Tuesday, November 26, 2019

personal statement Essay Example

personal statement Essay Example personal statement Essay personal statement Essay personal statement BY kit-li96 Prompt #1 Step back, relax, and I will you take on a Journey. A Journey into the past, of which made me the person I am today. A childhood not so bright, but one of a very promising future. There have been times of struggle, sacrifices, and hardships, but at the end of the day What doesnt kill us can only make us stronger This name carries generations of family history and culture, NigistiAzeb Retta Adane Retta Kesaun Yelow Selassie. I was born on September 22, 1996, in Black Lion Hospital (Ethiopia). The daughter of Kiros Meresa, and Retta Adane, I was born into a olitical family, with relations to the last Emperor Haile Selassie. Most of my life I had no clue to who my dad really was. I met him for the first time when I moved to America, in 2001 with my mother. My father had an affair and contracted HIV, and died 7 years later. But, the first six months coming into the country, we were left with little money, and no place to live. The first few months the church placed us in women shelters, which allowed me to start going to school. Even though I was young I knew I had to learn English as soon as possible to teach my mother. I am academically hardworking and I don’t slink off from school work. I like analyzing and train myself to possess regular survey wonts. I believe this diligence is really of import particularly when seeking to guarantee my ain personal development every bit good as the advancement of the community I am in. I am besides adept in human dealingss and interpersonal communicating and I believe that this will assist me utilize diverseness to my ain advantage and development. I am cognizant that as an international pupil from Vietnam there will be jobs with accommodation in the beginning ; but I am ready and willing to travel through the alterations in the involvement of academic excellence. Possibly. other than merely the interaction that I could offer to the other pupils of the University. I can besides portion my civilization and Asiatic heritage to enrich others. This manner. I can besides promote credence and apprehension among assorted civilizations and nationalities presently taking up classs at UCF. My household owns a part concern in Vietnam and since I major in concern disposal – selling. I am trusting that my first manus experiences in the selling and forces dealingss division of our household concern would besides be deserving sharing to my other co-workers. I am besides dedicated to the public assistance of communities and of college pupils. I joined Vietnamese Student Associations in the yesteryear to protect and contend for the rights of pupils from my ain state. I besides value the spirit of volunteerism ; in fact. I was besides a voluntary for the African Community in Seattle. I can personally guarantee the UCF community that I would be an plus to the University should I be given the opportunity. I will seek my really best to stand out in my surveies to farther hike the already esteemed name of the college. I will seek chances where I could be of aid to the full community and where I could lend what cognition I already possess to the other pupils of the University. I am a house truster of interaction and inter-personal relationships and so I will affect myself in activities that would non merely be enriching for myself but besides for the other pupils whom I interact with. The diverseness of environment in UCF makes me enthusiastic about future chances for personal development and authorization ; but most of all. I would wish to be the sort of pupil who non merely thinks about oneself but besides considers the public assistance of other pupils every bit good as of the University.

