Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay - 1069 Words

Earth is consisted of billions of humans who differentiate emotionally, physically, culturally, and mentally. Humans are characterized by their experiences and not everyone has the same experience. Where we are born, how we are raised, and how we interpret life varies. However, once in every few generations, a stressful and disturbing event happens in a child’s life that could have a great impact on him and his future. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that results from experiencing or witnessing an extremely traumatic or tragic event that extends beyond one’s coping capacity. People with PTSD usually have frightening thoughts or vivid memories or dreams of that event. How a child reacts to a tragic event†¦show more content†¦A traumatic event can occur to any individual. In fact, 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event (Heal My PTSD, 2014). Trauma is not prejudice and knows no limits. However, witnessing a traumatic event as a child can have a grand effect on that child as he ages. According to the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (2007), children who experience violence or a sexual assault are found at a high risk for emotional and behavioral problems. â€Å"Youth’s exposure to violence in the home occurs at high rates and often is noted as the most common and severe adverse events during childhood,† says Margolin and Vickerman (2011). Several studies indicate that approximately 13% to 50% of children exposed to family violence qualify for diagnosis of PTSD (Margolin Vikerman, 2011). Examples of household problems could be domestic violence, child physical abuse, rape and molestation. Children experiencing physical pain or witnessing physical pain at home are at risk of containing many mental health issues other than PTSD. Disorders such as depression, separation anxiety or hyperactivity disorder could also affect the child. Dexter Morgan was just a baby when he witnessed his mother brutally murdered by four men. Dexter and his older brother Brian were trapped in a shipping container for two days until police found them. Dexter never realizedShow MoreRelatedPost Traumatic Stress Disorder980 Words   |  4 PagesToday we are here to figure out why is it that past events are the triggers that cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or undergoing a dangerous event. There are various symptoms that begin to show or actions that can give a clear answer whether one may be diagnosed with this disorder. One of the many problems is that no age range is safe from suffering PTSD. One must ask themselves what set of events happenedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder851 Words   |  3 PagesPost Traumatic Stress Disorder Introduction â€Å"There are currently over 400,000 Veterans in treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it is estimated that with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars there is an additional 33% increase in our returning soldiers.† Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a severe issue for veterans returning from overseas. One of the most effective, yet unused resources given to veterans to help them cope with their disorder is specially trained dogs. TheseRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder884 Words   |  4 Pagesof traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.† (NIMH) Families of veterans struggle to help their loved ones. â€Å"Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by a person’s exposure to life-threatening or otherwise traumatic circumstances.† (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affectsRead MorePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder1630 Words   |  7 Pagesare now accessing mental health services for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) defined by DSM-IV-TR is â€Å"characterised by the re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma† (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2000). There are many impacts and effects this disorder has on refugees requiring treatment, interventions, education andRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder1004 Words   |  5 Pagescurrent criteria of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has changed since the DSM-IV. In the DSM-V, the diagnostic criteria draws a clearer line when detailing what establishes a traumatic event. The DSM-V pays more attention to the behavioral symptoms that accompany PTSD and proposes four distinct diagnostic cluster s instead of three. They are described as re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and arousal. Re-experiencing is the spontaneous memories of the traumatic event, recurrentRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder1086 Words   |  5 Pagesfirst hand the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder. It is not possible to respond to emergency after emergency and not be subject to some of PTSD’s effects. When I saw this topic in the list I felt compelled to use this opportunity to learn more. My hope is by increasing my knowledge, of a disorder so prevalent in my career field; I can recognize the symptoms in others and myself before there effect becomes devastating. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD as it is more commonly referredRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )944 Words   |  4 Pageswith Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD Stats). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental disorder common found in veterans who came back from war. We can express our appreciation to our veterans by creating more support programs, help them go back to what they enjoy the most, and let them know we view them as a human not a disgrace. According to the National Care of PTSD, a government created program, published an article and provides the basic definition and common symptoms of PTSD. Post-traumaticRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1550 Words   |  7 PagesPost Traumatic Stress Disorder â€Å"PTSD is a disorder that develops in certain people who have experienced a shocking, traumatic, or dangerous event† (National Institute of Mental Health). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has always existed, PTSD was once considered a psychological condition of combat veterans who were â€Å"shocked† by and unable to face their experiences on the battlefield. Much of the general public and many mental health professionals doubted whether PTSD was a true disorder (NIMH)Read MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to the Mayo-Clinic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD is defined as â€Å"Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event† (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). Post Trau matic Stress disorder can prevent one from living a normal, healthy life. In 2014, Chris Kyle playedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1453 Words   |  6 Pages84.8% of those diagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder still show moderate impairment of symptoms, even 30 plus years after the war (Glover 2014). As of today, the Unites States has 2.8 million veterans who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, of those it is estimated that 11 to 20% currently suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As of 2013, a total of 12,632 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are currently diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Glover 2014). Of course it

