Methodism is described as being born in song; discuss the role of Essay

Methodism is described as being born in song; discuss the role of hymnody in the theology and practice of Methodism - Essay Example Young John was travelling to Georgia as a preacher when a big storm struck the ship, threatening the lives of the travellers. While most of them including John were worried about the prospect, a group of German Moravian Christians sat calmly through the whole period singing devotional songs (Galli et al 2000). In the end the whole party arrived safely in the United States, but it appears that the calm faith of the Moravians, their devotion, and their singing had an impact of John Wesley. This could have been one of the reasons why John brought in the concept of hymnody into the prayers of the Methodist Church. Other authors also share this belief regarding the role of hymnody in Wesley’s and the Methodist Churches’ reliance on songs. The book, ‘A panorama of Christian hymnody’ states that his contact with the German priests also inspired him to learn their language and to translate many of the German hymns into English (Routkey & Richardson 2005). This ferv ent hymn by John Wesley is an indication of his deep rooted belief in the power of songs in prayer. â€Å"O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer’s praise, The Glories of my God and King. The Triumphs of His Grace† (Wilkinson 1992). The use of the words ‘a thousand tongues’ and ‘sing’ is indicative of this core belief of the Methodist church as founded by Wesley. As mentioned earlier, the Wesley brothers practiced an evangelical form of preaching and began to use hymn books in their weekly gatherings usually in homes and other areas not belonging to the church (Creamer 1848). There are also reports that this practice along with audience participation came in for extensive criticism from many quarters in England during that time. But his practice of Friday gatherings in order to sing the praise of the Lord began to be noticed and many other communities began

Lenses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lenses - Research Paper Example Whenever a lens is surrounded by air, refraction of light takes place from the air into the lens, crossing through the lens and then refracting back into the air. Each refraction can lead to a change in the direction of light travel. There are two types of lenses, converging lenses, and diverging lenses. A converging lens is one that causes light rays that were initially parallel to the central axis to converge, while a diverging lens is one that causes such light rays to diverge. When an object is placed in front of any of the two types of lenses, light rays that can refract either into or out of the lens from the object to produce an image of the object. A lens can produce an object image only because it can bend light rays, but it can only do this only if its refraction index is different from that of the surrounding medium (Halliday, Resnick & Walker, 936). The single spot to which light rays that have been refracted by a lens are converging is known as the focal point. The dista nce from the lens to the focal point, often denoted by the letter f, is called the focal length. Every lens has its own focal length that forms its defining characteristic. A lens can have either a positive or a negative focal length, depending on the side of the lens on which an object is placed. When the focal point of a lens is on the opposite side of the lens from where an object is placed, the resulting focal length is positive. On the other hand, when the focal point is on the same side as the object, the focal length is negative. While these terminologies are useful convections used by scientists and engineers to characterize lenses as well as mirrors, they contain no real physical meanings (Kirkpatrick & Gregory, 367). Both converging and diverging lenses form different types of images, depending on where the object is placed. When an object is placed inside the focal point, the lens forms a virtual image that is on the same side of the lens as the object, and having the sam e orientation. Thus, a converging lens can form two types of images, real or virtual, depending on whether the object is placed inside or outside of the focal point. In the case of a diverging lens, the image formed is virtual that is on the same side of the lens as the object, and contains the same orientation. This is regardless of the object distance and whether it is placed inside or outside of the focal point. Just like in the case of mirrors, when the image is real the image distance is taken to be positive while when the image is virtual it is taken to be negative. However, the location from lenses of real and virtual images are the reverse of those belonging to mirrors. Real images form on the lens side that is opposite the object, while virtual images form on the side that the object is located (Benenson, 358). There are lens systems that are arrangements of a correction of lenses that have a common optical axis, and are mostly applied in the correction of image defects tha t are present in single lenses. If the positions of the principal planes of the single lens are known together with their total focus, then it is possible for an optical image to be constructed for a lens system. The image construction is similar with that of thick lens if there are only two principal planes. In addition to lens systems, there are lenses with

