What Is the Greenhouse Efect

* What is the greenhouse effect, and how does it work? The greenhouse effect is when the short wave lengths of visible light from the son pass through a transparent medium. They are then absorbed but the longer wavelengths of the infrared re-radiation from the heated objects are unable to pass through that medium. The Greenhouse Effect is when there are various gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and even water vapor that traps the sun's energy, or heat, inside.When unable to escape the atmosphere the added solar energy results in warmer air temperature, just like the glass in a greenhouse traps the energy from the sun and keeps your plants warm. Some greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are a good thing. It keeps the earth from freezing. Too much causes excessive temperatures and stronger storms. Also not all the greenhouse gas that we emit to the atmosphere stays there indefinitely. For example the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the amount of CO2 dissolved in surface waters of the oceans stay in equilibrium, because the air and water mix well at the sea surface.Thus when we add more CO2 to the atmosphere, a proportion of it dissolves in the ocean. * What are the main greenhouse gases? The main greenhouse gases are as followed carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases. Fluorinated gases are by far the most important greenhouse gases because of their strength or global warming potential. * What is the present level of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Why has carbon dioxide concentration risen since 1860? As of December 2012 our current atmospheric carbon dioxide level is at 394. 39ppm. There are several reasons the concentration has risen since 1860.Burning of coal, oil, and natural gas releases about 6 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year worldwide. Also logging and burning of the natural forest contributes upwards of 2 billion tons annually since the trees are no longer able to store the carbon di oxide there for reducing the amount of carbon in the air. Over the same time period, agricultural and industrial practices have also substantially increased the levels of other potent greenhouse gases — methane concentrations have doubled and nitrous oxide levels have risen by about 15 percent. What are some predicted environmental damages if carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced? When there is too much CO2 being admitted into our environment from burning fossil fuels, and cars. Add that to the fact that we are cutting down trees for paper – it is imbalanced and now it has started to catch up with us with global warming. Because these gases are trapped in our atmosphere, they have more time to collect heat from our atmosphere and the sun – thus making our climate increase in heat. This then triggers ice caps to melt and floods to occur.It also increases the risk for forest fires, Pole ward shift of temperate species, increase death due to illness from the hea t. Also possible environmental damages are increased exposure to infectious diseases such as malaria or dengue and respiratory disorders because of the interactions with pollutants. * In your analysis, how certain do we need to be about future predictions before acting on this problem? Based on the information I have gathered global warming is an issue that needs to be taken very seriously because it could severely impact the future of earth as we know it.It is also important to be sure about our future predictions because a wrong move or a wrong prediction could make the global warming issue worse. We do however need to start moving forward to try and solve the global warming issue. References hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/hbase/thermo/grnhse. html www. whatsyourimpact. eu. org/main-greenhouse-gases. php clinton5. nara. gov/Initiatives/Climate/greenhouse. html Done by Melissa McRoberts

Employers’ Decision-Making based on Heuristics Essay

Employers in the United States, especially for those in the East coast or in the southern states, usually have a common way of judging their applicants based on some valuable attributes.   In this case, the applicant is a Hispanic Woman which seems to be enough to affect the employer’s decision.    Why?   Objectively speaking, it is because of her race, her possible place of origin and its â€Å"social implications†.   Such racial bias in employer decision-making can be deconstructed into a number of heuristic aspects discussed in class.   As a disclaimer, this paper strives to be objective and non-racist.   It contains only fair or probable assumptions on the possible thought patterns of employers, which are not absolute and may be proven false. Representativeness A Hispanic (Latina), even with a Master’s Degree, will not escape a social stigma perpetrated by a widespread social awareness indirectly attributed to President Bush’s policy against illegal immigrants.   The context here is based on tough U.S. actions against border crossings from Mexico to America.   American Border Guards are used to apprehending Latinos in flight, which is very much portrayed in the movie Babel (2006). Due to the significant number of illegal cross border cases by Hispanics, our Latina applicant will be viewed as such, based on some of her physical attributes (skin color, hair, and accent).   An employer who is minimally trained in psychology will surely make the mistake of considering a Latina applicant as one of those people who illegally crossed the Mexican border into the U.S. sometime in the past.   Moreover, what will influence the employer’s decision not to accept her is the U.S. Government’s penalty against those who harbor illegal aliens due to a number of government-declared risks: terrorism, smuggling, human trafficking etc. Availability The employer’s bias against the Latina can be analyzed in terms of the availability of past memories regarding the hiring of Hispanic Americans.   This employer may have experienced the assumed disadvantages of hiring Hispanics in the past.   He/she may have hired someone like her in the past year, but was not very satisfied with her performance due to a number of assumed complications like, say, she goes home to Mexico everyday thereby crossing the border.   This context is very much related to employers situated in New Mexico where a large bulk of the labor force actually reside in Mexico, and cross the border every day to show up for work. The employer may wish to avoid such â€Å"border-crossing† complications in the payroll so as not to arouse suspicion to the immigration authorities about keeping an alien in the company’s workforce.   The Human Resources Department may have collected a lot of business intelligence in the past years about a significant number of other employers hiring Hispanic Americans and the disadvantages they caused to their companies (an assumption only). If the disadvantages of a Hispanic workforce become frequent, it will naturally affect the availability of not so good memories about hiring them.   Assuming that Hispanic Women have this mean behaviour, the employer finds it hard to avoid regressing to this statistical mean behavior.   S/he may be thinking about the odds that this Latina woman will be so different from the rest.   Of course, these ideas may be far fetched, but their existence in the minds of biased employers is not impossible. Attribution and Anchoring/Adjustment The abovementioned idea assumptions on availability lead to the framework of the attribution heuristic.   The employer, through availability and representativeness, may have created his/her built-in logic on hiring: Hispanic Americans may cause immigration problems, therefore company trouble.   This self-made logic can spread to the whole Human Resources Department, especially in this case that the other manager may call the shots.    Human Resources may tend to raise its standards or benchmarks for them, thus becoming racist in its employment policy.   The whole concept of benchmarking and adjusting it for specific behaviors is the meat of anchoring and adjustment.   Assuming that employers have built the bias based on the above heuristics, they possibly could have preferences over other races (whites, Chinese, etc.) such that they lower the benchmark for the other applicants except Hispanics.   This idea is supported by the fact that our Hispanic applicant has a Master’s Degree in Marketing and is still deemed â€Å"unfit†, even with a higher educational attainment. Conclusions It is no wonder that most reputable companies fill their Human Resources Department with people who have an objective awareness of human behavior across various origins and cultures.   Recruitment committees are ideally made up of psychology graduates or behavioral science majors so they can objectively asses the fitness of applicants while limiting the determining factors of racial, socio-political, economic bias.   Also, the employers’ decisions should be affected by a sense of long term integrity of the company by building the best mix of workforce from different races and origins, without biases and the mistake of overgeneralization. Reference: [no author]. (1997). Heuristic. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.sfb504.uni-mannheim.de/glossary/heurist.htm. Baron, J. (2000). The Effects of Overgeneralization on Public Policy. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~baron/overgen.pdf. Chapman, G. B. (2000). Incorporating the Irrelevant: Anchors in Judgments of Belief and Value. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://heuristics.behaviouralfinance.net/anchoring/ChJo00.pdf. Hilgard, E. R. (2001). Introduction to Psychology. New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.   

