Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Essay

A. What is the difference between a contribution income statement and a traditional income statement? Contribution income statement is an income statement that classifies cost by behavior (fixed cost and variable cost). Traditional income statement is sometimes called the functional income statement. It is an income statement prepared in the multiple-step or single –step income statement format which conforms to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and can be used for external financial reporting. The main difference between the two is that the contribution income statement list variable costs first, followed by fixed costs. Keeping in mind that GAAP and does not permit businesses to use the contribution income statement for financial accounting – it is used only for internal decision making purposes. B. What is the difference between absorption costing and variable costing? Absorption costing is a costing method where product cost includes all the costs to acquire products and get them ready to sell regardless of whether the costs are variable or fixed. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles requires business to use absorption costing for financial accounting. Variable costing is a method of costing where only the costs to acquire products or to get them ready to sell that vary with output are treated as product costs. In other words, only variable product costs are treated as product costs. For manufactures, the difference between absorption costing and variable costing is significant. For example, when Caterpillar uses absorption costing to determine the cost of manufacturing, its product cost includes the direct material, direct labor, variable manufacturing overhead, and fixed manufacturing overhead cost incurred to make the bulldozer. These costs are added to inventory and they are not expensed as cost of goods sold until the bulldozer is sol. However, when Caterpillar uses variable costing, product cost, includes only direct material, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead costs. Under variable costing all of Caterpillar’s fixed manufacturing overhead cost is treated as period cost. When Caterpillar uses variable costs are added to inventory (direct material, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead). Under variable costing, Caterpillar expenses fixed manufacturing overhead as it is incurred just like it does other period cost such as selling and administrative expense. F. What is the contribution margin ratio and how does it differ from the contribution margin? Contribution margin is the amount remaining after all variable costs have been deducted from sales revenue. It is an important piece of information for managers, because it tells them how much of their company’s original sales dollars remain after deducting variable cost. Contribution margin ratio is the contribution margin expressed as a percentage of sales. Contribution margin ratio can be calculate by dividing the total contribution margin by total sales or by dividing the per unit contribution margin by per unit selling prices.

Personalisation in Health and Social Care Essay

Autism affects around 1 in 100 people, it affects how they communicate and how they see the world around them. The condition affects people in different ways some may live a fairly independent life, others may have accompany learning disabilities and need more specialist care. Autism is a lifelong developmental disability and affects how they see the world around them. People with Autism have said that the world around them can feel like a mass of people, places and events, which they struggle to make sense of. They also find it hard relating to people, understanding them and taking part in everyday family life and social events. People with Autism have difficulties with the following; social communication, social interaction and social imagination, these are known as the ‘triad of impairments’. The difficulties these cause in people’s lives include finding it difficult to form friendships, understanding and interoperating people’s feelings and actions, understanding danger, coping with changes and new or unfamiliar situations. The main problems with communication that people with autism have, are taking what people say literally, understanding jokes and sarcasm and people’s body language and facial expressions, it is important to speak in a clear and consistent way to enable people with Autism time to process what has been said. The characteristics of people with Autism may vary, but the main ones consist of love of routine, if their routines are changed or disrupted it can cause upset and agitation although if they are given enough time and explanation it may be more comfortable for them. Sensory sensitivity, this can occur in one or more of the senses, it can be hypersensitivity or hypo-sensitivity. Special interests, this can be intense interests from an early age and can be anything from art, music, maths or computers. Learning disability, this can affect all areas of a person’s life which involves learning for example; how people learn at school to learning daily living skills. An early diagnosis by a health professional will make a difference because with the right help and support a person with Autism will make good progress. ASPERGER SYNDROME Asperger syndrome is a form of Autism and has all of the characteristics and difficulties as Autism although is not accompanied with a learning disability, but may have specific learning difficulties. These may include dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or epilepsy. People with Asperger syndrome have a big love of routine, they may have rules and ritiuals which they must live by to make sense of their world. Children may line things up, collect and organise things and can be very repetitive. Their special interests can be very intense and sometimes obsessive, they have a big focus on learning and with the correct help and support can do well with studying in their chosen interest. Unlike Autism, Asperger syndrome is harder to diagnose due to the wide variety of symptoms and may not be recognised until adulthood. Some people find the diagnoses unhelpful as it is an unwanted label although for others it is helpful to be able to seek help and support to manage needs and behaviours. Asberger synd rome is quite often known as the ‘hidden disability and there is no cure.

Citizenship in the World, Bsa Merit Badge.

| Citizenship in the World| Counselor: Jack P. Wiiki| | | 8/26/2012| | Requirement 1) â€Å"What does Citizenship in the world mean to you, and what does it take to become one? † Citizenship in the World, meaning that one ultimately is motivated to defend and preserve human rights, and human dignity. Has an interest in an assortment of global interests, and fairness to nations other than their own and it's allies. This person would have respect for fellow human beings, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nationality, and works to protect the world from degradation.Requirement 2) â€Å"How does one become a United States citizen, and what are the rights, duties and obligations of these citizens, and two other countries? † United States: 1. Are at least 18 years old and a lawful permanent resident (â€Å"green card† holder); 2. Have resided continuously in the United States, having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, for five years immediately prec eding the date you filed your application for naturalization, or 3. Have, after having been removed from conditional permanent resident status, based upon your marriage to a U.S. citizen, having resided in the United States for one year after the date the condition was removed; 4. Have resided continuously in the United States at all times after your application to the time and date of your admission for citizenship; 5. Have, during all periods of time referred to above, been and still are a person of good moral character; 6. Have no outstanding deportation or removal order and no pending deportation or removal proceeding; 7. Have the ability to read, write, speak, and understand simple words and phrases in English; 8.Have knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of U. S. history and government; 9. Are attached to, and can support, the principles of the U. S. Constitution and can swear allegiance to the United States. Iran: 1. the applicant should be 18 years old. 2. Five yea rs of consecutive or alternate residence in Iran is required. 3. The applicants should have served their military service. 4. The applicants should not be convicts of any major crime or non-political offense in any country.Of course, given the revision of the nation's Penal Code and the elimination of such terms as offense and crime, Paragraph 4 of the Civil Code Article 979 should likewise be revised. It should be noted, however, that the government might refrain from granting Iranian citizenship to aliens either on account of political reasons or for the protection of national security. The admission of such applications might, therefore, require the Cabinet's approval. Switzerland: Naturalization Swiss citizenship can be acquired through what is called naturalization.To become naturalized, you need to have resided in Switzerland for at least twelve years, three of which occurred within the five years prior to the request. Time spent in Switzerland between the ages of 10 and 20 ye ars counts double. The request is to be made to the Aliens Police in the municipality of residence. From there, it will then be sent to the Federal Department of Justice and Police, who will give a principle authorization if the following conditions are met: You are integrated in the Swiss community. You are accustomed to Swiss way of life and practices.You comply with the Swiss legal system. You in no way compromise the internal or external security of Switzerland. Since Switzerland is a federal country, authorization must then be obtained from the canton and the municipality. The canton and municipality of residence can add further conditions and set the cost of acquiring citizenship before approving it. Conditions vary greatly from one region to the next. Some municipalities apply rather open policies, while others will go as far as granting nationality by means of a local population vote.Cost also varies according to municipality and canton. Requirement 3) Current Event: Syrian Civil War Excerpt from CNN â€Å"The Syrian regime, led by President Bashar al-Assad, launched a violent crackdown last year on activists demanding more economic prosperity, political freedom and civil liberties. This sparked a nationwide uprising and eventually a civil war with armed rebels, many of whom defected from the military. As of July, the conflict had claimed an estimated 17,000 lives, mostly civilians, according to the United Nations.And more than 170,000 people have fled the Middle East nation to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Iraq, Jordan and Turkey. â€Å" Requirement 3A) â€Å"How a foreign country (France) is a global provider and it’s economy and global relations† Geography: The European portion of France, excluding islands and overseas territories is 211,209 sq miles. Natural Resources: Are limited, and most are either nearly exhausted, or very hard to obtain, Coal, Iron Ore, Bauxite, and small portions of Uranium.Climate Influence: Th e north and northwest have a temperate climate, while a combination of maritime influences, latitude and altitude produce a varied climate in the rest of Metropolitan France. In the south-east a Mediterranean climate prevails. In the west, the climate is predominantly oceanic with a high level of rainfall, mild winters and cool to warm summers, along with the very fertile soil, provides a very good growing season, and allows for the growing of many forests, and tourist attractions. Inland the climate becomes more continental with hot, stormy summers, colder winters and less rain.The climate of the Alps and other mountainous regions is mainly alpine, with the number of days with temperatures below freezing over 150 per year and snow cover lasting for up to six months. Global Partnerships: a leading member of the International Francophone Organization (OIF) of fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking countries, and World Trade Organization. Requirement 4C) â€Å"What do the U. N and the World Court do for the world? † U. N: Is an international organization who aims for facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace.World Court: Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by sovereign states and to provide opinions on legal questions submitted to it by international agencies. Requirement 5) Previously Discussed. Requirement 6) â€Å"How is government represented abroad? And how is the U. S accredited to international organizations? † A government is recognized through embassies and consulates in all nations with which they have diplomatic relations. The United States government has been accredited to international organizations by signing into organizations and becoming an official member.They participate in the happenings of the many different organizations and do their best to help whatever cause the organization is prom oting. Requirement 7) To Be Discussed. Democratic Republic(USA)- Star Communist (North Korea, China, Vietnam)-Equal Sign Dictatorship (Cuba, Venezuela) -â€Å"No† Symbol Monarchy (Saudi Arabia, Monaco) -X Theocracy (Iran) -Sun Democratic Republic(USA)- Star Communist (North Korea, China, Vietnam)-Equal Sign Dictatorship (Cuba, Venezuela) -â€Å"No† Symbol Monarchy (Saudi Arabia, Monaco) -X Theocracy (Iran) -Sun

