ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Glaucoma is a severe condition that permanently affects a person’s eyesight. Moreover, it can progress over time and continue affecting an individual’s vision. If left untreated, glaucoma can cause a permanent vision loss that cannot be reversed. Hence, proper diagnostics and management are crucial for preventing the adverse outcomes of glaucoma. This paper aims to describe glaucoma, its main characteristics, management, and impact on activities of daily living (ADL). Main body Glaucoma is a term that describes different conditions with a common feature – they affect the optic nerve. Harasymowycz et al. (2016) describe it as “an acquired, degenerative optic neuropathy,” with two main subtypes – open-angled glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma (p. 2). Etiology and condition are connected to the increase of the pressure that, over time, damages the eye nerve. This issue arises as a result of fluid build-up, which is typically flowing out of the eye and can be caused by trauma, infection, or inflammation. However, in most cases, glaucoma is inherited, and according to Harasymowycz et al. (2016), one of the primary risk factors that can lead to the development of glaucoma is increased interocular pressure. The primary danger associated with glaucoma is the fact that it causes no symptoms at the primary stage of development, making it more challenging to diagnose and treat without regular eye examinations. This condition can progress over time, adversely affecting the eyesight of the individual. Hence, proper management and frequent surveillance from a medical professional are necessary. A person can manage glaucoma by frequently visiting an ophthalmologist, to track any changes in the eye nerve. However, Conlon, Sahed, and Ahmed (2017) and Schlenker, Trope, and Buys (2015) state that the main focus of glaucoma management is on lowering the interocular pressure, which is the leading cause of the condition. The treatment for glaucoma depends on the specific problem that caused the condition and the severity of it. In most cases, eye drops are prescribed, although surgery, including laser surgery or microsurgery, can be used. In addition, Conlon et al. (2017) state that the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s guidelines suggests targeting a 25% decrease in the interocular pressure when developing a treatment for the condition. Hence, the primary strategy to prevent further damage to the optic nerve is to reduce the primary cause of glaucoma – interocular pressure. Understanding the impact of glaucoma on ADL is essential since the condition affects one of the primary sensory systems in a human’s body. A study of patients diagnosed with glaucoma by Park, Kho, Kim, Kim, and Lee (2015) suggests that these individuals have significantly lower scores on the ADL scales, reporting lower quality of livi
Views of the Author The author of the article appears to be providing the citizens within the region with information that can assist them make proper choices in terms of facilities provided by the Government (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). In the beginning the author confronts Mr. Gulbranson, a local who owns a logo apparel shop and a few other small enterprises to sustain his family. Probably out of lack of knowledge Mr. Gulbranson is of the opinion that too many Americans rely on Government aid. He further shows support for politicians who approve reductions in government expenditure (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). Surprisingly, Mr. Gulbranson is awaiting a subsidy offered to working families known as the earned-income tax credit. In addition to this he has signed up all three of his children into programs that provide them with free breakfast and lunch at federal expense (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). Furthermore, Mr. Gulbranson makes use of government financed Medicare to provide health services for himself and his family. Through Medicare Mr. Gulbranson has managed to take his mother for hip surgery twice. The author uses the Gulbranson case to indicate to the public that a large number of the critics of the Government Safety Net benefit from the services provided immensely. Due to this awkward position held by a large percentage of the population Politicians have began to make efforts to increase such benefits (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). However, this approach is suitable in a case where the government has adequate funding. Unfortunately, trends in the global economy have led to a situation where the government is falling into debt (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). The situation has become national dilemma with almost 70% of the population accepting a proposal to raise taxes. At the same time 56% were of the opinion that the government should make cuts in Medicare and social security (Appelbaum and Gebeloff 1). The government on the other hand needs to solve the situation soon as it seems like it could become a major issue in the nation in the coming years. Policy recommendations made by Author As the article progresses it becomes clear that majority of citizens, especially those in the middle class appreciated the help they received from the government. Mr. Gulbranson indicates that he would rather do without the government subsidy on school lunches but
