Monday, September 30, 2019

Nervous System (Science Report) Essay

-The nervous system is a very complex system in the body. It has many, many parts. The nervous system is divided into two main systems, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system. The spinal cord and the brain make up the CNS. Its main job is to get the information from the body and send out instructions. The peripheral nervous system is made up of all of the nerves and the wiring. This system sends the messages from the brain to the rest of the body. -The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that lie outside the brain and the spinal cord. These nerves carry impulses like sensations and information from the body to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the body. Thus, the peripheral nervous system connects the CNS to the muscles of the body. -The central nervous system (CNS) is the processing center for the nervous system. It receives information from and sends information to the peripheral nervous system. The two main organs of the CNS are the brain and spinal cord. The brain processes and interprets sensory information sent from the spinal cord. Both the brain and spinal cord are protected by three layers of connective tissue called the meninges. -The function nervous system is the major controlling, regulatory, and communicating system in the body. It is the center of all mental activity including thought, learning, and memory. II. The organs Central Nervous System Brain the brain is one of the most important organs in the human body system. It is the center of all commands. It monitors all the conscious and unconscious processes of the body. The brain coordinates various organs of the body and controls all the voluntary movements in the body. The brain is the organ that helps you remember things, learn, understand, think, create, talk, hear, taste, etc. The brain is divided into three segments, that is, fore brain, mid brain and the hind brain. The fore brain consists of the cerebral hemispheres and olfactory lobes. The mid brain is the region that mostly contains optic lobes, and the hind brain is the region that includes the cerebellum and the medulla oblongata. The pituitary gland is present in the lower side of the fore brain. It is called the ‘master gland’ as it regulates the function of many other glands in the body. Spinal Cord The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that run down the back from the brain in the spinal column. The spinal cord is about 40 cm in length and as wide as the thumb. The function of the spinal cord is to relay all the impulses, information and sensations from all around the body, internally and externally, to the brain. If the spinal cord gets affected due to an injury, it may sever some or most of the connections between the brain and other parts of the body, leading to paralysis in different parts of the body like the upper and lower limbs. Peripheral Nervous System Nerves The 31 pairs of spinal nerves branch off and reach out to different parts of the body and perform different functions. The nerves of the cervical region supply information to the back of the head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and the diaphragm. The nerves of the thoracic region supply information to the chest and some parts of the abdomen. The lumbar region nerves cover the lower back, parts of the thighs and the legs. The nerves of the sacral region provide information to the buttocks, most of the leg, feet, anal and genital area. Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System The PNS is further divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. The somatic nervous system contains sensory (afferent) neurons that carry information from organs/muscles to the CNS, and motor (efferent) neurons that carry information from the brain and spinal cord to muscles of the body. Sensory neurons provide the brain all the information regarding the environment. The somatic nervous system plays an important role in transmitting the information and controlling voluntary movement. Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System The autonomic system regulates the involuntary body functions like respiration, heartbeat, blood flow and digestion. It is further subdivided into the sympathetic nervous system which regulates your flight-or-fight responses, and the parasympathetic system that helps regulate various normal functions of the body, for example, sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation (shedding tears), urination, digestion, and defecation. Functions of the parasympathetic nerves include constriction of eye pupils, increase in secretion of saliva, increased digestion, decrease in heartbeat, etc. The sympathetic nerve functions involve dilation of eye pupils, sweating, production of goose bumps, decrease in digestion, etc. One of the important nerves, the vagus nerve is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. The sensory system is also a part of the nervous system. Sensory systems for vision, hearing, somatic sensation (touch), taste and olfaction (smell) work with the help of the sensory receptors, neural pathways and certain parts in the brain that help process sensory information. When you feel cold or hot, it is the sensory neurons that are doing their work. The motor neurons are reactors, that help the body react to different environment. For example, the immediate pulling away of your hand when you touch a hot stove is a motor neuron reaction. The somatic motor neurons convey orders to the muscles. A subsystem of the peripheral nervous system is the enteric nervous system. Normally, it communicates with the CNS but studies show that it works autonomously too. It regulates the gastrointestinal system in the body. III. Multiple Sclerosis| A chronic disease of the nervous system that can affect young and middle-aged adults. The course of this illness usually involves recurrent relapses followed by remissions, but some patients experience a chronic progressive course.| The myelin sheaths surrounding nerves in the brain and spinal cord are damaged, which affects the function of the nerves involved. Also associated with aging.| Tremor, rigidity and poverty of spontaneous movements. The commonest symptom is tremor, which often affects one hand, spreading first to the leg on the same side then to the other limbs. It is most profound in resting limbs, interfering with such actions as holding a cup. The patient has an expressionless face, an unmodulated voice, an increasing tendency to stoop, and a shuffling walk.| Sciatica| A common condition arising from compression of, or damage to, a nerve or nerve root.| Usually caused by degeneration of an intervertebral disc, which protrudes laterally to compress a lower lumbar or an upper sacral spinal nerve root.The onset may be sudden, brought on by an awkward lifting or twisting movement.| Pain felt down the back and outer side of the thigh, leg, and foot. The back is stiff and painful. There may be numbness and weakness in the leg.| IV. A. The cortex gets its name from the Latin word for â€Å"bark† (of atree).B. There are approximately 100 billion neurons in the human brain.C. The average human brain weighs about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms).D. Unlike humans, the octopus does not have a blind spot.E. The average length of the adult spinal cord is 45 cm for men and 43 cmfor women.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Family Issues

