Humanitarian Cases in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Humanitarian Cases in Africa - Essay Example Several different causes may have played a vital role in the stimulation of this famine, most prominent being lack of rain and inability of the Government officials to provide sufficient funds to the agricultural and irrigation schemes of the country. Out of the four countries majorly affected, the most affected one is Somalia, where at least 6 out of 10,000 children are dying everyday due to inadequate amount and poor quality of edible material. (BBC News 2011) The question here rises as to why is Somalia most affected by this nature’sdisaster? According to senior journalists and analysts, Somalia had become a failed state since its establishment collapsed in the earlier 1990s. Adding to the situation, the major areas of the country including Southern, Central and the famine affected areas are under the control of a militant group called â€Å"al-Shabab† which is said to have links with â€Å"al-Qaeda†. People of Somalia, after two decades of non-stop struggle for their land, were already in astate where they fought for their very existence everyday. And when one thinks that what would be worse than this, the al-Shabab group forces out most of the Western Agencies from the areas under their control in 2009, which were mostly working for the aid of the aboriginals.(BBC News 2011; Ross 2011) A major portion of the people living in countries of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, are pastoralists and nomads. They are mostly dependent on earning from livestock. But the intensity of the famine is so severe that even their drought-resistant camels also could not bear this famine and died. And their farms will now take many years of rain to recover to their previous state. The famine-hit areas of Somalia mostly receive rain in the month of November and the people who fled the famine are unlikely to return any time soon to plant crops in their fields. A prediction has been made by The Famine Early System Network that thewhole of Somalia is likely to experience a famine in the upcoming months.The area of Lower Shebelle which was considered as the bread-basket of Somalia has also been affected severely by the drought which forced many of the famers and businessmen to find an alternate for their home. (BBC News 2011) It has been reported that some 10,000 people have entered in the city of Mogadishu during the last two months with the plans of aiding the natives by several methods possible. While at the same time, danger and the fear of the al-Shabab group has made it difficult for the aiding agencies to perform their functions effectively. However it has been said that al-Shabab group has been escorted out of this city but still some armed members of this group can be seen patrolling certain areas. (Ross 2011) African pastoralists are among the most famine-vulnerable groups in the modern world. The long-term results of the famine crisis can be great or small, depending, in part, the form of relief. When famine strikes, the first problem which may arise is related to the transportation of food to the affected people. Can ways be found to offer relief to the pastoralists who discourage the formation of camps? For pragmatic reasons, donors or governments must institute food-for-work projects, how well can these involve the affected people in decisions regarding the o bjectives and beneficiaries of work? Where the traditional political leadership is credible and respected, can relief be administered in a manner which is more sensitive to such structures, even to the point of simply giving the relief food to the elders to distribute in a local fashion? The types of long-term development into which agencies and governments often drift

Social contract theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social contract theory - Essay Example Therefore in a political sense, the State is the representation of the means by which a group of individuals relate to each other out of the common will to live with other human beings in the community. Hegel views the State as the agent of true freedom for the individual. The basis of self consciousness in an individual, according to Hegel, lies not in his active thinking actions but in the active desires existing within the individual which are in negation. Hegel views self consciousness as desire and he believes that self consciousness can exist only through sublation in a referent other. The certainty of self and individual existence may be obtained through the gratification of the individual’s desires, however these are conditioned by the other; certainty exists only through the cancellation of the other, therefore if a cancellation of the desire is to be effected, there must be the other. (Hegel, 1967). Therefore Hegel does not view the individual a splaying a significant role in politics, except as a part of an institution, i.e, the State. The State is the form of inward self-expression of the people in an objective form. The validation of the individual would exist only in the form of recognition attained from others. For example, where individual ownership of property is concerned, such a property would belong to the person only to the extent that it is recognized by others, i.e, by the State. Being thus recognized by others symbolizes the individual’s struggle for recognition. The State in effect represents the subjective will of a collective group of people. Applying Hegel’s views, an individual’s nature is governed by desire and his self consciousness expresses itself in the form of the gratification of desires. However, according to Hegel, such gratification of desires can occur only in the context of some referent other, i.e, individual recognition is dependent upon recognition by others. In