A literature review on the increase of depression in adolescents Essay

A literature review on the increase of depression in adolescents - Essay Example Depression has been a problem since the beginning of time. There are many different types of depression, but the cause, symptoms, and treatment are all similar. The history of depression can be traced back to the prehistoric time. The Hebrews thought that it was a punishment for sins and if one repented the priests could cure it (Hyde and Forsyth, 2002). Hypocrites, of fourth century B.C., said that the "humours"(blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile) were unbalanced. Claudius Galen, a Roman physician of second century A.D., wrote on Melancholia. This helped improve theories of depression was the result of demons. Around the 1790s Benjamin Rush started introducing the thought that people with depression were sick and needed medical treatment not abuse. Sigmund Freud helped the public understand that depression "comes from anger turned against oneself." Now, in the twenty-first century, doctors know that depression comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain (Hyde and Forsyth, 2002) Learning disabilities or conduct disorder can put a child in greater risk of depression. Therefore, treating one problem and ignoring the other will not help the child overcome their difficulties (Fassler 1997). Family must also play a major role in helping their depressed adolescent. Until the last decade, the commonly held view has been that depression affected persons in their middle years, and did not occur in childhood or adolescence. A lot has changed in the past decade. Due to systematic follow-up studies of children under treatment, and depressed parents, the onset of depression occurs during adolescence, and must be treated during adolescence (Weissman 1998). Depression has a wide range of symptoms, from being sad or mad to withdrawal from others, or lashing out at others. Symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Attention Deficit Disorder

Exercise Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exercise Psychology - Assignment Example The right side of the heart pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs. In the lungs the inhalation of oxygen then oxygenates this blood. The heart’s left atrium sends this now oxygenated blood through the bicuspid valve into the left ventricle. This ventricle contracts and pumps the blood into the aorta and then into the blood through the arteries as a means of supplying oxygen. This blood is then deoxygenated and returns to the body through the veins. This blood then enters the superior vena cava and the right atrium. After passing through the right atrium the blood goes through the right ventricle and finally back to the lungs and the pulmonary artery. 2. The aerobic energy system functions within the body as a means of producing energy. There are three specific parts to this system: glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain (‘What is exercise’). The glycolysis component of the aerobic system is the primary energy source for cell activities. The body receives energy from the glycolic system through a process referred to as oxidation. During this process the body produces two ATP molecules, a reduced molecule of NAD (NADH), and two pyruvate molecules. The specific oxidation occurs within the cytoplasm of normal body cells or within the sarcoplasm of muscle cells. The second stage of the aerobic system is the Krebs Cycle. The Krebs Cycle specifically refers to the process where chemical reactions occur to produce carbon dioxide and ATP. Subsequently, these items are implemented for energy. This occurs in a cyclical process where oxygen is implemented towards the production of energy; it is then implemented through oxidation to convert ADP to ATP. The Krebs Cycle turns twice for each molecule of glucose that passes through the aerobic system (McMahon 1984, p. 112). In these regards, pyruvate molecules enter the Krebs Cycle and are converted to Acetyl Coenzymes. During this process for each molecule of pyruvate that is converted to acetyl coenzyme A, an NAD is also reduced (McMahon 1984, p. 112). Notably, the entirety of this process occurs within the matrix of the cells’ mitochondria. The final part of the aerobic system is the electron transport chain. Within the electron transport chain, stored energy is implemented as a gradient between protons across cells. This is then used to create ATP, or known as energy. This stage of the aerobic cycle occurs on the cristae; this is the unfolding of the membrane of the mitochondria (McMahon 1984, p. 112). The NADH+ from glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle, and FADH+ pass through this electron transport chain and provides enough energy to produce three molecules of ATP (McMahon 1984, p. 112). Additionally, the molecules of FADH+ that are produced each provide two molecules of ATP. Many exercises implement the aerobic energy system. These forms of exercise are also referred to as cardio exercises as they impact the cardiovascular system. These exercises specifically implement oxygen via aerobic metabolic processes. As such the forms of exercise that most prominently implement the aerobic system are exercises such as running, jogging, or swimming (Fox 2001, p. 12). Additionally, there are specific exercise programs aimed to target the aerobic system, such as ‘aerobics’ or pilates. 3. The anaerobic energy system is contrasted from the aerobic energy system. One considers that there are two types of anaerobic energy

Personal Journey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Journey - Essay Example The time we are kids, we have our own choices and preferences about anything we come across without containment parts imposed by elders in the family or the peer group we live in. As Erikson says, at each stage, there must develop an ego capability for the further development of personality (Slee 2002, p.53). I remember the days which I was always free from entrustments of heavy burdens or ethical values to be added to my life unlike now. I had my schooling done in a comparatively small town with not many things to speak great bout those days. I can never say that I was at compromise with anything I longed for. I used to have good and fashionable clothes and lots of fun with very good friends. I must say, they should be the real gift of God. We had resourceful teachers to guide us through the high school education where the school was rated one of the top ten schools in the state. Since my physique was quite athletic, I was directed to join various training campaigns to get trained for competitive events at different levels. At times I was successful, but never did I have the feel that I would ever become a sports man. It may be the case because; I was much concerned about the humane elements of life. As an innate nature, I always liked to be of some help to people around me. Even today, I feel puzzled when I try to consolidate my present life with what I expected myself to be. It is for sure, my being a doctor was not an overnight affair. It took me several years of study and researches to become at lest what I am now. A clear – cut study of evolutions happened in me may get you the idea about how people change themselves through different ages. I would never like to accept that I have done something to change myself; therefore, I can say that life changes on its way with condition pertaining to stages of life. According to Erikson, â€Å"the adulthood stage focuses

UK and American Educational Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

UK and American Educational Systems - Essay Example Therefore, it is not possible for education sector to escape from the effects of globalisation. A close examination of educational system of America proves that the impact of globalisation on the trends and developments of education sector is more evident here than in any other country. Even though the impact is more apparent in the United States, Latin America and Canada also have not escaped from the consequences. A comparison of American educational system with that of England will help to analyse the uniformity in the rate globalisation affecting the values, culture, politics and economic situation of world nations. Public education plays a vital role in societies that respect democratic values and social equality. For those people who try to make their country more democratic and equitable, supporting public education is an essential part of their programme. Many social scientists in American states believe that globalisation, in its current form, is a threat to the public education system which supports and tries to reflect the democratic values and social equality. The chief feature of neo-liberal policies is commoditisation and mercerisation of all the activities. (Kuehn 1999). So, when this neo-liberal policies peep into public services, the activities that are previously associated with the benefit of the public are moved into the market. On the application level, the services that are once given free of cost began to be charged. A remarkable change happened in the area of free education. Free education served the purpose of maintaining equality in the society. Free public education ensured that all children are educated without considering their socio-economic status. When the Universal Public education is lost, it will affect the equality. The globalisation policies not only reduced the expenditure for the public, it also mercerised the areas that were previously managed and supported by the government. The effects of globalisation is still worse when it comes to a situation where any one can determine how education is delivered, what is the content of education, and who has the access to education. The new words like 'modernisation', 'efficiency', 'total quality', 'free market' etc., has changed the focus of educational system in the country. The education tried to form new kind of citizens with new perspectives. The above parameters are no longer applied to the workforce of the country, but it comprises the entire individuals of the society. The educational aims are made to fit to the new needs. International agencies like The World Bank, the IMF, and the IDB are trying to identify the different categories of workforce that are needed in the future job market, and the education is designed with this market demand. They aim at creating a "global policy community, constituted by an overlapping membership of globalising bureaucratssenior public servants, policy-makers and advisers" ( Lingard & Rizvi 1998, P. 262). Now, the aim of education has contracted to limit human capacity to the possibilities of the market, instead of ensuring the all-round development of individuals. In other words, the training and preparation of the citizens will be based on the rules of the market. This will lead to exploitation

Synesthesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Synesthesia - Essay Example Then, in 1704, a parallel was noticed between a musical scale’s notes and the colors of a spectrum by Isaac Newton, and Leibniz recounted the case of another blind man who understood scarlet by a trumpet’s sound. In 1710, another case of a blind man who had experiences of colored visions by responding to sounds was reported by an English ophthalmologist, Thomas Woolhouse. Castel noticed the same relationship as Newton in 1735 and built, presumably, the first color organ in the world. George Sachs developed the first medical platform for scientific reports on synesthesia in 1812, where he described his own experience with the condition in his PhD dissertation, and it was also the topic’s most approved account (Ward, 2008). He gave a report about his colored vowels, essentially about his albinism, and a depiction of colored hearing even though the significance was only retrospectively apparent (Duffy, 2001). In 1871, Gustav Fechner, who gave rise to the field of ps ychophysics, reported the first empirical study of the photisms of colored letters. By that time, however, there was still negligible interest in the subject, until Charles Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton, reported on people suffering from the condition and the attention grew considerably in the 1880s, especially in the scientific community. Researchers from the US, Germany, France and England carried out vigorous investigations on the topic, and this led the term synesthesia to be introduced by the American Scientist Mary Calkins. These early studies corresponded with psychology’s dawn in the field of science. It is believed that the pioneering international academic conference was held in March 1927 to objectively discuss synesthesia, presided over by George Anschutz in Hamburg, Germany. The second conference, also in Hamburg, was conducted in October 1930. The third was in October 1933 and the fourth, and last, in October 1936 (Hochel & Milan, 2008).

