Disable Women in Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

Disable Women in Bangladesh Essay Disability is something that we take negatively, most commonly in Bangladesh we like to address them â€Å"Protibondhi†, a vague and unrealistic terminology. Let’s see what disability is from the World Health Organization’s definition: Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. Nowadays we do not call these even disabilities, we term them as impaired. A person may also qualify as impaired if he/she has had impairment in the past or is seen as disabled based on a personal or group standard or norm. Such impairments may include physical, sensory, and cognitive or developmental disabilities. Mental disorders (also known as psychiatric or psychosocial disability) and various types of chronic disease may also qualify as disabilities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 7. 5 million women with disabilities in Bangladesh, which is certainly a matter of consideration to the government. Human rights which has been a â€Å"talk of the world† is the most important thing that government needs to ensure for them Human rights is something that is â€Å"inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being. Researches have been done and significant as well as worrying issues have been identified on the human rights condition and survival pattern of girls with disabilities. Types and degrees of disability: The breakup or distribution of disability among the adolescent girls and women with disabilities broadly appeared the same to the national average. The major group has physical disability, 37. 33% among adolescence girls, and 40% among women. Speech and hearing, visual and intellectual disabilities come to the next categories. Multiple disabilities were seen the least at a compiled figure of 10%. As to the degree of disability, the moderates rest on the top at 36. 13%. The lowest is the ‘profound’ category at 9. 5%. The interesting point to note is that in ‘severe’ category, the percentage of affected girls with disability is higher in comparison to woman with disability. It is really eye-catching. Human rights issues: The very right to security of human life has been violated on many occasions when it relates to the girls and women with disabilities. They had been sexually abused, physically tortured, verbally abused. Even i n some cases they became disabled due to violence etc. inflicted upon them. They did not even get opportunity to demand justice. Moreover, they were blamed as guilty because of handicapping environment. The girls and women with disabilities are usually deprived of getting access to treatment and health care facilities. Social beliefs and superstitions in many cases caused such deprivation. They have been deprived of the rights of basic education. The school authorities in many cases refused to enroll the girls with disabilities although they had potentialities. This is a violation of the right to education defined in the Declaration of Education for All and the National Disability Policy. Communication is a basic human right but there is no such recognized communication mechanism (Bangla Sign language) for the speech and hearing impaired persons in the country. Treatment: Data revealed that 93. 33% of girls and 97. 50% of women with disabilities had at some stages of their lives received some kind of treatment for their impairment and disability. At times, as the data indicate that when it appears that no cure is possible, most families become hopeless and refrain from seeking further services (though essential) for girls and women with disabilities. This disillusionment or apathy pays a heavy toll on the girls and women with disabilities. The respondent families of the girls and women with disabilities had sought treatment from a varied range of sources even at high costs. The family members paid about 89% of the treatment costs. This indicates the state of poor health service delivery to the persons with disabilities at state level, which has mandatory obligation to deliver such minimum medi-care cost free. That is the poorest of the poor even do not get the bare basics of health services. Education:  Disability is a barrier to education. Only 3. 75% proceeded to university education in the woman with disability group. The highest enrollment can be seen at the primary school level at 21. 25% for women with disabilities and 30. 67% for girls with disabilities respectively. Most of the girls and women with disabilities who are pursuing education have to attend in formal schools due to the existing provision of free primary education. The second highest numbers of learners attend in non-formal educational institution. Enrolment in special education is much lower. A massive 64% (average figures of girls and women with disabilities combined) dropout rate occurs from primary to secondary level. 36. 06% of the women with disabilities and 36. 58% of the girls with disabilities were either teased or their venture to study were not supported (not in favour) by other members of their surrounding environment. Accessibility to the educational institution is one of the major problems for girls and women with physical disabilities. Girls with disabilities residing in hostels face problems due to absence of female house parent which limits sharing of feminine and other essential needs. The most humiliating thing is that the teachers are also involved in teasing their disabled learners. In spite of all of these inconveniences and handicapping environment, the girls and women with disabilities have potentials to be in mainstream education. Some are in education process where their disability is not visibly identified. Employment: It was discouraging to note that very insignificant number of respondents (3. 21%) from the two groups were involved in full time income generating activities. 64. 2% were sitting idle with no work. However some of them, particularly the women with disabilities (21. 