Elements of Religious Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Elements of Religious Traditions - Essay Example For example in the case of Judaism there are two forms of Torah, one is verbal and the other one is written. The Torah that is available in written form has been recognized as Tanakh or even named as the Hebrew Bible. The oral form of Torah has even been found in written form in the shape of Talmud which is a written commentary. On the other hand several religions that are indigenous in nature have not created a written format of their oral teachings. Similarly there are certain religions who do not follow any form of written text or tradition and their religious traditions are found in oral form and have been transferred from one generation to another in that form. The complexity of the verbal traditions is much harder to interpret and understand. Religious Traditions Say The second major issues in the study of religious traditions are to identify what particular teachings or particular stories and texts of a particular religion are trying to teach their members. The issue in identi fying what a particular teaching is trying to convey to its members is whether the teaching is a standard doctrine or a particular teaching is just a myth and have been handed down from one religion to another in verbal manner. What are religious teaching is trying to convey to its followers has certain functions. ... In certain teachings, this has been stated in quite an explicit manner. For example: in the case of religion of Shinto that is practiced in Japan, the birth of Islands in Japan are explained as a divine couple in which Izanagi and Izanami stirred up the floor of the ocean with the assistance of the trident of heaven and the drippings that were an outcome of this activity are recognized as the Islands of Japan (Ashkenazi, 2003, p.173). Their religion further states that the people living in Japan are the descendents of these beings that are semi-divine in nature. Religious Traditions Does The issue of what a particular religious teaching does for its members depends on the themes. One of the themes that religious traditions focus upon is the rituals and behaviors that an individual has to carry out throughout his/her life. These traditions teach their followers about the behaviors they are expected to exhibit as child, adult and as they become seniors. Religious teachings help individ uals throughout different transitions. For example: the vision quest that is a part of the people of Lakota is a story of how Lakota lived as a boy and then as an adult and these teachings inform its members that this is the right way of living their lives and this way will help them experience prosperity. Another major issue related to religious traditions is how these teachings operate to provide its followers with the complete access to what is considered as sacred. For example: In Christianity, winter marks the birth of their God and Christians celebrate this season in shape of Christmas. Religious Traditions Organizes The last issue that a religious tradition sorts to solve is how a particular religion is involved in the process of organizing its leadership. These

Human Trafficking in the UAE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Human Trafficking in the UAE - Essay Example There are various other reasons for human trafficking that include illegal tissue and organ extraction (Joint Council of Europe/United Nations Study, 2009), and reproductive trafficking that encompasses removal of the ova or even surrogacy (Eyal, 2012). Human trafficking is considered as a lucrative trade, and comes second only to illicit drug trafficking, in the context of raking in highest profits amongst all other illicit industries worldwide (Haken, 2011). Reports revealed that total revenue earned from human trafficking in 2004 was estimated to be around $9 billion (UNECE, 2004). ILO in one of its reports on human trafficking estimated that the industry earned around $31.6 billion (in profits) each year, globally (Belser, 2005). The UN estimated that, â€Å"about 2.5 million people from 127 countries have been trafficked to 137 countries for purposes such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, the removal of organs and body parts, forced marriages, child adoption and beggingâ⠂¬  (UN News Centre, 2008). Some experts contend that statistical representation of data on human trafficking is flawed and sometimes not quantifiable. ... procedure that displays persistently changing patterns closely connected to economic conditions; thus making a large part of the statistical analysis found in various reports flawed (Feingold, 2010). As per the definition provided by International Centre for Migration Policy development (ICMPD), human trafficking is â€Å"Crime against person – victim; violation of the rights of the victim of trafficking by definition (violation of person’s human rights; victim of coercion and exploitation that give rise to duties by the State to treat the individual as a victim of a crime and human rights violation)† (ICMPD, nd). Human trafficking victims are not allowed to leave once they reach their destination, and are held against their will through threats and coercion and made to serve or work (bonded labour or commercialised sexual exploitation) for the trafficker. The UAE forms to be a global centre point for human trafficking that deals primarily with women  and child ren. As per some reports published in 2010, human trafficking in the UAE accounted for nearly 37 % of all illegal migration cases referred in 2009 to  Dubai Foundation for Women and Children  (DFWAC), which is an increase of almost 28 % from 2008. UAE’s official fight against human trafficking started six years back in 2006, with the enactment of Federal Law 51 and formation of National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT). While results in the past five years hint that there has been significant progress in process of combatting human trafficking, however the government must take into consideration that various interlinked challenges at multiple levels, associated with this illicit trade, makes it necessary for the government to be on constant alert and maintain sustained vigil. In this regard,

