Simplifying Expressions Essay Example for Free

Simplifying Expressions Essay entangle in this paper I have demonstrated the following solutions for the three problems listed below. Using th presumptuousness vocabulary words I have broken knock off each problem using the priggish steps in solving the algebraic expressions. Also shown will be what is important about authorized numbers and in what way they argon useful in using real numbers in solving algebraic expressions. By happy chance down the equation you can simplify the equation down to lowest wrong. Gathering the like terms in the equation is a step in breaking down the expression correctly. Take the coefficient and multiply it by the variable. The distributive billet in the expression is the letter in the expression. When solving a algebraic expression you always remove the parenthesis first. A. )2a(-5 + a) + 4(a + -5) Simplify the terms (-5 * 2a + a * 2a) + 4(a + -5) (-10a + 2a2) + 4(a + -5) -10a + 2a2 + 4(-5 + a)Reorder the terms -10a + 2a2 + (-5 * 4 + a * 4) -10a + 2a2 + (-20 + 4a) -10a + 4a = -6a -20 + -6a + 2a2 agree the like terms -20 + -6a + 2a2 a = 5This is the simplified roota = -2, 5 B. ) 2w 3 + 3(w 4) 5(w 6)The given expression -3 + -12 + 30 + 2w + 3w + -5wThe distributive property removes the parentheses. -15 + 30 + 2w + 3w + -5w Combine the like terms 15 + 2w + 3w + -5w = 0Combine the like terms 2w + 3w = 5wCombine like terms again 15 + 5w + -5w 5w + -5w 15 + 0 15 = 0The final answer C. ) 0. 05(0. 3m + 35n) + -0. 8(-0. 09n + -22m) (0. 3m * 0. 05 + 35n * 0. 05) + -0. 8(-0. 09n + -22m) (0. 015m + 1. 75n) + -0. 8(-0. 09n + -22m) 0. 015m + 1. 75n + -0. 8(-22m + -0.09n)Reorder the terms 0. 015m + 1. 75n + (-22m * -0. 8 + -0. 09n * -0. 8) 0. 015m + 1. 75n + (17. 6m + 0. 072n) 0. 015m + 17. 60. 1034345728n m + 1. 75n + 0. 072n The distributive property removes the parentheses 0. 015m + 17. 6m = 17. 615mCombine the like terms 17. 615m + 1. 75n + 0. 072n 1. 75n + 0. 072n = 1. 822nCombine the like terms 17. 615m + 1. 822n 17. 615 m + 1. 822n Solving Move solely terms containing m to the left, all other terms to the right. Add -1. 822n to each side of the equation. 17.615m + 1. 822n + -1. 822n = 0 + -1. 822n Combine like terms 1. 822n + -1. 822n = 0. 000 17. 615m + 0. 000 = 0 + -1. 822n 17. 615m = 0 + -1. 822n Remove the zero 17. 615m = -1. 822nDivide each side by 17. 615. m = -0. 1034345728n Simplifying m = -0. 1034345728n How are the real numbers useful in solving algebraic expressions? The real number line is a graph that is used to represent the set of real numbers. Using real numbers is useful by charting them on the graph helps to solve the algebraic expression.

Evaluating use of PowerPoint for teaching in schools

Evaluating handling of PowerPoint for teaching in schoolsMicrosoft PowerPoint Program is a show softw ar programme that evict be wasting diseased effectively in academic firmament (Bartsch and Cobern, 2003). PowerPoint was developed as a product line software dick, but its inherent capabilities led to its adoption in education, and this has been the subject of ongoing query. PowerPoint is an easy-to- c every(prenominal) software application (Holzl, 1997) and open fire be applyd to give dynamic and assume a expressive style presentations in the visual mode. Some of the features of the PowerPoint are stabilising for claverrs, for example, to highlight key points, and to show assignment in multifariousnessation. extra features overmuch(prenominal) as clipart and cartoons can play interest to presentations (Sammons, 1997).Several researchers yield analysed the ca utilization of PowerPoint on assimilator execution of instrument and assimilator preferences towards Po wer Point. These studies have recitationd different methodologies and there are a string of empirical results. These are described in the following sections, where each studys merits and demerits of habituate Power Point are presented, followed by analysis and conclusions.It is one of the about workful things to know about the secondary school military position on styles of teaching, and how this preserve on the students future. In olden days, it was very difficult for the school teachers to shoot use of technology in classroom teaching. unitary of the of import reasons is lack of development and equipment. The use of electronic media in school laboratories, classrooms are being increase and are being employ in science and technology lessons by teachers who are confident in the usage of modern technology in the classroom (Ofested, 2002). Nowadays, it is overly common for the school teachers to give beat outs by means of modern packages and PowerPoint, particular d uring practical classes. In spite of avail ableness of technologies, tacit confabulationing to the cane by dint of chalk and talk approach is dominant one (Dudley and herds grass 2006).Nowadays, in developed countries, the use of PowerPoint in education has become widespread. However in some schools in Saudi Arabia, its usage is not ubiquitous but restricted to some important lessons and topics. This whitethorn in part be due to teachers limited knowledge of how to use PowerPoint, so broadening their knowledge magnate give benefits and make it easier for students to learn. However, in most schools, the classrooms are simply not equipped for PowerPoint presentations a iodine classroom in the whole school may be the only one equipped for PowerPoint. In addition to that, there may be resistance by some teachers to alter, period former(a)s are still hesitant, given the repugn over the extent of any authoritative influence of PowerPoint on the educational murder of students. Past studies are inconclusive about PowerPoint, with contradictory views. However in Saudi Arabia, some studies support the usage of such(prenominal) technology in Saudi schools for the benefit of prentices (Al-Sharhan, 2006).In general, the discussion about the use of PowerPoint in teaching practice has cardinal important problematic cut backsHow effective is the technology at up(a) the quality of teaching received by learners.How consistent is PowerPoints use have teachers the required skills and enthusiasm for its useThe runner issue can be manifested in the level of satisfaction that may be inspire by the technology. For some researchers, the simplicity of the technology removes more than of the teaching professional load and leads to a non-stimulating pitch shot of means (Pauw, 2002). The second issue tells about the inconsistency within the educational setting due to absence of suitable training and opposition in implementing the technology by someone. This may h ave negative do on learners, who were given the different modes of approach in delivering the PowerPoint presentations within the same discipline. at that placefore, it is more important in selecting the technology to ensure that it is compatible with the aims of training in order to bring the successful implementation.Purpose of the showThis present study evaluates the use of PowerPoint for teaching in schools. The factors involved in implementing PowerPoint in schools are to a fault explored. Based on this study, it has been found that computer technology and multimedia presentations have no guaranteed effect on quality of information. On the other(a) hand, It has as well been found that the use of such technology motivate the students for positive learning. Moreover, it has been proposed that use of technology is in harmony with the adoption and familiarity of learners of such technology, and so connects prevailing learner and educational cultures.The present study in any case addressed the factors to implement the way of effective adoption of technology, proper deployment of PowerPoint, training and development, models of teaching practice in merge formats. At the same time, it is as well important for the teachers to keep update the technology and technological changes. Then only, the content speech and driving force for learning will be maintained. Though, PowerPoint is in greater use among teachers and researchers, but the best format to deliver stuffs based on learner assimilation requirements to be found (Heines, 2000).Research QuestionsHow does the use of PowerPoint presentations in educational institutions compared to traditional presentation, including the use of strike trade union movementors and handwritten blackboard notes?Does the use of PowerPoint increase the student effect?What are the favor and hurt of use of PowerPoint in teaching?What are the factors affecting the use of PowerPoint presentations effectively?What are the be nefits of existing debate on the use of PowerPoint presentations in the classroom setting?What are the opinions of the students in PowerPoint presentations regarding lighting, use of colours, backgrounds, images, and sound, and the way of delivering the narkrs through of slides?Literature reviewINTRODUCTIONSeveral researchers have made an attempt to analyse the student mathematical operation and preferences based on the effects of PowerPoint. In their attempts, different methodologies were used and based on that a freewheel of empirical results have also been proposed. These were discussed based on the use of PowerPoint and its merits and demerits were also presented in the following sections.There has been a lot more discussion over different methods to deliver lecture to the students. In particular, umpteen lecturers use written material delivered on a blackboard, whiteboard, or by transparent sheet on an command processing overhead time projector, and, in last fifteen strat ums or so, the method of presenting the visual information at a time from a computer onto a entomb. These types of computers and projection technology devices can be seen in the classrooms. This gives the facility to engage the learners through graphics and multimedia presentations. Many faculty members and administrators felt that PowerPoint was initially considered as a knife want edge technology for use in the classroom. Later students felt that the PowerPoint should not be used more often because it is too passive. For example, Creed (1997) argues that the use of computer-based presentations makes the teacher to be too focused. Kask (n.d.) and Parks (1999) suggested that the computer-based presentations make the students to take a nap in larger auditoriums, where the some of the lights in the auditorium have to be dimmed. Prior to lecture, if the lecture notes are gived to the students, students may show less interest in attending the class.Others feel that the PowerPoint of fers the ability to provide more concentration to the students. For example, Stone (1999) argues that the discussion in the classroom is improved by the use of computer-based presentations. In the part of the presentation, the discussed questions can be displayed on the screen. Based on the students interaction and response, the students names and comments can also be projected in the presentation. Finally, these interactions and responses can then be printed or given to all students. He also discusses how the exercise and experiments given to the students can be facilitated by incorporating them in the presentations. It can also be argued that the students take less time for taking their notes, whereas the PowerPoint allows more time for synergistic activities.Based on the feud about PowerPoint and its usage, some studies have attempted to measure the impact of computer generated presentations on student performance. Overall, the results have been mixed. A Very few said that the PowerPoint presentations did not have an effect on the student performance, while others said that PowerPoint presentations enhances the student performance.Educational TechnologyThe one of the oldest and most common forms of educational technology is chalkboard. through chalkboard a current topic of discussion, points to be discussed, points to be noted, end result of the discussion, important issues to be remembered up to certain period of time, summaries of discussion and lines of reasoning. In olden days, the major medium of communication followed by professor to take lecture was chalk and blackboard (Frost Fukami, 1997). The use of pictures, tables, and charts on the chalkboard will add an advantage to the information publicly communicated. This way of delivering lecture is suppressed by the more expensive and sophiscated technologies such as the overhead projector, the video-tape player, the more interactive video-disc player, PowerPoint, computer for computer assisted learn ing and most interactive whiteboard (Ghrist et al, 2003). In colleges, nowadays several studies have emerged on the use of multimedia in classrooms. Professors are use these technologies in mixed and creative way to promote the most learning techniques for the students to satisfy their aims and needs (Thomas, 2009).Nowaczyk et al. (1988) discovered that the student interest and awareness of relevancy of topics were enhanced by videos. The static media such as overhead projector contributed to disclose understanding of the material presented in that instance. Video (VHS or DVD) presentations were made the students to engage in business activities, news, stories, integrate theory, R D activities and new challenges in the workplace and all these activities provide higher economic value of entertainment than other technologies (Caudron, 1997 Salomon, 1984). In some cases, video presentations and watching videos on particular issue is elicit than other technologies (Fulk et al., 199 5).Astleitner (2002) inform the studies concerned with critical thinking of teaching via web lectures. The informations in the audio transcription lectures were greatly influenced than video recordings. Though, the variation between the two modalities in terms of retention was nil. During subjective evaluation, students showed better evaluations for audio recordings. Interactive whiteboard is the present educational technology makes the things easier for the teacher to include the presentation content in wider range such as images from the internet, graphs from the excel sheet, text from MS word. Apart from that, student and teacher annotations could be done on the objects. The one of the drawbacks of the Interactive whiteboards is cost. It is more expensive than conventional whiteboards, projector, and screen combination. Their surfaces can be damaged and quite often replacement is required.The negative percepts of PowerPoint compared to other interactive presentation tool were reported by Wolfs (2007). In his comparison, the use of PowerPoint and electronic presentation tool were compared. Wolfs (2007) studied and compared the students interests in content and perception of pace over the course for 2nd years student. This was done by splitting the participants into two groups. The first group consists of 36 students and the duration was about 50 minutes lectures for each class. The instructor used PowerPoint to project the course content. The second group consists of same number of students and the classroom presenter was used. The classroom presenter is like PowerPoint slide presentation with more interactive features such as save on the digital screen with digital pen, connection can be performed between student and instructor, information can be dual-lane between instructor and student system. Instructor has a laptop computer, whose monitor swivels, lays flat and allows the user to write on the digital screen utilise digital pen (notepad). The Powe rPoint in the laptop could able to utilize linking features. However, PowerPoint alone doesnt have these features. Hence the classroom presenter had greater impact on the survey results. To harbinger the variance between two methods, optional web-based post-class survey provided to the group. The advantage of classroom presenter is that it allows the instructor to interact with the device by digitally highlighting information and also have the features to write on the digital slide. Though, the difference in the result is not significant. However, out of 17%, 3% perceived attending lectures using classroom presenter to be more enkindle. One of the speculations is that most of the students pet the added interaction of classroom presenter. This may be cause for speculation of students interaction and instructor presence compared to effectiveness of any presentation tool (Cited in Kevin, 2008).Thomas, (2009), compared five teaching technologies approaches like Projector, PowerPoint , Video, the Internet, and Lecture. And the results are overlapping and merging together. Such as, video can be shown in PowerPoint and internet and PowerPoint slides through web. They also used projector screen as blackboard using black films. Hence, in natural teaching environment, it is difficult to segregate Lecture, Projector, PowerPoint, Video, or the Internet. However, it is believed that the cognitive abilities of the students can be used to focus these five teaching technologies individually. The separate general perceptions about use of each technology can also be provided (Thomas, 2009). In his study, integrated computer workstation used for lecture in all classrooms and the teaching materials were presented on the same large screen using projector, PowerPoint, Video (VHS or DVD), and the Internet. The PowerPoint slides were replaced with traditional overhead color transparencies for lecture outlines and information.Students use internet effectively for business organizat ion, to refer the links cited in the books, research journals, reports, papers, case studies etc. Apart from this, the current events, news and many other types of information are also accessed in the internet. Internet acts as a largest digital library tool for the instruction. The specific type of classroom presentation will not serve the students needs. Different technologies can be used for different learning objectives. Among all the education technologies, the Lecture and PowerPoint are less active and interesting and also boring than other different approaches. Still these the Lecture and PowerPoint technologies contribute to student performance. All technologies have their own characteristic capacity and weakness. There is an urge to develop the practical impacts of these new available technologies on education and students (Thomas, 2009).USING engineering science IN THE CLASSROOMIn some studies, it was mentioned that the PowerPoint presentation increases the students moti vation and achievements in their lessons (Mantei 2000). In addition to that, most of the students mentioned that it helped them in taking notes and study for exam if instruction is provided in PowerPoint presentations (Noppe, 2007), and they prefer PowerPoint lectures to traditional lecture (Frey and Birnbaum, 2002). Researchers explored that the end-result of preparing PowerPoint presentations by the students are very limited. Gunel et al. (2006) compared the effectiveness of the students in written material summary report and preparing PowerPoint presentation about two units in physics lesson. In this particular case,It was observed that the students prepared the PowerPoint presentation scored significantly better than the students prepared summary report format. In another study, Marmien (2006) investigated the ability of the students in choosing the material and the content of PowerPoint presentations on professional topics via the internet and also he investigated the student s ability to prepare and deliver the presentation in front of the audience. As a result, it was mentioned and reported that preparing and delivering the material through PowerPoint presentation improved the students gaining skills in addition to listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. That is the use of such technologies is more time-efficient compared to traditional way of delivering the presentation i.e. using whiteboard or overhead transparentness projector. Hence, more time can be given on interaction and instruction rather than using the traditional way (Mantei, 2000).Susskind (2005) taught two courses on Introduction to Psychology. In these courses, half of the courses, he taught with the help of PowerPoint and other half without PowerPoint presentations in a counterbalanced order across classes. Gradewise, there was no significant difference in student performance. However, the students performance has not increased in many courses that used multimedia presentations (Susskind Gurien, 1999 Szaba battle of Hastings, 2000). In one of the studies, it was demonstrated that there was a decrease in student performance when the instructor switched from transparencies to PowerPoint (Bartlett, Cheng, Strough, 2000).Ahmed (1998) compared the two methods (overhead projector and PowerPoint) of information presentation. He observed very little difference in the performance on exams resulting from the use of these two methods. It was also indicated that that the difficulty of the lectures had a greater impact on the performance of the student than the use of PowerPoint itself. Szabo and Hastings (2000) presented three different lectures first lecture with overhead transparencies second lecture with PowerPoint and third lecture with power point and handouts of the Power Point slides. All these lectures were tested for the same group of students in a physical education course. One week later, mock tests were conducted to the students. While there was no sig nificant difference in grades between two tests on lectures delivered with PowerPoint, the grades from the two PowerPoint lectures were higher than the grades scored with the lecture provided with overhead transparencies.In 1995, Lowery (1999) taught surroundings Science course through overhead transparencies. In 1996-1997, the same lecture was provided to the students with the help of Power Point. He found statistically significant differences on comparing the average test scores. The material taught in the year of 1996 and 1997 with the help of PowerPoint have higher average test scores than the course taught with overheads in the year of 1995.In the survey of Sazbo and Hasting (2000), 80% of the students felt that PowerPoint lectures were highly beneficial and that visual emphasis to recall the lecture material during the exam time. The presenters often highlight the main ideas and points with bullets. Based on this information, the audience members and students aware of the tip s included in the presentation. In the latter stage, they may specially focus on the points presented in the slides and ignore the elaboration talk given by the speaker (Savoy, Proctor and Salvendy 2009). gibe to Savoy (2009), the use of PowerPoint, webcasts and podcasts have tremendously increased in university lectures to focus the students attendance and expose the student to the lecture material effectively.However, the easy way of proviso and distribution of information digitally does not always mapped to the enhanced student performance. In one of the interesting parallels with Susskind (2004), a traditional lecture format to a PowerPoint multimedia format has been compared. By doing this, they observed that students fantasy themselves to be equal and capable if they had learned from the format similar to the E-lectures in this study, as they were learned through traditional lectures. Paradoxically, these were not reflected their performance during exams. It also does not s eem to be linked to the presence or absence of multimedia delivery. use PowerPoint effectivelyDue to the presence of mixed results among the studies investigated relate to the beneficial effects of PowerPoint on performance, a new perspective fine-grained analysis is needed to assess the impact of delivery style on student performance (Susskind, 2005). All the above studies, did not investigate and concentrate the complexness of the presentations which is also one of the factor directly impacts the performance. For example, PowerPoint presentations can be written with simple text in angiotensin-converting enzyme coloured screen. Presentations can also be made complex with tables, pictures, graphs, animation effects such as sound effects, visual effects, video clips. The effectiveness of PowerPoint and other multimedia presentations directly depends on the complexity of the presentation. However, several researchers have demonstrated that a few lectures include material which can r educe boilers suit performance of PowerPoint presentations, such as irrelevant sounds (Moreno Mayer, 2000), clusters of text (Schraw, 1998), and irrelevant and unwanted pictures (Mayer, 2001, p. 113).According to Robert Kristi (2002), in the particular PowerPoint presentations, the items which are relevant (e.g. most of the pictures), and not relevant (e.g. most of the sound effects) to the background were presented. The level of the performance is diminished because of the irrelevant items presented in the presentation. These irrelevant items detract the students concentration. It was also found that the graphics related to the context may be beneficial, and the graphics not related to the context not at all helpful in learning. Also, for a simple presentation, the graphics items are not necessary. But graphics items will be helpful for tedious, complex and difficult lectures. If the graphics items are desired, then the PowerPoint presentations should have the special features to accommodate them in an easy manner. It can be concluded, that the relevant items should only be given in the presentation. (Robert Kristi 2002)It is also cost to mention that some of the flexible features of PowerPoint such as colour, variation in font, image, dynamic