Biomechanics - Body Movements Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biomechanics - Body Movements - Assignment Example The two muscles are antagonistic to each other. The biceps brings about flexion while the triceps is responsible for extension of the upper arm. The upper end of the biceps has its origin from the scapula and its lower end is inserted on the radius bone lying on the medial aspect of the forearm. The muscle is located in the front portion of the forearm. Contraction of biceps brachii in response to nervous stimulation causes flexion i.e. the forearm is raised in an upward movement. The muscle is therefore categorized as a flexor muscle. In response to the flexion, i.e. when the biceps contracts, the antagonistic triceps muscle relaxes simultaneously. The triceps is located in the posterior portion of the upper arm with its origin from the scapula as well as the humerus bones. The point of insertion of triceps is at the olecranon process of the ulna, the long bone in the forearm located on the lateral side. Contraction of the triceps straightens or extends the arm and this is the reaso n for its classification as an extensor muscle. The movement follows the pattern of a lever of the third order, wherein the load is located at the hand, and the fulcrum at the elbow (Peterson & Bronzino, 2008). 2) In no more than 250 words describe the function of the skeleton and its importance in movement. The human skeleton is an integrated framework of 206 bones which supports the soft tissue and protects the vital organs (McKinley & O’Loughlin, 2008). The skeletal system has been classified as the axial skeleton, comprising of the bones lying along the central axis of the body, which includes the skull, the vertebral column and the rib cage; and the appendicular skeleton, comprising the bones of the arms and legs, as well as the pelvic and the pectoral girdles (McKinley & O’Loughlin, 2008). The appendicular skeleton is more pertinent as far as the body movements are concerned although the axial skeleton is by no means non-contributory, as it provides the central a xis or the pivot around which the body movements occur. The mandible is the mobile portion in the skull and the vertebrae too glide to a certain extent to impart flexibility to the vertebral column. The appendicular skeleton however shows a great degree of motility and is responsible for locomotion. The upper and the lower limbs emanate from the pectoral and the pelvic girdle respectively while the ribs form a bony cage to protect the vital organs. The skeleton provides the hard, bony framework for the origin as well as insertion of the skeletal muscles, the contraction and relaxation of which is actually responsible for locomotion. The skeletal muscles are highly specialized and often occur in pairs to produce movement antagonistic to each other. The movement of the joints can vary from simple gliding, rotation, adduction, abduction, flexion and extension. The muscles are firmly attached to the bones through specialized structures called ligaments and tendons and movements occur in the form of levers of the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd order. 3) In no more than 250 words describe and provide examples of each synovial joint. Synovial joints are freely mobile articulations in which the participating bones are separated by a space called joint cavity (McKinley & O’Loughlin, 2008). These joints are freely mobile and are functionally classified as diarthrosis. There are four synovial joints in the human skeleton viz. the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint; the temporomandibular joint; the elbow, and the knee joint (McKinley & O’

The Lord of the Flies Journal Entry Chapter 2 Essay Example for Free

The Lord of the Flies Journal Entry Chapter 2 Essay Day 1 Today’s events have left me thinking a bit. After we got back from exploring the island, Ralph assembled another meeting to spread our new discoveries. We realized everyone would not stop talking at once, so Ralph decided that whoever holds the conch has the right to talk and can only be interrupted by Ralph himself. Great idea at first, until that fat, useless oaf Piggy took it. He wouldn’t stop worrying and whining about getting rescued. Ralph said it himself, his dad’s a navy commander and will probably have us rescued in a few days. I don’t understand why he doesn’t have faith in Ralph like the others. After a while, Ralph brought up the great idea of making a fire in order to signal the rescuers we would be on the island. I knew there was little time to waste just sitting around, so I led the group into the forest to gather firewood. Upon gathering wood, I was the one who came up with the idea of using Fatty’s specs as burning glasses. Still, I had never imagined that keeping a fire burning would be so hard! Later, I humbly offered the choir to maintain the fire in shifts. Everything went well until that swine Piggy decided to speak out again. He kept repeating himself about how building a fire was a bad choice, even though he didn’t contribute squat to anything to begin with. Still, bigger problems arose to overshadow his stupidity. The fire we thought had been put out actually spread and began burning down a chunk of the forest. To top it off, we are now missing a little shrimp with a mulberry-colored scar on his face. I remember him as the one who wouldn’t stop scaring others by talking about the â€Å"beasties in the forest†. Stupid kids always getting themselves into trouble. As the leader of the hunters, I will definitely find him.

