Introduction to Bipedal Locomotion

Bipedal locomotion refers to walking on two legs in an upright position, and the only animal to do that all the time is the modern human. Our ancestor primates lived in trees and rarely set foot on the ground; our ancestor hominins moved out of those trees and lived primarily in the savannas. Walking upright all the time is thought to have been an evolutionary step forward if you will, and one of the hallmarks of being human. Scholars have often argued that walking erect is an enormous advantage. Walking erect improves communication, allows visual access to farther distances, and changes throwing behaviors. By walking upright, a hominins hands are freed to do all sorts of things, from holding babies to making stone tools to throwing weapons. American neuroscientist Robert Provine has argued that sustained voiced laughter, a trait which greatly facilitates social interactions, is only possible in bipeds because the respiration system is freed to do that in an upright position. Evidence for Bipedal Locomotion There are four main ways scholars have used to figure out whether a particular ancient hominin is primarily living in the trees or walking upright: ancient skeletal foot construction, other bone configurations above the foot, footprints of those hominins, and dietary evidence from stable isotopes. The best of these, of course, is foot construction: unfortunately, ancient ancestral bones are difficult to find under any circumstances, and foot bones are very rare indeed. Foot structures associated with bipedal locomotion include a plantar rigidity—flat foot—which means the sole stays flat from step to step. Secondly, hominins that walk on the earth generally have shorter toes than hominins who live in trees. Much of this was learned from the discovery of a nearly complete Ardipithecus ramidus, an ancestor of ours who apparently walked upright sometimes, some 4.4 million years ago. Skeletal constructions above the feet are slightly more common, and scholars have looked at the configurations of the spine, the tilt, and structure of the pelvis, and the way the femur fits into the pelvis to make assumptions about a hominins ability to walk upright. Footprints and Diet Footprints are also rare, but when they are found in a sequence, they hold evidence that reflects the gait, length of stride, and weight transfer during walking. Footprint sites include Laetoli in Tanzania (3.5-3.8 million years ago, probably Australopithecus afarensis; Ileret (1.5 million years ago) and GaJi10 in Kenya, both likely Homo erectus; the Devils Footprints in Italy, H. heidelbergensis about 345,000 years ago; and Langebaan Lagoon in South Africa, early modern humans, 117,000 years ago. Finally, a case has been made that diet infers environment: if a particular hominin ate a lot of grasses rather than fruit from trees, it is likely the hominin lived primarily in grassed savannas. That can be determined through stable isotope analysis. Earliest Bipedalism So far, the earliest known bipedal locomotor was Ardipithecus ramidus, who sometimes—but not always—walked on two legs 4.4 million years ago. Fulltime bipedalism is currently thought to have been achieved by Australopithecus, the type fossil of which is the famous Lucy, approximately 3.5 million years ago. Biologists have argued that foot and ankle bones changed when our primate ancestors came down from the trees, and that after that evolutionary step, we lost the facility to regularly climb trees without the aid of tools or support systems. However, a 2012 study by human evolutionary biologist Vivek Venkataraman and colleagues points out that there are some modern humans who do regularly and quite successfully climb tall trees, in pursuit of honey, fruit, and game. Climbing Trees and Bipedal Locomotion Venkataraman and his colleagues investigated behaviors and anatomical leg structures of two modern-day groups in Uganda: the Twa hunter-gatherers and Bakiga agriculturalists, who have coexisted in Uganda for several centuries. The scholars filmed the Twa climbing trees and used movie stills to capture and measure how much their feet flexed while tree-climbing. They found that although the bony structure of the feet is identical in both groups, there is a difference in the flexibility and length of soft tissue fibers in the feet of people who could climb trees with ease compared with those who cannot. The flexibility that allows people to climb trees only involves soft tissue, not the bones themselves. Venkataraman and colleagues caution that the foot and ankle construction of Australopithecus, for example, does not rule out tree-climbing, even though it does allow upright bipedal locomotion.   Sources Been, Ella, et al. Morphology and Function of the Lumbar Spine of the Kebara 2 Neandertal. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 142.4 (2010): 549-57. Print. Crompton, Robin H., et al. Human-Like External Function of the Foot, and Fully Upright Gait, Confirmed in the 3.66 Million Year Old Laetoli Hominin Footprints by Topographic Statistics, Experimental Footprint-Formation and Computer Simulation. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 9.69 (2012): 707-19. Print. DeSilva, Jeremy M., and Zachary J. Throckmorton. Lucys Flat Feet: The Relationship between the Ankle and Rearfoot Arching in Early Hominins. PLoS ONE 5.12 (2011): e14432. Print. Haeusler, Martin, Regula Schiess, and Thomas Boeni. New Vertebral and Rib Material Point to Modern Bauplan of the Nariokotome Homo Erectus Skeleton. Journal of Human Evolution 61.5 (2011): 575-82. Print. Harcourt-Smith, William E. H. Origin of Bipedal Locomotion. Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Eds. Henke, Winfried, and Ian Tattersall. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 1919-59. Print. Huseynov, Alik, et al. Developmental Evidence for Obstetric Adaptation of the Human Female Pelvis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113.19 (2016): 5227-32. Print. Lipfert, Susanne W., et al. A Model-Experiment Comparison of System Dynamics for Human Walking and Running. Journal of Theoretical Biology 292.Supplement C (2012): 11-17. Print. Mitteroecker, Philipp, and Barbara Fischer. Adult Pelvic Shape Change Is an Evolutionary Side Effect. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113.26 (2016): E3596-E96. Print. Provine, Robert R. Laughter as an Approach to Vocal Evolution: The Bipedal Theory. Psychonomic Bulletin Review 24.1 (2017): 238-44. Print. Raichlen, David A., et al. Laetoli Footprints Preserve Earliest Direct Evidence of Human-Like Bipedal Biomechanics. PLoS ONE 5.3 (2010): e9769. Print. Venkataraman, Vivek V., Thomas S. Kraft, and Nathaniel J. Dominy. Tree Climbing and Human Evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2012). Print. Ward, Carol V., William H. Kimbel, and Donald C. Johanson. Complete Fourth Metatarsal Andarches in the Foot of Australopithecus Afarensis. Science 331 (2011): 750-53. Print. Winder, Isabelle C., et al. Complex Topography and Human Evolution: The Missing Link. Antiquity 87 (2013): 333-49. Print.

