Is Gold a Safe Investment in the Current Economic Situation

Is gold a safe investment in the current economic situation? Global demand for gold has been on the rise and with good reason- the price of the precious metal has been consistently breaking new highs even though markets throughout the world remain weak (Lee, 2011). In the last decade alone, gold has achieved a 500% increase in value and more relevantly, it has soared from $1400 (an ounce) in January this year to a peak of $1920 (Prial, 2011). Thiru (2011) of Lloyd TSB, determined that gold has provided the best returns for investors in 2011 (as cited in Lee, 2011).However, distinguished private banks and investors remain cynical of gold’s invariable rise and have even deemed the asset as â€Å"the ultimate bubble that will eventually burst† (Soros, 2010; as cited in Conway, 2010). Despite the warnings of George Soros and Wells Fargo, the yellow metal continues to sustain its steady run and is, according to West (2011), looking stronger now than it has ever been in the l ast decade. This study aims to investigate the justifications behind gold’s rising value and will also consider the relevant refutations that discredit the commodity’s safe haven status.The recent appreciation in gold prices can be substantiated on a wide array of merits, disapproving the claims that the commodity is artificially overvalued. Firstly, as affirmed by Spall (2008), gold retains its value even during inflation and consequently, has become a popular avenue for wealth investment in periods of great uncertainty. Early signs of global economic instability induced the European Central bank to heavily reinforce its gold position more than 2 years ago (Prial, 2011).And while the Euro zone truly faces a deepened fiscal crisis, gold is becoming even more attractive still. Because most economies throughout the world remain weak, currencies such as the Swiss Franc, dollar assets such as US treasury bills and other investments that were once considered secure, have lo st the confidence and backing of investors. Alternatively, people look to gold as a stronger and safer investment. Ironically enough, economies that do manage positive growth, such as China and India, have also been witnessing rising demand for the yellow metal.In the case of India, this comes in the form of consumer goods such as jewelry. The People’s Bank of China has one of the lowest rates of gold reserves but is planning to double its issuance of gold bullion Chinese coins in the near future (Holmes, 2011). In the past the gold standard was used as a basis for exchange, but inefficiencies in substantiating the system saw the link between the US dollar and gold removed. Nonetheless, the value of gold still retains a strong correlation to the value of the dollar (Hajjar, 2011).With the Federal Reserve’s freedom to print money, the value of the dollar in circulation has reached trillions. Contrastingly, levels of gold production have remained moderately constant thro ughout time. The imbalance in the value of USDs versus the value of gold reserves, gives the commodity augmented capacity for further price increases. The soaring gold prices can also be explained by the unconventionally large amounts of quantitative easing that has taken place in recent years. Such a policy causes inflation and uncertainty, which in turn makes gold more popular.In late September, Ben Bernanke declared ‘Operation Twist’ -which would cease additional printing of money. Commodity markets responded poorly to the announcement, with gold devaluing by nearly 9% in just two days (Prial, 2011). Although gold prices eventually sustained in value and proceeded with its run, the commodity’s sharp plummet after a single policy revision creates doubt in the safety of gold investments. It also introduces the possibility that gold’s upward trend has been the result of risky commodity speculation.Nevertheless, by acknowledging the current level of economi c instability, lack in investment alternatives and unstable dollar value, the present high price of gold can be easily accepted. An educated guess would have me value the yellow metal at a stable $1700 an ounce by the end of this year. As long as market volatility persists, gold will be able to keep its high prices afloat and retain its position as a safe investment. If the commodity truly is in a bubble, then it is likely to burst- in a convincingly upward manner.

Good Essay Writing

A good essay should begin with a proper title, give an explanation of what the essay is about in the first paragraph and follow through the remainder of the essay, allowing the reader a better understanding of the topic of the essay.The essay should also provide adequate paragraphs with proper grammar, which support the first paragraph. The conclusion of the essay is also extremely important and should always talk about the topic of the essay.With good essay writing, the writer should use a clear and proper title for the heading of his essay.   This title should be one that is direct and to the point. The heading should relay a clear meaning of what the entire essay will be discussing from the very beginning to the last conclusion of the essay.By using supporting paragraphs, the reader is able to easily follow what the writer is saying throughout the essay and will be capable of a flowing explanation that has proper meaning to the reader.Supporting paragraphs will always directly r elate to the topic of the essay so by talking about events and related issues that support the topic, the reader never strays from the main subject of the meaning of the essay.Also by using supporting paragraphs the writer is able to offer additional information that will give a better understanding of the topic that is being discussed by the writer.The essay writer should always use proper grammar and words that are clear and easy to understand. By utilizing proper grammar and words that are easily understand, the reader will be more capable of completely understanding the message that the writer is conveying to the reader.A good conclusion is also important in essay writing so that the writer ends their reading with a well-rounded meaning of the complete essay. A proper conclusion should be closely related to the first paragraph of the essay and offer an ending that answers a question or gives a direct meaning to the entire essay.A good essay should use the rules and guidelines de scribed in this essay so that the essay writing will flow like a wonderful conversation on paper from the heading of the paper to the very last concluding paragraph. The essay should always offer the reader an enjoyable reading experience.Good essay writing is important and the main purpose of each good essay should be to always use good structure.To conclude this essay, I would like to offer that I did pay close attention to the heading of this essay, I used a great leading paragraph that told what my essay would consist of. I used clear words that are easy to understand while I paid close attention to using proper grammar in my writing.Also, I used supporting paragraphs in this essay that remained on topic throughout this essay and I will end by offering that I believe that this is a wonderful example of an essay that offers the reader an explanation about what a good essay should consist of.

Information Systems in Organizations Assignment - 1

Information Systems in Organizations - Assignment Example My social class therefore affects even my dating process because I mostly interact with people of my social status My social class also affects my political interests in terms of the politicians I support and whether or not I vote (people of a lower social class are more likely not to vote) (Griffin, Larry, and Peggy 116). From the clips, I have seen and felt that it is better to be in the higher social class because those in the lower end have many problems that can be easily solved by those in a better class. I have observed that the lifestyles of people in the lower and upper social classes are disparate in many ways. While the those in the higher social class can choose the cars to drive, those in a lower class like Tammy have to walk to work because they do not even have functional cars and cannot fix the ones they have. I have learnt that people in a higher social class have a better image, purchasing power and ability to create their own lifestyles. I have also learnt that people can judge one’s social class from their image based on how they are dressed and look, for instance, Matt says that the way his mother dresses displays a lower social class. The names and things people surround and associate themselves with can reveal their social class. I liked the video clips because they give a clear and detailed picture of what life is like for those in the lower and higher ends of the social class in terms of the things they can afford physically, emotionally and

Accounting for investments under U.S. GAAP Personal Statement

Accounting for investments under U.S. GAAP - Personal Statement Example Investments are categorized as either long-term or short -term investments. Current investments are. Other investments that are not current are categorized as long-term investments (Epstein, Nach & Bragg, 2009). The U.S GAAP provides various standards for accounting for investments. The objective of U.S accounting standards that deal with property plant and equipment is to recommend treatment of property; plant and equipment to enable users of financial information have proper details regarding the enterprises investment in property, plant and equipment and changes in such investments. The main issues in accounting for PPE are recognition of the assets, determination of the assets carrying amounts, the appropriate depreciation charges and impairment losses that are supposed to be recognized in relation to these assets (Thornton, 2013). According U.S GAAP, Property plant and equipment include tangible items that are: 1) held for the purpose of production of goods and services, rental to others, or for administrative needs, 2) anticipated to be used for more than one period and, 3) It is probable that the future economic benefits related with the items will flow to the enterprise and 4) the cost of the PPE can be measured reliably (Thornton, 2013). The cost of an item of PPE is the cash amount or its equivalent, paid in acquiring the asset, commonly adjusted for amortization and other allocations after acquisition. If an enterprise recognizes a liability for retirement of an asset obligation, the carrying amount of the long-lived asset should be increased by an amount equivalent to the liability (Thornton, 2013). Routine maintenance costs should be expensed as they are incurred. Major inspection and repair costs can be expensed as incurred or capitalized and amortized to the subsequent major inspection or repair. Borrowing

Marketing Spotlight on HSBC Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Spotlight on HSBC - Case Study Example A deeper insight into this strategy reveals that the efforts are directed towards becoming the consumer's expert on cultural knowledge of the nation thus getting deep visibility into financial opportunities in the country hidden in the personality & motivation of the end consumers that is normally invisible to other outsiders (Montgomery. 2008). The localization model of HSBC is supported strongly by their global technology system called Hexagon Infrastructure having foundations laid way back in 1983 and subsequently key enhancements implemented in 1987, 1989, and 1994 (Peffers and Tuunainen. 1999). HSBC owns one of the most sophisticated & efficient banking transactions & customer service management systems of the world. As defined by Hamid and Amin et al. (2007), Internet Banking is a powerful mean of enhancing competitive advantages that should be informative, communicative & transactional as per the local customer needs. As reported by these researchers, HSBC is one of the few foreign banks that are able to compete effectively with the local banks at Malaysia & Thailand pertaining to Internet Banking. Also, this is the only bank in the world that offers secure ID tokens to the customers for Internet Banking (Goodwin. 2006). Another key success factor of HSBC is their focus on some specific customer needs through niche marketing like the example of pet insurance offering in the spotlight document. Lemon and Seiders (2007) presented another niche focus of HSBC servicing fund transfers for immigrants back into their respective countries through HSBC website. This service is specifically very popular in markets like Mexico and Philippines that are not core targets of many multinational banks. As a result of such offerings, HSBC customers perceive the bank to be socially responsible and innovative which adds to the brand equity of the organization. Sirkeci (2008) presented another niche positioning by HSBC whereby they target the needs of ethnic population of developed countries and offer customized products for them. To serve this segment, they have hired frontline staff from the target communities to ensure better customer friendliness. In nutshell the primary competitive advantages of localization competencies and ability to target niche segments has ensured the current global positioning of HSBC as such. Where is HSBC vulnerable and what should they watch for McDonald and Chernatony (2001) reported that while the competency of localization is evident very strongly in the parent brand, the same is not reflected adequately in promotion of individual products like Meridian, Vector, Orchard, etc. Moreover, the benefits of individual products of HSBC are not communicated adequately through product branding exercise. This leads to tight correlation of individual product lines with the parent brand thus risking the HSBC brand equity in a location due to failure of a product line. This is a serious vulnerability that HSBC should watch for. Another vulnerability HSBC might face is pertaining to their sheer size and the

