The Evolution of Philippine Literature

Though relatively young compared to other world literatures, Philippine literature has come a long way in evolving from the early forms of folklore literature to the contemporary literature we know today. The changing times and the cultural influences brought about by both the foreign and local people have shaped the fate of Philippine literature. On the earliest times before the Spanish colonization, myths, legends, and tales were the forms of literature at hand. These reflected the indigenous culture and tradition of pre-Spanish Philippines.Stories were orally shared and passed down room one generation to the next. A bit before Spaniards came, the early natives had also developed their own writing system called the Alabama and the earliest writings in Philippine literature were written in that manner on bamboo, leaves, stones, and other indigenous materials. These myths usually impart of the origin of man and the world, and mostly had a transcending spiritual purpose. Balkans or th e priestesses were in charge of remembering and preserving the folklore which they preached to the people, especially to the future generations.An example of well preserved myth is the lawful ale of Began and Gauguin that talks about the marriage of a goddess with a man and the death of their son which resulted in the creation of the world's many things. Tales were in local vernacular forms and showed the diversity ad richness of culture by each region. On the advent of Spanish colonization, the earlier forms of literature were trashed and abandoned for the Spaniards wanted to convert the natives to Christianity and the only way to do this was to convince the natives into believing that these were evil and wicked.That explains why the term â€Å"yaw† meaner devil, but in fact, Yaw was a airier Babylon from Bolo. Folklore was forgotten and natives were slowly but surely became Hispanicize throughout the 300 years of colonization. Prayers, chants, and other religious acts were taught to the natives. Religion was a major topic in the Spanish era. Elite scholars were taught to read and write in Spanish and religion was the main subject matter. Since only the high class or the selected few had the privilege of education, this resulted in a few bright minds to explore the literature given by the Spaniards, the rest were only taught prayers.These fortunate people were taught to read and write n Spanish and were sent overseas. This paved way for them to discover the diverse literature of the world. This gave them an utterly different perspective of literature and other matters. These scholars were inspired by the foreign revolutionary ideas and sooner than later, sparked the will to also change the system of their native land. These foreign ideas were adopted by Filipino writers like Jose Racial, Grecian Lopez Jean, Marcelo H. Del Pillar and Pedro Pattern who contributed to important Spanish literary work in the Philippines by the way of various historical docu ments.Studying in Europe, Jose Racial was the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines. He wrote two books: the Nil Me Tanager and the El Filibusterer's, writings and formed the ASK for revolution. It is evident in Benefaction's poem Nag Hulling Habit Eng Filipinos (The final Cry of Filipinos) that he was on the verge of creating a revolution and that shows that on the dwindling years of Spanish rule, literature revolved around the idea of revolution and nationalism. It is true that the style and way of writing is very much affected by the need to write down the events that are unfolding.A nationalistic era results in a nationalistic literary works. At the dawn of American colonialism?or as they called it â€Å"benevolent assimilation†, the American tactic was to not enslave us but to â€Å"befriend† us. They willingly taught the Filipinos to read and write in English, targeting the youth. Through these efforts, Philippine English literature bloomed. At th e start, many Filipino writers still wrote in Spanish but gradually, as the years went by, more and more wrote in English. Since you have to learn to stand before you learn to walk, it took them a little while before Filipino writers could write literary works in English.When the Second World War exploded and the Japanese occupied the country, writers were forced to either go underground or write in Toga. Writers were enthused to write in English again when the war was over. This period produced some famous writers like like Carols Bulbous, Alexandra Roses, Francisco Recall, Nick Joaquin. Filipino writers excelled in the short stories in English. It was at this time that Filipinos felt at more ease with using English as their medium of language. They took the writing in English language and transformed it into an artistic expression.

Hathorne and Parris Essay

In my opinion the main twist of the play was in the court scene where Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail, who doesn’t deny it and doesn’t confess to it either. Elizabeth is brought in as a witness, she could save all the living people accused of witchcraft by telling the court the truth, by removing Abigail’s power. However, her choice to lie or confess her husband’s adultery to the court is not based on her values and her morals. She is unaware of the importance of her decision and she doesn’t know that John has already confessed his crime. Danforth-â€Å"What of Abigail Williams? † Elizabeth-â€Å"I came to think he fancied her. And so one night I lost my wits, I think, and put her out on the highroad. † Danforth-â€Å"Your husband-did he indeed turn from you? † Elizabeth-(in agony): My husband-is a goodly man, sir. † Danforth-â€Å"Then he did not turn from you. † Elizabeth-(starting to glance at Proctor): He- Danforth-(reaches out and holds her face, then): â€Å"Look at me! To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery! (in a crisis of indecision she cannot speak) Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher! Elizabeth-(faintly): No, sir. This scene is packed with suspense, will Elizabeth tell the truth? Dramatic irony also plays a key part in this scene, we know that John has already confessed to his lechery, but Elizabeth doesn’t. She thinks that she is saving his name, when ironically she is labelling him as a liar. She chooses to lie in the church, ignoring her religious values. She puts her husband and family first, which shows us that she is on the private side of the private life vs. the church conflict which runs throughout the play. The confess or not to confess conflict is also shown here, Elizabeth is one of the many characters forced to make this decision, along with Proctor, the girls, Mary Warren and Abigail. The punctuation in Danforth’s speech intensifies his anger, it creates more tension and puts even more pressure on Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s sentences are mostly short, show her lack of confidence and weakness. This makes us sympathise with Elizabeth even more and involves us with her even more, just in time to intensify the hanging of her husband. ‘The Crucible’ is a play of conflicts, these conflicts make the storyline more exciting by creating suspense and tension for climaxes, create sub-plots which add to the confusion and it allows room for twists, such as when John confesses his adultery but Liz unconsciously says he’s lying. This keeps us glued to the play. The structure itself can be symbolised by a crucible getting hotter and hotter and allowing the impurities to be extracted. It puts tremendous pressure on our main characters causing more conflicts, which in turn causes, excitement, creating yet another climax. Conclusion I thoroughly enjoyed this play as it was exciting and highly emotional so I could get involved in the play and with the characters. I found myself in a position where I was unbelievably biased towards John Proctor without even realising how I’d been persuaded by Miller to side with him. This is cleverly done so you feel you have made your own choice, so you don’t feel manipulated. I found the ending of the play almost unbearable as through the story I had attached myself to John and it was upsetting to see him victimised by the pride of Danforth, Hathorne and Parris. Pride and religion are what decide the fate of the play, the threat of reality crashes down harshly on the dream of a Utopia, confusing readers and characters alike.

Psalms 23

Psalms 23 I find in the historical background of the 23rd Psalm that David was the author. David was a shepherd in his youth, preparing him for the shepherding of God’s flock, the nation of Israel. The Lord chose David as his servant, and brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. There is a possibility that David wrote this psalm as a boy while he was tending his flock, since he spent many lonely hours in the fields. It is hard to understand how a young boy could write of such imagery when young boys knew little of dangers and disappointments in life. There are two imageries, the shepherd and the host. (Deffinbaugh) In ancient Near East time the Israelites were known as shepherds describing leadership of an individual or group, or a king referring to a leader. The shepherd imagery shows the Lord was the leader, the King of all humanity. Jacob spoke of God as â€Å"The God who has been my shepherd all my life†. (Deffinbaugh) David spoke of God as his shepherd, his provider, protector and king. It states â€Å"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want† meaning that he had the Lord and was not in need of anything. The shepherd imagery is that David is describing God’s relationship with him in a loving relationship, in relation to how shepherds tended to their flocks. The author states â€Å"he guides me in the paths of righteousness† the Lord will always be there to guide us in the right direction, yet evil will always be lingering, it is our choice which way we go. In Psalms 23:4, â€Å"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death† could possibly mean that he could have faced some kind of tragedy in his life, or he faced some kind of evil. Therefore, David had possibly used these situations in his life, which could have inspired him to write this psalm. David also wanted to lead a righteous life and follow the way of the Lord. Then we read â€Å"fear no evil†. Evil is always present, yet the Lord will be there to protect us from evil. The author talks about dinning with his enemies. In ancient Near East hospitality to foreigners, strangers, and travelers was a sacred duty. By extending this hospitality the host would take on the responsibility of protecting the traveler as long as he was in his area. As David’s enemies he still took care of them and feed them while they were his guests. He felt that the Lord would reward him for this and he would live in the â€Å"house of the Lord† (referring to the temple) forever. This doesn’t mean he will live in the temple; this attitude will help shape the rest of his life. (Bratcher) Psalms 23 deals with the faith in the Lord, and living a righteous life, which would lead you to a wonderful life on earth and here after. This psalm applies to my live by having faith in God always, even when bad things happen to the people I care about or me. My faith in God is what gets me through the bad things in my life and the good things that he blesses me with. I know that God is there to protect me even when evil shows itself. If it wasn’t for my faith, I would not be where I am today. If we follow David’s example which is the psalm, in the 21st Century we should care for Jesus’ flock in the same way that David cared for his. We should love our enemies and help them find faith in God just like David. This psalm has honesty about life and even in the most faithful people they still know that darkness may come upon them. In the 21st Century there is darkness everywhere, yet we still need to listen to the words of Psalm 23 and reflect on its possibilities of helping us out of the darkness with the help of the Lord, since we know that he walks with us always. Today we look for physical things from the Lord, where in David’s time it was more spiritual. God does provide us with physical needs, yet we can not always be sure when it will occur or what the circumstances might be, but when it happens we know and our faith lives on. Praying this psalm will keep your faith in God.

