ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Today, more than ever before, most parents have accepted the notion that the first three years of a child’s life are critically important in determining whether or not the child will mature into an individual of high mental and cognitive abilities. Proponents of the ‘myth of the first three years’ argue that much of the child’s brain development takes place within the first three years and, therefore, parents need to utilize this time-frame to ensure their children gets the best start to life (Bruer, 1999). However, controversy surrounds the issue, with current literature revealing that brain development does not shut at three years of age and that there is no objective evidence to indicate that the first three years are of critical importance in the development of various abilities that enhances individual success (Gormley et al., 2010). By relying on literature and practical experience, this paper purposes to demonstrate that there is no such thing as the myth of the first three years. Towards Understanding the Myth First coined by Bruer (1999), the myth of the first three years presupposes that “…the first three years of life determine, in an all-or-none, once-in-a-lifetime manner, the success of a child’s development across the lifespan” (Lerner, 2002, p.124). The description implies that the first three years are critical in shaping a child’s cognitive and learning abilities to a point where this period in a child’s lifespan determines whether or not the child will succeed or fail in life (Gormley et al., 2010). As a consequence of this myth, many parents interested in the success of their children might believe that by the time the children enrolls in kindergarten and grade schools, all the brain developments critical to their success in life will be behind them. The concept have received criticism from various quarters for putting unnecessary pressure on parents to utilize the first three years to develop their children’s cognitive and learning skills or else risk condemning them to a life of failure. However, neurobiological and behavioral studies conducted over time in addition to our own experiences demonstrate that brain development and cognition are not exclusively limited to the first three years of life. Critiquing the Myth Gormley et al (2010) notes that the first years of life are critical in the development of a child due to a number of varied reasons, which orients more towards attachment and emotional development than
Religion is the fundamental element of human existence. Since the initial stages of the existence of mankind the concept of God who created the world and all living beings in it were dominant. With the appearance of Christianity, this concept became the leading idea of this religion and the life of many people in the world. Christ is acknowledged as the creator and as the eternal logos that controls human existence and evolution. In this paper we are going to examine the significance of the figure of Jesus Christ in human history and evolution (Imperato, pp. 3 – 5) To achieve this, we are going to use books by famous theologians and scientists like Imperato, Mathaler, and Mother Theresa. The traditional Catholic Church nowadays acknowledges the possibility of the coherent existence of Christ and scientific evolution. The explanation for it is the fact that Christ is considered to be the creator of mankind and the moving power of its evolution (Mathaler, pp. 1 – 15). That is why the modern attempts to combine religion and science do not seem to be obscure. But in the times when Christianity was only at its dawn, people did not have any scientific explanations to the facts of reality and Christ was the only cause and reason for everything that happened to them. Dr. Imperato, considering the theology by Teilhard, says that Christ is love and freedom and “The evolutionary process passes through human consciousness in love and freedom” (Imperato, p. 9) Drawing from this, the only cause of all changes and developments in the human history is Jesus Christ, who is consequently love in all people. The same ideas are formulated in Mother Theresa’s book that teaches all people to love towards other humans and living beings (Mother Theresa, 1988).