88%) were somehow earning some income through different activities mostly in the informal sector. Although the number is not mentionable, some women with disabilities are engaged in multi-sectorial jobs like office job, teaching, small business, day-laborer, housemaid, handicrafts worker, dairy poultry raising, sewing, and house-hold works etc. In most cases they managed to arra nge the job themselves with out any external support. The income of the women or girls with disabilities is mostly spent in meeting the family needs but their family and the society do not always encourage the engagement in jobs/works of the girls or women with disabilities. Marriage, conjugal relationship and dowry: The involvement in romantic relationship ranks very high in lifes priorities for most women. The study focused on such personal factors like attitudes toward marriage, behavioral aspect, the effect of disability on the partners behaviour; environmental factors, social attitudes and family expectations of the respondents. Situation is reversed in case of women or adolescent girls with disabilities. Arranged marriage is still customary in the society of Bangladesh. The percentage of adolescent marriage is 48%. This is discouraging, yet the family can find spouse. The rate of marriage of adolescent girls with disabilities is only 2%. One of the major causes of the frustration of women with disabilities and their families is people are hesitant to marry a disabled girl. Most of the marriages of women with disabilities took place against consideration or offering of big amount of cash or kind, even land as dowry. Community and family attitudes: The overall development of a girl or woman with disability depends on the attitudes of the people or community surrounding them. In cases of positive attitudes from family, and other concerned in the society, the girls or women with disability seems to be more confident and have success in life while the negative attitudes made the girl or woman with disability depressed, dependant and a person with low self-esteem. It revealed that only 7. 10% participated in games and sports. A larger, yet still negligible, number of the respondents, 26. 3%, participated in social activities. However, figures state that actual participation is low by women and girls with disabilities, but in terms of their intention to participate, the response is satisfactorily high. 53. 5% reported that they were interested to participate, while only 7. 5% commented that they would never like to participate. In the adolescence group, the families with members in between 6 to 10 numbered highest with figures of 80 (53. 33%). Families with members in between 1 to 5, numbering 65 (43. 33%) come next. For a larger family it is possible to share the care-time required for the disabled family member. Abuse: Women with disabilities appear to be at high risk for emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The prevalence of abuse of the girls and women with disabilities was 92% for both groups. Al most the equal percentage of women and girls with disabilities reported emotional abuse (78% and 75%), incidents of physical abuse (82% for both) are also same. And cases of sexual abuses (32% and 37%) have however, little difference. In many cases parents also abuse the girls and women with disabilities. Most of the incidences of sexual abuses occur among the girls and women with intellectual disabilities. In the second frequency of sexual abuse towards girls and women with disabilities goes to hearing impairment. This is surprising to note that the traditional healers abuse the girls and women with disabilities sexually in the name of offering therapy or treatment. Not only the abused girls and women even their family members do not feel comfortable to disclose such cases of abuses because of social threat or embarrassment. Reproductive health:  Most of the girls and women are not much aware of the issues related to the phases of reproductive health. People identified disability, particularly of the women, as a risk factor for reproductive health. The society is still conservative to discuss reproductive health issues. The parents (even mothers) do not share any sexual and reproductive health issues or information with their daughters. Most of the adolescent girls get idea about the phases of physical development and transition period (internal transformation or menstrual) from peers, elder sisters, sister-in-laws, grandmothers etc. Majority of the girls with disabilities had experienced serious problem of shock, phobia, depression, and embarrassment while facing period. Especially the girls with speech and hearing impairment face difficulty in passing this period due to limited communication capability. Physical growth: Natural physical growth is a normal development process in the human body due to hormonal changes. The physical change also effects changes in behaviour and attitudes of a person, but in case of intellectual disabled, family could not measure or notice such physical changes that are usually expected and hence they became worried. Psychological phenomenon: The psychology of the girls and women with disabilities is dependent on many emotional, environmental and social factors such as self-assessment, personal acceptance, family and social attitude, isolation and etc. Many girls and women even with minor disabilities are facing problems of acceptance in their families. Segregation from the society and family was common feature for girls and women with disabilities in many cases. In many cases, the girls and women with disabilities were segregated even at their work places. It is evident that the girls and women with disabilities are deprived of their Basic Human Rights like food, clothes, education and treatment etc. That creates negative influence on overall psychological development or mindset of the disabled women and girls. Sexual abuses in many cases have caused stressful situation on the psyche of the girls and women with disabilities, which ultimately made them isolated and frustrated. Ability, dignity and self-esteem: Majorities of the girls and women with disabilities including severe level of disabilities have the confidence to be educated and subsequent engagement in contributing activities. Many of them have skills in trades like sewing, cooking, painting, handicrafts, tailoring, dairy and poultry raising and etc. There are evidences of extra-ordinary achievement by severely disabled women. Some of the girls and women with disabilities who had luckily access to employment, developed romantic relationship with the desired one and are now living a happy married life. The self-esteem of the girls and women with disabilities is more strongly influenced by social and environmental factors.