Government 1 Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Government 1 - Dissertation Example Due to these reasons, there would be an influx of immigrants into the country as they know that the immigration policies that grant citizenship to illegal immigrants would make their lives better in the US as they would also have the same opportunity with the other citizens of the US. Thus, immigration would significantly increase if the US government is less strict on their immigration policies. It is actually not appropriate for one country to judge the cultural practice of another country. Countries should be free to practice any culture that is sovereign to them. Thus, the cultural practice of a country should not in any way be judged as long as these cultural practices are not done for the oppression of their own people. Though, there are cases that the cultural practices of some particular countries are against basic moral laws and a threat to peaceful human existence, this is not to say that it is appropriate for one country to judge the cultural practice of these countries. I n cases like that, there should be a central body that seeks to modify the cultural practice of countries that have been accused of running foul to the morality laws and these should be ably represented by nationals of all countries of the world. Thus, it is not appropriate for one country to judge the cultural practice of another.

Essay on Government Borrowing Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Government Borrowing - Essay Example The government borrows majorly through issuing treasury bills, Canada Savings Bonds, and marketable bonds in domestic and foreign markets. The Financial Administration Act dictates that Governor in Council has the mandate to authorize the Minister to borrow money on behalf of Her Majesty in the right of Canada. The government borrowing has been too high and the interest is very low. The government Canada reported a net debt of approximately $ 616.9 billion in the fiscal year 2010-11. This was a rise by $ 34.4 billion from 2009-10. Canada’s total government net debt-to-GDP ratio hit 30.4 per cent in the year 2010 (Department of Finance of Canada, 2012). This paper will explore the issue of high government borrowing and low interest rates. It will give economic measures to tackle the problem in Canada. The level of government borrowing is crucial ingredient of fiscal policy and management of aggregate demand in any economy. When an individual government runs a budget deficit, it implies that in that fiscal year, total government spending exceeds total tax revenue. When a government experiences a deficit in its budget estimates, it has to borrow in order to bridge the gap. This forces the government to issue its debt as Treasury Bills and long-term government bonds through central bank. The negative effects of Canadian government’s high borrowing are duplicated in the in the financial statements of the country. In the 31 March 2011, the Department of Finance of Canada announced that interest-bearing debt was $ 801.8 billion. This was an increase by $ 39.0 billion from the year 2010. Similarly, the un-matured debt was higher by 32.0 Canadian dollars. In addition, liabilities for pension and other benefits for employees went higher by 7.3 billion Canadian dollars. Increase in government borrowing through issuing of bonds such as treasury bills and securities to pay interest in fixed period or indefinitely (Department of Finance of Canada, 2012). Canada has not registered positive results fiscal stimulus. The economic stimulus seems it is not effective. The government borrowing has led to low interest rates making government run a budget deficit. In addition, fiscal stimulus has demonstrated inflationary effects that results from high demand. Fiscal stimulus entails the proposition that through borrowing money and spending it, the government can raise the state of economy. This is through raising inputs and lowering the numbers of jobless. Fiscal stimulus can increase aggregate demand. Theoretically, printing money can be a form of fiscal stimulus. This is because money counts as a transfer payment. People will have a lot of money because of increased printing. However, in practice people do not just keep many dollars of their extra cash. People will spend the extra amount of money creating demand for services and goods. The increased aggregate demand leads to inflation. This is the state bedeviling Canada. The high borrowing of g overnment seems to create problems rather than to develop economy in Canada. When the government borrows money from private sector this corresponds to increase in spending on its part. However, government borrowing limits the spending of private sector. This therefore implies that job opportunities, which fiscal stimulus seeks to created are offset through decline in private spending. Canada is grappling with the same situation. Too much borrowing seems to impair the

Art and gender assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art and gender assignment - Essay Example Women are the objects that are looked† (Finzsch). In Mulvey’s male gaze, the male’s patriarchal role is extended to the film where the male imposes a hegemonic gaze to the women as mere objects of desire. Thus, it produces an imbalance relationship as women are reduced to an object of two distinct modes of male gaze where they became Madonna’s in male perspective (voyeuristic) or whores (fetishistic). In her work, viewers tend to identify with the protagonist of the film who is typically a male and thus, the perspective conveyed by the film is that of a man and it follows that women will be looked upon as an object of desire. Another view that I would like to point out about gaze in art that breeds oppression is the binary and heterosexual nature of gender orientation of gaze which alienates sexual orientation that is not heterosexual. By defining sexual desirability to merely exist between men and women as often observed in gazes in art, it unconsciously negated the existence of other sexual orientation and sense of desirability other than heterosexual relationship and thus, the assertion itself produced another type of oppression – that is, discrimination against heterosexual orientation and their preferences. Good artworks are not only in museums. They can also be found in other places and the experience is just as exhilarating as going to a museum. Art after all are not created just be placed in museums and galleries but to be appreciated and to bring joy and uplift its audience. Thus, I would like to discuss about graffiti or murals painted on the many walls of San Francisco, California. It is painted on a brick or wooden wall by combination of spray and brushed paint. There may be people who would disagree in this in art form calling it as vandalism but for me, its art and it reflects my state of feeling. I would rather call it as urban painting rather vandalism that instead of using canvass shown in the restrictive

Apple Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Apple Inc - Case Study Example Before any firm initiates its plan therefore it must put in place a good resource base to help through proper management sail through market uncertainties. Apple Inc. prides itself a wide base of resource in terms of knowledge, entrepreneurship, financial and people. To date, Apple as a company has had the best selection of CEOs and employees to run its operation. The most outstanding being Steve Jobs who had a celebrated reputation of being creative head of the company. Apart from good generic strategies and core competence a company strong resource base in terms of people, knowledge, entrepreneurship and financial prowess. A firm’s success in employing its generic strategy and core competences depends on a good knowledge of the market and the ability of its management to read situation. Good decision making accompanied with a viability of financial resources will ensure better implementation of a firm’s generic strategy and core competences. Apple’s core competence as underlined earlier comprise of its outstanding leadership, hardware, culture and the most population innovative image. Leadership of a firm forms the basic fundamental of basis of resource mobilization and growth of a company of company resources. Apple Inc. has one of the team leaders in its management and this is a sure way of better resource management and implementation its core competences. Apple is also known for its innovation. Innovation supplements better good leadership to ensure better resource management and proper implementation of its core competences. Apple’s success is finally a function its generic strategy. In its strategy to outdo its competitors, Apple also employ a generic strategy based on differentiation and differentiation focus. In a world full of competition companies need good strategies to unlock potential markets and maintain those at hand. Apple Inc. has successfully implemented a differentiation

Bed And Breakfast Business Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bed And Breakfast Business Plan - Term Paper Example The business intends to capitalize on personalized services, and its unique location to attract new customers and retain the existing customers. The business also intends to create an environment that will facilitate a pampered comfort that is far beyond the projected business competitors. The business will as well incorporate contemporary technology in its operation to holistically renovate the flow of tourism in Georgia. Services The business plans to create rental units that will target foreign tourists. Secondly, the proposed bed and breakfast business also projects to tender a guideline services to foreign tourists on the most eye-catching tourist sites in the areas. The business as well projects to work together with others tourists’ agencies and businesses in order to offers packing slot at a special rates. A part from offering tourism services, the business also plans to offer breakfast services such as preparing breakfast foods to its customers as well as preparing hi gh quality and delicious meals to its customers. General Staffing For a starter, the business plans to employ 91 employees. Among them, seven professionals with be mandated with the responsibility of the general management of the business will the others will be regular employees with specific responsibilities. The business intends to employs over 40 well qualified and trained chefs. The business will recruit 20 tour guides who will be responsible of guiding tourists in the business’s area of coverage. The recruitment exercise in the business will purely be based merit and experience. There will be not favors in the business recruitment and promotion exercises. Rationale Lodge and hotel businesses have over years played an exceptionally decisive role in the success of tourism activity in Tybee Island and in the entire world. However, despite the encouraging benefits of tourism business in the Tybee Island, there are awfully limited hotels and lodging services in the area. The refore, the new bed and breakfast business intends to offer a prevalent, quality, and affordable rental facility to foreign and local tourists. On the other hand, the local government also intends to advance tourism business in the area by encouraging entrepreneurs to invest in hotels and development of rental units. Therefore, the projected business will to some extent be acting in response to the local government proposal to invest in hotels businesses. Benefits of the Business The business is projecting to attract more tourists in the area by offering quality services to foreign and local tourists. Moreover, tourists in the area will increase the Island income thus minimizing the poverty level in the area. The business will create more employment opportunities in the area. Most of the business employees will be proficient members of the surrounding communities. Finally, the business will benefit the area residents by offering quality and affordable breakfast services to the inter ested community members as well as local and foreign tourists. Chart of Accounts The rationale Based on the reality that, most small businesses relies on lenders and creditors to develop their operations, the choice of Charts of Account is incredibly essential in the analyses of the business available resources, the expected resources and how the business intends to use the available and borrowed resources. Charts of Account are as well especially vital in providing the interested parties with adequate understanding of the financial position of the proposed business. Assets Assets Amount Cash $ 4, 538 Accounts receivable $ 740 Other current assets $ 670 Long term assets $7, 000 Accumulated depreciation $9, 413 Total assets $12948

Marketing youself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing youself - Essay Example From last phase of 2008 onward labour market is in a pathetic condition. Though the data relies by government and non-government agencies reveals that many companies started recruitment phase, but this is mostly at the lower level and for the employees belonging to the age group of 19-24 years. The important grounds for selection of these workers are Communication skill (54%), professional qualification (41%) and work ethics (39%). It has been declared that just 15 percent of the employees will receive a review in their pays in the year 2009. Only 8% of the companies are planning to heir migrant employees and these should be highly skilled (ICPD, 2009). The labour market in UK is composed of 31.23 million people as of 2008. Approximately, 1.3 % of this population is engaged in agriculture, 24.2% in the industry and 74.5 5 in the services industry. The unemployment rate of the country is about 5.6% as of 2008. (CIA World Factbook, 2009). UK has seen major ups and downs with regards to its employment rates. The percentage of the working population has however seen a northward trend since 1993. The report also states that the country spends the lowest amount towards the active based market programs when compared with other countries. UK spends less than 0.4% on its labour market programs as a percentage of the GDP which is much lower than its other counterparts in Europe. The reason for this can be attributed to the astounding success of the economy of the nation which has seen continuous periods of growth for about 57 quarters. Secondly there is very limited regulation and limits on the labour market. (Cort, n.d.). The recent economic downturn has taken its toll on the job market in UK. The unemployment rates have risen sharply. The latest figures released by the government shows that the total number of unemployed people in UK is about 2.26 million as of 2009. Analysts predict that these figures

