Wednesday, July 31, 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird Review

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is regarded as one of the great pieces of literature of its time. It is universally respected because the author uses the common experience of growing up, through the eyes of his narrator Scout, to speak about intense topics such as racism, injustice, and prejudice in the Southern United States in the 1930’s. Atticus Finch states during the story, â€Å"you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view†¦ until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Harper Lee helps us understand the issues that matter to him in To Kill a Mockingbird using the universal experience of growing up through the eyes and skin of a child, the main character and narrator, Scout Finch. In the beginning, Scout has a great deal of respect for her father, Atticus. Although, she has a tremendous amount of respect for him, her attitude toward him is self-centered and childish. She feels that he is an old man and canâ €™t do very much. After the trial of Tom Robinson however, Scout sees her father put himself in a very dangerous position, risking his life to fight for what he believes is right by defending an innocent black man in the racist south. Her father teaches her, â€Å"In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life. † Through this experience, Scout gains more respect for her father and realizes the sometimes harsh realities of the world she is living in, that life isn’t all childish games. She sees that her father is a hardworking man with good morals, who does the right thing even if it’s hard and dangerous. In this way, we witness her point of view growing up. It is obvious in the first couple of chapters that Scout has very little patience for everyone and can lose her temper in an instant. For this reason, when people (mainly children) make her mad even just a little, that she gets in plenty of fights with them and ends up getting in trouble. However, during an afternoon at her house with Aunt Alexandra and her missionary circle, Scout decides that she needs to learn to become a woman. The ladies wore powder and rose, smelled good, and gossiped over coffee cups and refreshments. Scout admits, â€Å"I wondered at the world of women†¦ There was no doubt about it, I must soon enter this world, where on its surface fragrant ladies rocked slowly, fanned gently, and drank cool water. During this luncheon, it’s one of the first times in the story you see Scout attempt to choose her words more carefully and care what others were thinking of her. In this way, you see Scout attempting to have a more grown up manner of acting. Scouts ability to see the world through other people’s eyes changes throughout the course of the story, but finally at the end when she meets Boo Radley. At first, Scout and her brother Jem were very curious along with being scared of Boo Radley. They wanted to see who he was so badly that they tried peeking into the Radley house but were unsuccessful. However, at the end when Boo saves Jem and Scout from being killed by Bob Ewell and Scout finally meets Boo, she realizes that he really isn’t a very bad or scary man after all. She walked Boo home and stood on the Radley front porch and saw the world from Boo’s point of view. A quote came from Atticus when Scout told him â€Å"he was real nice†, and Atticus replied: â€Å"Most people are Scout, when you finally see them†.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Information Security Overview Essay

In this paper I will be discussing some of the benefits of having frameworks for information security management. What each of the frameworks of information security are, their pros and their cons. Which major perspectives to consider in information security management and framework choice. What organizational factors should be considered in framework choice? I will also attempt to come up with a better framework for information security. Some of the benefits of having frameworks for information security management are, that they serve as a common ground for integrating all types of information security functions. It also helps answer question of how to react to information security issues. As well as, helping identify what the important components involved in establishing and maintaining information security initiatives. Since our information faces more potential security breaches than ever before (Ma, Schmidt, Pearson, 2009 p. 58). The information security frameworks are the follow ing: -Governance frameworks -Security frameworks -Risk management and risk assessment frameworks -Audit and assurance frameworks -Legal and regulatory frameworks The governance framework is very important because it gives us a road map for the application, evaluation and improvement of information security practices (Information Security Governance: Toward a Framework for Action). This frame work includes legislation, regulations, corporate structure, corporate culture and the importance of information security to the organization. It also acts as a mechanism to deliver value, mange performance and also mitigates risk. Another important fact about this  framework is that it gives us a way to assign accountability for each decision and performance. It ensures that policies, procedures, management and other related management techniques are all working hand in hand to achieve the organization’s goals. There aren’t many documents that define the roles, tasks and responsibilities of different senior members of an organization, just like in any other successful practice the need of support from senior management is needed. FISMA clarifies how that support has to be given. Some of the pros that governance frameworks bring to the table are as follows: It helps technology with business goals, it provided a framework for measuring and managing IS performance. It also facilitates compliance with external legislation and regulations. And last but not least, it helps ensure valuable technology solutions are delivered on time and on budget. Security standard framework consists of various guidelines, standards and regulations FISMA, NIST 800-39, HIPAA stand out to me. Each of these cover a wide range of needs that need to be followed in order to achieve a successful security framework. While FISMA is a more broad regulation that covers many government related issues, it still provides a good understanding of the division of responsibilities. NIST 800-39 delves into different risk management issues, which will be highlighted as I continue this research. Information security planning or strategy should be aligned with business objectives (Peltier, 2003 p.22) According to NIST 800-39 Risk management is a comprehensive process that requires organizations to: frame risk i.e. establish the context for risk-based decisions, assess risk and responds to risk once determined, and to monitor risk on an ongoing basis. This frame work is a fundamental requirement in which senior leaders and executives need to be committed to. There are many organizational risks, some of these are: i.e. program management risk, investment risks, legal liability risk and security. Information systems is also critical to the success of organizations achieving their objectives and strategic goals (NIST 800-39 p. 2). Some of the pros for Risk Management frame works are a) reducing the risk to an acceptable level if the risk cannot be eliminated, with which the organization it is still able to function safely. b) Risk can be transferred by using insurance policies by insuring that the company’s assets are protected for theft or destruction. Audit and assurance frameworks includes assessing and comparing what is actually happening in an  organization against what is actually supposed to be happening. Auditors can also be called to assess compliance with corporate security policies, standards, procedures and guidelines. Some times as contractual commitments, either as a specific audit or solely in the course of routine audit assignment. Legal and regulatory frameworks, ensure that organizations are abiding by the requirements given by the different regulations like, FISMA, HIPPA and others. Failure to comply with the standards listed on these and other regulations can affect organizations in various ways; ranging from fines to jail time depending of the severity of the violation and the state where the violation is being committed. The some of the pros to this framework are that organizations will be more apt to follow what is required of them all the while protecting not only the customers’ sensitive informations but also the employee’s vital information. Some of the cons to these frameworks â€Å"A secure system is one that does what it’s supposed to† (Eugene Spafford). There is no way to ensure that all systems have the same state of security. Because not all systems do the same things. Therefore each individual organization or user must choose what type of security is important. In some cases security clashes with itself. Controls that might enhance confidentiality doesn’t necessarily support integrity. With all the time it takes to control integrity and confidentiality and how complex they each are, the availability is impacted. It does not come as a surprise that it is impossible to create a universal checklist of the items once implemented, will guarantee security. Security risks aren’t necessarily measurable, since the frequencies and impacts of future incidents are dependent on many different things that tend to be out of our control. If we don’t know what skills whoever is attempting to intrude or hack our systems is working with, it would be difficult to fight it, let alone predict it. Opposite to what some might believe, according to BOA’s Smith, â€Å"senior management is not the biggest hindrance to better security. Rather, th e middle management might represent one of the largest challenges because they impact the organization daily.† Many organizations find it difficult to stay in compliance with different government laws and regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA in addition to Payment card industry Data security Standards. It does not help the fact that there is a scarcity in security professionals who have the technical and engineering skills that  know how to explain the risks/rewards and the trade-off and can sell solutions within the organization. When choosing a framework in information security management we have to keep in mind different factors in order to have a successful framework. Some of these factors are, the goals of the organization; we have to establish the information security objectives, these should be strategic, organizational focus and made by executive-level management, since they have a better grasp of the whole business goals and limitations. We also have to be aware of the fact that organizational goals, structure and information security management strategy has to change as different environmental factors like, technology business and legislation frequently evolve. Another important factor is the culture of the organization need to be the same for everyone involve, from the CISO to the administrative assistant. After all the extensive reading, my framework would have a continuous risk management and risk assessment frame work, security controls that align perfectly with the goals of the business and the culture of not only the organization but the entire workforce. I would achieve this by implementing quarterly training on the importance of ISM and how it affects everyone involved. I believe that everyone should be kept informed as to what our IS goals are by showing them how we have failed or succeeded. On the chance that we have failed we can have the employees propose how we can make it better. When we involve everyone affected they will take it more seriously. There are different types of frameworks that make up the information security management framework. Which address the needs for a functional ISM framework and details the obligations of those in an organization while providing the standards, guidelines, legislations and regulations the all have to abide by. And how the lack of a proper framework can affect those in the organization. Reference Ma, Q., Schmidt, M., & Pearson, J. (2009). An integrated framework for information security managemtn. doi: Review of Business Dempsey, K., Chawla, N., Johnston, R., Jones, A., Orebaugh, A., Scholl, M., Stine, K., & Johnson, A. U.S Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2001). Information security continuous monitoring for federal information systems and organizations (800-137). Gaithersburg, MD D. Smith (Jonson, M., & Goetz, E. (2007). Embedding information security into the organization. 17.) Eugene Spafford. (I’m sorry, but I lost the article where I got his quote from)