Week 7 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Week 7 questions - Essay Example He has seemed depressed, often a few minutes late for work, low-energy. One of Mitchs coworkers mentioned to you that Mitch told him he "just wanted to blast everybody", and at another time he "just wanted to close the door and turn off the lights." The coworker is concerned about Mitch. What should you do? As a supervisor of 10 employees, I have the responsibilities about their safety and health. I will talk to Mitch and will so that I would know his condition and if I found out that he is not really capable of working along with the other employee’s advice to leave will be highly recommended until he will be ok and ready to work again. As an employee he has the responsibilities to work safety along with the other employees and I do also have the responsibilities of protecting all my employees as a supervisor especially inside the premises of the workplace. Employers and employees have corresponding responsibilities to each their while in the workplace and I think it would just be relevant to give justice equally to all the members of the organization. You are the HR person for Midwest Aviation, a company that provides private charter flights and maintenance services for private planes. The safety guidelines and regulations require that pilots and maintenance people wear belts, harnasses, and other safety gear when performing their jobs in and around the airplanes. You know - from first hand experience as well as what others have told you - that most times they dont wear the safety gear. "It gets in the way," is the reason given. "Weve been doing it this way for years and nobodys been hurt yet," they say. Short of threatening to fire people, what are some ways you could motivate them to follow the safety procedures? Some of the ways I can do to be able to convince them to follow the safety procedure is that, I will try to talk to the high ranking position of

Reflection using Gibbs model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Reflection using Gibbs model - Essay Example Moreover, with the assistance of reflection practice, healthcare workers will be facilitated with the opportunity of enhancing care quality and developing professional and the personal traits (DHB, 2013; White & et. al., 2012). The Gibbs model is a recognised as a ‘model of reflection’ used by healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals with the assistance of Gibbs model are able to have a clear and concise understanding about their experiences and practices. The Gibbs model comprises six stages which include description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. On the basis of Gibbs model, healthcare professionals are able to identify their optimistic and the pessimistic aspects and develop problem-solving capabilities. Additionally, the model will assist in building their confidence and thought process, so that healthcare professionals are able to execute care and treatment activities ethically incorporating the current practices. It is usually a process on the basis of which healthcare professionals are able to ascertain their experiences with the aim of obtaining insights in relation to their practices and current practices (Finlay, 2008). The paper will emphasize on the model of reflection initiated by Graham Gibbs with the intention of assisting healthcare professionals in having better assessment of their activities so that healthcare professionals can enhance their competencies in offering care and treatment in an ethical as well as professional manner. The study will be a reflection of the activities, which have led me to a trouble being a registered nurse. Gibbs Model The reflective cycle of the Gibbs model is an important approach towards reflection. The six stages of the model assist in developing self-refection questions with the objective of identifying the loopholes by assessing personal experiences and practices (Queen Margaret University, 2013). Gibbs Model of Reflection Source: (Queen Margaret University, 2013) Stage 1: Description I was working in a healthcare facility in the community as a registered staff nurse. I work in a competent and effective manner with the objective of providing adequate care and treatment to patients appropriately. Additionally, I used to seek that I am able to offer care on the basis of the needs of the patients. I provide care and treatment in accordance with current practices and standards as recognised by the medical facility and council. I was assigned with the task of visiting a patient for wound dressing. In this context, on visiting the patient, I gave the patient my phone number to contact m e personally in future for any problem in relation to her wound. This incident is considered as an unethical practice in my professional boundary. Moreover, there is another incident where I was on a sick leave but I planned to work for another medical agency during my leave period as I was under financial pressure for my family. This incident was determined as a dishonest practice on the ground of my profession. On the basis of these two incidents ‘Nursing and Midwifery Council’ (NMC) has suspended me and I was offered with training services in relation to professional boundary in nursing. The NMC has developed set of practices and standards on the basis of, which education standards, the register, the code and fitness to practice are to be adhered. These

The educational system Essay Example for Free

The educational system Essay The educational system of the United States has undergone several reforms that coincide with the political perspective at that time (Hochschild Scovronick, 2003). Consequently, the drastic reforms often left the schools confused. One thing that educational reforms all share is the reliance on state or standardized tests. These achievement tests have been used to measure the performance of schools and statistics had been used to prove whether a school was performing within the standards set by the state. Test scores have been shown to be reliable indicators of learning competencies if the tests match the curriculum of the schools and this is a challenge for there are different schools in the country that follows different approaches to teaching and learning philosophies (Hochschild Scovronick, 2003). The state however requires that all schools should follow state mandated minimum learning competencies across all levels. The diversity of the cultural backgrounds of students in our schools is a fact and one that has been emphasized by educators as a limitation to testing, however, test developers had responded to this issue by improving their norming population and to revise test items that were found to be culturally biased. Thus, they argue that test scores is indeed an objective measure of academic performance. Studies on test performance and academic performance have tried to establish that there is a positive relationship between the two; when test scores are high, academic grades also is high (Goodwin Leech, 2003). Therefore, a school that has high test scores is performing well. An interesting research question in this respect is to determine whether schools that have high test scores indeed are better schools. This is an important research question because so much depends on standardized tests and it is only right that it should be an objective and valid measure of the school’s performance. This can be measured by taking the academic grades of the school and correlating it with the specific subtests scores in the state-wide standardized tests, the hypothesis is that this schools would have high positive correlation between subject grades and subtest scores. What is being established by this research question is whether subject grades also reflect the same scores in the subtests; it is a fact that test scores and performance rates are computed based on the overall test score and even researches use the general academic average to correlate it with the overall test score. Correlation only tests relationships and associations, it does not attribute causation, thus one cannot say that higher academic grades causes higher test scores or vice versa, but it has been assumed that it does. Correlation however is the best tool to use in this situation since test scores and academic grades have a linear relationship and are a normal distribution (Triola, 2004). The results of the inquiry would establish the association between test scores and academic grades for every subject area tested. This would give us a better indicator of performance rather than just using the over-all scores and general average wherein values get lost in the averaging process. Moreover, tests of correlation can determine the direction of the relationship and the effect size (Triola, 2004). On the other hand, correlation can be used to misrepresent the results by attributing causality to the either one of the variables (Triola, 2004). Also, most reports do not cite the correlation coefficient nor the effect size, but merely says that well-performing schools have higher test scores without even discussing how schools are identified as well-performing or not, it is also assumed that high test scores is synonymous to better schools. When it is statistically possible to increase test score performance ratings by practices such as teaching to the test, choosing only the best students to take the test, or to limit the number of slow learners taking the test or even to just use the average of all the scores in every level to determine test performance ratings (Goodwin Leech, 2003). References Hochschild, J. Scovronick, N. (2003).The American Dream and the Public Schools. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goodwin, L. Leech, N. (2003). The meaning of validity in the new Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing: Implications for measurement courses. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 36;3, 181-91. Triola, M. (2004). Elementary Statistics 9th ed. New York: Pearson-Addison Wesley Press.

Life on the Road Essay Example for Free

Life on the Road Essay â€Å"Life on the Road† was in my opinion written to entertain, but also to inform the reader about a hitch hikers life. The author explained the basics of his everyday journeys and how they affected him. He explained how he had to adapt to certain ways of living, from where he would sleep to where he was going to find food the next day. Surprisingly traveling also taught him how to better present himself. For example, he learned to stand, instead of sit while trying to catch a ride. This showed his determination and a more favorable self portrayed image. The lifestyle he was used to living had completely changed. He no longer had luxuries easily handed to him as we Americans do today. I also believed he wrote this article in order for us to recognize the small, but important factors in life that we usually miss considering the busy life most of us lead now a days. Wertz said, â€Å"I was gone only three months, but in those three months I felt heart. † (Wertz, 13). His view on society and life changed completely after his experience on the road. Being alone on the streets forced him to learn how to fend for himself and learn how to interact differently with people. Through out his encounters he learned there is many kinds of people. He met very beautiful people, overly happy people, extremely rude people, and sadly even people suffering worse than he was. Traits he never knew he had like sympathy peeked their head out and taught him that even though he was struggling, there are still a tremendous amount of people out in the world that have it worse than he did. His journey led him through many challenges, but mainly taught him more about how special life really is.

