Social Cohesion And Quality Life

Social Cohesion And Quality Life In the last few decades, quality of life has replaced the idea of wealth as the dominant goal of societal development. In opposition to the individual-centered perspective of societal development, several other welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on the aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the quality and structure of the social relations within a society. Among those welfare concepts referring to characteristics of societies are, for example, „sustainabilityâ€Å", „social cohesionâ€Å", „social inclusionâ€Å" etc. Idea of the social cohesion of a society received great political attention at the national and supranational level. In regard to these developments, this paper attempts: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. Quality of life is a concept related to the individual welfare. Although social cohesion represents a societal quality, it affects the individual quality of life because the elements of social cohesion are perceived and experienced by the members of the society. Thus, the social cohesion of a society can be conceived as an aspect relevant to the individual life situation, and in this sence, it represents a part of the individual quality of life. Under this perspective a broad conceptualization of quality of life seems appropriate. Quality of life can be considered as the complex policy goal which includes social cohesion as one component. The very broad and multidimensional notion of quality of life enlarged the perspective of societal development by considering not only economic aspects but also social and ecological concerns. Several welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the qual ity and structure of the social relations within a society. One of these welfare concept is social cohesion. The goal of this paper is: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. 1. The concept of social cohesion The idea of social cohesion is difficult to express in a single definition. Émile Durkheim first coined the concept of social cohesion at the end of the nineteenth century. He considered social cohesion as an ordering feature of a society and defined it as the interdependence between the members of the society, shared loyalties and solidarity [14]. Aspects often mentioned in describing social cohesion are the strenght of social relations, shared values and communities of interpretation, feelings of a common identity and a sense of belonging to the same community, trust among societal members as well as the extent of inequality and disparities [26; 14). The simpler the division of labor in a society is, the stronger the bond between individuals and the social group will be. This bond is a result of mechanical solidarity, which arises from segmented similarities based on territory, traditions and group customs. The social division of labour that modernity brings with it erodes and weakens such bonds, as does the increased autonomy of individuals in modern society. In such a context, cohesion is part of the social solidarity that is required in order for the members of a society to remain bound to it with a force comparable to that of pre-modern, mechanical solidarity. This requires stronger, more numerous ties, and must even include bonds based on common ideas and feelings, leading to what Durkheim calls â€Å"organic solidarity†. As of today there is no single definition of social cohesion and it is still debated whether social cohesion is a cause or a consequence of other aspects of social, economic and political life. There is no clear definition of the concept probably because the very tradition of social citizenship that characterizes European societies assumes that social rights entail an intrinsic relationship between social inclusion and the provision of mechanisms to integrate individuals and give them a sense of full membership in society. According to this view, social cohesion implies a causal link between the mechanisms that provide integration and well-being, on the one hand, and a full individual sense of belonging to society, on the other. Inclusion and belonging, or equality and belonging, are the cornerstones of the idea of social cohesion in societies organized around the principles of the welfare state. The concept of social cohesion is often confused with other concepts, like social capital, social integration, or social inclusion. Social capital is closely related to social cohesion, and the two are very important concepts in policy and policy research circles. Social capital understood as a symbolic societal asset consisting of the ability to manage rules, networks and bonds of social trust which strengthen collective action, pave the way for reciprocity and progressively spread throughout society resembles cohesion, and can largely be described as a stock upon which social agents can draw to make society more cohesive. However, social capital is both a consequence and a producer of social cohesion. Whereas social cohesion emphasizes processes and outcomes, social capital emphasizes the notion of investments and assets that bring benefits, benefits that are not fully appropriated by the individuals making the investments. Social cohesion is often confused with social inclusion. Inclusion mechanisms include employment, educational systems, rights and policies designed to encourage equity, well-being and social protection. In that context, social cohesion may be understood in terms of both the effectiveness of instituted social inclusion mechanisms and the behaviours and value judgments of the members of society. Behaviours and value judgments include issues as diverse as trust in institutions, social capital, belonging and solidarity, acceptance of social rules and the willingness to participate in deliberative processes and collective endeavours. Another proximate notion is that of social integration, defined as the dynamic, multifactoral process whereby individuals share in a minimum standard of well-being consistent with the level of development achieved by a country. This restrictive definition views integration as the opposite of exclusion. In a broader sense, integration into society has also been defined as a common system of efforts and rewards, which levels the playing field in terms of opportunities and delivers rewards based on merit. The idea of social inclusion may be viewed as an expanded form of integration. Rather than emphasize a structure to which individuals must adapt in order to fit into the systemic equation, it also focuses on the need to adapt the system in such a way as to accommodate a diversity of actors and individuals. Inclusion requires not only an improvement in conditions of access to integration mechanisms, but also an