Importance of Studying Child and Adolescent Development

Importance of Studying Child and Adolescent Development Cognitive developmental theories are based on research that indicates an individuals development from birth to adulthood. It was once believed that babies werent aware of their surroundings until they started to learn to speak, however we all know this isnt the case and researchers have proved this theory in a number of studies. From birth through infancy and into adulthood we constantly develop and learn from genetic and learned factors. As children grow into adolescents and then into adults, individual and innate characteristics (hereditary) and life experience (environment) play an increasing role as children adapt to internal and external conditionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Papalia, Olds, Wendkos, Feldman, Duskinn p 12) We learn from our surroundings as well as from inherited traits. This paper examines three cognitive theories namely Piagets Cognitive Theory, Social Cognitive Theory and Eriksons Cognitive Theory. This paper examines the key points and postulates of the theories, the basic similarities and differences between the theories. It is very significant to understand the relationships between adolescent and child development for the proper rearing of an individual. This paper also explains the reason for this. Piagets Cognitive Stage Theory Psychologist and life scientist, Jean Piaget, formed a theory that was based on the fact that children go through 4 developmental stages from birth to the age of 15. His research was done on his own children of which he formulated his conclusion of how a developing child perceives the world around them. His theory concerned the growth of intelligence which for Piaget, meant the ability to more accurately represent the world and perform logical operations on representations of concepts grounded in the world. (Nation Master Encyclopedia 2005). Jean Piagets 4 stages of development are as follows: Sensorimotor Stage This stage involves children from birth to the age of two. The baby establishes an apprehension of herself or himself and realism (and the way matters work) by encounters with the surroundings and ecology.(Learning Theories Knowledge Base 2009). This stage is when a baby starts to identify the difference between right and wrong, and yes and no. Because they can relate to a wide range of viewpoints, they no longer feel that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong (Papalia, Olds, Wendkos, Feldman, Duskinn p. 355). The baby is capable of distinguishing between herself or himself and various other substances around. The cognitive process happens through absorption (the arrangement of entropy and absorbing it into subsisting scheme) and adjustment (when a substance cannot be absorbed and the schemes have to be altered to admit the substance). Preoperational Stage This stage comprises children from the age of two to four. The infant is still not capable of conceiving theoretically and requires strong physical circumstances. Substances are relegated in simple methods, particularly by significant characteristics. During this stage it is said that a child has the inability to be able to put themselves in others shoes. They think that everyone else feels the same way they do when they are feeling a certain way. The child is typically described as being egocentric during this phase. Egocentrism refers to the childs inability to see a situation from another persons point of view. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does. (McLeod 2007). Concrete Operations This stage comprises children between the ages of seven to eleven. Jean Piagets concrete operational approach is the third of four stages. According to Piaget this stage of development begins at around age seven and ends at about age eleven.During this time, children gain a better understanding of mental operations, children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts (Van Wagner 2005). This stage is seen beginning at the elementary years. The infant initiates to conceive theoretically and gestating, making coherent structures that explicate her or his physical encounters. Formal Operations This stage comprises children between the ages of eleven to fifteen. This child learns to think creatively and logically putting outcomes to particular actions. By this particular stage, the individual no longer needs strong substances to decide intellectual assessments. He or she is able to reason with deduction and hypothesis. As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way. (McLeod 2007). Piaget used a series of experimental data from a number of children to come to the conclusion that children develop a significant amount of logical reasoning during this period. Social Cognitive Theory Albert Banduras Social Cognitive Theory explicates cognition in terms of the interrelation between demeanor, ecological aspects, and personal aspects. It also furnishes the theoretical account for synergistic cognition utilized to formulate both Cooperative Cognition and Constructivism. (SCT 2007) Bandura conducted several studies on the idea that children learn behavior from others. Evaluating behavioral change depends on the factors environment, people and behavior. SCT provides a framework for designing, implementing and evaluating programs. (Glanz 2004). An example of Banduras theory can be observed in a household. If a child has parents who have anger issues and are always exploding when they get upset, chances are the behavior will be observed and performed by their children. The child will learn to think that this is the correct way to act and in turn mimic their parents. As per the Social Cognitive Theory, the learner develops cognition as her or his surrounding comes together with personal encounters and personal lineaments. (Kids Development 2009) Fresh encounters are assessed face-to-face with the past; anterior encounters succor to gradually lead and communicate to the learner as to in what way the present must be looked into. Eriksons Psychosocial Theory Eriksons Psychosocial Theory growth is one of the best-recognized hypotheses of personality in psychological science. He conceived that personality springs up in a sequential manner, in eight stages. His theory depicts the affect of social encounter across the entire lifetime. It lays down the basis of a properly growing individual should develop from an infant to maturity. In every stage the individual faces, and hopefully overcomes, fresh challenging situations. First Stage Mistrust vs. Trust This stage comprises infants ranging from birth to two years of age. The child relies on the parents, particularly the mother, for comfortableness, existence, and food. The infants comparative apprehension of society and world descend from the parents and their involvement with the infant. During the first year of life, a baby forms their first feelings about the world and whether or not it is a safe place based on the level of consistent care provided by caregivers. (Kids Development 2009) If the parents allow the infant to tenderness, regularity, and reliable lovingness, the perception of the child of the world will be one of faith. If the parents go wrong in furnishing a safe surrounding and in meeting the requirements of the infant, a feeling of disbelief will consequence. Second Stage Autonomy vs. Shame This stage comprises children between the ages of two to three. As the child develops check over eliminative operations and motor capabilities they initiate to ascertain their environment. The parents even in this stage furnish a strong ground of safety from which the infant can embark out to put forward their volition. The forbearance of the parents and support succors further liberty in the infant. Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident (Van Wagner 2005). Third Stage Initiative vs. Guilt During the years of primary schooling, children start to asseverate their check and power over the world by aiming play and other social involvement. Children who are flourishing at this stage decipher the capability and ability to guide others. Those who go wrong in attaining these acquisitions are left with a guilty conscience, absence of initiative and self-dubiousness. During this stage it is helpful when parents are actively rewarding their children for doing right rather than wrong. It helps a child prosper more and feel more confident when they know their parents are recognizing their good deeds and encouraging them to act in this manner more. Fourth Stage: Industry vs. Inferiority This stage comprises children between the age of five to eleven. Through social involvements, children start to grow a feeling of plume in their works and capabilities. Children who are supported and guided by teachers and parents grow a sense of competency and faith in their acquisitions. Parents and teachers who provide positive feedback can help children to feel confident and capable, vital characteristics for happiness and future success(Kids Development 2009) Those who attain no or little support from teachers, friends, or parents will incertitude their capability to be prosperous. Fifth Stage Identity vs. Confusion This comprises teenagers. During teenage years, teenagers are enjoying their liberty and growing a feeling of self. According to Bandura, those who attain support through personal ascertaining will emanate from this stage with a concrete feeling of self and a sense of liberty and check. Those who retain dubious of their faiths and wishes will be unsure and insecure about the futurity and themselves. (Van Wagner 2009). Sixth stage Intimacy vs. Isolation This stage engulfs the period of early maturity when people are experiencing personal kinships. Erikson conceived it was critical that individuals acquire intimate, committed kinships with other individuals. Those who are victorious at this stage will acquire kinships that are committed and safe. Those who wont will endure isolation. Seventh Stage Generativity vs. Stagnation When teenagers become adults, they go on to establish their lives, centering on family and career. Those who flourish during this stage will think that they are adding to the world by being dynamic in their society and home. These are the years when careers flourish families are raised and people find their comfort zones being productive and responsible members of society. (Kids Development 2009) Those who do not succeed to achieve this acquisition will consider themselves ineffectual and detached from the world. Eighth Stage Integrity vs. Despair This stage comes in to action in old age and is centered on pondering back over life. Those who are abortive during this stage will think that their life had been a waste and will encounter many types of rue. The person will be left with resentments and desperation. Those who have pride in their achievements will have a feeling of wholeness. Prosperously finishing this stage means retrospection with few rues and a sense of satiation. These people will achieve sapience, even when facing demise. Similarities Between The Theories All the three theories basically throw light upon the development of personality of an individual throughout their lifetime. They suggest that an individual analyzes his or her surrounding and people around and learn in the process, and the cognition in return helps them, to make an impact on the society and on the world and have a successful life. All the theories assume the utilization of the scientific processes, and usually refuse self-examination as a reasonable process of probe, dissimilar to the pleasure-driven advances like the theories formulated by Sigmund Freud. They denotatively recognize the subsistence of internal mental conditions like trust, wants, support and encouragement. Sensationalism of the theories aggregated with the espousal of internal mental conditions present the validity of the theories as suggested by the three theories. All the theories can be successfully employed educational exercises and kinships. Differences Between The Three Theories The theories formulated by Piaget concerns development from birth to the age of fifteen, where as the theories of Erikson concerns the development process from birth till old age. So, Eriksons theory is a wider conceptualization. Piaget observed his own children for the purpose of formulation of the theories, whereas there were no such circumstances in case of the formulation of theories by Eric Erikson. On the contrary, the social cognitive theory does not focus on people belonging to any particular age group. Eriksons theory bases its assumptions on social and self preferences, whereas Piagets theory bases its assumptions on the capabilities of a child and senses. On the other hand, the assumptions of the Social Cognitive theory were primarily based on the environment in which an individual lives. One of the primary formulations in the theory suggested by Erikson was the ego individuality, which is a conscious self-sense that is acquired through coming in contact with various aspects of the society. Erikson suggested that an individuals ego individuality constantly alters due to altering encounters and altering interactions. There is no such definition in the theory proposed by Jean Piaget, although the developmental alterations are discussed in four different stages. This aspect is described in the Social Cognitive Theory as mutual assessment, as said by one of the famous psychologists promoting this theory, Albert Bandura, emphasizing on the fact that not only does the surrounding around an individual crusade demeanor, but also the demeanor of an individual crusades the surroundings. Importance Of Understanding Child And Adolescent Development Since sundry decades, the inter-relation between health, psychological growth and physical development have become apparent. It is very necessary to apprehend how children and adolescents develop, in what environment they are being brought up and how much encouragement and support they receive from their peers and family. As we might have seen through many practical experiences, a happy childhood leads to a contended adult. Individuals who did not have a happy childhood fear from taking new challenges in life, where the ones with a happy childhood can confidently face new challenges, one of the reasons being that they know there are people who will support them and foster them through trifles of life. Adolescents are very fickle and are very likely to be influence by the bad elements of the society. Therefore, parents and peers must understand in what environment and adolescent and a child grows so that he or she acquires the acquisitions to take the right decisions whenever required . Most importantly, the environment in which an individual grows must be monitored and understood well to ensure proper development of the individual. Conculsion The basic attention of the researches conducted by Jean Piaget, Eric Erickson and Albert Bandura has been on how to attain, work on and store entropy collected during the lifetime of an individual. There exist diverse practical diligences for cognitive theories, like enhancement of memory, enhancement of resolution-taking efficacy, and the strengthening of educational and emotional spheres in the life of an individual. From birth through adolescence and into our adulthood years theorist have proved that we develop through inherited traits along with influences from our environment.

