How long is needed to digest starch Essay Example

How long is needed to digest starch Essay Example How long is needed to digest starch Paper How long is needed to digest starch Paper I am investigating the time needed for enzymes at different temperatures to digest starch. Enzymes are small protein molecules made in the pancreas and stored in the stomach. They are a biological catalyst that means they increase the rate of reaction in digestion. For enzymes to digest they need to be denatured; this is the term used to describe when enzymes are heated to reach their optimum temperature; when the enzyme is heated over its optimum temperature its bonds are broken and the shape of its active site changes therefore preventing the substrate from fitting into it, as each substrate is specific to one enzyme it will therefore stop reacting. After the enzyme is denatured it can never return to its previous state and because enzymes have a high specificity they can only catalyse one reaction. I am going to test for starch using iodine, when the iodine turns brown this will indicate that the starch is digested. Variables A variable is anything you can measure or change in an experiment. In this investigation there are certain variables, which must be taken into consideration before carrying out the experiment. These include: The pH of the experiment (input variable) If the pH is changed this will dramatically affect your overall results. I found this out through the preliminary work. As the pH of an enzyme increases (becomes less acidic) the enzyme activity increases until there is an optimum pH. As pH increases further (becomes more alkaline) the activity decreases. At very low pH and very high pH, the enzyme is denatured and does not work. The type of enzyme (input variable)- The type of enzyme you use is also very significant to your results. This is due to the fact that different types of enzymes have different optimum temperatures and therefore are denatured at different temperatures. The temperature of enzyme (input variable) This is another input variable which if changed will alter your overall results. This is due to the fact that enzyme activity increases as temperature increases, until an optimum temperature is reached; then the activity rapidly decreases until the enzyme no longer works. At high temperature the enzyme is denatured this is normally 50?C and above. When an enzyme is denatured its shape changes so that the active site shape is changed permanently and the enzyme does not work. In conclusion, it is obvious that altering the temperature of the enzyme will dramatically change your results. The temperature of enzyme and starch (input variable)- As you increase the temperature the rate of reaction increase. This is because when the particles are heated they gain kinetic energy and so vibrate and move faster than before. This would increase the amount of successful collisions; therefore making the reaction faster and changing your results. Sweetness of the solution (output variable) This is an output variable (it can be measured). When mixed with the amylase solution starch will break down into the sugar, maltose. This tastes sweet and so by tasting the solution you can guess how much maltose there is and compare it against the other temperatures. Time taken for the starch to be broken down (output variable) In this particular experiment we will only be changing one of the input variables temperature. The rest will be controlled in order to make it a fair test. The output variable that we will measure will be the time taken for amylase to digest the polysaccharide starch. Prediction I predict that the amylase will break down the starch most effectively at 40oC, and with decreasing efficiency towards 0oC, at which time the amylase would be unable to break down the starch at all. This is because body temperature is around 40oC, and enzymes are designed to work at this optimal temperature. The reason for enzymes behaving like this involves kinetic theory. Kinetic theory is the idea that, when a substance is heated e.g. enzymes are heated their particles gain more energy and are therefore more energetic and move quicker which results in more collisions per second so therefore the rate of reaction with the starch increases. When they are at a low temperature e.g. 3c they will take a longer time to react because they the particles will have less energy and move slower which will result in less collisions per second and a slower rate of reaction. Therefore, at temperatures over 40oC, I predict, the amylase will begin to denature to an extent that, at temperatures much over 50oC, it will be totally ineffective. This is because enzymes denature at around 40-50c because at higher temperatures the shape of the active site changes therefore prevents the reactant from fitting into the active site and so the reaction stops. Preliminary study The aim of my preliminary study was to investigate how long was needed to digest starch using enzymes at different pHs. I planned to determine the exact range of times to test and the volumes of starch and amylase to use after conducting the preliminary test for my final experiment. My results showed that the enzymes at pH 7 digested the quickest. Therefore this is its optimum pH. At pH 1 and pH 14 there was hardly any reaction this is because the rate of reaction for very low pHs (acid) or very high pH (alkali) are very low and often result in no reaction at all. After the preliminary test had been carried out, I decided to use 10cm3 starch solution and 5cm3 of amylase solution in the two initial test tubes for the main experiment. It proved easier to, before the experiment was started and while the starch and amylase were heating up, set up a tile with iodine drops already on it. A drop of the solution collected during the experiment could then simply be added to this. In order to decide at which point there was no more starch present, glucose solution was mixed with iodine in a beaker. This provided an indication of what colour the iodine would turn if there were no starch present, but there was glucose, produced by the enzyme. Based on the preliminary test results, the main experiment would be conducted at 10oC intervals between the temperatures in order to obtain an adequate number of sufficiently different results. Risk assessment Throughout the experiment, I took safety precautions to ensure that the experiment was conducted in a safe style: safety goggles were to be worn at all times. All parts of the experiment would be undertaken with care, to ensure that there was no spillage. Any spillages of iodine or starch would be washed thoroughly with soap and water. If any starch solution, iodine indicator or amylase were accidentally ingested, medical attention would be sought immediately. To make my experiment even safer I be used a water bath for all of the temperatures, water baths are a safer option than Bunsen burners and often more effective. Less equipment to deal with, heat not as extreme and no open flames equal less of a chance for accidents. They are often more effective because the temperature of the water can be controlled more easily and the heat gradually increases, unlike the Bunsen burner where it is very difficult to control the heat. The heat increase is almost instant and low temperatures are hard to achieve because of the severe concentration of heat.

