Sunday, April 5, 2020

The Movie Quiz Show Essays - Attitude Change, Belief,

The Movie Quiz Show Chernette Lewis Social Psychology December 15, 2000 In the movie Quiz Show The television game show Twenty-one was rigged to keep ratings up at NBC. At the beginning of the movie question for the show were seen taken from a bank volt. This gave the viewer the impression that no one saw the question before Jack (the host) received them from the guards weekly. Herbert Stempel, a Jewish contestant, he won for eight weeks on the show had become a national celebrity, to the audience he seemed unstoppable. When the rating fell the producers of the game show decided to get a more attractive contestant. So, they set out to find a new contestant. Charles Van Doreen became their man to beat Herbert. Van Doreen was a handsome college instructor from a prominent family of Nobel Prize winners. Since Charles was a better match for the show Herbert was told he had to lose the next show and the question had to be simple. Although Herbert did not want to he did. He then became outraged because Charles had became the Gentile the beat the Jew. Charles w as well liked and won much more money. To get revenge Herb spoke with a District attorney office labeling the show a fraud. This prompted an investigation. When Richard Goodwin, a Washington lawyer and congressional investigator read about the grand jury statements being sealed in the New York Times he decided to investigate it. He know something was wrong Lewis, Chernette page #2 when it should have been a public trial. Goodwin was determined to find out what the secret was. The problem was the contestants were all given the answers to the questions before the show. There were several psychological theories shown in this movie I will focus on, group think, cognitive dissonance and conformity behaviors among the three men. Producers Dan Enright and Albert Freedman use the many psychological methods to get the two contestants to cheating on the show. First with Herb they offer him $25,000. When he accepts he believes he was the only one who had received them. Herb was finally apart of the in-group. He showed illusions of invulnerability, making statements like this one they love me for the same reason they used to hate me, because I'm the guy who knows everything. Being known as an intelligent person made him so arrogant that he would do what ever the network say to stay in the spotlight. I have waited for this my whole life said Herb, belief in the groups moral standards was never questioned by Herb until he was no longer needed. Herb Rationalized his action to his wife in saying, That box is the biggest thing since Gutenberg invented the printing press, and I'm the biggest thing on it, this kept Lewis, Chernette page #3 his self-perception under control and made him feel better about himself. Herb showed more of a cognitive dissonance position with his anger toward Charles then the fact that he was responsible for the game show to continue on and cheat everyone including him. Herbert had to prove to himself and to everyone else he was intelligent this statement says it best. You want to know what? If I do nothing else I will convince them that Hebert Stemple knows what won the Academy Award for best picture of 1955; that's what I'm gonna accomplish. This was the question he was forced to lose the contest on. It was not until after Charles spoke to congress board that Herbert realized he was closed-minded and did not take in to account how things would effect him, his family or Charles. With Charles the producers used the use foot in the door technique to trap him. First by asking him to comply with cheating and when he did not they input a question for him to answer so that he would have to make a public commitment. When Charles answered the question it was his first step to conforming to the group think method. Charles loves the attention he now receives as a result of his new found celebrity status. Charles not only demonstrates the Lewis, Chernette page #4 same group think phenomena as Herbert, but he stereotypes Herbert

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Michigan Expanding Social Security