The Indigo Spell Chapter Seven Free Essays

string(54) " me for a moment, like they could see all my secrets\." I MIGHT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED to find Marcus, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue against a gun. I raised my hands in the air and slowly stood up, keeping my back to the newcomer. Just as carefully, I stepped away from Marcus and set the vial on the floor. We will write a custom essay sample on The Indigo Spell Chapter Seven or any similar topic only for you Order Now Fumes still wafted out of it, but the reaction would burn itself out soon. Then I dared a peek behind me. When I saw the girl who stood there, I could barely believe my eyes. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked Marcus. He was unsteadily getting to his feet. â€Å"I left as soon as you called.† â€Å"You!† I couldn’t quite manage anything more articulate. The girl standing before me was close to my age, with long, tangled blond hair. She still had the gun on me, but a small smile appeared on her face. â€Å"Nice to see you again.† The feeling wasn’t mutual. I’d last seen this girl when I faced down the Warriors in their arena. She’d been toting a gun there as well and had had a perpetual snarl on her face. She’d pushed me around and threatened me, making no secret of how heretical she thought my defense of Sonya was. Although she seemed much calmer now than she had with those fanatics, I still couldn’t dismiss what she was – or what the implications were. I turned to Marcus in disbelief. He was cradling the wrist I’d nailed with my elbow. â€Å"You . . . you’re one of them! One of the Warriors of Light!† I don’t think I’d ever been so let down in my life. I’d had so many hopes pinned on Marcus. He’d become larger than life in my mind, some rebel savior who was going to tell me all the secrets of the world and free me from being another cog in the machine of the Alchemists. But it was all a lie. Clarence had mentioned Marcus had convinced the Warriors to leave him alone. I’d assumed it was because Marcus had some incredible leverage he could use against the Warriors, but apparently, the key to his influence was that he was one of them. He looked up from his wrist. â€Å"What? Those nuts? Hell, no.† I almost pointed at the girl but decided it would be best not to make any sudden moves. I settled for a nod in her direction and noticed all the locks on the door had been undone. I’d been so caught up in the struggle with Marcus that I hadn’t heard them. â€Å"Really? Then how come one of them just saved you?† â€Å"I’m not really one of them.† She spoke almost casually, but the gun contradicted her tone. â€Å"I mean, I guess I kind of am. . . .† â€Å"Sabrina’s a spy,† explained Marcus. He looked much more at ease too, now that I wasn’t assaulting him. â€Å"A lovely one. She’s been undercover with them for over a year. She’s also the one who told me about you.† Once again, it was hard knowing how to respond to that. I also wasn’t sure if I bought this spy story. â€Å"What exactly did you tell him?† He shot me a movie star smile. His teeth were so white that I wondered if he had veneers. It seemed out of character for a rogue who lived on the run, but nothing about this day was really turning out like I’d expected. â€Å"She told me about this Alchemist girl who defended a Moroi and then helped lead a dhampir raiding party.† Lead? Hardly. No one – notably Stanton – had felt the need to enlighten me about that raid until I was in the middle of it. I didn’t want to tip my hand too early though. â€Å"The Alchemists sanctioned that raid,† I said. â€Å"I saw the way you spoke,† said Sabrina. Her eyes flicked between Marcus and me, fierce for me and admiring for him. â€Å"It was inspiring. And we watched you for a while, you know. You spent an awful lot of time with the Moroi and dhampirs in Palm Springs.† â€Å"It’s my job,† I said. She hadn’t really seemed inspired at the time. Mostly she’d looked disappointed at not having a chance to use the gun on me. Marcus’s smile turned knowing. â€Å"From what I heard, you and those Moroi almost looked like friends. And then, here you are, looking for me. You’re definitely the dissident we’d hoped for.† No, this was not turning out at all like I’d planned. In fact, it was pretty much the opposite of what I’d planned. I’d been so proud of my ability to track down Marcus, little knowing that he’d been watching me already. I didn’t like that. It made me feel vulnerable, even if they were saying some of things I’d hoped to hear. Needing to feel like I was in control, I tried to play it cool and tough. â€Å"Maybe there are other Alchemists about to show up,† I said. â€Å"They would’ve been here already† he said, calling my bluff. â€Å"They wouldn’t have sent you alone . . . though I did panic when I first saw you. I didn’t realize who you were and thought there were others right behind you.† He paused, and that cocky attitude turned sheepish. â€Å"Sorry about, um, punching you. If it makes you feel better, you did something pretty serious to my wrist.† Sabrina’s face filled with concern. â€Å"Oh, Marcus. Do you need to see a doctor?† He tested the movement of his wrist and then shook his head. â€Å"You know we can’t. Never know who might be watching at a hospital. Those places are too easy to monitor.† â€Å"You really are hiding from the Alchemists,† I said in amazement. His nodded, almost looking proud. â€Å"You doubted? I figured you’d know that.† â€Å"I suspected, but I didn’t hear it from them. They deny you exist.† He seemed to find that funny. In fact, he seemed to find everything funny, which I found slightly irritating. â€Å"Yup. That’s what I’ve heard from the others.† â€Å"What others?† â€Å"Others like you.† Those blue eyes held me for a moment, like they could see all my secrets. You read "The Indigo Spell Chapter Seven" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"Other Alchemists wanting to break free of the fold.† I knew my own eyes were wide. â€Å"There . . . there are others?† Marcus settled on the floor, leaning against the wall and still cradling his wrist. â€Å"Let’s get comfortable. Sabrina, put the gun away. I don’t think Sydney’s going to give us any trouble.† Sabrina didn’t look so sure of that, but after several moments, she complied. She joined him on the floor, positioning herself protectively next to him. â€Å"I’d rather stand,† I told them. No way would I willingly sit on that filth. After rolling around with Marcus, I wanted to go bathe myself in hand sanitizer. He shrugged. â€Å"Suit yourself. You want some answers? You give me some first. Why’d you come looking for me off the Alchemist clock?† I didn’t like being interrogated, but what was the point of being here if I wasn’t going to engage in a dialogue? â€Å"Clarence told me about you,† I said at last. â€Å"He showed me your picture, and I saw how you’d tattooed over the lily. I didn’t even know that was possible.† The tattoo never faded. â€Å"Clarence Donahue?† Marcus looked genuinely pleased. â€Å"He’s a good guy. I suppose you’d be friends with him if you’re in Palm Springs, huh?† I started to say we weren’t friends but then reconsidered. What else were we? â€Å"Getting this isn’t easy,† added Marcus, tapping the blue tattoo. â€Å"You’ll have to do a lot of work if you want to do it.† I stepped backward. â€Å"Whoa, I never said that’s what I wanted. And why in the world would I do it anyway?† â€Å"Because it’ll free you,† he said simply. â€Å"It prevents you from discussing vampire affairs, right? You don’t think that’s all it does, do you? Think. What stops it from exerting other control?† I pretty much had to just give up on any expectations for this conversation because every topic was crazier than the last. â€Å"I’ve never heard of anything like that. I’ve never felt anything like that. Aside from it protecting vampire information, I’m in control.† He nodded. â€Å"Probably. The initial tattoo usually only has the talking compulsion in it. They only start adding other components with re-inks if they’ve got a reason to worry about you. People can sometimes fight through those and if they do . . . well, then it’s off to re-education.† His words sent a chill through me, and I rested a hand on my cheek as I flashbacked to the meeting I’d had when I was given the Palm Springs assignment. â€Å"I was re-inked recently . . . but it was routine.† Routine. Normal. Nothing like what he was suggesting. â€Å"Maybe.† He tilted his head and gave me another piercing look. â€Å"You do anything bad before that, love?† Like helping a dhampir fugitive? â€Å"Depends on your definition of bad.† Both of them laughed. Marcus’s laugh was loud and rollicking and actually pretty infectious – but the situation was far too dire for me to join in. â€Å"They may have reinforced your group loyalty then,† he said, still chuckling. â€Å"But it either wasn’t very strong or else you fought through it – otherwise you wouldn’t be here.† He glanced over at Sabrina. â€Å"What do you think?† Sabrina studied me with a critical eye. I still had a hard time believing her role in all of this. â€Å"I think she’d be a good addition. And since she’s still in, she could help us with that . . . other matter.† â€Å"I think so too,† he said. I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t like being discussed as though I weren’t there. â€Å"A good addition to what?† â€Å"Our group.† To Sabrina, he said, â€Å"We really need a name for it, you know.† She snorted, and he returned his attention to me. â€Å"We’re a mix. Some are former Warriors or double agents like Sabrina. Some are ex-Alchemists.† â€Å"And what do you do?† I gestured around us. â€Å"This doesn’t exactly look like a high-tech base of operation for some covert team.† â€Å"Look at you. Pretty and funny,† he said, looking delighted. â€Å"We do what you do – or what you want to do. We like the Moroi. We want to help them – on our own terms. The Alchemists theoretically want to help them too, but we all know that’s based on a core of fear and dislike – not to mention a strict control of its members. So, we work in secret, seeing as the Alchemists aren’t fans of those who break from the fold. They really aren’t fans of me, which is why I end up in places like this.† â€Å"We keep an eye on the Warriors too,† said Sabrina. She scowled. â€Å"I hate being around those nuts, having to play along with them. They claim they only want to destroy the Strigoi – but, well, the things I’ve heard them say against the Moroi too . . .† I thought back to one of my more disturbing memories of the Warrior arena. I’d heard one of them make a mysterious comment about how someday, they’d deal with the Moroi too. â€Å"But what do you guys actually do?† Talking about rebellions and covert operations was one thing, but actually effecting change was another. I’d visited my sister Carly at her college and seen a number of student groups who wanted to change the world. Most of them sat around drinking coffee, talking a lot and doing little. Marcus and Sabrina exchanged glances. â€Å"I can’t quite get into our operations,† he said. â€Å"Not until I know you’re on board with breaking your tattoo.† Breaking your tattoo. There was something sinister – not to mention permanent – about those words, and I suddenly wondered what I was doing here. Who were these people, really? Why was I even humoring them? Then another, almost terrifying thought hit me: Am I doubting them because of the tattoo’s control? Is it making me skeptical around anyone who questions the Alchemists? Is Marcus telling the truth? â€Å"I don’t really understand that either,† I told them. â€Å"What it means to ‘break’ the tattoo. Do you just mean putting ink over it?† Marcus stood up. â€Å"All in good time. Right now, we’ve got to get out of here. Even if you were discreet, I assume you used Alchemist resources to find me?† I hesitated. Even if these guys were legitimate and had good intentions toward the Moroi, I certainly wasn’t going to reveal my involvement with magic. â€Å"Something like that.† â€Å"I’m sure you’re good, but we can’t take the chance. This place has been compromised.† He cast a wistful glance around the studio. Honestly, I thought he should be grateful I’d given him a reason to leave. Sabrina rose as well, her face hardening. â€Å"I’ll make sure the secondary location is ready.† â€Å"You’re an angel, as always,† he told her. â€Å"Hey, how did you know I was coming?† I asked. â€Å"You had time to hide and call her.† What I really wanted to know was how he’d seen me through the invisibility spell. I’d felt the magic fill me. I was certain I’d cast the spell correctly, but he’d discovered me. The spell wouldn’t work if someone knew to look for you, so maybe he’d happened to glance out the window when I was scaling the fire escape? Worst timing ever. â€Å"Tony warned me.† Marcus flashed me another of those dazzling grins. I think he was trying to make me smile back. â€Å"Good kid.† Tony? Then I knew. The boy in the parking lot. He’d pretended to help me and then sold me out. He must have spoken to Marcus while I climbed the fire escape. Maybe Marcus only answered to some secret knock. At least I had the comfort of knowing I’d cast the spell correctly. It simply hadn’t worked because Marcus had advance warning that some girl was coming after him. He began packing up his meager belongings into a backpack. â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye is a great book, by the way.† He winked. â€Å"Maybe someday we’ll have a literary discussion.† I wasn’t interested in that. Watching him, I saw that he kept favoring his uninjured wrist. I couldn’t believe I’d caused damage like that and felt a little guilty, despite everything that had happened. â€Å"You should get that taken care of,† I said. Sabrina nodded in agreement. He sighed. â€Å"I can’t. At least, not through conventional means. The Alchemists have eyes everywhere.† Conventional means. â€Å"I, uh, might be able to help you get it healed through unconventional means,† I said. â€Å"You know some off-the-grid doctor?† asked Sabrina hopefully. â€Å"No. But I know a Moroi spirit user.† Marcus froze, and I kind of liked that I’d thrown him off guard. â€Å"Seriously? We’ve heard of them but never met one. That woman they had – Sonya? She was one, right? She was gone before we could find out more.† Talking about Adrian made me nervous, but Sabrina probably already knew he existed if they’d been watching me. â€Å"Yeah, she was one, and there’s another in Palm Springs. I could take you to him and let him heal you.