The Peace of Westphalia, 1648

The Peace of Westphalia, 1648 In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia signalled the end of a decades old European conflict. It is difficult to decipher the true meaning of the Peace of Westphalia because it represented the end of a war which ended in a way which was different from where it began. Religious confrontation morphed into a struggle and opportunity to advance state strategic interests. However, Leo Gross, Andreas Osiander, and Derek Croxton each make varying arguments on the effects of the Peace of Westphalia. In The Peace of Westphalia, 1648-1948, Leo Gross contends that the Peace of Westphalia is significant because it consecrated the principle of toleration by establishing the equality between Protestant and Catholic states and by providing some safeguards for religious minorities.  [1]  Thus, he states the Peace of Westphalia was the starting point for the development of modern international law.  [2]  Essentially, no one country would have a right (divine or other) to have power over another, as each states was acknowledged as sovereign. However, although this would be nice in theory, history has shown that Europe bled itself dry because of conflicts in the centuries following the Peace of Westphalia. Gross states that the Peace of Westphalia marked mans abandonment of the idea of hierarchical structure of society and his opinion for a new system characterized by the coexistence of a multiplicity of states, each sovereign within its territory, equal to one another, and free fr om any external earthly authority.  [3]  This statement is fundamentally flawed, although perhaps in theory, each state was equal they were absolutely not equal. It would be foolish to treat all states following the Peace of Westphalia as equally sovereign. For example he German states gained the right to ally themselves with states outside of the Holy Roman Empire, but the Swiss and the Dutch gained de facto sovereignty. Gross strengthens his argument when he acknowledges precedents set by previous treaties; however his constant romanticization of the Peace of Westphalia harms his argument, as it seems he focuses on his nostalgic viewpoint of the Peace of Westphalia.  [4]  Because no formal declaration of sovereignty existed at the time of the Peace of Westphalia, the parties involved found it individually beneficial to advance their national strategic interests, by enhancing state power. For example, Frances cardinal Richelieu was a brilliant realist strategist. Even thoug h the Austria and Spain were Catholic powers, he believed that Frances national interest could be advanced by opposing these two powers. France even continued to fight Spain while seeking a separate peace with Austria. Moreover, Grosss argument contains a glaring post hoc ergo. Gross states that we should search not so much in the text of the treaties themselves as in their implications, in the broad conceptions on which they rest and the developments to which they provided impetus.  [5]  The fallacy is that Gross claims that because the Peace of Westphalia was before our modern conception of sovereignty, it does not necessarily follow that the Peace of Westphalia alone created our modern conception of sovereignty. There were many more factors at play. Grosss argument is too straightforward as it assumes that all actors following the war were fundamentally equal. In Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth, Andreas Osiander contends that The Peace of Westphalia is a product of nineteenth and twentieth century fixation on the concept of sovereignty. I conclude by discussing how what I call the ideology of sovereignty has hampered the development of IR theory  [6]  According to Osiander the (Thirty Years) war continued because the Swedish and French crowns wanted to enhance their positions in Europe.  [7]  He comes to a conclusion that if the war war not fought to ward off a threat to the independence of other European actors posed by the Hasburg dynasty, then the tradition of the 1648 peace cannot be right either  [8]  Nineteenth and twentieth century historians readily espoused the view somehow that the Danes, Dutch, French, and Swedes were really defending themselves while also selflessly helping others to ward off oppression  [9]  He claims this is why the Peace of Westphalia is often seen as an anti-he gemonial order.  [10]  He directly accuses Leo Gross as spreading this false view. Osiander claims that many subsequent literature on this view, assume Grosss views to be self evident and implied in the treaty. Osiner strengthens his argument when he quotes another scholar who agree with him, Stephen Krassner. Osiander claims that history has viewed the Hasburgs as the villains of the Thirty Years War, and that the original crisis did not break out because the Hasburgs were powerful, but because they were weak.  [11]  Andreas Osiander views the Peace of Westphalia through the viewpoint of a postmodernist. He is challenging our previous knowledge of the Peace of Westphalia, and underlying assumptions held by previous scholars. He is purposely reversing traditional notions of historical interpretations such as the belief of the Hasburg dynasty as the villains of the Thirty Years War. Osiander is correct to warn there may be a harm of placing our values, our beliefs, onto histo rical events. Osianders argument is important as it forces us to re-examine commonly held beliefs about the Peace of Westphalia and its significance. Moreover he claims that Sovereignty as currently understood does not go back to the seventeenth century; that even then and nevertheless, relations among autonomous actors were perfectly possible without waiting for the concept to be invented; that the degree of autonomy of the actors might very.  [12]  He strengthens his argument when he acknowledges that the relationships between the actors involved in the Peace of Westphalia were very complex. In The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty, Derek Croxton doubts as whole, that sovereignty was a main principle of the Peace of Westphalia. Croxtons main argument is that de facto sovereign states existed at a time when few statesmen had anything like the modern conception of sovereign equality as the founding notion of the international system.  [13]  Croxton acknowledges that the main difficulty of the origins of sovereignty lies not in rulers which claims themselves to be sovereign but other leaders who acknowledge that sovereignty.  [14]  He accurately points out that papal authority was already in decline, the Peace of Westphalia just quickened the pace of the decline.  [15]  Croxton states that many scholars claim that sovereignty was dispersed to kings and princes in the Holy Roman Empire following its defeat in the Thirty Years war. However, he bluntly and correctly notes that the Holy Roman Empire lasted for another 158 years  [16]  an d that although the estates were given new rights, including the right to make alliances with outside powers and a territorial right of dominions, the rights demonstrate the limits to their sovereignty rather than its triumph superiority within their own.  [17]  Moreover, Croxton claims that The idea of sovereignty was not new in the 1640s; the question was whether sovereignty should be multipolar.  [18]  This view correctly challenges the assumption that the Peace of Westphalia was a groundbreaking event, even though it did make changes to the international system of politics. Throughout the readings, it is apparent that the relationship between the European states was very complicated, intricate, and included interrelationships based upon numerous factors. These factors could include a balance of religious, imperial, interstate and intrastate relationships. The Peace of Westphalia promoted the division of power, but ironically it also created a new balance of power among the European states. The The Peace of Westphalia promoted more moderation on behalf of all states, as whenever a power tried to dominate Europe (i.e. Napoleonic France or Hitlers Germany), there emerged a coalition of opposing forces to restore the balance of power. The balance of power did not avoid crisis, but it did create an equilibrium in which no one state had the ability to completely dominate the others.