The Mozart Effect: Concept Overview and Analysis

The Mozart Effect: Concept Overview and Analysis The Mozart Effect Beth Boardley Abstract The Mozart Effect is said to occur when individuals listen to the two piano sonata. It is hypothesized that by listening to this ensemble that individuals will remember information more easily. Two studies were conducted relating to the Mozart Effect. The first study relates to spatial skill performance and how we use the same neural pathways to process this as we do music, the second study was conducted to challenge the first study. The second study’s argument was that any music that is appreciated can cause the same memory effect. In the second study they conducted one experiment in which they exposed unborn mice to Mozart’s piano sonata K448 and then also conducted a study to see how Mozart’s piano sonata K448 affected patients who suffered from epilepsy. The conclusions were that Mozart’s piano sonata K448 did have a positive effect on both animals and humans. In this paper we will discuss the parts of the first study including the hypothesis, variable s, evidence, and explanations the researchers use. We will also examine the merit and generalizability of the second study. Music and Spatial Task Performance By conducting research and doing experiments we can gain reliable answers to the millions of questions we have. There are many different types of research that can be conducted. Researchers choose the type of research and experiments to conduct based on the hypothesis, and the resources available to them. This purpose to this paper is to examine the study of the Mozart effect in relation to two articles, â€Å"Music and Spatial Task Performance† written by Rauscher, Shaw Ky in 1993, and â€Å"The Mozart Effect† written by Jenkins in 2011, and to answer specific questions based on their research. Fundamentally the Mozart Effect is a study that examines whether or not music helps individuals complete tasks better. The first article in question is Music and Spatial Task Performance. This article was written by Rauscher, Shaw Ky in 1993. They strove to prove that there was a causal relationship between â€Å"cognition and cognitions pertaining to abstract operations such as mathematical or spatial reasoning† (Rauscher et al., 1993). They hypothesized that scans of the brain and its neural pathways would show that the intake and processing of music and our spatial ability would use the same pathways. They also hypothesized that theses paths cover large portions of the same areas of the brain. To better understand these articles it is important to understand what spatial task performance is. â€Å"Spatial ability is the capacity to understand and remember the spatial relations among objects† (Jhu.edu, n.d.). In other words it is the ability to visualize in one’s mind. This ability is not static as it develops throughout one’s life. In relation to application, spatial ability is related to a person’s ability to perform at a minimum of two tasks at the same time. An example of a spatial skill would be walking and dribbling a ball. Many occupations require prominent spatial ability such as mathematics, meteorology, natural sciences, engineering, and architecture, among many others. Many of these jobs require research. Conducting research also requires spatial ability. There are many components to conducting research. Two of the most important components are the independent and dependent variables. An independent variable is a variable that stands alone and has no changes made to it. The independent variables in this study are Mozarts sonata, the college students, and the three-year-olds (Rauscher et al., 1993). A dependent variable is a variable that depends on other factors and changes. In the Rauscher et al., study the dependent variable was the memory. Another component of a research study is the controlled variables. A controlled variable is a variable in which the researcher wants to remain constant. The controlled variables in the Rauscher et al., 1993 study consist of Mozart’s sonata, the college students, and the three-year-olds. The music was a necessary controlled variable because the study was music based. The age ranges of the participants was important to control because they wanted to find out how memory was affected in children and in adults. They wanted to see who would remember the information the longest. Rauscher et al., 2013, presented data from two studies. They proved that the college students had better short term memory as a result of listening to Mozart’s sonata. They also showed that the three year olds had advancements, particularly in nonverbal cognitive ability, as a result of listening to Mozart’s sonata too. The evidence from this study was empirical and valid. The researchers explained that infants have the maximum ability relating to developing nonverbal cognitive skills as well as memorization. It has been shown that as we increase in age we lose memory recall and execution skills with the decrease in brain elasticity. This also makes it harder for adults to retain new information. The evidence presented in the article justified their explanation and proved that music and spatial ability travels among the same pathways in the brain. The Mozart Effect In 2001 another researcher Jenkins analyzed the work and studies conducted by Rauscher et al., 1993 in relation to the Mozart effect. Jenkins used the concept of â€Å"enjoyment arousal† as an explanation to the Mozart effect. Jenkins believed two specific factors that affected the study was the type of music being played and the participant’s particular taste for the music. For instance if the participants were to have been of a younger age such as a teenager then they would most likely respond with more positive results to music from their generation such as Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood. In order to test the challenge hypothesis Jenkins conducted a study Jenkins conducted animal experiments. They used rats in utero and exposed them to music for 60 days. The rats were split into groups where each group were exposed to different music. The ensembles in which the rats were exposed to were â€Å"Mozarts piano sonata K448, to minimalist music by the composer Philip Glass, to white noise or to silence† (Jenkins, 2011). After the rats were born and the exposure period was ended they were tested using a maze navigation course. The results from the study were surprising. The study from the maze navigation showed that the rats who were exposed to Mozart’s sonata were the quickest and also the most accurate at completing the maze (Jenkins, 2011). This information is significant because it showed that Mozart’s sonata and the Mozart effect does exist, that it is provable, and that it has an effect on memory. An additional study conducted did not relate to spatial