Comprehensive Study on Big Data Technologies and Challenges

Comprehensive Study on Big Data Technologies and Challenges Abstract: Big Data is at the heart of modern science and business. Big Data has recently emerged as a new paradigm for hosting and delivering services over the Internet. It offers huge opportunities to the IT industry. Big Data has become a valuable source and mechanism for researchers to explore the value of data sets in all kinds of business scenarios and scientific investigations. New computing platforms such as Mobile Internet, Social Networks and Cloud Computing are driving the innovations of Big Data. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the concept Big Data and it tries to address various Big Data technologies, challenges ahead and possible. It also explored certain services of Big Data over traditional IT service environment including data collection, management, integration and communication Keywords— Big Data, Cloud Computing, Distributed System, Volume I. INTRODUCTION Big Data has recently reached popularity and developed into a major trend in IT. Big Data are formed on a daily bases from Earth observations, social networks, model simulations, scientific research, application analyses, and many other ways. Big Data is a data analysis methodology enabled by a new generation of technologies and architecture which support high-velocity data capture, storage, and analysis. Data sources extend beyond the traditional corporate database to include email, mobile device output, sensor-generated data, and social media output. Data are no longer restricted to structured database records but include unstructured data. Big Data requires huge amounts of storage space. A typical big data storage and analysis infrastructure will be based on clustered network-attached storage. This paper firstly defines the Big Data concept and describes its services and main characteristics. â€Å"Big Data† is a term encompassing the use of techniques to capture, process, analyze and visualize potentially large datasets in a reasonable timeframe not accessible to standard IT technologies. II. Background Need of Big Data Big Data refers to large datasets that are challenging to store, search, share, visualize, and analyze the data. In Internet the volume of data we deal with has grown to terabytes and peta bytes. As the volume of data keeps growing, the types of data generated by applications become richer than before. As a result, traditional relational databases are challenged to capture, share, analyze, and visualize data. Many IT companies attempt to manage big data challenges using a NoSQL database, such as Cassandra or HBase, and may employ a distributed computing system such as Hadoop. NoSQL databases are typically key-value stores that are non-relational, distributed, horizontally scalable, and schema-free. We need a new methodology to manage big data for maximum business value. Data storage scalability was one of the major technical issues data owners were facing. Nevertheless, a new brand of efficient and scalable technology has been incorporated and data management and storage is no longer the problem it used to be. In addition, data is constantly being generated, not only by use of internet, but also by companies generating big amounts of information coming from sensors, computers and automated processes. This phenomenon has recently accelerated further thanks to the increase of connected devices and the worldwide success of the social platforms. Significant Internet players like Google, Amazon, Face Book and Twitter were the first facing these increasing data volumes and designed ad-hoc solutions to be able to cope with the situation. Those solutions have since, partly migrated into the open source software communities and have been made publicly available. This was the starting point of the current Big Data trend as it was a relatively cheap solution f or businesses confronted with similar problems. Dimensions of Big Data Fig. 1 shows the four dimensions of Big Data. They are discussed below. Fig. 1 Dimensions of Big Data Volume refers that Big Data involves analyze huge amounts of information, typically starting at tens of terabytes. It ranges from terabytes to peta bytes and up. The noSQL database approach is a response to store and query huge volumes of data heavily distributed. Velocity refers the speed rate in collecting or acquiring or generating or processing of data. Real-time data processing platforms are now considered by global companies as a requirement to get a competitive edge. For example, the data associated with a particular hash tag on Twitter often has a high velocity. Variety describes the fact that Big Data can come from many different sources, in various formats and structures. For example, social media sites and networks of sensors generate a stream of ever-changing data. As well as text, this might include geographical information, images, videos and audio. Veracity includesknown data quality, type of data, data management maturity so that we can understand how much the data is right and accurate 000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes Big Data Model The big data model is an abstract layer used to manage the data stored in physical devices. Today we have large volumes of data with different formats stored in global devices. The big data model provides a visual way to manage data resources, and creates fundamental data architecture so that we can have more applications to optimize data reuse and reduce computing costs. Types of data The data typically categorized into three differ ­ent types – structured, unstructured and semi-structured. A structured data is well organized, there are several choices for abstract data types, and references such as relations, links and pointers are identifiable. An unstructured data may be incomplete and/or heterogeneous, and often originates from multiple sources. It is not organized in an identifiable way, and typically includes bitmap images or objects, text and other data types that are not part of a database. Semi-structured data is orga ­nized, containing tags or other markers to separate semantic elements, III. Big Data Services Big Data provides enormous number of services. This paper explained some of the important services. They are given below. Data Management and Integration An enormous volume of data in different formats, constantly being collected from sensors, is efficiently accumulated and managed through the use of technology that automatically categorizes the data for archive storage. Communication and Control This comprises three functions for exchanging data with various types of equipment over networks: communications control, equipment control and gateway management. Data Collection and Detection By applying rules to the data that is streaming in from sensors, it is possible to conduct an analysis of the current status. Based on the results, decisions can be made with navigation or other required procedures performed in real time. Data Analysis The huge volume of accumulated data is quickly analyzed using a parallel distributed processing engine to create value through the analysis of past data or through future projections or simulations. IV. BIG DATA TECHNOLOGIES Internet companies such as Google, Yahoo and Face book have been pioneers in the use of Big Data technologies and routinely store hundreds of terabytes and even peta bytes of data on their systems. There are a growing number of technologies used to aggregate, manipulate, manage, and analyze big data. This paper described some of the more prominent technologies but this list is not exhaustive, especially as more technologies continue to be developed to support Big Data techniques. They are listed below. Big Table: Proprietary distributed database system built on the Google File System. This technique is an inspiration for HBase. Business intelligence (BI): A type of application software designed to report, analyze, and present data. BI tools are often used to read data that have been previously stored in a data warehouse or data mart. BI tools can also be used to create standard reports that are generated on a periodic basis, or to display information on real-time management dashboards, i.e., integrated displays of metrics that measure the performance of a system. Cassandra: An open source database management system designed to handle huge amounts of data on a distributed system. This system was originally developed at Face book and is now managed as a project of the Apache. Cloud computing: A computing paradigm in which highly scalable computing resources, often configured as a distributed system provided as a service through a network. Data Mart: Subset of a data warehouse, used to provide data to users usually through business intelligence tools. Data Warehouse: Specialized database optimized for reporting, often used for storing large amounts of structured data. Data is uploaded using ETL (extract, transform, and load) tools from operational data stores, and reports are often generated using business intelligence tools. Distributed system: Distributed file system or network file system allows client nodes to access files through a computer network. This way a number of users working on multiple machines will be able to share files and storage resources. The client nodes will not be able to access the block storage but can interact through a network protocol. This enables a restricted access to the file system depending on the access lists or capabilities on both servers and clients which is again dependent on the protocol. Dynamo: Proprietary distributed data storage system developed by Amazon. Google File System: Proprietary distributed file system developed by Google; part of the inspiration for Hadoop3.1 Hadoop: Apache Hadoop is used to handle Big Data and Stream Computing. Its development was inspired by Google’s MapReduce and Google File System. It was originally developed at Yahoo and is now managed as a project of the Apache Software Foundation. Apache Hadoop is an open source software that enables the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of commodity servers. It can be scaled up from a single server to thousands of clients and with a very high degree of fault tolerance. HBase: An open source, free, distributed, non-relational database modeled on Google’s Big Table. It was originally developed by Powerset and is now managed as a project of the Apache Software foundation as part of the Hadoop. MapReduce: A software framework introduced by Google for processing huge datasets on certain kinds of problems on a distributed system also implemented in Hadoop. Mashup: An application that uses and combines data presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services. These applications are often made available on the Web, and frequently use data accessed through open application programming interfaces or from open data sources. Data Intensive Computing is a type of parallel computing application which uses a data parallel approach to process Big Data. This works based on the principle of collection of data and programs used to perform computation. Parallel and Distributed system that work together as a single integrated computing resource is used to process and analyze Big Data. IV. BIG DATA USING CLOUD COMPUTING The Big Data journey can lead to new markets, new opportunities and new ways of applying old ideas, products and technologies. Cloud Computing and Big Data share similar features such as distribution, parallelization, space-time, and being geographically dispersed. Utilizing these intrinsic features would help to provide Cloud Computing solutions for Big Data to process and obtain unique information. At the same time, Big Data create grand challenges as opportunities to advance Cloud Computing. In the geospatial information science domain, many scientists conducted active research to address urban, environment, social, climate, population, and other problems related to Big Data using Cloud Computing. V. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES Many of Big Data’s technical challenges also apply to data it general. However, Big Data makes some of these more complex, as well as creating several fresh issues. They are given below. Data Integration Organizations might also need to decide if textual data is to be handled in its native language or translated. Translation introduces considerable complexity — for example, the need to handle multiple character sets and alphabets. Further integration challenges arise when a business attempts to transfer external data to its system. Whether this is migrated as a batch or streamed, the infrastructure must be able to keep up with the speed or size of the incoming data. The IT organization must be able to estimate capacity requirements effectively. Companies such as Twitter and Face book regularly make changes to their application programming interfaces which may not necessarily be published in advance. This can result in the need to make changes quickly to ensure the data can still be accessed. Data Transformation Another challenge is data transformation .Transformation rules will be more complex between different types of system records. Organizations also need to consider which data source is primary when records conflict, or whether to maintain multiple records. Handling duplicate records from disparate systems also requires a focus on data quality. Historical Analysis Historical analysis could be concerned with data from any point in the past. That is not necessarily last week or last month — it could equally be data from 10 seconds ago. While IT professionals may be familiar with such an application its meaning can sometimes be misinterpreted by non-technical personnel encountering it. Search Searching unstructured data might return a large number of irrelevant or unrelated results. Sometimes, users need to conduct more complicated searches containing multiple options and fields. IT organizations need to ensure their solution provides the right type and variety of search interfaces to meet the business’s differing needs. And once the system starts to make inferences from data, there must also be a way to determine the value and accuracy of its choices. Data Storage As data volumes increase storage systems are becoming ever more critical. Big Data requires reliable, fast-access storage. This will hasten the demise of older technologies such as magnetic tape, but it also has implications for the management of storage systems. Internal IT may increasingly need to take a similar, commodity-based approach to storage as third-party cloud storage suppliers do today. It means removing rather than replacing individual failed components until they need to refresh the entire infrastructure. There are also challenges around how to store the data whether in a structured database or within an unstructured system or how to integrate multiple data sources. Data Integrity For any analysis to be truly meaningful it is important that the data being analyzed is as accurate, complete and up to date as possible. Erroneous data will produce misleading results and potentially incorrect insights. Since data is increasingly used to make business-critical decisions, consumers of data services need to have confidence in the integrity of the information those services are providing. Data Replication Generally, data is stored in multiple locations in case one copy becomes corrupted or unavailable. This is known as data replication. The volumes involved in a Big Data solution raise questions about the scalability of such an approach. However, Big Data technologies may take alternative approaches. For example, Big Data frameworks such as Hadoop are inherently resilient, which may mean it is not necessary to introduce another layer of replication. Data Migration When moving data in and out of a Big Data system, or migrating from one platform to another, organizations should consider the impact that the size of the data may have. To deal with data in a variety of formats, the volumes of data will often mean that it is not possible to operate on the data during a migration. Visualisation While it is important to present data in a visually meaningful form, organizations need to consider the most appropriate way to display the results of Big Data analytics so that the data does not mislead. IT should take into account the impact of visualisations on the various target devices, on network bandwidth and on data storage systems. Data Access The final technical challenge relates to controlling who can access the data, what they can access, and when. Data security and access control is vital in order to ensure data is protected. Access controls should be fine-grained, allowing organizations not only to limit access, but also to limit knowledge of its existence. Enterprises therefore need to pay attention to the classification of data. This should be designed to ensure that data is not locked away unnecessarily, but equally that it doesn’t present a security or privacy risk to any individual or company. VI. CONCLUSION This paper reviewed the technical challenges, various technologies and services of Big Data. Big Data describes a new generation of technologies and architectures, designed to economically extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of data by enabling high-velocity capture. Linked Data databases will become more popular and could potentially push traditional relational databases to one side due to their increased speed and flexibility. This means businesses will be able to change to develop and evolve applications at a much faster rate. Data security will always be a concern, and in future data will be protected at a much more granular level than it is today. Currently Big Data is seen predominantly as a business tool. Increasingly, though, consumers will also have access to powerful Big Data applications. In a sense, they already do Google and various social media search tools. But as the number of public data sources grows and processing power becomes ever faster and c heaper, increasingly easy-to-use tools will emerge that put the power of Big Data analysis into everyone’s hands.