Xi Chuan Earthquake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Xi Chuan Earthquake - Essay Example However, there are instances wherein big, catastrophic earthquakes hit the region. An example of which happened on May 12, 2008, 06:28:04 (UTC) wherein according to official reports, seventy thousand people were killed, three hundred seventy four thousand people were injured, and about seventeen thousand more were reported missing. (Chen, Qiao, and Liu 809) Compared to other natural calamities, earthquakes are close to impossible to predict. The fault lines may have been identified and mapped out but no one can really tell when a big earthquake will happen. These events can only be studied after they have already happened and the damages to property and the loss of lives have been done. If a catastrophe is defined as an event causing great and often sudden damage and suffering (Miriam Webster dictionary of the English Language) that definition is especially true for the earthquakes that plague the Xi Chuan region in the heart of mainland China. Houses were turned to mere rubble while the very foundations of old castles crack and give way to the power of nature. Unfortunately, in these display of nature’s power, human lives are also lost. Preventing mortality and too much loss in infrastructure led the Chinese to develop ways to hopefully predict when big, catastrophic earthquakes would strike and where. Although they failed in making an early warning system for earthquakes at that time, the ancient Chinese built the 1st rudimentary seismograph to be able to detect where in the realm an earthquake occurred so as to direct help there immediately (Weiland). The quest for an effective means to predict where and when strong earthquakes will occur is still the goal in China and the rest of the world nowadays, but fortunately there are many instruments, equations and programs available as well as volumes of seismic data that can give clues to the time and place these big earthquakes would hit. It is not merely the geologists’ and geophysicists’ jo b to make sure of the safety of the people and the reduction of the destruction on infrastructure. Scientists, policy makers, as well as the private sector need to work hand-in-hand to prevent further devastation caused by these types of calamities. Dynamic planning and effective implementation of different measures assure the safety of people living in these earthquake-prone zones. This study focuses on recent techniques and breakthroughs that have been and will be used in predicting the occurrence of strong earthquakes in the Xi Chuan basin region and then we will evaluate each strategy’s impact on the disaster planning and response of the area. Improvements in the early warning system technology is the key to reducing mortality and destruction of infrastructure caused by large earthquakes and the efficient dissemination of information will be the determinant to each stratagem’s effectiveness. This paper will also touch on the improvements on the policies that favor earthquake readiness and the level of implementation of these laws since the eight magnitude earthquake in 2008. Literature Review A brief history of the study of seismic activity in the Xi Chuan basic region was detailed in the study of Han and Jiang (231). The Xi Chuan – Yunnan and Xi Chuan – Quinghai area has been plagued with earthquakes historically due to its location within active faults. Records of big and damaging earthquakes were passed down from dynasty to dynasty until this present age. Although China had been a nation for

Nursing Indicators Essay Example for Free

Nursing Indicators Essay Nursing indicators are measurable tools used in nursing. The indicators focus on the structure, process of nursing, and the overall patient outcomes of the care received by nurses. The structure of nursing care is based on the education and certifications as well as the skill level the nursing staff has. Process indicators are a way to measure nursing care through assessment, intervention, and reassessment. The overall patient outcomes that are based on nursing indicators are nursing driven. Examples are preventing falls, preventing pressure ulcers with rotating patient in bed, and changing IV’s to prevent intravenous infiltration (Nursing World, 2014). It is imperative to have an understanding of nursing indicators and be used on a daily basis. The nursing indicators could have been helpful in the case of Mr. J. If the Nurse and the CNA had known the importance of repositioning, and preventing pressure ulcers, then Mr. J wouldn’t of had the initiation of the reddened area on his back. Even if the CNA had not had the proper education to recognize the beginning stages of a pressure ulcer. It should have been communicated to the RN and a proper skin inspection/assessment could have been performed. As well as the patient repositioned frequently. A patient should only be in restraints if they are a harm to themselves or others. Frequent toileting, nourishments, repositioning, as well as removal of the restraints are all nursing assessment and reassessment indicators. If the patient is at a fall risk, generally restraints aren’t used. A big nursing sensitive indicator that is apparent is the satisfaction of the patient as well as the patient’s family. The nurse dismissed the concerns and religious beliefs regarding the patient’s Jewish beliefs. Just because the patient is confused, doesn’t mean its ‘okay’ to dismiss the importance of the specific diet ordered. Nursing sensitive quality indicators are an important part of establishing evidence-based practice guidelines.

Terror in 1831 America Essay Example for Free

Terror in 1831 America Essay Media is a very powerful tool in communicating with people. In so many ways, it allows us to interact with others and exchange stories with the people we know and we do not know. Media as a tool helps us to be informed about the things happening around us but at the same time, it offers exaggeration in news that may affect our perception over an issue being discussed in a hot debate. Furthermore, media sometimes spoils the moment and talks about issues which they bring into exaggeration that may cause threat to the people in the society. In 1831, media played a very important role in delivering news to the rest of the people in the South and even in the North of the American continent by informing the people of the latest happenings about the scariest massacre ever happened involving both white and black Americans. Black Americans in the White World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the history, Black Americans had been a subject for the rejection of the entire Caucasian race. Unlike Caucasians with white skin, Black Americans are commonly Black if not mulatto. They were treated as slaves and properties rather than as people like the entire society. There is racism in the air and that people have their expectations of those they will be with. A black man is not invited anyhow in any place. They will remain as the puppets of the society and though not all masters treat them bad, those who became good were only few and do not compose the entire population.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Several books in history may attest to the fact that Black Americans were mistreated and yet there were also instances that may allow us to be informed that they too can hurt people if needed. Sometimes they were the first people who are blamed when a crime happened. A Black man is always the prime suspect even if they are clear of any crime. They were portrayed as bad men and yet what we do not know is that as slaves, they were subject to being fooled and being degraded as person. Slaves as they are, with no freedom of their own and the society condemned them of being such for the longest time. 1831 Years of Eclipse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The slaves in Virginia in 1831 almost outnumbered the population of white men (Masur, page 10) which means that there had been a large number of slaves in the state that people have nothing to do anymore and these slaves were the ones who does the chores for them and almost all the jobs except for administrative labors. In Louis P. Masur’s story entitles â€Å"1831 Years of Eclipse†, he talked about the massacre in Virginia and how it changed the lives of the people living there. An account of the massacre including the people involved and slavery in the South, this book talked not only about the issue but how media treated it as news. The massacre in Virginia wherein several white men died including their whole family was caused by rebels composed of Black Americans in the leadership of Nat Turner. The Slave Revolt which happened in 1831 in Virginia caused too many deaths in the state that it also caused too many fear among the residents. There were over or nearly two million slaves in Virginia and the people, particularly the slave masters thought that they are contented already. They claimed that they were good masters and yet they were not saved (Masur, page 10). No one is left alive. Everyone is killed and for a long time, there had been fear all around until the rebels were caught in the absence of Nat Turner. When Nat Turner was caught, he surrendered immediately and when he was interviewed, he said he was never sorry and perhaps he had felt that what he did was the right thing to do I exchange of all the things they experienced as slaves of the upper class society. Media and the Massacre On the other hand, the newsmakers or the journalists did not make too much noise until the massacre happened between the slaves and the masters. It was the scariest story in history that every people in Virginia were contained of fear. However, the newspapers editor did try their best to stop the growing fear that the people had by minimizing the story and offering less exaggeration. Despite of the goal of minimizing exaggeration so that people will not be restricted with too much fear of the current situation in Virginia, different newspapers offered different news and approach towards the incident that no matter how much they try to prevent the attack of fear in people. For three long months, every newspaper released their statements over the issue and each statement contains different facts that there is no consistency of the truth anymore. Although they tried their bests to explain the tragedy, why it happened and why Nat Turner did allowed it to happen, it is useless to think about it that much because the people were already killed and it is all done. One of the newspapers which was firm with their call for the abolition of slavery in the South is â€Å"The Liberator† wherein William Lloyd Garrison (Masur, page 22). Picturing myself in 1831 America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Spoiling the news or adding exaggeration to it might affect the perception of the people. As a person living in 1831, I could say that the exaggeration in the news and at the same time several information which have no basis could have affected my perception and outlook towards the problem of the society. Different information coming from the media will not help in any way to relax the mind of the public. At the same time, it will not allow us to know more about the issue because there is no hint of which one is true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I would definitely be afraid if I was in that time that Nat Turner led a revolt against their masters. In the perspective of a White person being victimized by Black rebels, I will be very afraid of my life because I have no idea when they will take it away. It is something that I would not want to happen because it is a matter of life and death already. On the other hand, as a black man who suffered too much from the hand of my masters, I cannot blame myself if I would dare to something like the massacre just to escape from their dictatorial masters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Media as a tool in communication might give us too many information that we can never contain and too many exaggerations will only open the possibility of being more afraid than ever, furthermore, as a citizen in 1831, the exaggerations and incompetent information given by the newspapers will not help to ease the fear in me. Black Americans suffered too much that the revolt seems to be their way of getting back to their masters who degraded them as a person. Works Cited Masur, Louis P. 1831 Years of Eclipse