effort to increase the self-determination of the actors involved. The idea of a social ethic also includes an essential aspect of social cohesion, emphasizing common values, agreement on a minimum set of rules and social norms, solidarity as an ethical and practical principle, and the assumption of reciprocity. These concepts are part of the â€Å"semantic universe† of social cohesion. Viewed in this light, the specific difference that sets social cohesion apart is the dialectical relationship between integration and inclusion, on the one hand, and social capital and social ethics, on the other. Consequently, there is a distinction between social inclusion and social cohesion, inasmuch as the latter includes the attitudes and behaviours of actors, without being limited to those factors. Social cohesion may thus be defined as the dialectic between instituted social inclusion and exclusion mechanisms and the responses, perceptions and attitudes of citizens towards the way these mechanisms operate. A definition of social cohesion by relating it to the concepts of social exclusion/exclusion and social capital has also been present. For example Dahrendorf et al. described a social cohesive society as a society preventing social exclusion: „Social cohesion comes in to describe a society which offers opportunities to all its members of a framework of accepted values and institutions. Such a society is, therefore, one of inclusion. People belong; they are not allowed to be excludedâ€Å" [4, str.vii]. Other scientist have emphasised that the social capital of a society is an essential foundation of its social cohesion [18; 17]. On the basis of review of the various approaches we could conclude that the concept of social cohesion incorporates mainly two societal goal dimensions which can be analytically distinguished: 1) The first dimension concerns the reduction of disparities, inequalities, and social exclusion. 2) The second dimension concerns the strengthening of social relations, interactions and ties. This dimension embraces all aspects which are generally also considered as the social capital of a society [6]. These two dimensions must be viewed as independent from each other to a certain degree. In principle, strong ties within a community can be accompanied by the tendency to discriminate and exclude those people who do not belong to that community [19]. This problem highlights the importance of considering both dimensions disparities/inequalities/social exclusion and social relations/ties/social capital in order to get a comprehensive picture of the social cohesion of a society. 3. Social exclusion Social exclusion represents concept with increasing popularity among scholars during last decade. The popularity of the concept was especially promoted through the growing interest in matters of social exclusion at the level of the European Union. The European Commission launched a series of research programmes in the framework of the European Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion and of the European Poverty Programmes. Research on social exclusion replaced, to some extent, older terms of poor living conditions, such as poverty or deprivation. Originally, the term was used in the context of debates on a new poverty and defined as a rupture of the relationship between individual and the society due to the failure of societal institutions to integrate individuals. Today, it is suggested that social exclusion should be conceptualised as the insufficiency of one or more of the following four systems [1, str. 258-259]: This approach focuses on relational issues, i.e. on the disruption of social ties between individual and the society. Unlike social cohesion, poverty is concerned with distributional issues, i.e. on the lack of resources at the disposal of individuals or househods [23; 12]. Thus poverty may be regarded as characteristic of indiviudals and households, whereas social exclusion may be conceived as a feature of societies and of the individuals relations to society. In contrast to this position are considerations that social exclusion can be regarded both as a property of societies and as an attribute of individuals. As an individual attribute it is defined as a low level of welfare (economic disadvantage) and the inability to participate in social life (sociopolitical disadvantage). This perspective equals social exclusion to a multidimensional notion of poverty which describes a state or an outcome of a process. As a societal characteristc the term social exclusion refers to the impairment of social cohesion caused by the way in which institutions regulate and thereby constrain access to goods, services, acitivities and resources which are generally associated with citizenship rights. This view focuses attention to the processes of social exclusion and its causes which are attributed to the failure of institutions [5]. The conclusion arising out of these considerations is the requirement to differentiate between the causes of disadvantageous living circumstances and the processes leading to them on the one side and the outcomes of those processes themselves, that is peoples living situation. The causes may be attributed to societal institutions and can then be described by the concept of social exclusion as a property of societies. The impact of social exclusion on people is observable in the form of poor living conditions. In this sense, social exclusion represents a characteristic of individual and corresponds to the concept of poverty in a multidimensional notion. 4. Social capital The counceptualization of social cohesion as it is proposed here considers social capital as representing a second main dimension which may be used to describe the social cohesion of a society. Social capital represents one of the most powerful and popular metaphors in current social science research. Broadly understood as referring to the community relations that affect personal interactions, social capital has been used to explain an immense range of phenomena, ranging from voting patterns to health to the economic success of countries [7]. Literally hundreds of papers have appeared throughout the social science literature arguing that social capital matters in understanding individual and group differences and further that successful public policy design needs to account for the effects of policy on social capital formation. In this paper we will give the primary focus to the role of social capital in stenghtening the social cohesion and further link with the quality of life. We often observe countries with similar endowments of natural, hysical, and human capital achieving very different levels of economic success. This paradox has led scholars to search for deeper and more meaningful explanations about what holds