Unit 13&14 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unit 13 - Essay Example The film scenario exemplified Andrew being discriminated from undertaking his responsibilities as a lawyer upon the discovery of his affliction. Besides being unfairly and unjustly prejudiced towards his condition, the case affected senior management, who wrongfully dismissed him, and society, in general, who scorned people afflicted with the disease. The lawyer, who Andrew initially approached to defend him, Joe Miller, played by Denzel Washington, was first apprehensive to take the case given the sensitivity of the issues. As it turned out, the court ruled in favor of Andrew and ordered the firm to award him for damages for wrongful dismissal. It is fortunate for Beckett to have been remunerated for the discrimination case filed in court. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2008) â€Å"proving a discrimination claim is inherently difficult, since the elements of proof are generally in the hands of the defendant, i.e. the employer† (5). Most victims choose to ignore the matter of filing appropriate cases due to the costs involved in pursuing discrimination cases. Regular-average-everyday Americans can make a profound difference to transform this country by acts of random kindness to others. With no thought of reward, the Good Samaritan in the Bible stops to help a man who has been beaten and robbed. That is the essence of an altruistic act: unselfishly giving help when it is needed, no strings attached. If each and every American believes in simple, unselfish acts, then each would be instrumental in making this nation a more conscientious one. Most men do some thing or behave in a certain way because we expect to get a reward for doing so. Naturally, one does not do something because the cost of doing it would be great. The leadership model that must be manifested in contemporary societies should assist in transforming the society through focusing on encouraging others

Social contract theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social contract theory - Essay Example Therefore in a political sense, the State is the representation of the means by which a group of individuals relate to each other out of the common will to live with other human beings in the community. Hegel views the State as the agent of true freedom for the individual. The basis of self consciousness in an individual, according to Hegel, lies not in his active thinking actions but in the active desires existing within the individual which are in negation. Hegel views self consciousness as desire and he believes that self consciousness can exist only through sublation in a referent other. The certainty of self and individual existence may be obtained through the gratification of the individual’s desires, however these are conditioned by the other; certainty exists only through the cancellation of the other, therefore if a cancellation of the desire is to be effected, there must be the other. (Hegel, 1967). Therefore Hegel does not view the individual a splaying a significant role in politics, except as a part of an institution, i.e, the State. The State is the form of inward self-expression of the people in an objective form. The validation of the individual would exist only in the form of recognition attained from others. For example, where individual ownership of property is concerned, such a property would belong to the person only to the extent that it is recognized by others, i.e, by the State. Being thus recognized by others symbolizes the individual’s struggle for recognition. The State in effect represents the subjective will of a collective group of people. Applying Hegel’s views, an individual’s nature is governed by desire and his self consciousness expresses itself in the form of the gratification of desires. However, according to Hegel, such gratification of desires can occur only in the context of some referent other, i.e, individual recognition is dependent upon recognition by others. In

