ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Athletics is a very popular sport since it stands distinctly from other sports like football, basketball, table tennis, hockey, golf or even swimming. It involves aspects like, walking, jumping, and running in the form of cross country running, race walking, road running and track and field running. Athletics has become a resourceful sport in different countries due to the image it creates and the revenue earned from it. Many have taken it as a profession and earn their living primarily from athletics, for example, the athletes, the athletic director, and other staff concerned with the running of athletic programs at different levels while others take it as a form of relaxation and physical exercise that helps to keep the body fit and healthy. A 5k race is essential and gives runners especially those doing it for their first time a nice experience as it offers motivation and helps the runners enjoy all the aspects in the race and also enhance speed in future races. This paper discusses my experience in a 5k race from preparation, actual running and even after the race giving the practical significance of the experience in my life in general. Preparation for the Race Just like any other aspect of life, running requires preparation so as to make the exercise a success. Being my first 5k race, I had a lot of anxiety and needed a lot of training and preparation to make sure that I gave it my best and win in the competition. It was a relay and I had to be cooperative with my team members who were my workmates. Running requires some inner motivation and training since not everyone can run. It may be very intimidating especially for a person who is doing it for the first time due to the challenges associated with it, for example, fatigue and injuries. Prior preparation is very essential to ensure that the body is used to the practice of running and one can therefore run comfortably. Two months prior to the actual exercise, I took the initiative of getting a medical clearance from my doctor to ensure that am fit to participate in the race without health complications since it is important to always maintain good health. I also had to identify the appropriate shoes for my foot type to ensure that I am comfortable when running and to avoid unnecessary injuries that could interfere with the process of running. This is done by visiting experts in the running field who stock sports shoes, giving the right information after which the appropriate shoes are provided. Warm ups are very essential for example walking for some minutes prior to running. During my first week of practice, I had three sessions of walking for 6 minutes and jogging for 1 minute and three sessions of 5minutes walking and 2minutes jogging; week three involved four sessions of walking for 3 minutes and jogging for 4 minutes, and walking for 2 minutes and jogging for 5 minutes four times during the fourth week. During the fifth week, I had four sessions three times, 2 minutes walking and
Introduction Developed by Robert Agnew, the General Strain Theory (GST) just as it suggests is a theory that associates social structures with strain/stress in a person or people that in turn induces their desire to commit some criminal actions to lessen the strain. According to Agnew, general stain theory hypothesizes that the strain results in unenthusiastic emotions that may lead to several conclusions with delinquency being one of them (604). The precise strains that are talked about in the theory include disappointment to attain esteemed goals (for instance, finances or position), the taking away of treasured stimuli (for example, parting with a treasured asset), and the encounter with a demoralizing instance such as corporal maltreatment (Agnew et al. 44). While a good number of precise sorts of strain may fall in these groups, attempts have been done to identify the situations in which strain may result in criminal activity. The paper is a summary of the various common themes brought out by various publications on the subject of GST. Specifically, the paper
Introduction Technology and social media have had a massive impact on the way people read in the modern society. Although several benefits can be identified, critical analysis shows that negative factors outweigh the benefits. According to Bijker, Hughes, and Pinch (87), technology and social media have completely changed the reading pattern that existed before. The stakeholders in the education sector are still not aware of the best ways through which these negative impacts can be addressed. In this paper, the focus will be to determine how technology and social media shape the way people read today. Poor Performance Technology and social media are directly linked to poor performance among students today. Students spend much of their time on Facebook, Tweeter, and YouTube, sparing very little time for their academic works. This has lowered the standards of learning in many institutions. Students find it easy to address their assignments online, eliminating the research work that existed before. Some students would copy-paste answers they get from the internet every time they have an assignment. As Noor and Hendrick (27) note, scanning of books, journal articles, and other literature has become very popular among the students as they do not have quality time to do their researches. Their interest is to address their assignments within the shortest time possible to create more time to spend on social media. The existing technologies have made skimming and scanning of literature simpler than they were before. This habit among students is reducing their capacity to read and understand the concepts presented in their course materials. The overall impact is poor performance among the students. This situation explains why many