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 52 (2010)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2010 http://www. eurojournals. com/finance. htm Does Education Alleviate Poverty? Empirical Evidence from Pakistan Imran Sharif Chaudhry Associate Professor of Economics. Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: [email  protected] edu. pk Shahnawaz Malik Professor of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: [email  protected] edu. pk Abo ul Hassan Ph.D Research Fellow, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: [email  protected] com Muhammad Zahir Faridi Lecturer, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: [email  protected] com Abstract Poverty has become a sensitive and ever remained issue almost in all developing countries of the world. Education plays a vital role in poverty alleviation. Therefore, it is important to investigate that whethe r different levels of education or literacy cause to alleviate poverty.The major objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of different levels of education and literacy on the incidence of poverty in Pakistan. Our results suggest that poverty alleviation process would be accelerated if resources are targeted at education sector especially in higher education. Pakistan presents a paradoxical situation. Until the late 1980s Pakistan had achieved a spectacular record of economic growth and reduced incidence of poverty remarkably, but the country had horrible social indicators.However when social indicators began to improve in the 1990s for a variety of reasons, both internally and externally driven, the average rate of economic growth declined. Contrary to the said situation, the general perception about Education is that the role of education in poverty alleviation, in close co-operation with other social sectors, is crucial. This paper is mainly intended to explore the reali ty that to what extent education is affective in poverty alleviation in Pakistan. In addition, some important macroeconomic variables have also been taken understudy to find out the reality of the problem.Keywords: Education; Poverty; Inflation; Economic Growth; Openness; Pakistan International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) 135 I. Introduction Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, encompassing inability to satisfy basic needs, lack of control over resources, lack of education and skills, poor health, malnutrition, lack of shelter, poor access to clean water and sanitation, vulnerability to shocks, violence and crime, lack of political freedom and voices. The poor are the true poverty experts.They assert on material well being, physical well being, social well being, security of food, security of law and order, public safety, safety from violence and civil conflicts, freedom of choice and action, being a part of the decision making body rather to be a victim of decision making body and the security of jobs. Poverty can be looked at from different angles and depending upon the perspective one adopts definitions of poverty may vary. It differs from country to country and from context to context. Poverty may be absolute or relative.Absolute poverty can be eradicated but relative poverty cannot. Relative poverty is a dynamic concept because it involves comparison between groups. It exists in all parts of the world, either in packets or on a much larger scale. In Pakistan both absolute and relative poverty exists normally, poverty is measured in monetary terms. The causes of poverty are also multidimensional. 1 There is no single cause that can explain it fully. Poverty is often related to a number of factors: physical, psychological, economic and sociocultural.Among the physical factors accounting for poverty are an unfavorable natural environment and lack of basic physical and economic infrastructure. These may also relate to poor health and malnutrition. Psychological factors refer to feel of hopelessness, helplessness, lack of confidence in one’s self and poor self-image resulting from inappropriate value system, cultural deprivation and undeveloped potential. These factors may also be related to an inability to participate in democratic processes and behavioral inadequacies aggravated by low levels of literacy and education.Education is the most important factor that distinguishes the poor from the non-poor; according to Pakistan’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2001, the percentage of literate of households heads is 27 in poor households while for non-poor households it is 52. Though the origins of human capital theory can be traced to the earlier economists – from Adam Smith (1776) to Alfred Marshall (1920) – it is Theodore Schultz (1961) who created a ‘human investment revolution in economic thought’ by emphasizing the role of human capital in e conomic growth.Schultz (1961), Gary Becker (1964), Jacob Mincer (1972) and many others with their voluminous pioneering contributions placed education at a high pedestal in the theories of economic growth. Amartya Sen (1999) rightly argues that education constitutes a part of human freedom and human capability. . Over the period under study many important factors like unemployment, current account deficit and services growth rate have been contributed to why poverty is increasing even though education has increased consistently.We have tried to give a brief description of the debate of researchers that if increased education has significant impact on income and thus poverty or not or whether there are other factors mitigating or attenuating the impact of education on poverty. However in our analysis, the central focus has been on the role of education in poverty alleviation. Education has important implications for the analysis of changes in a poverty profile in a country. Keeping i n view the issues high lighted above, this paper tries to answer following related questions.Does education play its role to alleviate poverty? What is the role of other key macroeconomic variables in poverty alleviation? What can be generalized about the impact of education on poverty? What are the important policy implications? These questions keep their extreme importance as answering the said questions will bring a solution to the hitherto puzzle that’s why Pakistan is lagging behind on the development path as compared to some developed countries who got independence later than us. 1 Technical consultation on literacy as a tool for the empowerment of the poor, Lampang, Thailand, 1997. 36 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) To pursue the problem understudy, this paper is technically divided into several parts. Firstly we have attempted to explain the conceptual and theoretical framework of education and poverty alleviation. So f ar as the empirical analysis is concerned, we have divided it into two portions. The first portion presents the descriptive analyses and the second portion presents the econometric analysis which has been undertaken by considering autoregressive regression equations. II.Education and Poverty: A Theoretical Framework The economists often define education as having ‘direct effects’ and ‘indirect effects’. The direct effects of education are the imparting of knowledge and skills that are associated with higher wages. The indirect effects, also often referred to as external benefits, include fulfillment of basic needs, higher levels of democratic participation, better utilization of health facilities, shelter, water and sanitation and the additional effects which occur in woman’s behavior in decisions relating to fertility, family welfare and health.The relationship between education and poverty can also be examined by rate of return analysis, and produc tion function analysis – at individual as well as social/national levels. Rates of return are estimated using either Mincerian earnings function (Mincer, 1972), or using the concept of marginal efficiency of capital that relates costs of education to the lifetime benefits, essentially earnings associated with education. III. Data and Methodological Issues In order to study the impact of education on poverty, the study chooses time series data, for thirty five years (1972-2007) for Pakistan.The poverty data sets are collected mainly from Malik (1988), Amjad and Kemal (1997), Jamal (2003) and various issues of Pakistan Economic Survey since 2005, while the data on other variables is collected from World Bank, World Development Indicators (WDI), April 2008, ESDS International, (Mimas), University of Manchester. To make time series data on poverty incidence, a linear interpolation technique is employed. The selected time period presents the paradoxical situation of Pakistan as bo th growth and social indicators move in opposite directions.That is why it is selected to understand this paradoxical situation. Thirty five years time period is long enough to capture long run effect of most of the variable constructed in this study. We have tried to keep in view the problem of endogeniety while selecting the explanatory variables for our analysis. The study chooses the absolute poverty (poverty headcount index), education literacy rate, primary school level enrollment rate, middle school level and the university level enrollment widely used proxies for education) as the key variables.In addition, some useful variables (Growth rate, inflation rate, and Trade openness) have also been included in our model. In this study, autoregressive models are employed for econometric empirical investigation. In our first poverty autoregressive regression model, growth, literacy rate, CPI, and hcr(-1) are used to analyze while in the second model, some enrollment rates at various levels are considered. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, trade openness is also considered to check the robustness of globalization. Log values of the variables are used in the analysis.We postulate that the incidence of poverty prevailing in the economy is significantly dependent on higher education level. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) 137 IV. Results and Discussions a) Descriptive Analysis Our complete data set consist of 35 years of annual observations from 1973-2007 on the selected variables. The descriptive statistic is reported in table 1 which states that the average of head count ratio (HCR) for our study period is 27. 63% with a standard deviation (SD) of 6. 74. The average of primary school enrollment rate is 11316. 8 with 6204. 18, the value of its standard deviation (SD). Middle school enrollment is 2667. 611 on an average and with standard deviation (SD) 1326. 06. The average values for university enroll ment rate, real gross domestic product (RGDP) and openness are 83045. 19, 22879. 24, 33. 81 with the value of standard deviations 65444. 71, 5756. 76, 3. 18 are given accordingly. As far as skewness of variables is concerned head count ratio (HCR), primary school enrollment rate, middle school enrollment rate and university enrollment rate are skewed on the rightward whereas openness is skewed leftward.All the variables are skewed a little. Table 1: Descriptive Statistics HCR 27. 63 25. 20 45. 75 20. 71 6. 74 1. 04 3. 26 6. 64 0. 04 LITR 36. 93 34. 35 55. 00 22. 10 10. 92 0. 24 1. 56 3. 47 0. 18 MIDDLE 2667. 61 2350. 00 5368. 00 963. 00 1326. 06 0. 36 1. 83 2. 84 0. 24 PRIMARY 11316. 78 9827. 00 24465. 00 4210. 00 6204. 18 0. 57 2. 02 3. 36 0. 19 UNIV 83045. 19 65642. 00 296812. 00 17507. 00 65444. 71 1. 76 5. 59 28. 74 0. 00 OPEN 33. 81 34. 35 38. 91 27. 72 3. 18 -0. 30 2. 19 1. 53 0. 47 RGDP 22879. 24 23859. 71 33820. 04 14033. 11 5756. 76 -0. 06 1. 86 1. 97 0. 37 CPI 56. 51 39. 7 3 149. 0 7. 40 41. 73 0. 67 2. 16 3. 77 0. 15 Mean Median Maximum Minimum Std. Dev. Skewness Kurtosis Jarque-Bera Probability Kurtosis is a measure whether the data set is peaked or flat relative to a normal distribution. Kurtosis statistic of the variables shows that only HCR and university enrollment is Leptokurtic (long tailed or high peakedness) and all other variables are Platykurtic (relatively narrower tailed then the normal curve. However the value of HCR is though high compared to the value of Meso-kurtic curve but it is not too high from the value desired for a normal distribution.The Jerque-Bera (JB) test of normality gives joint hypothesis of skewness and kurtosis. Jerque-Bera test of normality suggest that if the computed P-value of JB-statistic of university enrollment rate is sufficiently low as the value of the statistic is very different from zero, we state that the residuals for university enrollment rate is not normally distributed. For all other variables include d in the present study, it is concluded that residuals for these variables are normally distributed. Table 2: Correlation Matrix HCR 1. 00 -0. 35 -0. 37 -0. 28 -0. 30 -0. 9 -0. 53 -0. 27 LITR 1. 00 0. 99 0. 98 0. 84 0. 25 0. 97 0. 98 MIDDLE 1. 00 0. 99 0. 86 0. 28 0. 97 0. 98 PRIMARY UNIV OPEN RGDP CPI HCR LITR MIDDLE PRIMARY UNIV OPEN RGDP CPI 1. 00 0. 89 0. 20 0. 95 0. 99 1. 00 0. 18 0. 84 0. 91 1. 00 0. 39 0. 17 1. 00 0. 94 1. 00 The degree of the relationship of the variables is also estimated and reported in table 2. All the variables are negatively correlated with each other. The results state that openness is highly correlated and primary, middle, university enrollment rates and RGDP are moderately correlated with HCR. 138International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) b) Autoregressive Regression Analysis In our analysis, we have used a data set using time series ranging from 1973-2007. To investigate the significance of education (literacy) on the incidence of absolute Poverty, we have following autoregressive regression models. The robustness of the models is examined by including and excluding some important macroeconomic variables in our analysis. The model is given as below: The Poverty Autoregressive Regression Model- 1 LHCR = ? 0 + ? 1 LRGDP + ? LLITR + ? 3 LCPI + ? 4 LOPEN + ? 5 LHCR (? 1) + ? i Table 3 presents the estimation results in which head count index (HCI) is the dependent variable and the variables such as growth rate, literacy rate, consumer price index (CPI) and head count index (HCI) for the previous year are all explanatory variables in the present analysis. The value of adjusted Rsquared is 94. 5%, implying that 94. 6% of the variation in the dependent variable is explained by the independent variable. The value of R-squared clearly shows robustness of our results. The value of hstatistic is 1. 8, the results indicates that there is no significant autocorrelation problem in the error. The coeffic ient for growth verifies our theoretical expectations, implying an inverse relationship between poverty and growth. The coefficient for growth is highly significant putting an immense effect on poverty. The results verify the findings of Sarris who could find that overall economic growth reduces overall poverty. The coefficient for literacy is significant in the poverty regression analysis. However the variable is inversely related with the dependent variable which verifies the theoretical relationship of the two variables.The above results follow the findings of Dollar and Kraay (2002) who have concluded that growth is a prominent factor in eliminating poverty and that the impact of low level of educational attainment is not so much important. The coefficient of the consumer price index (CPI) having an expected theoretical sign, implies a positive relationship with poverty. However coefficient is not statistically highly significant. Our results also second the findings of Romer an d Romer who believed that an increase in inflation will be associated with a decline in the unemployment in the short run that may well relatively benefit the poor.The findings of Agenor (1998) also strengthen our faith on the outcome of our analysis implying the fact about the poverty rates to be positively related with inflation. The previous year’s poverty is highly significant with the incidence of poverty. The coefficient of the variable is keeping a postulated positive sign. The best justification of the result is given by the Ragner Nurkse who could observe that a â€Å"country is poor because it’s poor. † Although the theoretical expectations of our present study are fulfilled yet we have included some more important variables pertaining to the human capital.We have included primary, middle and university enrollment rates instead of the literacy rate in our model. In order to check the impact of globalization on the incidence of poverty, we have included the trade openness in our analysis. The coefficient of openness is negative and insignificant. Table 3: Estimates of the Model-I Coefficient 5. 77051 -0. 62553 0. 512801 0. 004567 -0. 123046 0. 713883 0. 94 0. 93 1. 58 Std. Error 2. 62493 0. 300753 0. 263391 0. 085448 0. 137595 0. 094954 t-Statistic 2. 198348 -2. 079882 1. 946923 0. 053446 -0. 89426 7. 518185 F-Stat Prob Prob. 0. 0361 0. 0465 0. 0613 0. 9577 0. 3785 0. 0 99. 93 0. 00 Variable C LLGDP LLITR LCPI LOPEN LHCR(-1) R Squared Adj R Squared h-Statistic International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) 139 The Poverty Autoregressive Regression Model-2 It is a vivid fact that a problem like poverty cannot be eradicated at all. Owing to the said fact study is intended to explore the answer of the question â€Å"Does education alleviate poverty? † To investigate the query, we have followed the regression model. We have developed the poverty regression model. Primary, middle and university enrollment rates as a proxy for education are used in our model.The model is given below: ? ? 0 + ? 1 LRGDP + ? 2 LPRIMARY + ? 3 LMIDDLE + ? 4 LUNIV + ? Poverty = ? ? ? ? 5 LCPI + ? 6 LOPEN + ? 7 LHCR(? 1) +  µ i ? Table 4 presents the estimation results for the poverty regression analysis where the dependent variable is the poverty had count index (HCI) and remaining seven variables namely log of real gross domestic product, log of primary school enrollment, log of middle school enrollment, log of university enrollment, log of consumer price index, log of openness and the log of head count ratio of the previous year are all independent variables.Note that the adjusted R-squared is 95. 9% implying that the approximately 95. 9% variation in the dependent variable is explained by the independent variables. The coefficient for LRGDP is keeping a negative sign implying the inverse relationship of LRGDP with the incidence of poverty. The theoretical relationship of LRGDP and LHCR also supports the negative relationship of these two variables. But the coefficient for LRGDP is statistically insignificant pervading a little effect on the incidence of poverty.The coefficient for log of primary enrollment rate and log of middle enrollment rate both keep a positive relationship with the incidence of poverty implying that both the standards minutely aggravate the incidence of poverty. The coefficients for both the levels are statistically insignificant which shows lesser nuisance value of primary and middle standards of education. The results also match with the findings of Rodriguez K Smith (1994) and Coulombe and Mckay (1996) who believe that the likelihood of being poor is higher for the lower levels of education.The coefficient for the log of university enrollment rate is statistically highly significant in the poverty regression analysis as shown in the table 3. The variable is inversely related with the dependent variable which verifies the theoretical relationshi p of the two variables. The estimation results verify the findings of all those who believe in an effective role of human development of poverty alleviation. The estimation results stay in line with the findings of Tilak (1994) which emphasize on the role of education.The results also explain that higher education is one of the most powerful means to reduce poverty. Our results also match with the findings of King (2005) who has argued that the agenda of the millennium development goals for education cannot be achieved without giving right consideration to higher education. All the prominent approaches of development like the human capital approach, the basic need approach, the human development approach and the capability approach which recognize the inverse relation of education and human poverty stay in line with our results.The coefficient for inflation rate in the poverty regression analysis for log values has become significant statistically and it is positively related with t he poverty head count index. The postulated positive sign of inflation portrays the fact that inflation is regarded as more of a problem by the poor. The fact was also found by William Easterly and Stanlay Fischer (2001). According to them the rich are better able to protect themselves against, or benefit from; the effects of inflation then are the poor.The coefficient of openness is keeping a postulated negative sign, implying an inverse relationship between the incidence of poverty and openness. The estimation result shows that openness is powerfully influencing the poverty head count index as the coefficient of openness is found highly statistically significant. The results match with the findings of Derek H. C. Chen, Thilak Ranawera and Andriy Storozhuk who argue that high level of globalization, globalization would tend to increase poverty. The coefficient for the poverty of previous year is statistically highly significant, keeping a positive relationship with poverty. 40 Tabl e 4: International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) Estimates of the Model-2 Coefficient 3. 707976 -0. 205005 0. 060653 0. 042189 -0. 154165 0. 127132 -0. 186327 0. 796384 0. 96 0. 95 -1. 68 Std. Error 1. 937434 0. 246698 0. 1637 0. 190211 0. 04069 0. 0777 0. 110726 0. 081578 t-Statistic 1. 913859 -0. 830995 0. 370514 0. 221801 -3. 788787 1. 63619 -1. 682781 9. 762301 F-Sat Prob Prob. 0. 0663 0. 4133 0. 7139 0. 8261 0. 0008 0. 1134 0. 1039 0. 00 114. 37 0. 00 Variable C LLGDP LPRIMAR LMIDDLE LUNI LCPI LOPEN LHCR(-1) R Squared Adj R Squared h StatisticV. Conclusion and Some Policy Recommendations In this paper, we addressed a key issue in the current debate on economic development: the role of education in poverty alleviation. We have reviewed the empirical evidence on the relationship between education and poverty. The link of education to poverty is one of the most important dimensions of policies towards poverty. Education may affect poverty in ma ny ways. It may raise the incomes of those with education. It may in addition, by promoting growth in the economy raise the incomes of those with given levels of education.To measure education we used, among others, the literacy rate, primary education level, middle education level and university education level as proxies for education. To measure poverty, we emphasized on the concept of absolute poverty, using the poverty headcount index and as a proxy for relative poverty. We have used the econometric techniques to sketch a few stylized facts in a very complex framework of relationship. The present study incorporates macroeconomic, structural and policy variables to poverty headcount index and education.More specifically, the poverty equation links the incidence of poverty to CPI, growth, literacy rate, primary school education, middle school education and university education level and openness. The said relationship thus enables the changes in poverty due to the changes in macr oeconomic or policy variables to be projected. The relationship is empirically estimated using time series regressions, based on thirty five years data of Pakistan from 1973 to 2007, which determined the magnitudes of the effects of the above mentioned macroeconomic, structural and policy variables on poverty.The results from the empirical analysis indicate that the university education significantly alleviates the incidence of absolute poverty. It is concluded that university education comes up with a powerful tool for poverty alleviation, keeping an inverse relationship with the dependent variable. As the higher education increases, the level of poverty decreases in the country. This result confirms the expectations that poverty is highly influenced by education. Local universities help developing countries in improving the skills of human capital which ultimately become helpful in poverty alleviating.University graduates have the specialized skills to earn a living and infuse the ir sector of employment- whether in the private industry, the public sector or civil society-with the enterprise that underpins success. Getting universal primary education, one of the millennium development goals, without the higher education would simply mean increasing the burden of unskilled population on the economy. Some people consider university education a luxury for developing countries. It is not a luxury, it is essential.Our estimation results confirm the best known approaches like the human capital approach, the basic needs approach, the human development approach and the Sen’s capabilities approach as all four approaches mainly emphasize on the attainment of education for economic development. Our estimation results carry an important policy implication-namely that the spread or the distribution of higher education among the population can have a powerful impact on their welfare. A household with no education among any of its members may benefit from even one me mber gaining access toInternational Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 52 (2010) 141 education, beyond the immediate gains to that particular individual. And this is not only the case when an improvement in the education of the family’s children, but also it becomes the better and immediate source of earning opportunities for other members. Our empirical results confirm that education plays an effective role in poverty alleviation. Accordingly, a focus of economic policies on education in order to reduce poverty and to speed up development appears to be justified.Inflation also becomes the cause of poverty while trade openness reduces poverty significantly. Nevertheless, it is recommended that inflation controlled and trade opened policies will definitely and significantly address this issue of poverty alleviation in Pakistan. References [1] [2] [3] [4] Agenor, Pierre-Richard (1998). Stabilization policies, poverty and the Labour Market, Mimeo, IMF and W orld Bank. Amjad, Rashid, and Kemal, A. R. (1997). Macroeconomic policies and their impact on poverty alleviation in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 36(1), 39-68. Becker, Gary S. (1964).Human Capital. New York Colombia University Press for NBER Chen, Derek H. C. , Ranaweera, Thilak and Storozhuk, Andriy, (2004). The RMSM-X+P: A Minimal Poverty Module for the RMSM-X (May 11, 2004). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3304. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn. com/abstract=610349 Dollar D, Kraay A (2002). Growth is good for the poor. Journal of Economic Growth, 7,195-225. Irfan, Muhammad (2001). Global Trends on Education. The Oxfam Education Report (2001), Chapter 2. Jamal, H. (2003). Poverty and inequality during the adjustment decade: Empirical findings from household surveys.The Pakistan Development Review, 42(2), 125-136. Khan, Mosin (1990). Macroeconomic Policies and the Balance of Payments in Pakistan. 197286, IMF Working Paper /90 /78, Washington D. C. Malik, Mu hammad Hussain (1988). Some New Evidence on the Incidence of Poverty in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 27(4), 509-516. Marshall, Alfred. Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan 1890 (1st edition); (1920) (8th edition). Book VI, Ch. IV, 2, 3 and 4 (pp. 560—566); Chapter XI, 1 (pp. 660—661) and Chapter XII,  § 9 (pp. 681—684). Mincer, Jacob (1972). Schooling, Experience and Earnings.New York: NBER. Mincer, Jacob (1958). Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution. Journal of Political Economy, 66. Ministry of Finance Pakistan (2001). Combating Poverty in Pakistan, www. finance. gov. pk Pakistan Economic Survey (various Issues), Ministry of finance, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. Romer, Christina and David Romer (1998). Monetary Policy and the Well-Being of the Poor. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 6793, November Sarris, Alexender H. (2001). The Role of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction: An Empirical and Conceptual Foundation.University of Athens, Athens. Schultz, Theodore W. (1961). Education and Economic Growth. In N. B. Henry (Ed), social factor influencing education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Sen, Amartya (1999). Development as Freedom. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Smith, Adam (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London. (First edition). London: George Rutledge & Sons. 1903. pp. 78-79. World Bank, World Development Indicators (WDI). (April 2008). ESDS International, (Mimas): University of Manchester. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free (#3)