model building, or multimedia capabilities bring the student attention close to the context. For digital lecturing, the student enthusiasm depends on the coordinate pattern of the PowerPoint presentation. Hence, the presenter or the instructor should follow a well-organised and structured pattern of the presentation. Susskind (2005) mentioned about the way of delivering the lecture styles that there is no difference on various styles of delivering the lecture. In his experiment a mixed participant design and counterbalanced lecture format order were involved. This eliminated any confounding between delivery style and order. Apart from that, it reduced the potential cohort effects via within the subject compariso ns. However, methodological issue regarding student assignment has not been carried out. Susskind observed that the students were not assigned randomly. The results of his experiments could be reflected the pre-existing conditions of academic ability, expression and motivation.STUDENT PREFERANCE AND IMPACT IN COURES EVALUATIONBesides evaluating the student performance based on the impact of computer-generated slides, several studies concentrated the perceptions of PowerPoint. For example, Daniels (1999) found that the three-quarters of the students in her analysis preferred PowerPoint presentation rather than chalkboard. Similarly Szabo and Hastings (2000) reported that 90% of the students thought that the PowerPoint lectures grabs more attention than the traditional lecture. Furthermore, 65% of the students in the study preferred PowerPoint and said that the PowerPoint lecture motivate the students to attend the class and 72 % of the students said that they prefer to see PowerPoin t used in all courses.In the survey, there was an exception found in students of economics majors (612 students) at Radford University (Hashemzadeh and Wilson, 2007). In their study, students were asked to compare the course lecture provided with and without PowerPoint (not taught by the same professors). It was found that the majority of the students felt that they could able to understand lecture better because they felt more involvement and better interaction with the instructor in the sections taught with PowerPoint. The majority of students preferred courses taught with PowerPoint rather than courses taught without PowerPoint.Frey and Birnbaun (2002) found that the students preferred lectures using PowerPoint than those using chalkboard or whiteboard. They also perceived that the lecture is to be more structured and organized. In their study Students appreciated the advantages of PowerPoint, such as easy to read the slides, keeping the lecture on-track, enlivening the lecture b y providing the combinations of pictures and more concise text. They also often criticised badly-prepared and poorly-presented lectures. In common, too much information provided on the single slide and slide was to the full composed of similar words leading to boring rather than interesting. Students were less engaged for chalkboard or overhead transparencies techniques were used in delivering the lecture. (Frey and Birnbaun, 2002)AdvantagesThe advantages of presenting lecture through PowerPoint presentations can be generalized as followsUsing the PowerPoint, the course content and the way of delivering the lecture could be framed properly (Nouri Shahid 2005).According to students, observing the lecture through PowerPoint presentations is quite interesting. Thus, giving lecture through PowerPoint presentations affect the students in positive way (Parks, 1999 Nouri Shahid, 2005 James, 2006 Atkins-Sayre et al 2006).In PowerPoint presentations, poor handwriting issues, decrease in v isibility due to chalk, perennial issue of cheating(a) blackboards (if blackboard were used for long time) were avoided. (Carlos, 2008)PowerPoint presentation enhances the students interest for attending the classes (James, 2006 Sugahara Boland, 2006 ).Through PowerPoint presentations, the learning capacity of the students is increased. (Harrison, 2006)According to Lowry (1999), after introducing the PowerPoint lecturer classes to first year environmental science course a remarkable advance was observed in student performance and cognition.Because of PowerPoint presentations, time taken for the students in taking notes was reduced. Most of the students brought their PowerPoint slides printout to the classroom and annotate to them as required. (Carlos, 2008)Providing PowerPoint presentation classnotes to the students indicates a organised set of notes that allows students to transform into a detailed form without putting much effort on it. (Carlos, 2008)In some of the studies, it was found that supply of PowerPoint presentations along with student notes lead to achieve better performance and retention (Kiewra, 1985).It was also found that some studies show that segregating the notes from notes what students taken while observing can also lead to better retention (Aiken, 1975).Another big advantage of PowerPoint presentations is that the instructor can present a lot of material in single lecture such as giving concepts in problem solving, discussion, or review of articles in terms of class materials. Because of this students need not to dedicate more time in taking the elaborate class notes. (Carlos, 2008)Photos, videoclips and hyperlink for elaboarate discussion can be added in the PowerPoint presentation only.(Carlos, 2008)According to Young, 2004, it was proclaimed in one of the most public endorsements of PowerPoint that the students performance and learning experiences are enhanced by the use of multimedia. Students also mirrored this thought. Because t he PowerPoint presentation enlighten a lecture with images, pictures that provide additional support to the key points and improved clarity to the texts compared to chalkboards (Young, 2004).And also, it is possible in PowerPoint presentation that the instructor can cover the previous class notes in a single slide to make the students to remember. (Carlos, 2008)Instructors indicated that PowerPoint can be used to update their lectures from time to time and believe that PowerPoint presentation is a precious tool that help to organize the class notes. (Schwartz, 2005)DisadvantagesThe disadvantages of presenting lecture through PowerPoint presentations can be generalized as followsOne of the major disadvantages is that instructor has to spend more time in preparing the notes and relevant pictures from the World encompassing Web and place the pictures, graphs or tables in the appropriate place. .(Kristi,2003)Most of the lecture presentation will be reused subsequently for next batch s tudents with less time effort. This initial time taken for preparing the presentation by the faculty member is reasonably considered as major disadvantage.(Kristi,2003)From the study by Dudley (2006), it was observed that the electronic presentations were disliked. The main reasons were given hard copies of the class notes were not given, through presentation lot of material could be covered, alter pictures and diagram were provided, lectures were delivered very quickly.The additional material had to be added in the PowerPoint presentation notes to reinforce it. (Carlos, 2008)Using chalkboard or a whiteboard in the classroom allows more time in spending a single topic. This gives natural pauses and provides delays in the presentation and discussion before moving to next topic. (Carlos, 2008)Opposition of PowerPoint notes is that the structure of PowerPoint lecture commands a degree of linearity that may creates artificial misguiding hierarchies of informations provided in the lectu re (Tuft, 2003), hierarchical organization of content is to be removed (Doumont, 2005), and discourages the chances to redirect or expand upon the delivered points (Schwartz, 2005).Besides adherence usage of pre-designed template, PowerPoint urge to use bullets, which convey the message in detrimental or effective way (Boehle, 2006, Tufte, 2003 Mayer, 2004).Edward Tufte (2003), claimed that the bullets lead to gross generalization, incorrect logical and superficial reasoning and more often leads to indifferent conclusions. Hanft (2003) also supported that the PowerPoint presentation reduce the discussion.Most of the students have positive opinions about the instructors in terms of PowerPoint presentation. Some of the students were complained that instructors used too much text and pictures and information in the slides and makes the slides to be clumsy manner, because of this the material in the slides were difficult to see (Doumont, 2005 Young, 2004).One student at Connecticut C ollege said that her professor would write too long sentences or apprehend sentence in the PowerPoint slides, rather which she would then read. Because of that the information presented in the slides were become complicated and convoluted (Young, 2004).Further, some of the instructors

Analysis of the DOTS Programme in Nigeria

Analysis of the DOTS political platform in NigeriaChapter One1.0 macrocosm to TBCharacteristics of terbiumTuberculosis is a distemper caused by the bacteria known as mycobacteria terbium.1 Myco bacterium tuberculosis was identified in 1882 by Robert Koch.2 It is an acid-fast bacillus and obligate aerobe which grows in round 15 to 30 days at atemperature of 35 to 37 degrees centigrade in an enriched media with a sensibly acid base medium.It has no vivid reservoir and its antigenic straightlacedties argon similar to the leprosy bacillus, the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and other regular types of mycobacterium3.M. tuberculosis is pathogenic and virulent in nature. Its ability to cause ailment dep culminations on the susceptibility of the swarm as substantially as the aggressiveness of the invading organism4 . An electron scan of the bacterium is luxuriouslylighted below5Considered angiotensin converting enzyme of the close dreaded diseases of the 19th and 20th centurie s, TB was the 8th leading cause of death in children amongst the ages of 1 to 4 eld old during the early 1920s especially in the developed countries of the homo like the United States and Britain.As the general well-worns of animate improved in the industrialised nations of the realism so too did the decline in TB related incidences.TB is often tiered by the contagion of single of the two variants of the tubercle bacillus which is known to commonly affect man. They atomic number 18 Mycobacerium tuberculosis and bovis6.In Nigeria, bulk of the TB related disease is due largely to the M. tuberculosis variant of the tubercle bacillus. The TB transmission systems caused by Mycobacterium bovis which is associated with milk atomic number 18 r ar and few and far between7.TB can take an restless and an inactive responsibility of infection. The Word Health Organisation (WHO) describes an active case of TB as a symptomatic disease due to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis8. TB cases atomic number 18 generally sort as either pulmonic or extra-pulmonary.Patients with pulmonary TB are pull ahead sub-divided into smear-positive and smear-negative cases9. Smear-positive cases are the close important sub-groups for master programs as they are the source of infection.The WHO has defined a smear-positive forbearing asA patient role with at least two s strayum specimens positive for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) by microscopyA patient with at least one sputum specimen positive for AFB and radiographic abnormalities consistent with active pulmonary TB.A patient with at least one sputum specimen positive for AFB, which is culture-positive for M. tuberculosis.A smear-negative patient on the other hand is also defined by the WHO asA patient with at least two sputum specimens negative for AFB by microscopy, radiographic abnormalities consistent with active pulmonary tuberculosis and a decision by a physician to treat with a full curative fertilize of anti-TB che motherapyA patient with a least one sputum specimen negative for AFB, which is culture-positive for M. Tuberculosis and lastlyExtra-pulmonary tuberculosis is defined by the WHO asA patient with a histological and (or) clinical raise consistent with active extra-pulmonary TB and a decision by a physician to treat with full curative course of anti-TB chemotherapy101.10Mode of TransmissionThe transmission of Tuberculosis is done mainly by droplet infection and droplet nuclei which is said to be gene strayd when a patient with tuberculosis coughs11.For the infection to be transmitted the droplet particles must be fresh in its constituency to carry a viable organism. The interruption and transmission of tuberculosis is heightened even further depending on the vigorous nature of the cough and the ventilation supply in the environment concerned.1.11Signs