What are variables Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What are variables - Essay Example A variable is anything whose value can vary. For instance age is a variable as age varies for different persons. Variables need not be numerical always. Gender is a variable as it consists of two text values ‘male’ and ‘female’. An attribute refers to specific values of the variable. For example, the variable gender has two attributes- male and female. The variable agreement may have five attributes- (a) strongly agree, (b) disagree (c) neutral (d) agree and (e) strongly agree (Trochim, 2006).Every variable has some attributes.For studying cause- effect relationship, the distinction between independent variable and dependent variable must be clear. The independent variable is what the researcher manipulates. The dependent variable is that which is affected by the independent variable. The independent variable is the cause or treatment and the dependent variable is the effect or outcome. For example, while studying the effects of traffic rule awareness campai gns to reduce accidents, the program is the independent variable and the achievements are dependent variables. A variable should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Exhaustive means that a variable should include all possible responses. For this purpose, list all the important attributes and use a general category like â€Å"other† to represent remaining ones. Also, variables should be mutually exclusive. It means that no one should be able to have two attributes simultaneously. Operationalization The meaning of a research study depends on how objectively the phenomena under consideration are observed. So developing a reliable and valid set of procedures for measuring the variables is crucial for the validity of research study (Operational Definitions, 2005). The first step for an operational definition is to specify the constructs. How observations are made, what is observed, how observations are to be recorded have to be specified accurately. Sample Sampling is the proces s of selecting units from a population so that by studying the sample, it would be able to generalise results back to the population. Related to generalisation is the concept of external validity. Validity refers to the approximate truth of conclusions (Trochim, 2006). External validity refers to the degree to which conclusions in the study would hold for other persons in other places at other times (Trochim, 2006). There are two major methods for selecting sample for generalisation. One is called sampling model. In it, the population to be generalised is identified and a fair sample is drawn to conduct the research. Since the sample is representative of the population, the generalisations are applicable to the population. The second approach is called proximal similarity model. The term proximal similarity was suggested by Donald T. Campbell. In this approach, several generizability contexts are considered and theories are developed as to which situation or context is more similar to the study and which are less similar. By doing so, it is possible to generalise the results of the study to other persons, places or times that are more like the study (Trochim, 2006). The population to be generalised is called theoretical population. The population that is accessible to the study is called accessible population. The list of accessible population from which sample is drawn is known as sampling frame. For example, if a phone survey is to be done with a phone book, the phone book is the sampling frame. The sample is the group of people, who are selected for the study. But, the group that actually completes the study is the sub sample of the sample only. There is a distinction between random selection and random assignment. Random selection refers to how sample is selected. Random assignment refers to how different treatments are assigned to the sample selected for study. In sampling, the units are usually people and they supply responses. A response is a specific m easurement value. A statistic is used to look at the responses of the entire sample. Mean, median,

Master of Business Administration Personal Statement

Master of Business Administration - Personal Statement Example For deals worth more than three million dollars, I work with a team in order to come up with proposals and pricing strategies. All of the opportunities that I handle are highly competitive. My company is in the commodity business. This means that prices are the deciding factor whether we achieve deals or lose them. The role I play in the company is vital. When I bid on an opportunity, finding the right price is crucial to winning business. It is important to find the line between a low enough price to win business and a price high enough to make a profit. Personal accountability in this field is the only way to achieve positive results. It is imperative to remember while going after new business, that one must also retain current customers. The competitive personal computer market needs employees that inspire customer loyalty. This makes retaining customers a top priority for me. It is my goal to generate good relations with new customers, while maintaining the same constructive relationship with current customers. This aspiration sometimes can be tedious, but I work hard to accomplish this objective. A long term intention is to use my sales and marketing experience to pursue a career in product management. While I am comfortable with numbers, working with product management would be more fulfilling.

Evaluate critically the effectiveness of large scale surveys in Essay

Evaluate critically the effectiveness of large scale surveys in measuring flexible employment in the UK - Essay Example Similarly, it is difficult to see with any clarity how these present drivers of the "new economy" will be changing the world of work and related issues. All that is known for sure is that the changes will be equally unpredictable and diverse. Work in the new economy or the information age is fundamentally different fro the industrial economy. The world is shifting to the "New Wave" information technology led economy. However, regulatory environments, social norms or academic research have to cope with both industrial age and new economy at the same time. It is generally accepted through large-scale surveys on the changes in employment that, above all, flexible employment is here to stay. What is not clear from surveys is the definition of what such work should be. In any case, the present version of flexible employment fails to keep pace with fast changing technological environments in Britain. Surveys, government sponsored or funded by private bodies, do not show how trends in emplo yment impact families, gender specific situations, and the work force in general. A flexible work force is paid normal rates to fulfil work, which is just adequate to require its services. The question is tied to fiscal and business issues. This deserves to be examined with the relevant perspectives in mind. Current research needs to adapt to changing situation. (Tones & Tilford, 2001) This is not merely an academic concern. ... An effective solution needs to be found for the problem of mismatch in skilled labour versus demand. The search for a solution merges academic and business based research bearing on fiscal and regulatory measures governing business, the needs and motivations of the labour force. The greatest problems are not technical. In fact, employees realize the imperatives for change and are open minded to it. The technology required is at hand and improves all the time. What is required is convincing academic research to support the business environment. What business will require at this point of time is guidance on how to implement and manage flexibility in the work place. Issues of social security and taxation within business remain firmly rooted in the industrial age. Clearly academic research is not keeping up with the pace of change experienced in the real world.Change is taking place in the world of work, which is indicated by a shift in emphasis from norms of permanent employment at one location. The academic community is equipped to face challenges at the macro level, and can influence governments, and suggest answers to questions raised about work in an emerging new economy. Nevertheless, ongoing research and surveys will be effective if the reality of the emerging work environments is accepted. We are already living the future. (King, 2005) The rise of services The traditional manufacturing sector measured as a share of GNP and in terms of numbers employed has declined in all mature industrial economies. On the other hand, the service sector has had a healthy growth, often complementing industrial processes. However, many of the new services are in fact industry-related services. For example, an in-house design team working for a manufacturer would be

The Golden Gate Bridge Magnificence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

The Golden Gate Bridge Magnificence - Essay Example There is a slight scent of roses in the atmosphere a scent that has come up with the tide (Campbell and Susan, 35). The water in itself is pleasing to the eyes, and the smashing of water on to the rocks below makes it seem as if it is raging and charging. The sunlight makes the water sparkle when calm, and though a long way down, I can see my own tiny reflection; a tiny me holding the railings of the bridge and looking down to see the gaze turned on to me. A swarm of birds passes by, making me envious of them because I do not get to enjoy the scenery that they get to enjoy in their flight. They whistle in harmony, whilst I soak in the sun’s warm rays looking into the horizon. Many have encountered death by this bridge. Death has taken the lives of countless individuals in both cruel and softer manner. The lucky ones were saved before death could grasp them. The sparkly waters below me have tasted the blood of the victims. The waters do not choose the person to take in (Campbell and Susan, 35). The clouds begin to show their faces. They come in huge numbers as if to bid me the worst. Now the air smells of exhaust smoke, emitted from cars trying to rush home and avoid the coming thunderstorm., The place suddenly turns cold, a gesture that means I should be on my way lest I meet the wrath of the water below, which has now turned wild and bangs the rocks on the banks with rage. Many lives have been taken down there, and I would not wish death takes mine soon I choose the Golden Gate Bridge because of its famous use by various people and among them those who pass there while heading home on a daily basis. I enjoyed writing about the Golden Gate Bridge because, despite its praise for being one famous bridge among many, there was still the possibility of writing something negative about a bridge that has been praised for quite a while. My first impressions about the bridge were both good and bad.

Distinctions between male and female serial killers Assignment

Distinctions between male and female serial killers - Assignment Example To date, there is scanty data on the female serial killers and how the differ from male serial killers (Wolfgang, 2007). By definition, a serial killer is anyone who has killed at least three people over time in separate incidents and in a civilian context. This means, the killing done by terrorists or military personnel in their duty does not constitute serial killer but rather that health care worker or parent who kills their victims. At first, it is hard to draw a line between the male and female serial killer but a closer look shows some difference between these two groups. In contrast to female pattern serial killer, the profiles of the male who kill have been studied extensively. Some of the early researchers such as Guttmacher & Wolfgang (1960) concluded that most serial killers were typically black who mostly killed in response to some argument or physical confrontation. The most male serial killer has tended to kill outside their homes perhaps in a bar or the streets and used knives and guns to overcome their victims. The victim of the women, seem a little different. Unlike male serial killer, most of the women serial killer victims are family members, friends or acquaintances. Male serial killers have tended to inflict damages in addition to causing death to their victims and engage in some form of torture before they kill their victim. They have shown some tendency to use hands-on skills when killing their victims using blunt objects, knives, and hands as part of the processing of killing the victim and power domination as part of the motivation behind killing. This is very unlike female serial killers. The female serial killers never use force or power to overcome their victims. Mostly, the known female serial killers have been known to murder their victim using poisons such paralyze their victims (Keeney & Heide, 2004). Male serial killers have also been identified to use stalking behaviors whereby the trail their victims keenly observing

Nations Essay Example for Free

Nations Essay The debate over a national bank raged on for many years. These two selections illustrate the raging debate between two of the nation’s most vocal politicians. They illuminate a common theme throughout American history, namely the debate surrounding the strength of the federal government. To be sure, the focus is on the creation of a national debate, but the underlying debate about federalism underlies much of early American history. Thomas Jefferson’s states rights approach to government could not be more evident in this selection. Jefferson expresses concerns about affording too many powers to the national government. Per Jefferson’s usual rhetoric, he makes the threat of a totalitarian regime seem almost guaranteed. Jefferson cites the Constitution to show that those duties not specifically given to the federal government ought to be given to the states. Hamilton takes the contrary view. He suggests that all powers not given to the states should logically fall back to the national government. Alexander Hamilton was a staunch supporter of a strong national government and his quest for a national bank is perhaps the apex of his political leanings. Hamilton concludes that interpreting the Constitution liberally allows for service of the public good. These documents combine to underscore the fiery passions of the men deciding the course of the nation. To this day, the debates over the federal government’s powers rage on. Now we see debates about the re-regulation or de-regulation of industry, the ability of the federal government to legislate on a variety of social issues, and the role of legal preemption. Some debates never die down, they simply change form. In these pieces we also see the formation of a clear political ideology that will characterize political debates between the nation’s two major political parties: Democrats and Republicans. States rights and federal powers underlie much of the current political debates seen in the papers and on television. Jefferson is taking what would now be characterized as a Republican position, supporting less federal involvement in favor of giving states the right to decide their own policies. The formation of the Republican Party began years ago with debates much like this. The Democratic Party prizes a strong national government that looks out for the citizenry. Alexandria Hamilton cites the popular Democratic mantra of â€Å"public benefits. † One can see this rhetoric in debates over national health care policies and education policy. To think, early on these issues defined a nation and were not afterthoughts in larger partisan battles. This is perhaps where Jefferson was correct. He may have been quick to jump to conclusions about tyranny, but it may have been that bombastic rhetoric that kept society cognizant of what was at stake. The historical record is replete with a deeper understanding of issues that is so often lost in today’s world of sound bites, press conferences, and blogs. Jefferson and Hamilton’s speeches illustrate just how important the basic concept of life, liberty, and justice were. They also illustrate how these ideas are forgotten in today’s debates. Jefferson and Hamilton represent two opposing forces in American history. The debate over a national bank was the focal point of this debate for some time. The national bank debate represents a window into the past that can illuminate the present. Federalism is still a significant concern today.