Turnover Rate in Corrections Free Essays

The Nation Wide Dilemma in Corrections CJ 2500: CORRECTIONS Professor November 04, 2012 Running Head: Turnover Rate in Corrections Abstract Throughout the years, there has been one major dilemma that continues to hassle the administration whose sole purpose is to provide institutional sanctions, treatment programs, and services for managing criminal offenders. This dilemma is the high turnover rate of the Corrections Officers, whom agencies nation wide are losing at an extremely high rate. Recent statistics indicate that nearly half of all Corrections Academy graduates will have left their agency within a two-year period (â€Å"State questions high, â€Å"2004). We will write a custom essay sample on Turnover Rate in Corrections or any similar topic only for you Order Now This high turnover rate is causing a staff shortage, which is forcing agencies to put new officers on the job immediately while being untrained. Though the amount of Corrections Officers departing from their agencies continues to rise, the amount of inmates entering prisons remains the same. This of course can become a serious safety issue for the departments employing these new hires that are inadequately trained. Throughout this paper I will explore the numerous possibilities of what’s causing Corrections Officers to depart from their agencies at such a high rate. Whether it’s the demanding hours associated with shift work, the high stress and burnout, or the inadequate pay and benefits, all possibilities will be discussed in an attempt to understand why the retention rate of Corrections Officers is lower compared to various other careers across the nation. The Department of Corrections (DOC), privately owned jails, parish jails, and local city jails not only face the hardship of maintaining inmate property, specific calorie counts from meals provided, medicine dispensing, doctor visits, and numerous other tasks required that Corrections Officers tend to on a typical day of work, but these facilities also face the hardship of retaining these Officers for extended lengths of employment. As stated in the Abstract of this paper, â€Å"Recent statistics indicate that nearly half of all Corrections Academy graduates will have left their agency within a two-year period† (â€Å"State questions high, â€Å"2004). This has become a major problem for agencies that have a continuous increase in the number of inmates entering these facilities each year, while becoming almost impossible to keep enough manpower to operate shifts in a safe and secure manner. It is stated that in 1999, the turnover rate of Officers and Corporals within an agency was 29. 6 percent, while the average tenure of Officers was 3 years (â€Å"Department of corrections,†). The turnover rates in 2000 ranged from a low of 3. percent in New York, to a high of 41 percent in Louisiana (Lommel, 2004). Typically, once an Officer has been hired and accepted the job, they are to be trained in some type of Corrections Academy. The department hiring the Officer may host this Academy, or the Officer may have to travel to receive their training. Either way, prior to an Officer actually beginning their job monitoring the walkways of a prison or jail, the Officer should first be well trained to ensure theirs, the inmates, and other Officers safety. However, due to the high number of vacancies within Corrections, Officers are being hired without any experience, while hoping to receive this training academy shortly after becoming employed. Some agencies have established a policy that once the Officer has completed their training at an Academy, they are to sign a contract stating that they will remain with the department for a set amount of years. This is due to the high costs that an agency incurs by having these Officers sent to an accredited Academy to receive their training. The dollar amount that an agency may spend on an Officers training may range anywhere between a few hundred dollars, to a few thousand dollars. To elaborate on the amount of vacancies within Corrections, this could very well be a contributing factor to the increased amount of Officers who resign due to stress and burnout. Officers are being ordered in on their off days or holidays, forced to work mandatory overtime, a higher inmate to Correctional Officer ratio, as well as experienced Officers having to work with an extensive amount of â€Å"rookie† or inexperienced Correctional Officers. This combining of experienced officers with new hires, who have not received any type of prior training, raises the stress level during dangerous interactions with inmates, as well lowering the morale of the Officers who remain and attempt to complete their careers with a specific agency. This may be due to long term employees realizing that many of the new hires are using their time as a Correctional Officer to gain experience, or as a stepping-stone to eventually become a road or patrol Officer, which may involve more experienced Officers not spending the time necessary to assist, or provide â€Å"On the job training† to the new hires. Additional causes of stress may include the threat of inmate violence, actual inmate violence, inmate demands and manipulations, problems with co-workers, as well as having a poor public image. For example, â€Å"Between 1990 and 1995, the number of attacks on correctional officers in State and Federal prisons jumped by nearly one third, from 10,731 to 14,165 (Lommel, 2004). An additional stress added to a Correctional Officers life is being able to balance and separate work from their personal relationships. Workdays at a correctional facility often involve long hours of uneventful and routine procedures. This â€Å"routine† may quickly be disrupted by a brief period of crisis. Some Officers have issues with being able to return to a calm state once a crisis occurs, often times bringing their problems home to their families. This may lead Officers to substance abuse, or alcoholism. Law Enforcement careers can be an extremely difficult, stressful, yet rewarding career, even when referring to Corrections Officers. However, due to the long work hours associated with shift work, combined with the stressful and strenuous workdays officers are exposed to, it seems as if all Law Enforcement, to include Corrections officers do not receive the pay and benefits that they are entitled to. A large number of Corrections Officers are leaving this career field due to struggling with raising families while trying to balance and survive on the annual salary of a Corrections Officer. It seems as if economically speaking, the value of everyday necessities ontinues to rise in value, except for the officers’ paychecks. This dilemma, combined with the additional stress an Officer encounters on the job, could possibly explain why many Officers leave their jobs due to stress and burnout. The benefits that an Officer, or Corrections Officer receives is usually the highlight of their employment contract. Officers usually do receive good insurance and retirement plans. Not just for them, but for their families as well. However, the type of insurance that an Officer receives depends on the plan that the agency has purchased. Some agencies will have top of the line benefits, while others may have insurance carriers with extremely high deductibles and rates, due to tight budget restraints and cutbacks within the department. In addition to the stress, burnout, long hours, and low pay, many officers are never set on retiring within corrections. As previously stated, numerous officers, such as myself, use corrections as a stepping-stone, or training prior to being hired for a patrol position. Numerous agencies such as Sheriff’s Offices of various Parishes within the state, require that an individual hired first serve one to two years within the parish jail prior to being sent to a Police Academy and ultimately landing a position on patrol. Many agencies have come to realize this, which is why they may not spend the time, effort, and funds to train the individual to become a more efficient Corrections Officer. By reflecting on the issues presented in this paper, it is determined that turnover rate in Corrections Officers will likely continue to be a rising problem for agencies. Administrators seeking seminars on retention strategies, which may depend on additional funding, can combat some of these issues. Agencies can improve their policies, improve management, increase criteria of the screening process, as well as address the wage and benefit issue. However, no matter what an agency decides in attempting to retain there officers, there will always be the Officers that slip through the cracks and ultimately cost the department more funding in training the individual, only to have them leave the agency before reaching their desired and previously stated commitment. WORKS CITED Department of corrections background and statistics. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://legisweb. state. wy. us/progeval/reports/2000/turnovr/Chapter4. htm High turnover of corrections staff, excessive priosoner head counts attract media attention. (2006, Sep 06). Retrieved from http://www. bcgeu. ca/node/1314 Lommel, J. (2004, August). Turning around turnover. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. liberty. edu:2048/docview/215699356 State questions high turnover among prison officers. (2004, 04 05). Retrieved from http://www. corrections. com/articles/1862 How to cite Turnover Rate in Corrections, Essay examples

Essay on Counseling and Advocacy in Diverse Poupulation Essay Example For Students

Essay on Counseling and Advocacy in Diverse Poupulation Essay Counseling and Advocacy in Diverse Population Unit 7 Culturally Relevant Strategies The primary goal of an elementary school counselor is to establish a rapport with the students and lay the foundation for youth to grow and fill the positions of next generation citizens, parents and business leaders. Another role of a counselor is to help students strengthen skills such as adapting to various environments and how to develop behaviors that will work in their day-to-day school setting. Upon obtaining a Masters Degree in School Counseling my aspiration is to counsel students in grades K-12. Working as a school counselor will allow me to work with Hispanic students and their families. As I transition into the school counseling position, I will need to learn about the Hispanic culture in order to effectively help the students in the school. Being able to work in an environment with multicultural students and families is essential and a qualification that a counselor should possess. Cultural Immersion As an effort to promote multiculturalism and get acquainted with families from other cultures, our school district hosted Hispanic Heritage Night. This event was created specifically for our Hispanic families. During this event, the families, students, faculty, and staff members came together and shared various cultural experiences. Hispanic Heritage Night is held annually and is hosted at a different elementary school cite each year. The primary goal of this event is to help break down barriers for Hispanic families living in the community. Preparing for the event brought about several emotions and feelings. Being able to host an event where families are invited to come out and talk about their culture can be challe. .., Baezconde-Garbanati, L. February 2011. Acculturation, Gender Depression, and Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Hispanic Youth: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com. library.capella.edu/education/docview/897013979/FEABEA3BBF02418CPQ/22?accountid=27965. Marin, G., Marin, B. (1991). Research with Hispanic Populations . Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Pabon, Edward. Winter 1998. Hispanic Adolescent delinquency and the family: A Discussion of Sociocultural Influences. Retrieved from http://search. proquest.com.library.capella.edu/education/docview/195938073/FE ABEA3BBF02418CPQ/44?accountid=27965. Sue, D. W., Sue, D. (2013). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Analysis of Japans Energy Policy

What is a Revolution essays

What is a Revolution essays If one were to look up the definition of the word revolution in a dictionary, they would simply find that it is simply a change, or overthrow of a government/situation. However, even though the concept of a revolution may sound easy, it requires a long process. The idea of revolution is thinkable by almost any person of almost any understanding age. Contrary to this, the actual planning and going about a revolution is usually done by highly educated individual(s) or people who have sufficient knowledge on the topic. Another factor that is required in starting a revolution is a valid reason, with proof or cause. For example, a person can not start a revolution just by stating that he/she doesnt like someone without a justified valid reason. Contrary to that, they can start a revolution if they hated someone for ruling them unfairly or not complying with certain rules that are set forth. Usually when a revolution is started, there are the causes (conflict or need for change), the pros, and the cons. A revolution is started when the people who are revolting or seeking a momentous change, are dissatisfied in one aspect or another. The people who help start the revolution are the most prominent educated men or women. They help set the foundation of their revolution, and help develop an argument to support their need to revolt or change. An example of this would be how the foundation of the French Revolution was laid. First of all, the founders of the revolution derived their ideas from the American Revolution and used it as one of the causes of their revolution. Its causes ranged from the American Revolution, the economic crisis in France, social injustices to the immediate causes like the fall of Bastille, the Convening of the Estate-General, and the Great Fear. In this revolution, the French society was divided amongst itself, and that was one of the factors that made this resolution very hard to resolve. Another main aspect of ma...

Has the Era of US Hegemony ended Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Has the Era of US Hegemony ended - Essay Example That is, hegemony will be visible when countries through their strong attributes particularly armed power, economic power, political power and even ‘soft’ powers, elevate themselves into top positions, and then try to assert their dominance over others through force or persuasion. From the mid part of the 20th century, United States America is one such country which ‘tried’ to or even evolved into a hegemonic country, due to the optimum development of its economic, military and even soft power statuses. In the late 19th – early 20th century, U. S. made sizable attempts to expand its political influence over other territories through their imperialistic initiatives and importantly through their involvement in both the World Wars. With the two World Wars elevating U. S. position in the international area, and with its economy, its science and technology capabilities and even mass media optimizing, it kind of gave the platform for U. S. to elevate its po sition further and become a hegemonic power. US’s plans to play a prominent international role got actualized in the second half of the 20th century as well, because of its confrontation with Soviet Union through Cold War, its involvement in the Middle-East and other territories. U. S’s hard-power as well as soft-power capabilities have improved so much now that no other country in the world have the capability as well as the will to dethrone it from its position of solo superpower, as U. S. hegemony is stronger, aggressive and at the same time democratic and benevolent.1 However, the other view is, due to certain misadventures, U. S. days as the solo superpower could be numbered.2 This paper will focus on this hegemonic status of U. S., by analyzing whether U.S. hegemony is going to continue or end, and by concluding how it is going to continue and not going to end soon. U.S. Hegemonic beginnings Although many European countries including Britain, Spain, France, etc., exhibited their imperialistic policies to become a hegemonic power in the early centuries, U. S. played a subdued role then. With U. S. ‘forming’ into country quite lately and due to its domestic issues, it did not initiate any major imperialistic steps. However, in the late part of 19th century due to its indirect confrontations with Spain in foreign territories, it started moving in that direction. That is, the Spanish–American War took place when U. S. involved itself in the Cuban War of Independence, and also due to its attacks on the Spanish territories in the Pacific area, particularly on Philippines.3 U. S. started initiating imperialistic actions, when it found that its interests are being undermined by other powers and also when it found that there are no strong opposition from the indigenous people because of in-fighting between themselves. This perspective was validated by Derbyshire (2003), who stated, â€Å"In places where America's interests are a t stake, however (and in conflict with those of other nations)-and where national feeling is divided, or artificial, or non-existent, so that patriotic native elites cannot easily take control of the situation-we need to act in our own interests†4 The key intention of U. S. to indulge in imperialism and thereby become a hegemonic power in the long run is to develop economically. When countries normally enter territories rich in natural resources, after capturing the power of governance, they will mainly go for these resources, and U.

Qualtity Health Care Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Qualtity Health Care Administration - Essay Example stent with the principles of the 21st Century health system throughout the continuum of the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education for medical, nursing, and other professional training programs† (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2005). Also, the implications of the changes should be reviewed for â€Å"provider credentialing programs, funding, and sponsorship of education programs for health professionals† (Institute of Medicine, 2001). The strategies in current health education reform came up when attention was brought into the fact that health professions education was ill-equipped in the academic and continuing education settings to handle the incoming changes in the patient population. These are changes in diversity, age, increase in chronic illnesses, and improved access to health information (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2005). Another problem that was also seen was the fact that, although various health professionals are expected to work as a team, many of them are have not been trained to work as a team. They often have trouble communicating and coordinating with other members of the health care team, and this causes certain problems in the delivery of quality health care services. It was also brought into the attention of the Institute of Medicine that the evidence base for health care practice was increasing; however, there also appeared inconsistencies in evaluating evidence and consequently applying it to the health care practice. Another problem uncovered was also the fact that there was an inconsistency in what is actually known about the â€Å"quality and safety of care and the coursework that is available to health professional students about how to assess quality and safety-of-care information and test solutions† (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2005). Finally, inadequate training in informatics was also established through the IOM report. The above problems unearthed by the Institute of Medicine represented problems in health professions education that