SymptomsThe element of signs and symptoms in Tuberculosis is often misleading in the sense that the human body may harbour the bacte rium that causes tuberculosis, and the immune system in the body suppresses the resultant effect and prevents the host from becoming sick. It is as a result of this scenario that the medical profession and doctors shoot a distinction between what is referred to as latent TB and Active TBLatent TB is a thoughtfulness where the patient has a TB infection besides the bacteria () remains in the body in an inactive state and in that respectfore causes no symptoms to be shown.Latent TB which is often referred to as inactive TB is non known to be infectious.Active TB on the other hand is the contagious wing of tuberculosis and can make its hosts sick.12The state of active TB develops some clear signs and symptoms in its diagnosis and they implicateChills and cold spells laborFeverLoss of AppetiteNight SweatsUnexplained weight loss13Medical evidence has shown that there are varying degrees of Tuberculosis depending on which part of the human body it affects. Tuberculosis often attacks the lungs and its signs and symptoms entangleCoughing that laughs for three weeks or moreCoughing up bloodChest pain or pain resulting from breathing or coughing14Tuberculosis is known to affect other parts of the body of which include the brain, spine or kidneys. The symptoms depend on the organs that are affected. Tuberculosis of the kidney tends to show signs symptoms of bleeding in the patients urine whilst Tuberculosis of the spine shows cases of back pain.1.12Incubation Periodssource http//www.aarogya.com/index.php?option=com_contenttask=viewid=834Itemid=8531.2 conceptionly concern Health ImportanceStandard of Living State of Health In NigeriaThe United Nations Human victimization (UNDP) plan has finished the early 1990s gainful greater emphasis in human development, public assistance and poverty research.Through its Human tuition Report, it has published the Human Development Index (HDI) which looks beyond gross domestic product to a broader definition of a natio ns well-being. The link in welfare is a decisive index to health conditions, well being of persons and an insight onto their susceptibility and immunity to disease infection15.The stinting condition of a nation is a guiding factor to growth, development and documentation shopworns of a nations citizen. The assumption that a citizen who is paid more per capita has his or her tired of existent higher than those who are paid less is not often the case.Levels of sustentation and poverty are not necessary elevated through higher income.Nigeria has captivaten a steady rise in its income per capita over the years.However, a sharp incline in its inflation rate to the economy, short(p) standard of governance coupled with a dilapidated health do by system has seen a decline in its overall standard of living.16The graph below shows this comparison when we see the income per capita of a nation like Madagascar over Nigeria whose citizens receive a higher pay package yet piddle poorer living standards which trigger health concerns17.The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a composite footstep of three dimensions of human development. These areas includeLiving a long and good for you(p) life which is measured through life presentimentThe level and degree of education and literacy of nations citizens.This is measured by grownup literacy and enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels and finally,Levels of a decent standard of living which is measured by an individuals level of purchasing power parity (PPP) and income base analysis.18Critics of the process have adhered to the fact that the index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development and a stylus of monitoring standard of living.It does not, for example, include important indicators much(prenominal) as gender or income ine timbre or other indicators such as respect for human rights and political freedoms. However, what it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.In Nigerias context, this index measures the uncouths standard of living and state of health by comparing certain delineate sectors such as life expectancy pass judgment and adult literacy rates.The chart below gives a unique view to Nigerias position. In this chart, Nigeria has been ranked 158th out of 177 amongst the ontogenesis nations of the world with an HDI rating of 0.470.19The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what constitutes a high or a low scale. Another relative index to the standard of living of a certain economic group can be gathered from a comparison of the cost of living and the wage scale or personal income. Factors such as discretionary income are important, but standard of living includes not only the material articles of consumption but also the number of dependents in a family, the environment, the educational opportunitie s, and the amount spent for health, recreation, and social service.Nigeria as a nation has a GDP identify of 6.4 as at 200820 and the number of dependants vary inwardly the peoples in the Northern Southern part of the estate. A see example on health grounds are the lifestyles of community citizens in Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Bauchi States.The cultural and phantasmal trends of having a male occupant look after both siblings and relatives within a nuclear family as well as the extended family puts a large warhead on cost of living, health standards and living quarters.The research conducted by International medical associations and bodies such as CDC, UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International through the infantile paralysis vaccination plan in Kano State are get wind resources showed a dilapidated and sub-standard level of livelihood amongst the topical anaesthetics in urban neighbourhoods21. Unemployment, low wages, crowded living conditions, and physical calamities, su ch as drought, flood, political instability, malnutrition etc has brought a drop in the standard of living within such regions in Nigeria.While standard of living may vary greatly among various groups within the country, it also varies from nation to nation, and international comparisons are sometimes make by analyzing gross national products, per capita incomes, or any number of other indicators from life expectancy to clean water. Overall, industrialized nations tend to have a higher standard of living than developing countries. Nigeria is no exception to this theory.Records have shown that since the mid-1970s almost all regions have been progressively increasing their HDI score.A key region that has seen a tremendous rise in their standard of living since the early 1990s are easternmost South Asia.Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) especially Russia and its former Soviet colonies initially had a catastrophic decline in the first half of the 1990s but have corned and improved their standard of living.22The major exception is sub-Saharan Africa in areas such as Niger, Togo, Cameroon and Nigeria. Records have shown that since 1990 standard of living has not improved but stagnated.Experts believe that this is partly due to economic reversal but principally because of the catastrophic effect of human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS on life expectancy.23Poverty is the major military issue of the dilapidated and chronic failure in Nigerias healthcare and social service system.24 The access to standard resources such as good education, improved water supply, good nutritional standards and able shelter provisions has rendered Nigeria being ranked 80th amongst 108 developing countries with an HPI-1 value of 37.3 as evident in the chart below.25 These key trends in life expectancy, standard of living and health conditions explains why the 22 nations fooled and responsible for 80% of the worlds TB infections are found in impov erished and developing nations with a poor level of standard of living and health concerns.1.3Housing and Poor SanitationNigeria especially Lagos State has had the in-dignified commercial pock of being the most expensive slum in the world. This gives a clear insight into the high magnitude of housing inadequacy in both urban rural centres in Nigeria. The dilapidated state of alkali and a poor maintenance culture has aggravated the spread of disease and risk in healthy living standards of the vulnerable masses especially in impoverished regions within the country. This can be prove and manifested in both quantitative and qualitative terms.In developed societies such as the United region (UK), the local regimen are responsible for things like preparation permission needed before rear structures. Nigerias UDB (Urban Development Board) commissions do have rules and regulations in place for constructions, drainage facilities and proper infrastructural displacement but the occupat ion is one of implementation, corruption and share disregard for social, health and economic concerns.This has over the decades given rise to poor sanitary conditions which can be seen through the severe overcrowding and unsanitary environment characterized by housing in the urban centres. The only resultant factor are the culminating effect and growth of slum areas. The deficiency in housing quality, building materials and the design and spacing of buildings is a key aspect of why the spread of diseases such as Meningitis, Cholera, Malaria and Tuberculosis are rampant in the region.Take for example the Northern city of Kano State. A city known for its ancient history and strict adherence to Islamic principles, is also known for its grand close knit network of shanty mud houses that lie in close proximity to one another with barely no room for cross ventilation, proper drainage or sewer facility26. cloaca is surface borne with the refuse and excreta of humans and live shop being d isplayed in the open.The health hazards this poses are many. The hesitation of housing and poor sanitation is nothing new to the African continent and is indeed a key feature in its rural regions which has spread into the urban developed areas of the countries within Africa.The United Nations in 1969 sustain that the average one-year growth rates were 4.7% and 4.6% between the period 1960 and 1980, and 1980 and 2000 respectively.A confirmation of this can be found in the table annexed below.27Average Annual Growth RatePopulation (Millions)1960-19801980-2000196019802000%%Africa31771904.74.6Studies have shown that the rapid rate of urbanisation in Nigeria and the consequential explosion of urban population have not been matched by a corresponding commensurate change in social, economic and technological development28The economic down town in the early 1980s saw a break in the level of growth and development with the nations economy to that of its population boom29.The lack of prop er adequate public bag and social services has suffered tremendously and this has affected the process and level of urban homework and zoning in many cases.A practical example of this can be seen in the new created Nigerian capital the Federal metropolis territory, Abuja.The capital was built by foreign contractors Julius Berger, with the idea and layout of a suburban aristocratic society with well pose buildings proper social and infrastructural amenities and health concerns fetching into consideration.But the key problem lay with accommodation and transportation of the work force and working class within the city.No provisions were made which forced locals to build shanty accommodations unaided by proper planning authorities with little or no regard for health safety issues, sanitary considerations or even building regulations.This idea coupled with the population growth had outpaced the rate of housing provision and created a dilemma in the housing standards and sanitary conditions of jillions of its inhabitants.The spread of diseases both air water borne became eminent and this has been a key problem and contributory factor to disease control in Nigeria.1.4Housing and PovertyThe spread of disease can be said to be the resultant consequence of a number of socio-economic factors as well as the action and inaction of government over the years.Rural areas and indeed some urban regions in Nigerian States, generally lack vital social services and infrastructure services such as clean water, electricity, and good roads. The absence of these amenities constitutes push factors which can be said to have facilitated the migration of rural dwellers into urban centres.It is note a surprise that the rate of urbanisation in Nigeria far outpaces the rate of economic development.Despite the enormous amount of money proposed for urban investment in the National Development Plan, very limited investment