Three Theories Of Language Acquisition Psychology Essay

Three Theories Of Language Acquisition Psychology Essay One of the most important things to know as a student of speech and language therapy is the history of language acquisition theories. These theories form the foundation of common practice and have informed the development of the therapies that we will use as speech and language therapists. This essay will discuss and present arguments for three theories of acquisition: the behaviourist model, the social interactionist model, and the information processing model. Each theory will also be discussed in terms of its application to clinical practice. The behaviourist model of language acquisition came about in the 1940-50s when a lot of research was being done on learning theory and B.F. Skinner is probably the most well-known of the behavioural theorists. According to behavioural theory, all human behaviour is learned. When a person does something it is either positively or negatively reinforced; if the behaviour is positively reinforced its frequency will increase and if the behaviour is negatively reinforced its frequency will decrease and eventually stop. For example, if a child wants to put his hand on the hot stove the pain that this causes will be a negatively reinforcement and he will learn not to touch the stove. Behaviourism suggests that more complex behaviours can also be learned in this way. They argue that this can be done by one behaviour triggering the next (chaining) or by, over time reinforcing a behaviour in a way that it moves towards an ultimate target behaviour. According to Skinner (Owens,2008) humans learn everything through this manner of conditioning, including language. Skinner believed that a child sees models of language in adult communication and when the child imitates this communication, this behaviour is positively reinforced by adults. Skinner theorised that during language acquisition, when a child makes an error adults give the child negative reinforcement and when a child produces the correct language the adult gives positive reinforcement thereby conditioning the child to use the correct form. In terms of word learning, behaviourists suggest that when the child realises a word is associated with an object (e.g. ball), the presence of the object becomes the stimulus for that word. Thus, once the child knows the word ball whenever he sees the ball it will activate the word in his mind so he can say it. In terms of learning sentences, behaviourists believe that the child does this in the same manner as words or through the technique of successive approximation. For exampl e, a child hears Please pass the ball but this is too complex so he way say pass ball instead. As the child gets older the adults in his environment gradually shape his utterance into an adult form through the use of modelling, imitation, and reinforcement (Owens,2008) so that eventually he uses the correct form. As the influence of a childs environment on language has become clearer, the importance that behaviourists set on the environment has been supported (Owens, 2008). Over the years, the practice of speech and language therapy has been influenced by the behaviourist model. For example, two techniques from this model that are directly applicable to clinical practice are modelling and reinforcement. In therapy, modelling is often used with children with speech difficulties. One way in which it can be used is for the therapist to model the sound and bring the childs attention to how it is formed so that they can do it themselves. Using reinforcement is also an important aspect of therapy and a therapist can use it by setting up activities in a manner that positively reinforces the correct pronunciation. For example, a minimal pair therapy where the child gets a sweet when he pronounces the phoneme correctly. According to Owens(2008) there is evidence for the importance of modelling and rei nforcement in children as young as 9 months old; this is seen in the fact that by 9 months old a childs inventory of sounds consists mainly of those that have been said in his environment. In other words, although the child is not speaking the same sounds are constantly being modelled and reinforced in his environment and these are the sounds that will be needed for his speech. A third useful technique for therapists that is suggested by the behaviourist model is imitation. An example of a potential use for imitation in therapy would be with a child who needs to become more aware of his speaking volume or rate- the therapist could have him imitate her speaking at different volumes and different paces to increase his awareness. Evidence to support the usefulness of imitation for generalising sentence structure has been found by Whitehurst and Novak (1973)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). The behaviourist model of language acquisition has attracted a lot of criticism over the past decades, much of it brought forward by Chomsky (Owens,2008) who then presented a linguistic model of language acquisition. One of the primary criticisms of the behaviourist model is the fact that it is impossible for a child to be taught every sentence that he ever will have to use- and the behaviourist model doesnt account for an ability to create novel sentences. Another criticism is the fact that parents dont use reinforcement consistently and in fact sometimes positively reinforce childrens errors (Owens,2008). Additionally, Chomsky (Owens, 2008) noted that adult speech is full of errors and ungrammatical utterances and therefore would not provide a good model for children to learn from. As one of the earliest models of language acquisition, this model has been very influential in development of treatments. Our task as future clinicians is to draw ideas from its strengths while keeping in mind the criticisms that have been set forward. The second theory of language acquisition chosen for this essay was social interaction theory. This model was developed in response to the behavioural and linguistic theories of language acquisition and incorporates aspects of both of these. The social interaction theory suggests that language develops because of its social-communicative function. According to this theory, not only do we have an innate predisposition to language but many environmental factors also affect the course of language development (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993); the predisposition to language is seen as innate but the structure of language is not. In this model, the relationship between children and their linguistic environment is seen as a dynamic one in which both are dependent on each other for efficient social communication and development of language skills (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). According to this model, social interaction is what conventionalises a childs language structure. Social interactionists b elieve that the child uses techniques to develop his or her language such as imitation or rote learning and the environment also adjusts itself to facilitate language learning by the child; as the child shows an increased ability to understand more complex language, the linguistic environment also increases in complexity (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). The type of language that parents often use with children is referred to by social interactionists as Child Directed Speech (CDS). Child directed speech includes communication techniques such as motherese, imitation, and scaffolding. This model suggests that children cue their parents to supply CDS and that the function of CDS is to activate the linguistic tendencies of the child (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). According to this model, these techniques are used by adults to slowly build the childs language while enabling adults and children to communicate more effectively (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). A strength of the social interactionist model is that because it drawn on the behariourist and linguistic models it incorporates strengths from both. Much of the evidence for the social interactionist model comes from studies that look at how caregiver-child interactions and CDS assist in language development. One of the big strengths of this model is the fact that it can account for the pragmatic aspects of language. According to Berko Gleason and Weintraub (1976), imitation and rote learning are used by children to learn things like social conventions (e.g. Thank-you) and Ninio and Snow(1999) (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) have shown that this model also accounts for the aspects of language that need to be learned socially. E.g. turn-taking, context, cultural conventions. Further evidence has been found for the effect of social interaction on a childs developing vocabulary in a study by Tomasello and Farrar (1986)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993)who found that if a mother talks about the objects a child is looking at the child tends to develop a larger and earlier initial vocabulary. Snow (1972, 1977, 1999)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) has also found evidence for the fact that parents adjust their communication and use different communication techniques to help them communicate more effectively with their child. The social interactionist model has also attracted criticisms since its development. One of the most important things to take into account when looking at this model is the fact that because it is quite young many aspects of it have not been tested. Also related to this is the criticism that social interactionists are seeing causation where there is only correlation (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993)- that it is impossible to tell from the studies being done whether a language delay is due to the parents lack of CDS or if the lack of CDS was a response of the parent to the language delay already present in the child (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). A number of studies have also been carried out related to child directed speech and have found that CDS may not be as simplified as we believe it to be (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). In addition to this, Shatz (1982)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) argued that there is no mechanism specified for how CDS actually works to improve child language. These crit icisms are important to take into account and place further emphasis on the importance of having a evidence-based practice. The social interactionist model can both inform how an SLT approaches therapy and provide ides for practical application in clinical practice. This model suggests that children learn through the process of scaffolding. As a therapist this would sugest that therapy be approached by starting a child off with easier tasks and then gradually raising the difficulty level as he improves. The principle of scaffolding could also be applied to choosing target sounds for phonological therapy. For example, starting with sounds that are developmentally earlier and easier to say. An example of a therapy that uses scaffolding and that is frequently used by therapists is minimal pair therapy (Williams et al., 2010). Another way to apply the social interactionist model in clinical practice would be to help the parents strengthen their use of child directed speech and show them how to incorporate effective language learning into their daily routines with the child. An example of a program that uses this type of technique is the Hanen approach. This is a therapy technique that emphasises the importance of parental involvement in a childs lan guage development. The program places importance on both the treatment of children and the training of parents to help them incorporate language learning more effectively into their everyday lives. (The Hanen Centre, 2011) The final model of language acquisition used for this essay was the information processing model. The information processing model is a cognitive view of language development which arose along with other interactionist approaches in the 1960s and 70s as a lot of research into the field of cognition was being carried out. As other aspects of human cognition such as memory and perception were coming to be seen as similar to the workings of a computer, some theorists began exploring whether language development could be explained in a similar manner (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). This model theorises that language is acquired in the same way as many other behaviours; the brain receives stimuli, interprets it, stores it, and then can generate the proper output by retrieving the stored information (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993). According to the information-processing model, humans have an innate ability to learn language due to the presence of a mechanism called the Parallel Distributed Processor (PDP) (Bohannon Bonvillian,1993) however, like other interactionist models this theory also suggests that the environment plays an active role in language acquisition. According to this model, the parallel distributed processor works by enabling children to learn language through example and reinforcement. The PDP is a network of nodes and pathways modelled on the neural pathways in the brain. The nodes are connected by many levels and layers of pathways. The information processing model is sometimes called the connectionist model for this reason. The nodes receive input from pathways coming from many other nodes and if enough pathways stimulate a node the node will activate and a certain output will be generated. One of the most well-known aspects of the information processing theory is the Competition Model (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) which attempts to explain how exactly these pathways and nodes generate linguistic output. According to this, a child has multiple possible forms of a word in their head (e.g. past tense of Æ’Â   or ) which compete to represent a meaning. The form that ends up being used is determined by the number of nodes and pathways that are activated for each form. For example, a child learning to say the past tense of may not know yet whether the proper form is or . When the child decides to say this word, the pathways for both and would be activated as possible outputs. If the child chooses to say the correct option that pathway will be strengthened and the pathway for the incorrect response will be weakened. If the child chooses to say the incorrect option () and discovers that this is incorrect, that pathway will be slightly downgraded and the other pathway that should have been activated, , will be slightly strengthened. Eventually, over time and through experience the childs PDP system will agree on the true form of a word and produce a consistent, correct output. This is the manner in which children are seen to learn words and grammar. Over the years this model has accumulated evidence both in favour of it and against it. A strength of this model is that it accounts for many aspects of language learning such as how children learn frequently used forms more quickly than other less frequently used forms (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). It also accounts for both the appearance of overregularisation errors and their disappearance. Additionally, in a study by Meyer and Schwaneveldt (1971) (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993), it was found that when a word is used it primes (subconsciously makes us think of) other related words therefore there must be some spreading activation in the language processor. This provides evidence for the existence of interconnected pathways. Much of the other supporting evidence comes from the experimental computerised model of the PDP. In 1987, Rummelhart and McClelland (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) ran simulations on this model and found that in the case of simulating past-tense learning and producti on they got very similar learning patterns to those found in children. Additionally, when part of the language network of the PDP was shut down to simulate brain damage, the resulting performance was very similar to the deficits found in brain-damaged human patients (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). Studies by Elman (1993)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993) using the same computerised model have shown that the learning ability of the system extends beyond words and can also account for the development of the syntactic system if enough examples of adult language are given. While this model has many strengths, there are also significant weaknesses. First of all, while it can account for the formation of language, it does not account for the acquisition of semantics. Additionally, as admitted by Rohde and Plaut (1999)(Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993), it doesnt take into account the social aspect of conversation, in other words, how we decipher language in relation to the social situation and how that affects what we say. Another criticism of the model of the PDP mechanism is that while it does well with information that is presented all at once (e.g. a picture), it has trouble with serial processing (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). This poses a problem since language is serial by nature. Another common criticism of this theory is that information processing theorists make too much of the superficial similarities between the brain and the proposed PDP when there are actually many differences (Bohannon Bonvillian, 1993). A strength of this model is the fact that it may give insight into how to approach the treatment of problems relating to the grammatical structures of language. For example, the PDP system showed it could learn proper grammar through bombardment. Therefore, according to this model, bombardment will allow the child to internalise the desired structure because the input pathways will be provided with enough adult-level examples to form the correct pathway. As an application in therapy then, this suggests that the SLT could choose exercises in which the child hears the correct structure over and over again. The PDP model also suggests that each structure must be worked on separately in treatment because they all use different pathways. For example, if past tense is the problem then regular past tense must be worked on and once that structure overgeneralises then the exceptions should be targeted. As an application in clinical practice then, if the child is trying to acquire regular and irregular past tense, the SLT should start with treatment of the regular past tense, wait for that pattern to overgeneralise and then work on individual irregular past tense verbs. Both imitation and repetition are also implied as practical applications of this model in clinical practice. By having the child imitate the proper form it is suggested that both the proper input and output pathways will be activated, therefore helping the child to solidify the correct one more quickly. Similarly, by eliciting the child to repeat the proper form this model implies that the correct language pathway to solidify more quickly. In a study by Whitehurst and Novak (1973) imitation was shown to be effective in helping children solidify specific rules in their own speech and the techniques of bombardment and repetition were used as part of the treatment in a study by Seeff-Gabriel et al.(2012) which had success in a child learning to generalise the regular past tense. It is important to note that while these treatments may be effective in some cases, as previously mentioned, there is criticism for the information- processing model. It is our duty as future clinicians to look further into the research and study the effectiveness of these approaches before spending long periods of time on them with patients. All of the theories discussed here have strengths and weaknesses and all of them have implications for clinical practice. Depending on which theory an SLT is influenced by, the therapeutic approach will be different. One of the keys to being a good speech and language therapist is the ability to look at these different models and see how their strengths can be applied to create effective therapy for the client. In addition to this however, it should be kept in mind that these are only theories of language acquisition and that while we should be very aware of the theoretical underpinnings that influence the therapy and techniques we use, our aim should not be to create a practice based solely on theories. Our aim needs to be to create an evidence-based practice guided by the continuing advances in theories and current research.

