Sleep Cycle Essay Example

Sleep Cycle Essay Its natural to blame sleep problems on stress or physical changes that come with age. But many cases of either sleeplessness or poor sleep are caused by a handful of specific problems, most of them fixable with lifestyle changes or the help of a doctor. Here, five little-known causes of sleep problems and what to do about them. 1. Light How it disrupts sleep: You probably already know that when you stay up late under bright lights, you interrupt your bodys natural sleep-wake cycle, because light tricks your brain into remaining in daylight mode. Less well known is that the light from computer screens and iPads shining directly into your eyes at close range is especially troublesome. Why? Part of the problem is that the light from these devices is at the blue end of the spectrum, which scientists believe is particularly disruptive to circadian rhythms. Blue light, although common during the day, doesnt occur naturally during the evening. Similarly, light shining in your eyes while you sleep even very small amounts coming from, say, a lighted clock makes your brain think its morning and emerge out of deep sleep. Darkness triggers production of the hormone melatonin, the hormone that triggers sleepiness and the onset of sleep. Light prevents this release or shuts it off. The evidence: Studies have long shown that shift workers and those who work late at night have poorer sleep and higher incidences of certain conditions associated with lack of sleep than those who regularly sleep eight or nine hours at night. A recent study published in Cancer Causes amp; Control, for example, found that the countries generating the most light at night have the highest incidence of breast cancer. We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And studies at the Light Research Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that the use of computers, lighted readers, and TVs at close range is tied to a higher incidence of sleeplessness. Whos at risk: Everyone exposed to light shortly before bed or during sleep. Light is also bad for hearts, which need deep sleep to recharge. Surprising fact: Every year theres a spike in the number of heart attacks just after the start of daylight savings time in the spring. What to do: Dim the lights and turn off all lighted screens at least an hour before bed. If you use a reading light, make sure its not any brighter than necessary and doesnt shine in your eyes. Do a light police room check: Are there streetlights outside your windows? Use blackout curtains or shades and make sure they fit the windows tightly so no light seeps in around the edge. Charge laptops, phones, cameras, and other devices in another room. Use an alarm clock without a lighted dial, or turn it to face the wall. Keep a flashlight next to your bed and use it whenever you have to get up to use the bathroom or let the dog out and be careful to point it away from yourself so you dont look into the beam. Dont turn on an overhead light, and never use nightlights. If you must use a laptop, turn down the screen brightness as low as you can tolerate and prop the laptop as far away from you as your typing arms will reach. If you love eReaders, try a Kindle or other device with a screen thats not backlit. 2. Pain How it disrupts sleep: Just about any kind of pain signals sent by the brain jaw pain, headaches, back pain, or arthritis, for example disrupt sleep, lifting you from the deep, restful REM cycle into lighter sleep or causing you to sleep fitfully and partially wake up over and over, which experts call microarousals. The evidence: Surveys of chronic pain sufferers reveal that between 60 and 90 percent sleep poorly. But many dont realize that their pain is the cause of their poor sleep. This can become a vicious cycle, says Thomas Roth of the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, because even partial sleep disruptions can increase sensitivity to pain. In other words, even mild pain causes poor sleep, which in turn leads to more pain. Whos at risk: Anyone who suffers chronically painful conditions such as arthritis, back or neck pain, jaw alignment problems, dental pain, fibromyalgia, headaches, or any other type of chronic pain. Note: The p ain doesnt need to be severe; studies show that even mild pain disrupts sleep. According to Roth, frequent microarousals can occur throughout the night without your being aware of them. The result is that you never attain deep REM cycle sleep and wake up feeling tired and grumpy, but you dont know why. What to do: Take steps to treat your pain proactively. Using over-the-counter pain relief is a start, but its always best to consult with a doctor and develop a comprehensive pain-relief program. For example, you may need physical therapy to combat back and neck pain, or migraine medication if your frequent headaches might be migraines. If bruxism (teeth grinding) or jaw clenching is leading to jaw pain, a mouth guard is often the solution. 3. Disrupted breathing How it disrupts sleep: When oxygen flow to the brain is interrupted, your brain sends a warning signal that wakes you up either fully or partially, causing fitful sleep or preventing deep, restful sleep. The result: You wake feeling like you didnt sleep well, even if you were out for nine hours straight. The best known version of this is apnea, which is a complete stoppage of breathing. A much more common and less recognized problem is upper airway resistance syndrome, or UARS. In UARS, structural blockages somewhere in the airway nasal congestion, your tongue falling back and blocking the back of the throat, or just having a smaller airway to begin with begin to interfere with the flow of air. What happens is that you wake up over and over again without knowing it, but the sleep interruptions last only a few seconds, too short to be detected by a standard sleep apnea test. The evidence: Even subtle levels of restricted breathing can lead to deep brain stimulation and arousals that prevent your ability to stay in deep sleep, says otolaryngologist Steven Park, an otolaryngologist and author of Sleep, Interrupted: A Physician Reveals the #1 Reason Why So Many of Us Are Sick and Tired. You dont realize youre waking up, but your brain wakes up, so its now in a light sleep. We see people who are waking up 100 times a night. Whos at risk: People who breathe through their mouths or have chronic congestion, such as from asthma or allergies. If you sleep more poorly on your back, this can be a sign of UARS, because when you sleep on your back your tongue is more likely to sink back and block the entrance to your throat. If you have a narrow face, a thin neck, or had extensive orthodontic work to correct a crowded jaw, youre likely to be at particular risk for UARS, says Park. What to do: Start with some self-tests. Try using pillows to keep yourself on your side, or put a tennis ball in the back pocket of pajama bottoms, so you cant sleep on your back. If your nose often feels stuffed up, you might find relief with breathing strips, available at the drugstore. Another option is to try is a device designed to hold the nostrils open; brand names include Nozovent and Breathe with Eez. A saline nasal spray works for many people. If you have congestion due to seasonal allergies, try an antihistamine. (But if you take one that can act as a stimulant, such as Claritin or Sudafed, dont take it too close to bedtime. ) If none of these help, ask your doctor to refer you to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, who can evaluate whether youre a candidate for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), a nasal mask that delivers air directly through your airways. An ENT can also determine whether tongue position is causing your UARS, in which case a dental device that pushes the jaw and tongue forward can help. For many people, losing a few pounds can be the ticket to better sleep, since excess weight is linked to all kinds of breathing problems, including UARS, snoring, and sleep apnea. 