Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Positive And Negative Impacts Of Social Media On Society

There are various ways in which a positive social nudge can be initiated to help individuals experiencing this issue. Although a social nudge is what is influencing the deviant behavior, it can also be reconstructed in a way that decreases deviant behavior. According to Thaler and Sunstein, social pressures nudge people to accept some pretty odd conclusions (2009). Although the goal is not to get people to accept an odd conclusion, knowing that social pressures have that much effect on an individual if they are creative enough is vita; in the reconstruction process. Furthermore, it would be societies place to nudge deviant people to believe that their friends are bad and they should not hang out with them. This can be done in various ways,†¦show more content†¦However, there may be other more subtle nudges that could help permute positive behavior and separation from deviant peers. As previously mentioned, conformity is an easy nudge to influence one’s behavior. Given the issue at hand conformity is already being nudged in a positive way, so all that one would need to do is turn around the pressure of conformity into a positive way. This could be done by promoting positive and non-deviant acts throughout society and pressuring those deviant individuals to stop being deviant in a safe and ethical way. For instance, if an individual gets into trouble due to their deviant friends, the courts, officers, etc., can encourage these individuals to step away from their deviant friends and recommend groups of new peers that are not deviant. For instance, if the individual is spiritual they could recommend a church group for the individual to join. By joining new group, such as the one mentioned in the example given, they will be more likely to conform to those new, un-deviant peers and do what they are doing. Thus, by doing this an individual is being nudged to ma ke positive decisions. As far as ethical concerns go for this recommended revised nudge, there are little to none. The only ethical concern that could be potential is it being force to conform rather than pressure. There is a very fine line between these two elements. Therefore, this would have to be a careful nudge toShow MoreRelatedNegative Effects Of Social Media956 Words   |  4 PagesSocial media has a very high impact on people, their feelings, thoughts, and much more. Although social media can be useful by helping people communicate and do other things, the way people use social media now is not a helpful way at all. Today, social media is used in so many bad ways such as bullying, false statements, and making women believe that they have to look a certain way and that they need and have to look the same as every woman on social media. But can social media be used in a positiveRead MorePositive and Negative Effects of Social Media Essay638 Words   |  3 PagesSocial medi a is any website that allows social interaction. Social media is growing rapidly throughout the world. More adults and teenagers are joining sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to interact with friends, family, and strangers. The introduction of social media has changed the world in many ways. It affects each individual in different ways. Today it can be used as a very helpful tool in changing a person’s life, but at the same time cause such conflicts which can negatively impactRead MoreNegative Effects Of Social Media Essay1144 Words   |  5 Pagessimple click away. While technology advances have had a huge positive impact on the efficiency and productivity of today’s society and the generation of people that have come from it, it has also slowed us down and made us forget our priorities. 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Social media effects everyone in society, especially teenagers by negatively impacting their lives, face-to-face interactionsRead MoreSocial Media Negative Effects On People1255 Words   |  6 Pages Social media negative effects on people psychology paper Research Question: How Social media has negative effects on people? Review of literature: Social Media may seem positive and safe, but they affect our daily lives more than you can think of. If someone is sad or mad it could be because they have just used social media . It’s true people’s emotions can change because of social media. Due to this fact I got curious andRead MoreThe Effects Of Social Media On Society1359 Words   |  6 PagesIn a broad sense, Social media refers to elements such as websites, television, blogs, IM, and other applications that enable users to create and share various forms of content such as messages, pictures, and information, or to be able to participate in social networking. Social media depends on web-based applications, which allow a high level of virtual interaction on various levels such as social, professional, and educational levels. Social media has had various contributions to the developmentRead MoreCritique on Advertising in Our Society1034 Words   |  5 PagesAdvertising In Our Society A critique on the impact of advertising in our society. Consider visuals and verbal or written language. (1000 words) The impact of advertising on our society is a fiercely debated topic, and has been ever since the conception of advertising in its most basic form. There are negative and positive social and economic impacts upon society from advertising in its various forms. For instance, advertising promoting public welfare has a positive social impact upon society, whereasRead MoreSocial Media And Its Impact On Society1563 Words   |  7 PagesSocial media has consumed our society. 47% of American adults used social networking sites in 2011 like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter; up from 26% in 2008(quoted from procon.org) the aspects of social media both have a positive and negative impact on life. Social networking sites promote interaction with distant family and friends. Social networking sites can demonstrate opportunities to strengthen existing relationships and to develop new friendships as well. The downfall of social media sitesRead MoreEffect Of Advertising On Society Essay1728 Words   |  7 Pagesthere negative or positive results? This review of literature scope was led by the following question: When it comes to communication and advertising are there positive results, negative results and what are the traits that effect these results? To conduct this research, Scholarly Journal Articles were us ed. Six articles to be exact, as well as a dictionary definition from Webster Online. The findings show that advertisement is effective because advertising has positive as well as negative, socialRead Moreexample of informative speech outline Essay examples899 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ EXAMPLE OF INFORMATIVE SPEECH OUTLINE Informative Outline Topic: Impact of Media in the Society and Individual General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience the negative impact of social media in the society and to the individual. Thesis: Social media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. I. Introduction A. Attention Getter: Today, just about

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Gender Roles During The Second World War - 908 Words

During the Second World War, Britain experienced a steady shift away from the traditional gender roles harbored by their predominantly male controlled society. Women were treated as second-class citizens. Gender inequality was prominent throughout Britain during this time, and like many other woman, Nella Last’s sole occupation was as a mother and housewife. Although Nella mentally opposed some gender inequalities during the Second World War, she agreed with some expected societal roles for woman: primarily being mothers and housewives. By remaining occupied with housework and volunteer service, as well as her continual hesitation or withdrawal from expressing her thoughts to her narrow-minded husband, Last returned to her stagnant and dull existence as a housewife, which ultimately became her place of torture and peace. Although Nella showed some opposition to traditional gender roles during the war, she continually withheld her feelings and opinions, and therefore never trul y committed herself to seek change—ultimately embracing her life’s sole purpose; as being a mother and housewife. This is seen in 1943, when making her husband desert. She reflects on how much he has changed since the war began: Originally, he was utterly indifferent to her cooking and potentially hostile when asked for his opinion. After seeing the misfortunes of others, he became more appreciative of her efforts in cooking and tending to the house (Last, 232). Last was thrilled by his newfoundShow MoreRelatedGender History : Women And Women1602 Words   |  7 PagesGender history focuses on the fundamental idea of what it means to be defined as a man or woman in history. Gender historians are concerned with the different changes that occur within a society, during a particular period of time in regards to the perceived differences between women and men. Also, they are concerned with the impact of gender on various historically important events. Gender history devel oped because traditional historiography excluded women from ‘universal’ and ‘general’ historyRead MoreWomen During The Great Depression1471 Words   |  6 Pagessignificance was the Second World War. The war came as a salvation to the United States because it helped liberate it from the Great Depression. However, one gender population, during this time, had the opportunity to demonstrate their potential. This gender population was women. WWII was not only a life changing event for all men in America, but also for women because it would become the first time in history when they begin to break the stereotypes between gender roles. During the Great DepressionRead MoreThe Anonymous Diary of a Female Journalist during the Occupation Period of Soviet Russia in Berlin814 Words   |  3 PagesThe anonymous diary of a female journalist during the occupation period of Soviet Russia in Berlin gave a deafening voice to a completely silent victim, the ethnically Germanic female citizen in postwar Germany. This discourse of power relations and sexual appeal come together fluidly in this book. There is also a voice of women in history that has been growing ever stronger which this diary adds to. Without this diary, the victimization and helplessness of the German woman goes overall untold. ThisRead MoreVictorian Era Gender Roles and the Development of Women’s Football in England1054 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment of women’s football in Britain during the 19th century illustrates the transformation of gender roles in British culture in the context of Victorian era values and women’s football: †Å"‘The Cultures of sport in Britain have been distinctively male, rooted in masculine values and patriarchal exclusiveness’† Through the introduction of female football into British society the system of Victorian values were challenged by expanding gender roles. The institution of women’s soccer in the lateRead MoreThe Era Of The 19th And 20th Centuries1664 Words   |  7 Pagesera of the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe was largely defined by imperialism and nationalism. How did these concepts influence the manner in which the world wars were fought? In what ways are they global ideals? How did these notions cause the wars to become global in nature? 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As the war progressed and American troops landedRead MoreHow Female Gender Roles During Britain Of This Era1461 Words   |  6 Pagesunchallenged, historians have begun to suggest that this stereotype is inaccurate and misleading, and overlooks the complexity of female gender roles during Britain of this era. When reviewing the literature on this topic, wh at emerges as a clear point of tension between academics is whether the 1950s was a static or a dynamic period for changes in female gender roles, which may reflect the different political atmosphere of the eras in which they completed their works. When one considers a typicalRead MoreFeminism Essay1633 Words   |  7 PagesHow can assumptions about gender and registers of gender difference, as well as nature/culture dichotomies, inform meaning and the production of geographical knowledge. Geographers use poststructuralist and feminist ideas in order to study human environment, society and geogrpahical space. Feminism and poststructuralism encourage us to question the set of assumptions and socially constructed meanings that give rise to knowledge claims. Poststructuralism is a popular critique that challenges ourRead MoreGender And Its Role Is Affected By Direct And Indirect External Factors1279 Words   |  6 Pagesconstructed idea of gender and its role is affected by direct and indirect external factors. Since the beginning of time in European Society, women have constantly been viewed and treated as inferiors to men. Specifically, women have wanted to stray away from the socially constructed idea of being perceived as domesticated beings. As the Victorian era came to the end, women yearned for that change. When the twentieth century approached, women actively desired to alter the gender role that had been setRead MoreThe Connection of Nursing with Feminism Essay1 616 Words   |  7 Pagescareer choice for women. After World War II, nurses had to transition from working in private homes to working in public hospitals. There was a dire need for nurses in the hospitals because of the different communicable diseases that were around. In addition, â€Å"the rise of feminism in the 1960’s influenced public attitudes toward women, their work, and education.† In Susan Gelfand Malka’s Daring to Care: American Nursing and Second-Wave Feminism, she analyzed that second-wave feminism gravely impacted

