Safety and quality of meat Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Safety and quality of meat - Assignment Example Looking at the outbreak of Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001 and the destruction this very infectious animal disease caused to the livestock industry and economy of the United Kingdom has caused the level of inspection to be increased in the import of the poultry sector of the country. The disease was completely removed from its entire root in 8 months but by this time the United Kingdom had slaughtered more than 4 million animals to stop the disease from spreading and had faced loses worth more than 5 billion dollars in its food and agriculture industry. Due to this disease United Kingdom also had to face a loss in its tourism industry as the people were scared about the food they would be eating in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom had been FMD free since the last 34 years before the FMD breakout in 2001. The United Kingdom until recent was not allowed to take part in international trade of livestock, poultry and the products produced from these livestock’s and poult ry as they could transfer the FMD virus in the other countries (United States General Accounting Office, 2002). On the other hand the United States since the last outbreak in 1929 has been a FMD free country and has not faced an outbreak of this disease till today. The poultry, livestock and agriculture industry of the United States was worth 100 billion dollars in 2001. The importance of the livestock is immense for the agricultural sector and industry of the United States and hence it is an important duty of the United States Department of Agriculture to keep the livestock safe from FMD and other animal diseases not existing in the United States. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have to assure the precise labeling, the safety and healthiness of the poultry, meat and processed egg products. FSIS imposes the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Egg Products Inspection Act and the Poultry

N.R.A. Paper (second draft) Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

N.R.A. (second draft) - Research Paper Example The organization further aims at popularizing shooting sports, enhancing safety training, and, as its leadership states, defend the US constitution, largely by defending the right of Americans to own guns (National Rifle Association, par. 1). Some of the political reasons why the NRA retains its stranglehold over the proponents for tougher gun legislation are described below. This term is widely used in economics and political science to imply lack of collective efforts by proponents of an agenda to push their scheme to required success. According to De Mesquita and Ludwig (par 3), the proponents of tougher legislation on gun control are more in number than the opponents. The opponents are mainly NRA members, most with licensed guns and willing to retain them. However, the proponents do not have as much will to fight collectively for gun control, since they have relatively lesser to lose even when guns are available to people with questionable backgrounds (Harcourt 15). The public does not have a common opinion over whether the NRA plays an extremely assertive role in protecting gun owners, even when the many defeats to alternative legislation have formed a lens through which opinion makers have been trying to portray the association. According to a Pew Poll conducted in May 2013, the percentage of respondents who believed the NRA was either applying the correct amount or too little pressure comprised 53% of the sample. The problem is sustaining the interests of the larger less concerned population so that their feelings do not wane over time. The NRA appears to have learnt this trend, and it has been using it successfully in its favor. Drake (par 5) and The Center for Public Integrity (par 3) also alluded to the fact that the majority, noisier population without guns has been particularly reluctant to sustain interest in fighting gun violence. This section

Sherlock Holmes Essay Example for Free

Sherlock Holmes Essay How does Arthur Conan Doyle create an atmosphere of mystery and build suspense in The Speckled Band? To what extent are his methods typical of all the other stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?  The story The speckled band was written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1982 and is one of the many stories in the large Sherlock Holmes series of stories. As known the stories are based on inquiries and investigations, because of course Sherlock Holmes is an investigator, this in itself gives a sense of excitement to the story because you know that there will e a constant thrill throughout the story, especially seems as it is likely that it will be based on something like a murder, or an affair, etc. As soon as the story starts, Holmes gets straight into the action, as a poor victim comes round to his home and asks him for help. She is portrayed to the reader as being in a very poor and vulnerable position by her face (being) all drawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal, she is also shivering from fear and so now the reader knows that there is a vulnerable victim, that something is wrong, and that something unjust will be done against her, and so it builds the excitement and suspense in the readers mind. This same scenario is presented in A case of Identity when Miss Sutherland comes to Sherlock Holmes in a similar vulnerable state, frightened. As usual straight away Holmes picks up on all the little details, such as the mud stains on the victims clothes, and manages to create a clear picture in his mind of the situation. The victim is called Miss Helen Stoner. When she first came into the story she was wearing black, veiled and grey haired. She was shivering and terrified, which creates a scary if not intriguing scene leaving the reader asking why is she in this state?!, the lady also gave a violent start, by saying It is fear Mr Holmes, It is terror.  The story then goes on and Holmes is told about the ladys step father, who instantly Holmes recognizes as the murderer.  We can make out from the story, that her step father Doctor Grimesby Roylott was a violent man who had a bad and short temper, and after his wife dies he shut himself up at home and became very violent, and we are told that he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. The suspected murderer is described as being a very strong and powerful person, and extremely dangerous, this adds suspense and excitement to the story because from this description you can instantly tell that something out of the ordinary has got to happen with this man.  The killing motive is also freaky in a way, because what he was trying to kill Miss Helen Stoner for was money. His wife left money for her daughters, but if they die he would receive the money.  Personally I dont feel sympathy for Doctor Roylott because hes sick and twisted, hes also very selfish, but a very dangerous man. The scene of the murder adds a considerable amount of suspense to the story, this is because as it is first described, the building is made out to be a scary if not haunted freaky place.  The house is described as The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in basically making it look like a picture of ruin. This creates a spooky and scary atmosphere, which makes the reader feel very cautious because its a typical description of a haunted house where anything could suddenly happen. This atmosphere can be easily related to a typical atmosphere of a murder mystery. To add to the atmosphere or fear and horror, the reader is told about the Doctors hobby of keeping wild dangerous animals, and that there is a Wild baboon and a cheetah in the grounds of the house. In the story Holmes suspects Grimesby Roylott as the murder suspect, and he treats the case as urgent, and helps Helen Stoner straight away. This gives the reader the impression that it is important, and so it adds to the feeling that something big is going to happen, and that the case is dangerous. The addition of creepy objects in the house also helps relate an atmosphere, such as the useless ventilator, and the ropes which hung down to the ladys bed.  Holmes also suspects the animal as a dangerous exotic one, in this case it being a snake, and this is not obvious to the reader, and so they will be kept waiting to see what these strange object, and weird animals are all there for. In the end, the murderer who correctly turns out to be Doctor Roylott, gets killed by his own weapon the deadly snake.  This makes the story come to an exciting end, and it in many ways sums up the complete suspense and mystery that has been throughout the book, and makes it all clear to the reader at the end.  The readers will also think about if they think he deserved to get killed because he is sick and twisted, and because he does not care for any one apart from himself. I like my murder mysteries to have a twist at the end and that good always wins.

