ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
“Urban Sprawl and Public Health”, a journal article authored by Howard Frumkin in 2001 gives a detailed account of the physical and mental effects of urban expansion. The concept ‘urban sprawl’ refers to rapid development of urban areas against slow development of social amenities (Frumkin, 2001, p.3). The author expounds that some of the distinct features that characterize urban sprawl include; increased economic opportunities, poor regional planning, and overreliance on automotive travel, which has a negative effect on physical health (Frumkin, 2001, p.1). Subsequently, abrupt extension of metropolitan areas leads to the emergence of social homogeneity that is undeniably detrimental to the health of city residents. Frumkin (2001, p.1) highlights that the effects of urban sprawl have been debated for long. However, little attention has been focused on health implications arising from this phenomenon. It is essential to note that, urban lounge affect people’s life both positively and negatively. Against this background, this essay provides a summative analysis of the impacts of urban sprawl on mental and physical health of urban residents. In-depth analysis of literature has shown urban sprawl have adverse physical effects among urban dwellers. From the article, it is evident that people are highly motivated to shift from rural to metropolitan areas, yet some essential natural resources are not available in city centres. For instance, in urban areas there are no trees and other aesthetic facilities such as open ground recreational amenities (Frumkin, 2001, p.3). Moreover, the author emphasizes that physical activities in the densely populated urban centres has become a notable challenge. Lack of recreation activities, which are known to alleviate stress, affects both the physical and mental health of urban dwellers negatively. Secondly, research conducted by psychologists indicates that people enjoy automotive commuting, yet it exposes them to mental stress, especially in the eventuality of heavy traffic jam. Moreover, excessive noise originating from traffic and industrial activities deprive urban dwellers a tranquil and calm atmosphere (Frumkin, 2001, p.3). Consequently, due to lack of soothing and restorative atmosphere most people suffer from headaches and other stress-related complications. It is reasonable to illuminate that a shift from suburbs to urban results to social isolation, loneliness and breakup of family ties, and this further leads to mental stress among city dwellers. Besides, Frumkin explicates that urban dwellers are susceptible to illnesses that are associated with large crowds. Poor urban zoning and influx of large crowds leads to scarcity of basic amenities. It is definite that when mental health of an individual is threatened, then the physical and emotional state of the body is affected too (Frumkin 2001, p.3). Studies have revealed that excessive commuting results to backaches and self-reported stress. Additionally, cardiovascular ailments have become a common phenomenon due to lack of exercise and stress. Since urban sprawl is characterized by heavy traffic, cases of accidents are rampa
Whether homosexuality is by chance or by choice is a public, scientific and governmental debate that will not soon be settled. Homosexuals make a choice to identify with and participate in the gay subculture. But is homosexuality itself a choice? Are they born gay or was this particular lifestyle a choice and is this decision making process possibly altered due to psychological abnormalities caused by childhood events? Is it possible that being gay is a combination of both nature and nurture? Does homosexuality cross cultural boundaries with any consistencies? A study of 375 homosexual men in Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States consistently found that 25 percent of homosexual men display highly gender atypical behavior, while 50 percent showed marked gender atypical behavior as young children (Whitam, Mathy, 1986). Choice, convoluted or not, or chance, nature or nurture, the controversial topic will be discussed using persuasive arguments from both sides of the issue. There is a great deal of controversy as to whether homosexuality is genetic or environmental in origin. Homosexuals are very much looking for any scientific confirmation that would verify that they were born as homosexuals. And why shouldn’t they for if God made them that way then it is not their fault they are homosexual and therefore it is permissible to act out their sorted desires. Research of any kind whether credible or not that might suggest a genetic origin is quickly offered as an explanation. But the vested interest that homosexuals have often prevent them from seeing the obvious. Many environmental factors can occur early in the development of a child that can easily lead one to believe that once a predisposition towards homosexuality has developed they feel they must have been born that way. But even if one has a predisposition towards homosexuality, they are not necessarily homosexual. However, a predisposition must be added to other factors to produce a homosexual. “This formula can be illustrated in this way; a predisposition toward homosexuality plus that first homosexual experience multiplied by pleasurable and positive homosexual thoughts to which is added more