Polygyny benefits Society :: Anthropology

Polygyny benefits Society Polygyny, the social arrangement that permits a man to have more than one wife at the same time, exists in all parts of the world. From our present knowledge, there are very few primitive tribes in which a man is not allowed to enter into more than one union. In fact, ethologists now believe that only one to two percent of all species may be monogamous (Tucker). None of the simian species are strictly monogamous; our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, practice a form of group marriage. Among the 849 human societies examined by the anthropologist Murdock (1957), 75% practiced polygyny. Many peoples have been said to be monogamous, but it is difficult to infer from the data at our disposal whether monogamy is the prevalent practice, the moral ideal, or an institution safeguarded by sanctions (Malinowski 1962). Historically, polygyny was a feature of the ancient Hebrews, the traditional Chinese, and the nineteenth-century Mormons in the United States, but the modern practice of polygyn y is concentrated in Africa, the Middle East, India, Thailand, and Indonesia. The extent to which men are able to acquire multiple wives depends on many factors, including the economic prosperity of the man’s family, the prevailing bride price, the differential availability of marriageable females, the need and desire for additional offspring, and the availability of productive roles for subsequent wives. Even in societies that permit polygyny, the conditions of life for the masses make monogamy the most common form of marriage. The two variations of polygyny are sororal (the cowives are sisters) and nonsororal (the cowives are not sisters). Some societies also observe the custom of levirate, making it compulsory for a man to marry his brother’s widow. It must be remembered that any form of polygyny is never practiced throughout the entire community: there cannot exist a community in which every man would have several wives because this would entail a huge surplus of f emales over males (Malinowski 1962). Another important point is that in reality it is not so much a form of marriage fundamentally distinct from monogamy as rather a multiple monogamy. It is always in fact the repetition of marriage contract, entered individually with each wife, establishing an individual relationship between the man and each of his consorts (Benson 1971). Where each wife has her separate household and the husband visits them in turn, polygynous marriage resembles very closely a temporarily interrupted monogamy.

Words and Meaning :: Philosophy of Language

Words and Meaning How do words bear meaning? The notion that a word means what it stands for – its denotation - will be examined and found wanting because logical analysis is only able to illuminate limited areas of language. It will be then suggested that metaphysical speculations about the sort of entities named by words are at best unhelpful. The idea that words get their meaning from the way they are used in public discourse will then be introduced as potentially more useful, although some problems with this approach will also be noted. Finally it will be suggested, very briefly, that an answer to this question may best be found in the common human condition – how we operate in the world using language. It is attractive to assume that the meaning of a word is the entity it denotes. There are many cases where this definition will do. For example in the sentence, John sat at the table. ‘John’ denotes a person and ‘table’ denotes an object. This seems straightforward. There are sentences, however, where the meaning is apparently clear but where the entities are not so clear cut. The sentence below has a clear meaning: The singing was divine but the acting was wooden. The proposition carried by this sentence is easily understood. However, the entities ‘singing’ and ‘acting’ are not so clear. They are ongoing actions not so clearly defined as tables and chairs. Furthermore, the metaphorical qualifiers ‘divine’ and ‘wooden’ do not help do not sharpen the meaning. Is ‘divine’, for example, merely a fanciful replacement for ‘enjoyable’? A whole conversation about the nature of singing and acting might follow such an utterance. Denotation and questions of logical form do not seem to be helpful in explaining the meanings of words in ordinary talk although human beings do seem to be impelled towards rational discussion. We habitually give reasons for things. For example, a discussion about ‘the greatest footballer ’ often finishes with extensive debate about what the defining criteria might be (a verbal dispute about connotation). Subsequently the argument often then turns to which player best meets these criteria (arguments to establish denotation). Whatever the case the denotation for ‘the greatest footballer’ is problematical. Much of this kind of discourse is based upon opinions. These opinions may or may not be true. This in no way affects the meanings intended by the speakers.

Malaria Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Malaria There are a great number of diseases that are endemic in many of the poorer, developing nations due to the lack of sanitation and disease prevention programs in these areas. The steady increase of malaria epidemics in many of the African countries is a point of great concern, because this continent is home to 90% of the world’s total cases of this particular disease. Malaria gets its name from â€Å"mal aria,† meaning bad air, because patients used to blame the sudden illness on the poor air quality of the nearby swamps. Scientists now know that malaria is a parasitic infection caused by a single-celled protozoan, Plasmodium. Of the four types of this parasite, Plasmodium falciparum is recognized as the most dangerous and lethal string that infects human beings. The female Anopheles mosquito transmits the disease through its saliva, and the protozoan enters the bloodstream and is carried to the liver. The indications of the illness can appear within a week of the exposure or it can take up to a year for the effects to become noticeable. Malaria has many flu-like symptoms, such as headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, sweating, tiredness, and general muscle pain. These characteristics are attributed to many forms of illness, which can prove difficult in the diagnosis of this serious disease early enough for effective treatmen t. The treatment of malaria is commonly administered in the form of a DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) antibiotic. This drug works to eliminate the parasite from the patients blood stream and, therefore, limit the chance of communicating the disease and infecting other people. The drug also significantly reduces the frequency of severity of the patient’s symptoms... ...d Pestilence: From Ancient Times to the Present, Rev. Ed. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2001. This article was an updated history of African malaria outbreaks and the specific causes of and reactions to these epidemics. â€Å"Malaria.† CDC Division of Parasitic Diseases Information. 3 Mar. 2002. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 5 Oct. 2002 . This site gave important information about precautions that travelers should take before going to high-risk areas of the world. â€Å"Malaria Facts.† NIAID Quickfacts Page. 17 Sept. 2002. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH. 6 Oct. 2002 . This NIH site provides an in-depth look at the infection/spread of malaria with multiple links for additional information.