Self awareness in persons with brain injury

Self awareness in persons with brain injury Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a major medical issue which can affect anyone regardless of class, race, ethnicity, gender, or age. It can be defined as damage to the brain, which occurs after birth and is not related to a congenital or a degenerative disease. These impairments may be temporary or permanent and cause partial functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment (Brain Injury Association, 2009). People who have sustained an acquired brain injury are not easily pinpointed in society due to the lack of external symptomology, and therefore ABI is usually referred to as the hidden disability. This title, named accordingly, is due to the extensive damage to their cognitive and social functioning and less to do with their physical appearance, which in many cases remained unchanged. So what causes ABI, and who can be affected by it? This type of injury can occur due to a series of incidents, and anyone can be affected by it. Some possible incidents include a road traffic accident, a fall, an assault, a stroke which causes damage to the brain, complications during brain surgery, tumours, viral infections, or lack of oxygen to the brain (a possible result of a heart attack, hypoxia, or anoxia). ABI can be split into two types traumatic and non-traumatic. A traumatic brain injury can occur due to a closed or open injury. The more common type, closed injury, occurs when the brain is bounced around in the skull due to a blow to the head, such as the impact from a road traffic accident. What this impact results in is damage to the brain tissue. An open injury, on the other hand, occurs when an object such as a bullet, fractures the skull and enters the brain (Headway, 2009). This type of injury is less common and usually damages a specific part of the brain, therefor e resulting in specific problems. The other type, non-traumatic injury, is simply one that does not occur as a result of a trauma, such as a stroke or a tumour. Prevalence of ABI is unknown within Ireland, however Headway (2009), an Irish organisation specialising in brain injury rehabilitation, accumulated ABI data from various countries and applied this to an Irish population in order to estimate the prevalence. With this information they suggested that between 9,000 and 11,000 people sustain a traumatic brain injury each year in Ireland. They estimated that there are approximately 30,000 people in Ireland between the ages of 16-65 with long term problems following trauma to the brain, and that the 15-29 year old group are three times more likely to sustain a brain injury than any other group. Another Irish study, OBrien Phillips (1994), recorded individual patient details for all head injury admissions to the Neurosurgical Unit at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. They estimated a prevalence of head injury among patients in Ireland to be approximately 13,441 per year, which is just slightly higher than Headways (2009) estimation. Results from t he 225 patients they studied portrayed that road traffic accidents accounted for 48% of injuries sustained (the largest proportion), and falls accounted for 36%. The researchers also found that between 1987 and 1993 there were 3,154 people killed and 64,971 injured on Irish roads. Alcohol consumption prior to the injury was also found in 31% of cases. In a larger study, Tagliaferri et al. (2006) attempted to locate the prevalence rate of brain injury, this time in Europe. They claimed that the absence of prevalence data hampers the full assessment of medical treatment and rehabilitation needs (p. 265) and that prevalence studies in Europe are essential, and should be undertaken extensively. With this in mind they suggest that brain injury patients will increase by 775,500 each year in the EU, and that 6,246,400 people are alive with some degree of TBI [traumatic brain injury] (p. 260). Thus we can conclude from these studies that Ireland has a prevalence rate of ABI from about 9,000 to 13,5000, a slight impingement upon Europes figures, but a worryingly high statistic for Ireland alone. There are three levels of brain injury, which indicate the severity of the neurological injury mild, moderate, and severe brain injury. To qualify for a mild brain injury, one must score between 13 15 on the Glascow Coma Scale, which records the conscious state of a person. This type of brain injury can occur due to a brief loss of consciousness, and the patient may present himself or herself as confused, and suffering from a concussion. Symptoms that occur within this severity of brain injury are predominantly headaches, fatigue, irritability, sensitivity to noise or light, balance and memory problems, nausea, decreased speed of thinking, depression, and mood swings. A moderate traumatic brain injury can be diagnosed when the patient scores a 9 12 on the Glascow Coma Scale. This injury occurs when there is a loss of consciousness that lasts from a few minutes to a few hours, and confusion lasts from days to weeks. Patients in this category usually make a good recovery with treatm ent. The last level of brain injury is severe brain injury, and this occurs when there is a prolonged unconscious state or coma that lasts days, weeks, or months. This category can be categorized into subgroups of coma, vegetative state, persistent vegetative state, minimally responsive state, akinetic mutism, and locked-in syndrome. (Brain Injury Association, 2009). There are many changes and consequences that affect a person after they have suffered from an acquired brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe. These changes may be temporary, improving in time, or permanent, dictating the way they live the rest of their lives. Not only do the changes affect the victim, but they also affect the victims support system (i.e. their surrounding family and community). Each brain injury is unique and subject to change, and depending on the severity of the injury, a patient will witness cognitive changes shifts in the ability to think and learn, affecting memory, concentration, flexibility, communication, insight, and responses. Physical changes will also be apparent in the form of fatigue, headaches, chronic pain, visual and hearing problems, and sexual function. Behavioural changes may include impulsivity, irritability, inappropriate behaviour, self-centredness, depression, lack of initiative, and sexual behaviour. Challenging Behaviour As stated earlier, most people who have a head injury are left with a change in the form of their emotional or behavioural pattern. This is inevitable as the brain is the seat and control centre of all our emotions and behaviour (Powell, 1994, p.96). With this in mind, challenging behaviour alone has become synonymous with ABI as one of the main behavioural deficits that occur following injury. The literature of ABI has accentuated that challenging behaviour presents the most significant behavioural disturbance within this diagnosis, and can pose serious problems for their recovery, their family, and also their community. Kelly et al. (2008) provided evidence that challenging behaviours have often been associated with risks such as family disintegration, loss of accommodation, reduced access to rehabilitation or community facilities and legal charges (p.457). Results of their study indicated that 94% of the patients they studied showed broad behavioural disturbance, with 60% engaging in four or more behaviour problems (p.463). However, due to convergent opinions on what constitutes a challenging behaviour, defining such behaviour has become difficult. However, Headway Ireland (2009) have made one such attempt to define challenging behaviour: any behaviour, or lack of behaviour of such intensity, frequency and/or duration that has the potential to cause distress or harm to clients/carers/staff or one which creates feelings of discomfort, powerlessness, frustration, fear or anxiety. It is also behaviour, which delays or limits access to ordinary community facilities and is outside socially acceptable norms. As mentioned earlier, types of behavioural problems that may occur following an acquired brain injury include agitation, depression, anxiety, self-centredness, withdrawal, physical aggression, increased/decreased libido, impulsivity, self harm, restlessness, paranoia, and many others. As each brain injury is unique, some patients may suffer with some symptoms, whereas others may not. Each person is entirely unique, with severities and symptoms being completely individual. So why exactly do patients suffering from an ABI present with challenging behaviours? Powell (1994) suggests that there seems to be four main reasons why these challenging behaviours exist: (a) direct neurological damage; (b) exaggeration of previous personality; (c) the stresses of adjustment; and (d) the environment the person lives in (p.97). With regards to direct neurological damage, the challenging behaviour results directly from the damage done to the certain area of the brain. Many of the challenging behaviours stem from damage done to the frontal lobes, which are important for the regulation of emotions, motivation, sexual libido, self-control and self-awareness. Following a brain injury, the patients existing personality traits, tendencies, and problems may be exaggerated, it is as if the controls or brakes which modify and regulate the personality have been loosened, and traits and mannerisms become distorted and exaggerated (p.97). It is highly important for the professio nals working along side the patient to be aware of the patients previous personality when attempting to understand their challenging behaviour. Thirdly, stress of adjustment can also be a major contributor to the challenging behaviour that persists in patients with ABI. Finding out that one can no longer do the simple things in life anymore, such as play their favourite sport or instrument, can be extremely frustrating and stressful for the patient. It is more likely that under these extreme conditions of stress that one would become more angry and irritable, and become more preoccupied with their problems than before. Finally, the social and physical environment can also contribute to the onset of behavioural problems. The social environment relates to the natural supports surrounding the patient such as family, friends, neighbours, and professional staff, whereas the physical environment depicts the patients setting, whether its an institutional setting or a family home. Taking in to consideration both the social and physical environment, if the person suffering from ABI is not understood, and communication and support is poor, then their behaviour is likely to deteriorate as a result. It is crucial for the patient to be in the correct environment to reap the best opportunities possible. How others respond to the challenging behaviour of a person with an ABI plays a crucial role in the rehabilitation process, as well as the quality of life of family and friends surrounding the patient. Of concern is the setting in which the patient is located these behaviours can endure and worsen over time, particularly in unstructured settings where there is often little control over the environmental contingencies that govern behaviour (Kelly et al., 2006). Alderman (2001) has stated how behaviour modification programmes can create profound changes within the neurorehabilitation setting. There exists an amalgamation of research conducted in this area with some very mentionable results. Watson et al. (2000) conducted a case study on patient, JH, who had sustained a brain injury as a result of a gunshot wound, and developed severe behavioural problems. A differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) intervention was devised for 85 weeks, which allowed JH the opportunity to gain stars at the end of the day if he had absolved from aggressive behaviour to a created limit. This treatment resulted in JHs level of Clopixol being reduced from three times a day, down to two without any side effects on his challenging behaviour. DRL has demonstrated the effectiveness in reducing both the frequency and severity of aggressive behaviour 10 years after a very severe TBI had been sustained (p.1011). Other studies stress different approaches to treatment of challenging behaviours, such as remedial behaviour therapy approaches, or Rothwell et al. (1999) who suggest the main emphasis in treating challenging behaviours should be upon behavioural assessment as it engenders an empathic understanding of what is often offensive behaviour, which helps reduce the stress experienced by the people affected by the behaviour and leads to respectful, individualized and holistic interventions (p.530). Self-Awareness As mentioned earlier, challenging behaviour is synonymous with ABI, however deficits in self-awareness have also been well established in the literature to be evident in patients with brain injury. Impaired self-awareness poses great challenges for rehabilitation, and also for the safety of the patient suffering from the ABI. Self-awareness can be defined as the capacity to perceive the self in relatively objective terms while maintaining a sense of subjectivity (Prigtano Schacter, 1991, p. 13). The ability to think subjectively and objectively of ourselves, and to adjust our behaviours accordingly, are abilities that are often overlooked, but are none-the-less crucial for daily living, and integration into society. These skills are commonly impaired following a brain injury, as both are constructs associated with executive functions and related to frontal-executive systems dysfunction (Goverover et al. 2007, p. 913). Oddy et al. (1985) undertook a study in a bid to portray the implications of a decreased level of self-awareness (specifically behavioural limitations) after traumatic brain injury. The researchers asked patients and their surrounding families to describe the behavioural problems that prevailed seven years following the brain injuries occurrence. The results noted that patients tended to underestimate their problems in comparison to their families reports. For example, 53% of patients noted that memory problems were the most common long term difficulty, whereas 79% of the families noted memory problems as significant sequelae. Also, patients failed to report two problems that the families reported. 40% of the families noted that the patient behaved in a much more childlike manner, and also that the patients refused to admit to their difficulties. This study brought to light the issue of self-awareness impairment. We have so far spoken of self awareness deficits and its prevalence within people who have ABI, but what exactly are the implications of such a deficit? It is widely suggested that an increased impairment of self-awareness is associated with increased problems in most other areas of the patients life. For example, Larn et al. (1998) studied that ABI patients with poor self-awareness show less compliance and participation during treatment in rehabilitation. Malec Degiorgio (2002) found that ABI patients with decreased level of self-awareness are considerably more at risk of being referred for more intensive rehabilitation. Malec et al. (2000) found that such patients require longer lengths of stay in rehabilitation; Sherer et al. (2003) found that patients are more likely to be associated with a poorer functional status at time of discharge from rehabilitation. Ezrachi et al. (1991) found that deficits in a patients level of self-awareness is foretelling of a low rate of return to em ployment following a brain injury. And finally, Ergh et al. (2002) found that a high level of impairment of self-awareness with the ABI patient is reflective of higher distress among caregivers (as cited in High, 2005). With regards to treatment of impaired self-awareness in individuals with ABI, there is a vast range of methods which have been studied. Crosson et al. (1989) have shown that group therapy programmes can be beneficial in increasing intellectual awareness. Zhou et al. (1996) studied three adult males who were trained in knowledge of ABI residuals using a game format to present training information (p. 1). Results suggested that all participants increased their knowledge relating to areas of behaviour, emotion, cognition, communication, physical, and sensory residuals. Many studies have exemplified the role of observation and feedback to improve individuals level of self-awareness. For example, Schlund (1999) undertook a case study of a 21-year-old male who was a TBI survivor and was 5 years post-injury. Results of this study showed that report-performance measurement, feedback and review, positively altered the patients awareness deficit. However, observation and feedback are not witho ut its faults as Bieman-Copland Dywan (2000) point out. Their study suggested that direct feedback becomes confrontational and can lead to agitation among patients with severe brain injury. This study highlights the need for each treatment to be individualised to ensure the best possible outcomes of treatment. Fleming et al. (2006) evaluated the usefulness of an individualised occupation-based approach for participants dealing with ABI, specifically with regards to the level of self-awareness and emotional status. The unique focus of the program was the use of meaningful occupations to provide the individuals with experiential feedback of their current level of ability through the use of self-monitoring and supportive therapist feedback (p. 51). The results supported the use of this type of therapy in increasing self-awareness, and that occupational performance may be highly important in increasing the self-awareness of people with ABI. Finally, Goverover et al. (2007) conducted a randomised controlled study on the self-awareness treatment model, stipulated upon Toglia and Kirks model (2000). Their study provided evidence for experiencing different tasks and everyday activities for enhancing self-awareness and self-regulation. Although treatment of impaired self-awareness is crucial for the patients full recovery, it has been studied that increasing the level of self-awareness in ABI patients can also have some negative consequences. Fleming Strong (1995) suggested that the belief that increased self-awareness is essential for positive outcomes in rehabilitation and needs to undergo further investigation, as a literature review suggests that the development of self-awareness can be associated with emotional distress in the individual (p. 55). This study further exemplifies the necessity to create individual treatment plans when in rehabilitation. Interventions With technology constantly advancing in the medical sector, it is evident that sustaining a brain injury no longer suggests a death sentence. With this in consideration, the emphasis has shifted towards rehabilitation of those who have sustained such an injury in order to help them attain the best quality of life possible. Many interventions have been conducted and researched for improving self-awareness, and also for managing challenging behaviours, which directly improve the life of the patient. There are limited studies focusing on the effectiveness of interventions in reducing self-awareness deficits, and whether these interventions contribute to positive outcomes in rehabilitation. However, in a literature review, Lucas Fleming (2005) suggest that interventions in self-awareness can be broken into two categories restorative/facilitatory, or compensatory. Within the restorative/facilitatory category, education, direct feedback, and experiential feedback [are] the most frequently recommended (p.163), with others such as behavioural therapy, psychotherapy and rating of task performance also being recommended. Education relates to ensuring the patient understands his or her injury and the impairments that this injury brings. This can be delivered through a variety of ways such as group therapy, visual aids, and support groups. Direct feedback following a task performance can be used to facilitate intellectual, emergency, and anticipatory awareness (p.164), whereas experient ial feedback allows the patient to go through difficulty in a real-life situation and is useful in emergent and anticipatory awareness (p.164). Compensatory strategies then As noted earlier, challenging behaviours and problematic social interaction have been liked to individuals with brain injury, which result in an amelioration of difficulties in areas such as family life, integration into the community and employment, to name but a few. Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) works with environmental stimuli that impede on the challenging behaviour, and it is behavioral [sic] research in the field of brain injury rehabilitation [that] is an effective means of identifying techniques for reducing challenging behaviours and improving adaptive skills (Selznick Gurdin, Huber Cochran, 2005, p.15). This research is extensive and incorporates many different behavioural interventions, all of which have been proven to be successful. Within schools and residential programs, intervention procedures have been undertaken to reduce challenging behaviours that disrupt academic behaviour. Feeney Ylvisaker (1995) incorporated antecedent treatment using graphic organizers, curing, plan-do-review routines, and inclusion of the participant in decision-making. This treatment reduced the intensity and frequency of aggressive behaviour evident in three males with TBI. Gardner, Bird, Maguire, Carrario, Abenaim (2003) also reduced challenging behaviours using antecedent control procedures, however their success was due to interspersal and fading techniques. Selznick Savage (2000) examined self-monitoring methods for individuals who had sustained a brain injury. These methods proved to be effective for increasing attending, academic responding, and task accuracy as well as for improving social skills with individuals with behaviour disorders, mental retardation, and learning disabilities (p.243 ). This study found that on-tas k behaviour increased to 89 100% for three boys with brain injury when these self monitoring procedures were undertaken. Consequence-based interventions have also been studied extensively in this area and prove to have significant positive results. Peck, Potoczny-Gray, and Luiselli (1999) used instructional motor activities when a 15 year old boy with ABI showed signs of stereotypy in the classroom. This intervention reduced stereotypy and maintained its reduction when treatment was faded. Within the rehabilitation area, there has been extensive research depicting behavioural procedures that reduce challenging behaviour. Hegel (1988) implemented a token economy system to an 18 year old boy with a brain injury during therapy session in order to reduce his disruptive vocalizations and his noncompliance. As a result of the token economy system, his vocalizations decreased and his achieved goals increased. On a similar note, Silver et al. (1994) used a monetary reward system on a 12 year old girl with an anoxic brain injury. This was incorporated in a bid to improve her performance of morning tasks. She was reinforced with one penny for each step that she correctly completed. Reinforcement was gradually faded, and by the end of the intervention her verbal cues and physical assistance had decreased by 70 92%. Differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour (DRA) has also been proven to be successful in reducing challenging behaviour. Slifer et al. (1993) used this tech nique with extinction, response cost, and a token economy, to reduce disruptive behaviour. In most cases, DRA reduced disruptive behaviour and also increased compliance. From examining these studies, it suggests that various reinforcement procedures may facilitate more efficient therapeutic goal attainment and subsequent home and community reintegration (Gurdin et al. 2005, p.12). Purpose of current study The purpose of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of self-awareness and challenging behaviours in persons with acquired brain injury, intervention types, and success ratings. This study will incorporate a sample of Irish patients who have ABI, which is presently absence in the research conducted to date. It will also provide information on what intervention types are most regularly used among persons with ABI, and the success ratings of such intervention types.