Monday, December 9, 2019

Chronic Kidney Disease for Recent Literature and Publication

Question: Discuss about theChronic Kidney Disease for Recent Literature and Publication. Answer: Introduction The present paper will critically discuss CKD with reference to a case study of a patient, Glenda, who has the condition. The stages of CKD, the pathophysiology of CKD, management strategies and health promotion strategies will be analyzed. This is in a bid to demonstrate an understanding of patient-centered care and application of policy and principles of management of chronic kidney disease. The approaches of care in Glendas case will be critiqued on basis of appropriateness and any recommendations or alternatives posed with support from recent literature and publication; an evidence-based approach. Case description Glenda is a 56-year-old aboriginal woman from Tiwi islands. She presented to the local health center with complaints of facial pruritus, anorexia, nausea, and lethargy. She appeared confused. Her vitals were normal except for an elevated blood pressure of 159/97 mmHg. Her urine analysis was positive for protein. Glenda has a past medical history of similar complaints. She also presented with generalized edema, joint pain and stiffness, and lethargy in 2010. Her vitals had been erratic with a fever of 38.80 C, a pulse rate of 98 bpm, an elevated respiratory rate of 22 and a hypertension of 180/100 mmHg. Her urinalysis showed rust-colored urine that was positive for blood and protein. This was two weeks after a sore throat. She was then diagnosed with post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis and treated. Her social history involved her binge drinking fortnightly four or more drinks. She also smoked an average of 20 cigarettes per day. She had some estimated forty smoking pack years. She c laimed to exercise by frequently walking around the island. Her nursing discharge suggested monthly follow-up with measurements of blood pressure and urinalysis. During the current presentation, lab investigations were done. They showed an elevated urea of 45mmol/l, elevated serum creatinine of 1132 umol/L, decreased creatinine clearance of 8.2 ml/min, decreased serum sodium levels at 128 mEq/L, elevated serum potassium levels at 6 mEq/L, reduced bicarbonate levels at 11.5 mEq/L, an increased anion gap at 20, reduced calcium at 1.98mg/dL, elevated phosphate at 5.4 mg/dL and a reduced PH of 6.1. This interprets to a uremia, hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia and a hyperphosphatemia with an anion gap metabolic acidosis. The presentation fits a picture of deranged renal function. CKD was established and she was started on hemodialysis on account of uremia and metabolic acidosis. She, however, opted for peritoneal dialysis in order to move back to her rural island and enjoy life and culture. Chronic Kidney Disease CKD according to Queensland Health (2015), is glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 60ml/min/1.73m2 with or without evidence of kidney damage for more than three months or evidence of kidney damage including albuminuria, hematuria not of urological origin, pathologic or anatomic kidney changes with or without deranged GFR for more than three months. It is estimated that one in eight Australians has indicators of CKD making it a very common condition (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Of these, 10% do not know they have the condition as one can lose up to 90% of kidney function without any signs or symptoms (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). It is one of the major cardiovascular risk factors as it increases mortality due to cardiovascular causes (Levey Coresh, 2012). For this reason, early detection and management are important. Risk factors There are eight major risk factors for CKD progression and cardiovascular risk (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Risk stratification and health promotion to prevent progression of CKD and cardiovascular events are targeted at the risk factors that are modifiable. The risk factors include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, established cardiovascular disease, family history of kidney failure, obesity with BMI of more than 30kg/m2, smoking, 60 years or older and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin (Kidney Health Australia, 2015; Levey, Astor, Stevens, Coresh, 2010; Razmaria, 2016; Murphree Thelen, 2010). Glenda has three of the eight risks in that she has hypertension, is a smoker with forty pack years and is an aboriginal from Tiwi islands. According to the Australian absolute cardiovascular risk assessment tool, Glenda has a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next five years. Pathogenesis The pathogenesis of CKD starts with a renal insult. In Glendas case, this was post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. The mechanisms of injury in her case was as a result of a sore throat she had in 2010. The body produces antibodies against streptococcal proteins as it tries to clear the sore throat. These antibodies, however, cross-react with basement membrane proteins in the kidney causing glomerular damage (Colledge, Walker, Ralston, 2013). At first, the glomerular membrane becomes leaky, losing the capacity for selective permeability hence large molecules like albumin pass through giving the patient proteinuria. The damage to glomerular components can affect vascular components giving rise to hematuria. Further damage starts leading to nephron loss reducing the excretory capacity of the kidney hence the progressive reduction in GFR. The kidney, however, has a large capacity for compensation and the remaining nephrons hypertrophy and hyper filtrate as they try to maintain the GFR within the normal range (Barrett, Barman, Boitano, 2017; Marieb Hoehn, 2013). This has been postulated to have an impact on the progression of kidney damage as the kidneys are overworking. One can lose up to 90% kidney function before symptoms appear (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). When the symptoms set it, they are related to renal function and represent the complications of CKD (Johnson Bonner, 2012). Inability to excrete waste is the main one leading to uremia. Glenda has uremia as manifested by facial pruritus (Colledge, Walker, Ralston, 2013). The kidney has important roles in maintaining metabolic homeostasis. When deranged, the kidney cannot buffer leading to metabolic acidosis. Glendas metabolic acidosis is anion gap positive metabolic acidosis due to increase in anions like phosphates. There are mineral derangements with calcium loss as calcium is replaced with phosphate leading to hyperphosphatemia (Murphree Thelen, 2010). Anemia is a complication as the kidney is an important synthesizing organ for erythropoietin. This is apparent in Glendas case as her hematocrit is on the lower side, an indication of anemia. Sodium and water handling is affected in CKD with sodium retention and fluid overload (Murphree Thelen, 2010). This is a major cause of ed ema in CKD. There is the development of renal bone disease due to derangements in bone turnover and secondary hyperparathyroidism (Murphree Thelen, 2010). Hypertension is both a cause and complication of CKD (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Early detection and screening Due to the chronicity of CKD, eventual decline into end-stage renal failure and high cardiovascular risk, early detection and management of CKD is paramount (Razmaria, 2016). Screening for CKD is done to those who have any of the eight risk factors for developing CKD. Screening involves regular measurement of GFR and albuminuria with appropriate urinalysis, blood pressure monitoring, and blood sugar monitoring. If there are factors showing an increased risk, monitoring should be done every 1 to 2 years (Queensland Health, 2015). Staging and discussion CKD progresses through five stages as kidney function deteriorates to kidney failure. These stages form a continuum. The new staging recommendations take into consideration the GFR and the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). The management of CKD is heavily influenced by these stages hence a clear staging system should be used (Bauer, Melamed, Hostetter, 2008). Calculation of GFR is one of the variables that can affect this. Two methods exist; Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula. The CKD-EPI formula is recommended (OCallaghan, Shine Lasserson, 2011). From these calculations, Glendas estimated GFR and need for dialysis put her at stage 5 of CKD. Stage one of CKD is when GFR is less than or equal to 90ml/min/1.73m2 in at least two urinalysis tests for more than three months (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Stage 2 is when GFR is between 60 to 89 ml/min/1.73m2 in at least two urinalysis tests for more than three months. However, for these two stages, the GFR can be normal and CKD is only diagnosed if there is a sign of renal damage for example albuminuria, hematuria not of urological origin, pathologic or anatomic kidney changes (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). This is because the estimation of GFR can give low numbers for otherwise healthy individuals. Urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) should be done to stratify the patient in categories of low, moderate or high risk of progressive renal impairment (Kidney Health Australia, 2015; Glassock, 2010) Management goals at these stages are aimed at slowing progression of kidney damage and cardiovascular risk management (Castner, 2010). This stage can be treated in the primary care setting but the bigger issue is assessing cardiovascular risk. CKD is a large risk for mortality from cardiovascular causes and a patient is more likely to die from cardiovascular causes than kidney failure (Johnson Bonner, 2012). Pointers of progressive kidney disease may include hematuria, rapidly worsening renal function, albuminuria, family history of renal failure and hypertension (Castner, 2010). Long-term monitoring of renal function, blood pressure, and proteinuria is indicated. Avoidance of nephrotoxic drugs is also an important nursing consideration. Lowering of cardiovascular risk starts with reducing the blood pressure. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBS) are the first line therapy for BP reduction in CKD and renal protection (Queensland Health, 2015). They decrease the risk of end-stage kidney disease by up to 40 %. Lifestyle modifications should be implemented including smoking cessation, appropriate nutrition change for example low sodium and low-calorie diet, weight reduction, reducing alcohol intake and increasing physical activity (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Glycemic control is another measure. Lipid-lowering drugs can be used to further lessen the risk. Glenda should have been advised on these modifications early. She has three of the eight risk factors making these modifications crucial to her care. Stage three is divided into two subgroups; 3a and 3b. Stage 3a is when GFR is between 45 to 59 ml/min/1.73m2 in and 3b between 30 to 44 ml/ min/1.73m2, in at least two urinalysis tests for more than three months (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). This separation accurately stratifies risk assessment as 3a CKD present a low to moderate risk while 3b represents an already moderate to high risk of progression and cardiovascular events (Wyatt, 2016). Management of CKD at this stage involves monitoring and slowing kidney damage, cardiovascular risk, avoidance of nephrotoxic drugs and fluid overload, adjusting medication to fit kidney function, identification of complications of CKD and prompt referral to a nephrologist (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). As renal function worsens so do the complications. Treatment of these complications reduces the risk of progression and slows kidney damage. It is still paramount to continue cardiovascular risk reduction as for earlier stages (Welch, Johnson, Zimmerman, Russell, Perkins, Decker, 2015). These are the final stages of CKD as one slips into the end-stage renal disease. Stage 4 of CKD is when GFR is 15-29 ml/min/1.73m2 in at least two urinalysis tests for more than three months. Stage 5 is when GFR is less than 15 ml/min/1.73m2 in at least two urinalysis tests for more than three months or a requirement for dialysis (Kidney Health Australia, 2015). Glenda is at stage 5 of CKD owing to her need for dialysis. The absolute indication for her dialysis was uremia and metabolic acidosis with hyperkalemia (Rivara, Chen, Nair, Cobb, Himmelfarb, Mehrotra, 2017). Glenda should continue her peritoneal dialysis as outcomes are observed. If the condition worsens hemodialysis should be restarted as options of renal transplantation are sought. Management at this stage should be monitored by a renal specialist. The goals of care include monitoring for complications and cardiovascular events, preparation for informed decision making on the approach regarding end-stage renal failure (Ki dney Health Australia, 2015). They eventually would need dialysis or renal transplant. Conclusion In conclusion, CKD is a chronic illness that progresses through five stages each with a number of management strategies and goals. Early detection through screening is important in managing and slowing the progress of the disease. Cardiovascular risk assessment and reduction of the eight risk factors should be done regardless of the stage of the disease. Glenda is at the final stage 5 of CKD and should be managed by specialists with end-stage renal failure in mind. References Barrett, E., Barman, M., Boitano, S., (2017) Ganongs review of medical physiology. (24th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill Medical Bauer, C., Melamed, M. L., Hostetter, T. H. (2008). Staging of Chronic Kidney Disease: Time for a Course Correction. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 19(5), 844-846. Caravaca-Fontn, F., Azevedo, L., Luna, E., Caravaca, F. (2018). Patterns of progression of chronic kidney disease at later stages. Clinical Kidney Journal, 11(2), 246-253. doi:10.1093/ckj/sfx083 Castner, D. (2010). Understanding the stages of chronic kidney disease. Nursing 2018, 40(5), 24-31. Colledge, N., Walker, R, Ralston, S. (2013). Davidsons principles and practice of medicine. 21st edition. London: Elsevier. Glassock, R. J. (2010). Is the presence of microalbuminuria a relevant marker of kidney disease? Current Hypertension Reports, 12(5), 364-368. doi:10.1007/s11906-010-0133-3 Johnson, V., Bonner, A. In Brown and Edwards (eds) (2012). Nursing Assessment: urinary system. Lewis's Medical-surgical nursing. (3th E.). Sydney: Elsevier, pp 1226-1248. Kidney Health Australia. (2015). Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Management in General Practice. (3RD Ed.). Australia, Melbourne: Kidney Health Australia. Levey, A. S., Coresh, J. (2012). Chronic kidney disease. The Lancet, 379(9811), 165-180. Retrieved from HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60178-5 Levey, A., Astor, B., Stevens, L., Coresh J. (2010). Chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension: whats in a name? Kidney International, 78, 19-22. Marieb, E. Hoehn, K. (2013). The Urinary System. Human Anatomy and Physiology. USA: Pearson, pp 1023- 1060. Murphree, D. D., Thelen, S. M. (2010). Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 23(4), 542-550. Retrieved from doi:10.3122/jabfm.2010.04.090129 O'Callaghan, A., Shine, B., Lasserson, D.S. (2011). Chronic kidney disease: a large-scale population-based study of the effects of introducing the CKD-EPI formula for eGFR reporting BMJ Open, 1(2), 308. Queensland Health, (2015). Chronic Conditions Manual: Prevention and Management of Chronic Conditions in Australia. (1st Ed.). The Rural and Remote Clinical Support Unit, Torres. Razmaria, A. A. (2016). Chronic kidney disease. JAMA, 315(20), 2248-2248. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.1426 Rivara, M. B., Chen, C. H., Nair, A., Cobb, D., Himmelfarb, J., Mehrotra, R. (2017). Indication for dialysis initiation and mortality in patients with chronic kidney failure: a retrospective cohort study. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 69(1), 41-50. Welch, J. L., Johnson, M., Zimmerman, L., Russell, C. L., Perkins, S. M., Decker, B. S. (2015). Self-Management Interventions in Stages 1 to 4 Chronic Kidney Disease: An Integrative Review. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 37(5), 652-678. doi:10.1177/0193945914551007 Wyatt, C. M. (2016). A rose by any other name: is stage 3a chronic kidney disease really a disease? Kidney International, 91(1), 6-8.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