Anorexia Nervosa :: essays research papers

Websites promoting anorexia, created by anorexics themselves, are of growing concern. The Eating Disorders Association estimates there are an estimated ten million women and one million men suffering from anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive eating in the US alone. Pro-Anna sites are helping to give incentive to sufferers to throw up their last meal and to reinforce their 500-calorie-a-day diet. These so-called clubs may not cause anorexia but they encourage members to lose weight and avoid recovery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first website I visited was called â€Å"Ana Angel 112 (www.envy.nu/anaangel112/).† I found this website through Yahoo by typing in â€Å"pro anna.† The opening page of this site declares that it is a pro-anna site and that anyone who was not anorexic must leave. A 19-year old girl named Kristen who is 5’7† and weighs 145 pounds created this site. She started this site for motivation to reach her ideal weight of 112 pounds and a size four figure. There have been 1914 visitors to this website.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I clicked my way through each page of this site, I was astonished to see all the strategies mentioned to lose weight. For instance, the 2-4-6-8 Plan consists of a five day plan where one would intake 200 calories on day one, 400 calories on day two, 600 calories on day three, 800 calories on day four, and between 900 and 100 calories on day five. This was especially striking to me because the thought of someone eating only two hundred calories a day is sickening. There was also a page of tips that includes the advice to â€Å"start a pro-anna website this way, you have to stick to your convictions, or else be hypocritical.† I found the tips to be very smart. The ways this girl gets around eating her food and the small things she does to lose weight seem very planned out. However, in the same effect, I find it sad that her life is consumed with how and what she eats, or doesn’t for that matter. There were no pictures or chat rooms in this site. Kri sten did encourage that people submit their thoughts by e-mail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second website I found through Yahoo was www.bluedragonfly.org. When I first opened the page I found pictures of beautiful models, all of which were extremely thin. The text on the screen included â€Å"6 Minutes in the Life of an Ana.† It was so heartbreaking to read that all of the six minutes were consumed on her weight and how others looked.

memory is a constructive and active process Essay

Memory is a subject that has been of much interest to psychologists for many years and various research has been carried out in aid of trying to understand how memory works. It can be understood that memory is compromised of three processes and three key subsystems which enable it to work and perform efficiently on a daily basis. The encoding process is where information is retrieved via what is known as sensory memory which is encoded either visually or semantically by attaching a meaning to a word. In terms of storage of memory, the information in the sensory memory is either held in short term memory where it can be recalled for a few minutes or long term memory where it can be recalled for several decades. However a topic of much debate is whether memory is a constructive or passive process. Memory as an active process can be explained as the concept of memories being altered, distorted or even constructed from external sources whereas passive memory is where information is recal led exactly as it is encoded. A claim has been made that memory is active and constructive therefore in order to evaluate this claim it is important to consider the relevant studies carried out in this area of cognitive psychology. (Brace and Roth, 2007) When looking at the processes involved in memory, it is clear that the circumstances play an important role in whether retrieval becomes an active or passive process. When information is unfamiliar or leading questions are asked about memories, this can affect our recall and the memories can become distorted which implies a constructive aspect when recalling information. A number of studies examining specific circumstances and their effects on memory support this concept. Encoding follows a similar principle, where depending on the circumstances the information is either encoded passively or constructed with a mix of new information and information stored in long term memory in order to attach meaning to the information. Storage on the other hand is primarily passive as the information is recorded  automatically. It is also important to take into account that there is not just one type of memory but that it can be split into two different categories, short term memory and long term memory.(Brace and Roth, 2007) When looking at short term memory specifically, it becomes clear that there is a conscious and active aspect to the process therefore supporting the claim at least partially that memory is constructive. This is demonstrated in Baddley and Hitch’s model of short term memory (as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) they claim that the short term memory is comparable to a â€Å"workbench† concept where new information is mixed with old memories and stored information in order to carry out a variety of processes depending on the specific circumstances. The main weakness with this theory or concept is the inability to visually see what is occuring in the brain. Although we can look at PET scans and see relative differences in the posterior Hippocampus when investigating the active part of memory as can be seen in Maguier et al’s study (as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) of taxi drivers where that specific section of the brain was enlarged. We are still unable to see the actual information being encoded or stored however the