† Excitement lit Marcus’s features. Sabrina looked at him in horror. â€Å"You can’t just go off with her.† Was that concern or jealousy in her voice? â€Å"Why not?† he asked. â€Å"She’s taking a leap of faith with us. We can’t do any less. Besides, I’m dying to meet a spirit user. The safe house isn’t that far from Palm Springs. You make sure everything’s in order and then come pick me up later.† Sabrina didn’t like that, not at all. Maybe I didn’t understand the dynamics of their group yet, but it was obvious she regarded him as a leader and was insanely protective. In fact, I suspected her feelings for him were more than professional. They went back and forth on whether he’d be safe or not, and I listened without a word. All the while, I wondered if I’d be safe heading off with some unknown guy. Clarence trusted him, I reminded myself. And he’s pretty paranoid. Besides, with Marcus’s wrist out of commission, I could probably take him. He finally convinced Sabrina to let him go but not before she snarled, â€Å"If anything happens to him, I’m coming after you.† Apparently her hard-core character in the arena hadn’t been entirely faked. We parted ways from her, and before long, Marcus and I were on the road to Palm Springs. I tried to get more information out of him, but he wouldn’t bite. Instead, he kept complimenting me and saying things that were only one step away from pickup lines. Judging from the way he’d bantered with Sabrina too, I didn’t think there was anything particularly special about me. I thought he was just used to women fawning all over him. He was cute, I’d give him that, but it took a lot more than that to win me over. It was sunset when we pulled up to Adrian’s apartment, and I belatedly wondered if I should’ve given him some advance warning. Too late now. We walked up to the door, and I knocked three times. â€Å"It’s open,† a voice called from within. I stepped inside, and Marcus followed. Adrian was working on an abstract painting of what looked like a crystalline building from some fantasy world. â€Å"Unexpected treat,† he said. His eyes fell on Marcus and widened. â€Å"I’ll be damned. You found him.† â€Å"Thanks to you,† I said. Adrian glanced over at me. A smile started to form – and then instantly dried up. â€Å"What happened to your face?† â€Å"Oh.† I lightly touched the swollen spot. It still smarted but wasn’t as painful as it had been earlier. I spoke my next words without thinking. â€Å"Marcus hit me.† I’d never seen Adrian move so fast. Marcus had no chance to react, probably because he was exhausted from our earlier encounter. Adrian shoved Marcus up against a wall and – to my complete and utter astonishment – punched Marcus. Adrian had once joked that he never dirtied his hands, so this was something I never could have prepared myself for. In fact, if Adrian was going to attack someone, I would’ve expected something magical and spirit-driven. Yet . . . as I watched him, I could see that anything as thoughtful as magic was far from Adrian’s mind. He had kicked into primal mode. See a threat. Go after it. It was yet another surprising – yet fascinating – side of the enigma that was Adrian Ivashkov. Marcus quickly got his bearings and responded in kind. He pushed Adrian back, wincing a little. Even with his injury he was still strong. â€Å"What the hell? Who are you?† â€Å"The guy that’s going to kick your ass for hurting her,† said Adrian. He tried another punch, but Marcus dodged and managed to land a hit that knocked Adrian back into one of his easels. When Marcus swung again, Adrian eluded him with a maneuver that was straight out of Wolfe’s class. I would’ve applauded him if I wasn’t so appalled by the situation. I knew some girls thought it was sexy to have men fight over them. Not me. â€Å"You guys, stop!† I cried. â€Å"No one’s going to throw you around and get away with it,† said Adrian. â€Å"What happened with us has nothing to do with you,† retorted Marcus. â€Å"Everything about her has to do with me.† The two circled around each other, waiting for the other to pounce. â€Å"Adrian,† I exclaimed. â€Å"It was an accident.† â€Å"Doesn’t look like an accident,† he replied, never taking his eyes off Marcus. â€Å"You should listen to her,† growled Marcus. The easygoing guy I’d met earlier was gone, but I guess being attacked would do that to you. â€Å"It might save you from getting your pretty face wrecked. How much styling did you have to do to get your hair like that?† â€Å"At least I brush my hair,† said Adrian. Marcus lunged forward – but not directly at Adrian. He grabbed a painting off an easel and used it as a weapon. Adrian again managed a dodge, but the painting didn’t fare so well. The canvas tore, and Marcus tossed it aside, ready for the next advance. Adrian spared the canvas a brief glance. â€Å"Now you’ve really pissed me off.† â€Å"Enough!† Something told me they weren’t going to listen to reason. This required direct intervention. I stalked across the room and pushed myself between them. â€Å"Sydney, get out of the way,† ordered Adrian. â€Å"Yeah,† agreed Marcus. â€Å"For once he’s got something worthwhile to say.† â€Å"No!† I held out my hands to separate them. â€Å"Both of you back off – now!† My voice rang through the apartment, and I refused to budge. â€Å"Back. Off,† I repeated. â€Å"Sydney. . . .† Adrian’s voice was a little more uncertain than when he’d told me to get out of the way. I looked back and forth between them, giving each guy a healthy glare. â€Å"Adrian, it really was an accident. Marcus, this is the guy who’s going to help you, so show some respect.† This, more than anything, seemed to derail them. â€Å"Wait,† said Adrian. â€Å"Did you say ‘help’?† Marcus was equally flabbergasted. â€Å"This asshole is the spirit user?† â€Å"You’re both acting like idiots,† I scolded. The next time I had nothing to do, I’d have to get a book on testosterone-driven behavior. This was out of my league. â€Å"Adrian, can we talk somewhere in private? Like the bedroom?† Adrian agreed, but not before giving Marcus one last menacing look. I told Marcus to stay where he was and hoped he wouldn’t take off or call in someone else with a gun. Adrian followed me to his bedroom and shut the door behind us. â€Å"You know,† he said, â€Å"under normal circumstances, you inviting me to the bedroom would be the highlight of my day.† I crossed my arms and sat on the bed. I did so out of simple fatigue, but a moment later, I was struck by what I was doing. This is where Adrian sleeps. I’m touching the covers he’s wrapped in every night. What does he wear? Does he wear anything? I jumped up. â€Å"It really was an accident,† I told him. â€Å"Marcus thought I was there to abduct him.† Adrian, having no such hang-ups with the bed, sat down. He winced, probably from the blow to the stomach. â€Å"If someone like you showed up to abduct me, I’d let you.† Even when he was in pain, it never stopped with him. â€Å"I’m serious. It was just instinct, and he apologized over and over in the car once he realized who I was.† That got his attention. â€Å"He knew you?† I gave him a recap of my day in Santa Barbara. He listened avidly, nodding along, his expression shifting back and forth between intrigue and surprise. â€Å"I didn’t realize when I brought him back here that you’d inflict more damage,† I said, once I’d finished the story. â€Å"I was defending your honor.† Adrian gave me that devil-may-care smile that always managed to both infuriate and captivate me. â€Å"Pretty manly, huh?† â€Å"Very,† I said dryly. I didn’t like violence, but him doing something so out of character for me actually was kind of incredible. Not that I’d ever tell him that. â€Å"You did Wolfe proud. Do you think you can manage not to have any more ‘manly’ displays while he’s here? Please?† Adrian shook his head, still smiling. â€Å"I’ve said over and over, I’d do anything for you. I just keep hoping it’ll be something like, ‘Adrian, let’s go hot tubbing’ or Adrian, take me out for fondue.'† â€Å"Well, sometimes we have to – did you say fondue?† Sometimes it was impossible to follow Adrian’s train of thought. â€Å"Why in the world would I ever say that?† He shrugged. â€Å"I like fondue.† I didn’t even know what to say about that. This whole day was getting more and more exhausting. â€Å"I’m sorry I’m not asking for something as glamorous as melted cheese. But for now, I need to find out about Marcus and his group – and the tattoo.† Adrian recognized the situation’s severity. He stood up and gently touched the lily on my cheek. â€Å"I don’t trust him. He could be using you. But then . . . I don’t like the idea of this controlling you either.† â€Å"That makes two of us,† I admitted, losing some of my earlier toughness. He traced the line of my cheek for a few breathless moments and then dropped his hand. â€Å"It might be worth helping him to get some answers.† â€Å"Will you promise not to get in any more fights? Please?† â€Å"I promise,† he said. â€Å"So long as he doesn’t start one.† â€Å"I’ll have him promise too.† I just hoped their â€Å"manly† natures wouldn’t get the better of them. As I ruminated on this, something I’d nearly forgotten about tumbled to the forefront of my mind. â€Å"Oh . . . Adrian, I’ve got one more favor to ask you. A big one.† â€Å"Fondue?† he asked hopefully. â€Å"No. It’s about Ms. Terwilliger’s sister. . . .† I told him what I’d learned. The amusement in his face faded and turned to disbelief. â€Å"You just mention this now?† he exclaimed when I finished. â€Å"That some soul-sucking witch might be after you?† â€Å"She doesn’t know I exist.† I felt surprisingly defensive. â€Å"And I’m the only one who can help, at least according to Ms. Terwilliger. She thinks I’m some super-investigator.† â€Å"Well, you do have that Sherlock Holmes thing going for you,† he said. His joking didn’t last; he was too upset. â€Å"But you still should’ve told me! You could’ve called.† â€Å"I was kind of busy with Marcus.† â€Å"Then your priorities are off. This is a lot more important than his band of Merry Men. If we need to take out some evil sorceress before she gets to you, then of course I’ll help.† He hesitated. â€Å"With one condition.† I eyed him warily. â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"Let me heal you too.† I jerked backward, almost more shocked than if he’d suggested hitting me again. â€Å"No! Absolutely not! I don’t need it. I’m in better shape than him.† â€Å"You want to go back to Amberwood with that on your face? You’re not going to be able to hide that, Sage. And if Castile sees it, he really will come after Marcus.† Adrian crossed his arms defiantly. â€Å"That’s my price.† He was bluffing, and I knew it. Maybe it was egotistical, but I knew he wasn’t going to let me go into a dangerous situation without him. He did, however, have a point. I still hadn’t seen the mark Marcus had left, but I didn’t want to explain it back at school. And yes, there was a good chance Eddie would want to hunt down my assailant. Being beat up by an avenging dhampir might make working with Marcus difficult. Yet . . . how could I agree? At least the magic I used was on my terms. And although my tattoo had trace amounts of vampire magic, I took comfort in knowing it was tied to the â€Å"normal† four elements, the ones we understood. Spirit was still an unknown entity, with abilities that continually surprised us. How could I subject myself to rogue vampire magic? Guessing my inner turmoil, Adrian’s face softened. â€Å"I do this all the time. It’s an easy spell. No surprises.† â€Å"Maybe,† I said reluctantly. â€Å"But each time you use spirit, you’re more likely to go crazy.† â€Å"Already crazy about you, Sage.† At least this was familiar territory. â€Å"You said you wouldn’t bring that up.† He simply regarded me without comment. Finally, I threw my arms up. â€Å"Fine,† I said, with more boldness than I felt. â€Å"Just get it over with.† Adrian didn’t waste any time. Stepping forward, he reached out and rested his hand on my cheek once more. My breath caught and my heart rate went up. It would be so, so easy for him to pull me to him and kiss me again. A tingling warmth spread over my skin, and for a moment, I thought it was just my normal reaction to him. No, I realized. It was the magic. His eyes locked onto mine, and for the space of a heartbeat, we were suspended in time. Then he removed his hand and stepped away. â€Å"Done,† he said. â€Å"Was that so bad?† No, it hadn’t been bad at all. The throbbing pain was gone. All that was left was the constant inner voice nagging me that what had just happened was wrong. That same voice tried to tell me that Adrian had left a taint behind . . . but that was hard to believe from him. I released the breath I’d been holding. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"You didn’t have to do that.† He gave me one of those small smiles. â€Å"Oh, believe me, I did.† A moment of awkward silence hung between us. I cleared my throat. â€Å"Well. We should get back out to Marcus. Maybe we’ll have time for dinner before Sabrina shows up, and you guys can patch things over.† â€Å"I doubt even a moonlight stroll would fix things between us.† His words reminded me of something else I’d meant to bring up when he got back to town, something that had taken a very low priority. â€Å"Your coat – you never took it back after the wedding. It’s in my car.† He waved dismissively â€Å"Keep it. I’ve got others.† â€Å"What am I going to do with a wool coat?† I asked. â€Å"Especially here in Palm Springs?† â€Å"Sleep with it,† he suggested. â€Å"Think of me.† I put my hands on my hips and tried to stare him down, which wasn’t easy since he was so tall. That, and because his words suddenly returned me to the disorienting feeling I’d had sitting on his bed. â€Å"You said you weren’t going to bring up any romantic stuff around me.† â€Å"Was that romantic?† he asked. â€Å"I was just making the suggestion, since the coat’s so heavy and warm. I figured you’d think of me since it was such a nice gesture. And yet, once again, you’re the one who finds romantic subtext in everything I say.† â€Å"I do not. You know that’s not what I meant.† He shook his head in mock sympathy. â€Å"I tell you, Sage. Sometimes I think I’m the one who needs to take out the restraining order on you.† â€Å"Adrian!† But he was already out the door, knowing laughter echoing behind him. How to cite The Indigo Spell Chapter Seven, Essay examples