Twentieth-Century art Essay Example for Free

Twentieth-Century art Essay In 1902 Boccioni left Rome to study the Impressionists in Paris; later, in 1904, he settled for some months in Russia with a family he had known in France. Through a trip to France in the autumn of 1911 Boccioni had become familiar with Cubist techniques. This new experience helped him to achieve a more autonomous artistic language in which the fragmentation of color was combined with a deeper perception of space. With time Boccioni was evolving an image of staggering physical power, and explored different means of expression. In his The City Rises of 1910-11 (Fig. 1), a painting of intense ambitiousness, done just at the threshold of his breakthrough into Futurism, it is quite apparent that he was indebted to Cubist inventions for the depiction of a fractured space and the breaking down of forms across the picture plane. But to this he adds something the Cubists had noticeably shied away from: color – the kind which illuminated and even decomposed forms in Impressionist painting with its resonance and brilliance. According to the art critic, Rosenblum, Boccioni still prolifically utilizes here a modified Impressionist technique whose atomizing effect on mass permits the forceful symbols of horse and manpower to slip out of their skins in a blur of moving light (Rosenblum, 1996). Figure 1 Umberto Boccioni The City Rises, 1910-11 Oil on canvas 6 ft 6 1/2 ins x 9 ft 10 1/2 ins Museum of Modern Art, New York In this work, painted in a half-naturalistic style and made up of dots and whirling strokes of vibrant color, forms, light and color melt into frenzy of simultaneous activities, each actively pursuing the other for clarity and visual authority. The result is something like visual noise, where each gesture or diminished form takes on the personality of a boisterous shout in a turbulent crowd. The artist attempts to express not merely people moving but movement itself and the collective emotion of the crowd. The relentless activity of The City Rises typified the one of the sides of Boccioni’s character where the brooding, emotional qualities of an artist were not easily suppressed. In the City Rises against the Milanese urban background of smoking chimneys, scaffolding, a streetcar, and a locomotive, enormous draft horses tug at their harnesses, while street workers attempt to direct the animals’ explosive strength. Robert Rosenblum in the book Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art describes pictorial means of â€Å"realizing this veneration of titanic energies and industrial activity† utilized in the painting as anachronistic and focuses on â€Å"the prominent role given to horse power† as on a symbol of that anachronism (Rosenblum, 1996, 180). Yet it appears that radical Boccioni’s treatment of forms within this Cubist space was actually much more conservative than that of his less political friends Picasso and Braque, and he never completely let go of the descriptive character of his work. On the other hand, Boccioni was at some pains to distinguish his movement from that of Cubism. As he saw it, the Cubists were merely projecting as simultaneous onto the plane of the canvas the sequence of aspects from which the object was viewed, whereas the planes of Futurism emanate from the dynamic interior of desolidified objects (Antliff, 2000, 722). When war was declared, he, like many of his Futurist comrades, immediately enlisted and joined the Lombard Cyclists Brigade. After short pause he returned to military service and shortly after was accidentally thrown from his horse during the cavalry training exercise and died following day, aged 33 (Osborn, 2001). It is so ironic that a Futurist should have met his death by being thrown from a horse, when his propagating of speed and dynamism would have recommended a more suitable vehicle, like an automobile or an airplane. Even more ironic seems the fact that the horse was a kind of leitmotiv of Boccioni’s art. In The City Rises immense flamboyant horses energize the foreground while some rather poky buildings rise in the background. It is with reference to the horse that Boccioni explains the principles of Futurism. â€Å"A running horse does not have four legs,† he writes in Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting, â€Å"It has twenty, and their movements are triangular. † (Boccioni et al. ) And perhaps the greatest irony of all was the artist’s welcome embrace of the First World War as a â€Å"cleansing† of culture. However, with the horrors of the First World War, Futurism died too. Works Cited Antliff, Mark. â€Å"The Fourth Dimension and Futurism: A Politicized Space. † The Art Bulletin v. 82 no. 4 (2000): 720-33. Boccioni, Umberto, et al. Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting. 1910 http://www. unknown. nu/futurism/techpaint. html (accessed April 12, 2007). Osborn, Bob. â€Å"The Pre-Futurist Years. † Futurism and the Futurists. http://futurism. org. uk/boccioni/boccframes. htm (accessed February 25, 2007) Rosenblum, Robert. Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1966 Taylor, Joshua C. Boccioni. New York: Double Company, Inc, 1961.