speculation and theories put forward support the concept of some aspects of short term memory being constructive. Moving onto the main memory processes, Bartletts â€Å"The war of the ghosts† study (as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) is particularly relevant when evaluating the claim of memory being an entirely constructive and active process. He chose a story specifically aimed to contain unfamiliar concepts to the participants. This allowed him to examine the effects of social and personal experiences on memory and recall. This study supports the concept of memory being constructive and dynamic because the evidence shows that instead of the story being encoded and stored in a manner that allowed the participants to recall it accurately and undistorted, the participants used previous experiences and concepts that made sense to them in order to encode and retrieve the information. This distortion or transformation of the facts directly points to memory being active as during the processing of the story, it is likely that elaborative rehearsal played a part in the method of encoding and storage as the participants were linking information to  existing knowledge in order to make sense of the story. However it is important to consider there was no control over any of the variables in the study therefore the findings from the experiment would be difficult to measure in terms of accuracy and reliability in relation to the claim proposed. Further support for the claim comes from a study carried out by Loftus and Palmer (1974, as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) which was designed to look at the effect of leading questions and the influence of linguistics on our memory of events. This study further supports the concept of memory being constructive as the information is being distorted through the participants own experiences, this shows that the memories are not being recalled accurately but are being recalled in a manner that the participant is merging past experiences and knowledge along with the study material. This combined with the suggestive nature of the verbs used could also affect the retrieval of memories by misattributing the source resulting in the participants believing something that may not be entirely accurate, in this case the speed of the cars and presence of glass in the video. Although when interpreting the findings, it is important to consider the confounding variable of individual differences I.e personal perception of speed which could effect the validity and generalisability of the data. The study also lacks ecological validity as witnessing the car crash via a media source would not evoke the same emotional response as a witnessing it first hand, which could effect the quality and detail of the information stored. In contrast, certain aspects of memory imply a passive aspect of memory as some types of memories are accurately stored and recalled with little or no distortion and rarely forgotten. In the Bahrick et al (1975, as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) study which looked at the recollection of faces and names of people from their graduating classes it was found that even after 35 years there was almost no forgetting and accurate recall of names and faces. This Study supports the aspect of memory being a passive process as the information encoded is being recalled accurately and over a long period of time. These types of memories are classed as enduring memories and little or no loss or distortion occurs until very old age where other factors could  be responsible. However a weakness of the study was that it only tested names and faces which is a small representation of the types of knowledge stored in long term memory so would be difficult to apply the findings to all aspects of long term memory. Brown and Kulik (1977, as cited in Brace and Roth 2007) created the term ‘flashbulb memories’ in relation to autobiographical memories and carried out an experiment to demonstrate this theory. This experiment focused on events that are surprising and provoke strong emotional responses. This study further supports the notion of memory being passive as long as certain conditions are met. In this particular case the event has to be important to the individual and has to evoke a strong emotional response. As long as these conditions are met an individual is able to store and recall their memories of the event very accurately or at least the reception of the event i.e. who they were with and when they first found out etc. The emotional aspect of the event and the importance to the individual means the information can be recalled exactly as it was encoded with little or no distortion. However, it is important to consider that the rehearsal effect may play an important part in the storage of the memories due to the emotional nature of the event it is possible that these memories are replayed or rehearsed more often than other memories. After evaluating the evidence in relation to the claim that memory is constructive and active, taking into account both the results and the inherent problems with the studies methodology the conclusion has to be drawn that whilst some aspects of memory are indeed constructive there are also passive elements in all three processes of memory. The studies carried out on the retrieval process of memory certainly show strong indication of memory being constructive and show that memories can be altered or distorted by a variety of factors meaning the information retrieved is subject to change. However looking at both the encoding and storage processes these have been shown to have both passive and constructive elements depending on the circumstances such as emotional responses and personal relevance. Therefore looking at memory as a single entity, it has to be seen as an amalgamation of both constructive and passive elements. (Brace and Roth,  2007) References : Brace, N and Roth, I (2007) ‘Memory : structures, processes and skills’ in D. Miell, A.Phoenix, & K.Thomas(Eds.) Mapping psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Health Care Accreditation by the Joint Commission Essays

