ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
People buy food in grocery stores daily. These foods mainly comprise of fruits, vegetables, dried cereals, and canned foods among others. Stalls sell spices and non-food items too. I recently went to a grocery store near my parents’ new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is called ‘Humble Aboard’ and is owned by a family of Mexican origin. In the grocery store, foods were displayed neatly, and a high hygienic standard was maintained. The display in the store is eye-catching. Two long shelves are arranged along the walls of the store. In the mid section, there is a smaller long counter, leaving two aisles along which customers walk to buy fresh produce like green and ripe bananas, pumpkins, pineapples, green maize, tomatoes onions, potatoes, and green vegetables that are displayed near the entrance. Packed perishables like milk, yogurt, and cheese, are neatly displayed in the middle counter, in a clear glass enclosure. They are maintained at relatively low temperatures by refrigeration. On the opposite wall, there are cakes, bread, sandwiches, cookies, and pies. The whole store setup is very attractive. As one goes in more on the fresh produce side, there are dry cereals like rice, beans, peas, and green grams. Every time I visited the store for supplies, it was filled with customers. This shows a great dependence of the local folk to this store. The people around the grocery store depend on it to buy food supplies for their households. They get the goods at a relatively low price as compared to a nearby supermarket. This enables them to save on their money. Furthermore, since it is located near the people’s residence, it saves their time and energy when going to buy supplies. By the fact that the store opens early and closes late in the night, the residents benefit from this since they can be sure of getting whatever they want in the odd hours. It is also well stocked. This increases the customer’s faith in it since they can be sure to get what they need anytime. The store management has identified loyal customers. They benefit from discounts, bonuses and credit services. The store maintains a high level of hygiene and preserves their merchandise in a standard way. Health regulations are adhered to. Thus, customers are not at risk of getting diseases. The store has several motorbikes always on stand-by for customers who request for their merchandise to be delivered at the comfort of their homes. In the store, there are about ten people employed. Most of the employees, I was told, were suffering in poverty before employment. It has improved their living standards, giving them something to do, to avoid indulgence in crime. The foods that go bad while on the shelves are sold at very low prices to the people who live around the store to feed their animals. The above mentioned are just some of the ways the grocery store affects the lives of the people around it. The most important aspect of this grocery store is its location. It is located along a busy street, making it accessible to a good number of people. The busiest time in the store is in the evening when people are going home from work; they stop by to pick
Introduction The substances responsible for the toxic effect of plants arise through different biogenic pathways, and are mostly so-called secondary metabolites, whose formulation and accumulation so clearly distinguish plant metabolism from that of the animal organism. Many plant chemicals are highly active substances and, since ancient times they have served the purpose of treatment, murder and suicide (Cordell, Helmuth, Manske, & Holmes, 1998). The occurrence of other pharmacologically less active substances makes a plant material toxic either because they are present in high concentrations or because they accumulate after chronic use. Mechanisms of Intoxication Syndrome The effects of the Ju-Ju plant described are psychedelic and amphetamine-like effects. The syndrome that develops in the people who use the plant are due to dopaminergic, serotoninergic and noradrenergic effects of the plant or its metabolites on the mesocortical and limbic pathways. The alkaloids in the plant increase the concentration of dopamine in the synaptic cleft, thereby increasing its effects on the post-synaptic neuron (Goodman, Gilman, Brunton, Lazo, & Parker, 2006). The effects of dopamine, in nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways of the striatum and substansia nigra include altering motor activity by influencing the extrapyramidal pathways (Boyd, 2008). This explains motor effects seen in the rituals such as tremors, occasional convulsions and muscle fasciculations. Since these dancers presumably take the leaves of the Ju-Ju plant for performance enhancement, the alkaloids have euphoric effects which are mediated by the reward circuit of the brain. This involves connections between the cortex and the mesolimbic cortex, which are serotoninergic pathways (Hyson & Johnson, 1999). Serotonin in the central nervous system is known to mediate euphoria and explains the reward effects that come with drug abuse. Dopamine is a precursor of noradrenaline and adrenaline, which, acting centrally, mediate effects such as profuse sweating and flushing, seen in these people who chew the leaves of Ju-Ju. The alkaloids undergo hepatic metabolism, to produce metabolites that may cause damage to the renal glomerular barrier during ultra-filtration, presenting with reddish urine (Cordell, Helmuth, Manske, & Holmes, 1998). The metabolites may also cause reddish discoloration of urine. High molecular weight proteins found in the plant may be metabolized into plant sterols, and cause hormonal imbalance in the adrenal steroid synthesizing system, leading to sloughing-off of mucous membranes of the urogenital system in a similar manner to what happens during menstruation (Hyson & Johnson, 1999). Diagram of the fate of the ju-ju components and pathways of the observed intoxication syndrome. Key: The arrows points the direction the effect or response takes to realize the signs observed. List of References Boyd, M. A. 2008. Psychiatric nursing: Contemporary practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Cordell, G. A., Helmuth, R., Manske, F., & Holmes, H. L. 1998. The Alkaloids: Chemistry