Charles Dickens Essay Essay Topic: Literature , Charles Dickens In the first chapter he uses many cold, harsh adjectives to reinforce his description of Scrooge, â€Å"wrenching, grasping, clutching†, and this helps to give the reader a very negative attitude towards him. This way of writing, using words which associate to the mood Dickens wants to put across, is very unusual and I think that people reading the book find this stimulating and exciting. We can vividly see the blissful festivities of Fezziwig’s party because Dickens uses the idea that lots of people can enjoy themselves dancing together, â€Å"all the young men and women†. Readers are able to apply this to their own memories of gatherings with family or friends, which makes it a piquant read. The happiness and togetherness of this party also allows us to compare jovial Fezziwig with unpleasant Scrooge because there is such a big difference in their characters. Dickens uses very inventive language to allow the reader to understand exactly the ideas he is trying to portray, â€Å"Choked up with too much burying† and this enables the reader to almost feel the atmosphere written in the book. He uses a simile to describe the way in which the Cratchit children react to Tiny Tim’s death, â€Å"as still as statues† and we can fully sense their shocking grief. We can see this is very different behaviour compared with their usual happiness, such as their excitement at Christmas, â€Å"God bless us†. The way he writes that the children were all â€Å"in one corner† gives the image of contraction and trying to find security by closing in together, which helps us to see these saddening representations. A Christmas Carol is very emotive. We have compassion for the Cratchit family and we are upset about Tiny Tim’s illness, but fear is also evoked from the reader because the spirits are so unnatural and powerful. We become very angry with Scrooge for being so parsimonious with his money, but we then gain sympathetic affections towards Scrooge as we see how he was badly treated in the earlier parts of his life. Using these contrasts, Dickens creates different moods throughout the book and the reader feels happiness and companionship as well as distaste and anger. As more emotions are aroused, the reader becomes more involved and begins to enjoy the book with more fascination. As well as these many advantages of the book, giving it the popularity it has acquired, there are also aspects which could reduce the popularity of the book. To modern people, the language may seem bizarre because it is a Victorian style of writing when people had more time to read the book and analyse it properly, because they were not watching television etc. People may find the descriptions and language Dickens uses in the book too complex, â€Å"courses will foreshadow certain end†, which makes it difficult to read and sometimes confusing. It seems almost impossible that the Cratchits can be so happy just because of the closeness between the family, even though they have so many problems with money. Again it is infeasible that Scrooge’s character and attitude to life could change completely overnight, but we accept this because we want him to change for the benefit of others. Charles Dickens shows that Scrooge was once a genuine and moral person, as a young man, when the first spirit recalls Scrooge’s earlier life, â€Å"passion†. We also see the reasons in Scrooge’s adolescence that could have made him such a bitter old man. This is because he is so deprived of love and we know this because Dickens gives evidence that the Father used to be cruel, â€Å"kinder than he used to be†. This gives us reasons to sympathise with him, and helps to believe he could have a good inner heart. He also has a very kind and loving nephew, â€Å"Dine with us†, which shows that there could be righteousness in Scrooge’s blood. These reasons all help us to believe that Scrooge can become a good man again, and support our acceptance of the joy and warmth at the end. A Christmas Carol is a book which contains many hidden meanings and the more it is read, the more interesting ideas we see in it. This is why people continue to create plays and films on the book, so people will understand the whole story fully and the main universal message, that we should be more charitable. There is also a lot of dramatic suspense in the book, because we ask ourselves so many questions. We want to know which aspects the spirits are going to show and how this will influence Scrooge. We hope that Tiny Tim will be able to gain strength to stay alive and we also want to know who the person in the graveyard is. All these confusing questions make the reader anticipate the ending of the book and this gives another reason for it’s continuing popularity. I like the way that there are many subtle details, which highlight the main idea and further encourage me to want to change my way of life, â€Å"altered life†. I enjoy the way he uses symbols and his own ideas to create an impact on the reader. For example the deprived children are a symbol showing the reader what will happen if Scrooge does not change his actions, â€Å"Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked†. The â€Å"angel† and the â€Å"devil† are opposite symbols, which gives emphasis to the degraded children. I can also see that the book is very popular because Scrooge has now become a vernacular part of speech, when we say that someone may have a ‘Scrooge like character’. Charles Dickens. (2017, Sep 26). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Friday, September 27, 2019