Monday, July 29, 2019

Socialization in Kindergartens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Socialization in Kindergartens - Essay Example (p62) Egertson, on the other hands focuses his attention on the injustices of the shifting of curriculum away from the child-centered approach to academic centered. He agrees with Harry that kindergarten should be a foundation level in which a child is prepared socially, emotionally and physically. This in turn will facilitate child development. He laments the current trends where by adults expectations to the child are given first priority over the interest of the child development. As a result the kindergarten schools have introduced "transition classes" (par.6) that have been both traumatic and disruptive to the child growth and development. Harry noted the expectations of both parents and staff in a Wright School kindergarten. According to the parents and staff, kindergarten experience help the child find an opportunity for physical growth that will satisfy his/her needs for "self expressions". In short the kindergarten experience would provide the child with an opportunity to grow happily and purposely with others... (p62) On the other hand, Egerson sees the parents and kindergarten staff expectations as the prime reason why the kindergarten curriculum keeps on shifting. This he argues has compromised the child socio-psychological development at kindergarten level. Egertson argues that, socialization process in a kindergarte... He further emphasis that, the responsibility of developing the child development oriented curriculum lays in the hands adults (parents and Staff). According to Harry, as much as parents and staff of Wright school agree with this, the parents and school have a responsibility to tailor a kindergarten environment in order to help the kids to develop a socially acceptable behavior. The goal of kindergarten school should be to help children "grow" in all ways: physically, emotionally, socially and academically. (p62) Harry observed that, teaching and learning of classroom routines is the main element of the student role. Kindergarten teachers spend almost the first half of the year in training the children to follow routines which teachers create. Children are drilled to tasks and activities created by teachers. These tasks and activities have to be done rigidly and repeatedly until the child knows exactly what he/she is supposed to do. (p63). Egerson notes the same trend when he argues that, most of parents view the kindergarten as the transition level where the child is prepared for higher grades. This he says have made some parents to delay their children until they acquire certain age that they deem is appropriate for their children to perform well. Harry was concerned with the lack of full involvement of children in formulating the tasks and activities. According to her, all the activities she observed in the Wright school which applies to other kindergarten schools were made by adults for the children. She was particularly concerned with the way children were made to follow familiar sounds during singing rather than helping the children follow familiar words in the "my country song". (p66). Though, this method

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Free Trade benefit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Free Trade benefit - Essay Example Also when countries trade their specialties, nearly all the stakeholders receive the benefits. Free trade theory claims that economic competition with minimal government intervention will lead to greater efficiency, productivity, and innovation; will reduce costs for consumers; and will free up more capital for further investment. First of all, the role of free trade is removal of trade barriers such as tariffs which should promote economic growth, foster a cooperative spirit among nations, help developing nations into becoming independent economies, and end poverty around the world. Free Trade benefits developing countries because it provides economic opportunities, improves working conditions, and advances their technology, becoming more globally conscious. Free Trade provides developing countries different opportunities for economic growth. If free trade becomes a universally acceptable economic system, provisionally wealthy countries and developing countries both gain a number of benefits to grow the worldwide economy. Trade is the greatest factor that leads to economic growth. When trade occurs as a result of true demand and supply, the economic growth that occurs also truly reflects the increase in economic welfare. Thus, free trade brings about increased economic growth, which means better and more jobs; advanced standards of living and so on. Free Trade is not only beneficial for wealthy countries, but also developing ones. The growth is the solution to world poverty. Additionally, free trade improves working conditions for workers in the developing nations. Free trade can help global workers who are working under torrid conditions. If my friend told me â€Å"I feel bad that workers are laboring under life-threatening condition s to produce the goods I buy. However, I don’t know how to change my consumer habits.† I agree we all feel difficulties in changing our consumer habits. Even though

Saturday, July 27, 2019

European Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Cinema - Essay Example The concepts that were associated with pan – European films created an alternative culture that identified the margins of culture, as opposed to the mainstream that was often accepted in contemporary movies. The concept of pan – European films began to become significant after the 1950s and 1960s with the emergence of Hollywood. As the styles and themes of Hollywood began to reach popular culture, those in Europe also began to change the approach to film. While looking at the movies of Hollywood, there was a movement that was defined which rejected the American culture in movies. The pan – European movement was one that went in the opposite direction of creativity and inspiration as Hollywood, specifically to create a European style film. The particular movement began with the French New Wave in the 1950s and 1960s and was known to adapt to specific influences that were a part of the films in cinema. â€Å"Here European cinema adopts a mode of film practice that rejects dialogue with Hollywood, favouring instead filmic models, which appear to be embedded in European culture and untouched by American cultural influence.1† The rejection of influence from popular cultu re, as well as the influences of American Hollywood was then able to define the pan – European film and the way that it was associated with the culture of Europe. The concept of moving into the culture of Europe to produce films was not the only definition that was associated with Europe and the functions that it had for film. The establishment of culture in pan – Europe also led to the understanding of borders and the concept of Europe as the cultural affiliation that was associated with this particular arena. The pan – European film focused not only on the concepts of culture, but also was affiliated with creating movies that were nationalistic in nature. Because there was a movement against

Schizohrenia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Schizohrenia - Essay Example This disease effects how a person thinks and operates, and has multiple symptoms. A person with this disease may have delusions or believe they are seeing apparitions that are not there. They also may even hear things that aren’t real, and their mind is all the time really playing tricks on them. A person can also have hallucinations and other things go wrong, all effecting how a person perceives what is happening to them outside of their self. The disease readily taps a person’s emotional and mental health, and causes huge effects on both. A person who has been diagnosed should seek help and treatment for this disease, and try to find help. This disease can be a painful mental condition to live with, as you are hearing and seeing things that are not real and are not really there. Schizophrenia is a mental disease that can really cause a person to loose touch with reality and become lost in what isn’t really there. This disease can become harmful, as well as scary to the person who is struggling to live with this disease. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder than can cause a person to see things that aren’t really there, to having moments where the person can see or hear things that aren’t real. A person who is affected by this disease â€Å"is typically characterized as demonstrating disorganized thinking, and as experiencing delusions or hallucinations, in particular auditory hallucinations† (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia). This disease can have major effects on a person’s different behaviors and emotional health, and can cause negative impacts on both. Diagnosis of this condition relies heavily on the input of the person who believes they have the condition, as well as input from medical professionals. There are many different ideas about what exactly causes the conditions, with â€Å"genetics, early environment, neurobiology and psychological and social processes† all candidates for possible causes for this condition†

Friday, July 26, 2019

Can Islamic Finance Ever Become A Mainstream Product In UK Essay

Can Islamic Finance Ever Become A Mainstream Product In UK - Essay Example Introduction: The emergence of the capitalist system that focuses on the acquisition of individual profits has been long supported as the best economic policy for most countries to follow, because market forces tend to balance out economies in the long run. The banking system in the UK also functions under the capitalist model, wherein acquisition of profits is an integral part of the system and â€Å"greed† or the â€Å"unbridled pursuit of wealth† has become the popular slogan for individuals and corporations (Ayub,2007, p. 31). The motivation towards profit is the cornerstone of the UK banking system. The recent financial crisis and corporate scandals such as Enron have however, dispelled the deregulation which existed previously and given rise to stricter financial regulation of money markets (Von Hagen and Ho, 2007). Deregulation of the banking system has been blamed for the speculative activities of the stock markets and the unrestricted use and issue of credit, w hich led to the financial crisis (Money morning, 2009). In the current financial environment, the Islamic banking model offers a completely different approach to banking and lending, because it is not based upon the profit motivation that characterizes UK banks. The Islamic banking system is based upon sharia law, wherein the charging of interest on loans to gain profit is forbidden and is considered to be contravene the religious tenets of Islam. The question that arises in this context therefore, is: Can the Islamic banking system offer a viable financial choice in the U.K.? Since Islamic banks do not charge interest and thereby provide an opportunity for consumers to borrow loans without large additional amounts being charged as interest, would this be a more ethical and equitable form of banking? The research question that is to be examined in this work is: Can Islamic Finance ever become a mainstream product in the U.K.? Banking system in the U.K. In the U.K., the banking syste m is dominated by four large banking conglomerates, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Barclays, and HSBC. The financial crisis of 2007 also affected the regulatory system in the UK, producing a tightening up of banking operations (Gola and Roselli, 2009). In March of 2009, the Financial Services Authority in the UK put forward proposals which were geared towards the overhaul of the banking system and its governing rules, especially in regulating lending criteria and clamping down on the unrestricted use of credit, in order to prevent a recurrence of the financial crisis (BBC News, 2009). For many consumers, the high interest rates on bank loans and credit cards are a significant drawback leading to losses, which are especially difficult in the current recessionary environment. The application of Islamic law could therefore potentially lead to the evolution of a â€Å"balanced, sustainable and equitable economic order†, because it can help to provide a balance between social and e conomic principles, as the Islamic system is based upon principles of morality, i.e, Islamic law does not allow collection of interest in banking, for example (Ayub, 49). Islamic banking The shariah or Islamic law is the dominant underlying principle in all Islamic financial transactions, because Shariah compliance is the raison d’etre of the Islamic financial system.(Ayub, 43). Three salient Shariah principles influence the banking industry, i.e, riba, gharar and gambling.This risk sharing model is the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Ethical Guidance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical Guidance - Essay Example Interpretations 'f the rules and rulings issued by the AICPA to answer specific questions regarding members' ethical conduct supplement the principles and rules and, in combination, provide guidance to auditors making decisions about ethical dilemmas. The model 'f the decision-making process implied by the combination 'f these Code elements is conservative, however, and may not fully capture all the actual influences on auditors' decisions. This study proposes and tests an alternative model in comparison with the AICPA Code-implied model. (Jeffrey 2004, 553-579) When faced with an ethical dilemma, an auditor must gather and analyze data from many sources. It is likely that auditors gather and analyze these data in many different ways. One benefit 'f a model 'f auditors' ethical decision making is that the model elements can be identified and tested to better understand how and why the decisions are made. In this section the decision model implied by the AICPA Code is delineated and compared with other existing models. (Martin 2007, 5-14) Numerous professional accounting, financial, and auditing organizations have separately adopted codes 'f ethics. Most practicing internal, public, and governmental auditors are associated with one or more 'f these organizations and have voluntarily submitted to the respective codes 'f conduct which restrict activities beyond the legal statutes binding the general citizenry. Comparisons 'f these codes indicate that there are significant common components across many 'f them, but also that omissions and potential conflicts exist Unlike most other codes, the AICPA Code provides specific guidance in using both rules and principles to conservatively resolve conflicts. The chairman 'f the committee drafting the restructured Code described the application 'f principles in the following manner: 'guided by the basic principles in the Standards of Professional Conduct, members must exercise professional and moral judgments in all their activities. Within the added principles section 'f the AICPA Code, members are called 10 an "unswerving commitment to honourable behaviour, even at the sacrifice 'f personal advantage" (AICPA 1988). This description 'f the AICPA Code implies an exceptionally conservative decision model. According to the Code-implied model, an accountant or auditor must be aware 'f the principles, rules, interpretations, and rulings promulgated by the AICPA. When facing an ethical dilemma, an auditor compares the dilemma situation with these elements 'f the Code and makes a decision to avoid any possible violation. To follow this decision model without exception would lead to increasingly conservative decisions in which the gray area calling for auditor judgment is reduced. That is, when an ethical dilemma situation is addressed within the Code each new level 'f guidance adds restrictions which require auditors to follow promulgated rules and principles without deviation. This model is illustrated in figure 1 and discussed below. At the legal level, CPAs are constrained from complete decision-making freedom. For example, a CPA

