Wednesday, August 31, 2016

In chapter 5 of To Kill a Mockingbird, describe how Scout's relationship with the boys begins to change.

In the previous chapter, Dill, Jem and Scout get caught playing out the Radley's life story in the front yard by Atticus. They lie and say they aren't doing what he thinks they are doing, but Scout doesn't want to get into anymore trouble; so she asks the boys to stop playing the game for awhile. She also believes that Boo Radley might be watching them and might come after her during the night sometime if they continue. As a result, Dill and Jem start leaving her out of their games. At the beginning of chapter 5, Scout says that Dill told her he loved only her, but he still mostly played with Jem. Scout explains it as follows:



"I beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew closer to Jem. They spent their days together in the treehouse plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party. But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a girl, I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss maudie atkinson on her front porch" (41).



Scout starts to hang out with Miss Maudie in the evenings, since the boys won't include her as much anymore. There seems to be a definite difference between the boys and Scout because she doesn't want to do anything to get into trouble. The boys, as she says above, seemed "foolhardy." She also stayed away so she wouldn't be condemned for being a girl, which she hates.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

What is the significance of an IQ score of 68 in Flowers for Algernon?

It shows that Charlie's intelligence is very, very low. Let's see why:


Toward the very beginning of the story, long before Charlie has his operation to raise his intelligence, we find out that he has an IQ score of 68 but also that he's motivated to learn:



"Dr Strauss said I had something that was very good. He said I had a good motor-vation. I never even knew I had that. I felt proud when he said that not every body with an eye-q of 68 had that thing. I dont know what it is or where I got it..."



Scientists disagree vociferously about whether or not IQ tests are valid measures of someone's intelligence, but all we need is some basic information to help understand Charlie's score of 68 and how it relates to the story.


IQ stands for "intelligence quotient" and is a measure of someone's general intelligence. The doctors in the story determined Charlie's IQ by giving him a test and calculating the results.


Please take a look at this diagram as you read through the explanation of it below.


Someone with perfectly average intelligence has an IQ score of 100. And the great majority of people (68% of the population) have a score hovering around that figure, specifically between 85 and 115. If your score falls in that range, we'd say you're of average intelligence.


A significant chunk of people (14% of the population) have scores between 70 and 85, so these are folks you'd call "below average" in intelligence.


Likewise, a significant chunk of people (14% of the population) have scores between 115 and 130, so these are the folks you'd call "above average" in intelligence.


Then, off to one end of the spectrum is a small group of extremely intelligent people with a score over 130 (about 2% of the population) and, likewise on the other end, there are the people we'd say are extremely lacking in intelligence with a score below 70 (again, just about 2% of the population.)


The fact that Charlie's score is below 70, then, reveals that his intelligence is very, very low. It's a significant disability for him. 

Monday, August 29, 2016

How did the resolution process begin in the movie Remember the Titans?

The conflict in the film Remember the Titans is the racial tension that exists in 1971 Alexandria, Virginia and its impact on the newly integrated football program.  The viewer is introduced to this tension immediately at the beginning of the film with mention of race riots in town.  The tension builds as the white football coach is replaced by an African-American coach. The white players threaten to boycott the football program at this point.  After the white coach, Bill Yoast decides to join the black coach's (Herman Boone) staff, the white players are back on board.  This creates further tension at football camp as the players do not interact with players of the opposite race.  The beginning of the resolution of this conflict occurs during an evening practice.  The star linebacker, who is white, yells at another white player for not blocking for the African-American running back.  This happens in front of the entire team and coaching staff.  After correcting the white lineman, he gets "fired up" with a black teammate on defense. The film portrays this as a poignant moment in the season, one that demonstrates an attempt to bridge the racial gap on the team. 

How did Julius Caesar die?

Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C. by a group of senators.


The assassination of Julius Caesar is probably one of the most famous murders in history.  In ancient Rome, the government consisted of two Consuls elected each year and a Senate made up of influential men.  Julius Caesar was a consul who was killed by a group of senators who worried that he had too much power.


Julius Caesar’s downfall came from his ambition.  Caesar was a brilliant military leader. He led successful campaigns in Gaul and other places which made him wealthy and influential.  Unfortunately, Caesar’s son-in-law Pompey tried to usurp his power, which led to Caesar marching on Rome.  It was a calculated and potentially dangerous move, because it was illegal for an army to cross the Rubicon and march on Rome. 


Caesar’s march on Rome led to a civil war of grand proportions.  Pompey fled, taking most of the senate with him.  Caesar planted himself in Rome and declared them outlaws.  He then pursued them doggedly until most of them surrendered or were killed.  Caesar pardoned the senators to return stability to Rome.  Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated by Ptolemy as a gift to Caesar.  Caesar was reportedly not pleased, because the man was still a Roman.  Nonetheless, the war was over.


In order to stabilize the government, Caesar named himself dictator with the senate’s blessing.  Not everyone in the senate supported them.  A group called the boni, or good old men, talked about restoring Rome to its former glory.  That involved not having a dictator, and certainly no king.  The Romans considered going back to a king the worst possible thing that could happen to Rome.


Caesar reportedly did not want to become king or at least be called a king.  A dictator was not the same as a king, because his power was temporary.  When a man called him “Rex” publicly, he responded that it was not his name, but the incident disturbed him.  He did not want anyone to think he was posturing to become king.  At the same time, Caesar did a few things that irritated the Roman people, especially the boni.


Caesar insisted on triumphing in Rome.  It was a Roman general’s right to triumph.  A triumph was a special parade in which the spoils of victory were shown off and the enemy prisoners were executed.  Many people thought it was bad taste for Caesar to triumph when the enemies were Roman.  Caesar did it anyway, showing off his victory over Pompey and the other senators who fled and died in the war.


Caesar also was said to have had statues commissioned and coins minted.  Many people thought he was overstepping.  In a twin move intended to placate Caesar and help the public realize how arrogant he was, he was given deity status upon his death and the senate continuously awarded him honors.  Caesar took most of them in stride, but the most interesting one was an unusual display on the Feast of Lupercal.


History has not looked kindly on Mark Antony, perhaps, but no one is really sure of his motives in the Feast of Lupercal.  We know that he presented Caesar with a small crown several times, and Caesar publicly refused it.  It is also said that Caesar had some kind of fit.  He might have been suffering by epilepsy, diabetes, or any number of other serious conditions at this point.  Caesar did not like appearing weak.


The crown was the last straw.  A group of senators secretly began plotting against Caesar from around February of 44 B.C., and it consisted of some of the most influential men in Rome.  Around this time rumors of assassination attempts abounded, as did graffiti against Caesar.  Some of the graffiti reportedly urged Brutus to assassinate Caesar.


Brutus was one of the most influential men in Rome, but not by his own right.  He came from an old and important family.  He was rumored to have been Caesar’s actual son, but it was more likely that Caesar’s affair with his mother began after he was born.  Either way, Brutus’s involvement was a boon to the boni and an embarrassment to Caesar.


We do not know exactly how many men were involved or who was really in charge.  Decius Brutus was one of Caesar’s most trusted military aids.  In addition to Decius Brutus and Marcus Brutus, the conspiracy included several other men who were on the losing side in the war with Pompey, including Cassius, Casca, and the Cimber brothers.


The actual sequence of events on the Ides of March is not exactly clear.  Mark Antony was either part of the conspiracy or separated from Caesar by some subterfuge.  He was a brute of a man and one of Caesar’s staunchest supporters, so conventional wisdom is that he would have protected Caesar if he was there.  The men ensured, somehow, that Caesar made it to the capital where the senate was convening at Pompey’s Theater.


Once there, the senators surrounded Caesar with an imaginary suit.  They had daggers hidden either in their tunics or in the building.  Casca apparently stabbed Caesar first, and an autopsy later suggested that his was the fatal blow.  As Caesar was bleeding out, the other men stabbed him, ending with Brutus.  Caesar reportedly had 23 stab wounds.


After Caesar’s assassination, Rome was thrown into turmoil.  Brutus, Cassius, and the other conspirators tried to gain control of the senate but it was not easy.  For a while Rome was in another civil war where it seemed like everyone had an army and whoever had the best army would win.  The turning point seems to be when the senate sent Lepidus out to defeat Mark Antony, and he somehow convinced Lepidus to join him instead.  The two of them then combined forces with Caesar’s heir, Octavius Caesar, and formed a triumvirate.


The triumvirate forces took control of Rome, enacting bloody transcriptions to finance their war against Brutus and Cassius.  Those two fled, recruiting an army of their own.  At Philippi the triumvirate finally succeeded, with Cassius and then Brutus committing suicide rather than let themselves be captured and led in triumph through Rome.  Octavius ensured that there were on conspirators left.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

What is the secondary conflict in The Great Gatsby?

It's possible to identify a number of secondary conflicts in this novel.  There is the conflict between Daisy and Tom Buchanan in reference to his long pattern of marital infidelity and her recent affair with Gatsby.  They engage in ridiculous disagreements even in the beginning of the book.  Then, there is also Nick's internal conflict: how much of what Gatsby tells him should he believe?  He never really knows for sure how much or what to believe until very late in their relationship. 


There is also the conflict between Nick and Jordan, especially after the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby in New York City.  She feels that Nick sort of throws her over, and Nick seems to feel pretty disillusioned by the whole East Egg crowd at this point.  Even in the end, as he's speaking to her for the last time, he still feels half in love with her.  There's even, likely, an internal conflict for Daisy: who should she choose?  Stay with Tom, leave him for Gatsby, what will make her happiest?  We can even read a conflict between George and Myrtle Wilson, after he finds out about her affair.


In short, there are a number of conflicts in the novel that are secondary to the main conflict. 

Why was the Lady of Shalott forbidden to look down on Camelot?