firms are now complaining that many institutions of higher learning are currently producing less competent graduates with limited practical knowledge. Development Skills Learning institutions are meant to promote comprehensive social development among learners. However, the use of technology and social media has made it difficult to achieve this objective. Communication skills among these students are poor because people meet more often on online platforms instead of face-to-face communication. This made it difficult for learners to develop better communication ideas outside the internet. The common use of text messages, especially the abbreviated words is affecting the communication skills of the learners. It is common to find cases where students use abbreviations popular in social media when writing their papers. Some of these abbreviations may not make sense to the examiners. Others use such abbreviatio
Introduction Robert Bellah described the concept of “civil religion” in America as the public events that symbolize the “beliefs, symbols and rituals” of the people of the country. The Four Freedom’s Speech of Roosevelt was addressed to the Congress in 1941. The address was regarding the impending war against nations who were looming threat to democracy. In this essay we argue that the concept of “civil religion” as presented by Bellah does not represent the speech of Roosevelt. Main body Bellah first showed that the speeches of American Presidents who addressed the nation used “God” in a secular way without any adherence to a particular religious belief or ideology. So did Roosevelt when he mentions “This nation has placed its destiny in the hands, heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God.” The point of departure from Bellah’s theory which points out that American sovereignty may rest in its people but the ultimate power is vested in “God”. Roosevelt’s speech puts the people and God at par. Bellah portrays the concept of American “civil religion” to “carry out God’s will on earth”. But Roosevelt posits the reasons of the countries actions against the threats to democracy as a defensive mechanism to safeguard the nation state rather than to carry out God’s shown path. So Roosevelt’s speech does not call for a crusade, as the American “civil religion” would like to believe, but an action undertaken to safeguard the nation against impeding dangers. The concept of religious “civil religion” that developed post Civil War, primarily through the speech of Lincoln which symbolized “death, sacrifice, and rebirth enters the new civil religion.” But Roosevelt’s speech does not create any such symbolism. Rather it is a very upfront political speech which talks of facts and figures and the agenda that the nation has to counter the anti-democratic forces. With the Second World War, Bellah points out, the concept of “civil religion” has taken a different shape and presidents like Roosevelt and Truman have tried to establish the nation’s power against the universal wrong and portrayed it to be American responsibility to do so. Roosevelt’s speech is atypical of this new concept that developed post world war and explicitly did not adhere to the concept of American “civil religion” as was framed by the early Presidents. Here the will of God and the ultimate sovereign God has been replaced by armed and military regimes, which has put the American “civil religion” at stake. Conclusion In conclusion, we may say that the American “civil religion” concept has not been directly referred to in Roosevelt’s speech. Though we find the mention of God in his speech, but their symbolism is not as that found in the speeches of Lincoln or Washington. The speech is more in the line of modern concept of military power of America being demonstrated to the world.
Introduction The opening scene of the movie “V for Vendetta” takes place on the streets of London, and depicts Evey, being harassed by state thugs for being out after curfew. It is at this point that the audience is introduced to the hero V, who saves day. I know this movie was based on a graphic novel written in the 1980s, but the opening scene reminded me of the opening scene in Vin Suprynowicz’s novel, The Black Arrow. Comparison of the opening scenes “You cannot kiss an idea,” says an attractive wench (Natalie Portman) at a public execution in 1605. “They do not bleed. They do not love.” They also look very silly dangling on the end of a rope. The great idea was to bomb the Houses of Parliament. The bright spark was Guy Fawkes. Welcome to the opening scene of V for Vendetta, a veritable time machine of a film that whisks us from the gallows to the near future to try out this brilliant plan all over again. You can’t fault the logic of James McTeigue’s thriller. The scene can not be regarded as sad, or evil, or even mysterious. It is impressive. It aims to impress the watcher, in order everybody, once started watching it, finished it without any stop. It catches the attention by the depth of Natalie Portman’s voice, starting the
Introduction Atkinson, Hugo and Lundgren (2007) allege, “We now are in the STEM generation” (p. 15). STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Today, the acronym has taken a broader meaning. It encompasses environment, agriculture, education, economics, and medicine. There is a universal agreement that everyone deserves to be STEM literate. However, there is a distinction between being STEM literate and literacy. According to Atkinson et al. (2007), STEM literacy is perceived as deictic way of acquiring further learning. STEM literacy is founded on three pillars of learning, which are cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Atkinson et al. (2007) claim that STEM literacy “refers to the ability to adapt to and accept changes driven by new technology work, to anticipate multilevel impacts of their actions, and find measured, yet creative, solutions to problems that are today unimaginable” (p. 19). They argue that STEM is perceived as an essential component in the training of our next cohort. It assists to improve the quality of education system and enables learners to compete in the global platform. The present competitive world requires a highly educated and skilled workforce. This article will discuss the significances of exposing young students to STEM education. Exposure to STEM Education There are worries that the majority of the young people in the United States are not ready to react to present or future demands. The Majority of the students perform po