Decision Making and Greyhound free essay sample

Greyhound Lines is a bus transportation company that had problems with operating costs and customer service. It did not have union in solving vital problems, more concretely, while Greyhound’s executive faced with these issues by reorganizing such as massive cuts in personnel, routes’ and service, along with computerization, middle managers in computer programming, human resource and terminal managers considered that executive’s solution was inappropriate. As a result, it was impossible for them to handle, did the number of passengers not only plunged dramatically but rivals also had been picking off Greyhound’s customers. To understand more deeply about what is going on in Greyhound Lines, we turn to discuss about the way executive managers made decision and analyze what was not satisfactory. 1. Was the decision facing Greyhound executives, programmed or non-programmed? From the case study, we can obviously identify with certainty that Greyhound’s executives were facing with non-programmed decision. Let remind a bit more about non-programmed decisions, that apply specific solutions crafted for a unique problem. 1] It was the first time facing with being unaffordable to dispatch nearly empty vehicles or have buses and drives on call to meet surges in demand. They did bring two solutions to reduce operating costs and improve customer services. For examples of non-programmed decision, first, Greyhound’s top managers introduced Trips through computerization of everything from passenger reservations to fleet scheduling. Modern technology helps work out automatically, quickly and effectively that may bring Greyhound for competitive advantages. They seemed to be lucid decisions because applying technology leads both saving labor cost and time. However, is technology always good or it also come long with various conditions? The second example of non-programmed decision was cutting labor force, routes, and services. It may be a suitable way to cutting cost . Nevertheless, whether Greyhound can improve customer service by these massive cuts? To conclude, Non-programmed decisions are made when new and unexpected situation occurs and information deficiency. Thus every executives manager need to awake to give solution carefully or they will influence badly. . Do you think Greyhound executives should have used the classical model, administrative model, political model or judgmental heuristics approach? Which do you believe they used? Discuss In my point of view, Greyhound executive should have used classical model that describes decision making with complete information[2] because of some reasonable evidences below. Firstly, they exactly understood what problem they was facing with that they clearly defined were difficult in providing buses which is of maximum capacity and they are not providing enough bus services when the demand for rides increased. Secondly, they got knowledge of possible alternative that managers in computer programming urged a delay in introducing the computerized Trips system, to work out bugs in the highly complex software. Next, they knew clearly their consequence by being provided adequate and significant information from other managers in different departments. For instance, the human resource managers pointed out that the terminal workers were unskilled in using Trips- new technology or they had needed extensive training program before they used the new system. Besides, the terminal managers also warned about their partial customers’ finance status such as they did not have credit card or even telephone to use Trips. Consequently, if they continued to take over applying Trips program, they might land in an impasse. The result was proven, the number of passengers fell down and they lost their market share. Although they had some above limit respects, they still have based on their sufficient information to make an optimizing decision to rescue themselves from problems and classical decision model is better choice. However, they used administrative decision model that affected a whole badly. Greyhound’s executives ignored all other department managers’ ideas and essential information. This was the very reasons for create boundaries, cognitive limitation that leaded them to making decision with partial knowledge. They put themselves into risky and uncertain conditions, which made them considered that administrative decision model was the most useful. Then they chose the first alternative that appeared to give a satisfactory resolution of the problem. They did mistake in running new system in that inappropriate period. In conclusion, I believe that the classical model is more appropriate to be used due to the clarity of the problem, condition of certainty and the availability of information that Greyhound actually had. 3. Analyze the Greyhound’s case in terms of the five steps of managerial decision-making process. Discuss and give your idea. Five steps of managerial decision- making process are finding and define the problem, generate and evaluate alternative solutions, select preferred solution and conduct ethic double-check, implement the solution and evaluate results. The first step in decision making- identify and define problem is vital step that impacts on how managers determine suitable strategy to solve problem. Greyhound done well in this step, they found that their major problem that neither broadly nor narrowly is inability to dispatch virtually empty buses, having employees who were not displaying professional behaviors and also not having drivers or buses on call to meet the demand by customers. That was also the root cause not symptom of problem and they found out their correct trouble to face with. The second step is generate and evaluate alternative problem, at this stage, more information is gathered, more involvement of other people is needed that will create the whole picture with sufficient information to evaluate alternative as well as consequence. However, in this step Greyhound did all mistake, executives gave solution too quickly and chose an alternative that was not as good as others that might be discovered. If I was Greyhound’s executive, instead of making decision in information deficiency, I will get all other department to commit to have whole vision about company’s respects. After that, I would conduct the cost-benefit analysis. This analysis allows the comparison of the cost and benefits of each potential course of action whereby the best case scenario would be having the benefit of solving the performance deficiency to outweigh the cost of implementing the alternatives. Fixing bugs is just temporary solution so at the same time, I will create training program for employee know how to use Trips system. Hence, with careful preparation, I will turn into new system at the right time in the future to make more competive advantage. Third step would be choosing a solution. The Greyhound executives actually made a satisficing decision. Meaning, they chose the first satisfactory alternative that came to their attention. In this case, they were dead set on choosing to implement the reorganization plan and introducing computerization. This is a decision made under the behavioral model, through which decisions are made with limited information and bounded rationality. If I was an executive, I would consider the suggestions made by my managers before I choose a solution. This is an optimizing decision and an optimizing decision allows me to choose the lternative giving me the absolute best solution to a problem. Subsequently, we have to implement the solution. Participation is crucial for a successful implementation. Participation is evident as the middle managers, managers in computer programming, the Human resource department and the terminal manager all contributed their ideas. Nevertheless, the managers had an equivocal thought with the executives. Surpr isingly the plan was still given the green light by the executives. Given the solutions presented by them, I would have tried to reach a compromise. This will show my respect towards them as a fellow employee. Finally, we must evaluate the result of the decisions made. A continuity of commitment to gather information on performance result allows us to make corrective actions. The outcomes were not positive for the case of Greyhound Lines Inc. The strategies and premature introduction of the new computerization reservations system resulted in inefficiency of customer service, dissatisfied customers and a decrease in ridership. The management ought to formulate corrective measures after identifying the dire state of the company.

Tootsie Roll free essay sample

My hypothesis was that it will take 30-45 chews to eat a tootsie roll/frootie. My hypothesis was somewhat supported by my data that I have from lab experiment. Independent Variable: The independent variable is the type/flavor of the tootsie roll/frootie which we are eating in our lab experiment, because they represent the inputs or causes, or are tested to see if they are the cause. Dependent Variable: The dependent variable is how many chews it takes to eat a tootsie roll/frootie because it represents the output or effect, or is tested to see if it is the effect. Constant: We did not use any safety equipment in this lab, but you could’ve used safety goggles, gloves, and possibly an apron. Procedure: The first step to do this lab you need to get all of the supplies, which are listed under â€Å"Materials Used†. Then you need to make a hypothesis about anything that has to do with the main question, that which we gave you. We will write a custom essay sample on Tootsie Roll or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then you need to make a data table that includes all of the types of tootsie rolls/frooties, and how many chews it took to chew each one (you can see mine under â€Å"Data Table†). After this you need to pick one person to eat ALL of the tootsie rolls/ frooties. This person, that you chose to chew you tootsie rolls/frooties, will unwrap one and put it in their mouth and start chewing. The person chewing will count how many times they chew the tootsie roll/frootie that they have in their mouth. The person you picked will then repeat everything to each of the eight of the tootsie rolls/frooties, and after each one you need to record how many chews it took to eat it. Data Table: Questions: #1. How could you make you results more accurate? I can make my results more accurate by making sure the person chewing is chewing on the same side of the mouth. Another thing you can do is have everybody count how many times the person chews and how fast each time and the pace you eat the tootsie roll/frootie. #2. How well did you group work together? (explain) Our group worked really well together. We picked one person to chew the tootsie rolls/frooties with no complaining from anybody else, and we all agreed on the same person. #3. What would you do differently next time? The only thing I would change would be that there would tootsie rolls/frooties for everybody so that everybody didn’t have to watch one person eat all of them.

Why the Crucible is a Tragic Comedy Essays

Why the Crucible is a Tragic Comedy Essays Why the Crucible is a Tragic Comedy Essay Why the Crucible is a Tragic Comedy Essay Essay Topic: Clueless The Crucible Why The Crucible is A Tragic Comedy Have you ever been dancing in the woods naked, while a colored foreign lady sings songs with only made up words that start and end with the letter B? If so, you are to be hanged for witch craft with no question. They were so clueless about having a problem in their town that it went way too far and they didnt really think things through all the way. People would Just run around telling the authorities that so and so is a witch. They would be taken away and hanged for no reason. There was no proof about them being witches or nobody went into further investigation. Lets take a minute and really think about how the catastrophe in Salem really started. A group of young girls blind to what they are doing by dancing around a big pot and Just so happens to get naked. No big deal right? People who hung there had no proof saying they practiced witch craft. There was really no proof what the girls had done that night or what they were doing. The men in charge were really quick to jump to conclusions. With no trial of any investigation of any sort they Just had their mind set on that they were witches. Citizens accused of witch craft by anyone else basically had no chance at all ecause, there never really would be a trial for them. The person accusing the other person of being a witch could be easily making it all up. They never asked the witness for proof of what they supposedly saw. It was always the good people that were punished and the people that actually practiced witch craft were the ones lying saying they witnessed the good people practicing witch craft. The young ladies that started the whole Salem witch trials lied, and they started to show it when few of the girls started to tell the reverends the truth, but were influenced back into the lie by the other girls again. Another reason that says the young girls were lying is they blamed the witch craft on people that hurt them, or has the man they like. Also shown they were lying when some of them took all of their parents money and ran away on a boat in the middle of the night. The conclusion of my point of view is that this whole thing was way blown out of proportion by the reverends and men in charge. People were so scared of the fact that the idea of people practicing witchcraft is in their town. Including the higher up men position were being questioned so they had to show to the public they had it under control by anging innocent accused people. These poor innocent people were lucky to be given two options: admit to practicing witch craft and be free but hung with that reputation, or die for not admitting to it. In these times people literally lived by the bible and they strongly believed that if they lied they were going to hell, so these people were not going to admit and lie so they swallowed their pride and died for no reason at all. With that being said this story sounds like a tragic comedy to me. Why the Crucible is a Tragic Comedy By warpony2730

The Why, Where, and How of Writing for the Christian Market

The Why, Where, and How of Writing for the Christian Market Writing for Christian markets may not be at the top of your write-for list. I grew up in church, so it seemed a natural place for me to begin my writing career. I was already familiar with publications and what types of stories and articles they used. As with any freelance market, you want payment for your effort, so all the publications listed here do pay, and most I have written for many times over the years, selling fillers, devotionals, articles, and stories. A serious freelancer is always on the lookout for new markets. Many Christian publications, especially Sunday school take home papers, publish weekly so the number of manuscripts they need is greater than a traditional monthly magazine. They accept a variety of pieces; fillers, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and devotionals. The age range is diverse. There are publications for the smallest of children up to adults. Our Little Friend is for children from ages 1-5. They seek true-to-life stories one or two pages long. One story I wrote for them was about kids making fun of each other. Mature Living is for those facing retirement. Many older people feel as if they are used up. I offered encouragement and gave examples of things anyone could do to help others in a list article. Devo’Zine is a devotional market geared toward teens that Ive written for using lessons from teaching young people at church. Youth leaders are always looking for great activity ideas to use with their kids, and Insight Youth Resources has paid me for ideas our youth group did. ParentLife is a magazine that has published multiple funny saying from my kids as fillers. Do you work with women in the church? Today’s Christian Woman  needs articles that offer strength and encouragement for everyday women. Need more market ideas? An invaluable tool for finding these markets is the Christian Writer’s Market.   You can also ask friends for help. Do they attend a church that hands out take-home papers? Do they subscribe to Christian magazines? Ask to borrow copies and research to see if those publications accept freelance work. You could also Google â€Å"Christian magazines,† â€Å"Christian publications,† or â€Å"Christian writers wanted.† I have found some regular writing employment doing this. When considering topic ideas, note that many of the publications follow a theme list. Lookout and Youth Worker both do. Theme lists give basic ideas of what the editors want during certain times of the year. Once you repeatedly write for these publications, many will come to you with an urgent need, when something on their theme list hasn’t been fulfilled, and they know you are dependable. Some Christian publications just want to hear your story. I have used many of my own experiences, especially when it came to the teenage years, mine and my children’s (Guide). Guide wants true stories, and many of my teens experiences ended up on their pages. And keep in mind that not all Christian publications are overtly religious. Some of the children’s publications simply want stories with a moral lesson. But be aware of the diversity amongst denominations and their beliefs. For example, some conservative publications want women to wear dresses, if clothing happens to be mentioned in your story. Some denominations worship on the Sabbath, which is actually Saturday, not Sunday. Others won’t include anything about drinking. Here is a site with helpful information on denominations. Don’t underestimate the power of the Christian market for your writing. You can stretch yourself, get some new

Student Survival Guide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Student Survival Guide - Essay Example As a result, a student must learn how to manage and find information with little time and energy spent on the search and which produces a maximum return on their efforts. To use a simple word picture, in the classroom, the information is a pool, or a small lake from which to draw. In the workplace, the river of information is always moving, and attempts to put up a dam in order to measure and quantify the amounts of water simply will not be successful. A student must learn to paddle the boat, and gather information from the moving stream all at the same time. While internet searches have become less arcane over the past few years, a student cannot expect to find everything he or she needs from a Google.com search or a stop at Wikipedeia.com. A student should find and subscribe to a few favorite online libraries and databases which will provide depth of information. Two of my favorite online libraries are www.questia.com and www.highbeam.com. These online libraries contain scholarly journals, complete book transcripts as well as newspapers and magazine articles. These web sites can often provide all the background and research materials for the successful internet enabled student. Unfortunately, with the availability of electronic versions of data, the temptation to copy and paste information, and thereby plagiarize another's work is strong. The mass amounts of data which are available, and the time crunch under which today's students must produce results create the perfect envelope in which to commit intellectual robbery, and pull someone else's ideas. In order to maintain intellectual honesty, and uphold academic standards of integrity, the student should take this mantra as his own personal guide. "If the idea is not mine, I should cite the source." By applying this standard, the student can steer his boat around the whirlpools, rocks and rapids which will quickly capsize his boat should he begin to copy others work and call it his own. Material which comes from another's published works, whether taken in summary, or repeated word for word - if the material contains an idea from another person's published work, it must be cited as such. Developing Effective Study Skills Effective study skills in the online learning environment are somewhat different from those which a student needs in the traditional classroom. In the traditional classroom, many elements co-exist as part of the learning process. These elements go beyond simply inhaling information and exhaling assignments and tests. In the traditional classroom, a learning community already exists. The learners are able to draw encouragement, inspiration, and fellowship from one another. In the traditional classroom, one person can set the pace somewhat unconsciously, a level to which other students are drawn toward as they set their own goals. In the online learning environment, the students are individualized and compartmentalized. The online community still can, and must exist in order to create an effective learning environment. However, the students must seek out that community, and become a part of electronic tools such as chat rooms, group discussions, and list serve email digests in order to form the e-learning community. If the student only reads lessons and turns in assignments, he or she will be missing