Business Model Concept

Model in business is a precise and clear way in which a company can generate profit or revenues. Due to the technology change and advance in communication has put customers in a variety of choice. Competitiveness and efficient has contributed to managers employing the business model to provide better product and services. The business model is a way of analyzing data and evidence presented to prove how they can increase the value of their customer (Peris-Ortiz, 2016). Type of product determines the criteria in company choose a business model. Additionally, the model determines how a company goes about sales and marketing strategies including pricing, sales channel, potential partners, and branding. However, produce a super average profit and sustainable competitive advantage, business should excel in both business model design and product innovation (Fields, 2016). Business model differs from one company to another; because of companies offering differing products (Piperopoulos, 2012 ). The main aim of a company is to generate high-profit margin. For instance, the mobile industry might decide to sell the mobile at a low price, and then they will generate revenues from the sales of recharge card. Due to global economy development, the company has changed the relationship between the customers and suppliers (Rainey, 2010). This essay aims to explain and provide a discussion of value creation and appropriation and innovation process at firms. The business model is how a company makes, delivers, and gets value in the social, cultural and economic environment (Baden-Fuller and Morgan, 2010, P.161). Theoretically, a company comprises core aspects including trading practices, strategies, infrastructure, targeting customers, purpose, operational policies, organizational structures, and business process. In a theoretical perspective, design logical is a process of changing organization management to get profit. â€Å"Managers were interviewed, and also various literature was conducted to understand what comprises business model† (George and Bock, 2012).In this design logic, it explains how the managers can view and explain business modeling. The relevant studies show how managers create a strong narrative study on how to move the business from one point to another. If the stories are incoherent, the business will fail (George and Bock, 2012). Companies create value by their products in the stable market. Suppliers set up and capture value by introducing their product to a competitive market price (Ruzzier et al., 2014).The law of demand and supply states that vendors are ready to provide their product to market if demand is high and therefore recording high-profit margin. On another side, the customers will buy the product if the price is less than utility yielded (Ruzzier et al., 2014). Innovation occurs due to technology change (Rainey, 2010). The ability of value is capturing; the firm must embrace new business modeling. The technology that does not match with new business modeling is meant to fail (Piperopoulos, 2012). The history shows that innovation will fail if the market system does not offer quality at good prices and also compelling value. On the contrary, small business does not require business modeling change (Zott and Amit, 2010). Therefore expanding the market share and segment one can achieve innovation; helps to create new business models will further create a new organization. Innovation process cannot make sense without the process of innovation of products and services. For instances, the Google, e-bays, and Apple: embraced new business models due to advancement in technology (Ruzzier et al., 2014). Apparently, designing efficient business models require one to have an in-depth knowledge about various items including market research, availability of the intelligent system and Innovation point of view (Chesbrough, 2010, p.355). The business model is worthy if the system is dynamic.Therefore contributes to the success of the firm. Business modeling is all about organizing value chain. However, it shows also the value capturing importance (Teece, 2010, p.176). Hybrid framework of business model  Ã‚  Ã‚   Importance of business model in value creation Perception of the business concept, antecedents, then consequences Clarity in the business model and innovation The first quadrant represents a clear understanding of the business concept`s conceptualization. There is also conceptual of antecedences and its consequences. It focuses on academic rather than practical oriented. This quadrant shows the essence of the concept, whereby academic journals published mainly in the English language. The second quadrant shows the established business for an existing technology like automobile industries. There are openness and clarity to external environment and technology innovation. .in order to further understand this quadrant, (Daimler AG (‘Car2Go’) and Volkswagen AG (‘Quicar’) have developed an approach to car sharing. The third quadrant examines the efficiency and novelty lock-in centered designs (Amit & Zott, 2001). Automated electronics industries in Germany such as control systems, electric drives, measurement and testing equipment and finally electric drives (Zott and Amit, 2010, p.218). The fourth quadrant takes most dynamic aspect. It focuses on content, structure or governance.it represents the new to the technology. Quadrant identifies the element of business model change. (Berglund and sandstorm, 2013, p.280). Another importance issue worth discussing is that complementary in finding the business partner. When finding a business partner, Managers should make sure that value drivers of partnering business; can only be achieved by analyzing their business model (Zott and Amit, 2010, p.218). According to Zott and Amit (2009) considers themes design and content design as important in business model design. Design content refers to examining to greater details actions completed, and finally sequencing the operations and looking for someone to perform. Themes design is the dominant value of the system in value creation. Basing on the above, Zott and Amit (2009) views the business model as two market choices: differentiation and cost leadership (Zott and Amit, 2010, p.219).Design themes include company description and modeling: targeting segment, the channel of distribution, partner network, value appropriation, customer relationship, revenue model and cost structuring (Zhang, 2009). Building on the same literature argument, a business can be conceptualized as series of dependent events forming business and then expanding its borders. The designer of action systems needs to check design themes and design elements (Zott and Amit, 2010, p.220). For a new entrepreneur, the business model is vital while for already existing firms, their managers will have difficult tasks to change a new one (Fields, 2016). These dependent events are performed or done by the leaders integrate organization activities to form business activity system. Value appropriation depends on the way competitors put pressure to the choice of business modeling manager as chosen (Berglund and sandstorm, 2013, p.277).The pricing strategies are related to product design while revenue design compliments the model layout. Conceptualization of business is the set of activities. First, business systems enable addressing of all vitals issues. Managers and academic languages have conceptual tools on how to engage in a proper manner (Zott et al., 2011, p.1025). Another point is that activity system enables firms not to think about product activity, but help in the holistic system is thinking about the business model (Zott and Amit, 2010, p.218).  Ã‚   Zara is a retail enterprise in Spain which has an excellent thoughtful of the business model. Conceptualization in the business activities enables more of further theoretical development. Even though there is little devotion in the world of business management literature, scholars have been unable to put together the relationship between team activities, individual actions, and performance of business model to come up with activity system (Zott et al., 2011, p.1020). The operation system could crucial in developing old and current business model, improve on predictive business design model. To conclude, this essay has addressed some significant issues regarding business model. Managers must be considerate to an external and internal environment surrounding the firm. The companies should know what their customers want, where and when. Activity system is vital in the development of new and old business model. Zott and Amit’s (2010) contribution to this essay is highly significant. Zott and Amit work explains largely on Business modeling, business as an activity and innovation in respect to the business model design. Baden-Fuller, C., & Morgan, M. S. (2010). Business models as models. Long range planning, 43(2), 156-171.   Berglund, H., & Sandstrà ¶m, C. (2013). Business model innovation from an open systems perspective: structural challenges and managerial solutions. International Journal of Product Development, 18(3-4), 274-285. Chesbrough, H. (2010). Business model innovation: opportunities and barriers. Long range planning, 43(2), 354-363. Fields, Z. (2016). Incorporating business models and strategies into social entrepreneurship. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference. George, G., & Bock, A. J. (2012). Models of opportunity: How entrepreneurs design firms to achieve the unexpected. Cambridge University Press. .Peris-Ortiz, M., & Sahut, J. (2016). New challenges in entrepreneurship and finance examining the prospects for sustainable business development, performance, innovation, and economic growth. Cham: Springer International. Piperopoulos, P. G. (2012). Entrepreneurship, innovation and business clusters. Farnham: Gower. Rainey, D. L. (2010). Sustainable business development: inventing the future through strategy, innovation, and leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ruzzier, M. K., Ruzzier, M., & Hisrich, R. D. (2014). Marketing for Entrepreneurs and SMEs A Global Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Teece, D. J. (2010). Business models, business strategy and innovation. Long range planning, 43(2), 172-194. Zhang, X. (2009). Values, expectations, ad hoc rules, and culture emergence in international cross-cultural management contexts. New York: Nova Science . Zott, C., & Amit, R. (2010). Business model design: an activity system perspective. Long range planning, 43(2), 216-226. Zott, C., Amit, R., & Massa, L. (2011). The business model: recent developments and future research. Journal of management, 37(4), 1019-1042.

What should the UK Government do to make our transport systems work Essay

What should the UK Government do to make our transport systems work better - Essay Example Road congestion has now become a trend in the society and even for individuals in particular. As we have observed, traffic is very rampant especially during the so-called â€Å"rush hours† wherein people are in the speed for work or school. So, as the inconvenience of road congestion grows, cities world wide are struggling to deal the problem of increasing mobile population (Edwards & Smith, 2008, p1). Not being notice by many, that this simple phenomenon on transport problems can produce other problems in the society, or at least point, it contributes to it. We shall see in the study made by Edwards and Smith, the domino effect of the growing mobile population to other predicted problems and even to unforeseen predicaments. Thus, we can see this scenario in a dynamic complexity manner wherein it is still rational to say (though hardly be seen with just a simple glance), that these effects are a by-product of such occurrence (growing mobile population) and that they are simult aneously linked to one another. Problems in the society today like oil price hikes, global warming and economic recessions are mentioned to be the result of a mounting transport population. In their paper entitled â€Å"Transport Problems Facing by Large Cities†, it depicts relevant factors which cause transportation problems. The researchers focus their study mainly on four large world cities, particularly London, Tokyo, Paris and New York. As a result of the study made, the researchers conclude several factors that affect the transportation and traffic flows as well as the other flaws linked to it. These would include: large population; high car dependency; and ageing transport infrastructure. We can also see in their study the connection of transport predicament as an inevitable result of other world issues that we are facing at present. Simple questions like â€Å"how does a large population affects the expansion of new transportation business?† to a more complex q uestion like â€Å"how can a high mobile dependency scenario can lead to economic recessions?† will be discussed and shown in the later part. What the government can do and must do is to make our transportation system better is to create and enact a law or a policy that will efficiently and effectively solve the issue. Though there are already existing policies with regards to this problem, it is still lacking because it does not yet solve the identified predicament. Moreover, the aspect that we will be focusing will be the factors indicated by Edwards and Smith in their study to come up with a strategic policy to answer the problems on transportation in UK as well as its under-effects. There are already proposals to this matter that this paper will be dealing into to have a competitive policy that will somehow ensure a better transport system. But first we must have to look at the factors which contribute more to transportation problem to have a greater knowledge on which to concentrate more our policy to avoid misusage of effort as well as money and to achieve our desired result in a more effective manner. The diagram in the next page will show relevant connections on the factors mentioned by Edwards and Smith regarding transportation problems and there effects on other problems. MONOPOLY IN TRANSPOTATION BUSINESS LARGE POPULATION EXPANSION OF TRANS. BUSINESS LOW BUSINESS COMPETTIVENESS HIGHER RATE OF TRANSPORTATION DEMAND HIGH MOBILE ROAD DEPENDENCY CONGESTION ECONOMIC RECESSION OIL SCARCITY IN WORLD MARKET HIGH CO2 EMISSION/ AIR POLLUTION OIL PRICE HIKE DECLINE IN PRODUCTION GLOBAL WARMING INFLATIONS LOWER CONSUMPTION The Domino Effect As we can see in the diagram, the primary contributor in the interlinked world problems would be the factor of high mobile dependency. If we notice, there is a cause and effect relations between transportation problems to other economic, societal and environmental predicaments that will