Friday, November 22, 2019

2016 Presidential Debates - Schedule and Rules

2016 Presidential Debates - Schedule and Rules The 2016 presidential debate schedule had the White House hopefuls sparring more than a year before the election for Presidential Barack Obamas successor. The first of more than a dozen debates in the 2016 presidential election cycle was held in August 2015 among the large field of Republican candidates seeking the partys nomination. There were at least 23 presidential debates scheduled across the primary and general-election seasons, including 12 sponsored by the Republican National Committee and 11 by the Democratic National Committee. The Commission on Presidential Debates also schedule three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate in the run-up to the November 2016 general election, as it has done in years past. General Election Debates After voters of both parties chose  their nominees - Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton - the nonprofit and nonpartisan  Commission on Presidential Debates scheduled three presidential debates before the 2016 election. Heres the presidential debate schedule in the general-election: Monday, Sept. 26, 2016:  The first presidential debate of the fall campaign will be held at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016:  The first and only debate among the vice presidential nominees will be held at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016: The second presidential debate of the fall campaign will be held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.   Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016:  The third presidential debate of the fall campaign will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Republican Presidential Debate Schedule The Republican Party drastically cut its presidential debate schedule following the recommendations of a 2013 critique of its 2012 election losses; the report noted that the number of primary debates had grown from six in 1980 to 20 in 2012. Wrote Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer: â€Å"Most observers concluded after the 2012 election that the packed debate schedule was a disservice to the candidates - and, more important, to the voters. The schedule kept candidates off the campaign trail, robbing them of time that otherwise could have been spent meeting with voters, listening to their concerns and trying to earn their support. The Republican National Committee sanctioned a dozen presidential debates in the 2016 primary cycle. Heres when the GOP presidential candidates debated: Aug.  6, 2015:  Cleveland, Ohio Sept.  16, 2015:  Simi Valley, California Oct. 28, 2015:  Boulder, Colorado Nov. 10, 2015: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dec.  15, 2015:  Las Vegas, Nevada Jan. 14, 2016: North Charleston, South Carolina Jan. 28, 2016: Des Moines, Iowa Feb.  6, 2016:  Manchester, New Hampshire   Feb.  13, 2016: Greenville, South Carolina   Feb. 25, 2016: Houston, Texas March 3, 2016: Detroit, Michigan March 10, 2016: Miama, Florida Democratic Presidential Debate Schedule The Democratic National Committee held  11 debates between the two candidates seeking the partys presidential nomination in 2016, former U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Heres when the Democratic candidates debated: Oct. 13, 2015: Las Vegas, Nevada Nov. 14, 2015: Des Moines, Iowa Dec. 19, 2015: Manchester, New Hampshire Jan. 17, 2016: Charleston, South Carolina Jan. 25, 2016: Des Moines, Iowa Feb. 4, 2016: Durham, New Hampshire Feb. 11, 2016: Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 6, 2016: Flint, Michigan March 9, 2016: Miama, FloridaApril, 2016May, 2016

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Charles Schwab & Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Charles Schwab & Company - Case Study Example Moreover, the company offers services with low commission charges which result in huge revenues and consumer trust. The recent sale of the â€Å"US Trust† has decreased profitability. Since the company operates in only a few countries it has a risk of losing business. The aging population in countries it operates like Hong Kong, USA and UK are likely to increase demand for insurance and other retirement and corporate services the firm offers. The positive prospects of the asset management industry are likely to bring benefits to the firm. Despite the opportunities, the firm is likely to be affected by the global recession which has reduced demand. The increasing number of new entrants in the market will increase competition for the firm. Volatility in financial markets can cause Charles and Schwab & Company’s profits to decline. The firm should continue to prioritize consumers and quality product in order to retain profitability. It can start operations in other countries that may have potential demand for the services offered. The company can modify and polish its services by offering new convenient plans for its potential customers in order to combat competition. Market research should be conducted to offer services that are better than competitors in order to retain market share. The firm was the first discount brokerage company. Its strategy is to empower individual investors by offering discounts and convenient plans. It was the first to offer 24 hours a day and 7 days a week services. Moreover, it offered automated telephone services(Rimma Kats,2011). It used the strategy to ease the consumer by offering automated online and cell phone facilities to increase market share and profits. The firm has an organized system for the smooth running of the company. The firm has maintained different department. Each department handles a particular aspect. The firm has specialists to maintain and develop software for its mobile commerce facility. The firm well identifies the marketing segment for each service it offers and modifies its packages for different units.