Expectations in the Movie The Hours Essay -- Movies Film Woolf Brown V

Expectations in the Movie The Hours We expect those endowed with a gift - be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial - to cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life. In the movie The Hours Virginia Woolf, the 20th Century British author; Laura Brown, a doted-upon 1951 Los Angeles housewife; and Clarissa Vaughan, a 2001 New York editor; struggle with their gifts and the expectations they, and others, have for themselves. All three women are obsessed with finding the right balance between living, freedom, happiness and love. The Hours attempts to use one day to reflect Woolf s life and the impact her work has had on others. In the movie, Woolf is writing Mrs.Dalloway which Brown is reading and Vaughan sort of lives out. Woolf s novel connects the three women and affects their actions. It should be noted that Vaughan gets a lot less attention than Woolf and Brown and seems to be more of a manifestation of Mrs. Dalloway. Vaughan, like Mrs. Dalloway, is a great party planner and is in the process of planning a party for a friend. Vaughan also projects Mrs. Dalloway's outward confidence and inward confusion. THE GIFTS AND THEIR PRESSURES A main theme throughout the movie is freedom. All three women actively seek it and at the movie's end each woman chooses what she thinks is best: Woolf drowns herself, Brown leaves her family and Vaughan finally lets go of her longtime friend and past lover, Richard. Each woman's decision, fueled by the circumstances which surround her, is reached after much thought and deliberation. Woolf s concern is Leonard's sanity and happiness. She realizes the great pressure she puts on him and sees her suicide as a way of freeing him from being responsible for ... ... Biography, Volume 6: Modem Writers, 1914-1945. Gale Research,1991. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *"(Adeline) Virginia Woolf." Feminist Writers. St. James Press, 1996.Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *"Virginia Woolf." Gay & Lesbian Biography. St. James Press, 1997. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *Gay, Peter. "On not psychoanalyzing Virginia Woolf."American Scholar. Spring 2002 *Lee, Hermione. Virginia Woolf: A Biography Chatto and Windus, 1996. *Bell, Quentin. Virginia Woolf: A Biography Harcourt (New York, NY), 1972 *The Hours (The movie) DVD Extras Expectations in the Movie The Hours Essay -- Movies Film Woolf Brown V Expectations in the Movie The Hours We expect those endowed with a gift - be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial - to cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life. In the movie The Hours Virginia Woolf, the 20th Century British author; Laura Brown, a doted-upon 1951 Los Angeles housewife; and Clarissa Vaughan, a 2001 New York editor; struggle with their gifts and the expectations they, and others, have for themselves. All three women are obsessed with finding the right balance between living, freedom, happiness and love. The Hours attempts to use one day to reflect Woolf s life and the impact her work has had on others. In the movie, Woolf is writing Mrs.Dalloway which Brown is reading and Vaughan sort of lives out. Woolf s novel connects the three women and affects their actions. It should be noted that Vaughan gets a lot less attention than Woolf and Brown and seems to be more of a manifestation of Mrs. Dalloway. Vaughan, like Mrs. Dalloway, is a great party planner and is in the process of planning a party for a friend. Vaughan also projects Mrs. Dalloway's outward confidence and inward confusion. THE GIFTS AND THEIR PRESSURES A main theme throughout the movie is freedom. All three women actively seek it and at the movie's end each woman chooses what she thinks is best: Woolf drowns herself, Brown leaves her family and Vaughan finally lets go of her longtime friend and past lover, Richard. Each woman's decision, fueled by the circumstances which surround her, is reached after much thought and deliberation. Woolf s concern is Leonard's sanity and happiness. She realizes the great pressure she puts on him and sees her suicide as a way of freeing him from being responsible for ... ... Biography, Volume 6: Modem Writers, 1914-1945. Gale Research,1991. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *"(Adeline) Virginia Woolf." Feminist Writers. St. James Press, 1996.Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *"Virginia Woolf." Gay & Lesbian Biography. St. James Press, 1997. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRCÆ’Ã ¡ *Gay, Peter. "On not psychoanalyzing Virginia Woolf."American Scholar. Spring 2002 *Lee, Hermione. Virginia Woolf: A Biography Chatto and Windus, 1996. *Bell, Quentin. Virginia Woolf: A Biography Harcourt (New York, NY), 1972 *The Hours (The movie) DVD Extras

bar flies Essay -- essays research papers

Bar Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you go to the bar it seems there are always people hanging around much like flies hang around a barn. The people that frequent bars are from many different backgrounds. They are there for a variety of reasons. Some are there to have a burger with friends. Others are spending their time drowning their sorrows with a few drinks. People who frequent bars can be classified into three groups; lifers, regulars, and those who are there to socialize.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first category of bar flies is the lifers. The lifers are the people that always seem to be at the bar. Lifers spend five to seven nights of the week in the bar. They are not always drinking beer or alcohol often they are drinking coffee and talking with the bar tender. Th...

Various Types of Love in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

What is love? Love means a worm liking or affection toward another person. Through out the play Romeo and Juliet various types of love are displayed by several characters. Benvolio believes that women are interchangeable and at the beginning of the play Romeo believes love is a pain. While Juliet does not even have a have a definition of love, Paris and Lady Capulet defines it by appearance. Mercutio is unable to understand love and the nurse believes that marring some one is better than no one, even though you despise that person. Even though Paris’s’ love for Juliet was seen as a mere affection for her beauty and Paris had planed to marry Juliet through an arranged marriage, but as the play gets to and end it is show that Paris truly did love Juliet. Paris is a noble and a friend of lord Capulet. He asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage earlier in the play, â€Å"Younger than her happy mother made,† where he is not given an exact answer. His love for Juliet is an infatuation, but one can argue, that it was true love because he had promised to visit Juliet’s grave with a rose, every day until his death. â€Å"Sweet flower with flowers thy bridal bed I stew,† This enforces the fact that he could have truly loves Juliet. Paris had arrives at the house of Capulet extra early on the day his wedding, â€Å"Make Haste, The bridegroom he is come already.† Again it can be reason that his love for Juliet was real but he also talks of Juliet as a procession or a conquest. I t is uncertain that Paris’s love for Juliet is genuine but one thing is for certain, Juliet despised Paris. Mercutio’s perception of love is crude, obscene and sexual, similar to of the Nurse. It is certain that he does not understand true love and does not believe in it. â€Å"By her high forehead and her scarlet looks and by her fine foot straight leg,† Mercutio explains his view of Romeo’s affection toward Rosaline and it is unquestionably sexual. Many of Mercutio’s speeches consist of nonsense but they happen to be long and contain obscene concepts to them such as the infamous â€Å"Queen mab† speech in Act 1. â€Å"Prick love for Pricking, and you beat love down,† as Benvolio, Mercutio believes that females are interchangeable. Mercutio always manages to turn a simple discussion into a coarse and obscene conversation such as, â€Å"She had a better love to berhyme her. Various Types of Love in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet :: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet What is love? Love means a worm liking or affection toward another person. Through out the play Romeo and Juliet various types of love are displayed by several characters. Benvolio believes that women are interchangeable and at the beginning of the play Romeo believes love is a pain. While Juliet does not even have a have a definition of love, Paris and Lady Capulet defines it by appearance. Mercutio is unable to understand love and the nurse believes that marring some one is better than no one, even though you despise that person. Even though Paris’s’ love for Juliet was seen as a mere affection for her beauty and Paris had planed to marry Juliet through an arranged marriage, but as the play gets to and end it is show that Paris truly did love Juliet. Paris is a noble and a friend of lord Capulet. He asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage earlier in the play, â€Å"Younger than her happy mother made,† where he is not given an exact answer. His love for Juliet is an infatuation, but one can argue, that it was true love because he had promised to visit Juliet’s grave with a rose, every day until his death. â€Å"Sweet flower with flowers thy bridal bed I stew,† This enforces the fact that he could have truly loves Juliet. Paris had arrives at the house of Capulet extra early on the day his wedding, â€Å"Make Haste, The bridegroom he is come already.† Again it can be reason that his love for Juliet was real but he also talks of Juliet as a procession or a conquest. I t is uncertain that Paris’s love for Juliet is genuine but one thing is for certain, Juliet despised Paris. Mercutio’s perception of love is crude, obscene and sexual, similar to of the Nurse. It is certain that he does not understand true love and does not believe in it. â€Å"By her high forehead and her scarlet looks and by her fine foot straight leg,† Mercutio explains his view of Romeo’s affection toward Rosaline and it is unquestionably sexual. Many of Mercutio’s speeches consist of nonsense but they happen to be long and contain obscene concepts to them such as the infamous â€Å"Queen mab† speech in Act 1. â€Å"Prick love for Pricking, and you beat love down,† as Benvolio, Mercutio believes that females are interchangeable. Mercutio always manages to turn a simple discussion into a coarse and obscene conversation such as, â€Å"She had a better love to berhyme her.