Introduction The Sketchers Shape Ups is one of the products in the consumer packaged-goods industry. The industry has other good like Sketchers Sport, Sketchers Resistance, and many others. Initially, the industry sold products like the skate shoe and the utility-style boots. However, with time, the company diversified its products and started selling a variety of casual and sports wear for adults, as well as children. The industry works hard to maintain its fashionable and elegant brand image. Some of the strategies that the industry employs include celebrity-driven advertisements, which facilitate in reaching thousands of celebrities. This paper will focus on a promotion strategy for Sketchers Shape Ups product. Advertising and Promotion Plan The advertising and promotion plan will require the company to spend more than what its competitors will spend to enable it to gain a competitive advantage. Setting a high cost for advertising and promotion in the marketing plan, usually demonstrates how the company will deliver its unique selling propositions to its prospective customers. Advertising and promotion tools are key elements of the marketing mix. Therefore, the company requires making sure that it has the best advertising and promotion strategies for its products. This would enable it to compete with its competitors, as well as to gain a competitive advantage. A company can only compete well if it has enough money to use in advertising and promoting its products (Birdsall & Johnston, 2010). A company ought to think in terms of, which media is the most effective in reaching the targeted markets. Once it identifies the appropriate media, the company requires computing the annual budget to facilitate in effective promotion. If the company wants to stand out from its competitors, it ought to look for an advertisement medium that would reach a large number of customers (Jedidi, Mela & Gupta, 2007). Media Used and Why To make substantial sales, a company ought to communicate its products to a big number of people. This can only be achieved through selecting an advertisement medium that is accessible to many people. While organizations have numerous advertisement media to choose from, not all media are accessible by all consumers. Consequently, before deciding on the advertisement medium to use, an organization ought to have an accurate profile of its target customers. In this case, the company intends to use television as its advertisement medium. The main reason for using television as the advertisement medium is that it will facilitate to capture a vast target audience. Majority of the homesteads owns televisions. Hence, using television to advertise the Sketchers Shape Ups will give the company an opportunity to reach a wider consumer base. Apart from reaching a wider consumer base, television conveys messages in both audio and vi
Introduction Global issues surrounding the Earth are nowadays becoming increasingly severe and evident. The rapid devastation of the ecosystem, overpopulation, and various large-scale conflicts seem to be the main problems our world is facing today. People and their actions have been regarded as the root of all the aforementioned aspects, and rapid population growth has been seen as expanding this root and, thus, the scale of global issues. Scientists tend to approximately calculate how many years the Earth will be able to generate the resources necessary for its habitants. However, the latest researches put forward a theory that the population could disappear before the resources collapse. In 2019, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson wrote a book called Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline . 1 In their work, they voiced their concern about the future possibility of a rapid decline in population numbers and its implications for the overall world conditions. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze the introduced book as well to express some personal ideas and attitudes concerning the topic. The Issue of Overpopulation Nowadays, people create a variety of things in order to diminish the problem of overpopulation. They popularize programs of rational family planning in countries with a high fertility rate, and they even create state laws about having a certain amount of children in a family. For instance, Chinese couples were allowed to have only one child for almost 35 years. State governments and ecology activists promote the ways of family planning safe for the planet because they are afraid that the Earth will not have enough resources to sustain all its residents. The environmental impact on the planet’s ecosystem is also of crucial importance. In order to provide themselves with all the necessary items, people now frequently open various factories and plants across the globe. The level of consumer products that pollute our planet is also massive and needs immediate reconsideration. However, while some people are trying in vain to stabilize the average population growth in all parts of the world, others are becoming aware of the implications such drastic changes can bring to the future of the Earth. The Brief Book Outline Bricker and Ibbitson are firmly convinced that even though the actions taken towards population growth reduction are beneficial nowadays, they are to bring some serious drawbacks in the upcoming decades. The title Empty Planet in 2019 seems not very realistic and even surreal because of all the statistics researchers provide on the rapid growth in the number of people. However, the authors do not omit or ignore the fact t
