Music and the Brain :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview) For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain are the ears. Briefly stated, the outer ear (or pinna) 'catches' and amplifies sound by funneling it into the ear canal. Interestingly, the outer ear serves only to boost high frequency sound components (1). The resonance provided by the outer ear also serves in amplifying a higher range of frequencies corresponding to the top octave of the piano key board. The air pressure wave travels through the ear canal to ultimately reach and vibrate the timpanic membrane (i.e.-- the eardrum). At this particular juncture, the pressure wave energy of sound is translated into mechanical energy via the middle ear . Here, three small bones, the ossicles, vibrate in succession to produce a unique pattern of movements that embodies the frequencies contained in every sound we are capable of hearing. The middle ear is also an important component in what music we actually keep out of our 'head'. The muscles grasping the ossicles can contract to prevent as much as two thirds of the sound from entering the inner ear. (1, 2) The mechanical motions of the ossicles directly vibrate a small membrane that connects to the fluid filled inner ear. From this point, vibration of the connective membrane (oval window) transforms mechanical motion into a pressure wave in fluid. This pressure wave enters and hence passes vibrations into the fluid filled structure called the cochlea. The cochlea contains two membranes and between these two membranes, are specialized neurons or receptors called Hair cells. Once vibrations enter the cochlea, they cause the lower membrane (basilar membrane) to move in respect to the upper membrane (i.e. --the tectorial membrane in which the hair cells are embedded). This movement bends the hair cells to cause receptor potentials in these cells which in turn cause the release of transmitter onto the neurons of the auditory nerve. In this case, the hair cell receptors are very pressure sensitive. The greater the force of the vibrations on the membrane, the more the hair cells bend and henc e the greater the receptor potential generated by these hair cells.

Vegetarianism

Meat: It Does My Body Good I eat meat; I drink milk; I eat eggs. I don’t eat it at every meal, but I do eat it daily. For the sake of this essay, I will state that I, clearly, am not a vegetarian. Let me begin by explaining the term vegetarian as used in this essay: a vegetarian is a person that does not consume meat. There multiple forms of vegetarianism: ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products; lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products but not eggs; ovo-lacto vegetarian diet includes dairy and eggs but not meat.A vegan is the strictest vegetarian diet and excludes all animal products including eggs, dairy and honey. Some vegetarian diets, however, do include fish or chicken, but not ‘red’ meat. After reading several articles on the pros and cons of being, or not being, a vegetarian, I came upon an article by William T. Jarvis, PH. D entitled â€Å"Why I Am Not A Vegetarian† that encompassed many of my same views. Dr. Jarvis, now retir ed, was a professor of public health and preventive medicine at Lorna Linda University, and founder and president of The National Council Against Health Fraud and he is a Seventh Day Adventist.Seventh Day Adventists are strong believers in vegetarianism, which is one reason why I enjoyed his opposing viewpoint. In the article by Dr. Jarvis, several topics and theories are discussed including his observation on classifying vegetarians in two behavioral categories: pragmatic or ideologic. A pragmatic vegetarian is rational and most often are vegetarian out of health related concerns, but an ideologic vegetarian is one that is more emotionally rooted in the behavior ‘as a matter of principle’ so to speak. It is his views on the pragmatic vegetarian that closely mirror my own. In the article, Dr.Jarvis points out that it is possible to obtain all the essential nutrients needed, except vitamin B-12, by eating a vegetarian diet; however, he also points out that the same can b e said for eating an all meat diet, too. While I understand the need that some have to refrain from eating certain foods for health related issues, I believe that our body needs meat. Also, to me, meat tastes good. The quality of protein from meat exceeds the quality of protein from plants. Meat contains much more protein by mass, and this protein contains all the essential amino acids, in the correct balance.Meat is also rich is Iron which is needed by pregnant women and middle-aged women approaching menopause. Many argue that there are certain health risks of eating meat, especially red meat, but they often tend to be exaggerated. Avoid processed meat and try to eat lean meat as much as possible, and meat can be very healthy in the diet, and does not increase risk of heart disease or cancer, as Dr. Jarvis also pointed out in his article quoting scientific data from nutrition-related research supports vegetarianism only tentatively.Another reason I think eating meat is healthier th an a vegetarian diet is that we, humans, are fully able to digest meat. We have canine teeth, which allow us to chew meat, and enzymes in our stomach and small intestine to digest it. In conclusion, eating meat tends to be an economical option for nutrition overall. While it is possible to get all the nutrients in meat on a vegetarian diet, it is much more difficult, often resulting in the need to obtain various types of grains to ensure that no vitamins, minerals, or amino acids are missing.This can be inconvenient and costly, and difficult to prepare. Meat supplies us with the vitamins we need in everyday life. Although, the other articles I read are opposed to meat eating; they still share the health risks of not eating meat, and that meat does the body good. Work Cited â€Å"Why I Am Not a Vegetarian. † Why I Am Not a Vegetarian. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://www. quackwatch. org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/vegan. html>.