Approaches to Data Cleaning

Approaches to Data Cleaning Data Cleaning approaches: generally, data cleaning contains several steps Data Analysis: A detailed analysis is required to check what type of inconsistencies and errors are to be resolved. An analysis program should be used along with manual analysis of data to identify data quality problems and to extract metadata. Characterization of mapping rules and transformation workflow: We might have to execute a great amount of data cleaning and transformation steps depending upon the degree of dirtiness of data, the amount of data sources and their level of heterogeneity. In some cases schema transformation is required to map sources to a common data model for data warehouse, usually relational model is utilized. Initial data cleaning phases organize data for integration and fix single –source instant complications. Further phases deal with data/schema integration and resolving multi-source glitches, e.g., redundancies. Workflow that states the ETL processes should specify the control and data flow of the cleaning steps for data warehouse. The schema associated data conversions and the cleaning steps should be quantified by a declarative query and mapping language to the extent possible, to allow auto generation of the conversion program. Along with it there should be a possibility to call user written program and special tools during the process of data transformation and cleaning process. A user opinion is required for data transformation for whom there is no built in cleaning logic. Verification: The accuracy and efficiency of a conversion process and transformation designs should be verified and assessed on a sample data to improve the definitions. Repetition of the verification, design and analysis phases may be required because some faults may appear after performing some conversions. Transformation: Implementation of the transformation phase either by running the ETL process for refreshing and loading a data warehouse or during returning queries from heterogeneous sources. Reverse flow of transformed data: once the single source problems are resolved the transformed data should be overwritten in the base source so that we can provide legacy programs cleaned data and to escape repeating of the transformation process for future data withdrawals. For the data warehousing, the cleaned data is presented from the data staging area. The transformation phase requires a huge volume of metadata, such as, workflow definitions, transformation mappings, instance-level data characteristics, schemas etc. For reliability, tractability and reusability, this metadata should be kept in a DBMS-based repository. For example the consequent table Customers holds the columns C_ID and C_no, permitting anyone to track the base records. In the next sections we have elaborated in more detail probable methodologies for data examination, conversion definition and conflict determination. Along with it there should be a possibility to call user written program and special tools during the process of data transformation and cleaning process. A user opinion is required for data transformation for whom there is no built in cleaning logic. The accuracy and efficiency of a conversion process and transformation designs should be verified and assessed on a samp le data to improve the definitions. Repetition of the verification, design and analysis phases may be required because some faults may appear after performing some conversions. Transformation: Implementation of the transformation phase either by running the ETL process for refreshing and loading a data warehouse or during returning queries from heterogeneous sources. Reverse flow of transformed data: once the single source problems are resolved the transformed data should be overwritten in the base source so that we can provide legacy programs cleaned data and to escape repeating of the transformation process for future data withdrawals. For the data warehousing, the cleaned data is presented from the data staging area. The transformation phase requires a huge volume of metadata, such as, workflow definitions, transformation mappings, instance-level data characteristics, schemas etc. For reliability, tractability and reusability, this metadata should be kept in a DBMS-based reposito ry. To maintain data excellence, thorough data about the transformation phase is to be stored, both in the in the transformed occurrences and repository , in precise information about the extensiveness and brilliance of source data and extraction information about the source of transformed entities and the transformation applied on them. For example the consequent table Customers holds the columns C_ID and C_no, permitting anyone to track the base records. In the next sections we have elaborated in more detail probable methodologies for data examination, conversion definition and conflict determination. DATA ANALYSIS Metadata mirrored in schemas is usually inadequate to evaluate the data integrity of a source, particularly if only a small number of integrity constraints are imposed. It is therefore necessary to examine the original instances to get actual metadata on infrequent value patterns or data features. This metadata assists searching data quality faults. Furthermore, it can efficiently subsidize to recognize attribute correspondences among base schemas (schema matching), based