Acknowledgement- master dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Acknowledgement- master dissertation - Essay Example XXXX taught me that to learn is to constantly challenge what I have learned. It was only through his support and persevering patience that I found the courage and will to overcome the many obstacles and vicissitudes on my way to finishing this dissertation. - My professors, XXXX and XXXX, for their helpful comments and insightful critique in guiding me through the techniques of dissertation writing and choice of topic. Their pragmatic realism coupled with constant encouragement allowed me to grow in both knowledge and character. - My beloved father, Dr. XXXXX, who stands as my role model in both my personal and academic life, for his unwavering support and prayers for my wellbeing and success, and for always being there for me; - My mother, my first and wisest teacher, for raising me to value knowledge and virtue, and for standing by me and encouraging me with her sweet words and unshakeable faith in my eventual success, not only in my graduate studies, for in everything I pursue in life. - My dear husband, XXXXX, for being the wind beneath my wings, and for being the wellspring of support and patience I needed to forge on. It is his belief and trust in me that saw me through the most difficult times in the course of my graduate

Colour Perception in Skin Disease Diagnosis

Colour Perception in Skin Disease Diagnosis Color Perception Dermatologist’s perspective Abstract: Light and color are two important tools for the dermatologist in diagnosing skin diseases. Many articles have focused on the importance of light and illumination but there are only scanty literature about the importance of color perception. The definitions of color, color spaces and their types, assessment of color and its applications, recent advances in human color vision is reviewed. Key words: Color, colorspace, RGB, CIE L*a*b*, Spectrophotometry, Colorimetry Color perception is due to the evoked neural responses in the eye and visual cortex because of light stimulus. Colors differ from each other in wavelength, intensity, and saturation. The importance of color in plants ranges from attracting insects for pollination to production of bright colored fruits for seed dispersal. Color pigments are present in many animal species and has evolutionary importance for searching food, escaping from predators etc. Human skin color is linked with evolution and is changing according to the environment where humans live. Color science has various implications in telemedicine,dentistry,biometrics,anthropology, cosmetics,textiles , artificial intelligence, etc . Color of the human skin, mucosa, nails plays an important part in the social communication ,diagnosis and treatment of dermatological disorders. Dermatologists need to know about the biophysics of skin, eye ,color spaces , illumination sources to understand about perception of color . All visible colors to human eye can be produced by some combination of the three primary colors, either by additive or subtractive processes. Human color perception is most sensitive to light in the yellow-green region of the spectrum. We have three types of cone receptors for the long(L),medium(M),short (S) wavelengths. The balance of neural activity in these three receptors accounts for the millions of color shades. This is utilized by the Bayer array in modern digital cameras. The number of L, M, S color sensitive cones in the human retina differs among people by up to forty times. Human perception of color is controlled much more by the brain than by the eyes. Color vision has distributed processing in the cortex, with a number of brain zones being involved in processing wavelength data and creating color sense . Cone receptors in the human eye lose their color sensitivity with age, but subjective experience of color remains same over the years. The perception of color is flexibl e and relies on biological processes in the brain and eye. Phenotyping based on skin color has been attempted by many researchers the well known one is Fitzpatrick’s I to VI skin types.Though there are some drawbacks in this classification this is useful in a variety of ways treating diseases with phototherapy, in predicting the post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, for making skin colored prostheses , skin grafting etc. Human skin color can also be classified by visual color matching using the Munsell charts. But visual clinical methods of skin color evaluation for diagnostic purposes are so far mostly subjective and inaccurate. Many studies quantitate the skin color based on the spectrophotometry or tricolorimetry measurements which gives the absolute values of the color. The spectral reflectance provides a lot of biological and medical information about skin and mucosa. In case of non availability of these equipments digital cameras and software has been employed to compare and quantitate human color taken under standard conditions. Analysis of color data has to be done by a conceptual tool called color space. Color space aid the process of describing color between people , between software or machines. Color gamut is the area enclosed by a color space in two or three dimensions. Color space is useful to