Free Essays on Huck Finn

Many people think that Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel and they have even gone as far as banning the novel from certain schools. They base this view on the fact that the word â€Å"nigger† is used very often and they see the black people being portrayed in a degrading way to show that they are inferior to the white society. Contrary to this idea, Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Mark Twain actually attacks racism by satirizing the lifestyle of the white people and shows that they have no reason at all to think that they are better than the blacks. This satirizing of the white people is effectively seen in the portrayal of the king and the duke. Mark Twain starts to mock the king and the duke as soon as they are first introduced in the novel. Their appearance gives a negative impression right from the start. The king is described as having, â€Å"an old battered-up slouch hat on, and a greasy blue woolen shirt,† and he’s wearing, â€Å"ragged old blue jeans britches stuffed into his boot tops.†(Pg. 121) The duke is described as much the same. This first impression makes us feel as if these men are scum and we don’t have a very good perception of them. The second thing that these men do also is used to mock society in two ways. The first man (the duke) makes up a story that he was actually the Duke of Bridgewater. He said that he was the son of the infant duke that was ignored to take over a position. Not to be outdone, the second man (the king) makes up a story that he was actually the rightful King of France. Mark Twain uses Huck Finn to show what he thinks of these two men. â€Å"It didnâ€℠¢t take me to long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds.†(Pg.125) These men are putting up a false front just like society does and Mark Twain shows through Huck that he can see right through this false front. The second thing that is mocked is the fact that these peop... Free Essays on Huck Finn Free Essays on Huck Finn The Adventures of Hucklebery Finn has many recognizable features which have helped sustain its reputation as a classic over the years, and among one of the most important of these features is the Mississippi river. It carries Huck and Jim upon a winding path through a series of adventures. The river provides symbolization for many important aspects integral to the novel's theme. These aspects include the journey to freedom and subsequent struggle for freedom and Huck’s morals, attitudes, and irrepressible nature. The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is constructed around the 2,350 mile long Mississippi River. Huckleberry Finn, a misunderstood outcast from society, is unhappy with his new life of morality and cleanliness since being adopted by Widow Douglas. In conjunction with that, his drunken bum of a father reappears into his life, subsequently gains custody of him, kidnaps him and beats him. This begins the struggle of Huck’s journey to freedom. He realizes that the river is the ultimate symbol of and tool to his independence and a better life. Huck has never been good at answering to anyone but himself; the river allows for him to be completely responsible for nothing and no one. He fakes his own death and escapes, where he meets a runaway slave named Jim. Huck knows that the baggage of being responsible for another person during his excursion, particularly a runaway slave, is dangerous and cumbersome, but takes him a long anyway because he is a good person at hear t. So, â€Å"The two set off together on a raft down the Mississippi, intending to turn up the Ohio River to freedom† () The Mississippi was such a widely used river that being surreptitious was imperative to the success of the journey-they could only travel at night in fear of somebody seeing the runaway Jim, which posed time and location constraints on the two fugitives. () â€Å"... described how the idea of freedom germinated† Huck Finn, having ... Free Essays on Huck Finn Tom Sawyer Adventures The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is concerned with the escapades of a young boy living in a Mississippi River town during a summer in the 1840s. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly, his dead mother’s sister, along with his half-brother, Sid, and his cousin, Mary. By the second chapter, Tom’s mischievous character is revealed with the well-known fence whitewashing scene. Tom meets the new girl in town, Becky Thatcher, and falls in love with her. He begins an intense flirtation with her at school, which leads to his asking her to be â€Å"engaged† with him by lunchtime of her first day. Tom’s vagabond friend, Huck Finn, the town drunk’s son, asks Tom to meet him at the cemetery at midnight, to test the wart-curing properties of his dead cat. While there, the boys stumble upon the murder of Dr. Robinson by Injun Joe during a grave-robbing attempt. Muff Potter also part of the gang, is pinned with the crime by Injun Joe. Tom and Huck, however, are the only ones who know the truth. Tom, Huck, and another friend, Joe Harper, decide to run away from St. Petersburg to Jackson’s Island, in the middle of the Mississippi. There they live the life of pirates, frolicking day and night. After several days, the town prepares funeral services for the boys, by the time being convinced of their death. The boys dramatically return to town in the middle of the Sunday church services, and they are forgiven for their mischief. As the murder trial of Muff Potter gets underway, Tom is racked by guilt over allowing a man he knows to be innocent to be convicted. On the final day of the trial, Tom is called as a surprise witness, and he proceeds to finger Injun Joe with the crime, who springs out of the window and escapes. Tom and Huck stumble upon Injun Joe and a stranger at a deserted house on the outskirts of town, and learn of a stash of gold Joe is carrying.... Free Essays on Huck Finn ‘Should High School Students Read It?’ ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ is a classic novel ad should definitely be read by high school students. The fact that the novel includes racism and vulgarity makes the book even more interesting. The racism wouldn‘t offend anyone assuming that they are educated, that they know that it was purposely written that way, and that times have changed since the setting of the story took place. Themes and Twain’s view of society also add to the great appraisal that I give this book for high school students. The one part of the book I don’t agree with is the authors view of American society. When high-class people are described in the book, they are seen as proper, educated, well-mannered, charitable, frugal, well-invested people, yet they are cruel, racist, cussing, gambling, alcoholic, violent people that want everything for themselves. Such is the example of the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons. I believe that this view is skewed and somewhat of a development from Mark Twain’s personal childhood memories. I do admit that some people I know do have some of these traits, but not to such an extreme level, most people are well-rounded, they have their goods and bads. There are four main themes to the book, and they all tie together to help form the plot of the book. Here’s my understanding of it: Huck and Jim both want freedom from certain things; while searching for freedom, Huck and Jim must battle loneliness together; and Huck experiences rebirth, (he becomes a new, pure person), as he makes his individual vs. society battle, which is always having to decide between the right, moral, human, logical, pure decision, and the merciless decision that abides with society. There was no easy way to say all of that, which is another reason to read the book as a high school student. The book is a deep, twisting, beast-of-a-novel, and yet, it is humorous, interesting, and under... Free Essays on Huck Finn Huckleberry Finn, the main character, learns he must grow up fast if he wants to survive life. Huck Finn has a drunkard as a father, a hogshead as a home, and a mother of which he never knew. He is a congenital liar, a thief, and someone who has no respect for the rules of society. He will use every technicality to get off with doing something completely wrong, but is ok by him. Huck is not all evil as one would think by this introduction. He in fact believes in personal freedom, something that he never really has had. Jim, a slave to Huck, also has to deal with many problems of society. The greatest one in fact is the fact that he is a slave. Jim is a very modest person; he will sacrifice anything to help his fellow man. Huck sees this and begins to think of Jim as a human being also, and will â€Å"go to hell † for Jim. Although Jim is a slave, he does not think of people based on their skin color, but in fact believes that everyone is equal regardless of skin, and even age. One may ever say that Jim is Huck’s true father. Both Jim and Huck have experienced life at a tedious level. They have their highs and lows, but mainly life is not all it is cracked up to be. For Huck, he must experience having a horrendous father who beats Huck to a pulp any time he is sober. And for Jim, the fact that his family is not considered human by society but rather chattel that can be bought sold or even traded at the slightest whim. Together Huck and Jim must work together to escape the society which has allowed them to live the vile life they had, and move to a place where society will let them start a brand new life. When Pap, was not around, Huck felt better about himself. He enjoyed life a little more, did not have to worry about coming home on time, only to get beat up by his own pap. He kept Huck with him all the time, and he never got a chance to run off. After Huck was kidnapped, life was worse than he ever expected. H... Free Essays on Huck Finn The difference between life on the river and life in the towns along the river is an important theme in the novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain. Twain uses language to draw the contrast effectively as well as through the atmosphere that has been created, the diction, the punctuation and the figures of speech employed. The two paragraphs, which most effectively display this contrast, refer to the peaceful life on the river and the vile nature of the streets and lanes of a town. In the fist paragraph Huck describes in mostly monosyllabic and colloquial expressions how pleasant life on the river is. At the beginning of the passage Huck uses the image of swimming peacefully to describe how the time passes, ‘you might say they swum by, they slid along so quite smooth and lovely. The alliteration of swum, slid and smooth helps to formulate a mental semblance of the swift and steady motion of the river and like the rivers flowing the words also seem to easily flow. This image is appropriate as it directly relates to the motion of the river on which they are travelling. ‘Here is the way we put in the time.’ Presents Huck’s idyllic life on the river is as routine. The words ‘then’ and ‘next’ are repeated several times in the first half of the passage, their function and effect is ensure that the passage flows, much like the river, in a slow and constant sequential manner. A sense of relaxed movement is conveyed and emphasised by diction and alliteration throughout the passage ‘then a pale place in the sky; then more paleness’. The use of onomatopoeia ‘swift’ allows the passage to progress in the same continuous and serene motion as the river. The words and phrases ‘nice breeze springs up’ and ‘smiling in the sun’ particularly emphasise the freshness of the scene. Huck’s use of personification ‘everything smiling in the sun’ depicts the contentment that everything arou... Free Essays on Huck Finn Many people think that Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel and they have even gone as far as banning the novel from certain schools. They base this view on the fact that the word â€Å"nigger† is used very often and they see the black people being portrayed in a degrading way to show that they are inferior to the white society. Contrary to this idea, Huckleberry Finn is not a racist novel. Mark Twain actually attacks racism by satirizing the lifestyle of the white people and shows that they have no reason at all to think that they are better than the blacks. This satirizing of the white people is effectively seen in the portrayal of the king and the duke. Mark Twain starts to mock the king and the duke as soon as they are first introduced in the novel. Their appearance gives a negative impression right from the start. The king is described as having, â€Å"an old battered-up slouch hat on, and a greasy blue woolen shirt,† and he’s wearing, â€Å"ragged old blue jeans britches stuffed into his boot tops.†(Pg. 121) The duke is described as much the same. This first impression makes us feel as if these men are scum and we don’t have a very good perception of them. The second thing that these men do also is used to mock society in two ways. The first man (the duke) makes up a story that he was actually the Duke of Bridgewater. He said that he was the son of the infant duke that was ignored to take over a position. Not to be outdone, the second man (the king) makes up a story that he was actually the rightful King of France. Mark Twain uses Huck Finn to show what he thinks of these two men. â€Å"It didnâ€℠¢t take me to long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds.†(Pg.125) These men are putting up a false front just like society does and Mark Twain shows through Huck that he can see right through this false front. The second thing that is mocked is the fact that these peop... Free Essays on Huck Finn Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest, most daring novels in the world. Mark Twain’s style helps to realistically portray early America. Mark Twain tells the story through the voice of Huck, the very kindhearted main character. Everything that Huck says reflects the racism and black stereotypes typical of the era. This has lead to many conflicts from readers since the novel was first printed. However, the story has inspired some. James W. Tuttleton says in an article he wrote that â€Å"Huck Finn is regularly denounced as racist trash† (The San Francisco Chronicle [1885] 6) . Yet, again to oppose that is a quote by a reader, â€Å"Anyone who is offended by this book is obviously ignorant of the true purpose of this book (which does not show slavery to be right, I might add) and perhaps should find out a little more about it than what OTHERS have told them.† (Soapbox [Shumway.2000] ). The author does use the word ‘nigger’ a l ot, he says it to the slave Jim and also to any other blacks that he sees as insulting or of poor standard. Huckleberry Finn still stands as a powerful representation of experience through the brand new eyes of an innocent boy. The only way Huck knows to treat the African American culture is the way he was taught and raised. This is how he treats the African Americans in the story. Twain’s literary style in capturing the novel, Huck’s casual attitude and truthful position, and Jim’s absolute acceptance of the oppression by the names all signify this. Twain uses southern dialect but he does not blatantly degrade the Negro society. If the author wished-for the story to be racist, he would not write about the way Huck felt towards Jim. â€Å"He [Twain] tried to evince the beauty of Huck and Jim's friendship by sealing it in flawed and humble English.† ( Race Traitor [D’Andrea 1992]). It is seen some throughout the book that Huck sees Jim as a white man. Huc... Free Essays on Huck Finn Superstitions in Huckleberry Finn In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of superstition in the novel are Huck killing a spider which is bad luck, the hair-ball used to tell fortunes, and the rattle-snake skin Huck touches that brings Huck and Jim good and bad luck. Superstition plays an important role in the novel Huck Finn. In Chapter one Huck sees a spider crawling up his shoulder, so he flipped it off and it went into the flame of the candle. Before he could get it out, it was already shriveled up. Huck didn't need anyone to tell him that it was an bad sign and would give him bad luck. Huck got scared and shook his clothes off, and turned in his tracks three times. He then tied a lock of his hair with a thread to keep the witches away. "You do that when you've lost a horseshoe that you've found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn't ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep of bad luck when you'd killed a spider."(Twain 5). In chapter four Huck sees Pap's footprints in the snow. So Huck goes to Jim to ask him why Pap is here. Jim gets a hair-ball that is the size of a fist that he took from an ox's stomach. Jim asks the hair-ball; Why is Pap here? But the hair-ball won't answer. Jim says it needs money, so Huck gives Jim a counterfeit quarter. Jim puts the quarter under the hair-ball. The hair-ball talks to Jim and Jim tells Huck that it says. "Yo'ole father doan' know yit what he's a-gwyne to do. Sometimes he spec he'll go 'way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay. De bes' way is tores' easy en let de ole man take his own way. Dey's two angles hoverin' roun' 'bout him. One uv'em is white en shiny, en t'other one is black. De white one gits him to go right a little while, den de black one sil in en gust it all up. A bo...