on which automatic data conversions can be developed. There are two associated methods for data analysis, data mining and data profiling. Data mining assists in determining particular data forms in huge data sets, e.g., relationships among numerous attributes. The focus of descriptive data mining includes sequence detection, association detection, summarization and clustering. Integrity constraints between attributes like user defined business rules and functional dependencies can be identified, which could be utilized to fill empty fields, resolve illegitimate data and to detect redundant archives throughout data sources e.g. a relationship rule with great certainty can suggest data quality troubles in entities breaching this rule. So a certainty of 99% for rule â€Å"tota_price=total_quantity*price_per_unit† suggests that 1% of the archives do not fulfill requirement and might require closer inspection. Data profiling concentrates on the instance investigation of single property. It provides information like discrete values, value range, length, data type and their uniqueness, variance, frequency, occurrence of null values, typical string pattern (e.g., for address), etc., specifying an precise sight of numerous quality features of the attribute. Table3. Examples for the use of reengineered metadata to address data quality problems Defining data transformations The data conversion phase usually comprises of numerous steps where every step may perform schema and instance associated conversions (mappings). To allow a data conversion and cleaning process to produce transformation instructions and therefore decrease the volume of manual programming it is compulsory to state the mandatory conversions in a suitable language, e.g., assisted by a graphical user interface. Many ETL tools support this functionality by assisting proprietary instruction languages. A more common and stretchy method is the use of the SQL standard query language to accomplish the data transformations and use the chance of application specific language extensions, in certain user defined functions (UDFs) are supported in SQL:99 . UDFs can be executed in SQL or any programming language with implanted SQL statements. They permit applying a extensive variety of data conversions and support easy use for diverse conversion and query processing tasks. Additionally, their impleme ntation by the DBMS can decrease data access cost and thus increase performance. Finally, UDFs are part of the SQL:99 standard and should (ultimately) be movable across many stages and DBMSs. The conversion states a view on which additional mappings can be carried out. The transformation implements a schema rearrangement with added attributes in the view achieved by dividing the address and name attributes of the source. The mandatory data extractions are achieved by User defined functions. The U.D.F executions can encompass cleaning logic, e.g., to eliminate spelling mistakes in city or deliver misplaced names. U.D.F might apply a significant implementation energy and do not assist all essential schema conversions. In specific, common and often required methods such as attribute dividing or uniting are not generally assisted but often needed to be re-applied in application particular differences. More difficult schema rearrangements (e.g., unfolding and folding of attributes) are not reinforced at all. Conflict Resolution: A number of conversion phases have to be identified and performed to solve the numerous schema and instance level data quality glitches that are mirrored in the data sources. Numerous types of alterations are to be executed on the discrete data sources to deal with single-source errors and to formulate for integration with other sources. Along with possible schema translation, these preliminary steps usually comprises of following steps: Getting data from free form attributes: Free form attributes mostly take numerous discrete values that should be obtained to attain a detailed picture and assist additional transformation steps such as looking for matching instance and redundant elimination. Common examples are address and name fields. Essential transformations in this phase are reorganization of data inside a field to comply with word reversals, and data extraction for attribute piercing. Authentication and alteration: This step investigates every source instance for data-entry mistakes and attempts to resolve them automatically as much as possible. Spell-checking built on dictionary searching is beneficial for finding and adjusting spelling mistakes. Additionally, dictionaries on zip codes and geographical names assist to fix address data. Attribute reliance (total price – unit price / quantity, birth date-age, city – zip area code,†¦) can be used to identify mistakes and fill missing data or resolve incorrect values. Standardization: To assist instance integration and matching, attribute data should be changed to a reliable and identical form. For example, time and date records should be transformed into a defined form; names and other string values should be changed to lower case or upper case, etc. Text data might be summarized and combined by stop words, suffixes, executing stemming and removing prefixes. Additionally, encoding structures and abbreviations should continuously be fixed by referring distinctive synonym dictionaries or implementing predefined transformation rules.