understand the color capabilities of a particular device or digital image and also useful to identify colors in a more intuitive way. There are many color spaces – sRGB, Adobe RGB, L*a*b*, L*u*v*, CMYK etc. Different color spaces are better for different applications. RGB is used in many display devices computer monitor, digital camera or a television, which uses these as its base colors. CMYK is more commonly used in printers. However, no two display devices are equal. A color shade defined by certain value of RGB on one device may look completely different on another device. A device dependent color space is a color space where the color produced depends both the parameters used and on the equipment used for display. Many devices have their own device-dependent RGB color spaces. RGB space can be visualised like a cube with the three axes corresponding to red, green and blue. L*a*b* color space proposed by CIELAB is popular because it is device independent and the L parameter has a good correlation with perceived lightness. It is non linear and intended to mimic the logarithmic responses of the human eye. Any color can be described by a combination of three coordinates, L*, a*,and b* , where L* is the total quantity of light reflected ,a* represents color ranging from red to green , and b* represents color ranging from blue to yellow . L* measures the brightness component of color, and it varies on an achromatic gray scale between a value of 0 (black) to100 (white). The a* and b* coordinates can be converted into hue angle and chroma of color . Hue refers the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli where 0Â ° represents red and 90Â ° represents yellow. Chroma describes the intensity of color, with higher chroma indicating greater intensity. Melanin density and distribution can be assessed by the L* values wheras erythema can be known by the a* values. The color of gluteal region can be taken as the constitutive color whereas the cheek will give details of the facultative color. Skin that is usually exposed to the sun has a more intense red component, presumably because of increased vascularization. Exposed skin also showed lower reflectance (L*) than covered skin, probably because of melanin .Higher L* levels were associated with lighter skin, tendency for sunburn and less tanning . Han K et al (1) observed that the L*a*b* color space to be the most popular system used to measure skin color. The average L*a*b* values for the body parts were 61.74, 9.56 and 17.07, respectively. The site of lightest skin was found to be the medial arm , whereas the darkest was on the forehead . Redness was highest on the cheek and lowest on the medial arm . Skin color was lighter and more yellow in females than in males, whereas redness was higher in males. The factors that significantly influenced L* were sex, work place and sunbathing, factors that influenced a* were sex, work place and smoking; and the factors that influenced b* were sunbathing and age . Ian LWeatherall et al (2) did color measurement in ventral forearm of skin of 99 subjects and expressed the results in terms of color space L*, a*, and b* values. L* values ranged from 59.7 to 73.4.The hue angle ranged from 54.0 to 77.8degrees.The chroma values ranged from 13.2 to 21.6. These color-space parameters are proposed for the unambiguous communication of skin color information that relates directly to visual observations of clinical importance or scientific interest. Yun et al (3) introduced a new technique to measure L*a*b* color coordinates and the melanin and erythema indexes at the same time by analyzing the skin color of normal Asians . While the correlation of the melanin index with the L* value was negative, it was positively correlated with the a* and b* values. While the erythema index showed a weak correlation with the b* value, its correlation was negative with the L* value and positive with the a* value. Change in colorimetric values of bruises over time was significant for all three color parameters (L*a*b*), the most notable changes being the decrease in red (a*) and increase in yellow (b*) starting at 24 h.( 4) Colorimetric skin color values can also be used to study pigmentation capacity, to predict the risk of actinic cancer, in the study of reactions induced by physical and allergic stimuli ,for choosing appropriate sunscreens (5) Comparison using cheaper and novel ideas in this regard is yet to come. Recent advances in Information technology has allowed us to understand color vision and to extract the true color of the skin. REFERENCES 1) Han K, Choi T, Son D et al Skin color of Koreans: statistical evaluation of affecting factors. Skin Research and Technology 2006; 12(3):170-7 2) Ian LWeatherall1 and Bernard DCoombs Skin Color Measurements in Terms of CIELAB Color Space Values . Journal of Investigative Dermatology 1992; 99: 468–473. 3) Yun IS,LEE WJ et al Skin color analysis using a spectrophotometer in Asians. Skin Res Technol. 2010 ;16(3):311-5. 4) Scafide, K. R., et al. Evaluating change in bruise colorimetry and the effect of subject characteristics over time. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2013; 9(3): 367-376. 5) Andreassi ,Flori L Practical applications of cutaneous colorimetry. Clinics in Dermatology 1995; 13(4):369-73