How the Spanish Civil war became a literal and symbolic instance of Essay

How the Spanish Civil war became a literal and symbolic instance of the growing worldwide struggle between fascism and democracy - Essay Example Six and a half decades later, the topic still generates debate. The terror began on July 17, 1936 in Spanish Morocco and on the mainland on July 18 by a military coup. Right-winged officers revolted against the democratically elected government of the Second Republic (formed April 1931) and its social reforms. The article stated that the rebels (Nationalists) were supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and under Franco’s regime faced strong resistance from the Republican working class and peasantry and from anti-fascist volunteers around the world. The Imperial War Museum further stated that the war ended on the 31st of March 1939 with victory going towards Franco. Franco’s victory saw the establishment of a third pro-fascist power on France’s borders and power in favour of Germany’s third Reich. The rebels (Nationalists) consisted of army, navy and civilian militias from the fascist Falange and from dissident monarchists and catholic organizations. These rebels were financially supported by wealthy landowners, industrialists and bankers, whose interest they defended against the reforming plans of the Republic. The largest group consisted of those ordinary Spanish Catholics who supported the Nationalists as the defenders of religion, law and order. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ This paper further defines the Spanish Civil War, however extensive emphasis is placed on the literal and symbolic instance the war has on the growing global struggle of fascism and democracy. The Spanish Civil War (la Guerra Civil de Espana) Spanish Talk reported that Spain had a Monarchist government in 1923 with General Primo de Rivera as dictator and Alfonso XIII as King. Rivera’s decisive resignation and flight from Spain came when he started to face growing opposition to his government. The Monarchist government was rejected in 1931, in the popular elections which also caused the renunciation of Alfonso XIII. Spain became a republic for the second time, bu t began to suffer a great deal of political violence as extensive discussions by Splinter groups about the extent and speed of the political unrest took place. A federation was formed by the left-winged parties to bring some amount of social reform. While at the other end of the political continuum, conservative groups threatened this federation and over the years leading up to 1936, Spain experienced some polarized political views. By the time of the 1936 elections, the popular front party had successfully unified various splinter groups in order to elevate their chances of winning at the polls. However, on July 18, 1936, an army revolt started and the Spanish Civil War began. The Spanish Civil War of 1936 could be seen as a literal and symbolic instance of the growing worldwide struggle between fascism and democracy. The Spanish Civil War is the most important fact in the revolutionary march of the Spanish people. It is no longer seen as an old style democratic –bourgeois r evolution but instead as belonging to the era of the proletarian revolution initiated by the October revolution in Russia. It aroused the revolutionary conscience of the Spanish people to unimaginable heights and became an example for the whole world. (Ediciones Vanguardia Obrera, 1969, Madrid, paragraph 1). A web article entitled â€Å"Lessons from our National Revolutionary War against Fascism 1936-1969† by Communist Party Member Ediciones Vanguardia Obrera and translated in English-stated that the victory of fascism in Spain has temporarily blocked the march to socialism. The article stated

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks Lab Report

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks - Lab Report Example The consulting services for concepts, menu, and the graphics are availed (Festa, 2012). There are five key stages of the management consultancy process that are quite essential for a food truck industry. Once apparently followed the chances of the project failing are minimal. This stage is a major determinant of the food truck consultants, which provides they provide value that relies on the people that are served. The expectation from the team is frequently set at this point. When the roles are set, the parties involved are aware of what they are supposed to do to attain the goal of the business (Food company consultancy, 2009). The staffs are very flexible, and the choice of who to head the business is never a big deal. The flexibility offers a chance to select the most competent and the profitable personnel from the crew. The food truck consultants echo the cry of the crucial steps while signing the clients should be the establishment of the well-defined expectations to have defined roles. Once that is done, there is no likelihood of the friction while on the road since everyone knows his or her roles. This step is quite imperative in the food truck industry. The overall expectations on the touch points and the derivable set the project and let the clients know what their expectations and what they cannot expect. It is always important to take care not to be too ambitious at this stage. The next step to undertake while after this is to make sure that all that is set can be attained or if possible exceed the objective. At this point, it is imperative to get the team and gear to the customers to survey the field and have a clear expertise of the ground (Magazine, 2012). After getting the food truck industry, the consultants will spend their precious time with the customers in this phase. At this stage, problems may occur, so it is always the high time to figure out the probable source and act appropriately (Magazine, 2012).