people and societies together in order to foster economic development. Over time, scholars have constructed various frameworks for understanding the social aspects of this phenomenon and what we currently refer to as â€Å"social capital†. Fueled by continuous empirical investigations, these frameworks have evolved quite rapidly in recent decades. Since Loury [16] introduced it into modern social science research and Colemans [3] seminal study placed it at the forefront of research in sociology, the term social capital has spread throughout the social sciences and has spawned a huge literature that runs across disciplines. James Coleman popularized the term as he sought to conceptualize the aspects of social structure that facilitate eco nomic transactions. His work is widely recognized as one of the most significant, as is Robert Putnams study of voluntary associations in Italy. Putnam [21] concluded that the high density of voluntary associations in the north was responsible for the regions economic success. Many others have also made significant strides in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the subject. However, despite the immense amount of research on it, however, the definition of social capital has remained elusive. There are various theoretical approaches and perspectives of social captial which use more or less narrow concept. But they all have in common that they regard social capital as a property of a social entity and not of an individual [10]. It is a relational concept, it presupposes a social relation and exists only as far as it is shared by other individuals. Therefore, it cannot be the private property of a single person, but heas a character of a public good [11; 19]. The social capital of a society includes the institutions, the relationships, the attitudes and values that govern interactions among people and contribute to economic and social development. Social capital, however, is not simply the sum of the institutions which underpin society, it is also the glue that holds them together. It includes the shared values and rules for social conduct expressed in personal relationships, trust and a common sense of civic responsibility, that makes society more than a collection of indi viduals. Without a degree of common identification with forms of governance, cultural norms and social rules, it is difficult to imagine a functioning society [25, str.1]. Social capital is not only considered to be an essential basis for the social cohesion of a society, but at the same time as a main component of the wealth of a nation and as an important determinant of economic growth, besides physical, human and environmental capital [13]. The view is empirically supported by results showing a relation between the social capital of a society and its economic well-being [21; 15; 24]. Furthermore, there are also investigations pointing to the improvement of other dimensions of welfare such as education, health, rates of crime, and the environment [3; 20]. 5. The interdependence of social cohesion and the quality of life The concepts of social cohesion and quality of life are interrelated [8; 9]. Althought social cohesion represents an attribute of a society, it ultimately rests on the behaviour, attitudes and evaluations of its members, too. Social cohesion is based on social capital which is also created by social relations and ties established, maintained and experienced by individuals. Thus, looking at the social cohesion of a society involves aspects which are part of the individual life situation and in this sense components of the individual quality of life. Secondly, elements of the social cohesion of a society may have direct impact on individual quality of life. Empirical examples are the above cited results on the influence of social capital on economic and other dimensions of welfare. At a conceptual level, the perspective of social exclusion as a process rooting in the malfunction of social institutitons and resulting in a deprived living situation of the individual is another example. Social cohesion can be conceived as a societal quality which is experienced by individuals in their daily lives, for example in the form of the perceived inequality or the social climate at the working place, at school or in the neighbourhood, and thus also refers to the individual quality of life. This perspective conciders elements of the social cohesion of a society to form an integral part of the quality of life of the individuals belonging to that society. Such a position, which is supported here, advocates a broad conceptualisation of quality of life encompassing not only individual characteristics of the life situation but also societal qualities. In this sense, quality of life represents the common policy goal with social cohesion as an important component to be addressed. 6. The measurement of social cohesion On the basis of the conclusion about two dimensions of social cohesion, measurement of social cohesion should include measures concerning: Concerning the first dimension measurement dimensions for the various aspects can be derived for nearly all domains. Regional disparities are taken into account for example with respect to access to transport, leisure and cultural facilitites, educational and health care institutions, employment opportunities or the state of the environment. Issues of equal opportunities/inequalities could be considered therough political participation and employment opportunities, generation of inequalities in social relations or unemployment risks; inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people in access to public transport or educational institutions; etc. The aspect of social exclusion can be operationalised in many domains, too. Manifestatios of social exclusion are ususally measured such as homelessness, social isolation, long-term unemployment, poverty or a lack of social protection. Concerning second goal dimension of social cohesion and that is strenghtening the social capital of a society, most of the aspects of this dimension refer to the life domain of „social and political participation and integrationâ€Å". This domain covers all general issues of social relations and engagement outside the own household community such as the availability of relatives and friends, frequency of contacts and support within those personal networks, membership in organisations, engagement in the public realm such as volunteering and political activities. The quality of societal institutions is a component of social capital which applies to several life domains since, for example, institutions of education, health care, social security or the legal system. 