Some of our personality traits are inborn while most are learned depending on the negative or positive reinforcement that we get from adults. Erik Erikson did a great job in exploring this concept. Through the influence of Freud, Erikson believes that behavior is not totally defensive and that the ego exists from birth. According to him, behavior is largely influenced by culture and especially the external world. He believed that the interaction of the body, mind and culture influences our development. He therefore structured life into eight stages extending from birth to death. According to Erickson the first stage starts at birth and ends at 18 months. This stage is known as infancy. For a child to undergo this phase effectively the mother should give it love, care and support. If a child is successful in going through this period, it learns to have trust in life, feels secure and develops confidence in future. A good example of such a child is one who shows confidence in everything it does. In fact research has shown that most optimistic people in life developed a crucial trust of the world during their very early years. It is no wonder that, a child develops stronger ties with its mother during this period. The second phase is referred to as Early Childhood. It proceeds from 18 months to 3 years. A child that receives proper nurturing at the first stage will probably emerge successful at this point. However, it requires a strong parental bond, encouragement and support. These elements are necessary for a child to learn how to feed, talk, and walk as well as help the child develop a sense of self-esteem and autonomy. Once they are able to manage their bodies, children start to discriminate right from wrong. The ability to use the word ‘no’ is gained at this stage. This is important because it helps the child to develop essential skills of the will. (Arlene, 2002). The third stage is the play age which begins from 3 to 5 years. It is here that the effectively developing child learns to copy the adults around them. The child gains initiative in coming up with play situations and should therefore be provided with toys such as cell phones, dolls and baby cars. At this stage, children are fond of asking several questions in an attempt to explore and understand their world. Thus, parents and other parties concerned should support them by giving them appropriate answers to enable them discover their environment. A child that is well supported in this phase will be social, active and enthusiastic in learning new things (Arlene, 2002). The latency stage/school age is the forth level. It takes place between the age of 6 and 12 years. Accomplishments of
Introduction Finns Research and Yarra River Valley Park in Templestowe, Melbourne, are the objects of the study. The two are recreational facilities situated within an urban setting. They were designed as places where individuals and families could play and socialize. Of interest in this study is the landscape in these two places from the ecological perspective. The places have both anthropological and natural origin, making it very important for various functions. Production and recycling are some of the functions that the landscape can support. It will be important to understand how these new functions can be incorporated into a system that is already acting as a recreational center. The new functions should not affect the current functions of the facility. The report seeks to achieve the following objectives:  1. To conduct an analysis of the landscape on the basis of structural, functional, and change values.  2. To expand knowledge about landscape ecology principles. Study Area The study area will be Yarra River Valley Park and Finns Reserve, both of which are located in Templestowe in the city of Melbourne (App. 1). The report released by Finns Reserve (2014), it is clear that Yarra River Valley Park and Finns Reserve have forest plantations with a well-developed infrastructure. The infrastructure includes footbridge that passes over the Yarra River, a network of paths, fitness centers, shelters, dog training facilities, a playground, picnic tables, and car-parking facilities (App. 2-4.). Methods The researcher used various methods to make an observation for this study. The services of Google maps enabled the researcher to have clear aerial images of the forest. Conducting a physical field inspection of the entire area on foot was important to authenticate the findings from Google maps. Discussion The Structure of the Landscape It was ascertaine
Talent is a prerequisite for success in any organization. A talented workforce does not only assist the company satisfy its clients but also ensures that they remain on top of competition. The challenge, however, is managing this talent. Talent management is thus a key area of concern by any organization in the realms of business. It requires deliberation during strategizing process laid down by the human resource directors in the organization. Without proper management, talent can be a rare resource in an organization. Consequently, there will be less chances of success. This paper will analyze the different aspects of talent management and how an organization can benefit from it. Talent management is a mindful, purposeful approach undertaken to draw, develop and maintain people with the propensity and abilities to achieve existing and prospect organizational requirements. A view echoed in the work of Sparrow (2009a). Due to the constantly changing business environment, it is