skills or maze navigation. This study involved persons suffering from epilepsy. For this study they used â€Å"29 patients with focal discharges or bursts of generalized spike and wave complexes† (Jenkins, 2001). While listening to Mozart’s piano sonata K448 patient’s EEG results had a visible reduction in epileptic activity. They study showed for some patients there was great improvements. For example â€Å"in one male, unconscious with status epilepticus, ictal patterns were present 62% of the time, whereas during exposure to Mozart’s music this value fell to 21%† (Jenkins, 2001). According to another study, â€Å"The long-term effect of listening to Mozart K.448 decreases epileptic form discharges in children with epilepsy†, the Mozart K448 also had effectiveness in reducing epilepsy and the frequency of epileptic episodes in children (Lin et al., 2011). This study holds merit for several reasons. One reason is that it proves that the Mozart effect does exist. Secondly it provides evidence that the Mozart effect is not based only on music appreciation per the unborn rat’s performance in the maze. It also showed that this effect is not limited to spatial ability or memory as it was also proven to have profound effects in epileptic patients. This study did not take into account individual spatial ability. For instance all the rats were apparently able to complete the maze. The researchers gave no warning that any rats were impaired leading us to assume all of the rats were healthy. The only difference encountered was the music in which the rats were exposed to, or lack thereof. The study performed with the patients suffering from epilepsy did not pertain to their spatial abilities it focused on the decrease of epileptic episodes. .In order to make this study more generalizable all they would need to try and test the spatial ability of many different types of rats. There should be normal functioning rats, mentally deficient rats, deformed rats, and rats that suffer blindness and deafness issues. Added in there could be rats that suffer from malnutrition as well as obesity. With keeping the rest of the study the same a more wide-ranging inference can be made in relation to Mozart’s sonata and the effects it has on the rat’s performance in the maze navigation. In regards to the studies with the epileptic patients other types of music should be used rather than just Mozart’s sonata. Other classical selections could be used such as selections from Bach, Chopin, or other Mozart selections. This could be helpful in order to see if the epileptic episodes are decreased with the various selections or if it is just that particular Mozart sonata. The study could break the music down farther by examining the type of instrumentation within the selection. In the studies it was stated that the Mozart sonata was a piano piece. With this we may deduce that selections using the piano may have an effect on epileptic episodes. A generalization from this is that soothing piano music with no words could have a positive effect on the epileptic episode reductions. Another possibility, just as with the rats, the type of epileptic could be factor such as the severity of the epilepsy in the patient. Conclusion The conclusion of these studies is that the Mozart effect does in fact exist, that it is provable, and that there are positive results in the participants. The first study conducted pertained to spatial skills in college students as well as three year olds. This study proved that younger individuals have the ability to remember information more easily as a result of listening to Mozart’s sonata. The college students showed that information was retained only short-term. Also proven was that the intake and processing of music and spatial abilities use the same neural pathways in the brain. It was later argued that any type of music can make people remember more as long as they appreciate they music being played. This however was disproved through the experiment that was conducted using the rats. They study showed that the rats that listened to Mozart’s piece performed better and more accurately in the maze vs. rats that listened to Philip Glass, white noise, or nothing at all. Also interesting was the discovery that listening to Mozart’s piano sonata K448 was proven to reduce epileptic episodes. The Mozart effect unquestionably warrants further study. There needs to be different types of rats to determine if disabilities such as blindness or injury has an effect on their ability to navigate the maze. More studies with epileptic patients could be conducted as well in order to test different types of music’s relation to the reduction of episodes if any, as well as more studies on individuals and children. References Jenkins, J.S. (2001). The Mozart effect. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 94, 170-172. Retrieved January 21, 2015, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/[emailprotected]vid=1hid=116 Jhu.edu. (n.d.). What is spatial ability? Retrieved January 21, 2015, from Lin, L., Lee, W., Wu, H., Tsai, C., Wei, R., Mok, H., Weng, C., Lee, M., Yang, R., (2011). The long-term effect of listening to Mozart K.448 decreases epileptic form discharges in children with epilepsy. Epilepsy Behavior, 21(4), 420-424. Retrieved January 21, 2015, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.edmc.edu Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365. 6447: 611. (October 14, 1993). (ProQuest Document ID 76004658). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED390733.pd

Interactions of TiO2 Nanoparticles With Carotenoids

Interactions of TiO2 Nanoparticles With Carotenoids Role of TiO2 semiconductor nanoparticles on photodegradation of carotenoids: stability of carotenoids in solution. D.D.D.H Alwis, U.G. Chandrika, P.M. Jayaweera Abstract: Introduction Carotenoid (Car) molecules as a sensitizer in Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with optimum photo conversion efficiency have recently been widely investigated by several researchers1-3. Car are one of the most widespread naturally occurring pigments which are of great interest due to their biological functions in living organisms4. The most striking feature of the long chain car molecules is absorbing visible light in the electromagnetic spectrum, and therefore act as light harvesting pigments in green plants. The optical absorption of car molecules is occurred in the range of 400 nm to 550 nm with a very high molar absorptivity coefficient. Besides their light harvesting and photo-protecting actions in plants, they play major roles as good antioxidants on preventing degenerative diseases and some of them are important dietary source of vitamin A. Light harvesting ability of car is responsible for their attractive colours and which is associated with the long conjugated double bond system, composed of light