Tv Food Essay Example for Free

Tv Food Essay Have you ever sat in front of the TV devouring tons of snacks and not even paid attention to how much you had already eaten? That is why this essay sparked my attention! I constantly find myself in front of the TV craving snacks and chomping away, not even thinking about how much I am eating. Dolly Mittal, Richard J. Stevenson, Megan J. Oaten, and Laurie A. Miller conducted an experiment to find out if our memory is a factor for what we’ve already eaten. One amnesiac patient HM started this idea when he sat down to eat a second meal immediately after consuming the first because he had forgotten he already had eaten. This experiment is trying to show that snacking while watching TV, in opposition to snacking while not watching TV, can lead us to eat more later on. They want to prove it is because the TV affects our memory of how much we snacked earlier. In experiment one they take thirty-two female women that are not dieting and not diabetic with a BMI between 18 and 25 and let them spend 20 minutes eating as much snack food as they want. They are given chocolate balls, pringles, coca cola, and orange juice. Half of these ladies did it watching a 20 minute TV episode and the other half did it sitting quietly. Afterwards the remains were taken and measured; both groups consumed around the same amount of snacks. Around one hour later they sat the ladies down to eat lunch which would include: sandwiches, biscuits, crackers and dip. They found the result they were looking for when the women who had watched TV earlier while snacking ate more of this meal than the ladies who had earlier snacked without the TV. The result was finale when the TV group also couldn’t remember how much they had snacked on during the time they watched the TV. In experiment two the experiment was very similar to experiment one except that they wanted to see if the type of TV show would affect anything. This time they had the ladies watch different types of shows- funny, sad, and boring. The results were very similar to the first experiment and they learned that the type of TV show made no difference to the food they consumed. It was confirmed that when normal weight non-dieting females snack while watching TV, they later consume more food on a TV free meal than participants who snacked without TV. Also, participants who watched TV while snacking were less accurate in remembering the amount of snack food they had consumed. Something that I thought was interesting about this experiment is that it doesn’t work on men. In the journal it is mentioned that men take a different approach to this and try to eat as much food as possible, yet in the beginning the amnesiac patient HM that Hebben reported was a male. I didn’t like that the women fasted before they came to do the experiment. It is not a real life situation. Most of the time when I’m snacking in front of the TV I might have already eaten before that or I am just about to eat. Also If I knew that this experiment was all about food – I do not know if I would have eaten what I normally do. I might have been embarrassed and not given correct information. There is no way to make this experiment work 100% but that is how it is with most experiments. They conclude †Our data suggest that TV probably exerts some as yet unspecified effect on participants’ ability to recall earlier bouts of food consumption, leading to over consumption on a later TV free test meal. As TV viewing is associated with eating in so many different ways and as over consumption of food is a major problem in most industrialized nations, it would seem important to study exactly how this occurs. â€Å" Obesity is a HUGE problem in our country and I think that this could possibly have something to do with it. Even small children are watching TV now with a bag of chips in one hand and a soda in the other. Our nation is constantly getting fatter. Now when I sit in front of the TV I will think about what I’m eating and apply what I know to help me consume the right amount of food.