up to the human resource department to ensure that individuals and the organization at large are focused and have the relevant talent that will give the required results (Hodgkinson, Sadler-Smith, Burke, Claxton & Sparrow 2009). What is the importance of having talent management in an organization? That might be a question to many. First and foremost, it ensures that the right people are hired for the job. Also, it ensures retention of employees. Thirdly, it develops culture in the organization that is positive, progressive and one that is of high performance. Talent management is also a tool for work force planning between the old and the new. Last but not least, talent management is used to ensure continuous non official and official learning and development (Aldred & Sparrow 2009). In order to understand the more, one has to look at the processes involved in talent management strategy. To begin with there has to be evaluations. This area involves looking at an employee’s performance and the potentiality they possess. The current employee’s performance is looked into as a tool to profitability of the organization. The company then needs to analyze projected performance bef
Summary Extraction of latent variables (factors) from a dataset can be done in several ways. This essay uses a principal components analysis of variances will be used (Watkins, 2018). This method posits that the variances equal the eigenvalue. The eigenvalue size is used to determine the number of factors (Watkins, 2018). The ones with relatively large eigenvalues are picked while the others are discarded to identify the relevant factors. The Kaiser approach was used to select only factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. Three latent variables were determined from the process, and they include Q1, Q2, and Q3. Table 1: Extracted Factors Table 2: Names of Extracted Latent Variables Latent Variable  Questions           Factors Names                 Q1               V6, V7, V8, V9      Efficiency                    Q2               V10, V11, V12, V13  Customer relation and service Q3               V14, V15, V16, V17  Service reliability            Interpretation For the above factors to be selected, they have to meet the following requirements:   * They must have a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test score ranging from 0.6 to 1.0.   * The factor loading must be greater than 0.50.   * Bartlett’s significance must be less than 5%.   * The cumulative eigenvalues must be greater than 50% The KMO test is a measure of how relevant the data is for factor analysis. It measures the proportion of variance among variables that can be common variance (Watkins, 2018). A lower proportion depicts that the data is more usable in the factor analysis. KMO test values range from 0 to 1, with 0.8 to 1 representing more appropriate data for factor analysis. In contrast, values near 0 depict significant partial correlations relative to correlations, and hence the values are unacceptable in the analysis. Factor loading is a matrix that shows the relationship of each variable to the underlying factor. It indicates the correlation coefficient for observed variables and factors (Watkins, 2018). A higher factor loading means that the factor extracted much variance from the variable or question. Efficiency Efficiency, in this case, is a name given to the latent variable Q1 associated with V6 to V9. It covers aspects of the time spent by customers waiting to be served and the willingness to serve the customers. It also relates to the speed with which the clients were attended to by the Citizen Services Center’s (CSC) staff and the workers’ politeness to the customers. From Table 2, it can be observed that the majority of the responses were 4 or 5, where 4 stands for ‘Satisfied’ while 5 means ‘Very satisfied’. Table 3: KMO and Bartlett’s Test for Efficiency Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy   0.814 Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square  15    df                                                4     Significance according to Bartlett                0.00   Table 4: Factor Loading for Efficiency Question codes  Factor loading V6              0.953          V7              0.944          V8              0.974          V9              0.950           Customer Relation and Service The customer service factor associates
Introduction A company’s success relies on the intelligence of its workers. However, another element of this equation is defining the ethical climate of the organization. This act provides the workers with a set of rules that shape the way they should behave and ensure mutual respect and accountability. However, this step can be unnecessary if one hires people with high emotional intelligence. These individuals will know how to act even if the company does not enforce certain guidelines. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance of having an ethical climate and employees exhibiting high emotional intelligence within a place of work. Ethical climates An ethical working climate is achieved by the company enforcing specific guidelines according to which their workers should behave. These rules can try to achieve different results, from festering teamwork to emphasizing making a profit (Elçi & Alpkan, 2009). For instance, in the bank where I work, the management has created a climate that encourages the employees to help outline the company’s goals. This gives everyone a chance to voice their opinion and establishes a common objective in which everyone is interested. Additionally, this climate ensures that everyone does their work diligently as they understand their responsibility. Emotional Intelligence One way to bypass the step of establishing an ethical climate within the company is to hire people with high emotional intelligence. This metric is defined by an individual’s ability to modify the way they act based on how others feel in a particular moment, which is useful in the context of creating a good working atmosphere. As it is not always possible to hire people with high emotional intelligence, it can be helpful for the company to teach its employees this skill (Mattingly & Kraiger, 2018). For instance, in the bank where I work, the managers encourage the employees to work on their ability to understand mood-related cues and modify their behavior accordingly. This has helped create a more harmonious atmosphere within the company and prevented the escalation of several conflicts. Conclusion To achieve success, a company needs to ensure that its employees enjoy working there and understand what they are striving for. For this specific reason, organizations create ethical climates that can serve as guidelines for how an individual should act. Another way of achieving a pleasant working atmosphere is having the employees learn the skill of understanding emotional cues and modifying their behavior accordingly. Reference Elçi, M. & Alpkan, L. (2009). The impact of perceived organizational ethical climate on work satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 84 , 297-311. Mattingly, V., & Kraiger, K. (2018). Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical inv
Introduction Assessments are critical tools in the determination of progress success and performance. They can be performed through questions, examinations, demonstrations, and tests (Horton, 2012). They assist to gauge learners understanding in the learning process. Creation of an effective survey establishes the initiation of e-learning improvement (Clark & Mayer, 2003). A survey reveals the rate at which learners are able to perceive instructions from their trainer. Therefore, we can take a survey as a form of assessment that tries to find what a learner knows. It is necessary to design an arranged procedure for establishing an effective survey. In a bid to design such a procedure, I will make a description that can direct the creation of an effective test instrument through the appropriate procedures based on best practices. Survey Goals The efficacy and success of every program relies on its target. Running activities without goals and objectives portrays lack of order, and leads to failure. However, when we use identify the goals of a survey and adhere close to achieve them, there are high chances of success. In test creation we must decide why we want to test. Effective tests support learners in attaining their educational goals. This is a key reason that coins tests to the progressing instructions and learning. It helps learners to understand the objectives and their role in the ultimate goal. The other reason is emphasizing on the critical learning sections to facilitate motivation. In tests, learners apply the acquired knowledge to enhance deep mastery of ideas. They, therefore, achieve significant strategies of researching and revising towards attaining the highest points in the assessment. Also, a survey certification of mastery to acknowledge that a learner has the skills to perform professional tasks on legal bases. Another reason that supports the success of the progress is a avoiding repetition of learnt materials. Some course material might be known by learners. If the trainer instructs on these sections, they would lead to loss of time. Therefore, it is necessary to ass
Introduction Understanding one’s ethnical and racial background is crucial because it helps in building the confidence needed to initiate progress within a particular community. Knowledge of the history of the black people, as an example reminds me of the accomplishments and the contributions that the Black race made long time ago. It also helps in developing a strong feeling of pride thereby giving me the necessary morale of surging ahead in terms of growth and development in different sectors. It is through the maintenance of culture that people often find themselves going to war. As a member of the Black community, I have gone through many good experiences that have increased my pride in preserving our culture. However, there have also been emotional experiences caused by tragic historical amnesia that have threatened our welfare. This work explains my racial and ethnical background, the challenges I have gone through, effects of these challenges and the necessary measures that I have taken to improve my profession as a counselor. My Racial and Ethnical Background My cultural background is Black America. Both of my parents are Blacks. However, my father has some Cherokee Indian culture from his family tree. I grew up in Miami, Florida, from my childhood until when I finished my senior high school, in the late 1960s and 1970s. I attended an integrated school where there was a mixture of Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. Lucky enough, the intercultural integration in this school was not characterized by racism and cultural divide. This characteristic, coupled with my out