4. Medications How they disrupt sleep: Medications sometimes have side effects that trigger sleeplessness or interfere with deep sleep. Most common culprits: asthma medications, corticosteroids, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants. Also, many ingredients in common medications act as stimulants. They may cause jitteriness during the day and trigger sleeplessness or prevent deep sleep at night. Example: Bronchodilators like albuterol and salmeterol, commonly used to treat asthma, bronchitis, and COPD, can amp you up and interfere with sleep, yet patients are often directed to use them at the end of the day. Other common medications that can interfere with sleep include SSRIs, such as Prozac and Paxil, and beta-blockers taken for high blood pressure and heart disease. Sometimes medications sabotage your sleep indirectly. Diuretics, for example, can interfere with sleep by causing you to use the bathroom at night. Tagamet (generic name cimetidine), taken to control reflux and ulcers, can cause sleeplessness, especially when combined with caffeine or other medications. Like many side effects, sleeplessness from medications can affect some people but not others; Propecia, used to treat hair loss, and the antihistamine loratadine (brand name Claritin) are both known to cause sleeplessness in a percentage of those who take them. Some people react to opioid pain medications with rebound sleeplessness, feeling sleepy at first but then waking up and being unable to get back to sleep. The evidence: Although every medication is tested for side effects during the FDA approval process, in many cases evidence of side effects mounts over time as a drug enters more widespread use. Albuterol has been widely reported to cause restlessness, nervousness, and sleeplessness. An article in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology also found that beta-blockers interfere with melatonin release. Recent studies have found that Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and other SSRIs affect sleep in a significant number of patients. If youre using an antidepressant, be sure to talk to your psychiatrist about any possible sleep problems and ask about alternative antidepressants if this is an issue. Whos at risk: Those taking regular medication for a chronic condition such as asthma, depression, high blood pressure, or pain. A medication that you take once is less likely to cause an ongoing sleep issue because you take it for a short period of time and are more likely to notice the side effect. When you have a chronic condition, youre more likely to attribute any sleep problems to the condition rather than the treatment. What to do: Any time youre prescribed a new medication, ask the doctor to discuss in detail all side effects you should be alert to. Its always a good idea to ask both the doctor and the pharmacist, How will this medication affect my sleep? Because some medications cause sleepiness, some interfere with sleep, and some do both, asking the question in an open-ended way will get you the most information. 5. Depression How it disrupts sleep: Fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms of depression, yet many people dont realize how closely related depression and poor sleep can be. Depression wreaks havoc with your natural biological rhythms; many people with depression have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, and they oversleep or get fatigued and nap during the day. Yet their sleep is fitful and of poor quality, so despite spending more hours ostensibly sleeping or trying to sleep, they dont feel well rested. Then at night, depression sufferers often have trouble maintaining a regular bedtime routine. Having slept late in the morning or napped late in the day, they may not feel sleepy. Anxiety, which often accompanies depression, may cause excessive late-night worry that contributes to sleeplessness. The evidence: Because the relationship between depression and insomnia is a chicken-and-egg cycle, experts have studied it from both directions. Psychological studies have found that a high proportion of those with depression suffer from either sleeplessness or disrupted sleep, and a recent study by the University of Maryland found that 40 to 60 percent of people Sleep Cycle Essay Example Sleep Cycle Essay Its natural to blame sleep problems on stress or physical changes that come with age. But many cases of either sleeplessness or poor sleep are caused by a handful of specific problems, most of them fixable with lifestyle changes or the help of a doctor. Here, five little-known causes of sleep problems and what to do about them. 1. Light How it disrupts sleep: You probably already know that when you stay up late under bright lights, you interrupt your bodys natural sleep-wake cycle, because light tricks your brain into remaining in daylight mode. Less well known is that the light from computer screens and iPads shining directly into your eyes at close range is especially troublesome. Why? Part of the problem is that the light from these devices is at the blue end of the spectrum, which scientists believe is particularly disruptive to circadian rhythms. Blue light, although common during the day, doesnt occur naturally during the evening. Similarly, light shining in your eyes while you sleep even very small amounts coming from, say, a lighted clock makes your brain think its morning and emerge out of deep sleep. Darkness triggers production of the hormone melatonin, the hormone that triggers sleepiness and the onset of sleep. Light prevents this release or shuts it off. The evidence: Studies have long shown that shift workers and those who work late at night have poorer sleep and higher incidences of certain conditions associated with lack of sleep than those who regularly sleep eight or nine hours at night. A recent study published in Cancer Causes amp; Control, for example, found that the countries generating the most light at night have the highest incidence of breast cancer. We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sleep Cycle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And studies at the Light Research Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that the use of computers, lighted readers, and TVs at close range is tied to a higher incidence of sleeplessness. Whos at risk: Everyone exposed to light shortly before bed or during sleep. Light is also bad for hearts, which need deep sleep to recharge. Surprising fact: Every year theres a spike in the number of heart attacks just after the start of daylight savings time in the spring. What to do: Dim the lights and turn off all lighted screens at least an hour before bed. If you use a reading light, make sure its not any brighter than necessary and doesnt shine in your eyes. Do a light police room check: Are there streetlights outside your windows? Use blackout curtains or shades and make sure they fit the windows tightly so no light seeps in around the edge. Charge laptops, phones, cameras, and other devices in another room. Use an alarm clock without a lighted dial, or turn it to face the wall. Keep a flashlight next to your bed and use it whenever you have to get up to use the bathroom or let the dog out and be careful to point it away from yourself so you dont look into the beam. Dont turn on an overhead light, and never use nightlights. If you must use a laptop, turn down the screen brightness as low as you can tolerate and prop the laptop as far away from you as your typing arms will reach. If you love eReaders, try a Kindle or other device with a screen thats not backlit. 