Gap Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gap Inc - Essay Example Thirty-seven years ago, Gap Inc. started its humble beginnings with big dreams that spun into a golden international retail enterprise of highly-respected apparel lines. From a handful of employees at its historic California home, Gap Inc. has now hired over 160,000 employees all over the world that support the brand names it carries. With more than 4,250 stores, Gap Inc. boasts of its worldwide lead as a retailer for clothing, accessories and personal care products under the brand names of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. By the year 21st century the complexity of the fashion industry has acknowledged the changing moods of dressing. Dressing down according to Kelly and Silverstein (2005) became an acceptable norm for the society whose rules for dressing became relaxed and interest in fashion waned. With home-based jobs sprouting people saw no need to buy fashionable clothes. Ordinary retail and clothing sales saw a disappointing decline as the millennium ushered in comfort dressin g. Gap Inc., whose target clients are teens and the middle market with its basic style should see a logical push compared to Banana Republic's affluent clientele and Old Navy's fashionable yet bargain minded customers.Gap Inc. however, suffered tremendous drawbacks against its gracious fashion profit enjoyment of the 90's that Brady attributed to its electronic retailing in 1997, as prevailing modes of expression sank the sales of summer 2001. Hea revealed how store sales showed a 12% dip compared to the previous year. Given the sales shortfall, shares of stocks remained on the defensive that Hea positively believed could pick up during the fall months. However August and September saw weak store traffic owing to the lack of buyers' enthusiasm for its apparel lines. The Old Navy division suffered the highest setback with the biggest sales drop that then CEO Millard Drexler acknowledged as its priority, "the need to find the right balance between key items and fashion". In its numero us attempts to survive the fashion crash, Drexler was later replaced in 2002 according to Brady(2003) that has brought in bolder colors that certainly help cut the inventory, squeezed out costs and helped Gap triple its earnings and stocks rose to more then $18 per share. The GAP strategies By redesigning a "look" to fit in with the season and the environment, Gap's strategies included highly focused surveys and research on consumer needs and fashion trends that high-lighted classifying its clientele from the "style-conscious, updated and classic" individuals according to Brady(2003). Gap, has also adapted the different mixes provided by Levy and Weitz (2004, Ch.2) that retailing systems should carefully observe with strong emphasis on the merchandise. According to them, much focus on its products centered on the ability to recognize versatility in style, assortment and variety without sacrificing its quality. Fit being an important factor in the clothing apparel line, assumed that its predictability should announce its availability that consumer research brings into its designs for must-have clothes. Although the millennium trend was to dress down and simplify, the smugness brought by the old Gap designs were too obtainable with other cheaper competition. A variety of choices for the shopper in style and a wider array of color definitely zeroed in the buying spree. Gap's predictability in the 1990's saw a gradual yet significant progress that has seen improvement on its credit rating and debt reduction in the 3rd quarter of 2003. Webb then announced its CEO Paul Pressler's move to repurchase its common stocks. Price Adjustment according to the law of supply and demand hammers specific changes to maximize profit and minimize markdowns according to Chorafas (2002). Prices change but are highly capricious in trying to match the demand. Gap, has however attached a stigma to dynamic pricing that the fashion industry equates with consumers flocking stores only

Bipolar Disorder Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bipolar Disorder - Term Paper Example Center of discussion in this paper is bipolar disorder as a disease with subtle specificity and sensitivity. With the widening of the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder comes the loss of specificity and danger of overdiagnosis due to the increase in sensitivity of the subtle manifestations of bipolar disorder. As a result, overdiagnosis poses substantially greater potential for harm as desired treatment may not be appropriate and may lead to induction of hypomania, mixed states, rapid cycling, and worsening of preexisting agitation. Bipolar disorder is difficult to distinguish from other disorders because of mood variations in hormones, personality disturbances, personal stress, sleep problems, ingestion of drugs or alcohol and diseases of the brain, trouble in getting accurate histories because of difficulty in describing mood states to others, and inadequately trained professionals in the recognition of the subtle form of the disorder. These factors, together with the diagnos tic criteria itself, create confusion