Functional assessment of an elderly man at home Essay Example for Free

Functional assessment of an elderly man at home Essay According to NHS (2011), elderly people who have attained the age of 65 years and above usually spend an average of 10 hours and above daily sitting or lying down, making them the most sedentary group of people. Due to this apparent inactivity among the elderly, they are more prone to accidental falls, obesity, cardiovascular accidents, heart conditions and sudden death than the general population. In this interview, data was gathered from an elderly man in his early 80s through use of a semi-structured interview schedule that consisted of open-ended questions touching on the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and activities of daily living (ADL). The interview schedule provided an opportunity for the interviewer and interviewee to tackle the questions in detail through appropriate probing. Before commencement of the interview, an informed consent was obtained from the respondent where his anonymity and the confidentiality of the information sought from him were assured. The interviewee was asked to sign a consent form if he agreed to take part in the interview. The Rationale To ascertain that a person is able to independently live at home or community, the determination of the daily basic activities performed by the individual is necessary. These activities are referred to as Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). According to PayingForSeniorCare (2007), ADLs only serve as a yardstick of independence of individuals, whether or not they perform these basic activities on their own or get assistance. On the other hand, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are the actions which are important but not a daily requirement for one to live independently. They usually used to determine what level of assistance is to be accorded to the elderly or disabled people in society. In the interview nschedule, three (3) ADLs and Three (3) IADLs were included. The ADLs included: Bed mobility, Toileting, and Eating. The IADLs were: Responsibility for own medication, Housekeeping, and Ability to use telephone. These activities and actions were included in the interview because they will in the very least point to the functional ability of the respondent given his advanced age. ADLs and IADLs are carried out because ‘ Measuring an individual’s ability to perform the ADLs and IADLs is important not just in determining the level of assistance required but as a metric for a variety of services and programs related to caring for the elderly and for those with disabilities (PayingForSeniorCare (2007, p. 1). Ethical considerations According to Fouka and Mantzorou (2011, p. 3), research ethics involve requirements on daily work, the protection of dignity of subjects and the publication of the information in the research. Research ethics are a set of principles that guide researchers and research organizations on how to conduct themselves when dealing with research participants, other researchers and colleagues, the users of their research and society in general. Among the ethical issues taken into consideration in research include: 1. Informed consent Informed consent is a major ethical issue in carrying out research. According to Armiger (1997), the participant must knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently, and in a clear and manifest way, give his/her consent. Informed consent confers autonomy to the respondent hence they are protected through self-determination. Through informed consent, the participant’s integrity, personal liberties and veracity are protected from violation by researchers. Informed consent enables individuals participate in research voluntarily after they have been provided with information on the potential risks and benefits of the research. Free and informed consent should incorporate an introduction to the study, its purpose, an explanation of the selection of the subjects and the procedures that shall be followed. It is essential to describe any physical harm or discomfort, any invasion of privacy and any threat to dignity as well as how the subjects will be compensated in that case. 2. Beneficence- do not harm This principle ensures that researchers exercise a professional mandate to carry out significant and effective research so as to serve and promote the welfare of the population. A researcher must consider all possible consequences of the research and balance the risks with proportionate benefit. The type, degree, and number of potential risks must be assessed and the risk benefit ratio can only be achieved by identifying these factors. If the risks outweigh the benefits, the study should be revised. It is important that debriefing of the participants is done at the end of the study. Debriefing refers to explaining the exact aim of the study and why certain disclosures were not done. According to Burns and Grove (2005) ‘if the subjects experienced a high level of discomfort, they should be debriefed or referred to appropriate professional intervention as necessary’. 3. Respect of anonymity and confidentiality Confidentiality and anonymity are closely linked with the rights of beneficence. The protection of anonymity is achieved when the researcher does not link a participants personal responses and his/her identity. The management of private information of the respondents must be ensured by the researcher in order to protect the participant’s identity. Confidentiality means that individuals can give and/or withhold as much information as they wish to the person they choose. 4. Respect of privacy Privacy is the freedom exercised by an individual in determining the time, extent, and general circumstances under which private information will be shared with or withheld from others. Therefore, private information shall not be shared with others without the knowledge of the participant. According to Treece and Treece (1982), a researcher must respect a decision by a respondent who considers reporting personal information a violation of privacy. Fauka and Mantzorou (2011, p. 7) state that ‘this may even apply to report of age, income, marital status, and other details that the subject may regard intimate. They also imply that privacy can be invaded when researchers study certain groups without their knowledge and without identifying themselves. 5. Concerns of vulnerable group of people Vulnerable group of people are the individuals who are unable to protect their own rights and welfare. Opinion is still divided as to whether they should be included in research studies or not due to their inability to give informed consent. They include prisoners, mentally ill people, the aged and children among others. They need further protection for they are vulnerable to being deceived, threatened or forced to participate in research studies they have no idea about. According to Burns and Grove (2005), the vulnerability of these individuals increases the need for justification for the use of such subjects in research studies. 6. Honesty, objectivity, integrity, legality and competence It is important to maintain honesty in research undertakings. Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Avoid any fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public. To maintain objectivity, the researcher must avoid bias in study designs, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research. Integrity should be ensured through keeping of promises and agreements. The researcher must act with sincerity, and maintain consistency of thought and action. Every researcher must ensure and improve his/her own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning and steps must be taken towards the promotion of competence in science as a whole. Research studies are guided by the relevant rules and regulations that must be adhered to at all times, whether institutional or governmental. Research ethics play important roles in research studies as they; 1. Bring about respect for and cause no harm to the participants 2. They are a professional requirement in research studies 3. They are a requirement in obtaining funding for research undertaking 4. They ensure that research studies are conducted within the ethical guidelines provided by the Ethics Committee 5. Ensures that the research findings are acceptable to the research community and the public Interviewee current IADL/ADL practices According to Quinn et al. (2011), elderly individuals usually present with acute and chronic problems that adversely affect function, often defined by functional decline and loss of independence. This might eventually lead to institutional care for such individuals. The decreased function may be a pointer to occult pathologies which lead to increased mortalities (Schumacher, 2005). From the interview, it was found out that the respondent had limited capacity in carrying out daily activities. For instance, in determining the ADLs, in bed mobility, he needed other than two persons physical assist, had a limited physical assistance in toileting and limited assistance when eating. His actions too were limited as he scored lowly in IADLs. For instance, in responsibility for own medication, he only takes medication when it is prepared in advance and in right dosages, he answers the telephone only and cannot dial by himself, and finally he does not participate in any form of housekeeping. The respondents attributed all this to poor memory, fast failing eyesight, affliction by arthritis and advanced age. Conclusion Elderly individuals are afflicted by many ailments that lead to poor health, and as a consequence they are usually unable to undertake simple tasks that are geared towards maintaining good health. It is therefore imperative that functional assessment are done on such persons in order to put in place appropriate strategies that can help them lead at least ‘normal’ lives. Therefore, ADLs and IADLs are important towards this end and can help determine the kind of care to be provided to elderly individuals. This can be in the form of institutional care, family and friends care giving. References Armiger, B. (1997). Ethics in Nursing Research: Profile, Principles, Perspective. Nursing Research, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 330-333. Burns, N Grove, S. (2005). The practice of nursing research: Conduct, critique, and utilization (5th ed.), St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier/ Saunders. Fauka, G   Mantzorou, M. (2011). What are the major ethical issues in conducting research? Is there a conflict between the research ethics and the nature of nursing? Health Science Journal, 5(1), pp. 3-14. NHS (2011). The importance of exercise as you get older. Retrieved from: http://www.nhs.uk. Quinn, J, McArthur, Ellis, G Stott, J. (2011). Functional assessment of older people. BMJ. doi: doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4681 Schumacher, J. (2005). Emergency medicine and older adults: continuing challenges and opportunities. Am J Emerg Med, 23: pp. 556-60. Treece, E Treece, J. (1982). Elements of research in Nursing. St-Louis: Mosby. Appendix Appendix A Informed consent letter My name is †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦., an undergraduate student at †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. University carrying out a study on ‘the importance of ADLs and IADLs’. All information provided in this study will be treated with confidentiality and your identity shall not be disclosed. All information provided in this study will be treated with confidentiality and your identity shall not be disclosed. The participation in this study is on voluntary basis, and therefore you are free to accept or decline to take part in the study. Your cooperation shall be of great importance in achieving this goal. If you agree to take part in this study, please append only your signature below ____________________________________ ______________________ Respondent Signature Date Interviewer signature Date Appendix B Interview schedule Part 1: ADLs 1. How will you describe your ability to move in bed while you lie on it? Any difficulties? 2. Please describe your ability to use the washrooms. Any important information worthy noting? 3. Can you please describe to me your eating habits? Are you able to cut chew and swallow food independently or with supervision? Part 2: IADLs 1. Are you responsible for taking your medications? Yes [ ] No [ ] If NO in the above question, please explain. 2. Do you perform housekeeping chores? 3. How will you describe your use of the telephone? any reasons for that?

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay Example for Free

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay ?An Ethnic minority background increases your chances of arrest and conviction, some people argue that police racism in itself results in higher suspicion against black people in general. According to official statistics there are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. Black and Asians are overrepresented in the system. For example black people make up 2. 8% of the population, but 11% of the prison population. Contrastingly whites are underrepresented. However such statistics do not tell us whether members of one ethnic group are more likely than members of another ethnic group to commit an offence in the first place; they just tell us about involvement in the criminal justice system. For example differences in stop and search or arrest rates may be due to police racism, while differences in rates of imprisonment may be the result of courts handing down harsher sentences on minorities. There are other sources of statistics to reveal link of ethnicity and offending. Victim surveys ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of. We can get information on ethnicity and offending from surveys when we ask what ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them. For example in the case of mugging blacks are overly represented among those indentified by victims as offenders. Victim surveys show much crime is intra-ethnic; it takes place within rather than between ethnic groups. For example the British crime survey (2007) found 90% of where the victim was white; at least one of the offenders was also white. However while victim surveys are useful in identifying ethnic patterns of offending, they have several limitations. They rely on a victim’s memory of events. Ben Bowling and Coretta Phillips (2002) found whites may over identify blacks, saying the offender was black even when not sure. They only cover personal crimes, which make up 20% of all crimes. They exclude under 16s; minority ethnic groups contain a higher proportion of young people. They exclude crimes by big business; thus tell us nothing of ethnicity of white collar criminals. Thus victim surveys only tell us about the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be representative of offenders in general. Self report studies ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour. Graham and Bowling (1995) found that blacks and whites had similar rates of offending, while Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had lower rates. Similarly Sharp and Budd (2005) note that the 2003 offending, crime and justice survey of 12,000 people found whites and mixed ethnic origin groups were more likely than blacks and Asians to say they had committed offences. The Home Office have conducted nine self report studies on drugs since the early 1990s, all with similar findings. Sharp and Budd (2005) found 27% of mixed ethnicity individuals said they had used drugs in the last year, compared to 16% of blacks and whites, and 5% of Asians. Use of class a drugs, such as heroin or cocaine was 3 times higher among whites than blacks and Asians. The findings of self report studies challenge stereotypes of blacks more likely than whites to offend, though they support the widely held view Asians are less likely to offend, however self report studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending. Overall the evidence of ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. For example while official statistics and victim surveys point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks; this is generally not the results of self report studies. There are ethnic differences at each stage of the criminal justice process. To explain them we need to look at main stages of the process that an individual may go through, possibly culminating in a custodial sentence. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue since the 70s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minorities, including stop and search, deaths in custody, police violence and failure to respond effectively to racist violence. Minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched by police. Statistics show Asians were three times more likely to be searched under this act. Its thus unsurprising minorities are less likely to think police acted politely when stopped, or think they were stopped fairly. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue these communities feel over policed and over protected and have limited faith in the police. There are three possible reasons for the disproportionate use of stop and search against minorities. Police racism; the Macpherson Report (1999) on the police investigation of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism in the Metropolitan police. Other have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers. For example Phillips and Bowling point out that many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search. Such stereotypes are endorsed and upheld by the canteen culture of rank and file officers. Ethnic differences in offending; an alternative explanation is that the disproportionality in stop and searches simply reflects ethnic differences in levels of offending. However it’s useful to distinguish between low discretion and high discretion stops. In low discretion stops police act on relevant information about a specific offence, for example a victim’s description of the offender. In high discretion stops police act without specific intelligence. It is in these stops police can use stereotypes that disproportionality and discrimination are more likely. Demographic factors; ethnic minorities are over represented in the population groups who are most likely to be stopped such as the young, the unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers. These groups are all more likely to be stopped, regardless of their ethnicity, but they are also groups who have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in them, so minorities get stopped more. Figures in England and Wales show that in 2006/07, the arrest rates for blacks was 3. 6 times higher than for whites. Contrastingly once arrested blacks and Asians were less likely to receive a police caution. One reason for this may be more likely to deny the offence and likely to exercise their right to legal advice. However not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off with a caution and are more likely to be charged instead. The crown prosecution service is the body responsible for deciding whether a case brought by the police should be prosecuted in court. In doing so CPS must decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether the prosecution is in the public’s interest. Studies suggest the CPS is more likely to drop cases against minorities. Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue this may be because the evidence presented to the CPS by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ethnic minorities as criminals. When cases do go ahead minorities are more likely to elect trial before a jury in the Crown Court rather than the magistrates court, perhaps due to mistrust of magistrates impartiality. However crown courts can impose more severe sentences if convicted. Thus is interesting to note minorities are less likely to be found guilty. This suggests discrimination, in that the police and CPS may be bringing weaker or less serious cases against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts. In 2006/7 custodial sentences were given to a greater proportion of black offenders (68%) than white (55%) or Asian offenders (59%), whereas whites and Asians were more likely than blacks to receive community sentences. This may be due to differences in seriousness of the offences or defendants previous convictions. However a study of 5 crown courts by roger Hood (1992) found even when such factors were taken into account, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences of an average of 3 months longer than whites. Another reason for harsher sentences id pre sentence reports (PRs) written by probation officers. A PRs is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender. However Hudson and Bramhall (2005) argue that PRs allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful than white offenders. They place this bias in the context of demonising Muslims in the wake of 9/11 attacks. In 2007, one quarter of the male prison population was minorities. Blacks were five times more likely to be in prison than whites. Black and Asians were more likely to be serving longer sentences. Within the total prison population all minorities had a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand. This is because minorities are less likely to be granted bail whilst awaiting trial. There are similar patterns in other countries, for example in USA two fifths of prison population is black. There was large scale migration from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent in the 50s, at this time it was agreed minorities had lower crime rates. However by the 70s there was conflict between blacks and the police meaning â€Å"black criminality† became more of a problem. Contrastingly by the 90s Asian crime also became viewed as a problem. Events e. g. 9/11 cemented the idea that Asians were a threat to public order. There are two main explanations for ethnic differences in crime; left realism and neo-Marxism. Left realists Lea and Young (1993) argue ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. Left realists see crime the product of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation. They argue racism had led to economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher unemployment, poverty and poor housing. At the same time the Medias emphasis on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many minorities are unable to reach by legitimate means. One response is formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed blacks. It produces higher utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation. Furthermore as these groups are marginalised and have no groups to represent their interests their frustration is liable to produce non utilitarian crime such as rioting. Lea and Young acknowledge police often act in racist ways and results in unjustified criminalisation of some members of minorities. However they don’t believe discriminatory policing fully explains the statistics. For example over 90% of crimes known to the police are reported by the public rather than discovered themselves. Under these circumstances even if police act discriminatory