ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The story starts innocently, informing the reader what the soldier got from Vietnam. Tim O’Brien’s narrative of his experience in Vietnam is a composite of many people’s stories. Death, life, joy, and harrowing situations are all part of his path. The Things They Carried is an extraordinarily comprehensive and graphic account of the Vietnam War that paints startlingly realistic imagery of the conflict. O’Brien describes each platoon member’s emblems, talismans, and totems for varied reasons. He also takes the audience through his friends’ numerous deep and diverse experiences and emotions. The Things They Carried title are literal and symbolic, implying that they carried physical goods and emotional luggage. Therefore, this paper aims to critically analyze Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried in a literary and figurative sense. O’Brien describes some of the actual items they carried at the start of the book: This comprised anything from their girlfriend’s pantyhose to survival kit and weaponry like pistols and explosives. In their current circumstances, they utilize weapons to protect their physical bodies. Still, they also carried totems representing homes, such as comic books, the New Testament, and a rabbit’s foot, representing their past and hope for their future. Dysentery, malaria, rots, and molds were among the other factors linked to the location. Some troops packed supplies that might give them an advantage in war, while others carried comfort items such as wine and confectionery. The author mentions one soldier (Norman Bowker) who held a thumb but was “ otherwise a gentle person .” This statement stood out because the author notes that he is gentle. The thumb appears to symbolize how many of the militaries have got estranged from their humanity. The caption The Things They Carried was both literal and symbolic. Some troops brought items into Vietnam, while others gathered them. Kiowa, an indigenous soldier, brought “his grandmother’s suspicion of the white man” into the conflict. After being enlisted, O’Brien carries extreme anxiety into the fight. He describes his experience of running away before joining Vietnam. Still, he discovers himself via interactions with other individuals and concludes that serving is the right thing to do. All of the troops had a lot of emotional baggage and had been through a lot of suffering. Besides, the fighters all had to perform awful things during the conflict and witness terrible things. The fighters had to witness their friends, the individuals they had grown to love and care about after going through this horrific experience with them, get shot and killed right in front of their eyes. The fighters had to bear the grief of losing their fr
BMW: Historical Background Being one of the greatest automobile manufacturers in the world, BMW’s existing reputation and fame can be mostly connected with models produced in the last two decades. It has a history of 90 years in the field of production of motor vehicles and achieved numerous achievements by its efforts. This way BMW has established a unique and incomparable status in the automobile world. BMW, as everyone knows, got its popularity due to its incomparable quality which is distinct and best among other automobiles. The level of comfort that it provides is very high. The Origin In 1913, Mr. Karl Friedrich Rapp, a Bavarian, a renowned engineer in a German aircraft company, formed a company in a suburb of Munich called Rapp Motoren Werke. The company was exclusively established for making airplane engines for which it got specialization. But Rapp noticed these engines problematic as they suffered from excessive vibration. Mr. Gustav Otto who was also an airplane specialist, set up his own establishment nearby called Gustav Flugmaschinefabrik and started building small aircraft. The company flourished and expanded very quickly. But Rapp, who failed to finish the contract of building V12 Aero engines under license with Austro-Daimler due to faulty engines, resigned from the company due to some financial problems. Consequent to his resignation Franz Josef Popp and Max Friz, two Austrians, took over the company. In the same year, Rapp Motoren Werke and Gustav Flugmaschinefabrik merged with each other and formed Bayersiche Flugzeungwerke. Shortly the merged firm was renamed as Bayersiche Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works), or BMW, which is widely popular today. In 1917, BMW developed its first aircraft engine with 6 cylinders called Type IIIa But in the same year the Treaty of Versailles was signed that prohibited BMW from manufacturing aircraft engines. As a result that the company switched the production over to air brakes for railway cars. Again BMW started building aircraft engines in 1922. Logo of Rapp Motorenwerke (1913–1917) and logo of BMW (October 1917). (The origin of the BMW logo –fact and fiction – Page-41). BMW: Maker of Motorcycles The company manufactured its first BMW motorcycle, R 32, in 1923. It has a power of 8.5 horsepower at 3300 rpm using a flat-twin engine transversely mounted in a double-tubular frame. BMW Cars Pre-War Arrivals The year 1928 was important for BMW’s automobile history as in that year it developed an opened roof, 743cc 4 cylinder 15 HP car, Dixi 3/15 PS, at the Eisenbach factory. The successor to the Dixi, BMW AM 4 called BMW’s first ‘real’ car was built entirely in-house by BMW in 1932. It was equipped with a 782cc 4 cylinder unit with suspended valves and a double chain driving the camshafts, producing 20 horsepower at 3500 rpm give a 50 mph top speed. The next year the first BMW inline-six-cylinder power unit called 303 was developed that used tw
