Bios 101 Demography Lab Report

Melissa Morales Bios 101 Spring 2013 Demography- Human Life History Introduction Demography is the study of human populations. It studies the size, composition and distribution of a population, and the process through which a population changes. Demography allows us to track changes over time and to depict how different periods in history change population dynamics. Births, deaths, migration and emigration, jointly produced the change within a population (Biological Science). Demography is also a central component of social contexts and social change.Patterns of survival vary depending upon the environment. Age is also an important component for many populations because fecundity and survivorship frequently vary with age. Humans are one species whose fecundity and survivorship are affected by age and the environment. One way that biologists attempt to distinguish patterns in survivorship rates is to use a life tables. Life tables permit them to keep track of how long different parts of the population have lived. A life table can also be used to predict the probability of the survival of an individual at any given time interval (Biological Science).A cemetery is an excellent place to study human demography. Gravestones are marked with the date of birth and date of death of a deceased person. From this information one can calculate death rates and draw survivorship curves for the â€Å"population†. A survivorship curve is a graphical representation of the chance that an individual will survive from birth to any age (Biological Science). By comparing and contrasting survivorship curves for different time periods, one may look for historical trends in demography over a period of time. MethodsIn this investigation, data was collected from a local cemetery. Information was recorded information from 50 headstones, where the individual was born between 1870 and 1930. The dates of birth and dates of death were recorded for each headstone. The headstones were rand omly chosen from any area in the cemetery. Then the age at death was calculated for each of the 50 individuals. The data was then used to create a survivorship curve. Results Part 1: Fecundity Part 2: Mortality x| D(x)| S(x)| l(x)| 0| 0| 50| 1. 0| 1| 5| 45| 0. 9| 2| 3| 42| 0. 84| 3| 7| 35| 0. 7| 4| 5| 30| 0. 6| | 4| 26| 0. 52| 6| 11| 15| 0. 3| 7| 7| 8| 0. 16| 8| 7| 1| 0. 02| 9| 1| 0| 0| x= age intervals of 10 years (1-10, 11-21†¦etc. ending at age 98) D(x)= number of individuals dying at that age S(x)= number of individuals alive during that interval Discussion A survivorship graph shows, which age categories, are most likely to die, in that environment. The overall shape provides a clue about life history strategy (Type I, II, or III). This data was collected from a subset of human population and may have particular biases depending upon social class, religious traditions, and economic factors.We assumed that all the individuals had similar living situations. According to the data, more individuals died between the ages of 55-65. Based on the demographic data from this lab, multiple conclusions may be drawn. Living conditions were probably far worse in the past. This causes death and birth rates to go down because of disease. Which causes the population size to decrease. There might have also been diseases affecting older people, which could explain why that range of ages had the most individuals dying at that age.