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Marketing Managemnt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Managemnt - Assignment Example The focus in this paper is on marketing management that has gained increasing importance in recent years owing to the notion of globalization and internationalization which has given way to the boundary-less movement of goods and services. Marketing for products that are sold across various cultures, languages, tastes, demographics and external conditions is no longer a simplistic job- it requires adequate and periodic management so that the product achieves a strategic fit with the diverse external environment. No longer can marketers focus their efforts on just the four P’s (product, price, promotion, place)- they have come to realize the blooming significance of 4C’s; Consumer (as opposed to Product), Cost (as opposed to Price), Convenience ( as opposed to Place) and Communications ( as opposed to Promotion). Thus, the above indicates the growing importance of marketing management which enables managers and executives to deal with strategic marketing challenges that the organizations face every day. An important task for marketing managers is the creation of value for consumers. The challenge is thus, how to offer that value? The idea of customer relationship management (which is a part of marketing management) stems from the notion of value creation. At the heart of successful marketing efforts is the ability of the company to provide a product that satisfies the needs of customers. Towards this end it is important to define what a need is- a need is defined as a felt deprivation for something. So, for instance, to feel thirsty is a need that has to be satisfied. A want refers to the means by which that need is satisfied. Thus, how the thirst is quenched (through water, drink, and juice) would become a want. Marketers must target customer needs and satisfy wants. On the contrary, however, it is observed today that marketers are creating needs rather than satisfying them. To this end, the importance of product comes into play. The product is th e crux of marketing- Marketing is grounded in â€Å"consumers† and consumers demand products to satisfy their needs. The product is the starting point for most marketing efforts. It is interesting to note that a product consists of five layers although it may appear as a single, holistic object to us. The central part of the product is referred to as the â€Å"core†. It is this core that forms the basis for the other layers (including basic, expected, augmented and potential product). An example would be of a Nikon camera. Its core benefit would be to allow the user to take photographs and make videos with ease. The actual product will comprise of the brand name (Nikon), high resolution, carrying case etc. The augmented product would be warranty, demonstration and repair etc. Core benefits are often represented as order qualifiers or the bare minimum necessary for products to stay in the market (Homburg et al., 2005). This would simply mean the delivery for what is pro mised. A product or a brand is s promise, and when it is fulfilled in the quantity and quality desired by consumers the phenomenon is termed as core benefits or order qualifiers. For instance, the basic attribute of a bank is to offer accurate maintenance of consumer accounts. Bottled/mineral water provides consumer with a basic minimum level of ingredients or required calorie intake. Conceptual studies from research have revealed that core benefits are a subset of the larger group â€Å"customer benefits† which encompasses not only core benefits but also add-on benefits as discussed earlier. These customer benefits are viewed as the constructive values of customer relationship (Homburg et al., 2005). The core of a product is not tangible- it takes the form of a benefit or an advantage that a consumer may have from using it (Homburg et al., 2005). Thus, the core of a product is in abstract form and cannot be touched. Alternately, core defines the need that marketers

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Political Discourse Essay Example for Free

Political Discourse Essay Political incivility has been around for a very long time. According to the article â€Å"The Rise and Fall of Nasty Politics in America†, a number of studies have been conducted to prove that politics has always been â€Å"a bit rough†. Many people in and out of the political world are agreeing that politics these days have turned in to a horrible cycle. Politics today involves nasty language about fellow members families, angry protests and violent outbursts. Sometimes racial slurs and discrimination is also involved in bringing down your opponent. Furthermore, political incivility has caused a variety of problems in American politics throughout the years. Knowing this, what are some of the things that can be done to help increase political civility? Political incivility has caused a variety of problems in the political process. Politics today is often biased based off of the partisan media and views of opposing sides of various parties. According to the article â€Å"What Is Civil Engagement Argument and Why Does Aspiring to It Matter? † the partisan media only shares those facts that are inconvenient to their