Abstractionism in The Bloody Chamber and The Erl-King

Abstractionism in The Bloody Chamber and The Erl-King Angela Carter’s work in the short story collection â€Å"The Bloody Chamber,† makes frequent use of concrete objects as expressions of abstract concepts, among them freedom, bondage, and death in multiple forms, not only physical. In the short story â€Å"The Bloody Chamber,† the world the protagonist lives in is archaic. Although timeless in technicality, the reader gets the idea that it is set in the Victorian era or a little after. This idea is reinforced by the dress of the characters, the behavior of the majority of the women, and the use of wagons and horses as transportation, with the â€Å"motorcar† as a luxury item. The reader is shocked by the presence of the telephone, first revealed while the protagonist and her new husband are having sex for the first time, â€Å"A dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides while the mewing gulls swung on invisible trapezes in the empty air outside. I was brought to my senses by the insistent shrilling of the telephone† (TBC 17). Carter’s use of anachronism highlights the significance of the telephone in the story. In this instance, the telephone seems to symbolize safety or freedom. It is with the telephone that she is able to call her moth er. That maternal bond between mother and daughter, via the telephone wire, ends up being stronger than her bond to her husband in marriage. Carter’s use of concrete objects in place of abstract concepts is not limited to anachronisms. â€Å"The Bloody Chamber† and â€Å"O Belo Adormecido† use intertextuality as an effective strategy to subvert conventions. Ana Raquel Fernandes argues that Carter hinges â€Å"The Bloody Chamber† on multiple objects, relevant to the setting, which escalate in meaning throughout the story. Among them are the lilies in the bedchamber and the ruby choker. The liles, she says, are an illusion to death. She also makes note of the association the protagonist makes between the lilies and her husband: â€Å"In this first part of the story, the first person narrator, the young girl who tells her story retrospectively, describes the Marquis focusing on the stillness of his face and comparing him with a lily† (Fernandes 3). The section of text Fernandes refers to is the protagonist’s initial description of her lover. â€Å"He was older than I†¦ And sometimes that face, in stillness when he listened to me playing, with the heavy eyelids folded over eyes that always disturbed me by their absolute absence of light, seemed to me like a mask†¦ Even when he asked me to marry him, and I said: ‘Yes,’ still he did not lose that heavy, fleshy composure of his. I know it must seem a curious analogy, a man with a flower, but sometimes he seemed to me like a lily† (TBC 8-9). The Marquis himself, then, by this comparison to a lily, becomes an object in the story representing death. Fernandes goes on to explain the recurrence of the lilies throughout the story as foreshadowing impending death on multiple levels: â€Å"The lilies appear again in the description of the matrimonial chamber †¦although the lilies are white, they stain the narrator, their perfume confuses her senses and later in the short story, the stems become: ‘dismembered arms, drifting drowned in greenish water’ (TBC 22), an explicit reference to death. Indeed, from its first description, the bedroom is a death chamber† (Fernandes 4). The choker carries potent symbolism of both death and the bondage of marriage. As a symbol of death, it references both the impending physical beheading of the protagonist and the death of self when the protagonist enters into marriage. Bondage, then, is death. This symbolism is alluded to when the choker is described: â€Å"A choker of rubies, two inches wide, like an extraordinarily precious slit throat† ( TBC 11). The symbolism of death is further exemplified in the detailing of the tradition the choker comes from: â€Å"After the Terror, in the early days of the Directory, the aristos who’d escaped the guillotine had an ironic fad of tying a red ribbon round their necks at just the point where the blade would have sliced it through†¦That night at the opera comes back to me even now†¦ the white dress; the frail child within it; and the flashing crimson jewels round her throat, bright as arterial blood† ( TBC 11). In â€Å"The Erl-King,† Carter uses the bird’s cages to overtly symbolize bondage and the broken fiddle to symbolize the absence of freedom. While the Erl-King has possession of the maidens, transformed by magic into birds, his music is their cries of sorrow. When the protagonist kills the Erl-King at the end and frees the birds, she strings the fiddle with the Erl-King’s hair, thereby restoring freedom as a concept and the fiddle’s song replaces the song of the birds. The fiddle’s less than joyous music brings our awareness to an uncustomary message. â€Å"Then it (the fiddle) will play discordant music without a hand touching it. The bow will dance over the new strings of its own accord and they will cry out ‘Mother, mother, you have murdered me!’† This notes the responsibility and sacrifice that comes with freedom of any kind. The symbols of freedom in â€Å"The Bloody Chamber† are less overt and exist more in terms of negative argument than on its own. In other words, freedom is exhibited through the death of death (the Marquis) instead of being given its own object to live through. This is fitting since â€Å"The Bloody Chamber† seems to speak more about marriage as death and submission as bondage. The Erl-King, on the other hand, seems to speak more about feminism, and the dilemmas of sexuality and equality. Carter’s use of concrete objects as abstractions is central to postmodernism. In the past, many works have used items to symbolize abstractions but in Carter’s work, the items are not props but actual characters in the work. The telephone, for example, is central in the plot of â€Å"The Bloody Chamber.