Health Care Accreditation by the Joint Commission Essays Health Care Accreditation by the Joint Commission Paper Health Care Accreditation by the Joint Commission Paper Current success and progress in the health care industry owes a lot to the work of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health organizations (JCAHO) now the Joint Commission. Heath care quality and safety have become the basis for evaluating the competence of health care establishments as well as the compliance with international health care standards. The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization established in 1951 in the United States with the main objective of evaluating and accrediting health care organizations. To date, close to 16,000 organizations in the health care industry in the United States have been accredited by the Joint Commission. Of the 16,000, about 3,900 are home care establishments, 4,400 are hospitals while more than 7,000 include other health care organizations providing related services such as ambulatory care, laboratory, long term services and behavioral health care (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare, 2010). Moreover, the commission is involved in the evaluation and accreditation of networks for health care and health plans. The affairs of the commission are governed by a number of representatives drawn from the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital association, the American College of Physicians, the American Dental Association, the American Medical Association, six public members, the president of the Joint Commission (JC) and a nursing representative (Joint Commission Resources, 2002-2009). However, as from July 2010, the Joint Commission will be subject to the Medicaid and Medicare Centres since the Section 125 of MIPPA-Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act enacted in 2008 recently withdrew the commission’s statutory guaranteed authority. The Joint Commission provides through the accreditation services, a structure that helps health care provision establishments to improve safety and performance. This certification helps these establishments to raise the performance bar on a companywide perspective as well as providing a means for health home care providers to asses and monitor their personal performance basing on the JCAHO-led organizational quality initiatives. Despite the commission being privately run, most state governments have come to recognize its services such that they acknowledge accreditation by the commission as a basic requirement for health care organizations seeking licensure and the Medicaid reimbursement. The Joint Commission spreads information, measures performance, advocates for the implementation of measures on patient safety and introduces the recommendations formulated in various public policies. The commission works in collaboration with the private non-profit making affiliate known as the Joint Commission Resources, Inc (Joint Commission Resources, 2002-2009). In 1997, JCR formed the Joint Commission International (JCI) to extend the mandate of the Joint Commission world wide. On an international level, JCI provides consultation, accreditation, training programs and also publishes accreditation manuals. The Joint Commission has successfully spread its mission to over sixty countries where it evaluates, demonstrates and enhances patient care quality and safety by working in collaboration with the various agencies in public health, health ministries as well as international organizations in healthcare such as WHO. The commission’s goals on patient safety and accreditation standards are updated annually so as to maintain high standards of health care quality. The goals of the commission seek to address the problematic health care areas and also to describe both expert and evidence-based solutions to handle such problems. Most of these goals focus on system wide designs as it plays a central role in the delivery of high quality health care and safety. The process of accreditation The accreditation services are customized to meet the setting of an organization and at the same time maintaining the goals of the commission. The accreditation experts from JC offer an organization comprehensive and practical assistance to it prepare for accreditation (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare, 2010). They begin with an assessment of the organization’s level of compliance with JCI’s standards and then assist in formulating important procedures or steps that will help the organization to meet JCI’s standards. The assessment covers the ambulatory care, the continuum of care, health care transport services, laboratory, and the hospital after which a comprehensive report is prepared and from which corrective actions are formed. Apart from guiding through the preparation of the action plan, the expert consultants provide training and education to the staff. The experts then continue to provide both on and off-site assistance to ensure that the action plans are working. Periodical simulated surveys similar to the JCI’s survey are conducted with the help of the experts to assess readiness for accreditation. A comprehensive survey is also conducted 6 to 8 moths prior to the actual accreditation survey. Accreditation is provided once the preparation is over and the organization is fully compliant to the standards. JCI monitors the systems of the organizations form time to time to ensure compliance. References Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare. (2010). Accreditation Process Guide for Hospitals. Joint Commission on. Joint Commission Resources. Accreditation and Certification. (2002-2009). Retrieved 12 May 2010 from jointcommissioninternational.org/Search/