opponents, engage emotion, and replace argument with ridicule causing many of the listeners or viewers to have angry views of the policies on the opposing side. Allowing the partisan media to be broadcasted for Americans to see causes outrage and incivility in the world around us. This brings me to my next point where the violence in the political world is getting out of control. The violence that occurs includes both physical and emotional attacks by the opposing parties. For example, the district office of a Georgia representative was defaced with a swastika, and the lawmaker, who happens to be African American, has been the recipient of racist hate mail (Shea and Sproveri, 417). There have also been many other instances where racial violence was used including during the final health-care reform meetings. A lot of the protesters yelled out racial slurs at the African American members of Congress. Also during this time one of the legislators was spat on while entering the Capitol Building to cast his vote (Shea and Sproveri, 417). This type of violence causes politicians to lack the motivation to run for office. Olympia Snowe, a former Senate member, finds it very frustrating that the atmosphere of polarization and the â€Å"my way or the highway† ideologies has become persuasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions (Maisel, 408). She is resigning from office and decided not to run for her forth term in office. Other politicians are afraid of ridicule about their families and therefore will not be running for office any longer. Another reason that political discourse is harming the American political process is it is influencing the ability of govern. â€Å"Incivility leads to an inability to govern and, therefore, more can be done in other areas† (Maisel, 408). The inability to govern leads the government officials to detach from politics and take interest in other areas. Also, politicians in today’s era have only one thing on their mind and that is to win. They do not care about the common good or the similar believes of the opposing parties. All they want to do is finish on top. This situation is causing the president and other officials to lack the ability to pass laws that may benefit the whole population. â€Å"According to NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll conducted in the fall of 2011, more than four out of five voters felt that the Congress’s decisions on the debt ceiling were decisions made for partisan political advantages† (Maisel, 408). This is problematic because it brings other officials to not want to run for office and for the population to be dissatisfied with the whole system of government. This can lead to outburst and protests by the people of the nation. So, what is the best way to increase civility in American politics? First, we can follow the ways of the people during the World War II period where partisan differences still existed but at the end of the day the government officials went back to their families where their wives and children were interacting with the wives and children of those with whom they had been debating with (Maisel, 409). In those times, the politicians worked together for one cause, which was to be united and progress with the well being of the nation. That is what the politicians in today’s world need to realize. The politicians in that era had certain rules they needed to abide by like they had to treat others involved with respect and civility. They also relied strictly on truth and not on the fact that they need to win no matter what the consequences to the nation are. This seems to be one of the biggest problems that the American politics has today. The US House of Representatives has it’s own set of rules that ensure that there is civility. The Congress has a set of rules that ensure that the disagreements in Congress are purely philosophical but not personal and that their views are legitimate even if they are wrong (Jamieson and Hardy, 412). This is exactly the type of rules that need to be set for regular debates and this will ensure that the members do not over step those boundaries. The House makes sure that the members do not call each other bad names or over step any boundaries that may cause them to lie. They are not even allowed to call their fellow members hypocritical even if they are being hypocritical. Their understanding is that each side needs to be heard and then they will come up with a compromise to make both parties accept it. In conclusion, the political incivility going on today is effecting the government in ways unimaginable. Politicians are not willing to run for office because of their fear of having their families or themselves ridiculed and talked about in an inappropriate manner, there is a big increase in violence during debates and the politicians of today are only focused on winning and not on the benefit of the greater good. There is a lot that needs to be improved before there could be any type of change in the political world. The government needs to set a variety of rules for debates just like the House of Representatives or the Senate has that will set a limit to the type of things the politicians can say to each other. This will minimize the political discourse today and help new politicians accomplish more and help the nation prosper in the future.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Ligers Informative Speech -- Tiger Lion Breeding Animals Essays