KWAskinganAnalyticalQuestion Essays - Human Behavior,

Asking an Analytical Question An important step in writing academic essays is to ask a good analytical question, one that poses a challenging way to address the central text(s) you will write about. Establishing that question won't be your first step- you'll need to do some observing and annotating, and even some interpreting, as a way of developing the question itself. But focusing on what that question might be early in your analysis helps you approach your essay with something to explore, an idea to discover (that will inform your thesis) for both you and your readers. Think of the question as something you're truly interested in exploring as you read, an exploration you want to guide your reader through, since not everyone reading the text will come away with the same impressions and interpretations you do. (One of the truisms of writing: if you're not discovering something in the writing of your essay, your readers probably aren't either.) A good analytical question: (1) speaks to a genuine dilemma in the text. In other words, the question focuses on a real confusion, ambiguity or grey area of the text, about which readers will conceivably have different reactions, opinions, or interpretations. (2) yields an answer that is not obvious. In a question such as "Why did Hamlet leave Denmark?" there's nothing to explore; it's too specific and can be answered too easily. (3) suggests an answer complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument. If the question is too vague, it won't suggest a line of argument (e.g., "Why are there so many references to acting in the play?"). The question should elicit analysis and argument rather than summary or description. (4) can be answered by the text, rather than by generalizations or by copious external research (e.g., "Why did Shakespeare depict madness in the way that he did?"). Tips to keep in mind: . "How" and "why" questions generally require more analysis than "who/ what/when/where." . Good analytical questions can highlight patterns/connections, or contradictions/dilemmas/ problems. . Good analytical questions can also ask about some implications or consequences of your analysis. Thus the question should be answerable, given the available evidence, but not immediately, and not in the same way by all readers. Your thesis should give at least a provisional answer to the question, an answer that needs to be defended and developed. Your goal is to help readers understand why this question is worth answering, why this feature of the text is problematic, and to send them back to the text with a new perspective or a different focus.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Shelf Lives of Expressions and Slang

The Shelf Lives of Expressions and Slang The Shelf Lives of Expressions and Slang The Shelf Lives of Expressions and Slang By Mark Nichol Several weeks ago, President Obama, in announcing during a television interview that he didn’t want to inflame Islamic extremists by releasing photos taken of Osama bin Laden’s body following the al-Qaeda leader’s assassination by a U.S. military unit, said, â€Å"There’s no need to spike the football.† Huh? In American football, players have been known to triumphantly punctuate a touchdown by spiking the ball, or throwing it point first against the surface of the playing field so that it emphatically bounces away. By summoning that imagery, Obama expressed his reluctance to have the United States be perceived as gloating about bin Laden’s death. So, do you think that analogy has legs? (The stem of that expression, in turn, is from theatrical slang for a stage production with the potential for long-running success.) The truth is, the entertainment industry, whether in the form of a professional sports or any one of various theatrical endeavors, has enriched our language with a wealth of idiomatic expressions: The sports world has given us â€Å"A-game† (an excellent effort), â€Å"Hail Mary pass† (a desperate gambit), and â€Å"slam-dunk† (a definitive accomplishment), among a stadium full of other vivid phrases. Meanwhile, the performing arts have contributed â€Å"It ain’t over till the fat lady sings† (meaning â€Å"Don’t give up† interestingly, often voiced late in seemingly one-sided athletic contests), â€Å"Break a leg† (meaning â€Å"Good luck†), and â€Å"It’s a wrap† (meaning â€Å"We’re done†). Other expressions derive from a wide variety of other fields and pursuits, and though some of these figures of speech may induce groans because of the excess of their success through viral propagation, many are quite effective in conveying a message at least for now. Any such phrasing, however, is subject to the cultural forces at play at any time. Ronald Reagan would not have said, â€Å"There’s no need to spike the football† in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall more than twenty years ago, because the gridiron tradition in question postdates that event. Two decades from now, it may die out, and the expression may fade into obsolescent oblivion. And that’s the moral of this story: If you’re writing for an ephemeral medium like newspapers, magazines, or the Internet, you need not concern yourself with the staying power of current slang or expressions derived from pop culture. But if you’re writing a book, or are otherwise more concerned about the legacy of your efforts, take care in the use of idiom so that your prose does not come under fire (as the military-based expression goes) for being tired or passe. You are allowed a pass (but not a Hail Mary pass) if, say, you’re writing a coming-of-age story in which you want to re-create the zeitgeist by resurrecting the lingo of the time, but be careful not to have your characters indulge in incessant ’70s-speak, for example. Ask any survivor of that era, and they’ll tell you that â€Å"Far out,† â€Å"Right on,† and â€Å"Keep on truckin’† were far from ubiquitous. Admittedly, some idiom has survived years, decades, centuries, and even millennia: The entrance to a house in Pompeii, inundated by volcanic ash in 79 AD, has an inscription on the floor that reads â€Å"Cave canem† â€Å"Beware of the dog.† But cave this: Whoever coins or borrows an expression isn’t entitled to determine its staying power or whether it survives only in ironic or derisive usage. Bummer, huh? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing16 Misquoted QuotationsWhat Is the Meaning of "Hack?"