History of Baseball Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of Baseball - Research Paper Example Baseball has been there for long in the history in different parts of America, Europe and Asia. Different sources maintain different records about the origin of baseball as the game, and thus make the exact origin of it debatable. However, there is no doubt in the fact that baseball has been played in America in a proper way since the later half of the 19th century. In addition to the American League that all of us are generally aware of, there used to be a Negro League as well. Evidence has been found for the claim that for centuries, the indigenous tribes of America have been playing a game much like what we know today as baseball. However, to play that game, the tribes made use of sticks and balls which were made from various kinds of materials. Like this, Cricket, that is known worldwide as an English game is much similar to baseball in nature. The similarities between cricket and baseball include but are not limited to developing the pitch for the game, the need to hit the ball with the help of a bat, and the use of mitt for the purpose of fielding. Baseball had always been there in the history of Asia as well. Moghols and Genghis Khan used to play the games that were just like the baseball though they had to be riding the horses in order to play the game. There used to be a Major League Baseball which had divided into two separate leagues, namely the National League and the American League. The latter of the two is often referred to as the Senior Circuit and this happened to be the original baseball league. With the expansion of baseball after numerous decades, the National League was added to the Senior Circuit. In America, baseball has hardly changed at all since the evolution of this game, with the basic equipment that includes a bat, a ball, a base, and a glove remaining unchanged. In the 1800s, Americans formed informal teams to play baseball. â€Å"By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime. "† (Bellis). Discussion of the modern baseball is incomplete without discussion of Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892) who lived in New York and in 1845, founded the modern field of baseball. Cartwright together with several other members of the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised rules which were internationally accepted for baseball. Steroids have played an important role in altering the history as well as the integrity of baseball. Steroids have long been part of the baseball game. There have been players who have talked about the use of steroids by the players in early 1960s, yet most players hold the consensus that baseball players did not start using steroids until late 1990s. Illegal edges have conventionally been looked for by many baseball players. They have been spitting on the balls, stealing signs, tampering the balls and making use of amphetamines to boost the energy level of the body. However, there has not been much resistance towards the use of steroids by the baseball players because of the fact that in order to be successful in baseball, one did not need to be bulky or muscular. Accordingly, consuming steroids hardly made any difference. The 1990s home run explosion was the first clue that steroids were being used by players to get stronger, quicken reflexes and play through injuries.

Case 5 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

5 - Case Study Example The p-value can also be termed as the probability of obtaining the exact value for a model built around two hypotheses are neutral or null. The other one is the hypothesis under testing. In case the p-value is less than or equal to the threshold value previously set, one discards the neutral hypothesis and the test on the hypothesis is considered valid. The concept of p-value can be applied in several fields. In approach of Ronald Fisher, p-value is a key concept where uses it to measure the weight of the data alongside a specified hypothesis and as a standard to ignore data that does not have anything to do with any alternative hypothesis, which is instead a feature of the Neyman-Pearson approach. It should not be contracted with the significance level in the above approach defined by Neyman-Pearson approach. Essentially, the p-value does not in itself give support reasoning about the likelihoods of hypotheses, nor selecting among unlike hypotheses–it is just a measure of how possible the data have happened by coincident, supposing the null hypothesis is correct. Arithmetical hypothesis experiments making use of p-values are normally applied in many fields of science and social sciences, such as economics, criminal justice and criminology, psychology, biology, and sociology (Tai, Bee, and David 21). Regression is a degree of the relation among the average worth of one variable and conforming worth of the additional variables. In the other hand, coefficient is the numerical quality placed before and reproducing the variable in an algebraic. Regression can also be referred as the factor that measures some possessions. Regression scrutiny generates an equation to define the statistical interaction between one or more forecaster variables and the same reaction variable. The p-value for each term examines the null hypothesis that

Assessment in Counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment in Counseling - Essay Example Assessment being an integrated assortment of data gathered from both informal and formal interactions with the client by the counselor provides a more holistic insight into the problems of the client (Juhnke, 1995, p. 2). The assessing process is found to begin when the counselor starts to see â€Å"a clear picture of the outcomes a client expects from counselling† (Hiebert, 1996). The assessing process should focus on client learning outcomes as well as client impact outcomes (Hiebert, 1996). It can be seen that client learning outcomes are easy to realize while impact outcomes may remain difficult to attain yet (Hiebert, 1996). This is shown in the below given example: School counsellors can feel confident about teaching children conflict resolution procedures or anger management skills (which are learning outcomes), but they may be less successful in making a child less aggressive (which is an impact outcome), because they cannot have sufficient impact to counteract the eff ects of contextual factors such as family violence and many years of practice using aggression to resolve conflict (Hiebert, 1996). When a counselor tries to bring about both these outcomes through assessment, the assessment techniques are used in harmony with each other so that it becomes â€Å"a continuous process, throughout treatment† (Juhnke, 1995, p.2). ... circumstances and the range of client learning outcomes make it unlikely that appropriate standardized assessments could be developed (Hiebert, 1996). Informal assessment techniques comprise of â€Å"informal, yet systematic, procedures for documenting the evidence that client progress has been made† (Hiebert, 1996). Some informal assessment techniques are, goal attainment scaling, checklists, self-monitoring, thought listing, mind mapping, life line, role play, and photograph safari (Hiebert, 1996; Juhnke, 1995). Here, the process of assessment itself is viewed as part of the change process that happens in the client ((Juhnke, 1995, p.2). The five major uses of assessment according to Wall (n.d) have been â€Å"selection and placement, diagnosis, accountability and evaluation, identifying trends or progress (and) self discovery† (p.69). Wall (n.d) has also listed the advantages of using assessment, namely, objectivity, cost effectiveness and fairness (p.71-72). Two sit uations in which I would use formal assessment While dealing with children with language disabilities, I may use developmental screening method (Gullo, 2005, p.45). Gullo (2005) has described developmental screening tests as â€Å"norm-referenced assessment instruments that allow one to compare an individual child’s score with those of other children of similar chronological age† (p.45). These tests will also enable me to gauge the â€Å"visual-motor and adaptive skills† of these children and design special learning packages for them. I can use another formal assessment method, diagnostic tests, while handling children with dyslexia. The purpose of such a test is that we identify and measure â€Å"the existence of a disability or specific area of academic weakness in a child† (Gullo, 2005, p.46). I will

Information warfare and cyber security Research Paper

Information warfare and cyber security - Research Paper Example Referred to as the information warfare, it poses a high security risk to any country’s critical infrastructural base, and is thus of great concern to the various governments as they are forced to create new measures to protect the national assets. Information warfare in the 21st century has become more diverse in nature, with various changes in its design taking place owing to innovativeness in technology and greater informational access. This diverse nature has also expanded the scope for application of information warfare mechanisms into critical non-military arenas, like the commercial environment. The introduction of information through the use of internet and computers within the military arena has given rise to various force multipliers like Network Centric Warfare, Information Operations, and the C4I2SR Systems, and this age of information warfare and cyber terrorism often referred to as Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), has not only changed the way modern wars are fought, but have also opened a new perspective in the domination of a new arena, the cyber space. This paper will take an in-depth look into the sphere of information warfare. Information warfare and cyber security 1 Introduction â€Å"One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Seizing the enemy without fighting is the most skillful.† Sun Tzu (Sixth Century B.C). 1.1 Background information on Information warfare The various technological innovations and scientific discoveries that have occurred in the last two or three decades have been in the general benefit of mankind, yet these same scientific advancements have been put to negative use by some, for causing wide scale damages to the society at large. This threat has taken a more distinct form since the arrival of Internet during the 1990s, where not all internet users have used the virtual realms for beneficial or peaceful activities. Information warfare is one such instance where certain crimina ls have put computers (internet) and the information obtained through it, for various nefarious activities. Information warfare is a form of terrorism used effectively to weaken entities, and is an emerging threat for all nations’ worldwide and global commerce, with the potential to effectively breakdown the critical infrastructural framework of any country, and is an example of what Sun Tzu had predicted in the 6th century BC, about â€Å"seizing the enemy without fighting.† In the recent times both instances of attack and degree of threat have reached such large proportions that cyber war is now considered at par with land, air, or sea wars, with a persistently increasing potentiality to cause grave damages to the security of any nation, as were evinced in the attacks on Georgia and Estonia (Beidleman, 2009). This is particularly dangerous in many of the developed nations where the critical infrastructure and processes like commercial activities and utilities, bankin g sector, and mode of communications completely operate through the computers and the cyberspace. Even more than a decade after the Internet came into being, there are no universally recognized uniform codes of laws or an authorized body to govern the cyberspace,

The influence of music to the influence of books Essay - 1

The influence of music to the influence of books - Essay Example In contrast, books also, to some extent, relax the reader. You can read whatever book you want to read adventure or love stories which will release you from all mental stress for some time and you will feel good. In a time like the one we are living in, books and music can influence a person positively and he may not give up. We can also see from the history that music (national songs) and books have influenced people to do things that one would never expect them to do. History reminds us of times when sometimes books, sometimes music and sometimes both of them have triggered the dormant passion of nations influencing them to unite and fight for their right. Books and music have sometimes transformed a crowd into a nation and that power has remained with and will always be with books and music. Books build the personality within a person giving him experience to the new fronts as well as carving the mental ability to encourage him to draw closer to the perfection that the world demands.. Books can even be used by those who are looking for answers in life. Many people report finding the perfect book to answer the burning questions in their minds. Music doesn’t answer those types of questions that books do; but music answers feeling or disturbed emotions looking for an outlet. When combined with dance, music comes to life in the dancer and audience. The fame of singing and dancing shows on TV is ample evidence for the more disciplined expressions of music. If a mentally disturbed person gets to listen to the correct type of music, he can unravel many tangles that bother him. Comparatively books answer speculative questions related to facts and figures. They increase the knowledge span of a person by letting him know what he doesn’t and enlightening his mind about the good and the bad

