Tic Tac Toe Game Computer Science Essay

Tic Tac Toe Game Computer Science Essay Most of the research nowadays is focused towards problems that deal with complexity or are influenced by some kind of random events. Interesting about these problems is that if they are deterministic, then a solution is expected to exist, at least a theoretical one. These problems are often inspired by games, such as mathematical games (ex. Tic-Tac-Toe, Chess). On the other hand the point of randomness involved in these problems increases the difficulty of prediction on the possible solution, or in some situations outcome. This is thy, there are certain methods of operations devised, that in turn give some supplementary information to a decision maker. In most of the cases, the probability distribution of an even which took place randomly, it is possible to be affected by prior events. These games are often played by at least 2 players (or many), out of which the one is called an opponent. The decisions at each step are made by the last move of the opponent. The operations research in these games is called game theory. The vital Tic-Tac-Toe game consists of two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3ÃÆ'-3 grid (Crowley, 1993; Gardner, 1998). The game usually begins with the X player, and the player who will manage to place three respective marks (in any direction, i.e. in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row) wins the game. This basic version of the game is rather simple, what allows the game to be used as a useful tool in combinatorial game theory, as well as a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the searching of game trees (Beck, 2008). Using game theory there are few approaches that can be undertaken: The games solution is resulted by dominance when the game has only 1 rational strategy for each player Minimax strategies decide a stable solution useful if the opponent makes the wrong play Minimax strategies do not decide a stable solution using a probability distribution Even though, game theory researches are made on the possible playing strategies, they might not be employed in real life when playing a game, because: There might be too many strategies to enumerate (this number is simply too large to be estimated). Players are not always rational. There might be more than two players. Real-life games are not zero-sum games. This project deals with developing a Tic-Tac-Toe to be used on a mobile device. The following chapter discusses the Aims and Objectives of the game. Chapter 3 talks about a background research on this game, starting with a review on existing Tic-Tac-Toe games, which in turn leads to discussion about the existing models of this game and the proposed model of this work. Finally, Chapter 3 concludes with a technology research concentrated towards Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME). Chapters 4 and 5 describe the system requirement analysis and design on this work, and chapters 6, 7, and 8 include explanation on the implementation, testing and evaluation. And finally, chapter 9 concludes this work. 2. Aim and Objectives The aim of this project is to develop a Tic-Tac-Toe game for mobile device. The game is supposed to consist of two parts, one a single player game (a player against a system), and the other a multi-player game (two players on their mobile devices, playing against each other). In order to accomplish these, the following objectives were defined. Single player game The player should play Tic-Tac-Toe game on his mobile device. The player should have option to edit his name. The player will start the game of choosing his symbol as X or O. If player 1 selected X then O has to be automatically allotted to the mobile device as a second player, and vice versa. The player has an option to choose the small game grid out of 4 small tic-tac-toe games. If player X marked horizontally or vertically or diagonally of his symbol X in a row, then player X won that small match. Finally, which player won the maximum small games will be declared as winner of the tic-tac-toe game. Multi-player game Using Bluetooth as communication channel the two players should play Tic-Tac-Toe game from different mobiles. Players should have options to edit his name. Once both players connected together, then first player will start the game of choosing his symbol as X or O. If player 1 selected X then O has to be automatically allotted to player 2. Then main game grid has to display in both mobiles. Player2 have option to choose the small game grid out of 4 small tic-tac-toe games. After grid selection both players will play tic-tac-toe game in that small grid. If player X marked horizontally or vertically or diagonally of his symbol X in a row, then player X won that small match. That small grid is marked with X and Player1 awarded 1 point, screen should zoom out and have to display whole main game grid and now player who won the previous game will have the choice to choose on which grid have to be select to play remaining game. This process will be repeated until the whole Four (4) small games grids marked with X, or O, or T. Finally which player won the maximum small games will be declared as winner of the tic-tac-toe game. then game ends. 3. Background Research In this section the Tic-Tac-Toe game will be discussed in details. At the outset, the basic rules of the game are going to be covered. Then, there will be a review on existing Tic-Tac-Toe games, which in turn will lead to discussion about the existing models of this game and the proposed model of this work. Finally, this section is going to be concluded with a technology research concentrated towards Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME). 