Procter & Gamble Global Business Services: A Case Study Essay

A Time to Make a Change at P&G Some of the signs and signals experienced by an organization which indicates that it is time to make a change are: experiencing rapid growth or a decline in growth, a decline in productivity, a decline in resources, stakeholder pressures on management, environmental crises, sociopolitical influences on the organization, environmental turbulence and changes to customer expectations and behavior. The highly competitive global marketplace where Procter & Gamble operates is forcing the company to continuously do more with less. Advancements in technology, the pace of competition, globalization, the need to control cost and the increased efficiency coupled with the increasing customer expectations mean that the organization has to evolve and regenerate in order to survive. This is all the more important because if business has to know anything about the future, it is that it will be different from the present. Whatever is, will change. There’s no way to avoid it. But it can be managed. The inevitable changes in the organization will take P&G to a higher level, and will bring them to new avenues opened up for growth, in the face of the increasingly boundless global market that the nature of the consumer goods business is mercilessly made to put up with. Communicating Change to Employees Within the popular management literature, John Kotter (1996) has put forward an eight-stage model on how to successfully manage change. This is very applicable to the situation in P&G and comprises of: (1) communicating a sense of urgency; (2) creating a vision; (3) communicating the vision; (4) forming a powerful coalition; (5) empowering others to act; (6) planning short-term wins; (7) consolidating change and (8) institutionalizing new approaches. He argues that change leaders should communicate their vision in many different forums over and over again if they wish to develop an effective implementation strategy. The question of what to communicate should be all information that interrelate employees in their work in order to inform, to convince and to determine action during a time when the employees are most confused and apprehensive of the circumstances within the firm. The matter of when to communicate should be at all times, when there are new developments in the change that seems to be in the scope of concern of the employees, as they would naturally ant to be informed of any progress that the transition is taking. Effective communication in times of change helps facilitate smoother change management. Recommendations One effective strategy to overcome expected resistance is to think beyond it. The Procter & Gamble management must attend to the more specific reasons for resistance, such as loss of control or loss of self-efficacy, to diagnose problems more accurately and to overcome them more efficiently and effectively (Dyer, Dalzell and Olegario, 2004). It must also be kept in mind the context of the change and focus on explanations other than individual resistance for why change may not be successfully implemented. Likewise, senior management must think beyond the wisdom that people resist change by challenging themselves to consider the role they, as change leaders may play in creating resistance. The unavoidable changes in corporate culture should be supported through revamping internal reward systems and introducing training programs in order to improve result orientation among employees. It sold its rigorous training to potential recruits during that time in much the same way that the US Army sells its educational opportunities to its own recruits. Two integration programs are seen as useful for these types of changes: training & development and reinforcement. Training and development, as any decision that would be reached would inevitably bring about change within the company. Reinforcement is necessary also, in which the staff will become so used to the changes that the tendency to resist it fades as they are bound to ultimately follow such policies if they are to stay in the organization and contribute to its continued growth. WORK CITED Dyer, D., Dalzell, F. & Olegario, R. (2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter & Gamble. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing. Kotter, J. (1996) Leading Change. Harvard: Harvard Business School Press.

