Posts Tagged ‘Differences’

Identifying Differences Between TED Hose & Compression Stockings

More and more individuals require either a TED Hose or Compression Stockings due to a variety of popular conditions, Diabetes, poor circulation, excess fluids (water retention) and D.V.T (Deep Vein Thrombosis) which is a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg(s), both a TED Hose and a Compression Stocking will alleviate conditions related to the mentioned conditions. Medical professionals often identify both TED hose and compression stockings by the same title, TED hose, but there is a significant difference between them.

TED hose is frequently given to patients when they are in the hospital or medical facility. TED hose are designed for individuals that are non ambulatory, or lying down 95% of the time. The compression starts in the calf and decreases as it goes up the leg. The reason the compression starts in the calf, when we are lying down fluid tends to travel no further than our mid leg. The stockings will help push additional fluid from that position up through the lymphatic system, then out the body. TED hose are usually white in color and available as a thigh high or knee high style. Normal compression generally lasts two weeks; this is why when you’re in a hospital or medical facility they consistently change your TED hose. In contrast to TED hose, compression stockings offer an array of styles and color choices; therefore they are both fashionable and comfortable. Compression stocking styles vary from knee high, thigh high, pantyhose, and maternity pantyhose.

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Compression stockings are available in a sheer material, trouser sock, and athletic sock styles. Compression begins in the ankle and decreases as it goes up the leg. Individuals who have the ability to sit, stand, and walk have gravity working against them, gravity pulls away additional fluid from the upper and mid leg to the ankle and foot, thus eliminating swelling problems among others. When wearing a medical grade compression stocking, the compression begins at the forefoot and decrease as it goes up the leg pushing any extra fluid up and out of the area. Normal compression lasts six months giving the user more time before having to obtain replacement(s).

Certain circumstances allow a person to gain assistance with the purchase of compression stockings. Individuals whom are being treated for an open wound and/or ulcer have the opportunity to gain coverage from insurance as long as all necessary documentation has been made available to the provider. Typically, this consists of a prescription from your physician as well as a CMN (Certificate of Medical Necessity) completed by a wound care specialist. Most insurance differ in regards to coverage and reimbursement, be sure to check with both your doctor and your insurance to see if you are eligible to receive these products.

Identifying Differences Between TED Hose & Compression Stockings

Plasma Vs LCD Vs LED TVs – What Are the Differences?

In the last 10 years, TV technology has advanced to a great extent and has brought in state of art technologies in providing the finest flat-screen TVs. The most important aspect of the technology used has mainly focused around the size, resolution and compatibility and with this, in the last 5 to 10 years there has been a gradual change in the choice and viewing expectations of people.

The manufacturers have now started to put in unique features in their flat-screen TV models making the product having a distinctive advantage of full film effect viewing along with outstanding sound technology. There are various types of flat-screen TVs in the market today, and in order that you could decide between Plasma, LCD, and a LED TV, you ought to know a bit about the differences.

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Overview of Plasma TV: The display in a Plasma TV is made up of millions of tiny plasma cells, and to put it simply, these cells emit light to create a complete image on the screen when a precise voltage is applied to them.

Plasma TVs available now offer larger screen size than LCDs. The screen sizes of Plasma TVs that are commonly available in the market include, 30 inch, 42 inch, 50 inch and 63 inch models, while the LCD TVs are limited to smaller screen sizes, which range from 10 inch to 40 inch models. Presently larger screen sizes of more than 60 inches are being made available in the market. One favourable point is that, the LCD technology is more flexible, which allows wide variety of screen sizes to be developed.

Advantages on Plasma TVs:

- Plasma TVs are available in larger display screen sizes.

- Plasma has better black levels, and also the contrast ratio.

- Plasma TVs can be viewed from any angle, as long as the viewing angle is between 160 to 180 degrees. - Plasma TVs have top refreshing rate which captures every detail in a fast action scene.

- Plasma screen can display billions of colors, producing smooth gradations of shades, enhancing the picture quality to a great extent, making the images life-like and realistic, responding sharply to fast moving images.

Disadvantages of Plasma TVs:

- Plasma TVS do not perform as well at higher altitudes.

- Plasma TVs are more susceptible to burn-in of static images.

- Plasma TVS are thicker than LCD TVs and hence much heavier.

- Plasma TVs produce glare in brightly lit rooms though some advancement in technology has been made to correct this.

Overview of LCD TVs: LCD TVs have Liquid Crystal Displays, a technology which is seen being used in computer monitors, cell phones, and at times are found in camera screens. LCD screen was first created for computer monitors, and now with the application of the technology in LCD TVs, they seem to be a bit better when you are playing games on your TV. However, the choice entirely depends on the user, since some like the vivid colors in Plasma TV, which comes from its deep black levels.