7. Possible contemporary threats to social cohesion There are numerous possible demographic, socio-economic and political trends and processes which have been associated with a general deterioration of social cohesion throughout the world. Over the past three decades, globalization in the form of processes of structural transformation has impacted severely, in many ways, on people throughout the world. The intensified linkage of local social conditions with activities and decisions within world financial, commodity and labor markets is increasingly apparent and in many places its consequences are devastating. Perhaps the most fundamental feature of structural transformation in industrial countries has been reducing the share of industry in the formation of GDP and consequently the massive decline in manufacturing employment. We have been witnesses to the massive relocation of capital, jobs and manufacturing to areas of the globe where labor is cheaper. Instead of a relatively stable work conditions, characterized by institutionalized wage agreements and strong trade unions, internal labor markets within large firms, and secure, tenured and full-time employment; new socio-economic patterns emerge: More and more, opportunities for work and flows of income became variable and unpredictable and stable conditions characterizing employment are replaced by growing insecurity. These kinds of changes add to a growing polarization not only between employed and unemployed, but between secure, highly skilled, well paid workers and the larger proportion of insecure, unskilled, low paid workers. In addition to that, the gender dimension is critical to this shift, since women are greatly over represented in the new flexible yet precarious sectors of casual, part-time and short-contract employment [2, str. 142]. The rise of neo-liberal political philosophy has driven many of the processes of political restructuring over the past two decades. A key aspect of the neo-liberal vision of society is bringing the market principle, along with notions of self-responsibility and individualism, to almost every sphere of politics, economics and society. Aspects of political change which have subsequently emerged, and impacted dramatically on social cohesion, include: Such policies and processes which have brought about â€Å"the new inequality† can be seen as fuelling a process of â€Å"inequalisation†. The consequences for social cohesion, however defined, are devastating. â€Å"Such a divergence of the life chances of large social groups†, Dahrendorf observes, â€Å"is incompatible with civil society† [4, str. 38]. The most socially stigmatised, spatially segregated and economically disadvantaged also become the most politically excluded. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, have also threatened a key socio-psychological source of social cohesion, the idea of â€Å"the nation†. The changes associated with globalization (here considered as processes involving the intensified linkage and increased scope, scale and speed of world-wide economic activity) are now so pervasive that national governments arguably no longer hold the keys to their own national larders. The flow and control of a variety of forms of investment, currency trading, commodity markets, and labor pools are increasingly determined by agents and forces above and beyond the reins of nation-state policy. For the nation-state, prerogatives and margins for maneuvers in economic policy are greatly reduced. Conclusions Social cohesion represents a concept which focuses on societal qualities such as the extent of inequality or the strength of social relations and ties within a society. In the terms described above, it is both a means and an end. As an end, it is an object of public policy, to the extent that policies attempt to ensure that all members of society feel themselves to be an active part of it, as both contributors to and beneficiaries of progress. In an age of profound, rapid changes resulting from globalization and the new paradigm of the information society, recreating and ensuring a sense of belonging and inclusion is an end in itself. Social cohesion is also a means, however, in more ways than one. Societies that boast higher levels of social cohesion provide a better institutional framework for economic growth and attract investment by offering an environment of trust and clearly defined rules. Moreover, long-term policies that seek to level the playing field require a social contra ct to lend them force and staying power, and such a contract must have the support of a wide range of actors willing to negotiate and reach broad agreements. In order to do so, they must feel themselves to be a part of the whole, and they must be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the community. The formation of the social covenants needed to support pro-equity and pro-inclusion policies is facilitated by a greater willingness to support democracy, become involved in issues of public interest, participate in deliberative processes and trust institutions, as well as a stronger sense of belonging to a community and solidarity with excluded and vulnerable groups. In this paper we have established two goal dimensios inherent in the concept of social cohesion: 1) the reduction of disprarities, inequalities and social exclusion and 2) the strenthtening of social relations, interacions and ties. Concerning the first dimension of social cohesion, examples of measurement dimensions within various life domains are regional disparities of the state of environment, equal opportunities of women and men in employment, inequalitites between social strate in the state of health, social exclusion from material goods measured by income poverty. As far as second dimension is concerned, it comprises all aspects which together constitute the social capital of a society. This includes the social relations available at the informal level of private networks and the more formal level of organisations, the activities and engagement within private networks as well as within public realms, the quality of social relations and the quality of societal instiutitons. The quality of societal institutions represents a component of social capital which applies to several life domains. Institutions of education, health care, working life, social security, social services, the political system and legal system. The perceived quality of these institutitons are measured by the level of trust, satisfaction with or approval of institutions. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, threaten to deteriorate a key sources of social cohesion in contemporary societies. It is therefore not surprising that idea of social cohesion receives great attention by social scientists as well as by politicians and gradually establish itself as one of the central societal goals at the national and the supranational level.