Iron Crowned Chapter 4

Distracting your enemies by saying shocking things is a classic way to get an attack in. If this ghost had wanted to catch me off guard and move in, this would have been her chance. Instead, she just hung there in the air, staring at me. I forced my jaw closed and kind of wished Kiyo had stuck around to hear this bizarre development. Finally, I said, â€Å"That's not what I do. And anyway †¦ I mean, wouldn't you kind of know? Wouldn't you have seen it?† â€Å"No,† she said mournfully. â€Å"Whoever did it shot me in the head before I could see. They made it look like a suicide.† I grimaced. Weak ghosts often appeared in their final state, as they'd looked at the time of death. This one was strong and able to appear as she remembered herself, for which I was grateful. I wouldn't have wanted to see her after that gunshot. â€Å"Well, I'm sorry for your †¦ loss,† I told her, wondering why I hadn't already banished her. â€Å"But private detective work isn't my thing.† â€Å"I can't go to one!† she cried. â€Å"Or the police. Only you can see me. All the other ghosts said you were the one to go to.† â€Å"All the other – what, do you guys have a country club or something?† â€Å"Please, Miss Markham,† she begged. Her eyes were so, so sad. â€Å"I have to find out. If someone dangerous is walking around, I have to know. My family has to know.† From what I knew, family was usually behind most homicides. â€Å"Look, you're obviously strong. You have to be in order to move around like you do and come outside. It makes sense. If you're this upset about what happened, then you're bound strongly to this world while the, um, murder's unsettled. So, the odds are, you probably could appear to someone else. Wouldn't work on most humans, but you might get someone close to you to see you and hear you.† â€Å"But would they believe me?† she asked bitterly. â€Å"They'd think they were imagining things. You're the only one who knows this is real.† I shook my head. â€Å"Sorry. I don't investigate this stuff. Certainly not for ghosts. You're getting my best offer here. Otherwise †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I held up the wand. â€Å"You move on to peace.† She scowled and disappeared. Yes, a very strong ghost, one who should have already been in the Underworld right then and there. I shouldn't have stopped to talk. But what was one more ghost when I was already letting so many slide by? Kiyo's accusatory words came back to me. I felt like I was doing a half-ass job in both worlds, too divided to give either my full attention. Nonetheless, I made the most of my day in Tucson. I knocked off three more jobs for Lara, much to her relief. Jobs meant money, meaning both of us got paid. She'd hinted in the past that our drop in work was creating financial problems, enough that she might need a second job. That made me uneasy because a second job could easily turn into her only job. Finding an administrative assistant who could schedule and bill supernatural appointments wasn't that easy. I came home at last to an empty house, with a note scrawled from Tim saying he had â€Å"a gig† tonight and that there was fettuccine alfredo in the refrigerator if I wanted it. Eating in front of the TV, I selfishly felt resentful that he'd go out on one of the few nights I was home. But why wouldn't he? He certainly had a life, one I was hardly in. What really brought me down was that on a night like this, I once would have been over at my mom's eating dinner. For a second, I stared at my phone and considered taking the plunge. But, no. If she wanted to get in touch clandestinely, she would. Calling now would risk me getting Roland, who would hang up on me. Or most likely not answer. Frustrated, I decided I didn't want to stay here anymore. It was weird, especially since I'd wanted to come home so badly earlier. Yet, I felt like I wasn't welcome in my own house. I showered off the day's fights – no gentry baths for me – and headed right back to the Otherworld. I almost never came and went the same day, but suddenly, my kingdom seemed like the only place I had friends at the moment. They were surprised to see me back so soon. I found Shaya and Rurik playing chess in a formal sitting room, leaning together and laughing as she planned her next move. Both jumped when they saw me. â€Å"Your Majesty,† said Shaya. They'd instantly gone from casual to formal mode. â€Å"Sit, both of you. You should know better.† I sat as well, sinking into a down-filled love seat that I'd inherited from the castle's previous owner. Shaya and Rurik returned to their seats, relaxing somewhat. â€Å"We didn't think you'd be back for a while,† said Rurik, ever blunt. Shaya looked twitchy, like she wanted to get up, despite what I'd said. â€Å"Should I have the kitchen start preparing dinner?† â€Å"No, no, don't bother.† It was common among gentry monarchs for every meal to be a full-fledged banquet, particularly dinner, hosting the full court. With my schedule and the fact that I didn't even keep a full court – just the essentials – that was not the case around here. My kitchen staff had it easy, and I certainly didn't want them to get in a sudden panic over a meal they would have normally started on hours ago, had they known I'd be there. I stared off at the empty fireplace, which had been unused since I'd taken over. Had the Thorn Land shifted into winter, we might have needed it. A kingdom's seasons bent to its monarch's will, and although Tucson was in winter right now, my subconscious apparently thought summer was the proper state. Shaya and Rurik regarded me patiently, wondering what it was I wanted, if not dinner. I wasn't sure myself. I fumbled for something to say. â€Å"News or messages on the war front?† â€Å"No,† said Rurik. Not surprising. Ranelle had probably only just gotten home. She was likely feasting with the Linden King right now. I met Shaya's eyes. â€Å"It's probably dinnertime at Dorian's, huh? Or close to it.† She tilted her head thoughtfully. There were no clocks in the Otherworld, but she had a good sense of the time. â€Å"I would imagine so, Your Majesty.† â€Å"Do you think he'd mind unscheduled visitors?† â€Å"You?† Shaya laughed. â€Å"Hardly.† I glanced between the two of them, feeling a smile creep onto my lips. â€Å"What do you say? Should we go crash his party?† â€Å"Party crashing† might not be a colloquialism among the gentry, but it didn't take Shaya or Rurik long to figure out what I meant. Both sprang to action. I couldn't travel alone during wartime, so Rurik had to assemble a military escort for us. Shaya left to alert the civilians who'd go with us and make herself ready for a royal visit. Both of them were excited, I could tell. Humans and gentry weren't so different, in a lot of ways. Once at Dorian's, Shaya and Rurik would have few official duties. This was the equivalent of an Otherworldly night on the town. In my rooms, I found my handmaiden Nia anxiously awaiting me. Gentry magical skills ranged greatly. I controlled weather. Dorian could rip apart the earth. And Nia? Her talent was in beautifying others, in hair and clothing. Like those of my cooks, her skills were often underutilized. â€Å"Let's get ready,† I told her. Her face lit up, and she practically ran to the wardrobe. â€Å"Which would you like, Your Majesty?