The Benefits of Medical Marijuana Essay -- Pro Marijuana Legalization

INTRODUCTION Marijuana, also known as weed, hemp, cannabis, pot, herb, grass, etc., is the most common illegal drug in the United States. Marijuana is also known to be a gateway drug because it can lead people to do more serious drugs. Marijuana is a dried plant often smoked like a cigarette or in a bong or pipe. A common argument today is why marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes. Although some will claim marijuana should not be legalized for medicinal purposes because it has harmful effects and is a gateway drug, I feel that it should be legalized. Marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes because it has many positive effects on diseases and health conditions. Marijuana should also be legalized for medicinal purposes because it is safer and less toxic than many other drugs that physicians are prescribing every day. For over 10,000 years, the marijuana plant has been used by humans. Marshall (2005) stated, â€Å"The first record of human consumption of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes dates back to 2737 B.C., when the Chinese emperor Shen Neng recorded the use of cannabis to treat gout, malaria, beriberi, rheumatism and poor memory.† (p.136). In India, marijuana was being used for medicinal purposes by 1500 B.C., in Greece by 70 A.D., and by the early 1500’s in Europe. (Marshall, 2005, p.136). Over centuries, it continued to grow around the world as people used it for different reasons. Seppa (2010) reported that today medicinal marijuana is legally used to treat different medical conditions in fourteen states in the United States. This requires some paper work and a recommendation from a doctor stating the medicinal purpose of the marijuana. If the patient does not w... ...ription and OTC drugs. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http://blog.marijuanamedicine.com/?p=50 Marshall, P. (2005, February 11). Marijuana laws. CQ Researcher, 15, 125-148. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2005021100. Seppa, N. (2010, June 19). Not just a high: Scientists test medicinal marijuana against MS, inflammation and cancer. Science News, 177 (13), p. 16(5). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale. University of California - San Diego (2007, October 25). Smoked cannabis proven effective in treating neuropathic pain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024141745.htm Wilson, C. (2005). Miracle weed. New Scientist, 185, 38-41. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from OmniFile Full Text Select database.

violence on tv Essay -- essays research papers

Violence on TV   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Violence is described in Webster’s dictionary as physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing. Violence on TV has been steadily increasing for the past few years. It’s not very often that you will find a TV show in prime time that doesn’t involve some type of violence. According to Hollywood sex and violence sells. The problem with this is that violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch those programs. As adults we think that watching TV won’t effect us since we are older, but for younger children when they see someone die or get beat up they think it is cool. Children are very easy to mold into what you want, how many times have you noticed a younger brother or sister imitate their older sibling. TV can have the same effect, for example a 10 year old boys favorite show was WWF wrestling and one day after watching he tried one of the moves on his little sister and killed her. Violence on TV is at an all time high and we need to do something about it to protect the innocence on incoming generations. Since we live in a violent society, we're constantly hearing arguments that seeing TV violence, particularly as kids, desensitizes us so we accept real violence to the point that it even triggers real violence. Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  become &...