Contextual studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contextual studies - Essay Example Human skill, mindset and imagination, are critical variables in the defining works of human creation, inclusive of the aspect of ornamentation. Trilling (1991), provides an impressive variety of ornament (artwork), defining human history; from the Paleolithic era, to the present; thus enabling human appreciation. The reader or audience is thus appreciative of both the historical importance, and the inherent aesthetic value of human architecture and ornament (85). Although the prevailing modernist emphasis, on the unadorned art form, pushed art ornamentation to the very margins of the West’s taste and preference during the 20th Century, a revival of the same is underway. This may be informed by the essence of human appreciation for art in terms of aesthetic beauty, ornament, heritage and functionality (Trilling, 1991:88). The selected authors are critical to the evaluation and understanding of ornament utility (ornamentation), concerning architecture and design. Their relevance is derived from accomplished work, data collection and research carried out. These select authors include James Trilling, Pevsner, Read and Worringer, amongst others. There will be a development of the thesis, formulated around the argument that ornament use is a right, and not a crime. This will entail a discussion of the pros and cons of the argument, through the thesis statement, which will be criticized in the form of an antithesis. Following will be a synthesis of findings, to be conclusively ended in a reflective way. A bibliography, will round up the work, basing it on the right of ornament use in architecture, and human design. A debate exists, as to whether ornament is a right, or a crime. It is the intention of this paper, to further provide proof, of ornament as a right; concerning architecture and design. This is from the past eras to the present, displaying various examples

Diplomatic History Essay Example for Free

Diplomatic History Essay Operation Rolling Thunder refers to an intense onslaught carried out by the United States against the North Vietnamese in the period between 1965-1968. The rationale behind this attack was not clear, as even its chief architects believe it was not clear-cut. No one had put into consideration the political costs and loss of lives. President Johnson hoped that with this onslaught, he would boost the dying morale of the southern Vietnamese by impressing upon them the Americans might. This however achieved the opposite by diminishing his political standing at home and did not help to bring the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table as was hoped. The Six-Day War is a war that pitted Israel on one side against Jordan, Egypt and Syria. These countries had vowed not to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and wanted it destroyed, however Israel victory dealt these countries a huge blow and they retreated after it became apparent that Israel would reach their capital. This war brought a near clash between two superpowers then, the United States and the Soviet Union, with the U. S behind Israel and USSR behind the Arab states. This war had put the U. S in a tight spot as it did not want to sour its relations with the Arabs or its diplomatic ties with Israel. This is seen as the reason why the U. S exercised restrain and only aided Israel with weapons but no direct intervention. The Iran Contra Scandal occurred in 1987 and refers to a deal entered into by president Reagan’s administration and Iran. The United States was to supply Iran with weapons so that it would facilitate and press for the release of American hostages held by the Hezbollah. This scandal tarnished the U. S stand abroad of not negotiating with terrorists and also led to the plummeting of Reagan’s popularity. It would also see the conviction of some high-ranking officials. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev of Russia was the last president of the United Soviet Socialist Republic before it collapsed in 1991. He is hailed for having initiated the move that led to the end of cold war. He introduced reforms in Russia and tightened the relations with President Ronald Regan, ending the cold war and consequently the breaking up the USSR. It is during this tenure that the relations between the USSR and the U. S were improved. Core to his reforms was re-introduction of ties with the west. Kosovo, Yugoslavia, had been rocked by fighting between Albania guerillas and Serb forces. The United States and NATO forces stepped in to help quell the fighting resulting to what came to be known as Operation Allied Forces that initiated an onslaught against Serbia till Slobodan Milosevic withdrew from Kosovo. The United States over the years was actively involved in the process meant to restore peace although the congress did not expressly authorize the air strikes nor block them. To date The UN Resolution 1244 has failed to establish the status of Kosovo. The United States has been supporting what is referred to as the Ahtisaari plan that seeks to have Kosovo supervised. Russia is opposing the plan and vows to use the Veto power should the situation demand. The Dayton Accords refer to the peace agreements that saw the end of the Bosnia war in 1995. This agreement was the culmination of a series of negotiations that had before been unfruitful. The United States and Russia had been mounting pressure for the warring sides to accept negotiations. These negotiations held in Ohio brought together a cross section of leaders from the region. This was done under the tutelage of the U. S secretary of state Warren Christopher together with the representatives of European Union. The Official peace pact was to be signed in France by Clinton, John Major, and Jacques Chirac amongst others. This pact was to see the international community lead the implementation of the treaty backed by the NATO forces. Ngo Dinh Diem was born in 1901. He went to the United States due to political turmoil at home. In the US he would meet the then influential leaders where he reiterated his opposition to colonialism and communism in his bid to gain their approval. He succeeded and the United States installed him as the president hoping he would become a U. S puppet. This however did not happen and he was oppressive of the Southern Vietnamese. He rigged the elections that were to follow and imprisoned opposition leaders and critics. The United States was torn between a rock and a hard place, it risked being stuck with an unpopular leader who was unable to unite Vietnam and in turn lose the country to the communists. This is what led CIA to sanction a plot to have Diem assassinated by failing to offer the protection they were giving him before. Consequently he was assassinated in 1963 and his place taken by Nguyen Van Thieu. The relationship between the United States and PLO can only be described as that of perpetual hostility towards each other. To the United States, PLO represented a major threat to its interests and ally in Middle East. PLO also saw the U. S as a threat and that is why it aligned itself with the USSR and took a strong anti-American stance. In spite of this standoff, the United States initiated a dialogue between the two in 1988. PLO accepted the status of Israel and agreed to denounce terrorism hence triggering the dialogue. All along there had been a long stand-off between the two as PLO had refused to acknowledge the existence of Israel while in turn the U. S had not recognized PLO as the voice of the Palestine people. By accepting to negotiate with the PLO, PLO saw this as a form of recognition and it felt that it had won against the U. S’ hard stance. The U. S stand against PLO and the initiation of the talks has always been a defining moment in Middle East because it gave an international recognition, in line with the UN resolutions, a nation it considered a terrorist movement. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) fronted by President Reagan, aimed at developing a system that would use ground and space systems to defend the United States in case of a nuclear ballistic missiles attack. This system did not succeed as it was intended to, but it is hailed as being the basis under which the current anti-ballistic missiles were made. All these efforts and research was put under the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization that was brought together in 1984 to oversee all matters relating to missile defense. The Taliban are a Sunni Islamic movement that was at the helm of leadership in Afghanistan for a period of five years up to 2001 when they were removed from power by a coalition of forces led by the united states. It has a rather interesting history as in its early days it was supported by the United States to fight off the communists who wanted to take over Afghanistan. After taking over power in 1998, the Taliban hard stance, Sharia law, suppression and persecutions did not endear it to many countries including the United States which saw it as harboring terrorists such as the Al Qaeda. It was ousted from power by a coalition of forces and the Northern alliance in what came to be known as war on terror. Part 2 President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger remain the two of the most important figures in the United States as far as foreign policy is concerned. No doubt that Nixon’s administration was riddled with a scandal that would lead to his resignation. Critics agree however that his tenure was not without some important accomplishments. Appropriately President Nixon came into power when the cold war had intensified and the world was at the brink of war with the United States and the Soviet Union rocked into a perpetual duel that was threatening a peaceful co-existence between the West and East. President Nixon was elected on a platform of ending American forces engagement in Vietnam. This, he achieved although his withdrawal was rather slow much to the consternation of many Americans. It had seemed that Nixon rather believed that he could correct the mess he had inherited in Vietnam, snatch victory and withdraw the troops honorably. This however did not happen and the events that followed remain his lowest moments in leadership. Nixon and Kissinger were advocating a foreign policy that would see the United States pursue an effort to limit the expansion of the Soviet bloc influence, support militarily and economically any governments that would aid their course whether or not such governments were repressive or had poor ratings as far as civil rights are concerned. This would explain why this tenure was characterized by overthrowal from power popularly elected regimes and supplanting them with dictatorial leaderships. Iran and Chile serves as good attestation to this. The key objective of Nixon administration was to keep communism in check at whatever cost even if it meant trampling on the civil rights of the citizens and dropping hundreds of bombs. The Vietnam War still remains the biggest to both Kissinger and Nixon’s profiles. Faced with growing opposition and plummeting opinion ratings, Nixon remained aloof and initiated attacks in Vietnam while hoodwinking the American public by withdrawing the forces bits by bits. To his administration ‘place with honor’ remained the key strategy. It is Detente that remains the hallmark of his achievements, on top of his ability to limit and finally withdraw American forces from Vietnam. In Detente he promised to ease relations with the former archrivals of America. It was a new type of diplomacy that would see a permanent relaxation of relations between the superpowers, even the nations that were perceived as enemies before. This, he accomplished by improving the relations between the United States and China. Kissinger was Nixon’s key operative. He was highly secretive to the extent that his meeting with Chinese officials was unknown to the ambassador of the U. S to China, George Bush snr. However he was able to improve the sour relation that existed. This was in the Nixon’s bid to woo China after it had fallen out with the Soviet bloc and consequently tilt the balance to his advantage. Aided by the Kissinger, Nixon introduced what was referred to as the Nixon Doctrine; this is what formed the basis of his foreign policy. The United States, to maintain its influence would provide military support to its allies but not in any way provide troops. In wooing China, Nixon and Kissinger who were realists, had reconciled that China was far much important to be ignored in the international scene being the most populous. This also gave impetus to his re-election bid especially as the Ping Pong diplomacy had drawn a perception that he identified with the common voter. Through the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of 1972 (SALT), the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to curtail further production of high range ballistic missiles as well as their defense systems. This ‘strategic parity’, as many scholars refer to it, was to be a substitute to the arms race. The Soviet bloc agreed to this immediately probably fearing the improved relations between China and the United States. To wrap up Nixon achievements in foreign policy was his visit to China, where he became the first president to do so; this had privately been arranged by Kissinger. He also went to Moscow where he and Brezhner signed the SALT and trade agreements. The shuttle diplomacy also said off relatively where Henry Kissinger was able to broker a peace deal with Israel an Arab in the Yom Kippur war. In this war the U. S had been torn between a rock and a hard place. It sought to protect Israel and did not want to scuttle its friendship with the Arab states. Although Nixon had the above achievements, his mistakes or miscalculations further outweighed the accomplishments. Many people in U. S and internationally remember him for his misdeeds more that these achievements. His administration single handedly put the image of the United States as a champion of civil rights and peace into disrepute. To start with was his handling of the Vietnam War. He was unable to come to terms with the fact that the United States could lose the war and was willing to put the lives of American soldiers on the line to drive this point home, but to no avail. Despite cutting his stature in the international limelight as a statesman by establishing ties with china, the question of Vietnam is still very troublesome to both Nixon and Kissinger. Nixon had vowed to win peace. Vietnamization or the concerted attack in Laos and Cambodia put a permanent dent on his reputation. He hoped that these would paint an image of a ‘madman’ and compel Hanoi to reach a favorable agreement. These attacks prompted Americans to take to the streets in protest especially as it became apparent that he had dropped all pretext of diplomacy. Although Kissinger was able to bring the warring parties into negotiations, the terms were not any different from the ones that north Vietnam had brought to the table in 1969, an indication that all those years of attack and loss of lives had not borne fruits especially to the United States. It is the Watergate scandal however that broke the camels back and forced Nixon out of office. The Watergate scandal remains the greatest evidence of the atrocities committed by the United States where both Kissinger and Nixon undermined democracy in the third world and brought bloodshed. It is these atrocities that led to calls by civil and human rights activists to have Kissinger investigated for crimes against humanity. After the scandal, the United States was not credible in its self-proclaimed international role. Oil crises would loom in the U. S as the Middle East placed embargoes. There was also a political re-alignment with disillusionment characterizing the Republican Party. Kissinger however was left unscathed and went on to serve as the secretary of state in Ford and Carters administration. Nixon’s presidency is a tenure that many Americans would wish to put behind.