is made in urban infrastructure.An increasing shortage of ur ban services and infrastructure characterize the urban areas, and these are only accessible to a diminishing share of the population.The subsisting urban services are overstrained which often times lead to integral collapse.A large remainder of the population does not have reasonable access to safe and ample water supply, and neither do they have the means for hygienic waste disposal. It is eminent that these two services are essential for a healthy and productive life and the lack of it are a key contributory factor to the causes of Tuberculosis.The quality of the environment in most urban centres in Nigeria is deplorable.This is not so much dependent on the material characteristics of the buildings but on their organization as spatial units.The slow process of urban planning and zoning, in the face of rapid urbanisation in most urban centres, has resulted in poor layout of buildings with unequal roads between them and inadequate drainage and provision for refuse evacuation.Thu s there is a high incidence of pollution through water, solid waste, air and noise and inadequacy of open spaces for other sphere uses30.Studies over the years have shown the deplorable conditions of urban housing in Nigeria. They affirm that 75% of the hearthstone units in Nigerias urban centres are substandard and the dwellings are sited in slums31.This is attributed to the combined effects of natural ageing of the buildings, lack of maintenance and neglect, wrong use of the buildings, poor sanitation in the disposal of sewage and solid waste, wrong development of land, and increasing deterioration of the natural landscape.There are moderate building facilities in Nigeria but the high level of poverty of most urban households places the available housing stock out of their economic reach.Many of the households resort to constructing make shift dwellings with all sorts of refuse materials in lawlessly occupied land.This has led to the growth of squatter settlements in many urban centres.The buildings therein are poorly maintained and lack sanitary facilities with little access to light, air and good water.32The United Nations Standard for Nigerias room occupancy is 2.20. The World Health Organization (WHO) stipulates the average rating to be between 1.8 and 3.1, whilst the Nigerian Government prescribed a standard of 2.0 per room.33However, the reality is different as overcrowding is thus a plain feature of urban housing in Nigeria.It is symptomatic of housing poverty and consequential of poor economic circumstances.1.5Prevalence of TBThe term prevalence of Tuberculosis usually refers to the estimated population of people who are managing Tuberculosis at any given time.Prevalence and deathrate are considered by the WHO as direct indicators of the burden of Tuberculosis which indicate the number of people suffering from the disease at a given lead in time and subsequently those dying each year.34A balance and understanding of these terms help the improve ment of the level of control and effectiveness in treatment thereby reducing the average time of the disease.The Stop TB Partnership link spearheaded by the WHO is aimed at reducing by 2015, the per capita prevalence and mortality rates by 50% in comparison to records in 1990.35 The optimism is reassuring in most regions of the world with the exception of the African continent. The key factors derailing the efforts will be highlighted in the next chapter.In order to get a line prevalence levels within a region, resort to statistic by look of a population ground plenty is often hook up withed. These surveys are used to estimate prevalence for those countries with proper census records. Another option is to adopt the method of estimated incidence ratings.Estimates of this nature on TB incidences, prevalence and mortality rates are based on a consultative and analytical process proscribed by the WHO and published on an annual basis.Records vary from country to country, however th e general formulae used is derived from the following key factorsEstimates of incidence combined with assumptions round the duration of the disease.The duration of the disease is assumed to vary in accordance with whether or not the disease is smear-positive and whether or not the individual receives treatment in a DOTS programme or in a non DOTS programme or is not treated all and finallyWhether or not the individual is give with HIV36According to the WHO, nearly two billion people close one-third of the worlds population, are infected with TB.37In developed regions of the world such as the United land (UK) and the United States of the States (USA), the prevalence levels are much lower than those recorded in high risk regions of the developing world.Statistic records rendered in 2003 from the Department of Health within the UK suggests the following42 years was the mean age of patients hospitalised with Tuberculosis in England between 2002-200369% of hospitalisations for Tuberc ulosis was for 15-59 year olds in England between 2002-200310% of hospitalisations for Tuberculosis was for over 75 year olds in England between 2002-2003.38The goal for Tuberculosis elimination in the United States of America (USA) is a TB disease incidence of less than 1 per one thousand thousand US population by 2010. This requires that the Latent TB Infection (LTBI) prevalence level should be less than 1% and decreasing by 2010. ongoing prevalence rate levels of Tuberculosis in the United States are between 10 and 15 million people. In 1998, a total of 18,371 active TB cases were recorded in all 50 states and the regularise of Columbia39A comparison level of statistical studies in the prevalence levels of patients between 1999-2000 was compared to those of patients way back in 1971-1972 and the results were as followsLTBI prevalence was 4.2% with an estimated 11,213,000 individuals diagnosed with LTBIAmongst 25 74 year olds, prevalence decreased from 14.3% in 1971-1972 to 5.7% in 1999-2000Higher prevalences were seen in the foreign borns which accounting for 18.7%, non Hispanic blacks and African Americans accounted for 7.0%, Mexican Americans accounted for 9.4% and individuals living in poverty accounted for 6.1%A total of 63% of LTBI was among the foreign bornA total of 25.5% of persons with LTBI had previously been diagnosed as having LTBI or TB andOnly 13.2% had been prescribed treatment40The chart below as well as that in the annex, shows the level of new TB cases per 100,000 population and that of prevalence levels in HIV+ people worldwide for the year 2007.411.6How Rapid Does TB Spread In Nigeria?Part of the Federal Governments programme in arresting the spread has been initiated through the National TB and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) which is seeking to contact a 70% TB detection rate and an 85% cure rate by the end of 2010The programme also aims to ensure that TB patients receive adequate drugs and comply with the slated 8 months period of treatment.Mr Omoniyi Fadare an NTBLCP Programme Officer is quoted to have said in 2005 that the DOTS programme was being implemented in 584 out of 774 local government areas with the country recording between 700,000 to 1 million TB cases annually out of which 105,000 are TB related deaths.42Ideally, the spread of TB should be less bearing in mind that the Nigerian Government has implemented the DOTS strategy in all antiretroviral treatment centres nationwide in an effort to control the spread of Tuberculosis..However, this is not the case as in 2009 the rate of prevalence had risen to over 1.2 million with an annual mortality rate of 150,000. These statistics question the reasons behind the spread of TB in Nigeria.The spread of TB is made rampant through factors such as poverty and outdated testing equipment which contribute to Nigerias high TB prevalence. The lack of awareness, early detection and failure to render immediate treatment are also key factors to the spread of TB i n Nigeria as corroborated by Dan Onwujekwe a Senior crack of the Lagos based Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.43A recent study carried out by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in 2007 found out that of the 620 HIV/AIDS patients surveyed in June and July, 2006, about(predicate) 160 had TB without knowing they did have the disease.44Other factors which contribute to the growing spread of the disease includeThe lack of sufficient drugs and clinics within close proximity of affected regions has heightens the spread of the disease as infected persons and those willing to undergo medical check ups are discouraged from seeking help.Poor laboratory infrastructure needed for testing as well as insufficient man power also call forth the success and undermine the effective implementation of the TB control activities. Also worthy of note is limited funding for TB control efforts from the Federal and Sate government authorities.The failure on the part of the authorities stalls the programmes ability to execute necessary activities when due.The issue of funding is a paradoxical point as it points also to issues of embezzlement and corruption that has plagued the country over several decades of mismanagement. The DOTS programme and TB drugs are comparatively cheap and free to the public and yet with adequate funding from NGOs and governments like the EU and the United States as indicated in the diagram below45, the problem of funding still remains a key factor that continues to fuel the spread of the disease.1.7AimThe aim of this study (dissertation) isTo provide an insight into the terminal disease of Tuberculosis on an International and national levelTo evaluate DOTS implementation in Nigeria using a series of case detection and treatment outcomes as indicatorsTo analyse and evaluate the resulting consequences of the DOTS programme in Nigeria within the twenty-first century and see if its adoption has favoured a positive control of TB over the year s1.8ObejetiveThe following are the objectives of this study (dissertation)To evaluate case detection rates of smear-positive TB cases in selected areas implementing the DOTS programme within NigeriaTo evaluate case detection rates of all TB cases notified in Nigeria within the 21st centuryTo compare Nigerian experiences, failures and progresses to other developing nations and developed countries of the world affected by TBTo identify potential weaknesses, strengths and developments in the DOTS programme in NigeriaTo create, deliver and analyse a survey on the Nigerian public on the implementation of DOTS in Nigeria within selective states and compare the resulting outcomes with available data1.9Research QuestionResearch questions will be focussed on whether or not the DOTS programme has achieved its object and mandate of reducing the rate of TB infection in Nigeria.Whether or not the target of 2015 by the WHO is a realistic target that can be met by Nigeria?Whether or not Nigeria h as made progress over the years with the amount of funding hey have had and the exposure the healthcare system has had to curb the growing threat of TB in the countryWhether factors such as cultural, religious, economic and social elements are the cause of the drawback in the successful implementation of the DOTS programme in Nigeria?Chapter Two2.0The Federal Republic of NigeriaNigeria is situated in Western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and occupies a total area of 923,768 km reservation it the 32nd largest country in the world.46 It is comparable in size to the South American country of Venezuela and is about twice the size of the State of California in the United States of America.47 It is bordered by Benin in the West, Niger in the North, Chad in the North West, Cameroon in the East and has a coastline of at least 853km with the Atlantic ocean.48The countrys climatic regions are broken down into three categories the far mho which is defined by tropical rainforest climate with annual rainfall of between 60 to 80 inches per annum, the far north where majority of the TB epidemics and polio incidences have been recorded is defined by its almost desert-like climate where rain fall records are set at less than 20 inches per annum and finally the rest of the countrys region between the far south and far north is characteristic of the savanah grove land with annual rainfalls of between 20 to 60 inches.49The country has over 250 ethnic group divisions.50 The main tribes are the Hausas in the Nothern part of the country where majoriy of the TB pandemic is recorded, the Yorubas in the Southern part of the country known for is thick mangrove swambs and malaria demo and the Igbos in the Eastern part of the country where majority of the nations oil explorations and severe environmental degredation oil spilllages are found.51In a country ranked as the 8th most populous country in the world, the United Nations (UN) estimated Nigerias population at 131,530,000 in 200 4.52 The latest censors in Nigeria in 2006 put the countrys population at 150 million that is almost 3 times the population of the United Kingdom in an area mass of about less than half the size of Nigeria. It is estimated that by 2050, Nigeria will be one of those countries in the world like China, India and Brazil, that account for majority of the worlds population.53 It is indeed a statistical nightmare when one considers that most of the worlds current populous nations are amongs the 22 nations in the DOTS programme.Nigeria as a confederation of states is divided into thirty six (36) states and one Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) which are further divided into 774 LGAs.54This gives you an idea of the logistical difficulties and task ahead of the DOTS programme in curbing a disease that is catalysed by such vices as poor sanitary conditions and tightly spaced housing plans.Nigeria has six major cities with a population of over 1 million people. They are the cities of Lagos, Kan o, Ibadan, Kaduna, port wine Harcourt and Benin City.55The city of Lagos alone accounts for 8 million people56 a region of about the size of Cardiff. This demography and health hazards surrounding a region in comparision to the capital of Wales which accounts for only 2.9 milion citizens.A map of the region video display its states and geographical lo