Sociology paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sociology paper - Essay Example Because of their physical strength of men believe that they are more competent than women. This attitude has been persistent in world history and religion and culture have always tried to reinforce this belief. The female sex is perceived to be weak and feeble, and this becomes the cornerstone of sexism. For this reason women face more domestic violence than men (Brinkerhoff, Lynn, Suzanne & Rose, 2008). The belief is so ubiquitous that from childhood the same attitudes are inculcated in children and this is how it has become a social problem. It is very important to identify sexism as a problem and only then a solution can be prescribed. The education system can play a key role in it. Children should be taught at a very early age that men and women are equal. Role play exercises can be sued to break the stigma about particular jobs being more ‘female’. Also gender discrimination laws should be made stronger so that punitive action can repel sexist practices from

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Describe the legal and administrative framework of the federal Research Paper

Describe the legal and administrative framework of the federal procurement process - Research Paper Example The FAR is issued jointly by the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It applies not only to direct purchases made by the government, but also to purchases made by federal grant recipients. In other countries such as India, different procurement rules apply at the federal level, in the states and territories, to the central public sector units, and to public sector enterprises. Procurement is regulated through executive directives at the federal level. The Rules were revised in 2005 to afford greater flexibility while ensuring accountability in government transactions. Instructions were issued by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to supplement these regulations. At the federal level, procurement is administered by the individual government agencies. India has not established an authority that is exclusively responsible for defining procurement policies and for overseeing compliance wi th the established procedures. In Australia, the Finance Minister issues Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines (CPG's). It outlines Australian federal procurement requirements. ... to be used for standing orders, which covers the procurement of several of the most commonly purchased assets including automobiles, fuel, office supplies and professional services. If the purchase surpass monetary values set for different categories, the PWGSC opens the procurement up to the bidding process. It advertises it on the Government Electronic Tendering Service. Federal procurement generally requires competitive bidding on contracts which exceed a certain monetary threshold. A request for proposal (RFP) is issued with specific guidelines. After which, the bids are submitted for review. The contract is usually given to the bidder, which can meet all of the essential specifications at the lowest price. Exemptions can occur in cases where only one source of supply exists, or when one supplier has proven to be far superior in performance to the others. Getting into the federal procurement system is hard. There are many who try. However, only the few who will persevere will be accepted. The settlements of being on the inside of federal procurement are continuous. One is that once you make it inside the system, you are inside for a long time. The government changes slowly and that includes vendors. Another reason is that the federal government’s checks do not bounce. And the biggest reason to grind it out for government procurement is that the government does nothing small. However, there is a need to understand how the government work as a profession has been sought after as a secure position where on does not get laid off, but does get an awesome retirement, and federal holidays. The downside is there is not much upward mobility, the environment does not like initiative or creativity, and the pay is typically lower than industry norms. Civil service workers

Why would a firm choose to trade internationally, reasons and the plan Assignment

Why would a firm choose to trade internationally, reasons and the plan - Assignment Example Your assignments requires that you utilise at least six references in addition to your text, preferably including some journal articles. You may use no more than two URL Websites (This does not refer to journal articles) Background: Content  Incontinence (CI)  is an Australian  Biomedical Company.  It is a third  generation  offshoot business of  a  family controlled company. The founders, two German  migrants with exceptional engineering skills  have  pioneered  plastic  injection  moulding in  Australia and have  a worldwide  reputation for  their  injection  moulds. They supply  industry  worldwide with  their products manufactured to precise specification in Australia. They  have followed the  Mittelstand  philosophy  of  Germany's  manufacturing sector. Two third generation  members of  the family  have reached the  pinnacle  of surgery  and  pioneered  new surgery  and techniques to treat  patients su ffering from  bladder and  urinary  tract illnesses and also from prostate  problems including cancer.  Their  most recent  treatment  treats  incontinence  by inserting  an artificial sphincter around the  urinary tract to allow incontinent patients  to control  the  emptying of the bladder. This is done  by  activating  a micro  chip inserted in  a flap  in the abdomen using a small device  much like a remote control for  a motor car.  ... facing the  company  is how to  internationalize this  new and potentially  huge business.  The traditional  family approach of manufacturing and exporting to specification may not be the best way.  The product  is not just the hardware (artificial sphincter,  controller, software and switching  device) but the  diagnostic techniques, the  operation, the  knowledge  and experience. Your task is to  answer the  following questions  in the context of this company Question 1: a. Why  would  a firm like  this  choose to trade  internationally? State  your reasons clearly and  concisely.   b. Describe concisely the main types of international business this firm  is likely to set up in the short term and long  term.  Give reasons for your  choices. c. What  does  the term  globalisation  means in relation to  this  business? 1. a) Incontinence is the problem where the patient has a problem in controlling the emptying o f the urinary bladder. It becomes an involuntary action where the patient complains of urine leakage (Minassian, Drutz & Al-Badr, 2003, p.1). There are many physical as well as psychological problems that can lead to it. Urinary incontinence occurs globally in huge numbers mainly affecting the female population. In a report it was found that UI was common in the white female population than in the black (Minassian, Drutz & Al-Badr, 2003, p.331). Apart from the European and the African continent, it is also prevalent in the Asian countries like India. A report in the newspaper The Hindu in India showed that a huge number of the people especially females suffered from the problem. More acute was the fact that these patients felt embarrassed to consult the doctor (Varma, 2012). It is here that the Australian company CI can establish its foothold. The company