† Her hand hovered near a black cocktail dress from the human world, then moved to a gauzy blue sundress. Then, she hesitated altogether and glanced at me questioningly. It wouldn't have been out of character for me to show up at a state function in the jeans I already wore. After my earlier loneliness, I was excited to see Dorian – almost desperately so. He seemed like my only connection right now, and I suddenly liked the idea of surprising him. â€Å"The peach one,† I said. Nia nodded, her fingers skimming the dresses. Finding no peach, she frowned and rechecked them. Then, her gaze went to the other half of my wardrobe, where the gentry dresses she and others had had made for me hung. Her eyes widened as she pulled out a peach silk dress she'd probably never thought would see the light of day. â€Å"Your Majesty!† was all she could gasp. It was like Christmas morning for her. With coppery hair, I had to be careful with what colors I wore, but this was a warm enough shade of peach that it worked. The fabric was shining and fluid, like some living thing. The dress was one long piece, clinging around the torso and then flaring and falling like water from the waist to the floor. Gold ribbons laced up the back, decorated with aquamarines. Straps, also made from strings of aquamarines, hung loosely off my shoulders around my upper arm, trailing more streams of silk beneath my arm and giving the illusion of sleeves. For all intents and purposes, it was a strapless dress, leaving my arms, shoulders, and a healthy amount of cleavage exposed. â€Å"I think I need a bra,† I said, eyeing the way the thin silk wrapped around my chest. â€Å"But that's how it's worn!† said Nia. Gentry, in fashion and other ways, didn't always share the same taste as humans. Nia knew this, and I could see in her face she was terrified I'd do something human to ruin this dream-come-true of finally dressing me properly. â€Å"Fine,† I said. â€Å"But keep my hair down.† Hopefully it would give me some coverage. Lack of a haircut had my ends just barely touching my shoulder blades lately. Nia took this as an acceptable compromise, going over every lock of my hair so that it was smooth and slightly curled at the ends. Aquamarine barrettes (the gentry loved jewels too) were placed strategically throughout my hair, and she forced more jewelry on me in the same color scheme. After a bit of cosmetics, Nia deemed me fit to be a queen. I planned on bringing her to Dorian's and was about to tell her we should go when a strange and unexpected thought came to me. â€Å"Nia †¦ can you get my sister ready too?† â€Å"Your †¦ your sister, Your Majesty?† She was equally surprised. â€Å"Is she coming?† I thought about it, wondering the same thing. I never let Jasmine leave the castle and its grounds, for everyone's safety. Yet, I couldn't shake the thought of how bored and lonely she seemed. Plus, I'd forgotten her Twinkies. â€Å"Yes,† I decided. â€Å"She's coming. Be fast.† Nia nodded and headed toward my door, off to whatever closet she always produced endless stores of dresses and jewelry from. Jasmine had once been the mistress of this castle's former king; for all I knew, her wardrobe was still here. â€Å"Nia?† I called. The gentry girl paused. â€Å"Long sleeves.† Nia nodded again, catching my meaning. It was no secret among the gentry that the Thorn Queen kept her sister a prisoner. That didn't mean I wanted her chains flaunted, however. And when my whole entourage met up to leave, I could see that Nia really was magically gifted with beauty. Jasmine – who looked utterly stunned by this unexpected field trip – wore a dress made of pale green velvet. It was floor-length like mine but had long bell sleeves that did a good job of hiding the chains. The dress was more modest than mine too, but I had a feeling Nia hadn't done it to protect Jasmine's fifteen-year-old modesty. Most likely, Nia didn't want the queen's sister to draw more attention than the queen herself. The minimal jewels on Jasmine proved as much, and the looks from my own people showed that I was definitely attention-getting. I doubted they'd ever seen me dressed up like a full-fledged gentry woman. Riding a horse in that dress was a pain in the ass. It wasn't the first time I'd done so, and I was glad the skirt wasn't as snug as the top. I was also glad our route was short tonight. The Otherworld folded in upon itself, taking travelers through ways that seemed impossible but which often proved the most direct path. These paths also cut through other kingdoms – often my neighbors'. Knowing this, our party was on high alert as we rode, everyone tense. To my relief, the road didn't take us through the Rowan Land – as it frequently did. The only transition between my land and the Oak Land was a brief stint in the Willow Land. Not comforting, but safer than enemy territory. Once Dorian's castle was in sight, my group's mood lifted, and the party-crashing spirit returned. His home was exactly what you expected from a castle, multi-turreted and made of heavy dark stones, with stained glass windows. As always, it was autumn in the Oak Land, and although night prevented me from seeing the orange-leaved trees, the smell of harvest and touch of fall chill on my skin reaffirmed for me what season it was. Scattered on the castle grounds, I spotted small clusters of peasants around campfires, watching us curiously. Like me, Dorian had war refugees seeking aid from their monarch. The sight of their faces twisted my stomach, and I forced myself to look away. Servants took our horses, people scrambling at our unexpected arrival. Guests dropped in all the time for dinner – especially at Dorian's – but we were VIPs. I walked briskly toward the banquet hall while groveling stewards scurried at my side, promising proper accommodations for my companions and checking on anything else we might need. I came to a halt when I reached the banquet doors. Even I with my bad human etiquette knew I had to be announced first. A herald swung open the door, revealing light, color, and noise. Dorian had about a hundred people in there tonight, gathered around various tables on chairs and couches. Most were gentry nobility. Some were his soldiers. Others were creatures of the Otherworld, types I fought when they crossed to the human world. As I'd guessed, dinner was already being served, with servants scurrying around and the guests chatting and eating. That all came to a halt when the herald's voice rang out: â€Å"Her Royal Majesty, Queen Eugenie Markham, Called Odile Dark Swan, Daughter of Tirigan the Storm King, Protector of the Thorn Land, Beloved of the Triple Moon Goddess.† I would never get used to all those titles. Conversation dropped, and then there was the usual screeching of chair legs as people hastily stood up. Once I would have cringed from this, but I knew what was expected now. I began to stride forward but stopped after two steps. Most of my soldiers had stayed at the doors, and none of the rest of my retinue would be announced since I had no high-ranking nobility with me. Almost. I glanced at the herald. â€Å"My sister, announce my sister.† His eyes bugged, and I could guess his confusion. Not only was that kind of a weird request coming from me, it was also hard for him to manage since Jasmine didn't have any official titles. The guy was fast on his feet, though. That was his job. â€Å"The Lady Jasmine Delaney, Daughter of Tirigan the Storm King, Sister of Eugenie the Thorn Queen.