Stream of consciousness for Frankenstein’s monster

One heart, was adequately strong to withstand the pain, the pressure, the grief. Inside hatred, vengeance, and long nights with only me, a candle and a bottle of wine. Alone again, you and l. Edited the way you enshrouded my companion, under your white sheets, as if she never lived. She was alive- until that cruel and ruthless Elizabeth destroyed her, without humanity. So I wasn't able to take this, It was too much! I roared, I raged, with all my might Then I got my renewable Revenge! Revenge! Renewable Hal Hal Hal Selfish!Selflessness's You didn't think about me, did you? You left me, without asking what I thought about it. You didn't ask me if I would be alright without you. You won't understand, how I felt. Would you? The years I bore the anguish, the years I ‘eve suffered pain, I was helpless, hopeless, I felt the shame. All I wanted was a companion, love and comfort, that's all. Then, I would have left you alone -Oh years ago, of course, I would have went to the wilderness , and many other places, to explore the world. And I am not alright. I'm hurt. I am wounded, the people see me and they run away reified.In horror, in disgust. When I try to talk to them, they betray me. My heart cries out In sorrow and agonizing pain. How easy It would be to let me take It. To close my eyes, to give up. It Is enough! I have had ENOUGH I'm sorry, I ‘II have to die, Fraternities. Alone again, you and l. ‘hated the way you enshrouded my companion, under your it was too much! Then I got my rearrange! Revenge! Revenge!

‘Merchant’s Tale †Marriage’ Essay

Geoffrey Chaucer’s presentation of marriage throughout The Canterbury Tales is, indeed, varied, abstract and supplemented by dispute over the sincerity of specific works. This literary inconsistency is strongly evident in The Merchant’s Tale, making it essential to address the disparity of its message on the topic of marriage. It could initially be assumed that the poem is not solely a cynical attack on marriage; Chaucer offers a somewhat objective overview of the issue, purveyed by the obvious difference in opinion of its characters, for example; the merchant in the prologue – ‘we wedded men live in sorwe and care’1 – and Januarie’s opinion – ‘in this world it [marriage] is a paradis’2 – or the differing judgements of both Justinus – ‘it is no childes pley’3 – and Placebo – ‘Dooth now in this matiere right as yow leste’4 – after Januarie’s consultation with them. By addressing the fact that the message fluctuates it could be argued that Chaucer offers multiple compatible interpretations. Should we interpret the opinion of Placebo in the same way as we should Justinus, or do the subsequent events of the Tale prove to us that we should primarily concern ourselves with the view of the more reasoned, objective character – the name ‘Justinus’ implies a judicial figure? Concerning an answer to the question, it is also important to address the relationship between Januarie and May, and the following ‘cuckolding’. Is it more a cynical attack on adultery than that of marriage? The fundamental basis for investigating the status of marriage in The Merchant’s Tale is to address the initial opinion of the merchant in the Prologue, and the subsequent irony at the beginning of the Tale. Chaucer directs the poem through the narration of the merchant, who has a clear cynical attitude towards his wife (in reaction to The Clerk’s Tale and patient Griselda), though not overly marriage in general: ‘Thogh the feend to hire ycoupled were, She would him overmacche’5 Here, he specifically links his wife with the devil, that she would defeat him if they were they coupled. He goes as far as demonising his wife and presenting her in an evil, even heretic manner. This is in stark contrast to his later comment, ‘for who kan be so buxom as a wyf? ‘6, which emphasises the inconsistency of thought throughout the poem. The idea of a woman having dominance over a potent figure can be related to May’s apparent supremacy over Januarie and the Tale as a whole: ‘And every signe that she koude make, Wel bet than Januarie, hir owene make’7 She manipulates Januarie in the garden in a similar manner to the serpent (the devil) in Genesis, suggesting that May has crafty, cunning and stealthy attributes relative to a snake. Januarie is blind to her cunning – in both a literal sense and a moral sense – as Adam is initially to the serpent’s influence. Januarie is manipulated by his wife as Adam is by his. Chaucer also refers to the realisation of sin, as with Adam, Januarie becomes aware of nakedness with the literal return of his sight, viewing his wife, May, actively engaging in a ‘sinful’ act of adultery with Damyan, further linking ‘wyf’s’ with the devil. These religious connotations and the vivid sensitive view of ‘cuckolding’ (and adultery) suggest the Tale is providing a cynical attack on marriage for a clerical purpose. When this is related to Januarie’s ambiguous, yet seemingly devout, reasons for taking a wife it can still be believed that Chaucer is addressing a particularly religious theme, albeit this should be addressed with caution when consulting the merchant’s narration:

Review of “Decision Threshold Control Method for the Optical Receiver of a WDM-PON”