Michigan Expanding Social Security Spotlight on Expanding Social Security Since 2010, Social Security’s total expenditures have exceeded non-interest income of its combined trust funds at a deficit of $49 billion.[i]Social Security’s trustee report has continued to project deficits that have, unfortunately, come to fruition. In 2011, the deficit was around $45 billion with US taxpayers expending over $132 billion – more than the annual budget of the Departments of Labor, Commerce, Interior, Justice, and Agriculture combined. In the 2012 fiscal year, Social Security and Medicare accounted for nearly 40 percent of the federal expenditures with a deficit of $55 billion. According to the trustees report, the deficit will likely reach $75 billion in the next few years. Moreover, without any policy changes, Social Security will only be able to pay full benefits until around 2033; thereafter, only about 75% of benefits would be available.[ii]In fact, the report further projects that by 2016 the Disability Insurance trust fund will be complete ly exhausted with Medicare’s fund to be depleted shortly thereafter. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Americans are concerned about their future and financial well-being or that Congress has come under scrutiny to act promptly in addressing changes to the long-term financial support of the program. The trustees report urges lawmakers to â€Å"address the financial challenges facing Social Security and Medicare as soon as possible. Taking action sooner rather than later will leave more options and more time available to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare.†[iii]Many critics have been pushing for a comprehensive solvency package, covering retirement and disability Social Security programs. Others push for stricter scrutiny in disability cases to help decrease the amount of applicants who receive an approval – a trend that seems to be in effect despite these even harsher recommendations and yet the deficit continues to grow.[i v] We understand the concern and criticism about the current state of Social Security benefits, and the ever-changing rules impacting approval rates.  Call us  today to set up a free consultation and let our experienced  Michigan Social Security Disability  attorneys help you get approved.[i] For full reports by year, see  ssa.gov/oact/tr/index.html.[ii]  See  cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=viewid=3753.[iii]  See  ssa.gov/oact/tr/index/html.[iv] See Article ‘Social Security Trends Affecting Applications and Awards’ for more information.

Friday, February 21, 2020

A review of the relationship between poverty, uninsured children, Essay

A review of the relationship between poverty, uninsured children, childhood obesity and the well-being index - Essay Example The current study aims to look at obesity and chronic obesity causing conditions since these are emerging as major reasons for negatively affecting the well being of people. Data for the study has been acquired from Gallup-Healthway’s Well Being Index  ® website from a survey conducted and compiled in 2009. Data was also acquired from the State Health Facts website for targeted states only. The data acquired from Gallup-Healthway was used to demarcate five states that formed the upper most and lowest tiers of obesity prevalence in the United States. The states of West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky exhibit the highest obesity rates while the states of Hawaii and Colorado displayed the lowest obesity rates (Mendes & McGeeney, 2012). The states were chosen in this order also because West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky are on the lowest rung of the WBI while Colorado and Hawaii are near the top of the WBI list. In addition to these statistics, three other variables were also used that include the population in poverty, the amount of uninsured kids and the amount of obese kids. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics were tabulated for the acquired data (shown in Appendix A). Gallup uses defined metrics in order to survey well being which can be listed as the Composite, Life Evaluation Index (LEI), Emotional Health Index (EHI), Work Environment Index (WEI), Physical Health Index (PHI), Healthy Behavior Index (HBI) and Basic Access Index (BAI) (Gallup-Healthways, 2009). The other variables used include the Population in Poverty (POP IN POV), uninsured kids and obese kids (State Health Facts, 2012). Results for the descriptive statistics are presented in the table shown below. Table 1 Descriptive Statistics WBI (Rank) State Health Fact (%) Descriptive Statistics for WBI and State Health Facts for the Nation Overall and the Five States Selected Descriptive Statistic COMPOSITE LEI EHI WEI PHI HBI BAI POP IN POV UNINSURED KIDS OBESE KIDS Mean 65.03 44.73 78.2 48.82 75.33 62.27 80.78 23.5 7.83 34.05 Median 64.95 44.55 78.5 48.9 75.7 62.15 81.1 23.5 8.5 33.55 Range 9.7 15.9 8.5 8.3 9.5 10.1 7.1 12 9 17.2 Standard Deviation 3.51 5.83 2.93 2.67 3.66 3.88 2.89 4.04 3.31 6.36 Standard Error 1.43 2.38 1.2 1.09 1.5 1.58 1.18 1.65 1.35 2.6 The mean and median for the Gallup data remain fairly close to each other for all reported metrics. In contrast, the data acquired from State Health shows some skewness for uninsured kids with the mean being 7.83 while the median is 8.5. The range for most variables being analyzed stays under 10 except for LEI (15.9), population in poverty (12) and obese kids (17.2). these variables could be expected to display larger standard deviations as well since the range of data is greater. In terms of the standard deviation, the highest value is displayed by obese kids (6.36) followed by LEI (5.83) while other variables display standard deviations of around 4. The standard error tabulation reveals similar res ults with LEI exhibiting a standard error of 2.38 and obese kids displaying a standard error of 2.6. In contrast, the standard error for population in poverty is 1.65 while other variables display standard errors of less than 1.6. Based on these results it could be safely assumed that the data acquired displays a near uniform distribution except for LEI and obese kids that tend to exhibit some skewness. Composite and domain scores by state as well as the