2. Pain How it disrupts sleep: Just about any kind of pain signals sent by the brain jaw pain, headaches, back pain, or arthritis, for example disrupt sleep, lifting you from the deep, restful REM cycle into lighter sleep or causing you to sleep fitfully and partially wake up over and over, which experts call microarousals. The evidence: Surveys of chronic pain sufferers reveal that between 60 and 90 percent sleep poorly. But many dont realize that their pain is the cause of their poor sleep. This can become a vicious cycle, says Thomas Roth of the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, because even partial sleep disruptions can increase sensitivity to pain. In other words, even mild pain causes poor sleep, which in turn leads to more pain. Whos at risk: Anyone who suffers chronically painful conditions such as arthritis, back or neck pain, jaw alignment problems, dental pain, fibromyalgia, headaches, or any other type of chronic pain. Note: The p ain doesnt need to be severe; studies show that even mild pain disrupts sleep. According to Roth, frequent microarousals can occur throughout the night without your being aware of them. The result is that you never attain deep REM cycle sleep and wake up feeling tired and grumpy, but you dont know why. What to do: Take steps to treat your pain proactively. Using over-the-counter pain relief is a start, but its always best to consult with a doctor and develop a comprehensive pain-relief program. For example, you may need physical therapy to combat back and neck pain, or migraine medication if your frequent headaches might be migraines. If bruxism (teeth grinding) or jaw clenching is leading to jaw pain, a mouth guard is often the solution. 3. Disrupted breathing How it disrupts sleep: When oxygen flow to the brain is interrupted, your brain sends a warning signal that wakes you up either fully or partially, causing fitful sleep or preventing deep, restful sleep. The result: You wake feeling like you didnt sleep well, even if you were out for nine hours straight. The best known version of this is apnea, which is a complete stoppage of breathing. A much more common and less recognized problem is upper airway resistance syndrome, or UARS. In UARS, structural blockages somewhere in the airway nasal congestion, your tongue falling back and blocking the back of the throat, or just having a smaller airway to begin with begin to interfere with the flow of air. What happens is that you wake up over and over again without knowing it, but the sleep interruptions last only a few seconds, too short to be detected by a standard sleep apnea test. The evidence: Even subtle levels of restricted breathing can lead to deep brain stimulation and arousals that prevent your ability to stay in deep sleep, says otolaryngologist Steven Park, an otolaryngologist and author of Sleep, Interrupted: A Physician Reveals the #1 Reason Why So Many of Us Are Sick and Tired. You dont realize youre waking up, but your brain wakes up, so its now in a light sleep. We see people who are waking up 100 times a night. Whos at risk: People who breathe through their mouths or have chronic congestion, such as from asthma or allergies. If you sleep more poorly on your back, this can be a sign of UARS, because when you sleep on your back your tongue is more likely to sink back and block the entrance to your throat. If you have a narrow face, a thin neck, or had extensive orthodontic work to correct a crowded jaw, youre likely to be at particular risk for UARS, says Park. What to do: Start with some self-tests. Try using pillows to keep yourself on your side, or put a tennis ball in the back pocket of pajama bottoms, so you cant sleep on your back. If your nose often feels stuffed up, you might find relief with breathing strips, available at the drugstore. Another option is to try is a device designed to hold the nostrils open; brand names include Nozovent and Breathe with Eez. A saline nasal spray works for many people. If you have congestion due to seasonal allergies, try an antihistamine. (But if you take one that can act as a stimulant, such as Claritin or Sudafed, dont take it too close to bedtime. ) If none of these help, ask your doctor to refer you to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, who can evaluate whether youre a candidate for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), a nasal mask that delivers air directly through your airways. An ENT can also determine whether tongue position is causing your UARS, in which case a dental device that pushes the jaw and tongue forward can help. For many people, losing a few pounds can be the ticket to better sleep, since excess weight is linked to all kinds of breathing problems, including UARS, snoring, and sleep apnea. 4. Medications How they disrupt sleep: Medications sometimes have side effects that trigger sleeplessness or interfere with deep sleep. Most common culprits: asthma medications, corticosteroids, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants. Also, many ingredients in common medications act as stimulants. They may cause jitteriness during the day and trigger sleeplessness or prevent deep sleep at night. Example: Bronchodilators like albuterol and salmeterol, commonly used to treat asthma, bronchitis, and COPD, can amp you up and interfere with sleep, yet patients are often directed to use them at the end of the day. Other common medications that can interfere with sleep include SSRIs, such as Prozac and Paxil, and beta-blockers taken for high blood pressure and heart disease. Sometimes medications sabotage your sleep indirectly. Diuretics, for example, can interfere with sleep by causing you to use the bathroom at night. Tagamet (generic name cimetidine), taken to control reflux and ulcers, can cause sleeplessness, especially when combined with caffeine or other medications. Like many side effects, sleeplessness from medications can affect some people but not others; Propecia, used to treat hair loss, and the antihistamine loratadine (brand name Claritin) are both known to cause sleeplessness in a percentage of those who take them. Some people react to opioid pain medications with rebound sleeplessness, feeling sleepy at first but then waking up and being unable to get back to sleep. The evidence: Although every medication is tested for side effects during the FDA approval process, in many cases evidence of side effects mounts over time as a drug enters more widespread use. Albuterol has been widely reported to cause restlessness, nervousness, and sleeplessness. An article in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology also found that beta-blockers interfere with melatonin release. Recent studies have found that Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and other SSRIs affect sleep in a significant number of patients. If youre using an antidepressant, be sure to talk to your psychiatrist about any possible sleep problems and ask about alternative antidepressants if this is an issue. Whos at risk: Those taking regular medication for a chronic condition such as asthma, depression, high blood pressure, or pain. A medication that you take once is less likely to cause an ongoing sleep issue because you take it for a short period of time and are more likely to notice the side effect. When you have a chronic condition, youre more likely to attribute any sleep problems to the condition rather than the treatment. What to do: Any time youre prescribed a new medication, ask the doctor to discuss in detail all side effects you should be alert to. Its always a good idea to ask both the doctor and the pharmacist, How will this medication affect my sleep? Because some medications cause sleepiness, some interfere with sleep, and some do both, asking the question in an open-ended way will get you the most information. 5. Depression How it disrupts sleep: Fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms of depression, yet many people dont realize how closely related depression and poor sleep can be. Depression wreaks havoc with your natural biological rhythms; many people with depression have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, and they oversleep or get fatigued and nap during the day. Yet their sleep is fitful and of poor quality, so despite spending more hours ostensibly sleeping or trying to sleep, they dont feel well rested. Then at night, depression sufferers often have trouble maintaining a regular bedtime routine. Having slept late in the morning or napped late in the day, they may not feel sleepy. Anxiety, which often accompanies depression, may cause excessive late-night worry that contributes to sleeplessness. The evidence: Because the relationship between depression and insomnia is a chicken-and-egg cycle, experts have studied it from both directions. Psychological studies have found that a high proportion of those with depression suffer from either sleeplessness or disrupted sleep, and a recent study by the University of Maryland found that 40 to 60 percent of people