The benefits of quality health care Health facilities are expected to offer quality, timely and reliable medical services to their client; when quality care is offered, patients, economy and global social-economic environment will improve. Human resources are the most variable natural resource that the world has; when world population is healthy, the benefits will be felt at an individual, national and international level. People use their intellectualism, innovativeness and professionalism to exploit natural resources; they can only do this when they are health. To maintain a healthy nation, quality health care is needed. When quality is offered, it stretches from curative goal only to preventive goals. The result is an almost disease free world; when an economy is falling ill less often, then the medical bill of the state will be reduced. The money that would otherwise be used for medical expenses are directed to developmental projects. From a social angle a health population is a happy population; there is less stress and families can have a higher disposable income since they have a reduced medical bill. On an ethical and professional angle, the medical services industry requires practitioners to uphold high ethical values; offering quality services is an ethical virtue (Herzer). Challenges of offering quality services Quality issues in medial services industry can be classified into three main areas, under-use, overuse and misuse. Some facilities have the capacity both in personnel’s and in equipments to offer quality services however; they suffer from poor management of the facilities and human resources. These are the organizations, which lose focus in their aim for medical service provisions. Reluctance of medical staffs also contributes to inefficient services, some times staffs lack the calling, the drive or the motivation to offer quality services, and they offer the service as a norm and forget the part they are playing in the community. Patients and the communities are also to blame to a certain extent; sometimes patients fail to follow the specifications offered by medical staffs. This hinders their recovery and hinders quality medical services. The communities have a major role to play in health services provision however, when the community fails to support the system, then provision is a problem (Herzer). What can be done to improve? To improve delivery, policy makers should consider the most dominant form of inefficiency in their facility. To improve the services, medial facilities should undertake a three-stage approach as follows: Knowledge-based The approach aims at improving professionalism within a facility; there should be continuous training among the staffs as well as to patients. Patients and the community in general should be trained on how to prevent and manage some conditions through their behavior, diet and self-actions. There should be continuous training among the community members, which focuses on areas of health improvement and the role that the community can take to ensure they have quality life free from diseases. Patient-centered The approach has the patient as th
Ever wondered why people of a particular community always stick together? One may wonder why this happens. A plausible reason has been reached that obedience to the principles of a particular community is the main reason why communities stick together. The paper that follows intends to show that there is a very close relationship between communities sticking out for each other and the sense of obligation that they feel due to obedience. This is indeed an issue that has both positive implications and negative. The essay that follows intends to show the impact of obedience on a community. The paper mainly focuses on anthropology and the different ways in which people from different cultures relate to each other. The following is a brief insight of some of the topics that have been discussed in the article. The paper looks at ethnic groups and their relations to each other. How the ethnic groups conflict with each other and domination among these ethnic groups. The paper also looks at aboriginality, its authenticity and the concepts of the settler world. The article also seeks to give a detailed elaboration of the concepts and methodological approaches that can be taken in the quest to address the issue of interethnic systems while putting emphasis on the critical topic of ethnography and the relationship between indigenous persons and their nation-states. The article also addresses the issue of nationality, identity and ethnicity and how these three issues affect indigenous individuals present in countries with international borders and how this brings conflict among the people. The topic of intertribal relations is also addressed and a detailed redefinition of politics, culture and ethnicity. The ethnic system in both Canada and Australia is also looked upon together with the ethnic groups in India and Brazil. Lastly the article addresses the influence of both ethnic identities and national identities in all the societies and a possible attempt towards a critical review. The concept that was difficult to grasp in this article is that the terms used to describe one concept in a particular society can also be sufficiently used to describe another community. Those people that are in agreement with this notion insist that a common category can be used to analyze two or more cultures. On the other side, those who are against this suggestion a common category can not be used to analyze different cultures because such a thing would insinuate that the cultures are the same and there is no difference which is