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge Essay - 2

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge - Essay Example The construction industry in the Gulf has witnessed a colossal leap in the past decade. This is rather paradoxical in the context of the global economic slowdown, which negatively influenced the real estate sector in most parts of the world. In particular, the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates has bounced back on to the fast – track, rapidly taking on massive projects towards development of tourism, housing, industrial and commercial facilities, education and healthcare amenities, transportation as well as expansion of ports and airports. The construction sector has been a key source in driving growth for the nation’s economy and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 9.5 per cent during 2012 - 2016. What you write here is the good context for the study – place this in your part 1,m this area is for the lit review itself This trend has been possible largely due to the affluence of the local Arab community, wealthy expatriat es as well as favorable Government policies. The United Arab Emirates is witnessing huge investments from both, public and private enterprises in the construction sector, focussing on the development of infrastructure for hospitality, retail, real estate and the healthcare industry.   Interestingly, Dubai is recognized to hold the ‘highest per square kilometre’ of construction activity in the world (Faridi& El-Sayegh, 2006)! Yet, it is observed that there are recurring problems of time and cost overruns in the UAE’s construction industry. This is a major cause for concern, prompting a thorough understanding of the current scenario and the proposal of solutions to mitigate these issues in the construction industry. ‘Project Management’ is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to the project activities, in order to meet project requirements in an effective and timely manner. Project management typically includes identi fication of requirements, establishment of clear and achievable objectives, balancing the demands of quality, scope, time, cost and importantly, adapting specifications to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders. The application of ‘Project Management’ to the construction industry as a ‘scientific approach’ to mitigate time and cost overruns has been detailed by various researchers. There is a popular belief that â€Å"time is money† and any delay is sure to have a significant impact on the costs incurred. The interplay of contractors, consultants, supervisors and owners must be managed diligently by an effective manager, utilising project management techniques. The following will serve as a research proposal for a project that is concentric upon the role of ‘project management’ in mitigating the cost and time overruns and construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.  

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Answering 2 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answering 2 questions - Assignment Example My personal contributions will aim at fulfilling some holes in the research topic by bringing in ideas that seek to affirm contentious issues in the topic. I believe that I will be able to offer sufficient support for my claims as well as highlighting the myths and misconceptions surrounding the topic. I think the final choices of peers are valid as they can form the basis for a credible research topic. In relation my selected topic, I have seen many things that may alter my view of the subject. First of all, television commercial are not only based in emotions as I had earlier stated but they are also based on some known facts. They not only appeal to our emotions but some of them are based on things that we cannot do without and as a result, the advertisements are just a matter of conveying the information and not appealing for convince us through emotional approach. I have discovered that logos can also be applied in commercials by stating the logic behind the need to consume some products. According to the definition of research as depicted in the lecture notes, it is about creation of a topic and not just writing on the topic. This means that one must come up with new ideas and strategies that have never been handled conclusively and the debate on them rages on. This is a new insight to me as far as research writing is concerned. I will now focus more on the coming up with new ideas as opposed to the ones already known and proved. By taking this approach, I will be able to write one of the best papers and fill all the knowledge gaps in my research

Monday, September 23, 2019

Product Portfolio Analysis of Heinz Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Product Portfolio Analysis of Heinz - Case Study Example The BCG growth-share matrix displays the positions of business units on graph of the market growth rate against their market share relative to competitors. Of all the products launched by Heinz between 2003 and 2006, sauces, dressings and condiments took the largest share, of 25.5%. However, ready meals also took a sizeable share of 20.9%. Other categories that been key to the company's new product developments include canned food (13.1%) and fruit and vegetable products (9.2%). Of all the products launched between 2003 and 2006, 1.5% products were classed as innovative. When looking at innovation within Heinz, the company is most innovative in meat, fish and poultry products with 6.1% of all meat products launched by the company, innovative (Datamonitor Inc., 2007). Additionally, from the information that is available about the business units of the company, it can be stated that the Tinned Pasta and Retail Brown sauce business units were the most profitable with a revenue generation of 78.2 and 74% respectively. From this information, according to the BCG Matrix, these two units can be termed as Stars. Secondly, the Retail Ketchup and Baked Beans divisions were other two divisions which generated considerable revenues. Baby food and drink products are another area in which Heinz is a leading innovator. 3.1% of all baby products launched were classed as innovative. One of the most impo... The company also increased its focus on the consumer with a strong spotlight on health and wellness. Apart from these, the company also increased investment in marketing for future growth, greater R & D and impressive productivity measures (Merrett, 2007). Heinz's international growth strategy of acquiring new companies in the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Costa Rica also have been of great help to the company's growth and improved performance. The company also launched growth and reorganization plans to focus on Meal Enhancers and Meals & Snacks. The historic transaction with Del Monte Foods is designed to make Heinz a more focused company able to invest more effectively in its strongest brands (Heinz). Heinz intends to build growth and value over the long term through a strategy based on certain imperatives like expansion and improved consumer price-value, remove the clutter by reducing the complexity of Heinz's business processes and continuing to focus resources on those products and activities that maximize profitability; Task 1 - C Pricing Strategies & Porter's Five forces Pricing again also played its part in the company's overall performance as changes in pricing and improved volumes, through key brands like weight watchers and Heinz baked beans, were offset by difficulties in Russia for its non-Heinz products and unbranded frozen foods. By maintaining the key initiatives of the yearof pushing both innovation and the number of its brands globally, Heinz believes that it can continue the strong performance into the 2008 fiscal year. The company was also keen in squeezing out costs to deliver the margin improvements necessary to underwrite greater marketing investment. The effective formulation

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Mobile Device Application Essay Example for Free