The Wrong Question

The Wrong Question I come back from a conference with all sorts of fodder for editorials, sometimes for a great article to pitch a magazine. A lot of times too much material, but thats part of what makes conferences energizing and rejuvenating. They provide spark. Like your teachers said in school, or shouldve said if they didnt, is there is never a stupid question. At a conference, all questions should be welcomed. But that doesnt mean that some questions arent the wrong ones to ask. For instance, one writer asked, Lets say I just quit my job and have this book to sell. How can I make enough money to live off of? I was moderating the panel, so I seized control first. I wanted to answer this one. I actually wanted to pull this writer aside and talk specifics with him. This was a very cart-before-the-horse question. First, a writer leaves the day job only after he has made specific plans on what he will write, how he will market it, and what income he can expect to come in. Books are not quick money makers, at least not until you have a platform and have multiple books under your belt, and even then, only if youve mastered indie publishing. There are So many steps there to take BEFORE you quit the day job. Items to consider before you quit the day job to be a writer: 1) How much money have you made writing while still on the day job. If youve made $5,000 while working ten hours a week, then hopefully youll make $20,000 while working forty hours. Whoa. Doesnt sound like much, does it? Then stick to the day job until youve raised how much you make part-timing it. When youre making $10,000 or $20,000 part-time, then you might have something. Dont try to convince yourself that full-time will enable you to make way more . . . more than the hourly basis youre making part-time. Because writing full-time will involve administrative tasks like taxes, computer maintenance, and self-promotion that eat up your time without pay. 2) Make sure you have solid health insurance. One broken arm and no insurance can derail you time-wise and financially, to the point youd kill to have that day job back again. 3) What writing income can you develop in addition to book revenues? Im a believer in any writer freelancing, because one That writer didnt ask a stupid question. It turned into quite the good discussion. Asking a question that had its priorities screwed up became a learning tool for the entire room. Ask any question, because often the wrong question can turn into the right one.

Ghost Hunting is Pure Fiction

Ghost Hunting is Pure Fiction It is interesting that in a time of increasing secularism and a renewed interest in rationality and skepticism, many people still believe in ghosts. Even many of the same people who dont believe in other supernatural entities maintain a belief in ghosts. Ghost hunting is still popular today, with reality  television  shows featuring ghost hunters and ghost hunting specialists that people can literally hire in order to inspect their own homes for ghosts. However, there is no evidence that ghosts even exist or that the  techniques  of ghost hunters are more than pure fiction. The popularity of ghost hunting and the belief in ghosts is not evidence of anything other than the desire to believe in ghosts. The Lack of Evidence for Ghosts and Ghost Hunting One of the reasons why the belief in ghosts persists is that ghosts are often considered invisible. Invisible things are harder to disprove. Many of the superstitions that have lasted a long time are invisible. People can simply claim that the thing in question does exist and that people cant prove that it doesnt exist, thus hiding behind the problem of knowing. Its easier to make this argument with entities that are invisible, intangible, and otherwise nearly beyond detection. People end up with functionally no evidence for them or against them, and the believer can simply appeal to the problem of knowing and win the argument on a technicality. Ghosts Manifest as Electromagnetic Radiation Of course, ghost hunters supposedly say that they can locate ghosts, so they do believe that there is something that separates areas that have ghosts from areas that dont have ghosts. They believe that there is evidence for ghosts. However, the evidence that they do choose could very easily be explained by something else. They use devices all the time that supposedly can be used to pinpoint the location of a ghost. However, these devices are usually just detecting electromagnetic radiation. The electromagnetic radiation levels in a building can vary depending on surrounding or distant power sources and not just the ones that the ghost hunters have immediately identified. One of the biggest tricks of their trade is very easily debunked. You will definitely enjoy reading these articles: Is Science Atheistic? Ghostwriting Can Science Go Too Far? Education and  Pursuit of Right Wisdom Environmental Education and Green Citizenship Extraordinary Claims Require High Standards of Evidence The belief in ghosts is an extraordinary claim that requires equally extraordinary evidence. Ghost hunters have electromagnetic radiation and noises. The existence of ghosts would mean that it was possible for a human consciousness to exist outside of the brain. Scientists have a hard time even quantifying human consciousness, and all evidence suggests that it is a product of mental functioning. As such, it could not exist without brain matter. Electromagnetic radiation and noises are insufficient to explain something as unlikely as ghosts. Old houses are often structurally unsound and they will make funny noises. The human brain is primed to look for patterns. Patterns of noises can easily be imagined as being caused by ghosts in the minds of people who believe in ghosts. People who believe in ghosts will look for even the slightest evidence that ghosts exist in a bias known as confirmation bias. The belief in ghosts is popular because ghosts are defined in such a way that it is difficult to completely discredit their existence. The problem of knowing is an unsolved philosophical problem. However, in order to believe in ghosts or ghost hunting, people need to get some evidence that ghosts exist. The idea that it is possible for human consciousness to exist outside of the body seems to contradict all that is known about human neurology. Ghost hunters will use the noises and electromagnetic radiation in old houses to justify the existence of ghosts. However, finding out that ghosts exist would require scientists to revise their entire understanding of the human brain. Electromagnetic radiation and random noises are easily explained away. They cannot be used as evidence for anything other than the complicated nature of the environment that people are trying to understand.