In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott," the "fairy Lady" lives on the island of Shalott and is under a curse. The curse will be activated only if she pauses from her weaving to look out her window toward Camelot, so she weaves steadily night and day. She has set up a mirror behind her loom that reflects the "shadows of the world" as they pass by her window. 


What is the curse, and why has it been placed on her? The poem is quite mysterious about that. The way she knows about the curse is that "she has heard a whisper say" it. Since she has been called a "fairy Lady" previous to this explanation of the curse, readers know that magic is part of the world she lives in. Interestingly, the Lady knows the action that will activate the curse, but she does not know what the exact consequences will be, as explained by the line, "She knows not what the curse may be." Later in the poem, she leaves her loom to look out her window at "bold Sir Lancelot," and she feels the curse come upon her. She dies as she floats in a boat down to Camelot.


Although the Lady of Shalott was a character in Arthurian legends before this poem by Tennyson, his version of her tale differs significantly from those legends. Elaine of Astolat was a woman who fell in love with Sir Lancelot when he was in disguise and nursed him back to health after he was wounded in a jousting event. Lancelot would not return her love because he was in love with Guinevere. Elaine dies from unrequited love. Tennyson actually used an Italian version of the legend as his source, but he added most of the elements that make the poem so intriguing, including the web, mirror, island, and song. 


It seems that Tennyson was using a shorthand way of expressing the curse of unrequited love. Rather than having the Lady and Lancelot meet, he has a mysterious "curse" take the place of an ill-fated one-sided love affair. Although the chronology is altered, the end result of the Lady pining away and dying for a man she cannot have is the same. Taking Lancelot out of play allows readers to focus on the Lady's plight and emotions completely. 


Although the poem does not explicitly say so, based on the source legend of the Lady of Shalott, readers can interpret the curse as Fate that subjects her to love someone she cannot have; in other words, the curse is unrequited love. However, because Tennyson has left the curse ambiguous, readers can imagine any other source or reason for the curse that suits their fancy. 

What is the epidemiology of cancer?




Descriptive epidemiology: In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases and 585,720 cancer deaths in the United States. Cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher among men than women. Furthermore, African Americans have a higher cancer mortality rate than whites, which has been a source of discussion and controversy. Some argue that inherent genetic factors account for the discrepancy, whereas others attribute the difference to an overrepresentation of poverty among African Americans and superior health care received by affluent versus impoverished groups.




The leading cancers in the United States vary slightly for men and women. The five leading cancers for men are prostate, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, urinary bladder, and melanoma of the skin. For women, the leading cancers are breast, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, uterine corpus, and thyroid. Americans over the age of sixty-five have an almost tenfold greater risk of developing cancer than do younger Americans. Despite an increase in overall cancer mortality rate between 1950 and 1990, mortality rates for all cancers combined have declined substantially for individuals under age forty-five. They increased in people over age fifty-five, with that increase primarily related to lung cancer deaths, but began declining in the mid-2000s.


These data seem biased and problematic, as smoking is the primary etiologic factor in lung cancer diagnoses and a leading public health issue. Excluding lung cancer from cancer death statistics implies that if lifestyle issues and behaviors relate to etiology, science is not responsible or interested in research to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies. This denies the role of social, political, and economic factors in promoting increasingly prevalent maladaptive behaviors among vulnerable members of society and is an area worthy of aggressive debate and action in terms of research funding.



US Cancer Statistics: 1999–2011 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report combines the data sources of Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), and the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, producing a collaborative set of federal cancer incidence statistics (newly diagnosed cases) for a single year. Mortality statistics from the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System are also included and report 2011 cancer deaths both nationally and by state.



Analytic epidemiology: The goal of analytic cancer epidemiology is to identify the factors that predispose individuals to a cancer diagnosis and to quantify risk. Cancer risk factors include environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility, and immunosuppressive state and may be secondary to a history of malignancy, viral infection, or medical therapy. These risk factors can account for various aspects of carcinogenesis and assume varied degrees of causal primacy.



Clinical epidemiology: Epidemiologic research plays an important role in the development of cancer-screening modalities and prevention strategies. Cancer prevention focuses on decreasing incidence by lowering risk through changes in lifestyle patterns and behavior. Primary prevention attempts to stop the development of cancer. Secondary prevention aims to improve cure rates by cancer screening and early diagnosis and treatment.



Cancer screening involves testing to detect early-stage cancer in asymptomatic individuals. Ideally, screening tests should be easy to administer, noninvasive, and inexpensive. To be beneficial, early detection should alter prognosis and improve survival.



Emerging data and discovery: New data are rapidly emerging that are changing cancer screening and prevention practices. Although these changes are quite positive, the proliferation of data can create confusion among health consumers and avenues to receive reliable information are needed.


For example, the human papillomavirus (HPV), types 16 and 18, has been causally related to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. A history of genital warts is linked to human papillomavirus types 6 and 11 and may explain the increased risk associated with multiple sexual partners. Other sexually transmitted viruses, such as herpes simplex virus 2, may interact as etiologic factors. The vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix protect against four HPV types, which together cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts. Ideally, girls and young women should get the vaccine before they are sexually active because the vaccine is most effective in those who have not yet acquired any of the four HPV types covered by the vaccine. Girls and women who have not been infected with any of those four HPV types will get the full benefits of the vaccine; those who are sexually active may also benefit from the vaccine, although they may get less benefit from the vaccine if they may have already acquired one or more of the HPV types covered.


One would assume that the worldwide annual rate of 266,000 deaths from cervical cancer could easily be reduced by application of the vaccine but this new technology raises questions and obstacles to care, along with offering care. The need to vaccinate women before they become sexually active raises ethical issues, particularly among populations that fear the vaccine will send a message condoning teenage sexual activity. Other issues revolve around who should advertise and promote the vaccine, how it should be promoted in developing nations, and whether parents who resist vaccination should be held liable for their children’s sexual health. These and a host of other issues demonstrate how medical advances complicate cancer epidemiology as well as offering hope.



Sociocultural issues: A sensitive issue regarding cancer screening relates to the fact that cancer prevention and control efforts center on the development of strategies to benefit the general population rather than individual lives. As new knowledge and technologies have proliferated at unprecedented rates, many ethical questions such as fair and equitable allocation of health resources across diverse populations, the priority of individual needs versus those of the social aggregate, and the unfair distribution of resources to privileged groups have come under considerable scrutiny. Some of these issues have become especially poignant as genetic technologies have identified specific ethnic factors to enhance the risk for certain cancers. The incidence increases fiftyfold in whites and thirtyfold in African Americans between the ages of fifty and eighty-five. African Americans have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the United States, whereas American men of Asian/Pacific Islander descent have the lowest rates. African American men tend to have metastatic disease at diagnosis. The overall survival rate for African American men is 10 percent lower than that for white men, even when they are diagnosed at the same stage of disease. Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecologic malignancy. Its incidence is highest among white women, whereas its mortality rates are higher among African American women. Incidence rates have been declining, except among African American women over fifty years old. Cultural, psychosocial, and demographic factors may discourage the use of genetic testing services among individuals who could benefit from them or, conversely, may promote use when testing has the potential to create more harm than benefit.


To develop effective cancer detection and prevention programs, therefore, it is essential to consider cultural, demographic, and psychosocial issues that may foster or hinder utilization. Consumer lead advocacy groups have taken a grassroots approach to soliciting research dollars to fund basic and clinical research programs. That fact alone may skew inquiry toward those cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic subgroups who value and can interpret results of medical research and who have sufficient personal resources to advocate on their own behalf. Lack of interest in genetic testing has been associated with less education, minority status, lower socioeconomic status, and less performance of other health-promoting behaviors.


Culture plays a central role in determining health beliefs, attitudes, and behavior, but few health care providers realize that health is a cultural concept defined differently across cultures. Many are unaware that the health care system is culturally designed and administered largely according to mainstream values. In genetics, cultural consideration is particularly important. Although knowledge that certain diseases run in families spans all societies, beliefs about causation of familial diseases vary considerably. Cultural attitudes toward disease also differ among ethnic populations. Moreover, culture comes into play in provider-client interaction and communication, which are both key components of genetic counseling. People from cultures that expect authority figures to be directive may find nondirective genetic counseling confusing and bewildering. Between 1970 and 1990, the minority population grew at a rate about three times that of the total population. The US Census Bureau indicates that minorities account for about 25 percent of the US population in 2014. Given these trends, attention to ethnocultural barriers is paramount in achieving universal access to genetic services.


Although cultural competency is not a licensing requirement for health professionals, it is vital in view of the sensitive nature of the issues to be discussed and the need for privacy and confidentiality of information exchanged. The professional genetics community includes few minorities, despite demographic trends further limiting the access of minorities to culturally sensitive and relevant genetic services. This lack of input from minority communities also limits the shaping of public policy and planning of genetic research and counseling in ways meaningful to ethnic minorities.


For individuals to benefit from genetic services, those services must be available, culturally appropriate, accessible, and affordable. Unless such issues are addressed, any attempt to broaden access to genetic services will be limited and perhaps even hazardous to a less informed population. Few primary care providers are ready to take on these new tasks. They need education in understanding not only the scientific advances in genetics but also their ethical, legal, cultural, and psychosocial implications.


Inadequate appropriations to develop the needed service infrastructure have resulted in an inadequate number of genetic specialists, primary care providers, and public health providers prepared to incorporate genetics into practice. Among primary care providers, inadequate preparation in genetics is compounded by the severe time constraints imposed on virtually all service providers and by a lack of reimbursement for cognitive services.


Most consumers also have low scientific literacy and know little about basic genetics or genetic testing. Without a degree of genetics literacy and an understanding of the limitations and risks involved including insurance and employment discrimination, psychological trauma, intrafamilial conflict, and social stigmatization, people cannot make truly informed decisions.