it’s unlikely it can account for ethnic differences in statistics. Similarly Lea and Young argue we cannot explain differences in minorities in terms of police racism. For example blacks are more criminalised than Asians. The police would have to be selective in their racism for racism to cause these differences. Lea and Young thus conclude that the statistics represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups and these are caused by real differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation. However Lea and Young can be criticised for their views on the role of police racism. For example arrest rates may be lower for Asians because police stereotype them differently. Stereotypes may have changed since 9/11, explaining rising criminalisation of this group. While left realists see official statistics reflecting real differences in offending between ethnic groups, other sociologists have argued differences in statistics do not reflect reality. These differences are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority of the population. The work of neo Marxists Paul Gilroy (1982) and Stuart Hall (1979) illustrates this view. Gilroy argues the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbean’s and Asians. In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other. However as a result of the police and criminal justice system acting on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities came to be criminalised and thus to appear in greater numbers in official statistics. Gilroy argues ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society, and this struggle has roots in earlier struggle against British imperialism. Gilroy holds a similar view to that of critical criminology which argues working class crime is a political act against capitalism. Most blacks and Asians in the UK originated from former colonies where their anti imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, for example through riots and demonstrations. When they found themselves facing racism in Britain they adopted the same form of struggles to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state. However Lea, Young and Gilroy are criticised on several grounds. First generation immigrants were very law abiding, so it’s unlikely they passed their anti colonialist struggle onto their children. Most crime is interethnic, criminals and victims usually have similar ethnic backgrounds, so it can’t be seen as anti colonial struggle against racism. Lea and Young argue Gilroy romanticises street crime as revolutionary. Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If Gilroy were right then the police are only racist towards black and not Asians, which seems unlikely. Stuart Hall et al adopt a neo Marxist perspective. They argue the 70s saw a moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism. Hall et all argues the ruling class can normally rule the subordinate classes through consent. However in times of crisis this becomes more difficult. In the early 70s British capitalism faced a crisis. High inflation and rising unemployment provoked widespread industrial unrest and strikes. When opposition to capitalism was growing the ruling class may need to use force to keep control. However the use of force needs to be legitimated or provoke more resistance. The 70s also saw a media driven panic of the growth of mugging. In reality mugging was a new name for street robbery and Hall et al suggest there was no significant increase of this crime at the time. Mugging was soon to be associated by the media, police and politicians with black youth. Hall et al argues that the emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a specifically black crime at the same time as crisis of capitalism was no coincidence; the moral panic and crisis were linked. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems of unemployment, namely the crisis of capitalism. The black mugger symbolised disintegration of social order. By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society the moral panic served to divide the working class on racial grounds and weaken opposition to capitalism as well as winning popular consent to authoritarian forms of rule to suppress opposition. However Hall et al do not argue that black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment and drove them to a lifestyle of hustling and petty crime to survive. However Hall et al have been criticised on several grounds. Downes and Rock (2003) argue that Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment. They do not show how a capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were in fact panicking or blaming crime on blacks. Left realists argue inner city residents fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic. Until recently the focus of the ethnicity and crime debate was largely about the over representation of blacks in the criminal justice system. However recently sociologists have studied racist victimisation of ethnic minorities. Racist victimisation occurs when an individual is selected as a target because of their race, gender or religion. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but brought into public view with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent Macpherson inquiry into the police investigation. Information of victimisation comes from two main sources; the British crime survey and police recorded statistics. These generally cover racist incidents, any incident perceived to be racist by the victim or another person. They also cover racially or religiously aggravated offences where the offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group. The police recorded 60,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2006/7, mostly damage to property and verbal harassment. However most incidents go unreported; the British crime survey estimates there were 184,000 racially motivated incidents in 2006/7. The police recorded 42,600 racially or religiously aggravated offences on 06/7, mostly harassment. 10,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2006. The risk of being a victim of any sort of crime varies by ethnic group. The 2006/7 British crime survey shows people of mixed ethnic background had a higher risk of becoming a victim of crime than blacks, Asians or whites. The differences may be partly the result of factors other than ethnicity. For example for violent crime factors such as being young, male and unemployed are strongly linked to victimisation. Ethnic groups with a high proportion of young males are thus likely to have higher rates of victimisation. However some of these factors such as unemployment are themselves partly due to discrimination while the statistics record the instances of victimisation they don’t capture the victim’s experience of it. As Sampson and Phillips (1992) note racist victimisation tends to be over time with repeated minor instances of abuse with periodic physical violence. The resulting long term psychological impact needs to be added to the physical injury and damage to property caused by offenders. Members of minority ethnic communities have often been active in responding to victimisation. Responses range from situational crime prevention measures such as fireproof doors to organised self defence campaigns. Such responses need to be understood in the context of accusations of under protection by the police who often ignore the racist dimension in victimisation and fail to investigate incidents properly. For example the Macpherson enquiry (1999) concluded the police investigation into the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was marred by incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers. Others have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers.