3.1 Basic Rules of Tic-Tac-Toe game The basic Tic-Tac-Toe game consists of two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3ÃÆ'-3 grid (Crowley, 1993; Gardner, 1998). The game usually starts with the X player, and the player who will manage to place three respective marks wins the game. The marks can be placed in any direction, i.e. in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row. This basic version of the game is rather simple and very often leads to draw. This simplicity allows the game to be used as a useful tool in combinatorial game theory, as well as a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the searching of game trees (Beck, 2008). The Roman Empire is known to have established the beginnings of the earliest known variant of tic-tac-toe. It originated around the first century BC (Crowley, 1993). At that time, the game was called Terni Lapilli. Instead of having any number of pieces, each player only had three. The game was played by moving them around to empty spaces to keep playing. However, according to Claudia Zaslavskys book, the game Tic Tac Toe is originating from ancient Egypt (Zaslavsky, 1982). Chess and Tic-Tac-Toe are one of the most famous games to which the moves are not left to chances, rather than pure mathematics and logical reasoning. In these games, a player wins by achieving a winning configuration first, like for instance: checkmate in chess, and 3-in-a-row in a basic Tic-Tac-Toe game in 33 board (Gardner, 1998). Thus, the question which can be posed at this point is: How a player can achieve a winning configuration first? Even though there isnt a general theorem to answer this question, there might be a well-known strategy stealing argument that can give a partial answer about when a player can achieve a winning configuration first (Beck, 2008). In order to find a winning strategy, in theory all the paths could be explored. However, in practice this is not easy because the total number of strategies can be calculated a double exponential function of the size of the board. For example, a 3-dimensional 5ÃÆ'-5ÃÆ'-5 version of Tic-Tac-Toe, has about 3125 positions. This is because each one of the 53 cells has 3 options: Marked by the first player, Marked by the second player, or Unmarked. Thus the backtracking on a graph of 3125 vertices takes at least 3125 steps. This is the main reason that this 3-dimensional 5ÃÆ'-5ÃÆ'-5 version of Tic-Tac-Toe remains unsolved up to date. Moreover, only two explicit winning strategies are known from in the whole class of nÃÆ'-nÃÆ'- ·  ·  ·ÃƒÆ'-n = nd Tic-Tac-Toe games. This is the 33 version and it is characterized with an easy winning strategy, and the 43 version that in turn has an extremely complicated winning strategy. In order to play a perfect tic-tac-toe game, i.e. a win or a draw, the player can play given they move consistent with the uppermost possible moves. This is presented in the following table (Crowley, 1993): Win If the player has two in a row, play the third to get three in a row. Block If the opponent has two in a row, play the third to block them. Fork Create an opportunity where you can win in two ways. Block opponents fork Option 1: Create two in a row to force the opponent into defending, as long as it doesnt result in them creating a fork or winning. For example, if X has a corner, O has the center, and X has the opposite corner as well, O must not play a corner in order to win. (Playing a corner in this scenario creates a fork for X to win.) Option 2: If there is a configuration where the opponent can fork, block that fork. Center Play the center. Opposite corner If the opponent is in the corner, play the opposite corner. Empty corner Play in a corner square. Empty side Play in a middle square on any of the 4 sides. Initially, the player that starts first gets the X and has 3 probable positions to mark in his turn. Even though it seems that there are 9 possible positions, as there are 9 squares in the grid, by rotating the board, this is not the case. It can be observed that: Every corner mark is tactically equal to every other corner mark, and Every edge mark is tactically equal to every other edge mark. There are therefore only three possible first marks: corner, edge, or center. The first player could win (or make a draw) from any of these starting marks. It can be also observed that playing a corner would give the opponent the smallest choice of squares. This is a nice strategy as could be played to avoid losing (Zaslavsky, 1982) . The second player can be identified as O and this player must respond to Xs opening mark. However, this should be done in such a way as to avoid Player X to win. It can be stated that Player O must always respond with (Zaslavsky, 1982): To a corner opening with a center mark, To a center opening with a corner mark and To an edge opening either with a center mark, a corner mark next to the X, or an edge mark opposite the X. Any different play would allow X to compel a win. After every next turn of player X, the player O should follow the above list. This way the player O can achieve a draw (or a win if the player X makes a weak play). 3.2 Existing Tic-Tac-Toe games As many other games like: three mens morris, nine mens morris, pente, gomoku, Qubic, Connect Four, Quarto and Gobblet, Tic-Tac-Toe also has the same goal, i.e. a player wins if he is the first one to get n-in-a-row. Basically, if a generalization is to be provided, it can be concluded that all the different formations of Tic-Tac-Toe can be represented as nd-games, which are accordingly played on a d-dimensional boards with edge n (Zaslavsky, 1982). As it was discussed in the previous section as well, the original Tic-Tac-Toe game is actually a 32-game. There are many variations, discussed as follows (Patashnik, 1980; Gardner, 1998; Beck, 2008). A slightly different version of a Tic-Tac-Toe game is the 33-game, played on a 3x3x3 board (Patashnik, 1980). It can be noted that this game gives good opportunities to the player that plays first, so he could achieve an easy win by playing at the center with his first move. Similarly, playing on a 4x4x4 board also gives the first payer better chances for wining. More complex version of a Tic-Tac-Toe game is playing it on a board with higher dimensional space. 4 dimensional, i.e. 3ÃÆ'-3ÃÆ'-3ÃÆ'-3 board is one of the most commonly played Tic-Tac-Toe (Patashnik, 1980). In this version there are 2 possible aims. One of them is to position elements through all of the board, thus the player that has more rows of 3 totally than the other one is the winner of the game. And the other strategy is to include 4 players, in which case the winner is the payer that will get a row of 3 first. Another version is the misà ¨re tic-tac-toe game. It is played according to its conventional rules, such as in this variation 33 game would be a draw, whereas the winner is the player that will get n in a row (Berlekamp, 1982). Quite a new game is the Tic Tac Tactic variation of tic-tac-toe (Berlekamp, 1982). This game is played on a 3 dimensional curved board, and the here each player tries to roll a ball at least half the way, as it would then drop on a grid that has 9 positions (33 grid). This way the players should make a row of 3 in order to gain a ball. The winner is the player that will have won the first 5 balls. In order to roll their balls precisely, they could use a device that helps into changing a balls trajectory. Yet another version is the nine board tic-tac-toe. In this game, there are in essence 9 boards, arranged as 33 grids, and the first payer can start on any of them by his choice (Gardner, 1998). The following moves are supposed to be places on the board chosen by the first player. Once