Communication theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communication theory - Essay Example With clearer concepts and objective understanding of matters, people are in a better position to play their individualistic and collective roles in the development of a civilized society. In most of the organizations in the contemporary age, communication with confidence and authority has become quite critical (Holmes, 2011). The organization in which I work is to much extent, a functional organization where different departments have well defined responsibilities, so people from different departments do not usually interact with one another. In addition to the organization having a functional organization structure, there were several other factors that have played their role in discouraging interaction among employees. Such factors included but were not limited to differences of gender, age and culture. Employees from different culture have had presumed conceptions about their coworkers from different cultures and would not change their conceptions in the organizational context. Al so, employees from opposite genders would hesitate to communicate with one another. This was giving rise to interpersonal conflicts with various employees assuming irrational things about one another as a result of lack of communication until the new project manager brought about some drastic changes in the system of flow of communication within the organization.

The Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Criminal Justice System - Essay Example lations (LegalMatch, 2012) â€Å"Theft or common theft, assault and battery, drink driving, vandalism, public drunkenness, resisting arrests, obstructing or resisting a police officer, trespassing, disorderly conduct, breach of the peace, failure to appear in court, prostitutionâ€Å". These crimes normally have a penalty of no longer than one year and are not considered to be serious offenses. The serious offenses normally fall under felony charges such as (LegalMatch, 2012) â€Å"murder/homicide, rape, drug trafficking, child abuse, gun possession, burglary, money laundering, and child pornography†. Such serious offenses are considered highly serious and have punishments that vary from state to state, depending upon the courts deemed severity of the offense. Having clearly defined the difference of the two crimes based upon the description of offenses, it is safe to say that one would much rather be accused of a misdemeanor rather than a felony. That is if one finds himself facing legal action as a result of his own personal actions or reactions to situations concerning him. As per the police records submitted to us, you were charged with a Misdemeanor Breach of Peace charge. This was charge was the result of your involvement in the bar room brawl that occurred at last Friday between your boyfriend and another bar patron. You have asked me to advise you with regard to what kind of penalty you are looking at and for how long. I am please to inform you that since you are charged with a misdemeanor, your penalty will not be longer than one year. Our federal government has indicated that the punishment for misdemeanor offense such as yours â€Å"... carry a maximum punishment of one year of incarceration usually is served in a local jail. â€Å" (wiseGeek, 2012). I therefore advice you not to worry as there is even a very strong possibility that, should you plead guilty or be found guilty of involvement in the misdemeanor charge, â€Å"If a jail sentence is imposed, it is