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Find Old SAT Scores

How to Find Old SAT Scores If you took the SAT a million years ago, you may have thought that by walking away from the testing site, you were done with that phase of your life forever. On the contrary, if you try to continue your education or nab an entry-level job, your SAT scores could be a big boost in your resume if your job history isnt substantial.   What if you went right into a trade, bypassed college, and are now considering enrolling in an undergraduate program? Do you even remember which college admissions test you took? (The ACT is often confused for the SAT) Or what a good SAT score  even is? If any of this sounds like you, then you will need those SAT score reports, and heres how to go about getting them.   Settling an Old Score Finding your old SAT scores only takes a few steps. Remember which college admissions test you took: ACT or SAT.  ACT: Your ACT score will be a two digit number from 0 to 36.SAT: Your SAT score will be a three or four digit score between 600 and 2400. The current scale started in March 2016 for the Redesigned SAT, which uses a different scoring system, with a maximum of 1600. Since the SAT has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years, the score you may have received in the 80s or 90s would be scaled a bit differently now.Request a score report from the College Board.  By mail:  Download the  request form  and mail it to SAT Program / P.O. Box 7503 / London, KY 40742-7503. Youll need to know your personal information at the time of testing, like your street address, and will also need to choose recipients to whom youd like the SAT scores sent.  By phone:  For an additional fee of $10, you can call to order archived SAT score reports at  (866) 756-7346 (domestic), (212) 713-7789 (international), (888) 857-2477 (TTY in th e U.S.), or (609) 882-4118 (TTY international). Pay the fee for your old SAT score reportThe archive retrieval fee for old SAT reports is currently $31.  Each report will cost you $12, so that amount needs to be multiplied by the number of recipients youre sending the report to.Additional fees ($31) apply for rush delivery.Wait for your score reports to arrive! Within five weeks of receiving your information, the College Board will mail your score reports to you and to the score recipients youve listed on the form.   Tips to Speed Up the Process Get some information together before you get on the phone or fill out the score request sheet. Youll need details like your name and address at the time of SAT testing, your approximate test date, college, and scholarship program codes for recipients of your scores, and your credit card number.  Write legibly on all required forms, preferably in all caps. Youll delay the scores if you choose to write sloppily.  Remember that since your scores are older, the tests may have changed and the score reporting services will send a letter stating that fact to the institution in which youre interested. So, even though you may have earned top ranks for the year you tested, your score back then may not mean the same thing as the scores of today. Contact the College Board to explain if youre confused about the scoring scale and differences.Pay an additional (optional) $31 rush service fee.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Anderson V. WR Grace case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anderson V. WR Grace - Case Study Example According to the plaintiffs, their chemicals led to sever health effects on their families and eventual death. Notably children from seven of the plaintiffs’ families contracted leukemia and died following complications from these chemicals. Additionally, a spouse of one of the plaintiffs contracted a severe myelocytic leukemia and died out of the same illness (Gerrard and Foster 657). Despite the laboratory findings in the water samples from these wells, claims of the plaintiffs that the contaminated water causes leukemia led to numerous questions: how did TCE got into the wells? Who could have been responsible? Could TCE (chemical analyzed from wells’ water) cause leukemia in children? On the other hand, were the wells supplying drinking water to the East Woburn neighborhood carried leukemia dusts? The findings revealed that dumpsites were too close to the drinking wells. Moreover, some of the chemicals used by these industries were found in the wells’ water. Thus, the chemicals caused severe health problems and eventual death to some of the plaintiffs’ families (Gerrard and Foster 654). However, the chemicals could not be blamed for the cause of leukemia. From the findings, someone was to take the responsibility of damages realized. Therefore, W.R. Grace and plaintiffs were left to settle approximately eight million US dollars despite the company denial of and wrongdoing or responsibility for the damages. Gerrard, Michael, and Sheila R. Foster.  The Law of Environmental Justice: Theories and Procedures to Address Disproportionate Risks. Chicago, Ill: American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, 2008.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Social networking and information system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social networking and information system - Essay Example Although most of the activity done on social media is either non-work-related or entirely harmless, employers sometimes take exception to the employees’ online postings and take disciplinary action against them. Some kinds of social media usage by employees that usually acquire disciplinary action from the employers include posting photos or videos showing some sort of misbehavior related to work e.g. tweeting about avoiding work or feigning illness, and expressing views over social media whose connection to the organization is not appreciated or approved of by the employers. The technical, legal, and ethical implications of the social media in business imparts need for government and organizations to work at their respective levels to develop safety mechanisms, security systems, and codes of ethics to guide the behavior of employees at the workplace. Business use of social media saw a two-fold increase from 11 per cent in 2008 to 22 per cent in 2009 (Sarrel, 2010). Social med ia is being increasingly used by the employees at the workplace for both non-work and work related purposes including attracting clients and developing joint ventures. Organizations use social media to engage their customers and market their products and services as social media websites â€Å"provide a cyber-meeting space for people wanting to network† (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2011, p. 270). Rise in the use of new technology in general and of the Internet and the social media at the workplace in particular implies that employees can now access information related to their employment law and employment rights much more easily than they could in the past. A vast majority of organizations and unions provide information related to their employment rights in definite sections of their websites in formats that are easily understandable including links to social media websites like YouTube and Twitter. Although employees’ increased access to information can generally be perce ived as a positive development since it increases their awareness about employment laws and assists them in dealing with work related issues, yet this also poses certain challenges for organizations. For example, employees may prefer getting information about employment laws online rather than directly approaching their managers or consulting a trade union representative. As a result, employees have a tendency of misunderstanding information that has been garnered out of context online, which in effect, complicates the interaction on specific issues between employers and employees. As social networking websites have become more popular, employees have received a platform where they can display a lot of information about themselves. This information is visible to everybody in the public and potentially to the employer. The employer can access all that information including photographs showing the activities and behavior of the employees outside of work which can have an adverse impac t on the dignity and reputation of an employee at work. Principally, an employer should not judge an employee’s performance at work based on their private life activities. Every employee has a personal life that should be respected by the employers until the employee does not breach the ethical guidelines established by the organization. Baldas (2009) argues that with the awareness that the information about private life has been accessible to the

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Making Connections Essay Example for Free

Making Connections Essay In â€Å"Werner†, Hoeflich is sharing very intimate and specific details about his experience. Beard Probably met Hoeflich on several occasions in order to gain his trust before he was able to collect some of the details that he included in his work. It most likely took Beard days of asking just the right questions to write â€Å"Werner. † In this piece, Werner is presented as both weak and strong. In the beginning of the story, he is completely caught off guard by the fire in his home, but then the author follows with a story of Werrner cliff diving. Beard describes Werner diving out of his apartment window with athletic elegance, and then proceeds to tell us about Werner crying in the ambulance. At the end of the story, Beard describes Werner â€Å"never being able to confuse himself with the old Werner. † I am left wondering what Werner did after his accident. We know he always felt pain since, but I wonder in what other ways it affected his life. Zinner emphasizes balancing quotes with narrations which Beard did very well. He also spoke of not changing the quotes in order to preserve the character’s voice. Beard did a very good job of depicting Werner’s personality through the quotes he chose. 2. Gladwell began the piece by describing an event very vaguely, and then slowly gave us more details. He ended the story by teaching us one of the lessons that Cesar learned through his experience. I like that Gladwell keeps us wondering at the beginning of his piece. He could be talking about any number of things. I liked the ending because the reading was able to see another side of Cesar. Bow, not only was he an expert on dog behavior; he knew quite a bit about human behavior as well. I didn’t like that he chose to describe Cesar in his introduction. I also didn’t like that in the conclusion, he told a story of Cesar failing to be able to do his job. I would have described Cesar after I finished telling the story of Sugar and Lynda. I would have told the story of Cesar failing before I talked about Cesar learning about human behavior. Gladwell did a good job of hooking the reader. After the first sentence, I was left wondering what Gladwell was talking about. He also did a good job of knowing when to end the story. If he had continued on for much longer, the reader would have lost interest. 3. Ingram’s message was that this was she experienced was a very confusing time for everyone. Not all Germans hated Jews, and not all Jews resented Americans. She wanted to provide a different perspective on the war than the ones we hear most often. When I was finished reading this piece, I felt a sense of sadness. Ingram wanted us to see that although the Hamburg people were grateful for being saved, they were still haunted by the sight of their dead neighbors and friends. In order for any good to come, sacrifices had to be made. Ingram begins her memoir with a story of her bravely saving her mother’s life and uses very frank and blunt language in order to establish power. Zinner recommends that an author write without being to egotistical and to use vivid sight and smell language. Ingram did a very good job of painting a picture in the reader’s mind without making herself the hero in every situation. 4. Rodriguez was trying to tell us that there is a big change coming in California and in America. No longer do you have to come to California to live your dream. A person can stay at home and achieve it just as easily, but don’t be surprised when it doesn’t come true. I imagine that the audience had a love/hate relationship with this piece. They thought it was beautifully written and brought up excellent points, but hated to admit that what Rodriguez was saying was true. In describing East Cobb, I would use the terms† large houses, fast food, many cultures, crowded schools, crowded streets, expensive cats, large lawns, family secrets, intelligent kids, and drug abuse. Rodriguez described the California that we all know, but he also went deeper and described to us in great detail the California that very few people see. 5. Singer posed a question. Then, he spent a paragraph or two answering the question. He did this repeatedly throughout his work and added supporting details along the way. Singer gave a very convincing argument. He appealed to the emotions of a sensitive reader with the child in the pond analogy. HE appealed to the logic of a skeptical reader with all his statistics. This article would persuade most people to be more charitable. It would not provide a very convincing argument to the people with lower incomes. Singer did a very good job of cutting the clutter. He used simple language and said exactly what he meant. I also felt Singer’s personality through his writing. He is very realistic and believes that we should all be more charitable.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

