Friday, January 24, 2020

Scout’s Maturity Essay -- English Literature

Scout’s Maturity Maturation is a stage of growth that we as human beings begin at birth. â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† in Harper Lee shows Scouts growth as she experiences and understands the prejudice of Maycomb. In the beginning Scout is a naive little girl but as the story commences she begins to understand what goes on in Maycomb and by the end she may still be young but she has matured. In â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† author suggests the actions we take lead us to become human beings and what we have done and learned from it leads to mature beings. In the beginning, Scout is an outsider, a tomboy who is not accepted by her brother or his friend. She is known as â€Å"the girl† also she announces that she is five years old but she tries her best to fit in and play with he brother and Dill. Scout thinks of herself as an adult in the beginning, like at when at school she thinks of herself and her school mates as little adults, who must take care of the first year teachers, this shows she is still small but is working her way to adulthood. As the first part of the story progresses we learn another quality which makes Scout immature; the fact that she can’t control her anger. For example when Scout beat up her cousin, this shows she needs to accept something’s and let them go because if she keeps getting angry she is going to go on a rampage because in those days bigotry existed and she has to get use to it.. Scout makes very little progress in the first part of â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† but that doesn’t mean she isn’t determined. To fit in and feel as old as achievable is one of her true goals so she does as much as she can do to fit in and act as old as possible. One thing she does that is mature is she tries her b... ...but in the beginning she made childish accusations. As the story progressed she was shown the true colors of people and understands how life is in Maycomb County, Alabama. Near the end she makes better decisions and the ideas that come to her mind make her seem more mature. After Tom Robinson gets shot Scout matures into a woman mentally and the court trial was the route that showed her the people and there prejudice decisions from a girl to a man. In â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† Harper Lee says that in life we encounter many situations that affect us deeply but from the mistakes of others we learn valuable lessons. Scouts maturation from a young girl to a young woman is a slow alternation she made as she went through the tunnel and showed how she matured. People far prefer belonging than wisdom, but that is like wanting to be immortal without getting older.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Role of A Computer Programmer

Computer programmers write, test, and maintain the detailed instructions, called programs, that computers must follow to perform their functions. They also conceive, design, and test logical structures for solving problems by computer. Many technical innovations in programming-advanced computing technologies and sophisticated new languages and programming tools-have redefined the role of a programmer and elevated much of the programming work done today. Job titles and descriptions may vary, depending on the organization. Computer programs tell the computer what to do, which information to identify and access, how to process it, and what equipment to use. Programs vary widely depending upon the type of information to be accessed or generated. For example, the instructions involved in updating financial records are very different from those required to duplicate conditions on board an aircraft for pilots training in a flight simulator. Although simple programs can be written in a few hours, programs that use complex mathematical formulas, whose solutions can only be approximated, or that draw data from many existing systems may require more than a year of work. In most cases, several programmers work together as a team under a senior programmer's supervision. Programmers write programs according to the specifications determined primarily by computer software engineers and systems analysts. After the design process is complete, it is the job of the programmer to convert that design into a logical series of instructions that the computer can follow. The programmer then codes these instructions in a conventional programming language, such as COBOL; an artificial intelligence language, such as Prolog; or one of the most advanced object-oriented languages such as Java, C++, or Smalltalk. Different programming languages are used depending on the purpose of the program. COBOL, for example, is commonly used for business applications, whereas Fortran (short for â€Å"formula translation†) is used in science and engineering. C++ is widely used for both scientific and business applications. Many programmers at the enterprise level are also expected to know platform-specific languages used in database programming. Programmers generally know more than one programming language and, because many languages are similar, they often can learn new languages relatively easily. In practice, programmers often are referred to by the language they know, as are Java programmers, or the type of function they perform or environment in which they work, which is the case for database programmers, mainframe programmers, or Web programmers. Programmers often are grouped into two broad types, applications programmers and systems programmers. Applications programmers write programs to handle a specific job, such as a program to track inventory within an organization. They may also revise existing packaged software or customize generic applications called middleware. Systems programmers, on the other hand, write programs to maintain and control computer systems software, such as operating systems, networked systems, and database systems. These workers make changes in the sets of instructions that determine how the network, workstations, and central processing unit of the system handle the