Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Design and Implementation of Virtual Classroom for Distance Essay

The Design and Implementation of Virtual Classroom for Distance Learning - Essay Example Based on the result of the survey questionnaires and personal interviews, the researcher will determine the best design of a virtual classroom for second language distance learning including a proposed implementation strategy. The use of the Internet and other related technologies has made a significant increase over the past ten years. (Lavooy and Palmer, 2003) In line with the progress in the development of Internet-based technology, changes in the educational approach has gone through a lot of major restructuring. Each year, a lot of colleges and universities have been investing a lot of money in developing reliable and real-time web-based classes (Ewing-Taylor, 1999) especially for the purpose of studying second language courses in distance learning. A virtual classroom is a computer based system used to deliver virtual teaching and learning. According to Karasavvidis et al. (2003), the learning and teaching behaviour of students and the teachers is an important factor that contributes to the success of using computer-based technology in education. For this reason, the design of a virtual classroom for distance learning has to be easily accessible, reliable, user-friendly, and interactive. The design of virtual classroom for distance learning should include online forums such as Blackboard Discussion Board, video conference, e-mails and chat rooms to allow the students and mentors to have an open communication link as it makes the course materials available to each learner 24/7. (Nian-Shing, Kinshuk, Yi-Hung, 2005) Ewing-Taylor and Overall (2003) emphasized the importance of constant interaction and collaboration between the teachers and the learners since it enables the students to learn more from its mentor. In relation to the point-of view of Ewing-Taylor and Overall (2003), the study of Kubala (1998) reveals that the use of an anonymous open communication through a

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Corporate Taxation Essay Example for Free

Corporate Taxation Essay 1. The definition of property as it relates to a section 351 transaction includes money. (TRUE) 2. A taxpayer always will have a tax basis in boot received in a section 351 transaction equal to its fair market value. (TRUE) 3. Mandel transferred property to his new corporation in a section 351 transaction. One of the properties transferred was land with a fair market value of $200,000 and a tax basis of $250,000. The corporation will always take a tax basis in the land of $200,000 to prevent the â€Å"built-in loss† from being transferred from Mandel to the corporation. (FALSE) 4. Han transferred land to his corporation in a section 351 transaction. Han had held the land for two years prior to the transfer. The corporation will tack Han’s holding period for the land. (TRUE) 5. Roberta transfers property with a tax basis of $400 and a fair market value of $500 to a corporation in exchange for stock with a fair market value of $350 in a transaction that qualifies for deferral under section 351. The corporation assumed a liability of $150 on the property transferred. What is the amount realized by Roberta in the exchange? ($500) 6. Antoine transfers property with a tax basis of $500 and a fair market value of $600 to a corporation in exchange for stock with a fair market value of $550 in a transaction that qualifies for deferral under section 351. The corporation assumed a liability of $50 on the property transferred. What is Antoine’s tax basis in the stock received in the exchange? ($450) 7. Carlos transfers property with a tax basis of $500 and a fair market value of $800 to a corporation in exchange for stock with a fair market value of $650 and $50 in a transaction that qualifies for deferral under section 351. The corporation assumed a liability of $100 on the property transferred. What is the corporation’s tax basis in the property received in the exchange? ($550) 8. Tristan transfers property with a tax basis of $900 and a fair market value of $1,200 to a corporation in exchange for stock with a fair market value of $900 and $200 in a transaction that qualifies for deferral under section 351. The corporation assumed a liability of $100 of the property transferred. What is the corporation’s tax basis in the property received in the exchange? ($1,100) 9. Ashley transfers property with a tax basis of $5,000 and a fair market value $3,000 to a corporation in exchange for stock with a fair market value of $2,000 and $500 in a transaction that qualifies for deferral under section 351. The corporation assumed a liability of $500 on the property transferred. What is Ashley’s tax basis in the stock received in the exchange? ($4,000) 10. Which of the following statements best describes the concept of control as it applies to a section 351 transaction? Control is defined as the ownership of 80 percent of more of a corporations voting stock and 80 percent or more of the total number of shares of each class of nonvoting stock.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact of tourism in Greece

Impact of tourism in Greece Tourism Impact Greece Corfu The Economic Impact In Greece, in 2006, Travel Tourism is expected to post à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬37.2 billions of economic activity (Total Demand), growing to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬70.3 billion by 2016. Greeces Travel Tourism Industry is expected to contribute 7.3% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 rising in nominal terms to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬26.3 billion by 2016. The Travel Tourism Economy contribution (per cent of total) should rise from 16.4% to 17.2% in this same period. In the European Union, Travel Tourism is expected to post average annualized gains of 3.5% between 2007 and 2016. For Greece, Travel Tourism activity is expected to grow by 4% per annum in real terms between 2007 and 2016. Greeces Travel Tourism Economy employment is estimated at 867,000 jobs in 2006, 20% of total employment, or 1 in every 5 jobs. By 2016, this should total 1,216,000 jobs, 20.9% of total employment or 1 in every 4.8 jobs. The 449,000 Travel Tourism Industry jobs account for 10.3% of total employment in 2006 and are forecast to total 601,000 jobs or 10.3% of the total by 2016. Travel Tourism is a major exporter, with inbound visitors injecting foreign exchange directly into the economy. Travel Tourism exports in the European Union are expected to represent 13.0% of total exports in 2006. In Greece, exports make up a very important share of Travel Tourisms contribution to GDP. Of Greeces total exports, Travel Tourism is expected to generate 29.1% or à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬11.8 billions in 2006, increasing to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬23.9 billions or 27.8% of total, in 2016. Travel Tourism is very significant for construction and manufacturing. In 2006, the public and private sectors combined are expected to spend 9.3% of total investment on new Travel Tourism capital investment worldwide rising to 9.6% of the total in 2016. In the European Union, Travel Tourism Capital Investment is expected to be in total the 8.6% of total regional capital investment in 2006. Travel Tourism Capital Investment in Greece is estimated at à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬6.4 billions or 14.3% of total investment in 2006. By 2016, this should reach à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬12.9 billions or 14.8% of the total. Nowadays bureaucracy in Greece is having a very negative impact on both operations and investment. In that nation, as in other countries, responsibility for policies and services that affect Travel Tourism are spread among many ministries. However, co-operation between these different ministries and government departments appears to be seriously lacking which affects everything within the government and occurs serious issues. The Environmental Impact Travel Tourism has the potential to bring enormous benefits to people and environments, especially in terms of providing an alternative source of income. However, if not developed in a sustainable way, the industry may result in negative impacts such as environmental degradation, alienation of local communities and, ultimately, destruction of the product itself. If Greeces Travel Tourism is to realize its full potential, any threats to its sustainability must be firmly addressed and tackled before it finds itself in the same situation as some well-established resort destinations such as Spain. Its future depends on preserving the combination of natural and cultural assets, as well as engaging the support of the communities that will be the life-blood of the industry. Integrated plans and planning processes should address issues such as airline carrying capacity, tourism supply and demand, resource utilization and economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts. In every community there are those who believe that, if nature is to be preserved, it should be left completely untouched. While this belief is infinitely more worthy than a disregard for the environment in a quest for profits, a balance between the two extremes ensures the long-term economic well-being and preservation of an area. A Greek island located in the Ionian Sea named Corfu has an extremely rich natural, historical and cultural heritage and the goal must clearly be to preserve it all. The key is to ensure that tourism development and environmental management are mutually supportive, and that integrated planning, policies and implementation provide for environmental impact assessments for all tourism projects. In addition, a list of valuable historic, natural, and cultural sites, which can be logically exploited for tourism, should be identified and steps taken to conserve those sites for long-term use. Protection of the environment also means limiting construction (especially in terms of accommodation capacity) and ensuring cleanliness and effective sanitation services. Investment in infrastructure and facilities in Corfu appears to be inadequate. Firm government and strong legislative guidelines to ensure that regional and local authorities are adhering to sound development principles must be enforced. The Socio-Cultural Impact The socio-cultural impact of tourism is developed through an enormous range of aspects from the arts and crafts through to the fundamental behavior of individuals and collective groups. A factor often overlooked by researchers is the socio-cultural impact of tourism on the visitor population. Visitors to Corfu, for example, often find it hard to resist adopting the beach-based lifestyle and the Greek culinary particularity when they return home. Generally there is a variety of ways in which we examine the relationships between tourism development and socio-cultural changes. The socio-cultural impact is based on the host-guest interaction and the behavior of tourists. In Corfu and generally in Greece the development of the elements above, every year is being improved because the whole economy of the country is based on tourism and for this reason another significant element is that tourist crime doesnt exist in Greece and therefore in Corfu. In other countries the tourists are the most common victims of the marginal populations of each place, but in Corfu the tourists are absolutely safe and crime incidents involving tourists are fiddling. Corfu is also a very popular destination because of the local customs during the Easter period and other customs during the year. However, if the tourists are not aware of, or care of, the local customs they may behave in a way that creates several social frictions between tourists and residents. Corfu is quite rich in customs and each custom gives the tourist an opportunity to adapt to the local traditions. References Tourism: Principles and Practice (Cooper, Fletcher, Fyall, Gilbert, Wanhill), Fourth edition. www.msu.edu/course/prr/840/econimpact/pdf/ecimpvol1 www.impact.gr/products/itourism_285.htm www.islandheritage.org/tourism.html www.ecotourism.org/WebModules/WebMember/MemberApplication/ www.dallascityhall.com/convention_center/pdfs/city_tourism_impact www.economicsbulletin.vanderbilt.edu/2008/volume3/EB-07C20155A www.sete.gr/files/Ebook/TourisminGreeceBuhalisinCurrentIssues