Body Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Body Language - Essay Example Depending on the type of body language incorporated a certain image of you is placed on those around you especially people you have been used to like co-workers, for example, wearing a smiling face in front of co-workers communicates that something good has happened to you and you are about to share a joyous story, while a cruel face will send an opposite signal. However your personality or character as known to the co workers will add a lot to your sign language ,a person who is always a joker might be mistaken since some times seriousness in his face accompanied by a serious comment can be outdone by the previous jokes to the audience. Moreover, the occupation is a very critical consideration in determining the effect of a sign language. For instance, a nurse might say that a patient is recovering verbally but post a sign to his colleague that patient is worsening (Kennedy, 2009). To a patient, body language sends the most effective message and thus one has to be very careful when handling them. While encouraging a patient its important to avoid putting on a worried face since this might make him think that he is worse off. Due to the fact that misinterpretation of body language might affect a patient psychologically, a speaker should avoid any ambiguous sign. While answering questions it’s important to always take time and avoid any emotional reaction that could send a different signal. Understanding their body language helps also effect your communication. In any situation where the patient provides a message verbally that strongly contradicts the body movements mostly the facial expression, its advisable that one should base his response mostly on the body sign. This helps the patient feel cared for and apart from comforting him it would help him open up for better treatment. More than fifty percent of messages in any conversation are sending verbally and thus several signs have

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Example for Free

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Communication can be defined as the act/art of exchanging/transmission of thoughts or information by the means of speech, signs, written means and the behavior. It was the occasion of the America’s Presidential candidates Campaign when the Illinois Senator Barrack Hussein Obama delivered the speech announcing his will of seeking the democratic nomination for presidency in 2008. It was on Saturday evening (19. 06GMT) of February 10th 2007 on the Venue of Springfield, when the Senator Barrack Obama now the Elect president of United States of America delivered the persuasive speech used on this focus paper. In this Speech it excellently exploits the elements of speech. First, The candidate Senator Obama by that time was very prepared for the occasion against the deliverance of the amazing speech towards the audience. His introduction of the speech appreciates all the audience present and recognizes their vital role they do play for that occasion. For instances He starts by thanking all the people for their coming and gives the reasons why the occasion was very important to every individual. His introduction captures the attention of the audience giving time to deliver his message. Part of introduction was â€Å"†¦it’s humbling but in my heart I know you didn’t come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. † Secondly there is use ‘of being yourself ’ while giving the speech. The Senator gives personal and professional examples and life history precisely, possibly helping him to gain support to emphasize his own points of the campaign. The self-example messages matches with the destined purposes of the Campaign. Thirdly, Obama stayed relaxed throughout the speech delivery session, very composed and maximal prepared for the outcome. He remained focused on passing the message. He too employed other means of speech presentation such as movement/ walking, gestures. In addition, the Senator used the Natural humor and avoided depicting/ pinpointing an individual from the Audience and he didn’t over do it thus maintaining the audience on move of the speech. The other element that I figure was the Body plans and hand positions. I keenly observed the movement and gestures of the Senator. He moved within the three positions – the right, the center and the left- and the hand position was well managed and maintained throughout the session. He didn’t hide behind the lectern and he excellently maintained the eye contact with the audience throughout the speech session. Lastly of the elements of speech, the Senator was very keen and well informed about every detailed he presented. He used the environmental reference that surrounded the Venue appropriately on his speech. He understands what is the past, currently and the future happening of the immediate ground. He keenly observes the audience to an extent of identifying some schoolmates but he didn’t mention their names. â€Å"†¦friends that I see in the audience. †. Speech Accomplishment: The speech is accomplishing the real mission of the Senator while being elected as the president of United States of America. He explains out what he will accomplish for the country when he will be in power. He gives new hope the people of America; to believe that ‘yes he can’ bring peace where there is war, bring hope where there is despair, reach what is more possible and build a more perfect union. The Senator aspires to establish convergence place where the farmers, teachers, students, businessmen, laborers, young and the aged, male and female, rich and the poor’s clamoring can be heard. The speech intends to accomplish the enlightenment of the US people the existence of presumptuousness in the present government calling for the change, in the faces of the depressed he will increase the employment opportunities in order to lift the millions out of poverty, Welcome the immigrants to the shores of America and experience justice and righteousness around the globe. The Senator contemplates the currently status of the US and around the globe and promises to accomplish missions such as to quench the anxiety of the feel of rising health care costs and the illusions of the stagnant wages, to bring the war in Iraq to an end by bringing the troops back home by march next year and give Sunni and Shia to resolve the problem and bring out peace, minimize oil dependency that is threatening America’s future, instill an ethic achievements in children by setting high standards of learning providing the resources for them to succeed, recruiting the new army of teachers and giving them the batter pay and more support for the exchange of accountability, making colleges affordable and investing in the scientific researches, to reshape the economy, strengthen the communities, to cut bureaucracy by use of technology, free America from the Tyranny Oil, solve the crisis of global warming by innovation and by capping the greenhouse gases, give incentives for the businesses, and destroying the deadliest unguarded weapons. The Speech was a persuasive, since it is persuading the people of America to elect the Senator as the President of America by voting for him in the year 2008. It was evidenced in his speech as persuasive where he says â€Å" †¦If you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us, if you sense as I sense, that the time is now to shake of our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe the past and the future generations, then I am ready to take up the cause, and match with you and work with you to finish the work that needs to be done. † The main aim of the speech was to persuade for votes that resulted to the delivery of the speech. But on the process he enlightens the people the critically analyze and keenly make judgment for the best next US president. I can also say it is informative to some extent that it elaborates the incidences that have been taking place and the others that are likely to take place in the United States of America. Audience’s reaction towards the speech was very applauding during the speech presentation and indeed the audience was very pleased with the amazing speech, contented that Obama can make out to be the best candidate to be elected and very disappointed with the previous disguised government. The speech disclosed the factual facts to the audience, which was the quenching of the long thirst, the beginning of the new hope and the change on which the Americans can believe in. At some points the multitude nodded their heads as a sign of concession/ agreement to what was spoken, and at some point the audience was pity as a sign of how sympathetic and pathetic the situation was in as per that time. The pattern of speech was sequential, topical and spatial. The speech was sequential since it has the introduction, the body and the conclusion as the structure of the speech. Obama welcoming the audience, he presents his speech (The body) where he factually speaks of what he should do when he will be in power, he identifies what to change and or improve, what to innovate and implement, what changes he is able to bring, what was the defects the previous government, and finally he give out his conclusion of expecting the people of America to vote for him if they want the change they can believe in. The speech was also topical since Obama Generally emphasizes on the Change that that Americans can Believe in. He bases his own speech on change and frequently mentions change throughout his speech. Despite of having other minor topics such as speaking about education, the economy, war, resources and the political history his main topic was about change. To some extent but not very, the speech was descriptive. It entails what to be done, how, when and by whom. Obama described in his speech for instance that the only source for change in America is people, the only peace in war at Iraq lies between Sunn and Shia, the only way to prosper in future is by doing the present that needs to be done. Also Obama gave the vivid description on how to solve some of the long-lasting problems in America. For instance the problem of global warming can be solved by innovations that can tap the greenhouse gases, creating more job opportunities, investments can solve the problem of poverty, practice of justice and establishment of converges to listen the clamoring of each and every one in the US. In conclusion, Communication is the transmission of information from one person to another. The occasion of the speech was during the campaign of the Presidential candidate of America on Democratic Party at Springfield. The utilized elements of speech were such as being prepared for the speech presentation, being yourself when representing speech, being composed and contented when delivering speech, body plan and hands position, gestures and movements. Accomplishment of the speech was to convince the audience to vote for Him/ Change. The type of speech was persuasive as he persuades for the votes, the reactions of the audience was a sign of relieve or being relieved if Obama was to be the president and indeed he became. Finally the pattern of the speech is Sequential, topical and somehow spatial. References: 1. Public Speaking an Audience-Centered Approach By Steven A. Beebe and Susan J. Beebe. (2008) 2. http://www. guardian. co. uk/world/2007/feb/10/barackobama. 3. http://www. ljlseminars. com/elements. htm. 4. Organization Pattern Of Speech By Osborn (2000).

Wembley Stadium pricing study Essay -- essays research papers

Ticket Pricing Strategy for the new Wembley Stadium 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction OBJECTIVE  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To maximise profits from ticket sales at Wembley Stadium KEY ASSUMPTIONS  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Wembley has a monopoly on certain types of match 2. Wembley is run by profit maximising managers selling tickets to utility maximising buyers STRATEGY  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Set prices for seats as close to the willingness to pay as possible using price discrimination KEY CHOICES  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What type of seating to sell and at what price? 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scope This strategy is limited to the following football matches: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  England home matches – competitive and friendly †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Major cup semi-finals and final †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lower league play-off finals Wembley has a monopoly on these matches due to Football Association (FA) policy2. Theory states that Wembley should charge as close to the willingness to pay of its customers as possible to maximise its profits1. The ability to do this depends on demand and the ability to price discriminate between market segments. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Absolute Demand Absolute demand for tickets will be high due to several factors: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Football is England’s national sport †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Watching live matches is popular †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wembley Stadium is the ‘home of football’ with a long and distinguished history There is good evidence for assuming high demand: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The last three competitive England home games were sold-out2 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Attendance figures for club matches are consistently high3 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recent cup finals at Cardiff Millennium Stadium were sold-out4 Actual demand varies between market segments but can be found from market research, e.g. membership schemes and studying events at similar grounds. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Market Segmentation The table below shows the range of customers that buy tickets for football matches. Elasticity of demand is shown for each category and explained below: Market Segments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elasticity of Demand  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reason for Elasticity 1  Ã‚  &nbs... ...y for rugby union and league †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pop concerts – outdoor arenas are alternatives with similar capacity There are a wide range of substitutes available for these that affect willingness to pay. 11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other Event-Related Income Stadiums contain much more than just an arena to watch sport including: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Refreshments and merchandise †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Broadcasting rights †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advertising †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Car parking †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other events, e.g. conferences Income for the above would be approximately proportional to the number of people in the stadium. 12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cabral, Luis. â€Å"Introduction to Industrial Organization†, MIT Press, 2000. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.thefa.com 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://stats.football.co.uk/dom/ENG/PR/attend.html 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://stats.football.co.uk/dom/ENG/trn/ENGFAC_F.html#F 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.wembleystadium.com 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.millenniumstadium.com