A Fingerprint Identification Technology Information Technology Essay

A Fingerprint Identification Technology Information Technology Essay ABSTRACT Now a days in IT technology, security is needed and it plays an important role in IT applications and security solution applications. For maintaining security BIOMETRICS provides an important role and the name it defines as bio is related to biological study and where metric know as measurement. Where, Finger print identification is a technique we used in biometrics and it is most successful oldest method applicable in abundant uses. Everyone has own unique immutable fingerprints. At which finger print is mainly consist of a furrows and series of ridges on upper layer of a finger. A fingerprint is mainly identify by the furrows and ridges and minutiae points, where an minutiae points can be obtained by ridges characteristics where they be contained in ridge bifurcation and ending. An finger print identification is mainly applicable in investigations. INTRODUCTION A fingerprint identification is a process for identify persons these can be applicable from last 19th centurys. Francis Galton defines the characteristics points of finger print identification and these points are foundation of identification and expand over past centuries. In 1960 finger print identification starts with computing technology, with those computers a Galton point subnet that refers to minutiae has implemented for development of fingerprint technology. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses the fingerprint identification in 1969, after that it has fastly developed in many more manual process uses. After that National Bureau of Standards has Connect with FBI for processing the automate fingerprint identification and presently the development process is going on National Institute of Standards and Technology. After a few years the NIST was focus on developments of fingerprint identification in digital link with the effects of image quality and matching and minutiae extractions. For human search narrowing uses the M40 algorithm these algorithms were introduced by FBI and these was implemented by NIST. The M40 algorithm was proved successfully and trained for human technicians for significant calculations of small set of images. In 1981, fingerprint technology was improved to Automated Fingerprint Identification System with different systems on USA and other countries. On this evaluation of all communication systems were overlooked with each other, that means collection of fingerprint in one system the other system cannot search against the other these standards need more develop in fingerprint identification. In 1994, fing erprint identification was developed the automated integrated fingerprint identification system with most important challenges. Where the challenges that implement in fingerprint identification was digital fingerprint and ridge characteristics extractions and pattern matching model system performance. APPROACH In fingerprint identification, a finger mainly looks with black series lines with friction ridges with high portion peaking and these ridges looks white space at less portion of ridge friction. The fingerprint identification mainly consists of minutiae points and ridges and bifurcations. The following figure shows the fingerprint characteristics features of minutiae and other characteristics of fingerprint. C:UsersRAGHUDesktopimages.jpg F1: Minutiae C:UsersRAGHUDesktopfinger3.jpg F2: Other fingerprint characteristics An overall data can be obtained from fingerprint ridges with friction flow and the feature presence is obtained by the individual path ridges. Some important fingerprint features were developed from AFIS. Such as it does not provide a continuous flow in pattern in friction ridges these frequently obtained in characteristics of ridges in ending and dividing and dots. The main propose of AFIS designing is to clarify the overall flow of ridges with classification and minutiae extractions of fingerprint. Fingerprint identification is mainly obtained by hardware and software technologies. HARDWARE In hardware implementation in fingerprint identification can be contained by different types of sensors they are optical and capacitive and thermal and these are mainly applicable in digital picture collection on upper layer of a finger. Now a days optical sensors are using commonly for fingerprint image. A sensor which measures the capacitances that can be depend upon evaluate the pixel value these types of sensors is knows as capacitive sensors and it can easily evaluate the capacitance because an area of finger is more than area of valley. The thermal scanners are mainly use for the temperature measurement on digital picture at the time of finger swipe. At which some sensors contained with high frequency during the finger print scanning these type of sensors are knows as ultrasound sensors. Pastly we use some hardware technologies they named as optical sensors and solid state capacitive sensors and solid state temperature sensors and solid state electric field sensors. While in so lid state sensors are very small and they can improve to nearly to machine. The latest development technology in sensors are improve with small cards like debit cards. SOFTWARE In software technology use in fingerprint technique is consists of two methods one is minutiae matching and another one is pattern matching method. In minutiae matching method it deals with the minutiae points and their direction of every point. In pattern matching method it deals with the similarity of the two fingerprint pictures. In fingerprint matching algorithm we are using two different techniques one is minutiae matching and other one is pattern matching technique and these two techniques are discussed below. Minutiae-based Matching Pattern Matching Minutiae-based Matching: The modern fingerprint technology uses the minutiae matching technique. An idea starts from an same fingerprint images will prove minutiae of one picture have same corresponding to other picture at that time picture have equal minutiae points. Basically, minutiae points are equal at relative distance of other minutiae points. Points are matchup at the multiple points of one picture has same distance and another picture multiple points have equal distance. Mainly minutiae matching features are deals with the fingerprint ridges and these can be divided into three points one is short ridge and ridge ending and bifurcation. Short Ridge Ridge Ending Bifurcation F1: Short ridges F2; Ridge Ending F3: Bifurcation Short Ridge: In Short ridges are define as the smaller length than the average length of ridges in fingerprint. Ridge Ending: In ridge ending is define as the point at which ridge terminates. Bifurcation: In bifurcation one ridge is divided into two ridges. Basically, minutiae points are arranged with their equal position to one another with their directions in enrollment process. In matching process, the fingerprint picture identifies the minutiae points which are equal to stored fingerprint data. In these process, it first evaluate the minutiae points and after that it map the relative placement on finger at that time it contains complexity. This algorithm process cannot used for the person who having the low quality of minutiae points because the algorithm cannot use for the less quality points. Pattern Matching: In pattern matching, it does not only compares the individual points it can compare all characteristics points on surface of finger. Mainly the characteristics are on finger densities and ridge thickness and curvature of fingerprint. While fingerprint ridges are mainly divided into three basic patterns they are Whorl and Loop and Arch. Arch: In arch pattern the ridges are start from one side and ends on other side in between the starting and ending side that is in middle it rises like a curve shape on finger surface area. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/32/Arch.jpg/200px-Arch.jpg Arch:F1 Loop: In loop they form like a curve shape because they will start from one side and end with other side. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Loop.jpg Loop: F2 Whorl: In whorl ridges are form a circular shape on centre on the finger surface. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/Whorl.jpg/200px-Whorl.jpg Whorl: F3 While in enrollment method, fingerprint can be extracted from the relative distance on small fingerprint section. Mainly pattern matching is use for detecting the duplicate fingerprints it will be based on the area of minutiae point and unusual combinations and low curvature and radius. WORKING WITH BIOMETRICS The following components are plays an important role in biometrics system. In this process, for collecting the data information on fingerprint we have to use data collection. Raw is defined as the collection of data during the fingerprint process in biometrics. After that process is finished it can matching the persons fingerprint which can be stored before, if it exists the person is authenticated and denied its access. This is process we are using in biometric process. Below figure shows the biometrics process and components in biometrics. CONCLUSION For security propose fingerprint place an important role in human recognition from past years and biometric system only be present at the recent years. For the development of fingerprint standards, government and other industries had done developments on fingerprint techniques. This development over the highly quality products and faster use of devices and improve the reliability on fingerprint recognition system. Where this technique is mainly used for the government legal methods and investigation propose and science community developments and these are mainly useful for the biometrics. Behind this development we have so many reasons because biometric is not cure all security identifications. In this paper we discussed the overview of fingerprint identification and techniques we are using in fingerprint for recognition and also we discussed the how it is use for the biometric system. For determination of fingerprint industry government and other industries will done led on coming g eneration for fingerprint identification.