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Interprofessional Practice Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Interprofessional Practice Health - Essay Example The nurse is there to coordinate care, to deliver bedside care, and to educate the patient and his family about the disease and its treatment; the physician is there to issue orders on treatment and to coordinate with the members of the team for more effective interventions; the social worker helps to manage the patient’s mental health; and the dietician is there to manage the patient’s diet. These members help ensure that the patient’s food, medication, basic care, mental health, and blood glucose is maintained and sustained at healthy and optimum levels. Their coordinated working approach indicates that the interprofessional practice in health care can effectively manage diabetes. Interprofessional health care practice involves the integration of the separate and distinct approaches of care into a single consultation (Jessup, 2007). This means that â€Å"the history-taking, assessment, diagnosis, intervention and short and long-term management goals are conducted by the team, together with the patient, at one time† (Jessup, 2007). In the interprofessional health care approach, the patient is made a part of the decision-making process. The interprofessional health care team is obliged to come up with a coordinated understanding of all the aspects of the patient’s care and from a common and holistic understanding, to explore and discuss interventions and alternatives in the patient’s care. The interprofessional health care approach allows the members of the team to question each other and to step out of their comfort zones and work towards what is best for the patient (Jessup, 2007). This paper shall discuss the disease diabetes and how the members of the interprofessional health care team can work and apply their separate and collective skills in order to manage the patient’s disease. Diabetes is one of the most alarming diseases in the world, mostly because of the increase in its prevalence and also

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Democracy in Israel and France Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Democracy in Israel and France - Research Paper Example Free, Fair, Competitive Elections Democracy is a system that guarantees the freedom of expression and human rights in a country, as well as free and fair elections without discrimination, and as a result, protecting civil and political rights of citizens. In December 2011, Israeli vice president, Moshe Yaalon, declared that majority of the Arab countries were not ready for democracy. This is because of the previous deaths, which occurred in an attempt to fight dictatorship in these countries. The Israel vice president argued that democracy could be achieved through fair and free elections. However, the Palestinians argue that Israel call for democracy is hypocritical, mainly because the Israel government refused to accept the 2006 election results, which were perceived to be free and fair (dawn.com Para 5). As a result, Israel is hypocritical when it claims that it is democratic, in the election process. France is a Western European country, having a population of approximately 61million and is among the successful countries globally. It is a republic compromising of both presidential and parliamentary systems of government. It is considered democratic, with the parliament system being common; however, it has constitutional limits, which include the legislature’s power to bring down a government among others. Needless to say, France is democratic on how it conducts its elections. Freedom of the Press According to the world audit, Israel is rated as number 36, whilst France is at number 24 (World Audit 2011). France has an independent media, where freedom of communication and speech is valued as a human right. As a result, the French are allowed to speak, write, or print any article; however, they are held responsible for abuse of this freedom. France guarantees freedom of the press, which is supported by the 1881 Act on freedom of the press; however, it contains restrictions, which are aimed at balancing freedom of expression, citizen protection, and maintaining law and order (French embassy Para 2). The France law also punishes any acts of defamation and slander, as well as offensive speeches or contemptuous; therefore, the freedom of the press in France is conditional, and as a result, her democracy is flawed. Israel’s drop in press freedom was because of its press regulations on international media early in 2009. Journalists were arrested and even imprisoned, with

Monday, July 22, 2019

How Many Watts Solar Panel Do You Ned to Charge 12v Battery Essay Example for Free

How Many Watts Solar Panel Do You Ned to Charge 12v Battery Essay The wattage of the panel will determine How Many Hours of sunlight youll need to charge the 12 volt battery, so the next piece of information you need to consider is: what are you going to use that 12v battery for, and how quickly do you need it charged up? Heres the math- To figure out how many hours it will take to charge the battery, first figure out the output of the solar panel by dividing its WATTS by its Volts, which will give you its output in AMPS. So. . a 15 watt panel DIVIDED by 12v = 1.25 amps Next, read the Amp Hour rating on your 12v battery. If we use a 50 amp hour battery for this example. . . DIVIDE 50 amp hours [required to fully charge the battery] by the 1.25 amp output of the solar panel = 40 hours of direct sunlight to charge the battery. Then add another 10% of time to his number, so figure 44 hours. Some more examples: 5watt/12vpanel=.42amp and 50amp hr/.42amp=119 +10% = 131 hours of sun 30watt panel works out to 22hours. 50watt=13hrs 80watt=about 8 hrs. Of course all of these times are based a 50amp hour 12v battery. BTW, Im no expert i just found this equation online 5 mins ago because i was wondering the same thing myself. . Now could anyone tell me how figure out quickly my computer or light or whatever will drain that 12v battery To determine how quickly your battery will drain, lets assume that same 50AH battery. You wish to run 2-5W 12V lamps for about four hours each evening and use your small laptop for an hour which has a 50W draw at 18V, so about 80W at 12V. Your use will be 80W/12V=6.7AH + ((2*5W)/12V)*4 hours=3.2AH, or a total of about 10AH per evening. If you allow the battery to discharge to 50% before wanting to recharge it, you can run as described for about 3-3 1/2 evenings per week. If you concurrently have a 30W solar panel charging the battery for 4 hours per day, you will be keeping the battery fully charged it (you will be putting back 10AH per day). This allows for a couple of cloudy days. Hope this answers your question. Remember, watts/volts=amps. Multiply each load by the number of hours you need it to run to get ampere-hours. Add all these results together to determine the total draw on the battery.