Microanatomy Is Important In The Medical Field Education Essay

Histology or the survey of microanatomy is of great importance in the medical field. Accuracy of disease diagnosings or tracking the effectivity of a intervention regimen is dependent on the reading of a slide specimen under the lens of a microscope. It is a needed class for freshman medical and dental pupils in most wellness scientific discipline centres ( Ogilvie, 1995 ) . The traditional attack used in learning this subject is to present photomicrographic images of constructions to pupils in talk utilizing 35 mm slides of Fieldss seen through the microscope. It is good known that a topic that demands excess involvement and clip for both instruction and acquisition of histology ( Goubran and Vinjamury, 2007 ) . The pupils so spend many hours sing and analyzing specimens of tissues utilizing a light microscope in a research lab scene. In a typical research lab scene pupils are expected to analyze micrographs at low and higher power magnifications in order to place exact Fieldss in the tissue subdivision. However due to the ocular complexness of microscopic anatomy, this can be disputing for some pupils in footings of hold oning the context and relevancy of the topic. Students in traditional classs of histology spend an inordinate sum of clip larning the constituent constructions by trying to happen and place them in tissue subdivisions utilizing a microscope, where the construction being sought is surrounded by a battalion of other constructions with which they are besides non familiar. Furthermore, trouble in utilizing the equipment in the first case, even before the slide is viewed and when the right aperture and focal point is achieved, a complex histological image appears before their eyes ( Brisbourne et. Al, 2002 ) . The usage of the microscope has been the primary tool of histology instruction. The past decennary has brought the outgrowth of digital slide scanners. This has made possible promotions in both the professional and educational field ( May, 2010 ( a better lens on disease article ) . made available the digital microscope where slides With the recent handiness of videodisk stored image libraries of histological samples, it is now possible to analyze histological rules without the usage of the microscope as the primary learning tool. A videodisk entitled â€Å" Histology: A Photographic Atlas † by S. Downing ( published by Image Premastering Services Limited, Minneapolis, MN, 1991 ) has been incorporated into our histology class. Fifteen videodisc participant Stationss are provided for 150 pupils. Images are retrieved by pupils utilizing a saloon codification scanner attached to a videodisk participant ( Pioneer CLD-2400 ) . Using this sort of image library, pupils can now larn basic histological construction, such as cell and tissue types, without the usage of a microscope or as a tool for easing microscopy. The usage of a videodisc library of randomly accessible images simplifies larning the basic constituents which all variety meats are composed of by showing the scholar with distinct illustrations to avoid confusion with other constructions. However, videodisk participants and Television proctors are still non suitably priced for every pupil to have. This presents a job in that the same images studied in category are non available to analyze and reexamine outside of category. There is a demand for resources for extra survey outside of the institutional scene, for pupils to hold and interact with to reenforce the acquisition experience in the instruction research lab. A difficult transcript manual was created and is being used in our class ; it incorporates exposures captured from the videodisk. The images displayed in the manual are chosen to give the pupil one illustration of each histological constituent. Extra labeling is added to the images, and each image is accompanied by a saloon codification that may be used at a videodisk participant with a saloon codification reader to recover the same colour image from the phonograph record displayed in larger format on a Television proctor. Each subject in the manual is accompanied by larning aims and a statement of clinical relevancy. Following the presentation of the images in each subdivision of the manual, the pupils are encouraged to pattern by sing multiple illustrations of each structural constituent presented in the lesson. They can make this by utilizing the bar-coded catalog supplied with each phonograph record. The presentation of each subject concludes with a quiz composed of inquiries about images that the pupil can recover from the videodisk utilizing barcodes in the text of the manual. Some of the images on the quiz are printed in illumination in the manual to supply the pupil with an chance for personal reappraisal at place when hardware to obtain and expose images from a picture phonograph record is non available. This manual provides an reply to the quandary faced by the scholar when entree to hardware is non available ; support is hence facilitated outside the teaching research lab. This allows larning to go on outside of the schoolroom, utilizing the same stuffs. ( abstract truncated ) Building mental theoretical accounts With equal mental modeling, the ‘scaffolding ‘ that is required with which to construct new cognition. associating inactive two dimensional constructions to dynamic three dimensional maps. Histology instruction and acquisition is an active country of research, particularly with recent engineering promotions such as the outgrowth of slide scanners. Traditional slide readying Traditional pathology vs. digital pathology Since the attitude of pupils for holding merely microscopic slides for larning histology is uneffective and literature provinces this, this is obvious research that I would non hold to carry on myself. If you can mention the literature so it is all right to set up this in your background/introduction, yes.A specify the method of learning here at this university, and province that Im proving a multimedia synergistic tutorial to find the participants response and attitudes? ( hope this makes sense! ) Its that since Im non making aA comparing survey, I was acquiring somewhat confused as to how I can word my hypothesis. Yes.A I would mention some literature to endorse up the hypothesis that the add-on of synergistic ocular AIDSs better acquisition and so depict what you