Friday, October 25, 2019

Act two then presents a quarrelsome Edward, as he refuses to perform :: English Literature

Act two then presents a quarrelsome Edward, as he refuses to perform even more kingly duties. Scotland has captured Mortimer What techniques does Marlowe use to engage audience’s interest in the first two acts of the play? Marlowe studied the Bible and the Reformation theologians as well as philosophy and history at Corpus Christi College; Cambridge for six years but instead of continuing and taking holy orders, Marlowe went to London and became a dramatist. He made important friends such as Sir Walter Raleigh. Most of his plays were written in blank verse, with â€Å"Edward II† being no exception. It is a historical tragedy play ad was Marlowe’s last play. Later it inspired playwright and director Bertolt Brecht and Lion Feuchtwanger to write â€Å"Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England† in 1924. â€Å"Edward II† is an intense and swiftly moving account of a king controlled by his basest passions, a weak man who becomes a puppet of his homosexual lover, and pays a tragic price for forsaking the governance of his country. The play is set in early fourteenth-century England, during a period when England was surrounded by enemies in Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, and France. Edward, preoccupied by the banishment of his lover, Gaveston, barely acknowledges the crises that threaten his country; he indulges his passions and forgets about his duties, failing to recognize that his refusal to attend to state affairs is eroding his royal authority. He picks his battles, preferring those petty skirmishes over Gaveston's fate to those that would benefit his rule and enhance the power of the state. â€Å"Edward II† was first performed in 1594, played by the Earl of Pembroke’s Men. The next performance indicates 1617, Queen Elizabeth’s reign. As the country being protestant at this time, parts of the play would be particularly interesting and entertaining when the play was performed, which may not have the same effect nowadays. For example when Gaveston and Edward demonstrate acts of violence towards the king and banish him to be imprisoned in the tower. Entertaining violence towards the Catholics would have been in those days. The first scene opens with Gaveston reading a letter from Edward II, newly crowned sovereign of England after the death of Edward I. Gaveston had been banished from court because of his corrupting influence on the young prince Edward. Now, with the elder Edward out of the way, Edward II is inviting Gaveston to return and share the kingdom with him. In a few quick lines, Gaveston's soliloquy makes clear the homosexual nature of their relationship ("take me in thy arms") as well as the theme of power that runs throughout the play.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Mte 506 Observation Analysis

Classroom Observation Analysis Research Paper Della Armstrong University of Phoenix/MTE 506 November 12, 2012 Kathleen Sherbon Classroom Observation Analysis Research Paper Education theory can either be descriptive like the sciences or normative like in philosophy. Education theory postulates what education processes are supposed to consist of; it sets the standards, norms, and goals in carrying out an education process. The scientific education theory gives a set of hypotheses, which have to be experimented and verified.The two approaches have produced two broad categories of education theories, which are the functionalist’s theory of education arising from the Sociological perspective of education and the behaviorist theory of education from the psychology of education. I will conduct an observation Analysis in an Elementary classroom to observed teachers and students as they work using the education theory. Introduction Many instructional approaches exist that have been de veloped to reach more students. Teachers have to select the instructional approaches that work best for students.These approaches have been tested and researched from various theoretical perspectives. An education theory is the speculative thought or education and just like any other theory, it explains, guides, and describes the practices of education. The earliest speculation on educational processes began during the times of classical sophists Greek philosophers. Current education speculations use terms like and rogogy, curriculum, learning pedagogy, education organization, leadership, and policy. Education thought is derived from various disciplines like, philosophy, sociology, critical theory, psychology, and history among others.This paper will discuss five topics based on the best education theory to be applied in the classroom setting with focus on two education theories postulated by Gardner and Sternberg. This paper will also address information processing by students, beh aviors of teachers to promote thinking, implications of language development on learning and teaching, and on the relationship between the emotional and social development on student behavior and learning. On November 10, 2012, I went to Park Elementary/Middle School and conduct an Analysis Observation with a first grade teacher (Mrs. C. Turner). There were twenty students in this class.The ratio was consisted of 12 girls to 8 boys. All of the children were African American except two of the students. There were two white girls in this class. This school is placed on academic probation because the school did not do well on their school performance test. This school has an â€Å"F† because too many children failed the ILEAP Test. My reason for choosing this school is because I wanted to know why this school was not improving on their school performance and test scores. The observation was conducted in Mrs. Turner’s class. Mrs. Turner teaching grade first; I observed two subjects (English and Spelling) on that they.Evaluate the Application of Educational Theories in the Classroom Setting Which Educational Theories Were Employed? There seems to be a continuum of intelligence and ending with Gardner’s multiple intelligences (Bee & Boyd, 2010). The standard IQ test only measures the intellectual and academic dimensions of intelligence and Gardner’s multiple intelligences proposes eight separate domains of intelligence each with their strategies for measurement. On this continuum the teacher went so far as to employ the precepts of Sternberg’s triadic theory of intelligence, but not so far as to try and cover Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.I observed the class on Friday, so it was test day. There was a language comprehension test and a spelling test. Both tests specifically gauge intellectual ability to the absence of any type of measure about practical or creative intelligence. However, after the tests the students were a sked to color, cut out, and paste a large pumpkin to their folders (creative), and then the teacher had a story time where the class talked about the dangers of lightning (practical). Which Educational Theories Could Have Been Used to Better Enhance Instruction and Learning?As per Gardner’s multiple intelligences, the naturalistic and intrapersonal aspects of intelligence were those that were addressed the least in the class I observed. The class is almost entirely indoors-only having outside time at the playground-so there no time to develop the ability to recognize patterns in nature. I think the teacher tries to compensate by covering activities that invoice nature themes, such as the lightning worksheet, but there is only so much of nature that can be studied in the air conditioning, under fluorescent lights.Also, there was very little development of intrapersonal intelligence. The teacher mostly relied on consequences as a means to control behavior rarely trying to devel op the personal strengths and goals of the students. I also believed that the teacher could have used constructivism; to better enhance instruction and learning. Constructivism is â€Å"that learning is meaning, it is reflecting on experienced† (Educational Theories, November 2012). Mrs. Turner could have enhanced lesson to incorporate real life connections to the students to make it meaningful for them.Also, she could have had students predict what was going to happen next in the story. The teacher could have asked the students who were the main characters in the story. What do they think the title is going to be about? How do they think the story is going to end? How practical is the Application of Educational Theories in the Classroom? I think that the application of Sternberg’s tri-archaic theory is extremely practical. Public School already attempts to cover all three domains of intelligence through the use of band, athletics, music, art, workshop, and work-study programs.I think that some of the areas of Gardner’s multiple intelligences might be outside the prevue of public education, such as naturalistic intelligence or intrapersonal intelligence. Both of these areas of intelligence require a large investment of time to develop properly and require special circumstance to be implemented adequately. For instance, a naturalistic education would in clue a lot of time in nature itself, which goes again the classroom environment of current-day education. Also, intrapersonal development requires quite a bit of alone time to think, which is not readily available in a classroom environment of current-day education.Also, Intrapersonal development requires quite a bit of alone time to think, which is readily available in a classroom setting. Also, it is very practical to apply educational theories in the classroom like constructivism, behaviorism, and the social learning theory. A teacher can use a combination of educational theories in a cla ssroom. The teacher can build upon the student’s knowledge and emphasize problem solving and the teacher can also use the Social Learning Theory with modeling. The teacher can model the behavior to the student and use positive and negative reinforcements with behaviorism.Even though, the teacher did use Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence in the classroom. Gardener’s theory â€Å"has eight domains of intelligence† (Linguistics Logical, Spatial, Bodily Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, intrapersonal, and Naturalistic) according to Bee and Boyd, (2010). The different types of intelligence can be used in daily lessons throughout the day. Describe The Application of Information Processing to Student Learning? How Does Theory of Information Processing Apply to Student Learning?There appear to be two forces at work when discussing the application of information processing: 1) innate ability; 2) acquired knowledge (Bee & Boyd, 2010). So, a large volume of acquire d knowledge can compensate for a lower IQ but only to a point. An expert with a higher IQ; will still performance better than an expert with a middle or low IQ. As this applies to student learning, children with lower IQ, and therefore less effective and efficient strategies for processing information must acquire a largely body of information on a given subject before they can perform as well on testing as students who have higher IQs.How Does the Classroom Environment Affect Information Processing and Learning for Adolescents? Information processing theory also explains that, â€Å"children are born with some basic, in born cognitive strategies [that] change during the early years of life, with more complex ones emerging and old, ones being used more flexibly† (Bee & Boyd, 2010. p. 197). The text goes on to explain that as adolescents engage more in a particular activity, say building blocks, they develop more complex and efficient ways of accomplishing their creative goals .The classroom environment should foster development of these complex cognitive strategies. There needs to be a repetitive assortment of tasks that are geared towards building the same cognitive strategies, such as when a spelling word is studied by writing it, reading it, putting it in a sentence, drawing a picture of it, defining it, and then acting it out. In this way repetition can bread cognitive development. Compare Adolescent Student Learning in a Social Environment and on Educational Environment. Which are More Conducive to attention and Memory?Willingham (2007) makes it clear that attention is a finite, cognitive resource that can only process a limited amount of information at a time. In particular, it is important to realize that refractory period exists between the firing of neurons during which no new attention stimuli can be chosen. In social situations there is usually more than one stimulus competing for the attention of and individual; whereas, in a classroom attent ion is directed to one stimulus-the teacher. This would seem to dictate the educational environments are more conducive to attention than social situations.Furthermore, Willingham posits that secondary memory is encoding, stored, and retrieved along semantic lines. As this pertains to adolescent student learning, it is important for new information to be connected new to pre-existing information. Rote memorization is not as effective as learning information through rhymes or saying or through stories, since all of these involve connecting new information to existing information. Social situations would seem to have the upper hand here, since the social environment provides a context for learning that builds upon existing peer relationships and shared experience.Whereas some of this is presented in the classroom setting it is between the teacher and the students, but only to a lesser degree. Evaluate Teacher Behaviors That Promote Student’s Thinking Abilities What Teacher Beha viors Did You Observe That Facilitated Student Comprehension and Reasoning? There was one activity in Particular that I think facilitated student reasoning: the teacher held two objects in each hand and asked the class which one weighed the more. The teacher would then put the objects on each side of a scale and find out which one was heavier.Then the class would hypothesize about why they were wrong or right. This teaches students that objective information can be determined quite separate from subjective opinions and estimations. Estimations are only useful as long as scientific instrumentation is not present to determine objective facts. On the subject of comprehension, they took a comprehension, test. It was apparently design to measure grammatical and spelling skills. It was a list of sentences with a blank and multiple choice answers. The students had to read the sentence and decide which word best fit-in- the blank.I was astonished that the exercise had several trick question s and questions that could have two possible answers. I believed the teacher designer of the sheet was trying to teach the students how to think, rather than how to find the right answer. Why Did These Teachers Behaviors Positively Affect Students’ Thinking Abilities? Both of these activities were designed to cause the students to think. When I was in school teachers were concerned with how to teach us to get the right answer. We had just started state standardized tests and we had learned a lot of multiple choice strategies.However, in the class I observed there were many times multiple right answers and the teacher didn’t just want to know the right answer she wanted to know how the students got the right answer. The weight questions were particularly positive, since it forced the children to confront their deficits in conservation with scientifically determinable facts. This lesson translates into all kinds of cognitive advancements: different height glasses can hav e the same amount of water (volume) and different sized objects can have the same weight (density). Which Teacher Behaviors Impeded Student Comprehension and Reasoning?The spelling test was, I believed, the least productive. It was based on the rote memorization model of learning, in that the student had to hear the word and write it on a piece of paper. Some students do not learn this way and do not regurgitate information this way. There are children that are audio learners and they should be allowed to recite the spelling of the word. Some of the students had a very hard time writing the spelling, words, not because they didn’t know the word, but because they have a hard time translating the audible letters of the word into the written letters of the word.Why Did The Teacher Behaviors Negatively Affect Students’ Thinking Abilities? The teacher behaviors negatively affect students’ thinking abilities because the students wanted to get a 100% on their spelling test to be able to get a prize out of the prize box. This auditory/visual deficiency also speaks to the inverted-relationship between stimulation and performance. As stimulation increases (social pressure, teacher pressure, and peer pressure to make a good grade on the test), so performance on the test increases; however, there is a cutoff beyond which simulation begins to effect performance negatively.The students were motivated to get a 100% on their spelling test, because their teacher added increase pressure by adding a reward to the performance on the test. This affected the grades on their spelling test making the students to perform negatively, since the stimulation was too much for these students. Analyze The Implications of Language Development Affect Teaching? How Does Delayed Language Development Affect Teaching? â€Å"Delayed language development seems to be the result of a defect in fast-mapping processes and a poor receptive language† (Bee& Boyd, 2010).As with m any other types of cognitive development component to language assimilation, acquisition they have. In the case of school education, this would mean that persistent reading can compensate for any biologically or environmentally caused deficits in language development can be used of phonic approach that translates specific letters into sounds and vice-versa. Since poor language learners have a problem with letter- sound combinations, this approach should overcome that obstacle. Lastly, it is paramount that the reading program for the students be flexible and responsive to the student’s linguistic needs.If pa phonic approach is not working well, then maybe a reading comprehension-learning the words as part of phrase or sentence-approach would work better. How Does Language Development Affect Learning in Children And Adolescents? The systematic and explicit phonics approach to language instruction stipulates â€Å"that the lessons should move from simple words to more complex w ords in an explicit manner that emphasizes the letter-sound correspondence† (Bee & Boyd, 2010). On the other hand, the whole langrage approach seeks to teach language through the meaning and context of the word rather than the actual structure of the word.This avenue tries does not explicitly teach letter-sound correspondence unless the student has specific questions about how the sound work. Last, the balanced approach to language learning pursues a bi-lateral means of instruction, making use of both of the systematic and the whole language approach. They argue that it is important to develop a love of reading in children through the efficient uses of phonics. Language development has a large impact on reading comprehension. After all, the meaning of a complex sentence cannot be derived without first understanding the subsidiary words and grammar of the sentence.Moreover, reading comprehension helps with writing abilities of the students as well. Conclusion Finally, the five topics based on education theory have been explained and the teacher and the students were observed; and I believed that educational theories were conducted in Mrs. Turner’s second grade class. References Bee, H. , & Body, D. (2010). The developing child (12th ed. ) Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Education Theories. http://crescentok. com/staff/jaskew/isr/education/theories. htm. Retrieved November 10, 2012. Willingham, D. T. (2007). Cognition: The thinking animal. New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Pi Day

