What's Harper Lee's tone towards Tom Robinson's death; that is, does she want the reader to believe that he was shot while escaping in To Kill a...

Author Harper Lee intentionally places the shooting of Tom Robinson in Chapter 24 so that readers fully understand the injustice and cruelty with which this innocent man has been treated. The excessive shooting of Tom seventeen times is the objective correlative* of the concept of racial bias that has been woven throughout her narrative and certainly exemplified with the trial and the subsequent verdict.

That Tom has no faith in the Maycomb County justice system is evident from his testimony and his reactions while he is on the stand. So, while he is in prison, he despairs and tries to make an escape if any chance occurs. For this shooting scene, Harper Lee prepares the reader early on in her novel in Chapter 10, when the children are given air rifles and their father tells them not to kill any mockingbirds because they harm nothing; all they do is "sing their hearts out for us." Later, in Chapter 25, Mr. Underwood's editorial certainly underscores the cruel injustice dealt to Tom Robinson. Certainly, the tone of this editorial is scathing and acerbic, a tone reflective of Miss Lee's own feelings.

Background information on the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird also informs the reader that the Tom Robinson trial has been based upon the real life trial in Alabama of the Scottsboro Boys, nine black teenagers accused of raping two white women on a train in 1931 [see link below].

*https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Objective_Correlative.pdf

How do you determine which animal's blood is of what color?

Before seeing an animal for yourself, predicting the color of its blood can be a very difficult and tricky task. Animals have developed a myriad of molecules and methods to survive in their environments, leading to a rainbow of blood colors.

Red blood is probably the most common and is caused by a molecule called hemoglobin. This molecule (found in our red blood cells) helps hold onto oxygen and better spread it around the body. An atom of iron in each molecule results in the red shape. A vast majority of animals use this same molecule in order to help facilitate the transfer of oxygen around their body. 

Blue blood is possible as well and can be found in several species of octopus. These octopuses use a different molecule called hemocyanin, which uses copper instead of iron but works for the same purpose: to carry oxygen to different cells around the body. But notice this is not in all species of octopus, but it does seem to help the cold water ones more than the warmer water cousins.

Cold water, however, is not always a predictor of blood coloring. One fish, the ocellated ice fish, requires no molecule to help carry oxygen, as the frigid waters it inhabits are extremely oxygen rich, and has clear blood. 

One skink in Papua New Guinea has developed a very unique green blood coloring. The green-blooded skink (aptly named) uses hemoglobin like any red-blooded creature does with one minor difference. As hemoglobin is used and wears down, we destroy it, creating the waste molecules bilirubin and biliverdin. In our bodies these are released into the small intestine for removal, but in the skink the biliverdin is kept in high amounts. If we did not remove this molecule it could cause jaundice and death in humans. This increased biliverdin level turns the skink's blood green and, according to one hypothesis, helps to protect the skink from malaria or other diseases. 

In conclusion, with a sampling of blood from the organism, the blood color would be very easy to read for. With no sample, however, it can be very difficult; every species is unique and has evolved its own systems for survival that can be hard to predict. Your best bet would be to compare the animal to members of its close family or genus and make a prediction from there. I hope this helped answer your question!

How does Austen use dialogue in Pride and Prejudice?

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. “But it is,” returned she, “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

“Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife, impatiently.

“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”

This was invitation enough.

From this example, we can already read much into Austen's skillful employment of dialogue. For example, we can see that much of Austen's dialogue is formal and ornate, as characters often refer to one another by their last names (Mrs. Bennet calls her husband "Mr. Bennet," despite the fact that they've apparently been married for over two decades). Additionally, Austen's dialogue often exhibits a lightly satirical tone that invites us to laugh at her characters' mannerisms. For instance, just by looking at the dialogue here, we can already see that Mrs. Bennet is an incessant gossip. Moreover, by lending her dialogue a humorous sense of urgency, we're invited to laugh at someone so excited to engage in a bit of neighborhood news. As such, through this example, we can see that Austen's dialogue in Pride and Prejudice is formal but funny, and often satirizes those speaking it by poking fun at some of the most prominent characteristics. 

Why do you think Laurie reported Charles's good behavior grimly, while he had delighted in telling about Charles's bad behavior?

In the ironic ending to Shirley Jackson's short story "Charles" Laurie's mother discovers that although her son has been faithfully reporting the deeds and misdeeds of a boy named Charles in his kindergarten class there is in reality no Charles. Laurie is really Charles, which should come as no surprise to the reader in light of Laurie's behavior at home where he torments his baby sister and often talks back to his father. Charles is made up because Laurie doesn't care to receive punishment at home as well as school and because he seems to be beyond reproach in the eyes of his mother. Laurie seems to relish his bad behavior at school. He gleefully reports of Charles's bad conduct. He shouts out that Charles yelled in school or hit another child.

Eventually, the kindergarten teacher appears to have made progress with Laurie's behavior, much to the child's dismay. His usual happy reports are labeled grim and he shrugs apathetically when he tells his mother that Charles was the teacher's helper and was rewarded with an apple. Obviously the malevolent manifestation of Charles is more pleasing to Laurie. When Charles/Laurie reverts to the negative, Laurie reports to his mother with "a voice slightly awed." For Laurie, the life of the miscreant is much more exciting than abiding by the rules of his teacher and the school.   

What is a good introduction for The Crucible when you talk about the personal integrity?

In The Crucible, through the characterization of John Proctor, Arthur Miller conveys the idea that personal integrity and self-respect are far more important than reputation or even life itself.  An introduction to this subject might explore the high cost of relinquishing one's integrity: if an individual cannot feel good about his or her choices, it becomes terribly difficult for that person to think of him or herself as a good person, deserving of good things.  The idea of being comfortable with one's conscience, with being able to look oneself in the mirror and sleep peacefully at night, knowing that one has been honest, tried their hardest, and so forth, is essential to one's happiness and satisfaction with life.  Therefore, when Proctor feels that he has been dishonest and hurt his wife in the process, he feels incredibly guilty, as though he is a "fraud."  Regaining his sense of himself as a man of integrity, a man he can respect, becomes as integral to the play as his fight to save the lives of his wife and friends. 

How does Sidi mock Baroka in her conversation with him?

When Sidi enters Baroka's palace, he is in the middle of wrestling a younger man, and she mentions that his house seems empty. Baroka responds by asking Sidi if Ailatu, his favorite wife, is around, and Sidi tells him that she is not. Baroka says that Ailatu will be back and mentions to Sidi that he offended Ailatu after she hurt him while plucking his armpit hairs out. Sidi mocks Baroka by saying that Ailatu must have been dissatisfied with him for some reason, suggesting that he was not able to perform sexually. Baroka wisely controls his temper and refers to himself as a "humorless old ram." Sidi then comments that she thinks the other wrestler will win. Baroka asks Sidi if that is her wish and she mocks him by saying, "If the tortoise cannot tumble it does not mean that he can stand" (Soyinka 42). Sidi then tiptoes behind his back and makes funny gestures at him. Sidi continues to mock Baroka by mentioning that he is old enough to be her father and disrespects his character. She indirectly mocks him by commenting on his age and "open-handedness," and even brings up an embarrassing story about how Baroka has acquired a taste for ground corn and pepper because he is too cheap to pay for snuff. As Sidi continues to tell Baroka the story of her suitor, which incidentally happens to be him, she mentions that once upon a time he used to be fertile and please his wife. She also says that he is too tired anymore and cannot produce offspring. At this point in the play, Baroka realizes that Sadiku has told Sidi about his impotence, and he begins to play along in order to deceive Sidi.

What transforms the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet into a moment of great poignancy?

The balcony scene, one of the most beautiful in all of Shakespeare's plays,  is especially poignant because the audience knows from the Prologue that the love between these two young people is doomed, and that it will consume the two of them. They are "star cross'd lovers" who are destined to "take their life" due to their love. So in this scene, where the two lovers declare their love and devotion to each other, even planning to marry, the audience knows that it won't work out. Even Romeo and Juliet themselves are conscious of the realities of their relationship. Romeo says that his name is "hateful to myself" because it makes him Juliet's enemy. Juliet, before realizing that Romeo is listening in the garden, hopes that he can "deny his father" or that perhaps she can disavow her own name. The audience knows that neither of them can actually deny who they are, however, and their love will be consumed by the rivalry between their two feuding families. This is why this scene, full of the most tender expressions of love, is so sad and powerful. 

What is the relationship between Cherry and Ponyboy in The Outsiders?

At the beginning of the novel, Ponyboy meets Cherry Valance and her friend, Marcia, at the drive-ins. Although Cherry is a Soc cheerleader who dates Bob Sheldon, the two characters share a connection after Johnny stands up to Dally for annoying the girls. Cherry and Ponyboy talk about the differences between the Socs and Greasers, and she tells Pony that he is the first person she's gotten through to. Both characters gain perspective into each other's lifestyles, and they share the same interests, which includes watching sunsets. Cherry and Ponyboy are essentially "soul-mates" throughout the novel. Cherry becomes a spy for the Greasers and provides information about the Socs before the upcoming rumble. Ponyboy respects Cherry and understands the difficult situation she is in. Cherry is loyal to Ponyboy and even testifies that Johnny acted in self-defense during the trial. Although the two characters never become romantically involved, Ponyboy and Cherry share a close understanding of one another and see eye-to-eye on numerous topics.