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Surgical Patient Flow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Surgical Patient Flow - Essay Example In this descriptive and qualitative study, the data was collected through timings taken in the hospital interviews with the staff by following an elective orthopaedic surgical patient, beginning with the decision to operate followed by the timing in which the surgery was carried out. The main findings were the absence of a system in existence as surgical patient flow management to follow-up the complete patient journey and to synchronize the surgical steps as well as co-ordinate the various pieces of patient information needed. There is duplicity in the system while transferring the patient from the clinic to the case manager, and also in the way of determining the surgical day, which can very easily result in a step being omitted. An Official Translator needs to be appointed in the Operation Theatre to avoid incorrect communication to emit and to maintain patient privacy. It was concluded that action needs to be taken to implement the surgical patient flow management, integrate all the system related surgical patient needs, and to educate the patient about the steps that needed to be done. This dissertation has required the time and patience of a number of people whom I needed to interview in order to collect my data, and to each one of you whom I wish to keep unnamed at this point in time. I am grateful for your timely contributions. It is important to note the following individuals who have been involved with this project: Dr. Zaid Al-Zaid, Chairman of the Orthopedic Surgery Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, who spent many hours patiently and good-humouredly explaining surgical patient flow at KFSH&RC. His role as a Surgeon in the clinic is integral to the training of students. His assistance in the area of decision-making as well as linking valuable professional connections is greatly

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Causes and effects of international labour mobility