Justin Carlton PI DAY 3/14/13 * Definition of pi: Pi is the 16th letter in the Greek alphabet. It is equal to 3. 141592 when shortened, but never ends. * Archimedes-One of the major contributions Archimedes made to mathematics was his method for approximating the value of pi. It had long been recognized that the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter was constant, and a number of approximations had been given up to that point in time. Archimedes was the first person to calculate the value of pi. Ptolemy- Ptolemy was an observer and mathematician who had written on astronomical topics such as conjunctions. He devised proofs and theorems in which he was able to evaluate pi. His calculations were pi= 3+17/120=3. 14166. * William Jones- Jones was a mathematician, known for his proposal for the use of the symbol ? for pi to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. * PI Jokes Question: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o- lantern by its diameter? Answer: Pumpkin Pi!Q: What was Sir Isaac Newton's favorite dessert? A: Apple pi! Mathematician: Pi r squared Baker: No! Pie are round, cakes are square! * A transcendental number is a number that is not the root of any integer polynomial, meaning that it is not an algebraic number of any degree. Every real transcendental number must also be irrational, since a rational number is, by definition, an algebraic number of degree one. Ferdinand von Lindeman first called pi a transcendental number * Irrational number is a real number that cannot be expressed as a rational number.In 1761 Lambert proved that Pi was irrational, that it can't be written as a ratio of integer numbers. Web pages used: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/pi http://itech. fgcu. edu/faculty/clindsey/mhf4404/archimedes/archimedes. html http://www2. stetson. edu/~efriedma/periodictable/html/Pm. html http://www. ualr. edu/lasmoller/pi. html http://math-fail. com/2010/03/pi-day-jokes. html http://mathworld. wolfram. com/TranscendentalNumber. html http://www. mathsisfun. com/definitions/irrational-number. html http://www. math. com/tables/constants/pi. htm

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Black Rain essays

Black Rain essays The symbolization of bamboo spears and the situation during the Hiroshima bombing In the novel, Black Rain, by Masuji Ibuse, the bamboo spears symbolize the situation that the Japanese were in during the Hiroshima bombing. The Japanese have many traditions and just because their country is at war, does not mean that they should stop these traditions and give up all of their symbols of honor, pride, and dignity. During the war, one such symbol of honor or active duty was the bamboo spears. These bamboo spears that the village headman speaks of while giving an official send-off to the Young Mens Association are as he says, those symbols of your invincible determination to fight on to the bitter end your bamboo spears (13). He explains to these young men that the bamboo spears they hold should not be dropped until the end has come in such a way as if he was a Caesar leading his troops into the battle of Carthage. He glorifies these bamboo spears and the village headman never states what is this astringent end and he does not say this because they do not see the bitter end coming any time soon. Yet as the men leave this going off, they head on their long walk and one group sits down to eat lunch. They hear a broadcast from the Emperor that seems to induce a state of defeat in all of the soldiers and makes them as if a cat has their tongue. They are left speech less and "When it was finished, they sat for a while in silence" (13). The soldiers continue to sit in silence and they suddenly decide to bequeath their bamboo spears for the farmer to ameliorate the relationship because they freely used his veranda. The reader can assume here that what the Emperor said is that the bomb had been dropped and the ending of the war has started and that Japan is no longer fighting. The soldiers decide to give away their bamboo spears because they no longer have a use for them. These spears symbolize their side in the war a...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Alcohol Essays (653 words) - Drinking Culture, Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol Essays (653 words) - Drinking Culture, Alcohol Abuse Alcohol Alcohol Alcohol is a drug, but unlike most of the other drugs, it is socially accepted and is legal. Alcohol is bad for you and does have long term affects associated with it. Such as the long addiction to it, effects on the body, and the social interaction effects. Alcohol, and alcoholism is common in America, but drinking is more common around kids. Social drinking, a term kids and drinkers have come accustom to, is defined by one standard drink per hour, and no more than 3 per day, but some people just socialize around people that drink as heavily as they do and confuse that for social drinking. Addiction to alcohol can be acquired easily if not careful, binge drinking and family history are all keys in the identification of addiction. Family history could be linked to alcoholism by finding out if your family had problems in the past with alcohol, and it is determined by studies that genes have effects on alcohol. Alcohol is a drug, but legal unlike the other drugs on the street. In my opinion, all drugs are all harmful to the body, and can cause serious problems to you, and people around you, in the long run. Alcohol can effect the body in multiple ways. The tranquilizing effects of being drunk acts like a stimulate, but is a depressant, and causes the brain to lower self control, impairs vision and other senses, and effects bodily coordination. This tranquilizing effect is caused by the consumption of alcohol which in turn may cause serious effects on the liver, heart, and the brain. The alcohol consumption effects these organs, and has an overall personality change when signs of alcoholism begin. Alcohol overall has a detrimental effect over the body and the mind. I do believe alcohol is a drug and like other drugs which are not legalized in the U.S. it is still really bad for you. Also from alcohol a big risk is in evolved with drunk driving and getting alcohol poisoning. Both of these possible consequences are a big factor when someone drinks irresponsibly. Drunk driving accidents, and death, happen too much to not notice, but to know that drinking is a big cause of deaths in the year. Alcohol poisoning has a great chance of killing you because the effects are the usual drunken depressant effects but it slowly gets worse as you slip into coma, and if not taken care of, death will emerge. Social drinking and the effects one can have on someones personality is usually a drastic change. From this I mean I can speak from experience, one of my friends is an alcoholic from my perspective. Every chance he gets he drinks. When he drinks, his personality, and sometimes he, does somersaults, and changes into a mean self centered alcoholic. But anytime hes not drunk, he seems normal. Close interaction would prove that he has a personality problem, and a severe attitude. What I am trying to say is that my friend is my friend, no matter what problems he has, and hes going through counseling, and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) classes, yet still he struggles to stay sober,even though hes giving it all he has. Alcohol is in no means a good drug. From what I know, and have experienced, alcohol is just an open window for a long list of problems and difficulties, and seems to make growing up harder. It leaves the body susceptible to doing bodily harm, to self, or to others, by not being sure what it is that you are currently doing, and why someone would want to risk there chances of death, and life long hardship is beyond me. Alcohol is a drug which is now is legal in the U.S., and if that changes, it will, in my opinion, advance our society mentally, and make us stronger, in the body and in the mind