Electro Physiology of the Human Heart

Electro Physiology of the Human Heart Introduction This chapter is the first chapter in the thesis which gives introduction of the present study. The chapter defines electro physiology of human heart, blood circulation in both pulmonary and systemic in detail, the components in cardiovascular system and heart sounds. It explains in detail the generation of potential due to mechanical activity of human heart and sounds produced due to closure of valves during blood pumping from atrias to ventricles and to respective parts of the body. This chapter presents a detailed survey on literature focusing on different methods to measure and analyse ECG and PCG. Electricity plays an important role in medicine. The control and operation of nerves, muscles and organs are functioning by the electricity generated inside the body. The forces of muscles, the action of brain and all nerve signals to and from the brain are caused by the attraction and repulsion of electrical charges. Many electrical signals are generated to carry out the special functions of the body. These signals are the result of electrochemical action of certain type of cells. The best known signals are electrical potentials of nerve transmission and the electrical signals observed in electromyogram (EMG) of the muscle, the electrocardiogram (ECG) of the heart and the electroencephalogram (EEG) of the brain. One means of obtaining diagnostic information about muscles, heart and brain are to measure their electrical activity. The record of the potential from muscles during movement of is called the electromyogram (EMG). The rhythmical action of the heart is controlled by an electrical signal initiated by spontaneous stimulation of pacemaker cells located at apex of the right atrium i.e. sinoatrial node (SA node). The recording of hearts potentials on skin is called electrocardiogram (ECG). The recording of the electric signals due to electrical activity of neurons in the cortex of the brain is called electroencephalogram (EEG). The present study is to study the electrical activity of heart during its mechanical vibrations. The primary step in investigations of physiological systems requires the appropriate sensors to transducer the phenomenon of interest into a measurable electric signal. The field of biomedical has advanced to the stage of practical application of signal processing and pattern analysis techniques for efficient and improved non- invasive diagnosis. 1.1 Physiology of Heart and Vascular System The analysis of variability in cardiovascular signals is applied widely and many experimental setups were put forward. Spontaneous fluctuations can be observed in cardiovascular function, such as heart rate and blood pressure, even when the environmental parameters are maintained at a constant level as possible and no perturbations influences can be identified. The observations of heart rate fluctuations is related to various cardiovascular disorders, the analysis of heart rate variability has become widely used tool in the assessment of the regulation of heart rate behavior (Timo Makikallo 1998). The study of cyclic variations of heart rate plays an important role in the assessment of both physiological and clinical aspects (Narayana Dutt Krishnan 2000). The heart is actually two separate pumps. A right heart that pumps the blood through the lungs and left heart pumps the blood through the peripheral organs. Each of these composed of atrium and ventricle. Atrium receives the blood and pumps into ventricles. Ventricles supply the main force that circulates the blood either through pulmonary circulation by the right ventricle or through the systemic circulation by the left ventricle(Fig 1.1) The blood, blood vessels and heart make up the cardiovascular system (CVS). The blood and its supply of oxygen are so important to the body that the heart is the first major organ to develop in the embryo. The mechanism in the heart provides cardiac rhythmcity and transmits action potentials through the heart muscle to cause the hearts rhythmical beat. The cardiac event that occurs from the beginning of the next are called the cardiac cycle. Each cycle is initiated by spontaneous generation of an action potential in the Sino atrious node or Sinus node. The cardiac cycle consists of a period of relaxation called diastole, during which the heart fills with blood fallowed by a period of contraction called systole together is known as a beat. The heart is composed of three major types of cardiac muscle; atrial muscle, ventricular muscle and specialized excitatory and conductive muscle fibers. Cardiac muscle is a syncytium of many heart muscle cells which are interconnected with intercalated discs which are of actually cell membranes separates cardiac muscle cells from one another and offers low resistance to ions to diffuse through cells. If one of these cells is excited, the action potential spreads to all of them. The heart is composed of two syncytiums the atrial syncytium that consists of walls of two atria and ventricular syncytium consists of the walls of two ventricles. The atria are separated from the ventricles by tissue that surrounds the atrio-ventricular valvular openings. Potentials are conducted from atrial syncytium into ventricular syncytium through the specialized conductive system called A-V bundle a bundle of conductive fibers. The division of the muscle of the heart into two functional syncytiums allows the atria to contract a short time ahead of ventricular contraction, which is important for effective heart pumping through lungs and peripheral organs. Another importance of the system is that it allows all portions of the ventricles to contract almost simultaneously, which is essential for most effective pressure generation in the ventricular chambers The cardiac cells present in the heart tissue are individually surrounded with an insulating membrane (supporting a potential mV) containing selective permeable ionic channels. The currents through these channels interact with the membrane potential to regulate the activity of the cell. The flow of various ions (Na,K,Ca etc) through out the cardiac tissue is responsible for the propagation of the electrical waves through tissue in turn provides the driving force behind the hearts mechanical contraction and its ability to pump blood through the body. 1.2. Components of Heart The heart is a conical, hollow muscular organ placed obliquely behind the body of the sternum and adjoining parts of the body of the costal cartilages, so that 1/3 rd of it lies right and 2/3 rd to the left of the median plane. The heart measures about 12x9cm and weighs 300 gm in males and 250 gm in females. The human heart has four chambers as shown in fig 1.2. The upper two chambers, the right and left atria are receiving chambers of blood. Atria collects venous blood from the body and about 75% of the blood flows directly into the ventricle even before atrial contraction. The atrial contraction causes an additional 25% filling the ventricles. The hearts lower chambers right and left ventricles are the powerful pumping chambers. The right and left sides of the heart are separated from each other by a wall of tissue .each side pumps blood through a different circuit of blood vessels. 1.2.1. The Right Atrium It is the right upper chamber of the heart receives venous blood from the whole body and pumps it to the right ventricle through right atrioventricular (tricuspid) opening. The chamber is elongated vertically, receiving the superior vena cava at the upper end and the inferior vena cava at the lower end. Deoxygenated blood from the whole body feeds into two large veins, the superior vena cava and inferior venecava, which empty into the right atrium of the heart and the same pumps to the right ventricle. 1.2.2. The Right Ventricle The right ventricle is a triangular chamber which receives blood from the right atrium and pumps it to the lungs through the pulmonary trunk and pulmonary arteries. Externally, the right ventricle has two surfaces anterior and inferior. The cavity of the right ventricle is crescent in section because of the forward bulge of inter ventricular septum. The wall of the right ventricle is thinner than that of left ventricle in a ratio 1:3. 1.2.3. The left atrium The left atrium forms the left 2/3 of the base of the heart and is a quadrangular chamber. It receives oxygenated blood from the lungs through four pulmonary veins and pumps it to the left ventricle through Mitral valve. 1.2.4. The Left Ventricle The left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium and pumps it into the aorta, the bodys largest artery. Smaller arteries that branch off the aorta distribute blood to the various parts of the body. It forms the apex of the heart .The cavity of the left ventricle is circular in cross section and has the thickest walls nearly half an inch in an adult because it must work the hardest to propel blood to the farthest reaches of the body. 1.2.5. Valves of the Heart The valves of the heart maintain unidirectional flow of the blood and prevent blood from flowing backward in the heart i.e. the valves open easily in the direction of blood flow, but when blood pushes against the valves in the opposite direction the valves close. There are two pairs of valves in the heart i) atrio ventricular valves ii)Semilunar valves. Atrio-ventricular valves are located between the atria andventricles as shown figure. The right atrio-ventricular valve is formed from three cusps of tissue and is called Tricuspid valve. While the left atrio- ventricular valve has two cusps and is called Bicuspid or Mitral valve. Both valves are made up of a fibrous ring to which the cusps are connected .The cusps are flat and project into the ventricular cavity. The atrio- ventricular valves kept competent by active contraction of the papillary muscles. Semi lunar valves are located between the ventricles and arteries and each of them consist of three half moon shaped flaps of tissue. They are not attached to fibrous ring but are to the blood vessel .The right semi lunar valve between right ventricle and pulmonary artery is pulmonary valve and the valve between left ventricle and aorta is aortic valve .These valves are closed during ventricular diastole. 1.2.6. Superior Vena Cava It is about 7 cm long venous channel which receives blood from the upper half of the body and empties it to the right atrium like other large veins. It has no valves. 1.2.7. The Aorta The aorta is the great arterial trunk which receives oxygenated blood from the left ventricle and distribute it all parts of the body. 1.2.8. Myocardium It is the muscle tissue wraps around a scaffolding of tough connective tissue to form the walls of the heart chamber. The atria the receiving chambers of the heart have relatively thin walls than the ventricles, the pumping chambers. 1.2.9. Pericardium It is a tough, double layered sac which surrounds the heart. The inner layer of the pericardium is known as epicardium rests on top of the heart muscle. The outer layer is attached to the breast bone and other structures in the chest cavity and helps hold the heart in place. The space between the two layers of the pericardium filled with watery fluid which prevents these layers from rubbing against each other during heart beat. 1.2.10. Endocardium It is the inner surface of the hearts chambers lined with a thin white sheet of shiny tissue. The same type of tissue also lines the blood vessels forming continuous lining throughout the circulatory system. The lining helps blood to flow smoothly and prevents clotting of blood in the circulatory system. The heart is nourished not by blood passing through, but by the blood vessels also known as coronary arteries which encircle the heart like a crown. About 5% of the blood pumped to the body enters the coronary arteries, which branch from the left ventricle .Three main coronary arteries the right , the left circumflex and the left anterior descending nourish different regions of the heart muscle. From these three arteries small branches arise to provide a constant supply of oxygen. 1.3. A Detailed Description of Vascular System The cardio vascular system is concerned with the transport of blood and lymph through the body. It may be divided into four major components, the heart, the macro circular i.e. blood vessels arteries and veins, micro circular i.e. capillary and lymph vascular system i.e. water and other components of blood plasma. The cardio vascular system (CVS) controls the blood pressure by altering the heart rate and compliance i.e. elasticity of blood vessels. (Isla Gilmour 1995). 1.3.1. Arteries Arteries transport blood from high pressure to body tissues as their structure permits them to expand and contract under different pressures due to the presence of elastic fibers. The main artery of the heart is aorta, which starts from the left ventricle transporting oxygen and nutrients to all body tissues. The presence of elastic fiber enables the arteries to expand when each pulse of blood pumped by the heart and regains its original shape when tension is released. Like all blood vessels the inner layer of arteries is known as tunica intima, composed of a single layer of flattened endothelial cells fitted together to form a smooth, continuous tube. In large arteries the same layer is supported by thick band of elastic fibers. The middle layer is known as tunica media consisting of smooth muscle and elastic fibers. In very large arteries the outer layer is known as tunica adventitia also contains elastic fibers and connective tissue. 1.3.2. Veins Veins transport deoxygenated blood at low pressure toward the heart and act as reservoirs of different capacities to maintain a steady return of blood to heart. The veins of systemic circulation terminate at bodys largest veins superior and inferior vena cava which empty into the right atrium of the heart. The walls of the veins are thinner and contain little elastic fiber with greater internal diameter. These structural properties help them to stretch and store the blood. Since the pressure in veins is low some structural changes is needed to prevent blood from downward pull of gravity. The veins in the lower body contain special one-way valves prevent the accumulation of blood in the legs and feet. During exercise the muscles are in extremities, relaxing and contracting alternately squeezing the veins to force the blood upward towards the heart. The tunica media of veins is thinner and contain less elastic fiber and smooth muscle to function at low pressure and serving as reservoirs to maintain a steady return of blood to the heart. 1.3.3. Arterioles The functions of arterioles are to distribute the blood and pressure reducing valves. They play an important role in determining the blood pressure. The arterioles have smooth muscle in their walls and do not stretch rather act as pressure reducing valves between the arteries and capillaries. They prevent delicate capillaries from high pressure of blood in the arterial system. The degree of muscular tension in the walls of arterioles decides their internal diameter in turn changes the resistance of blood flow in arterioles. As they affect the blood pressure because they account for a large component of the peripheral resistance to blood flow. Blood pressure is the product of total peripheral resistance and cardiac output. 1.3.4. Venules The function of venules is to drain blood from the capillary bed into the venous system. 