Huge Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor in Teenager

Huge Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor in Teenager Abstract Background: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign neoplasm. The huge IMT of chest is even rarely observed and there is few literatures described the disease. Case presentation: A 17-year-old girl who suffered from a dry cough with right chest pain. Contrast-enhanced CT showed a huge heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques. A surgical management strategy was successfully undertaken. Increasing physician awareness of this entity should facilitate recognition of its clinical characteristics and laboratory findings. Conclusions: This case suggests that a rarely huge and surgically treated IMT in a teenager and concerned with the radioclinical, histopathological, therapeutic aspects of this disease. Keywords Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, Lung, Surgery Background Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign tumor that often affects children. It has been first described by Brunn in 1939 [1] and it accounts for 0.71% of all lung tumors. [2, 3]. The origin of the IMT is unknown, but recent studies have shown that it is a true tumor rather than a reaction process [4]. Different terms used to describe IMT include inflammatory pseudotumor, cellular inflammatory pseudotumor, plasma cell granuloma and inflammatory fibrosarcoma. This lesion consists of inflammatory cells and myofibroblastic spindle cells [5, 6]. We report a case with a rarely huge and surgically treated IMT in a teenager and concerned with the radioclinical, histopathological, therapeutic aspects of this disease. Case presentation A 17-year-old girl was referred to our hospital with a 15 days history of right chest and cough without sputum. She denied the following symptoms including the presence ofhoarseness, hemoptysis, anddyspnea. Her medical history and family history were uneventful. Physical examination revealed normal breath sounds in both of the lung fields. The results of laboratory examinations, including arterial blood gases, hematology tests and biochemistry tests, were within normal limits. Her Pulmonary function tests and cardiovascular examination revealed normal performance. Contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) showed an 18Ãâ€"16Ãâ€"15 cm heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques invading the entire right hemithorax and mediastinal shift to the left (Fig 1A, 1B). However, the patient refused to have the bronchoscopic examination and fine-needle biopsy of the mass. As diagnosis was not established through imaging, surgery was scheduled. Under general anesthesia with selective intub ation, a huge mass (measuring 20Ãâ€"17Ãâ€"17 cm and weighing 2010g) with inferior vena cava and right pericardium invasion was found and the right middle and lower lobes bronchus appeared encased by the mass. At last, the neoplasm was completely excised. The patient underwent a right middle and lower lobectomy, inferior vena cava angioplasty and partial resection of pericardium. Mediastinal lymph node dissection was also accomplished. The feeding vessels of the mass were ligated and the mass was removed without tumor spillage or capsular injury. After that, reexpansion of the right upper lobe was observed and a chest tube was placed to drain the pleural cavity. A postoperative roentgenogram of the chest showed that the mediastinum had returned to its normal position and the right lung was well expanded. Microscopic examination revealed a proliferation of regular spindle cells arrayed in fascicles, admixed with lymphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils. Additional immunohistochemis try with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-1 and smooth muscle actin (SMA) revealed positive and the translocation of the ALK gene was found by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). The results for desmin, S-100, CD99, CD34, Myogenin, EMA and pankeratin were negative. Ki-67 proliferative activity was 8%. Based on these data, the diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor was retained. Histologic diagnosis showed a negative bronchial margin and lymph nodes free of malignancy. The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery and was followed up for two months without evidence of recurrence to date. Conclusions Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare massforming lesion characterized by fibroblastic or myofibroblastic spindle cell proliferation with varying degrees of inflammatory cell infiltration. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified IMT as a distinct entity in 1994 [7]. However, the huge inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of chest is even rarely observed and there is few literatures described the disease (Table). The cause of IMT tumors is unclear, but an immunological response to an infectious agent or noninfectious agent remains possible [8]. Whereas some reporters demonstrated that IMT tumors are true neoplasms and some believe the IMT tumors to be a low-grade sarcoma with inflammatory cells as it has a potential for local recurrence, infiltration, multicentricity, and rarely metastases [9]. Also, ALK positivity is detected in 36% to 60% of cases and the presence of chromosomal aberrations in these tumors suggests that IMT is a neoplastic proliferation of clonal or igin [10]. In our case, there was no evidence of infection or inflammatory response and no history of trauma in her chest. The tumor was single and circumscribed, and movable. The IMT affects both sexes, at any ages, with a slight predominance in children and young adults [4, 11]. Most patients are asymptomatic and the tumor is discovered incidentally on a chest X-ray performed for another reason [4, 11].From the table, all of the four patients were young adults and were referred to the hospital with a common symptom of cough. In our patient, the tumor was discovered