have made taking this into history. In response to this demand, legion surveies compare pupil ‘s rating of the utility of instruction and acquisition with and without the support of a computerised histology instruction assistance ( Farah and Maybury, 2009, Rosenberg et al 2006, Weaker and Herbert 2009 ) . Indications are that although the passage from traditional microscopic slides may non needfully better on pupils ‘ trial tonss, the enthusiasm in their attack to histology has been greatly improved. These findings suggest that possibly transference from two dimensional picture-like microscopic images and application of some signifier of interactivity holds ocular entreaty to the user. This evidently has an impact on their return on the topic, which indicates that traditional methods of being placed with a set of slides and a light microscope is non prosecuting adequate to be appealing to pupils. Further to this, different applications have been made to histology to invigorate up the two-dimensionality of the stained microscopic slide. The most basic attack but non rather effectual have been the efforts of many universities to do available their histological resources to pupils anytime and anyplace ( weaker and Herbert, 2009, Rosenberg et. Al 2006, Salajan and Mount, 2008 ) . The Dentistry section of University of Dundee has their ain aggregation made available via the Virtual Learning Environment ( VLE ) for pupils to entree and utilise as they like. As the ruin of many virtually available histology, the degree of interactivity is merely limited to the show of labelling of the cardinal constructions in a slide image. This lone aids the pupils to some point ; they can accomplish the ‘laboratory experience ‘ but at a location of their pick. More conventional methods of incorporating histology to a more learner-friendly format include the use of the current and most recent engineering that are soon available in this fast traveling technological industry. Three-dimensional modeling, practical world and sharp visual image of biological constructions in peculiar, is one major way where instruction has been steadily heading ( Trelease, 2002 ) . Brisbourne et Al. ( 2002 ) innovatively collaborated lifes into the instructions of histology, utilizing a web-based multimedia acquisition assistance called HistoQuest. Their lifes aim to incorporate the existent maps of the cells to a histological slide and assistance pupils in understanding the major constructs and physiological maps, non merely to recognize and label a construction. Mental modeling is the theory and aim behind their work. Mental modeling is described as the procedure of incorporating a cognition platform on which the pupils can so construct up on. This is the underlying thought of this research proposal ; can seting the scenario of which the tissues were cultured from, i.e. for illustration a glomeruli of a uriniferous tubule from the kidney, enable the pupil to later execute better academically? The Inner life of the cell life by Bio Visions from Harvard University is a alone illustration of life created with a ‘digital visual aspect ‘ of the cells where the microscopic universe is rendered into three dimensions. Sandberg ( 2002 ) created a series of computing machine aided synergistic histology over a figure of old ages and through the experience commented on the fact that long distance acquisition, immediate feedback and holding a merriment interface was greatly appreciated by pupils. Having been able to run into pupils and lectors involved in learning and larning histology at this university, their sentiment on the proposal at manus was priceless. There decidedly seems to be a niche for an improved histological instruction assistance, surely at this university. as image acknowledgment expertness is an art that can merely be developed through clip, preparation and experience. Recent promotions in engineering has facilitated instruction and acquisition of histology. There has been legion histology Atlass and etc, by far the effectivity of a tutorial that incorporates 3D histology slides and Reconstruction of 2D slides into 3D tissue theoretical accounts alongside 3D variety meats has non been addressed. Research is missing in this peculiar country. Students require aid in placing Merely by looking at a slide you can merely recognize the forms, which is 2D but retracing 2d images from slides into rotatable 3d images will assist construct the pupils to understand the microscopic specimen. The transference of the survey stuff will be facilitated by the 3D theoretical accounts as visualizing aid the pupils understand the topic easier Students frequently express troubles larning with the traditional microscope and slide set. histology is a capable country that has been germinating. Histology instruction is an active country of research that has been spread outing due promotions of engineerings. Health scientific discipline topics that require ocular acquisition can be supplemented to with ocular idea procedure required. This research survey is concerned with planing a multimedia interactive ( MMI ) Purposes and aims: This survey will be designed to analyze whether the degree of interactivity and presence of visually appealing 3D cellular modeling can better apprehension and memory keeping of histology. The e-learning tutorial will be based around an introductory histology practical on colon malignant neoplastic disease that first twelvemonth medical pupils undertake. Before the practical category, they will hold minimum or no experience of histology and after the few hours spent in practical, do non revisit histology once more until later old ages in the class. the tutorial that contains 3D cellular theoretical accounts alongside the histology slides and will be necessitate them to be more synergistic e.g. prompted to snap more links on the page to voyage through the tutorial, options provided to travel the 3D cellular theoretical accounts around 360 grades etc. Both groups will be asked to finish a brief pre-tutorial questionnaire ( see terminal of papers for an illustration ) to find whether they have any old experience with utilizing microscopes and histology. At the terminal of the e-tutorial, the survey groups will be quizzed on what they experienced on the tutorial to prove the effectivity of the tutorial in helping memory keeping ( see terminal of this papers for sample questionnaire ) .