in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder as certain symptoms can occur in other disorder. Clinicians, researchers, and allied health practitioners are challenged to prevent the over/misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder through different studies and literature, differentiating the subtle forms of bipolar disorder from the true bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder and its subtle forms gained attention during 1983 when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) verified the existence of relatively mild and subtle spectrum of bipolar disorders.... iseases of the brain, trouble in getting accurate histories because of difficulty in describing mood states to others, and inadequately trained professionals in the recognition of the subtle form of the disorder (Miklowitz, 2011, 43). These factors, together with the diagnostic criteria itself, create confusion in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder as certain symptoms can occur in other disorder. Clinicians, researchers, and allied health practitioners are challenged to prevent the over/misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder through different studies and literature, differentiating the subtle forms of bipolar disorder from the true bipolar disorder. Review of Literature Bipolar disorder and its subtle forms gained attention during 1983 when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) verified the existence of relatively mild and subtle spectrum of bipolar disorders (Grinspoon, 1983, 281). The subtle forms of bipolar disorder manifest psychomotor, interpersonal, and vocational dimension, rath er than alterations in mood which is the core symptom of bipolar disorder. According to Grinspoon (1983), the subtle forms of bipolar disorder range between cyclothymic disorder and dysthymic disorder (281). Cyclothymic disorder starts during teenage or early adulthood years and may often be diagnosed as a personality disorder. Cycles are short and last for only a few days and may not meet the category for hypomania due to biphasic course. On the other hand, dysthymic disorders are subaffective and subtle hypomania is present. Onset is indeterminate and cardinal symptoms often occur at age 21. A full range of depressive symptoms occurs at subsyndromal level, and a patient is categorized in the subtle forms of bipolar disorder if patients do not have any diagnosable nonaffective disorder

Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Film - Essay Example Hayne utilizes social issues like homophobia and racism, which remained mostly unspoken in many films of 1950s, from which he borrows and face them head on. In the scene, it becomes apparent that it is even worse to be a black than gay. One cannot fail to acknowledge how the themes of racism and sexual orientation as well as gender role are implicitly expressed in this particular scene of the film. One evening when Frank decides to work late into the evening, when Cathy makes up her mind to bring his dinner at the office where he works, she finds him passionately kissing a fellow man. Frank then goes ahead to confess to have been through â€Å"problems† in his youthful days and consequently agrees to make an appointment for a conversion therapy. His relationship with Cathy hits a snag and damages beyond repair, which forces him to resort to alcohol. In the meantime, Cathy becomes cozy with Raymond. A neighbor sees Cathy with Raymond and spreads the vicious chitchat of Cathy’s indecorous relationship. The rumor finally gets to Frank, who becomes irritated about the whole issue. Despite the fact that Cathy tries to defend her friendship with Raymond, she eventually put a stop to it altogether. Far from Heaven reflects the style used in many films of 1950s, particularly Douglas Sirk’s. Haynes diligently developed and chose appropriate color palettes for all scenes in the film. He accentuates experience with color in various scenes, for instance, where Cathy, Eleanor and their acquaintances dress up in red, yellow, brown and green. He utilizes green color to illuminate prohibited and baffling scenes. This is evident when Frank goes to a gay bar and when Cathy visits a black dominated restaurant in the black environs. Haynes also utilizes shots and angles that reflect 1950s film epoch. Cinematographer, Edward Lachman developed the 1950s impression using similar form of lighting techniques and apparatus and also makes use

The field of Image Processing refers Essay Example for Free

The field of Image Processing refers Essay The field of Image Processing refers to processing digital images by means of digital computer. One of the main application areas in Digital Image Processing methods is to improve the pictorial information for human interpretation. Most of the digital images contain noise. This can be removed by many enhancement techniques. Filtering is one of the enhancement techniques which is used to remove unwanted information (noise) from the image. It is also used for image sharpening and smoothening. Some neighborhood operations work with the values of the image pixels in the neighborhood and the corresponding values of a sub image that has the same dimensions as the neighborhood. The sub image is called a â€Å"filter†. The aim of this project is to demonstrate the filtering techniques by performing different operations such as smoothening, sharpening, removing the noise etc. This project has been developed using Java language because of its universal acceptance and easy understandability. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. Keywords— Image Processing, Human Interpretation, Filtering, Smoothening \ INTRODUCTION Interest in digital image processing methods stems from two principal application areas: improvement of pictorial information for human interpretation; and processing of image data for storage, transformation, and representation for autonomous machine perception. An image may be defined as a two-dimensional function, f(x , y), where x and y are spatial coordinates, and the amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates (x , y) is called the intensity or gray level of the image at the point. When x, y, and the amplitude values of f are all finite, discrete quantities, we call the image a digital image. The field of digital image processing refers to processing digital images by means of digital computer. Digital image is composed of finite number of elements, each of which has a particular location and value. These elements are referred to as picture elements, image elements, pels, and pixels. Pixel is the term most widely used to denote the elements of a digital image. Sometimes a distinction is made by defining image processing as a discipline in which both the input and output of a process are images. Filters are one of digital image enhancement technique used to sharp the image and to reduce the noise in the image. There are two types of enhancement techniques called Spatial domain and Frequency domain techniques which are categorized again for smoothing and sharpening the images. LITERATURE SURVEY AND OUTCOME The Enhancement Techniques make information more visible. The various types of image processing techniques are as follows. A. Histogram equalization- Redistributes the intensities of the image of the entire range of possible intensities (usually 256 gray-scale levels). Unsharp masking-Subtracts smoothed image from the original image to emphasize intensity changes. B. Convolution- It is a technique in which 3-by-3 masks operating on pixel neighborhoods. Highpass filter-Emphasizes regions with rapid intensity changes. Lowpass filter-Smoothes images, blurs regions with rapid changes. C. Math processes- In this technique, It performs a variety of functions. Add images-Adds two images together, pixel-by-pixel. Subtract images-Subtracts second image from first image, pixel by pixel. Exponential or logarithm-Raises e to power of pixel intensity or takes log of pixel intensity. Nonlinearly accentuates or diminishes intensity variation over the image. Scaler add, subtract, multiply, or divide-Applies the same constant values as specified by the user to all pixels, one at a time. Scales pixel intensities uniformly or non-uniformly Dilation-Morphological operation expanding bright regions of image. Erosion-Morphological operation shrinking bright regions of image. D. Noise filtering- It decreases noise by diminishing statistical deviations. Adaptive smoothing filter-Sets pixel intensity to a value somewhere between original value and mean value corrected by degree of noisiness. Good for decreasing statistical, especially single-dependent noise. Median filter-Sets pixel intensity equal to median intensity of pixels in neighborhood. An excellent filter for eliminating intensity spikes. Sigma filter-Sets pixel intensity equal to mean of intensities in neighborhood within two of the mean. Good filter for signal-independent noise. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND METHODOLOGY The System Model We consider a cloud computing model for image processing system. The system will be designed in such a way that the processing of image is performed on server machine rather than client machine. In this, client sends the image with its required request of processing to server machine to process it accordingly. The server machine receives the request and process it and finally send back the result to client machine. Existing System: In the Existing System, A number of image processing techniques, in addition to enhancement techniques, can be applied to improve the data usefulness. Techniques include convolution edge detection, mathematics, filters, trend removal, and image analysis. The Image processing is performed to client computer itself so the overhead to client computer increases due to processing of Image. Proposed System: The proposed system can be summarized as the following three aspects: Most of the digital images contains noise. This can be removed by many enhancement techniques. Filtering is one of the enhancement techniques which is used to remove unwanted information (noise) from the image. It is also used for image sharpening and smoothening.. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. The image processing is performed on server computer so there is much less overhead on client computer to process an image. Work done In Image processing methodology, we study the different types of enhancement techniques like noise filtering, image sharpening, image smoothening etc. with the help of different references. Now finally we concluded how to complete this project and we prepared some modules that will be present in our project. And to complete this project we require minimum system requirement and project specification as follows: SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT: Operating system: windows 98/XP or later versions Tool: Java Frames HARDWARE ENVIRONMENT: Processor : Pentium III RAM : 64 MB Harddisk : 2. 