Introduction Nowadays, the sum of scientific knowledge is rapidly increasing. As scientific disciplines develop and grow, there often appear numerous points of contact and overlapping areas between them. It leads to interdisciplinary studies conducted in a number of fields at the same time. However, some scientific disciplines are diverse by themselves, and their findings can be useful on their own in a wide range of other spheres. Psychology is one of these diverse disciplines. Not only it has historical roots reaching in a large number of areas of study, but also its schools of thought are so various and their findings are so many-sided that its achievements can be used in a variety of spheres, both theoretical and practical. Historical Development of Psychology Psychology can be defined as the scientific study of the mind. It is considered that psychology as an academic discipline first emerged in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened a laboratory in Germany (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014). However, numerous reasons needed to exist for a separate discipline to emerge. There had to be grounds that indicated the necessity of starting the research of this specific area, and previously gathered data on the subject. And indeed, the study of the human mind had existed for centuries, even millennia, before the academic discipline of psychology was started. The mind was studied mainly by using philosophical means, both in the Western and the Eastern cultures. In the East, for example, such prominent thinkers as Lao Tzu (Taoism), Confucius (Confucianism) and Tao-sheng (Buddhism) studied psychological aspects of the human (Fung, 1966). However, our focus here will be on the Western culture, for academic psychology is mainly the product of the Western civilization. In Ancient Greece, many thinkers studied how the human mind works, including Plato and Aristotle. One of the most important pieces of Ancient Greek writing is Aristotle’s treatise On the Soul , especially its Book 3, which, among other issues, investigates the nature of imagination, perceiving, intellect, thinking, and knowledge (Aristotle, n.d.). Numerous thinkers examined the issues of the soul (which was usually perceived as responsible for the mental and psychological processes) during the Middle Ages, but their scholastic inquiries were usually conducted within the bounds of the Christian theology. In the 17-18th centuries, with the emergence of rationalism and the scientific method, the nature of the human mind was investigated further. Rene Descartes established a strong dualism between the mind and the body, which, although the problem had been raised in the ancient times, would become one of the important issues for the modern psychology as well. Also, the scientific method which started developing in this period, thanks to the work of Roger Bacon and other thinkers, would be later used in psychological studies (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014). The works of Immanuel Kant provide a thorough and scrupulous investigation of the human mind and reason
Type of competition and amount of market power Similar to all other auto companies, my company experiences a lot of competition considering that it is a principal car producer that trades in several markets and competes against key brands. Not only does the competition involve the products, it also comprises of the resources used such as labor, materials, and advertising. Robots and machines are greatly beneficial in the auto industry. However, the competition also involves the search for expert automobile engineers and designers. Different companies also compete for the best suppliers as they search for tires, aluminum, and dashboards. Advertising is another aspect that brings in a lot of competition in the auto industry. Being a major company, I have to compete for the best broadcast and print materials for carrying out the advertisements. Market power depends on how my company markets itself through the manufacture of preferable brands and the after sale services it offers. Features of perfectly competitive market In a perfectly competitive market, many firms compete for the same market. As a result of the high level of competition, the company that produces high quality products and sells them at a reasonable price gains a huge competitive advantage. Perfectly competitive markets have companies that deliver similar products. In addition, the companies are price takers and they have no control over the prices irrespective of the huge number of buyers in the market. The price mechanism sets the prices for various products. The companies involved in these markets are minute, none dominates, and there are numerous sellers. All the sellers and customers possess perfect information regarding the prices. Companies can also exit and entre at their free will since there are no barriers. The government does not offer unique treatment to any of the companies. Some of the assumptions that are applicable in an auto industry include production of similar products. In auto industries, sales are basically made on the foundation of prices. The products are, therefore, homogenous and the clients are indifferent regarding the various products on offer. In the light of this discussion, it is worth emphasizing that various auto industries use unique brands so as to market themselves and establish their value. This involves inflating a product’s value so as to ensure that it delivers more than its actual value. It is imperative for auto companies to ensure that the exchange value of their products is more than the use value so as to promote a greater competitive advantage. Determinants of competition The competition experienced in the auto industry is driven by various aspects. Principally, the manufacture of vehicles that are desirable to customers depends on the quality of market research carried out concerning the cu