Best Dining Experience Essay Example for Free

Best Dining Experience Essay My favorite food is Mexican. Being from Arizona, Mexican restaurants are not as good here in Iowa. Although my favorite Mexican food to eat here is from my grandmother’s kitchen; there are a few restaurants my friends and I enjoy eating at. A few of my girlfriends and I have made Margarita Wednesdays a tradition in the summer time at La Casa. My brother, sister and I go to Los Cabos at least once a month in West Des Moines, which is an amazing delicious Mexican restaurant. I also like Monterrey in Altoona because it’s so close to my house, but no restaurant can compare to Tiki Tok in Mexico. My best friend and I were feeling spontaneous so we took a week off work and went on a cruise. We both found it difficult to eat on the ship because we were continually getting sea sick. I’ll never forget the fishy, chewy, and crunchy taste of the little shrimp and cocktail sauce going down my throat, or the unpleasant feeling I had when it was coming up. The only bad memory of my trip was praying that my legs would stop shaking and that my journey would hopefully reach an end so I could stand on solid ground. Other than being sea sick for the first day; I had a blast on the cruise! I got the opportunity to see many things and visit quite a few places. One of the ports of call was Cozumel, Mexico, and my friend Alexandra and I decided we wanted to try some real Mexican food. Of course, we were a little concerned about getting sick, but I’m glad to say that didn’t happen. We asked on the ship where the best place for Mexican food was, but they said that anywhere along the main shopping strip would be good. We then found a place called the Tiki Tok. The place was on the second level of a building. We sat out on the little balcony that they had. They had covered it with sand. The view from the restaurant was amazing. I was hypnotized by the vibrant colors and the employees’ of the restaurants equally vibrant lifestyles. I remember feeling jealous of the workers because they would get to go back to Tiki Tok tomorrow and the day after that, but I wouldn’t. The walls were an explosion of colorful textiles and every color of paint one could think of that was as bold as can be. Vases were on every table with burnt orange and deep yellow dried peppers inside. The chairs at the dining tables were made of a Mexican Serape material. The colors, the fringe, and the feel of it gave the restaurant even a stronger Mexican energy. My favorite part of the restaurants decor was the little cactus lights that strung amongst all the walls connecting each bulb to the wrought iron chandelier in the middle of the room. When one first enters the restaurant the Mariachi band is one of the most noticeable features. Three men were dressed in black with button up shirts and decorative sombreros all standing in the corner of the room. Two men had violins and the third was handling a guitar. As we took our seats the band started playing lively music and a few older couples got up and danced fearlessly. Everything in the restaurant was bold excluding my bashful personality; otherwise I would have danced too. I was in a trance watching the people dance with one another until the Mariachi band shouted in sync, â€Å"AY! † causing me to be brought back to the present. It was then that I had realized how hungry I was. The menu prices were in pesos, so it looked like everything was really expensive, but it wasn’t. We ordered the hot and spicy red enchiladas which were about 60 pesos, and they also brought us chips and salsa. The chips were a little bit thicker than you would get here in the US, and there were three different types of salsas. There was a regular pico de gallo, then there was one made with tomatillos, and the last was a pineapple cilantro salsa that was actually really tasteful. Lexi and I have never had pineapple cilantro salsa before, so we weren’t sure whether it was going to be appetizing or not. After stuffing myself with chips our food finally arrived. It was just about the yummiest thing I’ve ever had. The red sauce for the enchiladas was a little bit different than what I’ve had here, but I can’t tell you how. It was more delicious over there though. There was chicken inside the enchiladas and a touch of sour cream on top. We took the extra salsa we hadn’t demolished with the chips and smothered our enchiladas with it. I ate every last bite of it and was so full afterwards! The amazing food I had in Mexico was the best Mexican food I have ever had. I remember the smell of the ocean and sweet salsa at the same time. The bright colored sombreros and the ocean front view was an amazing sight to see while enjoying the food as well. Anytime I think about Mexico I think about the short beach chairs, sand between my toes, all the smells of the restaurant, laughing with my best friend and delicious enchiladas. This will be a memory that would be difficult to forget because we took so many pictures of the restaurant and it was the best eating experience I’ve had yet. I’m really glad that my friend and I were able to have this dining experience together. Alexandra and I enjoyed it very much! Best Dining Experience. (2017, Mar 30).

Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Humanities - Essay Example nd noting their increasing wealth, decided to tax the military widows.(Fant 1982) Initially the women accepted this even though it was an obvious case of taxation without representation. However, by 195 B.C. this emergency was over and unlike the provinces, Rome refused to repeal this Oppian Law. Nevertheless, after a demonstration by thousands of affected women supported by sympathetic tribunes they did repeal it. Later in 42 B.C. again an attempt was made to impose similar taxation.(Letkowitz 1982)However, this time it was to pay for a civil war against a rebellious faction. Hortensia was the first female to speak at a Tribunal in the Forum, and was able to successfully argue that women should not be required to pay taxes to support killing of their husbands and fathers. and thereby significantly reduce the pool of women subject to the tax. Aside from Hortensia, the Sabine women must be considered as icons of Ancient Rome (historylink102.com). In fact legend indicates that but for them the Roman Empire may not have ensued. Initially mainly men settled in this rough city, so Romulus devised a plan to attract women to grow Rome’s population. He invited a nearby tribe, the Sabines to a festival inside the city, where the men were attacked and many killed and the women abducted and raped. The surviving Sabine men later returned to Rome under King Titus to retrieve their women, but they were happy with their new lives in Rome and negotiated a truce with the Sabines and Romans uniting and sharing power in Rome for years to follow. The Forum demonstrations illustrate how women even without legal powers were able to use their newly acquired economic leverage craved by the state to pressure it to enact policies more favorable to their interests. On an individual level, wives of high ranking officials, including the emperor, could also exert some influence, although sometimes as in the case of Agrippina, this could be for purely selfish, evil personal motives. (She