Causes and effects of international labour mobility Introduction Globalisation is the process of intensified international competition and trade. It enables the movement of goods, production factors, labour and technology across borders. If countries use their resources efficiently then globalisation can also enhance growth and social welfare. This depends on how much competition there is and a country has to have a certain stability and mobility of labour and resources for production. The common trade theory suggests that globalisation will equalise the prices of products and costs of production and free trade will lead to a more efficient allocation of resources. It is also beneficial for the customer since free trade suggests high competition and therefore companies will be able to offer low prices to their customers. This seems to be the case in the long run but problems that arise in the short run include high unemployment and income inequalities. Globalisation is an ongoing process that has been around for quite some time now. EU firms can o ffshore many tasks which were never possible before. This also means that international competition is completely changing and going through a transformation. Competition took place mainly between firms or different industries in different countries, however now since a lot of firms go abroad for their production, because it is cheaper, competition takes place between individual workers that use similar skills for their tasks in different countries, so they no longer compete within a nation. This of course can be beneficial for some workers but can also harm other workers. Europe is exactly facing this problem at the moment and this paper will focus on the impact globalisation has on the low skilled workers and income inequalities in Europe. European Globalisation trends Globalisation is taking place in nearly every country on the planet, but it has different effects on different nations. Trade expansion in Europe seems to be proceeding at a rapid paste, especially trade with low wage countries. Due to immense improvements in technology, transportation and communication, it is now a lot easier to handle the production process and this might have caused some firms to move parts of their production process to other nations. Offshoring and outsourcing are the common terms used when companies move their production process abroad. There are many reasons for why companies move to other nations for production. But the main reasons could be because it is cheaper to produce in less developed countries, firms only have to pay low wages and get a better output than in the home country. Especially labour intensive goods are shipped to less developed countries because there are more people that would do the job for less money. Therefore globalisation seems to hav e a negative effect on employment, especially low skilled labour. Since a lot of firms moved their production abroad and the ones that didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t only employ high skilled labour, it makes it even harder for the low skilled labour to find employment. New technologies also lead to higher unemployment rates among low skilled workers, because the low skilled workers that used to have a job are no either replaced by new technological advancements or by high skilled labour. Overall one could say that globalisation lead to a high demand for skilled labour and on the other side a rise in unemployment among low skilled workers. EU trade In Europe most of the countries are part of the EU, which has special trade agreements. Trade among industrialised countries differs significantly from trade with the developing world. This is mainly due to the fact that industrialised countries are relatively similar, in the sense that they use similar production technologies and have similar factor endowments, so one could say that they produce pretty similar goods. Trade between them therefore mainly exists among industries. So countries would import and export products from the same industry sector. For example Germany exports their yogurts brands and France French yogurts to Germany. These goods are similar because they are both yogurts but they have different tastes and characteristics, that is why these countries trade. It is the same with cars, Germany sells German cars to France and France sells French cars to Germany. Trade among industrialised and developing countries is different. Countries export goods belonging to one s ector and import goods belonging to another sector. Germany would for instance export Volkswagens to China and import rice or computers in exchange. Theoretical approach Comparative advantage Ricardian model Globalisation leads to increased trade amongst countries. Countries usually produce goods where it is the cheapest to produce them. Krugman discussed this in Chapter 3, if free trade exists with countries that pay low wages then this will harm the country that pays high wages. In the end the consumer profits from this because if firms have low production costs then they are able to offer the products at a lower price. And the producer benefits from a higher income if he uses his resources more efficiently. Krugman gave an example of this where W represents the wage rate in the home country W* represents the wage rate in the foreign country And the home countries unit labour requirement for good i is aLi, and the unit labour required for good i of the foreign country is a*Li. Now if WaLi < W*a*Li then the home country will produce the good I because it is cheaper, as wages are less at home. Or if the relative productivity of a country is higher than the wages, then the good will be produced in that country. This can be calculated as a*Li / aLi > W / W*. So overall if a country produces the good that uses the resources most efficiently then trade will be beneficial for that country. EU Unemployment To explain why Europe is facing this high unemployment ratio one has to look at the relative wages. This can easily be determined by looking at the relative demand and supply of labour services. If W / W* rises then the relative demand for home labour services will fall. If the home country would produce goods with expensive labour services then this can have a huge impact on society. Because it means that production costs are high as the producer has to pay high wages and therefore he canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t offer the final goods at an attractive price. If nobody buys the products because they are too expensive then the demand for labour services will go down too. This can also lead to fewer goods being produced at home because costs are too high, which will lead to a further reduction in demand for labour services in the home country. The Ricardian model only focuses on the productivity of labour across countries. According to this model a country gains from Trade if a country has a comparative advantage in producing a specific good. If the country produces the good it has a comparative advantage in, then it is able to use all its resources more efficiently and will gain more from producing this good. So here this model shows that overall if a country trades according to rules mentioned above, then the relative price of the good will increase, wages will increase and the producer is able to offer the good at a lower price so therefore even the consumer profits from it. Heckscher Ohlin Samuelson Model The Ricardian Model suggests differences in productivity of labour between nations cause productive differences. The Heckscher Ohlin model suggests that there are other factors of production between different countries, not just differences in productivity of labour, that cause differences in production. Usually the price of a good should be the same as its production costs, and the production costs also depend on how much wages they have to pay and the lending/renting rate of land. Changes in lending rates can affect the final price of a product, depending on how intensively you use land in production. For example if there are two products cloth and food, cloth is labour intensive and food is land intensive. If lending rates for land increase then this should have a bigger affect on the price of food than the price of cloth, because the production of food requires more land than the production of clothes. Heckscher Ohlin model also suggests that an economy will be efficient at producing goods that are intensive in the factors of production in which the country has a lot of. Just suppose the domestic country has an abundant amount of labour relative to land. This suggests that domestic country is abundant in labour and the foreign country is abundant in land. Likewise, the domestic country is scarce in land and the foreign country is scarce in labour. Because the domestic country is abundant in labour it would be very good at producing cloth, as cloth production is very labour intensive. The foreign country on the other hand should produce food as it is abundant in land and the production of food is very land intensive.