Fundamental Concepts Of Ethernet Technology Information Technology Essay

Fundamental Concepts Of Ethernet Technology Information Technology Essay In this module, we will discuss the fundamental concepts of networking, Ethernet technology, and data transmission in Ethernet networks. Module Objectives At the end of this module, you will be able to: Explain the seven network layers as defined by the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference model Describe, at a high level, the history of Ethernet List physical layer characteristics of Ethernet Explain the difference between half-duplex and full-duplex transmission in an Ethernet network Describe the structure of an Ethernet frame Explain how networks can be extended and segmented using various Ethernet devices, including hubs and switches Describe how frames are forwarded in an Ethernet network Explain, at a high level, how Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) function Network Fundamentals This section provides a brief overview of Local Area Network (LAN) technology. We will discuss LAN architecture from a functional perspective. A network is commonly divided into seven functional layers referred to as the OSI Reference model. In addition, we will briefly discuss the use of addressing in LANs. Instructor Note Point out that this section only touches briefly on LAN concepts, and students may want to explore LAN technology in more depth on their own. Network Layers A complete LAN implementation involves a number of functions that, in combination, enable devices to communicate over a network. To understand how Ethernet fits into this overall set of functions, we can use the OSI Reference model. The OSI Reference model was developed in 1984 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Instructor Note You can introduce the discussion of the OSI Reference model by comparing analysis of the model to peeling an onion. Shown in Figure 1-1, the OSI Reference model defines seven functional layers that process data when data is transmitted over a network. When devices communicate over a network, data travels through some or all of the seven functional layers. The figure shows data being transmitted from Station A, the source, to Station B, the destination. The transmission begins at the Application layer. As data (referred to as the payload) is transmitted by Station A down through the layers, each layer adds its overhead information to the data from the layer above. (The process of packaging layer-specific overhead with the payload is referred to as encapsulation discussed later in this course.) Upon reaching the Physical layer, the data is placed on the physical media for transmission. The receiving device reverses the process, unpackaging the contents layer by layer, thus allowing each layer to effectively communicate with its peer layer. Ethernet operates at Layer 2, the Data Link layer. Using Figure 1-1 as a reference, we will briefly discuss what occurs at each layer. Figure 1-1: The OSI Reference Model Application Layer The Application layer, Layer 7 (L7), is responsible for interacting with the software applications that send data to another device. These interactions are governed by Application layer protocols, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Presentation Layer The Presentation layer, Layer 6 (L6), performs data translation, compression, and encryption. Data translation is required when two different types of devices are connected to each other, and both use different ways to represent the data. Compression is required to increase the transmission flow of data. Encryption is required to secure data as it moves to the lower layers of the OSI Reference model. Session Layer The Session layer, Layer 5 (L5), is responsible for creating, maintaining, and terminating communication among devices. A session is a logical link created between two software application processes to enable them to transmit data to each other for a period of time. Logical links are discussed later in this course. Transport Layer The Transport layer, Layer 4 (L4), is responsible for reliable arrival of messages and provides error checking mechanisms and data flow controls. The Transport layer also performs multiplexing to ensure that the data from various applications is transported using the same transmission channel. Multiplexing enables data from several applications to be transmitted onto a single physical link, such as a fiber optic cable. The data flow through the Transport layer is governed by transmission protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which are beyond the scope of this course. Network Layer The Network layer, Layer 3 (L3), is responsible for moving data across interconnected networks by comparing the L3 source address with the L3 destination address. The Network layer encapsulates the data received by higher layers to create packets. The word packet is commonly used when referring to data in the Network layer. The Network layer is also responsible for fragmentation and reassembly of packets. Data Link Layer The Data Link layer, Layer 2 (L2), responds to requests sent by the Network layer and sends service requests to the Physical layer. The Data Link layer is responsible for defining the physical addressing, establishing logical links among local devices, sequencing of frames, and error detection. The Ethernet frame is a digital data transmission unit on Layer 2. The word frame is commonly used when referring to data in the Data Link layer. The Data Link layer has been subdivided into two sub-layers: Logical Link Control (LLC) and Media Access Control (MAC). LLC, defined in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.2 specification, manages communications among devices over a link. LLC supports both connection-oriented (physical, ex an Ethernet switch) and connectionless (wireless, ex a wireless router) services. The MAC sub-level manages Ethernet frame assembly and dissembly, failure recovery, as well as access to, and routing for, the physical media. This will be discussed in more detail in this module. Physical Layer The Physical layer, Layer 1 (L1), performs hardware-specific, electrical, and mechanical operations for activating, maintaining, and deactivating the link among communicating network systems. The Physical layer is responsible for transmitting the data as raw bits over the transmission media. Now that we have reviewed the OSI Reference model, lets discuss addressing of network devices. Stations Network devices that operate at the Data Link layer or higher are referred to as stations. Stations are classified as either end stations or intermediate stations. End stations run end-user applications and are the source or final destination of data transmitted over a network. Intermediate stations relay information across the network between end stations. A characteristic of stations is that they are addressable. In the next section, we discuss the specifics of addressing. Addressing Each device in an Ethernet network is assigned an address that is used to connect with other devices in the network. This address is referred to as the MAC address and is typically a permanent address assigned by the device manufacturer. Addressing is used in the network to identify the source station and the destination station or stations of transmitted data. As shown in Figure 1-2, the MAC address consists of 48 bits (6 bytes), typically expressed as colon-separated, hexadecimal pairs. Figure 1-2: MAC Address Structure The MAC address consists of the following: Individual / Group (I/G) Bit: For destination address, if the I/G bit = 0, the destination of the frame is a single station. This is referred to as a unicast address. If the I/G bit = 1, the destination is a group of stations. This is referred to as a multicast address. In source addresses, the I/G bit = 1. Universal / Local (U/L) Bit: The U/L bit identifies whether the MAC address is universally unique (U/L bit = 0) or only unique in the LAN in which it is located. Vendor-assigned MAC addresses are always universally unique. A locally unique MAC address is assigned by the network administrator. Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI): This typically identifies the network equipment manufacturer. OUIs are assigned to organizations by the IEEE. To locate information on the OUI associated with a manufacturer go to the following website: http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/index.shtml Vendor-Assigned Bits: These bits are assigned by the vendor to uniquely identify a specific device. Following is an example of a MAC address: 00:1B:38:7C:BE:66 Later in this module, we discuss how MAC addresses are used in Ethernet networks. Introduction to Ethernet Ethernet is an internationally-accepted, standardized LAN technology. It is one of the simplest and most cost-effective LAN networking technologies in use today. Ethernet has grown through the development of a set of standards that define how data is transferred among computer networking devices. Although several other networking methods are used to implement LANs, Ethernet remains the most common method in use today. While Ethernet has emerged as the most common LAN technology for a variety of reasons, the primary reasons include the following: Ethernet is less expensive than other networking options. Easy is easy to install and provision the various components. Ethernet is faster and more robust than the other LAN technologies. Ethernet allows for an efficient and flexible network implementation. History of Ethernet Ethernet was invented in 1973 by Bob Metcalfe and David Boggs at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Ethernet was originally designed as a high-speed LAN technology for connecting Xerox Palo Alto graphical computing systems and high-speed laser printers. In 1979, Xerox ® began work with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Intel ® to develop a standardized, commercial version of Ethernet. This partnership of DEC, Intel, and Xerox (DIX) developed Ethernet Version 1.0, also known as DIX80. Further refinements resulted in Ethernet Version 2, or DIX82, which is still in use today. Project 802 In 1980, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) formed Project 802 to create an international standard for LANs. Due to the complexity of the technology and the emergence of competing LAN technologies and physical media, five working groups were initially formed. Each working group developed standards for a particular area of LAN technology. The initial working groups consisted of the following: IEEE 802.1: Overview, Architecture, Internetworking, and Management IEEE 802.2: Logical Link Control IEEE 802.3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Media Access Control (MAC) IEEE 802.4: Token Bus MAC and Physical (PHY) IEEE 802.5: Token Ring MAC and PHY Additional working groups have since been added to address other areas of LAN technology. The standards developed by these working groups are discussed as we move through this course. However, lets look at IEEE 802.3, which addresses standards specific to Ethernet. IEEE 802.3 IEEE 802.3 was published in 1985 and is now supported with a series of supplements covering new features and capabilities. Like all IEEE standards, the contents of supplements are added to the standard when it is revised. Now adopted by almost all computer vendors, IEEE 802.3 consists of standards for three basic elements: The physical media (fiber or copper) used to transport Ethernet signals over a network MAC rules that enable devices connected to the same transmission media to share the transmission channel Format of the Ethernet frame, which consists of a standardized set of frame fields We will discuss the transmission media used in Ethernet networks, the MAC rules, and the Ethernet frame later in this module. Instructor Note Tell the class that we will discuss the transmission media used in Ethernet networks, the MAC rules, and the Ethernet frame later in this module. You can briefly explain the differences among LANs, WANs, and MANs to the students. Ethernet Transmission Fundamentals This section covers basic fundamentals of data transmission on Ethernet networks. Specifically, we will cover the following topics: Physical layer characteristics Communication modes Ethernet frames Repeaters and hubs Ethernet bridges and switches Multilayer switches and routers Ethernet Virtual LANs (VLANs) Ethernet beyond the LAN Physical Layer Characteristics Our discussion of physical layer characteristics covers both the physical media over which network communications flow and the rate at which communications occur. In fact, the nomenclature for the various types of Ethernet is based on both of these characteristics. The Ethernet type is referred to in the following format: n-BASE-phy, such as 10BASE-T where: n is the data rate in megabits per second (Mbps). BASE indicates that the media is dedicated to only Ethernet services. phy is a code assigned to a specific type of media. A variety of media and transmission rates are available for Ethernet networks. The major media types used today are: Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) copper cable Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) copper cable Fiber optic cables The IEEE 802.3 standard identifies the following types of media for an Ethernet connection: 10BASE2: Defined in IEEE 802.3a, 10BASE2 Ethernet uses thin wire coaxial cable. It allows cable runs of up to 185 meters (607 feet). A maximum of 30 workstations can be supported on a single segment. This Ethernet type is no longer in use for new installations. 10BASE-T: Defined in IEEE 802.3i, 10BASE-T uses UTP copper cable and RJ-45 connectors to connect devices to an Ethernet LAN. The RJ-45 is a very common 8-pin connector. Fast Ethernet: Defined in IEEE 802.3u, Fast Ethernet is used for transmission at a rate of 100 Mbps. It includes 100BASE-TX, which uses UTP copper cable. With this type of cable, each segment can run up to 100 meters (328 feet). Another media option specified in this standard is 100BASE-FX, which uses optical fiber supporting data rates of up to 100 Mbps. Gigabit Ethernet (GbE): Defined in IEEE 802.3z, GbE uses fiber for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 1000 Mbps or 1 Gbps. GbE includes 1000BASE-SX for transmission over Multi-Mode Fiber (MMF), and 1000BASE-LX for transmission over Single-Mode Fiber (SMF). The differences between Multi-Mode and Single-Mode are the physical makeup of the fiber itself and the light source that is normally used multi-mode normally uses an LED while single-mode uses a laser. Multi-mode has limited distance capability when compared to single-mode. 1000BASE-T: Defined in IEEE 802.3ab, 1000BASE-T provides GbE service over twisted pair copper cable. 