Community Health Partnerships Essay

Community: Social groups of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage. A social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interest and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exist ( Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Community Health: Refers to the health status of a defined group of people, or community, and the actions and conditions that protect and improve the health of the community. Those individuals who make up a community live in a somewhat localized area under the same general regulations, norms, values, and organizations. For example, the health status of the people living in a particular town, and the actions taken to protect and improve the health of these residents would constitute community health (Green & Ottoson, 1999). ). Community Health is the meeting of collective needs by identifying problems and managing behaviors within the community itself and between the community and the larger society (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Community as Client: The concept of community as client is based on the assumption that community nursing practice is â€Å"community oriented,† seeking â€Å"healthful change for the whole community. The community is a client only when the nursing focus is on the collective of common good of the population instead of on individual health (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Community Health Partnerships: defines as voluntary collaborations of diverse community organizations, which have joined forces in order to pursue a shared interest in improving community health. Community Health Partnerships differ from traditional community organizations in their mix of public and private members and they diverge from grass roots organizations with their inclusion of multiple constituents and stakeholders. (McKenzie & Smeltzer, 1997) Lay community members have a vested interest in the success of efforts to improve the health of their community. Lay community members who are recognized as community leaders also possess credibility and skills that health professionals lack. Therefore, successful strategies for improving  community health must include community partnerships as the basic means, or key, for improvement (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Overall impression of participating family’s community and environment is an inner suburb of New York City named Hackensack, New Jersey, a city in Bergan County, New Jersey. Located 12 miles north west of Midtown Manhattan and about seven miles from the George Washington Bridge, from a number of locations, you can see the New York City skyline. The Metropolitan campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University borders the Hackensack River. The city is known for a great diversity of neighborhoods and land uses existing in very close proximity of each other. Within its borders are a massive medical center, a trendy high-rise district about a mile long, classic suburban neighborhoods of single family homes, stately older homes on acre-plus lots, older two –family neighborhoods, large garden apartments complexes, industrial areas, the Bergan Count Jail, a tidal river, and Hackensack River County Park. Cultural Diversity and Vulnerable Populations present in the Community: The racial make-up of the city was White, African American, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islanders, Hispanic or Latino. My participating family consists of an African American woman C.R. 68 years young whose family lineage is African American and Dutch, shares a lovely suburban two- family home with her daughter K. R. who is 48 years young and her life partner S. M. who is thirty nine years young and a native of the British Virgin Islands. It is my understanding from the family that same sex households are most certainly part of the community as well as interracial couples. The home is very nicely decorated, well-kept and the grounds are well manicured. The fact that the younger ladies are a same sex couple makes them part of a vulnerable population. I asked â€Å"if there were any prejudice or pressure they feel from the neighborhood regarding their lifestyle†? They both responded there is no pressure or prejudice put upon them. I must mention the time I have begun to spend with them, talking and observing their behaviors with one another, I have to say,† there is more love between the two of them than some heterosexual couples have in their little finger for each other† and they are not embarrassed by their life style nor do they hide who they are. They are both beautiful people inside and out. Aspects of the Community that could affect residents’ health: The  factor in the community that could affect health is the fact that there are many industrial areas surrounding the communities. The chemicals, fumes, and gases that ar e put into the air of the community and inhaled by all potentially could be of danger to the community. The County Jail and the potential of escaped criminals pose a threat to the community; Flooding is a potential threat during hurricanes and storms. Reproductive and Sexual Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health is relevant to the community in that the goal is to maintain and improve health and well-being. LGBT individuals encompass all races and ethnicities, religions, and social classes. Eliminating health disparities and enhancing efforts to improve health are necessary to ensure that LGBT individuals can lead long healthy lives (healthy 2020), REFERENCES: Green, L.W., Ottoson, J. M. (1999). Community and Population Health, (8th ed.) Boston: WCB/McGraw-Hill McKenzie, J. F., Smeltzer, J.L. (1997). Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer; (2nd ed.), Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J. (2008) (8th ed,). Population-Centered Health Care in the Community. St. Louis, MO. http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics

Presence of Symbolism Imagery in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Essay