absorbing chromophore5. Although the all-trans configuration of car is most stable in nature, several of mono-cis and di-cis isomers are possible during photodegradation of car. Cis-trans geometrical isomerization of double bonds in chromophore may cause the loss in colour of car molecules as well as appearing a cis peak in UV-region (Amaya et al. 2001). This colour loss may imparts the structural variations to the dye molecule and hence the performance of DSSC. Light Irradiation of car molecules is studied by several researchers6-8 and the photocatalyzed degradation of car on semiconductors such as TiO2, CdS and ZnO are studied by (kispert et al. 1998), he revealed that a rapid photodegradation of car are occurred in the presence of the semiconductors. Recently the application of wide band gap semiconductors mainly TiO2 are greatly under investigations for Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells over the last few years. TiO2 plays a major role in development of higher conversion efficiency solar cells that is because due to its good photoactive properties9,10, as well as its biological and chemical inertness for more suitability for many environmental applications. PV solar cells provide an attractive alternative to high cost energy sources for harnessing and converting free, unlimited solar energy into clean electricity10-12. However the expensive raw materials and high manufacturing cost for silicon and Ru-based solar cells have led to develop viable alternative for sensitizers in solar cells with new molecular materials using naturally occurring plant materials. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) assembled by natural dyes extracted from plant materials as a sensitizer have made considerable attention due to their low cost and environmental friendliness13. DSSC composed of nanostructured, mesoporous, wide-bandgap semiconductor to which the dye molecules (sensitizers) are adsorbed, a counter electrode and an electrolyte. In DSSC the dye molecule absorb visible light, and inject electron from photo-excited state of dye molecule to conduction band of semiconductor.12,14 The performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell is mainly based on the structure of the visible light absorbing dye/ sensitizer. Several researches were focused to enhance the conversion efficiency of solar cells by improving the photovoltaic properties of dye-sensitized semiconductor solar cells15,16. Recently (Polivka et al. 2002) studied the dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer and recombination between car and a TiO2 nanoparticle by means of transient absorption spectroscopy6. On the other hand utilization of several natural dyes extracted from natural plant sources as sensitizers have been reported by several workers14,17. Besides that the interactions of human serum albumin, porphyrin and natural pigments with colloidal TiO2 were studied by several researchers18-21 with the use of absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. However the photochemical behavior and the stability of car containing terminal carboxylic groups adsorb on to a surface of semiconductor in a solvent mixture has not been extensively investigated to our knowledge. The present study involves the use of mono and di-carboxylic carotenoids bixin and norbixin respectively to investigate the interactions of TiO2 nanoparticles with carotenoids extracted from annato (Bixa orellana) seeds. The chemical structures of bixin and norbixin are shown in Fig. 1. Here we irradiate the car solution in MeOH in the presence of spray coated and non-coated TiO2 semiconductor glass plate to investigate the photodegradation behavior of car. Further the effect of colloidal TiO2 on the fluorescence quenching of car was also studied to attain better understanding on the interception of the excited state of car on the TiO2 surface. UV-vis absorption and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra were also obtained to characterized the car dye adsorb semiconductors. 2. Experimental methods. 2.1 Sample preparation and materials Titanium (IV) 2-propoxide at 21 nm in diameter was purchased from Sigma Aldrich. All solvents were HPLC grade obtained from Aldrich. The outer coating of the Annatto seeds of the Bixa orellana tree (50 g) were removed by ultra sonication and washed with hexane to extract the bixin14, followed by solvent removal by rotary evaporation. The crude residue was washed with cold solvent, further purified and dried. Norbixin was extracted by adding aqueous alkali to one part of the bixin residue obtained previously then heated for hydrolysis, followed by cooling. An aqueous solution was filtered and acidified with 5 M HCl to precipitate norbixin, washed with cold hexane, purified and then dried to obtain solid norbixin22. All of the samples were N2 purged and stored at -20  °C. Compounds were characterized using UV-vis spectrophotometry and HPLC techniques. A HPLC series 1200 (Agilent, Waldbronn Germany) apparatus equipped with a multiwavelength/ photodiode array detectors was used for chromatographic analysis. The mobile phase consisting acetonitrile, methanol and ethyl acetate with 0.05% (v/v) triethylamine was used a t a flow rate 0.5 ml/min. 2.2 UV-vis, UV-vis DRS and fluorescence spectroscopy Electronic absorption spectra were recorded using a Perkin-Elmer†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.., Spectro UV-vis double beam spectrophotometer Model †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (UV-Vis DRS) were obtained in the range of 200-900 nm with†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦BaSO4†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ as the background on the Perkin-Elmer†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.spectrophotometer equipped with a integrating sphere. Fluorescence spectra were obtained at room temperature using Thermo Scientific Lumina spectro-fluorophotometer, using 10/10 nm slit widths. The excitation wavelength was 350 nm and the emission spectra were recorded between 460 and 660 nm. Fluorometric titrations were carried out by successive addition of 26.3 mg dm-3 of TiO2 NPs colloid in EtOH with a micropipette. The fluorescence spectra were recorded under 300 K. Photodegradation study of Car on TiO2 coated and non-coated glass plates were investigated by irradiating the samples with broadband UV source Xenon arc lamp (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦W) at a distance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. A spray coating method was used to prepare TiO2 coated glass plates having 2 cmÃâ€"2 cm surface area. During irradiation, the solutions were stirred magnetically and the effect of carotenoid degradation in pure MeOH, O2 purging and N2 purging were analyzed by measuring the absorbance of the solution at 460 nm for each 10 min intervals.