this board gets full and there is no more space left, the next move can be again on any of the boards left, by the choice of the player. The winner is the one that will achieve 3 in a row. However, having 9 boards gives the game yet another spirit than the usual tic-tac-toe game, as the players can have an opening, middle and end of their game. Similar to the nine board tic-tac-toe game is the super tic-tac-toe game (Beck, 2008). The difference in this variation is that this game does not end once a player makes 3 in a row in one of the 9 boards. As an alternative, the position of that board is marked on a new 33 grid, and the winner is the one that will make 3 in row there. Tic-Tac-Chess is an interesting combination of games, as it involved playing a chess game, as well as a tic-tac-toe game at the same time (Beck, 2008). In this variation, once a player captures a piece from the challenger on the chess game, makes a move on the tic-tac-toe game (even if the challenger has not placed anything on the tic-tac-toe game yet). And of course, the winner is the player that will make 3 in a row on the tic-tac-toe game first. A game that in essence is an isomorphic to a tic-tac-toe game, even though it seems as a completely different game, is described as follows (Beck, 2008). Basically, there are 2 players that should say a number between 1 and 9, without repeating the previously said numbers. The winner is the player that will first make a sum of 15. This game is isomorphic to a tic-tac-toe, because if those numbers are to be placed on a 33 magic grid, then it will be exactly as playing a tic-tac-toe game, because a straight line is formed only if the sum of the numbers is 15. This information is mostly useful in programming variations of a tic-tac-toe game. Another different variation again employs numbers from 1 to 9 (Gardner, 1998). These are to be placed on a 33 grid, but must be held with an order of precedence defined by the players. Then the players play a tic-tac-toe game, filling the grid by the precedence defined beforehand. Check Lines is a very old variation of tic-tac-toe game, invented in the 1970s by Tri-ang Toys Games. In this game the board is actually any geometrical pattern that consists of 12 lines. There are 11 holes in total, distributed in a way that each line has 3 holes. At this point, each player is given 5 coins, and each player on their turn should place a coin on the board. The winner is the one that will have first completed 2 lines. Because the players have only 5 coins, this means that they have to complete intersecting lines. If none of the players have won after placing their 5 coins, then they will continue playing by replacing the position of the coins, on the remaining spaces, with the rule that it must be done only on an adjacent hole. Very similar game to the tic-tac-toe game is the Toss Across game. Here, the players are given bags with beans and they are throwing them on a big board for marking the squares. Star Tic Tac Toe is another popular variation of tic-tac-toe. This game is played with checkers like movable pieces. It has a 33 board, thus a player has 3 pieces accordingly. The participants keep on replacing pieces into the spaces which are left empty in the board, until one the players wins; this actually adds some more dynamism in the game. Moreover, the players have supplementary star shaped pieces, which can be swapped. Similar category of games as the previous bullet, are the: Mojo, Mojo Too and Mojo tic-tac-toe games. In these variation the payers also pieces and pawn(s) onto empty positions until there is a winner. Moreover, there are many shows based on the tic-tac-toe game, as well: Hollywood Squares is a show with 9 celebrities, which fill the cells of the tic-tac-toe grid. Tic-Tac-Dough is a show on which the players put symbols up on the board. This is achieved by answering queries in a variety of categories. In Beat the Teacher competitors respond to questions to win a turn, again on a tic-tac-toe grid. On The Price Is Right, there is a pricing game called Secret X, in which players must estimate prices to win Xes, in order to place them on a blank board. They must position the Xes as to provide speculation of the location on the secret X. This is in turn hidden in the middle line of the board, forming a tic-tac-toe line across. The fictional game Dni game of Gemedet, has an aim to place 6 balls in a row to a 9x9x9 grid (Gardner, 1998). The fictional game Squid-Tac-Toad, has an aim to place 4 or 5 balls in a row to a 44 or 55 grid, accordingly (Gardner, 1998). A more simplistic variation of this game is having the rules as of the Y formations to count as a win. This is rather simple, because all the scenarios basically forming some kind of a Y configuration. Quantum tic tac toe is yet another variation in which the participants are positioning a quantum superposition of numbers on a tic tac toe board (Gardner, 1998). A larger grid (for example 1010) tic-tac-toe games also exist. In a 1010 grid the winner should place 5 in a row. The more the grids there are on a board, the larger complexity of the game is. Another similar game named Go-moku, originating from Vietnam, also has the strategy for a player to get 5 in a row in order to win the game (Gardner, 1998). The players put Xs and Os, but in order to try blocking each other, in this variation they should also try to create changes for wining. Another difference is that the board has no limit, thus the game is played until there is a winner. Three Mens Morris and Nine Mens Morris are also variations, in which there is a limiting on the number of pieces in order for a move to be allowed (Gardner, 1998). Finally, the last variation of the tic-tac-toe game, employs the words: eat, an, laf, it, line, if, lot, on and foe. In this game, the winner is the one that will select 3 words that start with the same letter. If the game was places on a tic-tac-toe grid, it would mean 3 words in order to form a line (three in a row line). 