Day after day, hundreds of thousands of people watch dozens of movies, most of which are made in the USA, mainly in Hollywood. The way society uses cinema affects it on a much larger scale than the average person can imagine. From political economy’s viewpoint, it is interesting to observe the influence of a particular film on various socio-economic forces and moods in society. If one imagines the release of a Hollywood blockbuster with such world-famous actors as Jennifer Lawrence, Jackie Chan, and The Rock, they can safely assume that there will likely be some social changes. Those changes do not have to be immediately evident and transparent. They can grow over time, feeding into new products in the media space. Thus, the US has tremendous soft power, being one of the leading media providers (Douglas and Meenakshi 29). This is due to the ability and legislative framework that has helped the country easily popularize, legitimize and internationally disseminate the American culture. In general, as a political economist, I would be particularly interested in analyzing the role of technology in distributing a Hollywood blockbuster. Clearly, today’s political economy engages a massive portion of dominant technologies, especially digital ones (Mosco 23). The choice of a platform for streaming, advertising channels can say a lot about the preferences of the audience to which the film is targeted (Douglas and Meenakshi 27). Thus, a new Hollywood movie can demonstrate a lot about social and political trends, the power of the media, and technological change. Works Cited Douglas, M. K., and G. D. Meenakshi. “Political Economy and Globalization.” Media and Cultural Studies , Keyworks, 2006, pp. 26–31. Mosco, V. “What Is Political Economy? Definitions and Characteristics.” The Political Economy of Communication , 2nd ed., SAGE, 2009, pp. 21–30.
Art has always been a depiction of the times that people have lived in and the elements that have in some way or another contributed to their overall life experiences. Through art, one can judge the quality of life at a particular period of time. Art is a major field of study as far as learning about ages gone by is concerned. Through art, one can form opinions and gain knowledge regarding the rituals, customs, and way of life at various points of history. In this regard, art is deemed an important part of history. Art also shows the thought process followed by people at a certain point in time. This is depicted through the portrayal of various practices and rituals in paintings. One such painting that shows fear, awe, and tradition is ‘The Ten Commandments’ painted in the year 1516. Painted by Lucan Cranach, the Elder, the Ten Commandments is the depiction of the lives and times of the people in the 1500s. This painting has been presented as a panel that tells the story of right and wrong; good and evil. (McKay et al, 2003) This paper will seek to challenge and discuss the following theory regarding the painting: ‘This painting by Cranach has an obvious misogynistic tinge that merely reflects Luther’s attitudes toward women.’ To begin with, the technicalities of the painting include dimensions that go into 160 cm by 340 cm. It is an oil painting where each of the Ten Commandments has been given a separate square. The basic theme of each square is the breaking of the commandments and the punishment for each. This kind of theme depicts the degree of authority that the Church held over the people at that point in time. Through its various squares, there are a number of feelings that come to the fore regarding the punishers and the punishable. Here, it is imperative to list out the Ten Commandments so as to understand the theme in each separate box. (McKay et al, 2003). Ten Commandments have been depicted:   * You shall have no other God before me.   * Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.   * Remember the Sabbath.   * Honour you father and mother.   * Do not murder.   * Do not commit adultery.   * Do not steal.   * Do not bear false witness.   * Do not covet your neighbour’s goods.   * Do not covet your neighbour’s spouse. These Ten Commandments show that the people of that time were not mere participants of the Church – they were also practitioners of these. This is the period when the practice of the Ten Commandments began, and it continues to date. The interesting point that has been portrayed in this painting is the punishable person who is dressed in the same way in all the ten squares. This shows that the punishable are set apart by various standards that ruled the society of that time. In this way, there is a certain misogynistic tinge to the painting where there is a preconceived notion of the wrongdoer. Before moving on, let us regard this style of art so as to understand the messages attached with the same. The 16 th -century form of art is one that has been used by
The Salem Witch Trials certainly made a mark on American lives. It would be safe to assume that every American knows what had transpired during that period, more than any other events throughout America’s history. Thus far, several scholars and non-scholars have become intrigued with this and made what seems like veritable accounts and analyses. The facts, of course, are as simple as these. When two girls began acting strangely in Salem Village and a local doctor can not understand what caused their oddities, they were diagnosed to be suffering from an evil hand, and that they were bewitched. At that time, people were sure that witches exist but are not allowed to live. These girls caused even more panic when they went screaming and contorting in a public hearing conducted by the magistrates and began pointing left and right at the perpetrators. Other girls joined in with their accusations and soon they were mayhem. Later on, a specialized witches’ court was established to try these accused. That period saw numerous people being sentenced to hang, counting to more than two hundred (Detweiler, p. 597). With such figures, it is no wonder that it is characterized to be one of the biggest and most important outbreaks of witchcraft in British America. The conundrum that people had been analyzing ever since is who was behind this outbreak. Blame