Optic Radiation In Optic Neuritis Health And Social Care Essay

ABSTRACT. Optic neuritis ( ON ) is defined as an redness of the ocular nervus and provides a utile theoretical account for analyzing the effects of inflammatory demyelination of white affair. The purpose of this survey was to measure the diffusion changes both of the ocular nervus and ocular radiation in patients with acute and chronic ON utilizing diffusion tensor MR imagination ( DT-MRI ) . Thirty-three patients with idiopathic demyelinating ocular neuritis ( IDON ) and 33 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were examined with DT-MRI, T1- and T2-weighted MRI. Compared with controls, both first episode and recurrent patients with IDON in the ague phase showed significantly increased radial diffusivity ( I »aS? ) and decreased average fractional anisotropy ( FA ) in the affected nervousnesss. Reduced FA, increased I »aS? , average diffusivity ( MD ) and axial diffusivity ( I »a ) were determined in patients with subacute IDON. We found no important difference in the direct ional diffusivity of ocular radiation in patients whose disease had lasted less than one twelvemonth compared with healthy controls. However, important alterations of FA and I »aS? of the ocular radiation were detected in patients with disease continuance more than one twelvemonth. These consequences show the great potency and capacity of DT-MRI steps as really utile biomarkers and indexs for the rating of myelin hurt in the ocular tract. Ocular nervus sheath dilation can be detected utilizing conventional T2-weighted MRI as has been reported by Hickman et Al. [ 2-3 ] . These two surveies assessed the effects of a individual inflammatory procedure and its attach toing demyelination in a cohort of patients during their first episode of acute one-sided ON, and reported a consistent form of alterations associated with demyelination lesions caused by redness in the ocular nervus. It is of great clinical importance to find prodromic alterations and the implicit in pathological mechanisms in patients with ON. However, since the hyperintensity can be a consequence of either redness, gliosis or axonal devolution, T2-weighted images fail to place the cause underlying the pathology. Diffusion tensor MR imagination ( DT-MRI ) , a widely recognized imagination technique that identifies the dominant way of H2O diffusion and the magnitude of anisotropy in vivo [ 4 ] has late gained more prominence for the probe of white affair cons truction, unity and connectivity. The demyelination harm in the ocular nervus and ocular radiation can be located with the aid of DT-MRI parametric quantities, such as average diffusivity ( MD ) and fractional anisotropy ( FA ) , axial diffusivity I »a and radial diffusivity I »aS? [ 5-6 ] . Postmortem scrutiny of MS patients suggests that the pathological mechanisms of ON may include a combination of redness, demyelination, astrocytosis and axonal devastation [ 7 ] . Surveies in mouse ocular nervus after retinal ischaemia have revealed elusive alterations of axons and medulla in the white affair and found I »a and I »aS? values to be associated with axonal pathological alterations [ 8-9 ] . These consequences suggest DTI to be superior compared to other conventional imaging techniques for the intent of researching the pathological mechanisms of ON. Particular challenges associated with DT-MRI of the ocular nervus are the little diameter and the nomadic constructions surrounded by CSF and orbital fat [ 10-11 ] . In visible radiation of this, and despite utilizing different sequences and protocols, it is rather singular that several different groups have reported similar values in healthy controls ( MD 1.0-1.3A-10-3 mm2/s and FA 0.4-0.6 ) and altered diffusion paramet ric quantities in chronic ON patients [ 12-13 ] . The different developmental phases of ON seem to be associated with different pathological mechanisms. The acute phase is characterized by redness and perchance demyelination of the ocular nervus. The chronic phase, on the other manus, typically shows axonal harm, perchance even axonal decease taking to wasting of the ocular nervus [ 14-16 ] . Increased MD and decreased FA were observed in a heterogenous cohort of patients with chronic ON [ 17 ] ; increased evident diffusion coefficient ( ADC ) values were found particularly in chronic patients [ 18-19 ] . A survey closely related to our work showed axial diffusivity I »a in the acute phase to supply of import predictive information and the radial diffusivity I »aS? in the subacute phase to stand for the best step correlated with the visus [ 20 ] . A recent survey proved tractography to be a method sensitive plenty to observe pathological abnormalcies in the ocular radiations after ON [ 21 ] . Understanding the connexion between altered diffusion parametric quantities of the ocular nervus, ocular radiation and ocular public presentation will supply insight into the implicit in pathological mechanisms and may be valuable for being able to foretell the ocular development after ON. The old surveies mentioned above, have shown different pathological mechanisms during the different phases of ON and we were interested to corroborate these findings by DT-MRI, a novel and sensitive methodological attack. We hypothesized that the pathological alterations happening during the unwellness might impact the diffusion indices otherwise and that we therefore might happen differing diffusion values in the ague and subacute phases of ON based on the concluding clinical diagnosing. Materials and methods Subjects Thirty-three patients who fulfilled the clinical standards set by the Optic Neuritis Study Group [ 22, 23 ] were recruited from May 2008 to December 2008 at the Beijing Tongren Hospital. The patient group consisted of 12 males and 21 females from 10 to 58 old ages ( average 31.1A ±12.8 old ages ) . The demographic informations assessed during the MRI survey is included in Table 1. Thirty-three gender- and age-matched healthy controls ( 12 male and 21 female, average ages 29.21A ±12.09 old ages ( run 10-60 old ages ) ) with normal neurological scrutiny and no history of neurological upsets served as control topics. Table 1. Demographic and clinical features of patients with IDON Characteristic No of patients Gender Male 12 Female 21 Age ( old ages ) Median 31.1 Range 10-58 Phase of disease ( casesi?†° Acute 33 First 26 Backsliding 7 Subacute 18 First 6 Backsliding 12 In this paper we will further mention to the single eyes of the topics as instances, wholly the survey included 51 instances in the patient group. In 33 instances with acute IDON we managed to obtain the MRI informations within 30 yearss of the oncoming of symptoms. Twenty-six of these instances were first manifestations of the acute signifier of ON, the other 7 were perennial instances. We defined the ON to be acute if a patient experience an episode of ON within 30 yearss from the oncoming of ocular symptoms [ 20, 22, 24 ] . In 18 instances with subacute IDON, the MRI-data was acquired more than 30 yearss after the eruption of the unwellness. Six instances were first episodes and 12 the consequence of a recurrent episodes. At the same clip, we selected 9 topics whose disease had lasted longer than 1 twelvemonth and 14 topics less than 1 twelvemonth to look into the secondary effects to OR. The survey was approved by the moralss commission of the Beijing Tongren Hospital and a written informed consent was obtained from each topic harmonizing to the Declaration of Helsinki. Data acquisition All measurings were performed on a 1.5-T Signa MRI system ( General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA ) . Head gesture was minimized by keeping foam tablets provided by the maker. Subjects were asked to shut their eyes in order to minimise any effects of deliberate oculus motion during the acquisition clip. Each topic was scanned utilizing a high declaration T2-weighted ( fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences ) FLAIR sequence ( TR=9000ms, TE=120ms, TI=2125ms, field of position ( FOV ) =24A-21cm2, matrix size 256A-222, 32 pieces, 4.0 millimeter piece thickness with 0.8-mm interslice spread ) in order to observe any encephalon abnormalcies. At the clip of the ocular neuritis, the patients had no important image impairment or other marks of neurologic lesions in the ocular radiation. The images of the ocular nervousnesss were obtained with an 8-channel caput spiral utilizing coronal-oblique spin-echo EPI sequence with parallel acquisition. The coronal-oblique pieces were set extraneous to the nervousnesss ( See Fig.1 ) . The covering scope was from the ocular papilla to the orbital vertex of the ocular nervus. We used the undermentioned acquisition parametric quantities for the ocular nervus: one b0 and 6 non-collinear gradient waies with b=600s/mm2, FOV= 22A-22 cm2, matrix size 128A-128, NEX= 16, 8 immediate 5.0 millimeter pieces. By concentrating entirely on the ocular nervus, the signal-noise-ratio ( SNR ) of images was set at 35-40. The diffusion acquisition parametric quantities of the ocular radiation were the undermentioned: one b0 and 15 non-collinear waies with b=1000 s/mm2, TR=6000ms, TI=71ms, FOV = 24A-24cm2, matrix size 128A-128, NEX=6, 22 immediate 4.0 millimeter pieces. In add-on a whole-brain 3D T1 SPGR sequence ( TR=10ms, TE=4.4ms, TI=600ms, FOV=2 6A-26cm2, matrix size=256A-256, NEX=1, 152 immediate 1.0-mm pieces ) was used as a beginning image for the subsequent co-registration of the ocular radiation. Figure 1. Position of the pieces viewed on an axial localizer position of the ocular nervus. There are 8 pieces from the anterior portion ( next to the ocular papilla ) to the posterior portion ( near the orbital vertex ) of the ocular nervus. Datas processing The first measure was to formalize the quality of the natural images. The images with deficient quality were rescanned until they met the SNR standards set for the analysis. Then eddy current deformations and gesture artefacts in the DT-MRI informations were corrected by using affine alliance, utilizing FMRIBs diffusion tool chest ( FSL, Oxford, UK. ) [ 25-26 ] . In order to be able to compare diffusion belongingss in patients and controls, a method to place matching anatomical parts was required. The first necessary measure was to happen a consistent spacial standardization for the two separate groups. Due to the different protocols for ocular nervus and ocular radiation we present two different methods for the processing of the several MRI-data, and depict these methods in the undermentioned subdivisions. Ocular nervus fibre Image enrollment The maps of MD, FA and eigenvector were calculated on a voxel-by-voxel footing, followed by a diagonalization of the reconstructed tensor matrix in order to obtain characteristic root of a square matrixs ( I »1, I »2, I »3 ) and eigenvectors utilizing DTIStudio ( MRI Studio Software, Johns Hopkins University, USA ) . To be able to rectify for planetary morphological differences a expansive mean b0 informations set was created from all topics. This mean image was so used as a mention relation to which each topic was positioned ( single b0 to template b0 ) with a 12-parameter affine theoretical account. The same transmutation parametric quantities were so used to co-register the MD and FA images to the templet b0. Regions of involvement ( ROI ) choice The intraorbital 4th bed of the nervus ( about 2.0cm after the ball ) was used for the undermentioned analysis ( See Fig.2 ) . The ROIs were defined manually on the b0-template ( mean non-diffusion-weighted ) dwelling of two square 2A-2 voxels ( Fig.2A ) . To avoid prejudice caused by the partial volume consequence, the ROIs were placed in the centre of the nervus. After averaging the images across the population, the b0-images contained significantly less noise than in single images. The associated color-coded maps were used for optimum ROI arrangement ( Fig.2B ) and to vouch objectiveness the process was performed by an experient radiotherapist blinded to the