To Save or Not To Save - That Is the Question Essay example -- Conserv

When you look at a bald eagle, you see how powerful and majestic this bird is, which is how many people feel about the United States; that’s why the bald eagle is our national emblem on our Great Seal. It would be a dishonor to our Nation to have such a worldwide-recognized symbol of The United States extinct, but in fact that’s exactly what almost happened. To help the bald eagle regain it’s numbers, on December 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed The Endangered Species Act. â€Å"The law established procedures for conserving plants and animals in danger of extinction and those that are threatened, or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future (Cooper, â€Å"Endangered Species Act† 855). Since its establishment, the Endangered Species Act has been a topic of debate on whether the way the act is set up now has been worth the securing of land, including land that is privately owned, the time to research and the money that has been spent . Once species are listed as either threatened or endangered of becoming extinct the first move is to figure out what can be done to help them. What kind of habitat does it need to thrive? Is it isolated to only a few regions of the country or widely located? Could it be introduced into new regions, whether rural or urban, and still have a chance of survival? The lands that are being protected range from mountains to national parks to any neighborhood across the country, so that the smallest plant to the largest wild animal has an environment where they can continue to thrive. Some species have been reintroduced and their populations have recovered enough to bring them out of the endangered status and off of the Endangered Species Act listing. Wolfs and grizzly bears are two out of the nu... ...ecies Act have their valid points. The two sides need to work together discuss which animals are vital to the balance of the eco-system and which plants could help create medicine that fight illnesses like cancer. The laws need to reflect not only the time and money involved in saving the world’s species of plants and animals but also protect the livelihood of the populations of people who are involved in such areas. The balance between the two is possible as long as both sides work with each other not against each other. Works Cited Arrandale, Tom. "Disappearing Species." CQ Researcher 17.42 (2007): 985-1008. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. Cooper, Mary H. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 9.37 (1999): 849-64. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. ---. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 15.21 (2005): 493-516. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012.

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

Cancer INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the American society, cancer is the disease most feared by the majority of people within the U.S. Cancer has been known and described throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases and more than 4 million deaths have been reported worldwide, every year. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown drastically since the spread of cigarette smoking in growing countries. Stomach cancer is the second leading form of cancer in men, after lung cancer. Another on the increase, for women, is breast cancer, particularly in China and Japan. The fourth on the list is colon and rectum cancer, which occurs mostly in older people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States more than one-fifth of the deaths in the early '90s was caused by cancer, only the cardiovascular diseases accounted at a higher percentage. In 1993 the American Cancer Society predicted that about 33% of Americans will eventually get cancer. In the United States skin cancer is the most dominating in both men and women, followed by prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Yet lung cancer causes the most deaths in men and women. Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common type in children. An increasing incidence has been clearly observable over the past few decades, due in part to improved cancer screening programs, and also to the increasing number of older persons in the population, and also to the large number of tabacco smokers--particularly in women. Some researchers have estimated that if Americans stopped smoking, lung cancer deaths could virtually be eliminated within 20 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The U.S. government and private organizations spent about $1.2 billion annual for cancer research. With the development of new drugs and treatments, the number of deaths among cancer patients under 30 years of age is decreasing, even though the number of deaths from cancer is growing overall. TYPES OF CANCER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.Cancer is the common term used to designate the mosst aggressive and usually fatal forms of a larger class of the diseases known as neoplasms. A neoplasm is described as being relatively autonomous because it does not fully obey the biological mechanisms that govern the growth and the metabolism of individual cells and the overall cell interactions of the living organism. Some neoplasms grow more rapidly than the tissues from which they arise, others grow at a normal pace but because of the other factors eventually become recognizable as an abnormal growth and not normal tissue. The changes seen in neoplasm are heritable in that these characteristics are passed on from each cell to ots