Ligers Informative Speech The clip you just saw is from the popular movie 'Napoleon Dynamite.' Many of you have probably seen it before but I bet you never thought about any of it as being factual, did you? Well, even though the description was a bit off, ligers really do exist. According to Encyclopedia Americana, ligers are a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger (also known as a tigress). It is nearly impossible for them to exist in the wild because most lions live in Africa and most tigers live in Asia, however under the right circumstances they can be bred. In most cases the tiger and the lion must be raised together to overcome any natural enmity between their species, however ligers have also been accidental. In China a few were produced artificially as experiments, but most often they occur as accidents among captive animals in zoos or roaming in safari parks. Deliberate hybridization is prohibited in most zoos, though. In 2001 three liger cubs were born in a zoo right here in Wisconsin . For space reasons keepers put a lion and a tiger in the same enclosure and one day they found three tiny cubs. Liger cubs don?t usually look like their father. They have striped like their tiger mother, but are lighter in color. As they get older their stripes will fade. Raising liger cubs is difficult because no one ever knows if the parents will recognize the liger cubs as their own, and also it is difficult for them to survive on their own. According to Hybrid B... Ligers Informative Speech -- Tiger Lion Breeding Animals Essays Ligers Informative Speech The clip you just saw is from the popular movie 'Napoleon Dynamite.' Many of you have probably seen it before but I bet you never thought about any of it as being factual, did you? Well, even though the description was a bit off, ligers really do exist. According to Encyclopedia Americana, ligers are a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger (also known as a tigress). It is nearly impossible for them to exist in the wild because most lions live in Africa and most tigers live in Asia, however under the right circumstances they can be bred. In most cases the tiger and the lion must be raised together to overcome any natural enmity between their species, however ligers have also been accidental. In China a few were produced artificially as experiments, but most often they occur as accidents among captive animals in zoos or roaming in safari parks. Deliberate hybridization is prohibited in most zoos, though. In 2001 three liger cubs were born in a zoo right here in Wisconsin . For space reasons keepers put a lion and a tiger in the same enclosure and one day they found three tiny cubs. Liger cubs don?t usually look like their father. They have striped like their tiger mother, but are lighter in color. As they get older their stripes will fade. Raising liger cubs is difficult because no one ever knows if the parents will recognize the liger cubs as their own, and also it is difficult for them to survive on their own. According to Hybrid B...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Computer systems assignment Essay

To build a PC you must buy all of the required components otherwise the computer will not work properly or not work at all. Here is a list of all required computer components to make it work:   Motherboard- motherboard is a main component in a computer. It is a printed circuit board and it connects the CPU, RAM, and the cards which generate sound and graphics so they can communicate between each other to make a working computer system. There are many types of motherboards, those ones made more recently than others are ATX motherboards. An ATX motherboards contain the normal I/O (input-output) connectors such as USB, serial ports, PS/2.without mother board there is no way the components will work together. Case- basically a case holds together all of the components so they don’t fall apart. The type of case depends on what motherboard is used for the computer. Nowadays it is ATX so the cases for these motherboards are ATX cases. CPU- Central Processing Unit is so called a brain of a computer. The CPU performs processes and runs programs on your computer. It is needed for any action that is done on a computer. The faster the CPU the faster it will do what is required. A processor is made up of cores. The more cores it has the better it is. Nowadays most CPUs have 2 cores and some even 4. That gives a lot of power and speed when executing instructions.   RAM- Random Access Memory is used to temporarily store data which will be lost when a computer is switched off. Ram stores some of operating system data and application data while it is being ran. RAM is essential in computer performance. The more memory there is the more applications can be ran on the computer at the same time. There are many forms of Memory. Nowadays most computers use DDR2 or DDR3   Graphics Card- Graphics Card is needed to display an images on a monitor. There are AGP, PCI, PCI-E graphics. It just depends on what slot on a motherboard the card will be connected to. New graphics cards are usually made with 512MB or 1024MB of video memory which can generate graphics for all of new games.   Sound Card- sound card basically generates sound for what is ran on a computer, whether it is games, music or films. The leading sound card producer is Creative.   Modem- modem is required in a computer if you want to connect to internet. It converts the digital binary signals to analogue signals so it can be transferred in a network. There are internal modems which are connected to motherboard inside the case and others are external which connect temporarily to USB ports.   FDD- Floppy Disk Drive reads floppy disks. Those are little diskettes which hold up to 1. 