† The choker becomes more of a character than some of the real people, for example, the piano teacher. The fiddle in â€Å"The Erl-King† even has lines of dialogue at the end of the piece, which puts it on full level with living characters. In this way, Carter makes abstractions like bondage, death, and freedom more than simple morals or behind-the-scenes concepts in her work. They take on lives of their own through the objects they inhabit and become central characters, speaking louder than the human characters with which they coexist. Works Cited Carter, Angela (1995), The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. London: Vintage [1979]. Fernandes, Ana Raquel (2010), â€Å"The Bloody Chamber† and â€Å"O Belo Adormecido†: intertextuality as an effective strategy to subvert conventions. Lisbon. The Sixth Congress of the National Portuguese Association of Comparative Literature.

Indecent Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Indecent Behavior - Essay Example 439). The attraction towards indecency through media is increasing day by day. Studies concerned with internet utilization prove that the sites which provide access to sexual materials have great popularity among the internet users. There is the great threat that the children may easily get exposed to indecent content and in order to prevent it the congress enacted the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It prohibited anyone from knowingly transmitting any indecent communication to persons under the age of 18, through a telecommunications device (Lively & Weaver, 2006, P. 149). The society is a deciding factor in determining what is right and what is wrong. Social changes occurring in one’s society can alter one’s attitude and behaviors. Say for people have different opinions about the homosexuality. Some are totally against it while the other group gives consent mentally. Certain countries’ legal systems make the particular group see themselves as wronged and pe rsecuted and it relieves their feeling of guilt. It is because of the police that homosexuals often regard themselves as unfairly treated minority group (Nardi & Schneider, 1998, p.

Criminal Justice System College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminal Justice System College - Essay Example Indeed, as early as mid-1990's criminal justice constituents such as law firms, independent lawyers, national agencies and law enforcement personnel have had an eye on emerging potentials of Internet and computer not only as tools for cost effectiveness and performance enhancement but also as tools for wider community awareness and decision making. A 1997 keynote speech by Jeremy Travis - Director of National Institute of Justice Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences - for example, has addressed, among other issues, IT question as of deep impact on criminal justice and law enforcement practices ("Technology in Criminal Justice"). Specifically, With the click of a mouse, we can enter the libraries of the research institutions of the world, retrieve a document in foreign language, have it translated into English, and print it in our home. Police officers responding to a 911 call can access the crime history of a particular location [online], check the background of a particular suspect using fingerprints, fill out what we used to call paperwork in the squad car by using a hand-sized computer, and return to patrol. ... Probation officers can track the movements of probationers using electronic monitoring devices; victims of domestic violence or stalking can be alerted when monitored individuals get within a specified range; community groups can access computerized crime maps to understand the patterns of crime and disorder in their neighborhoods; investigators can quickly scan hundreds of databases to learn about the most intimate details of people under investigation. (Travis) This is apt ultimately, according to Travis, to spread knowledge and awareness about crime and justice within and between constituents. Interestingly, new breeds of law firms have been emerging specifically offering advice on retrieval of electronic legal data as well as training for law enforcement personnel on managing electronic resources. According to one authority - Michael Arkfeld - on electronic document retention, discovery, production and admissibility of electronic information, Arizona has been a leading state in providing Internet access to justice system data, forms and legal tools to citizens and practitioners free of charge. Moreover, State Bar of Arizona has provided fully searchable ethics opinions as of 1985 online as well as an online facility for clients to locate lawyers by last or first name, firm/organization, practice area, area of specialization, section membership, language spoken, city, or state. Arkfeld suggests a range of ideas for a more effective crime and justice system such as settlement and pretrial conferences on-line, ordering court documents over Internet, electronic filing, actual court documents searchable on-line, witness appearances via Internet, e-mail DATA MANAGEMENT ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM 5 notification of court orders, jury

Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Margaret Atwood Handmai

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Love of God replaces love of humanity in Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred’s recollections of her past life, especially of her husband, are ones filled with passion and happiness as she remembers his tenderness towards her. Much more emphasis is put on the physical human form in her memories; she often remembers lying with her husband while she wears little or no clothing. Appreciation of the human form is an essential component of loving humanity. Offred remembers the love she felt for her friends with whom she enjoyed spending time and conversing. When her friend is taken away, Offred spends much time mourning the loss of this person from her life. She also longs, throughout the novel, to be reunited with her husband. While she has not seen him in years, his memory lives strong in her mind, and she can often imagine him arriving at the Commander’s house and rescuing her. Her memories almost all revolve around human interaction because that i s what she cherished most and that is what society held to be most important. But that was before the religious revolution. The new era of government ushers in a time where humanity is meaningless and the world revolves around God. One example of this is the sex ritual that Offred has to undergo with the Commander. Sex is the ultimate expression of humanity, but she is forced into doing it without any sort of emotion. Furthermore, Offred’s needs as an individual are petty and insignificant throughout Atwood’s work. Offred is expected to keep qualms and concerns to herself and to obey the strict lifestyle laid out for her. Additionally, the human form is not something to be celebrated in this new world, but it is rather something to be... ...she did not die in the novel, she gave up her body for the continuation of mankind. What better martyr, I thought, than Jesus Christ himself. After much thought, I decided upon Giotto’s rendition of Christ on the cross from the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. I faced a major challenge in picking the paintings, apart from my utter lack of knowledge of art history. Each of these paintings was done with such precision and care that the artist likely loaded each one with symbolism and deeper meanings which would not be applicable to The Handmaid’s Tale. As an example of this, my friend who had studied Picasso’s â€Å"Guernica† launched into a lengthy description of what the painting meant, when I only used it for the image of war that it projects. Clearly many of these paintings carry baggage that is unwanted for my purposes, and this is a challenge that I face as the author. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Essay -- Margaret Atwood Handmai Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Love of God replaces love of humanity in Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred’s recollections of her past life, especially of her husband, are ones filled with passion and happiness as she remembers his tenderness towards her. Much more emphasis is put on the physical human form in her memories; she often remembers lying with her husband while she wears little or no clothing. Appreciation of the human form is an essential component of loving humanity. Offred remembers the love she felt for her friends with whom she enjoyed spending time and conversing. When her friend is taken away, Offred spends much time mourning the loss of this person from her life. She also longs, throughout the novel, to be reunited with her husband. While she has not seen him in years, his memory lives strong in her mind, and she can often imagine him arriving at the Commander’s house and rescuing her. Her memories almost all revolve around human interaction because that i s what she cherished most and that is what society held to be most important. But that was before the religious revolution. The new era of government ushers in a time where humanity is meaningless and the world revolves around God. One example of this is the sex ritual that Offred has to undergo with the Commander. Sex is the ultimate expression of humanity, but she is forced into doing it without any sort of emotion. Furthermore, Offred’s needs as an individual are petty and insignificant throughout Atwood’s work. Offred is expected to keep qualms and concerns to herself and to obey the strict lifestyle laid out for her. Additionally, the human form is not something to be celebrated in this new world, but it is rather something to be... ...she did not die in the novel, she gave up her body for the continuation of mankind. What better martyr, I thought, than Jesus Christ himself. After much thought, I decided upon Giotto’s rendition of Christ on the cross from the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. I faced a major challenge in picking the paintings, apart from my utter lack of knowledge of art history. Each of these paintings was done with such precision and care that the artist likely loaded each one with symbolism and deeper meanings which would not be applicable to The Handmaid’s Tale. As an example of this, my friend who had studied Picasso’s â€Å"Guernica† launched into a lengthy description of what the painting meant, when I only used it for the image of war that it projects. Clearly many of these paintings carry baggage that is unwanted for my purposes, and this is a challenge that I face as the author.

