disorders. 

In the case of infectious diseases, the main advantage of getting tested would be the disease could be identified and proper treatment could begin. For example, if you have strep throat and it can be diagnosed quickly you can begin the correct antibiotics right away and avoid days of feeling miserable. In a more serious example, if someone gets tested for HIV and it is positive, they can begin treatment quickly which can improve their quality of life going forward. The only disadvantage for getting tested for an infectious disease is that there is sometimes a social stigma tied to certain diseases and treatment can be expensive. 

In the case of genetic disorders, there are more issues to weigh. In the case of genetic disorders that can be passed on to children, a couple may want to get tested to understand the chances of passing on a disorder. For example, if someone has a family history of cystic fibrosis, they may want to get tested to know if they are a carrier that could pass the gene on to children. Some people choose to have genetic testing for disorders that can show up later in life. This is the case for the gene for Huntington's Disease. Huntington's Disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that usually shows up later in life and there is no cure. By being tested at a younger age, someone can find out if they will eventually experience symptoms of Huntington's Disease. This is a huge decision that will likely affect how that person lives the rest of their life. 

With genetic disorders, some advantages to testing include possibly being able to prevent passing certain disorders to children and better treatment for different disorders since they will be correctly diagnosed. Some disadvantages include the fact that the results of the test can be life changing and can lead to very expensive treatments. In the case of testing to predict future disorders, such as Huntington's Disease, one needs to decide how the results will affect them and what they may do differently in life depending on the outcome. It is a very personal decision and can be different for each person. 

What made Geoffrey Chaucer significant?

Perhaps the main reason why people still speak of Geoffrey Chaucer today—more than 600 years since his death in 1400—is because he is the author of The Canterbury Tales. This collection of stories is regarded by many to be one of the English language's greatest poetic works.

What some do not know about The Canterbury Tales is the fact that Chaucer had originally intended to include 120 short stories in the anthology. Though the stories are told on more than 17,000 lines of printed text, there it only a total of 24 stories that are read and studied today. 

In death, his significance remains as he was the first to be buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. Since his death and burial, other great writers—including Robert Browning and Charles Dickens—were laid to rest there as well.

Though The Canterbury Tales is by far his best-known work, A Treatise on the Astrolabe is another well-regarded piece of work, though it is much more technical in detail than many of his other writings. 

How do Mondrian and Cezanne use color in their paintings?

The use of color by modern painters is often concerned with two general aspects: the palette used by the artist, and the way that colors are mixed and applied on canvas or other painting surfaces to show form. The "palette" refers the range of colors normally used by an artist in a way that creates the particular look of that artist's work. Both Cezanne and Mondrian are known for bright colors; but Cezanne's color palette is one that is mixed in a very subtle way, with colors that look nearly as bright as pigments from the tube, but that are lightened or dulled slightly by the addition of grey or other pigments. Some art instructors will use Cezanne as an example to help student painters learn about mixing colors, because the colors are more complex than they look at first glance. Cezanne's colors are known to be vibrant and rich, and indeed the uniquely powerful use of color is considered a central aspect of Cezanne's style. Cezanne's opinion of the importance of color offers insight into his methods:

"Drawing and color are not separate at all; in so far as you paint, you draw. The more the color harmonizes, the more exact the drawing becomes. When the color achieves richness, the form attains its fullness also. The contrasts and relations of tones - there you have the secret of drawing and modeling".

In this quote we see that Cezanne's methods of painting and his creation of form are both intimately connected to his use of color. Since Cezanne's work is mostly figurative subjects or landscapes, his use of color needs to be fairly naturalistic (although his paintings are not particularly realistic, they are also not abstract or surreal).

In the case of Piet Mondrian, who is famous for his abstract works, the use of bright or pastel colors need not be naturalistic, and in fact the dramatic contrasting colors of his images are his calling card as a painter. Mondrian's most famous works use many primary shades of red, blue and yellow, but he also works in pastels and more subtle color combinations.