at an early age and the only symptoms were dry cough and right chest pain. Radiological aspects are capricious. Chest radiographs are the most generally performed imaging study to evaluate the neoplasm. Most patients have a mass or a pulmonary nodule, generally measuring 1 to 6 cm in diameter [12]. On CT scans, these tumors shows typically heterogenous attenuating enhancement [6]. Sometimes the tumor can extend towards the hilum, mediastinum, pleura or diaphragm [1, 3]. As recorded in the table, all the sizes of masses were huge and two of them were observed the invasion of the mediastinal or the chest wall. There is also a word of caution in our case that the representative calcifications were observed in the centure of heterogeneous mass and it invaded the inferior vena cava and right pericardium. Microscopically the IMT tumor consists of spindle shaped cells that are mixed with a chronic inflammatory component that consists of plasma cells, lymphocytes, and occasional histiocytes. Immunohistochemistry for ALK discovered cytogenetic abnormalities on chromosome 2p23 is relatively specific for IMF tumor among the spectrum of fibroblastic-myofibroblastic tumors and other potential mesenchymal mimics of IMF tumor [13]. The recent WHO classification of soft tissue tumors recognizes 3 basic variants of IMT: (1) loosely organized myofibroblasts in an edematous myxoid background with plasma cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and blood vessels, resembling nodular fasciitis; (2) dense aggregates of spindle cells arrayed in a variable myxoid and collagenized background and admixed with a distinctive inflammatory infiltrate, diffuse clusters of plasma cells, and lymphoid nodules, resembling fibrous histiocytoma or fibromatosis; and (3) collagen sheets with scattered plasma cells and eosinop hils resembling a scar or desmoid tumor [14]. The differential diagnosis of IMT is follicular dendritic cell tumor and inflammatory pseudotumor. Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS), which was first reported by Monda et al. in 1986, is a rare neoplastic proliferation that exhibits the morphological and immunophenotypic features of FDCS that are among the accessory cells of the lymphoid system. The tumor cells exhibited positive immunohistochemical staining for vimentin, CD21 and CD35 as well as negative staining for ALK-1 and SMA. Inflammatory pseudotumors are benign tumors commonly found in the lung and they are characterized by proliferation of spindle cells (fibroblasts and myoblasts), with variable numbers of mitoses, and inflammatory cells infiltration, particularly plasma cells. More recently, the presence of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK 1) staining in some cases has been postulated to be of value in the confirmation of IMT and in its distinction from other entities. A series of studies found the translocation of th e ALK gene by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) in IMT (16). In our case, the mass was spindle cell lesion with severe atypism and some mitosis. As shown in Fig 2 (A, B, C), ganglion-like cells were present and the immunohistochemistry result for ALK-1 shows strong positivity of tumor cytoplasm and translocation of the ALK gene. Based on these findings, her tumor may be very aggressive. Despite IMT is a benign tumor, it is considered by some authors as a low grade tumor because of malignant features such as local invasiveness, recurrence or malignant transformation. Complete surgical resection is the appropriate treatment for IMT. Cerfolio and colleagues reported an excellent prognosis in patients undergoing complete resection of pulmonary IMT, with a 5-year survival rate of 91.3%. However, a 60% recurrence rate in those receiving incomplete resection has been reported in the same study [15]. Corticosteroid monotherapy may result in rapid resolution of the disease and sustained remission (17, 18). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) as solitary therapy may be extremely efficacious and anecdotal response to chemotherapy has also been reported (19). As the literature reviewed in the table, three patients had the operations by a standard posterolateral thoracotomy. Among them, two patients had the lobectomy and the other had the complete resection with two through fourth ribs. The patient whose neoplasm invaded superior vena cava, heart atrium and right pulmonary vein underwent chemotherapy with bleomicin, etoposide and cisplatin. After two cycles of chemotherapy, the tumorslightly reduced in size and the patient only survived for 12 months. In summary, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a rare benign tumor. Because of its local invasiveness and its tendency to recur, IMT tumor can be confused with malignant lesions. Because the treatment of IMT tumor is conservative surgery, preoperative recognition is important to avoid radiation therapy, and intensive multi-agent chemotherapy that would be appropriate treatments for soft tissue sarcomas. Clinical and radiological presentation is variable and nonspecific and the diagnosis is rarely made before chirurgical management. Also, because the tumor with cellular atypia, ganglion-like cells, ALK and SMA reactivity has a more aggressive clinical behavior, a careful follow-up is required. Figure legend Figure 1: CT features of the case. A and B: Contrast-enhanced CT showed a huge heterogeneous mass with calcified plaques. Figure 2: Histological and immunoistochemical features. A: Hematoxylin-eosin staining demonstrating spindle cells sprinkled, with a predominance of plasma cells and lymphocytes. (X400) B: Immunohistochemical staining showing strong reactivity for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-1(X400) C: Immunohistochemical staining showing strong reactivity for smooth muscle actin (SMA) (X400) 1

Childrens Comprehension of Television Messages Essay -- Children Tele