3.3 Proposed model There are quite a few algorithms hat can be used for creating the Tic-Tac-Toes game strategy. The most popular ones are the semantic algorithms and the lexical algorithms. For this project, a lexical algorithm was utilized. The model of the tic-tac-toe game described in this work contains 2 different game strategies. Basically, the one strategy is the Single Player game where a player plays against a system. The other strategy involves Multiple Player environment, and it is being played by a player versus another player. In order to analyze this game, a decision tree might be used. Moreover, for the analyzing part it should be assumed that both the players in the Multiple Player environment, and the single player in the Single Player game, are in essence experienced. This means that the result of a game can be foreseen after the first move from each participant (again assuming that there are no mistakes). Let us represent with 1 if the player that has the X wins and with -1 if the player that has the O wins. The following figure represents the decision tree after the first move from each participant. As it was already discussed in section 3.1 Basic Rules of Tic-Tac-Toe game, the tic-tac-toe game is symmetric and therefore it is sufficient to consider only the squares 1, 2 and 3 for the first player (see the figure below). The rest of the moves are symmetric and will be presented. So, following this reasoning, the first player has the positions 1, 2 and 3 available, and the second player has the remai ning two positions. The figure above presents an expansion, so called an extensive form. It demonstrates that even in the simplest scenario the decision tree can be quite large. For example, if the first two moves were to be presented, this would be impossible to be demonstrated on a single page. Similarly to this discussion, the strategic form of the game can be presented by a different model, i.e. as a matrix. In order to demonstrate this approach, it should be assumed that the players choose one strategy and they strictly follow it when their turn comes. Of course, each strategy should represent all the paths of action and in every possible situation. At the beginning, let us assume that there is a strategy that the first player uses for their first move, and another strategy for the first move of the second player. This logic would create some rules like the following (Zaslavsky, 1982): For the first player: select one of the nine squares on the game board. For the second player: Select one of the nine squares on the game board. If the first player already uses the selected square, then à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ put an O in square 3, 5, 7, or 9 if an X is in square 1 (center) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ put an O in cell 1 if an X is in cell j. These rules are examples of complete strategies, and these can be selected by the payers before the beginning of the game, and thus followed with their first moves. The strategic form of a tic-tac-toe game is presented on the figure below. It should be noted that the entries in the table below are in essence the values of the game. They hold values for every possible selection of strategies. Each tic-tac-toe game that can be actually presented in an extensive form would have an equivalent strategic form similar to the one shown in the table presented above. Moreover, this table is also equivalent to the matrix established previously. The payoff matrix in cooperation with the descriptions of the strategies comprises the model for the two-person tic-tac-toe game. 3.4 Comparison of Proposed model with Existing Models The semantic algorithm is yet another approach towards the tic-tac-toe game. The semantic algorithm is in essence a learning algorithm, and it might be structured in the following way. It might have as initial information the ability to recognizing the 3 states of a game: lost, won or a draw. The algorithm in this case would play the X, and it will play against another algorithm, i.e. the O. As soon as a game is finishes, the information if the game was won or lost is stored. Moreover, the moves are presented with the smaller letters x and o accordingly. A possible structure of stored information could be the following line: x5 o3 x9 o4 x1 won. The first move is always randomly selected. So, given that the algorithm played 7 (x7), and the opponent played 6 (o6), the algorithm will search for previous games that are most similar to x7 o6. If such a case is found, then the following rules apply: If the game found was a win, than the algorithm will try to reproduce the move. If the position is not available, it will play randomly. If the game found was a loss, the algorithm will try to correct the move, by not placing an element in the same position as in the lost game. This is repeated until there is a winner. Moreover, if a game end with a draw, it is not saved in the database. Comparing this algorithm with a lexical algorithm such as our proposed model, it might be noted that the semantic algorithm usually plays very badly at the begging. But, after a certain number of games, the learning curve of the algorithm becomes better. On the other hand, our proposed model behaves well during all the stages of the game. 3.5 Technology Research (j2me) Being quite different from other programming languages, Java does both compiling and interpreting when it comes to process code. As it can be seen from the photo above, the source code (i.e. the .java files) is initially translated by the compiler. This gives an output of an intermediate language, called Java bytecode (i.e. the .class files). The bytecode is then ready to be executed (or in other words, interpreted) within a particular virtual processor, known as the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) (Hayun, 2009; Knudsen, 2008). This is in essence a simulated processor that executes all the bytecode commands. The Java Virtual Machine is the basic components that give to Java the feature to compatibility. This is simply because it represents a reliable layer between bytecode and the concrete machine instructions, translated at runtime. Over the years, the Java language has undergone many changes and development. J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition) had its first edition targeting GUIs, applets, and other basic and rather simple applications. Recently, the language was extended with the Java suite known as J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition). This edition is based for server side development, and includes tools for: database access, messaging, content rendering, inter-process communications, and transaction control (Hayun, 2009; Li, 2005). J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) came into existence as to cover the needs for applications targeting mobile devices. As it can be seen from this short overview, there are versions of Java to suit different environments: from the enterprise development tools intended for use in servers, to the micro systems. An important thing to note at this point is that the separation between platforms is not just unconditional (Knudsen, 2008). Many times these are not a simple line than can be drawn. In ord er to demonstrate this, it might be explained that Java 2 Micro Edition development sometimes requires the use of Java 2 Enterprise Edition and Java 2 Micro Edition. This is