Get a Description and Diagram of Thalamus Gray Matter

Get a Description and Diagram of Thalamus Gray Matter Thalamus: The thalamus is a large, dual lobed mass of gray matter buried under the cerebral cortex. It is involved in sensory perception and regulation of motor functions. The thalamus is a limbic system structure and it connects areas of the cerebral cortex that are involved in sensory perception and movement with other parts of the brain and spinal cord that also have a role in sensation and movement. As a regulator of sensory information, the thalamus also controls sleep and awake states of consciousness. The thalamus sends out signals in the brain to reduce the perception of and response to sensory information, such as sound during sleep. Function: The thalamus is involved in several functions of the body including: Motor ControlReceives Auditory, Somatosensory, and Visual Sensory SignalsRelays Sensory Signals to the Cerebral Cortex Memory Formation and Emotional ExpressionPain PerceptionControls Sleep and Awake States The thalamus has nerve connections with the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. In addition, connections with the spinal cord allow the thalamus to receive sensory information from the peripheral nervous system and various regions of the body. This information is then sent to the appropriate area of the brain for processing. For example, the thalamus sends touch sensory information to the somatosensory cortex of the parietal lobes. It sends visual information to the visual cortex of the occipital lobes and auditory signals are sent to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobes. Location: Directionally, the thalamus is situated at the top of the brainstem, between the cerebral cortex and midbrain. It is superior to the hypothalamus. Divisions: The thalamus is divided into three sections by the internal medullary lamina. This Y-shaped layer of white matter formed of myelinated fibers divides the thalamus into anterior, medial, and lateral parts. Diencephalon: The thalamus is a component of the diencephalon. The diencephalon is one of two major divisions of the forebrain. It consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus (including the pineal gland), and subthalamus (ventral thalamus). Diencephalon structures form the floor and lateral wall of the third ventricle. The third ventricle is part of a system of linked cavities (cerebral ventricles) in the brain that extend to form the central canal of the spinal cord. Thalamus Damage: Damage to the thalamus may result in a number of problems related to sensory perception. Thalamic syndrome is condition that causes an individual to experience excessive pain or a loss of sensation in limbs. Damage to areas of the thalamus that are associated with visual sensory processing can cause visual field problems. Damage to the thalamus can also result in sleep disorders, memory problems, and auditory issues.

Balance-of-Power theory in World War I & II Research Paper

Balance-of-Power theory in World War I & II - Research Paper Example While WWI was more re suit of growing tension and competition, WWI was caused by direct aggression (Russel 130). The swelling of nationalist pride that began in the 19th century and endured into the 20th induced both wars at least partly. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the conflict between on Serbia and Austria, for example, was a result of Serbian nationalism and was fueled by a longing for self-determination. World War II was also begun by nationalism, especially that of the Germans. It was this German nationalism and desire for sell‘-determination that fueled Hitler's campaigns to take over Europe. Both wars were sparked by the upset of the delicate balance of power in Europe. In WWI, tension between the big powers of the time- Germany Britain Russia and France- upset this balance, likewise the balance was tipped ones again when Hitler’s campaign began and the German ‘Reich’ began to expand. While WWI began with a conflict between small countrie s, which then branched out through the tangled alliances of Europe to other larger countries. WWII began with the big powers. WWI can be traced back to the rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Over time, large powers such as Russia and Germany stepped in to defend their allies and this enraged oven more countries. The inception of WWI was therefore like a 'ripple' effect beginning quite small, and then expanding. WWII was quite the opposite, beginning with the brutal campaigns and expansion of revisionist powers Germany and Japan. If WWI began with a ripple, WWII began with explosion. Large European powers got involved in WW1 because they wanted to protect their allies, not because of direct acts of aggression against them. WWII was marked by such acts daggrassim as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Poland, and the Rape of Hackling. While WWI began largely because of tension between countries that had been caused by competition over reign markets and colonies (Paul et al 112). Largely Fascism and a thirst for revenge began WWII. Hitler’s attacks on Europe and the transformation of Germany into a dictatorship was made possible because the German people were vulnerable and scarred by the previous war. These wars could be considered one continual conflict that was not properly resolved in the interim. The nationalism, alliances, and aggression that led to both wars points out that their roots were quite similar. The lesson learned is that the resolutions or lack of it has therefore shaped the way we make peace today. Both World War I and II were preceded by large armament buildups. In WWI, in Europe they were of a long-standing nature and in response to balance-of-power exigencies which usually placed a two to four times greater per capita burden on the populace than in the United States Germany‘s per capita burden was 7.65 times more than that of the US. There was no doubt that it was a nation poised for war. There was little suppo rt for a contrary opinion in both world wars; eminent expenses grew beyond the security needs of the nations. Rates immediately prior to both wars were of such a magnitude as to strongly suggest the imminence of war. In both these cases, inhibitory controls on armaments could have prevented wars of the sizes that occurred. For example, Treaty of versatile prohibitions on Germany and the League of Nations treaties vetoed by Great Britain in the 1923-25 period. What distinguished the occurrence of WWI and WWII entailed the dependence on the military, and the inhibitory controls. The choices made were military ones: balance of power and Maginot Lincoln neither ease did these methods perform, as intended, to prevent war. In terms of the present model in the WWI-WWII interim period, German DT was not

Consumerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Consumerism - Essay Example In America a child spends averagely 10 700 minutes in a week watching advertisements. There are so many advertisements aired daily in America convincing people to buy products from different companies. This is mainly because America is a hyper-consumerist society. An advertisement not only helps companies in product promotion but also gives a new perception about shopping. The advertisement tends to make people believe that shopping is about happiness. Therefore many consumers become obsessed with shopping believing it brings self-happiness (OGuinn et al. 283). The truth of the matter is that happiness is realized even if it is for a while. The good thing is that there is creation of more and more companies, more goods as well as job opportunities. This in turn helps in the growth of the United States economy. Most of the advertisements also are directed by children. Business Corporation uses the nagging idea. This is whereby the corporations use children in their advertisements. In turn the children watching the advertisements will nag their parents into buying the new product. Consumerism has also promoted better housing as compared to some years back. People are also buying more sophisticated home theatre systems, cars as well as clothes (Dwyer 23-46). Consumerism if not well looked at can be a problem to environmental sustainability. Planet earth cannot support the American style of consumption in every nation. There is need for magnitude change in consumption patterns among consumers behavior in buying items. Consumers need to stop buying too many toys and base their consumption on non-renewable resources. However, hyper- consumerism brings up many questions. One of the main questions is the use of money. Toys are bought using money, the money used to buy the toys take time to earn (Veblen 1). Most of the people in the contemporary American society, spend most of their times

Pepsi Cola International (PCI) in Ukraine Essay

Pepsi Cola International (PCI) in Ukraine - Essay Example Pepsi Cola International (PCI) in Ukraine One of the major challenges faced by Pepsi Cola International in this region is the poor infrastructure because of which too much time is taken to distribute goods throughout the region. The other challenge that Pepsi has been facing in Ukraine is about storing of goods because of lack of sufficient warehouse. Pepsi has also problems in distributing its goods in village areas of the country as people in such regions are not able to get the supplies of Pepsi despite of the fact that they want to drink the Cola. With inefficient logistics and supply chain in the country, different intermediaries have come up which are trying to capitalize on the situation by making the most of this opportunity and trying to sell the cola after keeping some profit. Thus, this is making the price of Pepsi to increase. In addition to this problems faced by one of the largest beverages companies of the world, firms in Ukraine have to face substantial tax rate in the country as the tax is imposed on 90% of the total sales of the company and therefore organisations are forced to misrepresent their actual sales and actual financial statements to improve their profitability. Currently the Coca Cola has built a bottling plant to capture the market of Ukraine despite of the fact that Pepsi has been the most favourite cola in the country for years. Therefore with the introduction of Coca Cola in the Ukraine market, the management is currently business practices and evaluating whether a change is necessary or not.