Personal Philosophy of Teaching Essay

â€Å"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.† – Chinese Proverb I came across this quote back in secondary school when I was bringing the books to my Chinese teacher’s desk. Never would I have thought it would relate to me so closely. As an early childhood educator, our aim is to provide quality education and care to the preschoolers in our care. Children are the future of our country, therefore comes the importance of education. I believe that children are born a â€Å"blank slate† (Locke, 1704) , and they behave like sponges, therefore they will retain and retrieve as much information that are passed to them. There is a pre set standard that is set for each educator for each level, but beyond that , my main goal as an educator is to provide an environment for constant learning and discovery for both the children and myself. Through instilling a love of learning in every student, i hope to ignite their love for learning both in and beyond the classrooms. Building relationships is the first step to everything. Not only can I gain the trust of the children, but the parents as well. When I gain the trust of the child and the parents, not only will it allows me insights of their family environment and beliefs, it also opens a window of conversation with the child. I can get to know more about the child’s hobbies, likes and dislikes and learning styles. This would allow me to approach the child in a more appropriate manner or revise the curriculum to cater to his/her needs. When a child is comfortable in the classroom because they know that they are in safe hands, they would in turn open up more and share more ideas. This also makes the child feel respected. Parental involvement is an important aspect building relationships. Having an idea of what are the parents expectations and addressing a clear stand of my expectations of the children, yet being open to their thoughts and feedbacks would be crucial especially to a new teacher like me. Also, updates, newsletters and calls help the parents to have an idea of the child’s performance in school, and these are usually doubles as record of  the development of the child. Literacy and language are skills that I feel are essential to everyone. The ability to achieve the different levels of reading and writing not only helps indicates the child’s developmental milestone, but also contributes to the child’s social skill. Social skills are life skills that the children take with them out of the classrooms and into society. Experimental learning is another vital life skills that I believe all children should possess. Therefore I strive to make all the learning in my classrooms as relatable to real life as possible. The authentic learning allows the children to have hands on experience with the subjects as they grow and learn to engage themselves in the real world. Being able to make connections by linking the things they learn in the class to the society is important, but making the classroom a conducive place for their classmates is too. Such social and emotional skills are difficult to impart as they are rarely textbook based but rather being felt, therefore cooperative play is highly encouraged in the classroom as well. Meaningful learning experiences cannot happen without a properly equipped classroom. Excellent classroom managements like the inclusion of routines, procedures and also the use of positive reinforcements not only help to maintain order in the classrooms but allow children to feel safe and valued. Indeed, teaching a man to fish an last him for a life time. Likewise, instilling the love of learning within the children will inspire them to continue the lifelong pursuit of wisdom and knowledge even after the educational process has been completed. Though these beliefs are the essence of my philosophy as an early childhood educator, but to cater to the constant change and ever-evolving of the needs of society, the philosophies are reviewed from time to time to help better evaluate personal progress and achieve goals. References Mouner. M (2013) http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2279.html Burns,M.S, Johnson R,T & Assaf M,M (2011) Preschool education in today’s world: teaching children with diverse backgrounds and abilities(USA, Baltimore) Meggitt, C (2012) Teach Yourself , Understanding Child Development (London) Feeney, S, Christensen,D & Moravcik, E (2006) 7th Edition – Who am I in the lives of children: An introduction to early childhood education.(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey) Pearson Education Inc. Ministry of Education (2012) Nurturing early learners, A curriculum framework for kindergartens in Singapore.(Singapore, Singpore) Asian International College (2011) Principles and practices in early childhood care and education : ECE 101 The Gale Groups (2008) Encyclopaedia of children and childhood in history and society: John Locke ( http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ke-Me/Locke-John-1632-1704.html)