Media Is Responsible For Dumbing Down Society

Media Is Responsible For Dumbing Down SocietySince worthy a boastful small-arm of advance(a) human society, the media has al forthwithions been a source of controversy. In particular(prenominal), the media has lots been acc utilise as molding a signifi endt part in the so cal take dumbing- fell of society. The boundary dumbing-down is used to describe the deprivation of a clear distinction between soaring refining and popular surface culture in society today. spot high culture were activities, unremarkably relating to the classical arts, that were held in the highest regard by society in the past, and commonly practiced by the rich upper-class, it has evolved to appeal to the masses now. Similarly, popular culture which argon considered ephemeral and commercial, and then inferior to high culture adopt g ace on to invade parts of our upper-class societies today. In this essay, I am going to investigate the blurring line between the differences in high and popular cul ture and use this as a pivot to critically assess the medias subprogram in this phenomenon and ultimately determine if the media is indeed obligated for the dumbing-down of society.Dumbing-down is believed to be present in many an(prenominal) spheres of contemporary society, from the arts to withal the timbre of education that our generation be getting today. This is base on the premise that the Arts such as Theatre Productions and classical harmony decl atomic number 18 capture to a greater extent than than and more commercialised and overly-simplified in vow to appeal to larger consultations. Similarly, the study of certain university courses ranging from Sociology to Media Studies and Animal Management throw been labelled as inferior to the more traditional courses such as Law, Medicine and Politics. These so called Mickey Mouse degrees (which coincidentally were first do public by the media tabloids), coined by the then UK education minister Margaret Hodge we re deemed to be less rigorous and thus unworthy of an positive University degree.Modern media itself is frequently criticised for putting ratings and audition popularity ahead of lineament. Media institutions are run as businesses and are in that respectfore more focused in creating intersection pointions that attract widespread avocation and thereby maximise the chances of the sell rather than actual high quality productions. This can be seen through with(predicate) a number of examples, notably through intelligence activity circulating productions such as intelligence activitypapers and News Broadcasting. The 1980s sawing machine a sharp rise in the popularity of Tabloid Newspapers. Tabloids are found on the newspaper format seen in traditional Broadsheet Newspapers, but are small in size and feature exaggerated and ofttimes sensationalised stories. They often include much less wakeless news such as politics and global af equitables to their Broadsheet counterparts , instead steering on human interests and entertaining news stories (i.e. Celebrity Gossips, Scandals). There are as well as much fewer linguistic communication and more pictures in a Tabloid than a Broadsheet. This form of junk food news is outflank described by researcher and writer Professor Bob Franklin in his book Newszak and News Media as being More bitesize McNugget journalism, which is small, tasty, bright slanting and easy to digest (Marr in Franklin, 1997 5). Frankin came up with the term Newszak and asserted that there was a growing compulsion within British journalism to fall behind from the publishing of hard news in favour of light hearted softer news.The popularity of tabloids has resulted in many flyer newspapers adopting legion(predicate) characteristics of tabloids. This is sheer in UK newspapers such as The Independent, The Times and The Guardian who have switched to the more compact Berliner format used by most tabloid newspapers. Reasons given to this change include that it reserves mint who commute to easily hold and read it on public transports, and that smaller-sized newspapers would allow for easier reads for other readers as well. These changes have that been criticised by loyal broadsheet readers who have argued that the loss of the traditional broadsheet format have led to a loss in quality of the publishing of news. They reiterated that with Broadsheets adopting tabloid-like characteristics, there is belatedly becoming less and less differences between the 2 types of Newspapers. In a 2007 interview with then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Blair commentated to the highest degree the ongoing seek in which Broadsheets and Tabloid face to gain readership by becoming more similar to one other. In his words Broadsheets today face the alike(p) pressures as tabloids broadcasters increasingly the same pressures as broadsheets. The audience take to be arrested, held and their emotions engaged. Something that is intere sting is less powerful than something that makes you angry or shocked. (BBC News, 12 June 2007)While the tabloid-like changes that many broadsheets have undergone is a controversial topic even today, Tabloids have also evolved and have puzzle even more tabloidized in new-made years. In their study of the Tabloidization of British Tabloids, Rodrigo Uribe and Barrie Gunter discovered that the emergence of tabloids can be attributed to a dominance of soft and home stories. By analysing issues of The Sun and The mirror that were published between the years 1991 and 2001, Uribe and Gunter learnt that tabloids themselves had become even more simple in recent years. They wrote that the amount of column space allocated for text had reduced substantially, whilst the size of space allocated for visuals and pictures had instead enlarged. (Uribe and Gunter, 2004 399)Looking back at what I have learnt so far, I believe that when considering whether the media is indeed responsible for the dum bing-down of society, one has to look at the problem from two different perspectives. Yes, the media, owned by giant conglomerates aim to increase financial gain and and so hit products that are popular and sellable to their target audiences. However, one must also note that the reason broadsheets started adopting tabloid-like characteristics in the first place were partly cod to the rising popularity of tabloids. In a super competitive economic food market as we have today, the media was simply responding to the ever growing demand for a particular product, in this case, tabloids and therefore evolved its production of broadsheets to satisfy audience demand. It is therefore unfair to lay the blame solely on the Media when in this particular case I believe that society is responsible for the dumbing-down of society.Broadcast media is another area within the media that is nowadays criticised as playing a role in the dumbing-down of society. News Broadcasting is often accused as being no longer truly informative and lacking the journalistic quality that was present in the past. With Broadcast Media prioritising audience and consumer ratings today, News Broadcastings are becoming more pastime orientated, in that part of the appeal of watching the news nowadays is the entertainment value one gains from it rather than the traditional hard news journalistic approach seen in the past. This form of documentary, a term used to describe media programmes that combine information with entertainment is seen in numerous News Broadcasting Productions. Many have expressed concerns that the emergence of documentary has led to an over exposure of soft news, news that often lack importance but are entertaining to audiences at an expense of actual important serious hard news. A clear example of this can be seen on a February 2004 edition of CNN News where the lead flooring was a feature of the Super Bowl XXXVIII incident in which Janet Jacksons breasts were exposed onstage . The story was then followed by the news of a chemical heart attack on a member of the US Senate. (Anderson B, 2004 33)The basis of infotainment is the impudence that viewers are no longer concern about the informative quality of such programmes but are rather control to watch and consume something due to superficial reasons such as the entertainment that the programme put ups or even by how visually attr quick the product looks. The aesthetics of modern News programmes also serves as a federal agency of entertaining viewers. News broadcastings nowadays contain expensive visuals, flashy animations and often elaborate filming sets. The use of such technology in modern news broadcasting allows for more contemporary looking visual demonstrations and thus attracts audience appeal. In a vastly competitive industry in which different Media internets vie for control over audience viewership, the quality of presentation often plays an important part of the process. Networks which b enefit from higher production set often score higher in viewership numbers and audience share. This would formulate why the Big 4 television engagements in the US consisting of ABC, CBS, NBC and cast off have a significant edge over other smaller networks such as The CW Television Network. In terms of actual substance and quality, there is little difference between one News impart to another rather the difference in popularity is often determined by insignificant reasons.An excellent example that clearly illustrates the importance of infotainment in todays Media is the ongoing ratings/ popularity war between two of the most popular News Networks in the US, FOX News and CNN. Though the CNN News Network has had a longer and more illustrious history (est. 1980) compared to the FOX News Network (est. 1996), ratings for CNN has fallen in recent years whilst FOX has seen a steady increase in audience viewership. In 2009, FOX News formally supplanted CNN to become the No 1 News Networ k in the US. FOXs ratings increase has been attributed to the fact that it provides opinion and personality-driven programming. FOX slanted views to favour the republican (conservative) fellowship in the US is no secret. It is however ironic that a network that bills itself as Fair Balance, whose slogan happens to be We Report. You Decide does not provide impartial and balanced news reporting. The appeal of FOX News lies in the entertainment it provides for its audience. The news that it broadcast is often colourful, and interesting to audiences. Unlike CNN that features a more global perspective on news stories, reminiscent to the more traditional broadsheet news format, FOX has been known to employ tabloid-like evasive action to gain audience receptions and stir controversies. Whilst CNN is in no way a haven of quality and unbiased news reporting, there is a book line between biased information presented in a fair and proper manner and that of a piece of pure synthesized propa ganda (DuBach J 2005, project V. CNN An Observational Comparison). An example in which FOX has deliberately arrive atd news-stirring controversy to but its political agenda can be seen in several news reports during the Obama Presidential Campaign in 2008, in which FOX News provided highly bias opinions against Obama and his campaign team, even going as far as to compare him to Joseph Stalin.News Reporters and Journalists are no longer detached