1.3.5. Capillaries Capillaries are very small blood vessels their diameter ranges from 4-15 ÃŽ ¼m. The sum of the diameters of all capillaries is significantly larger than that of the aorta which results in decrease of blood pressure and flow rate. Capillaries are composed of a single layer of flattened endothelial cells fitted together to form a continuous tube. This results in a very large surface to volume ratio. The low rate of blood and large surface area facilitate the functions are * Providing nutrients and oxygen to the surrounding tissue. * The absorption of nutrients, waste products and carbon dioxide and * The execution of waste products from the body. 1.3.6. Lymphatic Vessels Parts of the blood plasma will execute from the blood vessels into the surrounding tissues because of transport across the endothelium. The fluid entering tissues from capillaries adds to the interstitial fluid normally found in the tissue. The surplus of liquid will return to the circulation .Lymph vessels are dedicated to this unidirectional flow of liquid, the lymph. The lymph vessels can be divided into three types depending on their shape and size. Lymph Capillaries These are larger than blood capillaries and very irregular on shape. They begin as blind ending tubes in connective tissues. Lymph Collecting Vessels They appear almost similar to lymph capillaries but a bit large and form valves. The lymph is moved by the compression of the lymph vessels by surrounding tissues. The direction of lymph flow is determined by the valves Lymph Ducts They contain one or two layers of smooth muscle cells in their wall and form valves. The walls of lymph ducts are less elastic and during contractions contribute to the movement of lymph towards the heart in addition to the compression of the ducts by surrounding tissues. 1.3.7. Relations to Other Systems and Organs The heart and vascular system perform almost the same function to provide oxygen, nutrients and harmonic to the cells of the body tissue. They can be considered as one unit rather than two, because each is equipped to carry out half of that function. The vascular system is also closely related to the adrenergic receptors and the autonomic nervous system, which together control important aspects of its function. The alpha adrenergic receptors are the smooth muscle cells in arteries, veins, arterioles and venules. These receptors bind molecules released by cells of the autonomic nervous system and respond by contracting. 1.4. Blood Circulation -Systemic and Pulmonary The heart basically a double pump provides the force to circulate the blood through two major circulatory systems, the pulmonary circulation in the lungs and the systemic circulation is in organ system that transports substances to and fro from cells. The blood in normal individual circulates through one system into before being pumped by the other part of the heart to the second system. The heart is a muscle composed by cells containing small filaments of actin and myosin. These proteins interact in the sense of forming actomyosin during muscle contraction, thus leading to the main purpose of the heart: pumping the blood through the circulatory system (Manuel Duarte Ortigueiva 1959). The synchronous nature of contraction of heart results in the efficient pumping of blood through the pulmonic and systemic circulation (J.Olansen et al 2000). The circulatory system can be thought of as a closed loop circulation system with two pumps. One way valves keep the flow downward through the pumps. 1.4.1. Systemic Circulation The heart ejects oxygen rich blood under a pressure about 125 mm Hg from main pumping chamber left ventricle, through the largest artery the aorta. Subdivided into smaller arteries in turn divided into even smaller arteries called arterioles and finally into a very fine meshwork of vessels called the capillary bed. Capillaries permit to dissolve oxygen and nutrients from the blood to diffuse across the fluid, known as interstitial fluid that fills the gaps between the cells of tissues of organs. The dissolved oxygen and nutrients enter cells through interstitial fluid by diffusion across the cell membranes. Mean while carbon dioxide and other wastes leave the cell diffuse through the interstitial fluid, cross the capillary bed and enter the blood. The blood collects in small veins called venules gradually join together to form progressively larger veins. Finally the veins converge into two large veins, the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava bringing blood from upper half and lower half of the body respectively. Both of these main veins join at the right atrium of the heart. 1.4.2. Pulmonary Circulation The deoxygenated blood returning from the organs and tissues of the body stored momentarily in the reservoir i.e. right atrium, during weak contraction (5 to 6 mm Hg) the blood pushed into the right ventricle. On the next ventricular contraction this blood is pumped at a pressure of about 25 mm Hg through pulmonary arteries to the capillary system in the lungs. At this site microscopic vessels pass adjacent to the alveoli or air sacs of the lung where it exchanges oxygen from the membrane to the blood and leaves carbon dioxide from blood to the same membrane. The freshly oxygenated blood then travels through the main veins from the lungs into the left reservoir i.e. left atrium of the heart. During weak arterial contraction (7 to 8 mm Hg) blood enters the left ventricle. On the next contraction of the left ventricle sends blood to the aorta and then to general circulation. On average a typical adult has about 4.5 lts of blood and each section of the heart pumps about 80 ml in each contraction. About 30 sec to 1 min is needed for the average red blood cell to complete a full circuit through both the pulmonary and systemic circulation. The blood volume is not uniformly divided between the pulmonary and systemic circulation. At any one time 80% of the blood is in the systemic circulation and 20% is in the pulmonary circulation. Of the blood in the systemic circulation about 15% is in the arteries, 10% is in the capillaries and 75% is in the veins. In the pulmonary circulation about 7% of the blood is in the pulmonary capillaries and the remaining is almost equally distributed between the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins. 1.4.3. Additional Functions In addition to oxygen, the circulatory system also transports nutrients derived from digested food to the body. These nutrients enter the blood from the walls of the intestine carries the nutrients to the liver for farther metabolic processing. The liver stores variety of substances such as sugar, fats and vitamins and releases glucose to the blood as needed. The liver also cleans the blood by removing waste products and toxins. After the blood is cleaned, enter the veins converge to form the large vein that joins the vena cava at right atrium. The circulatory system plays an important role * In regulating body temperature * To collect chemical messengers called hormones from hormone producing glands and transports to specific organs and tissues to regulate bodys rate of metabolism, growth, sexual development and other functions. * With immune system and coagulation system, the immune system is a complex system of many disease fighting white blood cells and anti bodies circulate in the blood and are transported to sites of infection. The coagulation system is composed of special proteins called clotting factors which circulate in the blood. When ever blood vessels are cut to torn, the coagulation system works rapidly to stop the bleeding by forming clots. Other organs support the circulatory system are the brain and the parts of nervous system constantly monitor blood circulation, sending signals to the heart or blood vessels to maintain constant blood pressure. New blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and old blood cells are broken down in the spleen, where iron and other minerals are recycled. Metabolic waste products are removed from the blood by kidneys which also screen the blood for excess salt and maintain blood pressure and to maintain blood pressure and to balance minerals and fluids of the body. 1.5. Heart Diseases Heart disease has become very common nowadays due to changes in life style. Many of these diseases are due to either increase the work load of heart or reduce the ability to work at normal rate. 1.5.1. Tachycardia There are many factors that are responsible for development of heart disease. One such factor is High blood pressure (Hypertension) which causes the muscle tension to increase in proportion to the pressure. A fast heart rate (Tachycardia) increases the work load. 1.5.2. Heart Attack The heart disease that causes most deaths is heart attack. A Heart attack is caused by blockage of one or more arteries to the heart muscle. During and after heart attack the ability of the heart is seriously impaired. Bed rest and giving oxygen reduces the work load on heart which increases the oxygen content in the blood so that blood pumped by the heart will be less. Alternate method to reduce risk of heart attack is the regular exercise program which opens alternate routes in cardiovascular system. 1.5.3. Congestive Heart Failure Another common disease is congestive heart failure which is due to enlarge in size of the heart reduce the ability for adequate blood circulation. Applying law of Laplace, if the radius of the heart is doubled, the tension of the heart muscle should be doubled which in turn reduces the efficiency of the heart muscle to maintain the same blood pressure. Since the heart is stretched it may not be able to produce sufficient force to maintain normal circulation. Stretched heart muscle is less efficient than the normal. It consumes much more O2 for the same amount of work. 1.5.4. Bradycardia Patients with inadequate electrical signal in the heart muscle will affect the work load of heart. The artrioventricular node i.e. between Atria and Ventricles is fatty and does not conduct electric signal and ventricle receive no signal from Atria, but being natural pacing centers which provide a pulse. The resulting heart rate is 30 beat/min i.e. Bradycardia results semi invalidism. 1.5.5. Pace Makers If hearts electrical signals are inadequate to stimulate heart muscles, artificial pace makers are available. To improve the quality of life of faulty atrioventricular nodes, artificial pacemakers are developed. The pacemaker contains a pulse generator that put out 72 beats / min. The pace maker is put just below the right collarbone. It lasts for 2 years and impervious to body fluids and do not cause tissue reaction. 1.5.6. Valve Defects Another heart disease is defective heart valves. These are of two types. 1) The valve either does or opens wide enough (stenosis). In stenosis large amount of work is to be done by heart to obstruct the narrow opening. 2) It does not close well enough (insufficiency).In insufficiency some of the pumped blood flows back and the amount of blood in circulation is reduced .Both types can be replaced by artificial valves. 1.5.7. Cardiovascular Diseases Aneurysm Some cardiovascular diseases involve the blood vessels. An aneurysm is a weakening of the wall of an artery which results increase in its diameter in turn increases the tension in the wall proportionately. If it is ruptured in brain, a type called Cerebrovascular accident (CVA). A more common blood vessel problem is the formation of sclerotic plaques on the walls the artery which causes turbulence in blood flow increases the blood velocity at that point with a decrease in wall pressure due to Bernoullis theorem. A Disease in Varicose Vein Veins with defective valves which allow the blood to flow backward become enlarged or dilated to form the varicose veins. During walking or other exercise, the contraction of the muscle forces the venous blood toward the heart called venous pump. At various points along the veins there are one way flaps or valves that prevent the blood from going back. If these valves become defective blood run backward and pool up in the vein becomes varicose. The standard treatment for varicose veins is surgical removal of the offending vessels. There are sufficient parallel veins to carry the blood back to the heart. Stiffness of RBC Membrane In some cases, mainly in smoking, the membrane of RBC s becomes stiff. There may not be normal flow of blood in the vascular system. Blood may become viscous leading to Thrombosis. 1.6. Electrophysiology of Heart The rhythmical action of the heart is considered by an electrical signal initiated by spontaneous stimulation of special muscle cells located in the upper right hand corner of the right atrium near the superior vena cava. This area is known as sino atrial node (Fig 1.5). Cardiac electro physiology is dedicated to the study of the electro chemical activity of the heart. Studies include electrical activation of individual cells as well as the system- level activation, which results in normal or abnormal heart rhythm. (J.Olansen et al 2000). The complex system found by the Autonomous Nervous System (ANS) and the heart is modeled as if it was a modulation system, where the first generates a signal that modulates a sequence of pulses which excite the heart (Manuel Duarte Ortigueira et al 1959 ). The sinus rhythm fluctuates around the mean heart rate, which is due to continuous alteration in the autonomous neural regulation i.e. sympathetic and parasympathetic balance. Periodic fluctuations found in heart rate originate from regulation related to respiration, blood pressure (baroreflex) and thermoregulation (Pauli Tikkanen 1999). Cells in the SA node generate their electrical signal more frequently than cells else where in the heart. These impulses spread rapidly through inter nodal pathways to Atrioventricular node (AV node). At this node the signal is delayed so that all muscle cells of the atria contract virtually in unison. Now the impulse conducts through fibrous connective tissue between atria and ventricles known as Atrio ventricular bundle (AV bundle). AV bundle conducts the signal through left and right bundles of Purkinje fibers which conduct the cardiac signal to all parts of the ventricles. 1.5.Fig. Electrophysiology of the heart. 1.6.1. Sinoatrial Node The sinoatrial node is a small, flattened ellipsoid strip of specialized muscle about 3 mm wide, 15 mm long and 1mm long located at the upper right hand corner of the right atrium immediately below and slightly lateral to the opening of the superior vena cava. The Sinoatrial (SA node), the atrioventricular (AV node) and the Purkinje system can be regarded as potential pacemaker tissues in heart. As the fastest depolarization impulse spreads through the conduction system to other pacemakers before they spontaneously depolarize, the sinoatrial node usually defines heart rate (Pali Tikkanen 1999 12). The sinus nodal fibers connect directly with the atrial muscle fibers, so that any action potential generates at the sinus node spreads immediately to the atrial muscle wall. For this reason Sinoatrial node is also known as pace maker of the heart. It generates the impulse at the rate of about 70/min and initiates the heart beat. However this rate may increase or decrease by the demand of blood supply to the body. Three types of membrane ion channels play an important role in causing the voltage charges the action potential. They are 1) fast sodium channels 2) slow calcium-sodium channels 3) potassium channels. As the ions move in muscle cells in fractions of second creates action potential at the Sinoatrial node. This can be observe