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Calculating Distance Between Tow Points on Earth Surface Using Gps Coordinates

DISTANCE CALCULATION Because of the near-spherical shape of the Earth (technically an oblate spheroid) , calculating an accurate distance between two points requires the use of spherical geometry and trigonometric math functions. However, you can calculate an approximate distance using much simpler math functions. For many applications the approximate distance calculation provides sufficient accuracy with much less complexity. The following approximate distance calculations are relatively simple, but can produce distance errors of 10 percent of more. These approximate calculations are performed using latitude and longitude values in degrees. The first approximation requires only simple math functions: Approximate distance in miles: sqrt(x * x + y * y) where x = 69. 1 * (lat2 lat1) and y = 53. 0 * (lon2 lon1) You can improve the accuracy of this approximate distance calculation by adding the cosine math function Improved approximate distance in miles: sqrt(x * x + y * y) where x = 69. 1 * (lat2 lat1) and y = 69. 1 * (lon2 lon1) * cos(lat1/57. 3) If you need greater accuracy, you can use the Great Circle Distance Formula. This formula requires use of spherical geometry and a high level of floating point mathematical accuracy about 15 digits of accuracy (sometimes called double-precision). In order to use this formula properly make sure your software application or programming language is capable of double-precision floating point calculations. In addition, the trig math functions used in this formula require conversion of the latitude and longitude values from decimal degrees to radians. To convert latitude or longitude from decimal degrees to radians, divide the latitude and longitude values in this database by 180/pi, or approximately 57. 9577951. The radius of the Earth is assumed to be 6,378. 8 kilometers, or 3,963. 0 miles. If you convert all latitude and longitude values in the database to radians before the calculation, use this equation: Great Circle Distance Formula using radians: 3963. 0 * arccos[sin(lat1) * sin(lat2) + cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * cos(lon2 lon1)] If you do NOT first convert th e latitude and longitude values in the database to radians, you must include the degrees-to-radians conversion in the calculation. Substituting degrees for radians, the formula becomes: Great Circle Distance Formula using decimal degrees 963. 0 * arccos[sin(lat1/57. 2958) * sin(lat2/57. 2958) + cos(lat1/57. 2958) * cos(lat2/57. 2958) * cos(lon2/57. 2958 -lon1/57. 2958)] OR r * acos[sin(lat1) * sin(lat2) + cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * cos(lon2 lon1)] Where r is the radius of the earth in whatever units you desire. r=3437. 74677 (nautical miles) r=6378. 7 (kilometers) r=3963. 0 (statute miles) If the software application or programming language you are using has no arccosine function, you can calculate the same result using the arctangent function, which most applications and languages do support. Use the following equation: 3963. 0 * arctan[sqrt(1-x^2)/x] where x = [sin(lat1/57. 2958) * sin(lat2/57. 2958)] + [cos(lat1/57. 2958) * cos(lat2/57. 2958) * cos(lon2/57. 2958 lon1/57. 2958)] If your distance calculations produce wildly incorrect results, check for these possible problems: 1. Did you convert the latitude and longitude values from degrees to radians? Trigonometric math functions such as sine and cosine normally require conversion of degrees to radians, as described above. 2. Are the equations implemented correctly with necessary parentheses? Remember the old math precedence rule MDAS multiply, divide, add, subtract. 3. Does your software application or programming language provide sufficient mathematical accuracy? For best results, you need about 15 digits of accuracy. 4. When you imported the data from the text files your latitude/longitude values may have been truncated. Make sure you did not lose any of the digits to the right of the decimal point during import. 5. Have you lost any precision of your decimal values due to rounding during importing or calling custom math functions

Friday, October 18, 2019

Recruitment and Retention within a Complex International Market Dissertation - 6

Recruitment and Retention within a Complex International Market - Dissertation Example Recruitment is a legal process of obtaining the sufficient number of qualified people at the right place and time so that the people and the organization can select each other in their own best short and long term interests (Richardson, n. d, p.2 ). Recruitment is the process which is adopted by the organizations to fill the vacancies in the organization. Various factors should be considered for the successful recruitment process. Recruitment can be conducted internally and externally. Internal recruitment allows the existing employees to get higher promotions or higher grades, but it will never fill the vacancies completely in the organization. Recruitment can be conducted internally through promotions and transfer of existing personnel within the organization at different places (Richardson, n. d, p.5). External recruitment helps the organization to fill all the existing vacancies. Moreover, it can bring new concepts and ideas to the organization. Internal recruitment is the cheapest and quick option compared to external recruitment. Internal recruitment will create another vacancy in the place of the promoted employee (Recruitment methods, n. d). The strength and weakness of the organization are well known to the internal employees and they can adapt to the environment more quickly than the outsiders. Internal recruitment always shift vacancy from one place to another and at some point in time, organizations have to depend on external recruitment for the complete filling of all the vacancies existing in the organization. Drifting of vacancies inside the organization might not help the organization in the long run. In short, internal recruitment is a temporary solution for organizations whereas external recruitment is the permanent option even though external recruitment is a lengthy process compared to internal recruitment.

Primate Observations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Primate Observations - Research Paper Example Different species of the order primates responded differently to their respective subsequent environments thereby resulting in unique adaptive features thereby becoming completely different animals. Humans are the most civilized of the primates and possess distinct features from the rest of the non-human primates such as monkeys, chimpanzees, and apes among others. However, some of the non-human primates possess characteristics similar to those of humans thereby corroborating the common ancestry theory and the theory of evolution all of which seek to explain the origin of the different animals (Waal and Frans 55). Apes are arguably the largest arboreal animals implying that they are the largest mammals living in trees. The primates are of the biological family known as Hominoidea of the family Homo thereby making them very closely related to humans. They therefore have numerous personality traits similar to those exhibited by humans. The primates are herbivores and natives of Africa and East Asia owing to the existence of large tropical services that provided adequate habitation. Currently, they live in different parts of the world owing to animal transportation by humans and their own migrations as conflict between them and humans heighten. However, some of the apes can eat other animals a feature that quantifies the primates as being both carnivores and herbivores. Monkeys on the other hand are a category of primates of the family cacopithecidae. Just as any other primate, they are natives of Africa and parts of East Asia and are of numerous species. The deferment species possess different features with a majority of the species being arboreal while others leave on the ground. Monkeys have tails that they use frequently in their daily survival activities. They are smaller than any other primate is and live in groups consisting of both males and females. Apes and monkeys as observed during the tour of the zoo exhibit a number of traits similar to those of huma ns while others are strange and therefore set them apart from the rest of human primates. Their different characteristics are results of their different habitats occurrences that validate the evolution theory and its elated adaptations. Apes and monkeys live in groups, they are social animals a feature that distinct the primates from the rest of other mammals. The animals are social and therefore live in societies consisting of males, females, and children. In their societies, the adults protect the young ones and provide them with food. This is typical of humans who are also very social and coexist peacefully with one another despite the constant competition for food among other resources. Additionally, humans show affection and protection to their children. The monkeys and apes showed great protection to their babies often carrying them below their bellies. In case they released their babies, the mothers ensured that the company was safe and only among other monkeys or apes. This way, the other apes teased the baby and played with it before sharing their meals with it. Additionally, the apes and the monkey showed affection to the old amongst them. While they fought for the food thrown at them, they never scrambled for those that fell close to the old. This is synonymous to human who are the most civilized primates and show great affection to both their old and the young. The theory of evolution and the evolution of humans assert that before inventing the upright position, humans just like the rest of the non-human primates carried their babies on their underbellies (Kinzey 34). This position proved convenient for walking on the four feet and for handling both food and tools. The primates at the zoo corroborated this claim. With their babies in