Android-Arduino Communication System

Android-Arduino Communication System ROBOTIC CONTROL WITH ANDROID PC USING X-BEE T.M.Sirish J.R.SURESH BABU Abstract — The paper is concerned with the Android-Arduino communication and Computer communication by integrating mobile wheel robots with X-Bee communication protocol. Arduino controls tasks such as obstacle and collision avoidances following, autonomously movement, and indoor localization of group robots are implemented toward an autonomously control of robot. Mobile robotics is a technology and a research area where we witness tremendable advances for the last decades and it finds application in areas like agriculture, medical services, hazard environments, space explo-ration, military, intelligent transportation, social robotics, and entertainment. XBees provide wireless communication. As a system, the advantages are very obvious compared with other technology. Keywords— X-Bee, Adruino, Android, IR, Ultrasonic I. INTRODUCTION Robots may interact in the same location as users control them from any place in the world using internet and wireless networks for this purpose. Sensor based approach uses various kinds of sensors such as IR sensors and ultrasonic sensors.IR sensors are generally used for measuring the difference in reflectivity of surfaces depending on the properties like color, roughness. Ultrasonic sensors are used to measure the distance to an object. Robots are built to navigate using these out puts according to the application. The idea is to design the Sensor platform with accurate angle control this continuously collects the distance data in an automatic way where the Robot is controlled by Android app and transfer ultrasonic sensor data to PC. An idea is to build an actual robot that is subject to wireless operation from a PC or a Android. It reads sensor and robot data from file and to Generate map of surrounding environment. Robots are capable of interacting with the objects. The design i n this paper comprises of the chassis will also house the PCB and proximity sensors that will continually provide feedback to the user. Proximity sensors are able to assist the operator in navigating across inhibiting terrain even if communication link with the operator is broken. Robot automatically stops if it detects an obstacle. Due to the Android and Arduino combination, the robot can interact with the person and provide an easy development platform for future improvement. The paper[1],[2] deals with the route navigation and the Application of Zigbee and [3],[4],[5] and [6] emphasis task scheduling on low cost arduino and distance measuring sensors. II. PRINCIPLE OF WORKING Wireless sensor network system will not only reduce the system cost in term of facilities setup and labor cost. It also provides flexibility in system in term of distance or location. The fundamental design and implementation of ultrasonic sensor based robot on Android/PC featuring a XBee based technology[1] The developed platform is cost-effective and as well as the effect on reducing energy consumption. The platform consists the components Android phone, Arduino mega adk, Motor Driver shield, ultrasonic sensor[5], IR sensor and Xbee module. It features the Atmega16U2 programmed as a USB-to-serial converter. The Arduino programming is very simple; uses its own language based on the popular C high level programming language and supports all standard C and some C++ functions. The operating voltage of the board is 6 to 20 volts. The recommended range is 7 to 12 volts. This is designed to control a robot with an aid of Android application[6]. Xbee is interfaced to the control the robot using android application. Where one end of xbee is interfaced with android application which is used to transmit the commands and receiver end robot is attached which is used to control in all directions. Figure 1: Arduino Mega adk Operating voltage 9-12 volts IR Range 6cm Ultrasonic Range 3 cm Degree of rotation 180 degree Communication frequency 2.4 Ghz Table 1 Specifications III. HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE X-bee The X-bee modules allow serial links of TTL signals on distances of 30m indoors, 100m outdoors with line of sight which would be enough to control the electronic wheelchair. IEEE 802.15.4 standard for Zigbee operates in the band: ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical), 868 MHz in Europe, 915 MHz in the U.S. and Australia, and 2.4 GHz in most jurisdictions around the world[2]. This technology is simpler, cheaper and has lower power consumption than other WPANs such as Bluetooth. The problem is to the need to detect the obstacle in the path of the robot, to sense and find alternative paths of the robot. Figure 2. XBee The Ping which works by sending out a burst of ultrasound to detect the closest object and listens to the echo after hitting the object. The short pulse from the Arduino board is send to trigger the detection, and then listens for a pulse on the same pin using the pulse. The second pulse duration is e the time taken by the ultrasound to travel to the object which is equal to the time taken to travel back to the sensor[4]. This time can be converted to distance by the velocity of light. We use IR transceiver and comparator IC LM324 for detecting the obstacle. The component deals with two major issues. They are as follows: 1. It avoids the collisions with walls and other obstacles. 2. It avoids the prototype be fallen down from the steps on its way. Figure 3. Ultrasonic Range Finder B Android Android is a Linux based Open Source operating system developed by Google to power smart phones. In order to provide productive application development, applications can be developed using Java and easily tested and deployed to devices with Android. Development can be done with a simulator or with real devices. Using Android Application Programming Interface (API) features a rich ground of options for robot developers. Programming by commands commonly feature for robots, works seamlessly on Android. Using Android’s API, a programmer can make his robot to act. Android’s API also offers easy access to camera and orientation sensors. Some devices have only accelerometer, while other have accelerometer and compass, and others gyroscopes. The same orientation function calls can be used to query these sensors, independently of the device. One limitation that most mobile phones don’t have a USB Host port, so no USB accessories such as mice can be connected to them. To b ypass this limitation, Open Accessory API allows accessories to be the USB Host. This allows external custom hardware to interact with Android programs. Navigation of a mobile robot in an unknown environment is possible by sensors which obtain the information of surrounding environment. For effective communication between mobile robots we need to use some sensors. Therefore mobile phone sensors can be categorised such as the Sensors used for collecting information about environment, for communication between mobile robots, for collecting information and also for communication[5]. IV. DESIGN The Android application makes it effective to Control a robotic vehicle which is interfaced to the control unit on the robot for sensing the signals transmitted by the Android application. With an aid of the smart-phone/PC with Android OS, upon a GUI based touch screen operation the Remote operation is achieved[6]. At the Transmitting end, it uses an Android application device remote through which commands are transmitted and at the receiver end, the directions such as forward, backward and left or right are controlled by the commands from the Android by the user end which are used for controlling the robot. The movement is achieved by motor shield that is interfaced to the Arduino. Serial communication data sent from the android application is received by a Zigbee receiver interfaced to the Arduino. Figure 4. Block diagram of communication The shield for Arduino has the DC Motor interface. The interface is built around the L293DC Motor driver IC. It has a obstacle sensor to detect within 6cm range. If IR is used, we can be able to detect the obstacle. The interfaces have to be selected with the jumper. The obstacle sensor is an IR sensor which is used for detecting the obstacles and acts in impulsion to safeguard. In ultrasonic sensor, we use ping function which detects the distance of the closest object in front of the sensor and sends the data to the mobile. To run the DC motor, enable line be high, set I1 line to High and I2 line to Low which rotates in one direction and set I1 line to, low and I2 line to High which rotates in another direction[1]. V. FUTURE WORK Extensions of our current work include an extension to camera implementation which will be useful for deploying sensor networks in large areas. VI. CONCLUSION The system is highly flexible and scalable and can be expanded to other applications. On the software side, our Android application ensures that the system enables energy saving, and can suggest task scheduling with both instantaneous power and cost considerations. Our future work includes the implementation of additional applications, the refinement of our implementation, especially with regard to communication and possibly porting our network stack to other platforms. Acknowledgment I am very grateful to my guide Mr.J.Sureshbabu, Scientist-B, National Institute of Electronics Information Technology(NIELIT),Chennai who provided us with effective information regarding the functioning of System.I also extend our sincere thanks to all those people who have helped us successfully design and implement this system. REFERENCES [1] Route Navigation System in ZigBee-Based Sensor Networks Li Wenze ; Sch. of Inf. Telecommunication., Beijing Univ. of Posts Telecommunication, BeijinChina ; Han Yufen ; KangGuixia;SunJing Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing, 2009. WiCom 09. 5th International Conference bejing on 24-26 Sept. 2009 . [2] Applicability of ZigBee for Real-Time Networked Motor Control Systems Ulugbek R. Umirov1, Seong-Hyun Jeong and Jung-Il Park Department of Electronic Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Korea Control, Automation and Systems, 2008. ICCAS 2008. International Conference seou on14-17 Oct. 2008, 2937 – 2940. [3] Low cost Arduino/Android-based Energy-Efficient Home Automation System with Smart Task Scheduling Kim Baraka, Marc Ghobril, Sami Malek, Rouwaida Kanj, Ayman Kayssi Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering American University of Beirut Computational Intelligence, Communication Systems and Networks (CICSyN), 2013 Fifth International Conference on 5-7 June 2013 Madrid, 296 301 [4] New approach of ultrasonic distance measurement technique in robot applications G.Hueber, T.Ostermann, T.Bauernfeind, R. Raschhofer, R.Hagelauer Dept. of Microelectronics. Research Institute of Integrated Circuits, A-4040 Linz, Austria. [5] Remote Controlling for Ring-type Traveling Ultrasonic Motor Based on Zigbee Juping Gu, Laiwu Luo,Xiao Wu, Hui Yang ,Liang Hua ,Shenbei Qin Yuyun Liu Department of Electrical Engineering, Nantong University Department of Electrical Engineering, Southeast University., China. Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS), 2013 International Conference on 26-29 Oct. 2013 Busa, 748 – 751. [6] Controlling Physical Objects via the Internet using the Arduino Platform over 802.15.4 Networks V. Georgitzikis, O. Akribopoulos and I. Chatzigiannakis. Latin America Transactions, IEEE (Revista IEEE America Latina)(Volume:10 ,Issue: 3), April 2012 ,1686 – 1689.