Children's Comprehension of Television Messages The literature surveyed so far regarding children's attention to television has relied on observation of visual attention by the child viewers. Measures of visual attention alone do not provide an indication of what aspects of the message children are extracting from the television screen. In order to acquire indications of this, researchers have relied on post-viewing measures of children's recognition and recall of information from the program. This research will be considered in this section on children's understanding of television messages. Here the concern is not with what children are looking at and listening to, but what they remember from the TV and what meaning the TV content has for them. Much of the research which has adopted a cognitive developmental perspective on studies of children and television has examined children's comprehension of television messages. The underlying assumption of these studies is that children bring different cognitive abilities and social experiences to the TV-viewing situation and that these influence how children made sense of the messages. Younger children with more limited inference-making ability are more likely to focus on the consequences of actions rather than the motivations of the actors, and often are shown to construe the television plot line quite differently from children and adults. The way in which children construe meaning from television cannot be directly inferred from cognitive development theory. Cognitive development theory may aid us in describing how children make sense of television, but we should examine children's understanding of television directly. How, then, has cognitive development the... ...hat appropriate learning materials will be developed to teach children about the medium of television, both its programming and advertising content. Such materials should help children overcome their misunderstandings of television messages. By improving the skills children bring to the viewing situation we may be able to moderate the impact television has on the child. NOTES The argument advanced here does not mean to imply, however, that children are as active when watching television as they are when engaged in athletics or doing other sorts of activities. Activity here is relative. Multidimensional scaling is a statistical technique that looks at how subject's ratings of a variety of variables group together; that is, it seeks to determine underlying dimensions which describe the relationship among a set of variables for a given group of subjects.

Energy Drinks: Liquid Meth? Essay

Over the last decade, drinks containing high amounts of caffeine, sugar, and other ingredients that increase energy have been rapidly growing in popularity. Clearly these beverages are known as energy drinks. Energy drinks have gotten so popular that it is extremely rare to find a convenience store that doesn’t sell a variety of them. Students use energy drinks to cram the night before a test, athletes use them to exercise, party animals mix them with alcohol to drink more than humanly possible, and some people just drink them to stay awake at work after a sleepless night. Red Bull, one of the most popular energy drinks in the market, claim to enhance productivity, concentration, energy and help handle stressful situations. It seemed these beverages were a godsend to overworked employees and sleep-deprived college students. But after a few deaths were linked to the drink, controversy arose. Apparently Red Bull gives you wings, but what other side-effects can these sugary, over-caffeinated drinks cause? Many people have been asking this question lately, wondering how harmful drinking them really is. Despite that consuming a large amount of the drink may be dangerous, as long as people drink energy drinks responsibly they are relatively safe. Energy drinks have a lot in common with other popular drinks. All these drinks contain high amounts of sugar and caffeine. These drinks are consumed daily by millions of people, despite the caffeine and sugar content in the drinks. Many Americans have made a habit of getting together with friends or old acquaintances to drink coffee and catch up. The increasing number coffee shops prove that most Americans don’t have a problem with the distribution of coffee. In addition, sodas which also contain high amounts of sugar and caffeine are widely accepted. Some would even consider a person who throws a party without coke just cruel. Despite the similarities between energy drinks and these other beverages (coffee, soda) they are put two different categories. According to the people who oppose energy drinks the most dangerous ingredient in them is the high amount of caffeine. A 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee contains about 330 milligrams of caffeine, the same size can of Coca-Cola has 45. 3 mg, and a 16oz Red Bull has 154mg (Meier). According to the Food and Drug Administration or F. D. A. a person can safely consume 400 mg of caffeine a day, even though some experts argue that 600 mg of caffeine won’t cause any adverse side effects (Meier). Either way all these drinks are safe as long as they aren’t abused. Basically, people drinking coffee in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Most warning labels on energy drinks recommend that children, pregnant or nursing women, and persons sensitive to caffeine stay away from the drink. For obvious reasons certain groups of people should stay away from overly-caffeinated beverages but what kind of negative effects can they have on normal adults? From 2007 to 2010 visits to emergency rooms of people who drank high amounts of energy drinks have doubled from 10,000 to 20,700 (Anderson). Some of the negative side-effects people in the E. R. reported experiencing are insomnia, anxiety, irritability, headaches, irregular heart rhythms, and muscle twitching (Liberatore). In addition, people with a heart condition could face more severe consequences like a heart attack. Since it’s hard to prove that energy drink were the exact cause of the heart attack, there aren’t that