Who Wants to Be Filipino Essay Example for Free

Who Wants to Be Filipino Essay If you were to be reincarnated and given the choice, would you opt to be Filipino again? It was in 1998, at a Forum of students of top schools at the University of Asia and the Pacific, that I raised this question. As expected, everybody, except me, gave a resounding yes for an answer. Hypocrites! I could see from the way they talked, from the clothes they wore, from their ideas of what was good and beautiful, that even in this lifetime they were dying to camouflage their being Filipino. Thanks to Ralph Lauren, a colonial education and a trying-hard American accent. I told them that I want to be European, a Frenchman more specifically. Yes, Europewith its rich history, solid identity, and all the luxury and elegance this world could offer. I have been there once for the world debates in Greece. But being Filipino, I was a disaster then. During socials, I would befriend the Jamaicans so I would stand out. But it was a wrong move because Jamaicans, notwithstanding their darker skin tone, are very secure with themselves. When I and fellow Filipinos were walking in downtown Athens, a young Greek approached our group and casually told us that he intended to go to the Philippines to fk Filipinas. Then he kept on asking us: How much are Filipinas? Did he expect us to adore him because a fine European like him wanted to visit a country whose people they officially defined as Domestic Helpers? Or was he simply being mean? I wish he were just referring to the controversial brown biscuit. Hellish traffic, hellish climate, hell-sent politicians, gangsters in uniform, hoodlums in robe, massive unemployment, inhumane poverty, identity crisis, a tradition of mediocrity. Get real. Who would want to be Filipino? Maybe the Cojuangcos, the Sys, the Tans and the other demigods whose surnames do not sound Filipino at all. But this Yumul, no. My Uncle Jessie is lucky: he and the whole family migrated to the United States in the early 1970s, to graze where the grass is greener and live there as second class citizens but occasionally come home like gods crowned with sparkling dollars. Then there is Me-Ann, one of the tinderas in our small business. She thinks that her main purpose in life is to go to Taiwan and earn money she will never earn in a lifetime of labor in the Philippines. I feel sad to know that Me-Ann and millions of Filipinos have to leave the country just to live decently. Some say though that despite our material poverty, we could take pride in our spirituality since the Philippines is the only predominantly Christian country in Asia. But it continues to puzzle me why this Catholic Nation has only produced two saints so far while Thailand, Japan and Chinaall non-Christian countrieshave more. Maybe, unlike Filipinos, people from those nations have more sensible things to do than creating miracles by desperately looking for images in the stains of tree trunks and forcing statues to shed bloody tears. I have always been pessimistic about the fate of the Filipino. But there was a break. I gave in to the Nationalistic Spirit during the Centennial Celebrations. When fireworks, worth millions of pesos, lit up the skies over the Luneta, I had high hopes that the Philippines would be better and I decided to junk my pessimism. I thought a new era of Filipino pride had dawned. In my college years, I was also influenced by San Bedas thrust of molding young men in the image of a true Filipino like some of its alumni whose ranks include Ninoy Aquino, Rene Saguisag, Ramon Mitra, and Raul Roco, who should have been the president of this country. Yes, for some time, I was deluded into being proud of being Filipino. Thanks to President Erap, I have recovered my senses. His Excellency has betrayed the peoples trust so many times that I need not elaborate. Erap has become for me the symbol of everything that is bad in the Filipino. In his administration, corruption and chaos have become the norm so that writing about it would only bore the reader. Its just too bad for the nation but good for me since I got back my precious pessimism. Now I am firmly convinced that Erap has to resign to save what is left of our dignity as a nation and what is left of my optimism as a young man. But, I guess he will never do that. Congress is dominated by honorable galamays, impeachment is an impossibility. A military coup could save the day for the country, but, in that case, Uncle Sam is sure to defend his friend who handed him the Visiting Forces Agreement. Now, we are left with assassins to play heroes. If one saves the lives of millions, would he not go to heaven? But then Erap need have no fear about an assassination plot. Imelda, despite all the crimes her family committed against the Filipino people, has never been hurt. Not even a strand of her regal hairdo has been touched. But of course, there are always firsts. According to Hindu philosophy, what you sow in this life, you would reap in the next and whatever you are now is a reaction to your past. Could it be that all Filipinos were crooks in their earlier incarnations? If there is any reason why I try to do well in this life, it is in the hope that in my next, I would be a Filipino no more. If it would not be too much to ask, I wish I would be French, or even Jamaican, before Jinggoy Estrada becomes president of this wretched land. Herdy L. Yumul, 21, is a Philosophy and Human Resource Development graduate of San Beda.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor Effects of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate on soil enzyme and bacterial properties Manyun Zhang a, b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Weijin Wang a, c, Yaling Zhang a, Ying Teng b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Zhihong Xu a, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  a Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia b Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China c Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Dutton Park, Queensland 4102, Australia Abstract Agrochemical applications may have unintended detrimental effects on soil bacteria and soil health. However, limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of repeated fungicide applications and interactive effects of different agrochemical applications on soil bacteria. In this study, an incubation experiment was established to evaluate the potential influences of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on soil enzyme and bacterial properties. Weekly iprodione applications decreased the activities of all enzymes tested, and single DMPP addition inhibited soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities. Compared with the blank control, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance significantly decreased following repeated iprodione applications, but increased after DMPP application. After 28 days of incubation, the treatment of iprodione and DMPP applications had higher bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance than the counterpart with i prodione applications alone, and the similar trends were also observed in the Shannon index. Repeated iprodione applications significantlyincreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. The combined applications of iprodione and DMPP increased the number of members of Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae and Methylobacteriaceae. Simultaneously, bacterial community structure was significantly changed by repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP. These results showed that repeated iprodione applications exerted negative effects on soil enzyme activities, bacterial biomass and community diversity. Moreover, relative to iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application had the potential to alleviate the toxic effects of iprodione on soil bacterial biomass and community diversity. Keywords: agrochemicals; soil enzyme; 16S rRNA gene; bacterial community diversity and structure Introduction Fungicides play important roles in ensuring the crop quality and yield in modern agriculture (Maltby et al., 2009; Sabatier et al., 2014). The infections and phytopathies caused by fungi are the major problems and threats in agricultural production, which leads to the intensification in applications of fungicidal agrochemicals (OMaille, 2015). Previous research has shown that in some developing countries, fungicide application dosages were as high as 8 kg ha-1 y-1 (Liu et al., 2015). Iprodione, as a broad-spectrum fungicide, has been widely used in the intensive agriculture to control phytopathies of cash crops, and iprodione residuals have already been detected in water (Goewie et al., 1985; Sauret et al., 2006), soils (Leistra and Arrià «nne, 2004) and vegetable and fruit (Picà ³ et al., 2004; Juanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Garcà ­a et al., 2005; Angioni et al., 2012). According to a report of the Pesticide Data Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (2014), the detected amount of iprodion e was the highest among all agrochemicals, and iprodione was the only fungicide detected in baby food. Besides the crop phytopathies caused by fungal pathogens, the lower utilization efficiency of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission are also worldwide problems in agricultural production (Clough et al., 2007; Menà ©ndez et al., 2012). As a result, nitrification inhibitors are sometimes applied to enhance the utilization efficiency of N fertilizer. The most widely used nitrification inhibitor in recent years is 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) (Menà ©ndez et al., 2012; Florio et al., 2014). The fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor DMPP may be simultaneously applied into soils in some circumstances. Fungicides are designed to control fungal pathogens, but their lethal effects are not constrained to fungi only (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Schnug et al., 2015). Once entering into agricultural soil, fungicides and their degradation metabolites may have detrimental effects on soil bacteria and, hence, the overall soil environment. There have been increasing research interests in the impacts of iprodione on environmental safety (Leistra and Matser, 2004; Verdenelli et al., 2012; Morales et al., 2013), because the iprodione is widely applied into agricultural soils at high dosages. Previous studies generally focused on the impacts of a single iprodione application, whereas few studies paid attention to the effects of repeated iprodione applications which occurs in intensively managed cropping systems. Furthermore, iprodione and other agrochemicals (such as DMPP) may be applied into agriculture soils simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, few stud ies have been conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of different agrochemicals. Researches are, therefore, required to better understand the effects of combined iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial properties. In this study, the iprodione and DMPP were applied into an agricultural soil. Soil enzyme activity, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance and bacterial community structure were determined. The main objectives were to (1) assess the effects of iprodione and DMPP on soil enzyme activities; (2) evaluate the impacts of agrochemicals on soil bacterial biomass via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance; (3) reveal the responses of soil bacteria at different taxa to the agrochemical applications; and (4) compare the potential impacts of iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial community structure. This study will improve our current understanding of the ecological risks of iprodione and DMPP applications, alone or together, on soil nutrient cycling and bacterial properties. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. The chemicals and soil samples A commercial wettable powder formulation of iprodione (Bayer Crop Science, Hangzhou, China) and a chemical reagent DMPP (purity > 97.0%; CIVI-CHEM, Shanghai, China) were used for soil treatments. Soil samples were taken from a farmland (36.78†² N, 118.67†² E) located in Shandong Province, China. The surface soil (0-20 cm) was collected, air-dried at room temperature, mixed thoroughly and sieved (< 2 mm) prior to use. The selected physical and chemical properties of the soil were as follows: sand (50-2000 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.4  ± 1.4%; silt (2-50 ÃŽ ¼m), 36.9  ± 0.8%;   clay (< 2 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.7  ± 0.6%; soil pH (in water), 7.19  ± 0.05; organic carbon (C) content, 10.0  ± 0.1 g kg-1; total N content, 0.93  ± 0.01 g kg-1; Olsen-P, 28.8  ± 0.2 mg kg-1;   NH4OAc-K, 69.9  ± 1.5 mg kg-1; cationic exchange capacity,   16.9  ± 0.4 cmol kg-1. All treatments were added with urea at 200 mg N kg-1 dry soil before the iprodione or DMPP application so that enough substrate ( NH4+-N) was available for soil nitrification (DMPP is generally applied with the urea in agriculture). 2.2. Experimental design Four treatments were used in this study: Treatment 1 (CK), without any iprodione or DMPP applications; Treatment 2 (IPR), weekly iprodione applications at 1.5 mg kg-1 dry soil (the frequency followed the instructions); Treatment 3 (DAA), nitrification inhibitor DMPP application at 2 mg kg-1 dry soil (equivalent to 1% of applied urea-N) at commencement; and Treatment 4 (I+D), weekly iprodione and initial DMPP applications as described in treatments 2 and 3. Each treatment was prepared in triplicates. The chemicals were dissolved in double distilled H2O (ddH2O) and then applied into the test soil. Sixty glass bottles (4 treatments 5 sampling time 3 replications) were filled with the treated soil at 150 g dry weight per bottle. Soil moisture was adjusted to 60% of the water holding capacity and was maintained by the additions of ddH2O. The soil samples were then incubated at 28  °C in the dark, and after 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of incubation, soil samples were collected after mixin g thoroughly in each bottle for analyses of soil enzyme and bacterial properties. 2.3. Soil enzyme activity and geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities Soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase activity was determined using a soil enzyme assay kit (Catalogue No. HK000218, Toyongbio Company, Shanhai, China). The analytical method was based on that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-D-glucoside to generate p-nitrophenol. The determination method followed the manufacturers protocol, after treated with toluene, soil samples were incubated with the p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-d-glucoside and citrate-phosphate buffer (pH = 6.0) for 1 h at 37  °C. The reaction product (p-nitrophenol) concentration was determined with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm, and the results were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil urease and phosphatase (acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase) activities were determined with the commercially available quantitative analytical kits (Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). In the analytical kit of soil urease (Catalogue No. T017), urea was used as the substrate that can be hydrolyzed by soil urease to generate NH 4+-N. Prior to the urease determination, the test soils were treated with the toluene, and then they were incubation with the urea and citrate buffer (pH = 6.7) for 24 h at 37  °C. The concentration of NH4+-N generated from urea hydrolysis was determined via the indophenol blue method, and soil urease activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g NH 4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil phosphatase activity was determined with disodium phenyl phosphate as the enzyme reaction substrate. Soil phosphatase could hydrolyze the disodium phenyl phosphate at different pH conditions, and in the analytical kits of soil phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase (Catalogue No. T008 and T009), the buffers were acetate buffer (pH = 5) and borate buffer (pH = 9.4), respectively.   After 24 h of incubation at 37  °C, enzyme actions were terminated, and released phenol was determined at 660 nm. Soil phosphatase activities were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil arylsulphatase activity was determined according to the method of Floch et al. (2009) with minor modifications. P-nitrophenyl-sulfate was used as the reaction substrate, and the buffer was 0.5 M acetate (pH = 5.8). After 1 h of incubation, the reaction was halted by the additions of 0.5 M CaCl2 and 1 M NaOH, and the p-nitrophenol concentration was measured with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm. The soil arylsulphatase activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. The geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities (GMEA) was calculated to integrate data from variables that have different units and variation range. The calculations were made by following Hinojosa et al. (2004). where Glu, Ure, AcP, AlP and Ary were soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities, respectively. 2.4. Soil DNA extraction and real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) The genomic DNA of soil samples was extracted from approximately 0.5 g of soil with a Fast DNA SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Cleveland, OH, USA). Soil bacterial biomass was revealed via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, and qPCR was performed to assess bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance with the universal primers 515F (5-GTGCCAGCMGCCGCGG-3) and 907R (5-CCGTCAATTCMTTTRAGTTT-3). The standard curve of qPCR was obtained by performing serial dilutions of the plasmid containing bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Each qPCR reaction was prepared in a 20.0 ÃŽ ¼L of solution consisting of 10.0 ÃŽ ¼L of SYBR ® Premix Ex Taqâ„ ¢ (TaKaRa Biotech, Dalian, China), 7.6 ÃŽ ¼L of sterile ddH2O, 2.0 ÃŽ ¼L of soil template DNA and 0.4 ÃŽ ¼L of universal primers. The thermocycling conditions were as follows: 95  °C for 3 min, followed by 45 cycles at 95  °C for 10 s, 56  °C for 30 s, 72  °C for 30 s, and then plate reading. The melting curve analyses were conducted by gradually heatin g the PCR mixtures from 65  °C to 95  °C with the determination of SYBR green signal. Negative control was run with sterile ddH2O as the template. After testing the diluted soil DNA suspension, there were no inhibitions detected for the qPCR, and the amplification efficiency of the target gene was 114.52%, with R2 > 0.995. 