Introduction Since time memeorial, rituals and myths that are held by a certain community have alsways been some of the main elemetns that define and differentiate that community from the rest of the world. Although presently societies have undergone a great revolutuion in terms of development and embracing new cultural practices as compared to few decades ago, there is little that has changed in most myths and rituals that are respected not only by societies, but also religious groups globally (Bell 2-7). For instance, the Muslims have specific rituals that identify them; rituals that have been there since the onset of this religion. Although some of them are very old, adherents of this faith respect and believe in them, because they define their entire way of life. Ramadan is one of those Islamic ceremonies that are associated with numerous myths and rituals. Myths and Rituals A myth is a traditional story with a purpose. It is usually concerned with early history of people and explanations of some social phenomenon. Typically, it involves supernatural beings or events that are done by these supernatural beings (Kluckhohn 47-52). Myths also try to explain why the world is the way it is and the relationship between gods and humans. There are two main classes of traditional tales, which are common in most societies. These are fables or myths, which have some aspect of truth in them or those that are just imagined and told (Campbell 3-5). Myth stories are false stories because they took in primordial age. In addition, the supernatural beings in the stories make the events in a myth usually impossible. But in their explanations, they try to send a message that has a very important social or religious meaning. Mythology – the study of myths- tries to search for the connection between myths and different cultures. Hence, to larger extent, myths are used to establish models for behavior by providing meaningful religious experiences. On the other hand, through the use of myths, in most scenarios communities have a tendency of separating themselves from the contemporary world by embracing the mythical world. They also try to answer numerous common questions asked by humans like; who made the universe? And what, why, and when was the entire phenomenon in the world created (Campbell 3-6). A ritual on the other hand, is a custom, ceremony, a procedure or series of systematic set of actions that are performed at specific events, time and place with a symbolic meaning. The significance of a ritual primarily depends on tradition or religion of a society. Actions performed in a ritual are usually chosen by the performers but the words and what they symboli
Statement of Aims & Objectives The successful economic growth of China leads to the transformation of the global economic space, where the leading positions are still occupied by the Western countries. The new US administration, fearing economic competition, has announced a policy of containing China. At the same time, Washington is violating existing rules of international trade. Tensions in economic relations between the United States and China are growing, representing a real trade war. The novelty of the situation is that for the first time in the history of US-Chinese relations, economic contradictions between the parties resulted in such large-scale actions (Meltzer and Shenai, 2019). Identification of their consequences is beyond the scope of standard methods for evaluating trade policy measures. According to the IMF’s fair conclusion about the trade standoff between the US and China, the main losers in the trade war are producers and consumers (Steinbock, 2018). First of all, the tariff war had an impact on consumers in the United States and China ‑ they definitely lost out on trade tensions. However, the trade war has a much more devastating effect on producers, placing them in extremely difficult conditions. This conflict is likely to be quite protracted and may lead to increased efforts by China to promote alternative economic strategies. Naturally, the subsequent aggravation of the trade war can have a significant impact on the global economy as a whole and on certain markets, in particular, such a dynamic, turbulent, and fast-growing market as the smartphone market. Without a doubt, given the popularity and (at the moment) the indispensability of the Android operating system, one can assume the emergence of serious problems in Chinese smartphone manufacturers. According to media reports, the trade war has already cost tech companies $10 billion (Felbermayr and Steininger, 2019). It seems interesting to consider the impact of US trade sanctions on Chinese smartphone manufacturers, using the example of Huawei. The aim of the study is to build a multi-factor model of the impact of US trade policy and sanctions on financial performance, world market share, stability, competitiveness, and prospects of Huawei. In frames of the goal, the following tasks were formulated:   * To trace briefly the evolution and causes of the US-China trade war   * To analyse the US restrictive trade policy, the content of the sanctions, their current application and prospects   * To analyse the dynamics of operational and financial indicators of Huawei since the beginning of the application of sanctions   * To systematise Huawei’s competitive advantages and their potential sustainability   * Using the method of open interviews, to conduct an empirical study of the views of Chinese and American experts regarding the current situation, its true causes, consequences and prospects.   * By comparing the opinions of experts, processed with the help of grounded theory, with the data of a secondary study, to assess the impact of US sanctions on customer