E-mail Privacy At Work :: essays research papers

E-mail Privacy at Work E-mail at our company is for work purposes only. The computers and software are company property, and therefore are used for everyday office use only. We reserve the right to monitor all e-mail use, even if you are using a private e-mail account. This is to ensure that our employees are acting in a professional manner, and not giving out any company secrets. Also, employees should never consider anything they write as private, no matter what the circumstance. If you write it on the company’s computers, it is considered public, even if you place the e-mail in a private folder. According to NOLO.com, a Texas court ruled that unlike a private employee locker where an employee can expect a certain degree of privacy, they have no expectation of privacy in a â€Å"private† folder. Another example, is if you are on your own time, but still at work, such as a lunch break. Regardless of when you write the e-mail, if you write it at work, it is public. You may be asking, â€Å"What is appropriate e-mail?† Obviously, slandering other members of the company or clients, as well as e-mails that contain secret information is prohibited. A good rule of thumb is this. If you are not, for whatever reason, comfortable with printing the e-mail out on your computer and then leaving it on your desk so anyone can read it, then you probably shouldn’t write or send that e-mail. Consequences If an employee, through e-mail, is found to have violated one or more of the company’s policies, appropriate action will follow. Depending on the case, the employee may even be terminated. In fact, a company in Pennsylvania assured its employees that e-mail would not be intercepted and used against them. Despite this claim, the company reviewed e-mails from a supervisor and used it as a basis for termination. According to the Federal court in Pennsylvania, that was perfectly legal (NOLO.com). The court ruled that the company’s interest in preventing inappropriate or illegal activities outweighed the employee’s right to privacy. Also, any e-mail can be used against our company in court. A judge can use any private or personal e-mail against us, and it would be legally upheld.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

New Immigrants vs. Old Immigrants

Jessica Owuriedu Ap history HOW DID THE CHARACTERS AND EXPERIENCES OF THE NEW IMMIGRANTS OF 1880-1940 COMPARE TO THOSE OF THE OLD IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME BEFORE THEM. The Influx of immigrants into America were been placed into two distinct spheres over time. The New immigrants and Old immigrants differed greatly in their behavior and qualities which was also pertained to the America they found between 1880 and 1940. Transferring from their home country, the old immigration mainly came from northern and western Europe. The German, Irish, Norwegians Swedish including other European tribes fluxed into America not only as a result of congested Europe. Majority of the Old immigrants headed into America for its prevailing opportunities and freedom. They were attracted by the cheap lands (Homestead act) that was available and the ability to rise from rags to riches. Being mostly Protestants by religion, they were easily assimilated into the American way of life. On the other hand, the New immigrants fluxed mainly from the southern and eastern Europe. Among them were the Italians, Croats Slovaks, Greeks and Poles. Ushered into America mainly by the economic hardships and the lengthening gap between the rich and poor in their countries. Their intent were mainly settled in the idea of getting rich. They were the bird of passage of the era. Many came not with the idea of just seeking a better life but returning to their homelands with their acquired wealth. Innate in the them, was their own religious denomination which included Catholics, Orthodox and Jewish. This conflicted with the Puritanism and protestant America, partially giving rise to the various Antiforeigner organizations. Furthermore, it is important to note that the Old immigrants relocating to America were literate and skilled. For example the Germans support for education in creating Kindergartens. Although the Old immigrants were eager to preserve their culture they were also eager to learn about their new home. They learned the English language and adapted more readily. Being mostly farm skilled, there fitted into the American community which was established by farming. Conversely, the New immigrants were enormously illiterate and unskilled. These impoverished immigrants showed these characteristics by settling largely in the cites and mainly acquiring factory jobs for wages instead of farming. They were hired in the rising factory jobs and settled for low-wages. For instance, the Italians and Poland were the most largest city inhabitants( New York, Chicago ) than many of the largest cities of the same nationality in the Old world . More over it is important to note that the Old immigrants had inherent in them , the ways of democracy. They easily blended into the American Democratic order, which made it easier for them to prosper in their new Found home. It is quite interesting to also mention that the majority of the old immigrants came not entirely loaded with money but had fairly something to live on. Contrary, the New immigrants were somewhat radical and autocratic in nature. They weren’t opened to the American political system. They had with them distinct political views and doctrines such as communism, socialism, and anarchism. Which consequently sparked the American Protective Association. Relocating into American urban cites , New immigrants came quite improvised and needy compared to the Old immigrants. They immediately settled for lower-wages in the growing factory work and dirty poor tenements in the cites, especially New York and Chicago. The last but not the least was their geographical locations. It is also important to mention that the New immigrants were reluctant to blend in and they were very ethnic in their ways. Whilst most Old immigrants settled in the west, the New immigrants heavily packed in the east where there was growing urbanization. It is clear that the experiences and characteristics between Old immigrants and New immigrants in America were in two distinct spheres.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Fingerprint and Crime Scene

Which technique is the best choice when blood is found at a crime scene? In the genetics laboratory (under â€Å"resources† at the bottom of the window), who is one individual that contributed to modern genetic analysis? What did this person contribute? The genetics laboratory is the best choice when blood is found at a crime scene. Alec Jefferys contributed to modern genetics analysis by inventing what is now an essential technique called a polymerase chain reaction. How are computers used in fingerprint analysis? They are used to identify minutiae which may be loops, dots, forks, islands and so forth.Comparison points must be perfectly matched for two fingerprints to be considered identical Who is a pioneer in fingerprint analysis? Describe a famous case that this person was involved in. Edward Foster testified as a fingerprint expert in a case called caution fresh paint in 1911. Fingerprints in the wet paint next to a murder victim were the only clue, he used those prints t o demonstrate to the court that the prints of one man was a match and he was convicted for the crime What is the role of the forensic chemist in crime scene investigation? They analyze all chemical, organic and inorganic aspects of a sample.They separate the components and identify them using a variety of tests and devices. Who helped pioneer forensic chemistry? Describe one of her famous cases. France McGill was one of the pioneers that helped forensic chemistry, when he examined the stomach of an elderly couple who had died she found a large quantity of strychnine which is a powerful poison that was along with bran. The murder weapon was soon identified they were eating bran muffins baked by their granddaughter that was intended for her father. She was charged with murder and then acquainted In the ballistics laboratory, what is the water tank used for?Describe the analysis. To determine whether a bullet found at the crime scene actually came from the suspect’s weapon. It m ust be compared with another bullet from the same gun. Ballistics experts fire it into a special water tank that slows and stops the bullet so that they can collect it in tact Who helped pioneer ballistics analysis? What did he contribute? Wilfrid Derome the Laboratoire de recherches medico-legales de Montreal, the first forensic laboratory in North America and only the third in the world Why is measuring and diagramming the scene important?It is important because it helps to note specific locations of objects, clues, and the body. The photo and this sketch will later be used to draw an accurate plan of the site on the computer What materials or tools would a crime scene technician use? Something to take a photograph, polilight, measurements and diagrams, revealing prints, and something to take samples From the activity and the information it had, what aspect of an investigation do you think you’d most like to work in?For example, would you prefer one of the laboratories? Wha t appeals to you about this particular aspect of the investigation? I would like to work in the ballistics laboratory, it appeals to me because I would play one of the most important roles I think and that is to identify the weapon used in the crime scene. I will get to compare marks on bullets, cartridges, blades, and other kinds of weapons left at the crime scene.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