Salary Discrimination in National Basketball Association Essay

Salary Discrimination in National Basketball Association - Essay Example The paper tells that sports statistics create a great opportunity to measure the relationship between productivity and income. Since its integration in the 1940s, professional basketball has achieved the highest level of African American representation of the major professional sports in the United States. Labor market discrimination is defined as unequal treatment of equally qualified workers. A great deal of research on labor market discrimination has focused on the racial pay differences of NBA athletes. Now, in existing national basket ball literature on pay discrimination, it is now well documented that Blacks earn less than their White counterpart. For example, using statistics drawn from the national basketball league of 1986, Khan & Sherer found a ceteris paribus black salary short fall of about 20%. Consumers (NBA FANS) may have discriminatory preferences for white stars but no real preference among black and white athletes of average ability. Found out that, whiter teams te nded to be located in whiter metropolitan areas. Given their results, these authors concluded that their observed salary shortfalls were due primarily, to customer discrimination by white basketball fans. However, several recent studies have cast doubt on these results. Bodvarsson and Brastow performed a salary regression similar to the Kahn and Sherer specification and found no evidence of racial discrimination. Their methodology, however, was based on the assumption that consumer discrimination is pervasive throughout the ability distribution.

New Zealand Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

New Zealand Economy - Essay Example The intermingled culture was a blend of their traditions to create a rich cultural mix; with the blend it threated the survival of the Maori people. The New Zealand`s Government is working to promote the growth of its people, as it tries to preserve its culture. The New Zealand people are working together with the government to promote the country so as to make it a better place to live for its people (Britton 4). The country was discovered in December 1642, by Tasman (Britton 4). It has an ocean environment that keeps the climate mild with the prevailing westerly winds; this causes fluctuation of temperatures and rainfalls from East to West. New Zealand experiences the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn (Smelt 13). It is a rich and complex economy, with a unique society. The economy of New Zealand has been built for over a hundred and fifty years; some of the economic aspects were gotten from the Polynesian heritage, as well as the European culture (Hawke 1). The main economic activities of New Zealand were dependent on the success of wool, dairy, and meat export (Rewi 21). Like many other countries, New Zealand is in search of ways to boost its economic activity. New Zealand economic growth continued until the First World War, but there were economic interruptions. During the 1920s, the nation was marked with economic uncertainties, and in 1930s it experienced a great depres sion. New Zealand saw its exports restrained by limited growth of demand for meat, wool, and dairy products in 1920s, and was affected by the falling prices of these products in the 1930s. Hawke points out that â€Å"The depression of the 1930s was a major social political event in New Zealand’s history, even if the experience of poverty and unemployment was not great by international standards† (6). Export prices guided the recovery from the depression, while in the meantime, North American and European economies also recovered. The depression in New Zealand brought to power a Labor government, and when this government came across economic problems, it chose to use the unorthodox policies. The depression was combined with the efforts to protect the economy of New Zealand from international events. New Zealand’s economy changed during the 1930s with the regulation of imports and exchange controls, which linked to aspects of a reserved and secured economy (Hawke 6).New Zealand is a small open economy that relies on trade and financial markets trends to ensure output performance, and its vaporization linked to development in the rest of the world. The dependence on New Zealand’s growth leaves it vulnerable to economic performance in the market. Financial markets are an important passage way in which New Zealand’s business cycle is influenced by the United States economies (IMF 3). Robert Reich of Labor Party brought New Zealand to foresee the twenty-first century deficit of national products, corporations and industries. For many years, New Zealand`s economy was built on â€Å"free markets† and â€Å"free trade†, and investment seemed invincible (Kelsey 1).The enthusiasts wanted to advance the process more swiftly, but critics came up with ways to mitigate the unfavorable effects of globalization, particularly on the environment and labor. The â€Å"‘unrealistic critics’ denounced the growing inequal ities and poverty and warned of erosion of democracy and the potential for unregulated capitalism to implode† (Kelsey 1). After many years of fundamental theory-driven transition, it was surprising that the people of New Zealand of 1990 began to acknowledge the importance of their political and social world in Government