various jobs they have been given, and how they communicate with peripheral equipment such as terminals, printers, and disk drives. Because of their knowledge of the entire computer system, systems programmers often help applications programmers to determine the source of problems that may occur with their programs. Most systems programmers hold a 4-year degree in computer science. Extensive knowledge of a variety of operating systems is essential for such workers. This includes being able to configure an operating system to work with different types of hardware and having the skills needed to adapt the operating system to best meet the needs of a particular organization. Systems programmers also must be able to work with database systems, such as DB2, Oracle, or Sybase. Programmers in software development companies may work directly with experts from various fields to create software, either programs designed for specific clients or packaged software for general use, ranging from games and educational software to programs for desktop publishing and financial planning. Much of this type of programming takes place in the preparation of packaged software, which constitutes one of the most rapidly growing segments of the computer services industry. In some organizations, particularly small ones, workers commonly known as programmer-analysts are responsible for both the systems analysis and the actual programming work. Advanced programming languages and new object-oriented programming capabilities are increasing the efficiency and productivity of both programmers and users. The transition from a mainframe environment to one that is based primarily on personal computers (PCs) has blurred the once rigid distinction between the programmer and the user. Increasingly, adept end-users are taking over many of the tasks previously performed by programmers. For example, the growing use of packaged software, such as spreadsheet and database management software packages, allows users to write simple programs to access data and perform calculations. Required skills vary from job to job, but the demand for various skills generally is driven by changes in technology. Employers using computers for scientific or engineering applications usually prefer college graduates who have degrees in computer or information science, mathematics, engineering, or the physical sciences. Graduate degrees in related fields are required for some jobs. Employers who use computers for business applications prefer to hire people who have had college courses in management information systems (MIS) and business and who possess strong programming skills. Although knowledge of traditional languages still is important, employers are placing increasing emphasis on newer, object-oriented programming languages and tools, such as C++ and Java. Additionally, employers are seeking persons familiar with fourth- and fifth-generation languages that involve graphic user interface (GUI) and systems programming. Employers also prefer applicants who have general business skills and experience related to the operations of the firm.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1433 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/08/08 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Affordable Care Act Essay Did you like this example? March of 2010 the federal government passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since that time the ACA has been hotly debated by people of all political affiliations. Some argue how positive the outcomes have been and other seek to prove how the law is unfair, too costly or ineffective. The original intent of the legislation was for more people to afford medical insurance and reduce the overall cost of medical care. The three primary goals of the law are: Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (premium tax credits) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act" essay for you Create order Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level. Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally. (Affordable Care Act (ACA) HealthCare.gov Glossary. (n.d.), n.d.) This paper examines the economic research of the three primary goals to determine how well the law is meeting its goals. The first goal of the ACA was to make health insurance affordable and thereby assessable to more people. In researching this goal, it was found to be multi-factorial and one that was highly debated as potentially being an economic drain to individuals. The debates centered around the employer mandates with some concerned employers would reduce cut positions or cur workers to part-time status in order to avoid the fifty full-time employee level. Although workers economic status would potentially be hurt by these cuts the insurance exchanges would have been helped as these workers would seek health insurance there instead of with their employers. This leads to another point in the research. Insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, were developed with the goal of spreading the risk between healthiest and sickest people thereby reducing the cost of health insurance overall. Looking at research on employment trends in the years following the enactment of the ACA it was discovered, the U.S. equal to or surpassed other high-income counties in economic growth. It was also found that employment growth was up with 13.4 million more people were employed than in March 2010, when the ACA was enacted (Schoen, 2016). Schoens (2016) study also found the following: Full-time jobs have accounted for all of the net job growth since March 2010. Although some critics feared that employers would convert full-time positions to part-time ones to avoid the health insurance requirements that apply to full-time jobs has improved markedly. Moreover, the number of people working part-time who would prefer full-time work has declined by 3 million since 2010. (p. 12) While the employment rate points to an economic win for employees, research also suggests this to be part of the negative effects of the health insurance exchanges. With an increase in employment rates, more people are obtaining