The Relation of Personality in Politics Essay -- Political Psychology

While searching for information regarding social phobia, I stumbled across some interesting information. Information regarding the psychology of politics, I was negligent to such a concept until this point in time, and immediately I began searching for this information, rather than my previous interest. This paper will give a general viewpoint on politics from a psychological standpoint. Initially it will discuss political philosophers, and how their beliefs could have shaped the political system today. Second, the paper will look at personal attitudes in relation to politics, consisting, particularly of one’s values and beliefs. Lastly, the paper is going to provide an outlook on the issue from the psychodynamic approach of psychology, particularly through the opinions of its founder, Sigmund Freud. In the study of political philosophy many infamous names come about, although we are only going to look at the ideas of seven of them. Some of the earliest ideas of political systems were centered around Greek city-states, approximately between 750-500 B.C. Kagan, Aristotle, and Plato all provided very useful ideas to the understanding of political systems, but here we will see the for the first time how personal beliefs have influenced politics today. While Kagan believed that in order for life to be suitable for man life must be biased on justice, Aristotle believed that life could be good for man only if his life was in a community with others. This is not an attempt to prove or justify any beliefs, but to simply show the relation of personality. These two philosophers felt strongly about these two necessities for success in a community/political system, but yet neither of the ideas were the same. They both required different th... ...es that when politics are in mind, personal values should be taken out of the picture as much as possible, in order to base political beliefs solely off of the best interest of the nation, and the most respected outlook among citizens. Works Cited Bowen, D. (1968). Political behavior of the American public. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill publishing company. Eulau, H. (1969). Behavioralism in political science. New York, N.Y.: Atherton Press. Eysenck, H. (1974). The psychology of politics. Great Britain: Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd. L.N. Rieselbach, G. B. (1969). Psychology & politics. U.S.A.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Rieselbach, L. (1969). Psychology & politics. U.S.A.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Spranger, E. (1928). Types of men. Halle: M. Niemeyer. Stone, W. (1974). The psychology of politics. New York, N.Y.: The Free Press.

Motherhood Under Slavery in Tony Morrison’s Beloved Essays -- Beloved

Tony Morrison’s novel Beloved, explores how slavery effects of the lives of former slaves. Morrison focuses more specifically on how the women in these situations are affected. One of the main areas affected in the lives of these women is motherhood. By describing the experiences of the mothers in her story (primarily Baby Suggs and Sethe) Morrison shows how slavery warped and shaped motherhood, and the relationships between mothers and children of the enslaved. In Beloved the slavery culture separates mothers and children both physically and emotionally. Sethe has a strong maternal instinct and sees her children as a part of herself. They rightfully belong to her. However her maternal ownership of her children is not recognized by the culture of slavery. As a slave she cannot own anything (Mock 118). Therefore while they are enslaved neither Baby Suggs nor Sethe really own their children. In the slavery culture both the mothers and the children are considered as property of their white owners. As property, their rights as mothers are made void and they have no say about the lives of their children. To the owners a slave woman’s primary value is in her reproductive ability. The female slave is seen as giving birth to property, and therefore capital in the form of new slaves. (Liscio 34). The owner has the ability to use and dispose of this new property as they wish. Therefore children could be sold without any regards for their feelings of the feelings of their mother. In the novel Baby Suggs states she has given birth to eig ht children, however she only gets to keep one that she sees grow into adulthood. By the end of her life slavery has stolen all of her children from her: You lucky. You got three left. Three pull... ...the two of them. The Slavery culture in the novel has restricted both Baby Suggs’s and Sethe’s ability to mother their children. It has altered motherhood from the ideal and transformed it into something barely recognizable. Works Cited Liscio, Lorraine. â€Å"Beloved’s Narrative: Writing Mother’s Milk.† Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol.11, No.1 (Spring, 1992): 31-46. JSTOR. Web. 27. Oct. 2015. Mock, Michelle. â€Å"Spitting out the Seed: Ownership if Mother, Child, Breasts, Milk, and Voice in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.† College Literature, Vol. 23, No.3 (Oct, 1996): 117-126. JSTOR. Web. 27. Oct. 2015. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage International, 2004. Print. Wyatt, Jean. â€Å"Body to the Word: The Maternal Symbolic in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.† PMLA, Vol. 108, No.3 (May, 1993): 474-488. JSTOR. Web. 27. Oct. 2015.