Pain Sensation: Nociceptive receptors and transduction

Pain Sensation: Nociceptive receptors and transduction Pain is a subsystem of somatic sensation which includes a wide range of unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences usually associated with actual or potential tissue damage (Das et al., 2005). Over the years, by means of the evolutive process of natural selection, nature has made sure that pain is a bodily signal we cannot ignore. As a matter of fact, sensitivity and reactivity to noxious stimuli are essential to the well-being and survival of an organism. In dangerous circumstances pain tells the subject to get out of that situation immediatly, this is its main function. Without these attributes provided by pain mechanisms, the organism would have no means to prevent or minimize dangerous circumstances (individuals congenitally insensitive to pain are easily injured and most of them die at an early age1). While most of the sensory and somatosensory modalities are primarily informative, pain is a protective modality. Pain perception (also called nociception) doesnt come from excessive stimulation of the same receptors that generate somatic sensations, as someone could even think, it is a properly devoted subsystem. Nociception (from the Latin nocere, to hurt) in fact depends on specifically dedicated receptors and, due to its vital importance, this kind of information travels through redundant pathways. Pain also differs from the classical senses (hearing, smell, taste, touch, and vision) because it is both a discriminative sensation and a graded emotional experience. In the big picture, pain appears as a more complex whole experience than simple somatic sensation; that is why there are still many obscure aspects not completely understood, especially in the field of pain physiology and pharmacology. For this and other reasons, even nowadays, nociception remains an extremely active area of scientific research. 2. Pain Sensation Nociceptive receptors and transduction Pain sensation begins with relatively unspecialized free nerve cell endings called nociceptors. Like other somatic sensory receptors, they transduce a variety of noxious stimuli into receptor potentials, which in turn trigger action potentials in the pain nerve fibers (afferents). These action potentials are transmitted to the spinal cord and then, through the brainstem, to the thalamus and the somatic sensory cortex according to specific pathways2. Nociceptors are widespread distributed, they also show different degrees of sensitiveness and specialization. There are nociceptors in the skin, in the joints and also in visceral organs, but none of them is found inside the central nervous system (CNS)1. In contrast with somatic sensory receptors (responsible for the perception of innocuous mechanical stimuli), the axons associated with nociceptors conduct relatively slowly, being only lightly myelinated or, more commonly, unmyelinated2. Thus, according to the different kind of axon, there are faster or slower pain pathways. In particular, pain receptors can fall into four major categories depending on their response to the different types of stimulation caused by the damage: mechanosensitive nociceptors: respond to mechanical stimulation and have A-delta fibers, bigger axons with faster conduction velocity; mechanothermal nociceptors: respond to thermal stimuli, A-delta fibers; chemical nociceptors: respond to chemical substances, A-delta fibers; polymodal nociceptors: respond to high intensity stimuli of the previous three types and have C fibers, smaller and unmyelinated axons with slower conduction velocity. The cell bodies of these primary pain-neurons are located in the dorsal root ganglia (for body afferents) and in the trigeminal ganglia (for face afferents)1,2. The transduction of nociceptive signals, which starts with the nociceptive receptors, is a complex task. Tissue damage results in the release of a variety of chemical substances which triggers the response of nociceptors. Some of these substances activate the transmembrane transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, which in turn initiate action potentials2. Another characteristic feature of nociceptors is their tendency to be sensitized by prolonged stimulation, making them respond to other sensations as well in certain circumstances. This prolonged stimulation increases the release of chemical substances, making nociceptors sensitized and reducing their response threshold. Actually, within a few seconds after the injury, an area of some centimeters around the injured site shows reddening caused by vasodilation. This inflammation becomes maximal after about ten minutes and this region shows a lowered pain threshold (hyperalgesia) in response to additional noxious stimuli. This effect is also referred to as peripheral sensitization, in contrast to central sensitization that can occur at higher levels in the dorsal horn1. Although it is still unknown whether nociceptors respond directly to the noxious stimulus or indirectly by means of one or more endogenous chemical intermediaries released from the traumatized tissue, the activation of nociceptors initiates the process by which pain is experienced: these receptors relay information to the CNS about the intensity and location of the painful stimulus. Pain classification The result of sudden painful stimulation can be divided into two categories of sequential sensations separated by a short time interval. A sharp first pain, immediately after the damage, its followed some seconds later by additional, diffuse and longer-lasting second pain sensation. The temporal interval between these two separate sensations is due to the difference between fast transmitting A-delta fibers and slow transmitting C fibers. This phenomenon is also known as double pain sensation. Pain has also been classified into three major types1: Pricking pain: is also called fast pain or sensory pain (first pain) and arises mainly from the skin, carried by A-delta fibers which permit discrimination and localization of the pain. Burning pain: is caused by inflammation, burned skin and is carried by C fibers. This type of pain is a more diffuse, slower to onset, and longer in duration (second pain). Like pricking pain, burning pain arises mainly from the skin, but it is not distinctly localized. Aching pain: is a sore pain which arises mainly from the viscera and somatic deep structures. This pain is carried by the C fibers from the deep structures to the spinal cord and is not distinctly localized. Pain pathways The neural pathway that conveys pain (and temperature) information from the periphery of the body to the higher centers of the CNS is often referred as the anterolateral system (or ventrolateral column). This pathway is physically separated from the system that conveys mechanosensory information like touch and pressure (dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway). However, even though the dorsal route has been always considered a touch pathway functionally separate from the anterolateral pathway, recent reports indicate that the dorsal column can carry noxious information from the viscera and widespread skin regions as well1. Anyway, the main difference between these two systems remains the site of decussation: while the dorsal column is an ipsilateral tract until the medulla (where synapses and decussates), the anterolateral system makes early synaptic connections and decussates right away in the spinal cord, becoming a contralateral tract. Composing the anterolateral system, there are three major ascending tracts: the neospinothalamic tract (the main, central pain pathway, phylogenetically younger, with few synapses), the paleospinothalamic tract and the archispinothalamic tract (which constitute minor parallel pain pathways, phylogenetically older and multisynaptic tracts)1. Every pain tract is made of three kinds of pseudounipolar neurons: first-order, from free nerve endings (nociceptors) to the dorsal horns of the spinal cord; second-order, from the dorsal horns to the thalamus; and third-order, from the thalamus to the primary somatic sensory cortex. The cell bodies of first-order neurons are located in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) for all three pathways. a) The neospinothalamic tract (central pathway) constitutes the classical anterolateral system. This pathway is responsible for the immediate awareness of a painful sensation and for the understanding of the exact location of the painful stimulus. The first-order nociceptive afferents enter the spinal cord via the dorsal roots of the DRG and, when these projecting axons reach the dorsal horns of the spinal cord, they branch into ascending and descending collaterals, forming the tract of Lissauer2. Once within the dorsal horn, these afferents make synaptic connections with second-order neurons located in Rexeds laminae (layer I to V). Axons of these second-order neurons then cross the midline of the spinal cord, decussating in the anterior white commissure, and ascend to the brainstem in the contralateral (anterolateral) quadrant. Most of the pain fibers from lower extremities of the body and below the neck terminate, through the brainstem, in the ventral posterior lateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus. The VPL, which serves as a relay station, is thought to be mainly concerned with discriminatory functions1. Finally, here axons of second-order neurons synapse with third-order neurons that send the signal to the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex (SCI and SCII, respectively). Unlike the rest of bodily afferents, first-order nociceptive neurons from the head, face and intraoral structures have somata in the trigeminal ganglion. Trigeminal fibers enter the pons, descend to the medulla (forming the spinal trigeminal tract) and make synaptic connections in the spinal trigeminal nucleus, then cross the midline and ascend as trigeminothalamic tract (or trigeminal lemniscus). Axons from the second-order neurons terminate in a variety of targets in the brainstem and thalamus, but the discriminative aspects of facial pain are thought to be mediated by projections to the ventral posterior medial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus and by projections (from here) to primary and secondary somatosensory cortex2. All of the fibers terminating in VPL and VPM are somatotopically oriented and still here the information supplied by different somatosensory receptors remains segregated. Axons from the thalamus synapse with third-order neurons of the SCI, which includes Brodmanns Areas 3a, 3b, 1 and 2. Each of these cortical areas contains a separate and complete representation of the body: they are somatotopically organized maps representing the human body (from the foot up to the face) in a medial to lateral arrangement2. b) The paleospinothalamic tract is a parallel pathway where the emotional response to pain is mediated1. This tract also activates brainstem nuclei which are the origin of descending pain-suppression pathways which regulate the sesation of noxious inputs at the spinal cord level. In the paleospinothalamic tract the majority of the first-order nociceptive neurons make synaptic connections with second-order neurons in Rexeds layer II (substantia gelatinosa). These second-order neurons also receive input from mechanoreceptors and thermoreceptors, and thats why the anterolateral system is also responsible for temperature perception1. The nerve cells that compose the paleospinothalamic tract are multireceptive or wide dynamic range nociceptors. Most of their axons cross and ascend in the spinal cord primarily in the anterior region and thus form the anterior spinal thalamic tract (AST). These second-order fibers contain several tracts and each of them makes a synaptic connection in different locations: in the mesencephalic reticular formation (MFR) and in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), forming the spinoreticular tract; in the tectum, also known as the spinotectal or spinomedullary tract; in the midline thalamic nuclei, forming the spinothalamic tract. Altogether these three fiber tracts are thus known as the paleospinothalamic tract, which is in part bilateral, because some of the ascending fibers do not cross to the opposite side of the cord1. Finally, from the thalamic nuclei, these fibers synapse bilaterally in the somatosensory cortex. Pain is a complex experience processed by a diverse and distributed network of neurons and brain regions. In addition to the sensory-discriminative aspects (carried by the neospinothalamic tract) there are also affective-motivational components of pain2. In the paleospinothalamic pathway there are extensive connections between the thalamic nuclei and the limbic areas such as the cingulate gyrus and the insular cortex. The insular cortex integrates the sensory input with the cognitive components. The limbic structures (amygdala, superior colliculus) project to the hypothalamus and initiate visceral responses to the pain. The thalamic nuclei also projects to the frontal cortex, which in turn is linked to the limbic structures involved in processing the emotional components of pain1. c) The archispinothalamic tract is another parallel pathway, phylogenetically the oldest that carries noxious information1. The characteristics of this tract are very similar to the ones found in the previous pathway. First-order nociceptive neurons make synaptic connections in Rexeds layer II (substantia gelatinosa). From here, second-order fibers ascend and descend in the spinal cord surrounding the grey matter to end synapsing with cells in the reticular formation and in the periaqueductal gray. Further diffuse multisynaptic pathways ascend to the diverse nuclei of thalamus and send collaterals to the hypothalamus as well as the limbic system nuclei. These fibers, like for the paleospinothalamic tract, mediate visceral, emotional and autonomic reactions to painful stimuli. In short, because of the importance of warning signals of dangerous circumstances, several nociception pathways are involved to transmitting these signals and some of them are redundant. The neospinothalamic tract conducts fast pain (via A-delta fibers) and provides information of the exact location of the noxious stimulus. The multisynaptic paleospinothalamic and archispinothalamic tracts conduct slow pain (via C fibers), a pain which is chronic and harder to localize. Through these patways, pain activates many different brain areas which link together sensation, perception, emotion, memory and motor reaction1. 