Mobile Device Application Essay Java ME, in particular MIDP and CLDC specifications and Mobile device hardware Java is also referred to as a programming environment oriented to the server and it is based on a number of technologies which constitutes the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE). Such technologies include servlets, JavaServer pages (JSPs), and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs). Nowadays, Java is officially known as Java 2 platform and it is divided into three distinct editions: Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE), and Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) has three concepts, namely profiles, configurations, and optional packages. All of them determine Java features applicable, available application programming interfaces, and the form in which applications are packaged. J2ME has two configurations: Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and Connected Device Configuration (CDC). CLDC is designed for mobile devices with slow processors (Enrique Eric 2001 pp. 28- 45). There are two versions of CLDC: versions 1. 0 and 1. 1. CLDC specifies the ability of Java virtual machine, a small subset of J2SE 1. 3 classes, and a set of application programming interfaces for output/input which is also called Generic Connection Framework. However, CLDC is limiting programming platform as it does not specify the user interface classes. Hence, alternative classes that are defined by J2ME profile are required and such include MIDP to accomplish anything substantial. Java runtime environments for devices such as pagers, resource-challenged handheld devices, and cell phones is defined by Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP). MIDP target devices are characterized by ample memory to run its applications, bit-addressable display (96*56 pixels), touch screen, and two-way wireless enhanced networking. There exist two versions of MIDP which are defined by Java Community Process and include Java Specification Request 37 (MIDP 1. 0) and Java Specification Request 118 (MIDP 2. 0). Nevertheless, most of the devices in the market apply MIDP 1. Besides, MIDP 1 does not provide standards for interfacing to the phonebook in a device and synchronization of data. In particular, MIDP specifications are silent in one area: ‘how MIDP applications are loaded onto a device and how they are activated or deactivated’ (Enrique Eric 2001 pp. 40-68). Record Management System and MIDlet methods Record management system is a key subsystem of the Mobile Information Device Profile and is an application programming interface. Besides, Record Management system provides a persistence on-device data. Therefore, Record Management System acts as the sole facility for storing data locally –record store. Reason being only a couple of mobile devices sustains a conventional system of files. The MIDP Record Management System facilitates a way in which application data is stored to ensure that it persists across MIDlet. Record Management System is a simp0le database with a row comprised of two columns. One is a unique row identifier while the other contains a sequence of bytes that represents record data. Record stores are identified by a special name which consists of 32 characters in every MIDlet suite. There are a number of MIDlets applicable in the record store. First, ReadWrite MIDlet is creates record store, write down records into persistent storage and reads them, and deletes the record store while exiting. This MIDlet has convenience methods which opens, closes, and deletes record stores. Secondly, IntegerSort MIDlet is used to retrieve records and sort them on basis of their integer value within each record. Nevertheless, its codes do not have a distinct difference from the previous MIDlets. The only additional features are ways of ‘extracting appropriate fields, real sorting, and the comparator image class’. Integer Class MIDlet establishes a sort order by different integers and every record passed through has various Java data. Lastly, is the StringSearch MIDlet which enables searching for records in the Record Management System and it also beefs-up the User Interface. In creating a UI, a text filed, form, and two commands are established. Upon activation, all tasks are executed within the CommandAction ( ) method. Consequently, upon request of CmFind command, SearchRecordstore ( ) initiates searching and it involves assigning SearchFilter ( ) class instance which associates it with record enumeration object Enrique Eric 2001). Sprites basics (Image Sets and Tools Class) and package classes (Graphics class) Spites basics animation in Java can be written in frame animation, sprite animation, and/or both of the two. Mostly, these are used to write mobile enabled application games. There are a number of classes which are important to learn in order to understand Java programming and in particular the sprite animation. These include the Toolkit, Image, Graphics, Random, and Media Tracker. Image class is regarded as the super class when compared with the others and it represents graphical images. Besides, images have to be obtained in a platform specific manner (Richard, 2001). The fact that image is an abstract class makes it impossible to instantiate objects in this class, and besides objects of type image are obtained by applying a roundabout approach. Hence, it makes use of tool kit class. In regard to tool toolkit class, it is probable access system-dependent resources by making use of system their unique codes. In the Graphics class [cite page 8] there are two variables but of particular importance is the Graphics reference type as shown below. Figure 1. The Graphics class. private Graphics offScreenGraphicsCtx; private Thread animationThread; Listing 2 Note: Richard, GB, 2001, Fun with Java: Sprite Animation, Part 1 It refers to an object that serves as an off-screen graphics context and ‘is an area of memory that serves as a stand-in for the computer screen’. It facilitates to rapidly blast pictures from the off-screen Graphics context onto the actual computer screen. As this process does not interfere with the visible image when creating pictures, it renders a ‘smoother animation which can be achieved by creating and drawing the pictures directly on the computer screen’. Thus, it does away with possible distractions and flashing. Graphics class makes provisions for methods which can be applied to draw pictures on a graphics context (Richard, 2001). Development environments for the Windows phone, the Apple iPhone, the Google Android platforms and Location Based Services (LBC). Mobile application development involves a process in which in-built and downloaded applications are developed for hand-held devices suh as cell phones and personal digital assistants. The windows mobile development requires C/ C++ programming language. Visual Studio is nevertheless the most reliable development environment for creating testing, and deploying applications in the Microsoft Windows platform. Besides, this Visual Studio facilitates ample support for the development of Windows Mobile applications. To develop mobile applications, Visual Studio 2005 Edition and Visual Studio Professional Edition are required. Mobile Software Development Kits are freely available but they are dependent on device format and platform. Besides, these Software Development Kits are unique for every every family of Windows Mobile Phone (Enrique Eric 2001). Google Android is an operating system that serves as a platform for mobile applications. The necessary programming language for Android is Java although it is important for the developer to be knowledgeable in XML. In addition one requires Eclipse IDE and to work in Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux environments. Android Software Development Kit comprises of: Developer tools such Android Asset Packaging Tool, Android Debug Bridge, Dalvik Debug Monitor Service; Emulator and system images that represents Android operating system; Documentation Sample Code that contains API programming guidelines; Integrated Development environment Support which uses Eclipse IDE as it has special plug-ins (Android Development Tool –speeds up testing process, enables User Interface, application description, and graphical representations). Location Based Services offers mobile phone users a personalized service in order to establish their current physical location. Location API for J2ME (JSR179) is a generic API used to develop Location Based Services. J2ME Location API specification identifies javax. microedition. location which is a discretionary package that facilitates software developers to write wireless Local Based applications for resource-limited mobile devices. JSR179 entails Connected Device Configuration or CLDC version 1. 1 and the type of hardware platform determines applicable location methods (Enrique Eric 2001 PP. 20-39). To develop operating system for iphone, one requires working on a Mac OSX computer that runs X code tools. X code is suite that provides support for project management, building executables, code editing, source-level debugging, and performance tuning others. X-code application provides the foundation source-code development environment and besides x-code is the only probable tool to use in creating iphone applications. As mentioned earlier, iphone Software Development Kit runs only on Mac environment that have installed Intel processors (Enrique Eric 2001 PP. 40-50). Bibliography Enrique, O Eric, G 2001, Mobile information device profile for Java 2 micro edition: The ultimate guide to creating applications for wireless devices, John Wiley Sons, New York. Richard, GB, 2001, Fun with Java: Sprite Animation, Part 1, viewed 17 May 2010, http://www. developer. com/java/other/article. php/893471/Fun-with-Java-Sprite-Animation-Part-1. htm

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Effectiveness Of Diversion Programs For Offenders Criminology Essay

The Effectiveness Of Diversion Programs For Offenders Criminology Essay A criminal conviction does not necessarily mean that individuals will be subjected to jail or prison. In some cases, individuals are afforded the opportunity of attending a diversion program. Depending on the type of crime and the number of offenses, an individual could attend a diversion program with the permission of a judge. Diversion programs are designed to help certain offenders overcome their bad tendencies and drug and/or alcohol addictions. The one lingering question is do diversion programs really help offenders make the transition from prison to society and becoming a productive member of the society. With diversion programs, offenders are given the resources they need to work through their issues, problems, addictions, and the chances of those individuals committing another crime in the future may decrease. Concepts Non-violent crimes and recidivism First, think about the term non-violent. A non-violent crime usually means that no physical harm came to any individual. Though non-violent crimes can cause indirect harm to individuals for example, the Bernard Madoff incident did cause some suicides. One reported incident stated that an individual did commit suicide after losing all of the money to Madoff for it was a way to avoid bankruptcy. That is an example of how non-violent crimes can indirectly cause harm but on a different note those kind of incidents do not happen that often. The correctional plan for persons convicted of non-violent crimes must include an aggressive education plan. The education for a non-violent crime should fit the particular crime in which the individual was convicted of for instance, writing bad checks, substance abuse, or theft. Three strikes law and non-violent offenders The premise of the three strikes laws are best served for serious or violent crimes and the key word is convicted of a felony. In reality, there are gray areas when it comes to the three strikes law and non-violent crimes and offenders. For example, writing bad checks can get a person a jail sentence and if the third time a conviction is imposed on a individual they could face the three strikes law. Constant debate over non-violent crimes and whether a person should receive a life sentence for non-violent crimes. Adult diversion programs and 1st time offenders. A good combination for individuals who are willing and are eligible to participate in the program. These types of programs are meant for individuals who are only for misdemeanors such as worthless checks. Felony convictions can attend diversion programs but it would that written recommendations from the judge which would involve some serious commitment from the individual that they do want to be better. Theoretical considerations Alfred Alders Individual Psychology Social Learning Theory Kohlbergs Theory of Moral development Hypothesis Jail diversion programs may reduce the rates of recidivism because they provide non-violent offenders who are jailed for the first time treatment options, support groups, and overall the opportunity for a second chance. General approach Program evaluation of the jail diversion program for incarcerated individuals who may have substance abuse or mental illness issues. Jail Diversion programs provides court-based services to individuals who are eligible with psychiatric and co-occurring (mental illness and substance abuse) disorders who are arrested on minor or non-violent offenses. Â   Goals To know if jail diversion programs are effective in reducing recidivism. Literature Review Knight, L., Stephens, M. (2009). Mentally disordered offenders in prison: A tale of neglect? Retrieved from http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Knight_Stephens_Mentally_Disordered_Offenders.pdf The article examines whether inmates who have a mental disorder should be considered as patients or prisoners. Prison system are meant for security and control but when it comes to the housing of inmates with mental disorders it is suggested that those particular inmates should be afforded the opportunity for better treatment within prison walls. The Mountbatten Report in 1966, following a series of escapes from high security prisons, led to greater emphasis on security and control (Knight Stephens, 2009). This upgrade in security left gaps in the system because mental ill inmates was disregarded and because of this it caused a reform in the way prisons treat or do not treat mentally ill inmates. Bottom line is that the mistreatment of mentally ill inmates caused human rights issues which prompted a few legislative measures to ensure they get proper treatment for their illnesses. Ashraf, H. (2003). US Supreme Court limits forced drugging of mentally ill before trail. Lancet, 361(9375), 2131. Academic Search Premier Database. The article goes on to explain that for the reason of standing court that mentally ill prisoners can take their prescribed medicine to stand trial. The issue arises for the case of mentally ill prisoners to stand trial for committing a non-violent crime. The article explains how the United States Supreme Court based a decision limiting the use of force drugs in order to make non-violent offenders competent for standing trials. LaFree, G., Erlanger, H. (2002). Too much democracy or too much crime: Lessons from Californias Three-Strikes Law. Law Social Inquiry, 27(4), 875. Academic Search Premier Database. The authors of this article go on explain the problems that were uncovered with some research done on democracy and the effects it has on crime. They also give a history of the Three Strikes Law and note how there needs to be a reform of it. One of the crucial finds of their study was that they were able to note that with the laws in place there was not a significant drop in the crime rate based on the Three Strikes Law. It was purposed that deterrence tactics were better suited in reducing crime. Akins, S., Smith, C., Mosher, C. (2010). Pathways to adult alcohol abuse across racial/ethnic groups: An application of general strain and social learning theories. Journal of Drug Issues, 40(2), 321-351. Retrieved from Academic Search Database. This article takes the three largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States of America and applies theories on why drugs and alcohol has different impacts on the number of users. The largest groups are Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. The application of the Social Learning Theory and the General Strain Theory has different applications on users in these communities. Much of the article can lead to conclusions on why the pattern of drinking could lead to why there are many Blacks and Hispanics that occupy our prison systems. Steadman, H., Naples, M. (2005). Assessing the effectiveness of jail diversion programs for persons with serious mental issues and co-occurring substance use disorders. Behavioral Sciences The Law, 23(2), 163-170. Retrieved from doi:10.1002/bsl.640 The article explains how diversion programs help offenders with mental illness and/or substance abusing behaviors. The purpose of the article is to show that diversion programs can help as it was reported that monitored individuals were not committing crimes after their release from prison.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Devil in Young Goodman Brown And Rappaccinis Daughter :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Devil in Young Goodman Brown And Rappacini's Daughter In Puritan Massachusetts the key word was suspicion. In order to be accepted, by the community, you had to be a member of the "elect," destined for a spot in the eternity of heaven. In order to be member of this elite group of "selected" individuals you had to be free of sin and evil. It goes without saying, that you could never be caught conjuring the devil, as is illustrated by the horrors of the infamous Salem witch trials. In Young Goodman Brown, and Rappacini's Daughter Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays two different ways of soliciting or being solicited by the devil. The final scenes in both of these stories although similar in nature, are actually conflicting in essence, and show the two adverse ways in which people and evil can become one. In Young Goodman Brown, the protagonist, Goodman Brown goes off on a typical search for the devil. The devil is associated with darkness and terror, a creature only to be sought after while enveloped in the darkness of the night. As Goodman Brown himself replies to Faith's longing for him to wait until morning to embark on his journey, "My journey needst be done twixt now and sunrise" (611). Goodman Brown knows exactly what he is going to look for, he is searching for evil. He goes to the forest to do his deed and "he had taken a dreary road darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest" to get there(611). Goodman Brown is willingly seeking the devil, and Hawthorne is throwing in all the stereotypes. This entire search for the devil is portrayed as being very ugly. What then is pretty? In Young Goodman Brown beauty equals inherent goodness, or Faith. Young Goodman Brown separates from this righteousness, for evil. From the beginning, he was leaving, at least for the time being, Faith behind. "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the soft ribbons of her cap" (610). The beauty of faith and her pink ribbons are left behind, his intentions are obvious. In Rappacini's Daughter Giovanni does none of this. He never went out searching