ranges from the devil initially to puritan ministers encouraging the witch mania to bring support for the Church, and to the ideology of Puritanism itself, a strong belief that everything strange is the work of the devil, such that all the things they do not understand were categorized as witchery. Some modern scholars see Massachusetts as a place with stifling norms, full of repressions and inhibitions, a suppression of independent thought and uniqueness that ultimately resulted in the said witch trials and deaths (Detweiler, p. 598). The Salem witch trials were also said to be the result of children having the adult world at their fingertips. That is, they were practicing conscious fraud, deliberately wielding their power over the adults through feigning their attacks and then accusing certain people of witches. In this case, the two girls were just attention-seeking and therefore the ones to blame (Detweiler, p. 599). Or there really could have been witches. Using today’s technology though to examine what happened with the two girls who started it all, their symptoms were found out to be the ones associated in modern times with hysteria. Unfortunately, in the 17 th century, they still don’t have the means of deciding what ails a person and any sort of deviant observed was considered demon-driven. Though there are too many accounts of who was precisely behind this phenomenon, it is not more important than knowing why the allegations of witchcraft were taken in easily and acted upon fervently by the people of Massachusetts. What
In the United States, bullying among school-aged children is an urgent problem. Researchers pay much attention to identifying the causes of bullying in order to improve the school environments in the United States because those children who are bullied experience the psychological stress, and bullies also require the educators and counselors’ proper attention (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005, p. 101). Bullies demonstrate the ambivalent relationship and attitudes toward their relatives and schoolmates. Many researchers also state that the students’ aggressive behavior at school is a result of bullies’ relations with their parents (Georgiou, 2008, p. 109; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005, p. 101). The lack of the parental support is the main cause of students’ deviant behaviors at school, including the cases of bullying, and those parents who pay much attention to developing their career cannot provide the necessary attention to their children (Connolly & O’Moore, 2003). As a result, bullying can be discussed as the consequence of the absence of parental support and attention. It is important to discuss the increasing rates of bullying among students at school and the reasons behind the phenomenon. To direct the research of the problem, it is necessary to focus on the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: If children are born and brought up by the career-focused parents, then these children are likely to become bullies at school. Applicable Sociological Concepts Bullying as the social phenomenon can be discussed from two rather opposite perspectives which are the Social Conflict approach and the Symbolic Interaction approach. Following the Social Conflict approach, it is important to state that the inequalities and conflicts are the basic forces of the social development (Macionis, 2010, p. 15). From this point, bullying can be defined as “a form of aggression in which, one or more children intend to harm or disturb another child who is perceived as being unable to defend himself or herself” (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005, p. 101). It is a repetitive behavior, and bullying can be characterized with such activities as “name calling, physically assaulting, threatening, and taunting” (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005, p. 101). Bullies and those persons who are the victims of bullying are in a constant conflict because bullies intend to accentuate the differences between children while demonstrating their aggression. Bullying should also be discussed from the perspective of Symbolic Interaction approach because according to this theory, members of the society are constantly interacting with each other (Macionis, 2010, p. 17-18). That is why, the phenomenon of bullying is a result of schoolchildren’s everyday interactions at home and at school. Bullying occurs only when children interact and demonstrate definite reactions. To discuss the question of bullying in depth, it is also necessary to refer to such sociological concepts as values, latent functio
The use of different dependent variables is the primary feature that differs a single-subject design from a program evaluation the essence of which is to cover a range of questions and evaluate them all without using specific data. According to Nielson (2015), a practice-based study backed by a single-case design is an excellent approach for solving various problems, including those that are directly related to social sciences. Perhaps, if such a method of work and analysis had not been invented, too narrowly focused studies would be conducted today, and little useful data would be collected. An independent variable in the research project is one of the key factors on which the outcome of work depends. When working with the victims of human trafficking, special attention should be paid to psychological aspects since some deviations of the psyche under the influence of stress are possible. Therefore, it is essential that participants themselves understand the actions taken by researchers and why specific approaches are used. In this case, the target group is likely to show even greater interest, and a number of data can be supplemented with valuable information that may be necessary for successful research. The effectiveness of the program can certainly be assessed if all the information about the organization of the project is present. The required information will include not only data on program participants but also other additional facts, for instance, timelines, resources, stakeholders, etc. If most of this information is known, it will not be difficult to determine whether a particular design is successful or not.