Review of â€Å" Decision Threshold Control Method for the Optical Receiver of a WDM-PON † Introduction In order to get by with theexplosive growing of informations communications, the wavelength division multiplexing inactive optical web ( WDM-PON ) has been extensively investigated as one of the cardinal engineerings for next-generation entree web. This critical reappraisal examines an article that proposes a simple method to better the receiving system public presentation for the WDM-PON based on a wavelength-locked Fabry–Perot optical maser rectifying tube ( F-P LD ) with an injected spectrum-sliced amplified self-generated emanation ( ASE ) visible radiation. The article, â€Å"Decision Threshold Control Method for the Optical Receiver of a WDM-PON, † foremost proposed and demonstrated a simple determination control method to set the determination threshold linearly harmonizing to the detected mean power. The writers successfully demonstrated the receiving system public presentation betterment at 1.25 Gb/s transmittal in back-to-back system with the proposed method. Drumhead First, the writers illustrated the noise features of the wavelength-locked F-P LD with simulation consequences. Since the spectrum-sliced injected ASE induces an ASE-ASE whipping noise, the ‘1 ‘ degree noise is much larger than the noise in ‘0 ‘ degree. Therefore, the optimal determination threshold degree lessenings with increasing norm received power and seting the determination threshold linearly with standard power could better the receiving system public presentation. Then the writers demonstrated the determination threshold control circuit, which consists of a conventional receiving system portion, a power monitoring portion and a determination threshold control portion. Harmonizing to the simulation consequences, the determination threshold of the proposed method is a liner estimate of the optimum determination threshold for the worst instance. Third, the writers compared the receiving system public presentation with the optimum determination threshold for the worst-case, the determination threshold with the proposed determination control circuit and the determination threshold in the centre of ‘1’ degree and ‘0’ degree without determination control through simulation and experiment. As seen in the simulation and experimental consequences, the determination control circuit could better the receiving system public presentation dramatically and eliminated the mistake floor in the conventional receiving system. Furthermore, the writers simulated the optimum determination threshold as a map of extinction ratio ( ER ) relative strength noise ( RIN ) . The consequences shows that the ( 1 ) with fixed RIN ( -111 dB/Hz ) optimum determination threshold addition as the ER lessenings due to the decreased ‘1’ degree and ( 2 ) with the fixed ER ( 10 dubnium ) optimum determination threshold decreases with the increasing RIN due to the increased whipping noise. Furthermore, the writers measured the power punishment as a map of the signal conditions ( ER and RIN ) compared with the mention signal status ( 10-dB ER and -111dB/Hz RIN ) at 10-10BER by simulation and experiment. The consequences indicates that with a power punishment less than 1 dubnium, the proposed receiving system could run when the RIN & A ; lt ; -109 dB/Hz and ER & A ; gt ; 8.7 dubnium for 1.25-Gb/s transmittal. Then the writers demonstrated the proposed method in WDM-PON application through the transmittal of five channels over 20-km standard single-mode fibre ( SSMF ) . Unlike the conventional receiving system, with the determination threshold control circuit all of these five channels exhibit error-free transmittal. And the sensitiveness difference between five channels is less than 0.8 dubnium. Finally, the writers besides simulated the optimum determination threshold and the power punishment as a map of ER/RIN for 10-Gb/s transmittal with the premise that the RIN could be reduced every bit low as -120 dB/Hz through noise suppression. Reviews Strengths: ( 1 ) Compared with the old determination control method [ 1 ] – [ 2 ] , the proposed determination control method is more simple and cost-efficient for WDM-PON applications. In the proposed method, the receiving system merely consists of three parts: a conventional receiving system, a power proctor and a determination threshold accountant. The conventional receiving system is composed of a PIN photodiode, a transimpedance amplifier ( TIA ) , a restricting amplifier ( LA ) , and clock and informations recovery ( CDR ) . A opposition ( R ) is operated as the power proctor. And the determination threshold accountant comprises an adder, a dc electromotive force control circuit ( VC ) , an electrical linear amplifier ( K ) , and a low-pass filter ( LPF ) . On the contrary, the old determination control methods [ 1 ] – [ 2 ] based monitoring oculus gap or information correlativity. Thus the old methods require digital processing faculty, precise addition and stage matching, which increases the receiving system complexness and cost. Based on the merely receiving system, the writers successfully eliminated the mistake floor in conventional receiving system for 1.25-Gb/s transmittal over 20-km SSMF. ( 2 ) This proposed determination control method is robust to temperature discrepancy. The writers measured the BER curves of 1.25-Gb/s transmittal over 20-km SSMF for the worst instance ( the injection wavelength aligned at the centre of two neighborhood F-P LD lasing wavelength, highest RIN ) at 45 oC and the best instance ( the injection wavelength aligned to an F-P LD lasing wavelength, lowest RIN ) at 48OC. Fig. 5 in this paper shows that with the proposed determination method the sensitiveness difference between the worst instance and best instance is less than 0.6 dubnium for BER & A ; gt ; 10-13. Since temperature could bring on wavelength impetus of the F-P LD and changes the whipping noise distribution [ 3 ] , this proposed determination control method could extenuate the temperature induced power punishment [ 4 ] . ( 3 ) Since proposed method is executable for a broad signal conditions, the proposed determination control method is practical. The writers demonstrated the power punishment as a map of ER and RIN for BER bing 10-10in Fig. 7. With a power punishment less than 1 dubnium, the proposed receiving system could run when the RIN & A ; lt ; -109 dB/Hz and ER & A ; gt ; 8.7 dubnium for 1.25-Gb/s transmittal. After 20-km transmittal the RIN and ER of signal merely changes to -110.8 and 9.7 dubnium, severally. Therefore after 20-km transmittal, the power punishment is less than 0.3 dubniums compared with the back-to-back system. In practical execution, the proposed determination threshold method is working under a fixed electromotive force mention ( VReferee) of expected power degree to foretell the threshold degree and the input power depends on variable length SSMF. However, due to the border of signal conditions as confirmed in this paper, the proposed determination threshold control method could run in practical applications. ( 4 ) The writers confirmed the feasibleness of proposed determination threshold control circuit in WDM-PON applications through the 51.25-Gb/s transmittal, which has 100-GHz channel spacing, over 20-km SSMF. In the conventional receiving system there exists an mistake floor ( BER & A ; gt ; 10-7) ; on the contrary, these five channels with proposed receiving system could convey with BER lower than 10-14. The sensitiveness difference of these five channels is less than 0.8 dubnium. Failing: ( 1 ) The writers illustrated the feasibleness of the proposed method in high informations rate ( 10 Gb/s ) transmittal through simulation in Fig. 9 and 10. In this simulation, the writers assume the RIN could be suppressed every bit low as -120 dB/Hz by infixing an extra F-P LD [ 5 ] . In [ 5 ] , the suppression of the strength noise achieved by an extra concentrated F-P-LD [ 5 ] is similar as the noise suppression through the nonlinearities of a concentrated SOA [ 6 ] . The concentrated F-P LD induced a correlativity between different frequence constituents and the strength is good suppressed [ 6 ] .Therefore, the optical filtering and scattering could deteriorate this noise suppression due to the stage decorrelation [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] . Although utilizing the saturated F-P LD the RIN could be suppressed lower than -117.5 dB/Hz over 10-km SSMF [ 5 ] , the RIN would be deteriorated and be higher than -117 dB/Hz with the increasing transmittal distance. Furthermore, in [ 5 ] as the F- P LD operates in impregnation part, the ER of signal could be reduced from 12 dubnium to 8 dubnium for 2.5-Gb/s transmittal while the F-P LD injection power is -18 dBm. Therefore even after this noise suppression, the signal status of the 10-Gb/s transmittal is still a challenge for the determination threshold control method. Therefore in order to show the feasibleness of proposed determination control method, it is necessary to look into the 10-Gb/s transmittal public presentation by experiment. As the noise stamp downing method in [ 5 ] are sensitive to optical filtering and scattering and decreases the signal ER, we could seek to use other noise suppression method such as optical pre-filter [ 8 ] , reciprocally injected F-P LDs [ 9 ] or ultra-narrow injected ASE [ 10 ] . ( 2 ) In Fig. 8 the channel spacing of channels is 100 GHz. In the system utilizing spectrum-sliced light beginning, the signal–crosstalk round noise is dramatically reduced compared with the conventional optical maser beginning due the broad set of spectrum-sliced light beginning [ 11 ] . Thus it is possible to convey 2.5-Gb/s informations in multiple channels with 50-GHz channel spacing. 50-GHz channel spacing could duplicate the system capacity. Furthermore, as the transmittal distance additions, the increasing scattering non merely induces the inter-symbol intervention but deteriorates the noise suppression dramatically every bit good. Thus narrower spectrum-sliced visible radiation beginning could has a stronger robust to dispersion [ 10 ] . Although narrower channel spacing would deteriorate the system public presentation with intra-channel XT, we could unite with the determination threshold control circuit with the forward mistake rectification ( FEC ) codification whic h could loosen up the BER threshold to[ 12 ] . Decision This paper proposed a practical and effectual determination control method to better the receiving system public presentation. The writers demonstrated that this determination control circuit has a strong robust to temperature fluctuation and signal status devolution ( including ER decrease and RIN increasing ) . In add-on to these virtues, we could widen this undertaking by ( 1 ) Uniting the proposed threshold control method with appropriate noise-suppression method for 10-Gb/s transmittal in experiment ( 2 ) combing proposed method with FEC to convey 2.5-Gb/s signals in channels with 50-GH/z channel spacing. Mention: [ 1 ] Y. Matsumoto, T. Kuriyama, D. Inami, and M. Ohta, â€Å" An adaptative determination threshold control of the optical receiving system for multigigabit tellurian DWDM transmittal system s, † inOpticalFiber Communication Conf. and the Nat. Fiber Ocular Engineers Conf. , Anaheim, CA, 2001, paper TuR2. [ 2 ] M. Kawai, H. Watanabe, T. Ohtsuka, and K. Yamaguchi, â€Å"Smart optical receiving system with automatic determination threshold scene and retiming stage alliance, †IEEEJ. Lightwave Technol. , vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 1634–1640, Nov. 1989. [ 3 ] H.-D. Kim, S.-G. Kang, and C.-H. Lee, â€Å"A low-cost WDM beginning with an ASE injected Fabry-Perot semiconducting material optical maser, †IEEEPhoton. Technol. Lett. , vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 1067–1069, Aug. 2000. [ 4 ] A. A. Al-Orainy and J. J. O’Reilly, â€Å"Optimized threshold scene for public presentation sweetening of spectrum sliced WDM systems, † in LEOS ’95.IEEE Lasers Electro-Optics Soc. 1995 Annu. Meeting. 8th Annu. Meeting. Conf. Proc. , San Francisco, CA, USA, 1995, vol. 2, pp. 63–64. [ 5 ] J.-S. Jeong and C.-H. Lee, â€Å"Optical noise suppression techniques for wavelength-locked Fabry-Perot optical maser rectifying tube, † in Proc. of the fifteenth Asia-Pacific Conf. on Communications, Shanghai, China, 2009, paper 142. [ 6 ] H. Kim, S. Kim, S. Hwang, and Y. Oh, â€Å"Impact of scattering, PMD, and PDL on the public presentation of spectrum-sliced incoherent visible radiation beginnings utilizing gain-saturated semiconducting material optical amplifiers, †IEEE J. Lightwave Technol. , vol. 24, no.2, pp: 775-784, 2006. [ 7 ] S. Kim, J. Han, J. Lee, and C. Park, â€Å"Intensity noise suppression in spectrum-sliced incoherent light communications systems utilizing a addition concentrated semiconducting material optical amplifier, †I [ EEE Photon. Technol. Lett. , vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1042–1044, Aug. 1999. [ 8 ] K.-Y. Park, J.-S. Baik, T.-W. Oh, and C.-H. Lee, â€Å" Intensity noise suppression and 1.25 Gb/s transmittal utilizing a wave-length locked Fabry-Perot optical maser rectifying tube with filtered ASE injection, †Optoelectronics and Communication Conferencepp.200-201, 2004. [ 9 ] S.-H. Yoo, J.-Y. Kim, B.-Il Seo, and C.-H. Lee, â€Å" Noise-suppressed reciprocally injected Fabry-Perot optical maser rectifying tubes for 10-Gb/s broadcast signal transmittal in WDM inactive optical webs, † Optics Express, Vol. 21, Issue 5, pp. 6538-6546, 2013. [ 10 ] Z. Al-Qazwini and H. Kim, â€Å"Ultra-narrow spectrum-sliced incoherent visible radiation beginning for 10-Gb/s WDM PON, †IEEE J. Lightwave Technol. , vol. 30, no. 19, pp: 3157–3163, 2012. [ 11 ] Y. S. Jang, C. H. Lee, and Y. C. Chung, â€Å"Effects of XT in WDM systems utilizing spectrum-sliced visible radiation beginnings, † IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. , vol. 11, no. 6, pp.715–717, Jun. 1999. [ 12 ] 2004ITU-T G.975.1, Forward mistake rectification for high bit-rate DWDM pigboat systems, 2004.

Computer Systems Essay

1. Introduction The purpose of this report is to survey the current state of scanner technology and to briefly discuss predicted advancements in the field. By examining a range of recently published journal articles, magazine articles and internet sites on the topic of scanners this report describes the main types of scanners in common use today and examines their performance in relation to four criteria: resolution, bit-depth, dynamic range and software. The report then considers the effect of further technological advances in these four areas, as well as the deployment of new sensor technology on the future development of scanners. The first scanner, initially referred to as a ‘reading machine’, was developed in 1960 by Jacob Rabinow, a Russian born engineer. The device could scan printed material and then compare each character to a set of standards in a matrix using, for the first time, the â€Å"best match principle† to determine the original message (Blatner, Fleishman and Roth 1998, p.3). This reading machine was to form the basis for the development of current scanning, sorting and processing machines. An early improvement on the reading machine was the drum scanner. These scanners used a type of scanning technology called photomultiplier tubes (PMT). Drum scanners are still used in industry today because of the high quality images they produce. The development of smaller, more economical scanners such as desktop scanners and scanners for domestic use followed the drum scanner as the number of computer users increased and computer technology advanced. Scanners can now capture images from a wide variety of two and three  dimensional sources. These images are converted to digitised computer files that can be stored on a hard-drive or floppy disk. With the aid of specific software, these images can then be manipulated and enhanced by the user. It is now possible to deploy electronic acquisition to create an entire layout (including all graphic elements) from the same computer. This means manual stripping is no longer required (Scanners, digital cameras and photo CDs 2000). Scanners are considered an invaluable tool for adding graphics and text to documents and have been readily adopted by both business and domestic users. 2. How scanners work A scanner is a device that uses a light source to electronically convert an image into binary data (0s and 1s). This binary data can then be used to store the scanned image on a computer. A scanner recreates an image by using small electronic components referred to as the scanner’s ‘eyes’ (Scanner tips 2000). The type of ‘eyes’ used in today’s scanners are charge-coupled devices (CCD) and photomultiplier tubes (PMT). These electronic eyes measure the amount of light reflected from individual points on the page and translate it to digital signals that correspond to the brightness of each point (Englander 2000). To create a file on the computer that represents a colour image, the scanner divides the image into a grid with many individual points called pixels or picture elements (Scanner tips 2000). A scanning head, termed a row of ‘eyes’, reads over the grid and assigns a number to each pixel based on the main colour in that pixel, u sing green, blue and red. For example an aqua pixel would be saved as a number to represent the proportion of blue, green and red which represents the colour aqua (Scanners, digital cameras and photo CDs 2000). 3. Types of scanners There are five main types of scanners in common use today: drum scanners, flatbed scanners, sheet-fed scanners, slide scanners, and hand held scanners. 3.1 Drum scanners Drum scanners were widely used in the past, however they are much less commonly used today due to advances in scanner technology. As a result of their expense, these machines are primarily used by professionals in industry, where they are considered important due to the high-end quality image they produce and because they use PMT technology which is more  sophisticated than charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and contact image sensor’s (CISs). Drum scanners are difficult to operate and technicians operate these scanners by placing the item to be scanned on a glass cylinder rotating at high speeds around the sensor (Sullivan 1996). 3.2 Flatbed scanners The most popular scanners for general use are flatbed scanners. This type of scanner is highly versatile because it is able to scan flat objects as well as small three dimensional objects. Flat-bed scanners operate by placing the item to be scanned on a glass window while scanning heads move underneath it. A transparency adapter is used to scan transparent originals such as slides or x-rays, and an automatic document feeder is available for scanning large numbers of documents (Scanner tips 2000). 3.3 Sheet-fed scanners Sheet-fed scanners have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly for small office or domestic use as they are reasonably priced, can scan full-sized documents and are compact, requiring limited desk space (Scanner tips 2000). Most models of sheet-fed scanners have an inbuilt document feeder to overcome the problem of manually feeding one sheet of paper at a time. However the actual process or scanning with a sheet-fed scanner may result in distortion as the image to be scanned moves over the scanning heads (Scanner tips 2000). A further limitation of sheet-fed scanners is that they are unable to scan three dimensional objects. 3.4 Slide scanners This type of scanner is used to scan items such as slides that need careful handling during scanning. Unlike other scanners, the scanning heads in slide scanners do not reflect light from the image, but rather pass light through it. This enables these scanners to produce superior results without distortions caused by reflective light. To be able to scan small and detailed items, these scanners have a large number of eyes on the scanning head which produces a high quality result. Slide scanners tend to be more expensive and less versatile than flatbed and sheet-fed scanners as they are limited to only scanning slides and film. These scanners, however, are well suited to users requiring high quality scans of large numbers of slides (Scanner tips 2000). 3.5 Hand held scanners Hand held scanners are compact, portable scanners which are simply dragged across a page manually to capture an image. These scanners are easy to use and economical to purchase; however, their use is limited to text of up to four inches in diameter that does not require a high resolution. For this reason, hand held scanners are unsuitable for colour images. A further disadvantage of hand held scanners is that the user must have a steady hand when scanning or the resulting image will be distorted (Scanner tips 2000). 4. Scanner specifications The performance of a scanner can be examined in relation to four main criteria: resolution, bit-depth, dynamic range and software. 4.1 Resolution Resolution is a measure of how many pixels a scanner can sample in a given image. It is used to describe the amount of detail in an image (Figeiredo, McIllree and Thomas 1996). Higher resolution scanners are generally more expensive and produce superior results as they have a greater capacity to capture detail. Scanners have two types of resolutions: optical resolution and interpolated resolution. Optical resolution, or hardware resolution, is a measure of how many pixels a scanner can actually read. A current model desktop scanner typically has a resolution of 300 x 300 dots per inch (dpi) (Anderson 1999). This means that this scanner has a scanning head with 300 sensors per inch, so it can sample 300 dpi in one direction and 300 dpi in the other direction by stopping the scanning head 300 times per inch in both directions. Some scanners stop the scanning head more frequently as it moves down the page, giving an optical resolution of 300 x 600 dpi; however, scanning more frequently in one direction does not improve the result of the scan. The basic requirement for scanning detailed images and line art from photos or other printed originals is an optical resolution of 600 dpi. When scanning slides and negatives the minimum optical resolution is 1200 dpi. Interpolated resolution measures the number of pixels a scanner is able to predict. A scanner can turn a 300 x 300 dpi scan into a 600 x 600 dpi scan by looking in-between scanned pixels and guessing what that spot would have  looked like if it had been scanned. This prediction is then used to insert new pixels in between the actual ones scanned. This technique is less precise than optical resolution; however it assists in improving the enlargement of scanned images. 4.2 Bit depth Bit depth refers to the amount of information that a scanner records for each pixel when converting an image to digital form. Scanners differ in the amount of data they record for each pixel within an image. The simplest kinds of scanners only record data related to black and white details and have a bit depth of 1 (Anderson 1999). The minimum bit depth required for scanning photographs and documents is 24-bits, while slides, negatives or transparencies need a scanner with at least 30-bits. Thus for a scanner to produce a high quality scan with colour, a higher bit depth is required. In general, current scanners have a bit depth of 24, which means that 8 bits of information can be collected for the three primary colours used in scanning; blue, red and green (Anderson 1999). This high resolution allows scanners to produce images close to photographic quality. 4.3 Dynamic range Dynamic range refers to the measurement of the range of tones a scanner can record on a scale of 0.0 to 4.0, with 0.0 being perfect white and 4.0 being perfect black. Colour flat-bed scanners usually have a dynamic range of 2.4. A range of this measurement is unable to provide high quality colour scans. A dynamic range of 2.8 and 3.2 is suited to professional purposes and can be found in high-end scanners. An even higher dynamic range of 3.0 to 3.8 can be provided by drum scanners. 4.4 Software A scanner, like any type of hardware, requires software. Typically the two most common pieces of software provided with scanners include optical character recognition (OCR) and image editing software. Optical character recognition software translates the information recorded in a scan, tiny dots, into a text file which can be edited. Image editing software allows the tones and colours of an image to be manipulated for better printing and display. Image editing also gives filters to apply special effects to scanned images 5. Future developments The quality of scanned images is constantly improving as characteristics such as resolution, bit-depth and dynamic range are enhanced and further developed. More sophisticated image editing and optical character recognition software development is also resulting in superior quality scans. Future advances are expected to result in the incorporation of specialized scanners into other types of technology such as the recently developed digital camera. This device allows the user to take pictures of three-dimensional objects much like a regular camera, except that instead of using film, the objects are scanned by the camera in a similar process to the functioning of a flatbed scanner. The relatively new area of sensor technology in the form of a contact image sensor (CIS) (see Appendix 1) is expected to improve the functionality of scanners and the quality of images as it â€Å"replaces the cumbersome optical reduction technique with a single row of sensors† (Grotta and Wiener 1998, p. 1). Developers have already been able to produce a CIS scanner which is thinner, lighter, more energy efficient and cheaper to manufacture than a traditional CCD base device. However, the quality of the scan is not as good as its counterparts. Further development of CIS technology is needed to improve image quality and colour, and to address the problem of a limited 300 or 600 dpi. 6. Conclusion This report has identified five types of scanners currently available. Some are primarily used for professional purposes such as the drum scanner; others are used more broadly in the workplace and home such as flatbed scanners and to a lesser extent sheetfed scanners. Scanners for specialized purposes have also been identified such as slide and handheld scanners. The performance of these scanners is dependent upon their resolution, bit-depth, dynamic range and software. Scanners have improved significantly in recent years in terms of weight, size, price and speed, and the replacement of CCD technology with CIS technology is anticipated to produce further benefits to these areas as well as to scan quality. The impact of these improvements is expected to increase the accessibility of scanner technology to a wider range of users and its suitability for a wider range of purposes. In  relation to this, the future of scanner technology seems to point to the convergence of different techn ologies. Specialized scanners are currently being incorporated into other types of technologies such as digital cameras, printers, and photocopiers. This can be expected to continue with other forms of technology in conjunction with further improvements to image quality, speed, price, size and weight. 7. Reference list Anderson, D. The PC Guide. [http:www.pctechguide.com/18scanners.htm]. Blatner, D., Fleishman, G. Roth, G. (1998) Real world scanning and halftones 2nd edition, Peachpit Press, USA. Englander, I (2000). The Architecture of computer hardware and systems software. John Wiley, USA, p272. Figeiredo, J. McIllree, J. Thomas, N. (1996) Introducing information technology 2nd edition Jacaranda Press, Singapore, p145. Grotta, D. and Weiner, S. What’s now †¦What’s next. [http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/scanners98/intro.html] PC Magazines 20 October 1998. 8/4/00 Prepress, scanners, digital cameras and photoCDs. [http://www.prepress.pps.com/mem/lib/ptr/scanners.html] 1998. 6/4/00 Scansoft scanner tips [http://www.scannercentral.com/scanners/tips/tips1.asp] 2000.6/4/00 Sullivan. M. Types of scanners. [http://hsdesign.com/scanning/types/types.html] 1996. 8/4/00