The kinetic theory Essay Example for Free

The kinetic theory Essay In this investigation, I will be studying the factors that affect the rate of reaction. In this case, the reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium thiosulphate. Na2S2O3 (aq)+ 2HCl(aq) 2NaCl(aq)+S(s)+SO2(g) When hydrochloric acid is added to sodium thiosulphate, the chemicals react giving solid sulphur as one of the products. This is a precipitation reaction. By watching the speed at which the sulphur has formed, we can find out the rate of reaction. A cross can be marked on a piece of paper, and a flask of sodium thiosulphate can be placed on top. By adding hydrochloric acid to the sodium thiosulphate, we can time how long it takes for the view of the cross to become obscured by the sulphur. We can then find out the rate of the reaction. What is Rate? Chemical reactions can be seen everywhere, whether an explosion, which is extremely fast, to something very slow, like the rusting of a metal. It is not enough just to know whether something is fast or slow however. Rate is a measure of the change that happens in a single unit of time. For example, if a car travels 40 km in half an hour, it is travelling at 80 km/h. For a chemical reaction to take place, some bonds in the reactants must be broken. The colliding particles must have enough energy to break these bonds. This minimum amount of energy is called the activation energy. Only the very fastest moving particles have enough energy to break bonds. In gases, liquids and in solution, the particles move at a range of speeds. Some are moving very slowly and others are moving very fast. To react, particles must collide with enough energy and in the correct orientation for bonds to be broken. If there is not enough kinetic energy, the particles barely touch, and the reaction does not happen. If the kinetic energy of the particles is just right, they hit each other and form new bonds. For a reaction to take place, the alignment of the molecules must also be correct. If two or more molecules collide, but are not orientated correctly, a reaction cannot take place. Variables Concentration of Thio If the concentration of thio is increased, the rate of reaction is also increased. This is because in dilute acid, there are not many acid particles. This means there is a more remote chance of an acid particle, hitting a sodium thiosulphate particle. In a more concentrated acid, there are more acid particles. There is now more chance of an acid particle colliding with a sodium thiosulphate particle, and so more chance of a collision. I have chosen this variable to use, as it will be possible to get a wide range of results with relative ease. I also feel that there will be a significant enough range of values in the results to make an effective graph. I could change this variable by adding water to the sodium thiosulphate to make it less concentrated. I will need to keep the volume constant throughout the experiment, so I could, for example use 40 cm3 of sodium thiosulphate and 10 cm3 of water, and then 30/20 etc. Temperature At low temperatures, particles of reacting substances do not have much energy. However, when the substances are heated, the particles take in energy. This causes them to move faster and collide more often. The collisions have more energy; so more collisions are successful. Therefore, the rate of reaction increases. This is called the kinetic theory. A reaction goes approximately twice as fast when the temperature is increased by 10 degrees. This is why it is important to keep this variable constant . To do this; I will need to do the experiment on the same day if possible. This ensures that the differences in room temperature, however small, do not affect the rate of reaction. Surface Area In a reaction containing a solid, its surface area has a large effect on the rate of reaction. If the surface area of the solid is small, the acid particles can only collide with the atoms in the outer layer of the solid. But if the solid has a large surface area, much more of the atoms are exposed, so there is a greater chance of one of these atoms colliding with an acid particle, and increasing the rate of reaction. However, in my experiment, I will not be using any solids, so this variable will not affect my experiment. Use of a Catalyst A catalyst is a substance that changes the rate of a chemical reaction but remains chemically unchanged itself. It does this by lowering the activation energy; this is the amount of energy needed in order to achieve a successful collision.

Genetic Observations Through The Studies Of Hybrid Corn, Single Gene Es

Genetic Observations Through The Studies of Hybrid Corn, Single Gene Human Traits, and Fruit Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basic foundation of modern genetics was led by Gregor Mendel (Corcos, 1993). Mendel was not the first to experiment with heredity, and our Lyman Briggs biology class will not be the last to deal with genetics. Genetics is the science of heredity. In our lab, we had three main objectives. First, we evaluated our data on monohybrid and dihybrid corn cross seed counts against Mendel’s theoretical expectations of independent assortment and the segregation of alleles. Next, we used the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem to provide a theoretically expected value for allele frequencies for single human gene traits. Lastly, we dealt with Drosophila melanogaster and we examined red and white eye alleles to determine if this gene is sex-linked or autosomal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the mid 1800’s Mendel bred garden peas to study inheritance. He choose these plants because of their well defined characteristics and the ability to be grown and crossed (Campbell, 1996). Mendel wanted to know the genetic basis for variation among individuals and what accounted for the transmission of traits from generation to generation. Mendel followed traits for the P generation, F1 generation, and F2 generation. The P generation is the original true-breeding parents. Their hybrid offspring is the F1 generation, the first filial. The F2 generation is the second filial and is the self- pollination of the F1 hybrids. It was predominantly his research on the F2 generation that led to Mendel’s Law of Segregation and Law of Independent Assortment (Campbell, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mendel’s Law of Segregation states that alleles sort into separate gametes. He formed this through performing monohybrid crosses. The F2 generation will have a 3:1 phenotypic ratio. By considering more than one trait Mendel formed his Law of Independent Assortment. He questioned whether traits were inherited independently or dependently. By performing dihybrid crosses he found that genes are independent and will form all possible combinations . Crossing two different traits resulted in a 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio (Campbell, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Hunt Morgan also had a major contribution in the study of inheritance. He was the first to associate a sp... ...ross, Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment illustrated that four possible phenotypes form a 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio. For the single gene human traits experiment, we used the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem and equation to find the allele frequencies. For the experiment with Drosophila melanogaster we examined a fruit fly cross between red-eyed males and white-eyed females. We determined that this trait is sex-linked when the offspring were red-eyed females and white-eyed males. Throughout the genetics lab each purpose was determined and explained. A lot was learned about Mendel, genetics, and the hereditary process that makes us who we are today. Cited Literature Campbell, N.A. 1996. Biology. The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co., New York, pp. 238-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  279. Corcos, Alain F. and Floyd V. Monaghan. 1993. Gregor Mendel’s Experiments on Plant Hybrids.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, pp. 45-46, 76, 105-112, 133. Davis, M. 1996. Genetics. LBS 144 Laboratory Manual. The Lyman Briggs School, Michigan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  State University, East Lansing, pp. 25-36.

Macbeth Essay

Women have a very strong influence on their husbands and husbands will usually take their wives opinions in important matters. Lady Macbeth was the dominant of the two characters. She had very strong persuasive skills over Macbeth and though show her control of Macbeth in public, in private she often uses emotional and testing his manliness to manipulate him to do what he wants. Lady Macbeth is the more evil character than Macbeth in the play through her ambition, cruelty, and manipulation. Lady Macbeth used her words to control Macbeth throughout the entire play and caused him to do many things he wouldn’t have normally done like kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth and his manliness throughout the play to get him to do exactly what she wants like for him to kill â€Å"What beast was’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.† Macbeth being a man in the era he grew up in being the most manly you could be was very important so a women questioning his manliness would have set most men over the edge especially someone as persuasive as Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth has many delusional moments in the play that lead readers to believe she is either crazy or evil. She talks about being infected with evilness to killing babies throughout the play. â€Å"I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.† Lady Macbeth in my opinion is a sociopath with her not feeling remorse for anything her and her husband do no matter the effect it has on other individuals. She fits the profile of a sociopath with the abilities to manipulate people easily and have no shame doing it but also feel nothing towards anyone or anything she harms. Lady Macbeth also is a very private person that is very submissive when with other people and does not show her evil and dark side to anyone other then her husband. She is also very protective over a Macbeth and would do anything to protect him from being found out for murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth is both responsiple for the death of Duncan and is also the cause of Macbeth becoming insane throughout the course of the play. She is a silver tounged women who knows how to manipulate for her own self gain. Through these point I think that she is not only responsible for duncans death but is more evil then Macbeth.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy Essay