Existence of God Essay -- Literary Analysis, Suma Theologica

In the â€Å"Suma Theologica,† by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas combines the doctrines of Christianity with Aristotelian philosophy, through the assertion that as a result of observation, utilization of the senses, and an empirical mindset, one can substantiate the existence of God. Aquinas holds the conception that in the quest for God’s existence, philosophy and theology are interwoven together and both play complementary roles. He infuses numerous theological doctrines, mainly from Saint Augustine, alongside Aristotelian ideals such as, the first mover, to corroborate his argument for the existence of God. Instead of basing his argument on human reason and rationality like his predecessor, Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Aquinas holds that it is instead through an empirical mindset that one is able to ascertain and comprehend the existence of God. Aquinas deems that all knowledge acquired originated from the experiences of our senses. He believes that by experiencing eve nts, the human being is aware of the fact that there exists an effect for every action that is undergone. Through this realization, Aquinas recognizes that there must exist a cause that triggered that event into existence, culminating in the conclusion that everything in existence must be characterized by a cause. This argument presented defines the cosmological argument, a belief that there is a first cause, which is God, who is seen as the source of the cosmos that sets in motion a cycle of cause and effect. To prove this argument, Aquinas presents five different variants, each with subtle distinctions that display two reoccurring themes, the importance of sense experience and the notion of causality, to prove the existence of God. In Aquinas’s first argument, he lin... ... cause and effect stopped at the Big Bang, as it does to claim it stopped at God. The Big Bang Theory, which has no previous cause, could have easily prompted the chain of cause and effect. Why must we presume the world to have a beginning and claim that the cosmos could not have been a cause of itself? Since Aquinas, at the time, does not fully understand the workings of the Universe, his claim that the infinite regression arbitrarily stopped at God, is misleading, since the regression could have stopped as the universe itself prompted the chain of cause and effect. I wholeheartedly agree that Aquinas’ cosmological argument proves the existence of an â€Å"uncaused cause,† however I believe that it fails in acknowledging other means of creation and holds no validation that the first cause attributes the characteristics of the God of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

heroarms The Code Hero in A Farewell to Arms Essay -- Farewell Arms

The Hemingway Code Hero in A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway is a renowned American author of the Twentieth century who centers his novels around personal experiences and affections. He is one of the authors named "The Lost Generation." He could not cope with post-war America, and therefore he introduced a new type of character in writing called the "code hero". Hemingway is known to focus his novels around code heroes who struggle with the mixture of their tragic faults and the surrounding environment. Traits of a typical Hemingway Code Hero are a love of good times, stimulating surroundings, and strict moral rules, including honesty. The Code Hero always exhibits some form of a physical wound that serves as his tragic flaw and the weakness of his character. In this novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway brings about the evolution of Frederick Henry into a code hero in realistic ways. Frederick Henry achieved code hero characteristics by the end of the novel with the help of Catherine. All the characteristics seem to follow the path of a manly person who is continuously striving to live his/her life to the fullest. Throughout this novel, Frederick Henry’s behavior matures into the code hero who Hemingway desires to be through Henry’s discovery of love, bravery and death. In the start of the novel, Frederick Henry was into over-sensual pleasures and could not control himself until he had spent much time with Catherine and learned how to discipline himself. Henry "had drunk much wine" and roamed from whorehouse to whorehouse near the beginning of the novel. He had no control over himself nor could hold his liquor or contain himself from e... ...ny on the way back to his home but he declines. He goes off to his house by himself and sorts things out with what death actually is. He asked God to save his greatest love after taking his child and does not receive an answer. He concludes that death is the end and when it gets you, there is no where to go. Henry never becomes a code hero until the end when he accepts death as the end of existence. Hemingway’s code hero, Frederick Henry, evolves into a man whom the reader could identify with and understand. Henry unknowingly becomes a code hero and a better person with the help of Catherine. Henry becomes a code hero in the end due to the help of many incidents. On the last few pages, the reader realizes he has become a code hero because he responded to the serious situation on his hands calmly and orderly as Catherine did.

Home Depot’s Bumpy Road to Equality Essay

Internet/Case Study Assignment: 1. If Home Depot was correct in that it was not discriminating, but simply filling positions consistent with those who applied for them (and very few women were applying for customer service positions), given your reading of this chapter, was the firm guilty of discrimination? If so, under what theory? Yes, Home Depot was accountable of discrimination towards women due to their standards of hiring by reinforcing gender stereotyping; causing them to be guilty of disparate treatment. The disparate treatment in this case was due to women being treated differently in comparison to their male co-workers in regards to promotions, pay, and hiring. Female applicants who felt discriminated were mainly those who applied for jobs within Home Depots West Coast Division. They felt they were being overlooked during hiring and bypassed in connection with promotions, salary, and job assignments opportunities within the workplace. Home Depot, however, felt they did nothing wrong and stated the unfairness of what they were being accused of was due to most female job applicants having experience as cashiers, so they were placed in similar positions, such as, cashier positions, clerical duties, customer service, and so forth. In addition, their explanation for the high turnaround in percentage of male employees within the home repair, plumbing, carpentry departments, etc†¦ were due to male applicants expressing interest in those type of skilled employment. 2. How does this case illustrate the application of new technology to solving issues that have never been tied to technology? Can you think of other ways technology might be used to address diversity/EEO/affirmative action issues? Home Depot was able to tie technology by solving issues by introducing a Job Preference Program, which provides in-store computer kiosks that allow employees to check job opportunities within their workplace and the skill requirements for each position. This system helps employees upgrade their skills. In addition, Home Depot offers a web-based learning program which allows employees to increase their product knowledge and eligibility for new  positions. The Job Preference Program has helped the company eliminate discrimination and other barriers within the recruitment process. Since its roll-out in 1999, the program has reduced employee turnover and in a single year, female and minorities have attained management positions increased by 28 to 30 percent from earlier periods. This system has also shown to be a huge success among managers as they feel they are now able to prescreen adequately qualified applicants. Technology can also be used to address diversity/EEO/affirmative action issues by having a systematic process in place which can help with gathering, analyzing and documenting information about particular jobs, and personnel information including but not limiting to disciplinary actions as well as promotional considerations. For example, a systematic analysis can specify each workers job description entailing their salary base range, this way employees don’t feel underpaid but satisfactorily compensated amongst their peers performing their same duties. By having such technology in place a company can avoid fines, penalties and costly litigation of unhappy employees feeling discriminated and pursing legal actions. In addition, technology can address some diversity by providing employees with online trainings which will enable them to apply to new positions within the workplace and track their preparation and job skills; causing maximum strategic development. Furthermore, with the ease of technology, employers can have the capacity to monitor working conditions to ensure each job is being performed successfully and satisfactory. Technology can also help with affirmative action’s, by doing so, companies can develop tutorial guides which can help employees with a variety solutions to problems within their working environment. Tutorial guides can help improve workforce diversity, by assisting and addressing how one can handle issues among the workplace, for example, directing employees how to affectively respond to relationships between coworkers of other ethnicity, race, religion, etc.., and how to cope with personality conflicts; among others criteria’s within the workforce. Technology can also help with developing a systemic job analysis tool which can be resourceful to help with useful information for HRM practices. A systemic job analysis will provide useful plans for coordination, for example, determining job qualifications for recruitment purposes, developing training programs, developing performance appraisals rating forms, determining pay rate  factors, and performance standards for productivity improvement to name a few. All in all, technology can only get better with time by utilizing these tools within the workforce by complying with compliances and avoid lawsuits and penalties in the future.