Positive Psychology and Depression

Positive Psychology in the Treatment of Major Depression Positive psychology is a strengths-oriented, positively focused approach to human behaviors and thoughts that is relatively recent to the overall field of psychology. Previous schools of thought had always focused on the abnormalities, weaknesses, and pathologies of people. Positive psychology is an exceptionally new branch of psychology and aims at making life more fulfilling, enjoyable, and happy instead of just tolerable; they wish to promote mental health and well-being instead of only treating disorders.This research paper will address the roles that hope, gratitude, forgiveness, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy play in one’s life, and how these characteristics can be utilized in a way to maximize one’s positive affect. One of the most common mood disorders is depression. Depression comes in many forms and there are also different depressive disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and dys thymic disorder. (NIMH, 2009) For the sake of this paper, major depression will be examined. Related article: Approaches to Promoting WellbeingSymptoms of a major depressive episode include feelings of sadness or unhappiness, irritability or frustration, loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, reduced sex drive, insomnia or excessive sleeping, changes in appetite, agitation or restlessness, angry outbursts, slowed thinking or speaking, fatigue, tiredness, loss of energy, trouble thinking or concentrating, frequent thoughts of death or dying including suicide, crying spells for no apparent reason, and unexplained physical problems such as pain (Mayo Clinic, 2012).One does not have to have every one of these symptoms, they must have at least five symptoms, they must persist for at least two weeks, symptoms cannot be caused due to drug or alcohol consumption, are not caused by bereavement or last longer than two months, and they must cause a significant amount of impairment in the person’s everyday life functioning (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Major depressive disorder has a lifetime prevalence rate of 11. 2 percent in young adults with 3. 3 percent of those cases deemed severe, and a twelve month prevalence rate of 6. percent in adults with 30. 4 percent of those cases diagnosed as severe. People ages eighteen to twenty-nine are seventy percent more likely to have experienced depression compared to those over the age of sixty, people between thirty to forty-four years old were 120 percent more likely, and forty-five to fifty-nine year olds were 100 percent more likely. Women are seventy percent more likely than their male counterparts to experience depression during their lifetime and whites are forty percent more likely than blacks to experience depression.Compared to 2 percent or less for most other disorders, major depression is quite common. (NIMH, 2009) Positive psychology interventions in cases of major depression focus on increasing positive emotions, positive experiences, subjective well-being, and beneficial engagements. This differs fro m traditional interventions by not focusing on the depressive, negative symptoms and instead trying to focus on the good aspects of one’s life. Positive psychologists do not ignore the fact that mental illnesses are abnormal and the fact that things do go wrong in peoples’ lives.Instead, they want to take a closer look at the good things that happen in peoples’ lives and what makes and keeps people content or happy. In one study, conducted by Seligman et al, positive psychotherapy exercises delivered through the internet were shown to relieve the symptoms of depression for a minimum of six months whereas traditional treatments lasted less than one week. In subjects suffering from severe depression, reduction in mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms was observed.It was also observed that subjects who had been suffering from major depressive disorder and underwent positive psychotherapy had a higher reduction in symptoms than those who underwent traditional treatme nts and those who underwent traditional treatments combined with medications. The hypothesis of this study stated that â€Å"depression can be treated effectively not only by reducing its negative symptoms, but also by directly and primarily building positive emotions, character strengths, and meaning. It is possible that directly building these positive resources may also buffer against their future reoccurrence. (Seligman et, al. , 2006) Logically, major depression would be well treated when using a positive psychology oriented approach. People who suffer from depression experience anhedonia – an inability to experience pleasure in activities which it is usually produced. They lack positive affect, show a lack of engagement in meaningful activities, lack of feeling of purpose, and lack of feeling of meaning. These people no longer find any interest in things such as sex, food, bonding with friends, favorite past times, and work. (Brynie, 2009) A study by Barnaby D.Dunn, pu blished in July of 2012 also found that people suffering from depression also do not experience anticipation or recognize positive emotions the way those unaffected do. (Dunn, 2012) The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anticipation as â€Å"1: b. the act of looking forward; especially: pleasurable expectation. 