Benefits of having consistency throughout organisation Essay

There are many benefits of having consistency throughout any organisation, whether it is in the workplace or in customer interactions. Meeting demands consistently requires the attention of top leadership and it is becoming an increasingly important factor in various industries (Pulido, Stone and Strevel, 2014). This brief will highlight the advantages of having consistency throughout ‘Prestige Worldwide’ and how we can adopt it. Consistency is the key to making customers happy, which is the aim of this organisation. In order to provide maximum customer satisfaction, the customers must have a consistent ‘customer journey’, i.e. the cumulative experience of interactions that a customer has with a company (Pulido et al, 2014). Research by McKinsey & Company (2014) suggested that evaluating the customer journey is 30% more predictive of overall customer satisfaction than individual touch points, which makes increasing customer satisfaction easier to do. Even more importantly, Hallowell (1996) found that improved satisfaction leads to increased customer loyalty. Loyal customers are likely to retain our service and recommend our service to others, thus increasing our customer base and generating more business. McKinsey & Company found that consistency improves customer satisfaction by 20%, lifts revenue by 15%, and lowers the cost of serving customers by 20%. There is also a correlation between overall customer satisfaction and journey experience consistency, as shown in the graph to the right (Pulido et al, 2014). Research has highlighted many advantages and no notable disadvantages; hence this issue is something Prestige Worldwide should consider as part of its management strategy. McKinsey & Company lists three aspects that must be consistent which we should target; 1. Customer journey consistency: Customers interact with different branches of our organisation throughout their customer journey, and it is important for their interactions to be consistently exceptional. This is harder to maintain in a large corporation, but because we are relatively small it will be easy to adopt. 2. Emotional consistency: Customer satisfaction and loyalty are heavily influenced by emotions encompassed in a feeling of trust (Beard, 2014), meaning that consistency is important to forge a relationship of trust with customers, which is important for long term growth. We must strive to be a company that customers comfortable with and trust. 3. Communication consistency: It is important to make and meet promises, and equally important to highlight the delivery of these promises. Our marketing communications should focus on the delivery of promises, because that will influence customer perception and enable us to generate a reservoir of goodwill and first-rate reputation. Slogans are commonly based on customer satisfaction, with an example being â€Å"Satisfaction guaranteed† by Wal-Mart, and Prestige Worldwide should follow this process (Henard, Szymanski, 2001). Concluding the consistency for Prestige Worldwide, it is recommended that we implement it into our business. A suitable plan of action would be to adopt a journey-based approach with customer interactions by making their transitions between departments more seamless while tracking progress, fix areas where negative experiences are common due to them having 4-5 times more impact than a positive experience, and to do it now (Morris, 2014; Pulido et al, 2014). In order to build intense customer loyalty and reap its benefits, we must be consistent; otherwise our customers may lose confidence in our service. References Beard, R. (2014). Is consistency the secret ingredient to customer satisfaction?. Retrieved from http://blog.clientheartbeat.com/consistency-customer-satisfaction Hallowell, R. (1996). The relationships of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability: an empirical study. International journal of service industry management, 7 (4), p. 27-42. Hyken, S (2013). Amaze every customer every time: 52 tools for delivering the most amazing customer service on the planet. Np.: Greenlead Book Group Press. Morris, T. (2014). 3 Tips for Creating a More Consistent Customer Journey | Parature. Retrieved from http://www.parature.com/consistent-customer-journey/ Pulido, A., Strevel, J. and Stone, D. (2014). The three Cs of customer satisfaction: Consistency, consistency, consistency. McKinsey & Company, March. Redbubble. (2014). Prestige Worldwide logo.[Image] Retrieved March 24,2014, from http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.13336929.5818/sticker,375Ãâ€"360.u1.png Pulido, A. and Strevel, J. and Stone, D. (2014). Customer satisfaction survey: Who’s up and who’s down. [Image] Retrieved March 24, 2014 from http://mckinseyonmarketingandsales.com/customer-satisfaction-survey-whos-up-and-whos-down Szymanski, D. M. and Henard, D. H. (2001). Customer satisfaction: a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 29 (1), pp. 16-35.