the case with multiplayer games for instance, so and Java 2 Micro Edition is used for the client side, but Java 2 Enterprise Edition is used for the server side of the application/game. Moreover, different Java editions target different hardware configurations. Similarly, there are 3 virtual machines to be used for the different environments (Li, 2005). For example, Hotspot VM is a default virtual machine suitable for a executing the full-scale edition of JavaHotspot. JavaHotspot is a newer type of virtual machine competent of vigorously optimizing a great deal of executed code (called as hotspots) during the runtime (Li, 2005). Other versions of virtual machine are the Compact Virtual Machine (CVM) and Kilobyte Virtual Machine (KVM). These are in essence smaller virtual machine implementations. They are targete d to run within the restrictions of the limited resources found on the micro devices (these will be discussed later in this section, as well). The requirement of having another version (like the Java 2 Micro Edition) for the mobile devices came because these devices do not have sufficient recourses to run Java 2 Standard Edition, since J2SE was clearly way excessively large to fit on even the bigger micro devices. However, the question was imposed initially was which features should be left out from the J2SE, so to be minimized in a smaller edition. Also, having great diversity of different devices, it would not have been a nice decision to restrict all the J2ME applications to the lowest compatible hardware configuration (Li, 2005; Kochnev, 2003). Moreover, this solution would not have been practical as well, because it would incorrectly neglect the capabilities of the higher end devices. The final solution is comprehended through a mixture of J2ME configurations and profiles (Krikke, 2005). It represented a revised Java architecture, which actually offers for the leaving out of parts of the platform, at the same time as a ddition to device and category precise components. Along these lines, the configuration would identify the abilities of a Java platform intended for use on a sequence of analogous hardware. Possible components that can be removed are the following (Kochnev, 2003; Lefevre, 2005): Java language mechanism smallest amount hardware necessities, such as the memory, screen size, and processor power for the family of devices integrated Java libraries By utilizing this approach, there are actually 2 preset configurations for mobile devices: one for somewhat restricted devices such as PDAs and Set-Top-Boxes (for instance the digital TV receivers), and another one for devices such as pagers and mobile phones. These two configurations are (Kochnev, 2003; Krikke, 2005; Lefevre, 2005): CDC (Connected Device Configuration) CLDC (Connected, Limited Device Configuration) All of these configurations are to be reviewed as follows. On the other hand, a good example of java profiles is the UI (User Interface) for mobile phones. For example, the J2ME configuration CLDC that wraps this type of device, keeps out the typical Java UI libraries (AWT and Swing). The devices do not have the ability of presenting anything derived from these libraries in any case. This is due to the fact that their screens are just too small. Thus, there is no point to slaughtering valued space on them. The solution was to generate an innovative User Interface, fitting to the exact necessities of the poor mobiles LCD display. The consequential LCD UI is built-in in the CLDC profile. This targets MIDs (Mobile Information Devices), for this reason the name is MIDP. The CDC is built for bigger devices such as digital TV set-top-boxes and PDAs. These are devices characteristically with numerous space of memory. The CDC is the bigger brother of the J2ME configurations. It encloses a single profile (the Foundation profile) as well as a high performance virtual machine (known as the Compact Virtual Machine CVM). This Java language implementation, as well as the API, practically has all the influence of J2SE. Unluckily, the CDC is not accessible on the platform for the most micro-game players (the mobile phones). The CLDC is especially targeted to micro devices, like mobile phones. It fundamentally defines a standard, which in turn is used by all the device manufact

Health Campaign Essay

Health Campaign three on diabetes serves to implement change in population health. The main focus of this presentation is on recommendations for implementing and assessing the change in population. The presentation is to discuss the various recommended implementations to improve the health of diabetic population by addressing the social, economic and cultural factors. The paper also recommends different approaches in place for the diabetic population such as the programs, policies, laws, and environmental aspects for assessing the health and wellness of the target population. The paper addresses several challenges related to improving the health of the diabetic patients by examining the global implications, environmental factors and disease prevention. Finally the paper summarizes the epidemiology and other data models used by the managers for decision making and to anticipate future trends. Mass media campaigns are the treatments based on mass media channels to present subjects abou t the physical activity to big and undefined audience. These campaigns are presented to enhance awareness and knowledge of the gains of the physical activity, and beliefs about the physical activity, alter physical activity behavior in diabetic populations. The subject matter can be channelized via as newspaper, brochures, manuals, radio, television, and websites or in a combination. Social support networks for diabetes using internet and mobile applications. Social support networks uses mobile applications for diabetes such as M-health for the daily monitoring and self-management of diabetes (Chomutare, et al., 2013). Economic factors include awareness of the direct medical cost and indirect medical cost for diabetic management is important for the population. Direct medical cost which is the average medical expenditures among people diagnosed with diabetes is twice as higher than the people without diabetes. Indirect cost is more than 69 billion which includes the cost for disability, work loss, and premature death (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Building cross cultural relationships by one to one  interaction connects each other in a culturally diverse community. Building relationship with people from different cultures including the minority population is the key in building diverse community that are powerful enough to achieve the goals. Bringing quality of health care into