Job Evaluation at Whole Foods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Job Evaluation at Whole Foods - Assignment Example The teams have been clustered into departments and the work is conducted by the team members. The teams need to ensure that successful operations are maintained and thus the teams are profitable to the stores, the communities and the organization. The teams have their own roles and responsibilities at the stores and thus functions as being the part of the bigger teams such as stores. It has been noticed that in the store level there are numerous store teams such as bakery, floral, meat, prepared food, products such as fruits and vegetables, customer service and facilities such as store maintenance and janitorial staff, sea foods, specialty such as cheese and chocolates. The other team members are store team leaders, departmental team leaders, specialized store support, associate store team leaders, specialized team members, associate team leaders and team members. At this instance, it is significant to determine the job titles upon the basis of the information that has been provided. Assigned Titles to Jobs It can be mentioned that Job A required a store manager or more specifically the Chef/ Cook. Job B requires a Customer Service Cashier. Job C requires a Departmental Manager or Prepared Foods Team Leader. Job D requires a Prepared Food Supervisor. Job E requires Prepared Food Dishwashers. Job F requires Overnight Grocery Team Member. Job G requires Specialty Associate Team Leader. Job H requires Associate Store Team Leader. Job I requires Grocery Team Member. Job Structure by Title and Job Letter Job A: Store Manager Job H: Associate Store Team Leader Job C: Departmental Manager Job D: Prepared Food Supervisor Job G: Specialty Associate Team Leader Job F: Overnight Grocery Team Member Job I: Grocery Team Member Job: Customer Service Cashier Job E: Prepared Food Dishwasher Process, Techniques, and Factors Process Followed to Arrive at Job Structure In the hierarchy above, the job that holds the best position in the organization was given the top most priority . Furthermore, on the basis of who reports to whom the rest of the positions have been placed in the hierarchy. Job Evaluation Techniques and Compensable Factors It can be viewed from the above hierarchy that store manager holds the highest position which has been characterized as Job A. Therefore, according to the ranking method, it has been observed that the store manager holds the benchmark job and thus all other jobs will be compared with that of the benchmark job. At the outset, Job H needs to be compared with that of the benchmark job since it lies in the second position of the hierarchy. It has been noted from the case study that the Associate Store Team Leader has to endorse and assist the store team leaders with all the store functions. He is responsible for coordinating and thus supervising the products as well as personnel at the stores. The job of the store manager has been to look after the customer service, pursue and thus fulfill with the health and sanitation procedu res. Store manager needs to perform wider variety of tasks at a time. Therefore, his job has been ranked at the topmost level of the hierarchy. The department manager needs to report to the associate store team leaders as well as to the store team leaders. He tends to manage and supervise the Prepared Food Department. The Prepared Food Supervisor is supposed to perform all the work related to the Prepared Food Team Members. He needs to report

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Acquisitions and Mergers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Acquisitions and Mergers - Essay Example However, if a merger is not successful, it can cause problem for the resulting organization. Nevertheless, the strategy to merge or acquire can be guided by the corporate philosophy that an organization may follow. Mergers and acquisitions are often taken to be as same terminologies however there is a difference between them. The differences, types, advantages and disadvantages of mergers and acquisitions will be discussed in detail in this assignment. Mergers and acquisition often abbreviated as M&A refers to the strategies and finance related to the corporate level and management which deals with the purchase, selling and joining of different companies for the purpose of assisting or helping a company grow in its respective industry without establishing a new business. Mergers or acquisitions may be private or public depending on whether the merging company is in the list of the public companies or not. These types of dealings can be either friendly or hostile. In the situation where one company takes over another company and declares itself as the new company, the purchase is termed to be as acquisition. Legally, the company that has been purchased can no longer operate in the market and the buyer is free to trade its stocks and shares. In merger, the two companies combine and continue to work as one business rather than existing as separate businesses. This usually takes place between companies which are of the same status, their previous stocks are dissolved and new stocks are maintained. This is usually termed as ‘merger of equals’. For instance in 1999 a merger took place between two pharmaceutical companies; GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham, both the firms combined together to and a new company, GlaxoSmithKline emerged. (Sherman, 2006) Vertical Merger: This type of merger takes place between a company and a supplier or to say it in other words, company

North Carolina Drug Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

North Carolina Drug Courts - Essay Example Therapeutic justice encourages Drug Courts’ judges to address the underlying issues that lead to drug abuse (Cooper & Knotts, 2008). Since their inception in the year 1989, more than ten thousand drug offenders have taken part in Drug Court programs nationwide, and about 71 percent offenders have completed Drug Court successfully or are still involved in Drug Court (Hennessy & Pallone, 2002). This paper looks into the North Carolina Drug Courts. The North Carolina Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) were established in the year 1995 by law to monitor and enhance treatment services’ provision to adult offenders who are chemically dependent while holding them strictly responsible for adhering to their treatment plans as ordered by the court. Presently, North Carolina has about forty-two operational Drug Treatment Courts, which serve approximately 33% of apt intermediate-level lawbreakers. In the year 2001, the Drug Treatment Courts were expanded to take in substance-dependent par ents of abused or neglected children as well as juvenile offenders addicted to drugs. In July of the year 2004, in an attempt to intervene actively and bring crime and addiction cycle to an end, North Carolina’s General Assembly defined DTCs as an Intermediate Sanction/punishment that is under the Structured Sentencing statute. As expected, intermediate sanction offers an efficient substitute to the range of graduated punishment between incarceration and probation. As a probation requirement, lawbreakers at the intermediate level who are sent to DTCs should abide by the rules of the program; turn up as required, in addition to participating in alcohol or drug treatment programs, court supervision, as well as drug testing or screening (Davis, 2009). The North Carolina Drug Treatment Courts seek to diminish the alcohol and other drug-linked court workload, decrease alcoholism as well as other dependencies on drugs among juvenile and adult defendants and offenders and amongst re spondents in juvenile appeals for neglect and/or abuse; and to diminish delinquent and criminal recidivism and child neglect and abuse incidences. They also aim to endorse effectual use and interaction of resources amid community agencies, personnel in criminal and juvenile justice, and child protective services agencies; and to enhance the societal, familial, and personal answerability of juvenile and adult lawbreakers and respondents and defendants in juvenile appeals for neglect and/or abuse. Concisely, DTC’s overall aim is to attain a considerable break of addiction cycle that brings about recurring incidents of breaking the law. By improving the prospects of the substance-driven lawbreaker to remain socially responsible and free of crime and drug, the courts seeks out the reduction of the health system, justice system, as well as additional societal costs linked with enduring involvement in criminal activities as well as the use of drugs (The North Carolina Court System, N.d). The courts started offering case-tracking and treatment services in the year 1996. In its thirteen judicial districts, the state of North Carolina runs seventeen treatment courts for adults. It also operates juveniles’ drug courts as well as family drug treatment courts for parents who are attempting to recover guardianship of their children. Adult defendants who have

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Job Evaluation at Whole Foods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Job Evaluation at Whole Foods - Assignment Example The teams have been clustered into departments and the work is conducted by the team members. The teams need to ensure that successful operations are maintained and thus the teams are profitable to the stores, the communities and the organization. The teams have their own roles and responsibilities at the stores and thus functions as being the part of the bigger teams such as stores. It has been noticed that in the store level there are numerous store teams such as bakery, floral, meat, prepared food, products such as fruits and vegetables, customer service and facilities such as store maintenance and janitorial staff, sea foods, specialty such as cheese and chocolates. The other team members are store team leaders, departmental team leaders, specialized store support, associate store team leaders, specialized team members, associate team leaders and team members. At this instance, it is significant to determine the job titles upon the basis of the information that has been provided. Assigned Titles to Jobs It can be mentioned that Job A required a store manager or more specifically the Chef/ Cook. Job B requires a Customer Service Cashier. Job C requires a Departmental Manager or Prepared Foods Team Leader. Job D requires a Prepared Food Supervisor. Job E requires Prepared Food Dishwashers. Job F requires Overnight Grocery Team Member. Job G requires Specialty Associate Team Leader. Job H requires Associate Store Team Leader. Job I requires Grocery Team Member. Job Structure by Title and Job Letter Job A: Store Manager Job H: Associate Store Team Leader Job C: Departmental Manager Job D: Prepared Food Supervisor Job G: Specialty Associate Team Leader Job F: Overnight Grocery Team Member Job I: Grocery Team Member Job: Customer Service Cashier Job E: Prepared Food Dishwasher Process, Techniques, and Factors Process Followed to Arrive at Job Structure In the hierarchy above, the job that holds the best position in the organization was given the top most priority . Furthermore, on the basis of who reports to whom the rest of the positions have been placed in the hierarchy. Job Evaluation Techniques and Compensable Factors It can be viewed from the above hierarchy that store manager holds the highest position which has been characterized as Job A. Therefore, according to the ranking method, it has been observed that the store manager holds the benchmark job and thus all other jobs will be compared with that of the benchmark job. At the outset, Job H needs to be compared with that of the benchmark job since it lies in the second position of the hierarchy. It has been noted from the case study that the Associate Store Team Leader has to endorse and assist the store team leaders with all the store functions. He is responsible for coordinating and thus supervising the products as well as personnel at the stores. The job of the store manager has been to look after the customer service, pursue and thus fulfill with the health and sanitation procedu res. Store manager needs to perform wider variety of tasks at a time. Therefore, his job has been ranked at the topmost level of the hierarchy. The department manager needs to report to the associate store team leaders as well as to the store team leaders. He tends to manage and supervise the Prepared Food Department. The Prepared Food Supervisor is supposed to perform all the work related to the Prepared Food Team Members. He needs to report