LCD panels work with liquid crystal solution being sandwiched between two polarized glasses. When an electrical voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the crystals rotate, and this changes the polarization of the light passing through them. A LCD panel does not generate light by itself. It just filters or subtracts its back light source to create an image on the screen.

Advantages of LCD TVs:

- LCD TVs have better longevity than the Plasma. The average life-span has been predicted as more than 30 years.

- The display of LCD TVs uses lower power compared to Plasma TVs, but has more consumption than LED. - The screen sizes of LCD TVs are available in various sizes starting from computer monitor screens to over 60 inches.

Disadvantages of LCD TVs:

- The TV has a very poor contrast level and responds slower to fast moving images, creating a blur.

- The prices of LCD TVs are higher than the Plasma, and because of the demand and increased production the prices are gradually falling.

Overview of LED TVs: The term ‘LED’ stands for Light Emitting Diode. It is an electronic component which emits light when a certain voltage potential is applied to its terminals. Though the TV using this technology is call LED TV, but the LED light source is used as the TV’s backlight, while the TV screen is actually LCD. Though some current TV models use CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps), LED form of backlighting remains a far more efficient TV backlight system.

The Advantages of LED TVs are as follows:

- With LEDs as the backlighting source, the TVs have a far better dynamic contrast level than LCD TVs, since it uses a direct backlighting technology.

- LED TVS are ultra thin as much as about an inch in thickness.

- The power consumption of LED TVs are less than the LCD TVs currently available.

- Out of the flat screen TVs available in the market today, LED TVs are considered to be most reliable.

The disadvantage is that LED TVS are higher priced than LCD TVs, but prices are expected to come down with increased production.

The above is an attempt to provide a basic conception about the differences between the three technologies available presently in flat-screen TVs which would help a buyer to decide which TV to buy.

Plasma Vs LCD Vs LED TVs – What Are the Differences?

Gender Differences In Learning Style Specific To Science, Technology, Engineering And Math – Stem

There are gender differences in learning styles specific to science, math, engineering and technology (STEM) that teachers of these subjects should keep in mind when developing lesson plans and teaching in the classroom. First, overall, girls have much less experience in the hands-on application of learning principles in lab settings than boys. This could occur in the computer lab, the science lab, or the auto lab – the principle is the same for all of these settings – it requires an overall technology problem-solving schema, accompanied by use and manipulation of tools, and spatial relation skills that very few girls bring with them to the classroom on day one in comparison to boys.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why girls come to the STEM classroom with less of the core skills needed for success in this subject area. Overall, girls and boys play with different kinds of games in early childhood that provide different types of learning experiences. Most girls play games that emphasize relationships (i.e., playing house, playing with dolls) or creativity (i.e., drawing, painting). In contrast, boys play computer and video games or games that emphasize building (i.e., LEGO®), both of which develop problem-solving, spatial-relationship and hands-on skills.

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A study of gender differences in spatial relations skills of engineering students in the U.S. and Brazil found that there was a large disparity between the skills of female and male students. These studies attributed female student’s lesser skills set to two statistically significant factors: 1) less experience playing with building toys and 2) having taken less drafting courses prior to the engineering program. Spatial relations skills are critical to engineering. A gender study of computer science majors at Carnegie-Mellon University (one of the preeminent computer science programs in the country) found that, overall, male students come equipped with much better computer skills than female students. This equips male students with a considerable advantage in the classroom and could impact the confidence of female students.

Are these gender differences nature or nurture? There is considerable evidence that they are nurture. Studies show that most leading computer and video games appeal to male interests and have predominantly male characters and themes, thus it is not surprising that girls are much less interested in playing them. A study of computer games by Children Now found that 17% of the games have female characters and of these, 50% are either props, they tend to faint, have high-pitched voices, and are highly sexualized.

There are a number of studies that suggest that when girls and women are provided with the building blocks they need to succeed in STEM they will do as well if not better than their male counterparts. An Introductory Engineering Robotics class found that while males did somewhat better on the pre-test than females, females did as well as the males on the post-test following the class’s completion.

Another critical area of gender difference that teachers of STEM should keep in mind has less to do with actual skills and experience and more to do with perceptions and confidence. For females, confidence is a predictor of success in the STEM classroom. They are much less likely to retain interest if they feel they are incapable of mastering the material. Unfortunately, two factors work against female confidence level: 1) most girls will actually have less experience with STEM course content than their male counterparts and 2) males tend to overplay their accomplishments while females minimize their own. A study done of Carnegie Mellon Computer Science PhD students found that even when male and female students were doing equally well grade wise, female students reported feeling less comfortable. Fifty-three percent of males rated themselves as “highly prepared” in contrast to 0% of females.