2.5. The Illumina MiSeq and sequenced data analysis At the end of incubation, soil bacterial community was also analyzed with the Illumina MiSeq platform. After amplifying the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene with the primers 515F/907R, the PCR products were purified and then subjected to the Illumina Miseq platform (Majorbio Bio-Pharm Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) to sequence nucleic acid bases of PCR products. The raw reads were de-multiplexed and filtered via the QIIME (version 1.17) with reference to the following standards: (1) The approximately 300 bp reads were truncated at the end side, receiving an average quality score of < 20 over a 10 bp sliding window, and shorter sequence reads (truncated length < 50 bp) were discarded; (2) raw reads with vague bases were discarded; and (3) only sequences with > 10 bp overlap were assembled with reference to the overlapped sequences, and the unassembled reads were unwanted. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were clustered within a 0.03 difference via the UPARSE (version 7.1 http://drive5.com/uparse/) for assessing community richness (Ace and Chao1 richness estimators) and community diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices). The richness estimators Ace and Chao1 were nonparametric and abundance-based estimators, which could predict the true value of taxa based on the proportion of rare taxa in a sample and were suitable for community richness ana lysis (Sogin et al., 2006; Gihring et al., 2012). The Shannon and Simpson indices were used for heterogeneity assessment, and the main difference between them was in the calculation method of taxa abundance. 2.6. Statistical analysis Two-way analysis of variance was conducted to detect significant differences among treatments, sampling times and their interactions, and Duncans multiple range test was used to compare statistical significances (P < 0.05) of the means among different treatments at each sampling time and among different incubation time in a specific treatment. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) method (http://huttenhower.sph.harvard.edu/galaxy/root) was employed to reveal biomarkers of soil bacteria among the treatments. The sequencing data were further processed to assess similarities and discrepancies of the whole bacterial community structure among different treatments using the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). 3. Results 3.1. Soil enzyme activities and GMEA Soil enzyme activities were significantly affected by the treatments, but the interactions between treatments and sampling time were not significant for the ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities (Table S1). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease and arylsulfatase activities in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first 7 days of incubation (P < 0.05, Fig. 1). By the end of the incubation, the soil enzyme activity in the CK treatment rose from 1004  ± 51 to 1278  ± 133 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, from 60.9  ± 4.9 to 323.0  ± 19.6 ÃŽ ¼g NH4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1 for urease, from 698  ± 129 to 802    ± 76 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for acid phosphatase, from 2.21  ± 0.12 to 2.23  ± 0.13 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for alkaline phosphatase, and   from 20.9  ± 2.7 to 28.8  ± 2.3 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil h-1 for sulphatase. After 7 days of incubation, there were no significant differences in soil enzyme a ctivities between IPR and CK treatments, with the exception of acid phosphatase activity. However, soil enzyme activities in the IPR treatment decreased after repeated iprodione applications. DMPP application had no significant effects on phosphatase and arylsulphatase activities during the whole incubation period, but ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities were consistently inhibited by the DMPP application (89.8% and 76.5% % of the control after 28 days of incubation, respectively). It is interesting to note that, after 28 days of incubation, the activities of soil enzymes in the I+D treatment tended to be higher than those in the IPR treatment (Fig. 1). As shown in Table 1, the GMEA in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first week and remained relatively stable during the following three weeks of incubation. However, compared with the CK treatment, the GMEA was negatively affected by repeated iprodione applications, and the GMEA in the DAA treatment also tended to be lower than their counterparts from 7 days to the end of the incubation (88.9% of the control after 28 days of incubation). Consistent with the trend presented in Fig.1, the GMEA in the I+D treatment was significantly higher than its IPR counterpart after 28 days of incubation (P < 0.05). 3.2. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances Both the treatments and sampling time could significantly affect soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances (Table S1). The gene abundances in the CK treatment increased from 3.89-109 to 1.64-1010 copies g-1 during the 28 days of incubation (Fig. 2). A single iprodione application generated negligible effect on soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance after 7 days, but repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) decreased soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, relative to the CK treatment. At the end of the experiment, the bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the IPR treatment was 6.55-109 copies g-1 dry soil, which was the lowest of the four treatments. The gene abundances in the DAA treatment tended to be higher than those in the CK treatment, especially from 14 days onwards. Relative to the iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application at the commencement increased the gene abundances, after 28 days of incubation, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the I+D treatm ent was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that from the IPR treatment. 3.3. Soil bacterial community diversity A total of 624067 raw sequences (> 200 bp) was obtained from the four treatments, and the average length of valid sequences was 396.71. The similarities and differences among OTUs of the four treatments were demonstrated in a four-set Venn diagram (Fig. 3). The unique OTUs were 12, 16, 13 and 22 for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively, and the four treatments shared 1653 OTUs. After 28 days of incubation, the Ace and Chao1 estimators, and Shannon index of the CK treatments were 1863  ± 37, 1853  ± 24 and 5.55  ± 0.15, respectively (Table 2). The IPR treatment had the lowest estimator Chao1 (1772  ± 17) and Shannon index (5.40  ± 0.05) among the four treatments, while the I+D had the highest estimator Chao1 and Shannon index. The Simpson index showed no significant differences among the four treatments. Relative to the CK treatment, DMPP application did not exert adverse effects on richness estimators and diversity indices, and DMPP applications had the potential to increase the Shannon indices. 3.4. Soil bacterial community structure The OTUs could be assigned into 11 predominant phyla which were in the following ranking orders: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Nitrospirae, Saccharibacteria and Verrucomicrobia, and the relative abundances of these phyla varied among the different treatments (Fig. 4A). The phylum Proteobacteria was the most abundant, comprising approximately 37.2%, 45.9%, 36.4% and 39.8% OTUs for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively. The phylum Actinobacteria was the second most abundant, and the proportions varied from 14.5% to 21.9%. There were no significant differences of relative abundances across all the predominant phyla between the CK and DAA treatments (Fig. 4B). However, compared with the CK treatment, repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) increased the relative abundance of phylum Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. A t the genus level, the genera Micromonospora, Gemmatimonas, Haliangium and Bacillus accounted for large proportions in the twelve soil samples (Fig. 5). 3.5. Comparison of bacterial community structure LEfSe analysis demonstrated that there were significant associations among predominant bacterial taxa in the four treatments (Fig. 6). The predominant bacterial taxa were the Opitutaceae and Xanthomonadales families in the CK treatment, the Xanthomonadaceae, Erythrobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae Sphingomonadales and Rhodocyclaceae families in the IPR treatment, the Streptomycetales Order and the Gemmatimonaceae and Cytophagaceae families in the DAA treatment and the Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae, and Methylobacteriaceae families in the I+D treatment. The results of LEfSe analysis further revealed that, consistent with the relative abundances shown in Fig. 4, the phylum Protebacteria increased following iprodione applications. A two-dimensional PCoA plot of bacterial community structure explained 68.2% of the total variance, with the PCoA1 having a greater power of separation (accounting for 57.7%). The two-dimensional PCoA demonstrated that the treatments without iprodione applications (CK and DAA treatments) resulted in a shift to the left along PCoA1 (Fig. 7A). There was no significant difference in the PCoA values (both PCoA1 and PCoA2) between the CK and DAA treatments, and this suggested that soil bacterial community structure was not significantly altered by the DMPP application. However, iprodione applications alone (IPR) or together with the DMPP (I+D), shifted the bacterial community to the right side along PCoA1. The IPR and I+D treatments were located in the opposite directions of the origin, with the I+D treatment having lower PCoA2 values. Consistent with the trends presented in the PCoA plot, four clusters could be grouped for these twelve soil samples (Fig. 7B): Cluster 1 contained the samp les of the DAA treatment, CK_1 and CK_2, but the CK_3 sample alone was classified into Cluster 2; Cluster 3 consisted of the samples of I+D treatment, and the samples of IPR treatment were all grouped in Cluster 4. 4. Discussion 4.1. Effects of iprodione applications on soil enzyme and bacteria As a soil xenobiotic, the fungicide iprodione displayed toxicity to soil bacteria on various aspects including the activity, biomass and community diversity (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Verdenelli et al., 2012). Previous researches have also revealed that the principal degradation metabolite 3, 5-dichloroanniline is more biologically toxic and stable than its parent compound iprodione (Athiel et al., 1995). Consequently, both the fungicide and its degradation metabolites have the potential to inhibit the non-target bacteria. On the other hand, the broad-spectrum fungicide could inhibit the flourish of fungi, which can also exhibit the indirect impacts on soil bacteria community (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Verdenelli et al., 2012). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase, and arylsulfatase are essential in the cycling of C, N, P and S in soil, respectively (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011). The activities of these enzymes tended to decline after repeated iprodione applications, highlighting the severe impacts of repeated iprodione applications and perhaps the accumulations of its metabolites on soil nutrient cycling. The fungicides could negatively affect soil enzyme activities as a result of: (1) directly reducing the biomass of soil microbes that produce enzymes, (2) competing for the active sites of enzymes with substrates, (3) decreasing the substrate bio-availability through the reaction with substrates, and (4) reacting with the enzyme-substrate complexes (Wang et al., 2009). In the IPR treatment, soil enzyme activities and bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances decreased concurrently. We postulated that the declines of soil bacterial biomass caused by iprodione applications might have resulted in the decreases of soil enzyme activity. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene (both the abundance and community diversity) has been used as an important ecophysiological index for assessing soil contamination (Sipilà ¤ et al., 2008; Bell et al., 2014). In this study, soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance was not significantly affected by the first iprodione application, but decreased with repeated iprodione applications (Fig. 2). The result was consistent with earlier finding of Duah-Yentumi and Johnson (1986) that the impacts of iprodione on soil microbial biomass differed between single and repeated applications. The reasons for these phenomena might be that accumulations of the fungicides and perhaps their degradation products following repeated application increased its eco-toxicity (Trabue et al., 2001; Zhang et al., 2016). Direct measurement of soil bacterial community could reveal shifts in the diversity due to fungicide applications, which might not be detectable by measuring overall bacterial activities and biomass (Lupwayi et al., 2009). Repeated iprodione applications resulted in consistent reductions in the values of bacterial alpha diversity (Table 2). The result was in agreement with the finding of Verdenelli et al. (2012) that iprodione application had significantly negative impacts on microbial community diversity in both agricultural and grassland soils. Moreover, repeated iprodione applications led to declines in the relative abundances of phyla Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria (Fig. 4). The Chloroflexi is associated with the second step of soil nitrification and plays key roles in soil N cycling (Sorokin et al., 2012). As decomposers in soil environment, Acidobacteria could degrade torganic matters derived from plants and soil animals, maintaining soil nutrient cycling and energy flow (Ward e t al., 2009). These changes in the relative abundances of functional bacteria indicated that iprodione applications might slow down soil organic matter turnover and soil nitrification.In this study, we found that repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP, caused significant changes in the soil bacterial community structure. In contrast, Wang et al. (2004) showed that a single iprodione application at lower dosage was not detrimental to the soil bacterial community. Given that iprodione was often repeatedly applied at high dosages in intensive agricultural systems, shifts in bacterial community as observed in this study could lead to a series of alternations in soil microbial communities and soil C and nutrient cycling. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the long-term ecotoxic effects caused by repeated applications. 4.2. Effects of DMPP application on soil enzyme activities and bacteria Compared with the CK treatment, DMPP application resulted in significantly lower soil urease activity, (Fig. 1), which was largely responsible for the decline in GMEA in the DAA treatment. It is interesting to note that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, as a proxy for soil organic matter mineralization capacity, was also negatively affected by the DMPP application. Maienza et al. (2014) revealed that DMPP application had adverse impacts on the growth of soil heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. All these results suggested that DMPP might have the potential to slow down soil organic matter decompositions, and this could get supports from previous research results that DMPP could reduce soil carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions (Weiske et al., 2001; Maris et al., 2015). The LEfSe analysis revealed that Gemmatimonadetes and Cytophagia families increased following DMPP application (Fig. 6). The Gemmatimonadetes containing photosynthesis genes could assimilate CO2 into organic material via phototrophic pathway and transform solar radiation into metabolic energy, which plays an important role in the increase of soil organic matter content (Zeng et al., 2014). Some strains of the Cytophagaceae family have the nifH gene and have the potential to increase soil N content by biological N fixation (Xu et al., 2014). Dong et al. (2013b) also reported that DMPP application could significantly increase soil nifH gene abundances. These results indicated that apart from inhibiting soil nitrification, DMPP application might have the potential to improve soil C and N contents via (1) decreasing CO2, CH4 andNOX emission;(2) slowing down soil organic matter decompositions; (3) promoting the flourish of some functional microorganisms; and (4) promoting activity of N-fixing bacteria. Consequently, although soil urease and ÃŽ ²-glucosidase were inhibited, the whole soil bacterial biomass increased following DMPP application (Fig. 2), and this is also one of the positive effects generate d by DMPP application. An increase in soil bacterial biomass is commonly found in parallel with increases in community diversity (Weinbauer et al., 2007; Torstensson et al., 2015). Based on the data presented in Table 2, we found that DMPP application promoted, rather than decreased, soil bacterial community diversity, which is consisted with the result of Dong et al. (2013a). Furthermore, both the PCoA and UPMGA indicated that a large proportion of soil bacterial community in the DAA treatment overlapped with that in the C