1GB Processor speed : 512 MHZ Modules: User/client: In this module user selects an image through GUI. Request: It is a module that belongs to client side that generate request message for server. Process: It’s the module lying on server side that processes the image sent by the client. Reply: It is also a server site module that forward the result after processing of element to client machine. Server: In this module, server machine receives the request from client process it and reply back the result to client. CONCLUSIONS The objective of the project is to smooth and sharp the images by using various Filtering techniques. Where Filtering techniques are one of the enhancement techniques in the Digital image processing. Here in the project I had implemented few spatial domain filters and frequency domain filters. Where spatial domain filters removes the noise and blurs the image. And frequency domain filters are used to sharpen the inside details of an image. The Image Processing is based on client-server model. A client sends a request with image that is to be processed to the server computer. The server computer receives the image and process it according to client request and sends the result back to the client machine. Filters are useful in many application areas as medical diagnosis, Army and Industrial areas. REFERENCES Gonzalez, Rafael; Steve Eddins (2008). 4. Digital Image Processing (2nd ed. ). Mc Graw Hill. p. 163. Tinku Acharya and Ajoy K. Ray (2006). Image Processing Principles and Applications. Wiley InterScience. Wilhelm Burger and Mark J. Burge (2007). Digital Image Processing: An Algorithmic Approach Using Java. Springer. ISBN 1-84628-379-5. R. Fisher, K (2002). Digital Image Processing. Springer. ISBN 3-540-67754-2. Milan Sonka, Vaclav Hlavac and Roger Boyle (1999). Image Processing, Analysis, and Machine Vision. PWS Publishing. Tim Morris (2004). Computer Vision and Image Processing. Palgrave Macmillan.

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay Example for Free

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay America has many religions, races, ethnicities, and languages from all over the world. Prejudice and discrimination has been around for years, and it still is to this day. This is something that will probably never go away as everyone has their own ideals, and beliefs. Buddhism and Blacks have endured prejudice and discrimination of their own for many years. Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality (â€Å"The Buddhist Center†). Buddhism doesn’t discriminate against race, nationality, sexuality, or gender. Buddhism is more of finding a path for one’s life and shows people to be practical and to the point. It teaches people that there are consequences for your actions and that it is possible to change as long as the path is followed. Christians and Muslims believe that if they live a worthy life here on earth they will live forever with God after death. Jews just focus on living a good life, doing good things, etc but don’t truly focus on the life after death. Buddhists do not believe in a God after death. Rather, they believe that life is an everlasting cycle of birth and rebirth, that what is done during a lifetime determines the kind of life one will have in a future incarnation unless a person is liberates him or herself from the cycle (American Institute Buddhist Thought, 2013). Most other religions have one creator with a book that gives guidance, such as the Bible. Buddhism does not have a single divine creator or book. It has the lessons from Siddhartha Gautama who was not a God of prophet. He was a human being who became Enlightened, understanding life in the deepest way possible (â€Å"The Buddhist Center†). Other religions want to prove to their God by the deeds they do, Buddhists just want to attain true happiness by following the teachings of Buddha. The Christians in South Korea did not agree with Buddhism teachings, they vandalized their temples. Buddhists were affected greatly in the 20th century with all the religions that didn’t agree. They were oppressed and tortured, and went through quite a bit of abuse from prejudice and discrimination. Most (mainly â€Å"westerner†) don’t believe Buddhism as a religion since there is no one Creator, it is mainly just teachings to help you follow the path of Enlightenment. In Sri Lanka in the late 1800’s Christians were favored and they were given most jobs and promotions over Buddhists. Also during the Sri Lankan Civil War Buddhists experienced a lot terrorists attacks. The â€Å"Buddhist Faith Fellowship of Connecticut† stated, â€Å"In Tibet, the Dharma has been brutally oppressed since the Chinese invasion in the 1950’s. † Christian was a widely known religion for quite some time, and during these times it took over and they wanted to convert others, especially the Buddhist religion. Most non-Buddhists discriminated against the Buddhists. Catholics, Christians, Jews, and many groups did not agree with Buddhism with the thoughts it wasn’t really a religion. They were tortured in many places