What are Thomas and Chess's classic temperamental categories?

Doctors Thomas and Chess were child psychologists who developed a system in which the behavior of children can be classified based on the following nine levels of temperament:

Activity level: Children either want to move and be active, or are more content being sedentary and remaining in one place.

Distractibility: How well does a child pay attention when he or she is involved in something that is not interesting?

Intensity: This can be related to positive or negative responses. How passionately does a child react to stimuli?

Regularity: Does a child follow a set pattern with eat and sleep schedules, or does there seem to be a lack of a consistent schedule?

Sensory threshold: How many sensory experiences (sound, taste, touch) are needed to evoke a response in a child?

Approach/Withdrawal: Does the child easily approach and adapt to new situations and people?

Adaptability: This is related to how well a child can move from one activity to the next.

Persistence: This speaks to how well a child is able to stay on a task, particularly a difficult one.

Mood: Does the child generally react to circumstances in a positive or a negative way?

Based on these nine temperaments, most children can then be classified as "easy," "difficult," or "slow-to-warm-up."

Answer in reference to "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality." On the third night of their conversation, Weirob discloses that she would...

John Perry's work, "Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality," is a truly fascinating journey of human reasoning. As Weirob is faced with the choice before her, allowing her brain to be placed in a stranger's body, the debate is almost disturbingly reasonable and logical considering the enormity of the potential consequences.

Her argument in the negative is that were the operation to succeed the resulting survivor would not be her, but the one into whose body her brain had been placed. In her opinion, (as to the central point of the argument - "Identity"), the only basis for identity is the recognition of and comfort with "this unworthy material object" that we call a body, so that even if the survivor were to have her memories there would be no recognition nor comfort and the so called "memories" would be mere anticipation or delusion.

As to whether she proves her point or not is a matter of personal opinion. Both positions are presented extremely well and the side to which one leans will be determined by the amount of importance one places on the human brain and its place in what truly determines who we are.

What type of imagery is Lady Macbeth using in her last speech in Act One Scene Six?

Lady Macbeth's lines in this particular scene don't really include any traditional examples of imagery. However, we could make the argument that Lady Macbeth uses a form of financial imagery to evoke the "honors" that the king has bestowed upon her family. Her speech says that everything they have is "in compt," which means something like "in account" of him. They "make their audit," that is, render up what they owe, at the King's pleasure. Here, financial language creates a form of imagery that illustrates the debt, both real and abstract, that the Macbeths owe King Duncan. Lady Macbeth uses this language to ingratiate herself to the king. Her obsequies are intended to lull Duncan into a false sense of security and to encourage him to feel at home among the Macbeths, to whom he has also professed his love. She has already advised her husband to "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." With this speech, she is doing exactly that, and revealing herself to be devious in the extreme. 

Why is Waknuk the most dangerous place in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham?

Waknuk is dangerous because it is a hotbed of religious intolerance.

The people of Waknuk believe that anyone or anything that does not conform to the True Image is an abomination.  The True Image is a narrow, dogmatic interpretation of religious mandates about what things should look like.  They have determined, for example, exactly how long a person’s arm should be.  Anyone who does not conform is expelled.  Animals and plants are destroyed.

It appears that David’s grandfather founded Waknuk as a place where he could enforce his particular brand of worship to God.

Elias Strorm came from the East, somewhere near the sea. … He himself maintained that it was the ungodly ways of the East which drove him to search for a less sophisticated, stauncher-minded region; though I have heard it suggested that there came a point when his native parts refused to tolerate him any longer. (Ch. 2) 

David’s father Joseph seems to have taken over the religious enforcement.  He is very strict and narrow-minded.  When David’s aunt had a baby that somehow did not conform to the True Image, he refused to acknowledge it despite the desperate mother’s protests.  His wife agreed. 

No one, indeed, would dream of mentioning the matter openly until the inspector should have called to issue his certificate that it was a human baby in the true image. Should it unhappily turn out to violate the image and thus be ineligible for a certificate, everyone would continue to be unaware of it, and the whole regrettable incident would be deemed not to have occurred. (Ch. 7) 

When a baby is born in Waknuk, it has to get a certificate called a Normalcy Certificate that declares it appropriately formed.  People without them are relegated to the Fringes, a dangerous savage area.  Part of the treatment is sterilization, so a person who does not conform to the True Image cannot breed. 

David befriends a girl with extra toes, Sophie.  Her parents have been hiding her.  However, eventually she is seen and sent to the Fringes.  David is unable to protect her.  His father beats the information out of him.

David and the other telepaths may look normal on the outside, and in fact have been certified as normal, but they are not.  They have the ability to read one another’s minds.  David’s Uncle Axel warns him to be careful, but eventually he and the others are found out and have to flee.

In "A Rose for Emily," why were the townspeople glad to find out that all Emily’s father left her was the house?

The townspeople are glad that Emily’s father only left her the house because then they can pity her. 

Emily is a very unusual woman.  She is very reclusive, never coming out of her house.  She also refuses to pay taxes.  She keeps insisting that she does not need to pay taxes because of her father. 

Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily's father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying. Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it. 

Emily’s odd behavior is a direct result of how strange her father was.  He ran her suitors off with a horse-whip, because none of them “were quite good enough for Miss Emily.”  As a result of this, Emily never marries and ends up alone when her father dies.

When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.

In other words, Emily is just like everyone else now.  However, she really isn’t.  Emily still considers herself superior, and still refuses to pay taxes.  She doesn’t even want to give them her father’s body.  When people came to pay their respects she met them at the door and told them her father was not dead.

The smell is another example of how the town made concessions for Miss Emily.  They solved the problem by having a group break into the cellar and sprinkle lime.  The smell went away.  It was not until years later when Emily died that they found out that Miss Emily did have one suitor, and his body was still in her bed.

 

What help does Calypso give Odysseus in The Odyssey?

Calypso helps Odysseus by first agreeing to set him free, and then by promising him a raft and provisions for his journey home.

By way of the messenger Hermes, Zeus orders Calypso to free Odysseus. Calypso rails against the male gods who take mortals for wives, but are angered when the female gods take a mortal man. Nevertheless, she obeys. When she finds the unhappy Odysseus crying as the

                     ...sweet days of his lifetime
were running out in anguish over his exile,
for long ago the nymph had ceased to please.

Calypso approaches Odysseus, telling him to calm himself:

"Here you need grieve no more.... 
                  I have pondered it,
and I shall help you go."

Then, she takes him into her cave, where she has her serving maids bring him food. Still, she tries to convince Odysseus to stay, telling him of the dangers of the sea and offering to make him immortal is he stays. Much like the jealous woman, she asks Odysseus if she is less desirable than the wife for whom he pines. Odysseus calms her by saying that she has no reason for jealousy as Penelope is but a mortal, also. Offering his main desire to leave her as wishing to return home, he says,

                             "...Yet it is true, each day
I long for home, long for the sight of home..."

Thus, able to not offend Calypso by arguing that it is his home he misses more than his wife, he is allowed to construct a raft and set sail, although she watches him depart with great sadness. Moreover, just as Calypso has warned, Odysseus finds himself on a dangerous sea because the god Poseidon has generated a storm that destroys the raft. Fortunately, however, the goddess Ino comes to his rescue, by providing Odysseus with a veil that keeps him safe after his raft is wrecked. After eighteen days at sea, having been flung farther out and against jagged rocks, Odysseus again meets with good fortune as Athena intervenes along with a sea nymph. They, then, direct his course. At last, Odysseus finds a river that flows up to the coast of the island of Scheria. There he hides himself in a pile of leaves. Exhausted by this final effort, Odysseus throws off the protective veil given him by Ino as she has instructed him, and Athena "showered sleep/ that his distress should end." 

Why should states with significant immigrant populations designate particular seats in their legislatures (i.e. Parliament, Congress, etc.) to...

(In this answer, I assume that you are using the term "state" the way that political scientists use it.  In this case, "state" means the same thing as "country.")

Of course, not all people will agree that states with significant immigrant populations should designate seats in the legislature to represent that particular group.  However, if we have to argue that states should do so, we can say that designating seats will ensure that immigrants’ concerns are heard and will make immigrants more likely to feel connected to their new country.

In democratic countries, people want to have their voices heard.  They want to feel as if they have a say in how they are governed.  For this reason, it is good if people feel that they are represented in the legislature.  It is also good from the country’s point of view if all voices are heard.  If there is a large group of people in a country with a particular grievance or need, the country is better-off if it knows that that grievance or need is.  If the government knows this, it can do something about the problem before it gets worse.  Thus, it is better for both the immigrant group and the country as a whole if the group is represented in the legislature.