North Carolina Drug Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

North Carolina Drug Courts - Essay Example Therapeutic justice encourages Drug Courts’ judges to address the underlying issues that lead to drug abuse (Cooper & Knotts, 2008). Since their inception in the year 1989, more than ten thousand drug offenders have taken part in Drug Court programs nationwide, and about 71 percent offenders have completed Drug Court successfully or are still involved in Drug Court (Hennessy & Pallone, 2002). This paper looks into the North Carolina Drug Courts. The North Carolina Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) were established in the year 1995 by law to monitor and enhance treatment services’ provision to adult offenders who are chemically dependent while holding them strictly responsible for adhering to their treatment plans as ordered by the court. Presently, North Carolina has about forty-two operational Drug Treatment Courts, which serve approximately 33% of apt intermediate-level lawbreakers. In the year 2001, the Drug Treatment Courts were expanded to take in substance-dependent par ents of abused or neglected children as well as juvenile offenders addicted to drugs. In July of the year 2004, in an attempt to intervene actively and bring crime and addiction cycle to an end, North Carolina’s General Assembly defined DTCs as an Intermediate Sanction/punishment that is under the Structured Sentencing statute. As expected, intermediate sanction offers an efficient substitute to the range of graduated punishment between incarceration and probation. As a probation requirement, lawbreakers at the intermediate level who are sent to DTCs should abide by the rules of the program; turn up as required, in addition to participating in alcohol or drug treatment programs, court supervision, as well as drug testing or screening (Davis, 2009). The North Carolina Drug Treatment Courts seek to diminish the alcohol and other drug-linked court workload, decrease alcoholism as well as other dependencies on drugs among juvenile and adult defendants and offenders and amongst re spondents in juvenile appeals for neglect and/or abuse; and to diminish delinquent and criminal recidivism and child neglect and abuse incidences. They also aim to endorse effectual use and interaction of resources amid community agencies, personnel in criminal and juvenile justice, and child protective services agencies; and to enhance the societal, familial, and personal answerability of juvenile and adult lawbreakers and respondents and defendants in juvenile appeals for neglect and/or abuse. Concisely, DTC’s overall aim is to attain a considerable break of addiction cycle that brings about recurring incidents of breaking the law. By improving the prospects of the substance-driven lawbreaker to remain socially responsible and free of crime and drug, the courts seeks out the reduction of the health system, justice system, as well as additional societal costs linked with enduring involvement in criminal activities as well as the use of drugs (The North Carolina Court System, N.d). The courts started offering case-tracking and treatment services in the year 1996. In its thirteen judicial districts, the state of North Carolina runs seventeen treatment courts for adults. It also operates juveniles’ drug courts as well as family drug treatment courts for parents who are attempting to recover guardianship of their children. Adult defendants who have

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Political Philosophy and Medium-paragraph Length Answer Essay Example for Free

Political Philosophy and Medium-paragraph Length Answer Essay Provide a medium-paragraph length answer to each question below (using full and complete sentences). The questions are about the readings listed on the syllabus for 2/19 and 2/26. 1. Identify and explain the two objections that Michael Sandel raises about Jeremy Bentham’s philosophy of Utilitarianism. 2. What are the three types of policies and laws that Michael Sandel identifies as being commonly rejected by libertarians? Briefly explain each type of policy, and explain why libertarians are philosophically opposed to them. 3. According to Mary Anne Warren (in â€Å"On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion†), what are the five central criteria for moral personhood, and what are the implications of this criteria on the issue of whether or not the fetus has the right to life? 4. According to Don Marquis (in â€Å"Why Abortion Is Immoral†), what is the property that the fetus possesses which makes abortion an immoral act? Why does Marquis say that abortion is just as wrong as killing an innocent adult person? 5. Judith Jarvis Thomson (in â€Å"A Defense of Abortion†) makes an argument about the morality of abortion when the pregnancy is due to rape by creating a fictitious example about being hooked up to an unconscious violinist. What are the elements of her example that make it analogous to the situation of pregnancy due to rape? What is the conclusion she draws about the morality of abortion in this situation, and what is the basis for this conclusion? Submission Guidelines Include your name and the assignment name (Homework Assignment 1) in the text of the document Include your name and the assignment name (Homework Assignment 1) in the name of the file that you submit.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Robots in Society and the Future