(64-68) With trade the relative price of cloth should rise in the labour abundant country which is the domestic country, and should fall in the labour scarce country which is the foreign country. According to the Heckscher Ohlin Model, in the domestic country the rise in the relative price of cloth leads to a rise in the relative production of cloth and a decrease in the relative consumption of cloth. The same will happen to food in foreign economy. So what will happen is that the domestic country will become an exporter of cloth and an importer of food. And the foreign country will import cloth and export food. So one could say that a company would be very good at producing the goods that are intensive in its abundant factors, this just means a country produces the goods it has a comparative advantage in. And likewise a country should export goods that are intensive in its abundant factors of production and should import goods that are in its scarce factors of production. (58-63). To explain the wage inequalities among European low skilled workers one has to understand The Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson factor endowment model. This model predicts that trade among different countries derives from differing factor endowments across nations. This model looks at different countries that are trading with each other and these countries are also on the same technological level, which just means that they use the same technologies in their production process for both products. The production process for both goods in this case, requires two different inputs, this could be high skilled labour for one country and low skilled labour for the other country. For example, the production of one of the goods, for instance computers, requires more high skilled labour, while the production of the other good, for instance cloth, needs more low skilled labour. It is assumed that one of the two countries is relatively well equipped with either low skilled labour or high skilled labour, for instance Europe is equipped with relative large amounts of high skilled labour and the foreign country is relatively well equipped with low skilled labour. Usually when two countries trade industrialised countries have more high skilled labour and the developing countries have more low skilled labour. The Heckscher Ohlin theory in this case suggests that industrialised countries like Europe would export computers and the developing foreign country Europe is trading with should export cloth. The outcome would be that the relative price of cloth would fall in the industrialised country, but would do exactly the opposite in the developing country, the relative price would increase. This would lead to changes in wage distribution; low skilled labour in the industrialised country such as Europe would decline relative to the wages of high skilled labour. This can be explained because globalisation increased trade among countries and enabled countries access to products that were produced abroad, furthermore this implies that through trade the relative supply of low skilled labour has increased. According to this theory, inter -industry trade would as a result have the effect of increased wage inequality in industrialised countries like Europe, while inequality should decrease in developing countries. (58-61) Overall it seems as if owners of abundant factors gain with trade and owners of scarce factors lose. This model assumes that after international trade factor prices will be equal in both countries. This just means that once the domestic country which has a higher ratio of labour to land than the foreign country trade with each other, the wage rate and the lending/renting rate of land are the same in both countries. But that is not the case with every country that trades because labour moves around and usually both countries are not exactly the same in terms of infrastructure, technology and communication as the Heckscher Ohlin model suggests (68-69). Because ever changing differences in relative product prices has a large effect on the relative earnings of resources, and with trade the relative price also changes, so trade has a negative impact on income distribution. Causes and effects of international Labour mobility (chapter 7) p154 Heckscher Ohlin model focuses on trade as an explanation of bringing together factor prices, and capital / labour movements have similar effects. Capital tends to move from high wage countries to low wage countries. However labour migrates from low wage to high wage countries. Workers usually move to foreign countries in order to get paid more. Krugman suggested that labour will migrate to countries with higher labour productivity and higher real wages. And he further states that due to immigration wages will fall and due to emigration real wages should increase. If wages do not fall despite immigration, employers have no incentive to create additional jobs, and the immigration and this causes unemployment. Due to the fact that countries do not produce the same goods, due to differences in technology and due to immigration barriers, real wages across countries will never be equal (156-157). Companies in Europe which is considered an industrialised country will outsource those activities that use a large amount of unskilled labour. Moving these activities abroad would then lead to a decrease in the relative demand for low skilled labour in Europe within each industry. This means that outsourcing has a similar effect on reducing the demand for low skilled labour relative to high skilled labour within an industry, as does skill-biased technological change. Technological advancements and wages Skill-biased technological change reduced the demand for unskilled workers leading to higher long-term unemployment among low skilled workers in Europe. So low skilled workers would have to receive training in order to retain a job. At the same time, international outsourcing also leads to a shift in relative demand for labour. Firms outsource the low skill intensive parts of production and therefore increase the relative demand for skilled labour. Technological advancements also enabled companies across the world to better communicate with each other. Fast communication is a key factor when you are trading. Better infrastructure and more ways of transportation also enabled and increased trade among different countries. Benefits from globalisation According to the traditional trade theory globalization will equalize the price of products and production factors. Free trade will lead to a more efficient allocation of world resources as competition will shift production to the producers with the lower production cost. This more efficient allocation of resources will boost growth with positive effects on social welfare. Innovation and increased international competition can lead higher productivity, higher wages and improved living standards. Consumersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ welfare will improve due to a decrease in prices. However, the fall in prices relies on the level of competition in the product markets. Conclusion If economies have different capital/labour ratios, free factor mobility will encourage capital (labour) to move from the economies with a high (low) capital/labour ratio to those in which capital (labour) is relatively scarce. This process will affect the distribution of income since it will increase the relative income of capital (labour) in the countries initially with a high (low) capital/labour ratio. As globalization accelerates further, both costs and benefits will tend to raise while costs such as higher unemployment and income inequality will be concentrated in the short run while benefits in the form of lower prices, higher productivity and income will only occur later on.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