Maltreatment by peers is a frequent experience at contemporary schools. One of the maltreatment types is bullying the can be defined as “a form of interpersonal aggression in which one individual—a bully—intentionally and repeatedly aggresses against another, and does so, in part, because the bully has more power or status than the person they seek to harm” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p, 362). The research proves that the spread of the problem depends on age and location. From 10 to 33% of students from different schools report to be frequently bullied by other, usually older, children (Branscombe & Baron, 2017). Bullying has a significant impact on children, adolescents in particular. Nevertheless, the problem can be partially resolved with the application of anti-bullying practices. Thus, the current paper is dedicated to the issue of bullying and its effects as well as anti-bullying practices as related to peer victimization. Anti-Bullying Practices for Children: Teacher’s Participation School teachers actively participate in addressing the issue of bullying and peer victimization. The research by Gregus et al. (2017) examines the relationship between the self-efficiency beliefs of teachers and peer victimization of children. The authors define bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior by another youth or group of youth that involves  1. an observed perceived power imbalance,  2. repetition over time,  3. risk of emotional or physical harm to targeted youth” (Gregus et al., 2017, p. 305). Peer victimization, in its turn, focuses on the situation of victims and is treated as “repeated exposure to peer interactions that convey harmful intent, produce harmful effects, and are sanctioned (often implicitly) by peer groups in which nonintervention is the norm” (Gregus et al., 2017, p. 305). The research comprised data that were gathered in the period from 2004 to 2012 from six groups of teachers. There were 79 participants on the whole from 10 public elementary schools. They were assessed as for having training for school bullying. The research comprised two studies. The first one was dedicated to the determining circumstances in which teachers tried to manage the cases of bullying and peer victimization at school. The findings are that the majority of teachers are “confident in their ability to manage concerns related to school bullying and peer victimization” (Gregus et al., 2017, p. 309). Moreover, teachers demonstrated strong intentions to apply the selected anti-bullying interventions. The se
The aim of this assignment is to evaluate and discuss the present and future economic health of the radio industry. From a general perspective, terrestrial radio is faring well today. In a recent study by the Pew Research Center, it was established that over 90 percent of the US audience aged above 12 years usually tune in to terrestrial radio (Varner para. 1). Further, the study also established that the major streaming radio stations, such as Pandora, only cover about 15% of the US listeners while Spotify controlled about five percent. More data revealed that Pandora controlled about 2.4 million active sessions, Spotify has 904,000, and iHeartMedia held 346,000 (Varner para. 1). Hence, these figures reflect a small portion of reach relative to the large reach of terrestrial radio. So essentially, local stations still thrive. Ross (para. 6) observes that terrestrial radio is still strong with over 30 million subscribers. In fact, terrestrial radio has not reached any point of decline. For instance, a study by Edison Research established that 39% of SiriusXM subscribers often listened to AF/AM in their cars. As previously observed, terrestrial radio still controls more than 90% of American radio subscribers. According to Stevenson (para. 3), this percentage has barely changed between 2002 and 2013, demonstrating the resilience of terrestrial radio. However, this observation is changing. From the industry experts, it appears that more and more people are most likely to switch to streaming audio platforms. Rain News claims that “audio streaming listening hours are estimated to grow more than 40 percent, from 30 billion in 2014 to 43 billion in 2017” (Varner para. 2). This reflects about 180 million U.S. digital radio subscribers. The CEO of Emmis Communications, Smulyan, asserts that podcast renaissance cannot kill terrestrial radio. Smulyan says, “Terrestrial radio’s biggest problem right now is it has no cachet” (Stevenson para. 5). He further states that podcasts only get roughly not more than 1% share of his business, and Internet radio streaming accounts for 7% of the US radio industry. Nonetheless, Smulyan points out that the situation is starting to fragment, but they “still made more money before lunch today than Pandora has made in its entire history” (Stevenson para. 5). Despite this claim, the reality is that streaming radio and its Internet-driven technologies will outdo terrestrial radio. Although significant growth is noted in the radio industry, much of this growth occurs online. Online radio is gaining traction because listeners have their favorite podcasts readily available compared to terrestrial radio, where one tunes in and hopes for their favorite music, for instance. The Web also offers so much more where listeners can choose from over thousands of programs compared to about 30 FM/AM stations. This demonstrates that Spotify, Pandora, Last.fm, Sirius XM Radio, SoundCloud, Audioboo, TuneIn, The Echo Nest, and other digital music sources continue to gain popularity and claim shares of the radio business year-over-year. For example, in 2015, All Def Music, the leading cross-platform medi