It is important to note that many of the learning style differences described above are not strictly gender-based. They are instead based on differences of students with a background in STEM, problem-solving, and hands-on skills learned from childhood play and life experience and those who haven’t had the same type of exposure. A review of the literature on minority students and STEM finds that students of color are less likely to have the STEM background experiences and thus are missing many of the same STEM building blocks as girls and have the same lack of confidence. Many of the STEM curriculum and pedagogy solutions that work for female students will also work for students of color for this reason.

Bridge Classes/Modules to Ensure Core Skills

Teachers will likely see a gap in the core STEM skills of female and minority students for the reasons described above. Below are some solutions applied elsewhere to ensure that girls and women (and students of color) will get the building block STEM skills that many will be missing.

Teachers in the Cisco Academy Gender Initiative study assessed the skill levels of each of their students and then provided them with individualized lesson plans to ensure their success that ran parallel to the class assignments. Other teachers taught key skills not included in the curriculum at the beginning of the course, such as calculating math integers and tool identification and use. Students were provided with additional lab time, staffed by a female teaching assistant, knowing that the female students would disproportionately benefit from additional hands-on experience.

Carnegie-Mellon University came to view their curriculum as a continuum, with students entering at different points based on their background and experience. Carnegie-Mellon’s new frame of a “continuum” is purposefully different than the traditional negative model in which classes start with a high bar that necessitates “remedial” tutoring for students with less experience, stigmatizing them and undermining their confidence. Below is a list of ideas and suggestions that will help ALL students to succeed in the STEM classroom.

1. Building Confidence

How do teachers build confidence in female students who often have less experience than their male counterparts and perceive they are behind even when they are not?

1) Practice-based experience and research has shown that ensuring female students have the opportunity to gain experience with STEM, in a supportive environment, will increase their confidence level.

2) Bringing in female role models that have been successful in the STEM field is another important parallel strategy that should be used to assist your female students in seeing themselves as capable of mastering STEM classes: if she could do it, then I can too!

3) Consistent positive reinforcement by STEM teachers of their female students, with a positive expectation of outcome, will assist them in hanging in there during those difficult beginning weeks when they have not yet developed a technology schema or hands-on proficiency and everything they undertake seems like a huge challenge.

2. Appealing to Female Interests

Many of the typical STEM activities for the classroom appeal to male interests and turn off girls. For example, curriculum in robots often involves monsters that explode or cars that go fast. “Roboeducators” observed that robots involved in performance art or are characterized as animals are more appealing to girls. Engineering activities can be about how a hair dryer works or designing a playground for those with disabilities as well as about building bridges. Teachers should consider using all types of examples when they are teaching and incorporating activities in efforts to appeal female and male interests. Teachers can also direct students to come up with their own projects as a way of ensuring girls can work in an area of significance to them.

Research also shows that there are Mars/Venus differences between the genders and how each engages in technology. Overall, girls and women are excited by how the technology will be used – its application and context. Men will discuss how big the hard drive or engine is, how fast the processor runs, and debate the merits of one motherboard or engine versus another. These are topics that are, overall, of less interest to most females.

The Carnegie-Mellon Study took into account the differences of what engages female students and modified the Computer Science programs’ curriculum so that the context for the program was taught much earlier on in the semester and moved some of the more technical aspects of the curriculum (such as coding) to later in the semester. Authors observed that the female students were much more positive about getting through the tedious coding classes when they understood the purpose of it. Teachers should ensure that the context for the technology they are teaching is addressed early on in the semester by using real world stories and case studies to capture the interest of all of their students.

3. Group Dynamics in the Classroom

Research studies by American Association of University Women and Children Now have found that most females prefer collaboration and not competition in the classroom. Conversely, most males greatly enjoy competition as a method of learning and play. Many hands-on activities in technology classes are set up as competitions. Robotics for example, regularly uses competitiveness as a methodology of teaching. Teachers should

be cognizant of the preference of many girls for collaborative work and should add-in these types of exercises to their classes. Some ways to do this are by having students work in assigned pairs or teams and having a team grade as well as an individual grade. (See Reading 2 on Cooperative Learning.)