Chemoprevention: A relatively new approach to cancer prevention is through chemoprevention (as opposed to chemotherapy, or drug treatment, following a cancer diagnosis). Cancer chemoprevention is defined as the reversal of carcinogenesis in the premalignant phase. The observation that retinoids, acting as modulators of cell differentiation, are effective in suppressing oral carcinogenesis and, therefore, in preventing second primary tumors in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has led to the evaluation of these agents as chemopreventive therapy for tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract in high-risk populations. Studies of adjuvant hormonal therapy with tamoxifen for breast cancer have shown a 50 percent reduction of contralateral disease, which led to a national tamoxifen chemoprevention trial to evaluate risk reduction for primary breast cancer in women at high risk. With the development of new molecular techniques, chemoprevention trials will be aided by the identification of markers for premalignant lesions.



Prognosis for cancer epidemiology: Decision making regarding genetic susceptibility testing, health surveillance, chemoprevention and preventative surgery are being quickly added to the realm of health care options without adequate knowledge among professionals and the public regarding the meaning and practical relevance of this information. Psychosocial, cultural, and economic factors may affect the study, dissemination, and utilization of genetic discoveries to create service barriers and widen the gap between the haves and have nots among health care consumers. Genetic information is received against a backdrop of deeply held personal beliefs. The influence of culture on health beliefs and actions is enormous, and the role that culture, ethnicity, and religion play in formulating an individual’s motivation toward health-seeking behaviors must be addressed in all educational and clinical activities.



American Cancer Society. “History of Cancer Epidemiology.” Cancer.org. American Cancer Society, 12 June 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.


Boffetta, Paolo, Stefania Boccia, and Carlo La Vecchia. A Quick Guide to Cancer Epidemiology. New York: Springer, 2014. Digital file.


Centers for Disease Control. US Cancer Statistics: 1999–2011 Incidence and Mortality Web-Based Report. Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.


Dennis, Leslie K., and Deborah Dawson. “Meta-analysis of Measures of Sexual Activity and Prostate Cancer.” Epidemiology 13.1 (2002): 72–79. Print.


Gandini, S., H. Merzenich, C. Robertson, and P. Boyle. “Meta-analysis of Studies on Breast Cancer Risk and Diet: The Role of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and the Intake of Associated Micronutrients.” European Journal of Cancer 36 (1990). Print.


Green, Lawrence W., and Marshall W. Kreuter. Health Promotion Planning: An Educational and Ecological Approach. 3rd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1999. Print.


Harris, Randall E. Epidemiology of Chronic Disease: Global Perspectives. Burlington: Jones, 2013. Print.


Little, Jullian. Epidemiology of Childhood Cancer. Lyon: Intl. Agency for Research on Cancer, 1999.


Moolgavkar, S., et al., eds. Quantitative Estimation and Prediction of Human Cancer Risks. Lyon: Intl. Agency for Research on Cancer.


Soliman, Amr, David Schottenfeld, and Paolo Boffetta. Cancer Epidemiology: Low- and Middle-Income Countries and Special Populations. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Digital file.

Convert 93 million miles into meters.

93 million miles is the approximate mean distance from Earth to the Sun.


To convert this distance to meters, we need to know how many meters are in a mile. One mile consists of 1609.34 meters. That is,


1 mile = 1609.34 m


Thus, 93 million miles = 93 x 10^6 miles 


= (93 x 10^6 miles) x (1609.34 meters / mile)


= 149,668,620,000 meters


Thus, 93 million miles is equal to 149,668,620,000 meters. In other words, the sun is at a distance of 149,668,620,000 meters from Earth.


It is common to convert such large numbers into scientific notation and use powers of 10 to represent them.


In scientific notation:


149,668,620,000 meters = 1.4966862 x 10^11 m


= 1.5 x 10^11 m (after rounding off to the nearest digit)


Thus, 93 million miles is approximately equal to 1.5 x 10^11 meters.


Hope this helps. 

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Identify and paraphrase three pieces of evidence that show how "old money" belongs in East Egg and "new money" in West Egg in The Great Gatsby.

In chapter one, Nick says that he lived in "West Egg, the [...] the less fashionable of the two [...]".  To paraphrase: Nick lives in West Egg which is not as chic as East Egg.  Old money has a higher status than new money, and it is therefore considered to be much more fashionable and chic. Since old money is inherited and new money is acquired, new money is associated with work and earning. And those who do not have to work for their money have a higher status than those who had to get their hands dirty for it.


Further, Nick describes the "white palaces of fashionable East Egg [that] glittered along the water."  To paraphrase: People who live in East Egg seem to live in homes fit for royalty.  The word choice of palaces is notable: in East Egg, there are palaces -- a word that connotes both wealth and status (royalty live in palaces).  The word also implies a certain strength, as though the homes are fortresses meant to keep people out, which is exactly what old money sought to do: preserve their status and distinction by exiling the new money.  Consider what Nick said about Daisy's smirk asserting "her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged."  Old money wanted to preserve themselves, their prestige, and their homes from being infringed upon by the lesser new money.


Finally, the description of Tom Buchanan, a man who "played football at New Haven" and was a "national figure in a way," his "polo ponies," and his "enormously wealthy" family all let us know that wherever the Buchanans live is where the old money belongs. To paraphrase: Tom is clearly incredibly wealthy, and has been since he was quite young.  We know he's old money because his wealth has come from his family; he was terribly rich even in college, as a very young man, because his money has been inherited and not acquired.  

Friday, August 26, 2016

What were the "blind robot faces" in "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury?

"There Will Come Soft Rains" is Ray Bradbury's futuristic short story about an automated house which goes about its daily business despite the fact that the inhabitants have been killed in a nuclear blast that reduced an entire city to "rubble and ashes." The first half of the story chronicles the daily routine of the house, which includes cooking breakfast, making announcements, and then unleashing a group of "tiny robot mice" who emerge from "warrens" in the walls and go about cleaning the house. All is normal until "ten o'clock" when "the house began to die" because a fire starts in the kitchen. The robot mice squirt water on it, but their reservoir is soon depleted. As a final attempt at saving itself, the house utilizes more robots, which drop down from trapdoors in the attic. These "blind robot faces" use their "faucet mouths" to spray the fire with a green retardant. While this works for a while, the fire is far too big. The house is ultimately destroyed except for one wall that has a mechanical voice which simply repeats the date over and over.

Compare two creation myths from two different cultures.

Creation Myth: Chinese vs. Mayan


"The Classic of Mountains and Seas," a collection of traditional Chinese stories compiled in the first century BCE, holds that the universe was first chaos within an egg-shaped cloud. Amid the chaos, a sleeping giant called Pan Gu grew for 18,000 years before waking and breaking open the egg. The lighter, purer elements rose to create the heavens, and the heavier, impurer elements sank to create the earth. To prevent a return to chaos, Pan Gu kept the heavens and earth separated for thousands of years until he was satisfied that they were stable. When he died, his body formed many of the earth's parts, such as the soil, rocks, mountains, rivers, etc. His eyes even became the sun and moon. Much later, a goddess named NĂ¼ Wa created humans in her likeness to keep from being lonely. She made them out of mud: first by hand, creating the upper-class, and then by flinging the mud from a vine, creating the commoners.


The "Popol Vuh," a collection of Mayan stories written down by 16th-century Spanish historians, claims that the universe was at first only still water, inhabited by various gods. Six gods helped Heart of Sky create the earth. They planted a tall tree to separate the earth and sky; the tree's roots penetrated down into the nine levels of the Underworld, and its branches reached up to the 13 levels of the Upperworld. They then created plants, and afterward, animals. The animals could not worship the gods, so the gods attempted to make humans. They first failed to make humans out of mud, and then failed again with wood. Later, the "Hero Twins," HunahpĂº and XbalanquĂ©, avenged their slain father by beating the lords of the Underworld in a ball game. This brought their father back to life as the maize (corn) god. The Hero Twins then ascended to the heavens to become the sun and moon, which allowed corn to grow. The gods then tried a third time to make humans - this time out of white and yellow corn - and succeeded.

Why is Phoebe especially frightened when she returns home to an empty house and finds three envelopes addressed to Phoebe, Prudence, and Mr....

Phoebe’s mother is not at home, which she usually is. The three notes were for Phoebe, Prudence, and Mr. Winterbottom. Phoebe’s note told her to keep the doors locked and to call her father if she needed anything. At first, Phoebe did not think anything about it, figuring that her mother finally realized that she could take care of herself after school. It wasn’t until Prudence opened her note with instructions for fixing dinner that Phoebe began to worry, since it sounded like her mother would not be home for dinner, an unusual occurrence. Mr. Winterbottom’s note simply said that she had to go away and couldn’t explain, with a promise that she would call in a few days. At this, Phoebe began to suspect the worst, that her mother had been kidnapped. She suggests to her father that they should call the police, but Mr. Winterbottom brushes this suggestion aside. Phoebe makes Sal promise not to tell anyone that her mother has disappeared.

What is sleeping sickness?


Causes and Symptoms


Sleeping sickness is a vector-transmitted parasitic disease
caused by Trypanosoma. These protozoa
are transmitted to humans by the tsetse fly, genus
Glossina, which is found only in moist savannas and forests in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Rarely, transmission can occur from a mother to her unborn child or through blood transfusion or organ transplantation. There are two types of sleeping sickness. West African trypanosomiasis
is found in both Central and West Africa. Also called Gambian sleeping sickness, it is caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. East African trypanosomiasis is caused by T. brucei rhodesiense. Another human form of trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, is found in the Western Hemisphere.