Essay example --

Costa Rica is a small, democratic country, located in Central America. Nicaragua is to the north of Costa Rica and Panama to the south and it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country is very small, only about 32,000 square miles and is slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia (CIA, para. 2 2013). This beautiful country only covers about 0.03% of the earth’s surface, yet contains about 5% of the biodiversity in the world (Visit Costa Rica, para. 2). The climate is tropical and subtropical and has four volcanoes, two of which are still active (CIA, 2013, para. 2). The population of Costa Rica is 4,805,000 (WHO, 2009). The population growth is roughly 1.27% annually (CIA, 2013, para 3). About 64% of the country’s population lives in urban areas (CIA, 2013, para. 3). Although Central America is considered poor by many, Costa Rica’s poverty rate is lower than its neighboring countries – it is about 20% percent (CIA, 2013, para. 3). In 2012, the gross domestic profit (GDP) was $59.79 billion, or $12,800 per capita (CIA, 2013, para 3). A considerable amount of the country’s income comes from agricultural exports and tourism (CIA, 2013, para. 5). Agriculture makes up about 6.2% of the GPD and industry makes up about 2.5% of the (CIA, 2013, para. 5). Costa Rica was first settled in 1522 (Michigan State University (MSU), n.d., para. 1). It was settled as a colony by the Spanish in 1563 (CIA, 2013, para. 1). In 1821 along with the other provinces in Central America, it proclaimed its independence from Spain (MSU, n.d., para. 3). Then in 1838 Costa Rica proclaimed itself sovereign (CIA, 2013, para. 1). In 1899 Costa Rica began its democracy by having the first true e... ...Many poor countries suffer much worse public health problems and disasters than the people of Costa Rica, but they are very fortunate to have the health system that they have in place. In 2011, Costa Rica’s health expenditure on health care was 10.9% of the GDP (CIA, 2013, para. 3). This is one of the highest in the world. The Ministry of Health is able to focus on influencing public policies, create policies to protect the health of the people and provide guidance. They are always investigating new trends in medicine and finding the best way to help the Costa Rican public. It seems that the focus of the Ministry of Health and the CCSS is more about the care and the health of the people, even though the health expenditure is so high compared to most other countries. They do have this money to spend partly because of the lack of any military forces to finance.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Everchanging Technology :: Internet Technology Computer Essays

Everchanging Technology Works cited missing While first considering how to go about completing this assignment, I tried to keep in mind the one constant characteristic of technology: it is always changing. Technology seems to change faster than most can keep pace with. Even simple tasks like writing letters has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Twenty years ago, the postal system was the most common way for people to communicate through writing. Now people use e-mail, allowing them to communicate with anyone in the world at the click of a mouse. Other activities associated with writing have also made a shift to computers, condemning devices like the typewriter and the pencil to relative obscurity. The fact that technology is always changing and that things that were once thought of as conveniences can quickly become outdated became my inspiration for this assignment. One can think of past technologies like the typewriter as being left behind to wither and die, which is why I chose to use a watermelon as my canvas to write on. The watermelon perfectly represents the "life span" of technology. When you buy a watermelon, as with any perishable item, you know that it has a limited shelf life before it rots and becomes unusable. Technology can be thought of in the same way, even though the process takes a longer period of time. Take the CD for example. In the 1980s, compact disks became preferable to vinyl records by most consumers because of better sound quality and overall convenience. Now that mp3 technology is beginning to expand, it seems that CDs might soon become obsolete. My goal for the assignment was to stay as close to using all "natural" materials as possible and although I got the watermelon from a grocery store, I think that I accomplished that objective. Besides the watermelon the only other object I used was a sharp rock that I found outside my apartment. I used the rock to carve "all technology will rot someday" into the melon. I feel that statement illustrates the point that I am trying to make about the relationship between writing and technology. One of the criteria for this assignment was the permanence of what we created. But because technology does not seem to have any permanence itself (especially when applied to writing technology), I decided to focus more on the use of natural materials and the creative aspect of the project. Everchanging Technology :: Internet Technology Computer Essays Everchanging Technology Works cited missing While first considering how to go about completing this assignment, I tried to keep in mind the one constant characteristic of technology: it is always changing. Technology seems to change faster than most can keep pace with. Even simple tasks like writing letters has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Twenty years ago, the postal system was the most common way for people to communicate through writing. Now people use e-mail, allowing them to communicate with anyone in the world at the click of a mouse. Other activities associated with writing have also made a shift to computers, condemning devices like the typewriter and the pencil to relative obscurity. The fact that technology is always changing and that things that were once thought of as conveniences can quickly become outdated became my inspiration for this assignment. One can think of past technologies like the typewriter as being left behind to wither and die, which is why I chose to use a watermelon as my canvas to write on. The watermelon perfectly represents the "life span" of technology. When you buy a watermelon, as with any perishable item, you know that it has a limited shelf life before it rots and becomes unusable. Technology can be thought of in the same way, even though the process takes a longer period of time. Take the CD for example. In the 1980s, compact disks became preferable to vinyl records by most consumers because of better sound quality and overall convenience. Now that mp3 technology is beginning to expand, it seems that CDs might soon become obsolete. My goal for the assignment was to stay as close to using all "natural" materials as possible and although I got the watermelon from a grocery store, I think that I accomplished that objective. Besides the watermelon the only other object I used was a sharp rock that I found outside my apartment. I used the rock to carve "all technology will rot someday" into the melon. I feel that statement illustrates the point that I am trying to make about the relationship between writing and technology. One of the criteria for this assignment was the permanence of what we created. But because technology does not seem to have any permanence itself (especially when applied to writing technology), I decided to focus more on the use of natural materials and the creative aspect of the project.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Literary Analysis Paper Essay

Retrieved Reformation is a short story about a man named Jimmy Valentine. In the beginning of the story, he is being released from prison for his crimes of robbing banks and cracking into safes. After being released, he realizes that he wants to live a life of no crime. He becomes a dynamic character because he begins to dramatically change after meeting the love of his life, Annabel Adams. He wanted to begin a new life. In â€Å"A Retrieved Reformation†, a selfish and unethical criminal named Jimmy Valentine is known from breaking into safes and robbing banks. In the first couple of pages of the story, we come to find that Jimmy was doing prison time because of the crimes that he would commit. On page 2 it states, â€Å"He had served ten months of a four- year sentence.† (pg 2) The reason that he only had to spend ten months was because the friends that he had were friends of the government so they told the judge to shorten the amount of prison time that Jimmy had to do. In this part of the story he is being released by a guard and he gives him some advice to stay out of trouble. â€Å"You’ll go out in the morning. Brace up, and make a man of yourself. You’re not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes, and live straight.† (pg 3) This advice would soon help Jimmy realize that he has to get his new life together and learn how to keep himself out of things that would get him in trouble with the law. See more: how to write an analysis paper As soon as Jimmy Valentine was released from prison, the reader is shown many examples on how Jimmy Valentine is a dynamic character and how much he has changed throughout his life. The first example is as soon as Jimmy Valentine got released from jail, he started robbing banks again. One day, he was walking around Elmore, the new town that he lived in, and stopped in amazement of a woman whom he had never met before. Her name was Annabel Adams. Her father had owned the bank. He went to a nearby hotel and registered his name as Ralph D. Spencer and got a room. Jimmy came to Elmore in search of a location to go into business. He was talking to the clerk at the desk about shoe-store openings in the town. He opened a shoe store to keep his mind busy instead of robbing banks. On page 7 the author states, â€Å"He opened a shoe-store and secured a good run of trade.† Also, Jimmy Valentine legally got his name changed to Mr. Ralph Spencer because he wanted to start a brand new life and wanted to leave his bad memories and crimes behind him. Finally, in this time in this time in the story, Jimmy Valentine has completed changed his life around by becoming engaged and opening a business. Now all he has to do is sell his tools away to his friend because he doesn’t need them anymore. On page 8, the author states â€Å"I wouldn’t touch a dollar of another mans money now for a million.† This shows that he is serious about not going back to his old way of life and wants to stay out of troubles way. He wants his friend to meet him at a place named Sully’s so that he can give him the kit of tools. Also, on page it, it says â€Å"I wouldn’t do another crooked thing for the whole world.† Jimmy Valentine is trying very hard to keep his new life successful and crime-free. One day, Annabel and Jimmy go to the bank that Annabel’s father, Mr. Adams owned. Suddenly, they heard a scream of a woman. They ran to where they heard it from. A nine-year old girl named May had shut Agatha in the vault. Mr. Adams tried to open the door. He said that it could not be opened because May had turned the knob on the door. Jimmy told everybody to be quiet. He yelled into the vault to try to see if Agatha could respond to him. Her mother thought that she would die in the vault of fright. Jimmy had done something that had surprised everyone. He opened his suitcase full of the tools that he was going to give away to his friend. He used those tools to crack into the vault like he had in his old life. He used a drill to open into the vault. Agatha was safe and collapsed into her mothers arms.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Brahms Symphony No.3 Programme Note