The Presence of Baby Symbolism in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee is packed with baby imagery. Albee seems to add an image of a baby to almost every page of the play. The reason for this type of imagery is to symbolize babies, which has great importance throughout the course of the play because it connects with the characters and themes in the novel. The direct repetition of the word â€Å"baby† becomes very apparent at the beginning of the play and stays consistent throughout. George and Martha call each other â€Å"baby† numerous times. â€Å"Let me tell you a secret, baby† (p.29) is just one of the many instances where George calls Martha â€Å"baby† and vice versa. Martha tends to use baby talk when speaking with George, especially when she’s begging him for a drink. In addition, Martha and George also like to refer to Nick and Honey as children. They treat them with an attitude as if they were little kids in their house. An example of this is when George greets Nick and Honey with â€Å"you must be our little guests† (p.20) while Martha directly says â€Å"c’mon in, kids† (p.20) to the couple. George continues to use baby imagery towards the guests, especially when he’s describing Honey on the bathroom floor. â€Å"Peaceful†¦so peaceful. Sound asleep†¦and she’s actually†¦sucking her thumb†¦.rolled up like a fetus, suckling away† (p.184) demonstrates how George uses a baby-like diction when describing Honey. Honey is even described as â€Å"slim-hipped† (p.44) a few times in the play, suggesting that she can’t bear children, giving the reader an imagery of pregnancy. Babies are one of the most dominant symbols in the play. Both couples have had pretend children in their lives. Honey had a hysterical pregnancy, giving Nick the sense of being forced into marrying her. However, Honey’s pregnancy was just made up in her mind, and the reason for that is because she truly wants a child of her own. This becomes apparent when she cries â€Å"I want a child, I want a baby!† (p.236). George and Martha’s child is made up as well, because they’re incapable of having children but most importantly, to fill the void in their lives. They’re covering up their marriage with the illusion of this child of theirs because they can’t handle to face the solitude that overcomes their pathetic lives. Then George decides to â€Å"kill† their son, and Martha is completely devastated. The last few lines of the play reveal that Martha is truly afraid of living without illusion, which was her son. The symbolism of babies parallels a few themes in the play. The â€Å"Visions of America† theme is present since the reason why both couples want a baby is so that the child can bring meaning to their lives as well as finalize the missing piece of the puzzle to the American Dream. The baby imagery also connects with the theme of â€Å"Marriage† by suggesting that a baby will create a successful marriage for both the couples. Nick married Honey because of her hysterical pregnancy, and now it’s almost as if they’re stuck with each other with no passion present. George and Martha have been married for a long time now, and their marriage started out with love but now they seem bitter and unhappy, and the reason for that could be because they have no child present in their lives. Nevertheless, the symbol of babies connects greatly with the theme of â€Å"Illusion vs. Reality.† The son was just an illusion for George and Martha because they were incapable of having a child and facing the reality of their lonely lives. Babies symbolize a various amount of things in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, such as truth, illusion, happiness and even the American Dream. The lives of both couples have changed drastically over the illusion of babies, even when they don’t have any yet. Honey’s hysterical pregnancy landed her in a marriage with Nick that didn’t start out with love and passion. George and Martha have been masking the truth of their lives with their son for a long period of time. This has caused damage to their lives, and now they’re going to have to make some changes in order to face the hard desolate lives that they’ve been trying so hard to escape from. The message that Edward Albee is trying greatly to convey is that human beings must learn to live life without illusion obstructing the view, that way human beings can live their lives with full honesty.

The Problems of a Two Party System in the US Research Paper

The Problems of a Two Party System in the US - Research Paper Example Likewise, the first of these determinants which will be analyzed is with regards to the fact that the level of exasperation and frustration with the given paradigm seems to be ever-increasing. Although there are a number of factors which must be considered with regards to the overall level of support that the government engenders within the population, it must not be understated that the ineffectual nature in which the two-party system is exhibited over the past several decades is likely one of the causal components. Evidence of this can anecdotally be evidenced with regards to many of the polling results that a number of diverse entities has engaged in. The results of these nonpartisan polls have indicated that an increasing share of the American populace deals both disconnected and frustrated with politics as usual that is oftentimes exhibited at the regional levels. Such an eventuality is not surprising due to the fact that the two-party system necessarily divides people in an unn atural manner. When one stops to consider the fact that the United States is a multi religious, multi racial, multiethnic society, it comes as something of a curiosity that the two-party system has effectively been able to govern and represent an infinitely diverse level of needs and wants that such a vast and unheard modulus nation must necessarily engender.Another negative externality that the United States two-party system engenders within the current dynamic is with regards to the fact that the nation is currently in the midst of a wrenching difficult economic shift.... Evidence of this can anecdotally be evidenced with regards to many of the polling results that a number of diverse entities has engaged in. The results of these nonpartisan polls have indicated that an increasing share of the American populace deals both disconnected and frustrated with politics as usual that is oftentimes exhibited at the regional/state/federal levels. Such an eventuality is not surprising due to the fact that the two-party system necessarily divides people in an unnatural manner. When one stops to consider the fact that the United States is a multi religious, multi racial, multiethnic society, it comes as something of a curiosity that the two-party system has effectively been able to govern and represent an infinitely diverse level of needs and wants that such a vast and unheard modulus nation must necessarily engender. Although one may very well point to the fact that disagreement over economic policy, disagreement over involvement in foreign wars, or disagreement with regards to a litany of other social issues has helped to create an increasing level of frustration, the logical and to all of this is with regards to the fact that the frustration and dissatisfaction can ultimately be linked back to a general lack of creativity and problem solving that defines a ready-made two-party system. Another negative externality that the United States two-party system engenders within the current dynamic is with regards to the fact that the nation is currently in the midst of a wrenching and extraordinarily difficult economic shift. Whereas many decades the past history within the United States had been defined by an industrial era, the shift that is