Christian Rap vs Mainstream Rap Essay

I can’t believe the radio is playing some of the music they play and claim its radio friendly. Its not when all you hear is sex, killing, drugs, and so forth. Some may not like rap music, but even people who do claim that rap nowadays is not radio friendly. Christian Rap on the other hand brings forth a new and fresh sound to Rap music while putting Jesus in the center. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to Life and not death. People think that Christian rap are all about spreading the word of god and to convert your to Christianity. If you the Listener actually listened to the lyrics you would change your mind. Christian rap does spread the word of god but it also express how to be yourself. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to their Life and others. Lyrics such as in the song â€Å"Make War† Tedashii raps, â€Å"I’m filled with the Spirit so tell them dog this is pay back/ as you begin to copy the carbon copies of Christ/ and conform to His written image you should be shinning a light/ if you not, why is that? † He summarizes Romans 8:29 which delves into a Christian believer adopting all the traits of Jesus Christ. Lyrics of Christian rap songs are filled with good incentives and positive lyrics. In the song â€Å"Jesus Musik† Lecrae says â€Å"everywhere I go people caught up in theyself money cars and clothes. They talk about it all the time and put it in they songs. They drive around and play it loud like it ain’t nothin wrong . And all they talk about is sinful stuff, got everybody actin bad thinkin that they a thug†. By this he is expressing how corrupt mainstream rap is, Mainstream rap teaches their listeners how to acts and what to wear. Flame says in â€Å"Joyful Noise†, â€Å"The light is where I’m running I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted But all I really wanted was the One who really won itFought death, beat it gave His life to the public†. Flame used to be surrounded by mainstream influences but he found god and now knows who he should follow. People must overcome the iron claw that mainstream rap has on them. Lecrae lets the world know in his song â€Å"Souled out†. He says we must not be ashamed of ourselves and to be yourself. â€Å"Man I consider my life nuthin’. if I could just finish the race. and complete the job the. lord jesus gave me. I live to tell the world his message. Romans 1:16 â€Å"I’m not Ashamed†. I Ain’t Ashamed. †. Sometimes faith may be evident in part of a song or other times an entire song or album may focus on Christian beliefs. Mainstream Rap’s lyrics are much different then Christian Rap. While Christian Rap talks about god and being yourself, Mainstream Rap express their music trough talking about drugs, sex, and violence. These lyrics are broadcasted all over the world showing their listeners that doing those bad things are the right thing to do. Most listeners to mainstream usualy don’t take the time to understand what they are listening to. They block out all he profanity and enjoy the beat of the music. When you take the time to understand what the songs actually mean you may be discouraged to listen to the song again. Lyrics from Lil Wayne in the song â€Å"lollypop† â€Å"She say he so sweet make her wanna lick the rapper So i letta lick the rapperSh-sh-sh-she licked me like a lollypop†. When we look at specific words such as licked and lollypop it suddenly pops out what they are trying to get across. This is not alright for the radio but it sounds good so it ends up getting played. When he says â€Å"Shawty wanna thug. ottles in the club. shawty wanna hump and ooo i like to touch ya lovely lady lumps. † there are so many ad messages getting embedded in your head. Mainstream is filled with explicit language and images. The song Shots by LMFAO encourages drink â€Å"If you not drunk ladies and gentlemen Get ready to get **** up Lets do it ha, ha† and †If you ain’t getting drunk get the **** out the club. If you ain’t taking shots get the **** out the club. If you ain’t come to party get the **** out the club. Now where my alcoholics let me see yo hands up†. Most listeners are in the age of 13 to 24. This is telling children that it is okay to drink. Under age drinking is extremely dangerous . A widespread theme throughout most mainstream rap is a desire for wealth; this wish is part of the American dream, and thus reflects the desires of popular American culture. The constant bombardment of American youths with stereotypes has likely had a negative effect on them. It is common among youths to try and replicate the messages seen in rap videos; this is not surprising. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy are dictated by what we â€Å"hear† the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual. Due to the fact that mainstream rap appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. The new generation of rappers is taking the lyrics of rap music more literally. Without the youth being able to distinguish fantasy from reality rap music has turned the youth more violent, disrespectful and it is teaching them to stand on the block and hustle or even kill someone over a minor disagreement. Rap music has control of the 12-19 year old crowd more than the parents in the household. It is popular because it speaks to a generation that can/wants to identify with what the artist is saying. The youth are taking someone else’s experiences and making it their own just for the sake of being cool or being accepted by others. Some people say the Christian rap industry is a business. These people sell records to â€Å"save souls. † So if we look at, it would seem as if Christian rappers are getting commission for every soul saved. Most Christian rappers aren’t in this business for the money they just get paid for what they do just like any other job. A pastor gets paid to preach every Sunday why would it be any different for a Christian rapper selling CD’s. Christian rappers have a positive effect on their listeners. The lyrics promote well being and the word of god. Youth that listen to Christian rap are better off then ones that listen to mainstream rap. Instead of being bombarded by bad incentives they are taught how to be a true follower of Christ and no fall to a lower level. These two styles of rap are similar but opposites at the same time. They tempo and beats of the songs are very similar. They have the same basis of how they sound, the thing that makes these to styles different is the lyrics they use in their songs. Mainstream uses profanity while Christian rap uses the words of god. Even though mainstream is more popular, but this is because theirs songs are heavily over played on the radio embedding everything they say into the youths heads and morals. Mainstream should be endorsing lyrics that makes the youth of our nation more well off then filling them with bad images and words.