3. Pain Modulation When talking about pain, we always have to consider and keep in mind the discrepancy between the objective reality of a painful stimulus and the subjective rsponse to it. Modern studies have provided considerable insight into how circumsatnces affect pain perception-interpretation and, ultimately, into the pharmacology of the pain system2. For many years it has been suggested that somewhere in the CNS there should be some neuronal circuits modulating incoming painful informations. Evidence for an intrinsic analgesia system was demonstrated by intracranial electrical stimulation of certain brain sites1,3. The circuit consisting of the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), the raphe nuclei (RN), the locus coeruleus (LC) and the caudate nucleus (CN) contributes to the descending pain suppression mechanism, which inhibits incoming pain information at the spinal cord level6. Stimulation of such areas produce analgesia without behavioral suppression; indeed, touch, pressure and temperature sensation remain intact1. At the interneuronal level, opiate receptors activation causes hyperpolarization of the neurons, which in turn results in the inhibition of firing and in the release of substance P (a neurotransmitter involved in pain transmission) that blocks pain transmission1. In addition to descending projections, also local interactions between mechanoreceptive afferents and neural circuits within the dorsal horn can modulate the transmission of nociceptive informations to higher centers2. Observations by Melzack and Wall led to the idea that concomitant activation of the large myelinated fibers associated with low-threshold mechanoreceptors can mediate the flow of pain. This mechanism, also known as Gate Control Theory13, predicts that (at the spinal cord level) non-noxious stimulation will produce presynaptic inhibition on dorsal root nociceptor fibers and thus blocking incoming noxious information from reaching the CNS1 (i.e. non-painful input closes the gates to other painful inputs, which results in prevention and suppression of pain sensation). This explains also why if you, for example, stub a toe, a natural and effective reaction is to vigorously rub the site of injury for a couple of minutes2. However, there are many different factors that can influence the way we understand pain. Doubtless, three of these are: drugs, prior injuries and, more broadly speaking, circumstances. a) Drugs The brain has a neuronal circuit and endogenous substances to modulate pain. There are two primary types of drugs that work on the brain: analgesics and anesthetics1. The term analgesic refers to a drug that relieves pain without loss of consciousness, whereas the term anesthetic refers to a drug that depresses the CNS. Anesthetics are characterized by the absence of perception for all sensory modalities, including loss of consciousness, but without loss of vital functions. The areas that produce analgesia when stimulated are also responsive to exogenously administered opiate drugs2. As a matter of fact, the most effective clinically used drugs for producing temporary relief from pain are the opioid family, which includes morphine and heroin1. Unluckily, several side effects resulting from opiate use include tolerance and drug dependence (addiction). In general, these drugs modulate the incoming pain information as well as relieve pain temporarily, and are also known as opiate producing analgesia (OA). Opioidergic neurotransmission is found throughout the brain and spinal cord and appears to influence many CNS functions: opioids exert marked effects on mood, cognition and motivation1 (e.g. producing euphoria). The analgesic action of opiates implied the existence of specific brain and spinal cord receptors for these drugs long before the receptors were actually found. Since such receptors are unlikely to have evolved in response to the exogenous administration of opium and its derivates, the convinction grew that endogenous opiate-like compounds must exist in order to explain the evolution of these receptors in the body2. Nowadays, three classes of opioid receptors have been identified: ÃŽÂ ¼ (mu), ÃŽÂ ´ (delta) and ÃŽÂ º (kappa). All three classes are widely distributed in the brain, and particularly in the PAG, which is the site for higher cortical control of pain modulation in humans8. Moreover, three major classes of endogenous opioid peptides that interact with them have been recognized in the CNS: ÃŽÂ ²-endorphins, enkephalins and the dynorphins. Enkephalins are considered the putative ligands for the ÃŽÂ ´ receptors, ÃŽÂ ² endorphins for the ÃŽÂ ¼-receptors, and dynorphins for the ÃŽÂ º receptors1. The opioid peptides modulate nociceptive input mainly in two ways: blocking neurotransmitter release by inhibiting Ca2+ influx into the presynaptic terminal; or opening potassium channels, which hyperpolarizes neurons and inhibits spike activity. The various types of opioid receptors are distributed differently within the central and peripheral nervous system and this can explain many unwanted side effects following opiate treatments1. (For example, ÃŽÂ ¼-receptors are widespread in the brain stem parabrachial nuclei, which is a respiratory center. Inhibition of these neurons elicits also respiratory depression). In addition to opiates, the other big family of analgesia producing drugs is represented by the cannabinoids. Like opiates, cannabinoids produce analgesia when microinjected in the PAG and pain itself serves as a trigger for endocannabinoid release3. Results from the study by Walker et al. (1999) indicate that anandamide (an endogenous cannabinoid) fulfills the requirements for a nonopiate mediator of endogenous pain suppression and these data support the existence of endogenous cannabinergic circuitry in the dorsal and lateral PAG. Even if the opiate and cannabinoid mechanisms partially overlap anatomically, the endogenous opiate system is activaetd by intense and prolonged stimuli (such as high threshold electrical stimulation), while endogenous cannabinoids occur mostly in tonic pain suppression, during tests that do not produce significant stress or fear3. Cannabinoids have been used to treat pain for centuries and cannabis is still used despite its illegal status in most parts of the world. The spontaneous and stimulated release of anandamide in a pain-suppression circuit suggests that such drugs may form the basis of a modern pharmacotherapy for pain, particularly in instances where opiates are ineffective3. b) Previous injury A curious effect, well known and documented in clinical literature, is referred to as phantom limb sensation. Following the amputation of an extremity, nearly all patients have an illusion that the missing limb is still present. Although this illusion usually diminishes over time, it persists in some degree throughout the amputees life, and can often be reactivated2. A reasonable explanation for this phenomenon is that the central sensory processing apparatus continues to operate indipendently of the periphery, giving rise to these bizarre sensations. Indeed, considerable functional reorganization of the somatotopic maps in the primary somatosensory cortex occurs immediately after the amputation and tends to evolve for several years2. Neurons that have lost their original inputs respond to tactile stimulation of other (near) body parts, and so it is not unusual for the patient to perceive a phantom limb as a whole and intact, but displaced from the real location. These and further ev idences suggested then that a full representation of the body exists indipendently of the peripheral elements that are mapped2. Anyways, the major problem following phantom limbs phenomena is constituted by the fact that up to 85% of the amputated patients develop also phantom pain4. The description of this common unease can vary from a tingling or burning sensation to some more serious and debilitating issues. Phantom pain, in fact, is one of the more frequent causes of chronic pain syndromes and is extraordinarily difficult to treat2. Neverthless there is no really effective treatment, a study by Jahangiri et al. (1994) demonstrated that preoperative epidural infusion of morphine, bupivacaine and clonidine significantly reduces the incidence of phantom limb pain and phantom limb sensation. Moreover, this kind of treatment has been shown as safe for use on general surgical wards with a low incidence of minor side-effetcs4. Other than amputations, pain perception may also be modulated in certain stressful situations. Exposure to a variety of painful or stressful events produces an analgesic reaction, and this phenomenon is called stress induced analgesia (SIA). It has been considered that SIA can provide insights into both the psychological and physiological factors that activate endogenous pain control and opiate systems1. (For example, soldiers wounded in battle or athletes injured in sports events sometimes report that they do not feel pain during the battle or game; however, they will experience the pain later after the battle or as game has ended). Some studies demonstrated in animals that electrical shocks cause stress-induced analgesia3 and it has been suggested that endogenous drugs, (opiates or cannabinoids) released in response to stress, inhibit pain by activating the midbrain descending system1. Based on these and other experiments, it is assumed that the stress experienced by the soldiers and the athletes suppressed the pain which they would later perceive. c) Circumstances The experience of pain is highly variable between individuals: this highly subjective perception has a complex and often non linear relationship between nociceptive input and pain sensation5. From human experimentation we know that a variety of pain modulatory mechanisms exist in the nervous system, and these systems can be accessed either pharmacologically or through contextual and cognitive manipulation7,6. Various mental processes such as attention, emotional state, past experiences, memories, beliefs and feelings have been shown to influence pain perception and bias nociceptive processing in the humain brain9. All these top-down factors can be grouped together in the category of circumstances that either enhance or diminish pain sensation in regard to dedicated modulatory circuits. Among the cognitive variables influencing pain, the brain mechanisms underlying attentional control have been probably the most extensively studied5. A number of reports show the important role of attentional state in modulating the activity of primary somatosensory areas7. Thus, pain is perceived as less intense when individuals are distracted from it, as proved in an interesting study by Das et colleagues (2005). This research provides strong evidence supporting virtual reality (VR) based games in providing analgesia and positive influence on children with acute burn injuries, with minimal side effects10. VR can be considered an intermediary between reality and computer technology, and its ability to immerse the user interacting with the artificial environment is central in this kind of approach. However, attentional processes interact with mechanisms supporting the formation of expectations about pain and reappraisal of the experience5. The ability to predict the likelihood of an aversive event is an important adaptive capacity11. Our subjective sensory experiences are thought to be heavily shaped by interactions between expectations and incoming sensory information12 