How to Compare High Schools Using Average ACT Scores

How to Compare High Schools Using Average ACT Scores SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’ve found this guide, you're probably looking for a good high school, or you want to see how your high school measures up compared to others. When comparing high schools, a helpful metric is average ACT Score. In this guide, I’ll tell you what average ACT score represents, why you should care about a school’s average ACT score, and where you can find information on average ACT scores by high school. What Does a High School’s Average ACT Score Represent? When thinking about what a high school’s average ACT score represents, you need to think about what the ACT measures in individual test-takers. While you may think that an ACT score simply measures the test-taker’s academic ability, the ACT, in fact, measures not only academic ability but also perseverance. What I mean by perseverance is a student’s desire to work hard in school and in pursuit of higher education. While a genius might be able to get 36 on the ACT with no prep, a test-taker with just slightly above-average intelligence can also get 36 with enough studying. Therefore, an ACT score reveals both a student’s academic ability and work ethic. A high school’s average ACT score represents these same qualities: academic ability and desire to work hard. However, in terms of an entire high school, its â€Å"academic ability† depends on the quality of education, and its â€Å"desire to work hard† depends on the quality of students. Do the students at that school care about their education? Do they care about attending a 4-year university? Why Should You Care About a High School’s Average ACT Score? The reason you should care about a high school’s average ACT score is because higher ACT scores can indicate a better quality of education and a better quality of student at that school. As I said before, the ACT measures your academic ability (to some degree). Your education is responsible for your academic ability, so the better the quality of education you receive, the better you’ll perform on the ACT. However, as I also mentioned, your ACT score is also affected by how much you prepare for the ACT. If a high school’s average ACT score is high, the students at that school most likely care more about their education and getting into a 4-year university than students at high schools with lower average ACT scores. Sending your kid to a high school with a higher average ACT score can help guarantee they’ll be surrounded by like-minded, hard working students and receive a higher quality of education. On the Other Hand, Why Shouldn’t You Rely Too Heavily On Average ACT Scores? While a school’s average ACT score can suggest the quality of its education and students, it may not give you the complete picture. Some public schools have magnet (or gifted) programs that are separated from the â€Å"regular† track at that high school. These programs often have a superior quality of students and teachers than the rest of the school. I attended a public high school with an International Baccalaureate magnet program. The admissions requirements for this program were tough, but there were no requirements for students on the â€Å"regular† high school track. Also, the IB program had better teachers who only taught IB classes. I’d venture a guess that the average ACT score for IB students was higher than the average ACT score for students on the â€Å"regular† track. However, the average ACT score for my high school does not separate IB and non-IB students. The average ACT score factors in the scores of all students at the school. As a result, you can’t figure out what the quality of education and students will be within a specific magnet program versus the quality of the â€Å"regular† track. Also, as I said before, your ACT score is also affected by your study effort. Therefore, if you attend a high school with a low average ACT score, that does not necessarily mean that you will have a low ACT score. On the other hand, attending a school with a high average ACT score doesn't mean you'll automatically get a high ACT score either. No matter where you attend high school, you can practice, learn the test format and strategies, and receive a high score on the ACT. However, you should still try to attend the high school with the best quality of students and teachers so that you’ll receive the best education you can, be challenged, and be well prepared for the ACT and college. How to Find Average ACT Scores by School There are four methods for finding a high school’s average ACT score: Search the Department of Education website (NOTE: This only works for PUBLIC high schools.) Search the school’s website (NOTE: not all schools publish this information on their websites) Email a school administrator Google Search â€Å"[High School Name] Average ACT Score† (NOTE: this can be unreliable) The best method is to use the Department of Education’s website for your state. NOTE: this will only work for some states. For a full explanation of how to find a district’s or specific public high school’s average ACT score using this method (and for a list of states that don't provide the data), read our article on ACT Scores by High School and District. Using this method will ensure you’re getting up-to-date, correct, unbiased information. For private high schools (or as another search option for public high schools), you can use the Google search method, look on the high school’s website, or send an email to an administrator at that high school. However, the websites and Google search can often have outdated information (i.e. ACT score averages from five years ago) or not post this information publicly. Administrators may also give you outdated information if they haven’t seen the most recent statistics. Also, it may take them a while to respond to your request with their busy schedules or if they’re on a school holiday. What Should You Look for in ACT Data? In the ACT data, you should be looking at the average composite ACT score. The higher this number is, the better. You can also look at the individual section scores (though some states may not publish this information). The Math section score may give you a sense of how strong or weak the school's math program is. The closer to 36 (the highest possible section score) the better. A high score most likely means a higher quality Math program. The Reading and Writing sections will give you a sense of the quality of English education at that school. Again, same as math, the closer to 36 (the highest possible section score) the better. A high score here most likely means a higher quality of English classes at that school. I would not read too much into the Science section score as the Science section does not rely on scientific knowledge but rather on reading graphs and charts. In the spreadsheet, you can also determine the fraction of students who took the ACT at that high school. NOTE: some states only list the total number of ACT test-takers and don't include the overall school enrollment, and you will not be able to figure out the fraction of students who took the ACT if they don't provide both numbers. If your state does provide you with total enrollment and the number of ACT test-takers such as California does, you can determine the fraction of students who took the ACT. For instance, here is a screenshot of the ACT data from the California Department of Education’s website: To figure out the fraction of students who took the ACT at a specific high school, take the number of test takers (listed under the NumTstTakr column) and divide it by the number of enrolled students (under Enroll912). If I was looking at Alameda Science and Technology Institute (the highlighted school), the fraction of students who took the ACT would be: 20 / 169 or about 12% WARNING: don't read too much into the fraction or percent of students who took the ACT because these numbers don't give you the full picture. The enrollment counts the TOTAL number of students, and you wouldn’t expect freshmen or sophomores to have taken the ACT yet. While 12% seems small, you need to factor in that: Alameda Science and Technology Institute has about 50 students per grade level. Typically, only juniors and seniors will take the ACT in a given year, and there are about 100 juniors and seniors at Alameda. Some students may opt to take the SAT instead (which in fact about 60 did). When accounting for all that, it appears that close to 100% of Alameda Science and Technology Institute students will take either SAT or ACT. Summary A high school's average ACT score can show the quality of education and caliber of students at that school, but average ACT score may not give you a full picture of certain schools. At high schools with magnet programs, magnet students' ACT scores are combined with the "regular" students' ACT scores to create the school's average ACT score. Although magnet students likely have a higher average ACT score (since they're likely receiving a higher quality education and are likely more studious), you wouldn't be able to see that from the overall average ACT score of that school. There are different methods for locating a high school's average ACT score. Not all methods will work in all states or for all high schools. Check out our other guide on ACT Scores by High School and District to find the best method for you. When you find the average ACT score data for the school you're interested in, you should look for the composite ACT score. The higher the score, the better that school likely is. What’s Next? Learn more about the ACT and the college application process: What is a good ACT score? A bad ACT score? An excellent ACT score? How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Bear Facts

Bear Facts Bears (Ursus species) are large, four-legged mammals that have a unique status in pop culture. They are not quite as cuddly as dogs or cats; not quite as dangerous as wolves or mountain lions; but they are decidedly ever-compelling objects of fear, admiration, and even envy.  Found in a variety of environments from Arctic ice pack to tropical forests, bears live on every continent except Antarctica. Fast Facts: Bears Scientific Name: Ursus sppCommon Names: Bear, pandaBasic Animal Group: Mammal  Size (length): Sun bear: 4–5 feet; brown bear: 5–10 feetWeight: Sun bear: 60–150 pounds; brown bear 180–1300 poundsLifespan: 20–35 yearsDiet:  OmnivoreHabitat: Woodlands, grasslands, deserts, temperate and tropical forests, on all continents except AntarcticaConservation Status: Least Concern: Brown bears, American black bear; Vulnerable: sloth bear, polar bear, giant panda, sun bear, spectacled bear, Asian black bear Description With some minor exceptions, all eight bear species have  roughly the same appearance: large torsos, stocky legs, narrow snouts, long hair, and short tails. With their plantigrade postures- walking upright on two feet- bears  walk flat-footed on the ground like humans but unlike most other mammals. Bears range in color with species: Black, brown and Andean bears are typically red-brown to black; polar bears are generally white to yellow; Asiatic bears are black to brown with a white patch and sun bears are brown with a yellow crescent on their chest.  They range in size from the sun bear (47 inches tall and weighing 37 pounds) to the polar bear, (nearly 10 feet tall and weighing 1,500 pounds).   Buck Shreck/Getty Images Species Scientists recognize eight species as well as numerous subspecies of bears, which live in different regions, that have differences in body shape and coloration. American black bears  (Ursus americanus)  live in  North America and Mexico; their diet consists primarily of leaves, buds, shoots, berries, and nuts. Subspecies of this bear include the cinnamon bear, the glacier bear, the Mexican black bear, the Kermode bear, the Louisiana black bear,  and several others. Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus)  live in Southeast Asia and the Russian Far East. They have blocky bodies and patches of yellowish-white fur on their chests, but otherwise resemble American black bears in body shape, behavior, and diet.   Brown bears (Ursus arctos)  are some of the worlds largest terrestrial meat-eating mammals. They range across North America, Europe, and Asia and include numerous subspecies, such as the Carpathian bear, the European brown bear, the Gobi bear, the grizzly bear, the Kodiak bear,  and several others. Polar bears  (Ursus maritimus)  rival brown bears in size. These bears are restricted to a circumpolar region in the Arctic, reaching south into northern Canada and Alaska. When theyre not living on pack ice and shorelines, polar bears swim in open water, feeding  on seals and walruses. Giant pandas  (Aeluropoda melanoleuca)  feed almost exclusively on bamboo shoots and leaves in the central and southern regions of western China. These distinctly patterned bears have black bodies, white faces, black ears,  and black eyespots.   Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus)  stalk the grasslands, forests, and scrublands of Southeast Asia. These bears have long, shaggy coats of fur and white chest marks; they feed on termites, which they find using their acute sense of smell. Spectacled bears  (Tremarctos ornatos) are the only bears native to South America, inhabiting cloud forests at elevations over 3,000 feet. These bears once lived in coastal deserts and high-elevation grasslands, but human encroachment  has restricted their range. Sun bears  (Helarctos malayanos) live in the lowland tropical forests of Southeast Asia. These small ursines  have the shortest fur of any bear species, their chests marked with light, reddish-brown, U-shaped patches of fur. Diet and Behavior Most bears are omnivorous, feasting opportunistically on animals, fruits, and vegetables, with two important outliers: The polar bear is almost exclusively carnivorous, preying on seals and walruses, and the panda bear subsists entirely on bamboo shoots. Oddly enough, though, pandas digestive systems are relatively well adapted to eating meat. Because the vast majority of bears live in high northern latitudes, they need a way to survive the winter months when food is dangerously scarce. Evolutions solution is hibernation: Bears go into a deep sleep, lasting for months, during which their heart rates and metabolic processes slow drastically. Being in hibernation isnt like being in a coma. If sufficiently roused, a bear can wake up in the middle of its hibernation, and females have even been known to give birth in the deep of winter. Fossil evidence also supports  cave lions preying on hibernating cave bears during the last Ice Age, though some of these bears woke up and killed the unwelcome intruders. Bears may be the most antisocial mammals on the face of the earth. Full-grown bears are almost entirely solitary. This is good news for campers who accidentally encounter lone grizzlies in the wild, but quite unusual when compared with other carnivorous and omnivorous mammals, ranging from wolves to pigs, that tend to congregate in at least small groups. Depending on species, a bears basic communication needs can be expressed with  about seven or eight different words- huffs, chomps, groans, roars, woofs, growls, hums, or barks. The most dangerous sounds for humans are roars and growls, which denote a frightened or agitated bear defending its territory. Huffs are generally produced during mating and courtship rituals; hums- a bit like the purrs of cats, but much louder- are deployed by cubs to demand attention from their mothers, and moans express anxiety or a sense of danger. Giant pandas have a slightly different vocabulary than their ursine brethren: In addition to the sounds described above, they can also chirp, honk, and bleat. Evolutionary History Given the proliferation of so-called bear dogs millions of years ago- including the standard-bearer of the family, Amphicyon- you might assume that modern bears are most closely related to dogs. In fact, molecular analysis shows that the closest living relatives of bears are pinnipeds, the family of marine mammals that includes seals and walruses. Both of these mammalian families descend from a last common ancestor, or concestor, that lived sometime during the Eocene epoch, about 40 million or 50 million years ago. The exact identity of the progenitor species, however, remains a matter of speculation. Given that the populations of medieval Europe didnt have much contact with polar bears or panda bears, it makes sense that European peasants  associated bears with the color brown- which is where the English name of this animal derives, from the old Germanic root bera. Bears are also known as  ursines, a word that has ancient roots in Proto-Indo-European languages that were spoken as far back as 3500 BCE. The long history of this word makes sense, given that the first human settlers of Eurasia lived in close proximity to cave bears  and sometimes worshiped these beasts as gods. Amphicyon, the bear dog. Wikimedia Commons Reproduction and Offspring Like their close cousins seals and walruses, bears are some of the most sexually dimorphic animals on earth- that is to say, male bears  are significantly bigger than females​, and, what is more, the bigger the species, the larger  the disparity in size. In the largest brown bear subspecies, for instance, males weigh about 1,000 pounds and females only slightly more than half that. However, even though female bears are smaller than males, theyre not exactly helpless. They vigorously defend their cubs from male bears, not to mention any humans foolish enough to interfere with the child-rearing process. Male bears, however, will sometimes attack and kill cubs of their own kind, in order to induce females to breed again. Although there are some differences among the species, in general, female bears generally become sexually mature at between 4 and 8 years of age and have litters every three or four years. Bear breeding occurs during the summers- it is the only time when adult bears get together at all- but implantation doesnt typically occur until late autumn. Total gestation time is 6.5–9 months. Cubs are born singly or up to three at a time, generally in January or February, while the mother is still in hibernation. The young usually stay with their mother for two years. After mating, females are left to raise the young by themselves for a period of about three years, at which point- eager to breed with other males- the mothers chase the cubs away to fend for themselves. James Hager / Getty Images Threats Considering that early humans used to worship bears as gods, our relationship with ursines hasnt exactly been stellar over the last few hundred years. Bears are especially susceptible to habitat destruction, are often hunted for sport, and tend to become the scapegoats whenever campers are attacked in the wild or garbage cans are overturned in suburbs. Today, the largest threats to bears are deforestation and human encroachment, and, for polar bears, climate change which is reducing the environment in which they live. On the whole, black and brown bears are holding their own, even though adverse interactions with humans have increased as their habitats become more constricted. Conservation Status According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the sun bear, sloth bear, Asiatic, and spectacled bears are all listed as Vulnerable and decreasing in population; the polar bear is also listed as Vulnerable but its population status is unknown. The American black bear and brown bear is considered Least Concern and increasing in numbers. The giant panda is Vulnerable but increasing in population.   Bears and Humans Within the past 10,000 years, human beings have domesticated cats, dogs, pigs, and cattle- so why not bears, an animal with which Homo sapiens has coexisted since the end of the Pleistocene epoch? One explanation is that since bears are intensely solitary animals, theres no room for a human trainer to insert himself into the dominance hierarchy as the alpha male. Bears also pursue such varied diets that it would be difficult to keep even a tame population well-supplied. Perhaps most importantly, bears are anxious and aggressive when stressed, and simply dont have suitable personalities to be  house  or yard pets. Sources Dharaiya, N., H.S. Bargali, and T. Sharp. Melursus ursinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T13143A45033815, 2016.McLellan, B.N.et al. Ursus arctos (amended version of 2017 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T41688A121229971, 2017.Scotson, L. et al. Helarctos . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T9760A123798233, 2017.malayanus (errata version published in 2018)Swaisgood, R., D. Wang, and F. Wei.Ailuropoda melanoleuca (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T712A12174566, 2016. Wiig, Ø. et al. Ursus maritimus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T22823A14871490, 2015.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Should English Be Our Official Language Research Paper