If a country has a large immigrant population, it will want that population to feel connected to the country and it will want them to assimilate.  If you have a large group of people in your country who do not feel that the country is really theirs, your country will be weaker and less cohesive.  The same is true if you have a large group of people in your country who have not assimilated and do not share common beliefs and values with the rest of the country.  Giving immigrants seats in the legislature can help prevent this problem.  If immigrants have their own seats in the legislature they will feel they have a stake in the country.  They will feel that the country cares enough about them to give them representation.  Because of this, they will feel more connected to the country and they will want to assimilate.

While not everyone will agree that immigrants should have reserved seats in the legislature, there are certainly good reasons to think that they should have those seats.

What is the history of complementary medicine?

Overview

The history of complementary medicine (CM) includes two distinct but
overlapping narratives: the histories of the various complementary treatments and
practices, themselves a collection of more than one hundred different approaches,
and the history of their definition as complementary. One immediate problem is the
lack of an agreed-upon definition of CM. The National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines CM as
“the use of a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and
products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine . . .
together with conventional medicine.” The National Cancer Institute
(NCI) defines CM as “any medical system, practice, or product
that is not thought of as standard care” and that is used “with standard
medicine.”

The Institute
of Medicine (IOM), however, notes that the identification of
any treatment as complementary is in part a historical judgment; IOM defines CM as
that which contrasts “the dominant health system of a particular society or
culture in a given historical period.” This essay will focus on the evolution of
complementary medicine in the United States, which has been a unique historical
laboratory for unconventional approaches to health care.

The Nineteenth Century: Innovation and Competition

The term “complementary medicine” is a recent coinage, the result of two major changes in the landscape of health care in the United States. The first change was the transition in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from a range of patterns of medical education and competing philosophies of health care to the standardization of educational requirements for physicians and the establishment of Western scientific medicine as the yardstick against which all other approaches were measured. The second major change was the opposition to this standardization that began in the 1960s.

What is now considered the center of a physician’s education, the university-related medical school, was the exception rather than the rule for the first century of the existence of the United States. Only two such schools had been founded before the American Revolution, one at the University of Pennsylvania (1765) and the other at Columbia University (1767). Because of the vast size of the continent and the difficulties of practicing medicine on the frontier, other ways of training physicians were adopted. Training now included apprenticeships with practicing physicians, at the end of which the fledgling practitioner was admitted to the local medical society on the basis of a letter of recommendation from the student’s mentor. There were no state or national board examinations at this time.

Another development was the establishment of proprietary schools of medicine, so called because they were owned privately (usually by a group of local physicians) and operated for profit. Although some of the older East Coast institutions had founded schools of medicine separate from their undergraduate colleges (such as Harvard in 1782 and Yale in 1810), the proprietary schools met the needs of underserved rural areas in the Midwest and deep South. The proprietary schools also allowed for the emergence of alternatives to what had not yet been defined as mainstream scientific medicine.

Several competing approaches to health care flourished in the nineteenth
century, ranging from such American innovations as Thomsonianism (1820s),
osteopathy (1892), and chiropractic
(1897) to such European imports as hydrotherapy (1844) and homeopathy
(1848). Perhaps the most typically American development was eclectic medicine,
which emerged in the 1830s and combined Thomsonianism with conventional medicine,
physical therapy, and Native American herbalism. Its mix-and-match utilization of
different therapies was a forerunner of CM as defined today.

The Twentieth Century: Standardization and New Diversification

In 1908, educator Abraham Flexner was asked by the
Carnegie Foundation to evaluate the condition of medical education in the United
States. Flexner’s report, published in 1910, marked the end of the proprietary
schools; their approach to medicine went underground for half a century, to
reemerge in the wake of the counterculture of the 1960s. Flexner recommended the
closure of half the 155 medical schools then operating in the United States; the
establishment of the university-related school of medicine as the ideal pattern;
the requirement of college-level preparation before admission to medical school;
and strict adherence to mainstream science in teaching and research. Schools of
homeopathy, naturopathy, and similar approaches were forced to abandon
courses in these alternatives or to close down. The exception was osteopathy,
which survived because the American Osteopathic Association was able to bring most
schools of osteopathic medicine into line with Flexner’s stipulations.

From the period following World War I until the 1960s, Western allopathic
(conventional) medicine was considered normative in the United States, with all
other therapies classified as mere historical curiosities. The situation began to
change in the 1960s for several reasons. First, mainstream medicine was
discredited because of such emotionally painful episodes as the thalidomide disaster of
1961 and the withdrawal of diethylstilbestrol
(DES) after 1971. The discovery that drugs developed to treat
anxiety and the risk of miscarriage, respectively, had teratogenic or carcinogenic
side effects led to skepticism regarding the benefits of so-called scientific
medicine. Second, the bureaucratization of medicine spurred by the passage of the
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 and the rise of managed care caused
widespread discontent among health consumers, who resented the denial of
treatments they considered necessary; many also complained that medicine was
becoming too impersonal.

The third factor that helped to revive interest in other approaches to health
care was the emergence of new religious movements (NRMs) in the 1960s and 1970s.
Some of these groups had affinities with Eastern religions and explored such
ancient Asian medical systems as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese
medicine. Others, influenced by the back-to-nature enthusiasm
of the environmental movement, began to study Western herbalism and
folk
remedies in preference to the “artificial” prescription drugs
produced in laboratories. Fourth, the emphasis of traditional Judaism and
Christianity and NRMs on the importance of spiritual and physical well-being
resonated with many who were dissatisfied with the assembly-line treatment they
received in conventional health maintenance organizations. Part
of the appeal of such therapies as chiropractic and naturopathy was that their
practitioners spent time with their patients rather than rushing them through
appointments as quickly as possible.

Complementary Medicine in the Twenty-first Century

In the early twenty-first century, unconventional therapies were used much more often as complementary treatments than as strict alternatives to mainstream medicine. As a result, CAM’s relationship to mainstream medicine is constantly changing. Three basic patterns define in the relationship of various complementary approaches to conventional medicine.

Defining ancient practices as complementary therapies. According
to NCCAM, as of 2007, meditation and yoga were not
only two of the most commonly used complementary approaches in the United States
among adults but also among those that have shown the greatest increase in use
since 2002. When prayer is included in NCCAM statistics, it appears to be the
single complementary approach used most often in North America. Prayer for healing
has been practiced by Jews and Christians since at least the first millennium
b.c.e. Yoga as a spiritual discipline among Hindus goes back to about 600 b.c.e.,
although yoga was not widely practiced in North America until the 1970s and was
added to college curricula in physical education departments rather than as a form
of spirituality. What is significant about NCCAM’s classification of these
practices is its definition of them as therapies, given that they are far older
than conventional medicine.

Mainstreaming of formerly unconventional treatments. Some
approaches once considered unconventional are now regarded as mainstream practice.
The most notable example is osteopathy, which began in the United States in the
1890s. Osteopathic schools chose to accept the recommendations of the 1910 Flexner
report, reorganizing their curricula to increase the similarity of osteopathy to
conventional medicine. By 1969, doctors of osteopathy (D.O.s) were accepted as
members by the American Medical Association, and by 2000, they were
accepted into almost all hospital postgraduate programs on an equal basis with
medical doctors (M.D.s). The use of osteopathic manipulative medicine, the
remaining distinctive feature of osteopathic training, is in decline; fewer
osteopaths perform it today, and more recommend surgery as first-line
treatment.

An example of an Asian therapy that is increasingly regarded as mainstream
rather than complementary in the United States is acupuncture.
Considered an exotic Chinese treatment until the early 1970s, acupuncture has been
used by about 1 percent of the American population for pain relief as of 2007. The
U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of properly
manufactured acupuncture needles by licensed practitioners as early as 1996.

Complementary therapies in the United States considered mainstream
elsewhere. Herbal medicine is an example of a therapy classified as
complementary in the United States but regarded as mainstream practice elsewhere,
in this case in Europe and Japan. Herbal preparations are defined as dietary
supplements in the United States and can be purchased over the counter. The
Dietary
Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), passed by
Congress in 1994, gave the FDA authority to monitor the safety of herbal products
once on the market and to recall or impound those found to be contaminated or
otherwise unsafe. Manufacturers of these products, however, are not required to
demonstrate their safety or effectiveness before marketing them.

In Germany and Japan, by contrast, herbal preparations are prescribed by licensed physicians. In 1978, Commission E, a regulatory agency of the German government composed of pharmacists, physicians, and botanists, was formed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of more than three hundred herbs. The sale of prescription herbal medicines has been rising rapidly in Germany since the 1990s, driven by consumer demands for natural alternatives to synthetic drugs. The Japanese equivalent is Kampo, a group of 148 traditional herbal formulae originally derived from Chinese medicine and approved by the Japanese ministry of health beginning in 1967. The manufacture of Kampo formulae is rigorously supervised by the government, and the medicines must be obtained by prescription from licensed physicians.

Given the increasing fluidity of the boundaries between complementary and
conventional therapies, many observers (particularly Edzard Ernst,
the world’s first professor of CM) are calling for an end to the classification of
medicine as either mainstream or unconventional. Ernst stated in a 2008 interview,
“There is no such thing as alternative medicine. There is either medicine that is
effective or not, medicine that is safe or not.”

Bibliography

Bodeker, G., et al. WHO Global Atlas of Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine. Kobe, Japan: WHO Kobe Centre, 2005. This two-volume publication consists of a map volume and a text volume. The map volume provides information not only on CAM therapies worldwide but also on legislation and professional regulation of CAM practitioners. The text volume offers detailed descriptions and analyses of the use of traditional and CAM therapies in twenty-three countries.

Ernst, Edzard, Max H. Pittler, and Barbara Wider, eds. Complementary Therapies for Pain Management: An Evidence-Based Approach. New York: Mosby/Elsevier, 2007. Coedited by a European expert on CM, this book offers concise summaries of complementary approaches to pain relief and analyses of clinical trial data for their effectiveness.

Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Alternative Medicine in the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005. This report, originally commissioned by the National Academies of Science in 2002, discusses questions of public policy, identifies scientific issues regarding CM, and analyzes the populations that use complementary therapies most often.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov. A comprehensive site for basic information about CAM therapies and for demographic statistics about the use of CAM in the United States.

Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://www.cancer.gov/cam. Provides an introduction to the various complementary therapies for persons with cancer and information about clinical trials of CAM therapies.

Whorton, James C. Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. This book is one of the few historical overviews of CAM therapies in the United States, as distinct from descriptions of the therapies themselves.

Define the term “structural deficit” and explain its long term effect on future budgets.

Government deficits can be made up of two kinds of deficit.  These are structural deficits and cyclical deficits.  Cyclical deficits exist because the economy is bad.  Tax receipts drop as incomes drop.  Things like unemployment benefits cost the government more because more people are unemployed.  This causes deficit spending that has come about because of economic weakness.  Structural deficits are deficits that exist even if the economy is strong.  These are deficits that come about simply because the government chooses to spend more than it can take in even when the economy is at a high point.

Structural deficits affect future budgets because they make it more likely that we will have deficits in the future.  Let us say that the government borrows a lot of money even though economic times are good. This raises the amount that we owe as a country.  It also raises the amount that we have to pay in debt service (interest payments) in the future.  This cuts in to future budgets.  It means that future Congresses will have less room to spend money because more money will have to go to debt service.  This can make it very hard for Congress to fund new programs that might seem necessary in the future or to pay for unforeseen events like wars or disasters.  In short, when we run a structural deficit, we build up debt that will tie our hands in the future. 

How does Yeats creat "terrible" beauty out of his imagery?

Irish poet William Butler Yeats has been called the greatest poet of the twentieth century. His subject matter is compelling and frequently tackles dark aspects of human nature and history. The tone of his poems is often melancholy and sometimes disturbing. Although many of Yeats' poems are very beautiful and moving, it is also true that Yeats has a masterful way of creating tension in his poetic imagery that is thought-provoking and disturbing. The phrase "terrible beauty" is an apt description for Yeats' unique approach to poetic imagery.

For example, in "The Stolen Child," a poem about a child who goes to live with the faeries, there are depictions of beautiful images of nature that also have a forlorn quality. The sadness of the human world is depicted in a way that makes it seem somehow desirable for the child to leave this world to live among the faeries. We also understand the faeries are somewhat manipulative in trying to convince the child that their world is a better choice: 

We seek for slumbering trout

And whispering in their ears

Give them unquiet dreams;

Leaning softly out

From ferns that drop their tears

Over the young streams.

The intentional behavior of trying to give "unquiet dreams" to the trout, and the idea that the ferns drop "tears" into the stream, are ways of making the natural world seem like a sad place, a world "full of weeping" as the poem repeats several times. This sadness and fear linked with beauty gives the poem this quality of "terrible beauty."

How does the irony in "Araby" heighten the moment of epiphany within the story?

There are many different types of irony, but, in general terms, something is ironic when something very different than what was expected happens. Often, irony is used for comedic purposes but, in the case of James Joyce's "Araby," irony has more to do with bitterness and melancholy than with humor. 

In "Araby," a little boy has an intense crush on Mangan's sister, one of the girls living in his neighborhood. Mangan's sister asks the narrator to buy her a gift at the bazaar, and the boy gleefully imagines this to be his chance to prove his love through some grand, romantic gesture. However, when the boy finally arrives at the bazaar, he finds it to be a far cry from the exotic adventure he imagined, as it is dark, largely empty, and uninviting. The story ends with an epiphany, as the narrator realizes his dreams of love have been foolish childhood fantasies.

The irony here is that, instead of being an exciting display of foreign treasures, the bazaar is rather disappointing. Moreover, despite his obsessive desire to find a gift for Mangan's sister, the narrator does not ultimately buy her anything. The ironic end emphasizes the narrator's epiphany and displays the foolishness of his childhood fantasies, revealing them to be at odds with the harsh reality of the adult world. All in all, irony is an important element in "Araby," as its presence underlines the bitterness of the narrator's epiphany. 

What is a description of the power of Edgar Allan Poe's landscapes in his poem The Raven?

The student’s question—what is a description of the power of landscapes in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven—can, perhaps, best be answered with reference to a broader examination of this particular author’s works of literature. The reason for the reticence to limit the answer to The Raven, a poem that is certainly heavy in atmosphere, is that much of Poe’s more famous works take place inside confined spaces, whether homes, castles, or, in the case of the unnamed narrator of The Raven, a “chamber” or library. Poe’s macabre stories and poems, most often, involve the terror of the mind; in other words, psychological deterioration that results in paranoia and insanity. The outside world is usually uninvolved in terms of settings. Indeed, in one of Poe’s more popular stories, The Masque of the Red Death, the outside world is only alluded to for the purpose of marking the contrast between the sanctity of the interior of Prince Prospero’s abbey and the horrible scenes described as taking place outside the castle’s walls. As Poe’s narrator states with respect to this contrast, “[t]he prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the ‘Red Death’.” The narrator in The Masque of the Red Death devotes considerable time to describing the interior setting of the prince’s abbey. The seven suites that comprise the story’s setting are each decorated in a different color, with the seventh noteworthy for the theme of darkness and blood.

Now, let’s look at the opening passage to The Fall of the House of Usher. The narrator approaches the Usher estate with a sense of foreboding, the exterior setting lending an air of unease:

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”

Once the narrator enters the Usher home, the exterior setting ceases to be relevant. The story, as with The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Black Cat, will take place within the stultifying confines of the narrator’s home, and mind. Focusing once more on The Raven, Poe places his narrator inside what we can imagine is a somewhat small but well-apportioned study or library. The narrator is seated in a chair, reading a book in which he clearly has little interest, subsumed as he is in thoughts of his lost Lenore: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore . . .” The darkness of night, a common feature in horror stories, as drastically-reduced visibility invariably heightens the tension, adds to the sense of foreboding—a sense that only heightens with the tapping on the chamber door. The cold of winter further adds to this sense of foreboding, while further driving the action indoors where it is warm, but where the confined space and darkness (no electricity back then, illumination provided by kerosene lamps and candles) limits visibility : “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.” So, as with the above mentioned stories, Poe establishes a setting appropriate for the terrors he intends to inflict upon his readership.

“Landscapes” suggest exterior settings. Poe’s works, the ones typically assigned by teachers and professors, take place inside. When Poe does reference the outside world, it is invariably in bleak terms. Indoors, where the drama takes place, the drama that occurs inside the mind of the narrator (“You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.” [from The Tell-Tale Heart] Emphasis in original), provides the focus of the tale that follows.

Why was Japan upset with the Versailles Peace Conference?

Japan was upset at the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I because it wanted a clause on racial inequality to be included in the charter of the League of Nations.  The clause was rejected even though a majority of the delegates voted for it.  It was rejected because important countries like the US and Great Britain opposed it.

By the time of the peace conference, Japan was very concerned that it should be treated as an equal to the Western, white countries of the world.  It had been forced to sign unequal treaties with the West before it was a powerful country.  Japanese nationals had suffered from discrimination when they went to other countries, particularly the United States.  Japan was a proud country and it felt that it had proven that it was equal to the European countries by industrializing and by being able to defeat Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.  Therefore, Japan wanted a clause in the League of Nations’ charter that would require equal treatment of people of all races.

The US and Great Britain (along with Australia) were strongly opposed to this idea.  The US was, of course, a segregated country where racial discrimination was the law.  The British Empire was based largely on the idea that white people deserved to rule over non-whites.  For these reasons, they strongly opposed Japan’s proposal.  (Of course, Japan itself was not innocent in that it already controlled Korea, Taiwan, and parts of China and did not treat the natives of those lands as equals.)  Because its proposal for racial equality was rejected, Japan felt insulted and was upset about the outcome of the Versailles Peace Conference.