and this cognitive factor is important also for pain perception: positive expectations (i.e., expectations for decreased pain) produce a reduction in perceived pain that rivals the effects of a clearly analgesic dose of morphine12. These evidences provide also a neural mechanism that can, in part, explain the positive impact of optimism in chronic disease states. In fact, perceived control, attentional control and the descending pain modulatory system are involved in the placebo-induced analgesia, which is a clinical example of cognitive pain modulation that decreases pain intensity and cerebral responses to pa in5. Such top-down modulatory mechanism is a robust and clinically important phenomenon, which can be demonstrated in approximately one-third of the population9. Moreover, placebo analgesia requires the activation of endogenous opioid-mediated inhibition and neuroimaging techniques showed that there is also overlapping among brain sites activated by opioids and those that are activated during placebo analgesia9. Also the emotional state driven by the (experimental) context alters the attitude of patients and can produce powerful effects on pain perception7. In general, negative emotions increase pain, whereas positive ones decrease it14,7. Neverthless the brain mechanisms underlying these effects remain largely unknown, the prefrontal cortex, as well as parahippocampal and brainstem structures, are thought to be involved in the emotional regulation of pain14. According to Roy et al. (2009) cognitive and emotional processes induced by pleasant or unpleasant pictures interact with pain perception and modulate the responses to painful electrical stimulations in the right insula, paracentral lobule, parahippocampal gyrus, thalamus, and amygdala14. Not only, recent studies suggested that emotionally laden images representing human pain had a unique capacity to enhance pain reports15, in the suggestive perspective that search for the neural bases of human empathy with huge social implications. Thus, even though is well-established that mood selectively alters the affective-reactive response to pain (also called pain tolerance), the interpretation for some of these studies is sometimes difficult, since they do not always clearly dissociate changes in mood from changes in attention7. In fact, other studies showed that emotions can have a direct effect on attention to pain, leading to what is called attentional bias toward pain-related informations, which does not ensure the absence of covariate processes7. In the end, the available data indicate that emotion and selective attention may both interact modulating pain perception and cortical responses. But the observations that emotional manipulations alter pain unpleasantness more than pain sensation, while attention alters both pain sensation and unpleasantness, suggest that different modulatory circuits are involved7 and that they act through at least partially distinct mechanisms, which can be separated by appropriate experimental settings15. All this multiplicity of mechanisms underlying the emotional modulation of pain is reflective of the strong and reciprocal interrelations between pain and emotions, and emphasizes even more the powerful effects that emotions can have on pain perception14. 4. Conclusions In conclusion, in the CNS, much of the information from the nociceptive afferent fibers results from excitatory discharges of multireceptive neurons. The pain information in the CNS is controlled by ascending and descending inhibitory systems that can exert both facilitatory and inhibitory effects on the activity of neurons using endogenous opioids or other substances as mediators. In addition, a powerful inhibition of pain-related information occurs in the spinal cord. These inhibitory systems can be activated by brain stimulation, intracerebral microinjection of morphine, and peripheral nerve stimulation1. However, pain is an extremely complex perceptual and cognitive experience that is influenced also by many top down factors such as past sensations, expectations, the context within which the noxious stimulus occurs, the attentional and emotional state. Therefore, for all these reasons, the response to pain can often vary considerably from subject to subject. Case Report: Use of Valproate in Kleine Levin Syndrome Case Report: Use of Valproate in Kleine Levin Syndrome Successful use of Valproate in Kleine Levin Syndrome: a case report and review of cases reported from India Abstract Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS) is characterized by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia and other symptoms and it is a really challenging for the physician, since its causes are not yet clear, and available treatment options are not having adequate support. Here we are reporting a case with successful use of Valproate in KLS and also reviewing the cases reported from India. Introduction Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS) is a rare disorder which mainly affects adolescent boys and characterized by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia, and sometime along with hyperphagia, behavioral and cognitive disturbances, and hypersexuality (Yao et al., 2013). Several medications (stimulants, lithium, valproate, antipsychotics, antidepressants) have been reported to provide variable benefit in different symptoms, with lithium being the most widely used drug (Arnulf et al., 2005 2012). We are presenting a case of KLS, who had complete remission with valproate and also reviewing the cases reported from India. Case details: A 17 year old single male student of 12th standard, presented to our psychiatric outpatient clinic in September 2004 with hypersomnolence, low mood, decreased appetite and interest in studies, social and sexual disinhibition (such as singing obscene songs loudly at home, and touching unconsenting females’ including mother’s body parts- limbs, face and genitalia). Onset was acute, without any elicitable precipitating factor and course was episodic with average 7-10 days episode in every month for last four months and he maintained completely well in interepisodic period. Provisional diagnosis of recurrent depressive disorder (brief episodes) was kept and he was started on Sertraline (50 mg), on which he responded well. He remained asymptomatic for nearly nine months, but started having similar episodes again from mid 2005, due to which Sertraline was gradually hiked up to 150 mg/day, but of no use. Hence he was admitted in our inpatient setting in March, 2006 for diagnostic evaluation and further management. After detailed evaluation, it was found that his sadness was not pervasive and depressive cognitions and associated disturbances were not present and hypersomnia remained predominant complaint as initially he was sleeping 16-20 hours per day. He was also not responding with these medications, hence differential diagnosis of KLS vs. depression was kept and later finalized to KLS. His heamogram, renal functions, liver functions, blood sugar, routine urine, thyroid functions were within normal limits and chest X ray, ECG, EEG, and MRI brain were nor mal. In view of good literature support Lithium was started from 600 mg/day and hiked to 900 mg/day (serum level 0.8 mEq/liter). On which he has shown significant improvement initially for six month but later again started experiencing similar symptoms. He also had three episodes of fall, unresponsiveness and epileptiform discharge in EEG twice. Hence in view of seizure disorder and lack of response, Neurologist’s consultation was sought, who opined to start antiepileptic medication. Hence lithium was switched to Valproate (750 mg/day) in December 2006, on which he maintained completely well for 4 years, except brief reemergence of symptoms on discontinuing Valproate, which improved completely on resuming the medication. Valproate was gradually tapered and stopped in January 2011 on insistence of patient and family with discussing its pros and cons. Now index case has been maintaining well off Valproate for last three years without any episode of hypersomnolence, sexual disin hibition, sadness, or epileptic seizure. Discussion Based on historical reports by Kliene and Levin, KLS was essentially described and termed by Critchley (1962). Thereafter many researchers have reported their cases and reviewed cases with KLS (Arnulf et al., 2005 2012). Here we are reporting a case with KLS, who responded well with Valproate, after diagnostic dilemma and different psychotropic medications and also reviewing the other cases reported from India. In our electronic search for Indian studies on Kliene-levin syndrome, by using PUBMED and Google Scholar, we could find 15 cases reported from India (Aggarwal et al., 2011; Mendhekar et al., 2001; Prabhakaran et al., 1970; Shukla et al., 1982; Sagar et al., 1990; Narayanan et al., 1972; Agrawal Agrawal, 1979; Malhotra et al., 1997; Gupta et al., 2011). Of them 13 were males and 2 females, similar to male preponderance reported in the literature (Arnulf et al., 2005 2012). While presenting to psychiatric services their age was between 9 to 26 years and they had onset between 7 to 24 years of age. In two-third of patients (10 out of 15 patients) it was preceded with fever and their episodes of somnolence were lasted from 3 days to 10 weeks. Hypersomnia and hyperphagia were present in all, while two-third of patients also had social and sexual disinhibition (11 out of 15 patients). Other symptoms were cognitive disturbances (low intelligence quotient, impaired memory, confusion, and a cademic decline), irrelevant talk, and perceptual disturbances. Nearly one-third of patients improved spontaneously without any medication, while rest was given lithium, carbamazepine, methyl amphetamine, dextro amphetamine, and modafinil. Longest asymptomatic follow-up period is reported for 2 years (Aggarwal et al., 2011) (as depicted in table-1). Though literature supported lithium for higher response rate (Arnulf et al., 2005 2012), but index patient had remarkable response with Valproate, not with lithium, like earlier two reports (Crumley, 1997; Adlakha Chokroverty, 2009). Like earlier report (Adlakha Chokroverty, 2009), index patient also improved on lower dose of Valproate (divalproate 750 mg vs. 500 mg Valproate). Compared to other cases reported from India (Aggarwal et al., 2011; Gupta et al., 2011), index patient had longest follow-up (7 years) and remained asymptomatic in this period, except small exacerbation on discontinuation of Valproate treatment, which improved completely on resuming the drug. Similar to our patient, anticonvulsants (like Valproate) are the preferred treatment for KLS patient, and may also offer benefits in case of comorbid epilepsy (Yao et al., 2013). Valproate may be a good alternative to lithium in terms of efficacy as well as side effect profile. References Yao, C.C., Lin, Y., Liu, H.C., Lee, C.S., 2013. Effects of various drug therapies on Kleine–Levin syndrome: a case report. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 35, 102.e7-102.e9. Arnulf, I., Zeitzer, J.M., File, J., Farber, N., Mignot, E., 2005. Kleine-Levin syndrome: a systematic review of 186 cases in the literature. Brain. 128, 2763-76. Arnulf, I., Rico, T.J., Mignot, E., 2012. Diagnosis, disease course, and management of patients with Kleine-Levin syndrome. Lancet Neurol. 11, 918-28. Critchley, M., 1962. Periodic hypersomnia and megaphagia in adolescent males. Brain. 85, 627–56. Aggarwal, A., Garg, A., Jiloha, R.C., 2011. Kleine-Levine syndrome in an adolescent female and response to modafinil. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 14, 50-2. Mendhekar, D.N., Jiloha, R.C., Gupta, D., 2001. Kleine-levin syndrome : a report of two cases. Ind J Psychiatry. 43, 276-8. Prabhakaran, N., Murthy, G.K., Mallya, U.L., 1970. A Case of Kleine-Levin Syndrome in India. Br J Psychiatry. 117, 517-519. Shukla, G.D., Bajpai, H.S., Mishra, D.N., 1982. Kleine-levin syndrome: a case report from India. Br J Psychiatry. 141, 97-98. Sagar, R.S., Khandelwal, S.K., Gupta, S., 1990. Interepisodic morbidity in Kleine-Levin syndrome. Br J Psychiatry. 157, 139-141. Narayanan, H.S., Narayanan Reddy, G.N., Rama Rao, B.S., 1972. A case of Kleine-levine syndrome. Ind J Psychiatry. 14, 356-358. Agrawal, A.K., Agrawal, A.K., 1979. Kleine-levin syndrome: a case report. Ind J Psychiatry. 21, 286-287. Malhotra, S.M., Das, M.K., Gupta, N., Muralidharan, R, 1997. A Clinical Study of Kleine-levin syndrome evidence for hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction. Biol Psychaitry. 42, 299-301. Gupta, R., Lahan, V., Srivastava, M., 2011. Kleine-Levin syndrome and idiopathic hypersomnia: Spectrum disorders. Ind J Psychol Med. 33, 194-8. Crumley, F.E., 1997. Valproic acid for Kleine-Levin syndrome. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 36, 868-9. Adlakha, A., Chokroverty, S., 2009. An adult onset patient with Kleine-Levin syndrome responding to valproate. Sleep Med. 10, 391-3. Table-1: Reported cases with Kleine Levin syndrome from India

