Research Literature Review Breast Cancer in USA Essay Example for Free

Research Literature Review Breast Cancer in USA Essay Introduction Breast cancer continues to be an important focus of attention for medical professionals, policy-makers and general public in the US. The high incidence of the disease and its devastating, in many cases, fatal, outcomes rivet the attention of the professional public. Studies identified for this literature review are for the most part practically oriented, in the sense that they deal with topics that are of primary importance in detecting, treating, and preventing breast cancer. Thus, two sources deal with the programs aimed at women education in the US concerning breast cancer, and two others cover the research into environmental causes of breast cancer. The problem of treatment options for breast cancer is also considered. Education Programs In the US where the population is extremely diverse, creation of special education programs targeting various population groups in accordance with their status is of special importance. Armando Valdez, Kakoli Banerjee, Lynn Ackerson, and Maria Fernandez in their article â€Å"Multimedia breast cancer education intervention for low-income Latinas† outline a special program aimed at the segment of women including Latino women. The problem with detection and early treatment of cancer among Latino women is connected to the fact that Latina women’s screening rate is considerably lower the required government standards and the rate for other ethnic groups. The researchers arrive at the conclusion that, given the availability of subsidized mammograms for poor Latina women, the main deterrent for improvement in the screening rate is lack of knowledge about cancer risks and treatment options. Complicated level of education materials prepared for the target group by the American Cancer Society was identified as an important factor blocking the access of Latina women to adequate information as materials presented often required a superior level of reading skills and the materials were not prepared in Spanish. The paper reports â€Å"the results of a multimedia breast cancer education intervention, tailored to the needs of low-education, low-income Latinas, and attempt to document specific changes in womens knowledge, attitudes and intentions toward mammography screening† (Valdez et al., 2002). Using the Breast Cancer Multimedia Kiosk including instructional videos exposing the target group to the dangers of breast cancer, the authors were able to conclude that interactive multimedia technologies are an effective tool in raising awareness of cancer risks among low-income women. Although the women had some prior knowledge of cancer (â€Å"the majority of baseline study participants (over 80%) knew age and family history as risk factors†), the post-exposure assessment revealed a significant increase in knowledge after the program. Krystal Ngoc-Thy Luong and Jenny K. Yi in â€Å"Apartment-Based Breast Cancer Education Program for Low Income Vietnamese American Women† evaluate a similar program targeting a different ethnic group. As in the case with Latina women, breast cancer is the leading cause of death in this subgroup. Although Asian/Pacific Islander American, or APIA, women have a lower incidence rate of breast cancer (102.0 per 100,000 versus 140.8 per 100,000 for White American women), exposure to Western lifestyle tends to push these rates up. In addition, APIA women tend to be younger when diagnosed with breast cancer than other categories. The study aimed â€Å"to develop, implement, and evaluate the effect of an apartment-based breast cancer educational program for the hard to reach low income Vietnamese women† (Luong, Yi, 2005). The program was designed to be based on apartment visits as it provided a convenient way to reach women, covering neighbourhoods with high concentration of Vietnamese families in Houston. The intervention was carried out by two educators who delivered 20 educational sessions over the period of 3 months that provided the Vietnamese women with information concerning screening, recommendations and referrals to screening. Women were supplied with promotional materials including printed educational information and videos. Measurement of the knowledge levels through telephone surveys concerning breast cancer issues demonstrated that they were â€Å"significantly higher in the intervention group after receiving education about breast cancer when compared to women in the control group† (Luong, Yi, 2005). The researchers drew the conclusion that an apartment-based program has many advantages as compared to other ones because it addresses women in comfortable home settings, giving them a chance to relax and open up more to the conversation with the educator. Environmental Hazards and Breast Cancer Another important direction of research concerns the impact of pollutants and other environmental factors on incidence of breast cancer in women. Thus, Peggy Reynolds, Susan