† That got a few surprised glances. I smiled at the herald. â€Å"Thank you,† I said softly. â€Å"Only next time, announce my name before our father's.† He blanched. â€Å"Y-yes, Your Majesty.† I entered the room at the head of my party, startled I'd said that to the herald. Where had that come from? A need to diminish Storm King? A desire to tout my own importance? Whatever the reason, I already regretted the words. A long walkway stretched through the room, and halfway down it, Dorian emerged from the crowd and stood to meet me. I reached him, and he took my hand, giving it a long and languid kiss. Among the gentry, that kiss was perfectly acceptable for receiving one's lover or a visiting monarch. â€Å"My dear,† he said, lifting his eyes. They swept over me in that clever, efficient way of his. To all those watching, he was as calm and in control as always, his lips curved into the devil-may-care smile normal for him. Still, I could imagine his surprise. He hadn't expected to see me this soon. He certainly hadn't expected to see me in full queenly glory. I might have been Christmas morning for Nia, but for Dorian, I was dessert being served before dinner. â€Å"You and yours are very welcome.† It was a formality, one that returned the guests to their seats and declared my party was under Dorian's hospitality, meaning no one here could do us any harm and vice versa. â€Å"I guess ‘soon' does mean all sorts of things,† he murmured. He glanced toward my cleavage. â€Å"All sorts of things.† â€Å"Hey.† I kept my voice as low as his. â€Å"Are you looking down my dress?† â€Å"My dear, I want to do much more than look down it. Much, much more. And I want to do it now. I don't suppose,† he added, â€Å"that your transformation came along with an embracing of many of our other superior customs?† He was referring, of course, to couples scattered about the room who had promptly returned to amorous activities after I was announced. People made out, took off clothing, and even had sex with ease in public. Some guests watched, but most went on with their meal as though nothing out of the ordinary were happening. â€Å"No,† I said firmly. â€Å"Are you sure?† he asked, leaning closer. â€Å"No one would take it amiss. Indeed, many would find it reassuring to see their king and queen consummating their relationship. It's a sign of dominance and power.† â€Å"I'm here for dinner,† I said sweetly. Underneath my prim attitude, his words and his body language were already getting to me. You would have thought we'd last had sex a year ago, not this morning. I might not consent to his exhibitionism, but if I said I wanted to go to his bedroom right now, he'd immediately turn around and walk out with me. â€Å"Dinner, it is,† he said regretfully. â€Å"Perhaps I'll serve you something special. And I'm sure you'll enjoy our guests tonight.† He began steering me toward the hall's front. His throne sat on a high pedestal, and below that was the head table where he'd been dining. My eyes fell on the aforementioned guests, and I nearly stopped walking. Instead, I glanced behind me and called, â€Å"Rurik?† I'd given instructions for Shaya and Rurik (and a handful of guards) not to leave Jasmine's side. They were seeking out their own table, and even though they were halfway across the room, Rurik heard me and turned. With a sharp head nod, I gestured for him to join us. He crossed the room swiftly, arching an eyebrow when he saw the dinner guests and understanding why I'd want one of my own people around. There, sitting at the head table and watching me with cold blue eyes was Ysabel – Dorian's former lover.

Aq for Conformity

Young people of my country conform and deviate, but in varying degrees. This is expressed by Suematsu in paragraph 3 of passage B where he states â€Å"Conform too much, and you are toast, deviate too much, and you are toast too. † in context to the school life. It is the same with Singapore. Young people of my country must find the perfect balance of conforming and deviating in order to be â€Å"popular†. And that answers the question as to why they conform and deviate. Even within Singapore, different young people may conform and deviate in different ways and in variable degrees.For example, students in a secondary school may find that breaking the rules, â€Å"deviating† in other words, is considered cool but students from a junior college may find conforming more to their style. This is probably due to the mental maturity of the different age groups. In secondary school, students are still young and may not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions o r maybe even be given rose coloured glasses by their peer (peer pressure), whereas in JC, the students have matured greatly from their secondary school days and understand the consequences they have to face in breaking a rule.However, we also have to consider what kind of circles the young people come from. Some young people may come from more shady backgrounds, and they may break more rules (of both society and school) than normal, but to them, or perhaps, to their social circle, it may be a form of conforming. It isn’t their fault as they have been brought up or have been exposed to such an environment at a early age. To them, it is the norm. they do not know how else to act except to deviate.Even within that circle, there may be some limits to the kind of rules or how many you can break. This is also illustrated by Suematsu who states â€Å"We all conform to some standard one way or another†¦ this collective standard can vary even within a society. † It is also seen in the undercurrents of Heath and Potter’s work where they state â€Å"they do place limits.. † which states that even with deviation, there is a limit to what you can do.As Heath and Potter argue, the conformity will not destroy individuality. Which is probably why most young people in my country tend to deviate less (in terms of society and rules). Even with our uniform, most of the young people do not bother to accessorize or alter our uniform (except maybe the length) too much. It is, in our perspective, a uniform, and therefore, is not an accurate representation of our true selves.We tend not to bother too much about showing off our individuality, saving that for when the weekend comes or when we go out. As Suematsu states â€Å"the conclusion that limited means of expression equals limited expressions of individuality which may be wrong. † Besides, â€Å"students have a thousand and one ways to modify a school uniform†, which is also another r eason why students conform to wearing the uniform, though they deviate a little by maybe, shortening the skirt a little too short, or wearing pretty hair accessories.It is probably also true that many young people of my country may fuss a little too much over details such as hair, makeup or attire (more often lately). When we go out, it is important to look our best in order to portray our individuality (this is the same for many other countries). Even so, be it our moral compass, or our parents or even the society, young people still conform to a certain type of limit set by above mentioned factors, though deviating. This is the so-called golden balance that Suematsu mentions.