Affirmative Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Essays

Affirmative action is meant to be an attempt at equality throughout society. It supposedly proposes that each person receives equal opportunities in the classroom as well as the work force. Not only would this apply to minorities but to women as well. Every sector in America would be equal and unprejudiced - or so proponents say. On the other hand, adopting affirmative action would force many employers to replace hard-working employees with those of less qualification simply due to their gender or ethnic background. Many people feel that affirmative action would be very beneficial to our society. They have many thought-inspiring arguments. Some claim that we owe blacks for what we took from them in the past. We gave them a setback in our economic system, and affirmative action would be our way of reimbursing them for time and opportunities they lost out on (Norman 50). But where should the line be drawn; how much do we do to repay people - in this case blacks - for past wrongs? Is it enough to give them equal rights, or will we give them extra opportunities to make up for those we took away? It has been argued that the black sector in America, in general, is lower in class due to their environment prior to the Civil War, but the black people of today are not those who lived then. Each person today - no matter their gender,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2 origin, race, belief, or whatever difference has the same opportunities as everyone else. In my opinion no one needs any special favors to get ahead. In this paper I will discuss some of the problems with affirmative action. These include disgruntled employees, reverse discrimination, and the negative effect on our economic status. People who are for affirmative action have many possible positive outcomes as a result of this law passing, some of which have already been implicated. The first subject I will discuss is diversity in the work place, including women and minorities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Proponents of affirmative action attempt to show that diversity in the work force has brought w... ...urface affirmative action sounds and looks good. How could giving people an opportunity to work and learn to get along be a bad   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6 idea? But after looking deeper into this concept, it seems that the scale of benefits are still not evenly spread amongst the community. After looking at all the negative outcomes, the choice should be clear. This is obviously not the right plan to help our social and economic system and we should stop using it until we can find a better choice. Works Cited Abner, Lacy. Discrimination behind a mask. Lighthouse publishing co. Boston, 1996 Carlton, Melinda. Affirmative Action and Affirming Diversity. Public Management. Florida, 1997. Norman, Jim. Politics of the nineties: Americas Verdict on Affirmative Action is Decidedly Mixed. USA Today. June/July 1997: 49-52. Internet website. www.washingtonpost.com

Evolution of Bipedality in Humans Essay

Bipedalism is a capacity, mostly associated to humans, to use two legs in locomotion. Its origin has been given importance and served as a topic of long debate among experts due to the possibility that this form of locomotion gave way for the development of modern human characteristics. Thus, a lot of theories were proposed and established in order to provide the logical explanation on its origin and development. The burden of dealing with this classical issue lies on the fact that locomotion is an activity that can not be fossilized. However, the Australopithecus afarensis fossils, the earliest hominid from Ethiopia and Tanzania, were found to live 3 million years after the appearance of hominid lineage around 6. 5 million years ago (â€Å"Bipedalism,† 2000). These fossils in a way may serve as evidence not only of bipedal locomotion but also hominid dental characteristics similar to apes. Bipedalism enabled humanoids to create tools used for the sustenance and defense of life and is also observed in other animal species (Dhingra and Jablonski, 2004). This trait is commonly attributed as a product of evolution for it coincided with the physiological development of the human brains. As such, bipedal locomotion has gone a very long and different history within animal kingdom. Bipedal Locomotion Human locomotion is described as a smooth flow of a series of actions including swing and stance phases (â€Å"Bipedalism,† 2000). In the swing phase, one leg shoves off through the toe then swings in slightly flexed position. As the foot creates contact on the ground through the heel, the leg becomes and remains extended to support the body. Then, as the leg moves in the swing phase, the body moves in the stance phase. On the other hand, chimpanzees are not capable of extending their knee-joints for a straight leg in the stance phase. They exert muscular power to support their bodies while their leg flexed gait denotes lack of toe off and heel strike in the swing phase. The human anatomical structure is fully developed for terrestrial locomotion while chimpanzee anatomy is adapted for climbing and knuckle walking (â€Å"Bipedalism,† 2000). Human anatomical adaptations include extensive and curved lower spine, a shorter and broader pelvis, a longer lower limbs and enlarged joint surface areas. In the swing phase, the weight of the body is shifted to the supporting leg while the balance is maintained at the unsupported side in the stance phase through contraction of gluteal abductor muscles in the hip. In chimpanzees, the gluteal abductors are not fully developed and their thigh bones do not slope inwards as in humans. Their feet are normally a little bit apart and in walking, they tend to shift their upper bodies from side to side so as to transfer the weight on each leg. It is a fact then that chimpanzees and gibbons can move through bipedal locomotion. Thus, as viewed by anthropologists, bipedalism is a hominid distinct adaptive capability (â€Å"Bipedalism,† 2000). Humanoids spend less energy through bipedalism than quadrupedalism because at a normal walking speed, the legs in a forward motion swing like pendulum then bringing back the forward momentum by slowing the swing foot before the fall (Hawks, 2005). Hence, this requires less muscular activity and energy than knuckle-walking. Moreover, bipedalism raises the head which gives a sharp range vision around the environment and making hands available for carrying tools, food items or other works. However, for early humanoids, bipedalism can offer disadvantages (Hawks, 2005). Without the ability to grasp through feet makes them unsecured from their predators. The loss of grasping foot made difficult for the early humanoids to climb through tress and escape predators, and for their young in clinging to their parents. Researches Findings Biologist and anthropologists have debated over bipedalism and proposed different hypotheses for possible explanation. However, these theories have their respective strengths and weaknesses on the plausible understanding with bipedal locomotion. Most of these theories correlated bipedalism to the animal species’ ventures on the savannah areas and was supported by the discovery of Lucy, a 3. 