Bureaucracy is No Longer Appropriate Today

Bureaucracy, first proposed by Weber, was once considered as the best form of administration, coordination and control (Stazyk and Goerdel 2011). It was generally adopted by many large social organizations and gradually became their mode of administration (Adler 1999). During the initial period of bureaucracy, it made great contribution to the proper organizing of large social or corporate system through specialization of roles, standardization of procedures and coordination of employees (Balle 1999). However, with time going by, the shortages and problems inside bureaucracy were exposed.It was revised and improved by many people. A model called post-bureaucracy was proposed to avoid and revise the disadvantage of bureaucracy (Johnson et al. 2009). The aim of this essay is to discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of bureaucratic systems in the past and the present. This essay argues that bureaucracies are definitely not appropriate in workplaces today for effective and effic ient management. At first, this essay will give an appropriate definition of bureaucracy and illuminate who has contributed to its development by referring Dwyer (2005) and Hodgson (2004).After that, based on the research of Balle (1999), Adler (1999), Hodgson (2004),Walton (2005), Sorensen (2007), Dwyer (2005) , Hales (2002), Stazyk and Goerdel (2011), this essay will critically analyze the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy in the past and present, and in particular, impacts on managers and employees. Following that, this easy will analyze how bureaucratic management may be viewed differently today from the past by referring Johnson et al. (2009). What’s more, this easy will explore the context of management situations.It will also critically analyze whether bureaucracies are appropriate for today’s management based on the research of Walton (2005) and Hales (2002). At last this essay will sum up the core arguments this essay presents. Definition of bureaucr acy and its development Bureaucracy is a kind of rational organization of management, which is centralized and hierarchically organized. It is characterized by a rigid division of labor, layers of authority, impersonal relationships and formalistic rules and procedures (Dwyer 2005).The historical process of bureaucracy theory, from proposal to evolution, was integrated with the contribution of numerous theorists and practitioners. In the early 20th century, Weber first proposed his ideal type of bureaucracy (Adler 1999). His idea laid the foundation of organization theory. The ideal type of bureaucracy had a profound effect on the way large social organizations organized. It helped large-scale organizations avoid chaos and assure efficiency.However, as an ideal model, many scholars criticized, revised and improved Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy and made their own contribution to the development of it (Dwyer 2005; Hodgson 2004). For example, Taylor founded the Scientific Ma nagement School and it emphasizes maximum productivity and compact division of labor (Dwyer 2005). Mayo began and developed human relations school and it emphasizes the free of constraints of bureaucracy (Dwyer 2005). Heckscher proposed post-bureaucracy and postulated specific difference between the traditional bureaucracy and the post-bureaucratic model (Hodgson 2004).All these schools above, as well as many other advanced theories and approaches, have contributed to the development of bureaucracy. The inherent advantages and disadvantages of bureaucratic system in the past and the present will be discussed as follows. Advantages of bureaucracy Bureaucracy provides a good way to deal with large organizations. In the past, organizations were lack of theoretical guidelines of management. Balle (1999) claims that duplication of labor, low level of resources utilization and inefficiency of work existed in large-scale organizations before the proposal of bureaucratic management.At prese nt, many large organizations still organize their management in the form of bureaucracy to avoid chaos (Adler 1999). Bureaucracy provides a series of documents that describe the working procedures as well as rigid rules and regulations to make organizations run properly (Hodgson 2004). Even in today’s organization, documents and manuals are provided to make employees know exactly their roles. Organizations operate as a machine. Managers give orders while employees act as components and parts of the machine with the guidance of bureaucratic management.They work cooperatively, concertedly and thus effectively. According to the guidance, employees know exactly what they should do and managers would have a chance of supervising everyone in the company. For example, the long-lasting feudal model has proved the advantage of bureaucratic system to manage such a large whale (Balle 1999). The effective control of organizations and efficient use of resources make large-scale production possible. Specialization is another feature of bureaucratic organizations as every employee is allocated to a particular task to perform.In the past, it was human resources not machines that constructed the basic productive force in organizations. So it is of great importance to deploy the human resources (Johnson et al. 2009). Even today, employees in the large organizations have clear assignment of work and responsibility. Bureaucratic management emphasizes the clear division of work and specific boundaries to responsibilities. So employees can concentrate more on his or her specialized trade and learn more about it (Balle 1999). The result is more, better and cheaper productions.For example, like a flow production, employees just focus on their own part of work and need not take care of others. A production is completed when all the work of employee is combined. The coordination of employees and explicit division of work will increase the speed of production and save more time ( Adler 1999). The result is the improvement of the efficiency of the production system. What’s more, with the clear awareness of the role of employees, managers can properly manage employees and allocate resources. Then the effectiveness of management can be improved.Bureaucratic system needs fewer individuals to make strategic decisions based on its hierarchical structure and decision-making time can be shorter. Nowadays, quick response to the market and rapid decision-making are possible because of the hierarchical structure of bureaucratic system. The hierarchical structure is like a pyramid with employees on its bottom and managers on its top (Hales 2002). In the past, in traditional organizations many relevant individuals took part in the decision-making meeting. The meeting might be held one round and another to reach a common agreement.It is a waste of time and may be inefficient. In contrast, fewer individuals from the top of pyramid are involved in making strategic de cision with the bureaucratic management (Stazyk and Goerdel 2011). This will shorten the decision-making time and free the organizations of the risk of missing opportunities. As a consequence, the response time to the market is reduced and the timeliness of production is improved (Adler 1999). In this way the efficiency of production can be improved. However, as an ideal type of mode, bureaucracy also has some inherent disadvantages. Disadvantages of bureaucracyBureaucratic organizations are generally found to be rigid and inflexible because employees should strictly abide by the formalized rules, regulations and documents. Nowadays, the society is changing with the time and bureaucratic systems are viewed as red tape and rule proliferation (Stazyk and Goerdel 2011). With the changing conditions in the marketplace or industry, organizations constrained by rigid and inflexible rules and regulations can find themselves less able to fit the rapid changing environment (Walton 2005). The change of rules and regulations may be much slower than the variation of marketing or industrial environment.Much of the urgencies may fail to be dealt with because of the constraint of rigid and inflexible rules and regulations. The result is an inefficient management. In the past, to make the large-scale organization operate normally, the human side of things is ignored and rules and regulations are emphasized. But nowadays, people-oriented management emphasizes the empowerment and autonomy instead of rules and regulations (Dwyer 2005). Bureaucratic organizations may discourage creativity and innovation because employees must perform the task according to a set of rigid procedures.As the key factors to compete with various counterparts, creativity and innovation are emphasized more today than the past in organizations (Hales 2002). But to bureaucratic organizations, rigid or even outdated rules and regulations place so many unnecessary limits on employees (Adler 1999). They can h ardly think and act of their own. When employees confront problems that need a new solution, their new ideas may be prevented by the restrictiveness of bureaucracy. What’s more, in bureaucratic systems employees are lack of initiative, passion and sharing of ideas. This will lead to a lack of creativity and innovation.These two factors are of significant importance for organizations to survive and keep the core competitiveness in such a rapid changing environment (Sorensen 2007). Without creativity and innovation, organizations can no longer achieve the quality goals and enhance the ability to survive and complete effectively in the changing business environment. The result is the ineffectiveness of management. Impersonality is the feature of bureaucracy and it emphasizes a mechanical way of performing task. In the past, organizations needed management based on rational and impersonal rules and regulations.The rules and regulations have been legally established to minimize co st and maximize control (Hales 2002). The result was that employees worked like robots according to the impersonal rules and regulations. They had no emotions and belongingness of organizations. Thus their attitudes and mental dispositions may be influenced by bureaucracy (Sorensen 2007). Nowadays, organizations emphasize more on employee’s needs and emotions, rather than impersonal rules and regulations. Organizations that stick to impersonality may lead to dehumanization, what’s more, the friction between employees and manages (Dwyer 2005).The result is the depression of employee’s personality and weak belongingness to their workplace. They may do their job without full of passion or even conflict with the order of managers. This will lead to an effectiveness of management. After the discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucratic management in the past and present, discussion below will analyze the differences of bureaucratic management toda y from the past. Difference of bureaucracy nowadays and in the past Bureaucratic management is different today from the past.Firstly, Organizations emphasize more on quick response and less hierarchical structure than a set of rigid procedures. To keep up with the changing business environment, much of the unnecessary rigid and inflexible rules and regulations must be changed or removed (Hodgson 2004). Empowerment and responsible autonomy of employees are needed rather than the rigid procedures (Johnson et al. 2009). The result is a remarkable improvement of efficiency in management.Secondly, creativity and innovation are the core competitiveness for organizations to compete with their counterparts and  therefore those limits of bureaucratic systems on employees should be eliminated (Hales 2002). Employees are encouraged to propose or experiment their new ideas regardless of the constraint of rigid procedures because rigid procedures may bring effectiveness to organizations (Stazy k and Goerdel 2011). Last but not least, human-based management has been widely accepted in organizations and the impersonality of bureaucracy is no longer encouraged. Employees can feel the care and warmth of human-based management and improve their belongingness and the well-being of the organization.The result is more hard-working employees and the improvement of effective management. After discussing the differences of bureaucratic management today from the past, an analysis of bureaucracy’s inappropriateness for today’s management will be given as follows. Bureaucracy’s appropriateness for today’s management The context of management situations is different from past and bureaucracy is definitely no longer appropriate today. It is true that bureaucracy made great contribution to the progress of management when it was first proposed by Weber (Walton 2005).But with the development of society, the disadvantages of bureaucracy gradually appeared. Nowaday s organizations call for flexible and humanized rules and regulations, quick response to the changing environment and employees, creativity and innovation and belongingness of employees (Hales 2002). In other words, organizations need the effective and efficient management that can make them survive and compete in this rapidly changing world. All of these above are conflicted with bureaucracy. So bureaucracy is no longer appropriate for today’s management. However, there are still a lot of places can be learnt from bureaucratic system.Conclusion In conclusion, bureaucracies are definitely not appropriate in workplaces today for effective and efficient management. The following statements sum up the finding of this essay to support the conclusion. Firstly, the rigid and inflexible rules and regulations of bureaucratic system often result in a failure of quick response to the changing environment. It may lead to an inefficient management especially for large-scale organizations . Secondly, creativity and innovation may be discouraged by a set of rigid procedures of bureaucratic system and therefore lead to an ineffective management.Thirdly, employees perform task in a mechanical way according to the impersonal rules of bureaucratic system. The result is that employees can hardly feel the belongingness to their workplace. This may lead to a failure of work and an ineffective management. All of these above demonstrate that bureaucracy is not appropriate for today’s management. However, there are still shining points that can be learnt from bureaucratic management. When dealing with the management of large-scale organizations, bureaucracy and modern management methods can be mixed to insure a better control of organization and an effective and efficient management.