â€Å"It will soon pass whatever it is. Don’t worry, be happy. † These are the epic words of Bobby McFerrin from the song: Don’t worry, be happy. In today’s life style our society thrives off of each other’s negativity. We are in a constant spiral of humanity due to the fact we don’t look to the better side of reality but to the ugly face of our pessimistic lives. Our lifestyles revolve the pain and loss we encounter, we need to take up the or at least grasp the concepts that lie in the melodies of Bobby McFerrin’s hit single. The meaning, history and relevance to today’s society will be analyzed. Don’t worry, be happy is a song released by Bobby McFerrin in conjunction with the film Cocktail in 1988. The song is an international feel good anthem for listeners all around. It focuses on the emphasis of looking past your troubles and remaining positive. Whether it be materialistic or emotional, one cannot let themselves be brought down because as a society we are all in a way or another connected and experience the toppling domino effect causing your peers also to come crashing down. According to a study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, 96 pairs of college roommates during 2 assessment sessions. The roommates of depressed target students became more depressed themselves over the course of the study. In relation to the song when you worry your face will frown and that will bring everybody down. Also McFerrin even offers to help the listener seek happiness, symbolizing that there is always some hope and the listener need only to reach out and seek it to achieve it. In general the song is telling the listener to promote the positive rather than the negative in one’s life, a concept that the people of today lack.

Computer Crime essays

Computer Crime essays New times bring new crimes. It's a story as old as humanity and as new as the Internet. First comes cars, then car thieves follow. Telephones are followed by telephone fraud. Now we've got computers . . .. To make home, school, and office life easier, society relies on computers. As a result of this dependency, computer use grows everyday. Along with the growing use of computers comes widespread computer crime. With the Internet becoming increasingly popular, more and more people are becoming computer literate, and networks are becoming more readily accessible. The rise in computer crime can easily be blamed upon the increasing number of users. The Internet is widely deemed as a new community and "wild" electric frontier. Either way you look at it, the Internet offers cover for con artists, ground for grifters, and plenty of places where larceny can lurk. It provides the same opportunities for crime that the real world offers. Internet crimes, however, carry their own intricacies and innovations. These online crimes take advantage of the very same technologies that make the Internet possible. The most common crimes committed on the Internet are the same basic variations of the four main time-tested, real-world crimes: Forgery (of E-mail), assault (on your Web site, E-mail box, or computer system), fraud (cyberscams), and robbery (theft of valuable information). Various types of people commit computer crimes. The two most familiar being hackers and crackers. A hacker is a person who enjoys exploring the details of a programmable system and how to stretch their capabilities; one who programs enthusiastically, even obsessively. A cracker is one who breaks security on a system. Although hackers and crackers both break into computer systems, their motives are different. Hackers seem to break into computer systems for the intellectual challenge. Crackers are considered malicious with the intention of harming or causing damage to a compute...

A Comparison of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Views on Abortion