Impact of Technology on the Retailing Business Essays -- essays resear

Impact of Technology on the Retailing Business Any sufficient advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic†, Arthur C. Clarke. Technology has changed the retailing business dramatically over the past 10 years. These changes have affected a number of areas in the retailing business. These areas include the equipment in the workplace, the policies in the workplace, the general environment, the ordering of supplies, and the record keeping of the business. One key area in the retailing business that technology has changed over the past 10 years is the different equipment that is used. Interviewee A said â€Å"The change has been quite good for business, we have gone from using a simple till, to using a computer database, which helps us record the customers buying habits and other information about them.† Interview B said â€Å" The equipment we use now has made things way easier for everyone. They took a lil getting used to at first but once we learned how to use them it was no problem. We switched form analogue gas pumps to digital ones, we also switched from doing manual gas level dips to using electronic gas level. Our Rigor machine has also been changed from the old ribbon printer to the new laser printer.† Technology isn’t the only area that has been changed by technology. The business policies have also been changed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The policies in the retailing business have also been affected by technology in the past 10 years. Interviewee A said â€Å"With out...

Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Compulsive Overeating :: Causes of Bulimia, Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Compulsive Overeating Bulimia is an illness characterized by uncontrolled episodes of overeating usually followed by self-induced vomiting or other purging. Alternative names for Bulimia are Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Purge Behavior, and also Eating Disorders. In bulimia, eating binges may occur as often as several times a day. Induced vomiting known as purging allows the eating to continue without the weight gain; it may continue until interrupted by sleep, abdominal pain, or the presence of another person. The person is usually aware that their eating pattern is abnormal and may experience fear or guilt associated with the binge-purge episodes. The behavior is usually secretive, although clues to this disorder include over activity, peculiar eating habits, eating rituals, and frequent weighing. Body weight is usually normal or low, although the people may perceive themselves as overweight. The exact cause of bulimia is unknown, but factors thought to contribute to its development are family problems, maladaptive behavior, self-identity conflict, and cultural overemphasis on physical appearance. Bulimia may be associated with depression. The disorder is usually not associated with any underlying physical problem although the behavior may be associated with neurological or endocrine diseases. The disorder occurs most often in females of adolescent or young adult age. The incidence is estimated to be 3% in the general population; but 20% of college women suffers from it. A cultural and family de-emphasis on physical appearance may eventually reduce the incidence of this disorder. There are several symptoms associated with bulimia such as: binge eating followed by purging, self induced vomiting, inappropriate use of diuretics and laxatives, menstruation is absent or deceased, and overachieving behavior. Bulimia is characterized by a cycle of binge eating followed by purging to try and rid the body of unwanted calories. A binge is different for all individuals. For one person a binge may range from 1000 to 10000 calories, for another, one cookie may be considered a binge. Purging methods usually involve vomiting and laxative abuse. Other forms of purging can involve excessive exercise, fasting, use of diuretics, diet pills and enemas. Bulimics are usually people that do not feel secure about their own self worth. They usually strive for the approval of others. They tend to do whatever they can to please others, while hiding their own feelings. Food becomes their only source of comfort. Bulimia also serves as a function for blocking or letting out feelings.

Nontraditional Traditions :: essays research papers

Nontraditional Tradtions We live in an age in which it is hard to spend time together as a family. Many families today wonder if having quality time together is a thing of the past. We are inordinately busy, for one thing, whether household bread-winners or college students. Also, the definition of family has changed. We are dealing with new definitions and characterizations of the idea of family. Some of us have traditional families. Some families have divorced, single, and/or remarried parents, creating a rather confusing family tree. Some people choose to live their lives alone, but may still be close enough to some friends to consider them family. Whatever the circumstances, many of us honestly don't know how to celebrate together. We may even see the word "tradition" as something stultifying and old, having no meaning for or application to us personally; something usually being forced upon us by someone who smells funny and is only seen on holidays. What all of this means is that we can no longer simply follow the examples of old. It is up to us to create new family traditions. Celebrating is not hard. We all know about celebrating and have some ways of doing it. The only challenge is to find new ways. Why do we need to celebrate tradition? It gives us something to look forward to and makes a formal statement that there are some things in life to be grateful for. The notion of honoring tradition is unsettling for some people; let alone creating new ones. We understand that we need something to add a sense of order and stability to our lives. But we are not sure about how to create our own traditions. We seem to think that traditions must be heavy and complex ideas that had been around for hundreds of years and will be around for a hundred more. In my opinion, this is not true. It need not be big or religious at all. I believe a tradition is something that you do once that feels good, so you do it again and again. The tale in Frost's "Mending Wall" can be viewed as an impromptu tradition. The two neighbors needing to repair the wall after the winter chill, find time to converse with each other about what's on their minds. For example, every Sunday my dad makes tea and puts out two cups, his and mine. I am used to this. If I had to reach in the cupboard to get my own cup, something would be wrong. As it is, I get up out of my bed, I go into

Drama Coursework †Response Phase Essay

As part of our drama course we are studying the play â€Å"blood brothers† by Willy Russell. Blood Brothers is about twins who were separated at birth because their mother could not afford to keep both. As they grow up they meet, become friends and eventually blood brothers. However they both fall in love with the same girl and this conflict ultimately leads to their tragic deaths. First we read the play blood brothers as a class, then our teacher, Mrs O— asked us to choose and then act out three or four scenes which we, as a group thought were most important. In my group were S—, G— and N—. The first scene we chose was when Mr Lyons asks Mrs Johnston to give away one of her babies, we thought this was a crucial moment in the play because in this scene we see how the brothers first got separated. We also see the differences between the middle and the working class people, which was important as it is a main theme in the play. I was playing Mrs Lyons and N— was playing Mrs Johnston. We started our performance with a freeze frame; our freeze frame was useful as it showed the audience what scene we are going to perform. Nicola, playing Mrs Johnston was looking down holding her stomach as if she was pregnant. I was standing on her side holding a bible pushing it towards her. We wanted to show the part where Mrs Lyons was asking Mrs Johnson to make a binding agreement, we used facial expressions to show which characters we were trying to portray. As I was Mrs Lyons, I stood with a smug arrogant look to show that I was the wealthy one, while N— was looking sad, worried and a little scared. Our role-play started with Mrs Johnston working and Mrs Lyons coming in to see how she was doing. As Mrs Lyons I spoke with a posh accent boasting about how big my house is and looking down at N—-. We used thought tracking to get inside the characters mind and see what they are really thinking. When N—- was telling me about how she can stop getting pregnant and I can’t have any babies thought tracking was useful as I got to show the audience how I was actually jealous and thought that the babies would be better off with me. We also used it to show that N— did not like Mrs Johnston showing off and thinking she was better then her. After the visit to the doctors, N—- acted like she was nervous and panicking that the welfare will come and take her children away and worried about how she would cope with two more babies. At this point I used thought tracking to hint to the audience that I was thinking about asking for a baby. When I did ask for a baby I started to act more mean and scary grabbing hold of N—- and begging her to give me a child to show how desperate Mrs Lyons was to have a baby. N—- used thought tracking to show the audience that she was thinking about agreeing to give me a baby and also to show that she was a little scared of me. I was shouting at her doing all I could to make her agree and getting a bible and forcing her to make a binding agreement. We also used hot seating in our performance; this helped the audience to get to know more about the characters. Our teacher, Mrs O— first asked us questions and we had to answer staying in character. The audience got to know about how N—-‘s husband left her and how she has to look after all the kids by herself. We also used it to show that she was considering giving a child a baby to Mrs Lyons, as she could not afford to have any more kids. The hot seating helped me show how Mrs Lyons’ evil side and how she did not care if it was wrong all she wanted was a child and she does not care how she gets it. For our second scene we choose the part when the brothers meet for the first time. This we thought was another key scene as it shows how they meet and become blood brothers, not knowing that they were actually real bothers. G— was playing Edward and S— was playing Mickey. In this scene we see how better off the rich one, Edward is that Mrs Lyons is looking after him. The freeze frame for this scene was when the two boys were crossing fingers and Mrs Lyons in the background. We made it clear what scene they were going to perform was when they first meet because it was the part when they became blood brothers. They were both smiling and happy to have made a new friend while Mrs Lyons stood in the background with her arms crossed looking angrily at the two of them. We added a bit of comedy to this part because they are seven year olds and we wanted to show that. Shikira was sitting on her own making funny gun noises looking very scruffy and G—- walks in acting very posh. When S— taught him swear words he was shocked and amazed at all the â€Å"smashing† things that S— says. We used thought tracking to show how G— had never meet a boy like him but actually liked him. The hot seating gave the audience a chance to see that G—- has not got a lot of friends as they all bully him but not S—-. They audience also got to see that S—- never meet a posh boy like him but they became friends. In the second group were K—, M—, M— and B—-. The first scene they done was when Mrs Johnston gives one of her babies away to Mrs Lyons. K—- was playing Mrs Johnston and M— was playing Mrs Lyons. Their freeze frame was of K—- down on her knees scrubbing the floor and M—- crossing her arms looking down at her. It was obvious what scene they were going to do and what characters they were playing by using body positions and facial expressions. M—- looking arrogant and like a snob and showing how she thinks she is above K—– just because she is richer. Their performance was very well organised and they all knew what they were doing. M—- was very good at acting arrogant and as K—– cleans she was looking down at her and used good thought tracking to show how she felt. K—– did well as Mrs Johnston acting like she is happy to work for her but suing thought tracking show that she secretly did not like Mrs Lyons and that created tension between the two of them. I thought that they lacked thought tracking as the play went on and could have added more towards the end of their performance. Their use of hot seating was good; although I thought when they answered they could have gone into more detail and let the audience find out more about their characters. From the hot seating we learnt that M—– does not think its wrong to take K—-‘s baby and that K—- has no money to look after any more children. I thought that M—– could have improved her performance by added more thought tracking and speaking louder but I thought she did well at showing she was Mrs Lyons by the way that she spoke and her attitude towards K—–. K—– acted confidently, and used good thought tracking to show what she was thinking at the start of the play. She would have improved her performance by adding more detail to her answers in the hot seating and more thought tracking at the end of their performance. In the third group were G—-, T—–, S—- and T——. One of the scenes they acted out was the last scene; this is an important scene in the play because it was when Mickey finds out about Linda’s affair with Edward. Mrs Johnston’s secret deal with Mrs Lyons is also reviled and both brothers end up dead. T—– played Mickey, C—— was Edward and Grace played Mrs Johnston. Their freeze frame was off the end of the play when Mickey and Edward were dead. T—– and C—- were lying down on the floor dead and G—- was standing over them. They did well to show the tragic ending of the play and g—— used good facial expressions to show that she was shocked and upset at what had just happened. She stood with her head slight down and looked like she was crying out in disbelief. They stared with Mickey who was played by T—— going crazy wandering around the stage looking for the pills. She used thought tracking to tell the audience what she was looking for and how she angry she felt that she did not have them. When she found out about Linda and Edward’s affair she acted good and confidently showing how angry and frustrated she was. She used thought tracking telling the audience how she was thinking out killing him when she went to get the gun before storming out to find Edward. C—– playing Edward was doing his job making a speech acting normal when suddenly T—— barges in pointing a gun in his face. The use of hot seating at this moment let the audience know how scared Edward was and how T——- was not thinking straight and how she was just angry. I thought that this group also could have spoken in more detail to explain to the audience how they feel. At this moment G—— runs in trying to stop T——. She used thought tracking to say how she was thinking of telling them the truth. G—– trying to stop Mickey shouts out to not to kill Edward because they are brothers. But this just makes T—- even more angry thinking that he could have ended up like C———- with a good job and a great life. G—- in a final attempt to stop Mickey pushes his hand but the gun shoot and kills Edward. The police then shoot T—— and she falls to the floor, leaving G—– in crying in shock. I thought that in this part they could have been more organised and put more thought tracking in but all in all they had a great performance.