2: a mental attitude that influences a later response. †(Merriam-Webster, 2012) From this, it is understood that people suffering from depression, and therefore anhedonia, not only miss out on the pleasure normally experienced during enjoyable activities, they also do not even look forward to any of these pleasurable activities.It is as if they do not see the possibility of an experience producing positive outcomes. Positive psychology, on the other hand, is primarily focused on creating and building-upon positive emotions, helping people find meaning in their everyday lives, and promoting an overall increase in mental health. Positive psychology has its roots in self -efficacy, optimism, and hope. Self-efficacy is the belief that you have the skills and self-control necessary to achieve the goals you set for yourself.This is a learned way of thinking, predicted by previous successes, observing others with high levels of self-efficacy, the ability to imagine oneself achieving a successful outcome, verbal persuasion by other strong and trustworthy individuals, and ability to control negative emotions. Optimism is a person’s tendency to look at a situation from the best possible point of view, or too expect the best possible outcome in any given situation (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Optimism can be predicted by a childhood environment which provided safety, coherence, secure attachments, and there is also a genetic component to optimism.Television, however, is one of the main culprits in promoting pessimism – the opposite of optimism. The final main building block of positive psychology is hope. Hope is the combination of the belief that one can reach his or her goals and has the ability to find alternate routes to these goals should they be presented with adversity. (Snyder, 2011) Key steps and aspects of combating major depression with positive psychology were outlined by Seligman, Rashid, and Parks in their 2006 article.Since depression is associated with a lack of positive realizations in one’s life, clients were asked to take steps to help them recognize their signature strengths, ways to utilize these signature strengths, good things that happen to them every day, things and people in their lives that they are thankful for, and also to forgive others and themselves for past transgressions. To help clients recognize their signature strengths as well as help them to see the way they view themselves, clients were instructed to write stories describing what they believe to be their character strengths.The client and therapist discuss how apathy and the absence of positive emotions do nothing but maintain t he cycle of depressive episodes. Next, clients were instructed to take the VIA-IS strengths finding questionnaire and then use those results in an assignment stating how they could best utilize their strengths to improve their everyday lives. Afterwards, clients were to recall past situations in which they have successfully used their identified strengths to their advantage. Pleasure, engagement, and meaning as pathways to happiness are discussed during the client’s session and their role in overcoming depression is outlined.All of these steps help lead to the realization of the client that they have strengths that are unique to themselves, they have control over situations that happen to them, and they are not helpless. (Seligman, 2006) The next set of steps focuses mainly on engagement. Clients were asked to keep Blessings Journals in which they recorded at least three good things which happened to them each day. They are also encouraged to write about three bad things that have happened to them and to go into depth about their emotions surrounding these events and how the events influenced their depression.The therapist will inform the client of the ways in which retaining negative feelings such as anger and bitterness can compound the effects of depression and prevent recovery. Clients were encouraged to talk about negative experiences and vent about these experiences rather than ruminate on them. Clients were then to write at least one forgiveness letter. They describe an incident with a wrong-doing, the emotions experienced along with the event, and they also promise to forgive to transgressor; even if it was himself or herself. Seligman et al, 2006) Forgiveness is a freeing from a negative attachment to the source that has transgressed against a person. There is less desire to avoid the person or seek revenge, and an increase in positive feelings or actions towards the individual. There is a realistic assessment of the harm done, an acknowledgeme nt of the perpetrator’s responsibility, a cancelation of debt between the victim and perpetrator, and then a self-removal from the category of victim.Forgiveness is important in a person’s life because it helps to break the cycle of violence when one person is harmed and seeks revenge and then the initial transgressor seeks revenge as well which initiates and maintains said cycle of violence. When a person displays a willingness to forgive others, it is not only beneficial to that person, but also to all of the people surrounding said incident. It produces positive feelings as well as an inclination to also be forgiving in future situations. This is a form of positive role modeling between peers. Snyder, 2011) Another important step is expressing gratitude. Clients are encouraged to express their gratitude to someone they never properly or fully thanked either in person, through a letter, or via telephone conversation. (Miller, 2008) One way gratitude is experienced is when another individual acts in a way that is costly to himself or herself, provides value to the recipient, and was done intentionally. Another way gratitude can be experienced is when someone survives a catastrophic event, a threat to his or her health, or a dangerous situation.Gratitude is a highly valued character trait in many cultures due to its beneficial nature and tendency to increase a person’s tendency to perform altruistic tasks. Those who are high in gratitude are generally less concerned with material goods, more spiritual, more satisfied with life, and more empathetic. (Snyder, 2011) Using the concept of primary prevention, psychologists can help their clients to prevent depressive symptoms from occurring in the first place, or lessen the severity of depressive symptoms during the next depressive episode.Some positive psychology interventions in Seligman, Rashid, and Parks’ 2006 study that dealt with primary prevention were being more physically active, socializing with more people or more often with people who were already friends, engaging in meaningful work such as volunteering and helping the less fortunate, bonding more with loved ones and forming