Oligopoly Market Conditions

Oligopoly Market Conditions Oligopoly is such a market situation wherein the number of sellers is few and the numbers of buyer are many. That is unlike the monopolistic competition the seller are not one but at least two and could range up to ten. This is because of the following reasons. Heavy input costs of producing the product making it difficult for every firm to make investments. Entry barriers made by the bigger firms in the form of government regulations, price competition, brand setting and other pressure tactics. The method of production requires specialization which is not available with other firms. Product enjoys monopoly in the market. Thus the above mentioned few reasons can become the cause of set up of an oligopoly market. Number of sellers and buyers in oligopoly: Now Oligopoly, as mentioned above can have from two to tens suppliers, rather than one in the case of monopoly market. Thus they together become the price setters instead of price takers. Any rise in price will benefit the rise in sales of other company products that may be similar or differentiated. Reason being the other companies wont follow in rising their product prices as they would be expecting an increase in sales. On the other side, any fall in price will not help gain many customers, as the other companies will respond in a similar pattern and the result will be price war. Thus declining the price level would not help gain as many customers as expected. Price Equilibrium in Oligopoly: An equilibrium condition is when the prices remain unstable and the supply remains same. To increase the demand of the products and meet the competition of other products in the market, these firms indulge in heavy advertising campaigns. Through advertisements they teach the customers about the new feature that is added in their product and various other benefits of using their product. This sometimes results in putting stains on the other companys product in indirect words. Examples of Oligopoly: A number of examples of Oligopoly market situation can be figured out around us. These are explained as follows. PepsiCo and Coca Cola Co. are the two market leader and sellers of soft drinks around the world. Thus two numbers of firms selling to large number of buyers makes it an Oligopoly market. Furthermore these companies are always making heavy investments on advertisements around the globe. Some of the advertisements may be meant to harm the brand image of other. The result in another advertisement in response. Sometimes these matters are even taken to courts for settlement. Boeing and Airbus are another two large companies that makes planes to foster the need of various countries. Again these are two companies, which are the sign of Oligopoly market conditions. These companies although do not make much advertisements, but offers latest techniques at competitive prices by making product differentiation and attracting customers around the globe. OPEC includes a few numbers of sellers of petroleum product throughout the world. As the number of seller is not two but not many either. The numbers of buyers are large, including countries in Asia, Africa, Europe etc. Diagrammatic representation of Oligopoly: As we know that in the Oligopoly is a market where in the number of seller are more than two but not higher in number, whereas the buyers are many. Moreover the price rise results in benefitting the other companys product sales. And on the other hand the price fall results in attracting only a few customers. This type of market conditions can be displayed as follows. From the above diagram its clear that this diagram is very similar to monopoly market situation. But the difference is this type of condition remains for a definite price period. That is if any firm try to raise its prices from Pc to Po the result would be benefit to other firms. Whereas if a firm try to reduce its product prices than that would not foster him more customers than expected. The result would be affecting the profit margins. Thus a Cooperative Oligopoly price level is administered where in all the companies agree to follow a minimum price levels to earn good profits. Any displacement from the agreed price would affect the changer or so called the Cheater, either by fall in demand or fall in profits. Thus a Nash Equilibrium point can be accepted by all the companies in the Oligopoly where in all the companies earn good profits at the present output and price levels. Features of Oligopoly: Now we can conclude the features of the Oligopoly market conditions. These are as follows. Few producers or sellers and high numbers of buyers. Product differentiation is up to some level or no product differentiation. The firms enjoy normal profits in normal market conditions. The firms depend on advertisements, quality rivalry and generally accepted by the group of firms. Economies of scale will exist, as heavy investment and improved technology is needed to get similar quality output at the competitive costs. New firms cannot enter the market, as the old firms create a barrier through government restrictions, heavy investments, pressure techniques like takeover of the uprising company. Swift action is taken on the change in price level and defaming advertising campaign by according price change and responsive advertisements. Conclusion: In the nutshell we can say that the Oligopoly market situation is very similar to Monopoly market situation but with more than one number of seller up to limit extent. The pricing is done by proper agreement between the firms. The product differentiation may or may not present. The firms spend heavy on the advertising campaign and keep a close look at the advertising of other companies and response accordingly. The firms earn normal profits but input barriers on the new entrants.

The Impact of the Violent African-American Stereotype in Rap Music Essa

This paper will show that the stereotype of the violent, criminal African-American portrayed in rap music lyrics can become a self-fulfilling prophecy for African-Americans. Repeated and long-term exposure to this stereotypical behavior in rap music lyrics can lead to increased aggression and this stereotype becoming accepted as a social norm by African-Americans. I intend to support my argument with examples and analysis of the violent African-American stereotype, and by explaining how the stereotype can become accepted as a social norm. The violence that permeates rap lyrics should come as no surprise because music is only one of the numerous forms of media, and violence in the media is often described as being too prevalent. The myth, â€Å"Media violence is only a reflection of violence in society,† can be refuted in different ways. One method is to use real world statistics of crime and violence and compare them to statistics of crime and violence in the media. An estimated 25 million acts of violence occur in television annually, compared to 1.5 million acts of violence in society (Potter 50). This comparison shows that â€Å"violent crime is much more frequent on TV than in real life† (Potter 50). Television depicts murder and assault as the two most frequent acts of crime, while real world statistics show that burglary and larceny â€Å"are the two most prevalent crimes† (Potter 50). The rates of violent crime in television news shows over-represent the rate of violent crime in the r eal world (Potter 56), and television news shows under-represent the percentage of male crime victims while over-representing the percentage of female crime victims. After examining these facts, it is obvious that the statement, â€Å"Medi... ... viewed as what it is—a false representation of reality, instead of a true representation of rea Works Cited Bernd, Simon, and David L. Hamilton. â€Å"Self-Stereotyping and Social Context: The Effects of Relative In-Group Size and In-Group Status.† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 66.4 (1994): 699-711. Chappell, Kevin. â€Å"What’s wrong (and right) about black music.† Ebony September 1995: 25-28. Christenson, Peter G., and Donald F. Roberts. It’s Not Only Rock & Roll. New Jersey: Hampton Press, Inc., 1998. Ehrlich, Paul R. Human Natures. Washington, D.C.: Shearwater Books, 2000. Kitwana, Badari. The Rap on Gansta Rap. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press, 1994. Potter, W. James. On Media Violence. California: Sage Publications, Inc., 1999. Steele, Claude. â€Å"A Threat in the Air.† American Psychologist 52 (May 1997): 613-627.