Another Mars/Venus dynamic that STEM teachers should be aware of occurs in the lab there male students will usually dominate the equipment and females will take notes or simply watch. Overall, male students have more experience and thus confidence with hands-on lab equipment than their female counterparts. Teachers should create situations to ensure that their female students are spending an equal amount of time in hands-on activities. Some approaches have been: 1) to pair the female students only with each other during labs in the beginning of the class semester so that they get the hands-on time and their confidence increases, putting them in a better position to work effectively with the male students later on, 2) allot a specific time for each student in pair to use the lab equipment and announce when it’s time to switch and monitor this, and 3) provide feedback to male students who are taking over by letting them know that their partner needs to do the activity as well.

4. Moving Female Students from Passive Learners to Proactive Problem Solvers

The main skill in STEM is problem solving in hands-on lab situations. For reasons already discussed regarding a lack of experience, most girls don’t come to STEM classes with these problem-solving skills. Instead, girls often want to be shown how to do things, repeatedly, rather than experimenting in a lab setting to get to the answer. Adding to this issue, many girls fear that they will break the equipment. In contrast, male students will often jump in and manipulate the equipment before being given any instructions by their teacher. Teachers can address this by such activities as: 1) having them take apart old equipment and put it together again, 2) creating “scavenger hunt” exercises that force them to navigate through menus, and 3) emphasizing that they are learning the problem solving process and that this is equally important to learning the content of the lesson and insisting that they figure out hands-on exercises on their own.

Research has also shown that females tend to engage in STEM activities in a rote, smaller picture way while males use higher order thinking skills to understand the bigger picture and the relationship between the parts. Again, moving female students (and the non-techsavvy student in general) to become problem solvers (versus just understanding the content piece of the STEM puzzle) will move them to use higher order thinking skills in STEM.

Finally, many teachers have reported that many female students will often want to understand how everything relates to each other before they move into action in the lab or move through a lesson plan to complete a specific activity. The female students try to avoid making mistakes along the way and will not only want to read the documentation needed for the lesson, they will often want to read the entire manual before taking any action. In contrast, the male student often needs to be convinced to look at the documentation at all. Boys are not as concerned with making a mistake a long the way as long as what they do ultimately works. The disadvantage for female students is that they often are so worried about understanding the whole picture that they don’t move onto the hands-on activity or they don’t do it in a timely fashion, so that they are consistently the last ones in the class to finish. Teachers can assist female (and non-tech-savvy) students to move through class material more quickly by providing instruction on how to quickly scan for only the necessary information needed to complete an assignment.

5. Role Models

Since the numbers of women in STEM are still small, girls have very few opportunities to see female role models solving science, technology, engineering or math problems. Teachers should bring female role models into the classroom as guest speakers or teachers, or visit them on industry tours, to send the message to girls that they can succeed in the STEM classroom and careers.

Bibliography

Medina, Afonso, Celso, Helena B.P. Gerson, and Sheryl A. Sorby. “Identifying Gender Differences in the 3-D Visualization Skills of Engineering Students in Brazil and in the United States”. International Network for Engineering Eucation and Research page. 2 August 2004: [http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE/papers/193.pdf].

Milto, Elissa, Chris Rogers, and Merredith Portsmore. “Gender Differences in Confidence Levels, Group Interactions, and Feelings about Competition in an Introductory Robotics Course”. American Society for Engineering Education page. 8 July 2004: [http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2002/papers/1597.pdf].

“Fair Play: Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games 2001”. Children Now page. 19 August 2004: [http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/].

“Girls and Gaming: Gender and Video Game Marketing, 2000”. Children Now page. 17 June 2004: [http://www.childrennow.org/media/medianow/mnwinter2001.html].

Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age. District of Columbia: American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, 2000.

Margolis, Jane and Allan Fisher. Unlocking the Computer Clubhouse: Women in Computer. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.

Taglia, Dan and Kenneth Berry. “Girls in Robotics”. Online Posting. 16 September 2004: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roboeducators/.

“Cisco Gender Initiative”. Cisco Learning Institute. 30 July 2004: [http://gender.ciscolearning.org/Strategies/Strategies_by_Type/Index.html].

Gender Differences In Learning Style Specific To Science, Technology, Engineering And Math – Stem

Plasma vs LCD vs LED TVs – Differences Explained

In the last 10 years, a multitude of new flat-screen TV technology have been commercialised, all with excellent improvements over past technology. The fast advancement in technology has left a lot of us behind, as most of us don’t hold degrees in electronics. So what are the key differences between these new TVs?

Plasma TV

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These are the oldest of the new flat-screens. They came around at about the same time as LCD TV, but they were much cheaper for their size, which is why they were more popular upon introduction. Plasma screens use a gas, which turns into a plasma when an electrical current is passed through them, emitting light.