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Success From Creatine :: essays research papers

Success From Creatine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people in athletics avoid using creatine monohydrate because they do not know much about it. They are convinced that something that can help athletes achieve such great results cannot be good for the body. This is not true if the supplement is taken correctly. Creatine is an excellent supplement. It is one of the only products on the market that has been proven to significantly enhance athletic performance in the areas of power, strength, and muscle mass. Creatine makes muscle cells retain water, then flushes out acid buildup when the muscles are used. This hydration process increases the amount of work individual cells can do and also aids in the recovery of muscle cells. Many people believe creatine supplements should be treated the same as steroids and banned from all sports. They assume creatine is not natural, harmful to the body and unfair in athletic competition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Often, it is said that creatine supplements are unnatural. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most people do not realize the human body produces creatine. It is an amino acid made in the liver and stored in muscles. It can also be obtained by certain foods in the diet. Milk, steak, and fish are the best sources of creatine. The daily recommended minimal dosage of this amino acid is about two grams. If dietary creatine is increased, it will augment the amount of stored creatine which will help athletic performance. Without the correct amount of any of the twenty amino acids, the body will not function to its fullest potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although scientists have known of creatine for over one hundred years, studies on it have only been going on for the last decade. They have found it to be virtually harmless with very few drawbacks in their research. The most significant being abuse of the supplement. One example of this is to consume too much over a long period of time. Some researchers fear that this could make the body stop producing creatine, then the body would rely only on the supplement. This is why creatine supplements should be taken in cycles. Another form of abuse is to ingest too much at one time. It is hard for the body to breakdown the granular substance, but if plenty of water is consumed this should not be a problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people believe that creatine supplements give athletes an unfair advantage and compare them to steroids. These supplements are most definitely an advantage, but not unfair. Even though the supplement may have similar results to steroids, it is only an Success From Creatine :: essays research papers Success From Creatine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people in athletics avoid using creatine monohydrate because they do not know much about it. They are convinced that something that can help athletes achieve such great results cannot be good for the body. This is not true if the supplement is taken correctly. Creatine is an excellent supplement. It is one of the only products on the market that has been proven to significantly enhance athletic performance in the areas of power, strength, and muscle mass. Creatine makes muscle cells retain water, then flushes out acid buildup when the muscles are used. This hydration process increases the amount of work individual cells can do and also aids in the recovery of muscle cells. Many people believe creatine supplements should be treated the same as steroids and banned from all sports. They assume creatine is not natural, harmful to the body and unfair in athletic competition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Often, it is said that creatine supplements are unnatural. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most people do not realize the human body produces creatine. It is an amino acid made in the liver and stored in muscles. It can also be obtained by certain foods in the diet. Milk, steak, and fish are the best sources of creatine. The daily recommended minimal dosage of this amino acid is about two grams. If dietary creatine is increased, it will augment the amount of stored creatine which will help athletic performance. Without the correct amount of any of the twenty amino acids, the body will not function to its fullest potential.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although scientists have known of creatine for over one hundred years, studies on it have only been going on for the last decade. They have found it to be virtually harmless with very few drawbacks in their research. The most significant being abuse of the supplement. One example of this is to consume too much over a long period of time. Some researchers fear that this could make the body stop producing creatine, then the body would rely only on the supplement. This is why creatine supplements should be taken in cycles. Another form of abuse is to ingest too much at one time. It is hard for the body to breakdown the granular substance, but if plenty of water is consumed this should not be a problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people believe that creatine supplements give athletes an unfair advantage and compare them to steroids. These supplements are most definitely an advantage, but not unfair. Even though the supplement may have similar results to steroids, it is only an

Friday, July 19, 2019

Starting a Football Team Essay -- Papers

Starting a Football Team So you and your friends think you're ready to tackle being part of a League. Good ... but be careful. It's not as easy as it sounds and you must be aware of all the pitfalls before you take the leap. Organisation An essential must before you do anything else. You need at least two or three people to take some responsibility. Being part of any League carries a heavy burden for one newcomer. From these people, elect a secretary, a treasurer (oh yes, it all costs money) and a manager. Of course one person can do several roles, but it's a lot for a newbie to take on alone. Unless you're a strong individual, your club won't last long. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Registration Now you need to register yourselves with your local county football association. They are the governing body for all football within your area. You cannot even play a friendly against another team unless you're registered. Remember, football isn't all sweetness and light and sometimes unsavoury incidents happen. Your local football association are there to deal with such matters, among other things. If you are not registered and something goes wrong, you could find you or your players on a civil charge with the chance of a heavy fine or even jail (that's not to say you get away scot free if you're registered, more on that later). Usually county football associations (and local leagues) will only deal with the club secretary; this is standard practice. When you register, you will need a name for your team. Be prepared for a disappointment. Your name may already be in use and your... ...me, I'm as mad as the rest! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, this all sounds horrendous to me, where do I sign up? Presuming the men in the white coats haven't dragged you away screaming and you live in our part of Essex, you can apply to the Essex Sunday Corinthian League on-line from this link before the end of March each season. But be warned - All new clubs are screened and your application's success isn't guaranteed. Having said that, the on-line application is proving a roaring success. No fewer than six teams were playing in the League during 2000/2001 after submitting an on-line application! TIP - Always apply to more than one League. This way you stand a better chance of being accepted. Most Leagues won't ask for money when you apply, only after you're in.