Cheap Amusement Book Review

Dereck Rickman Scott Keys History 9September2012 In the book, Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York, Piess takes the reader on the journey of trials and tribulations in working-class women’s lives in the turn of the century. Going in depth of the unfair familial roles and societal female disparities, all the way to what women liked to wear and do for leisure, Piess allows the reader to step into a time machine and gives them a first-class look into what a woman’s daily life was like in late 1800’s and early 1900’s.By using ‘expert’ sources and ‘investigators’, Piess succeeds in her goal by honing in on a specific time and topic which allowed the reader to feel as if they were reading an in-depth history textbook on the matter, but failed at providing deeper substance and backbone through concrete details. Starting off by explaining the typical family roles in the turn of the century, Piess exp resses how while the men may spend his evenings at a local saloon, at a baseball game or reading his daily paper, the women would often be expected to work her â€Å"double day†.Piess explains this concept of the double day to be that the woman is expected to go about her daily work day of typically â€Å"domestic servants, needlewomen, laundresses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Peiss 1986), and come home to start her other job, being the housewife. The housewife duties usually entailed cooking, cleaning, washing, scrubbing, and most importantly†¦ making her husband and kids happy. All the while, when the woman got her hard earned paycheck, it was expected to go towards family needs.Even as young women in the family home, young working girls were expected to hand over their paychecks in their entirety while their male counterparts were only asked for a small portion of their earnings. Even though women were getting paid at lower wages and it being justified because women were seen as à ¢â‚¬Å"temporary wage-earners who worked only until marriage† (Peiss 1986), Piess automatically shows the struggles and disparities women faced in the work field and even at the home front.Even if the young girl or woman say the disparities for what they were, she were to keep her opinions of the unjust actions to herself or she would find herself alienated and estranged from her own family. Even though the disparities and unequal behavior was seen and picked up throughout the book, Piess moves on to lighter topics such as leisure and fashion. â€Å"Not content with the quiet recreation in the home, they [women] sought adventure in dance halls, cheap theaters, amusement parks, excursion boats, and picnic grounds† (Peiss 1986).Women would often time seek refuge through the cheap amusements they would find in their spare time. If not the small concept of gossiping on the walk home from work, going to parks, or catching a small gossip break at work, women would often freque nt the local dance halls where most of the time their admission was waived or lowered. These dance halls were a way for women to dress in their flashiest attire, talk in their unladylike manner, be pursued by the opposite sex, consume alcoholic beverages, and let loose on the dance floor. When it came to fashion and and the pursuance of men in the dance halls, the two went hand and hand.Piess found that a pair of sisters frequently opted out of such social gatherings simply because they could not afford the fashion to attract the likes of the opposite sex; â€Å"’We have not the money for pretty clothes to attract the boys who would really care for us and of course we have no money to pay for our own amusement, and as a result we stay at home’† (Peiss 1986). Even if it was a new hat to wear to work, women would find the means to get their feminine itch for retail†¦ even if it meant going without a meal or walking the great lengths to work.Even when women we re at the leisure, they were still being treated as unequal partners to the superior man. When out at a dance hall, men would choose who they wish to dance with and it was customary for women, like it or not, dance with the man who chose them for at least the remainder of one song. Peiss explains a process that was customary at dance halls and is even seen at modern day clubs, â€Å"At the beginning of a dance, women would dance together, with the men watching them from the sidelines; then ‘the boys step out, two at a time, separate the girls, and dance off in couples’† (Peiss 1986).The aforementioned process was known as â€Å"breaking† in which the women involved had no say in who she wished to dance with. If a man were to â€Å"treat† a woman, it was only polite that the woman dish out something in return. Be it flirtatious notions or sexual gestures, women were expected and most of the time willful partner in the prostitution-like proposition of the male and female interaction. â€Å"’Many women do their washing in this yard,’ noted a middle-class tenement inspector† (Peiss 1986). Piess uses inspectors and random sources throughout her book as guides to prove or solidify her point.What I was very curious about was who these people were in which she was quoting. I do appreciate the fact that she uses outside sources, but who are these outside sources and how reliable can they be? When it comes to her more specific sites, such as, â€Å"’Some never boarded a street car for an evening’s ride without planning days ahead how they could spare the nickel from their lunch or clothes money’ noted reformer Esther Packard, describing women who lived on six dollars a week† (Peiss 1986), Peiss never goes into depth who the source is or a deeper back-story to the individual that the reader would really be inclined to know.When Piess was able to give names to the quotes she used, it showed credibility and left the reader wanting more of an understanding of the person’s story. Though Peiss did a phenomenal job at proving her thesis in the sense of giving a book on a specific time and topic, she failed to give the reader some real life backbone through a more personal aspect. The reader is left feeling the need of wanting more from the sources rather than from Peiss as a historian.Just as a simple