culturally diverse community by sturdy and caring relationships based on the trust, understanding and shared goals (Noll, 2012). National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) works with partners to reduce the burden of diabetes and to prevent or delay the onset of type-2 diabetes and its complications using proven approaches. National Diabetes Prevention Program partnerships with community organizations, insurers, health care organizations, employers and governmental agencies. The National Program to Eliminate Diabetes Related Disparities in vulnerable population assist community partners in planning, organizing, developing, implementing and evaluating community based interventions to decrease the incidence of diabetes. National Public Health Institution on Diabetes and Women’s Health enhances approaches to improve access and quality of care for women with gestational diabetes. Road to Health is designed for African American and Hispanics at risk for type-2 diabetes, which is a community outreach program reinforcing the prevention or delay of diabetes. Laws on nutritional labels provide information on carbohydrate counting and helps to compare foods and to make better choices. Food labels can be essential tool for diabetic meal planning (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Environmental and policy approaches are planned to promote opportunities, provide support, and reminds people to be more physically active. Enhanced spaces for physical activity involves an attempt to change the existing environment to create physical activities, such changes include making walking trails, promoting exercise facilities, and providing access to existing nearby facilities. Environmental modification for creating walkable communities, increases physical activity levels by development of adequate trails, sidewalks, pedestrian spaces to bike, jog, and walk. The land use policies and practices involve the efforts of planning and health care professionals to change the physical environment of urban area to support physical activities. The land use policies should support improvement of ecofriendly spaces, increased sense of community, and increased consumer choices for places to reduce stress. Transportation and travel policies will facilitates walking, bicycling and use of public  transportation. Also, increased parking cost will promote the use of public transportation (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The global rise in the non-communicable disease presents a tremendous challenge in public and private health care sectors. With complex and variable determinants of health non-communicable disease like diabetes is estimated to increase the global burden of disease and death rates. Diabetes accounts for more than fifteen percentage of National Health care Budgets, and almost triple the health care resources. Many of the countries have improved the health care infrastructure which is fragmented, but still it remains inadequately funded and non-operational. Environmental challenges include the lack of exercise, obesity, rapid Westernization of low and middle income countries and changes in diet habits (Tjota, et al., 2011). Encouraging public awareness about healthy diet, and promoting physical activity facilitates to overcome the challenges. Another challenge is the inadequate workforce in the public health sector, lack of adequate training on the disease prevention and health care promotion. Finally there is no enough evidence-based research materials to support the public health care for disease prevention and health care promotion. Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) is a conceptual model that uses Donabedian’s paradigm to draw the relationships among various factors such as the system factors, process of care and health care outcome. The model is used for decision making in diabetes treatments, identify barriers and better care outcomes for the people with diabetes. This model is launched by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). TRIAD model is a cohort study in which the system factors include structure of the health care system, disease management steps, referral care and management, payment services and incentives, cost-containment steps and use of information system. In the process of care the model uses HbA1c testing, lipid testing, retinal examinations, micro albuminuria testing, annual foot examinations, and prescription of aspirin. The health outcome expectations include the glycemic control, blood pressure control, utilization and cost control, management of health status and symptoms, that includes cardiovascular disease, renal disease, retinopathy, and cholesterol control (Translating Disease Into Action for Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011). Conclusion Diabetes has become an epidemic that continues to rise and become the seventh leading cause of death among the population. Federal, state, and local agencies have placed various surveillance systems and recommends to assess how diabetes affect the community and the specific targeted population. Diabetes as a public health issue is aligned with the nationally identified health objective of Healthy People 2010 and continues to address the issue with improved methods of prevention and control of the disease. The presentation recommended implementation of the campaign for diabetes based on the social, economic, and cultural factors. It also revealed the various approaches taken by policy makers, department of law, various diabetes programs, and environmental aspects involved. The presentation assessed various challenges in improving the population health. Finally the presentation summarized the TRIAD model used by the managers for decision making purposes and to anticipate the future nee ds. Reference Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Diabetes Health Resource. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/diabetes/status/us/index.htm. Chomutare, T., Tatara, N., Ã…rsand, E., & Hartvigsen, G. (2013). Designing a diabetes mobile application with social network support. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 18858-64. Noll, K. E. (2012). Cultural diabetes. (Order No. 1519974, University of Denver). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 86. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1112475764?accountid=458. Tjota, M. Y., Kozak, B. M., Chang, E. M., Wu, V. L., & Close, K. L. (2011). Journal of Diabetes NEWS. Journal Of Diabetes, 3(3), 174-181. doi:10.1111/j.1753-0407.2011.00140.x Translating Disease Into Action for Diabetes Fact Sheet. (2011). Diabetes Public Health Resource. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/research.htm.