5 feet humanoid (Johanson, n. d. ). Standing up in savannah gives stunted humanoids a vigilant view on possible threat from their predators. Standing up in reaching out for foods is another possible explanation. In addition, an upright posture may also help our ancestors in cooling their bodies against the sultry environment. In the postural feeding hypothesis of Hunt (1994), bipedalism has evolved from the early habitual bipedal locomotion of humanoids due to arboreal food gathering. The behaviour of chimpanzees and the anatomical structures of australopithecine conformed to this ecological model. Eighty percent of bipedal locomotion in chimpanzee was observed during feeding with arm-hanging stabilizing the posture. In addition, the upper body anatomical structures of australopithecines were ascribed to arboreal bipedal fruit gathering adaptation. The behavioural model of Lovejoy (1981), on the other hand, attributed bipedalism to the social, sexual and reproductive behaviours of early humanoids. Their sexual characteristics and anatomical structures were believed to be an implication of monogamous mating. This sexual attitude led to provisioning behaviour of the humanoid male species wherein their upper limbs were used in giving food stuffs to their mates. Even Charles Darwin constructed a model in providing a logical explanation for humanoid origin and bipedalism. He postulated that bipedalism resulted from the terrestrial adaptation of quadrupedal species and the necessity for subsistence, required to giving freedom for hands to accommodate other activities such as making tools for food hunting (Hawks, 2005). Aside from this, he also assumed that the habitat change from woodland to savannah paved the way for the less importance of climbing. Then, other researchers augmented Darwin’s assumptions by elaborating that living in savannah made early humanoids to be vigilant over tall grasses and adapt in its sultry condition (Hawks, 2005). Thus, bipedalism provided them means for adjustments at these conditions by standing up leading to less sun exposure of the body. This model became the savannah model or killer-ape hypothesis. The aquatic theory and the theory on the use of tools are deemed to offer unreliable explanation (Johanson, n. d. ). Most of the time, primates avoid water due to ferocious predators. On the other hand, stone tools only appear around 2. 6 million years ago as contrasted with the 4. 2 million year-evidence of bipedal locomotion. According to Johanson (n. d. ), it is much better for the theorists to look not into the reason for the upright posture of our ancestors but rather on the advantages for the early humanoids that resulted to a behavioral change from quadrupedalism to bipedalism. Videan (2002) tested the different hypotheses for bipedalism (cited in Dhingra and Jablonski, 2004). The Carry Hypothesis described bipedalism as an adaptive means in the exploration of natural resources while carrying children, tools or foodstuffs. The Forage Hypothesis viewed it as a means towards the food gathering facilitation. Also, the notion that bipedalism gives animal species a sharp sense of sight in order to find good habitats; prey or escape from a predator is called as Vigilance Hypothesis. Display Hypothesis on the other hand, explained bipedalism as a gesture of threat for animal species. Based on the result of this study, Videan (2002) successfully correlated Carry, Vigilance, and Forage Hypotheses towards environmental adaptation of animal species. Nevertheless, the Display Hypothesis gave explanation for the sexual attraction among animal species. Dhingra and Jablonski (2004) scrutinized the bipedalism in several animal species like lizards, birds, kangaroos, and dinosaurs. They concluded that bipedalism resulted from animal’s natural attempt to adapt to their changing environment such as in escaping from predators or catching a prey, and in giving way to bodily parts for other functions like the forelimbs in humanoids for feeding and wings of the birds for flying. According to Stanford (2006), arboreal bipedal gait is different from arboreal quadrupedal stance for he observed that while feeding in tree crowns, Bwindi chimpanzees changed smoothly from four-legged to three-legged and even two-legged posture. This shift may have occurred in early humanoids. Modern gorillas are terrestrially adapted but based on observations; even adult male gorillas climb into tall trees for food. Thus, it is also possible for early humanoids to adapt a variety of bipedalism based on their ecological conditions. More than this, few evidences speak for terrestrial adaptation of modern chimpanzees considering the fact that they used to travel primarily on the ground and stay on trees only for sleeping or feeding purposes. These observations may denote the possibility of behavioral plasticity and arboreality in early humanoids. Based on the review conducted by Richmond, Begun, and Strait (2001), about the different studies on bipedalism, humans evolved from knuckle-walking and climbing ancestor as portrayed by evidences. These include terrestrial characteristics in the hands and feet, climbing skeletal structure, and knuckle-walking attributes in the wrist and hands. These features narrowed down the list of theories concerning bipedalism. Evidences from the paleobiology and paleoenvironments weakened the postulates based on monogamous social structure and open savanna-based bipedalism hypotheses. Rather, they suggested giving more importance on hypotheses based on food acquisition and carriage and a deep anatomical examination on the extant anthropoid behaviors. Conclusion No single factor may completely explain the origin of bipedalism. Perhaps the concoction of the factors considered in each theory that are deemed to be valid may provide much reliable reason for bipedal locomotion. The lack of complete knowledge on the anatomical structure of the early humanoids is a great burden in gaining a complete understanding on the origin of this locomotion (Hawks, 2005). Perhaps, a simple way of explaining bipedalism is that bipedal locomotion evolved as a result from the changes in the environment or social structure that is due to the availability of dietary resources to sustain life. It is hypothesized that in the late Miocene period, hominid food sources dispersed in some areas which forced hominids to travel, thus, led to the development of locomotion anatomical structures (â€Å"Bipedalism,† 2000). References Bipedalism. Human Evolution. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from http://www. stanford. edu/~harryg/protected/chp15. htm Dhingra, P. and Jabslonski. (2004). Comparative Bipedalism – how the rest of the animal kingdom walks on two legs. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from http://www. philosophistry. com/static/bipedalism. html Hawks, J. (2005). Why be bipedal? Retrieved November 6, 2008, from http://johnhawks. net/weblog/topics/bipedalism/why_be_bipedal. html Hunt, K. D. (1994). The Evolution of Human Bipedality. Journal of Human Evolution, 26, 183-202. Johanson, D. (n. d. ). What the Evidence Suggests. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/nova/allfours/bipe-johanson. html Lovejoy, C. O. (1981). The Origins of Man. Science, 211, 341-348. Richmon, B. G. , Begun, D. R. , and Strait D. S. (2001). Origin of Human Bipedalism: The Knuckle-Walking Hypothesis Revisited. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 44, 70-105.