The article under review in this document is titled as “ Ozone’s Janus Face: Ground-Level ozone presents one of the most complex air-quality issues facing the nation today ” authored by James F. Meagher, a research chemist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. This article brings out the fact that the Ozone can have harmful effects on various human aspects in addition to the much preached and commonly known useful effects. Where stratospheric ozone helps sustain life on the plant, ground level ozone shows an inclination to present a much more baleful face. After describing the ill effects of ozone very briefly, the author quickly moves on to the primary focus of his article: causes and sources of ozone formation and relevant issues. He draws attention to the fact that ground ozone is formed on warm and bright days due to the mixture of nitrogen, specifically [NO.sub.x], and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted naturally as well as due to human activities such as emissions by vehicles, power and industrial plants. He goes on to explain various issues related with such emissions, their sources and efforts made to reduce such emission. Air quality has emerged as a major concern is the recent past in the United States. Various efforts have been made to control air pollutants. Some of which have meet with major success, whereas some lacked positive outcomes and are still being pursued. The U.S Environment Protection Agency (EPA) shoulders the responsibility for developing and implementing National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Ozone stands out as one of the six “criteria pollutants” regulated under the Clean Air act. At the onset of the article, the author states that Ozone acts as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Stratospheric Ozone referred to as “good ozone” is beneficial as it absorbs the ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun and protects humans, plants and animals from biological damages. In contrast, various researches have revealed the evident adverse effects of ground level ozone on human health, plants and industrial materials. To uphold human interests, standards for ozone concentration in air were limited to 120 parts per billion averaged over one hour. However, studies indicate that a number of regions demonstrated high levels of ozone concentration exceeding the specified standard. While reviewing the efforts made to control ozone concentration the author points out that mixed trends have been observed. Encouragingly, VOC emissions have been considerably reduced and [NO.sub.x] maintains constant levels even after notable growth in population. However, long-term monitoring of data revealed that these positive results were offset by industrial growth. After concluding that the current standards were too high for health issues, the EPA reduced the standard for ozone concentration to 80 parts per billion averaged over eight hours. Rightly identified by the author, this new standard was likely to have significant impact on air quality management in the U.S. In this context, the author describes issues such as non-attainment areas and concerns a
There are numerous not-for-profit organisations that are seen as major engine of the social change. At the same time, ‘traditional’ for-profit organisations also contribute greatly into development of communities. Thus, BRAC, which is one of the leading NGOs, raises funds and donates to a variety of projects. These projects touch upon a variety of issues in such areas as education, healthcare, security and so on. One of examples is the project to help Bangladesh children to access schools (Teerathumaskul & Manowalailao, 2012). A conventional example of a for-profit company is Walmart. This company also contributes greatly to the development of communities. For example, in China, the company has addressed lots of issues and helped people to cope with natural disasters, financial constraints and numerous social wrongs of the Chinese society ( About Walmart China’s corporate social responsibility program , 2013). It is necessary to note that people in NGOs have two major roles. They try to evaluate needs of particular communities, develop specific strategies to address these issues and try to raise funds. At the same time, for-profit firms focus on gaining profit as well as try to assess needs of communities and address them. Therefore, it is possible to trace certain similarities between the two types of organisations. As an accountant, I would like to work in a for-profit company as I believe this type of organisation can contribute to the society most effectively. Hernández-Murillo and Martinek (2009) stress that for-profit firms can effectively facilitate development of communities. I agree with that standpoint as I think it is much more effective for a company to relocate funds to contribute to societal change as it can be difficult to find funds as more and more firms are trying to be socially responsible and actively participate in the development of the society. Reference List About Walmart China’s corporate social responsibility program . (2013). Web. Hernández-Murillo, R., & Martinek, C.J. (2009). Corporate social responsibility: Can be profitable . Web. Teerathumaskul, K., & Manowalailao, R. (2012). Beauty of alternative learning: Getting students to schools . Web.