Sensor Technology for Mineral Exploration

Sensor Technology for Mineral Exploration 1. Introduction Significant contribution is done by satellite remote sensing in the field of mineral exploration viz. Geological faults, fractures and mapping, which are associated with the ore deposits based on spectral signature, (Farooq and Govil 2013; Magendra and Sanjeevi 2014; Murphy and Monteiro 2011, Le Yo et al., 2011) the spectral signature helps in the recognizes hydrothermal altered rocks (Sabins, 1999). The multispectral remote sensing exhibits differences in spectral signatures which are insufficient spectral resolution for the hydrothermal altered mineral mapping (Clark, 1999). The Multispectral sensors viz. Landsat TM, ETM+, ASTER image processing helps in iron oxides mapping, the spectral ranges 1.55-1.75 Â µm and 2.08-2.35 Â µm is important for iron mapping (Gupta, 2003). The hyperspectral images provide a higher spectral resolution the the multispectral images (Clark et al., 1990; Magendra and Sanjeevi 2014; Van der Meer 2012). The discovery of new hyperspectral sensor technology in terms of both sensor and technical development has provided the opportunity to revisit previous remote sensing approaches for the mineral exploration as well as for the development of improved methods. Hyperspectral sensors have hundreds of channels, aircraft and satellite platforms which provide unique spectral datasets, and which are helpful in analyzing the surface mineralogy mapping (Goetz et al., 1985; Kruse et al., 2003; Debba et al., 2005, Vaughan et al., 2003). The airborne sensors like AVIRIS, HYDICE and Satellite sensor like Hyperion are used for mapping geology, snow etc. Hyperspectral remote sensing aims at providing the requirements like spectral, spatial and radiometric empower, measuring in terms of range, sampling, response, stability, uniformity, precision and accuracy. With the help of hyperspectral remote sensing we can find different minerals viz iron oxides, micas, chlorites, amphiboles, talc, serpentines, c arbonates, quartz, garnets, pyroxenes, feldspars and sulphates (Eva Papp and Cudahy 2002; Magendran and sanjeevi 2014; Hubbard and Crowley 2005). EO-1 Hyperion is the first Space based hyperspectral sensor, and it was launched on 21 November 2000 (Ungar et al., 2003). The Hyperion image has 30m spatial resolution, 242 channels and 7.7 km swath. The hyperspectral (Hyperion) sensor with 0.4-2.5Â µm spectral range, i.e. visible-near infrared (VNIR) spectrometer (approxmeterly0.4-1.0Â µm) and one short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectrometer (approximately 0.9-2.5Â µm) (EO-1 User guide) in which some minerals and rocks show good absorption and reflectance, due to variation in physicochemical properties, which help in their exploration mapping (Clark et al., 1990; Hunt et al., 1971). The spectral reflectance one can detect and identify the Earth surface and atmospheric constituents to measure the reflected spectra’s component concentration. We can find the distribution of the component and validate by improving models. The processing of Hyperion image is a challenging task as it consists hundreds of channels. The selection of required channels with its good apparent reflection requires good skills. The direct measurements of atmospheric properties are rarely available, and there are some techniques which surmise them from their imprint on hyperspectral radiance data. These properties are used to constrain highly accurate models of atmospheric radiation transfer to produce an estimate of the true surface reflectance. Moreover, atmospheric corrections of this type can be applied on a pixel by pixel basis since each pixel in a hyperspectral image contains an independent measurement of atmospheric water vapor absorption bands. There are different models available viz QUAC, 5S, 6S, ATCOR, ATREAM, HATCH, EFFORT Polishing, FLAASH etc (ITTVis, 2010). FLAASH is a MODTRAN4-based atmospheric correction software package, which provides accurate, physics-based derivation of apparent surface reflectance, through derivation of atmospheric properties such as surface albedo, surface altitude, water vapor column, aerosol and cloud optical depths, surface and atmospheric temperature from hyperspectral imaging data. FLAASH uses the most advanced techniques for handling particular stressing atmospheric conditions, such as the presence of clouds, cirrus and opaque cloud classification map adjustable spectral polishing for artifact suppression. The Hyperion image consists of a huge number of data sets which are supposed to be reduced dimensionally. The techniques like Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) transform are used to reduce the number of spectral dimensions to be analyzed. The pure pixels are the most spectrally extreme pixels (Broadman et al., 1995), which spectrally correspond to the mixing end members. These end members form the base for the n-Dimensional visualization, and each selected end members are spectrally matched with USGS spectral library. The near visible near infrared image (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectral range cover the features of iron bearing minerals, hydroxyl bearing minerals sulphates and carbonates. The iron ores and iron bearing minerals have characteristic spectra in the 850nm to 950 nm wavelength (Magendran and Sanjeevi, 2014). The ferric iron minerals hematite (Fe203) has distinct spectral curves in the visible near-infrared image (VNIR), which is caused by absorptions and induced by crystal field transitions at about 465 nm, 650 nm and 850–950 nm (Townsend, 1987). The paper presents an attempt for mapping iron oxides in Chitradurga Schist belt by using the Hyperion image. The iron distribution mapping is made with the standardized hyperspectral methodologies. An attempt is also made by taking the spectra of iron in-vitro and compared it with the USGS spectral libraryfor mappingiron distribution. The Spectral Angle Mapper Classification (SAM) is an automated method of comparing the image spectra with the individual spectra, or a spectral library (Boardman 1992; Kruse et al 1993). SAM treats both individual spectra, spectral library spectra and calculates as vectors and its spectral angle. Since the SAM algorithm uses the only vector direction and not the vector length. The result of the SAM classification is an image showing the best match at each pixel. This method is typically used for determining the mineralogy and works better in the areas of identical regions. The USGS maintains a large spectral library composed of mineral and soil types, which has image spectra and can be compared directly. 1.1 Study Area and image data The lithology of the Chitradurga schist belt 13036’25’’N and 760 35’49’’E belongs to both Bababudan and Chitradurga Groups. (Figure 1) The Bababudan Group of rocks represented by metabasalt-quartzite formations and NNW trending synclinal Kibbanahalli BIF formation, wrapping around the Chikkanayakanahalli (CN Halli) gneiss and joining the main CN Halli belt near Dodguni (Radhakrishna, 1967; Srinivasan and Sreenivas, 1975; Seshadri et al., 1981; Ramakrishnan and Vaidynadhan, 2008). Chitradurga Group covers most of the CN Halli schist belt, represented by quartz-sericite-chlorite schist, quartzite, carbonates, Mn formations and BIF overlies Bababudan Group (Devaraju and Anantha Murthy, 1976, 1977). EO-1 Hyperion level 1 radiometric (L1R) product having 242 bands covering CN Halli area acquired on 14 April 2011 was used. The image covers the spectral range of 0.4 to 2.5Â µm at 10 nm bandwidth. However, only 155 of them are calibrated from visible-to-infrared (VNIR) and short wave-infrared (SWIR) regions. (Table 1) (EO-1 User Guide, 2003).