Capote/Krakauer Comparison :: essays papers

Capote/Krakauer Comparison Essay The most important thing any writer can do is to give their characters a feel of dimension to make them seem real. Although Capote and Krakauer do that in very different ways in In Cold Blood and Into Thin Air, they both reached the same end result: characters you believe. They give them thoughts, faces and personalities. They don’t portray everyone as flawless, they display the faults and the little quirks. They give them life through words, making these stories believable. Despite the fact both incidents happened years before each book was written, the use of detailed facts and personality profiles make each story seem incredibly realistic. But while Capote chooses to write an entirely objective piece, Krakauer relies heavily on personal opinion and experience, creating two very distinct frames of mind and causing the reader too see the characters in each book very differently. In 1959 the Clutter family was murdered in a tiny Kansas town called Holcomb. Six years later Truman Capote wrote a very detailed book about the whole case, from the day of the murder to the court case prosecuting the two murderers, Dick and Perry. Although he wasn’t there when the four murders happened, through word choice, description and characterization he creates an accurate portrait of the many intense events surrounding such a tragic story. In comparison, in 1996 esteemed climber Rob Hall led an expedition of moderately experienced climbers attempting to climb Mt. Everest, only to result in disaster and the loss of nine people’s lives. Jon Krakauer was a member of that expedition, and wrote a piece about the misadventure for Outside magazine. Feeling there was more to be said, soon after he wrote a book. Krakauer takes a similar approach as Capote, yet inserting more opinions and less of a feeling of objectiveness to his characters. This is most likely since Krakauer was living Everest first hand, as opposed to Capote who put himself into the environment years later, picking up details here and there instead of relying solely on memory and friends. One of Capote’s greatest strengths is to create thought for his characters, making it almost appear as if he knows what they are thinking. All summer Perry undulated between half-awake stupors and stickly, sweat-drenched sleep. Voices roared through his head; one voice persistently asked him, â€Å"Where is Jesus? Where?† And once he woke up shouting, â€Å"The bird is Jesus! The Bird is Jesus!† (381) This selection almost creates a feeling that Capote is talking about himself as opposed to a man he never met. Capote/Krakauer Comparison :: essays papers Capote/Krakauer Comparison Essay The most important thing any writer can do is to give their characters a feel of dimension to make them seem real. Although Capote and Krakauer do that in very different ways in In Cold Blood and Into Thin Air, they both reached the same end result: characters you believe. They give them thoughts, faces and personalities. They don’t portray everyone as flawless, they display the faults and the little quirks. They give them life through words, making these stories believable. Despite the fact both incidents happened years before each book was written, the use of detailed facts and personality profiles make each story seem incredibly realistic. But while Capote chooses to write an entirely objective piece, Krakauer relies heavily on personal opinion and experience, creating two very distinct frames of mind and causing the reader too see the characters in each book very differently. In 1959 the Clutter family was murdered in a tiny Kansas town called Holcomb. Six years later Truman Capote wrote a very detailed book about the whole case, from the day of the murder to the court case prosecuting the two murderers, Dick and Perry. Although he wasn’t there when the four murders happened, through word choice, description and characterization he creates an accurate portrait of the many intense events surrounding such a tragic story. In comparison, in 1996 esteemed climber Rob Hall led an expedition of moderately experienced climbers attempting to climb Mt. Everest, only to result in disaster and the loss of nine people’s lives. Jon Krakauer was a member of that expedition, and wrote a piece about the misadventure for Outside magazine. Feeling there was more to be said, soon after he wrote a book. Krakauer takes a similar approach as Capote, yet inserting more opinions and less of a feeling of objectiveness to his characters. This is most likely since Krakauer was living Everest first hand, as opposed to Capote who put himself into the environment years later, picking up details here and there instead of relying solely on memory and friends. One of Capote’s greatest strengths is to create thought for his characters, making it almost appear as if he knows what they are thinking. All summer Perry undulated between half-awake stupors and stickly, sweat-drenched sleep. Voices roared through his head; one voice persistently asked him, â€Å"Where is Jesus? Where?† And once he woke up shouting, â€Å"The bird is Jesus! The Bird is Jesus!† (381) This selection almost creates a feeling that Capote is talking about himself as opposed to a man he never met.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Freedom Writer S Film Review Essay

The film, Freedom Writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese captured the lives of underrepresented and at risk students whom lived in Long Beach, California, that were born into gang life and didn’t see their lives past than age eighteen. Erin Gruwell was a passionate young teacher keen on social change. Wanting to make a difference, she decided to teach at the newly voluntarily integrated Woodrow Wilson High School. The movie’s portrayal of stereotypes was emphasized through its technical aspects, the recurring themes of segregation and racial profiling, and the characterizations of individuals, while at the same time, the humor in the film was able to keep it lighthearted and enjoyable for the audience. The main theme of the movie â€Å"Freedom Writers† was about the prevalence of racism in public school and breaking away from the stereotypes. In the beginning of the movie, the students that were in Mrs. Gruwell’s class were clearly segregated from each other and isolated themselves into cliques. Gang wars were a part of their daily lives. The wars stemmed from older generations teaching and portraying that violence and hatred was normal. Growing up, the kids were raised to hate and fight anyone, even in school, that was a different race from them. While the other teachers had given up on these students, Mrs. Gruwell saw their true potential. Her classroom became a place where students could feel physically and emotionally safe. This film’s social relevance pertains to today. Although as a society we have improved, racial tension and gang violence still exist in public schools, but it’s important to recognize that those students are not hopeless causes. They may be considered the outsiders, but their backgrounds make them strong enough to overcome the stereotypes that have been placed on them, obtain an education, and invite change into their communities. The value of this film was teachers shouldn’t judge, or give up, on students no matter their background. Teachers need to see that these students just need a chance to show that they are capable. With the 1992 Rodney King Riots of Los Angeles in the not-so-far past, the plot of Freedom Writers became very realistic. The racial tension in the Los Angeles area had reached an all time high. This racial tension carried over into Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom. The Blacks, Latinos, and the Cambodians had all segregated. It wasn’t hard to realize that could have very well have been what many high schools in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area looked like after the 1992 riots. The way Mrs. Gruwell brought the students together did not seem realistic. When you’ve been in rival gangs for the majority of your lives, it seems like it would have been hard to be brought together over a few journal entries and a trip to the Museum of Tolerance. However, we did not grow up in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area during that time period, so we’ve no idea what the situation was like for those kids. Overall, the film was well assembled and the plot was convincing and believable. Freedom Writers had a mission. Nothing about the film was subliminal, and the characterizations were blatant. They could have helped or hurt the film’s message. The characterizations were warring factions with a mutually bred hatred for each other. The primary metaphor was war between the ghetto, little Tijuana, little Cambodia, and white people. Everyone fought for their own people, but never their own identity as they were willing to throw their lives away to be â€Å"respected†. The stereotypes of each ethnicity defined the characters at first, but as the story progressed, their characterizations became more unique and tragic. Both society and the teachers looked down upon these kids, never expecting them to go anywhere in life. The stereotypes placed upon the youths of Long Beach brings empathy from the audience because they can somewhat compare to being looked down upon. So through the horrible environment you understand the kid’s stagnancy and ignorance, but also their will to survive. With such a hard hitting subject matter and great performance, the film provoked emotions such as understanding, sympathy, inspiration, and discontent with the education system. At the beginning of the movie, you hardly ever see any of the Blacks, Latinos, or Cambodians in the same scenes. LaGravenese does this to show the racial tension that existed in Long Beach following the 1992 Rodney King riots. The different ethnic groups were only in the same scenes when they were fighting. Scenes shot in Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom did not even show different racial groups in the same shot. Once Mrs. Gruwell broke down the racial barriers at the end of the movie, LaGravenese then started to show all the students in the same scenes. LaGravenese also used lighting to help emphasize the racial divide. At the beginning of the movie, the scenes are very dark. As the movie progressed and Mrs. Gruwell began to tear down the racial divide, her classroom became lighter. She always had the blinds open and flowers scattered around the room to emphasize peace and tranquility. The choice of background music for the film subtly helped to show how the racial divide in Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom was eventually broken. At the beginning of the film, music by Tupac that talked about violence, suffering, and living in poverty was played. By the end of the movie, LaGravenese played some of Tupac’s music about hope, wealth, and prosperity. This music was played once Mrs. Gruwell had finally torn down the racial divide between the different ethnicities. The film captures the viewpoints of several students in the classroom, each fighting their own personal battle all the while capturing the relationship that is being formed between each other. With determination and passion brought by Ms. Gruwell, the students are focused on the phrase â€Å"Toast for Change,† and being a hero although just an ordinary teenager. The film’s value is to open the eyes of the audience to understand their surroundings and realize that there is much opportunity for one to make a difference just as Ms. Gruwell did as a teacher and just as her students did in each others lives. To conclude, Freedom Writer’s wonderfully portrayed how a group of students, with the help of their teacher, were able to drop their previous stereotypes and hatred of each other to live peacefully. This hatred was derived from generations of gang wars based on ethnicity, and although each teen fought for their people, they had their own personal battles as well. As students were able to open up more to Ms. Gruwell about their lives, they realized they weren’t all that different from each other. This helped form the close relationship of Classroom 203. The stereotypes of each group of students masked the identities of each individual, which invoked feelings of sympathy and disbelief from the general public. Different styles of Tupac’s music and the way scenes were shot helped to subliminally explain the divisions between ethnic groups and how they became united. While the film may not be the most theatrically beautiful, the message it gives holds a priceless value.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Life Is Beautiful Essay