Introduction Following the successful design of learning activities, there is a need to devise ways and means on implementing an online course. This is made possible by the use of frameworks that are activity-based. How an online course has been structured could either hinder efforts by the user to navigate through it, or enhance such activity. Many people tend to organize the information as per the information’s structure and not necessarily the user’s needs. The course layout, as well as the activity design, should enable the student to get all the appropriate information. The appropriate learning process must be included in the design. The module should be hyperlinked to other links. This helps the student in accessing all the required material at the same point without having to divert his/her attention by looking for discussions, tests, or other content from somewhere else. There is always a need to create a flowchart for the course. One needs to create a storyboard for a particular course. This enables one to visualize where the components of that course will be placed as well as the working of the navigation. In addition, it is also still possible to visualize the plan using a sitemap. Moreover, a planning template or a flowchart could also be used to accomplish the same objective. Although software can be used in document creation, it may be appropriate to use pen and paper or even do the rearrangement of the sticky notes. Homepage The homepage is vital in determining what the course is about, showing the available resources, and giving general guidance to the course. If the student is new to online tasks, an orientation activity should be created to familiarize him/her not only with the environment but the tools as well. If a student is required to work collaboratively online, there should be a provision for the socialization element. Icons, colors, and link titles should be used. This should be coupled with their descriptions. The homepage should be uncluttered for easy navigation. There should be consistency in the design, structure, and implementation of the courses. The system should be flexible to allow the tutor to edit and even customize the courses. Tools & Resources Several tools can help in the development and presentation of online courses. Respondus could be used in the development of quizzes while media is of great help in uploading as well as streaming media files. Lectopia is vital in the recording of online lectures while the U21Resource Catalogue is important in the teaching resources sharing. The resources that students need to successfully finish the course. Many online resources could be relevant to the course. Other resources may have to be produced by the tutor or a specialist. The media library can be used to link the course with online resources and make the glossary. Production Checklist After making a plan for the elements to be included in the course and their use, one needs to create a checklist. While considering the tools, resources, and skill requirements, remember the development and student learning needs. For the course to be a success there has to be a project plan with a ti
Introduction Formerly, the growth in the agricultural sector of the United States had been quite unpredictable. Strong growth at a certain time of the year was sometimes also followed by a decline. In recent years however the growth had been somewhat steady and predictable. In 1996 the agricultural exports peaked at almost $27 billion (US department of state dispatch, 1998). After a decade, the imports began to raise hence this figure came down. There are many factors such as development, population growth, etc, which affect the growth of the agricultural sector. The macroeconomic changes especially have a significant impact on the growth, exports, etc of the agricultural sector. Earlier, the demand for agricultural products was dependent on a few prospering markets. These were Japan, European Union, etc. As no new markets coming up, hence a steep decline in agricultural products was noticed. This affected the overall exports of the United States. Recently, as new markets are coming up hence there hence been an increase in the demand has been noticed. With this change, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has been making a few changes in its long-term projections. The main reason for this rapid change is population growth and changes in export, import trends. Impact of macroeconomic changes Figure: Changes in agricultural imports and exports The rate of economic growth has a significant impact on the demand for agricultural products in the United States. USDA (1996) predicted that in the 1990s the growth would not be that erratic, but it will rise steadily. There was no decline predicted in the agricultural market’s growth. Even the fast-growing markets such as Japan and European Union would also continue to grow (USDA, 1996). However, the actual results were somewhat different from the projections. The demand for agricultural products went down in the high-income markets i.e. Japan, European Union, etc. In 1996, these two markets alone represented almost 35% of the United States agricultural exports. However, this percentage came down in the next ten years and in 2006 they represented only 22% of the total exports. The changes in the growth pattern of the exports of agricultural products can be due to many reason