10 GbE: Defined in IEEE 802.3ae, 10 GbE transmits Ethernet frames at data rates up to 10 Gbps. Communication Modes Ethernet can operate in either of two communication modes, half-duplex or full-duplex. Ethernet MAC establishes procedures that all devices sharing a communication channel must follow. Half-duplex mode is used when devices on a network share a communication channel. Full-duplex mode is used when devices have no contention from other devices on a network connection. Lets discuss each of these modes in more detail. Half-Duplex Mode As shown in Figure 1-3, a device operating in half-duplex mode can send or receive data but cannot do both at the same time. Originally, as specified in the DIX80 standard, Ethernet only supported half-duplex operation. Figure 1-3: Half-Duplex Transmission Half-duplex Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD protocol to control media access in shared media LANs. With CSMA/CD, devices can share media in an orderly way. Devices that contend for shared media on a LAN are members of the same collision domain. In a collision domain, a data collision occurs when two devices on the LAN transmit data at the same time. The CSMA/CD protocol enables recovery from data collisions. With CSMA/CD, a device that has data to transmit performs carrier sense. Carrier sense is the ability of a device to monitor the transmission media for the presence of any data transmission. If the device detects that another device is using the transmission media, the device waits for the transmission to end. When the device detects that the transmission media is not being used, the device starts transmitting data. Figure 1-4 shows how CSMA/CD handles a data collision. When a collision occurs, the transmitting device stops the transmission and sends a jamming signal to all other devices to indicate the collision. After sending the jamming signal, each device waits for a random period of time, with each device generating its own time to wait, and then begins transmitting again. Figure 1-4: CSMA/CD Operation Full-Duplex Mode In the full-duplex communication mode, a device can send and receive data at the same time as shown in Figure 1-5. In this mode, the device must be connected directly to another device using a Point-to-Point (P2P) link that supports independent transmit and receive paths. (P2P is discussed later in this course.) Figure 1-5: Full-Duplex Transmission Full-duplex operation is restricted to links meeting the following criteria: The transmission media must support the simultaneous sending and receiving of data. Twisted pair and fiber cables are capable of supporting full-duplex transmission mode. These include Fast Ethernet, GbE, and 10 GbE transmission media. The connection can be a P2P link connecting only two devices, or multiple devices can be connected to each other through an Ethernet switch. The link between both devices needs to be capable of, and configured for, full-duplex operation. CSMA/CD is not used for full-duplex communications because there is no possibility of a data collision. And, since each device can both send and receive data at the same time, the aggregate throughput of the link is doubled. (Throughput is the amount of data that can be transmitted over a certain period of time.) Ethernet Frames Lets discuss another fundamental aspect of Ethernet transmission the Ethernet frame. The Ethernet frame is used to exchange data between two Data Link layer points via a direct physical or logical link in an Ethernet LAN. The minimum size of an Ethernet frame is 64 bytes. Originally, the maximum size for a standard Ethernet frame was 1518 bytes; however, it is now possible that an Ethernet frame can be as large as 10,000 bytes (referred to as a jumbo frame). As shown in Figure 1-6, an Ethernet frame consists of the following fields: (NOTE: The first two fields are added/stripped at Layer 1 and are not counted as part of the 1518 byte standard frame.) Preamble: This 7-byte field establishes bit synchronization with the sequence of 10101010 in each byte. Start Frame Delimiter: This 1-byte field indicates the start of the frame at the next byte using a bit sequence of 10101011. Destination MAC Address: This field contains the MAC hardware address of the Ethernet frames destination. Source MAC Address: This field contains the MAC hardware address of the device sending the frame. Type / Length: The specific use of this field depends on how the frame was encapsulated. When type-encapsulation is used, the field identifies the nature of the client protocol running above the Ethernet. When using length-encapsulation, this field indicated the number of bytes in the Data field. The IEEE maintains a list of accepted values for this field, the list may be viewed at: http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/ethertype/ Data: This field contains the data or payload that has been sent down from Layer 3 for packaging to Layer 2. Frame Check Sequence (FCS): This 32-bit field is used for checking the Ethernet frame for errors in bit transmission. FCS is also known as Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC). Figure 1-6: Ethernet Frame Now that we have defined the basic structure of an Ethernet frame, lets see how we can use the destination MAC address to create three different types of Ethernet frames. Unicast Frames An Ethernet frame intended for a single device on the network is a unicast frame. An example is shown in Figure 1-7. In this example, Station A is transmitting an FTP request to a specific FTP server on the network. The destination MAC address in the frames being sent for this request is the MAC address assigned to the FTP server by its manufacturer. Therefore, these frames are unicast frames, only intended specifically for one device on the network, the FTP server. Figure 1-7: Unicast Frame Transmission Multicast Frames Multicast is a mechanism that provides the ability to send frames to a specific group of devices on a network one sender to all who are set to receive. This is done by setting a frames destination MAC address to a multicast address assigned by a higher level protocol or application. However, devices must be enabled to receive frames with this multicast address. An example of multicast frames is shown in Figure 1-8. In this example, the video server is transmitting the same video channel, via an Ethernet switch, to a group of video display devices on the network. The destination MAC address is the multicast address assigned by the video application. The receiving stations are configured to accept Ethernet frames with this multicast address. Figure 1-8: Multicast Frame Transmission Broadcast Frames Broadcasting is a mechanism for sending data in broadcast frames to all the devices in a broadcast domain. A broadcast domain is defined as a set of devices that can communicate with each other at the Data Link layer. Therefore, in a network that does not include higher layer devices, all of the network devices are in the same broadcast domain. In broadcast frames, the hexadecimal destination MAC address is always ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff which, in binary notation, is a series of 48 bits, each set to a value of 1. All devices in the broadcast domain recognize and accept frames with this destination MAC address. Instructor Note Be sure that students understand hexadecimal vs. binary notation, but do not take this topic beyond the scope of this course. Since broadcasting reaches all devices within a broadcast domain, Ethernet can use this capability to perform various device setup and control functions. This is a very useful feature, allowing implementation and growth of a LAN with little intervention from a network administrator. Figure 1-9 shows a broadcast transmission in which Station A is transmitting frames with this broadcast destination MAC address. All devices in the same broadcast domain as Station A receive and process the broadcast frames. Figure 1-9: Broadcast Frame Now that we have covered some basic concepts for LANs and Ethernet transmission, lets continue by discussing how devices on Ethernet LANs are connected. Instructor Note Check the existing knowledge of students on the differences among switches, hubs, routers, and gateways. Initiate a discussion around the differences among these devices and their suitability to different applications. Repeaters and Hubs A very simple LAN topology consists of network devices that are all connected directly to a shared medium as shown in Figure 1-10. If we need to connect more devices to the LAN, we are limited by the characteristics of the shared media. Devices such as repeaters and hubs can be used to overcome distance limitations of the media, allowing the reach of the network to be extended. Figure 1-10: Simple LAN Topology Repeaters are Physical layer devices that regenerate a signal, which effectively allows the network segment to extend a greater distance. As shown in Figure 1-11, we can use the additional segment length to add more devices to the LAN. Keep in mind that devices added through implementation of repeaters are still in the same collision domain as the original devices. This results in more contention for access to the shared transmission media. Such devices are in little use today. Figure 1-11: LAN Extended with a Repeater As shown in Figure 1-12, hubs can also be used to extend the distance of a LAN segment. Hubs are Layer 1 (physical) devices. The advantage of a hub versus a repeater is that hubs provide more ports. Increased contention for media access still exists since the additional devices connected to the hub(s) are still in the same collision domain. Figure 1-12: LAN Extended with a Hub Ethernet Bridges and Switches Ethernet bridges and switches are Layer 2 (Data Link) devices that provide another option for extending the distance and broadcast domain of a network. Unlike repeaters and hubs, bridges and switches keep the collision domains of connected LAN segments isolated from each other as shown in Figure 1-13. Therefore, the devices in one segment do not contend with devices in another segment for media access. Figure 1-13: LAN Extended with an Ethernet Switch Frame Forwarding with Ethernet Switches As Layer 2 devices, Ethernet switches make frame-forwarding decisions based on source and destination MAC addresses. One of the processes used in making these decisions is MAC learning. To make efficient use of the data pathways that are dynamically cross connected within an Ethernet switch, the switch keeps track of the location of as many active devices as its design allows. When an Ethernet frame ingresses (enters) a switch, the switch inspects the frames source address to learn the location of the sender and inspects the destination address to learn the location of the recipient. This knowledge is kept in a MAC address table. Figure 1-14 shows an example of a MAC address table. As long as the sender remains connected to the same physical port that their MAC address was learned on, the switch will know which port to forward frames to that are destined for that particular senders address. Figure 1-14: MAC Address Table MAC address information stored in a MAC address table is not retained indefinitely. Each entry is time stamped; and if no activity is sensed for a period of time, referred to as an aging period, the inactive entry is removed. This is done so that only active devices occupy space in the table. This keeps the MAC address table from overloading and facilitates address lookup. The default aging period is typically five minutes. Figure 1-15 shows how an Ethernet switch forwards frames based on entries in the MAC address table. The forwarding process consists of the following steps: Inspect the incoming frames MAC destination address: If the MAC destination address is a broadcast address, flood it out all ports within the broadcast domain. If the MAC destination address is a unicast address, look for it in the MAC address table. If the address is found, forward the frame on the egress (exit) port where the NE knows the device can be reached. If not, flood it. Flooding allows communication even when MAC destination addresses are unknown. Along with multicast, which is actually a large set of special-purpose MAC addresses, network traffic can be directed to any number of devices on a network. Inspect the incoming frames MAC source address: If the MAC source address is already in the MAC address table, update the aging timer. This is an active device on the port through which it is connected. If the MAC source address is not currently in the MAC address table, add it in the list and set the aging timer. This is also an active device. Periodically check for MAC address table entries that have expired. These are no longer active devices on the port on which they were learned, and these table entries are removed. If a device is moved from one port to another, the device becomes active on the new ports MAC table. This is referred to as MAC motion. An Ethernet switch will purposely filter (drop) certain frames. Whether a frame is dropped or forwarded can depend on the switch configuration, but normal switch behavior drops any frame containing a destination address that the switch knows can be reached through the same port where the frame was received. This is done to prevent a device from receiving duplicate frames. Figure 1-15: Frame-Forwarding Process A MAC Learning and Broadcast Domain Analogy Mail Delivery Consider this following analogy to understand the concept of MAC learning and broadcast domain: Consider a situation where your friend wants to send you a birthday party invitation (the invitation represents an Ethernet frame). You and your friend live on the same street (the street represents a broadcast domain). However, there is a problem. Your friend does not know your house address so she writes her return (source) address on the birthday party invitation card and writes the street name as your (destination) address. Your friend drops the envelope in her mail box (your friends mail box represents a LAN) as shown in Figure 1-16. Figure 1-16: Broadcast Analogy, Part 1 When the mail carrier picks up the mail, he notices that the destination address is unknown. The postman goes to a copier and makes enough copies so that he can deliver one copy to each possible destination address on the street. This would mean every house on the street, except for your friends house, will get a copy of the invitation. After the postman has delivered the envelopes to all the houses (this process is analogous to a broadcast transmission), you receive the birthday party invitation and recognize your name on the envelope. So, you open the envelope and read the invitation. Figure 1-17: Broadcast Analogy, Part 2 All of your neighbors receive copies of the same envelope, but they see that the name is not theirs so they simply discard it. After reading the invitation, you send a thank you card back to your friend with your friends address; and you include a return (source) address. The postman sees that this envelope has a specific destination address so it can be delivered without broadcasting. It also has a source address, so the postman now knows your address. It is now possible to exchange mail directly with your friend without broadcasting letters to your neighbors. In other words, you can communicate using unicast transmission. If you and your friend were on different streets (broadcast domains), you would have never received your invitation card; and communication could have never occurred. Multilayer Switches and Routers In this course, our discussion of switching focuses on switching at the Data Link level since Ethernet is a Layer 2 technology. However, switching can also be