deeper connections, lowering expectations of oneself and others, and making one’s own happiness a priority.In the same study, Seligman and his fellow researchers randomly assigned six hundred volunteers to one of six intervention activities online. Five of these activities were from a more positive psychology focused list of exercises, and one was a placebo. The placebo exercise required participants to write down their earliest memories every night for a week which had only temporary effects on that group. The volunteers assigned to groups 1, 2, and 4 showed pointedly lower depressive symptoms and much higher levels of happiness when compared to the lacebo and two other control-like groups. The volunteers in the successful group also had result which lasted at least six mont hs whereas the people in the other groups had either no results, or results that were only fleeting. (Seligman et al, 2006) Group 1 was required to take the VIA-IS strengths questionnaire and then considers ways in which they could utilize their results to help them in their everyday lives. Group 2 had to write down at least three good things that had happened to them that day and why they thought these things had happened to them.Group 4 had to conduct a gratitude visit, much like the one previously mentioned, in which they composed a letter of thanks to someone who had positively impacted their life in some way, shape, or form but they had never fully thanked and then read said letter either in person or over the phone. The two control-like groups’ assignments were to take a strengths test questionnaire alone, or to write an essay about themselves in a moment when they were at their best. Seligman et al, 2006) These last findings show that the positive psychology activities used in the Seligman et al study can also be used as a form of secondary prevention. Secondary prevention addresses a problem after it has already appeared; just as these online participants were already showing signs of extreme depression. After participating in the three blessings per day exercise their depression scores went down showing that this exercise not only could help prevent depressive episode as previously shown, it could also lessen a depressive episode that had already begun.As a spin-off from this study a website, www. reflectivehappiness. com was created. This was a social website community centered on positive psychology. New exercises and interventions were posted each month, a book club was formed, a newsletter was published and sent out, and a discussion board dedicated to positive psychology. During the first month of operations, it was found that fifty of the site’s subscribers who took pretests for the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depre ssion Scale, scored in the range that would qualify as extremely depressed.After completing the exercise involving recording three blessings each day for two weeks, the average score for this group of people dropped from 33. 9, to 16. 9. This showed that ninety-four percent of these people were less depressed and fell from the extremely depressed range to the mildly to moderately depressed range. This website is no longer functioning the same way, it has moved to a mobile network which only works on iPhones and now runs under the URL www. happiness. com. Another important part of positive psychology and the ability of a person to remain positive, optimistic, and hopeful is resiliency.Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity and to successfully adapt to the demands of stressful situations (Tugade et al, 2004). People who are seen as resilient are more likely to be described as self-efficacious, confident, and determined and can also be expected to generate a more posit ive self-talk, boost their self-image, and promote self-agency (Mak et al, 2011). All of these characteristics are those of someone with a very positive outlook on life as well as a positive view of themselves.These people show a much lower susceptibility to mental disorders and behavioral problems such as depression, anxiety, violence, and substance abuse (Lillehoj et al, 2004). People who are more resilient also show more optimism and a higher level of hope when thinking about the future. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions suggests that â€Å"positive emotions expand what an individual feels like doing at any given time. †(Snyder, 2011) This is referred to by Fredrickson as a broadening of one’s thought-action repertoire.Emotions such as joy, interest, contentment, pride, and love all have the ability to expand you potential action options. Joy can create more creative, playful behaviors while interest creates the desire to explore, expand, and experie nce new things. One of the most important in positive psychology is pride. Pride creates the desire to share good news and envision oneself doing even bigger and better things. The opposite happens in any life threatening situation; your thought-action choices narrow to provide a smaller list of options to try to conduct a speedy, potentially life-saving choice. Frederickson, 2001) This research proves that when a person is feeling depressed and are lacking the positive emotions described above, they do not have an expanded thought-action repertoire and therefore do not see all of the possible paths to their goals which, in turn, leads to feelings of hopelessness and a lack of self-efficacy. Other health benefits of promoting positive emotions are increased laughter, decreased heart disease, increased longevity, positive emotional disclosure, and overall increased psychological health.Laughter has been proven to be a cyclical cause and effect of positive emotions which in turn impro ves immune system functioning, and help maintain a stable positive emotional state. Elderly people who had been hospitalized for an incident involving heart disease and kept up a positive attitude had a much lower readmission rate than those who displayed a negative outlook. Also, people who tend to be more positive throughout their lives, participate in emotional disclosure, and upholding