A Comparison of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Views on Abortion Abortion: Pro-Choice or Pro-Life â€Å"But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to desperation which impelled her to the crime [abortion]† (Susan B. Anthony, 1869). In the Scott, Foresman Advanced Dictionary, Thorndike and Barnhart defined abortion as the removal of a developing embryo or fetus from the uterus to terminate a pregnancy before birth resulting in death of the fetus (3). The abortion issue has become one of the world’s most controversial problems of today. This issue is divided into two sides, pro-life and pro-choice. They focus on different aspects of receiving an abortion. At one end we have the pro-choice advocate those who focus on women’s right. The pro-choice supporters have reason to believe the fetus is only a potential human being. It has no right whatsoever, because the right belongs to the woman carrying the fetus, and it is she who decides on the length of time of the pregnancy. On the other end we have the pro-life those who oppose abortion and focus on the fetus rights. They believe the fetus is a human being and has just as much legal right as the parents. The Bible states that everybody was created in the image of God. Therefore, taking the life of an innocent child is like killing the image of God. In the Bible, God said that thou shall not murder. Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus has defined murder as the unlawful and intentional killing of a human being (133). Is abortion moral or immoral? According to pro-life supporters, the unborn child is entrusted to the protection and care of the mother carrying it. Daniels 3 Time it is the mother herself who makes the choice of whether or not the child should be aborted. The decision to abort the child may have come from problems dealing with the health of the mother or standard or living for the family. However, these excuses never justify the intentional killing of an innocent person. Many people claim that an embryo is not considered human life. Supporters believe that human life starts at the fertilization of the ovum. Human life is sacred at every moment of existence. In the opinion of pro-choicer advocate, birth is not always the right choice, because it may be â€Å"socially disfunctional, morally irresponsible, or even cruel.† (Abortion, 24) Many women who knew that life would only bring pain for their children choose to have an abortion. They feel that it would be better if the child wasn’t born at all. Even though it kills human life, abortion is in fact, the moral choice to make when would be mothers are as certain that their present circumstances do not enable them to raise a would-be child responsibly. Contrary to popular accusations it is not the decision to abort, but the decision to have a child that is treated with the insufficient gravity in our society (Quinn, Abortion, 25). To many pro-life advocates, abortion is a form of holocaust. They have compared abortion to the Nazi’s termination of the Jews. The number of aborted babies is staggering: 4,000 on a daily basis, over 1.6million annually, and over 30 million in the 20 years after the United States Supreme court gave it proabortion decision in 1973. Daniels 4 Yearly basis from 50 to 60 million abortions have been performed worldwide. The Nazi’s killed at least six million Jews. The Nazi’s killed the Jews and, instead of burying them they put them in crematory ovens and huge ditches. Burning in hospital furnaces or city incinerators exposes of many of the aborted babies. Pro-life groups prefer that the bodies be disposed with dignity, a Christian burial. Pro-choicest Don Sloan believes that an embryo is not a baby because it can only exist inside a woman’s uterus. Some people think of abortion as a self-defense rather than a murder because the woman is defending her health, her way of life, and her piece of mind against something that is not wanted. Sloan, like other pro-choice supporters, believe that everyone have a right and a say-so in the abortion issue. School officials are not allowed to hand out aspirin to children without the permission of the parents, so why should they be able to have an abortion without consent? To pro-lifers, parents should be involved in abortion decision-making for teens because legally, they are responsible. The idea of notifying parents in advance when any of discussion goes on with regard to their children health and welfare and that includes abortion. As long as the parents are responsible for their sexuality laws are written to stipulate what is right and wrong. And when it comes to a law that affects parental rights, I think there is a responsibility to come out on the side of the parents (Gow, Abortion, 96). Daniels 5 Parental notification is one of these troubling topics that confound many. Many states such as Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, and Kansas require parental notification before a minor is required to obtain an abortion. States were parental consent is required include Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio. Pro-choicers feel that these laws are unconstitutional and they are a violation of the pregnant child. They feel that this could harm the girls’ health and may drive the teen to have an illegal abortion to avoid telling their parents. Legislators who disagree with abortion believe that the parental-consent laws will scare teens into abstinence. However, in states with these laws, sexual intercourse rates don’t decrease, but their health risks, however, increases. Young people are frightened by these laws only when they have become impregnated and need help desperately. There is evidence that teenagers who do no involve their parents [in deciding about abortion] believe that involving their parents would not be their own best interests or try to protect their parents (Abortion, 98). V. Many people believe that rape justifies abortion. To them, pregnancies resulting from rape are bothersome and involuntary, and should be approached by providing suitable counseling. On the other hand, the pro-life advocates feel that rape doesn’t justify abortion. Opponents of abortion rights walk a fine line when they condone any abortion. Based on their own definition, they are guilty of being accessories to â€Å"murder† in certain circumstances by accepting rape and incest exceptions (Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, 135). Daniels 6 It is not moral to hate a person because of the way they were conceived. Rape is a violent act received by a woman. That makes her an innocent victim. Abortion, no matter the reason, is a violent act received by an unborn child from the woman carrying it. What does this makes the unborn child? With an average of 1.5 million abortions performed every year since its legalization in 1973, abortion is the most common surgical procedure for women. Most medical professionals agree that the earlier an abortion is performed, the safer it is for the woman. The pro-life advocates have shown studies that women who have had abortions have a 50 percent increased risk for breast cancer. This increased revealed by the studies means that women face a higher risk of dying from the effects of an abortion than of dying in childbirth. The first trimester of a normal pregnancy is marked by a surge of hormones from the mother’s ovaries, which makes her breast grow. The high estrogen levels of early pregnancy interact with hormones of late pregnancy and produces breast milk. If the pregnancy is terminated artificially, the growth-stimulating effects of the estrogen surge help primitive and abnormal cells to grow in possible cancers. However, the pro-choice supporters have found that many medical studies have shown that a woman’s reproductive history affects her risk of breast cancer. The risks associated with abortion are insignificant compared with other well-documented breast cancer risks, such as alcohol consumption and weight. Furthermore, studies on the link between breast cancer and abortion have reached contradictory conclusions. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that everyone has the freedom of speech, or of press. Daniels 7 Opinions. There are many questions people should consider about the issue of abortion. They are as follows: Is this process immoral; Should rights be restricted; Can abortion be justified; and is this a safe process.

Philedelphia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philedelphia - Essay Example Popularly known as the Global Exhibition of Arts, the culture associates with the manufacture of mine and soil products. The exhibition is the first most important universal Fair held in the United States, which took place on 10th May 1876 occupying a two hundred and eighty five acre tract of the Fairmount Park thus overlooking the river Schuylkill (Exhibition, 2012). The twenty seven year old German immigrant by the name of Hermann J. Schwarzmann had an opportunity to design the fairgrounds that he did exclusively. The ground hosted thirty seven nations and many industrial exhibitions which occupied over two hundred and fifty pavilions belonging to individuals (Exhibition, 2012). The exhibition attracted almost nine million visitors while the population of the United States was forty six million. The exhibition had a lasting accomplishment as there was the introduction of industrial Universal power in America. The industrial power concealed the potency and production of many industrialized nations. Philadelphia became the central city the industrial and cultural practices in America (Exhibition, 2012). The visitors attending the exhibition loomed the fairgrounds mostly from east by means of either horse-drawn trolley or the railway across the today Gerald Avenue Bridge (Exhibition, 2012). There was a glass and steel dome of the Memorial Hall on the Schuylkill river near the exhibition grounds whose flag- studded the towers of the major building grew as the wooded slope of Fairmount Park. The complete site and size of the structures are breathtaking in their natural setting (Exhibition, 2012). As advised, the visitors arrived from the Railway of Pennsylvania Depot recognized as the Parkside Avenue today. They were to arrive promptly for the opening at 9:00 AM, and they had to pay fifty cents for entrance