The general purpose of the study and research questions This current study adopted the General Learning Model (GLM) to test whether prosocial lyrics educe prosocial thoughts, feelings, and its role in participant’s behavior. Greitemeyer (2009) established that previous studies had overlooked the prosocial media effects on the internal state of prosocial lyrics listeners’. Consequently, this current study sought to address this significant research question. Significance of the research question The researcher sought to fill the identified research gap, which was overlooked by previous researchers. Thus, by answering the research question identified above, Greitemeyer (2009) study would not only reinforce the findings of previous studies but supply new information for this subject matter. Who, How or what was studied Consequently, to address the formulated research questions, the researcher conducted three independent experiments. The first experiment was carried out among 34 students from a German university. This research sample, which consisted of more women than men, was tested to determine whether listening to prosocial lyrics escalated prosocial thoughts. The experiment group was told to listen to prosocial songs, while the control group listened to neutral songs. The second experiment, which was conducted among 38 students from the same university sought to establish whether prosocial music elicited empathetic emotions among participants. The third experiment, which was administered among 90 university students selected randomly across various German universities, sought to measure whether prosocial songs had any significant effects on prosocial behavior. Major steps in performing the study In experiment one, control group participants were requested to listen to neural songs, while the experimental group was provided with prosocial songs. After listening to those songs, the two groups were required to compile a list of fragmented words, and to answer two questions therein. Similarly, a similar process was repeated in experiment two, except that the participants were required to read two essays after listening to either prosocial or neural songs. The participants were then asked to explain whether these essays made them to sympathize with the author. Conversely, participants were interviewed on whether prosocial songs influenced their perception towards giving donations to non-profit organizations. Data were recording and analysis The researcher recorded word fragments in experiment one that was later analyzed to affirm or refute the formulated hypothesis. Similarly, the researcher interviewed and recorded participant feelings and behavior changes in experiment two and three, respectively. Type of data analysis The researcher used ANOVA to analyze the recorded data whereby the variables were compared based on the calculated mean and standard deviation measures. The results After controlling the possible confounding variables, the results indicated that word fragments from experimental group contained more prosocial words
The renaissance effects are felt up to this day in almost every discipline. Renaissance was the period that followed the Middle Ages in Europe and the rest of the world. This era is notably referred to as the rise of a new dawn which signified new ideas. These ideas, however, had their origin from the classic period that was characterised by the Greek culture and knowledge. Renaissance thus was about the creation of creativity and fresh thinking into the classical Greek and Rome. Renaissance is placed in the years of 1400 to 1600 AD and thus architecture changed under the influence of the thinking at this era (Botton, 2006). This work aims at discussing how music, cosmology and architecture related in the ideas of renaissance before, during and after this period. Music, cosmology, art are some of the major disciplines that related and influenced architecture in these historical years. Of importance in this work are music and cosmology and how they impacted or were related to architecture. Music in the classical Greek had been widely studied and documented by Pythagoras. Pythagoras studied proportions which were a method that sort to make different pitches on stringed instruments. In his study, this would be through varying the length of the strings to create new tones with a higher octave than an original if the variation was by half. As a result, therefore, Renaissan
Introduction Over the last 2 decades, media industry played a huge role in determining how people socialized in our communities 1 . Media can greatly influence how individuals in our societies relate and understand one another. In the past, media critics have alleged that African Americans are prejudiced and underrepresented in the media industry. Similarly, African Americans claim that their underrepresentation in the media industry has not only stereotyped them, but also limited their roles in the industry. As such, the newspapers preserve specific roles in the caricatures depicting African American actors 2 . By doing so, the industry has enhanced stereotypes and prejudices against the race. In the research questions, the article below analyses how African Americans are depicted in editorial cartoons and in their daily lives 3 . Similarly, the article illustrates the racial stereotypes displayed in Canadian editorial cartoons and their daily lives. The article is subdivided into introduction, literature review, research questions, operationalization, findings, data analysis, reflections, and conclusions subheadings. Literature review Race is a term used by a number of people in reference to specific clusters of people notable by bodily features such as skin colors. Racism refers to a set of thoughts, which suggests the dominance of a single social group over others. Dominance arises due to differences in biological or cultural traits across various races. On the other hand, stereotypes refer to overgeneralization with respect to the outlook, conduct, or other traits unique to a specific cluster of people. According to Cohen Karl, cartoon editorials depict different races depending on the stereotypes exhibited by the society 4 . By doing so, the media industry has enhanced stereotypes and prejudices