E. Hurley, Robert B. Gunier, Sauda Yerabati, Thu Quach, and Andrew Hertz in â€Å"Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Use and Incidence of Breast Cancer in California, 1988-1997† evaluate the connection between the facts that California is the most important agricultural state and also demonstrates the highest breast cancer rates in the US. The purpose of the study was formulated as desire to find out â€Å"whether California breast cancer rates were elevated in areas with recent high agricultural pesticide use† (Reynolds et al., 2005). The research was based on the assessment of 176,302 invasive breast cancer cases including â€Å"70,968,598 person-years of observation† (Reynolds et al., 2005). Using Poisson regression analyses, the authors were not able to find a consistent link between living close to the areas of pesticide distribution and having breast cancer. The upshot of the study was that breast cancer was hardly driven by pesticide use, but was more closely related to various social factors such as socioeconomic status. Julia Green Brody and Ruthann A. Rudel in â€Å"Environmental pollutants and breast cancer† address a wider ranger of substances that can lead to breast tumors. The proliferation of breast cancer in North America has caused the need to look for more sources of this disease, examining a wider range of factors. The study covers â€Å"chemicals that may be breast carcinogens, promote growth of breast cells and hormonally sensitive tumors, or affect mammary gland development and susceptibility† (Brody, Rudel, 2003). The researchers identify already known breast cancer risk factors including reproductive factors, exposure to pharmaceutical hormones, diet, ionizing radiation, socioeconomic status and posited the need to identify more factors. Thus, the scholars point to the need to further investigate the risk associated with occupational hazards including exposure â€Å"to the mammary carcinogens benzene, PAHs, and certain organic solvents† (Brody, Rudel, 2003). For instance, speaking of organic solvents, one study identified a connection between breast cancer rates in Danish women and their exposure to these substances in the workplace. The research, after examining 7,802 women with cancer diagnosis, registered a 20-66% rise in breast cancer risk for women who have been employed in occupations that envisaged active exposure to organic solvents. Other studies demonstrated increased risk of breast cancer development for women employed in the chemical industry, textile manufacturing, or nuclear power plants. The authors conclude by saying that more research is needed in the area, but the literature available so far clearly indicates that the link exists between cancer rates and environmental factors. Treatment Options Finally, another issue which has been identified to inspire researchers is the availability of treatment options for cancer and choice between various alternatives. Kathleen B. Donaghy in â€Å"Fostering Sound Medical Treatment Decision Making: A Focusing on Treatment Choices for Breast Cancer† explores this problem. Invoking the decision-making theory, the author evaluates the potential for adequate decision-making in patients struck with this shocking diagnosis. Donaghy (2003) believes that hasty decisions concerning treatment options made on insufficient information are often regretted by the patient later on. As common deterrents that prevent responsible decision-making she identifies five key points: 1.) cognitive overload 2.) failure to fully comprehend treatment options 3.) inability or refusal to process information in the presence of a denial defense 4.) hurried presentation of information by the physician 5.) self-imposed time constraints to get decisions made. (Donaghy, 2003) The article identifies the key strategies that can be employed by the physician to help the patient in the choice, such as providing maximal possible information to guide the patient’s decisions, improving communication, framing information in an appropriate format, obtaining informed consent etc. Using the decision theory to define decision-making as a choice between status quo and other alternatives shed light on patient values that can be involved in decisions regarding breast surgery. Conclusion The pervasiveness of breast cancer in the US makes research related to the issue highly topical. Examination of causes including environmental factors can help craft governmental policies that will prevent the spread of the deadly disease. On the other hand, developing policies aimed at early detection and effective treatment can be instrumental in curbing the death rate from breast cancer. In this light, creation of programs specifically tailored to the needs of individual groups can be an effective solution. Finally, research oriented toward helping the patient make the best decision concerning treatment options will be an important prerequisite of effective treatment programs. References Ackerson, L., Banerjee, K., Fernandez, M., Valdez, A. (2002). A Multimedia Breast Cancer Education Intervention for Low-Income Latinas. Journal of Community Health 27(1), 33+. Retrieved April 14, 2006, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000714747 Brody, J.G., Rudel, R.A. (2003). Environmental Pollutants and Breast Cancer. Environmental Health Perspectives 111(8), 1007+. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002005585 Donaghy, K.B. (2003). Fostering Sound Medical Treatment Decision Making: A Focusing on Treatment Choices for Breast Cancer. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association 6(4), 6+. Retrieved April 14, 2006, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002578878 Gunier, G.M., Hertz, A., Hurley, S.E., Quach, T., Reynolds, P., et al. (2005). Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Use and Incidence of Breast Cancer in California, 1988-1997. Environmental Health Perspectives 113(8), 993+. Retrieved April 14, 2006, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5010885312 Ngoc-Thy Luong, K., Yi, J.K. (2005). Apartment-Based Breast Cancer Education Program for Low Income Vietnamese American Women. Journal of Community Health 30(5), 2005, 345+. Retrieved April 14, 2006, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5011756419

Women and Welfare Essay -- essays research papers

The Struggle of Women on Welfare   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Women in today’s society face many adversities. In this essay I will discuss fact versus stereotypical perceptions about the various social and economic problems women must face everyday. I grew up on the Upper East Side in Manhattan mostly comprised of wealthy, socialite families. I attended The Convent of Sacred Heart, also one of the top, private, all girl schools in Manhattan. The majority of the students come from very privileged families and are, more often than not, very spoiled and naà ¯ve to the world around them. While I was attending High School, I found it very hard to make friends with some of the students that went to Sacred Heart. I hated the way â€Å"rich kids† thought. They always spoke about Welfare and made absurd comments about how it should not exist because the people feeding of their tax dollars were nothing but the bottom-feeders in the world. The people I was surrounded by could never move past the fallacies their parents w ould talk about. They never realized that many people on welfare struggled. These unfortunate people were not lazy; they weren’t all drug dealers and prostitutes that just kept getting pregnant so that the city would write them a check every month. The only thing they were guilty of was being born a minority and from birth, growing up in some of the worst conditions imaginable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the summer my friend and I decided to join the Coalition for Homeless Women. I learned a lot while visiting the numerous women shelters and I can admit that I too had very stupid and naà ¯ve perceptions of some of these women. Even though I was not as â€Å"rotten† as some of the girls I attended school with, my parents sheltered me. I will always remember walking down the street one day and as I passed by a homeless woman I handed her my dollar. My father immediately looked at me funny and said â€Å"Sonia, you shouldn’t have given her your allowance, she will only use it to buy drugs or alcohol. She will not use it for anything good!† At the age of ten those words resonated in my head for some time. My perception of homeless people was somewhat flawed until I was old enough to understand the world for myself. I was really happy when I visited shelters and spoke to some of these remarkable women. They weren’t on drugs, they weren ’t alcoholics, and these are wo... ...not on welfare do not have more children if they cannot support their families. Middle and Upper class families are paying the government in tax dollars to support mothers who continue to have children even though they know they cannot support themselves. Also, a single mother who chooses to have another child while being on welfare severely decreases her chances to go off welfare because she will need to stay at home with her children. This promotes a woman’s dependency on welfare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To wrap up my essay, I will simply say that people who continue to talk about welfare in ways that it should be taken away or controlled have not educated themselves enough to fully understand what it is they are talking about. I believe that everyone in the world serves a purpose. The wealthy are not the only people who should have the right to enjoy life. People on welfare, may need help but at least they are trying. To say they are all failures is wrong. The majority of women on welfare face so many problems. People make ludicrous preconceptions about these women. People should open their eyes and realize what really goes on in the world instead of living in on a cloud.

Tesol – Observation Journal 1

Observation Journal 1 Date: 13/09/2012 Duration: 1 hour Location: International House London Level: Upper Intermediate Teaching Aim: Past Subjunctive (structure lesson) Use of â€Å"I wish† for regrets and criticism Lesson Pace During the first half of the lesson the teacher moved at a particularly fast pace. Whilst understandably a swift pace is required in order to fit the breath of information into the lesson I feel this was to the detriment of student learning in some instances. For example when asking questions of students it was common for the teacher to answer before providing sufficient time for students to answer.This had the consequence of stopping all but the quickest students a chance to be involved with the lesson. Again this was also seen when individual students were picked out by name to repeat a phrase paying specific attention to their intonation; on numerous occasions at the start of the lesson upon speaking the requested phrase the teacher was very quick to repeat the same phrase using the correct intonation. This style of teaching limits student talking time which is a key aspect when trying to engage the active memory of the students in order to promote retention of the material being taught.A better structure would have been to elicit the correct repetition of the request phrase from another student and then returning to the initially asked student to repeat the phrase once more. Using this suggested structure would promote student talking time and allow all students more time to hear the correct intonation of the phrase. The benefits of the fast pace were that all students stayed engaged for the duration of the lesson however I believe a lesson can move at a swift pace whilst still allowing sufficient time for students to repeat phrases and answer questions.I have learnt that a quick pace is generally beneficial when all students are able to keep up however my opinion is that allowing students the time to answer questions and not always giving the correct answer to quickly is paramount to student learning. By permitting this additional time to elicit answers from students you will more readily be able to establish whether or not the class is in fact following the lesson as expected and therefore be able to continue or adjust the pace accordingly. Teachers MannerOverall I felt the teacher was engaging and authoritative whilst also being able to display humorous traits which worked well to keep the class involved for the duration of the lesson. For the majority of correct answers the teacher would affirm the answer given by saying â€Å"good†. This was a positive aspect of the teacher’s manner as she used this phrase repeatedly as opposed to varying this affirmation with phrases such as â€Å"excellent† or â€Å"very good† which may have led to a degree of favouritism within the class. On one occasion however the teacher, in accompaniment to the introduction of a new concept, asks a particular student â€Å"is it clear? . In a typical classroom setting I find it unlikely that any student would want to profess to a lack of understanding and thus the lesson moves on without really knowing whether or not the concept was correctly understood. In this situation a more appropriate tactic would have been to request the student provide an alternate example of the concept being taught. This would allow any lack of understanding to be identified whilst also presenting an opportunity for the teacher to involve the rest of the class when eliciting a correct response.Oftentimes the teacher would call students by name and with the exception of one instance where the teacher got the students name wrong this worked well to firstly engage the class throughout the lesson and secondly concept check important lesson points. The teacher also made an effort to select students at random when eliciting answers; something which I believe is key to keeping students focused, as it is a ll too easy for students to switch off if they know they are fifth or sixth in line to answer a question.A couple of times the teacher admitted to making mistakes on the hand-outs, which is an aspect of the lesson that could easily have been corrected by proofreading all materials beforehand. This didn’t appear to be a problem for the class as they looked comfortable with the teacher whom they have likely worked with before. Although for students with which the teacher had not worked with before this could have been a problem because students wouldn’t necessarily have the same confidence levels in a teacher they are unfamiliar with. Classroom ManagementStudents were arranged in a semi-circle formation facing the teacher. My belief was that this particular arrangement benefited the students, as it allowed all students to face each other and thus lower any barriers to peer-group interaction which may have existed with some students sitting behind others. This structure a lso helped when students were asked to talk in pairs and allowed the teacher to easily monitor each conversation without being disruptive. For my own lessons I aim to use this same layout where possible as it would appear to be the best way to involve all students to interact within the lesson.Towards the end of the lesson the students were instructed to form new pairs for the free stage. This worked by splitting the class into â€Å"husband† and â€Å"wife† pairings which also had the added impact of adding some fun to the exercise. This use of stereotypes for the â€Å"husband† and â€Å"wife† was an effective way to set context for the exercise. The benefit of which was that the students were quickly able to get into the role playing game, which would likely not have been so enjoyable for the students if the class had not been segmented in such a way.Teaching Point Ultimately the teacher achieved her aim and had the students using â€Å"I wish† in the correct manner for the most part. The free stage was the most successful contributor towards the students achieving the aim and the teacher did well to leave the correction of the free stage to after it had finished. The free stage was corrected at the end via a board review and the students appeared to have a strong grasp on the past subjunctive.Whilst adjacent to the stated teaching aim of the lesson it was also identifiable that the teacher was incorporating aspects of past lessons into her teaching. In particular requesting that students state the tense of a sentence proved effective in eliciting what would be passive memory from previous lessons. This naturally also underlined the primary aim of the lesson and at one point the teacher highlighted the point, after eliciting the correct tenses form the students, by stating that â€Å"the only difference is in the subjunctive of to be†.I felt this gave clarity to the students as they progressed through the lesson wit h a core concise definition of what they were learning as referenced by this example. Focus was sustained throughout the lesson on a couple of occasions and this allowed the teacher to continue with the lesson whilst wasting little time discussing points that were outside the scope of the initial objectives. An example was when the teacher asked the students to identify the difference in tense between two sentences where one student identified the difference in meaning rather than tense.On this occasion it could have been easy for the teacher to become side tracked whilst discussing the meaning of the sentences however she simply dismissed the answer in a polite fashion and brought focus back to the topic at hand. With respect to the teaching aim of this lesson my main takeaway was the importance of sustaining focus on the stated objectives. When teaching myself I imagine students will be eager to explore different aspects of the English language, which if indulged could lead to the primary focus not being reached within the time frame. [1,332 words]

Examination of Characters in Katherine Anne Porters...

Examination of Characters in Katherine Anne Porters Short Story He Katherine Anne Porters moving and stylistically cohesive short story He contains much worth discussing. The storys characters are quite memorable and provide for interesting character studies; in addition, the plot and themes of the story are also noteworthy. The most elaborately detailed character is Mrs. Whipple. She is the dominating member of the Whipple family; despite her belief in mens work as opposed to womens, she seems to have a great deal of say in family decisions. Mrs. Whipple is extremely concerned with status and appearances -- indeed, overly so. This preoccupation of hers is prominent throughout the story, from beginning to end. She†¦show more content†¦It seems as though the Whipples take advantage of their sons retardation. They never speak directly to Him, and refer to their son only as He and Him; thus, we never learn His name. They also take advantage of the fact that He seems indifferent to pain or cold, so they give His blankets to the other children, and give Him tasks the other children seem to have sense enough not to do. By the end of the story, we learn that He might not be as dumb as He appears. Nevertheless, we know that Mrs. Whipple does love her son (as well as her other children). She cons tantly talks about Him, and her intense outpouring of emotion at the end of the story supports the fact that she loves Him and indicates she feels some grief about the situation. She knows that there was nothing she could do to make up to Him for His life, and we feel the Whipples have made the right decision to put Him in the knows that there was nothing she could do to make up to Him for His life, and we feel the Whipples have made the right decision to put Him in the County Hospital. Unfortunately for the Whipple family, another defining characteristic of Mrs. Whipple is that she drowns herself in self-pity. She seems to consider many things a mortal pity and once even complains to her husband, I wish I were dead! Of course, she would never say this to the neighbors, for appearances sake. Mr. Whipple is the sensible one in the family. He isShow MoreRelatedANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†Read MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesAirlines CASE STUDY II-3 Norfolk Southern Railway: The Business Intelligence Journey CASE STUDY II-4 Mining Data to Increase State Tax Revenues in California CASE STUDY II-5 The Cliptomaniaâ„ ¢ Web Store: An E-Tailing Start-up Survival Story CASE STUDY II-6 Rock Island Chocolate Company, Inc.: Building a Social Networking Strategy CASE STUDY III-1 Managing a Systems Development Project at Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc. CASE STUDY III-2 A Make-or-Buy Decision