Molecular Weight Effect of Different Grades of HPC Polymer

Molecular Weight Effect of Different Grades of HPC Polymer Introduction Bioavailability enhancement Wet media milling + spray drying Issues have impact on dissolution performance Novelty of the work Objective Material and methods wet stirred media milling Spray dryer Characterization techniques Results and discussion Physical stability of the milled precursor suspensions Drug breakage kinetics Formation of the NCMPs via spray drying of the precursor drug suspensions Impact of different polymers on the drug dissolution from NCMPs PVP-K30 HPMC-E3 HPC-SSL, HPC-SL, HPC-L Molecular weight effect of different grades of HPC polymer on drug dissolution performance and stability It is estimated that a large percentage of newly developed drug compounds have limited bioavailibity due to their poor water solubility and very slow dissolution rate [1]. According to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), class II drugs are categorized as poorly water soluble and highly permeable in human body [2]. To achieve the therapeutic efficacy of these drugs it is very essential to enhance the bioavailability by increasing the solubility or dissolution rate. A number of approaches have been developed over the time to resolve this issue. The reduction of drug particles size to sub-micron or nanometer has been one of the most popular and effective approaches of all [3-6]. By reducing the particles size order of magnitude, specific surface area of the particles increased radically and enhances the rate of absorption and dissolution [7, 8], according to the Noyes-Whitney equation [9]. Drug nanoparticles production technologies are classified into Bottom-up or Top-down or combination of both. The bottom up techniques include precipitation using supercritical fluid, liquid anti-solvent precipitation, and evaporative precipitation, where small drug particles are produced from drug molecules dissolved in organic solvent [10, 11]. In case of top-down approaches, the particles are reduced to the nanometer range [11]. High pressure homogenization [5] and wet media milling [3] are included in top-down approaches. To prepare drug nanosuspension, wet stirred media milling (WSMM) has achieved the most popularity because of its effectiveness, robustness, scalability, high drug loading, and low polymer side effects [5, 12, 13]. Due to many advantages of drug solid dosage form, it is the most popular dosage form to the patients/clinicians. To encounter this high demand, drug nanosuspensions are usually converted into nanocomposite microparticles (NCMPs) using different drying techniques and incorporated into standard solid dosage forms such as tablets and capsules [13, 14]. Vacuum dryer [15, 16], spray-freeze dryer [17, 18], spray dryer [19, 20], and fluidized bed [17] are very prevalent and widely used drying tools in the pharmaceutical industries. Among all the drying techniques, spray drying has already got attention due to its energy intensive, continuous and scalable drying process characteristics and ability to produce micro to nano-sized particles with a very narrow distribution within a very short time frame [21]. Albeit particle size reduction is an effective technique for bioavailability enhancement, stability issue has always been critical for the efficacy of the drug products. In the nanosuspension, drug particles start losing their specific surface area by aggregation due to relatively high surface energy and specific surface area and also for enhanced Brownian motion [22]. For the prevention of aggregation in the wet media and having better stability, polymers and/or surfactants are added to the suspension as stabilizers. These stabilizers provide stability by electrostatic or electrosteric mechanisms [22]. Steric stability provided by the polymer is drug specific. Only few polymers can help to reduce the particle size of a specific drug down to nanometers. Therefore, selecting a proper stabilizer for a specific drug is a very complex process and cannot be generalized easily [23]. Thus, having a better insight about the polymer properties is very crucial to figure out the right stabilize r for a particular drug. Molecular weight of the polymer is a very significant property of polymers, which determines the capability for steric stabilization along with solution properties [24, 25], regulates mechanical property of the films [26], and controls the drug release during oral administration [27]. Consequently, optimum MW and polymer concentration may help to get the best stabilization performance during and after milling, and faster drug release from the composites.   Choi et al. [16] investigated the impact of lower range MW (11,200-49,000 g/mol) of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HW) on itraconazole suspension production and their recovery from the drug composites. In that work, HPC was used solely with the same concentration, and dissolution performance study was absent.   Sepassi et al. [28] studied MW effect of two different polymers hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the particle size reduction of milled nabumetone and ha lofantrine suspensions; however, drying and dissolution rate were not studied. Li et al. [29] studied the MW and concentration effect of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) on the dissolution performance of poorly soluble drug griseofulvin (GF) in presence/absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as surfactant. In that investigation, drug nanosuspension was coated and dried on to the surface of pharmatose using fluidized bed technique and also determined the optimum concentration and MW effect of HPC for complete release of the drug particles during dissolution. To authors best knowledge, no comprehensive and systematic study has been performed so far to get the insight about the head to head comparison of different polymers performance and MW effect of the same polymer on the suspension stability after milling and during dissolution of NCMPs produced via spray drying. It is known from prior study that the combined use of polymers and surfactants provide a synergistic effect leading to better stability in the nanosuspension than individual stabilizers [30, 31]. Due to the side effects of surfactant, it is always expected to use minimal amount in the formulation. If only the use of polymer can provide substantial stability in the nanosuspension and immediate release of the drugs in the dissolution from NCMPs, then it is more viable than using surfactant.   Therefore, this study aims to develop an understanding of the polymer MW and different polymer effect on the physical stability of Itraconazole nanosuspension and drug dissolution fr om the composites. Itraconazole (ITZ) suspensions were milled in a WSMM and the nanocomposite particles were produced using a co-current spray dryer. Three different polymers HPC, PVP, and HPMC were used at 4.5% (w/w) concentration to see the polymer effect and for MW effect, three grades (SSL, SL, and L) of HPC having different MW were used. Laser diffraction, SEM, UV- spectroscopy, XRPD, and DSC were used to analyze the drug suspension and composite particles. Dissolution test of the NCMPs were performed by a USP II paddle apparatus. Materials Itraconazole (ITZ), is an antifungal drug with a water solubility 0.13 mg/L (at pH-7 and 25  °C), is a sparingly water soluble drug belong to the BCS Class II was purchased from Jai Radhe Sales (Ahmedabad, India) and was used as-received condition. Three different polymers, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as polymers. Three grades (SSL, SL, and L) of HPC with ~40, ~100, and ~140 kDa molecular weight, respectively, were donated by Nisso America Inc. (New York, NY, USA) and used for steric stabilization. Polymeric stabilizers Methocel E3 grade HPMC and PVP Kollidon 30 were donated by Dow Chemical (Midland, MI, USA) and BASF Corporation (Florham Park, NJ, USA) respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is an anionic surfactant used as a wetting agent during dissolution and provide electrostatic stabilization in the suspension, was purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Milwaukee, WI, USA). Zirmil Y grade wear-re sistant yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) with a median size of 430  µm (400  µm nominal size) was used as the milling media and purchased from Saint Gobain ZirPro (Mountainside, NJ, USA). Methods Wet Stirred Media Milling (WSMM) The presuspension (before milling) was prepared following the same procedure used in Afolabi et al. [32]. All the suspension formulations are tabulated below in Table 1. API (Itraconazole) concentration was kept constant at 10% (w/w) and polymer concentration was 4.5% (w/w) for all the formulation. All the concentrations are reported with respect to deionized water (200g). The formulation with 2.5% (w/w) HPC-SL and 0.2% (w/w) SDS was used as a baseline formulation, because from earlier study it was found to be the optimum for fastest and complete drug release from the composite powders. Prepared drug suspension was milled in a Netzsch wet media mill (Micorcer, Fine Particle Technology LLC, Exton, PA, USA) with 80 ml chamber; 50 ml of the chamber was filled with 400  µm (nominal size) Zirconia beads, which is the milling media and a screen with 200  µm opening was used to hold the beads into the chamber and allowing only the passage of the suspension. A shear mixer (Fisher Scientific Laboratory Stirrer, Catalog No. 14-503, Pittsburgh, PA) was used to prepare the suspension prior to transfer into the holding tank of the miller. The suspension was pumped through a peristaltic pump and was milled under the following conditions: suspension flow rate 126 ml/min, rotor speed 4000 rpm corresponding to a tip speed of 11.7 m/s. To keep the suspension temperature below 35  °C, milling chamber and holding tank both were equipped with a chiller (Advantage Engineering Greenwood, IN, USA).   All the parameters were selected from the earlier work done by Afolabi et al. [31]. To determine the breakage kinetics, particle sizes were measured at different time intervals up to 65 minutes and the suspension were refrigerated at 8  °C for one day before spray drying. Preparation of NCMPs via Spray Drying The prepared nanosuspesions were dried within a day of milling using a spray dryer (4M8-Trix, Procept, Zelzate, Belgium) running in a co-current flow set up. All the operating conditions were taken from Azad et al. [19].The suspensions were atomized at 2 bar atomizing pressure using a bi-fluid nozzle having 0.6 mm tip diameter. In each run, ~120 gm nanosuspensions were sprayed at 1.3-1.6 g/min spray rate using a peristaltic pump (Makeit-EZ, Creates, Zelzate, Belgium). Drying air was fed co-currently from the top of the column at 120  °C temperature and 0.37-0.40 m3/min volumetric flow rate. To avoid sedimentation of the drug particles during spraying, the suspension was stirred using a magnetic stirrer throughout the run. A Cyclone separator was used at 54-70 mbar differential pressure to separate the NCMPs from the outlet air stream and collecting them in a glass jar. The dried powders later on were used for powder sample characterization e.g., XRD, DSC, Rodos, and dissolutio n testing. Particle Size Analysis Particle size distributions of the suspensions were measured at different time interval during milling and after 7-day storage in the refrigerator by laser diffraction (LD) technique using Coulter LS 13 320 (Beckman Coulter, Miami, FL). All the steps involved for measuring PSDs of the suspensions were followed from Li et al. [29]. During sample addition, intensity was maintained between 40-45% while obscuration was below 8%. Mie scattering theory was used to compute the volume-based PSDs in the software. Refractive index value is 1.68 for ITZ and 1.33 for deionized water (medium). Before measuring the PSDs, 2 ml suspension sample was collected from the outlet of the mill chamber and diluted with 5 ml of the respective stabilizer solution using a vortex mixer (Fisher Scientific Digital Vortex Mixer, Catalog no: 0215370, Model No: 945415, Pittsburgh, PA) at 1500 rpm for 1 min. The Particle size distributions (PSDs) of produced NCMPs via spray drying were measured by Rodos/Helos laser diffraction (LD) system (Sympatec, NJ, USA) based on Furnhofer theory with dry powder dispersion module. On the sample chute of the Rodos dispersing system, just about 1 g of the sample was placed. To feed the samples, the sample chute was vibrated at 50% settings and 0.1 bar dispersion pressure was imposed to suck in the falling powder through the sample cell of the laser diffraction system. Determination of Drug Content in the Composite Powders Drug content of the composite powders were measured by assay testing. ITZ solubility is - in dichloromethane (DCM). 