Body Image in African American Women Essay -- Health Weight Essays

Body Image in African American Women Body image is an important facet in understanding the phenomenon of eating disorders. Body image concerns are important in the etiology and treatment of eating disorders and obesity (Smith, Thompson, Raczynski, and Hilner, 1997; Thompson, 1997). The construct of body image reflects the level of satisfaction one feels regarding his or her body. Body image is a multidimensional construct. It involves race, socioeconomic status, age, as well as, perceptual and attitudinal components. For this reason, research has been done to dispel the myth that all women have a negative body image. Rather, as has been shown, there are definite differences in the perception of body image and self-concept, especially across racial lines. The claims of most studies suggest that African-American women generally have a greater tolerance or acceptability for higher body weight. In addition, African-American women are also thought to place less importance on body size in the scheme of their overall body imag e, and there are more likely to be satisfied if they are at a higher body weight, and still regard themselves as attractive. Research not only confirms these statements, but also draws attention to other important, culturally- relevant factors, such as age in relation to other cultural forces such as, different attitudes and behaviors that shape the body images of African-American women. Finally, since research shows that body image is an important aspect in the etiology of eating disorders and obesity, its influence and the cultural forces and components behind it should be taken into account in treatment and for future research. According to Altabe’s (1996) study, there are differences in body image th... ...en’s desire to be thin. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 17, 191-5. 7. Smith, DE, Thompson, JK, Raczynski, JM, Hilner, JE. (1999). Body image among men and women in a biracial cohort: the CARDIA study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25, 71-82. 8. Stevens, J., Kumanyika, SK, & Keil, JE. Attitudes toward body size and dieting: Differences between elderly black and white women. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 1322-5. 9. Striegel-Moore, RH., Schreiber, GB., Pike, KM., Wilfley, DE.,& Rodin J. (1995). Drive for thinness in black and white preadolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18, 59-69. 10. Williamson, L. (1998). Eating disorders and the cultural forces behind the drive for thinness: Are African-American women really protected. Social Work in Health Care, 28, 61-73. Body Image in African American Women Essay -- Health Weight Essays Body Image in African American Women Body image is an important facet in understanding the phenomenon of eating disorders. Body image concerns are important in the etiology and treatment of eating disorders and obesity (Smith, Thompson, Raczynski, and Hilner, 1997; Thompson, 1997). The construct of body image reflects the level of satisfaction one feels regarding his or her body. Body image is a multidimensional construct. It involves race, socioeconomic status, age, as well as, perceptual and attitudinal components. For this reason, research has been done to dispel the myth that all women have a negative body image. Rather, as has been shown, there are definite differences in the perception of body image and self-concept, especially across racial lines. The claims of most studies suggest that African-American women generally have a greater tolerance or acceptability for higher body weight. In addition, African-American women are also thought to place less importance on body size in the scheme of their overall body imag e, and there are more likely to be satisfied if they are at a higher body weight, and still regard themselves as attractive. Research not only confirms these statements, but also draws attention to other important, culturally- relevant factors, such as age in relation to other cultural forces such as, different attitudes and behaviors that shape the body images of African-American women. Finally, since research shows that body image is an important aspect in the etiology of eating disorders and obesity, its influence and the cultural forces and components behind it should be taken into account in treatment and for future research. According to Altabe’s (1996) study, there are differences in body image th... ...en’s desire to be thin. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 17, 191-5. 7. Smith, DE, Thompson, JK, Raczynski, JM, Hilner, JE. (1999). Body image among men and women in a biracial cohort: the CARDIA study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25, 71-82. 8. Stevens, J., Kumanyika, SK, & Keil, JE. Attitudes toward body size and dieting: Differences between elderly black and white women. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 1322-5. 9. Striegel-Moore, RH., Schreiber, GB., Pike, KM., Wilfley, DE.,& Rodin J. (1995). Drive for thinness in black and white preadolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18, 59-69. 10. Williamson, L. (1998). Eating disorders and the cultural forces behind the drive for thinness: Are African-American women really protected. Social Work in Health Care, 28, 61-73.