Privatizing the Public Sphere Essay -- Industrialization Fragmentation

Privatizing the Public Sphere The privatization and fragmentation of space in post-industrial urban America is a widespread social problem. As society becomes even more globalized as a result of technological advances, the rampant spread of a privatized public realm is ever-increasing. Public space is needed as a center in which to bring people together to share a common place. It is within public spaces that public life unfolds and without public spaces such as parks, streets, and buildings, the mixing of classes will become increasingly uncommon. Society is made up of two sectors: the private and public, and it is essential that both remain separate entities. However, through the use of fear tactics especially the threat of violent crimes, privatized settings are spreading throughout the public sphere. In this analysis, it is my intent to explore the various tactics being used to impede upon the public sphere. In doing so, I will explore the causal factors that contribute to the increased privatization of urban public life. Historically, the city was an all-encompassing entity. At the dawn of industrialization, large masses of people flocked to the city in hopes of a better economic life for themselves and their families. It was within the city limits, particularly closest to the areas of commerce and exchange that people took up residence, worked, and pursued various social activities. The city served the needs of all its citizens. However, as industrialization moved further along, there was a major shift in urban economics. While many businesses flourished, so did wealth and as this increased, society faced an evolving class system. Three notable classes emerged: the lower/working class, the middle class, and the upper/elite class. While these class divisions grew, a large amount of money was being invested in the creation of public venues. Public institutions were designed to bring education, culture, and in many ways, a sense of community to modern city life. A public park or library was a plac e that people of various classes could come together and share space. However, by the end of the Twentieth century and into the Twenty-First, true public space is becoming almost extinct, as is the middle class. Privatized public space has become the new trend across many American cities. There are many interrelated factors that contribut... ...for the poor into the public realm. The decline of a middle class is affecting the structure of society because cities and public venues were once designed to serve the middle class. However, without such a class, cities are now being designed to service an elite class and it is this class that has the power and control over public life. With the widening division between classes, services to the non-elite members of society will continue to diminish. The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another. Privatizing the Public Sphere Essay -- Industrialization Fragmentation Privatizing the Public Sphere The privatization and fragmentation of space in post-industrial urban America is a widespread social problem. As society becomes even more globalized as a result of technological advances, the rampant spread of a privatized public realm is ever-increasing. Public space is needed as a center in which to bring people together to share a common place. It is within public spaces that public life unfolds and without public spaces such as parks, streets, and buildings, the mixing of classes will become increasingly uncommon. Society is made up of two sectors: the private and public, and it is essential that both remain separate entities. However, through the use of fear tactics especially the threat of violent crimes, privatized settings are spreading throughout the public sphere. In this analysis, it is my intent to explore the various tactics being used to impede upon the public sphere. In doing so, I will explore the causal factors that contribute to the increased privatization of urban public life. Historically, the city was an all-encompassing entity. At the dawn of industrialization, large masses of people flocked to the city in hopes of a better economic life for themselves and their families. It was within the city limits, particularly closest to the areas of commerce and exchange that people took up residence, worked, and pursued various social activities. The city served the needs of all its citizens. However, as industrialization moved further along, there was a major shift in urban economics. While many businesses flourished, so did wealth and as this increased, society faced an evolving class system. Three notable classes emerged: the lower/working class, the middle class, and the upper/elite class. While these class divisions grew, a large amount of money was being invested in the creation of public venues. Public institutions were designed to bring education, culture, and in many ways, a sense of community to modern city life. A public park or library was a plac e that people of various classes could come together and share space. However, by the end of the Twentieth century and into the Twenty-First, true public space is becoming almost extinct, as is the middle class. Privatized public space has become the new trend across many American cities. There are many interrelated factors that contribut... ...for the poor into the public realm. The decline of a middle class is affecting the structure of society because cities and public venues were once designed to serve the middle class. However, without such a class, cities are now being designed to service an elite class and it is this class that has the power and control over public life. With the widening division between classes, services to the non-elite members of society will continue to diminish. The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another.

Comparing A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Farewell to Arms & The Sun Also Rises "After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain" (332). This last line of the novel gives an understanding of Ernest Hemingway's style and tone. The overall tone of the book is much different than that of The Sun Also Rises. The characters in the book are propelled by outside forces, in this case WWI, where the characters in The Sun Also Rises seemed to have no direction. Frederick's actions are determined by his position until he deserts the army. Floating down the river with barely a hold on a piece of wood his life, he abandons everything except Catherine and lets the river take him to a new life that becomes increasing difficult to understand. Nevertheless, Hemingway's style and tone make A Farewell to Arms one of the great American novels. Critics usually describe Hemingway's style as simple, spare, and journalistic. These are all good words they all apply. Perhaps because of his training as a newspaperman, Hemingway is a master of the de clarative, subject-verb-object sentence. His writing has been likened to a boxer's punches--combinations of lefts and rights coming at us without pause. As illustrated on page 145 "She went down the hall. The porter carried the sack. He knew what was in it," one can see that Hemingway's style is to-the-point and easy to understand. The simplicity and the sensory richness flow directly from Hemingway's and his characters' beliefs. The punchy, vivid language has the immediacy of a news bulletin: these are facts, Hemingway is telling us, and they can't be ignored. And just as Frederic Henry comes to distrust abstractions like "patriotism," so does Hemingway distrust them. Instead he seeks the concrete and the tangible. A simple "good" becomes higher praise than another writer's string of decorative adjectives. Hemingway's style changes, too, when it reflects his characters' changing states of mind. Writing from Frederic Henry's point of view, he sometimes uses a modified stream-of-cons ciousness technique, a method for spilling out on paper the inner thoughts of a character. Usually Henry's thoughts are choppy, staccato, but when he becomes drunk the language does too, as in the passage on page 13, "I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of cafes and nights when the room whirled and you