Should English Be Our Official Language - Research Paper Example However, such attempts, especially in the congress, have proved futile despite the fact that most of the Americans, i.e. more than 90%, use English as their main language of communication (Lehrer Productions, 2005). This paper is a critical evaluation of whether the US should adopt English as the official language of communication. Despite the fact that English is the most widely used language in the US, the constitution does not mention it or any other language for that matter as the official language of communication. However, there have been attempts from different quarters such as the Congress to enact legislation for that purpose but this has not been achieved. The US is a country, which is full of cultural diversity as its population is a mixture of different races, with some of them having their own unique languages of communication. Some of these languages include and not limited to Spanish, German, Italian, Korean, Greek, and Chinese among others. This has been attributed to the ever increasing number of immigrants entering the country either to do business or to settle and also due to the presence of the descendants of immigrants, who entered the country either as slaves or as settlers during the colonial times. It may be important to note that even the English which is spoken contains different diale cts depending on the speakers, for example with those of African decency, Latinos among others (Crawford, 2000). Various reasons have been brought forward by proponents of adopting English as the country’s official language. This is for example the need to improve national unity. Linguistic diversity around the world has been noted as one of the major contributing factors to bad blood between citizens of a country, and which has the capacity to encourage tribal animosity and violence (US English Inc, 2006).  

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review - Article Example Creativity is important to every organization and can solve any problem. The success of the organization depends a lot on the capacity of the employees to invent new things, solving problems and imparting new ideas. The main issues unraveled in individual creativity research are â€Å"General Personality, Big Five Personality and Self Perception† (Egan, 163). In addition to these factors, several other sub-factors also have an impact like â€Å"creativity goal setting, evaluation and feedback, teamwork, role models and leadership and supervision† (Egan, 164). The Creative Personality Scale (CPS) is one of the most widely followed techniques in measuring individual creativity. The study found that creativity of a personality is enhanced by support from family members and peers. The system of evaluation and feedback can negatively affect the creativity of the employees. This curbs the natural instincts of the employees to improvise or rendering new ideas and hence creativity is negatively affected. The article dwells on individual creativity and the external factors influencing it. It forms a detailed study in understanding the creativity of the employees. Creativity is driven by many influential factors. It has to be kept in mind that creativity makes people more inclined towards work and drives them to work that much harder. A true leader will encourage creativity among the employees and thus will help in increasing the productivity of the organization. The article provides a detailed study on the external factors influencing creativity. To be an effective leader one has to keep an account of the external factors, as this would help to increase the creativeness of the employees. As we can infer from the article, satisfaction of the jobs is very essential in increasing the creativity of an employee. The job fulfillment of an entity relies upon the individual perception of the jobs. Therefore, it is very essential to choose the right kind

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Compare between contrast system software and application software Essay

Compare between contrast system software and application software - Essay Example The computer programming tools include, but are not limited to the debuggers, linkers, compilers, Microsoft software development tools and Java development tools. The document focuses only the system and application software and provides their detailed comparison. The initial section of the document contains a description of the system and application software, however, it proceeds with the comparison and contrast between the system software and application software. The system software is developed specifically for the computer systems so that the computer system starts and runs the application software. After successful installation of the system software in the computer systems is able to run separately as well as over the computer network. There are different types of system software include: operating systems, device drivers, firmware, Graphical User Interface (GUI), Middleware and free system software. Initially, the operating system(s) (type of system software) are installed on the bare hardware of the computer system to provide an interface to the computer users for provision of computer services. The prominent examples of the operating system include: the Microsoft Windows OS, LINUX, UNIX and Mac OS. Once even one of the operating systems is installed in the computer systems enable the computer user to install various computer utility software to fulfill particular requirements of the computer users. However, the Middleware (type of the system software) can also be installed in the computer system to get functionalities that are even not provided by the operating system. Usually, the Middleware system software is used by the software developers so that they can get an interface to communicate with the computer hardware. It is pertinent to mention here that overall the system software is used for the specialized purpose by the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Static Code Analysis