individuality of the topic. The ROIs of single instances were mapped from the templet b0 utilizing an reverse transmutation. These ROIs were so overlaid to the MD, FA and eigenvalue maps, where average values from the 4 voxels were obtained ( Fig.2C-D ) . Figure 2. ROI choice in the 3rd piece of the ON. ( A ) Non-diffusion-weighted b0 image, ( B ) Color-map, ( C ) FA map, and ( D ) MD map. The pointer is indicating to the ocular nervus. The ROIs were placed on the b0-averaged images and so transferred onto the FA and MD maps. Ocular radiation fibre All piece of lands in the informations were reconstructed utilizing a fiber assignment uninterrupted tracking algorithm [ 6 ] . In order to minimise the anatomical encephalon variableness between topics, a group-based Atlas model was introduced building a population specific templet. We applied the joint analysis model for group-based co-registration uniting structural and diffusion tensor MRI similar to Tao et Al. [ 27 ] , but utilized the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration utilizing Exponentiated Lie algebra ( DARTEL ) enrollment method [ 28 ] . As a high-dimensional diffeomorphic enrollment method, this novel technique utilizes the big distortion model parameterized by speed vector Fieldss to continue topology. The amount of square differences between the beginning and mark images are minimized at the same time to the enrollment, and the additive elastic energy of the distortions are used to falsify the mark image, which can better the realignment public presentation of little interior constructions [ 29-30 ] . Combined DTI and structural analysis grapevine Group templet maps were created utilizing statistical parametric function ( SPM8, Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, London, UK ) to find the normal inter-subject variableness of white affair tracts. We built a structural Atlas from all topics T1 images with the DARTEL tool chest. After this measure the b0 -volume of each DT-MRI information set was registered to the associated T1 image utilizing a 12-parameter affine transmutation. The corrected diffusion images of each topic were algebraically transformed to compose a structural Atlas infinite, enabling anatomical designation and comparing of the ocular radiation in the aforesaid atlas infinite. An overview of the process observing differences between the diffusion belongingss of fibre piece of lands is shown in Fig.3. Figure 3. Ocular radiation analysis grapevine jointly utilizing structural and diffusion images. Regions of involvement ( ROI ) choice After the atlas building process, we used a multiple ROI attack to work the fibre piece of land. The get downing ROI was manually placed in the sidelong geniculate organic structure on a reconstructed axial image with an AND operation. It was designed to include the ocular radiation of each side and the full environing white affair. For each piece of land, a 2nd spherical ROI with 4mm radius was placed in the occipital lobe near the midplane with an AND operation. Reconstructed fibres perforating both ROIs were considered representative of the ocular radiation ( See Fig.4 ) . These two ROIs were so overlaid on the FA maps and transferred to other directional diffusivity maps. Diffusivity in all spacial waies was obtained from every voxel along the path of the ocular radiation. Figure 4. DTI fiber tracking and extraction of ocular radiation. DTI fibre paths ( green ) were launched from a get downing part of involvement ( white box ) in a plane buttocks to the sidelong geniculate karyon. Fiber paths were filtered with a 2nd part of involvement ( two balls ) in a plane adjacent to the ocular cerebral mantle. Statistical analysis All statistical analyses were performed utilizing SPSS v13.0 ( SPSS Inc. , USA ) . In a first measure, ipsilateral differences between patients and controls were explored utilizing a mated t-test. To avoid the prejudice originating from the categorization of the bilateral involved nervousnesss of one patient being the same ON phase into the same group, we applied Generalized Estimating Equation ( GEE ) . This method, introduced by Zeger et Al. [ 31 ] , extends generalised additive theoretical accounts to suit correlated informations from topics with similar features. Consequences Directional diffusivity of ocular nervus Acute accent ON The survey consisted of 33 acute-stage instances: 26 first manifestations and 7 recurrent instances. Significant differences within the ROIs comparing the two subgroups of patients and their controls were detected in all DT-MRI measurings ( paired t trial, see Table 2, besides see Fig.5 ) . The average FA was significantly reduced ; the mean MD and I »aS? were increased in the acute-stage IDON instances compared to healthy controls. In patients with first manifestation, significantly decreased I »a values were detected ( t = 2.10, P = 0.046 ) . And increased I »a were found in recurrent patients compared to controls ( t = 0.84, P = 0.434 ) with no important difference. Since there were merely 7 instances with a perennial disease history, we decided to measure merely the first manifestation group and matched healthy group in Table 3 utilizing GEE. This survey proved the average FA from ON patients to be significantly lower compared to healthy controls ( omega = 61.053, P & lt ; 0.001 ) . Compared to healthy controls, we found drastically elevated I »aS? ( z = 19.181, P & lt ; 0.001 ) in the patients and somewhat decreased I »a , but the latter did non make statistical significance ( z = 3.414, P = 0.065 ) . ( A ) ( B ) ( C ) ( D ) Figure 5. Quantitative analysis of DT-MRI indices in ON. Relative alterations of the ( A ) FA, ( B ) MD, ( C ) I »a , ( D ) I »aS? in each ocular nervus from controls and the instances of first oncoming during acute phase ( expressed as mean A ± standard divergence ) . Paired t trial demonstrated that MD and I »aS? were significantly elevated and FA was notably reduced in affected nervousnesss. Table 2. Diffusion parametric quantities from the instances during acute stage of IDON ( first and perennial oncoming ) Indexs Acute Controls t-value p-value FA foremost 0.39A ± 0.08 0.59A ± 0.09 8.40 0.000 recurrent 0.33A ± 0.05 0.64A ± 0.11 7.46 0.000 MD foremost 1.50A ± 0.20 1.40A ± 0.30 2.22 0.036 recurrent 1.80A ± 0.28 1.20A ± 0.36 3.54 0.012 I »a foremost 2.18A ± 0.31 2.39A ± 0.45 2.10 0.046 recurrent 2.50A ± 0.31 2.27A ± 0.64 0.84 0.434 I »aS? foremost 1.10A ± 0.20 0.80A ± 0.27 5.40 0.000 recurrent 1.50A ± 0.28 0.70A ± 0.28 5.45 0.002 Thirty-three instances with IDON were of acute phase ( the continuance of the disease from scrutiny to last onset twenty-four hours was less than one month ) , of which 26 instances in 19 topics were foremost affected and seven instances in 7 topics suffered from recurrent episodes. Axial, radial, and average diffusivities ( I »a , I »aS? , MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy is without units. All values of DTI indices are given as the mean A ± criterion divergence. IDON=idiopathic ocular neuritis. Table 3. The GEE consequences of diffusion indices from the instances of first oncoming during acute phase Indexs Parameter appraisal criterion divergence z-value p-value FA -0.201 0.026 61.053 0.000 MD 0.137 0.000 3.253 0.071 I »a -0.208 0.000 3.414 0.065 I »aS? 0.309 0.000 19.181 0.000 Twenty-six instances in 19 topics were foremost involved. The values of axial, radial, and average diffusivities ( I »a , I »aS? , MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy is without units. All values are expressed as the natural logarithm of the ratio between controls and patients with IDON in the acute phase. IDON=idiopathic ocular neuritis. GEE=Generalized estimating equation. Subacute ON The DT-MRI information of 18 remitting instances is illustrated in Table 4. As is shown, both instances with first manifestation of IDON ( paired t trial, n = 6 ) ) and perennial IDON ( paired t trial, n = 12 ) showed a similar tendency with decreased FA values and increased MD, I »a and I »aS? when compared to controls ( see Table 4 ) . However, there was no important difference in I »a ( t = 2.46, P = 0.057 ) between subacute IDON patients with first episode and controls. We suspect that this may be due to the little sample size ( n=6 ) . Table 4. Diffusion indices from instances during the subacute stage of IDON ( first and perennial oncoming ) Indexs Acute Controls t-value p-value FA foremost 0.39A ±0.08 0.56A ±0.03 4.42 0.007 recurrent 0.35A ±0.10 0.56A ±0.05 8.01 0.000 MD foremost 1.80A ±0.28 1.40A ±0.08 3.87 0.012 recurrent 2.10A ±0.44 1.50A ±0.140 4.73 0.001 I »a foremost 2.64A ±0.36 2.34A ±0.10 2.46 0.057 recurrent 2.96A ±0.49 2.52A ±0.29 2.35 0.038 I »aS? foremost 1.40A ±0.27 0.90A ±0.09 4.25 0.008 recurrent 1.70A ±0.45 1.00A ±0.10 5.88 0.000 Eighteen instances with IDON were in the subacute phase ( the continuance of the disease from the scrutiny twenty-four hours to the last oncoming had been more than one month ) in which six instances in 5 topics had been affected for the first clip and twelve in 8 topics had been affected antecedently. Patients were defined as â€Å" recurrent † , if they had had more than two oncomings of symptoms at the clip of the MRI appraisal. Axial, radial, and average diffusivities ( I »a , I »aS? , MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy is without units. All values of DTI indices are given as the mean A ± criterion divergence. IDON=idiopathic ocular neuritis. Directional diffusivity of ocular radiation The DT-MRI scrutiny of ocular radiation was performed on 23 patients. Nine patients, whose diseases had lasted from 1 twelvemonth to 13 old ages, and 14 patients, whose diseases had lasted from 8 yearss to 4 months, were included in this analysis. The path of the reconstructed fibres and tract-specific quantification was consistent with the known anatomy of the human ocular tract from old surveies conducted by Ciccarelli et Al. and Xie et Al. [ 21, 32 ] . These findings showed connexions from the posterior portion of the ocular radiation to ocular countries and connexions between the median portion and the karyon of the sidelong geniculate organic structure. Table 5 illustrates the average FA, MD, I »aS? and I »a within the reconstructed ocular radiation of 9 patients whose disease had lasted more than 1 twelvemonth ( mated T trial, n=9 ) . Compared to the control group, the FA values demo a statistically important lessening ( t = 3.45, P = 0.009 ) and the I »aS? value a dramat ic addition ( t = 3.92, P = 0.004 ) ( See Fig.6 ) . Compared to the controls, there is no statistically alteration in the mean FA, MD, I »aS? and I »a within the reconstructed ocular radiation of 14 patients, whose disease had lasted less than 1 twelvemonth ( mated T trial, n=14, see Table 6 ) . ( A ) ( B ) Figure 6. Relative alterations of the FA and I »aS? in each ocular nervus from controls and patients who had suffered more than one twelvemonth from ocular damage ( expressed as mean A ± standard divergence ) . Table 5. Diffusion parametric quantities in IDON patients whose disease had lasted more than 1 twelvemonth in comparing with controls Parameter ON Controls t-value p-value FA 0.46A ± 0.04 0.50A ± 0.03 3.45 0.009 MD 0.89A ± 0.05 0.84A ± 0.02 2.14 0.065 I »a 1.38A ± 0.07 1.37A ± 0.07 0.41 0.691 I »aS? 0.64A ± 0.06 0.58A ± 0.02 3.92 0.004 Nine topics are included. Axial, radial, and average diffusivities ( I »a , I »aS? , MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy is without units. All values of DTI indices are given as the mean A ± criterion divergence. IDON=idiopathic ocular neuritis. Table 6. Diffusion parametric quantities in IDON patients whose disease had lasted less than 1 twelvemonth in comparing with controls Indexs ON Controls t-value p-value FA 0.49A ±0.04 0.48A ±0.03 0.62 0.547 MD 0.88A ±0.04 0.87A ±0.04 1.06 0.308 I »a 1.41A ±0.03 1.38A ±0.06 2.06 0.062 I »aS? 0.62A ±0.05 0.61A ±0.04 0.34 0.738 Fourteen topics are included. Axial, radial, and average diffusivities ( I »a , I »aS? , MD ) were given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy was without units. All values of DTI indices are given as the mean A ± criterion divergence. IDON=idiopathic ocular neuritis. Discussion The most common cause for IDON is believed to be an autoimmune reaction against the medulla environing the fibres in the ocular nervus which induces an inflammatory response that can ensue nerve harm. In some instances, early symptoms of ON may bespeak an eruption of MS, a disease besides caused by redness and axon harm in encephalon and the spinal cord. Therefore, a alternate biomarker is needed to uncover the implicit in pathological procedures of ON. In the current survey we used the directional diffusivities from DT-MRI to look into the abnormalcies in ocular nervousnesss and ocular radiation after ON. The diameter of the human ocular nervus is about 3-4mm. The nervus is surrounded by several beds of membranes, for illustration nervus sheath and orbital fat. Artifacts caused by eye-movement and the susceptibleness effects caused by nearby fistulas make it hard to get dependable diffusion image informations and to keep an equal SNR. Methods like spin-echo echo planar imagination ( SE-EPI ) [ 33 ] , interior volume imaging ( IVI ) or decreased field of position technique [ 34-36 ] were introduced to better image quality. In this survey, the SE-EPI protocol, a comparatively low maximal b-value with 600 s/mm2, six independent waies and a high figure of acquisitions were used to guarantee a suited a sufficiently high SNR. This method has antecedently been validated by several writers, such as Trip et al. , Kolbe et al. , Xu et Al. and many more [ 12, 17, 34, 36-37 ] . In add-on, we scanned the ocular nervus bilaterally in a coronal plane since the image deformation was greater in a sepa rate one-sided acquisition. Kolbe et Al. [ 12 ] scanned ocular nervousnesss separately in 10 coronal oblique pieces set extraneous to the nervus and analyzed the first six pieces. The group found the diffusivity values to alter drastically along the length of the ocular nervus. The FA values in the 1st and 2nd piece were well lower and the MD values well higher than in other parts. No important differences in FA or MD were found in the 3 last pieces. In the presented survey, we divided the ocular nervus into eight extraneous coronal oblique pieces. The superimposed form of DT-MRI diffusivity was confirmed in a pretest survey: the ocular nervus on pieces 6-8 was identical in most instances, and the diffusion indices were susceptible to vitreous organic structure in the pieces 1-2. In contrast, robust directional diffusivity was observed in the pieces 3-5. FA and MD values showed no important differences between the right and the left ocular nervus in healthy controls as illustrated in Table 7. Randomized discrep ancy block-analysis indicated important differences in FA but non in MD among the pieces ( see Table 8, FA: F = 17.54, P & lt ; 0.001 ; MD: F=0.500, p=0.613 ) . In add-on, the FA values in the 4th and 5th pieces were higher than in the 3rd piece ( p & lt ; 0.000 ( 3rd vs. 4th ) , p & lt ; 0.000 ( 3rd vs. 5th ) ) , but did non differ statistically from each other ( p = 0.757 ( 4th vs. 5th ) ) . We suggest that the consequence of oculus motions is smaller in the posterior portion of the ocular nervus. We assume that two factors may impact the diffusivity values: foremost, the possible mobility of the ocular nervus may be reduced in the mid-posterior portion ; 2nd, a more directional motion of H2O molecules in the well-organized and compact fibres. The fifth bed of the ocular nervus ( about 2.5 centimeters distal from the orb ) could be measured clearly in most topics, but measurings failed in five teenaged and in one 60-year-old patient due to reconstruction jobs. For that ground we had to utilize the 4th bed ( about 2 centimeter after the ball ) in this survey. DT-MRI utilizations H2O diffusion features to retrace white affair construction through diffusion way and amplitude. Altered diffusion parametric quantities were found in patients with chronic ON compared to healthy controls: MD was increased and FA decreased [ 13 ] . Harmonizing to Smith et Al. [ 38 ] , the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the clinical symptoms in the ague ON include redness, hydrops, demyelination and loss of axons in the ocular nervus. A self-generated visus recovery a few hebdomads or even months after the hurt has been reported in some instances. Many factors like a diminishing inflammatory response, remyelination, Restoration of conductivity in demyelinated axons, as suggested by Smith et Al. [ 38 ] and cortical or subcortical malleability, as proposed for illustration by Toosy et Al. and Werring et Al. [ 14-15, 39-40 ] may take to the ocular recovery. Since the demyelination presumptively is a dynamic procedure, we hypothesized that different DTI indic es may alter at different phases of ON. Table 7. Lateral differences of FA and MD values in pieces 3-5 from 10 healthy controls in the pretest survey FA MD Right side Left side t-value p-value Right side Left side t-value p-value 3rd 0.57A ± 0.04 0.56A ± 0.06 0.297 0.774 1.57A ± 0.14 1.60A ± 0.19 -0.795 0.452 4th 0.67A ± 0.05 0.67A ± 0.05 -0.291 0.779 1.61A ± 0.23 1.58A ± 0.18 0.853 0.418 5th 0.67A ± 0.05 0.68A ± 0.05 -0.472 0.65 1.50A ± 0.20 1.52A ± 0.20 -0.628 0.548 FA and MD values showed no important differences between the right and the left ocular nervus in healthy controls Average Diffusivities ( MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy ( FA ) is without units. Table 8. Comparison of FA and MD values in pieces 3-5 from 10 healthy controls in the pretest survey Indexs Slice Statistic 3rd ( meanA ±std ) 4th ( meanA ±std ) 5th ( meanA ±std ) F-value p-value FA 0.56A ± 0.04 0.67A ± 0.05 0.68A ± 0.05 17.54 & lt ; 0.001 MD 1.58A ± 0.15 1.60A ± 0.21 1.51A ± 0.21 0.500 0.613 Randomized discrepancy block-analysis indicated important differences in FA but non in MD among 3rd-5th pieces. In add-on, after multiple comparings by the least important difference ( LSD ) trial, we found the FA values in the 4th and 5th pieces were higher than in the 3rd piece ( F = 17.54, P & lt ; 0.001 ; P & lt ; 0.000 ( 3rd vs. 4th ) , p & lt ; 0.000 ( 3rd vs. 5th ) ) , but did non differ statistically from each other ( p = 0.757 ( 4th vs. 5th ) ) . Average Diffusivities ( MD ) are given in A µm2/ms. Fractional anisotropy ( FA ) is without units. Naismith et Al. [ 20 ] discovered the FA and I »aS? to be the first parametric quantities to alter in the acute IDON. I »a was decreased to a singular extent in the acute IDON and this step was found to correlate with the ocular result. In our survey, we found significantly increased average I »aS? and decreased FA in 33 instances with acute IDON during first episode and recurrent instances when compared to controls, and besides detected a lessening in the I »a of patients with a first episode in the acute phase by utilizing mated t trial ( t =2.10, P = 0.046 ) although that difference did non make statistical significance ( z = 3.414, P = 0.065 ) after GEE theoretical account analysis was performed. Since the pathological alterations in recurrent instances are more complex than in instances with first clip manifestation, and since the sample size of recurrent instances was little ( n=6 ) , we will merely discourse the first episode subgroup as we assume that this theoretical account likely reflects the pathological alterations in acute period more closely. In instances with white affair hurt merely affecting medulla devolution, we hypothesize that I »aS? is likely to increase, reflecting the increased freedom of H2O molecules to undergo Brownian Motion perpendicular to the axons due to the loss of myelin unity. The consequences of our survey confirm consistent pathological alterations and back up our premise. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis ( EAE ) is a widely used carnal theoretical account, which can imitate many characteristics of human MS. ON is one of the phenotypes in EAE mice. The I »a and I »aS? appear to be both sensitive and specific for axonal hurt and demyelination, severally in Xu et Al. survey [ 14 ] . Wu et Al. [ 41 ] studied an EAE murine theoretical account in the ague phase utilizing in vivo diffusion-weighted imagination with diffusion sensitising gradients parallel and perpendicular to the axonal piece of lands. They detected that progressive acute axonal harm resulted in a 23 % lessening in I »a at 20 yearss after immunisation. Using a mated t-test, we found that I »a lessenings in patients with first episode in the ague IDON, a determination we ascribe to axonal hurt happening during the acute phase. However, this decision needs to be reconfirmed by more research. Trip et Al. and Kolbe et Al. [ 12, 17 ] found increased MD and reduced FA-values in patients with one-sided IDON who had suffered from ocular symptoms for a lower limit of at least one twelvemonth. The writers considered these alterations to be chiefly caused by axonal loss, with demyelination and gliosis playing a partial function. In our survey, 18 instances with IDON in the subacute phase, both of first manifestations and recurrent instances, showed significantly decreased FA and increased I »aS? , I »a and MD when compared to controls, back uping the findings of the aforesaid writers. The DT-MRI fibre paths and cleavage of ocular radiation from the sidelong geniculate karyon to the ocular cerebral mantle have already been studied by Yamamoto et Al. and Berman et Al. [ 42-43 ] . Bajraszewski et Al. [ 44 ] found significantly increased MD and reduced FA besides in the ocular radiation in patients with ocular neuritis ( symptom onset 4.0 A ± 0.4 old ages ) compared to controls and suggested the alterations to be caused by anterograde effects of the nervus harm. Our survey found no important alterations in diffusion parametric quantities in patients with ON continuance under one twelvemonth, but a significantly decreased FA and higher I »aS? if the disease continuance exceeded that period of clip. This difference indicates more serious wasting of the ocular radiation after the return of symptoms. The most likely pathogenesis of unnatural diffusion in ocular radiation would look to be secondary lesions induced by axonal devolution after ON. We besides observed an increased MD value in ocular radiation in chronic ON patients compared with control topics. However, the alteration was non important ( t = 2.14, P = 0.065 ) , perchance because of the little figure of patients. These findings support our hypothesis that unnatural diffusion in ocular radiation is an of import feature of ON. Further research is still needed to further beef up the function of DT-MRI measurings in ON rating and degree appraisal. Decisions In the current survey, we applied DT-MRI methodological analysis to look into alterations in ocular nervus and radiation. Our consequences in footings of diffusion parametric quantity alterations both during ague and remitting ON support and widen antecedently reported findings. Additionally, we found significantly decreased FA and increased I »aS? in the ocular radiation of chronic ON patients. We were able to observe dynamic alterations in the diffusion parametric quantities during the development of chronic ON, perchance bespeaking ongoing medulla harm. Based on our fresh findings we suggest directional diffusivity to possess great possible as a specific biomarker and rating step for myelin hurt. Future probes are needed to find whether these indices have practical parts to the diagnosing and forecast for patients with ON. Recognitions This work was supported by grants from NSFC ( 20670530, 60875079 ) , the 863 undertaking ( 2007AA01Z327 ) and Beijing Nova Plan ( 2007A094 ) . We would wish to thank Prof. Chunshui Yu and Dr. Wen Qin for proficient aid geting MR images, Dr. Wei Shi, MD Nora Hailla, and Dr. Siegfried Wurster for valuable expertness and counsel to this research, Prof. Xiaojun Zhang for patient enlisting and all our topics kindly holding to take portion in this survey.