English paper Essay

Will Durant, a U. S author and historian, writes, â€Å"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. † This means that all the knowledge people once had is misleading to what the truth really is. Similarly, in Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† and Frederick Douglass’s â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† a painful process of gaining knowledge through all the ignorance is described. Plato describes a prisoner going on a journey to gain knowledge that is behind him, after he was stuck staring at a wall of shadows his whole life. He goes back to tell the other prisoners of his discoveries and they want to kill him. Douglass is a slave who learns to read and write, going through stages to achieve each step. As he begins gaining knowledge he finds the truth about slavery which startles him. Socrates’ idea that gaining knowledge is a difficult journey to undertake because by doing so it changes the way people see the world, as proven by Douglass’ experiences. In Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, Socrates illustrates a metaphorical story about attaining knowledge. He describes a cave with men who are chained, prisoners of the cave. They face a wall; that is all they can see because they cannot move their heads. They cannot even look behind them to see a walkway and a fire. As a person passes on the walkway, a shadow is projected onto the wall in front of the prisoners; this is all they know. Only the shadows are what is real to them because it’s all they have ever known. Socrates says, â€Å"How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads? † (Plato 479). The main point is that people cannot understand anything except what is being projected right in front of them. Socrates’ point is that society has a limited understanding of knowledge, and is ignorant about what is beyond the surroundings. To acquire knowledge of the truth beyond the cave, one prisoner is freed. As his eyes adjust to the light, he starts to see the real objects from the images that are projected onto the wall. He understands how the shadows were a false truth and just an illusion and he feels bad for the other prisoners still stuck in the cave. He understands that they are not seeing the truth. Socrates states, â€Å"What he saw before was an illusion†. So the  prisoner returns to tell the others about his knew knowledge, but they couldn’t understand what they were being told. The other prisoners will not accept the knowledge the escapee has learned and my even put him to death. But the chained prisoners don’t understand that the whole world outside the cave is more real than the false illusions, or the shadows being projected onto the walls. Society doesn’t want to accept knew knowledge; people often resist changing what they know. Socrates’ prisoner goes through stages or the process of knowledge, which is also shown in Douglass. In the allegory, when the prisoner first leaves the cave he stares at the sun and cannot see; it takes time to get accustomed to the brightness. Socrates describes, â€Å"And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves† (Plato 480). In time the prisoner will begin to understand the â€Å"realities† (Plato 480) that he is facing by going through the stages. This is shown in Douglass as well. Douglass is first taught to read by Mistress Hugh, but then she refuses to teach him. So Douglass turns to kids that he makes friends with to finish teaching him to read. Douglass Sates, â€Å"The light broke in upon me by degrees† (Douglass 73); in other words, education is being achieved in stages. This is like the prisoner going through a process of gaining knowledge. Once Douglass is introduced to reading, he teaches himself to write by tricking the white boys into helping him learn. The process endured outside the cave by the prisoner- or the process endured by Douglass- will be â€Å"tedious† (Douglass 74), and take time, but steps must be taken to gain any knowledge. The process of gaining knowledge can be painful; Socrates idea of pain by being enlightened is played out in Douglass. When the prisoner is in a cave he is comfortable with the shadows on the wall and his surroundings, but if the prisoner is freed he will feel pain: â€Å"And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of visions which he can see† (Plato 480). The new knowledge that he will gain is so different than what he is used to. This can be seen likewise in Douglass as well. When Douglass learns to read he learns the truth of slavery which â€Å"tormented† (Douglass 71) him. He writes, â€Å"It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out† This is similar to the prisoner leaving the cave. He understands slavery and his rights are taken away, they ways that they are taken from their homes and made into nothing is so cruelly wrong. This causes him great pain; the only thing he has to look forward to is the hope of being freed. Because becoming enlightened is a painful process, many will resist or challenge what they believe, as illustrated by Socrates and Douglass. After the prisoner goes on his journey of being enlightened, he goes back to the cave to tell his friends what he has learned, but they reject him. Socrates says, â€Å"If any one tried to lose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch he offender, and they would put him to death† (Plato 482). The other prisoners think he is being â€Å"ridiculous† (Plato 481) and want to put him to death for his story about life outside the cave. They don’t understand that they are the ones trapped in ignorance and the freed prisoner is telling them the truth. This also plays out in Douglass. Mistress Hugh began by being a caring lady and teaching Douglass how to read, but slavery soon made a big impact on her. â€Å"I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension† ( Douglass 70). The violence she projected toward Douglass when snatching the paper from him shows the resistance she now has toward him being educated. Many will resist being enlightened because society doesn’t like to change what they already know. While society tends to resist enlightenment, those who are enlightened cannot return to their former ignorance, and pities others who are stuck there; which is shown in Plato and Douglass. When the prisoner went on his journey after being freed from the cave he learned all about the false notions he was living in the cave. Socrates says, â€Å"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them? † (Plato 481). The prisoner feels bad for the others because they are trapped in ignorance and cannot see the truth like he has. This is also shown in Douglass.

MOBA Game Addiction

The first mechanical or automatic computer was made in 1822 by Charles Babbage. It was capable of computing several sets of numbers and making had copies of the results. Despite its only single purpose, it was the start and the foundation of all the technology we have today. Ever since the day the computer was first made, different inventors have been creating their own computers with different functions, they also improved the inventions of others. For almost two centuries, computers have always been evolving. In our era, computers have many different functions, functions that do efficiently better than human beings.Functions of computers can be solving mathematical problems, socializing, searching answers for specific problems, or entertaintment. But nowadays, computers are used mostly for entertainment purposes. The reason is because computers are machines that are able to capture images,videos and audio. An examples would be, instead of watching shows from your television, listen ing music to the radio or checking photos from your albums, you are able to do all these using the computer alone. But the main objects of entertainment from computers are video games.Video games contain both video and audio files, it also has a purpose or goal for someone to achieve. The first ever computer game made was in 1952 by A. S. Douglas, a graphical computer version of Tic-Tac-Toe. The game was programmed on a EDSAC vacuum-tube computer, which had a cathode ray tube display. Like the computer, computer-based games were also evolving at the same time, people are creating games of their own. Graphics of computer games was the notable characteristic of a game evolving. Computer games have different genres, they can be puzzles, shooters, action or strategy.According to (____), the average of people who play computer games is 18-49, and the most played genre is puzzle. Computer games have also become competitive because of the amount of players trying to achieve the highest sco re possible. Because of this nature, game developers are developing more multiplayer games which purpose is generally to win by performing better than the other player. Due to multiplayer games, a term called â€Å"eSports† has been developed. eSports is the term for organized video game competitions, especially between professionals. The most common genre associated with eSports is multiplayer online battle arena.