In Macbeth, to what extent does Shakespeare present lady Macbeth as a powerful woman in Act 1, scene 5?

In the opening lines of scene 5 of Act 1, we learn how confident lady Macbeth is about her power to influence her husband. She has just received a letter from him which informs her of the witches' predictions that he will be king and that he has been awarded a new title, thane of Cawdor, a fact which had also been predicted by the evil sisters. She expresses fear that Macbeth does not have the callousness required to attain the crown by malicious means. She then says:

...Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal. 

Shakespeare pertinently displays her ruthless ambition in these lines for she wishes to encourage her husband to ignore all sentiment or conditions which would stop him from achieving his goal to become king.

Later, when she welcomes him home, she wastes no time in informing Macbeth about how idealistic she is. She feels their glorious future in the present, which implies that she is not going to waste any time in preparing for their claim to the throne.

She obviously intends to take the lead in getting rid of Duncan. Shakespeare illustrates her barbaric intention and her devious nature when she tells Macbeth:

...To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.

She has already taken command and advises him to assume a convivial nature and be kind and courteous to deceive others whilst he is, in fact, plotting terrible mischief. Her malicious desire is further supported by the words:

He that's coming
Must be provided for:..

She is ambiguously suggesting that Duncan must be taken care of, not in a kind, affectionate manner, but that his assassination should be carefully orchestrated. To this end, she commands Macbeth:

...and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.

Shakespeare indicates, in these lines, that Lady Macbeth is, most definitely, a powerful figure. She has no qualms in committing the most dastardly of deeds and is fearless. She is confident in her ability to successfully plot Duncan's murder and, therefore, is comfortable in telling her husband to allow her to make all the necessary arrangements for their pernicious plot, for this will ensure them future glory when they, as king and queen, will have sole command and mastery over Scotland.

Her confidence and power are further supported later when Macbeth expresses doubt about the success of their evil venture and wishes to withdraw from committing the deed. She manages to persuade him by, once again, taking the lead. It is ironic, therefore, that she later commits suicide when the extent of her and her husband's malice persistently gnaws at her conscience and drives her over the edge.

What is the difference between longitudinal and transverse waves?

Waves can be characterized as either longitudinal or transverse waves. The major difference between the two types of waves is in terms of the direction of propagation of wave relative to the displacement of medium. If the displacement of the medium is parallel to the direction of wave propagation, such waves are known as longitudinal waves. If, on the other hand, the displacement of medium is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation, the waves are classified as transverse waves. In the case of longitudinal waves, such as sound waves, we have regions where molecules are close together (known as compressions) and regions where molecules are far apart (known as rarefactions). In the case of transverse waves, such as those generated on a rope or ripples on water surfaces, we use terms such as crests and troughs to define the displacement from the center line. Transverse waves, unlike longitudinal waves, cannot take place in fluids (gas or liquid phases).

Hope this helps. 

What do you think might be very different in the world if people had only one-generation memories?

If people only had one generation's worth of memories in their brains, they would be ignorant to everything learned in the past. For example, humanity's problems, bad habits, and quarrels would probably repeat themselves because each generation would have to learn those lessons all over again. No one would remember the successes that the previous generation achieved, either; and, the next generation might miss out on the benefits and lessons learned from those as well. Jonas learns about some of the effects of this issue in his world when the Giver gives him a memory about Christmas time in chapter 16. Jonas learns about multiple generations, such as parents and grandparents. He also learns about family and love which are both taken away from Jonas's community because people aren't allowed to stay in family units after the children are grown up. Because of this memory, Jonas feels sad that he doesn't have a multi-generational family.

Another example of having only one generation's worth of memories are seen in Jonas's household. Jonas's mother and father help him to prepare for the ceremony for twelve-year-olds by drawing from their own experiences in chapter 2. For example, Jonas's father says the following:

"So I watched and cheered when my sister, Katya, became a Nine and removed her hair ribbons and got her bicycle. . . And finally, at the end of the second day, which seemed to go on forever, it was my turn. It was the Ceremony of Twelve" (14).

Here, Jonas's father can help his son wrestle with his apprehension for receiving an assignment by relating to a similar circumstance he had when he was twelve, but he cannot give him any other advice. Nor can he draw from history for stories about other young children who overcame fear or apprehension. There's just a lack of more developed information from which to draw upon to apply to their current lives.

Finally, as Jonas discovers more about history and intelligence from the memories, he gains traits that the Chief Elder said he would on the day he was assigned as the Receiver in chapter 8: intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and the capacity to see beyond (62-63). The community with one generation's worth of memories lacks most, if not all, of these traits. Life becomes droll and less purposeful. Without a lengthy history to draw from, much of the joys of life are lost.

What are exercise-based therapies?

Overview

According to a 2008 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health study, 7 percent of those surveyed engaged in what is considered exercise-based complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) activities. These activities are considered outside the scope of conventional exercise practices. Although pain relief was the most common reason for its use, exercise-based CAM is used throughout the spectrum of medical conditions. A survey of the medical literature revealed seven exercise-based CAM activities, namely yoga, Tai Chi, qigong, Pilates, the Alexander technique, the Feldenkrais method, and the Trager approach.

With an estimated twenty-one million adult participants in the United States in 2012, according to the survey conducted by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, yoga is the most popular exercise-based CAM activity. A five-thousand-year-old practice that originated in India, yoga seeks to integrate the mind, body, and spirit through physical poses, breathing exercises, meditation, and spiritual philosophy. Pilates is another popular exercise system in the West. This one-hundred-year-old form of exercise is designed to strengthen core muscles while focusing on posture and proper breathing. Often, props and apparatus are used.

Tai
Chi, originally conceived as a martial art in China five
hundred years ago, is now practiced primarily for general physical fitness.
Although many forms exist, in the West, Tai Chi uses a series of slow, graceful
movements to enhance strength, stamina, and balance. Tai Chi is part of a larger,
five-thousand-year-old system of traditional Chinese mental, spiritual, and
physical training called qigong. Other components of qigong
include physical poses, meditation, and breathing exercises.

The Feldenkrais method, the Alexander
technique, and the Trager approach are lesser known
exercise-based CAM activities. These are movement therapies in which practitioners
are guided in their posture and physical actions to improve balance, reduce pain,
and increase emotional well-being.

Mechanisms of Action

Four of the seven forms of exercise-based CAM can be considered forms of
general physical exercise. Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, and qigong involve various
degrees of cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training. Thus they promote
stamina, bone health, healthy weight, muscle tone, balance, and strength. Yoga,
Tai Chi, and qigong also involve meditation. Although scientific
research is ongoing, it appears that meditation decreases heart rate, increases
blood flow to the organs, and improves mood regulation because of changes in the
nervous system. No clinical data are available to determine the exact mechanism of
action of the Alexander technique, the Feldenkrais method, or the Trager
approach.

Uses and Applications

Exercise-based CAM is most commonly used to improve and maintain overall fitness. Other common therapeutic uses are to reduce stress, relieve pain, and improve flexibility. Exercise-based CAM experts claim, however, that these exercise systems are helpful in treating a variety of conditions, such as asthma, osteoporosis, menstrual pain, depression, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, insomnia, neuromuscular disorders, fatigue, attention deficit disorder, gastrointestinal disorders, infertility, sinusitis, and heart disease.

Scientific Evidence

Determining whether exercise-based CAM is effective in the management and prevention of illness is challenging. A limited number of well-designed clinical trials are available. The wide variety of practices within these different styles makes obtaining a consensus difficult.

In 2010, several large, well-designed studies showed that Tai Chi and qigong
were beneficial in preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and in treating
hypertension and heart disease. Additionally, these studies suggest that Tai Chi
may be effective in enhancing the immune system of the elderly.

A review of the medical literature reveals promising evidence that yoga may help treat a variety of medical conditions, including mood disorders, hypertension, insomnia, back pain, and osteoporosis, and may improve overall physical conditioning. In a 2008 randomized clinical trial in the journal Menopause, yoga reduced hot flashes in women by 30 percent. Furthermore, numerous studies have demonstrated that yoga diminishes sex performance anxiety and enhances female sexual desire. Many health practitioners use yoga in conjunction with conventional medicine in the treatment of cancer to reduce anxiety, pain, and insomnia, although scientists continue to debate the exact mechanisms of action involved.

A gap in the literature exists regarding the use of Pilates in treating medical conditions. Experts do agree that Pilates is effective in improving strength, flexibility, and balance. Although experts in the Feldenkrais method, the Alexander technique, and the Trager approach claim that their movement exercises reduce pain, prevent injury, and improve balance, no well-designed clinical trials have been conducted to determine their efficacy.

With regard to other medical claims about exercise-based CAM, no well-designed randomized controlled trials are available; a review of the medical literature did not support the claims.

Choosing a Practitioner

Hundreds of exercise-based CAM instructor-training programs have been established in the United States. None, however, include provider licensing requirements. Standards of certification for yoga instruction are largely based on the style of yoga studied and practiced. One program, the Yoga Alliance, is a nonprofit organization in the United States that maintains standards for yoga teacher-training programs. Teacher certification with this program requires a minimum of two hundred hours of training.