The Power of Title IX Essay -- gender equity in sports

Title IX is a law passed in 1972 that requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance. – From the preamble to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). The actual Title IX document was based on 10 key areas: (1) access to higher education (2) employment, (3) athletics, (4) career education; (5) education for pregnant and parenting students, (6) employment learning environment, (7) math and science, (8) sexual harassment, (9) standardized testing and (10) technology (titleixinfo.com.2011). Title IX legislation has been subject to over 20 additional reviews and proposed amendment revisions due to the different inte rpretations and lifestyle changes that present themselves in their various court cases. History of Title IX Title IX is historically related to the social changes that were becoming increasingly noticed after the Civil Rights laws were coming to light. These social changes represented a national commitment to end discrimination and establish a mandate to bring the excluded into the mainstream (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). It was the federal government that utilized these laws, created by Title IX, to deliver the promise of all people’s equal opportunities and rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution to develop their talents. As an early example of the barriers set up before Title IX, Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President J... ...opportunities in athletics and extra- curricular activities. A woman should never be forced to do anything different then a man just because of her sex. This author agrees with the decision that the woman in this case should not have been sent home for a mandatory leave of absence. This is prejudice at its best. Participating in the pre-game activities of Super Bowl XLV, there was a young girl who won a contest that presented her the opportunity to carry the game ball out on the field before the coin toss. This young girl stated in an interview that it is her life long goal to become a kicker in the National Football League (NFL). This is Title IX at its best. A young girl with a dream; a dream to do something that no other girl has ever done before; a dream to step foot in a man’s world and be allowed the equal opportunity to accomplish HER dream.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Heart Sounds Case Essay