insurance through employer-sponsored health insurance plans. This decreases the number of people seeking health insurance through the exchanges. These people are also likely some of the healthier people needed to offset the costs of the sicklier people. Research has also pointed to attrition as a big reason for the instability of the marketplaces. What was found was that people would drop out after one month of coverage or after they obtained care for non-chronic conditions. Given the option of paying a year of health insurance or paying a minimal fine, many people have found it cheaper to pay the fine. This behavior has created a situation for the health insurance companies where they find it difficult to set prices. If they set the price low but not e nough healthy people pay the year, they are likely to operate at a loss. Balancing this situation has put the health insurance marketplace in a very unstable position (High Attrition May Make ACA Health Insurance Markets Unstable, 2018). The second goal was to expand the Medicaid program. States which chose to participate in the Medicaid expansion were provided federal monies to help offset state costs associated with the increased Medicaid enrolls. According to research, increased Medicaid participation accounted for a decreased in uninsured visits to the ER, increase in early diagnosis of cancer and overall better care provided to these low-income patients. These patients also worried less about unexpected healthcare costs. Studies also showed overall economic growth including savings in the state budget and gains in revenue. As the federal monies begin to decrease to these states, they will need to find alternative funds to maintain the increased number of Medicaid participants. Some states have looked at using provider taxes and fees to help offset costs (Antonisse, 2018). Finding ways to lower health care costs was the third goal. The framers of the ACA sought ways to encourage providers to achieve better health outcomes at reduced cost (Schoen, 2016). In 2012 the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) was added. This program attempts to address a quality measure, but at the same time could help lower the cost curve. This program looks at 30-day hospital readmission rates for specific diagnoses. Hospitals are penalized if they are found to have high rates of readmission for these specific diagnoses (McIlvennan, 2015). The first year realized penalties of 0.3% of total Medicare payments to hospitals. This was well below the original estimate. The average penalty decreased from 0.42 to 0.38% in the second year with it increasing to 0.63% in year three. Some of the increase could be attributed to the inclusion of two new diagnoses (McIlvennan, 2015). For hospitals attempting to find ways to improve outcomes and reduce readmissions muc h time and money has been spent implementing or improving transitional care. These interventions could include ensuring patient are discharged on optimal medications with appropriate instruction, securing early outpatient follow up care and telephone calls in ensure patient status and compliance with treatment. While all of these options have the potential to reduce readmissions and the associated fines, some do require money to be spent by the hospital in wages to higher staff to do such things as make phone calls. While the features in the ACA addressing lowering health care costs appear to be making strides there are alternative areas which could undo the reduced costs realized to this point. According to Schoen (2016) these include: Rising costs of prescription drugs. A lull in development of new breakthrough prescription drugs and the expiration of patents for several high-cost medications during recent years have both contributed to the spending slowdown in the first part of this decade. But there are multiple warning signs that this trend may be ending including the $82,000 price tag for treatment with an effective new drug for hepatitis C, the availability of new cancer drugs, and rapid increases in prices for even generic medication. A key question is whether the United States will be able to implement more value-pricing for existing and new drugs while also promoting innovation and limiting monopolistic pricing. Consolidation of providers and insurers through mergers and acquisitions. Vertical or horizontal provider consolidation could push prices up, even if the use of health services decreases. This is especially true in markets with multiple, nondominant payers. The greater market power achieved through consolidation also could help providers maintain the higher prices from private insurers gained in previous years. At the same time, mergers of insurers pose the danger of raising premiums and the prices paid for care. Administrative layers and complexity. Public and private health care payers and regulatory agencies use different, often changing payment methods and require separate reporting on an expanding array of metrics there is concern that the proliferation of payment changes and reporting requirements are adding to administrative costs and diverting time and resources away from the delivery of care. The U.S. health system already has among the highest administrative costs in the world; the challenge is how to reduce the excess costs stemming from the U.S. health insurance systems inherent fragmentation. (p. 19) This information shows there is still work that can be done in regard to continuing reduction of the costs associated with health care. Whether it be finding ways to reduce prescription costs or ensuring economic conditions exist to reduce the likelihood of hospitals, insurance companies or drug companies merging and becoming more monopolistic in nature. This research has shown the ACA has had many positive economic effects of both individuals and reducing health care costs. It also shows there is still work that can be done to further improve outcomes and reduce costs for individuals, insurance companies and providers. Continued research should be done to ensure costs savings are not accounting for increased mortality rates or other negative situations.