How Our Society Depicts Gender Essay

Gender is a powerful force that has shaped humankind’s history and has remained a strongly divisive issue, influencing all facets of the society. The age-old sexist views against women are still evidently present and strong in today’s society. For instance, in the most recent elections in the United States, gender has played a major role, especially in the light of a good number of women joining the process, either as candidates, campaigners and advocates, or opinion leaders. Zernike, K. (2008), in a New York Times article entitled â€Å"Postfeminism and other fairy tales†, tackles the difficulties that women candidates faced amidst predominantly sex- and gender-biased electorate, and even the media. Gender in the Media The media today carries messages that are either shaped by or shaping the society. Curran, J. (2002) concludes that the media is a powerful and convenient vehicle which societal forces ride on to spread their messages, or to put forward their agenda and win support, and that what the media dominantly carries as messages are reflections of the society at large. What better way, then, to know how society depicts gender than by looking at the way media depicts it, through commercials, for instance. Take as an example Kelly Ripa’s Electrolux commercial, wherein the lady host is depicted as not only an efficient host doing a daily show among others, but also doing all household chores single-handedly. And Electrolux’s tagline â€Å"You can be more amazing† implies that although the woman, represented in the commercial by Ripa, has been juggling time and running around in her feat to efficiently serve her home while maintaining her professional life, can even do more, as if all those things she had been doing are still not enough for the woman to be admired. This depiction of a woman in this commercial does not strictly fall into any of the themes or categories explained by Goffman, as the commercial is already a mixture of various elements mentioned by Goffman, including the use of height differences, smile, elevation, etc. For instance, in a scene where Ripa drinks champagne with colleagues, her male counterparts are shown as much taller than she is, likewise her female colleague, who looks so distinctly like a male in her tailored suit and short hair. The scene sends a strong message that among them, Ripa is of lower rank, as symbolized by her short height relative to everybody else in the scene, her long blond hair and lighter colored suit. Therefore, as the one of lower rank and probably social status, Ripa has to run home to tuck her kids to bed. The use of the kitchen can easily be understood as the commercial is all about selling efficient kitchen and home appliances. However, it also gives a message that being a woman, Ripa must be efficient at home also, and must be able to respond to the kids’ needs at the exact moment that they need her. Overall, the message of the ad is clear – that a woman’s professional success does not really count, as her efficiency at home counts the most. Conclusion Contemporary society is no different from societies of centuries back. While there are several theories on gender which different groups adhere to depending on what is convenient to their beliefs and agenda (Butler, J. , 1988), it is undeniable that gender biases and prejudices have not really changed significantly despite all the efforts through the years. Society still holds a very limited perspective and myopic point of view on gender. Although formal institutions have been set to raise awareness of and promote gender equality, and various mechanisms have been established to eliminate gender biases and prejudices, there is still a prevalent culture of gender inequality. Biases against women, stereotyped as weak, domestic, naturally made for homecare, incapable of professional achievements, among others, still predominate society’s overall mantra – through the media, and even in the political, academic and social arenas. Indeed, as Butler quotes Simone de Beauvoir: â€Å"one is not born but rather becomes a woman,† (Beauvoir, 1986, as quoted by Butler, p. 519), society develops concepts, and in this case, creates the concept of a woman as society wants it to be: weak, domestic, only good for the home, among other stereotypes. As society depicts its women to be such, it should not expect, then, for its women to achieve more in life, it should not push its women to do impossible feats. The society better think of ways to take care of its women, however these women want to live their lives – limiting themselves in stereotypical women roles, or jumping out of the box and dare do what only men are expected to do. Works Cited Butler, Judith (1988), Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory, Theater Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec. ,1988),pp. 519-531. Curran, James (2002), Media and Power illustrated edition, Routledge 2002. Zernike, Kate (2008), Posfeminism and other fairy tales, The Nation, New York Times, published 16 March 2008.a