â€Å"Many music lovers will prefer the titanic force of the first symphony; others the untroubled charm of the second, but the third strikes me at being artistically the most nearly perfect. † – Edward Hanslick, music critic. Brahms’ third symphony was long awaited by his fans, after a six year break from his second symphony. It is neither forceful, nor charming. It is a strange, non-traditional work. Its opening is reminiscent of Schumann’s â€Å"Rhenish†, making us wonder, why? Is it an homage to his friend? Or is it yet another alleged reference to Clara Schumann?The premier was one to remember. On December 2nd, 1883, under the conducting of Hans Richter, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra debuted the symphony to fans and hecklers alike. Even with the death of long time enemy Richard Wagner the feud lingered on. Wagner fans chose that night to attempt an interference. However, it was unsuccessful and the show was a hit. After the premier, Brahms polished the score several times before releasing a final copy in may of 1884. There are many strange attributes to this relatively short piece.The first obvious one is the third movement; it is a poco allegretto, which is unusual for the time period. The other is the repeated use of an F- Ab – F motive, which gives a diminished sound that is completely unexpected. The motive (F – Ab – F) is said to be derived from a saying of Brahms’ close friend Joseph Joachim, â€Å"Free, but lonely† or â€Å"Frei aber einsam†. Taking the first three letters of each word you get F- A- E. This short motive Brahms, Schumann and Dietrich used to compose a violin sonata in honor of their friend.Brahms later declared himself â€Å"Free, but happy† or â€Å"Frei aber froh†. This gives us the motive F – A – F. Why, then, does Brahms choose to use an Ab instead of natural A? Probably because the Ab gives his harmony a non–tradit ional sound. Instead of the regular chord progression he uses an F major chord to a diminished 7th. This should resolve to a C major, but instead it goes back to F major. It then slides to an F minor chord, and then to an unexpected Db minor chord before another diminished 7th, finally resolving to C major, as it should.This motive is heard throughout the symphony, whether quite obvious as in the first three bars, or in the bass line as in bars 4-6. This unusual chord progression also explains why the last movement is in F minor, instead of the expected F major. The final movement of this piece leads you to think of dark, dramatic struggle due to the F minor. Rather than a tragic ending, he lets the clouds part and brings back the motive of F – Ab – F, and finishes his symphony as it began.The finale is lyrical, passionate and rich in melody. The motive is quoted just before the recapitulation and the symphony ends very peacefully. Julie White Symphony No. 3, Free Scor es at The International Music Score Library Project. Leonard Burkat; notes for the 1998 recording (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Kamien R, (2000) Johannes Brahms. In Music: An Appreciation (9th edition, P. 352) McGraw- Hill Walter Frisch. Brahms: The Four Symphonies, New Haven: Yale University Press (2003) : 91 – 114

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Significant Life Event

I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the syllabus and the sections in the Student Bulletin relating to the IWU Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University. Significant Life Event One event in which all involved parties can still laugh about and I believed had brought a significant change to me, and affect me still today. My closest bond I have today it is my relationship with my mother. While our mother-daughter bond has been a blessing we have had the highs and lows of love. There were times when it has been joy and moments which can only be described as maneuvering through a minefield. Most females can relate to this journey through in life. In this relationship, hearts can be broken, feelings can be hurt, and the best intentions can turn a mistake into resentment. With patience and lots of love a mother and daughter can be develop a friendship and a trusting bond strengthened for a lifetime. I can now say as I look back we made a turning point when I was eighteen years old. I had just married my high school sweetheart and the father of my child and had been still living at home with my mother. We are both the oldest child oldest in our family and hence were the example for the younger siblings. We both had plans to make something of our life. We both grew up in an urban area where a teenage pregnancy usually ended a person’s dreams for a better environment. We had considered ourselves adults because we now had a child of our own. But this is hindsight; we thought we had all the answers. My first love and father of child, Robert decided he would enlist in the military and I would finish high school. When he completed boot camp and all the other required training the military deemed for him, his first duty station was thousands of miles away from home. No one could tell me anything about child rearing or the decisions I had made regarding my life. I did not appreciate the help I was receiving from his and my family. With Robert enlisting in the military, we relocated from everyone to start a new life together. By the grace of God his first duty station after boot camp was Hawaii. Most people image Hawaii as paradise on earth, almost anyone including me, at least that was what thought at first. Needless to say when time came near for me to leave I could not wait to get away from my mother’s rules and meddling interfering. My mother and I had differences of opinions on everything, even on the way to the airport until I got on the plane. Once I got to Hawaii to begin my new life, I remember not speaking to her for while except to let her know we made it there safely and besides this was actually a honeymoon for my husband and me. On the day we married he left and I did see him again for five months and we had some cuddling time to make up. Let me tell you once the honeymoon was over and we settled into married life I suddenly realized I was alone with a man who had a life, a job and friends. After I had done all the sight-seeking, daytime television watching, and culture adjustment. I suddenly realized I was home sick and missed my mother. All I had was a two-year-old child that took the word terrible two to another level. The long distant phone calls began and I would call her for the littlest things, from how to cook this recipe, to what are you doing, how to budget and make ends meet, what happened at the last family party or get together and don’t forget to send me pictures of what was going on at home. It hit me that my mother actually knew best, she had the answers from how handle a terrible two year old, why men are the way they are, to why my hair was falling out and skin breaking out. I was miserable with the life we had built and I could blame no one, not even my mother like as I had done so many times before. She was not around and could be blamed for this mess, but she was available by phone and we she would help me figure out what I needed to do to make this work. She suggested that I find something to do with my time, maybe get job, go to school or be more open to social life. I had alienated myself physically from everybody except a husband and a two-year-old child. As time past I adjusted to the island life and developed friendships. A funny thing happened that me, my mother and ex-husband laughs about still today. The situation, reminds me, how much my mother really missed me and how strong our love is. Without our knowledge our home phone was not working properly. We were able to call out but not able to receive incoming calls. This fact was brought to our attention when the military police knock at our door. In my mind at the time a very big official military police officer was looking for my husband. Once he was identified they were inquiring about my where about. The officer said â€Å"His mother-in-law had not heard from her daughter in about a week. † It hit me that my mother had not gone more than a couple days with out hearing from me. Since then my husband was sure we make regular calls home to my mother so the law would not be knocking on our door looking for him. I have a much better appreciation of this relationship with the fact that I now have a grown daughter. I learned later in life the hard way that what comes around goes around. I had my own separation event with my daughter when she moved away for college. But that is another significant life event in its self.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Summary Multimedia Database

INTRODUCTION 1) Background a) Combine text + graphics b) Visual + audio c) Catalog and index image + efficient storage and delivery 2) 4 Difficulties d) Data type e) Data manipulation f) Data storage g) Data delivery 3) Importance h) Store Image (eg:museum) i) Search and manipulate content 4) Types j) Images k) Audio l) Video m) Document n) Handwritten 5) Application o) GIS,CAD,Face-retrieval,doc imaging, medical db, web 6) Characteristic p) Treat mdb same way as data based 7) 4 Challenges q) Size r) Time s) Semantic Nature of Multimedia ) Operation of individual media 8) 5 Features u) Support diff. multimedia data type v) Handle large no. multimedia obj. w) Hierarchical storage structure & archiving data x) Information-retrieval y) Database capabilities More Summary of Devil at My Heels MULTIMEDIA DATA 1. Multimedia data size [Size of media data makes storage, processing, transmission and reception of the data very costly] a. Multimedia data acquisition * Data capture: photo/audio/video * Sampling: convert analog to digital * 8bits = 256 colors * 24bits = 16 million colors b.Dealing with Media Object Size * 2 approaches : store references/reduce size media * SQL:1999 2 data type BLOB & CLOB Lack in (PK, FK ,equality test) * Oracle9i: support 2 LOB #internal LOB: BLOB & CLOB #external LOB: BFILE * IBM DB2: BLOB,CLOB,DBLOB(china) c. Reducing Media Object’s Size * Compression algorithm *remove duplicate information *abbreviating information * Objective *Reduce bandwidth/storage *Decode signal close to original *Robustness,scalability,extensibility * 2 stages: *Predict-estimate redundant & select algorithm Transform-Compress & Decompress * 2 form of compression *Lossless-lose none,2:1,3:1 *Lossy-lose some,10:1,80:1 * Two ways *Run-length encoding *Huffman coding * 2. Real-Time N ature of Multimedia Data d. Segmentation: subdividing video obj e. Manual segmentation costly so focus on automatic segmentation 3. Semantic Nature of Multimedia Data f. Semantic: metadata describe multimedia obj. g. Refer as: text desc/characteristic of metadata(texture of image,frequencies of audios,font size for text)Database Management System and Data