observation was made throughout the length of the book, it seems that Peiss may have been suggesting a certain parallel that is seen in the 1890’s-1920’s in comparison to today’s world. When referring to the saloons and how women who came unescorted by a male counterpart was seen as â€Å"fair game†. In today’s world, if a woman attends a bar without a man, she is also seen as such game. Though the dangers as being seen as a prostitute are not paralleled between the two different eras, the concept of men pursuing an unescorted female in such a setting remains consistent.In another similar tone, the notion Peiss points out of dance halls either lowering their fares for women or waving the fare altogether is consistent with the parallel thought of clubs often times lowering or waving cover charges for women for the simple fact of luring women into their establishments. Peiss explains that owners of dance halls would alter their fees for women because women were usually unable to afford the fee and the owners really wanted more women, like today, to be at their establishment so the men would also come and lavish the women with drinks.Other similarities are seen throughout Peiss’ work such as women going on outings in pairs or groups of women, and also how when on the outings their â€Å"popularity† with the men is dependent on their willingness and capability to drink alcohol. An Appalachian State University student, John C. McKnight at www. scribd. com boldly and confidently states, â€Å"Her study should be considered a valuable source by all historians and should become a reoccurring theme of the Gilded and Progressive Era as far as the history of American woman is concerned† (McKnight 2011).Though I could understand where Mr. McKnight is coming from as far as the history aspect is concerned, to go as far as to openly say that this piece of work should be considered a valuable source and should become a reoccurring them is a tad outlandish. As far as a concentrated topic of a forty year time span is concerned, Peiss did a phenomenal job at capturing the essence of a fairly large group of women. But the fact of the matter is that Peiss only concerned herself with a forty year window of a specific gender, of a specific class.Moreover, it took her nearly two hundred pages to repeat her central idea several times over. Peiss, though could manage to make her book a less repetitive insight into working women’s leisure, did a great job at showing the reader what life l ooked like at the turn of the century for working class women. Peiss created a very narrow window for the reader to look into and gave them a concentrated view of what a certain time frame looked like for a specific group of people in a certain social class.The book was very well organized and was interesting in its topic of choice. I believe that this is an â€Å"O. K. † book for historians to engage in. Besides the book’s incredible organization and interesting topic, the book itself is very repetitive and I believe too concentrated to take much more than needed on the concept of working-class women and their leisure time in the turn of the century. Bib Mcknight, John C. â€Å"Cheap Amusements Review. † Scribd. N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. .

Find out What Mysticetes Are

The term  mysticete  refers to large whales that feed using a filtering mechanism made up of baleen plates. These whales are called mysticetes or baleen whales, and they are in the taxonomic group Mysticeti. This is one out of two major groups of whales, the other of which are the odontocetes or toothed whales. Introduction to Mysticetes Mysticetes are carnivores, but rather than feeding with teeth, they use a straining system to eat great quantities of small fish, crustaceans or plankton in one gulp. This is made possible by their baleen plates - fringed plates made of keratin that hang down from the whales palate in the upper jaw and are supported by its gums.    About Baleen Baleen plates resemble vertical blinds on the outside, but on the inside, they have a fringed edge, which is made up of thin, hair-like tubules. The hair-like tubules extend down on the inside of the whales mouth and are supported on their outside by a smooth, fingernail-like cortex. What is the purpose of this baleen? There are hundreds of baleen plates, and the fringe inside each overlaps to create a strainer that allows the whale to filter its food from the ocean water. To gather its food, the whale will gulp or skim the water, and pass the water in between the baleen plates, trapping the prey inside. By feeding this way, a mysticete can gather large quantities of prey but avoid swallowing much salt water.   Characteristics of Mysticetes The baleen is the characteristic that most defines this group of whales. But there are other things that set them apart from other whales. Mysticetes are generally large animals, and this group contains the largest species in the world - the blue whale. All mysticetes have: Baleen plates, which they use for feedingTwo blowholesSymmetrical skullLower jawbones that are solid and do not join in the middle In addition, female mysticetes are larger than males. Mysticetes vs. Odontocetes Mysticetes can be distinguished in the whale world from odontocetes. These whales have teeth, one blowhole, a skull that is asymmetrical and a melon, which is used in echolocation.   Odontocetes also have more variability in size. Rather than all being large or small, they range in size from under three feet to over 50 feet.   Mysticete Species There are 14 currently recognized species of mysticetes, according to the Society for Marine Mammalogy. Blue WhaleFin WhaleSei WhaleBrydes WhaleHumpback WhaleOmuras WhaleCommon  Minke WhaleAntarctic Minke WhaleBowhead WhaleNorth Atlantic Right WhaleSouthern Right WhaleNorth Pacific Right WhalePygmy Right WhaleGray Whale Pronunciation: miss-tuh-seat References and Further Information Bannister, J.L. Baleen Whales.  In  Perrin, W.F., Wursig, B. and J.G.M. Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press.  p. 62-73.Rice, D.W. 2002. Baleen.  In  Perrin, W.F., Wursig, B. and J.G.M. Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press.  p.61-62.