Symptoms of the East African type emerge in three stages. Untreated victims of this acute form of the illness may die within weeks or one year later. The first stage begins with the reaction to the tsetse fly’s bite. A painful sore, called a chancre, appears about forty-eight hours after the bite and lasts from two to four weeks. It is accompanied by swollen lymph nodes. The second or early stage includes high fever, severe headache, joint pain, and fatigue; symptoms appear in waves, with symptom-free periods that can last up to two weeks. Rashes, swollen lymph nodes, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and edema may also occur. As the disease progresses, weight loss and debilitation increase. Heart involvement may appear early; some patients succumb to heart failure before the parasites invade the central nervous system. In the late stage, which appears within a few weeks to months of the infection, loss of appetite, personality changes, headache, listlessness, and insomnia are seen, along with tremors, slurred speech, and unsteady gait. Uncontrollable drowsiness
occurs late in the course of the disease, progressing to coma and finally death, often from secondary infections.


West African sleeping sickness is a chronic illness, though just as deadly as the East African variety if left untreated. Instead of three distinct stages, there is usually a long symptom-free period. Often, no chancre appears, and the early stage may be so mild as to be overlooked, although swollen lymph nodes on the back of the neck, called Winterbottom’s sign, may be visible. Symptoms gradually appear weeks or years later but are often so subtle that they continue to be ignored. Ironically, the lack of symptoms can be very dangerous for the patient because early treatment of sleeping sickness is critical in avoiding disability or death.




Treatment and Therapy

Most of the drugs used to treat sleeping sickness are highly toxic. Mortality from drug toxicity can reach 5 to 10 percent. In addition, some of the drugs cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, so they are useless in late-stage illness. One nontoxic drug, eflornithine, not only crosses the barrier but also is highly effective in treating both early-stage and late-stage West African infection. It is not used for East African illness, however, because it is not consistently effective for that type. In addition, it is expensive and difficult to administer correctly. Thus, for both types of early-stage infection, intravenous suramin (or suramine) is often used after giving a test dose to see how patients will tolerate the drug, with intravenous melarsoprol given for late-stage disease of both types. With treatment, most patients recover. However, irreversible brain damage or death is common when therapy is attempted at the later stage.




Perspective and Prospects

Sleeping sickness is endemic in about one-third of Africa’s total land area and threatens more than sixty million people in thirty-six countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) previously estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 people were infected annually, despite much smaller numbers of cases reported. Efforts to control the disease have since led to a drop in cases—since 2009, less than 10,000 cases have been reported annually, and WHO's estimate of actual annual cases has dropped to 30,000. In some areas of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan, sleeping sickness became the first or second greatest cause of mortality during an epidemic of the disease, ahead of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or AIDS. Its worst effects are felt in remote, rural areas where health infrastructure is often nonexistent. War, poverty, and lack of education hamper efforts at controlling the disease by shrinking tsetse fly populations through insect abatement programs, treating livestock harboring the parasites, and testing and treating asymptomatic human carriers.


Suramin was discovered in 1921. Pentamidine, sometimes used in treating the early stage of West African sleeping sickness, was discovered in 1941. Melarsoprol, the last arsenic-based medicine still in use, was discovered in 1949. Eflornithine was registered for use in sleeping sickness in 1990 and is approved in the United States for topical use in removing facial hair. None is an ideal drug, and most are difficult to administer under less-than-ideal conditions. Early diagnosis is likewise not easy or inexpensive.


The tragedy is that sleeping sickness had almost disappeared by the early 1960s, but strict screening and control efforts were allowed to lapse, allowing the disease to reestablish itself and become endemic in many areas. In an effort to once again reverse the spread of the disease, WHO created the Program for Surveillance and Control of African Trypanosomiasis (PSCAT), which unites national programs, nongovernmental organizations, private foundations, universities, regional centers, and donor countries in an effort to reach the common goal of permanent eradication.




Bibliography


Dumas, Michel, Bernard Bouteille, and Alain Buguet, eds. Progress in Human African Trypanosomiasis, Sleeping Sickness. New York: Springer, 1999.



Hoppe, Kirk Arden. Lords of the Fly: Sleeping Sickness Control in British East Africa, 1900–1960. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003.



Lyons, Maryinez. The Colonial Disease: A Social History of Sleeping Sickness in Northern Zaire, 1900–1940. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.



"Parasites – African Trypanosomiasis (Also Known as Sleeping Sickness)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Aug. 29, 2012.



Ramen, Fred. Sleeping Sickness and Other Parasitic Tropical Diseases. New York: Rosen, 2002.



"Trypanosomiasis, Human African (Sleeping Sickness)." World Health Organization, Oct. 2012.



Vyas, Jatin M., et al. "Sleeping Sickness." MedlinePlus, Nov. 10, 2012.



World Health Organization. Control and Surveillance of African Trypanosomiasis: Report of a WHO Expert Committee. Geneva: Author, 1998.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

In the play The Miracle Worker, what are a few ways James is affected by Helen's disabilities?

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson is a play which outlines some of the highlights and difficulties for Helen Keller's family, and in particular, Annie Sullivan, as they struggle to help Helen communicate. James is Helen's half-brother, and has a fractured relationship with his father which is only intensified by the problems surrounding Helen after her illness as a baby; a devastating illness which left her blind and deaf.


James has become cynical and has low expectations when it comes to Helen. He is always extremely sarcastic and he comments, in Act I, after Helen has almost hurt Martha with a pair of scissors that, "It's always almost." Minimizing the damage caused by Helen is the family's main focus, and James is so disillusioned that he even thinks it would be "throwing good money after bad" to send Helen to see anyone else, as "wonders" are not something to be believed in. He feels that an asylum would be the best place for her. Even when he tries to agree with his father, Captain Keller berates him, leaving James feeling that he is overlooked and ignored most of the time.


James has little faith in Miss Sullivan when he first meets her, even suggesting that she may need looking after as much as Helen does. He even belittles Annie's attempts when she tries to teach Helen, saying that Helen's attempts to mimic Annie's "alphabet" only show that Helen is "a monkey." He takes pleasure in watching her failed attempts and cannot understand why the family hasn't given up yet.


James is desperate for his father's approval, but Captain Keller insults his efforts to have "adult conversation . . . if my son's half merits that description." James even begins to resent Annie when she seems to be able to move forward with her ideas and get consent from Captain Keller, when James feels that his father "forgot" how to be a father to him. However, he begins to see Annie's benefit to the family even if his relationship with his father is permanently damaged.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

What is the difference between equity and debt financing? Is it better to finance a business such as a hospital using equity that you have or debt...

Equity financing describes a process by which investors put in cash or cash equivalents to buy shares in a company. If an investor were to purchase fifty percent of the shares of a hospital, that shareholder would own fifty percent of the profits of the company. If the hospital were to bring in one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in revenue during the next year, and the total operating expenses of the hospital over the course of that same year were to equal fifty million ($50,000,000), then the equity investor would get half of that profit, which would equal twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000).


On the other hand, if the hospital were to lose money the next year, and make no profit, then the equity investor would get no money, because there would be no profit to split. However, an equity investor who owns fifty percent of a company would have certain voting rights, and could force the hospital to make changes to its operations in order to maximize profit in future years. Even so, the equity investor has far less power than the debt investor. That is because our legal system prioritizes debt over equity.


A debt investor would not buy stock in your hypothetical hospital, but would instead by bonds issued by your company. These bonds, unlike equity, give the debt investor collateral, and because these bonds are treated as loans, the investor also gets a guaranteed return on that investment every year. That return is based on the interest that the bonds yield. The riskier the investment, the higher the yield (or annual interest rate) the investor can demand. 


This point is extraordinarily important, because while equity investors can get wiped out (lose everything they invested) if the company they invest in goes under, a debt investor gets to pocket fixed yearly interest payments regardless of how profitable the company is. In the event of the company going bankrupt, these debt investors also would get the building, the land, the MRI and X-Ray machines, as well as any other tangible or intangible items of worth that could be sold off to pay those debt investors back.


In this hypothetical hospital situation, that would mean that if a debt investor put up half the capital to buy the hospital, say fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), the hospital management would have to use its profits first to pay the interest on those bonds, which are loans, every year or every quarter, or perhaps even every month.


As for what kind of investor (equity or debt) most companies prefer, the answer is usually equity, because equity investors don't need to be paid unless the company makes a profit. Also, equity investors have less leverage in the case of bankruptcy. In other words, it is far easier to walk away from one’s obligations to equity investors than it is to walk away from one’s obligations to debt holders.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

What are the major events in Frederick Douglass' life in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?

Before his escape from slavery, Frederick Douglass recounts several major turning points in his life.  One of the more famous scenes in the text occurs in Chapter 1 when he witnesses this Aunt Hester being beaten by her seemingly sadistic master:



Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked.  He then told her to cross her hands, calling her at the same time a d---d b---h.  After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose.  He made her get upon the stool and tied her hands to the hook.  She now stood fair for his infernal purpose.



Both because of his youth and the transgression involved in seeing such a sight, Douglass narrates that he "hid [himself] in a closet, and dared not venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over."  This scene sets the stage for the brutality of slavery which will serve as a theme in the text.


In reaction to this brutality--and one of his master's claims that slaves ought not learn to read--Douglass enlists the white schoolchildren of Baltimore to help him learn to read.  His new-found literacy leads him to "The Columbian Orator" and its critique of anti-Catholic prejudice.  Upon reading this text:



Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever.  It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing.  It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition.  I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it.  It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.



As you can see from this quote, Douglass gains an ambition for "Freedom," and an overwhelming desire to be emancipated.  The crucial turning point in his emancipation comes in a physical struggle he has with his master Covey.  Because Covey threatens to beat him for insubordination, Douglass:



resolved to fight; and suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did so, I rose.  He held on to me, and I to him....  I seized him with both hands by his collar, and brought him by a sudden snatch to the ground....



After this encounter, Douglass' resolve to be free solidifies, and he eventually escapes from slavery, though he does not indicate how.  This newly-won freedom is not without its difficulties, however.  When working at a shipyard in Baltimore, he encounters racism in the white carpenters with whom he is working:



Many of the black carpenters were freemen.  Things seemed to be going on very well.  All at once, the white carpenters knocked off, and said they would not work with free colored workmen.  Their reason for this, as alleged, was, that if free colored carpenters were encouraged, they would soon take the trade into their own hands, and poor white men would be thrown out of employment.



These four events (the beating of Aunt Hester, learning to read, fighting with Covey, and encountering Northern white racism) serve as key turning points in the Narrative, exemplifying many of its major themes such as human rights, slave self-determination, and the importance of literacy.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

What is the urinary system?


Structure and Functions

The urinary system consists of two kidneys, two ureters, a urinary bladder, and a urethra. The kidneys function to remove metabolic waste from the blood, maintain proper water balance for the body, and maintain the proper acid-base balance in the blood. The ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra are involved in the moving of the urine formed in the kidneys to the external environment. The kidneys play the major role in the function of the urinary system.



Most people have two kidneys, located at the lower end of the rib cage and lying against the back of the body wall. Typically, the right kidney is positioned a little lower than the left kidney because the right kidney is pushed down by the liver. An adult kidney is about 12.5 centimeters long, 7.5 centimeters wide, and 2.5 centimeters thick and is shaped like a kidney bean. Each kidney is surrounded by a thick layer of fat, which is important for holding the kidneys in their normal body position.


Inside each kidney is a lighter outer region called the renal cortex. Deep in the cortex is a darker layer called the renal medulla. Within the cortex and medulla are found tiny structures called nephrons. Each kidney contains approximately one million nephrons, most of which are in the renal cortex. Nephrons are the functional units of the kidney, carrying out the processes involved in urine formation.


Each nephron consists of two main parts, the glomerulus and the renal tubule. The glomerulus is composed of a knot of capillaries that fit inside the Bowman’s capsule, the cup-shaped head of the renal tubule. The rest of the
renal tubule is about 2.5 centimeters long. The neck of the renal tubule undergoes a high degree of coiling and twisting just before it makes a hairpin loop. This part of the renal tubule is called the proximal convoluted tubule. The hairpin loop of the renal tubule is termed the loop of Henle. After coming out of this loop, the renal tubule again undergoes a high degree of coiling and twisting and is called the distal convoluted tubule. The distal convoluted tubule then enters another tube, the collecting duct. Surrounding and encasing the renal tubule is the peritubular capillary bed.


Urine formation occurs in the nephron and is the result of three processes: glomerular filtration, tubular reabsorption, and tubular secretion. The glomerulus acts as a filter. This process of glomerular filtration occurs as a result of the capillaries in the glomerulus being somewhat leaky as compared to other capillaries in the body. This process of filtration is a passive process that does not require any metabolic energy. High pressure in the glomerular capillaries causes the formation of a filtrate that consists primarily of blood, except that it lacks the red blood cells and blood proteins. (Both red blood cells and blood proteins are too large to pass through the leaky glomerular capillaries.) The filtrate contains the metabolic waste as well as the many useful substances found in the blood, including glucose, amino acids, vitamins, and water. This filtrate will be continually formed as long as the systemic
blood
pressure is normal.


The filtrate that is formed is caught in the Bowman’s capsule of the renal tubule. From here, the filtrate will pass into the proximal convoluted tubule. Rather than losing the useful substances in the urine, the nephron works to put them back into the blood through the process of tubular reabsorption. Tubular reabsorption begins as soon as the filtrate enters the proximal convoluted tubule. Cells within the tubule take up needed substances from the filtrate and pass them out to the space between the proximal convoluted tubule and the surrounding peritubular capillaries. Once these useful substances are brought into this space, termed the extracellular space, they can be absorbed back into the blood contained within the peritubular capillaries. Some of this reabsorption is passive, not requiring any metabolic energy; water is an example of a substance that is reabsorbed passively. Most substances, however, depend on membrane transporters to carry them out to the extracellular space. These membrane transporters require metabolic energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). There are a large number of membrane transporters for those substances that need to be reabsorbed, and few if any transporters for those substances that do not need to be
transported. This imbalance helps to explain why substances such as glucose and amino acids are almost completely reabsorbed back into the blood while metabolic waste products such as urea and uric acid are not.


The process of tubular secretion occurs in the loop of Henle and is essentially opposite to that of tubular reabsorption, with substances taken from the blood and put back into the filtrate. Some substances that are secreted from the blood and into the filtrate include hydrogen and potassium ions, ammonium ions, and certain drugs (for example, penicillin). It is the process of tubular secretion that allows the kidneys to remove toxins and drugs from the body, as well as to maintain the acid-base balance of the blood.


The regulation of the volume of urine secreted is controlled by the distal convoluted tubules and the collecting ducts to which they attach. After the filtrate has gone through the proximal convoluted tubules and the loop of Henle, it is fairly concentrated and therefore does not contain a large amount of water. The distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct are impermeable to water when a substance called vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is present, in which case the filtrate will contain little water and the final urine volume will be small. If ADH is not present, the distal convoluted tubule and collecting ducts become permeable to water and, because the concentration of solutes is higher in the distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct, water enters into these two structures from the blood. The result is a dilution of the filtrate, with an increased water content and a large volume of urine. The role of ADH in determining urine volume can be seen with the ingestion of alcohol or coffee, both of which inhibit ADH release from the pituitary gland: The distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct become permeable to water, and the
urine volume and the frequency of urination increase. It is by this mechanism that the kidneys regulate the body’s water balance.


Once the urine is formed in the kidney, it will flow into a tube, the ureter. The ureters, one for each kidney, are passageways that carry urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. Because the ureters run downward from the kidney, it might seem that the movement of urine to the urinary bladder is created by gravity. In reality, the ureters, which are stretchy and muscular tubes, contract at a rate of one to five times per minute to force the urine toward the bladder, a process termed peristalsis (the same type of contractions that move food through the digestive system). Where the ureters enter the urinary bladder, small, valvelike folds prevent the backflow of urine from the urinary bladder toward the kidneys.


The urinary bladder is a muscular, collapsible sac located in the pelvic cavity. When the bladder is empty, it is only 5.0 to 7.5 centimeters long and its walls are thrown into folds. As urine enters the bladder, it causes the organ to expand. A moderately full bladder is about 12.5 centimeters long and will contain approximately one-half of a liter of urine. A completely full bladder is capable of holding approximately 1 liter of fluid. The kidneys are continually forming urine. Thus, the bladder acts as a temporary storage unit for urine, allowing the individual to empty the bladder when it is convenient.


The urethra is a thin-walled tube that carries urine from the urinary bladder to the exterior of the body. Near where the urethra exits the urinary bladder is a band of smooth muscle that makes up the internal urethral sphincter. This sphincter, which is not under conscious control, acts to keep the urethra shut when urine is not being voided. A second sphincter, the external urethral sphincter, is found farther down the length of the urethra and is composed of skeletal muscle. This sphincter is under voluntary control: when it is not convenient to void the urine, this sphincter is used to prevent urination.


The urge to urinate is brought about by the stretching of the bladder. Ordinarily, the urge to urinate occurs when the bladder contains about 200 milliliters (almost 7 ounces) of urine. This amount of urine causes a stretching of the bladder that sends impulses to the spinal cord initiating the contraction of the urinary bladder. The contractions of the urinary bladder force urine past the internal urethral sphincter. At this time, a person will feel the need to void the urine, a process termed urination or micturition.




Disorders and Diseases

Renal and urinary disorders can be categorized based on their mechanism of action and the portion of the urinary system that they affect. These disorders include obstructive disorders that interfere with normal urine flow anywhere within the urinary tract, urinary tract infections, and glomerular disorders, which affect the glomeruli in the kidneys.


Obstructive disorders of the urinary system can be caused by many different factors. Obstruction of the passage of the urine will usually cause a backing up of the urine into the kidney or kidneys. The result is a swelling of the kidney termed hydronephrosis.


Perhaps the most common obstruction is caused by kidney stones, also referred to as renal calculi. Kidney stones consist of crystallized minerals such as calcium, magnesium, or uric acid salts that form hard stones in the distal end of the collecting ducts. If the stones are small, they will pass through the remainder of the urinary tract. Larger stones, however, get caught in the ureters, thus blocking the passage of urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. This blockage usually results in intense pain as the ureters rhythmically contract in an effort to dislodge the stone; this condition is sometimes referred to as renal colic. If the stone does not move from its position of blockage, a buildup of urine in the kidney may occur; if this continues, damage may be done to the kidneys.


Damage to the nerves that innervate the bladder, termed neurogenic bladder, can also result in an obstructive disorder. Damage to these nerves results in the loss of normal control over the voiding of urine from the bladder. Consequently, there is a retention of urine in the bladder since there is no signal telling the bladder to contract.


Tumors of the urinary system may also cause obstruction of urine flow. Another cause of obstruction is the loss of the fat surrounding the kidney. When this occurs, one or both kidneys may drop from their normal position, a condition referred to as renal ptosis. When the kidneys drop, there is a chance that the ureters exiting the kidney may become kinked and prevent the normal flow of urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder.


Urinary tract infections are usually caused by bacteria and can involve the urethra, ureters, urinary bladder, kidneys, or all the above. Urinary infections in the urethra are termed urethritis and result in the inflammation of the urethra. The two most common bacterial infections involved in urethritis are gonorrhea and chlamydia. Males are more likely than females to have urethritis.


Cystitis refers to any inflammation of the urinary bladder. This condition usually results from bacterial infections, but it may also be caused by tumors or by the presence of stones in the bladder. Cystitis occurs more frequently in women than in men and is characterized by pelvic pain, a frequent urge to urinate, and possibly blood in the urine.


Nephritis is a general term used to describe inflammatory kidney diseases. The inflammation of the nephrons within the kidney is referred to as pyelonephritis. Pyelonephritis is often attributable to bacterial infection but may also be caused by viral infections, tumors, kidney stones, or pregnancy.


Glomerulonephritis is a term that refers to any type of glomerular disorder. It can be further subdivided into two categories: acute glomerulonephritis and chronic glomerulonephritis. Acute glomerulonephritis is the most common form and may be caused by bacterial infection. Chronic glomerulonephritis refers to noninfectious kidney disorders. It commonly occurs when the immune system reacts to and destroys the body’s own glomeruli. This type of glomerulonephritis eventually leads to kidney failure. Acute glomerulonephritis, if it is left untreated or it does not respond to treatment, can become chronic glomerulonephritis.


Renal (kidney) failure is simply the inability of the kidneys to form urine. Renal failure can be classified as either acute or chronic. Acute renal failure is the abrupt loss of kidney function, which may result from excessive loss of blood, severe burns, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis, or infection or obstruction of the urinary tract. Chronic renal failure is the slow destruction of the nephrons in the kidney. This form of renal failure may result from infections, glomerulonephritis, tumors, obstructive disorders, or autoimmune diseases. Unless the progression of nephron loss is stopped, chronic renal failure will eventually lead to death.


Diabetes insipidus is a disease that does not directly attack the urinary system, but it has a profound effect on the urinary system through its influence on the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. With diabetes insipidus, the pituitary gland fails to release antidiuretic hormone, as a result of an injury or tumor of the posterior portion of the pituitary gland or hypothalamus. Because of the decreased amount of antidiuretic hormone, large amounts of urine, and thus water, are flushed from the body daily. If left untreated, diabetes insipidus can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. To offset the loss of water in the urine, individuals with diabetes insipidus must drink large amounts of water.




Perspective and Prospects

The complexity of the human kidney can be seen in science’s inability to build an artificial kidney that is continuously functional and can be inserted into the body in place of the normal kidney. Until the development of tubing that contained miniature holes (dialysis tubing), kidney failure nearly always resulted in death. Dialysis tubing allowed the development of renal dialysis, which cleanses the blood of toxic substances and helps to regulate electrolyte balance. The process of renal dialysis is carried out using a thin membrane that is permeable to only a few select substances. The tubing is immersed in a bathing solution that is very similar to normal blood plasma. As blood circulates through the tubing, toxic substances and some
electrolytes move out of the blood and into the bathing solution. This dialysis tubing and the bathing solution are often referred to as an artificial kidney. Dialysis is usually done three times a week, with each session requiring about four to eight hours. Although effective, dialysis is a far cry from the functioning of the human kidney and is no cure for chronic renal failure. When the kidneys are no longer functioning, the only hope is a kidney transplant.


Because the kidneys are so effective at filtering unneeded substances out of the blood, the urine formed by the kidney is the principal
fluid used for
drug testing and drug screening. Furthermore, the kidney also secretes some white blood cells into the urine. As techniques continue to develop, it will be possible to perform genetic tests on these white blood cells to determine genetic traits such as sex and the color of hair and eyes, as well as the possibility of the presence of genetic diseases or personality traits. Such technology could have considerable impact on the future of individual privacy, as many companies and employers require a mandatory analysis of urine, primarily for the presence of drugs in the urine, prior to the possibility of employment. Thus, with a simple urine sample, the company could know not only the possible drug use of prospective employees but also their genetic makeup.




Bibliography


Greenberg, Arthur, et al., eds. Primer on Kidney Diseases. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier, 2009.



Guyton, Arthur C., and John E. Hall. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. 12th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier, 2011.



Marieb, Elaine N. Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology. 10th ed. San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, 2012.



Marieb, Elaine N., and Katja Hoehn. Human Anatomy and Physiology. 9th ed. San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, 2010.



O’Callaghan, C. A., and Barry Brenner. The Kidney at a Glance. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science, 2000.



Patt, Gail R. Carola Human Anatomy and Physiology. 3d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.



Thibodeau, Gary A., and Kevin T. Patton. Anatomy and Physiology. 8th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby/Elsevier, 2013.



"Your Urinary System and How It Works." National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, June 29, 2012.

How does "A Retrieved Reformation" relate to the real world?

There are many people today who think that a life of crime is easy, glamorous, and luxurious. Most of them end up in prison sooner or later. They build records and are hounded by the law. They are perpetually on the lam and can never put down roots or make real friends. They can't trust anybody. They live in furnished rooms and eat in fast-food places. They get hooked on liquor and drugs. A lot of them die young.


O. Henry used Jimmy Valentine as an example of a crook who thought he was smart. Ironically, when the story opens he is serving time in prison. His success as a safecracker has not brought him a lot of money, but it has brought him a lot of notoriety. He would like to keep a low profile, but he can't. He is forced to move to a different state and assume a new identity. Ben Price, the detective, is after him because his last three bank jobs were so expertly done that they practically bore Jimmy's signature. Once Jimmy decides to go straight, he discovers that a person who has the qualifications to be a successful criminal can use those same talents--brains, personality, nerve, specialized skills--to become successful in the "real world." This is as true today as it was in O. Henry's day. O. Henry meant his message sincerely, based on his personal experience and observation of career criminals he met while serving three years in state prison for embezzlement. 


O. Henry's message to young men is contained in the letter Jimmy Valentine writes to an old criminal pal.



Say, Billy, I've quit the old business—a year ago. I've got a nice store. I'm making an honest living, and I'm going to marry the finest girl on earth two weeks from now. It's the only life, Billy—the straight one. I wouldn't touch a dollar of another man's money now for a million. 


Saturday, August 20, 2016

What is Calpurnia's dilemma in Chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem notice a dog named Old Tim Johnson coming down the road that runs along the Radley Place, and he looks very sick. The children return home to tell Calpurnia what they saw, and she deduces that the dog might be rabid. After seeing the dog for herself, she is faced with warning the neighborhood and protecting the children; both tasks place her in dilemmas, meaning situations in which one must make difficult choices (Merriam-Webster).

After talking on the phone with Atticus and getting his instructions, Calpurnia very easily speaks with the telephone operator and has her phone the neighbors on the street to warn them the dog is coming. The most challenging task is trying to inform the Radleys, and the Radley Place will be the first house the dog passes once he reaches the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the Radleys don't own a phone, don't speak with other people, and never leave their house, realities that place Calpurnia in a position to make a difficult choice. Calpurnia could decide to try and warn them in person, or she could decide to assume they will remain indoors and that she herself could stay where it is safe, inside the Finches' home. Both of these choices represent a dilemma. Calpurnia, being a brave person, decides to run out to the Radley Place, bang on the front door and shout, "Mr. Nathan, Mr. Arthur, mad dog's comin'! Mad dog's comin'!" (Ch. 10). Her efforts seem to fail since she receives no reply, and she must return back to the Finches' home.

Her task of keeping the Finch children protected is a little easier than warning the Radleys but also places her in a dilemma. Though it is easy to keep the children inside of the house and away from the dog, she is faced with the decision of protecting them from the terrible vision of seeing the dog being shot or of allowing them to witness one of the brutalities of reality. Calpurnia arrives back at the Finches' porch just as Sheriff Heck Tate and Atticus drive up; Sheriff Tate has his riffle. Atticus orders the children to stay inside the house. As soon as the dog comes within shooting range, with the children already inside the house, Calpurina makes her choice, and Scout describes Calpurnia as having "opened the screen door, latched it behind her, then unlatched it and held onto the hook" (Ch. 10). Scout further narrates that Calpurnia "tried to block Jem and me with her body, but we looked out from beneath her arms" (Ch. 10). Since Calpurnia is obviously trying to block the children's view as well as keep them inside of the house, it is clear that she made the choice to try and protect the children from seeing the dog being shot. Yet, regardless of her efforts, the children witness the dog being shot, not by Sheriff Tate but by their father, a vision that truly surprises them since they had come to the conclusion Atticus wasn't good at anything due to his age.

Hence, as we can see, Calpurnia was faced with two difficult choices, or dilemmas in this chapter: (1) Attempting to warn the Radleys or keeping herself safe instead; and (2) protecting the children from a terrible vision or allowing them to face reality. Though she fails in her efforts to protect the children from the vision of the dog being shot, her failure does not seem to harm the children. Instead, they benefit from learning more about their father, whose actions and restraints teach them a lesson in humility.

Analyze the poem "The Sea" by James Reeves.

“The Sea” by James Reeves is a three stanza poem that includes the use of metaphor, imagery, onomatopoeia, and varied rhyming schemes.


In the first stanza, the poet uses a metaphor to say “The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray.” Reeves continues the comparison by describing how the waves lap upon the sand in the same way that a dog would bound endlessly through the day, thus giving the sea the qualities of the dog. This metaphor is carried throughout the poem. The poet is describing the sea on a rough, gray day in this nine-line stanza, which has an ABBCCDDDC rhyming scheme. Using vivid imagery, the reader can see and feel the wildness of the ocean as it crashes along the shore all day long. The word “moan” is an example of onomatopoeia in this stanza.


In the shorter second stanza, Reeves describes the sea at night still comparing it to the actions and sounds of the dog. The sea rushes up higher on the “cliffs” while “howling” as the moon rises. It has an ABCCB rhyming pattern.


In the final stanza, the dog metaphor continues but the setting changes to a warm, calm day. The sea is compared to a dog lounging in the sun as it laps quietly along the sand. AAABCC is the rhyming pattern for the final stanza.


There is no obvious theme or deep meaning to the poem. It is direct in its metaphorical description of the sea.

Friday, August 19, 2016

What were the revelations that John Dean gave to the Ervin Committee?