many documented cases of people dying from heart attacks solely because of energy drinks. However, common sense dictates that any substance that stresses the heart can lead to health problems. Strangely enough, most deaths related to energy drinks aren’t from heart attacks but of alcohol poisoning. Because energy drinks cause alertness many alcohol consumers mistake being alert and awake for being sober. This causes the user to continue drinking past safe limits. The FDA informed Americans how dangerous the mixture of the two was while they banned Four Loko (mixture of alcohol with an energy drink) and Joose (Benac). Despite all the controversy, most people can agree how useful a jolt of extra energy can be some days. Energy drinks can help a doctor be more alert during surgery during a graveyard-shift, help college students get that â€Å"A† they have been working towards all semester, or keep police officers vigilant and energized on the job. There’s no way of knowing exactly how many college students that graduated owe their diploma to caffeine, but it sure didn’t hurt to be able to pull all-nighters while being alert. People that enjoy exercise can lift-weights or do cardio way more effectively by drinking one before the work-out. Energy drinks are not only safe but they are making people more effective workers, students, or athletes. Besides the obvious and immediate effects of drinks containing high amounts of caffeine there are a few long-term benefits worth mentioning. Depression is a horrible condition that slowly eats away at a person until there is nothing left of them. Coffee has been shown to fight depression (â€Å"Does Caffeine Reduce the Risk of Depression? ). By drinking a few cups of coffee or one can of an energy drink chances of depression decrease (â€Å"Does Caffeine Reduce the Risk of Depression? â€Å"). Caffeine also helps prevent various diseases. People suffering from Parkinson’s disease can better control their motor-skills by taking caffeine (â€Å"Caffeine may ease Parkinson’s symptoms†). Energy drinks can be extremely harmful if abused or they could be a great source of energy. Like most things in life it can be destructive if done in excess. Most of the negative side-effects can be avoided if by taking the recommended doses. The companies that create these drinks should put warning labels on cans to prevent uninformed consumers from getting hurt. In addition, more research is needed to find out about the long-term effects of these drinks. Aside from that, energy drinks are safe in moderation. The benefits of them far outweigh the potential harmful effects. It is surprising how little evidence there is suggesting energy drinks are not safe. The reputation of these drinks was most likely was tarnished by lazy reporters, mob mentality and a few great people that just didn’t want the party to end. Work Cited Benac, Nancy. â€Å"United States Food and Drug Administration signals crackdown on caffeinated alcohol drinks. † CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 11 Jan. 2011: E47+. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. â€Å"Caffeine may ease Parkinson’s symptoms. † Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week 18 Aug. 2012: 158. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. â€Å"Does Caffeine Reduce the Risk of Depression? † OB/GYN Clinical Alert 1 Jan. 2013. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. Liberatore, Stephanie. â€Å"Q: With the increasing popularity of energy drinks, I wonder-are these drinks safe? How do they affect teens? † The Science Teacher 76. 2 (2009): 64. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. Meier, Barry. â€Å"Doctors Urge F. D. A. to Restrict Caffeine in Energy Drinks. † New York Times 20 Mar. 2013: NA(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Using Agile at Blue Cloud Free Essay Example, 750 words

In my opinion, before continuing or discontinuing the use of Agile in the company, overall assessments are done collectively within the company must be made first before coming to a decision. First, there must be a comparison of the previous company outputs and results prior to the use of Agile and after implementing Agile, then check which method has more cons than pros. Also, employee feedback must be welcomed as well, since they are mostly the ones that would be using the methods and programs hands-on. Lastly, if clarifications with the objectives of the Agile method are needed to be disseminated or reviewed for the employees that did not understand it fully, then it must be done as well. After weighing the cons and pros, only then would the continuation or discontinuation of Agile can be decided. It is expected that some changes may not take effect fully within a year after implementing new strategies within an organization (Paton McCalman, 2008). Also, the statistics of using the system for 30 months as compared to previous statistics of the company output before implementing Agile would speak better of the need to either keep using the method or sourcing another method for the improvement of the work program in Blue Cloud, since this is a timeframe which is inclusive of the learning curve and the adjustment period for all company employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Using Agile at Blue Cloud or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Thus, I would personally recommend continuing the use of Agile for the next 18 months, as well as strengthening the importance of its use within the company. Following up with the suggestion of using Agile for the next 18 months, in order to fully harness the full potential of implementing the program, feedback and reviews of the previous year in using Agile would be initiated. After assimilating the feedback and reviews as well as evaluating the circumstances that led to these opinions, changes that needed to be implemented would be done and monthly assessments on whether certain changes did improve productivity and output within the company or not (Spector, 2012).