Robots in Society and the Future It is a very true slogan from Adidas brand, Nothing is Impossible. Humans abilities are limited, and that is why robots are created. Have you ever imagine that, when you wake up in the morning, once you open up your eyes, everything that is in your mind such as breakfast, office wear, slippers and even more have already being prepared by your robot-slave. You do not have to do anything; all you have to do is, sit and wait! You just have to sit on your bed and wait for your robot to serve you, arent your life will be easier and wonderful? From this, we can see that how amazing it could be with the existence of robots. May be in the future, they are only our trusted friends. The unstoppable improvements of modern technologies, in the same line, robots are introduced into various fields to assist the humans reckless abilities to improve their live. They have been widely used in industrial sector and also for personal use. The creation of robots is not only to assist us, but they give us good opportunities to be our substitute for exploration and experiment the new risky things that human had never dare to try but hunger to achieve. Our purpose of this report is to find out the kinds of robots that have been introduced into our life and the future robots. Our objectives are to find out: What are robots? Why do they exist? How do robots exist? What can they do? How far they can do? What are the side effects for human if they are over-populated? What is in humans expectation on future robots? 2.0 Findings and Discussion 2.1 What are robots? 2.1.1 Brief History of Robot When we said robots, we all feel that it was just only been made in this modern era. Actually the first creation of robot has been made centuries ago. The famous Leonardo da Vinci is also among all the creators who are involve in the creation and innovation of robots. The basic principles that motivate people to create the robots are to bring the advantages to mankind. First of all, the creations of robot begin with simple concept, with look like human, and then it can move. Through the evolution in times, the robots now are involving, now it can walk, talk, and behave like humans. The improvement of robots will never end, but now we can start to imagine how far robots will become in future. 2.1.2 Concept of Robot Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 April 6, 1992)Generally, in all humans thoughts, robots are human-like machines that have heads and limbs, move and talk like human, either with or without their own thoughts and can be fully automatic, or partially otherwise completely controlled by human. However in the world of reality, the basic concept of a robot is: a machine which is programmed to move and perform multitude tasks automatically, or may be partially controlled by human. It does not mean that robots must be built mimic to human, in fact they can be in any forms and shapes with different appearances as long as they meet the basic concept. According to a popular science fiction author, Isaac Asimov [1], he came out with 3 basic laws for robots, which they called it call Asimovs Three Laws of Robotics: Robots must never harm human beings. Robots must follow instructions from human without violating rule 1. Robots must protect themselves without violating the other rules. 2.1.3 Classification of Robots With the indefinite intelligence of human, robots have been invented in different kinds and ways, performing myriad tasks and jobs. The following are the basic classifications [2] for different robots: Tele-robots Tele-robots are robots that need to be direct operated by human beings through remote control sytem. The best example will be the toy robots for kids, where these entertainment robots are needed to be guided by human to move, turn, or carry out tasks. Telepresence Robots The manipulations for telepresence robots are much similar to the Tele-robots above. The different is that telepresence robots will send back video, sound and other data to make the operator to feel more like they are in the robots. These robots are suitable to be used in exploration field, especially when the targeted exploration area is not accessible for human. Static Robots They are robots which are not movable from places to places. They are fixed permanently on one physical location to perform their tasks using only a part of their movable components. Static robots have been widely used, such as robotic arms, in factories and laboratories to handle hazardous materials and chemicals. In Malaysia, static robots or robotic arms can be seen in car manufacturing factories. Mobile/Autonomous Robots These robots navigate and perform their chores and duties without the intervention of human. They have been created to have high intelligence to deal with any environments such as on land, sky and even underwater. These robots are normally wheeled, or with wings, propeller and etc, depending on their uses. Aerial mobile robots are referred to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which have been used by countries with advanced technologies for military purposes. For underwater mobile robots, they are usually called Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and are used in sea exploration, military and commercial purposes. Androids Androids, which can also being called as Humanoid Robots, are being built to mimic human. They will have basic structures of human including head, body, hands and legs. Some of them have been installed with devices to produce sound or talk like human. 2.2 Why do they exist? As we all know, humans abilities are limited. Thus, we need something to fulfil our incompleteness and we have chosen the robots to do that for us. This can be clearly described when we use robots to carry and move heavy objects in our daily life. Land mine detectorOr, in the condition that risky jobs involve which may sacrifice the priceless life of human being, it will be wise to use robots as to replace the jobs for us to avoid any unnecessary sacrificing. Exploration for mines, space and underwater are example of highly dangerous tasks and these places are almost impossible for human to access. Sacrificing robots which can be valued in money is a much more intelligent act instead of sending the humans priceless souls to the path of death. In addition, assistance from robots arms for handling hazardous and acidic chemicals can also be widely used in laboratories to take the place of humans arms. Autonomous robot cleanerAnother main reason for the existence of robots is because of the demand of human to enjoy ease and comfort in their life. Everyone in this world is demanding to live in the best and easiest way in their life, without the need to do anything and waits to be served, in another words, the laziness of human beings caused the existence of robots. Example, there are robots being invented to clean and vacuum the house. Apparently, human in the world today are so lazy until they do not wish to do the household chores by themselves. Although this statement is not fair, but yet this is one of the very true facts. For workaholics, these robots are perfect in sharing responsibilities of household chores. 2.3 How do they exist? 2.3.1 Components of Robots For the basic layout of the generalised robots which are mostly correspond to animal, or even a human, are being made up with these components: The Brain Just as humans brain, it is the main system that operates a robot. It is a microprocessor which functions like a computer. Specialised programs are installed so that they can move without the controls of human. The Eyes There are made up from camera, sensor, ranging sonar and etc. There are used for navigating the robots movement, capture and recording the images of its surrounding, and estimate the range of its movement towards any objects or destination. There are also sensors that can help the robots to avoid from obstacles while moving. The Ears Some robots have been invented with sound recognition features. So, these robots require ears. Basically, the ears of these robots are also made up from sensors to detect sound waves and they are to be sent to microprocessor for detailed analysis. Communication System Communication between robots and human are greatly important. Besides receiving commands and orders from their owner, it is also generally important for the robots to tell their owners when something goes wrong. These communication systems can be in form of sound alarms or lights to grab the attentions of their owners. In order to transmit the sound or light, they need components like data, video or sound transmitters. Muscles It is the main component for the robots to move their limbs and carry out tasks. The limbs are commonly operated by electricity. In this case, the electricity functions as the muscles. However, some robots have been designed and created to do heavy duties like carrying heavy objects. Thus, electricity will be substituted with hydraulic technology or pneumatic technology. Limbs They can be as usual as humans hands and legs, fingers and toes. But in some situations, hands and legs are not that suitable to be used. Hence, the limbs of these robots are also available in wheels, tires, track rollers, propellers and etc. 2.3.2 Technologies Involved 2.3.2.1 Sensor Technologies A  sensor is a device, which is use to senses the objects and the surrounding. There are many kinds of applications for sensors which most people are never aware. Applications include cars, machines, aerospace, medicine, manufacturing and robotics. Sensors are the sensory system for robots, are much like humans 5 senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste. The robots sensors sense the environmental like touch, distance, light, sound, strain, rotation, magnetism, smell, temperature, inclination, pressure, or altitude. Then it provides the data that must be processed to provide information to allow the robot to respond. Robots are equipped with sensors so they can have an understanding of their surrounding environment and make changes in their behavior. The following are the common sensors used in robots [3]: Rotation Sensors They are used to measure the angle of a robotic arm, or how far a mobile robots wheel has turned. Global Positioning Systems Global Positioning Systems (GPS) receive signals from orbiting satellites that pinpoint the location of an outdoor robot on the Earth. Laser range Finder Laser range finders use laser beams to measure the distance to objects. They are used for obstacle detection and navigation. Computer Vision Computer Vision  is the field of study of interpreting camera images for a variety of purposes. Cameras are very common sensors; it can be say as the eyes of robot. Light Sensor Sensor for measures and differentiate light levels reflected from bright and dark surfaces. It is also use as the eyes of the robot, it helps in navigating, detect bright object, tell the different between coloured objects. Touch Sensors The uses of touch sensors are to detect contact between the robot and external objects surround it. Other example of sensors [4]: Ultrasonic Range Sensors Infrared Sensors Inertia Measurement Unit Accelerometers Current and Voltage Sensors Temperature and Humidity Sensors Camera and Vision Sensors Obstacle Detectors Force Sensors Sound detectors and etc. 2.3.2.2 Hydraulic Technologies Hydraulics  is the equipment or machinery involves or is operated by a fluid that is under pressure, such as water or oil.  This system used to increase the power of force to produce maximum energy required. Hydraulic systems are widely used in various industries to operate and manufacture many products. Hydraulic usually applied on machines and robotic part [5]. 2.3.2.3 Pneumatic Technologies Pneumatics technology is operated by air under pressure and it is powerful. Pneumatic means filled with air. It is quiet similar to hydraulic, the only different are it is operated by air, where as hydraulic is operated by liquid. Examples of pneumatic systems: Air compressor, electro-pneumatic action, tubular-pneumatic action, vacuum pump, compressed-air engine, air brakes, air engines, pneumatics launchers Pneumatic robot arm operated by human. Pneumatic can have long operating lives and require very little maintenance, but it is not easily damaged by shock [6]. 2.4 Uses of Robots in Various Fields 2.4.1 Medical Field An endoscope A laparoscopic surgery machineWhen we talk about robots performing tasks of human, we talk about future. But the use of robots in surgery is already a reality. The developments of technologies have brought various robotic devices into the medical field and these advanced robotic devices have been performing as a great assistant in a surgery room for today. With these robotic systems, the operation has become much less invasive but however, due to some disadvantages of these systems, surgeons are still cannot being replaced. Minimally invasive surgery is a broad concept including many common procedures that existed prior to the introduction of robots, such as gall bladder excisions. It refers to procedures that avoid long cuts by entering the body through a small entry [7]. However, surgeons can perform this procedure by using long handled surgery equipments and the guidance of viewing equipment such as endoscope; therefore it is not a necessary to use robots to do that. But yet, it d oes not mean robots are then do not categorised under minimally invasive surgery. Robot-assisted surgery system can be divided into 3 kinds which are supervisory-controlled system, telesurgical system and shared-control system. First, supervisory-controlled system is a system that allows the robots to perform tasks individually which will act according to the computer programme where the surgeons inputs into them earlier. Next, the telesurgical system which is also known as remote surgical requires the direct involvement of surgeons to conduct the robots arm rather than allowing it to perform surgery procedures by itself. Because the robot is still technically performing the procedures, so it is still considered under the subgroup of robotic surgery. The third system will be shared-control system. In this system, it requires the most involvement of surgeons. The surgeon carries out the procedure with the use of a robot that offers steady-hand manipulations of the instrument. This enables both entities to jointly perform the tasks [7]. Overall, the main difference between these 3 systems is the degree of interaction between the surgeons and the robots during the procedures. [8] Although the robot-surgeons can perform as a great assistant in surgery rooms, however there is nothing to be one hundred percents safe, including these robots. Mechanical devices including robots have the potentials to be malfunction and contravened the concept of minimally invasive surgery, or even worse, causing harm to the patients. Hence, safety of using these equipments has been questioned. Manufacturers have endeavoured to reduce the risks of malfunctioning of robots by installing related safety features. Nevertheless, these safety measurements have caused these robots increase in cost, making them unaffordable. Source: Table from Howe, RD, Matsuoka, Y. Robotics for Surgery. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering. 1999, 01:213. The following table shows and compares the strength and limitation of using human-surgeon and robot-surgeon: 2.4.2 Military Field The military does not usually use the term robot, but they categorise and name the robots into Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), depending on the environment they operated. Using of these robots in the war field can always being seen by technology-advanced countries, especially United State. Instead of sending their armies to combat in the war, they dispatch robots with weapon-equipped to the field. Even though they claimed that with this it can reduce the sacrificing of their armies but in fact, they are creating a larger offense towards their so-called enemy which may also cause more injuries to the innocents during the war. Yet in this decade, with the rapid increasing in research and development, scientists and researchers have manufactured robots that do not fight but to safe the people and also recovering the situation to a safety level. Let us discuss these military robots according to their categories. TALON SWORDS with different weaponriesUnmanned Ground Vehicles [9], or UGVs, are vehicles that require the needs of human to operate through remote-controlled system via a wireless communication link. UGVs are commonly telepresence robots which they are able to send feedback of images captured by video cameras which have been installed, to the operator. There are also robots equipped with weapon, and the most popular of its kind is TALON. According to Foster Miller [10], TALON is now a military robot that has most advanced technologies installed in it which it can moves through sand, water, snow and even staircases. With the cameras installed, it can transmit images in colours, black and white, infrared and night vision to the operator who is far away for up to 1km. SWORDS [11] or Special Weapon Observation Reconnaissance Detection System is a system where robots are granted with weapons and it was specially designed for the US armies. These robots were ever used by US Special Forces in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan as well as the role to dispose explosive mines. Besides, there are also robots/vehicles that perform autonomously. Autonomous UGVs basically do not BEAR Rescue Military Robot involve in combat, but they carried out tasks like logistics, supplying of materials to the war fields, rescue operation, fire fighting, mine detection and disposal and etc. Rescue operation has been carried out by robots in an active battlefield to take care of the casualties and if necessitate, carry the casualties out from the field. The BEAR rescue military robots [12] have been designed with powerful upper body with hydraulics technology, track rollers as legs and dynamic balancing behaviour. UAVs with Hellfire-Missiles Next, robots that navigate in the sky without intervention human crews are called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [13], or UAVs, but can be partially operated through remote or in this decade; they have been invented to be fully autonomous through pre-programming flight plans. UAVs are available in various shapes, features, characteristics and configurations. They have been widely used in a lot of countries to play a role in battlefields, logistic (cargo), research and development, civil and commercial. For most of the time, they have been a great assistant for the soldier troops to provide battlefield intelligence and bombard the targeted area. Military UAVs have been installed with various weapon including missiles and bombs. The US Army has been using this feature during their conquering in the war [14] with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Iraq. In between, error targeting and faulty intelligence caused numbers of innocent civilian to dead. Due to large size of common UAVs, tiny spy robots Robot Flies [12] have been created so to access into confined and cluttered spaces within the buildings, tunnels, stairwells or caves for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes. It is stated that there are also possibilities to equip these robots with small explosive charges to destroy on a small specific area instead of destroying the whole. Robot Fly Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)Subsequently, the underwater robots AUVs, in full Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are also known as Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs). AUVs are basically works within the sea without any intervention of human. Whereas the non-autonomous called Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are controlled by the operator from the surface through umbilical. In military field, AUVs are used to detect if there are any mines and to monitor the protected area for new unidentified objects. For the purpose of warfare, AUVs are employed to detect and resist the invasion of manned submarines [15]. From the research, AUVs are not so popular to be employed into the military fields as wars under the water are so seldom to be seen. 2.4.3 Industrial Field Robots employed in industrial field are static robots which are majorly automated and allowed to make decision via pre-programmed inputs. These robots are more common to be seen in form of arm-shaped. They will not have the components of head, body and legs, but just arm. In earlier decades, mans responsibilities in manufacturing process like welding, painting, assembly,  pick  and place,  packaging  and  palletizing, product inspection, and testing have been displaced by robots today. The introduction of robots into industrial field is a great contribution as they can accomplish their tasks in a faster way, more efficient and highly better than a man can do in term of precision and endurance. The different between each arms and the functioning role of the arms are depending on the tools that are fixed at the end of the arm, or they call them the end-effectors. Industrial robots can also being classified into [16]: Vertically Articulated The multi-jointed arm of a vertically articulated robot is connected to the base with a twisting joint. The links in the arm are connected by rotary joints. This type is  often called jointed-arm. [16] Cartesian Coordinate This robot is limited to x, y, and z movement. It is  also called a rectilinear robot. All of the robot arm links are connected with linear joints. The physical appearance is square [16]. SCARA The Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm  is ideal for precision work within one plane. Its work envelope is cylindrical. It has two horizontal joints [16]. Cylindrical The robot has one rotary joint at the base and two linear joints to connect the links. Their work envelope is also cylindrical [16]. Polar The arm is connected to the base with a twisting joint and a combination of rotary and linear joints. They have a spherical-shaped from outside look [16]. Delta This robot configuration combines a rotational joint and parallelograms. Delta robots work within a dome-shaped work envelope [16]. Welding arm Welding devices such as MIG-welding gun are one of the popular robot guns that are widely used in the industry to assembly their products. Welding arms are programmed to carry out specific task welding process repeatedly, fusing of adjacent parts together with uniform quality at a rapid speed. Robot Spray ArmThe next tool will be the Spray Gun. As we know, Spraying evenly on the surface is never an easy job for human. Hence, it is also popular to apply the spray gun into robot arms to do spraying for human. Besides to achieve nearly perfect quality or spraying, they also help to relieve the human from this hazardous and skilful job. Liquid used in the spray contained various unknown chemicals that might cause harm to human. At the same time, spray gun will not waste paints hence reducing the cost. Robot arm that can lift up heavy objects. Picture showing a man carried by robot arm.Picking, lifting and placing applications can be done through installing grippers. Materials used in industries are normally big and heavy. Besides of using electro-mechanical technologies, hydraulic and pneumatic technologies that produce multiply forces can be applied to the arm. Picking up of some objects haven been done by vacuum. To make sure the positioning of these devices are constant and accurate, location sensors have been installed as well [17]. 2.4.5 Space Exploration Field When it comes to space exploration, by automatically we know that robots have been contributing a lot, or accomplishing most of the space exploration tasks. The only planet that human has set foot on, besides Earth is the Moon. However, our tremendous robots have set their feet in planets like Mars, Venus, Jupiter and including few comets and asteroids [18]. Without them, human will not be able to know how the other planets look like and of course, without them human will never know that aliens do not appear in the planets within Solar System. We would not conclude that aliens do not appear in our real life because there are no researches stating that robots have been successfully sent out and explored the whole Universe and so, we never know what is going on outside our Universe. Robots have been used widely in this field because of the not-habitable environment for human beings. Eliminate the matter of oxygen; human are not able to cope with the different pressure and gravitational force on the other planets. Therefore costly astronaut suits have been created and in fact they are already being created, and this will never be an intelligence act. There are also risks involved when sending human to the planets and back to the Earth. Several cases happened in the past where explosions of space shuttle caused death to human. Logo of NASAIt is common when people talk about space exploring, they will think of NASA [19], in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is an agency that has been established on July 29, 1958. Before the establishment of NASA, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics  (NACA) is also an agency which is responsible for every space programs in United States. NASA has led the human nation towards the knowledge of space, after launching Apollo to the Moon, and then invented and released the space station, Skylab and later the Space Shuttle. The historical moment when Neil Armstrong represented his nation to be the first man to step on the Moon.Apollo program is one of the worlds most amazing events in the history that it was the first program that brought human to the Moon and back to the land safely. Apollo 1 caused a tragedy that kills all the astronauts who were inside due to a fire during experimental simulation. Thus, several experiments and observations had carried out before they boarded the human and sent them to the Moon. At last Apollo 11 had successfully landed the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin [20]. Skylab was the first space station that had been launched to the orbit by United States in 1973. In the space station there are laboratories prepared for the researchers to carry out scientific experiments and studies such as the Sun, space flight, metallic-crystal growth, microgravity, and solar observatory. But in few years time, Skylab fell from the orbit on 11 July 1979. Currently Skylab have been replaced and named as International Space Station (ISS) [21]. The famous robots in space with no doubt have to be the series of Orbiters, Rovers and Landers that have been sent to Mars in the previous years. The first orbiter which was sent to Mars on July 14, 1965 is Mariner 4. Launching of Mariner 4 has been a great achievement as it enables the human to have a closer relation on the other planets after Great amount of water required to cause the erosion shown. Picture taken by Viking 1 on Mars.it sent back the photos of Mars. In the series of Landers, 2 Viking Landers, Viking 1 and Viking 2 had been released to Mars in the year 1976 with the accompaniment of orbiters that send back photos and scientific data. Life detection application was installed to the landers to detect life on Mars but however, the result sent back an unclear data. From the newest research by NASA, they found that the Mars is covered with large amount of gas called Methane, which is also one of the main components found in the Earth. Methane gas in the Earth is largely produced by organism when digesting of nutrients. However, it can also being released to the air through geological processes. Thus, it is still unclear whether if there are organisms survive under the permafrost layer of Mars [22]. There are other more advance robots that have been sent for planetary exploration. These include Sojourner and Mar s Exploration Rovers (MERs). The 2 robots mentioned are tele-operated which they required humans control. However, MERs have been a better robot due to larger mechanical size and also equipped with better communication and instrumentation than Sojourner. Sojourner was sent to Mars in 1997 and MERs is in 2004 [24]. However, in such numbers of space robots, Sputnik 1 has been the very first robot that was sent to the space. Mariner 2 by U.S. was the first robot that flown to Venus on 12 December 1962. In the same year, a Russian space robot, Venera 7 was the first human-made vehicle to successfully land on another planet and transmits data back to Earth. Voyager 1There was a mission, the Voyager mission, sent robot and explore the world outside of our Solar System. Voyager 1 and 2 were launched in 1977. Voyager 1 as in June 19, 2009, was at a distance about 16.49 billion kilometres away from the Sun, currently the furthest man-made object in the space [24]. In these decades, there are numerous missions that have been set and hopefully soon or later, robots can help to accomplish these missions. 2.5 Side Effects of Robots The side effect of robots is mean that the negative issues or disadvantages which robots will bring to our world if there are over used or over populated. Although robots is create to assist us human to improve our life, but they may bring harm to us as well if we do not use them wisely. From the research we made, there are some disadvantages of robotic system and robots, when normal people to operate the robots, the functions are limited and only the creator or programmers what those functions are. Although robots is been programmed, but they may not function properly in case of an emergency or unexpected occasion. The cost for built the robots and robotic systems are very high, this make it needs to have full consideration before built it. Besides, it may need to have more extra funds and spaces to provide the facilities to build the robots. There are some moral issues occur if the robotic systems and robots have over used. The too much using of robots and robotic systems in our society making us human beings become more dependent upon robot. Because of this, many people will always depend on robots to done their works (this could be possibly happen like in the movie Surrogates, where the human just stay in their home and control their look alike robot to works). The advance use of robots and robotic systems may replace the human labour and causing people to lose their jobs and facing economic matter. In medical field, if the robotic systems and robots have taking over majority of the doctors job for example, certain surgeries, this may cause certain people may not be able to access the services due to lack of funds. This may also happen in some other fields, this can be describe in military field, because robots are more advance therefore, which country that are rich and own many military robotics system and robots will be the most powerful country. These mean that, if we do not want this negative effect to be happening in the future, we should wisely use the robots and balance the functi