Essentially, John Dean testified that Richard Nixon, contrary to his assurances, was directly involved in the cover-up of the Watergate burglaries. He detailed how the Nixon administration (which included Dean himself, Nixon's chief counsel) evaded, stonewalled, and prevaricated around telling the truth about Watergate. He implicated Nixon and his Attorney General John Mitchell in particular, alleging that they had Most of what Dean testified--he was very specific about the amount of hush money paid to various players in the scandal--had been revealed to investigators already, but his testimony before the committee was a major turning point in the scandal. He was the most highly-placed figure in the administration to go public with what he knew. Later, his charges would be corroborated by audio tapes recorded by Nixon himself. Dean wound up serving a short prison sentence for his role (he openly confessed it) in the cover-up.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, what are some adjectives to describe the characters of Atticus, Jem, and Calpurnia.*Provide quotes to support...

Genuine: Jem, Atticus, and Calpurnia are all genuine individuals. They are honest with each other and try their best to help others throughout the novel. Jem looks up to his father, and Atticus teaches his son many important life lessons. Atticus defends Calpurnia's character when Aunt Alexandra suggests that he fire Cal, and Calpurnia looks after Atticus' children as if she was their mother. All three characters support each other and express genuine interest and care for one another throughout To Kill a Mockingbird.


Loyal: Jem is fiercely loyal to his father, Atticus. Jem reveres Atticus and risks danger to make sure his father is safe. In Chapter 15, Atticus is surrounded outside of the Maycomb jailhouse by a drunken mob who wants to lynch Tom Robinson. Jem, Scout, and Dill follow Atticus to the jailhouse, and when Scout runs out to see her father, Jem is close behind. Atticus tells Jem to go home and take Scout and Dill with him. Scout comments on Jem's reaction to his father's directive to leave by saying,



"Jem shook his head. Atticus's fists went to his hips, so did Jem's, and as they faced each other I could see little resemblance between them: Jem's soft brown hair and eyes, his oval face and snug-fitting ears were out mother's, contrasting oddly with Atticus's graying black hair and square-cut features, but they were somehow alike. Mutual defiance made them alike" (Lee 203).



Jem displays his loyalty to his father by refusing to leave Atticus in a dangerous situation. Despite Atticus' directives to "go home," Jem stands in defiance because he will not leave his father's side.


Tolerant: Atticus is the novel's morally upright character, and one of his predominant character traits is that of tolerance. Instead of reacting out of anger to racist remarks and various insults, he keeps his cool and displays tolerance. In Chapter 11, Atticus encourages his children not to let Mrs. Dubose's comments bother them and to act respectfully no matter what she says. Atticus says,



"She's an old lady and she's ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it's your job not to let her make you mad" (Lee 133).



Instead of telling his children that Mrs. Dubose is an ignorant racist, he tells them that it is not her fault and encourages them to exercise tolerance.


Accomplished: Calpurnia is the Finch's African American cook. In Chapter 12, she takes Jem and Scout to her church and the children find out several interesting facts about Calpurnia's life. Jem is awestruck when he finds out that Calpurnia taught her son how to read from the challenging book Blackstone's Commentaries. After Scout hears Calpurnia speak to her fellow community members, she says,



"That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages" (Lee 167).



Calpurnia had the unique ability to read and write, which was uncommon for African Americans living in the Deep South during the 1930s. Calpurnia was also respected throughout her community and was able to converse with both black and white members of Maycomb with relative ease.

What is brain structure?


Introduction

About two weeks after conception, a fluid-filled cavity called the neural tube begins to form on the back of the human embryo. This neural tube will sink under the surface of the skin, and the two major structures of the central nervous system
(CNS) will begin to differentiate. The top part of the tube will enlarge and become the brain; the bottom part will become the spinal cord. The cavity will persist through development and become the fluid-filled central canal of the spinal cord and the four ventricles of the brain. The ventricles and the central canal contain cerebrospinal fluid, a clear plasmalike fluid that supports and cushions the brain and also provides nutritive and eliminative functions for the CNS. At birth, the average human brain weighs approximately twelve ounces (350 grams), a quarter of the size of the average adult brain, which is about three pounds (1,200 to 1,400 grams). Development of the brain in the first year is rapid, with the brain doubling in weight in the first six months.









The development of different brain areas depends on intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Internally, chemicals called neurotrophins promote the survival of neurons, the basic cells of the nervous system that are specialized to communicate electrochemically with one another, and help determine where and when those neurons will form connections and become diverse neurological structures. Externally, diverse experiences enhance the survival of neurons and play a major role in the degree of development of different neurological areas. Research has demonstrated that the greater the exposure a child receives to a particular experience, the greater the development of the neurological area involved in processing that type of stimulation. Although this phenomenon occurs throughout the life span, the greatest impact of environmental stimulation in restructuring and reorganizing the brain occurs in the earliest years of life.


Experience can alter the shape of the brain, but its basic architecture is determined before birth. The brain consists of three major subdivisions: the hindbrain (rhombencephalon, or “parallelogram-brain”), the midbrain (mesencephalon, or “midbrain”), and the forebrain (prosencephalon, or “forward brain”). The hindbrain is further subdivided into the myelencephalon (“marrow-brain”) and the metencephalon (“after-brain”), while the forebrain is divided into the diencephalon (“between-brain”) and the telencephalon (“end-brain”). To visualize roughly the locations of these brain areas in a person, one can hold an arm out, bend the elbow ninety degrees, and make a fist. If the forearm is the spinal cord, where the wrist enlarges into the base of the hand corresponds to the hindbrain, with the metencephalon farther up than the myelencephalon. The palm of the hand, enclosed by the fingers, would be the midbrain. The fingers would be analogous to the forebrain, with the topmost surface parts of the fingers being the telencephalon.


One can take the analogy a step further. If a fist is made with the fingers of the other hand and placed next to the fist previously made, each fist would represent the two cerebral hemispheres of the forebrain, with the skin of the fingers representing the forebrain’s cerebral cortex, the six layers of cells that cover the two hemispheres. Finally, the meninges cover the cortex like close-fitting gloves. The three layers of the meninges play a protective and nutritive role for the brain.


The more advanced the species, the greater the development of the forebrain, particularly the cortex. The emphasis here is placed on a neuroanatomical examination of the human brain, beginning with a look at the hindbrain and progressing to an investigation of the cerebral cortex. The terms “anterior” (toward the front) and “posterior” (toward the back) will be used frequently in describing the location of different brain structures. Additionally, the words “superior” (above) and “inferior” (below) will be used to describe vertical locations.



The Forebrain

Right above the midbrain, in the center of the brain, lies the thalamus, which is the center of sensory processing. All incoming sensory information except for the sense of smell goes to the thalamus first before it is sent on to the cerebral cortex and other areas of the brain. Anterior to and slightly below the thalamus is the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic activity is involved in numerous motivated behaviors such as eating, drinking, sexual activity, temperature regulation, and aggression, largely through its regulation of the pituitary gland, which is attached beneath the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland controls the release of hormones that circulate in the endocrine system.



Subcortical Structures

Numerous structures lie beneath the cerebral cortex in pairs, one in each hemisphere. Many of these structures are highly interconnected with one another and are therefore seen to be part of a system. Furthermore, most of the subcortical structures can be categorized as belonging to one of two major systems. Surrounding the thalamus is one system called the basal ganglia, which is most prominently involved in movements and muscle tone. The basal ganglia deteriorate in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, both disorders of motor activity. The three major structures of the basal ganglia are the caudate nucleus and putamen, which form the striatum, and the globus pallidus. The activities of the basal ganglia extend beyond motor control. The striatum, for instance, plays a significant role in the learning of habits as well as in obsessive-compulsive disorder, a disorder of excessive habits. In addition, disorders of memory, attention, and emotional expression (especially depression) frequently involve abnormal functioning of the basal ganglia.


The nucleus basalis, while not considered part of the basal ganglia, nevertheless is highly interconnected with those structures (and the hypothalamus) and receives direct input from them. Nucleus basalis activity is essential for attention and arousal.


The other major subcortical system is the limbic system, which was originally thought to be involved in motivated or emotional behaviors and little else. Later research, however, demonstrated that many of these structures are crucial for memory formation. The fact that people have heightened recall for emotionally significant events is likely a consequence of the limbic system’s strong involvement in both memory and motivation or emotion.


Two limbic structures are essential for memory formation. The hippocampus
plays the key role in making personal events and facts into long-term memories. For a person to remember information of this nature for more than thirty minutes, the hippocampus must be active. In people with Alzheimer’s disease, deterioration of the hippocampus is accompanied by memory loss. Brain damage involving the hippocampus is manifested by amnesias, indecisiveness, and confusion. The hippocampus takes several years to develop fully. This is thought to be a major reason that adults tend to remember very little from their first five years of life, a phenomenon called infantile amnesia.


The second limbic structure that is essential for learning and memory is the amygdala, which provides the hippocampus with information about the emotional context of events. It is also crucial for emotional perception, particularly in determining how threatening events are. When a person feels threatened, his or her amygdala will become very active. Early experiences in life can fine-tune how sensitive a person’s amygdala will be to potentially threatening events. A child raised in an abusive environment will likely develop an amygdala that is oversensitive, predisposing that person to interpret too many circumstances as threatening. Two additional limbic structures work with the amygdala in the perception and expression of threatening events, the septal nuclei and the cingulate gyrus. High activity in the former structure inclines one to interpret events as nonthreatening, while activity in the latter structure is linked to positive or negative emotional expressions such as worried, happy, or angry looks.


Other major structures of the limbic system include the olfactory bulbs and nuclei, the nucleus accumbens, and the mammillary bodies. The olfactory bulbs and nuclei are the primary structures for smell perception. Experiencing pleasure involves the nucleus accumbens, which is also often stimulated by anything that can become addictive. The mammillary bodies are involved in learning and memory.