Introduction The chosen discourse community is the American Marketing Association. The researchers chose this community because of its popularity among scholars and professional marketers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico (Ringold and Weitz 28). This community brings together marketing practitioners, educators, students, and the public in general in a forum where they can share critical information relating to marketing. Its publications of informative journals and the interactive website also contributed to the decision to use it. The scholars were able to get a marketing graduate student and a practitioner to interview in this project. The American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the leading discourse community for marketing professionals in North America. According to the two interviewees, this forum offers a wide range of products to its clients. The graduate student interviewed in this research has been a member for the last eight years. According to him, this forum has enabled him to make relevant networks that have helped him so much in his practice. As Hoffman and Bateson (95) observe, having such a community makes it possible for professionals in a given field to form networks that are helpful not only in practice, but also in research and other areas. This community portrays marketing as a unique practice that defines success or failure of any firm in the current competitive markets. Resources it provides The resources offered by this forum are modeled to fit into three categories which include volunteers, academicians, and student resource center. Te second interviewee, a young lady who graduated from college two years ago, has been a member of this forum for the last ten months. According to her, AMA is one of the best forums for a marketer in terms of resources they offer to the members. From tutorial manuals to marketing tips and information about emerging trends in this profession, the forum has helped the interviewee to get her dream job and enabled her to be very effective in all that she does. Resources available to the general public The general public can also benefit from this forum even if they are not registered members. In its website, the forum has journal articles that the public can use to meet their varying needs. Although most of the videos and tutorials are restricted to registered members only, there are instances where unregistered members of the public can access very informative articles and essays that can improve their lives in one way or the other. Through this webs
Any kind of entertainment has two purposes: on the sociological side, it helps in bringing people together and on the psychological side, it provides pleasure. It is true that Western culture is nurturing passive types of entertainment such as television viewing, attending a concert, or viewing a movie, all of which are passive in nature. There is no active involvement of the individual in these acts of entertainment. Thus, while the psychological component of entertainment, namely individual pleasure is catered to, the sociological component of entertainment seems to be ignored in present day Western culture. If we look at history one does find that singing and dancing have often been a popular activity in the sixteenth century. Even today the Eastern countries do have rituals involving community participation in singing and dancing. Only in the West and more particularly in the United States that such active entertainment is being increasingly substituted with passive activities in recent times. Why has this shift happened? There are four major factors that contribute towards this shift: immigration, technology, economy and education. Immigration has brought in a very highly stratified society. More and more stratified different social classes vie for visibility in entertainment fare. Immigration has also brought in many religions such as Buddhism, Islam, Scientology, Hinduism and so on. Earlier days, people danced and sang together in the name of religion. The increasing number of religions makes it difficult for people to join together on the religious platform. This is reflected in diverse markets for diverse entertainment fare. This makes it difficult for different kinds of people to meet on a common platform through arts. Technology is another factor. The acquisition of televisions in the decades following 1950 and computer games following 1975 and their extensive use as a pastime have created dramatic changes in American cultural values. Moreover, a given individual may turn to a wide gamut of recorded music for any task and at any hour of the day, and if using a walkman may listen to music nearly everywhere. This allows him to have the pleasure of music without the sociological component. A third factor is the economy. The middle class people are today more literate and also have money to spend. This has resulted in opening of doors to opera, public musical performance, reading clubs, and salons – all of these taking away people from active participation in the realm of entertainment. Fourth, public education focuses more on building tedious skills rather than entertaining skills. Thus, in the world today, art and entertainment has become a commodity, and the artist’s survival depends on what the various publics need. Though the basic pleasure-giving functions of the arts and entertainment had not changed, their emergence as institutions managed by cadres of professionals and supported by technicians represents a complex