Greek Mythology View’s of Creation Essay

The story of the creation of the universe has many different versions. In some cultures it is believed that the universe was created by the procreation of the Deathless Creatures. Other cultures believe that the creation of the universe resulted from a big bang in which all of the elements in the world gathered together to create a huge mass and then burst to create life. Lastly, and the most believed version, is that the creation of the universe came from a God who would create the world and everything in it. In the ancient cultures, the Greeks and Romans had many different versions of how the universe was created but most looked to the versions by Hesiod and Ovid. Hesiod was a famous oral poet in Ancient Greece. He is thought to have lived between 750 and 650 BC, but no one knows for sure. Along with Homer, Hesiod is believed to be the earliest of the Greek poets. But it is hard to prove which one had come first. Not only did his writings serve as entertainment, but they were also used in other aspects of Greek living. He taught them farming techniques and is believed to have been the first economist. Not only was he a businessman but he also was keen in astronomy and ancient time keeping. Hesiod is a very important man in Greek History and his early writings showcase his abilities. Theogony by Hesiod gives a Greek version of the creation of the universe. In this book, Hesiod describes how the entire universe was created from the Deathless Creature, Gaia. But he described that before Gaia came, the only thing that was in existence was Chaos. â€Å"In truth at first Chaos came to be† (Hesiod, Theogony 116). According to Theogony, Chaos suddenly rose out of nothing. Hesiod talks about how me might have been created from the area between Gaia, earth, and Tartarus, a massive pit in the earth below the underworld. After Chaos, Gaia was the next creature to be created. It was created as a place for the Gods and mortals to live in peace and harmony. With Gaia came the terrain of the world. The next Deathless Creature that came was Tartarus, a massive pit in the earth below the underworld. Ironically, Tartarus is where Zeus would banish all of the Deathless Creatures. What interested me is that the next Deathless Creature from Hesiod’s story of creation is Eros. Eros is the personification of love. I started to wonder how all of the other gods were created if there was no such thing as procreation at the time. And then I did some research and learned that before Eros the Gods were created through parthenogenesis. According to Webster’s Dictionary, Parthenogenesis is â€Å"development of an egg without fertilization†. This occurs when a male and female specimen is not needed to create an embryo. Just like the hammerhead or the blacktip shark, which can procreate without a male being. Eros changed the ways of the world with love. Chaos had many children, including Erebus and Nyx. Erebus and Nyx were born roughly around the same. Erebus was the male personification of the darkness while Nyx was the female personification of the night. Erebus and Nyx then went on to have children, Aether, the atmosphere and Hemera, the day. â€Å"From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night Nyx; of Night were born Aether being the bright upper atmosphere and Day Hemera, whom she conceived and bore from union with Erebus her brother† (Hesiod 11. 116-138). The next lines in Theogony talk about Gaia giving birth to two children, Pontus and Uranus. All of the creatures represent something, this trend continues with Gaia’s children. Pontus represents the sea and Uranus represents the heavens. She created them so that she would be covered. Finally, after all of the deathless creatures were created, Gaia and Uranus came together to make the first real gods, which were known as the Titans. There were twelve Titans in all and are referred to as the second generation. The male Titans were: Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, and Lapetus. The female Titans were: Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis. Along with the twelve Titans, there were also three Cyclopes and three Hekatonkheires born. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Uranus was so disgusted by his children, the Hekatonkheires, that he banished them somewhere in Gaia. Gaia was so upset that she told her Titans to punish their father. The only one that was willing to do so was the youngest, Cronus. He castrated his father as revenge. From the castration many more creatures were born. For example, the furies were born from the blood that was spread all throughout the Earth and Aphrodite was born when Cronus threw the severed private parts into the Sea. The third and final Generation to be born from the deathless creatures was the children of Cronus and Rhea. It was prophesized to him that one of his children would over throw him. Cronus took preemptive measures and thought out an ingenious plan of swallowing his children after they were born. He had six children and one-by-one he would swallow them. His first-born child was named Hestia who was subsequently eaten. Soon to follow in her path were Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. Zeus was the last child to be born, but Rhea could not stand to see another one of her children eaten so she replaced him with a stone. The poem does not state how, but Cronus puked up the remaining five children and they all waged war on their father. Zeus would eventually win and become king. He would then do what many of the other gods had done and banish his father. He sent them all to the bottom of Tartarus where they would never be able to escape. Hesiod’s Theogony first starts off the creation process by bringing darkness, Chaos, and creating things from that. Then it gets into the procreation of the brothers and sisters, and mothers and sons. From that point, the Olympic gods mate with each other and mortal humans as well. This is one version of the Greek story of the Creation of the Universe. Ovid is a Roman poet and in his poem, Metamorphoses, it also speaks of the creation of the universe. In his poem, he splits up the human race into Four Ages: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages. They tell of different times in the universe’s history. At first, there is nothing. Then a god comes and organizes everything and puts it where it’s supposed to be. For example, he puts fire in the farthest part of the universe and so forth. Ovid then gives 3 stories of how mankind was created recreated. First, It then talks about how the god, Prometheus, created the human race as a replica of the God. Then Ovid talks about a war that goes on between the gods and the Giants. During that war the giants stack mountains on top of each other to reach Mount Olympus. But Zeus then knocks over the pile of mountains and all of the Giants are crushed under the rubble. Meanwhile, their blood seeps through the earth. From the blood, humans arose. The final form of creation that Ovid speaks of occurs after the flood. Zeus is upset with the Humans and wants to kill all of them. He sends a massive flood to the earth to wipe them all out. When he comes to a hill he sees two pious people and decided to let them live. The two survivors, Deucalion and Pyrrha, are the ones with recreate the human race. They take the mother bones