Case Study on Organizational Behaviour and Analysis Essay

Case Study on Organizational Behaviour and Analysis - Essay Example Case Study on Organizational Behaviour and Analysis This is a testimony of the company’s positive organisational behaviour strategies, designed to retain employees and customers on a long term basis. The founder and present CEO, Howard Schultz has been pivotal in steering the company’s organisational behavioural systems over several years. Having nurtured and guided the company’s fortunes in its formative years, his return as CEO marks a new era in organisational success of the company. Initially, he was keen on opening new stores all over the country for which funds were required. He arranged for floating a $25 Million Initial Public Offering (IPO) during 1992, which provided necessary funds for his expansion plans to make Starbucks coffee drinking a part of a world wide accepted culture. However, over the years, impact of market forces led to downward trends in the business fortunes of Starbucks, and with receding markets and lowered profits, organisational remodelling, especially at the top level, was needed to solve the vexing issues that confronted the company and also provide sound and substantive leadership. It was also to provide organisational and managerial decision making processes, based on experiences to face competitive incursions into its business. Schultz provided organisational restructure when he decided to close down 100 underperforming stores and reduce opening of new stores to just 1,175 during the year, lower by 34% as compared to earlier figures. (Starbucks: Maintaining Principles as We Grow, p.16).

How google has used information systems to develop more competitive Essay - 1

How google has used information systems to develop more competitive new business models - Essay Example Business models will continue to change as they have owing to the dynamic nature of business, however through IT; it is possible to positively affect changes in all the functions of the company. Information systems are used in companies over the world as a supporting function that makes processes more efficient. This has been done so irrespective of the nature of the industry they have been used in. However, with respect to the software industry, there are certain deviations. In addition to being a support function IT tools are also used for the core functions of the company. In spite of this, IT management has not been given the attention it deserves and is still treated as a business enabler function. Hence, it is high time that IT management is seen as a tool that shapes the business model of the company resulting in the topic at hand. Although Google and Microsoft have been considered for this study, it has been done so with respect to their main fields of operation namely the search engine market and that of the operating systems although they have operations in other areas, some of which overlap. The reason behind this is that the characteristics of the market can be matched with that of the company to reveal the strategies of the companies. Thereafter, the company mission, vision and other objectives were studied so as to examine their alignment with the IT strategy of the company. Since this was available through company sources such as websites, annual reports, etc, academic resources were reserved for familiarization with the principles of IT management. Subsequently analysis was carried out on both the companies with respect to Porter’s models. Statistics regarding the industry in which each of the companies operates in proved especially useful in revealing their strategies. Finally, the significance of information systems in developing the business models of the companies was established. Having

Effects of discipline on children Annotated Bibliography

Effects of discipline on children - Annotated Bibliography Example The source will be useful in the classification of the various disciplinary actions and their effects on children behaviors during the research. The chapter â€Å"Discipline by Parents and Child Psychopathology† defines discipline and the various methods that are used to administer discipline in children including corporal punishments. It further analysis the effects including cultural and antisocial behavior that each discipline action is associated with particularly the psychological effects. The source is credible as it is written by accredited authors and uses primary data from its study to analyses the effects of discipline on children. It will be used by the research to distinguish disciplinary actions that have more effects compared to others. The article presents an analysis of the effects of physical punishment on children through the identification of patterns that have been used to implement disciplinary measures among children. It further analyses the possible positive effects of promoting nonviolent parenting. The source is credible as an accredited PhD holder author was behind the analysis. It will be used in the analysis and comparison of the effects of physical and nonviolent discipline among children/ GÃÆ' ¡mez-Guadix, M., Carrobles, J., Almendros, C., & FernÃÆ' ¡ndez-Alcaraz, C. (2010). Physical punishment and long-term consequences: the moderating role of parental context. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2093-2097. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.419 The article explores the long-term consequences of physical punishment on children including both behavioral and psychological problems. The study conducted indicated that physical punishment is related to negative outcomes irrespective of the parental context in which are applied. The source is credible as a university press published it and scholars conducted the study. It will be used in the analysis of long-term consequences