1. Dr. Baker spends a long time listening to (auscultating) Caleb’s heart. a. Where on the thoracic surface do you auscultate to the tricuspid, mitral (bicuspid), pulmonary, and aortic valves? Auscultation for the tricuspid valve would be in the left sternal margin of the 5th intercostal space. The mitral valve sounds are heard over the apex of the heart (5th intercostal space) in line with the middle of the clavicle. Pulmonary valve sounds are auscultated at the 2nd intercostal space at the left sternal margin. The aortic valve is heard at the 2nd intercostal space of the right sternal margin. b. Where do you think would be the best place to auscultate Caleb’s abnormal heart sound? Explain your answer. The abnormal heart sounds would best be heard over the tricuspid area – the lower left sternal border. This is the area which overlies the defect. 2. Caleb has abnormal heart sounds that tipped the doctor off to a problem. a. Name the normal sounds of the heart and indicate what causes these sounds. The normal sounds of the heart are â€Å"lub-dup† are caused by the opening and closing of the heart valves. The first sound – lub- is from the closing of the mitral and tricuspid heart valves. The second sound -dup- is from the closure of the pulmonary and aortic valves. b. In relation to the normal heart sounds, when would you expect to hear the abnormal sound Dr. Baker heard? Explain your answer. A ventricular septal defect is a systolic murmur. The abnormal sounds can be heard during or after the first heart sound and ends before or during the second heart sound. 3. The defect in Caleb’s heart allows blood to mix between the two ventricular chambers. a. Due to this defect would you expect the blood to move from left-to-right ventricle or right-to-left ventricle during systole? I would expect the blood to move from the left to the right ventricle. b. Based on your understanding of blood pressure and resistance in the heart and great vessels, explain your answer to question 3a. In the heart blood flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Blood normally enters on the right side of the heart (deoxygenated), is pumped to the lungs and returns to the left side of the heart (oxygenated) which will then be pumped out to the rest of the body. In Caleb’s case blood will enter the right side of the heart, be pumped to the lungs and return to the left side  of the heart. Every time his heart beats, some blood is then forced through the VSD back to the right side. It then goes back to the lungs even though it is already oxygenated, so blood that is not oxygenated can’t get oxygen. A lower blood volume then remains in the left ventricle to be pumped out to the rest of the body. High pressure would occur in the lungs due to extra blood being pumped into lung arteries this make heart and lungs work harder. 4. When an echocardiogram is performed, the technician color-codes oxygenated blood (red) and deoxygenated blood (blue) a. In a healthy baby, what color would the blood be within the right and left ventricles, respectively? The right ventricle normally pumps blue blood because the blood is without oxygen and the left ventricle pumps red blood because the blood has oxygen. b. In Caleb’s heart, what color would the blood be within the right and left ventricles, respectively? It is both blue and red in the right ventricle because the already oxygenated blood flows back into the right ventricle and blood in the left ventricle would be red. 5. Caleb’s heart allows oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix. Based on your knowledge of the heart and the great vessels, describe other anatomical abnormalities that cause the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Atrioventricular Canal Defect is an abnormality that causes the mixing of blood. There is a hole in center of heart where the wall between the upper and lower chambers meet. The tricuspid and mitral valves aren’t formed properly and one large valve crosses the defect. The defect lets oxygen rich blood pass to the heart’s right side and mix with deoxygenated blood, then go back to the lungs. Another abnormality is Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), where the walls of the upper chambers of the heart don’t close completely, causing a left to right movement of blood due to the higher pressure. The mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood may cause the right atrium and ventricle to enlarge due to the higher volume of blood. 6. What happens to Caleb’s systemic cardiac output as a result of his ventricular septal defect (VSD)? Explain your answer. Caleb’s systemic cardiac output will be decreased. His blood will enter the right ventricle be pumped to the lungs, return to the left ventricle and then be shunted  back to the right ventricle. This causes more blood to enter the right ventricle. The extra blood then leaving the right ventricle causes a volume overload to the lungs. Because blood is being shunted back to the right ventricle, there is a lesser volume of oxygenated blood that leaves the heart to supply the rest of the body. 7. One of the problems that worried Tiffaney was that Caleb seemed to be breathing too hard all the time. Let’s consider how this symptom is related to his heart defect. a. Describe what would happen to the blood volume and pressure entering the pulmonary circuit as a result of his VSD. In VSD the right and left ventricles are working harder, pumping a greater volume of blood than they normally would. Extra blood will pass through the pulmonary artery into the lungs causing, blood pressure to be higher than normal in the blood vessels and lungs. b. Describe what would happen to the myocardium of Caleb’s right ventricle as a result of his VSD. The right ventricular heart muscle will thicken and lose elasticity over time, causing the heart to work harder to effectively pump blood the lungs and rest of the body. 8. Based on the location of Caleb’s defect, what part of the conduction system might be at risk for abnormalities? It is extremely rare that VSD would cause a conduction system defect due to the fact that the two systems are different, different embryological development, yet are in close proximity to each other. It is possible for the bundle of His to be displaced, but usually is unaffected. Sometimes a branch of the bundle of His could be on a rim of the VSD, but is still able to function. The only tricky part is if surgery is needed, the doctor needs to be careful when closing the defect.