such as China, Tibet, Vietnam, North and South Korea, Great Britain, and France. Buddhism is seen everywhere here in America, from TV shows, in schools, to movies about the history. Although it is in many places that people don’t really realize. There are Buddha’s all over, and can be bought as little trinkets from places. If you rub the belly it is supposed to give you good luck. Meditation has come from this religion and it is used quite a bit to help people relax. â€Å"Zen† is used quite a bit here in America on many things. â€Å"There is a set of associations with familiar American values, such as simplicity, naturalness, peace, and harmony. There are the favorite values of the health and food industries, such as wholesomeness, well-being, and natural goodness; and there are the aesthetic values of the young urban sushi culture, such as tasteful understatement, sophisticated minimalism, and multicultural cosmopolitanism. † (Religion Ethics Newsweekly). Doing the research on Buddhism has helped me understand it a lot better. I have learned about it in high school just a bit but never really knew the full extent. I never really knew they went through so much until now. I didn’t realize how much it is in the â€Å"American Culture† until now. We use the words, theories, and some of the practices such as meditation for our own reasons. We may not follow the Buddhism religion but we do use it and it has made its way into our culture. Growing up my mom had a little green Buddha that was always on her dresser. She would always rub his belly because it was good luck. People from African descent normally have a darker complexion, usually a dark brown skin color. Blacks were brought to America as slaves from ships and sold to the â€Å"whites†. In Africa they speak a different language, mainly using dialects. Over the years through assimilation the Africans who have come to America now referred to as African Americans speak English. The ancestors of blacks mainly come from Central and South America, as for the whites mainly descend from Europe if they are from European descent. The culture of Africans was very different before they came to America as slaves. To learn more about the Enslaved African Ancestors this article was very informative, National Geographic News: America’s Cultural Roots Traced to Enslaved African Ancestors. Blacks were burned, whipped, beaten, and the â€Å"whites† could treat them however they felt. The Africans who came to America were forced to come here, and the experiences they had at first were not that good. They were highly discriminated against and had no free will what so ever. They were pretty much property to whoever they bought them. With the forcing of Africans to come to America they were one of the hugest minorities to endure prejudice, racism, and discrimination. African Americans were not able to vote and they had practically no rights or freedom what so ever. Blacks could not use the same water fountains, bathrooms, diners, or even schools. They had to sit in the back of the bus and could not sit anywhere near a white person. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and got arrested, tried, and convicted for disorderly conduct and violating the local law. This also led to the Bus Boycott in Montgomery. Mainly white individuals discriminated and were racist against the Blacks. Whites thought they were better, and since they were brought to America as slaves they didn’t look at them as human beings. They were different so they weren’t equal to the whites, as the whites were educated and more â€Å"advanced†. Their contributions in early America, for which they have received little or no credit, include the development of the American dairy industry, open razing of cattle, artificial insemination of cows, the development of vaccines (including vaccination of small pox), and cures for snake bites. (Slave Rebellion, 2010). Over the years they have contributed a lot that we don’t really give them credit for, this is just the beginning of what they have given American Culture. Whites treated them horribly and took most the credit for what they have done, at times they still do to this day. I already knew most of t he stuff I learned researching this racial group. In high school they teach most about slavery. I just love doing the research for groups like these because there is always something to learn and with this subject most people like to jump to conclusions and believe everything they read or hear about our history. There are many differences and similarities between these two groups in the prejudice and discrimination they endured. One major difference was that Buddhists were not forced to be that religion, and were not forced into slavery or to live where they did. One thing though was that Buddhists were driven out of places and kept to specific areas where they had to stay because they weren’t welcome other places. They were both harassed and beaten as well as they had their stuff destroyed and were killed with no second thought. Discrimination is a very hatred thing, and it drives people to do some scary things. Taking someone’s life and not treating them like they are a human being is one of the worst things you can do. It is sad that people can’t just be themselves without people wanting to do something about it to force them to be something else.