The Princess Bride Movie Review

Savannah Sheets 9th English 24 May 2012 The Princess Bride Movie Review â€Å"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. † This is one of the many humorous lines in the movie, The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is a romantic, action-comedy film and was directed by Rob Reiner in 1987. The plot of this movie is a fairytale narrated by a grandfather to his grandson full of action in attempt of getting a kidnapped princess back to her childhood love the day before her planned marriage with the prince.The main characters, Buttercup the princess (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes) fall in love when they are just two young teenagers shown at the beginning of the story. Fate separates them for 5 years and soon brings them back together before she gets married to Prince Humperdinck. Westley, her childhood sweetheart, wears a disguise and follows 3 men who have kidnapped Princess Buttercup to get her back. His wits help him team up with the kidnappers and overcome Prince Humperdinck and his ‘army’.Westley is caught but soon escapes with the help of Fezzik the Giant and Inigo Montoya. They all jump out of the window and ride away on horses. Westley and Buttercup marry and live happily ever after. The Princess Bride is often compared to the movies Ella Enchanted, Spy Kids, and Stardust, all of which have different aspects of themes that were similarly incorporated in the movie. It took place in the fictional countries of Florin and Guilder, sometime between the establishment of Europe and after the manufacturing of blue jeans.The story reaches out mostly to the young adult audience, but would easily be satisfactory to people of other audiences as well. The events in the story are highly unlikely, but are well-structured and amusing to the viewers which help it to be easier to understand. The dialogue is meant to sound like the story was based from the medieval times, with a twist of comedy. Finally, the themes portray ed in this movie were that true love conquers all. Westley, even after all of the time spent apart, found his true love and in the end it all worked out with a happily ever after.Good versus evil is also a theme in this movie because Prince Humperdinck tries to marry Princess Buttercup knowing that she is still in love with Westley. Even though it was an arranged marriage, Prince Humperdinck tried to convince her that it would take time for them to fall in love, but they would eventually get used to it. Princess Buttercup has a nightmare which opens her eyes. She dreams about the marriage which is interrupted by who is known as â€Å"The Ancient Boo-er†. She tells Buttercup that she is a disgrace because she has power but isn’t using it to her advantage and is letting down the people of her country.

Liberal Principles and Minority Rights Essay

Liberal Principles and Minority Rights BY shax0521 We live in a world with differences, biases and hindrances we tend to take into account to be able to cope up with the changes happening around us. These differences could be between races,religion, culture, language, etc. But within a country, these differences also exist. Most countries are composed of diversed culture that divides the society to the majority and the minorities that establishes cultural differences related problems. It is often heard that minorities are deprived from certain freedom and the majority avails most of the best previleges that could e given. Minorities are often Judged by different steoreotypes and prejudices that establishes conflict between the groups. The main point of Prof. Hans Ingvar Roth, head of the sweden research team of the University of Lund in his article â€Å"Liberal Principles and Minority rights,† minority groups particularly in a liberal democratic society should be able to deal with the existing problems confronting their existence and culture in relation to the liberal principles through group-targeted measures. These group-targeted measures will be further explained throughout the article critique. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief summary of Roth’s article Liberal Principles and Minority Rights, what are the liberal principles of a liberal democratic society how it affects the condition of the minorities and my point of view as a reader. It will also tackle the different features of a liberal society, the problems encountered by minorities and the possible solution to the problems. In other words, the life of the minorities in a liberal democratic society. According to Roth, inequalities in modern western societies are faced by the inorities particularly ethnic, racial and religious which sometimes seen to result to discrimination. The minorities are confronted by social, political and cultural inequalities which were percieved to be the consequences as a memberofa liberal democratic society. Moreover, the majority enjoys the benefits and priveleges that were given by the society. In relation to this, to know the reason why these inequalities occur, we must know the grass roots of this condition. Roth stated in his article his definition ofa liberal democratic society. According to him, â€Å"a liberal democratic society is charcterized by the certain institutions or norms that are seen among many of its citizens as essential guidelines for the organization of society. † A liberal democratic society has its liberal principles namely, majoritarian democracy, free moblity, market economy, meritocracy and neutrality. The first principle is the majoritarian democracy or the rule of many . This concept of democracy implies disadvantages to the minorities because literally, it shows how minorities are outnumbered by the majority in terms of their cultural survival. As stated in the article, this idea of democracy have serious consequences for defenseless minorities. Furthermore, another liberal principle which is a burden to minorities is free mobility where people get to move freely without any intent hindrances but it has its limit in reality. Roth expounded it as the ideal of open borders for refugees from non- european countries in contrast to the migration policies implemented on various principle is the easy access of majority population into minority territories that could threaten the cultural survivability of the latter which is also dependent upon its eography. Moreover, the market economy as a principle which assumes freedom of choice that is considered to be the prevailing model for arranging economic activities systems in liberal societies. Roth added that according to many of his critics, the market economy could lead the majority to cultural supremacy over the minorities where the former has more access to important resources that could affect the cultural life of a country. It is considered to be the most efficient among other economic systems. Another liberal principle is meritocracy. According to Roth, merit should administer the appropriation of employment and places in higher education. This implies that the majority will dominate the labour-market of the society and eventually earn the highest ranks in offices. This would result to the alienation of the minorities in any encounter of several forms of higher education because the majority gets the best priveleges they could have in the society. In addition, Roth cited another principle which is neutrality or even-handedness. This occurs when the government doesnt interfere with certain policy decisions uided by religious views or substantial philiosophies of life and this kind of action implies contradiction to relgious minorities and securalism in some way influence the society. The abovementioned principles in any circumstances could stand in conflict with one another. As we have tackled the 5 principles of a liberal democratic society, it is also important to know some features of this kind of society which could have significant consequences on the cultural standing of different minorities in the society. The first feature is lingua franca which refers to having a common language in the society for he people have one language they could use to communicate with each other. Roth stated in his article that the language is an important element for the cultural identity of a group. Eventually, the language of the majority will be the lingua franca due to its long history in the country and the minorities must accept it and use to be able to communicate with others. However, this doesn’t mean that the languages from the minorities cannot be recognized as official languages in significant bailiwick of society such as education or law. Another feature of a liberal democratic society is nation building. Roth referred it as the creation of various institutions, traditions and spheres of society in which it will be affected by the long history of the majority group. In this case, it stresses that even without ethnic or cultural nationalism; the majority culture is advantageous because of its historical standing in the society. According to Roth, cultural preservation of minority groups depend on the members itself. They should have the best interest in maintaining and preserving their culture. A part from Roth’s article tackled about the shared values in the ulticultural debate for minority rights where possessing a secure cultural belonging could be valuable in a way that it is an important condition to an individual well being or it could be a crucial part of a one’s personal identity or as a framework adapting the majority’s culture and integration or affiliate with the majority on the other side. However, they have one common view that minority groups should not face anu unfair or excessive burdens in maintaining their cultures. Furthermore, if a minority group had encountered am intense discrimination from the other groups in he society, they should pay for the serious cultural disadvantage that the minority group faces. In other words, cultural diversity should be reagarded as a valuable objective for the whole society and a shared public responsibility to secure the preservation of the minority culture. However, if a certain minority in question have encountered no grim history of discrimination, and its cultural changes was due to voluntary change of its own members, it conditions become more unclear. The members itself should pay the price of maintaining or preserving their culture given hat they have been attracted to the majority culture. In addition, the majority is not coerced to share a costs of preserving that particular minority. As discussed earlier, there are ethnic and religious minorities in a society and their situation could be less favourable in certain conditions. Roth emphasized in his article that cultural influence by the majority usually occurs to the minorities that live in so-called open agricultural territories, small in size and the history of discrimination. Furthermore, it was stressed that shared language, religion and a istory of discrimination or an idea of geographical location make the minorit group maintain their culture. There are minority groups that prefer to attain independence and others to lower their claims and instead strive for various forms of cultural autonomy. In the entire article, the two main problems of minorities in relation to the liberal principles are cultural preservation and problems of integration. According to him, â€Å"problems of preservation arise when liberal principles such as free mobility and the endorsement of a market economy may threaten a traditional form of community life. Due to the dominance of the majority in terms of size, resources and historical standing, these principles work to their cultural advantage. Furthermore, the practice of having a lingua franca gives more disadvantage to the minorities in terms of preservation of their own language. The abovementioned problems has its group-targeted measures so that the minority culture will survive. These are metaphors â€Å"the fence,† â€Å"the ladder,† â€Å"the springboard† and â€Å"the plane. † With these meaures, there could be a continous existence of minority groups in liberal democratic societies. Through â€Å"the fence† it ould take form of exceptions from laws that burden traditional cultural practices or even property rights that would prevent majority population from buying lands from the minority territories. In addition, Roth used the cultural autonomy with regards to certain forms of legislation such as family as an example of a fence which protects the minority from being influenced by the family customs of the majority. Another measure is â€Å"the ladder† wherein group representation should be practiced by religious and ethnic groups in order to have a level of representation in the society. This metaphor can neutralize and attenuate unfair thresholds or hindrances such as blind spots, various forms of animosity, stereotypes and nepotism. To be able to gain entrance in the main sphere of society in spite of the diminish this hindrances in the remote future. The first measure or method is called â€Å"the springboard† that would present opportunities to minorities such as labour market and higher education in instances that they face discrimination and prJudices in the society. According to Roth, the springboard is not enough for minorities to be able to enter to such society that is hy â€Å"the plane† was created. It is considered to be the supplementary method of the springboard. It aims to alter engrained and stubborn attitudes and habits among the majority population through information campaigns and cross-cultural meeting places. From what I understand in the Roth’s article, inequalities of minorities in the society are caused by the liberal principles. I agree on it due to the different situations presented in the article. These principles namely majoritarian democracy, free mobility, meritocracy, market economy and neutrality are advantageous to the ajority population and affect the minority’s cultural preservation. The article’s premises are still valid according to the current situations in most western countries. His interpretation of the evidences presented were likely to lead us to the same conclusion that the liberal principles should be improved rather than to replace them with something different in order to solve such inequalities in such society. His arguments regarding the disadvantages of the minorities in the society such as the lingua franca where the majority’s language will be the official language of the ociety and meritocracy where the majority gets the highest ranks in the offices had the biggest impact to me which I agree on. If we compare it to the philippines, a non- liberal democratic country but compose of a majority and minorities, due to the geographical boundary and size of population of christians with tagalog as their language is considered to be the official language of the country, officially called as â€Å"Filipino’ and in terms of meritocracy, the muslims as a minority experience biases regarding employment in government and other fields of offices because of different stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination.