Thursday, December 19, 2019

Socioeconomic Factors and the Health of Individuals Essay

Introduction Socio-economic class or socio-economic status (SES) may refer to mixture of various factors such as poverty, occupation and environment. It is a way of measuring the standard and quality of life of individuals and families in society using social and economic factors that affect health and wellbeing ( Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Cockerham (2007 p75) argues: ‘Social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest predictor of health, disease causation and longevity in medical sociology.’ Research in the 1990s, (Drever and Whitehead, 1997) found out that people in higher SES are generally healthier, and live longer than those in lower SES. The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the†¦show more content†¦Meltzer et al., (1995) argues that the unemployed and unskilled have more mentally unstable symptoms compared to those in employment. Also, the fear of being unemployed and job insecurity has a disadvantageous effect on health (Bartley et al., 1996). When compared, the lifestyles of the unskilled and unemployed vary from those in employment (Moser et al., 1990) in that the unemployed, unskilled (Meltzer et al, 1995) and homeless (Stark et al., 1989) are more engaged into alcoholism, drug addictions. All these have an adverse effects on an individual’s health this has however been raised as a mental health issue (Heller et al, 1996). Browne and Bottril (1999) did some research on class and health and came out with some findings in relation to unemployment and employment. They found out that; †¢ Unskilled manual workers usually die most before retirement than professional white- collar workers and those children born by professional white-collar workers tend to have longer life expectancy than someone born in by an unskilled manual worker. †¢ Individuals in employment live longer than those unemployed. †¢ People in professional occupations and working class people visited the doctors less often than those in long standing, unskilled and manual occupations. Poverty and its effects on Health Poverty as defined by The World Bank (2000:15) is ‘pronounced deprivation in well-being’. Well being on the other hand is maintaining a goodShow MoreRelatedWang And Steven Model Of The Cumulative Impact Of Multiple Risk Factors951 Words   |  4 Pagescumulative impact of multiple risk factors? 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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Semiconductor Devices free essay sample

A p-doped semiconductor is relatively conductive. The same is true of an n-doped semiconductor, but the junction between them can become depleted of charge carriers, and hence non-conductive, depending on the relative voltages of the two semiconductor regions. By manipulating this non-conductive layer, p–n junctions are commonly used as diodes: circuit elements that allow a flow of electricity in one direction but not in the other (opposite) direction. This property is explained in terms of forward bias and reverse bias, where the term bias refers to an application of electric voltage to the p–n junction. edit] Equilibrium (zero bias) In a p–n junction, without an external applied voltage, an equilibrium condition is reached in which a potential difference is formed across the junction. This potential difference is called built-in potential Vbi. After joining p-type and n-type semiconductors, electrons near the p–n interface tend to diffuse into the p regi on. As electrons diffuse, they leave positively charged ions (donors) in the n region. Similarly, holes near the p–n interface begin to diffuse into the n-type region leaving fixed ions (acceptors) with negative charge. The regions nearby the p–n interfaces lose their neutrality and become charged, forming the space charge region or depletion layer (see figure A). Figure A. A p–n junction in thermal equilibrium with zero bias voltage applied. Electrons and holes concentration are reported respectively with blue and red lines. Gray regions are charge neutral. Light red zone is positively charged. Light blue zone is negatively charged. The electric field is shown on the bottom, the electrostatic force on electrons and holes and the direction in which the diffusion tends to move electrons and holes. The electric field created by the space charge region opposes the diffusion process for both electrons and holes. There are two concurrent phenomena: the diffusion process that tends to generate more space charge, and the electric field generated by the space charge that tends to counteract the diffusion. The carrier concentration profile at equilibrium is shown in figure A with blue and red lines. Also shown are the two counterbalancing phenomena that establish equilibrium. Figure B. A p–n junction in thermal equilibrium with zero bias voltage applied. Under the junction, plots for the charge density, the electric field and the voltage are reported. The space charge region is a zone with a net charge provided by the fixed ions (donors or acceptors) that have been left uncovered by majority carrier diffusion. When equilibrium is reached, the charge density is approximated by the displayed step function. In fact, the region is completely depleted of majority carriers (leaving a charge density equal to the net doping level), and the edge between the space charge region and the neutral region is quite sharp (see figure B, Q(x) graph). The space charge region has the same magnitude of charge on both sides of the p–n interfaces, thus it extends farther on the less doped side (the n side in figures A and B). [edit] Forward bias In forward bias, the p-type is connected with the positive terminal and the n-type is connected with the negative terminal. PN junction operation in forward bias mode showing reducing depletion width. Both p and n junctions are doped at a 1e15/cm3 doping level, leading to built-in potential of ~0. 59V. Reducing depletion width can be inferred from the shrinking charge profile, as fewer dopants are exposed with increasing forward bias. With a battery connected this way, the holes in the P-type region and the electrons in the N-type region are pushed towards the junction. This reduces the width of the depletion zone. The positive charge applied to the P-type material repels the holes, while the negative charge applied to the N-type material repels the electrons. As electrons and holes are pushed towards the junction, the distance between them decreases. This lowers the barrier in potential. With increasing forward-bias voltage, the depletion zone eventually becomes thin enough that the zones electric field cant counteract charge carrier motion across the p–n junction, consequently reducing electrical resistance. The electrons which cross the p–n junction into the P-type material (or holes which cross into the N-type material) will diffuse in the near-neutral region. Therefore, the amount of minority diffusion in the near-neutral zones determines the amount of current that may flow through the diode. Only majority carriers (electrons in N-type material or holes in P-type) can flow through a semiconductor for a macroscopic length. With this in mind, consider the flow of electrons across the junction. The forward bias causes a force on the electrons pushing them from the N side toward the P side. With forward bias, the depletion region is narrow enough that electrons can cross the junction and inject into the P-type material. However, they do not continue to flow through the P-type material indefinitely, because it is energetically favorable for them to recombine with holes. The average length an electron travels through the P-type material before recombining is called the diffusion length, and it is typically on the order of microns. [2] Although the electrons penetrate only a short distance into the P-type material, the electric current continues uninterrupted, because holes (the majority carriers) begin to flow in the opposite direction. The total current (the sum of the electron and hole currents) is constant in space, because any variation would cause charge buildup over time (this is Kirchhoffs current law). The flow of holes from the P-type region into the N-type region is exactly analogous to the flow of electrons from N to P (electrons and holes swap roles and the signs of all currents and voltages are reversed). Therefore, the macroscopic picture of the current flow through the diode involves electrons flowing through the N-type region toward the junction, holes flowing through the P-type region in the opposite direction toward the junction, and the two species of carriers constantly recombining in the vicinity of the junction. The electrons and holes travel in opposite directions, but they also have opposite charges, so the overall current is in the same direction on both sides of the diode, as required. The Shockley diode equation models the forward-bias operational characteristics of a p–n junction outside the avalanche (reverse-biased conducting) region. [edit] Reverse bias A silicon p–n junction in reverse bias. Reverse biased usually refers to how a diode is used in a circuit. If a diode is reverse biased, the voltage at the cathode is higher than that at the anode. Therefore, no current will flow until the diode breaks down. Connecting the P-type region to the negative terminal of the battery and the N-type region to the positive terminal, corresponds to reverse bias. The connections are illustrated in the following diagram: Because the p-type material is now connected to the negative terminal of the power supply, the holes in the P-type material are pulled away from the junction, causing the width of the depletion zone to increase. Similarly, because the N-type region is connected to the positive terminal, the electrons will also be pulled away from the junction. Therefore the depletion region widens, and does so increasingly with increasing reverse-bias voltage. This increases the voltage barrier causing a high resistance to the flow of charge carriers thus allowing minimal electric current to cross the p–n junction. The increase in resistance of the p–n junction results in the junction behaving as an insulator. The strength of the depletion zone electric field increases as the reverse-bias voltage increases.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Outlier free essay sample

However, after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s opinion my beliefs are now different. One of the more important examples Malcolm Gladwell mentions that showed how different I thought was the success story of Bill Gates. I personally believed that Bill Gates was successful only because he was an intelligent man who was driven by hard work and his goal to create the personal computer. Previous to this novel my only education on Bill Gates was from reading short articles about him and from what I have heard from friends and teachers. What I did not know about Bill Gates was his given circumstance and the support from his family and others. Malcolm Gladwell mentions that there important opportunities that were â€Å"incredible lucky series of events†(Gladwell, 2008), that created his success. Some of the opportunities Bill Gates was given were his â€Å"free computer time at the University of Washington†(Gladwell, 2008) and also previous to that his mother along with others â€Å"had enough money to pay for his high school Lakesides computer fees†(Gladwell, 2008). We will write a custom essay sample on Outlier or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Without the circumstance of Bill Gates receiving free computer time, chances are he wouldn’t have been nearly as intelligent and innovative with computers as he is today. To reiterate Malcolm Gladwell’s argument about super achievers are successful because of their families, in Bill Gates circumstance it is true. He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to practice with computers at a young age if his mother couldn’t afford to pay for the schools computer fees. Based on Bill Gates example Malcolm Gladwell writes about, it creates a credible argument to how he believes how to become successful. I did not even consider before reading this novel that family and the fortunate circumstances you are given are a substantial part to ones success. However, now it is crucial that it is not overlooked. 2. In my opinion, the â€Å"cultural language† in the United States varies across the country depending on where you are from. I believe that in some regions of the United States the cultural language is similar to the language represented by the co-pilot Koltz in â€Å"The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes†(Gladwell, 2008). However, I also believe in other vicinities in the United States the cultural language is outgoing and in the situation presented in the plane crash chapter, the cultural language would have been much more extrovert. The cultural language across the United States has emerged and evolved based on where you and your parents are from and how you were raised. Moments before the plane â€Å"Avianca 052†(Gladwell, 2008) crashed after running out of fuel, Co-Pilot Mauricio Klotz attempted to warn Kennedy Airport that their airplane did not have the sufficient amount of fuel to land. However, because Klotz was using â€Å"his own cultural language†, the controllers were not able to comprehend the trouble Avianca 052 was really in. I believe Klotz’s mitigated speech during this problem is similar to some cultural languages in the United States. For example, Malcolm Gladwell discusses Robert Sternberg’s theory of â€Å"practical intelligence†(Gladwell, 2008). To Sternberg, practical intelligence is â€Å"knowledge that helps out read situations correctly and get what you want†(Gladwell, 2008). It is clear that Klotz’s cultural language lacked practical intelligence. However, I believe numerous cultures in the United States also lack the same intelligence. Malcolm Gladwell recalls a study where â€Å"Annette Lareau conducted a fascinating study of a group of third graders†(Gladwell, 2008). Results of the study showed that lower-class children are â€Å"quiet and submissive†(Gladwell, 2008). Therefore, children and adults who are from lower-class families very well could have responded the same way Klotz did during a time of emergency. The cultural language of the United States can also be outgoing and far from â€Å"quiet and submissive†. Malcolm Gladwell discusses the South and the personalities people possess there. From results of an experiment, it had shown that Southerners were more willing to stand up for themselves. The experiment consisted of calling them an â€Å"asshole† to see if it â€Å"caused their levels of testosterone and cortisol-the hormones that drive arousal and aggression-to go up† (Gladwell, 2008). The results were the Southerners â€Å"were angry, their cortisol and testosterone jumped. Their handshakes got firm†. It is easy to predict how a Southerner would have reacted to a plane moment’s way from crashing if they react strongly to simply being called a derogatory name. My guess is that if a Southerner was a co-pilot, the controllers at Kennedy Airport would have understood the trouble the airplane was in. I believe our vast cultural language derived from what Malcolm Gladwell would call â€Å"the culture of honor†(Gladwell, 2008). The â€Å"culture of honor† describes people behave the way they do because of where â€Å"you grew up or where your parents grew up†¦where your great-grandparents and your great-great-grandparents grew up and even where your great-great-great-grandparents grew up†(Gladwell, 2008). This explains our difference in the United States culture because the majority of the people living in the United States families were once immigrants. People come from all over the world to live in the U. S. and that is why are culture is different from any others. I believe our vast cultural language works in favor with our social structure because it matches with the supply and demand of our economy. For example, there are plenty of jobs in the United States where people who respect their superiors and are afraid to speak up can work. Also, there are opportunities to open up your own business if you contain traits similar to Malcolm Gladwell’s example of a Southerner and do not mesh well with being told what to do. 3. When Gladwell says that biologists talk about the ‘ecology’ of an organism he is referring to why certain organisms are more successful than others. Malcolm Gladwell is inferring that the â€Å"tallest oak in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn†(Gladwell, 2008). It is the tallest oak in the forest because of many more reasons. Reasons that include luck and some things that cannot be controlled. For example, when discussing about oak trees, Gladwell mentions that one oak tree is the tallest because â€Å"no other tree blocked its sunlight†¦no rabbit chewed through its bark†¦ and no lumberjack cut it down before it matured†(Gladwell, 2008). Gladwell’s point of the ecology of this certain tree is that is it the most successful because of certain circumstances it was placed in. The â€Å"Matthew Effect† or also known as â€Å"accumulative advantage† is when â€Å"those who are successful are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success†(Gladwell, 2008). Malcolm Gladwell’s example of accumulative advantage is hockey players and how at a young age they achieve success. Gladwell discusses that â€Å"the professional hockey player starts out a little bit better than his peers. And that little difference leads to an opportunity that makes that difference a bit bigger†(Gladwell, 2008). An important implication of the hockey example is that the similarities in the age of the hockey players who have had success. The majority of the hockey players in Canada are born in â€Å"January, February, and March†(Gladwell, 2008). Because of the fact that these professional hockey players were born in the beginning of the year they had an advantage over those who were born later in the year. The reason why they have an advantage is because when they were young they were bigger and more matured than those who were born later in the year. Since that these hockey players were bigger than the other kids they were given the opportunity to play hockey at more of an elite level. This is a prime example of â€Å"The Matthew Effect† and it explains that ones who are successful are given more opportunities to be more successful. However, accumulative advantage and ecology both are very similar. For example, along with the accumulative advantage in the hockey player instance there is also ecology to it. As mentioned earlier, the ecology of an organism is lucky or uncontrollable circumstances that occur. For the most part, the date of birth of a person is often uncontrollable and is not often planned. Accumulative advantage and ecology as seen in this example, are often correlated with one another. In both the Matthew Effect and the ecology and an organism, people are given a better opportunity. References Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers. New York: Little,Brown and Company.