Several Tai Chi and qigong organizations provide teacher certification in the United States. Various levels of certification are offered based on hours of training and desired goals. Hundreds of Pilates training programs have been established in the United States too. Although licensing is not required, the Pilates Method Alliance offers a national teacher’s certification program through written examination. Instructors of the Feldenkrais method, the Alexander technique, and the Trager approach are required to complete two-to-four-year training programs that encompass four hundred to sixteen hundred hours of class and fieldwork for certification.

Safety Issues

Exercise-based CAM is generally considered safe for those without serious health conditions or injuries. Persons with spine or joint disease, uncontrolled blood pressure, or severe balance abnormalities should avoid some exercise-based CAM activities. Although uncommon, spine and joint injuries have occurred during CAM exercise activities. To avoid such injuries, participants should adhere to the directions of a certified instructor. Pregnant women, who should exercise caution when considering CAM, typically require modification of certain practices. All potential participants, especially if pregnant, looking into exercised-based CAM as a form of therapy should consult with their health care providers before joining any exercise-based program. It is advisable to choose a certified provider. Typically, a national association that confers the certification will have a list of qualified providers.

Bibliography

Barnes, P. M., B. Bloom, and R. L. Nahin. “Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults and Children: 2007 United States.” National Health Statistics Reports 12: 1–23. Print.

Jahnke, R., et al. “A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi.” American Journal of Health Promotion 24.6 (2010): 1–25. Print.

Nagel, Denise. "Health Benefits of Tai Chi and Qiqong." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 June 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

"Nationwide Survey Reveals Widespread Use of Mind and Body Practices." National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Natl. Inst. of Health, 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

Yang, K. “A Review of Yoga Programs for Four Leading Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 4.4 (2007): 487–91. Print.

What are some quotes that relate to prejudice throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird?

In Chapter 11, Scout and Jem are insulted by the novel's most notorious racist, Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose yells, "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" (Lee 135). Mrs. Dubose is not only prejudiced against black people, but also toward those who choose to associate with them.

In Chapter 24, Mrs. Merriweather is explaining the horrors that J. Grimes Everett experiences over in Africa during his missionary work. She tells Scout,

"you are a fortunate girl. You live in a Christian home with Christian folks in a Christian town. Out there in J. Grimes Everett's land there's nothing but sin and squalor" (Lee 309).

Mrs. Merriweather's xenophobic, intolerant comments display her prejudice toward foreigners. She is ignorant of other cultures and views America, along with its predominately Christian population, as superior to the Mrunas tribe in Africa.

In Chapter 26, Scout discusses Miss Gate's hypocritical comments with Jem. Scout says,

"I heard her say it's time somebody taught em' a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us" (Lee 331).

Miss Gate's comments display her prejudiced feelings toward black people. Miss Gates believes that white people are superior and views black community members with contempt.

In "The Cask of Amontillado" what is the setting, time and place, and who are the characters?

The setting of this story is Venice, in Italy, but most particularly, the catacombs --what were once underground graves--beneath Montresor's home. Think of the characters as going through a series of dark, underground tunnels or caverns, lit only by the flame of their torches. Near the end of their journey, we do see piles of bones from old corpses.

The time is the Mardi Gras, the festival that occurs the day before Lent, so probably February. The story takes place 50 years before Montresor, on his deathbed, is telling it, but the year is not specified.  

The story has only two characters who are part of the action: Montresor and Fortunato. They have known each other for many years. Both love fine wines. Montresor feels he has suffered injuries, and worse, insult, from Fortunato, so he wants revenge: he wants to kill Fortunato in some way so that Fortunato knows Montresor is the murderer but nobody else finds out. Fortunato shows that he is proud of his knowledge of wines. He is also drunk and easily tricked by Montresor. 

What is xylitol as a dietary supplement?

Overview

Xylitol, a natural sugar found in plums, strawberries, and raspberries, is used as
a sweetener in some “sugarless” gums and candies. Not only does xylitol replace
sugars that can lead to tooth decay, it also appears to help prevent
cavities by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, such as
Streptococcus mutans, that cause cavities. Xylitol also
inhibits the growth of a related species, S. pneumoniae, which is
a cause of ear infections. Gums, toothpaste, and candy containing high levels of
xylitol are now available in the United States.

Uses and Applications

Many studies, including several under the auspices of the World Health
Organization, have evaluated xylitol gums, toothpastes, and
candies for preventing dental cavities, with good results. In all of these
studies, xylitol users developed fewer cavities than those receiving either
placebo or no treatment.

Xylitol is thought to prevent cavities by inhibiting the growth of S. mutans bacteria. Because a related bacterium, S. pneumoniae, can cause ear infections, xylitol has been investigated as a preventive treatment for middle ear infections, with some success. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests that the use of xylitol may offer some protection against periodontal disease (gum disease).

Scientific Evidence

Preventing cavities. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies enrolling almost four thousand people, mostly children, have found that xylitol gum, candy, or toothpaste can help prevent cavities. One study also suggested that the chewy candy “gummy” bears may be an effective alternative method of administering xylitol to children.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 1,677 children compared a standard fluoride toothpaste with a similar toothpaste that also contained 10 percent xylitol. In the three-year study period, children given the xylitol-enriched toothpaste developed significantly fewer cavities than those in the fluoride-only group.

In another trial, a forty-month, double-blind study of 1,277 children, researchers studied gum products containing various concentrations of xylitol or sorbitol, or both. Participants were divided into nine groups: xylitol gum in four different concentrations, two forms of xylitol-sorbitol gum, sorbitol-only gum, sucrose (ordinary sugar) gum, or no gum. The gum with the highest xylitol concentration proved most effective at reducing cavities. However, children in every one of the xylitol-gum and or sorbitol-gum groups showed significant reductions in cavities compared with the sugar gum and no-gum groups. Another series of studies suggests that children acquire cavity-causing bacteria from their mothers; the regular use of xylitol by a mother of a newborn child may provide some protection to the child.

Ear infections. One large, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 857 children investigated how well xylitol (in chewing gum, syrup, and lozenges) could prevent ear infections. The gum was most effective, reducing the risk of developing ear infections by a full 40 percent. Xylitol syrup was also effective, but less so. The lozenges were not effective; researchers speculated that children got tired of sucking on the large candies and did not get the proper dose of xylitol. (In addition, the children were able to distinguish between the xylitol and placebo lozenges by taste, making that portion of the study single-blind.)

Similarly positive results had been seen in an earlier double-blind study by the same researchers, evaluating about three hundred children. However, these studies were of short duration and did not test the long-term effect of xylitol in young children and infants, who are most at risk of contracting ear infections.

Dosage

In the foregoing studies, dosages for cavity prevention ranged from 4.3 to 10 grams (g) per day. The doses were divided throughout the day, usually after meals. For ear infections, children given xylitol-sweetened gum received 8.4 g of xylitol daily, also in divided doses. Those who took syrup received 10 g daily.

Safety Issues

Xylitol is believed to be safe, but doses higher than 30 g per day can cause stomach discomfort and possibly diarrhea. In studies, children taking xylitol syrup tended to have more such side effects than those using other forms, possibly because the syrup reached the stomach in a more concentrated dose.

Bibliography

Danhauer, J. L., et al. “National Survey of Pediatricians’ Opinions About and Practices for Acute Otitis Media and Xylitol Use.” Journal of the American Academy of Audiology 21 (2010): 329-346.

Gales, M. A., and T.-M. Nguyen. “Sorbitol Compared with Xylitol in Prevention of Dental Caries.” Annals of Pharmacotherapy 34 (2000): 98-100.

Hildebrandt, G. H., and B. S. Sparks. “Maintaining mutans Streptococci Suppression with Xylitol Chewing Gum.” Journal of the American Dental Association 131 (2000): 909-916.

Ly, K. A., et al. “Xylitol Gummy Bear Snacks.” BMC Oral Health 8 (2008): 20.

Why does the velocity of a body thrown upwards decrease until it reaches the maximum height?

When you throw a body upwards from the earth's surface, its velocity starts decreasing until it reaches the maximum height (at which point its velocity is zero). Then, it begins falling downwards and the velocity starts increasing. This happens due to the gravity of the earth. In other words, the earth is exerting an attractive force on the ball and is pulling it towards itself. This is the reason the ball falls down.

We can also describe the solution using the equation of motion:

v = u + at

and v^2 = u^2 + 2as 

(v is final velocity, u is initial velocity, a is the acceleration, s is the distance traveled and t is the time taken).

In the case of a ball thrown upwards, the value of 'a' is equal to the acceleration due to gravity (g) and has a negative sign (-9.8 m/s^2). That is, for a ball thrown upwards,

v = u - gt

and v^2 = u^2 - 2gs

Hence, the earth's gravity opposes the upward motion of the ball, causing the velocity to decrease until it reaches zero.