The Journey Of Odysseus And Te :: essays research papers

In The Odyssey written by Homer and translated by Richard Lattimore, several themes are made evident, conceived by the nature of the time period, and customs of the Greek people. These molded and shaped the actual flow of events and outcomes of the poem. Beliefs of this characteristic were represented by the sheer reverence towards the gods and the humanities the Greek society exhibited, and are both deeply rooted within the story. In the intricate and well-developed plot of The Odyssey, Homer harmonized several subjects. One of these, was the quest of Telemachos, (titled "Telemachy") in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, he is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his fathers side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship. Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced, and what their emotional status has resulted in. These all partake a immense role in the way the story is set up, stemming from the purpose of each character’s journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround them. The story commences when Odysseus, a valiant hero of the Trojan war, journeys back home. Together with his courageous comrades, and a several vessels, he set sail for his homeland Ithaca. Fated to wander for a full ten years, Odysseus’s ships were immediately blown to Thrace by a powerful storm. The expedition had begun. Upon this misfortune, he and his men started a raid on the land of the Cicones. However, this only provided them with temporary success. The Cicones had struck back and defeated a vast majority of Odysseus’s crew. This was their first of many disastrous experiences to come. Storms then blew his ships to Libya and the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the crew was given Lotus fruit from which most lost their entire memories from home. Odysseus, and the others who had not tasted it, recovered the sailors by force, and set sail again, westward, this time to the island of the Cyclops, a wild race of one-eyed giants. Leaving most of his men in a sheltered cove, Odysseus then entered the island with one crew only. They wandered around, encountering, and foolishly entering an immense cave, awaiting the owner.

Benefits of Hybrid Cars Essay -- Fuel Energy Driving Gas Pollution Ess

Benefits of Hybrid Cars Transportation is very important to our every day lives. Throughout the history, many evolutions and changes have been made in transportation technology, and it continues growing at a rapid pace. At first, people used horses and horse trailers as their main transportation. Then in the Industrial Revolution, the steam engine was invented. Later, there was the invention of the combustion engine, and it is the beginning of the automobile industry. Many changes and improvements have been made in the development of automobiles. However, until today, the 21st century, people are still using gasoline as the many fuel for cars. Now in 2005, we have hybrids, a new generation of automobiles. Hybrids are fuel efficient, fuel economic and environment friendly, and they are the dominant cars for the next two decades. Here we are going to discuss the major benefits of driving a hybrid. A hybrid can be simply defined as a vehicle with two sources of power combined. A modern hybrid vehicle, such as a Toyota Prius, uses both an electrical motor and a gasoline engine, and they work together to provide the power needed for a comfortable ride. Hybrids actually have been around longer than we think: From 1897 to 1907, the Compagnie Parisienne des Voitures Electriques (roughly, Paris Electric Car Company), built a series of electric and hybrid vehicles, including the 1903 Krieger. With front-drive and power steering, the Krieger wasn't built in much quantity. One model ran on alcohol, and there was another version with what has been described as a gasoline-turbine engine; in those times, the term "turbine" sometimes meant â€Å"generator."(History of Hybrid,  ¶ 4) Before the full development of gasoline vehi... ...o provide us a better world with cleaner air and greener grass. With features of hybrids, people can live longer and healthier under better environment; with limited resources, people can travel longer in lives and have more opportunities to explore lives as well as the world. Hybrids are the car for the future. Works Cited How Hybrid Cars Work. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car5.htm History. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.hybridcars.com/history.html Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (2005, April 11). Research Finds Higher Horsepower Cars Involved In Fewer Accidents. Retrieved from http://pressroom.progressive.com/releases/Hi_Horsepower_05.asp History of Hybrid. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.modernracer.com/features/historyofthehybrid.html

The Theme of Loneliness in I Am the King of the Castle Essay -- Susan

The novel â€Å"I am the King of the Castle† clearly explores the themes of loneliness, sadness and depression in its plot. All of the main characters have difficulties with relationships and end up facing depressive moments and experiences, some insignificant but some crucial and terrifying. Joseph Hooper (father), Edmund Hooper (son) and Charles Kingshaw are three characters showing explicit loneliness almost throughout the whole novel. Their loneliness is shown by several reasons and caused by a large number of factors, most involving family issues. Joseph Hooper’s loneliness is caused mainly by his everyday lifestyle and habits. The loss of his wife made him deserted and very distant from his own son, Edmund Hooper. He is absent from the life of his son, ending up with having no one at all. Susan Hill makes us notice Joseph Hooper ´s loneliness in several ways using special techniques. It is easy to tell he is lonely without having to read much into the book or into his character. He doesn’t have a wife, and is not close to his son at all, neither by companionship nor by simply just educating him. Susan Hill also describes him in a very insecure way. We can notice this because he is always trying to prove himself to other people, even to his son, showing immaturity and lack of confidence. His timidity allows him to be easily vulnerable: â€Å"He shrank from the impression in the boy’s eyes, from his knowingness. He was his mother’s son.† Joseph hooper is so apprehensive, he is threatened by his own son. We can notice he is also a kind of â€Å"desperate† guy by the way he acts towards Miss Kingshaw and by the fact that he wants her recieves her in his house without even knowing her well enough. His insecur... ...alone with no one looking after him leads him into a very narrowed mind, that suggests that he needs to be alone and be the best when actually the thing he most wants is enchantment and worship. Kingshaw’s suffering mostly comes from his mother’s atitude, but he is so used to also being alone that he dosen’t attemp to save himself or ask for help, he gives up taking death as an easier option than persistance and fighting. Susan Hill’s cinematic view, helps to create tension and increases the characters feelings. The theme loneliness is carried through the whole book. It is actually the principal subject and doesen’t even get better at the end. As well as leading one of the characters to suicide, the loneliness remais because Hooper got what he wanted at the end but he is in fact still alone and miseralble with the same deterring father and Miss Kingshaw.