Plasma pros:

- Cheaper compared with other flat-screens for the same size.

- Generally better, more realistic colour than LCD TVs.

- Deeper blacks and higher contract ratio than LCD TVs.

- Do not suffer from motion blur. Plasma screens have fast refresh rates, so moving objects appear less blurred.

- Wider viewing angle than LCD TVs.

Plasma cons:

- Less lifespan than other flat-screens. Plasmas are predicted to last 10-15 years, whereas LCD TVs will last twice that or more.

- Plasma uses much more power to run.

- Do not come in all sizes (they do not come in small sizes, and only come in a few set sizes, e.g. 42 inch, 50 inch, 60 inch.).

- Usually a little thicker, and much heavier than the others.

- Is more susceptible to reflection glare in bright rooms.

LCD TV

LCD panels first came to existence in the form of computer monitors. The technology itself has been around for many years. It is the same basic technology as the screen on a pocket calculator. LCD TV generally refers to a fluorescent backlit LCD TV. This is not to be confused with the newer LED TV, which is technically still an LCD TV except with LED backlit technology.

Advantages:

- Better lifespan than plasma screens. Predicted lifespan of 30+ years is possible.

- LCD screens use less power than plasma, but more than LED TV.

- Comes in many sizes, from computer screens to 60+ inch displays.

- Lighter than a plasma, hence easier to mount on the wall.

- While prices for LCD TV have been higher than plasma, it is falling quickly with increased production.

Disadvantages:

- Worst panel in terms of performance: lowest contrast level and slow (motion blur possible).

- Narrower viewing angle, with slight colour shifting possible for any particular viewer.

LED TV

LED TV is technically actually LCD, but backlit with LEDs rather than fluorescent light source/s. This technology is the next generation in LCD screens.

Differences between LED backlit and current LCD technology:

- LED backlit produces much greater dynamic contrast owing to its direct backlighting.

- LED TVs can be made extremely thin, down to around an inch thick.

- LED TVs consume the least power out of all three screen types.

- LED TVs currently cost much more than LCD, but the prices are expected to fall dramatically as production increases.

- LED TVs are considered to be the most reliable out of all current flat-screen systems.

I hope this makes your search for a suitable TV an easier experience!

Plasma vs LCD vs LED TVs – Differences Explained

LED TV Versus OLED TV – What Are the Differences?

There are a seemingly endless amount of televisions on the market today. These different kinds of televisions all offer varying types of technologies. These different technologies could easily affect how you enjoy your TV stations, shows, and movies.

LED TVs and OLED TVs are two types of TV technology that are gaining in popularity. Both of these television types have something to offer to your home entertainment system. By looking into the differences and similarities between the two, you will be able to understand the type of TV that is right for you.

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What is an LED TV?

The LED in LED TV stands for light-emitting diode. This is a simple light source that has been used for lighting since the 1960s. The LED TV offers lower energy consumption than other types of televisions. It also offers a better picture, and the ability to offer a clear picture.

What is an OLED TV?

OLED stands for “Organic Light Emitting Diode”, and is well known for having multiple advantages over other kinds of televisions. These advantages come from the ability of OLEDs to work without a backlight.

The OLED TV works through using OLEDs. These OLEDs emit light through organic compounds. This allows for higher levels of black, and more contrast than other types of televisions.

What is the Same?

There are a lot of similarities to be had between the LED TV and the OLED TV. Both the LED TV and the OLED television feature some of the best contrast levels in the TV market. They both have deeper blacks than other televisions. This means that the black comes across as darker, and contrasts more with the other colors. This helps these other colors to stand out more. Both types of TVs are also thin, and are generally thinner than other types of TVs, including LCD TVs.

What is Different?

There are a few major differences between the two types of televisions. The main differences focuses around the backlight. The LED TV is actually an LED backlit LCD TV, utilizing LEDs for the perfect backlighting. OLED TVs, on the other hand, do not need a backlight to operate.

The LED technology is relatively old when compared to OLED technology. OLED TVs are newer, and are using the most recent form of LED technology. With LED technology, the lights are bright white and are forced through a color filter. With OLED TVs, each LED is actually creating the color that is needed. This is what creates the more dynamic picture, giving OLED TVs a nicer picture than LED TVs.

For some, the LED TV is going to be the perfect purchase. For others, the OLED TV is the best option. If you are in the market for a new HDTV, you simply need to sit down and evaluate your options. You need to know the positives and negatives about both types of TVs to ensure that you make the best purchase for your home.

LED TV Versus OLED TV – What Are the Differences?