Inspirational Quotes on Getting Better

Inspirational Quotes on Getting Better Somebody once said, The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. We can always make room in our lives to get better, whether that means improving our health, our finances or our personal relationships. Even if we think things are perfect, theres likely a small area or two where we could put in a little extra work. Thats not to say that self-improvement is always easy: Its not. But sometimes the words of others who have been through similar struggles can give us the inspiration to carry on and change our lives for the better. Here are some famous and inspiring quotes about improving and getting better. Quotes on Self-Improvement from Writers Those with a talent for expressing themselves in words frequently offer insights the rest of us might not think of. But any writer whos ever worked with an editor knows all about the need to constantly improve and strive to be better. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.- John Updike Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.- William Faulkner Dont be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. -   Dale Carnegie Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life youve imagined.-   Henry David Thoreau There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and thats your own self.-   Aldous Huxley More Quotes About Getting Better Of course, sometimes inspiration comes from philosophers, business people, and entertainers. No one really has a lock on the self-improvement gig. But its up to you to decide how to apply these quotes in your life. The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.- Confucius Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement.- Anthony J. DAngelo Before everything else; getting ready is the secret of success. Dont find fault. Find a remedy.- Henry Ford Dont start living tomorrow, tomorrow never arrives. Start working on your dreams and ambitions today.  -   Unknown Author Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.- Emile Coue Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.-   Stephen Hawking God has entrusted me with myself.-   Epictetus Good, better, best; never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best.- Unknown Author Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.-   Norman Vincent Peale Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.- Lao Tzu

Child Development1 essays

Child Development1 essays Babies grow and develop at a very rapid rate during the first year of life. They grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. In this paper I will discuss the physical growth and development patterns of an infant all the way through adulthood. Development is the baby's increased skill in using various body parts. When dealing with a development of a child there are three basic development rules. First development rule: This rule says that babies develop in the head region first, then the trunk, and lastly in the legs and feet. For example, a baby can hold up their head before they can grasp an object with their hand. Also they can feed themselves before they can walk. Second development rule: The second development rule explains that children develop from the mid line, or center of the body, outward toward the fingers and toes. Third development rule: Finally, this rule reveals that, as the brain develops, a child responds to more and more sights and sounds in their environment. Furthermore, they learn to respond to much finer details. A general rule is that a baby increases in height by 50% and triples its birth weight in the first year. Clearly, this is a very rapid growth rate; however, the rate of growth slows down after infancy. At three months, a baby is alert and responding to the world. When put on their tummy, they can hold their chest and head up for ten seconds. They try to swipe at toys hung over the crib. They turn their heads toward an interesting sound or listen to voices. Babies love to stare at people's faces. They coo and gurgle. At six months a baby is developing control over its body. They can sit with support and may sit alone for short periods of time. They can roll over. They will hold out their arms to be lifted up or reach and grab an object. They can hold their own bottles and toys. They laugh out loud, babbles, "calls" for help and screams when annoyed. A...

Cohesion Definition and Examples in Chemistry

Cohesion Definition and Examples in Chemistry The word cohesion comes from the Latin word  cohaerere, which means to stick together or stay together. In chemistry, cohesion is a measure of how well molecules stick to each other or group together.  It is caused by the cohesive  attractive force between like molecules. Cohesion is an intrinsic property of a molecule, determined by its shape, structure, and electric charge distribution. When cohesive molecules approach each other, the electrical attraction between portions of each molecule holds them together. Cohesive forces are responsible for surface tension, the resistance of a surface to rupture when under stress or tension. Examples A common example of cohesion is the behavior of water molecules. Each water molecule can form four  hydrogen bonds with neighbor molecules. The strong Coulomb attraction between the molecules draws them together or makes them sticky. Because the water molecules are more strongly attracted to each other than to other molecules, they form droplets on surfaces (e.g., dew drops) and form a dome when filling a container before spilling over the sides. The surface tension produced by cohesion makes it possible for light objects to float on water without sinking (e.g., water striders walking on water). Another cohesive substance is mercury. Mercury atoms are strongly attracted to each other; they bead together on surfaces. Mercury sticks to itself when it flows. Cohesion  vs. Adhesion Cohesion and adhesion are commonly confused terms. While cohesion refers to the attraction between molecules of the same type, adhesion refers to the attraction between two different types of molecules. A combination of cohesion and adhesion is responsible for capillary action, which is what happens when water climbs up the interior of a thin glass tube or the stem of a plant. Cohesion holds the water molecules together, while adhesion helps the water molecules stick to glass or plant tissue. The smaller the diameter of the tube, the higher water can travel up it. Cohesion and adhesion are also responsible for the meniscus of liquids in glasses. The meniscus of water in a glass is highest where the water is in contact with the glass, forming a curve with its low point in the middle. The adhesion between the water and glass molecules is stronger than the cohesion between the water molecules. Mercury, on the other hand, forms a convex meniscus. The curve formed by the liquid is lowest where the metal touches the glass and highest in the middle. Thats because mercury atoms are more attracted to each other by cohesion than they are to glass by adhesion. Because the shape of the meniscus depends partly on adhesion, it will not have the same curvature if the material is changed. The meniscus of water in a glass tube is more curved than it is in a plastic tube. Some types of glass are treated with a wetting agent or surfactant to reduce the amount of adhesion so that capillary action is reduced and also so that a container delivers more water when it is poured out. Wettability or wetting, the capacity for a liquid to spread out on a surface, is another property affected by cohesion and adhesion.

Free Essays on Hard Knox

The book I read is called Hard Knox. The book was written by Chuck Knox. Chuck Knox is a former NFL coach. The book was published in 1988. The first chapter of the book is called â€Å"Sewickley†. I think the first chapter is the most important chapter, in the book. Sewickley is a suburb outside western Pennsylvania. In the first chapter you learn that â€Å"Sewickley† is also an adjective that Knox uses to describe nonsense. In Sewickley, Chuck Knox lived with his Mother and Father; in a small one-bedroom apartment. Chuck Knox, grew up poor, with Italians Irish, and Blacks. Knox believes that were he grew up, is the reason why he can communicate so well with his players. Chuck Knox’s career began when he started coaching high school teams in Pennsylvania. As a high school coach, Knox won three state championships. After five hard years, Knox got a call from the University of Wake Forest. Within a few a years Knox was promoted to head coach. Chuck Knox then started coaching for the University of Kentucky. Ten years later Knox received a coaching position with the New York Jets. While with the Jets, Knox signed Joe Namath. Years later, Knox went on to coach the Detroit Lions, L.A. Rams, Buffalo Bills, and the Seattle Seahawks. Knox says the only thing he regrets about his coaching career is being a big game loser, and never coaching a super bowl game. On the bright side Knox has one of the best win records as a NFL coach, and he has built a reputation that still stands in every city where he has coached. The key people in Knox’s life are his wife Shirley, his brother Bill, his daughters Colleen, Chris and Kathy; and his son Chuck Jr. Knox met his wife in college. Knox says he married his wife because she brought out the pleasant side of him. Knox believes that attending Juniata College was the best thing that ever happened to him. If Knox would have decided not to try out for the football team at Juniata College he would have... Free Essays on Hard Knox Free Essays on Hard Knox The book I read is called Hard Knox. The book was written by Chuck Knox. Chuck Knox is a former NFL coach. The book was published in 1988. The first chapter of the book is called â€Å"Sewickley†. I think the first chapter is the most important chapter, in the book. Sewickley is a suburb outside western Pennsylvania. In the first chapter you learn that â€Å"Sewickley† is also an adjective that Knox uses to describe nonsense. In Sewickley, Chuck Knox lived with his Mother and Father; in a small one-bedroom apartment. Chuck Knox, grew up poor, with Italians Irish, and Blacks. Knox believes that were he grew up, is the reason why he can communicate so well with his players. Chuck Knox’s career began when he started coaching high school teams in Pennsylvania. As a high school coach, Knox won three state championships. After five hard years, Knox got a call from the University of Wake Forest. Within a few a years Knox was promoted to head coach. Chuck Knox then started coaching for the University of Kentucky. Ten years later Knox received a coaching position with the New York Jets. While with the Jets, Knox signed Joe Namath. Years later, Knox went on to coach the Detroit Lions, L.A. Rams, Buffalo Bills, and the Seattle Seahawks. Knox says the only thing he regrets about his coaching career is being a big game loser, and never coaching a super bowl game. On the bright side Knox has one of the best win records as a NFL coach, and he has built a reputation that still stands in every city where he has coached. The key people in Knox’s life are his wife Shirley, his brother Bill, his daughters Colleen, Chris and Kathy; and his son Chuck Jr. Knox met his wife in college. Knox says he married his wife because she brought out the pleasant side of him. Knox believes that attending Juniata College was the best thing that ever happened to him. If Knox would have decided not to try out for the football team at Juniata College he would have...