against specific races 5 . Before slavery was abolished in North America, African American were depicted using coon caricatures 6 . The caricatures linked the African Americans with apes. Through this, the authorities were able to justify slavery. During much of the 20th century, cartoon portrayals of African Americans as apes were to some extent more understated 7 . According to Reeves Andy, a number of the anti-African American cartoon depictions were directed against the African American celebrities. Given these challenges, newspaper editors and media stakeholders are now trying to tackle the alleged accusations 8 . Currently, newspaper editors are expanding their boundaries to allow equal representation of all races in the industry regardless of their race or gender. Through this, the cartoonists are encouraged to come up with portraits that do not depict negative stereotypes against any race. Research questions The research paper identified how the media industry plays an influential responsibility on how people perceive races. The media industry portrays how different races relate. In the recent past, the media has been condemned for meddling with the intention of realizing racial equality and propagating undesirable racial prejudices 9 . Given these challenges and the historical stere
In the first decade of the 20 th century, one of the most popular African American musical form of art appeared. It was called jazz. The impact of jazz was so strong, and in the middle of 1900s, it became the most famous musical genre in America. There are so many interpretations of jazz. It is an improvisation, one of the ways to express people’s feelings and emotions; it is black folk music that originates from West African Americans; it is a style of life that was inherent to lots of people in the middle of 20 th century. Jazz can change your life, jazz can teach you feel, jazz can show you the right way to enjoy this life day by day. One of most known jazz standards is Round Midnight , firstly created by Thelonious Monk in 1944, and then embellished by Miles Davis in 1955, Stan Getz in 1952, and Bill Evans in1956. “Jazz is too capacious, generous, and lively an art to surrender to either approach, for in the end both – concise survey and minute specialization – tend to encourage a listeners’ digest with most of the good parts missing.” (Giddins, 8) For some people, it is so difficult to catch the main idea of jazz and comprehend all its essence and beauty. Jazz can be in every piece that surrounds people: trees, houses, roads, and cars. In jazz, it is necessary to clear up two notions: interpretation and improvisation. Interpretation is a process of revealing meanings by means of involvement new objects, people, or devices. In its turn, improvisation is a kind of stepping out of some fixed ideas that aims to strengthen people’s feelings. This is what three compositions of different jazz musicians are all about. In 1944, Thelonious Monk, an American jazz composer and pianist, presented Round Midnight for the first time. Historians said that Monk started the creation of this song in far 1936, when he was 18, however, this fact cannot be proved till nowadays. Its first title was Grand Finale . (Sheridan) Within a short period of time, Round Midnight became Monk’s best jazz composition, known to millions of people, and now, it is considered to be one of the most recognizable jazz standards created by any jazz musician. Lots of compositors and jazz musicians of all the times recorded this work. In 1944, Cootie Williams was one of the first, who tried to present his vision of Round Midnight . Because of numerous recordings and improvisations, this composition may be called the national jazz anthem. G. E. Lewis wrote: “I do remember that an arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” was called, and somebody named Kalaparusha stood up and played an incredible tenor saxophone solo.” (Lewis 284) Round Midnight
In the adaptation of the short story In a Grove into the film Rashomon (1950), Akira Kurosawa uses visual details to illustrate his point of view. Therefore, he changes and adds various details, such as the sequence of certain events, ways to present characters, etc. He also uses different visual effects while shooting the movie. Despite these changes in adaptation, my opinion of the story did not change. It only seems that the director contributed his vision to the original idea, making it more interesting to watch. In this way, Kurosawa was actively striving to re-create the aesthetic of silent filmmaking in Rashomon . As a result, cinematography and editing are extremely important in creating the needed effect. Several portions are created as silent sequences of the pure film, with the action carried by images and ambient sound. The film is accompanied by heavy rains, and the Rundown temple gate of Rashomon was also retained from the original story. Nevertheless, instead of a servant, a Buddhist priest and a woodcutter sit at the front gate’s steps. They both had a doubtful expressions on their faces. Then, a man comes in and joins them, and they discuss a recent scandalous crime under the cover of the damaged gate. A man’s character does not exist in the original story. Even though the man is a character created out of canon, the figure is used as a tool to introduce the primary story In a Grove . Hence, it did not affect the plot in a serious way and did not change my opinion of the story. Moreover, Kurosawa changed the testimony process and the subjects that were found by witnesses. For instance, when the woodcutter testified about the crime, he assured that he found an amulet case and two hats: a woman’s and a man’s. It confronts the original story since it presented a rope and a comb only. I suppose that the director did such a change to create a stronger intrigue by showing more subjects. This visual detail did not affect my opinion about the story as well. In contrast, it worked well and intrigued me as a watcher.