CanGo Essay

Issue 1: No clear strategy for expansion CanGo has had its success, and now they are looking into the future. Their question is, â€Å"What’s going to help them grow?† and as Liz said, â€Å"Turn them into a mighty oak.† CanGo recognizes that branching out and delving into new territory will be profitable and its popular with investors since they’re thinking of going for an IPO. The possibilities of adding e-books, streaming audio and video is hip but they also recognize that the online gaming industry is on the cutting edge for growth. With all of the brainstorming ideas CanGo has they do recognize there’s a scarcity of resources such as capital and people. Recommendation: The management team at CanGo is full of ideas related to expanding its product line. Liz has mentioned the possibility of E-books, music and video, and Andrew suggests online gaming. Expansion is just one topic, as the company is considering offering IPO (initial public offering). The brass is contemplating major decisions without professional guidance. The employees will soon be asked to juggle more responsibilities, without the appropriate resources. CanGo should seek additional consultation specific to the objectives it wants to achieve. In addition, the company must consider the risk and where to allocate resources to be maximize profit. Furthermore, there will have to be some degree of advertising and marketing to generate interests. CanGo feels that the best way to handle new ventures is to use in-house employees. Pulling employees from jobs they are already doing will no doubt take away from quality. We recommend that Warren and Liz take into consideration the opportunity cost of expanding at this time. Will the benefits outweigh the cost of expanding. Issue 2: No capital for expansion CanGo must consider how to combine its limited resources to produce the best mix of goods and services. A cost-benefit analysis will help them measure the cost and the benefits correctly. They will need to think about two types of analysis (1) Marginal Analysis and (2) Cost-Benefit Analysis. Recommendation: Performing a marginal analysis will examine how the costs and benefits change in response to their incremental changes in actions. Any additional action that CanGo does will bring about additional cost so, type of analysis will determine if the expected benefits of their actions exceed the added cost. It was mentioned casually that the only source of capital as an IPO. This point was expounded upon by the poor sandwiches being provided. I don’t think Warren made the comment to be rude, but to illustrate the point that financial capitol is limited – especially in terms of expansion. CanGo is generating interest in its industry and community. The time is ripe to offer an initial public offering. CanGo needs professional guidance in analyzing what is value and assess the possibilities of an IPO. It may consider taking advantage of its success in Japan. CanGo’s IPO does not have to be confined to its locality; it has to start thinking international in scope. Its popularity in Japan alone may generate the capitol necessary to expand in product, personnel, and infrastructure.