Static Code Analysis Jim Kielt Table of Contents (Jump to) 1.0 Analysis 1.1 Cross-Site Scripting: 239 vulnerabilities detected. 1.2 File Manipulation: 9 vulnerabilities detected. 1.3 SQL Injection: 4 vulnerabilities detected. 2.0 Bibliography Table of Figures Figure 1 RIPS results output for bWAPP Figure 2 Line of code from xss_json.php vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting detected by RIPS Figure 3 Returned message from xss_json.php Figure 4 Returned message from xss_json.php with a script being passed to the application. Figure 5 Returned message from secured xss_json.php with the script being passed to the application. Figure 6 Vulnerable to File Manipulation code detected by RIPS Figure 7 Link to uploaded file on unrestricted_file_upload.php showing path to uploads Figure 8 Attempted upload of a PDF file on unrestricted_file_upload.php Figure 9 Vulnerable to SQL Injection code detected by RIPS Figure 10 Message from SQL Injection on sqli_3.php 1.0 Analysis The open source project for analysis for source code vulnerabilities is The Buggy Web App or bWAPP. This application is deliberately insecure to help security experts and students of IT security learn about the vulnerabilities that exist on the Internet today, how they can be exploited and how they can then be secured. bWapp is a PHP application that makes use of a MySQL database. [1] To analyse the source code for vulnerabilities, a static source code analysis tool is required. RIPS is such a tool which is written in PHP and designed to find vulnerabilities in PHP applications. It transforms the PHP source code that it is analysing; into a programme model that can detect potentially vulnerable functions or sensitive sinks that could then be tainted by user input that causes vulnerabilities. [2] So a potentially vulnerable function in source code that uses a source containing user input creates a vulnerability. bWAPP is available as a virtual machine called buzz-box where it can run as a stand-alone web server on a lab/testing network. To analyse the buzz-box server, the RIPS application files need to be extracted to the buzz-box server’s document root i.e. /var/www/rips/. Then on the host machine’s browser, navigate to http://localhost/rips to bring up the main scanning page. The path to the file or directory and/or subdirectories to be scanned is entered along with some available options before the scan button is clicked. The available options for scanning are as follows: Verbosity level:1. User tainted 2. User, file and database tainted 3. User, file and database tainted secured 4. User, file and database untainted secured 5. Debug mode Vulnerability type: All or one of the following: Server-side all or one of the following: Code Execution, Command Injection, Header Injection, File Disclosure, File Inclusion, File Manipulation, LDAP Injection, SQL Injection, XPath Injection, and other. Client-side all or one of the following: Cross-Site Scripting and HTTP Response Splitting Unserialized / POP For the bWAPP analysys, /var/www/bWAPP was entered as the path with the subdirectories option checked. Verbosity level option 2 (User, file and database tainted) and vulnerability type option All was selected. After clicking the scan button, 198 files were scanned in the web directory and after just under a minute, the statistical output in figure 1 was generated. According to RIPS, the scanner works by tokenizing and parsing all of the PHP source code in the file or directory structure and tranforms the code into a program model which detects sensitive sinks that can be tainted by user input, the source throughout execution of the program. At a glimpse it can be seen that Cross-Site Scripting has been heavely detected along with some of the other top vulnerablilties found in web apps today. Of the 198 files scanned, 4251 sensitive sinks (vulnerable functions) were found of which 293 could be tainted by user input and therefore considered vulnerabilities. The three chosen vulnerabilites for futher analysis are as follows: 1.1 Cross-Site Scripting:239 vulnerabilities detected. Cross-site scripting (XSS) is an injection attack where malicious scripts can be passed through user input on to the web application to create undesired effects and generally performed through a client browser. An attacker can use his browser to use XSS to execute a malicious script to another browser user visiting the same page and have the script display unintended information or perform an unintended action. Because the user’s browser has no way to know if the script should be trusted or not, it has no option but to execture the script. The script or tainted data becomes embedded into the HTML output by the application and rendered by the users browser which can lead to website defacement, phishing or cookie stealing and session hijacking.[3] A potentially vulnerable function like echo() which prints data to the screen that uses a source like $_GET containing user input can create Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability, e.g: $title = $_GET[title]; echo ($title]); The above code would display whatever the user enters and could therefore be exploited. To demonstrate the Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in bWAPP, the focus is on the bWAPP/xss_json.php file/page. Figure 2 shows the code snipit where user input was found and marked by the scanner (white dots) as a potential entry point for exploitation. Line 34 of the program places unchecked user input straight into a function which causes the vulnerablility. Figure 2 Line of code from xss_json.php vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting detected by RIPS This page was opened in a browser and was titled ‘XSS-Reflected(JSON)’, displaying one textfield and a search button looking for the name of a movie to be entered. To test how this page works, ‘Spiderman’ was entered using the ‘Marvel’ hint ans submitted. The resulting message appeared below the textfield based on the input (see figure 3). Figure 3 Returned message from xss_json.php So the user input was displayed back in the output message which could mean that the input was probably unchecked. To test how the texfield responded to a simple script to display cookie information in an alert box, the following was entered and submitted: alert(document.cookie) The message this time did not display the entered script statement but instead tried to execute the script and displayed lines of the code from the page (see figure 4): Figure 4 Returned message from xss_json.php with a script being passed to the application. This message reveals information about the application that should never be dispayed and raises a security concern. A hacker could learn further how to exploit the application using this information. Mitigation: We should never trust user data entered into an aplication which needs to be screened for the likes of scripting code. All entered data should be encoded before being embedded into the output. HTML encoding converts untrusted user input into a safe format that can be used as output instead of executing as code in the browser e.g Converts ‘’ to ‘amp’. For PHP applications, HTML entity encoding is done via the htmlspecialchars() function which convert all special characters to HTML entities.[4] To encode any double or single quotation marks that could be interpreted by the application as code, the ENT_QUOTES parameter is used to prevent any injections and defining the correct charset prevents any special characters being used in the input e.g UTF-8 ASCII compatible multi-byte 8-bit Unicode. Line 34 shows the vulnerable code which was updated to incorporate the mitigation to make it secure. Vulnerable code: $title = $_GET[title]; Secure code: $title = htmlspecialchars ($_GET[title], ENT_QUOTES, utf-8); Once the code was secured, the same script code was entered and submitted and this time, the message showed the script statement in the message but this time treated it as a string and did not attempt to execute it (see figure 5): Figure 5 Returned message from secured xss_json.php with the script being passed to the application. 1.2 File Manipulation:9 vulnerabilities detected. File Manipulation can occur with Full Path Disclosure vulnerabilities where an attacker can see the path of a file in the url of a webapp, e.g. /var/www/htdocs/file. This gives the attacker a partial knowldege of how the application is structured or how the underlying operating system is arranged in order to mount different kinds of attacks. [5] Knowing the location of a particular file, the attacker could access and manipulate it by adding malicious code to compromise the webapp server or even upload an attack tool to that location. A potentially vulnerable function like move_uploaded_file() that uses a source like $_FILES directly from user input (upload) can create File Manipulation, e.g. move_uploaded_file($_FILES[file][tmp_name], images/ . $_FILES[file][name]); To demonstrate File Manipulation in bWAPP, the bWAPP/unrestricted_file_upload.php page was examined. Figure 6 shows the vulnerable code where unchecked user input (the selected file for upload) is used by the application. Figure 6 Vulnerable to File Manipulation code detected by RIPS When the page was opened in the broswer, a ‘Browse’ and ‘Upload’ button were displayed where an image file could be uploaded to the server. A test image file was uploaded and the resulting message returned the link to where the file is stored on the server. The link was followed to a directory called ‘images’in the bWAPP directory. Navigating to the images directory brought up a list of all files in the that directory (see figure 7). A PDF file was then selected and successfully uploaded so no file type check was in place. Effectively these files could be manipulated as described above or malicious files uploaded and executed like a webscript that take control of the server. Figure 7 Link to uploaded file on unrestricted_file_upload.php showing path to uploads Mitigation: Sensitive information like file locations should not be visable to the user and any path or file names displayed should be encoded to prevent leakage of this information. This could be achieved by changing the path and filename to a format that the server understands like a hashing function. The move_uploaded_file function should have the file checked that the files being uploaded are image files before being uploaded to the ‘images’ directory. Line 34 shows the vulnerable code which uploads any file to the ‘images’ directly without being firstly checked. The preg_match() function can be used to check for particular file extensions, in this case images file types, in a new $filename variable. [6] A file check statement was added to the vulnerable code that checks for the file type and will now only execute the original code as long as the file has the correct extension using an if statement. Line 166 uses the $file_error variable to determine if the upload is successful or not which determines the output, so $file_error is firslty set to an unsuccessful attempt message by default which is cleared if the correct file extension executes. Vulnerable code: move_uploaded_file($_FILES[file][tmp_name], images/ . $_FILES[file][name]); Secure code: $filename = $_FILES[file][name]; $file_error = Not an image file, try again; if(preg_match(/.(gif|png|jpg)$/, $filename)) { move_uploaded_file($_FILES[file][tmp_name], images/ . $_FILES[file][name]); $file_error = ; } Once the code was secure, another PDF file was browsed to and the ‘Upload’ button clicked and this time because the file is now firstly checked for file type and because pdf in not in the array of allowable files, the upload function does not execute (see figure 8): Figure 8 Attempted upload of a PDF file on unrestricted_file_upload.php 1.3 SQL Injection:4 vulnerabilities detected. SQL Injection attacks happen when SQL queries are successfully injected through user input data into the application that can reveal information about the database to allow for further attacks where the database can be modified by the insertion, updating and deletion of data. [7] The user input is crafted in such a way that it is interpreted by the application as SQL commands allowing the attacker contol over the database in even the operating system itself. A potentially vulnerable function like mysql_query() that uses a source like $_POST containing user input can create SQL Injection e.g $login = $_POST[login]; $password = $_POST[password]; $sql = SELECT * FROM heroes WHERE login = . $login . AND password = . $password . ; $recordset = mysql_query($sql, $link); To demonstrate the SQL Injection in bWAPP, the bWAPP/ sqli_3.php page was examined. Figure 9 shows the vulnerable code where unchecked user input is used by the application. Figure 9 Vulnerable to SQL Injection code detected by RIPS When this webpage is loaded, it shows a login screen for ‘superhero’ credentials requesting a login and password. A basic test for web applications for SQL Injection is the entering of the following command in place for the username and/or password: or 1=1 The single quote is interpreted by the web application as a special character in SQL which allows for the additional condition to the SQL command 1=1 which is of course always true and the double hyphen is intrepreted by the web application as a comment which closes off the query. When the or 1=1 statement is entered into the login and password fields, a welcome note is displayed (see figure 10): Figure 10 Message from SQL Injection on sqli_3.php This shows that this web page is vulnerable to SQL Injection attacks which uses unchecked user input directly by the application which could be exploited in compromising the server. Mitigation: The most successful defence against SQL injections is to never use user input directly in the application and to use parameterized queries (prepared statements) instead — which is supported by most languages — and to avoid using dynamic SQL queries or SQL queries with string concatenation. For PHP the mysql_real_escape_string() function can be used to escape special characters in a string for use in an SQL statement. Lines 137 and 137 of the code takes in the user inputs which are executed in the SQL statement in line 140 which is the vulnerable code really is. By implementing the mysql_real_escape_string() function into the code it will escape any special characters. [8] Vulnerable code: $sql = SELECT * FROM heroes WHERE login = . $login . AND password = . $password . ; Secure code: $sql = SELECT * FROM heroes WHERE login = . mysql_real_escape_string($login) . AND password = . mysql_real_escape_string($password) . ; Once the code was secured, the or 1=1 statement was entered again into the login and password fields and this time instead of getting the previous message as above, the invalid message displayed (see figure 11) Figure 11 Message after attempted SQL injection on secured sqli_3.php 2.0 Bibliography [1] itsecgames. 2015. itsecgames. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.itsecgames.com/. [Accessed 19 February 2015]. [2] RIPS free PHP security scanner using static code analysis. 2015. RIPS free PHP security scanner using static code analysis. [ONLINE] Available at: http://rips-scanner.sourceforge.net/. [Accessed 19 February 2015]. [3] Cross-site Scripting (XSS) OWASP. 2015. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) OWASP. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/XSS. [Accessed 19 February 2015]. [4] PHP: htmlspecialchars Manual . 2015. PHP: htmlspecialchars Manual . [ONLINE] Available at: http://php.net/manual/en/function.htmlspecialchars.php. [Accessed 25 February 2015]. [5] Full Path Disclosure OWASP. 2015. Full Path Disclosure OWASP. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Full_Path_Disclosure. [Accessed 02 March 2015]. [6] PHP: preg_match Manual . 2015. PHP: preg_match Manual . [ONLINE] Available at: http://php.net/manual/en/function.preg-match.php. [Accessed 25 February 2015]. [7] SQL Injection OWASP. 2015. SQL Injection OWASP. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/SQL_Injection. [Accessed 19 February 2015]. [8] PHP: mysql_real_escape_string Manual . 2015. PHP: mysql_real_escape_string Manual . [ONLINE] Available at: http://php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-real-escape-string.php. [Accessed 25 March 2015].