and throw them over their shoulders. From each bone, a human would sprout up. In the Bible, the story of Genesis talks about the creation of the universe. It states the God created the universe in sex days and rested on the seventh. On each day God creates a different thing. The last thing he creates was the human race. He created them last and they were created as an image of God. According to the two poems and the chapter in the Bible, the story of the creation of the universe happened it three very different ways. In Hesiod’s version, the world and nature around it all came from Mother Earth, Gaia. And the human race came from the love that was spread by Aphrodite and Eros. In Ovid’s version, the world was a chaotic mess and it was an unknown god that restored order into the world. The bible is the only version to give a time of how long it took to create the world and everything in it. Even though there are many differences in the stories, there are also a lot of similarities as well One similarity that all of the accounts of creation hold are the human race was last to be created in all versions. Mankind came after everything in the world was created for them. Another similarity is that the humans were created as an image of God. Lastly, the final similarity that comes from all the versions is; the universe started off as nothing (pure darkness) and then a god came and began the process of creation. In conclusion, Hesiod’s version of creation takes about the promiscuous ways of the gods and titans. Their promiscuity is what created the world and everything in it. According to Ovid’s version, an unknown god created the world and everything in it and gives stories of how the humans were created and recreated. In the Book of Genesis, God created the world in seven days; as well as everything in it. All three versions of creation did have some differences in their stories, but in they all ended with the creation of mankind. Works Cited Hesiod, and Norman Oliver Brown. Theogony;. New York: Liberal Arts, 1953. Print. â€Å"Hesiod’s Creation Myth. † Women in Greek Myths. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . Ovidius, and Mary M. Innes. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1985. Print. Separating, By. â€Å"Xeno. ovid2. † Larryavisbrown. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . â€Å"SparkNotes: Metamorphoses: Plot Overview. † SparkNotes: Today’s Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . â€Å"Theogony. † Free Book Reviews | Book Summaries | Shvoong – Summaries & Reviews. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . â€Å"The Theogony of Hesiod. † Internet Sacred Text Archive Home. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .

Family Influence - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 851 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Family Essay Did you like this example? Over the past 18 years my parents have constantly encouraged me to work hard, get an education, and to do the things that I am passionate about. They raised me to be independent and taught me how to form my own opinions and decisions. They want me to be successful in life, but they believe that success comes in many forms and takes hard work to achieve. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Family Influence" essay for you Create order My dad grew up in a military family and had to move all over the world, therefore he never had a solid group of friends throughout his childhood. He attended Hillsdale College for four years and got his BA in English. He had a dramatic lifestyle change after staying at Hillsdale for four years because he was able to form a group of people that are still his close friends today. Because of the positive social experience my dad had at school, he believes that going to a four year college or university is an important step in life that everyone should experience. My dad is aware that I am attending Butler University for an education, but he also wants me to experience all of the social aspects as well. Later my dad obtained his JD from the University Of Tulsa College Of Law and is now a partner in the Litigation Practice group at Freeborn Peters LLP. Watching my dad with his career has sparked an interest in law, but I am not sure what majors I need to go to a law school or if that is even a career that I would want to be seriously dedicated to. My mom grew up in a split household and was the oldest of four. She went to Miami University and graduated with a BA in public relations. After marrying my dad she worked multiple part time jobs to pay for him to go to law school. Once my dad’s career had started she became a â€Å"stay-at-home† mom and raised me and my two brothers. Having a family and raising my children is a very important aspect of life for me, which is why I would either want to have a career that is flexible or to have a career that I can retire from early. I see myself in my mom’s position more than my dad’s, but I’m hoping to find something in between. My parents have spent a tremendously large amount of time balancing their work lives with their home lives in order to raise their children and spend time with their family. In my adult life I would like to have the luxury of being able to make the same accomplishments. I agree with my parent’s values of family come first, working hard, and living a well-balanced life. My parents have not really helped me or pressured me into selecting a major or a career choice because they believe that I should be able to find it on my own and make the right decisions. At home I have two brothers, Michael and Nick. Michael is 21 years old and goes to Eastern Illinois University and Nick is 16 years old. Being the middle child and being the only girl has had positive and negative effects on me. I’ve learned how to entertain myself or be social and make friends. Whenever there was a family outing (like a vacation) I usually would get stuck by myself so I had to make friends. But at the same time it has had its negative effects. Because I am the only girl I never had to share anything so I’ve had to adjust. My brothers have affected my actions and how I deal with certain situations, but they don’t play a huge role in my decision making. I have learned from my older brother’s mistakes from his first couple semesters in college, so he has affected my decision making when it comes to studying. My family holds one very strong belief and that is that family comes first. Whenever there is a family issue that needs to be dealt with my dad will always take time out of his day to talk on the phone or come home from work if necessary. My family all goes to each other’s sporting events, ceremonies, etc. to cheer and support each other. I’ve never felt like my parents didn’t have time for me or that I wasn’t important to them. It is something that I have taken for granted over the years, but as I’m getting older and making my own life decisions I am learning to appreciate that more. This is definitely a belief that I hold and will want to carryon into my adult life because I have learned the importance of family and how nice it is to have that support system, which is what I would like to have for my own family someday. One of the traditions that my family holds is Catholicism. I was raised Catholic, but it has not had any effect on my college and/or career decisions.