The relevance of L1 in teaching L2 First language (L1) has been used to support teaching and learning of second language (L2). L1 has become a rich resource for teaching L2. This is a way of maximising the learning experience especially for the case of bilingual English teachers who can speak the first language of their students. This is contrary to the cognitive way of teaching and understanding the English language, which recommends that L2 should dominate the learning process. Teachers use different methods to teach the English language. However, it was observed that bilingual teachers often adopt the use of L1 to enhance the students’ understanding (Copland & Neokleous, 2011, pp. 270-272). Translation as a way of saving time Translation is a convenient way of providing further explanation to students. The teacher limits the use of L1 in further explanations. This also saves on the time taken by a student to learn a given concept. A student who learns the equivalent of an English word in the native language is ready for the next step and does not require much time to figure out its application in a sentence (Atkinson, 1987, pp. 241). In the case of Maria, who only intervenes when a student has failed to get the meaning of a word on several attempts, translation is used as a motivating tool. She used translation to maintain the students’ interest. Allowing the student to speak in L2 gives the teacher an opportunity to measure the level of understanding before intervening. This may slow down the learning process, but it helps the instructor to establish how much the student has learned. Those teachers who do not employ translation as a mode of teaching, like in the case of Tina, take more time to teach a concept. They also turn learning into a difficult process for students. This mode of teaching does not consider learning needs of students but only the cognitive processes that benefit teachers. Translation enhances the learning process and should be used frequently in class (Auerbach, 1993, pp. 7-8; Copland & Neokleous, 2011, pp. 272-274). Creating a rapport with students The “Question-answer” aspect is an effective mode of learning languages because it familiarizes students with the common used phrases. When L1 is used to communicate, students feel comfortable and motivated to learn. For example, in Maria’s lessons, she preferred to use Greek while giving instructions and responding to questions. Each response she gave in Greek would be followed by the English version. This ensured that the communication process was faster, and students were interested in learning the English form of interaction. On the other hand, Tina responded to questions
Summary of the Article The article describes a case study of the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity and nonpharmacological, behavioral therapies in managing stress-related deterioration of the disease. The need for the research emerged when Mary, a forty-year-old woman diagnosed with RA, reported flare-ups with swelling and pain in her hand joints (PRIME, 2013). The worsened symptoms appeared after more than one year of successful disease management, and the underlying hypothesis for the study was that the deterioration is essentially linked with the increase in job-related stress. The study’s primary objectives were to substantiate the hypothesis of the relation between RA activity and stress and find the evidence for the basis of further decisions. The underlying hypothesis here is that such therapies can mitigate the worsening symptoms related to stress and help the disease management when combined with pharmacological treatment. The main research question is formulated as follows: do “behavioral interventions that target these stressors may significantly reduce disease activity and symptoms, and improve the quality of life for patients suffering from this disease”? (PRIME, 2013, para. 6). The study aimed to discover behavioral attitudes that affect RA treatment in disease management and determine possible outcomes for patients’ overall health and well-being. The study focused on the association of minor stressors with RA for two reasons. First, the patient in question experienced emotional disbalance, which falls into this category instead of major stressors being family illnesses, loss of a significant other, or natural disasters (PRIME, 2013). Second, the evidence suggested for this association is more consistent and helps answer the stated questions more thoroughly. Stress that triggers emotional abnormalities is usually inevitable, however, the research data might help create practices to manage it with less harmful consequences. The study is based on one meta-review of the studies seeking to find evidence for both hypotheses suggested by rheumatologists Courtney McCray and Sandeep Agarwal. Medical scientists reviewed the existing research to explore if the stress was a trigger for RA’s development and did tensive conditions modulate disease activity in RA patients (McCray & Agarwal, 2011). The authors then examined the mechanisms of stress-associated RA flares and observed the previous studies on RA management (McCray & Agarwal, 2011). Following the McCray and Agarwal review structure, PRIME’s case study considered four behavioral therapies: cognitive behavioral therapy, tai chi, yoga, and education. Althou
Cultural competence in healthcare can be defined as the ability of healthcare professionals and organizations to provide effective and reliable healthcare services that cater to each patient’s linguistic, social, and cultural needs (Grandpierre et al., 2018). Cultural competence ensures that healthcare services provided are of high quality and free of racial and ethnic discrimination (Giddens, 2021). However, increased diversity in healthcare facilities poses a challenge to healthcare services offered to culturally diverse families. The risk factors for culturally incompetent healthcare discussed in this paper are categorized into three groups; language barriers, limited resources for culturally competent healthcare services, and the effects of cultural differences on the provision of healthcare services. Language barriers limit information exchange between patients and healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals, therefore, cannot provide all the necessary healthcare information the patient requires (Grandpierre et al., 2018). Patients are also unable to fully communicate with healthcare providers on different issues faced during treatment. Communication barriers ultimately affect the decision-making process in the course of treatment. Additionally, lack of communication affects the relationship between patients and healthcare providers, influencing the time taken to establish rapport. The number of resources available also influences the provision of culturally competent healthcare. Limited resources affect the availability of relative linguistic material, bilingual practitioners, interpreters, and training sessions (Grandpierre et al., 2018). These factors facilitate communication between patients and healthcare providers, ensuring the exchange of all relevant information. The lack of these resources affects treatment planning, materials, and goals and establishes a good relationship between patients and healthcare professionals. Cultural differences can also influence healthcare through different views on independence, gender roles, and the decision-making process (Giger & Haddad, 2021). Disparities in beliefs can create struggles in decision-making regarding the course of treatment and choices in healthcare providers. For instance, fathers are the primary decision-makers in some cultures, while mothers are the caregivers (Grandpierre et al., 2018). Therefore, patients may be inclined to follow instructions provided by a male healthcare provider rather than female healthcare professional. These factors affect the quality of inclusive healthcare services offered to patients.