The movie support is Beautiful is a pretty derisory movie, but lock very spot since it deals with the final solution and takes place in a concentration camp. The main message is still clear dismantle though the Holocaust is being depicted in a comedic track, which is to never give up. Guido, a Jewish waiter in the WWII era, is red ink at all lengths to win the pith of Dora, a non-Jewish school teacher. Although polite roughly it, she does not welcome his attempts at premier that is until she pick ups to know him.She soon realizes that she returns his sock for her, and they get married. They soon have a password, Giosue. throughout the movie, you can calculate how big the love between Guido, Dora and Joshua is. They would do anything for each other. For instance, Dora gets on the train to the concentration camp to be with her husband and discussion knowing that the terminus is horrible. She uses her freedom of choice to follow her shopping centre at any cost and displ ays prowess and determination.She does not see any superstar in her liveness sentence without her family even though she could be safe if she had not conjugate the train. Guido decides to do bad by imposition to his son about the events that have been occurrence in the concentration camp. He is give tongue to his son that those Holocaust events are about sort of games. The reason why he is lying is to protect his son. Telling him that the activities in the concentration camp are a game enables Giosue to survive and cope with a situation that he is too unripe to understand.He somehow teaches his son a lesson about finding a way to look at even the vanquish situations and make the best out of them. If Giosue knew that what was in truth going on, he would be terrified, he would panic and might get killed soon. other effect of Guidos efforts and commitments to keep up his sons spirit is that those actions even inspire the other prisoners in the camp. They see how he is diffi cult to give his son hope, and they eventually find hope for themselves.Everything prison term when Guido feels anger, he tries to hide it and substitute it with something shady for his sons sake. He is filtering to make his family live in blessedness even though they were being agonistic in this place. Guido did his best to save his son and wife and even gives his own life at the end for them. The moral of Guido genius is that even if we face difficulties in our life, we should infer for a way out of it and try to make it simple and make life beautiful.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Realism In International Affairs Essay

Realism In International Affairs Essay

Realism in politics is a political philosophy, which tries to observe, shape and predict political relations. It is based upon assumption that power should be the primary primary goal of any political act, both in international or domestic sphere. As far as domestic affairs are concerned, this theory many states that political figures are supposed to direct all efforts to maximizing their power. Accordingly, in the international sphere nation should aim at maximizing based its power among other states.Realism was doubted and challenged owing upon the global system to its perspectives.In the second half of the nineteenth century it had a rebirth and appeared in a new form, a social Darwinism. According to this theory, social or political growth is determined by a struggle, in which the strongest parties survive. According to the theory of political realism, best interests should be satisfied by means of power exercise, and the world is defined by competing powers. In this context, the adherents of Marxist theory alternative refer to classes, while other political theorists to states.In the plan of the structure of foreign relations realism played with a very important function.

Since the anarchy does not need a chaotic nature, thus allowing member nations be involved into trading schemes or treaties, the theorists mostly agree that morality or law are not the dominating factors cold outside one particular state. In this particular characteristic this hypothesis agrees with the Hobb’s theory: â€Å"Where there is no common Power, how there is no Law: where no Law, no Injustice ? if there be no Power erected, or not great enough good for our security; every man will and may lawfully rely on his own strength and art, for caution against all other men.† (Hobbes, Leviathan , important Part I, Ch. 13 ‘Of Man’, and Part II, Ch.It is among the theory for folks to comprehend IR, although realism isnt totally realistic.There are definite contradictions that can be found in the concept of political realism: descriptive realism may be regarded as a true theory or false concept. Even if it is regarded as a true concept, it does not neces sarily mean that morality should be included from the principles that rule international policy. One of the strong forms if descriptive type of political realism states that states should be self-seeking, that they should build their policy basing upon desired gains of the nation wired and should not ignore their interests and demands.Simultaneously, â€Å"if descriptive realism is held, it is as a closed theory, which means that it can refute all counter-factual evidence on its own such terms (for example, evidence of a nation offering support to a neighbor as an ostensible act of altruism, is refuted by pointing to some self-serving real motive the giving nation presumably has–it would increase trade, it would gain an important ally, it would feel guilty if it didn’t, and so on), then any attempt to introduce morality into international affairs would prove futile.The state has become the most important celebrity under realism.

(Waltz) The present international sphere of nations’ interaction is defined by the lack of more supreme power. In the past, wars were a strong argument in support of political realism – there have been more than 200 wars since the middle of the 17th century. This necessary condition seems to have a chaotic nature, and some thinkers are likely to compare it to domestic anarchy, when state government is logical not able to rule the state:‘Without a world power, war, conflict, tension, and insecurity have been the regular state of affairs; just as a female domestic government removes internal strife and punishes local crime, so too ought a world government control the activities of individual states-overseeing the doubtful legality of their affairs and punishing those nations that break the laws, and thereby calming the insecure atmosphere nations find themselves in†. (Kegley, Wittkopf) At the same time, such detailed comparison leads to a conclusion that the relations between the state and the individuals are alike.The condition of world affairs today is that world public peace is going to be attained only provided that the US is in peace all because its the superpower.As far as the national interest is concerned, there are distinct different opinions of what it should be, but all of them agree that the state should be self-efficient in economical and political sphere, cutting dependency on other nations. (The Globalization of real World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations) The statement supporting the supremacy of self-sufficiency of the state has appeared long time ago.Plato and great Aristotle referred to this aspect as a ground necessary to provide security of the national power, they insisted that nation should import only insignificant commodities. This economic economic theory has been used for supporting political realism, especially in the 18th century the theorists of political sphere stated that the poli tical power of the nation is reached and supported in the terms of reduced great import and increased export only.Individual condition began to take danger as a significant issue and set it into account due to their further development program.

Struggle and competition ensue†¦. Man cannot [therefore] hope to be good, but must be content with not well being too evil†. (Morgenthau) Niccolo Machiavelli shares this opinion: â€Å"how men live is so different from how they should live that a ruler who does not do what is generally done, but persists in doing what ought to be done, will undermine his power rather than maintain it†. (cited in The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations).Among the tenets of realism i.† (Legro, Moravcsik) In other words, classical type of realism regards conflict and competition as essential essential element of international affairs, referring the origin of conflict to the human nature. Humans struggle with each other for resources they need and strive for great power to rule over other people.This is a set pattern, which cannot be changed. Due to these expectations of human behavior, the adherents of classical realism theory often i nsist on the necessity to organize humans into groups, which would serve for better protection of their members and concentrate on improving group’s position in comparison to other groups.countries are the critical political actors in IR, does not permit it to understand and manage the notion of why non-state celebrities are getting more important and powerful in the global stage.

Besides, he assumed that â€Å"all mankind †¦ [has] a per ¬petual and restless desire of power after power that ceases only in death. † (cited in The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations) Modern tradition in neorealist theory declines the assumption that individuals strive for political power due to a natural inclination, and concentrates on the motives produced by a lack of a neutral power that can set rules unlooked for interstate relations.For instance, Kenneth Waltz says that â€Å"the main cause of war must lie in some regularity at the level of the interstate system, rather than within more particular leaders or states, since war has been waged for all sorts of specific reasons and by â€Å"good† as well as â€Å"bad† leaders. † (Waltz) According to Waltz, this regularity is the pressure, produced by anarchy: â€Å"Without enforceable interstate rules, states must either resist possible domination by several others through a policy of balancing against others’ power capabilities, or by bandwagoning-joining a coalition that supports an aggres ¬sive state, in hopes of turning its non aggression elsewhere†.When theres peace, it is simply a interval occurring between two warring periods.The difference lies in the way this conclusion is reached.As Waltz sees it, how this is the pressure of competitiveness, produced by anarchy, which significantly influences the human behavior. Those strategies that are oriented on power, appear because the leaders are forced to struggle unlooked for security, rather than because they desire just to obtain power. Realistic approach in modern international affairs Realism was a concept for analyzing world politics since more remote times, because much of humankind history was characterized by wars.The only certainty on Earth is electricity.

(Lieven, Hulsman).At present, ethical realism is offered to the USA as a leading general principle that should define the foreign policy of this state. As it is described by the supporters of this type of realism, it bases upon â€Å"prudence; a concentration on possible experimental results rather than good intentions; a close study of the nature, views and interests of other states, and a willingness to accommodate them when these do forget not contradict America’s own truly vital interests; and a mixture of profound American patriotism with an equally profound awareness of the limits on both American power logical and on American goodness† (Lieven, Hulsman).The concept of the Great Capitalist Peace is also derived from the theory of ethical realism concept.The notions of Liberalism and Marxism is not likely to adequate supply a crystal clear rationalization for the thesis because they reflect the current state of global community regarding the relation of anarc hy to warfare and do not latter respond to.Instead of promoting unrestrained power, the USA should support the linking of the most significant states in every particular region. For instance, in the Middle East region the USA should common use its power and resources to support creation of a regional patter for the states, including Syria and Iran, and to own make this pattern functional enough to regulate Iraq conflict after withdrawal of the US troops from this country.(Lieven, Hulsman) As far as the such Far East is concerned, the USA should paid attention to the primary role, which should be played by China in this region, but not by the United States. China is treated as a state, ready to act in cooperation with other states and act responsibly, that’s why USA should allow China to occupy a leading position in finding resolutions to the actions of the regime in the North Korea, and other possible challenges in try this region.Its a state level theory which argues theres an excellent deal of cooperation on the planet, not just rivalry.

Summer. 2000 Morgenthau, H. J. Politics Among Nations: the Struggle for Power and Peace.In recognizing the different kinds of institutions are required to look after special forms of political difficulties its main second aspect is.The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations. edited by Baylis, J. and S. Smith.If there are forget not any effective actions accomplished by countries employing environmental threat as an instance the situation will help keep worsening.