Relationship Between Art and Religion Essay

Humans have since the very earliest time of their existence questioned various fundamental facts about their existence and the world around them. They have tried to answer the mysteries of life such as how they came into existence and what happens after their death. These questions they discovered could be only answered through religion and science. Religion went about explaining that all things were there because of some greater spiritual being which brought everything and everyone into existence. Religion especially during ancient times put God as the master creator of all things and beings, having created men on all other creations. The average person doesn’t usually think of art as something that influences religion yet in true facts art helps us visualize our beliefs since as humans we at times find it easier to believe that which we see. Even in the Bible we find that humans have made sculptures, statues and paintings of their god in order for them to have something that reminds them of that greater force and act as intermediaries between them as moral beings and God as a divine spiritual being. For example Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of God which is now replaced by the symbol of the cross; Ancient Egyptians who worshipped numerous god’s used a falcons head as a symbol of their sun god Ra, and Muslims with the symbol of a moon and star. In Ancient Greece it was customary for artists to represent the Olympian deities in perfectly-modelled men or women because they believed that the god’s were somewhat like humans but in perfect form and that they were immortal. Art helped (and still does) people visualize all that their religion was implementing so that they could understand, believe and have faith. It was also important because many people where illiterate and so through paintings and sculpt stories painted on the walls of churches, the word of God could be delivered to them as well. Art is still visible on many religious buildings for example the paintings found on the inside and outside of walls of churches illustrates a story from, in the case of Christians, the Holy Bible. Some examples of such would be the cathedral in Rome and that of Milan which are both of extraordinary aesthetic beauty. Art when it comes to religion is a way of spreading the word of God in a non-literal way. The beauty of art is that many people can interpret art work differently therefore a religious art piece can be inspiring and motivational to my life as well as to another in a whole different way because we would have both taken the same message but applied it to our lives in different ways. Therefore art is a language which anyone can speak, understand and interpret personally. Some worldwide renowned artists whose art was influenced by religion are Michelangelo in The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement, Leonardo Da Vinci in Virgin of The Rocks and Tintoretto in The Crucifixion. Apart from paintings and buildings religion also influenced music in fact nowadays we have multiple praise songs in different religions. In a nut shell whilst religion has left its mark on Art, art has been a helping hand and necessity when it comes to the delivering of the word of God.