an optimistic and hopeful outlook have a propensity to live longer than those who did not.Positive emotions and an expanded thought-action repertoire not only help people emotionally avoid depression, they also help people to be more physically active and thus further avoid depressive symptoms. The reasons why exercise helps to alleviate depressive symptoms is not completely understood, but it is believed to happen on a few different levels. First of all, exercise is thought to release beneficial neurotransmitters and endorphins which are essentially ‘feel good’ chemicals for your bra in and body. These chemicals are thought to activate the opioid receptors in the brain creating feelings of happiness and optimism.Another way exercise is thought to help create positive emotions in those who exercise is by lowering certain chemicals released by the immune system which can also prolong depressive feelings. Finally, exercise increases body temperature which is thought to have a calming effect on individuals. The more direct, less scientific ways that exercise can help people avoid depression are by acting as a distraction from everyday life and taking a person’s mind off of things, increasing social interactions and therefore increasing positive interactions, and improving physical appearance and thus increasing confidence. Mayo Clinic, 2011) A study also found that speed walking for thirty five minutes per day for five days each week, or sixty minutes per day three times each week had a significant effect on decreasing depression. (Harvard Medical School, 200 9) All in all, having a positive outlook on life can be beneficial to one’s life in countless ways. The study of positive psychology helps people to take steps towards developing better skills to take advantage of their ability to think positively, act positively, and avoid or decrease their depression.Through a few very simple steps, such as gratitude letters, blessings journal keeping, and skills and strengths assessments, one can increase their sense of self efficacy, increase resilience, increase their sense of hope, and by doing this decrease major depressive symptoms. Works Cited: American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. , text rev. ). Washington, DC: Author. Anticipation. 2012. In Merriam-Webster. com. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/anticipationBrynie, F. (2009). Depression and Anhedonia. Brain Sense. December 2009. Dunn, B. D. (2012). Helping Depressed Client s Reconnect to Positive Emotion Experience: Current Insights and Future Directions. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 19(4), 326-340. Frederickson, B. (2001). The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226. Harvard Medical School. (2009). Exercise and Depression. Retrieved from http://www. health. harvard. edu/newsweek/Exercise-and-Depression-report-excerpt. tm Lillehoj, C. , Trudeau, L. , Spoth, R. , & Wickrama, K. (2004). Internalizing, social competence, and substance initiation: influence of gender moderation and a preventive intervention. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(6), 963-991. Mak, W. S. , Ng, I. W. , & Wong, C. Y. (2011). Resilience: Enhancing well-being through the positive cognitive triad. Journal Of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 610-617. doi:10. 1037/a0025195 Mayo Clinic staff. (2011, October 1). Depression and Anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms. Retrieved from http://www. mayo clinic. om/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043 Mayo Clinic staff. (2012, February 12). Symptoms. Depression (major depression). Retrieved from http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/depression/DS00175/DSECTION=symptoms Miller, M. (2008, June 16). Positive Psychology Techniques for Depression. Retrieved from http://health. gather. com/viewArticle. action? articleId=281474977374787 National Institute of Mental Health. (2009). Major Depressive Order Among Adults. (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. Optimism. 2012.In Merriam-Webster. com. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/optimism Seligman, M. , Rashid, T. , Parks, A. (2006). Positive Psychotherapy. American Psychologist. November 2006, 774 – 788. Snyder, C. (2011). Positive psychology : the scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. Tugade, M. Frederickson, B. Barrett, L. (2004). Psychologi cal Resilience and Positive Emotional Granularity: Examining the Benefits of Positive Emotions on Coping and Health. Coping & Health. 1161 – 1190.

Susan G. Mezey s Elusive Equality Women s Rights,...

In Elusive Equality: Women s Rights, Public Policy, and the Law, Susan G. Mezey touches several topics that highlight the trials and tribulations women have face over the year just to get one step closer to being considered â€Å"legally equaled† to a man. The author talks about the origin behind the discrimination of women rights using examples from multiply court cases and relates them to situations that women faced today such as women in the workplace, sexual harassment, abortion rights, and eliminating gender bias in education. The authors main point was to inform and stress the importance of seeking constitutional equality, and she used those topics as an example to where women were discriminated against and treated unfairly. She exemplified how such laws were used with sex-based classifications and that men and women were treated different but ironically the laws disadvantaged men more than women. Discussing the topic of women’s rights, the author exemplified many strengths and weakness throughout the book. One of the strengths of this book is the structure in which the author wrote it. Discussing a topic such as women’s rights can be pretty tricky because it is such a broad topic. I like that the author starts off with the legality matters of the subjects and takes it back to the early 1900s to explain how longevity of women discrimination and how long women rights advocates and other feminist movement had to fight in order for there to be equal opportunities for women.