Hope this helps. 

In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, what does Antonio and Bassanio's friendship reveal about their personalities?

Antonio and Bassanio are very close friends throughout the play The Merchant of Venice. Antonio willingly takes out a loan to fund Bassanio's trip to Belmont despite the fact that his assets are lost at sea. Antonio essentially risks his life for his friend's happiness by accepting terms from Shylock that indicate that Antonio will have to give a pound of his flesh if he defaults on the loan. Bassanio is overwhelmed with grief when he receives the news about Antonio's ships and the fact that Antonio will have to forfeit on his loan. Bassanio does not consummate his marriage with Portia and leaves Belmont immediately to return to Venice. Right before Shylock is about to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's breast, Antonio tells Bassanio that he loves him. Bassanio responds by telling Antonio that he would gladly give up his wife and friends to see Antonio live. Antonio's willingness to risk his life for Bassanio's happiness reveals his magnanimous personality. Bassanio's loyalty is portrayed in his decision to leave Belmont to come to his friend's aid. Both Antonio and Bassanio are caring, selfless individuals who value each other.

How would one summarize chapters 11 and 12 of Gary D. Schmidt's novel Trouble?

To write a summary, we focus on the most important details.

In Chapter 11 of Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble, the most important details concern the fact that Henry faced conflict from his family for his plans to travel to Maine to climb Katahdin yet left without his family's permission regardless. In the minds of his family members, Henry going off by himself to climb a dangerous mountain he would have been climbing with Franklin is just inviting more Trouble into the Smiths' home. In addition, his mother can't bear the thought of the family being separated after Franklin's death:

It's not the time for us to be splitting apart. (p. 146)

Yet, in Henry's mind, the Smith family has already split apart. Therefore, at the start of July, Henry sneaks out of the house with Black Dog on a leash and meets up with Sanborn to hitchhike to Maine. It's not until dark that Henry and Sanborn are picked up by a truck, and when they get in, they discover they have been picked up by Chay Chouan, who is responsible for Franklin's death and has just left his family out of rebellion against his father.

One important detail in Chapter 12 is that tensions between Chay and Henry begin to resolve somewhat during their conversation in the truck. Chay speaks of how sorry he is for being responsible for Franklin's death. Tensions begin to resolve the most when Chay expresses how much he is aware of Henry's mother's suffering because he witnessed his own mother suffer in the exact same way. Chay continues to relay his experience in the refugee camp in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge came to collect boys to fight. The soldiers chose Chay's ten-year-old brother because he was large. Chay further relays that his mother begged the soldiers not to take him, and when she refused to cease begging, "a soldier shot [Chay's] sister." It is because Chay has heard his own mother grieve for her lost children that he can tell Henry, "That is how I know what your mother sounds like" (p. 159). Though Henry begins to feel compassion for Chay, tensions rise again toward the end of the chapter when Henry reflects to himself in the chowder house that he is sharing a table and dining with his brother's murderer.

1. How did Starbucks initially use segmentation to targeted coffee markets? 2. Did the Starbucks customer or the Starbucks Experience change...

1. Market segmentation is a very common strategy where instead of trying to appeal to the whole mass market which requires a sort of "least common denominator" approach that is acceptable to all but ideal to none, a company instead targets a specific group of people and tries to give them exactly what they want.

Starbucks did this expertly, targeting specifically young-adult to middle-aged upper-middle class urban professionals. While most of their competitors (e.g. Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons) were simply offering coffee as cheap and fast as possible, Starbucks instead offered what they called the "Starbucks Experience": a comfortable coffee shop environment, standardized so it would be familiar and consistent when people travel (as this demographic travels extensively), with high-quality coffee that appeals to socially responsible customers by being organic, Fair Trade, and locally sourced. To pay for this, Starbucks needed to charge higher prices, but they knew this demographic has a lot of spending money and would be willing to pay a higher price if they could enjoy higher quality and a better overall experience.

2. This is a bit of a chicken-or-egg problem. While Starbucks targeted their market at an existing demographic, as they grew they also began to create pressure on our whole society, changing expectations about what coffee shops are or are supposed to be. Customers who had previously been accustomed to buying the cheapest coffee they found remotely palatable began to spend a bit more to try coffee of higher quality. Customer habits began to change, and more people began seeking out high-quality coffee -- a wave Starbucks was quite happy to ride.

3. Starbucks has now shifted their strategy to China, where they hope to capture the market of the new rising Chinese middle class. This means substantially changing their strategy; instead of the high-quality coffee they provide in the US, they will need to focus on low prices for the Chinese market because there simply aren't as many people with a lot of discretionary funds. Instead, Starbucks is trying to provide slightly better coffee than what is otherwise available, at a price low enough that people will be willing to stop making coffee at home and start buying it from Starbucks.

4. I don't think Starbucks will ever be able to restore the profit margins they had when they first established themselves in the United States. In the United States, Starbucks' successful strategy has drawn competitors to the market -- just as is supposed to happen under monopolistic competition in an efficient capitalist system. In China, they are already forced to adopt a strategy that is very competitive on price, simply because most of the population can't afford to pay any more. It's possible Starbucks could devise some new strategy or expand to some new market that would raise their profits back to that high level, but it's quite unlikely. For the foreseeable future, Starbucks will be a typical established blue-chip company: small but consistent profits, providing a low return at a low risk.

How do the events in Act III, Scene 1 establish Romeo as "Fortune's fool"?

In Act I, Scene 4, Romeo admits his life is guided by fate. He fears that this night, as he attends the Capulet party, will be the beginning of the end of his life. He says,

I fear too early, for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night’s revels, and expire the term
Of a despisèd life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.

Romeo's destiny leads him to Juliet and they fall madly in love, setting the stage for the tragic events to come. Even in Act II, Scene 6 when he is about to marry Juliet, he says he is ready to die once he is joined with the girl:

Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare,
It is enough I may but call her mine.

The events in Act III, Scene 1 seal Romeo's fate and establish him as "Fortune's fool" (line 142). He unsuccessfully attempts to dispel the anger of Tybalt. When Romeo backs down, Mercutio views it as an insult and fights Tybalt, winding up cursing the families (foreshadowing their final despair) before dropping dead. Romeo steps in, and even though he knows it may change his life or even result in death, he engages Tybalt and kills him. This scene is considered the turning point in the play. It leads inevitably to the double suicide in the final scene. Romeo becomes the ally of fate as he hastens the complications which will result in his banishment, the proposed marriage of Juliet and Count Paris, and Friar Laurence's scheme for Juliet to fake her death.

What are three ways suspense is created in Lather and Nothing Else by Hernando Tellez? How?

Hernando Tellez builds wonderful suspense in his short story Lather and Nothing Else (also translated as Just Lather, That's All).  The story is written from the perspective of a barber who is secretly part of a rebellion against the government.  Captain Torres, the villain in the story, is a hard driving, cruel dictator of the local militia and terrorizes the town.  Entering the shop Torres sits down for a shave, placing the barber in a difficult situation.  He could easily kill the captain, but the barber also has his pride and life to consider.

The suspense begins within the first few lines of the story.  As Captain Torres enters the shop, the narrator states that he begins to tremble from the sight.  This draws the reader into the story and hints at the danger later revealed.  The ambiguity of the appearance of Torres and the setting allows the reader to build their own creation for the scene.  The only description first given for the captain is how he hangs his gun belt.  The focus on danger and the guns provides hints as to the monstrosity of the man.

The main focus of suspense begins after Torres is resting in the chair awaiting his shave.  The barber begins the steps to shave the beard but an internal struggle rages within him.  As a rebel he has some duty to aide in the rebellion, yet as a barber the customer came to him in confidence and there is a duty to perform his best services.  The barber goes back and forth in an internal dialogue while questioning the captain about his plans on punishing captured rebels.  The question quickly becomes will the barber murder Torres?

The author allows the suspense to build by limiting the information about the rebellion.  In the greater context it's hard to know if the government represented by Captain Torres is right, or if the rebellion is a worthy opposition to a tyrant.  This gives the reader the opportunity to impart their own feelings into the story and onto the characters.  Rather than give the backstory for each, the author has allowed the characters to be different for different people.  The other ploy Tellez uses is the use of the internal dialogue to envision the murder, but also analyze the repercussions of it.

The final suspense in the story comes in the last few paragraphs.  Captain Torres leaves the chair and puts his gun belt back on.  The barber admits to being pale and says that his shirt is soaked with sweat, a clue to his rebellious convictions.  In the doorway Captain Torres pauses and turns to speak to the barber.  The final words show that Torres knew all along the barber might kill him, but also that killing a man wasn't as easy as it might seem. 

The cliffhanger style ending is a great tool for leaving the reader in suspense.  Although the true nature of the barber is revealed, the last lines gives hint that Captain Torres is not entirely understood.  He trusted the barber despite his allegiance to the rebellion and shows guilt over killing.  This causes the reader to pause and may cause them re-evaluate their position on the character.  By leaving the ending in this manner, Tellez has left the reader wondering what will happen next for the barber and Captain Torres.