Are electronic games a legitimate sport

First of all I'd like to thanks you all for coming here today. My name is Yang Demount and I am from France. I am an exchange student In Nina university and I am majoring In business administration. Today we are going to ask ourselves if electronic games are a legitimate sport. I'd like to ask you to keep any questions you may have for the end of the presentation First of all, what is a sport? Sport: Definition Sport come from the middle aged word dessert, which mean distraction, physical or mental pleasureAccording to sport accord, the umbrella organization for all Olympics and non- Olympics sports, a sport is defined as an activity that have an element of competition is in no way harmful to any living creature do not rely on any â€Å"luck† element specifically designed into the sport Now we are going to see what does make electronic games a sport. ? First, we have to say that we are going to take only a limited amount of video games Statecraft, warrant 3, data, league of le gend, counter strike, quake.I only selected ere video games I know, and which are played on computer. Also, I am going to refer Cybernetic Professional League World Cyber Games Major League Gaming Electronic Sports World Cup World exports Games CUP china now WAG Korea MOL North America SEWS France HEM Asia/clan There are also world championships specific to each game. For example, last Saturday, there where the final of league of legend In the staples center, In the united States Because there are competitions, there are also a lot of things which are like traditional sports.TEAM. On league of legend, the best one is SST TTL . Here are also coaches, and transfer between team, just like the football Mercado. Also, as you can see in the team name, there are many sponsors. For example, as I said, tam names are SST TTL, Samsung ozone and NANJING black sword, In league of legend. Those we call sportsman are those video games professionals. And they do train like professional. They play 1 0-12 hour a day at their game; they have a coach, speak about strategy, counter strategy, and practice hard to be on the top. Exactly likeMess and Ronald would do. Why video games are a mind game? There is a lot of data professional player have to learn by heart. For Statecraft for example, they have to lean all units strength and weaknesses, spells, they have to gather resources and watch their population Limit, create units to attack the enemy base and In the same teamwork and focus. Because electronic games do match the definition of sport, because chess are a mind sport and electronic games requires as preparation and focus than playing chess they have to be considered as a sport.

Great Expectations: A Synopsis Essay

â€Å"The worst prisons are those we create for ourselves. † To what extent do you agree? Set in the 19th Century Victorian England, many of the main characters in Great Expectations’ are imprisoned either virtually or metaphorically. Magwich is an actual prisoner of the English penal system, and is also a prisoner of his own desire to revenge Compeyson and the class system. Miss Havisham ad Pip create prisons for themselves out of their own fixations and obsessions. It could also be argued that Pip and Estella are both metaphorically imprisoned by Miss Havisham and Magwitch’s need to revenge. Although the description of Newgate is ghastly, and the effects of the prisons imposed upon Pip and Estella are difficult to overcome- the detrimental lite and psychological effects on Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch resultant of their self imposed prisons are the worst prisons of all, because they are so illusive and deceptive, that the characters often dont know of their existence until the damage is done. Through his exposure to Satis House and Estella’s taunting malice, Pip becomes aware of his social inferiority, and thus sprouts the first seeds of discontent with his class. Like a distant yet alluring star, Pip is tantalised by Estella’s wealth and beauty, and out of his exposure to her his all consuming obsession with becoming a gentelman emerges. Ironically, when this idea first emerged, Pip really had very little understanding of what a gentleman was. Although he cannot articulate whether he has this desire â€Å"to spite her or to gain her over,† this fervent urge dictates the direction of his life. He becomes imprisoned into a superficial and narrow be. cf that a gentleman is someone with wealth, status and learning, and will go to any lengths to achieve this aim, albeit rejecting Joe and Biddy. Pip gains his great expectations frorn Magwitch, and although he was metaphorically imprisoned by Magwitch’s exploitation of him to revenge the class system- Pip had already begun to laud the false values of gentilify. Pip could have used Magwitch’s money to become a member of the upper class, but still retain qualities of kindne ss and compassion (like Herbert. Instead, Pip becomes locked into the world of lavish expenditure, greed and corruption. Despite his unhappiness, shown clearly the Finch Club â€Å"there was a gay fiction that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a keleton of truth that we never did†, it takes him many years and trials to free himself from this elusive self imposed prison. Despite the guilt that he feels, he still manages to Justify his treatment of Joe because the prison he has created for himself is so difficult to break out of. Miss Havisham is the epitome of the devastating consequences of creating ones own prison. After being swindled and left at the alter, Miss Havisham is so emotionally ruined that she creates her own virtual and rnetaphorical prison. She confines herself to her mansion, which â€Å"had a great many iron confines bars to it’? and tells Pip that she had â€Å"never seen the sun since you were born. † But she also confines her and raising her purely as an instrument to â€Å"wreak havoc† in the hearts of men. Miss Havisham creates her own prison to revenge all males, and this prison envelops her existence. So consumed by hatred, Miss Havisham’s heart begins to decay, as is symbolic in her surroundings â€Å"covered in dust and mould and dropping to peices†, as well as her spider infested rotten wedding cake. Like Pip, it takes Miss Havisham many yearsand much suffering to understand that she was actually imprisoned. The urning point for her came when she realised that Estella could not lover her because â€Å"l stole her heart away and put ice in its place. Pip acknowledges that Miss Havisham’s imprisonment of Estella was a â€Å"greivous thing† but recognised that her own seclusion from the world and from the healing influcences to her mind and broken heart were infinitely worse. Conversly, Magwitch is a prisoner of the penal system. Although he committed a crime that saw him placed in a Jail, Magwitch did not create this prison because he was forced into imp risonment by the authorities, and was basically forced to commit rime in order to survive. His imprisonment was not a conscious choice, as was Pip and Miss Havisham’s, and unlike the others, Magwitch was well aware of this imprisonment. Despite his loss of freedom and years immersed in sub-human conditions, his mental imprisonment in the need to revenge Compeyson and class system, which he creates for himself, has the most damaging effect on his life. After escaping from the prison ship, Magwitch could have been free had it not been for his revenge upon Compeyson. Because of these acitons, Magwitch finds himself again imprisoned and sent for life to Australia. Again, it was his self-imposed imprisonment that caused the most damage. Magwitch spends most of his time in Australia working to convert Pip into a gentleman to revenge the class system, instead of Just forgetting his past and moving on with his life. He even goes so far as to come back to Englas to see â€Å"my gentleman†, and is consequently sentenced to death for returning. Through the stories of Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, Dickens is clearly expressing that the worst prisons are those we create for ourselves, as their damage is subtle to the victim who may be unaware of their existence.