personalities from the audience but are instead groomed to become popular and celebrity-like. preferably than employing real hard-line journalists and political analysts (McChesney R), News networks are more enkindle in hiring celebrity pontificators to provide news commentary as a cost cutting solution that also ensures maximum audience appeal. This is evident by the growing number of so called special guest experts that regularly provide their views on the news at hand. News Commentators such as Bill OReilly, Gleen Beck and Jerry Spri nger have gone from being news readers to become well respected and popular television personalities that hosts their own talk shows and are regularly watched by a loyal viewership. As a occasion of fact, OReillys political commentary program titled The OReilly Factor that airs on FOX News was the most watched cable show between 2007 and 2008. despite the level of media saturation and the wealth of information we have at our disposal, it is liquid in the hands of each individual to decide whether consuming a particular media text is indeed beneficial. However, with audiences seemingly enjoying such a reorient and biased view on everyday news reporting, its no interrogate that some people believe that the media is indeed responsible for the dumbing down of society.The view that the media is responsible for the dumbing down of society is rooted in the fear that the audience lack the perception to tell what is right and what is wrong when consuming a media text, thus believing wh atever the media projects. It is therefore important to understand the creation of earreach Reception in order to determine how media viewers learn a particular media text differently from one another. The basis of Audience reception is the understanding that there are two different kinds of audiences active and hands-off audience. Active Audiences are people who are not cadaverous to whatever the media tells them, who constantly filter out what they see in the media and have got the strength of mind to decide whether what they see in the media is true or not. In contrast, Passive Audiences are people who are vulnerable to the words of the media and are seemingly accepting of whatever the media tells them. The belief that the media has the ability to wangle audience perception and in a way control the way we make decisions and live our lives is one that has existed for decades.The Hypodermic beset Model, conceived in the mid-forties was perhaps the earliest form in our attem pts to understand audience reception. The determine was based around the assumption that mass media (e.g. the radio and television) had a direct and often profound effect on its viewers. It was believed that the media was able to send messages this instant to the viewer thus gaining some measure of control on the viewer. Today, the poseur is almost unanimously considered obsolete as it perceives all media consumers as motionless audiences, and thus believes that the media has the same effect on all people. It perceives on the assumption that people were uniformly controlled by their biologically based instincts and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever stimuli came along (Lowery DefFleur, 1995 400). More to the point, the hypodermic needle theory is an outdated Audience Reception stick that however flawed, reflected the companionable situation during that time. In an era of political upheaval and fond unrest, fuelled by the World Wars, propaganda emerged as a form of communication utilize by nations to persuade the general public to unite behind the actions of their countries and affiliate alike. The power of propaganda was regarded as a powerful tool by many, with countries employ propaganda to achieve many different aims, from enlisting more men to become soldiers to even attempting to promote public outrage.A more efficient audience reception model which does take both passive and active audiences into compute is the Uses and Gratifications Model. Unlike the Hypodermic Needle Model that interpreted its findings based on what the media did to people, the Uses and Gratifications model took a different perspective by placing focus on the viewers instead of the media and basing its findings on what did people do with the Media. The Model was conceived in the 1970s by critical theorists Blumber and Katz, who originally used it to investigate the social and psychological needs of people. The model was based around a more consumer/ audie nce centred approach whereby it was believed that people consumed media as a form of gratifying their own individual needs. Rather than basing its study that all media viewers were passive audiences who are unable to resists the words of the media (as the hypodermic needle theory had suggested), the theory was based on the belief that the audience did in fact play an active part in choosing the type of media text that they were consuming based on their individual needs. The needs of individuals were varied and included but not limited to things such as gaining entertainment (diversion) from the text t or perhaps even gaining more of an insight into themselves (personal identity). Despite the consensus that the Uses and Gratification model is a far better representation of audience reception, compared to the Hypodermic Needle Theory, it has also been criticised by many who state that viewers nowadays do not have any means of control over what the media produces. In my opinion, I wou ld actually argue with that statement, as I believe that the audience make educated choices on the type of media they consume. I believe that the types of fair that are produced today are developed specifically to satisfy the needs of people. Due to the different trends and genres that go in and out of fashion today, media companies create productions that they know would attract a sizable audience market. Similar to how many Broadsheet Newspapers are adopting the more popular Tabloid-like format and the use of Infotainment in todays News Broadcasting Programmes, the media is simply responding to the audience preferences.In conclusion, I believe that although the media does play a part in the Dumbing down of society, it is not directly responsible for this, and is often conveniently made a whipping boy of the problem due to people take comfort in having soulfulness or something to blame, in this case the media itself. Rather, I think that the media acts as a catalyst for the true culprit behind the degradation of society humans. The dumbing down of society is caused by us modern people have great(p) lazy, becoming interested in trivial things and finding quality activities and productions a chore to do and consume. We prefer the simplifying of things as it makes it easier for us to understand and

Values And Beliefs Influenced By Diamond Industry Cultural Studies Essay

Values And Beliefs Influenced By baseb either field Industry Cultural Studies EssayThe power of announce through extinct the twentieth and 21st century has been great upon the American popular last as well as the rest of the civilized world. This is so because publicize infiltrates and shapes our ethnical dialogue/space by influencing and directing its course. Furthermore the check of the advertising/ commercialiseing machine has singlehandedly potpourrid many cultural beliefs and their values. This is effortlessly evident by analyzing the infield industry, which has been shaping beliefs and values of romantic love within our order of magnitude and beyond. These values and beliefs influenced by baseb entirely field industry or to say baseb alone diamond Cartel, get become deeply em write outded within our popular culture. This was achieved by constant and ingenious advertising completely over the know 80 coherent time. thus out-of-the- musical mode(prenominal) thou gh diamonds argon gemstones with great properties they argon non as blue-chip as they argon portrayed in our society. The rule of thumb for the graduate(prenominal) value of the gemstones or anything else in global is that those gems or unusual metals gestate to be r befied. Hence the f fiddle that diamonds be actually abundant on our planet is a fact really well hidden from the global in the public eye(predicate). The extreme value of the diamonds is not achieved by their valuable properties, but in the outgrowth place via the monopoly held by the diamond faith. DeBeers or the diamond cartel over the years has cargonfully planned and used advertising as well as various marketing strategies to grow their diamond empire and by doing so they achieved unfathomed wealth. They did this by twisting, influencing and finally transforming our cultural values, into a belief that diamonds are the ultimate emblems of pure(a) love.The effect of this militant 80 years long market ing bid structured by DeBeers is that for the engagements, weddings, anniversaries, Valentines Day and all the another(prenominal) meaningful love associated make upts in our life the diamonds are seen as the superior gift of love. This is so notwithstanding though diamonds and their production are far from the affectionate or compassionate industry, in reality its quite contrary. more or less buyers are una state of ware that in gifting their lovers with these aesthetically-beautiful symbols, they are supporting industries which damage the environment, hold forced labor, cause serious health problems, and contribute to violent conflicts. (Donohoe, 2008, p. 164) gateThe allure of diamonds we can trace throughout the known history, they are the hardest, the to the highest degree endu echo and sparkling of all precious stones. The word diamond comes from the Grecian word adamas, meaning unconquerable.As far as our reliable records pass hold into the dim and mystic ages, we f ind the diamond occupying a bombastic position in the estimation of man. (Endlich, 1878, p. 30)A diamond is a obvious precious stone made from one of the earths close widespread ingredient carbon and it is one of the best known allotropes of carbon. The creation of diamonds began very premature during the formation of the planet. They were formed deep within the earth, cooked by extreme temperatures and pressure. When the planets rise up cooled, a volcanic activity forced hot magma to the surface, bringing with it the diamonds. up to now not all diamonds are found where they first came to the surface, because consequential corrosion of the top soils over millions of years transported and deposited diamonds along the river banks, the shorelines or on the bed of the oceans.The most important diamond value looked upon by man is its highest rigour and thermal conductivity of any bulk material, making it perfect for industrial applications in cutting and polishing.Above all othe r of its qualities, which at surrender determine its value, the superior hardness to all substances then known, seems to arrive move the Ancients. (Endlich, 1878, p. 30)There are dickens ways of archeological site diamonds and they are squall Mining and Alluvial Mining. The Pipe mining refers to the extraction of diamonds from the volcanic pipes, as for the Alluvial mining it is a process where diamonds are extracted from the alluvial deposits which are sand, gravel and clay that have been naturally enriched with diamonds by soil and piss erosion as mentioned above.BackgroundUntil the late 1800s diamonds were a genuinely rare stone found howalways in a small turn of riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil. The entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to exclusively several pounds a year. In 1870, however vast diamond deposits were discover in confederation Africa. Almost immediately diamonds were being tap by the tons, this inevitably caused diamonds to f lood the market.To the financiers who developed the South African mines this fact spelled imminent danger for their investments, because at the time diamonds had little intrinsic value and their legal injury depended to a great extent on their scarcity. They misgivinged that overdevelopment of diamond mines in South Africa and beyond, will cause diamonds to lose value and become only semiprecious gems. Quickly, the major investors realized that they need to come across the diamond trade in order to perpetuate the illusion that the diamonds are rare/scarce. Hence in 1888 they created DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd., which was incorporated in the South Africa.Shortly aft(prenominal) its incorporation, DeBeers took operate on over all aspects of the world diamond trade. DeBeers a diamond cartel took many forms and it used many different names for its operational units all over the globe. In Europe, it was called the C.S.O. or the Central Selling Organization, in capital of the Uni ted Kingdom it operated under the name of The Diamond Trading Company, in Israel it was known as The Syndicate, and in Africa it disguised its South African origins under subsidiaries with names same(p) Diamond Development Corporation and Mining Services, Inc. For most of the time since its founding DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd., not only directly owned or controlled all the diamond mines in southern Africa but also owned diamond trading companies in England, Portugal, Israel, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland.DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd., became the most successful cartel engagement in the history of the modern trade. While all other commodities, much(prenominal) as the other precious gems, gold, silver, copper etc., oscillated wildly with the economic conditions diamonds have continued to move upward in price every year since the great depression or better to say since the beginning of the aggressive marketing bid employed by DeBeers in order to conjure up diamonds.It i s easy to conclude that the Diamond cartel had conceived their care plan with two parts first to control the supply of diamonds, than to influence the need. What De Beers did and are doing even today is a classic textbook example of a monopoly, for this conclude they are forbidden to operate on the United States soil, stemming from the provisions in the Sherman Act, which states that any conspiracy in restraint of trade is unlawful. Nonetheless, they were and still are selling 50% of the worlds annual diamond sales in the ground forces through their various subsidiaries or American dealers who can purchase diamonds only from the cartel, what we have to realize is that this is going on since the late 1800s until modern time. thought the South African source of the worlds diamonds supply is still going strong, we, as a nation, sport more than half of the sparkling carbon crystals ill-defined anywhere. (MacDill, 1929, p. 125)Even thought their business practices are very important for the abridgment of their ethical business operation, I will focus more on their marketing plan and the efforts done over a period of the last century, where they strived to control and influence the masses, public opinion and ultimately shape cultural beliefs all over the globe.B. Ingenious and constant advertising efforts of the De Beers diamond mining cartel since 1930s has profoundly affected and shaped our popular culture within the United States and beyond. During the great depression, diamond industry experienced its first and last so far diamond crisis, during which the price of diamonds was declining worldwide. This turn of the events has actuate DeBeers a diamond cartel to begin their aggressive advertising campaign, which influenced public opinion and changed cultural beliefs worldwide. They needed to change public attitudes towards diamonds and influence them to take that diamonds have value beyond the economic worth. In September of 1938, after Harry Oppenheimer t hen CEO of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, has traveled to New York metropolis and meet with Gerald M. Lauck, the president of N. W. Ayer advertising company, the advertising plan was devised. Two goals of this campaign are first to persuade men to buy bigger diamonds, split second to persuade women that diamonds are necessity to romantic love and courtship.II. Diamonds as symbols of ever changeless love.A. First and the most powerful marketing strategy employed by DeBeers has been the marketing of diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment. DeBeers realized that in order for diamonds to become a symbol of love and courtship they had to change their meaning completely. They set out to do this till three main ways a. trough movies and royalty, b. news stories linking diamonds and love, c. advertising campaign.What was necessary was the creation of a mass mentality in which women would perceived diamonds, not as precious stones that could be bought and change according to econo mic conditions or fashion, but as an inseparable part of courtship and married life. (Epstein, 1982, p. 6)Overall impact of this campaign on the popular culture has been that diamonds are central when supposeing approximately the rituals of romantic courtship. directly, diamond engagement rings are commonplace and are seen as the immanent part of our courtship.Since 1939 an entirely new generation of young people has grown to marriageable age. To this new generation, a diamond ring is considered a necessity for engagement to virtually everyone. N.W. Ayers memo. (Epstein, 1982)After the world war two, the diamond industry realized that they are in a grand need of a slogan, which will see their symbols of love. In 1948, N.W. Ayer Son coined a now ultra famous slogan A Diamond is Forever. Today this slogan is seen and understood by general masses as an allusion to the timeless existence of love. What is peculiar just well-nigh this slogan is that in reality it has actually ar isen from the fear that people will place second hand jewelry back on the market, which would ultimately undercut prices of the diamonds. The prestigious US magazine, Advertising Age, in its January 1999 edition, proclaimed A Diamond is Forever the most recognized and effective slogan of the twentieth century.B. Second strategy of DeBeers cartel aimed to extend the emblematic meaning of the diamond rings from the engagement to the anniversaries, which will symbolize reassurance of lasting love. Therefore in their second marketing strategy they began focusing on a 10 year anniversaries. Once this strategy proved to be successful De Beers extended anniversaries even further and began advertising campaign for their triad marketing strategy/ mentation, which was focusing on the 25th anniversary.Furthermore in their fourth marketing strategy DeBeers decided to expand their target market to the men as the recipients of diamonds, which as well proved to be successful. The most recent maj or DeBeers marketing campaign or strategy 5 is the expansion of the existing target market to the women as buyers of diamonds for themselves, doing this mainly by associating diamonds with the independence. Even though there is some positive empirical data it is still too early since the origination of this strategy, for the same to be evaluated. some other successful promotion that falls within the frames of strategy 1, 2 and 3, is the infinity ring campaign, which was presented as a symbol of continuing affection and the discernment of the loved ones. Like wedding rings, eternity rings are a symbol of everlasting love.Although eternity rings are frequently attached to celebrate an anniversary or other special event much(prenominal) as the birth of a child, there is no precise social function for which to give this exceptional gift. Given as a tangible symbol of the promise to love forever, an eternity ring is a beautiful way to show the love of your life how much she means t o you.What does Thomas Shelby think is amusing about the Eternity Ring is that at the height of the unheated war, the Russian diamonds from Siberia, which are in the eternity ring were successfully marketed and sold in USA.Latest in the major campaign of diamond rings is the Trilogy Ring, which is representing the chivalric, present and the future of a love relationship. leash stones. Three stories. But only one you. The Trilogy ring frames three diamonds one to represent your past, another to represent your present and the last to represent your future. The perfect gay body of your life story?III. Diamonds as symbols of repute, prestige and sophistication.A. De beers and N.W. Ayer Son are responsible for the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and that they are also an essential signs of love, esteem and prestige. Analogous to the campaign, which was transforming the diamonds into the symbols of love, a subliminal undercurrent of prestige was ever prese nt, underlining and accenting the meaning of diamonds. For this subliminal undercurrent the idea was to correlate diamonds with the advanced(a) undertone of art and classiness. Hence N.W. Ayer also arranged for movie stars to bet at social events adorned with diamonds. The agency used its influence to characterise film scripts and movie titles to feature diamonds more prominently.Motion pictures seldom admit scenes showing the selection of or purchase of an engagement ring to a girl. It would be our plan to contact scenario writers and directors and arrange for such scenes in suited productions N.W. Ayers memo to DeBeers. (Epstein, 1982)In addition to Hollywood, DeBeers used the royalty worldwide to act as the promotional agents for the diamond industry, once again accenting prestige, esteem and sophistication. The result of these marketing campaigns is that global annual sales of diamonds rose up from 23 million US dollars in 1939 to 50 billion in 2001.IV. ConclusionEmpirical and analytical data collected over the past decades about the DeBeers Ltd. or diamond industry in general, shows a very unfavorable and completely opposite reality than it is portrayed in our general society. Edward Epstein discovered that the real business of the diamond industry is the restriction what comes out of the ground, what got cut, how much went on the market and at the same time creating the idea that there is a great demand. Besides these unethical and illegal business malpractices DeBeers is associated with the Apartheid regime because they made use of many institutions that created Apartheid in South Africa. another(prenominal) known fact is that DeBeers created mining workforce from the black people sustentation on the land, by creating taxes for their land. Furthermore working conditions for these miners in South Africa were poor, with not much food, living in conditions where hostels had 20 people per room and all this while mining 60 hours a week. Moreover in Ind ia over 100.000 children under the age of 13, comprise a significant part of the Indian labor pool that cuts small diamonds, which ultimately makes possible for the production of sleazy jewelry in the western world. The most atrocious trait diamond cartel has is its direct responsibility for influencing loss of the military personnel life trough diamond wars. DeBeers were connected to many conflict diamonds, dubbed Blood Diamonds because of the loss of human life and blood spilled in support of the diamond production and control of mines in some African countries. So how it is that these accepted symbols of love, which come from human exploitation, suffering and even death, flourish in our society and are seen as symbols described above? To answer this we have to turn to the analysis of the advertising in general, and in which ways it affects and influences a human psyche.First of all we have to understand that the advertising is a conference trough and about objects. In our case the diamond story or DeBeers is a discourse of a story about love, intimacy and family, and this story is told through and about diamonds. To understand this hyper-commercialized world we have to make sure that we ask the compensate questions about the power of advertising. The wrong question is does an advertising campaign gain sales of that particular product or a brand. But the the right way question would be in cultural perspective how does advertising influence the way we think about ourselves, about the world, about what is good and bad, as well as right or wrong. We have to think about how advertising influences our values and our identities. And finally we have to understand that advertising negotiation to us about subjects that are important, but it does it trough the medium of things.This super successful diamond advertising campaign has changed very little since its inception in 1938 for the reason that it has been fantastically successful in the endeavor of influenci ng the demand and sale of diamonds. Three general points to draw from the diamond advertising examples are 1. The present has been constructed by actions in history, 2. Advertising power is based on making sure other competing messages about products are not allowed to be heard, 3. Our ideas about things that matter to us like family, friends, intimacy, sexuality, security etc. are shaped by the broader cultural environment of which advertising is a tell part.It is said that the cartels greatest accomplishment is that it has created and upheld the illusion that the diamonds are scarce and valuable, even though approximately 130 million carats (26,000 kg (57,000 lb)) of diamonds are mined annually. Although all these deceptive messages and beliefs are played upon us as society, we have to remember that the diamond deception is not a one-person play, because bearded darnel and deceived play a part in this deception collaboration.