Nature Nurture

The psychological debate of nature vs. nurture is one that has been deliberated and refuted for many years. This debate is so controversial because although it is fact that genetic makeup does play a major role in developing a person, the nurture and environment in which a person is brought up in is also an important factor. The nature vs. nurture issue dates back to Ancient Greeks, through the times of Aristotle and John Locke, with each philosopher projecting their own individual thoughts on the matter.Although nature depicts the development of a person in terms of their appearance and certain personality traits, nature and the setting and situations in which a person grows up is more important in explaining the development of a person because ultimately a person is an overall reflection of the environment of which they were brought up in. Psychologists are quick to support the nature debate because it deals with the genetic make-up of a person and biological psychology, which is f act. First of all, a person’s physical traits, such as eye color and blood type are genetically determined, even though there are certain ways to alter your look.Personality is proven to be heritable to an extent. Studies have proven that biological siblings are more similar in personality that adoptive siblings. In addition, a person’s genes can determine whether a person is predisposed to a disease or illness, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s (Davies). A person who is affected with those types of diseases shows how nature can directly effect the development of an individual. A new technique called developmental genetic analysis is a procedure that examines the effects of genes throughout a person’s life.The technique concluded that a person’s intelligence is due about 50% to the genes they are born with (Huang). Furthermore, the nature debate is credible because of the genetic factors that support how people’s personalities and appearance develops, yet the nurture of a person ultimately overshadows the nature debate because environmental factors better influence the development of a person Each person comes from different backgrounds, religions, and environments, which are all external factors that play a large role in the development of an individual.Diet, stress, prenatal nutrition, peer pressure, and television are just some of the more specific environmental factors that can affect a person. Clearly, there are many more aspects of the nurture debate that contribute to the argument that a person’s upbringing is what will influence their development. For example, NBC reported that in a study where teenagers played violent video games and non violent video games, the violent video games were proven to enhance emotion in the amygdale, or the center for fear and aggression (Kalning).In this case the emotional effect from the video games supports the nurture debate because normal teenagers with non violent behav iors and tendencies were affected by an outside force that has the potential of affecting the teenager’s personalities. Nurture is more important in developing a person because despite a person’s genetic coding, the parents and the adults that a child is subjected to will play a greater role in the child’s development. Research shows that parents who talk to their children and spend time helping them interact ultimately raise more socially developed and intellectually stimulated children (Dewar).Even if a child born had genius parents, the environment and the early stages of development are crucial for the later stages of life. People are also highly influenced by their peers, and in the case of preschoolers who typically dislike a certain food will eat that particular food if children around them are eating it, showing that because it is the way of the human to want to fit and be liked, nurture has the greater impact and influence over a person (Harris).Further more, nurture is more important in shaping a human being because there are multiple factors that can influence a person differently, even if they have the same genetic background. Even though the nature vs. nurture debate is likely to always be challenged and discussed, it is possible that there may never be a right answer. The reason for this is that many situations and conditions factor in both the nature and nurture debate and there is reasoning in both cases to support either one as a reliable source.Overall, the biological traits and genes of a person enable individuals to learn and adapt to their surroundings, thus showing the debate is so closely related that it is difficult to determine which one more effectively contributes to the development of a person. However, the nurture issue states that a person is affected of the environment that they are brought up in, which is a more reliable source of the development of a person because there are more factors that influence envir onment than the biological aspects of the nature debate.Nature versus nurture. This has been a topic of debate for centuries. Years have passe still not been found regarding this issue. This is an argumentation of the utmost significance, not only because of its anthropological meaning, that will help us understand where we come from and how our personality is formed, but also because of the moral, political, ethical, educational, social, and statistical issues that it discusses. The nature side of the polemic says that humans behave as they do according to heredity, or even animal instincts.The nurture side believes that people think and behave certain ways because they are taught to do so. Neither of the above is the correct answer to the question, â€Å"Why do we behave like that? â€Å" The accurate answer is that heredity, meaning nature, is a true fact, but it has a role of â€Å"basis†, in the building of our mind and personality. The biggest impact in our developmen t is the environment in which we live and grow up: the nurture side. Therefore, nature is mostly influenced by nurture. Many scientists and authors have been arguing for the correct side, between nature and nurture.For example, William Golding, the English writer who wrote the book, Lord Of The Flies, states generally that every man has a capacity to be â€Å"evil† from the beginning of his life. This statement shows that from the point of view of Golding, every person has an inherited characteristic, which would basically mean he is on the nature side of the debate. Another notable person that agreed with the nature side of the polemic was the scientist, Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist.Galton was the man who first started the debate between hereditarians, a group of people who believe that heredity determinates our human nature, and environmentalists, people who believe that our environment has the biggest impact on our development. In 1865, h e began to study heredity, basically the idea of nature. This was partly influenced by reading Darwin's publication, Origin of Species. This â€Å"thirst† for knowledge led him to do very significant and important studies, the twin studies, hoping to find the different contributions of nature and nurture.His huge contribution to the debate, especially to the nature side, proves that he agreed with the theory of heredity. As mentioned earlier, Galton had a cousin named Charles Darwin. He was a British naturalist and big defender of the nature side of the debate. According to the Indian University Archives, without Darwin there would be no nature vs. nurture debate. Darwin wrote various pages on his autobiography about his family’s contributions to his intelligence. However, he attributed his intellectual success on nature, not nurture. Proof is provided by, this sentence that he wrote about his brother: †¦I do not think that I owe much to him intellectually-nor to my four sisters†¦I am inclined to agree with Francis Galton in believing that education and environment produce only a small effect on the mind of any one, and that most of our qualities are innate â€Å"(Darwin, 43). Darwin believed that intelligent behavior came from the instincts of our previous, nonhuman ancestors. This proves that Charles Darwin, one of the brightest minds of the 19th century believed in the nature part of the argumentation. The point clearly stated through these three examples is that, the genetic predisposition (heredity) is real.Genetic predisposition may be a fact, but it isn’t the reason why we behave the way we do. Heredity is only the basis. The formation of ourselves is due to the environment in which we grow up. An example of this theory is shown, Lord of the Flies. In the book, a group of kids find themselves all alone on an island. In this group we find different characters with diverse personalities and manners. Also, as previously ment ioned, Golding, the author of the book, believed that everybody has the capacity of being evil. The kids in the story start developing that initial evil due to the new environment in which they live.A hostile, unknown, scary and dangerous environment; leads to the development of an aggressive and violent comportment. In the book, we see that in the first chapters, Jack is a born leader with self-control. Generally he appears as a normal kid. But, as the story progresses, and the kids find new problems on the island, he starts developing â€Å"his evil†. At the end, he becomes a belligerent and confrontational leader of a violent mob. The new environment in which he lives causes this enormous change in his personality. Another example situated in the book is the case of Ralph.He is also a born leader, a boy who listens to reason and logic, and someone who always finds solutions to his problems. But, in this new environment, as the kids around him start being â€Å"evil† , he starts losing his self-control, and develops a new character, where he is not the boy that he was before. This change occurs when Ralph joins Jack’s mob and starts dancing with them: â€Å"Piggy and Ralph under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secured society â€Å"(Golding, 152) . The last example is the case of Piggy. He is a tormented kid, a victim of bullying, but deep down he is a smart boy.In the book he finds himself being insulted by Jack all the time. For instance when Jack says: â€Å"Better call you Piggy than Fatty â€Å" (Golding, 26 ) . The results of this bullying are that he can’t say his opinion or ideas when he is around of Jack, opinions that could be very helpful sometimes. But later in the story, when Jack leaves the group, and the environment of their small society becomes more friendly and calm, he feels more free and happy and he finally express his opinion and shows his intellige nt ideas to everybody, so basically the change of environment change him too.The point I want to make with my examples, is that, we may all have, a â€Å"groundwork† , our initial nature that we inherited from our parents, but the biggest impact in the development of our personality is the environment in which we grow up, which can completely change us, like the characters in Lord Of The Flies†¦ Supporting my theory, Judith Rich Harris, the author of the book : The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do . She generally says in her book that she challenges the idea that the personality of adults is determined chiefly by the way they were raised by their parents.She also says that the role of genetics in personality has long been accepted in psychological research, however, even identical twins, which share the same genes, are not exactly alike, so inheritance is not all. Another example that proves the theory that nurture has the most impact in our pers onality is the case of Genie. Genie was a girl who spent nearly all her childhood inside a bedroom. She was a victim of one of the most severe cases of social isolation in American history (ABCnews). The police discovered her in 1970 after spending all her life tide to a chair.The result of this loneliness, was that she was unable to speak, walk, socialize, and generally being normal after being rescued. We can see, that due to the fact that she was in an isolated and lonely environment her attitude and personality weren’t usual, so this proves that the environment in which somebody lives has a direct connection with his/hers development, even if she inherited a bright and regular attitude from her family. To finish ill say that heredity is a well known, scientifically proved, theory. A fact.But without the help of nurture, it isn’t accurate. We become who we are, and we act the way we do because we are taught to do so. That’s how we learned . It doesn’t matter how our genes are, and what we inherited from our parents. The environment in which we live in will define us. â€Å"Genetic predisposition is not destiny â€Å" David Kranzler WHEN THE BRITISH EDUCATOR Richard Mulcaster wrote in 1582 that †Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward,† he gave the world a euphonious name for an opposition that has been debated ever since.People's beliefs about the roles of heredity and environment affect their opinions on an astonishing range of topics. Do adolescents engage in violence and substance abuse because of the way their parents treated them as toddlers? Are people inherently selfish and aggressive, which would justify a market economy and a strong police, or could they become peaceable and cooperative, allowing the state to wither and a spontaneous socialism to blossom? Is there a universal aesthetic that allows great art to transcend time and place, or are people's tastes determined by their era and culture ?With so much at stake, it is no surprise that debates over nature and nurture evoke such strong feelings. Much of the heat comes from framing the issues as all-or-none dichotomies, and some of it can be transformed into light with a little nuance. Humans, of course, are not exclusively selfish or generous (or nasty or noble); they are driven by competing motives elicited in different circumstances. Although no aspect of the mind is unaffected by learning, the brain has to come equipped with complex neural circuitry to make that learning possible.And if genes affect behavior, it is not by pulling the strings of the muscles directly, but via their intricate effects on a growing brain. By now most thinking people have come to distrust any radical who would seem to say that the mind is a blank slate that is filled entirely by its environment, or that genes control our behavior like a player piano. Many scientists, particularly those who don't study humans, have gone further and express ed the hope that the nature-nurture debate will simply go away.Surely, they say, all behavior emerges from an inextricable interaction between heredity and environment during development. Trying to distinguish them can only stifle productive research and lead to sterile polemics. But moderation, like all things, can be taken to extremes. The belief that it's simplistic to distinguish nature and nurture is itself simplistic. The contributions of this opposition to our understanding of mind and society are far from obvious, and many supposedly reasonable compromises turn out, under closer scrutiny, to be anything but.Let's consider some of the †reasonable† beliefs of the radical moderates. ‘Reasonable† Belief No. 1: No one believes in the extreme †nurture† position that the mind is a blank slate. Certainly few people today endorse the blank slate in so many words, and I suspect that even fewer believe it in their heart of hearts. But many people sti ll tacitly assume that nurture is everything when they write opinion pieces, conduct research, and translate the research into policy. Most parenting advice, for example, is inspired by studies that find a correlation between parents and children.Loving parents have confident children, authoritative parents (neither too permissive nor too punitive) have well-behaved children, parents who talk to their children have children with better language skills, and so on. Everyone concludes that to rear the best children, parents must be loving, authoritative, and talkative, and if children don't turn out well, it must be the parents' fault. But there is a basic problem with this reasoning, and it comes from the tacit assumption that children are blank slates. Parents, remember, provide their children with genes, not just a home environment.The correlations between parents and children may be telling us only that the same genes that make adults loving, authoritative, and talkative make their children self-confident, well behaved, and articulate. Until the studies are redone with adopted children (who get only their environment, not their genes, from their parents), the data are compatible with the possibility that genes make all the difference, the possibility that parenting makes all the difference, or anything in between. Yet in almost every instance, the most extreme position – that parents are everything – is the only one researchers entertain.Another example: To a biologist the first question to ask in understanding conflict between organisms of the same species is †How are they related? † In all social species, relatives are more likely to help each other, and nonrelatives are more likely to hurt each other. (That is because relatives share genes, so any gene that biases an organism to help a close relative will also, some of the time, be helping a copy of itself, and will thereby increase its own chances of prevailing over evolutionary time. But when the psychologists Martin Daly and Margo Wilson checked the literature on child abuse to see whether stepparents were more likely to abuse their children than biological parents, they discovered not only that no one had ever tested the possibility, but that most statistics on child abuse did not even record the information – stepparents and biological parents were lumped together, as if the difference couldn't possibly matter. When Daly and Wilson did track down the relevant statistics, their hunch was confirmed: Having a stepparent is the largest risk factor for child abuse ever examined.The finding was by no means banal: Many parenting experts insist that the hostile stepparent is a myth originating in Cinderella stories, and that parenting is a †role† that anyone can take on. For agencies that monitor and seek to prevent child abuse the finding of a greater risk with stepparents could be critical information. But because of the refusal to entertai n the idea that human emotions are products of evolution, no one had ever thought to check. †Reasonable† Belief No. 2: For every question about nature and nurture, the correct answer is †Some of each. † Not so.Take the question, †Why do people in England speak English, and people in Japan Japanese? † The †reasonable compromise† would be that the Japanese have genes that make it easier for them to learn Japanese (and vice versa for the English), but both groups must be exposed to the language to acquire it fully. This compromise, of course, is not reasonable at all; it's false. Immigrant children acquire the language of their adopted home perfectly, showing that people are not predisposed to learn the language of their ancestors (though they may be predisposed to learn language in general).The explanation for why people in different countries speak different languages is 100 percent environmental. And sometimes the answer goes the other way. Autism, for example, used to be blamed on †refrigerator mothers† who did not emotionally engage with their children. Schizophrenia was thought to be caused by mothers who put their children in †double binds† (such as the Jewish mother who gave her son two shirts for his birthday, and when he turned up wearing one of them, said, †The other one you didn't like? †).Today we know that autism and schizophrenia are highly heritable, and though they are not completely determined by genes, the other likely contributors (toxins, pathogens, chance events in brain development) have nothing to do with parenting. Mothers don't deserve †some† of the blame if their children have these disorders, as a nature-nurture compromise would imply; they deserve none of it. †Reasonable† Belief No. 3: Disentangling nature and nurture is a hopeless task, so we shouldn't even try. On the contrary, perhaps the most unexpected and provocative disco very in 0th-century psychology came from an effort to distinguish nature and nurture in human development. For a long time, psychologists have studied individual differences in intellect and personality. They have assessed cognitive abilities using IQ tests, statistics on performance in school and on the job, and measurements of brain activity. They have assessed people's personalities using questionnaires, ratings by other people who know them well, and tallies of actual behavior such as divorces and brushes with the law. The measures suggest that our personalities differ in five major ways.We are to varying degrees introverted or extroverted, neurotic or stable, incurious or open to experience, agreeable or antagonistic, and conscientious or undirected. Where do these differences come from? Recall those flawed studies that test for the effects of parenting but forget to control for genetic relatedness. Behavioral geneticists have done studies that remedy those flaws and have disco vered that intelligence, personality, overall happiness, and many other traits are partly (though never completely) heritable.That is, some of the variation in the traits among people in a given culture can be attributed to differences in their genes. The conclusion comes from three different kinds of research, each teasing apart genes and environment in a different way. First, identical twins reared apart (who share their genes but not their family environment) are far more similar to each other than randomly selected pairs of people. Second, identical twins reared together (who share their environment and all their genes) are more similar than fraternal twins reared together (who share their environment but only half their genes).Third, biological siblings reared together (who share their environment and half their genes) are more similar than adoptive siblings (who share their environment but none of their genes). In each comparison, the more genes a pair of people share (holding environment more or less constant), the more similar they are. These studies have been replicated in large samples from many countries, and have ruled out the alternative explanations that have been proposed. Of course, concrete traits that patently depend on content provided by the home or culture are not heritable at all, such as the language you speak, the eligion you worship in, and the political party you belong to. But the underlying talents and temperaments are heritable: how proficient with language you are, how receptive to religion, how hidebound or open to change. So genes play a role in making us different from our neighbors, and our environments play an equally important role. At this point most people leap to the following conclusion: We are shaped both by our genes and by our family upbringing: how our parents treated us and what kind of home we grew up in.Not so fast. †The environment† and †our parents and home† are not the same thing. Behavi oral genetics allows us to distinguish two very different ways in which our environments might affect us. The shared environment is what impinges on us and our siblings alike: our parents, our home life, and our neighborhood (as compared with other parents and neighborhoods). The unique environment is everything else: anything that happens to us over the course of our lives that does not necessarily happen to our siblings.Remarkably, study after study has failed to turn up appreciable effects of the shared environment – often to the shock and dismay of the researchers themselves, who started out convinced that the nongenetic variation in personality had to come from the family. First, they've found, adult siblings are equally similar whether they grew up together or apart. Second, adoptive siblings are no more similar than two people plucked off the street at random. And third, identical twins who grew up in the same home are no more similar than one would expect from the eff ects of their shared genes.Whatever experiences siblings share by growing up in the same home in a given culture makes little or no difference in the kind of people they turn out to be. The implications, drawn out most clearly by Judith Rich Harris in her 1998 book †The Nurture Assumption,† are mind-boggling. According to a popular saying, †as the twig is bent, so grows the branch. † Patients in traditional forms of psychotherapy while away their 50 minutes reliving childhood conflicts and learning to blame their unhappiness on how their parents treated them.Many biographies scavenge through the subject's childhood for the roots of the grown-up's tragedies and triumphs. †Parenting experts† make women feel like ogres if they slip out of the house to work or skip a reading of †Goodnight Moon. † All these deeply held beliefs will have to be rethought. It's not that parents don't matter at all. Extreme cases of abuse and neglect can leave permanent scars. Skills like reading and playing a musical instrument can be imparted by parents.And parents affect their children's happiness in the home, their memories of how they were treated, and the quality of the lifelong relationship between parent and child. But parents don't seem to mold their children's intellects, personalities, or overall happiness for the rest of their lives. The implications for science are profound as well. Here is a puzzle: Identical twins growing up together have the same genes, family environments, and peer groups, but the correlations in their traits are only around 50 percent.Ergo, neither genes nor families nor peer groups, nor the interactions among these factors, can explain what makes them different. Researchers have hunted for other possible causes, such as sibling rivalry or differential treatment by parents, but none has panned out. As with Bob Dylan's Mister Jones, something is happening here but we don't know what it is. My own hunch is that the differences come largely from chance events in development. One twin lies one way in the womb and stakes out her share of the placenta, the other has to squeeze around her.A cosmic ray mutates a stretch of DNA, a neurotransmitter zigs instead of zags, the growth cone of an axon goes left instead of right, and one person's brain might gel into a slightly different configuration from another's, regardless of their genes. If chance in development is to explain the less-than-perfect similarity of identical twins, it says something interesting about development in general. One can imagine a developmental process in which millions of small chance events cancel one another out, leaving no difference in the end product.One can imagine a different process in which a chance event could derail development entirely, or send it on a chaotic path resulting in a freak or a monster. Neither of these results occurs with a pair of identical twins. They are distinct enough that our instrumen ts can pick up the differences, yet both are healthy instances of that staggeringly improbable, exquisitely engineered system we call a human being. The development of organisms must use complex feedback loops rather than prespecified blueprints.Random events can divert the trajectory of growth, but the trajectories are confined within an envelope of functioning designs for the species. These profound questions are not about nature vs. nurture. They are about nurture vs. nurture: about what, exactly, are the nongenetic causes of personality and intelligence. But the questions would never have come to light if researchers had not first taken measures to factor out the influence of nature, by showing that correlations between parents and children cannot glibly be attributed to parenting but might be attributable to shared genes.That was the first step that led them to measure the possible effects of parenting empirically, rather than simply assuming that those effects had to be all-po werful. The human brain has been called the most complex object in the known universe. No doubt many hypotheses that pit nature against nurture as a dichotomy, or that fail to distinguish the ways in which they might interact, will turn out to be simplistic or wrong.But that complexity does not mean we should fuzz up the issues by saying that it's all just too complicated to think about, or that some hypotheses should be treated a priori as necessarily true, necessarily false, or too dangerous to mention. As with other complex phenomena like inflation, cancer, and global warming, when it comes to the development of a human being we have no choice but to try to disentangle the causes. Steven Pinker is Peter de Florez Professor of Psychology at MIT and author of †The Language Instinct,† and †How the Mind Works. † This essay is adapted in part from his latest book, †The Blank Slate