How did the cultures of Bronze Age Mesopotamia define the characteristics that modern thinkers tend to associate with civilization?

To get you started on answering this question, we’ll look first at some basic characteristics of civilization and then see how Sumer, the Bronze Age Mesopotamian civilization, lines up with those accepted criteria.

Characteristics of Civilization

Civilizations are typically defined by the appearance of a set of criteria. Exactly what these characteristics are differs depending on who you ask, but a few general characteristics are essential in most definitions of civilization:

• Cities/government


• Division of labor/society


• Stable food source


• Writing


• Cultural achievements

Below, we’ll look at how Sumer meets each of these criteria.

Government and Cities

The Sumerians were a single culture in terms of language, values, and broad religious/cultural beliefs, but in terms of structure they were organized into self-reliant and independent city-states. Each city-state worshipped a specific god and was ruled by a priest-king who was said to be an intermediary between the god and its people.  Cities were built around temples to the city’s god. The king was advised by an elected assembly, and he enacted his control over his territory via a system of priests who collected taxes, oversaw building projects, and distributed crops.

Division of Labor/Society

Sumerian society was divided into four classes: nobles (priests, kings, warriors, wealthy landowners), commoners (merchants and craftsmen), clients (scribes and temple personnel), and slaves. A division of labor is important to a civilization because it helps individuals develop specialization with certain tasks and encourages trade; in Sumer’s case, it allowed for greater organization for tasks like building and maintaining the irrigation network.

Stable Food Source

Sumer was able to secure a stable food source through irrigation, the process of utilizing water sources to artificially water land. Canals, wells, and reservoirs were dug to route water from swampy areas to dry areas. Farmers would flood and drain their fields, then use oxen to plow the fields before planting seeds. The canal network allowed for consistent access to water, which in turn provided a consistent source of food to feed the large urban populations. In addition to oxen, the Sumerians also domesticated sheep and goats.

Writing

The Sumerians developed writing around 3200 BC, which was distinguished from previous pictograms by its ability to represent sounds and concepts rather than just images. For example, certain pictograms that stood for a specific object (for example “ti”, arrow) could now be used to also represent the sounds of the word they stood for (the sound “ti”), making the written language more versatile and drastically reducing the number of symbols needed. Sumerian writing was called cuneiform, derived from the Latin word for “wedge”, as it was cut into clay tablets by a reed into wedge-shaped symbols.

Cultural Achievements

Due to the stability provided by the structure of civilization, Sumerians were able to develop unique styles of art, literature, architecture, and cultural expression. Perhaps the most iconic symbol of Mesopotamian culture is the ziggurat, a type of step pyramid that acted as a religious and administrative center.  Sumerians made decorative objects and jewelry, and they played a variety of musical instruments for recreational and religious purposes.

What are hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism?

Causes and Symptoms

The precise regulation of calcium is vital to the survival and well-being of all animals. Approximately 99 percent of the calcium in the body is found in bones and teeth. Of the remaining 1 percent, about 0.9 percent is packaged within specialized organelles inside the cell. This leaves only 0.1 percent of the total body calcium in blood. Approximately half of this calcium is either bound to proteins or complexed with phosphate. The other half of blood calcium is free to be utilized by cells. For this reason, it is critical that calcium inside the cell be rigorously maintained at extremely low concentrations. Even a slight change in calcium outside the cell can have dramatic consequences.

The function and regulation of calcium. Calcium plays a vital role in many different areas of the body. For example, the entry of calcium into secretory cells, such as nerve cells, triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synapse. A fall in blood calcium results in the overexcitability of nerves, which can be felt as a tingling sensation and numbness in the extremities. Similarly, calcium entry into cells is essential for muscle contraction in both heart and skeletal muscle.

Free calcium is thus one of the most tightly regulated substances in the body. The key player in the moment-to-moment regulation of calcium is parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH is synthesized in the parathyroid glands, a paired gland located in the neck, and released in response to a fall in blood calcium. PTH serves several functions: to increase blood calcium, to decrease blood phosphate, and to stimulate the conversion of vitamin D into its active form, which can then stimulate the uptake of calcium across the digestive tract. Together these actions result in an increase in free calcium, which returns calcium concentrations in the blood to normal.

PTH binds to specific receptors located primarily in bone and kidney tissue. Since most calcium is stored in bone, it serves as a bank for withdrawal of calcium in times of need. Activation of a PTH receptor on osteoclasts, or bone-cutting cells, results in the production of concentrated acids that dissolve calcium from bone, thereby making more free calcium available to the blood supply. PTH also acts on the kidney, where it stimulates calcium uptake from the urine while promoting phosphate elimination. As a result, more calcium is made available to the blood and less phosphate is available to form complexes with the free calcium.

By exerting these effects on its target organs, PTH can restore low calcium concentrations in the blood to normal. Once calcium has returned to a particular set point, PTH secretion is slowed dramatically. If PTH release is not controlled, however, the imbalance in calcium can lead to life-threatening situations. These conditions are termed hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism.

Hyperparathyroidism. This disorder is defined as the excessive and uncontrolled secretion of PTH. The release of a closely related substance, PTH-related protein, from cancer cells can also cause this condition. Hyperparathyroidism is found in 0.1 percent of the population and is more common in the elderly, who have an incidence rate of approximately 2 percent.

There are two types of hyperparathyroidism: primary and secondary. Primary hyperparathyroidism is caused by disease or damage to the parathyroid glands. For example, cancer of the parathyroid gland can result in the uncontrolled release of PTH and is characterized by an increase in blood calcium. The symptoms associated with primary hyperparathyroidism include
osteoporosis, muscle weakness, nausea, and increased incidence of kidney stones and peptic ulcers. These symptoms can all be linked to the presence of excess calcium, which is a result of the oversecretion of PTH.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism often results when PTH cannot function normally, such as in kidney failure or insensitivity of target tissues to PTH. Secondary hyperparathyroidism is usually characterized by an overall decrease in blood calcium levels, even though there is a marked increase in the amount of PTH being released. Its symptoms may include muscle cramps, seizures, paranoia, depression, and, in severe cases, tetany (the tonic spasm of muscles). These symptoms are a direct result of the decline in available calcium.

Hypoparathyroidism. Less common than hyperparathyroidism, hypoparathyroidism is defined by a reduction in the secretion of PTH. This condition is normally characterized by low calcium levels and elevated phosphate levels in response to the lack of PTH. Not only are calcium levels unusually low, but phosphate levels are unusually high as well, which complicates this condition because phosphate ties up some of the free calcium.

Hypoparathyroidism can also have primary and secondary causes. Primary hypoparathyroidism is known to have two separate origins. The most common is a decrease in PTH release caused by accidental removal of the parathyroid gland. The other is damage of the blood supply around the parathyroid glands. Both occur after there has been some type of surgery or other medical procedure in the neck area. Consequently, the decline in PTH results in low calcium and elevated phosphate concentrations.

Secondary hypoparathyroidism is a frequent complication of
cirrhosis and is characterized by a decrease in both calcium and magnesium concentration. Because magnesium is essential for the release of PTH, this condition can be corrected with magnesium replacement.

Complications associated with all types of hypoparathyroidism include hyperventilation, convulsions, and in some cases tetany of the muscle cells.

Treatment and Therapy

The treatments for primary hyperparathyroidism vary and are dependent on the severity of the condition. Specific drugs can be prescribed that lower elevated blood calcium. Hormone therapy, which includes the administration of estrogen, also acts to restore calcium to normal. Other treatments include dietary calcium restriction and/or surgery to remove the abnormal parathyroid tissue.

Treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism often involves correcting the problems associated with kidney failure. This can be done by administration of a dietary calcium supplement to restore plasma calcium levels or, in more severe cases, by kidney transplantation. Vitamin D therapy has also been attempted for those patients diagnosed in the early stages of
renal failure.

Hypoparathyroidism is usually treated with dietary calcium and vitamin D supplementation. Both of these treatments promote calcium absorption and decrease calcium loss. The duration of the treatment depends on the severity of the condition and may last a lifetime.

Bibliography

Al Zarani, Ali, and Michael A. Levine. “Primary Hyperparathyroidism.” The Lancet 349, no. 9060 (April 26, 1997): 1233–38.

Bar, Robert S., ed. Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Endocrine Disorders. Totowa, N.J.: Humana Press, 2003.

Gardner, David G., and Dolores Shoback, eds. Greenspan’s Basic and Clinical Endocrinology. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Kronenberg, Henry M., et al., eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 12th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier, 2011.

Licata, Angelo A., and Edgar V. Lerma. Diseases of the Parathyroid Glands. New York: Springer, 2012.

Neal, J. Matthew. Basic Endocrinology: An Interactive Approach. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science, 2000.

Ruggieri, Paul, and Scott Isaacs. A Simple Guide to Thyroid Disorders: From Diagnosis to Treatment. Rev. ed. Omaha, Nebr.: Addicus Books, 2010.