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Investigating Prion Diseases Essay -- BSE Prion Mad Cow Disease

Investigation of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (sCJD), New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD), and the Controversy of the Etiological Agents Responsible for these Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) The connection between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known conventionally as mad cow disease, and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) has brought BSE to the public eye. The disease in cattle seems to have crossed the species barrier and develop into a fatal disease in humans, both belonging to the group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Now a single cow infected with BSE raises public anxiety because of the belief that humans who ate infected meat will sicken and die because of nvCJD. But how concrete is this connection between BSE and nvCJD? Though experimental data supports the connection, many questions have still not been answered. Recently, new studies have been done to find an alternative etiological agent to these diseases grouped as TSEs, and three UK scientists have linked BSE, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), and possibly nvCJD with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a surprising new claim that all three diseases ar e actually autoimmune diseases. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) came into contact with the human world as early as 1732 through an Englishman's description of scrapie, a TSE that occurs in sheep and goats; there may have been even earlier cases in the 1690's if the disease dubbed â€Å"la Tremblante† in France referred to scrapie. (Ebringer et al., 2005) TSEs are â€Å"distinct from any other amyloid-based diseases in that they alone are transmissible.† (Brown, 2004, p. 335) This d... ...m encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: facts and uncertainties underlying the causal link between animal and human diseases. Neurol Sci (25), pages 122-129. Retrieved July 25, 2005 Brown, P. (2004). Mad-cow disease in cattle and human beings: bovine spongiform encephalopathy provides a case study in how to manage risks while still learning the facts. American Scientist v29 i4, pages 334-342. Retrieved July 25, 2005 Ebringer, A., Rashid, T., Wilson, C. (2005). Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Are Probably Autoimmune Diseases Evoked by Acinetobacter Bacteria. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, pages 417-428. Retrieved July 25, 2005. doi:10.1196/annals.1313.093 Ï€Everbroeck, B., Boons, J., Cras, P. (2004). Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Bunge Foundation. Retrieved July 25, 2005