Cortical Lobes

The most complex thinking abilities are primarily attributable to the thin layers that cover the two cerebral hemispheres, known as the cortex. It is this covering of the brain that makes for the greatest differences between the intellectual capabilities of humans and those of other animals. Both hemispheres are typically divided into four main lobes, the distinct cortical areas of specialized functioning. There are, however, many differences between people, not only in the relative size of different lobes but also in how much cerebral cortex is not directly attributable to any of the four lobes.


The occipital lobe is located at the back of the cerebral cortex. The most posterior tissue of this lobe is called the striate cortex, due to its distinctive striped appearance. The striate cortex is also called the primary visual cortex because it is where mostvisual information is eventually processed. Each of the layers of this cortical area is specialized to analyze different features of visual input. The synthesis of visual information and the interpretation of that result involve other lobes of the brain. The occipital lobe also plays the primary role in various aspects of spatial reasoning. Activities such as spatial orientation, map reading, or knowing what an object will look like if rotated a certain amount of degrees all depend on this lobe.


Looking down on the top of the brain, a deep groove called the central sulcus can be seen roughly in the middle of the brain. Between the central sulcus and the occipital lobe is the parietal lobe. The parietal lobe’s predominant function is the processing of the bodily sensations: taste, touch, temperature, pain, and kinesthesia (feedback from muscles and joints). A parietal band of tissue called the postcentral gyrus that is adjacent to the central sulcus (posterior and runs parallel to it) contains the somatosensory cortex in which the surface of the body is represented upside down in a maplike fashion. Each location along this cortical area corresponds to sensations from a different body part. Furthermore, the left side of the body is represented on the right hemisphere and vice versa. Damage to the right parietal cortex usually leads to sensory neglect of the left side of the body—the person ignores sensory input from that side. However, damage to the left parietal cortex causes no or little sensory neglect of the right side of the body.


The parietal lobe is involved with some aspects of distance sensation. The posterior parietal lobe plays a role in the visual location of objects and the bringing together of different types of sensory information, such as coordinating sight and sound when a person looks at someone who just called his or her name. Some aspects of the learning of language also engage the operation of the parietal cortex.


On the sides of each hemisphere, next to the temples of the head, reside the temporal lobes. The lobes closest to the ears are the primary sites of the interpretation of sounds. This task is accomplished in the primary auditory cortex, which is tucked into a groove in each temporal lobe called the lateral sulcus. Low-frequency sounds are analyzed on the outer part of this sulcus; higher-pitched sounds are represented deeper inside this groove. Closely linked with auditory perception are two other major functions of the temporal lobe: language and music comprehension. Posterior areas, particularly Wernicke’s area, play key roles in word understanding and retrieval. More medial areas are involved in different aspects of music perception, especially the planum temporale.


The temporal cortex is the primary site of two important visual functions. Recognition of visual objects is dependent on inferior temporal areas. These areas of the brain are very active during visual hallucinations. One area in this location, the fusiform gyrus, is very active during the perception of faces and complex visual stimuli. A superior temporal area near the conjunction of the parietal and occipital lobes is essential for reading and writing.


The temporal lobe is in close proximity to, and shares strong connections with, the limbic system. Thus, it is not surprising that the temporal lobe plays a significant role in memory and emotions. Damage to the temporal cortex leads to major deficits in the ability to learn and in maintaining a normal emotional balance.


The largest cerebral lobe, comprising one-third of the cerebral cortex, is the frontal lobe. It is involved in the greatest variety of neurological functions. The frontal lobe consists of several anatomically distinct and functionally distinguishable areas that can be grouped into three main regions. Starting at the central sulcus, which divides the parietal and frontal lobes, and moving toward the anterior limits of the brain, one finds, in order, the precentral cortex, the premotor cortex, and the prefrontal cortex. Each of these areas is responsible for different types of activities.


In 1870, German physicians Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig were the first to stimulate the brain electrically. They found that stimulating different regions of the precentral cortex resulted in different parts of the body moving. Subsequent research identified a “motor map” that represents the body in a fashion similar to the adjacent and posteriorly located somatosensory map of the parietal lobe. The precentral cortex, therefore, can be considered the primary area for the execution of movements.


The premotor cortex is more responsible for planning the operations of the precentral cortex. In other words, the premotor cortex generates the plan to pick up a pencil, while the precentral cortex directs the arm to do so. Thinking about picking up the pencil but not actually doing so involves more activity in the premotor cortex than in the precentral cortex. An inferior premotor area essential for speaking was discovered in 1861 by Paul Broca and has since been named for him. Broca’s area, usually found only in the left hemisphere, is responsible for coordinating the various operations necessary for the production of speech.


The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain most responsible for a variety of complex thinking activities, foremost among them being decision making and abstract reasoning. Damage to the prefrontal cortex often leads to an impaired ability to make decisions, rendering the person lethargic and greatly lacking in spontaneous behavior. Numerous aspects of abstract reasoning, such as planning, organizing, keeping time, and thinking hypothetically, are also greatly disturbed by injuries to the prefrontal cortex.


Research with patients who have prefrontal disturbances has demonstrated the important role of this neurological area in personality and social behavior. Patients with posterior prefrontal damage exhibit many symptoms of depression, such as apathy, restlessness, irritability, lack of drive, and lack of ambition. Anterior abnormalities, particularly in an inferior prefrontal region called the orbitofrontal area, result in numerous symptoms of psychopathy, including lack of restraint, impulsiveness, egocentricity, lack of responsibility for one’s actions, and indifference to others’ opinions and rights.


The prefrontal cortex also contributes to the emotional value of decisions, smell perception, working memory (the current ability to use memory), and the capacity to concentrate or shift attention. Children correctly diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have prefrontal abnormalities.




Hemispheric Differences

The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by a large band of fibers called the corpus callosum and several small connections called commissures. In the early 1940s, American surgeon William van Wagenen, to stop epileptic seizures from crossing from one hemisphere to the other, performed the first procedure of cutting the two hundred million fibers of the corpus callosum. The results were mixed, however, and it was not until the 1960s that two other American surgeons, Joe Bogen and Philip Vogel, decided to try the operation again, this time also including some cutting of commissure fibers. The results reduced or stopped the seizures in most patients. However, extensive testing by American psychobiologist Roger Sperry and his colleagues demonstrated unique behavioral changes in the patients, called split-brain syndrome. Research with split-brain syndrome and less invasive imaging techniques of the brain, such as computed tomography (CT) and positron-emission tomography (PET) scans, has demonstrated many anatomical and functional differences between the left and right hemispheres.


The degree of differences between the two cerebral hemispheres varies greatly depending on a number of factors. Men develop greater lateralization—larger differences between the hemispheres—and develop the differences sooner. Those with a dominant right hand have greater lateralization than left- or mixed-handers. Therefore, when there is talk of “left brain” versus “right brain,” it is important to keep in mind that a greater degree of difference exists in right-handed men. A minority of people, usually left-handers, show little differences between the left and right hemispheres.


The right hemisphere tends to be larger and heavier than the left hemisphere, with the greatest difference in the frontal lobe. Conversely, several other neurological areas have been found to be larger in the left hemisphere, including the occipital lobe, the planum temporale, Wernicke’s area, and the Sylvian fissure. One gender difference in hemispheric operation is that the left-hemisphere amygdala is more active in women and the right-hemisphere amygdala is more active in men.


The left-brain/right-brain functional dichotomy has been the subject of much popular literature. Although there are many differences in operation between the two hemispheres, it is important to realize that many of the differences are subtle, and in many regards both hemispheres are involved in a given psychological function, only to different degrees. The most striking difference between the two hemispheres is that the right hemisphere is responsible for sensory and motor functions of the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls those same functions for the body’s right side. This contralateral control is found to a lesser degree for hearing and, due to the optic chiasm, not at all for vision.


In the domain of sound and communication, the left hemisphere plays a greater role in speech production, language comprehension, phonetic and semantic analysis, visual word recognition, grammar, verbal learning, lyric recitation, musical performance, and rhythm keeping. A greater right-hemisphere contribution is found in interpreting nonlanguage sounds, reading Braille, using emotional tone in language, understanding humor and sarcasm, expressing and interpreting nonverbal communication (facial and bodily expressions), and perceiving music. Categorical decisions, the understanding of metaphors, and the figurative aspects of language involve both hemispheres.


Regarding other domains, the right hemisphere plays a greater role in mathematical operations, but the left hemisphere is essential for remembering numerical facts and the reading and writing of numbers. Visually, the right hemisphere contributes more to mental rotation, facial perception, figure-ground distinctions, map reading, and pattern perception. Detail perception draws more on left-hemisphere resources. The right hemisphere is linked more with negative emotions, such as fear, anger, pain, and sadness, while positive affect is associated more with the left hemisphere. There are exceptions to this, however; schizophrenia, anxiety, and panic attacks have been found to be related more to increases in left-hemisphere activity.




Evans, Amanda, and Patricia Coccoma. Trauma-Informed Care: How Neuroscience Influences Practice. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.


Getz, Glen E. Applied Biological Psychology. New York: Springer, 2014. Print.


Goldberg, Stephen. Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple. 4th ed. Miami: MedMaster, 2010. Print.


Hendleman, Walter J. Atlas of Functional Neuroanatomy. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC, 2006. Print.


Ornstein, Robert. The Right Mind: Making Sense of the Hemispheres. San Diego: Harcourt, 1997. Print.


Ornstein, Robert, and Richard F. Thompson. The Amazing Brain. Boston: Houghton, 1984. Print.


Swaab, D. F. We Are Our Brains: A Neurobiography of the Brain, from the Womb to Alzheimer's. Trans. Jane Hedley-PrĂ´le. New York: Random, 2014. Print.

How does the choice of details set the tone of the sermon?

Edwards is remembered for his choice of details, particularly in this classic sermon. His goal was not to tell people about his beliefs; he ...