100 mg of the NCMPs was dissolved in 20 ml DCM, sonicated for 30 mins to ensure all the ITZ is dissolved in the solvent and then they were allowed to sediment overnight. An aliquot of 100  µl is taken from the supernatant and diluted to 10 ml with DCM. The absorbance of all the samples was measured at 260 nm wavelength via Ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometer (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Six replicates were prepared from each NCMP formulation to calculate mean drug content and percent relative standard deviation (RSD). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) SEM imaging was performed to understand the morphology and particle size of the ITZ particles before and after milling. SEM images of as-received ITZ and baseline formulation was taken using a LEO 1530 SVMP (Carl Zeiss, Inc., Peabody, MA, USA) SEM machine. Approximately, 0.1 ml milled suspension sample was placed on top of a silicon chip (Ted Pella Inc., Redding, CA, USA), and then on top of a carbon specimen holder. The sample was placed into a desiccator for overnight drying. The samples were then sputter coated with carbon before analyzing [33]. X-ray Powder Diffraction (PXRD) The crystallinity of the as-received ITZ, physical mixture of ITZ-excipinets, and spray dried powders were analyzed using PXRD (PANalytical, Westborough, MA, USA), provided with Cu KÃŽÂ ± radiation (ÃŽÂ »= 1.5406 Ã…). The samples were scanned at a rate 0.165 S-1 for 2ÃŽÂ ¸ ranging from 5 to 40 °. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) DSC of the as-received ITZ, Physical mixture of ITZ-excipients, and spray dried powders was performed using a Mettler-Toledo polymer analyzer (PolyDSC, Columbus, OH, USA). The samples were heated at a rate of 10  °C/min within a range of 25-220  °C under nitrogen gas flow. With the help of the integrated software of the machine, melting temperature Tm and fusion enthalpy ΆHm were determined. Dissolution Testing Dissolution of ITZ from the as-received drug, and spray dried composite powders were determined via a Distek 2100C dissolution tester (North Brunswick, NJ, USA) according to the USP II paddle method.   The dissolution medium was 1000 ml SDS buffer with 3.0 gm/ml concentration at non-sink condition.   The medium was maintained at 37  °C temperature and 50 rpm paddle speed.   The composites were weighed equivalent to a dose of 20 mg of ITZ. Composites were poured into the dissolution medium and manually 4 ml of samples were taken out at 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. Aliquots of the samples were filtered using a 0.1  µm PVDF membrane type syringe filter to avoid any effect of undissolved drug during UV spectroscopy measurement. The absorbance of ITZ dissolved was measured via UV spectroscopy (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, USA) at 260 nm wavelength. The blank was measured using SDS buffer at the beginning. The amount of drug dissolved was measured using a calibration curve generated from drug concentration vs. absorbance (R2=0.9995 with p Apparent Shear Viscosity of Milled ITZ Suspensions The apparent shear viscosity of the nanosuspension was measured by following the procedure from Afolabi et al. [32], using R/S plus rheometer (Brookfield Engineering, Middleboro, MS, USA). To impart controlled shear rate on the samples from 0 to 1000 1/s in 60 s, a coxial cylinder (CC40) was used. To control the temperature the jacket temperature was kept constant at 25 ±0.5  °C. Drug nanoparticles formation and physical stability of the milled suspensions The formulation of the milled drug (ITZ) suspensions are presented in Table 1. Drug (ITZ) nano suspension was first produced in presence of both steric and an anionic surfactant, SDS (Run 1). Due to the synergistic effect of HPC and SDS [31], Run 1 was used as a baseline to assess the impact of various stabilizers (HPC, HPMC E3, PVP k30, and SDS) in their breakage kinetics and physical stability of the resulting suspensions. This baseline formulation was found to be the optimum formulation from a previous work performed by Meng et al [29]. The molecular weight effect of HPC was then studied in absence of SDS surfactant (Run 2-4) using three different grades of HPC; SSL, SL, and L grades having molecular weight ~40, ~100, and ~140 kDa, respectively. The apparent shear viscosity of all the formulations (Run 1-7) are represented in Figure 1. Formulations with 2.5% (w/w) HPC-SL/SDS, 4.5% (w/w) HPC-SL, and 4.5% (w/w) HPC-L (Run 1, 3, and 4) are showing near Newtonian behavior, indicating the extent of aggregation is very low. Milled drug suspensions stabilized by SDS or polymer alone (except HPC-SL and HPC-L) are showing significant shear-thinning behavior, indicating significant amount of aggregates. References 1.Kesisoglou, F., S. Panmai, and Y. Wu, Nanosizing-oral formulation development and biopharmaceutical evaluation. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2007. 59(7): p. 631-644. 2.Amidon, G.L., et al., A theoretical basis for a biopharmaceutic drug classification: the correlation of in vitro drug product dissolution and in vivo bioavailability. Pharmaceutical research, 1995. 12(3): p. 413-420. 3.Merisko-Liversidge, E. and G.G. Liversidge, Nanosizing for oral and parenteral drug delivery: a perspective on formulating poorly-water soluble compounds using wet media milling technology. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2011. 63(6): p. 427-440. 4.Panagiotou, T. and R.J. Fisher, Form nanoparticles via controlled crystallization. Chemical Engineering Progress, 2008. 104(10): p. 33-39. 5.Keck, C.M. and R.H. Mà ¼ller, Drug nanocrystals of poorly soluble drugs produced by high pressure homogenisation. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2006. 62(1): p. 3-16. 6.Mà ¼ller, R., C. Jacobs, and O. Kayser, Nanosuspensions as particulate drug formulations in therapy: rationale for development and what we can expect for the future. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2001. 47(1): p. 3-19. 7.Singh, S.K., et al., Investigation of preparation parameters of nanosuspension by top-down media milling to improve the dissolution of poorly water-soluble glyburide. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2011. 78(3): p. 441-446. 8.Tanaka, Y., et al., Nanoparticulation of probucol, a poorly water-soluble drug, using a novel wet-milling process to improve in vitro dissolution and in vivo oral absorption. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2012. 38(8): p. 1015-1023. 9.Noyes, A.A. and W.R. Whitney, The rate of solution of solid substances in their own solutions. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1897. 19(12): p. 930-934. 10.Sun, B. and Y. Yeo, Nanocrystals for the parenteral delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, 2012. 16(6): p. 295-301. 11.Chan, H.-K. and P.C.L. Kwok, Production methods for nanodrug particles using the bottom-up approach. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2011. 63(6): p. 406-416. 12.Bhakay, A., et al., Novel aspects of wet milling for the production of microsuspensions and nanosuspensions of poorly water-soluble drugs. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2011. 37(8): p. 963-976. 13.Van Eerdenbrugh, B., G. Van den Mooter, and P. Augustijns, Top-down production of drug nanocrystals: nanosuspension stabilization, miniaturization and transformation into solid products. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2008. 364(1): p. 64-75. 14.Basa, S., et al., Production and in vitro characterization of solid dosage form incorporating drug nanoparticles. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2008. 34(11): p. 1209-1218. 15.Kim, S. and J. Lee, Effective polymeric dispersants for vacuum, convection and freeze drying of drug nanosuspensions. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2010. 397(1): p. 218-224. 16.Choi, J.-Y., C.H. Park, and J. Lee, Effect of polymer molecular weight on nanocomminution of poorly soluble drug. Drug delivery, 2008. 15(5): p. 347-353. 17.Wang, Y., et al., A comparison between spray drying and spray freeze drying for dry powder inhaler formulation of drug-loaded lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2012. 424(1): p. 98-106. 18.Cheow, W.S., et al., Spray-freeze-drying production of thermally sensitive polymeric nanoparticle aggregates for inhaled drug delivery: effect of freeze-drying adjuvants. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2011. 404(1): p. 289-300. 19.Azad, M., et al., Spray drying of drug-swellable dispersant suspensions for preparation of fast-dissolving, high drug-loaded, surfactant-free nanocomposites. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2015. 41(10): p. 1617-1631. 20.Lee, J., Drug nanoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and microparticles processed into solid dosage forms: physical properties. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2003. 92(10): p. 2057-2068. 21.Kemp, I.C., Fundamentals of energy analysis of dryers. Modern Drying Technology, 2011. 4: p. 1-46. 22.Kim, C.-j., Advanced pharmaceutics: Physicochemical principles. 2004: CRC Press. 23.Lee, J., et al., Amphiphilic amino acid copolymers as stabilizers for the preparation of nanocrystal dispersion. European journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2005. 24(5): p. 441-449. 24.Adamson, A. and A. Gast, Physical chemical of surfaces. 1997, New York: Wiley. 25.Ploehn, H.J. and W.B. Russel, Interactions between colloidal particles and soluble polymers. Advances in Chemical Engineering, 1990. 15: p. 137-228. 26.Rowe, R., The effect of the molecular weight of ethyl cellulose on the drug release properties of mixed films of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. International journal of pharmaceutics, 1986. 29(1): p. 37-41. 27.Mittal, G., et al., Estradiol loaded PLGA nanoparticles for oral administration: effect of polymer molecular weight and copolymer composition on release behavior in vitro and in vivo. Journal of Controlled Release, 2007. 119(1): p. 77-85. 28.Sepassi, S., et al., Effect of polymer molecular weight on the production of drug nanoparticles. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2007. 96(10): p. 2655-2666. 29.Li, M., N. Lopez, and E. Bilgili, A study of the impact of polymer-surfactant in drug nanoparticle coated pharmatose composites on dissolution performance. Advanced Powder Technology, 2016. 30.Ryde, N.P. and S.B. 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Latvian Education: Past and Present :: Essays Papers

Latvian Education: Past and Present I. Introduction Imagine a seven year old boy sitting in class. He is anxious for the day to begin and anticipates its end. Finally, his teacher starts to speak about what will be happening in class that day. The boy looks up in wonderment and confusion. His teacher is speaking in a completely different language than the boy is accustomed to. This little boy is growing up in Latvia, but the language he has grown up learning, in his home, is Russian. The boy, having always heard both languages while growing up, eventually pieced together what the teacher was saying; and later realizes he is going to have to adapt to a new language. This seems to be a common occurrence in Latvian schools. Because of Latvia’s history, back and forth, between Soviet and independent rule, a large population of Russians have migrated, or been moved to, Latvia. This has had a large impact on the way education works in Latvia. The Eastern Union (EU) has also, recently, started to make a difference in the way education works in Latvia. II. History a. Communist After reading through a brief history of Latvia, in the World Book, I found that Latvia was first recognized as an independent state in 1920, even though it had claimed independence just after World War I ended in November of 1918. Two years after their claim, Latvia developed a democratic government which broke up wealthy estates and separated the land among the people. After the Great Depression, in 1936, the president took more power and gave less to the political parties. Shortly after World War II started the Soviets had an agreement with Latvia to build Russian military bases in their country. The Russians eventually seized power and made Latvia part of the Soviet Union and then created a Communist government. Soon after that, in 1941, the German soldiers invaded Latvia and stayed there until 1944 when the Soviets recaptured it. While the Russians resided and ruled in Latvia they created a powerful Communist government which controlled all land and industry, was the only legal politician party, and banned the Latvian flag and national anthem. Latvian Education: Past and Present :: Essays Papers Latvian Education: Past and Present I. Introduction Imagine a seven year old boy sitting in class. He is anxious for the day to begin and anticipates its end. Finally, his teacher starts to speak about what will be happening in class that day. The boy looks up in wonderment and confusion. His teacher is speaking in a completely different language than the boy is accustomed to. This little boy is growing up in Latvia, but the language he has grown up learning, in his home, is Russian. The boy, having always heard both languages while growing up, eventually pieced together what the teacher was saying; and later realizes he is going to have to adapt to a new language. This seems to be a common occurrence in Latvian schools. Because of Latvia’s history, back and forth, between Soviet and independent rule, a large population of Russians have migrated, or been moved to, Latvia. This has had a large impact on the way education works in Latvia. The Eastern Union (EU) has also, recently, started to make a difference in the way education works in Latvia. II. History a. Communist After reading through a brief history of Latvia, in the World Book, I found that Latvia was first recognized as an independent state in 1920, even though it had claimed independence just after World War I ended in November of 1918. Two years after their claim, Latvia developed a democratic government which broke up wealthy estates and separated the land among the people. After the Great Depression, in 1936, the president took more power and gave less to the political parties. Shortly after World War II started the Soviets had an agreement with Latvia to build Russian military bases in their country. The Russians eventually seized power and made Latvia part of the Soviet Union and then created a Communist government. Soon after that, in 1941, the German soldiers invaded Latvia and stayed there until 1944 when the Soviets recaptured it. While the Russians resided and ruled in Latvia they created a powerful Communist government which controlled all land and industry, was the only legal politician party, and banned the Latvian flag and national anthem.

Hackers Good or Evil :: Essays Papers

Hackers Good or Evil Imagine this, you are driving along the road and suddenly you see something spectacular. Now imagine that you are not allowed to deviate from your course to check it out. This is what a so-called â€Å"hacker† faces. Just imagine that you saw an injured person on the side of the road. In this analogy you are not allowed to help the injured person. A hacker is not allowed to explore like everyone else in the world. A hacker is not allowed to help fix potential security holes. The term hacker can have many meanings. The most visible to the public is the person pirating software, and breaking into corporate networks and destroying information. This is the public misconception of a hacker. Back in the Unix days, a hack was simply a quick and dirty way of doing something. Hackers in those days were basically just computer experts. Nowadays hacker means the same thing as a cracker, a person who pirates software, and malicious hackers. The media, of course, never prints the good thin gs hackers do. Most hackers provide a service to companies, by letting the company know about security holes, before a rival exploits it. Most hackers want nothing more than to simply learn. A hacker has an extreme thirst for knowledge, but not in the traditional subjects. Technology, and anything new interest hackers. In fact most security experts start out but learning and â€Å"hacking†. The bad view of hackers is not completely false. There are hackers out there that will do there best to harm any system hey can, but most want nothing more than to find the beauty in system, or network. To hackers vast networks, and the inside of a firewall that was meant to keep them out, are the most beautiful sights on Earth. In every aspect of life there are people who exploit others. Murders, robbers, or any other criminals come from every walk of life. Even hackers have some, but like the general population, it is a small percentage. Most people would call the whole Linux community hackers, because anyone who has the knowledge to run Unix must be a hacker. This show what good hackers can do. The entire Unix GNU community is run by hackers. They all contribute toward a free operating system. They all work out the bugs, and then distribute it for free. Hackers got tired of paying for an OS that did not work well.

The Bell Jar :: essays research papers

Sylvia Plath’s autobiography, The Bell Jar, tells the story of Plath’s own mental breakdown and suicide attempt, as well as her recovery and eventual reentrance into the outside world. The Bell Jar shows the transition of Plath as a young, hopeful girl into a cynical, suicidal woman. The main character whom represents Plath, Esther Greenwood, is first shown as an aspiring writer who is full of dreams and whose life is brimming with opportunities. As Esther becomes more and more depressed, Plath then shows a very different picture of a woman who has lost hope and no longer wishes to live. Plath conveys this deterioration through effective use of rhetorical devices such as imagery, alliteration, and point of view.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the very beginning, Plath lets the reader know that all is not as well as it seems. Esther has won a fashion magazine contest. As her prize, she was given a job and accommodations in New York City. While this seems like a dream come true, Esther says, â€Å"I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn’t get myself to react. I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.† This use of metaphor helps the reader to better understand how Esther felt. Right from the start, there is something different about Esther, and her unhappiness continues to grow throughout the story. Esther takes to hanging out with another one of the girls, Doreen. Doreen has a habit of blowing off deadlines in favor of men and alcohol. Esther follows her around one night, and upon returning to her room comments, â€Å"The silence depressed me. I t wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence.† This statement, made more effective by the first person point of view, conveys Esther’s growing sense of unhappiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Esther descends further into madness, a very vivid picture is painted. The once healthy young woman can no longer sleep, eat, or read. Stunning imagery is used when describing Esther’s inability to sleep. â€Å"†¦even my eyelids didn’t shut out the light. They hung the raw, red screen of their tiny vessels in front of me like a wound.† This description emphasizes the pain that Esther’s mental illness is inflicting upon her, through use of such words as â€Å"raw†, â€Å"red†, and â€Å"wound†.