Should I Add Supplemental Recommendation Letters

Should I Add Supplemental Recommendation Letters SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Maybe you spent the last year interning in a business and know your supervisor could write a stellar letter about your work ethic and passion for economics. Or you have a long term music teacher who can speak to your lifelong dedication to playing the piano. Or maybe you attend a school with thousands of students and feel like you’ve barely said ten words to your counselor or classroom teachers all year long. If any of these scenarios hits home, then you might be considering sending a supplemental recommendation letter along with your college application. Before sending any extra materials, though, you should think hard about whether it’s the right course of action. This guide will discuss when it’s appropriate to send supplemental recommendations and when you’d be better off holding back. To start, what are some reasons students think they should send an additional rec letter? Why Might You Send a Supplemental Recommendation Letter? If you’ve worked closely with someone outside of school, like a mentor, studio teacher, employer, advisor, coach, or spiritual leader, then you might consider asking him/her to provide you with a supplemental letter of recommendation. Before going ahead and making your request, consider what exactly your reasons are. Below, I’ll discuss some good reasons for sending a supplemental rec, followed by some not so good reasons for sending one. If your reasons fall into the former category, then your next step is to find out how your colleges feel about additional recs. Every school is different, which you’ll see in some of the official policies below. Before delving into that, though, take a look at some strong and weak reasons for sending an extra recommendation. Strong Reasons to Send a Supplementary Recommendation These are a few good reasons to consider submittinga supplemental recommendation, if your college allows it. Think about whether any of these reasons apply to you and your extra rec letter. It Adds an Essential Perspective Perhaps the best reason is that this recommendation would provide a valuable and unique perspective on you as a student and person that your other recommendation letters would not. Recommendations should shed light on your personal qualities, goals, and attitude toward learning, so a supplemental rec must be especially meaningful and revealing to justify sending with your application. Some students feel that their application would be incomplete without input from this recommender. For instance, a spiritual leader might be able to discuss the central role that faith and community service has played in your life. A research project advisor could talk about your college-level investigations in the lab. In some way, this person could add something essential that you feel admissions officers need to know. In this case, a supplemental letter could have a positive impact on your application. Want to provide a strong recommendation for your employee, but don't have the time to craft the perfect letter? PrepScholar's new recommendation tool, SimpleRec, takes you from good intentions and a blank page to a fully written and formatted letter of recommendation in under 5 minutes. All you need to do is give us some simple pieces of information about your employee and your experience working with them, and we'll do the rest. Try out SimpleRec risk-free today: You Barely Know Your Academic Recommenders Another reason you might consider adding a letter- assuming you have a special recommender in mind- is to make up for lackluster letters from school officials you barely know. If you attended a huge school with large student to teacher and student to counselor ratios, then it may have been next to impossible to get to know your recommenders well. Perhaps you’re worried that your letters will be generic, impersonal, and vague. In this situation, I would first and foremost recommend setting up appointments with your counselor and teachers to discuss your goals and what you’d like to go into your letter, as well as give them a detailed resume and brag sheet. If you know that your letters will still be insufficient, then adding a supplemental rec from someone who knows you well could be a reasonable course of action. Finally, some colleges actually suggest that you add a non-academic perspective to your application. Your College Suggests It Some colleges explicitly encourage, though don’t require, the submission of a personal recommendation, as from a peer, family member, spiritual leader, or other source. Any time your school encourages that you send something, it’s a good idea to send that material. Now that you have a sense of some good reasons that justify sending a supplemental recommendation, let’s take a look at the flip side. What are some bad reasons for sending an extra letter? Weak Reasons to Send a Supplementary Recommendation Sending a supplemental rec is only a good idea if you really have put a lot of thought and intention behind it. Check out some reasons that don't support sending an extra letter. You Think "More Is Better" If you’re sending one simply because you think it’s a good idea to go beyond what the college requires, think again! Many admissions officers look unfavorably on extra, unsolicited material, especially if it doesn’t add much beyond what’s already there. Requirements are there for a reason; colleges can decide on an application based on what they asked for, and they generally don’t want students to send lots of extra materials and slow down the review process. Again, each college is different, which we’ll discuss in more detail below. But if you’re only sending an extra letter for the sake of sending an extra letter, then that’s not a good enough reason to do so. Or put another way, don’t assume that more is better without first researching your colleges’ policies. In a similar vein, extra material could actually shine a spotlight on, rather than distract from, weaknesses in other parts of your application. You Want to Make Up for Weaknesses in Your Application Another weak reason is that you think an additional letter will make up for other parts of your application. In fact, your supplemental letter could have the opposite effect by alerting admissions committees that you feel insecure about the strength of your candidacy. An extra recommendation won’t necessarily balance out a weak extracurricular section. There’s an old saying in admissions, â€Å"The thicker the file, the thicker the kid.† This saying means that students who send too many additional documents may not have the credentials to get accepted based on the required materials. A bunch of extras could raise red flags, rather than impress admissions officers, about your merit. Your Parents Know the Mayor Another mistake, though not all that common, is that students send a rec from a famous or prestigious person, thinking the name will stand out and impress admissions officers. As discussed above, letters should come from people who know you well and can give you a meaningful evaluation. A famous recommender won't impress the committee on its own; if you don't really know the person, but just have a family connection, it could come off as superficial name-dropping. You Don't Trust Your Academic Recommenders I mentioned above that a supplemental rec can make up for generic academic recommendations. However, this applies if and only if you have a special external recommender in mind. Plus, you should have a strong reason for needing to rely on an outside source, like a huge high school with low teacher or counselor interaction. If you had the opportunity to get to know your faculty, but still feel like strangers, then you should push yourself to connect with them more by participating in class and setting up meetings. If you don't know your teachers or counselor well or don't trust them to do a good job, you should spring into action (those teacher and counselor recs are important!). There are steps you can take to meet with your recommenders and share information that will help them personalize your letter. Again, if this is your only reason for asking an external recommender, but you don’t have a special person in mind, then you’d probably be better off communicating with your teachers and counselors and doing everything you can to help them produce effective letters. Besides examining and evaluating your personal reasons for wanting to send a supplemental rec, you should also research your colleges’ policies. Schools have different stances, but they also repeat some of the samethemes, as you’ll see below. Never a good idea tooverwhelm admissions officers with lots of extra materials. How Do Colleges Feel About Supplemental Recommendations? There aren’t too many colleges that outright prohibit supplementary letters of recommendation, but some advise caution or subtly discourage their submission. A college, for instance, might state that it shaped its requirements intentionally and don’t want applicants to send more or less than what they asked for. Other colleges stress that a supplemental recommendation is only a good idea if it really adds something important and substantial to "the story of you." This stance puts pressure on you to decide whether or not your letter is worth sending. A few other schools, like Emory, actually invite a personal recommendation. Again, any time a school suggests that you do something extra, make sure to do it! Consider it like any other requirement. You may be able to find this information on your college’s admissions website. If not available- some sites are more detailed than others- then give the admissions office a call and ask how the committee feels about supplemental recs. It’s important to do your research on all aspects of your application. To help you out, we’ve compiled some statements from a few schools on supplemental recommendations. Note the frequent emphasis that it must add something substantial to your application to justify sending it along. Select Schools and Their Stances on Supplemental Recommendation Letters Perhaps the students who are most guilty of sending unnecessary extra material are those applying to selective schools. In trying to stand out from the competition, they send additional materials. However, you’ll see that some of these selective schools also want you to be extremely selective about what you send... Yale says, â€Å"If you feel the need to submit extra information, you may ask one additional recommender to write on your behalf. Please do not solicit this additional letter unless you feel it will add substantially to your application. The writer should know you well personally or have mentored you closely in some capacity. For example, if you have engaged in advanced scientific research, you should consider asking your research mentor to write a letter of recommendation for you.† Columbia is more specific about what external source can recommend you (and more explicit about discouraging supplemental recs): "We welcome an additional letter of recommendation if the writer has worked with you in a researcher or college course capacity...The Committee discourages the submission of additional recommendations, as admissions decisions will be based primarily on the required recommendations from your high school teachers and secondary school/guidance counselor." The University of Penn also allows one extra letter: "If an applicant would like to submit another letter of recommendation beyond this requirement, we strongly recommend that it is not from another academic teacher. Examples of an appropriate recommender include an athletic coach, an internship or research supervisor, a boss at a part-time job, or a local clergy member. These additional recommendations are only helpful if the recommender knows the student personally and can write specifically about him or her." Princeton doesn’t exactly encourage supplementals, but it allows them if they provide something novel and meaningful: "We believe that the required teacher and guidance counselor references give us much of the information we need to make thoughtful, well-informed decisions. Additional letters are only helpful if the person writing the recommendation knows the candidate well and can provide new, detailed information." Brown similarly emphasizes that supplementals must go above and beyond the other letters: "In our experience, the required counselor recommendation and two teacher recommendations provide all we need to make a thoughtful, informed admission decision. If, however, someone has unique knowledge of certain strengths or accomplishments that would not be addressed in the required recommendations, you are welcome to have another person write on your behalf." Vanderbilt draws on the same theme in a succinct way, emphasizing quality over quantity: "If students wish to submit additional letters of recommendation from teachers, coaches, employers, or anyone else who can bring something new to the application, they may include those as well. We strongly advise that these extra letters offer additional information about the applicant, and we encourage a â€Å"quality- over- quantity† approach." Are you applying to MIT? Here’s what they have to say: â€Å"Most applicants, and most admitted students, submit no supplemental recommendations. Some applicants and admitted students submit one supplemental recommendation; a few submit two. Submitting more supplemental recommendations will not disqualify you, but it is rarely necessary.† Sensing a theme? Quality beats quantity every time. If you’re sending a supplemental rec, make sure it truly adds something substantial, important, and not to be missed. Does this sound like a tough call to make? Read on for help on deciding whether or not your supplemental rec is worth sending. How to Decide Whether or Not to Send a Supplemental Recommendation As you can tell, you only want to send a supplemental rec if you feel it can truly help your application. Sending one for no good reason could actually leave a bad impression with admissions officers, effectively making your extra work not just unnecessary, but even harmful to your chances of getting accepted. Assuming your school allows you to submit an extra recommendation online or by mail, you should think about your reasons, along with researching your colleges’ policies, before asking your supplemental recommender for a letter. First, ask yourself if this letter adds value and insight to your application that’s not already there. What exactly does it communicate, and why is it important for admissions officers to know this about you? What new dimension does it add- perhaps related to community service, professional work, long term mentorship, or college level research- and how is this side of you relevant to your success at college? By pinpointing your specific reasons for sending this letter, you can make sure it will add to your application in a substantial way. If you have strong reasons for sending it and your college allows it, then a supplemental letter could round out your application and ensure that admissions officers know everything about you that they need to make a well-informed decision. On the flip side, don’t stress if you don’t have that special recommender outside of school! As Brown says, and most schools agree, â€Å"In our experience, the required...recommendations provide all we need to make a thoughtful, informed admission decision.† What's Next? Not only is it important to think carefully about why and who you're asking for a supplemental recommendation, but you also want to put the same planning into who you ask for teacher recommendations. Check out this guide to learn about who you should ask for a letter of rec. Once you're clear on all your requirements, you want to make sure you collect the strongest letters you can. This guide explains what makes a strong letter of recommendation, and what you can do to help your teachers and counselors write the best ones possible. Finally, considering the perspective on the other side will also help you get the most effective recommendation letters for your application. Learn about what exactly admissions officers are looking for when the read recommendation letters, and why they're so important to your application. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: