DeNeen L. Brown’s article Generations Lost covers one of the worst acts of terrorism on American soil. Perpetrated by White Tulsans against the prosperous Black Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the massacre claimed over 300 African American lives. Despite the high casualties, the government took no action to punish the offenders or repay the victims. DeNeen L. Brown is a critically acclaimed, prize-winning staff writer at the Washington Post. Brown’s accolades include the 1999 American Society of Newspaper Editors Award and the 2006 American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors’ Excellence in Feature Writing Contest Award. The author covers topics ranging from politics, culture, and climate change. However, most of her work tackles social injustices hence centering on the black middle class, indigenous population, the homeless, and gentrification. Brown argues that despite efforts to extend equality and opportunities to all, American society remains divided along racial lines.
The article posits that racial division and segregation in the United States remain an unresolved issue. Whereas the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was characterized by looting, arson, and murder, contemporary society has devised novel models to perpetuate systemic oppression. The author cites the 2020 death of George Floyd, a black American man “under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer,” to portray systemic violence meted on the black community. Oppression (Brown 60). Brown employs the photograph of a mother, Kristen Moorhead, and her son, Che, to highlight the fear black mothers live with for their sons’ safety (Brown 61). Also, disparities in incarceration rates amongst blacks and whites are accompanied by massive economic differences, ensuring the continued dominance of one race over the other. Tulsa survivor E. A. Loupe recalls observing growing hatred among poor White Tulsans “because of Negro prosperity and independence” in “Little Africa,” which fanned the violence directed towards Greenwood (Brown 74).
The article Generation Lost is a crucial marker of the United States’ race relations history. Despite the uniqueness of the massacre, which included aerial attacks on American citizens, the responsible authorities silenced the atrocities of the raid leading to its relative unfamiliarity amongst Americans. The depicted relationship between contemporary systemic racial oppression and violence to the outdated open assault of blacks highlights the lack of progress the US has made in addressing the plight of the African American community. The expose by the article that city officials deputized the hundred white rioters who attacked Greenwood is very believable as it reflects modern-day police violence against black men. Thus, the article elucidates the origins of the ills that plague modern-day society. Therefore, the author highlights the need to resolve these racial conflicts that characterize American society.
As a result, I believe that laws such as the proposed Texas new law, which limits historical events that public-school teachers can teach, must not be passed. The law threatens the propagation of the history of certain cultures and ethnicities. For example, Brown admits ignorance to the events of Greenwood 1921 due to the cover-up efforts undertaken by authorities and the media following the Tulsa Race Massacre. Therefore, teachers must be allowed the freedom to teach and discuss events such as the Trail of Tears, which saw massive deaths of Native Americans, and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Society must embrace spreading awareness over such historical atrocities against specific communities to ensure that lessons are learned to enhance the unification of American society.
Works Cited
Brown, DeNeen L. “Generations Lost.” National Geographic June 2021 (2021): 59-82. Print.
Medical Articles Summaries And Reflection Sample College Essay
Article 1
Quality of life in patients with Cushing’s Disease
This article provides an overview of Cushing’s Disease (CD) and Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) disorder and the quality of life in patient living with the condition. Cushing’s Disease, also known as Cushing’s syndrome, is a relatively uncommon illness by appalling cortisol excess, dramatically influencing the quality of life (QoL). The conditions may lead to comorbidities that disrupt an individual’s daily life, such as myopathy, fatigability, osteoporosis, depression, and cognitive alternation (Santo et al., 2019). The critical point to note in people suffering from this condition is that signs such as altered psychology encompassing depression and anxiety are very common and are good indicators for impaired quality of life. In addition, even after the people living with these conditions are treated, their quality of life remains jeopardized. It may not be fully restored since their recovery after treatment is not always complete, and in most cases, the comorbidities will persist. Cushing disease is prevalent among women, with a women/men ratio ranging between 3 to 5.
Santos et al. (2019) have demonstrated that several tools can measure the quality of life. However, it is critical to choose one with better psychometric properties and validated when selecting a tool. Most researchers have always used questionnaires to measure the health-associated quality of life (Santo et al., 2019). Questionnaires are the most preferred because they are easy to use and administer in research and clinical practice. The generic questionnaire may be used on any person, both the healthy and the sick. This may provide a baseline of comparison between the fit and the ill population studied.
Tritos and Biller (2019) posit that the QoL is significantly impaired amongst patients with an active illness. In Cushing’s Disease (CD), quality of life is worse than in control and patients with pituitary edema. In pituitary-dependent Cushing’s Disease, the quality of life is impaired. Moreover, this research study has also revealed a negative correlation between the mental component score of SF36 amongst patients with CD and urinary free cortisol. Medical treatment can help improve patients’ health outcomes and quality of life. For instance, a patient suffering from CD and who was administered pasireotide had improved quality of life compared to those who were not. The improvement in the quality of life was linked to lowering the urinary-free cortisol level.
Article 2
Giving Voice to Patients Values Throughout Cancer: A novel Nurse-Led Intervention
According to this article, optimal care plans enable patients to elucidate their values as a foundation for making prudent decisions in healthcare. Nonetheless, this may not happen when the patients are unstable health-wise. According to Epstein and colleagues, their research objective in this study was to test the feasibility and accessibility in highly occupied oncology care units, especially the novel program of systematic nurse-led values regarding oncology care and a discussion with all new cancer patients. This study methodology employed in this research involved the oncology nurses in this study were trained on how to specific questions and how to be empathetic when dealing with patients with such conditions to retrieve the best information suitable for the research study. The training of the nurses on how to use the communication framework of empathy helped the ineffective collection of even sensitive health information from the research participants. A total of 177 discussions was conducted. Of the number, 67 were new cancer patients (50 with gastrointestinal malignancies and 17 hematologic). No patients declined to discuss their health issues during the discussion. Therefore, this research study revealed that discussions led by nurses on patients’ values immediately after examinations are acceptable and feasible in a busy oncology unit. According to Epstein et al. (2019), no measure of quality care for cancers is immensely important than providing care with fundamental health-associated values. In this case, it is what is essential providing better meaning to life. Epstein et al. (2019) state that the best healthcare service should be patient-based, and failing to streamline treatments with values is considered a medical error.
Article 3
Integration of Genomics in Cancer Care
This article mainly introduces nurses to how genomic genetics are integrated into cancer care from prevention to complete treatment and influencing the oncology nurse. According to this study, cancer is considered heterogeneous at the molecular level, with the etiology of cancer underlined. According to Maria and Colleagues (2013), having a better understanding of the treatment and development of both hereditary and sporadic cancers is critical in assessing cancer risk, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In addition, the paper also explains that rapid development and advancement in the genomics of genetics is revolutionizing all the aspects of cancer care, something which has a more significant implication in the practice of nursing. In addition, this article has a strong belief that nurses have the ability and technical capacity of educating the patients as well as their families on the advancement of the genetic genome hence advocating for the application of evidence-based genetic genome practice in reducing cancer risks while making sure better health outcome for cancer patients all the time. According to the article, finishing the Human Genome Project in 2003 changed scientific research focusing only on single genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2. Consequential to the change, the human genome project has made it possible for scientific research to focus on multiple genes and factors that regulate and modify the expression of genes. Notwithstanding, the article has also pointed out that genomic and genetic factors are the causes of all cancers. The accumulation of altered genes has been a significant contributing factor to carcinogenesis’s complexities. Continuous cell genome instability results in the abnormal proliferation of cells, cancers, and tumors.
Key Concepts Learnt from Article 2: A Research Study by Epstein and Colleagues (2019)
Epstein and colleagues conducted research on the Giving Voice to Patient Values Throughout Cancer: A Novel Nurse-Led Intervention. From the study, important concepts regarding patient care, especially the new oncology patients have been discussed. Some people believe that conducting a feasibility and accessibility test in a busy oncology health care unit is never possible. However, this research has shown that it is possible. No quality level of cancer care is very significant than providing care with the core healthcare values. Cancers compromise the basic identity and dignity; hence there is a need to discuss the various treatment options and their benefits and related healthcare burden they have on patients. Patient value exploration is important in affirming patients’ autonomy and personhood. More often than not, patients are interested in seeing clinicians discuss their values so that their treatment and care plan may be done accordingly.
Based on this article, it is evident that patients’ values are not frequently addressed. If discussion of patients’ values continues to be made at the tail ends when incapacity and inability may limit patients from getting involved directly in their care plans, surrogates and clinicians will continue to struggle to make patient-centered discussions. Advanced directives may not benefit patients and their care plans; however, they only depict end-of-life preferences. According to Lynch et al. (2022), a comprehensive conversation of values early enough in the treatment line is critical in informing ongoing decisions regarding the treatment and care for newly diagnosed cancer patients.
The study also revealed that most clinicians are not well trained in eliciting values, which poses a significant challenge when discussing sensitive care information with patients (Lynch et al., 2022). Even though physicians normally spearhead the discussion concerning the acromegaly and treatment plans for patients, an oncology nurse may be suited to engage patients early enough as far as values discussion is concerned. Oncology nurses are adequately trained to spearhead values discussions. Their training is well incorporated with a better communication framework full of empathy that enables patients to be free to participate in the debate concerning their care plan. The past efforts in promoting patients’ advanced care plans have focused on specific preferences for interventions mainly given towards the end of life, hence reaping minimal success to cancer patients.
The concepts learnt from this paper were not very new, even though there were several concepts that I learnt from it. The article enlightened me enlightened my understanding of patient value discussion. I have always believed that nurses have a limited role in patient value discussion and planning of care. However, this article has unearthed my potential and role as a nurse inpatient value discussion. Since most physicians have little training on patient values discussion, nurses are the best suited to engage in this course. This is because of the empathetic communication framework they are subjected to during their training. The information presented in this article remains poignant to oncology nurses’ treatments and care plans. Patients are always interested in seeing physicians discuss their treatment plan and values as early as possible; nonetheless, the discussions are typically towards the end stages of life, which has never been quite beneficial to patients due to the limited health outcome on the patients. A team makes treatments decision of oncologists who need to understand a patient as a human being and what they value highly in life as a requirement for patient-based and goal-oriented decision making.
Molloy’s value system encompassing community, service, spirituality, and study is closely related to this article in the following ways. Regarding the community as a value, Molloy embraces new faces and acknowledges diversity. This is closely related to the article because new oncology patients are welcomed. The patients’ values are discussed indiscriminately (Molloy College, 2022). Study season at Molly College represents a period for growth and new life. The intellectual life is well expressed in the ability to be curious and open to nurturing budding new ideas. The paper encourages open discussion of patients’ values and care plans in the early stages to help better decision-making. The spirituality aspect brings people’s reflection and ability to appreciate the beauty in their surroundings (Molloy College, 2022). Notwithstanding, spirituality directs people into having a more profound knowledge of self. The reading encourages open discussion between patients and care providers to understand better their challenges, which then informs their direction of care.
References
Epstein, A. S., Desai, A. V., Bernal, C., Romano, D., Wan, P. J., Okpako, M., Anderson, K., Chow, K., Kramer, D., Calderon, C., Klimek, V. V., Rawlins-Duell, R., Reidy, D. L., Goldberg, J. I., Cruz, E., & Nelson, J. E. (2019). Giving voice to patient values throughout cancer: A novel nurse-led intervention. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 58(1), 72-79.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.04.028
Lynch, K. A., Bernal, C., Romano, D. R., Shin, P., Nelson, J. E., Okpako, M., … & Epstein, A. S. (2022). Navigating a newly diagnosed cancer through clinician-facilitated discussions of health-related patient values: a qualitative analysis. BMC palliative care, 21(1), 1-9.
Molloy College. (2022). Molloy college: Four pillars of Dominican life. Molloy College: Affordable undergraduate and graduate degree programs at one of the top colleges in America. https://www.molloy.edu/about-molloy-college/mission-statement/four-pillars
Santos, A., Resmini, E., Martínez Momblán, M. A., Valassi, E., Martel, L., & Webb, S. M. (2019). Quality of life in patients with Cushing’s Disease. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00862
Tritos, N. A., & Biller, B. M. K. (2019). Current management of Cushing’s Disease. Journal of internal medicine, 286(5), 526-541.
WHO. (2020). WHOQOL – Measuring Quality of Life| The World Health Organization. WHO | World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/tools/whoqol
Essay On Artificial Intelligence Essay Example For College
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence represents a watershed moment in contemporary science and technology (Dick, 2019). It is the process of automating machines in order for them to acquire intelligence. The concept is astounding in and of itself! Humanity has done a big and admirable achievement. It does, however, raise the question, “Did we go too far this time?” One cannot help but wonder whether civilization will regret delegating its thinking power to a collection of machines or whether these machines will become smarter over time. In his book, Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea, John Haugeland expands on and delves deeper into the topic. The author’s goal in producing this book was to ascertain the rationale behind Artificial Intelligence. Why was it necessary to automate machines to think like humans? Additionally, he wanted to explore the science behind Artificial Intelligence (Jackson, 2019). In his book, he first recognizes the existence of two distinct groups of people: skeptics and people of faith. For skeptics, the concept of artificial intelligence is preposterous, comparable to the tooth fairy. For believers, artificial intelligence is a foregone conclusion. He also attempts to make a comparison between the natural and artificial minds. I evaluated this book with the assistance of four more books. According to the author, the concept of artificial intelligence was first exploratory; but, through time, it developed from mere thoughts and hypotheses and became feasible.
Literature Review
The scientists’ goals were to make life simpler for everyone (Brynjolfsson & Mcafee, 2017). They experimented with giving the machines the capacity to think by introducing a sequence of instructions and programs into them in order to see whether they could think for themselves. These robots are capable of interpreting and reasoning in the same way as humans are! Talk about putting a piece of one’s thoughts out there for the world to see! He claims that the human mind is extremely similar to the machine mind because, in a way, the human mind is also a computer, which he compares to the machine mind. He addresses the outcomes of automating these robots to think as we do in two different ways: first, he treats them as if they were human. According to the author, giving machines a consciousness might result in machine beings that are indistinguishable from humans in the sense that they would have emotions and human impulses similar to those of humans (Lu et al., 2018). On the other side, these automated technologies might result in robots that just execute what they were programmed to do, without showing any emotion or resemblance to humans in the process. According to the author, no amount of human intellect will ever be able to equal our humanity. To provide an example, he claims that no matter how much programming is put into a computer, it will never be as creative or original as a human brain. This is due to the fact that they are provided with a succession of programs according to their objective (Agrawal, Gans, & Goldfarb, 2017).
This implies that they can only accomplish what they were designed to do and will never be able to compete with humans in terms of originality since they will be restricted by their programming. Ideas and research from Galileo’s, Democritus’, and Hobbes’ writings are included into the writer’s theories and research to help in the continued development of his theories. Galileo was not concerned with the intellect or the soul, but rather with mathematical representations (Taulli & Oni, 2019). His mathematical representations provided a path to understanding and breakthrough in topics pertaining to the mind. Democritus, a Greek atomist, was likewise of the opinion that nature is inscribed in mathematical letters, but he was wrong. As a result of taking things into account and comparing those to the subject matter at hand (artificial intelligence), it becomes clear that it needs mathematics, which indicates that they might just as well be the products of nature. But if this is the fact, it implies that they have a greater potential for becoming smarter than human beings since everything about them is built on mathematical programming, which are theoretically the foundation of human brains (Calo, 2017).
Discussion
Unlike the human mind, these computers were capable of updating themselves on a continuous basis based on mathematical computations. Haugeland refers to Thomas Hobbes as the “Father of Artificial Intelligence” in this work, which was written as early as the 1650s. According to Hobbes’ studies and discoveries, the human mind essentially makes use of mathematical operations in the same way that a pen and paper would be used to calculate, but this occurs on an internal level (Agrawal, Gans, & Goldfarb, 2017). According to him, a systematic order or sequence is necessary for the human mind to function at its peak performance level. This implies that humans and these robots are more similar than anybody could have anticipated. Given this commonality, it follows that these robots, just like humans, will ultimately find out what they are doing provided they follow their programs! Whether you accept Agrawal, Gans, & Goldfarb, (2017), words at their value, you have to ask if these robots, which now possess intelligence, will one day take over the globe. They’ve been handed an inch; will their goal be to figure out how to obtain a mile? Is it possible that scientists were the ones who brought humanity’s mission to an end? For example, at the most fundamental level, the machines were initially designed to serve a certain role, and it should not be forgotten that their thoughts are fundamentally human in nature (Taulli & Oni, 2019). The result is that, while carrying out their fundamental duties, they are continuously mastering those functions and devising new and improved methods to carry out those activities, all with the assistance of mathematical calculations that have been programmed into their systems.
Many believe that computers may eventually outperform humans in some activities. While this would be beneficial if the possibility of their acquiring an unruly mind were not there, it is not (Lu et al., 2018). These robots may ultimately wish to claim credit for their labor and may even rebel if they do not get credit for their efforts. One should also consider the fact that they are essentially machines, which means that they cannot get weary or sick or demand money; as a result, more and more companies will be employing robots in the future, or at the very least in the not-too-distant future. This is something that is up for dispute. To others, this would be a remarkable achievement since it would imply that people would no longer be required to toil or labor diligently for the rest of their lives because they would now have assistants who have been programmed to aid them in their endeavors (Calo, 2017). Work, on the other hand, provides a sense of fulfillment for the vast majority of people. The majority of individuals would be unable to determine their life’s purpose since, according to studies, the majority of people’s identity is dependent on what they do (Kaul, Enslin, & Gross, 2020). But most people’s anxiety is based on such notions, which puts them at danger of depression since everyone wants to live a satisfied life, and a big part of living a happy life is having an occupation or a vocation that they are passionate about. To summarize, Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea is an engrossing work that demands and holds the reader’s attention from the very beginning. When it comes to artificial intelligence, John Haugeland is a master of deft maneuvering.
Conclusion
I will have to acknowledge that in the mid – twentieth century, I may have been a sceptic. The thought of a computer with a human mentality could had simply been ridiculous. Though I am living in the information age but like the rest of the Millennials I have witnessed incredibly sophisticated devices, such cell phones and smart TVs, and paired with thorough data from this book, how could I not be a believer? This also opened my eyes to the powerful threats that can result from the success and the growth of these robots. To go on to that given the far artificial intelligence has advanced since the time the book was written, who would not be? The author only examined life sized machines although electronics such as phones and TVs are already intelligent robots. They could ultimately grow better than humans as in reality they stem from environment and would thus adapt overtime, just like the rest of nature does. This would in turn has resulted in their displacing human people at occupations. John attempts to retain a neutral attitude to this matter, nevertheless by only providing facts; the thought of artificially intelligent computers gets frightening. This might nonetheless be attributed on the factor of people fearing what they cannot grasp. Based on what you are, a believer or a cynic, this book will touch everyone individually. Altogether it is an educational and fascinating book.
References
Agrawal, A., Gans, J., & Goldfarb, A. (2017). What to expect from artificial intelligence.
Brynjolfsson, E., & Mcafee, A. N. D. R. E. W. (2017). Artificial intelligence, for real. Harvard business review, 1, 1-31.
Calo, R. (2017). Artificial intelligence policy: a primer and roadmap. UCDL Rev., 51, 399.
Dick, S. (2019). Artificial intelligence.
Jackson, P. C. (2019). Introduction to artificial intelligence. Courier Dover Publications.
Kaul, V., Enslin, S., & Gross, S. A. (2020). History of artificial intelligence in medicine. Gastrointestinal endoscopy, 92(4), 807-812.
Lu, H., Li, Y., Chen, M., Kim, H., & Serikawa, S. (2018). Brain intelligence: go beyond artificial intelligence. Mobile Networks and Applications, 23(2), 368-375.
Taulli, T., & Oni, M. (2019). Artificial intelligence basics (p. 9). Berkeley: Apress.