The importance of improving the decision-making process Nowadays, it becomes increasingly clear for managers that the task of improving the organization’s performance can no longer be addressed within the context of a conventional management-paradigm, which implies that the managerial decision-making process cannot be discussed in terms of a ‘thing in itself’ (Bazerman & Moore, 2009). This is the reason why, as of today, it became a commonplace practice among managers not only to be concerned with increasing the efficiency of the organization’s performance per se , but also with adopting a new outlook on what should be considered a circumstantially appropriate approach towards ensuring a high-quality management, on their part. The validity of this statement can be well illustrated in regards to the managerial paradigm, adopted by Microsoft Corporation. For example, unlike what it continues to be the case in many other commercial organizations, Microsoft’s employees are not being ‘supervised’, in the traditional sense of this word. Instead, they are being provided with an opportunity to plan their working schedules on their own, without having to remain thoroughly observant of the company’s corporate rules and regulations (Klein, Schmeling & Blanck, 2005).As a result, Microsoft continues to be considered one of the world’s most successful commercial enterprises. Apparently, the company’s top-officials are being aware of observing the ‘understand biases in others’ managerial principle. This is why, instead of striving to ensure the employees’ ‘compliance’ with the applied rules and regulations, Microsoft’s managers instead aim at creating objective preconditions for workers to be ‘accommodated’ with the company’s corporate values. In its turn, this implies the company officials’ awareness of the so-called Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) of management, which stresses out the importance of adopting a proper approach towards the very process of how managerial decisions are being made (Checkland, 2000). The organization’s benefits from the use of the decision-improvement strategy When it comes to ensuring the effectiveness of a managerial process, it is also crucially important for employers to provide employees with an opportunity to have their work-related opinions/recommendations to be taken into consideration by their immediate superiors. The reason for this is apparent – maintaining the integrity of the applied feedback and listening strategies is an integral part of increasing the extent of the organization’s operating competitiveness (O’Rourke, 2013). The consequential phases of my personal listening strategy can be outlined as follows:  1. Encouraging employees to elaborate on what they consider represents a proper approach towards improving a particular aspect of the organization’s performance.  2. Identifying a common theme of employees’ elaborations, in this
Introduction Bullying is one of the most common vices manifested in workplaces. Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), explains it as a practice through which employees subject colleagues to patterns of psychological, physical, or collective behavior that compromise dignity, cause harm, or lead to various forms of threats (Wiedmer, 2010). Statistics indicate that 37% of the working population in the United States has been bullied at one point in their workplaces. This behavior is prevalent among bosses who often look down on their juniors. Men constitute the highest number of bullies compared to women. Workplace bullies mainly target colleagues who pose potential threat to their careers due to their skills, work experience, and contributions towards the overall organizational success. Employers have an ethical responsibility to ensure that they provide secure and inclusive work environments that allow employees to achieve maximum productivity (Wiedmer, 2010). This is attained through the development of effective policies and practices that govern employee behavior within the workplace. Workplace bullying has direct impact on victims and organizations. Impact of workplace bullying on victims and the organization The negative impacts of bullying in the workplace develop as a result of ignorance among employees regarding the vice, unreported cases, as well as the negligence of organizational leaders (Baack, 2011). Since there are various forms of workplace bullying, employees react differently whenever they are victimized. The most notable outcomes of workplace bullying include impaired decision making, low self esteem, depression, reduced quality of life, stress, low productivity, as well as suicide in extreme cases. Reduced quality of life is exprienced when victims of bullying succumb to pressure and ultimately quit their jobs. Loss of jobs results in loss of med