44 MB. The FDDs are not installe in new computer systems as they are replaced with more spacious USB disks.   HDD- hard disk drive is a storage device. It stores the operating systems and all sorts of Data such as music, word files, films†¦ pretty much anything. It does not lose the data as a computer switches off like RAM. It stores the data and lets people access it. The capacity of hard drives is counted in Gigabytes and terabytes. The computer components have to communicate with each other in order to make an output. Motherboard allows them to communicate via BUSes which. They are little cables or printed Circuits which computer components share In order to exchange communication. There are various amounts of data that can be carried by a bus at once. They usually range from 16 to 64 bits and this is called a width of the bus. This is speed of data exchange. Also the speed of data exchange is defined by frequency of a bus. It states how many bits are sent in particular time which is usually per second. For example a CPU working with applications sends binary data, information about a picture and graphics card takes the information and puts pixels in the same way as requested and then sends it to the monitor through a cable to display it on the screen. Another example could be a CPU receiving information from RAM, processing it and sending it further to another component. Installing and configuring a printer (not plug and play) I’ve been asked to present a process of installation of a printer. With CD It is simple to do, just put the CD provided with the device into the CD Drive and go to My Computer.. After that click on the CD Drive location to explore the CD content. When explored click on the setup icon and the setup will start automatically. In the setup window click next. When done next window will come up asking to agree with the license terms. Click yes to proceed to the next stage. In the next window choose how your printer will be connected to the computer and press next. It could be either Via USB, cable or a network. When chosen press next to start the installation. When the installation process reaches 100% press finish to finalize the process And now a printer driver is installed and the printer is ready to use. I was asked to perform another installation of a device driver which in turn will be a DVD-Writer. I was provided a CD with a driver that enables the DVD- Writer to function on a system. First put the CD in the CD drive tray. When done click on my computer Icon to show the icon of the CD put in. Double click on the CD icon with the driver software to explore the content of the disc. When done double click on a Setup icon to start the installation. A window will come up letting you choose the directory of the installation. When chosen click next to proceed to another stage. In the next windows it will ask to agree to license terms. Click â€Å"agree to the license terms† and next button. The installation will start shortly. It will take quite a while to install it and when it gets to 100% press finish button to finalize the installation which will restart the computer to apply the changes to the system. After that the DVD-Writer will start functioning properly. Undertaking a final cleanup of the equipment While cleaning up the equipment health and safety standards must be met. Before taking the computer system apart I put on an anti-static wristband and put the whole computer on the anti-static mat which will prevent any flow of electricity that could damage the system and bring health issues. I make sure that the computer is not plugged in to the electricity. When I am ready I take a screwdriver and open the computer case. I Put it aside and carefully unscrew the metal bit in the middle from the computer which prevents me from manoeuvring when cleaning up. I put it aside and look what needs to be cleaned up. First I take a look at the motherboard and ribbon cables. I take a mini vacuum cleaner with brush designed for computers and carefully hoover the dusty motherboard and cables. When done I do the same with the components and I make sure that there are no liquids inside the computer and that there are no pieces of metal or plastic objects other than the components which could damage it. Then I look at the components if they are connected to the motherboard and the power supply properly and cables attached in right places. When the cleaning is done I screw the metal bit on to the computer and the case making sure the screws are firmly inside. I’ve done all the activities with special care for my own safety as well as making sure not to damage the computer. I also have to look if any components are damaged or looking dodgy replacing them if true. The outside of the case should be cleaned as well, because if dust starts to build up it can access the inside and damage the components. Take a moist cloth and wipe the surface of the case carefully till it’s clean. Be careful as some cases have few fans, do not wipe the area close to the fans as the dust could easily get wiped inside by accident Selecting upgrades for a computer system. There are many components for computer out there. Choosing the best ones will have a major influence on computer’s performance. First important upgrade could be a faster processor which is responsible for the processes running on the computer, how fast they work and how many of them can be ran at the same time. The faster the computer the faster the processes and the operating system as a whole. More RAM memory is a good choice as well when upgrading a computer. It is needed to run the applications and games. Similar to the processor the performance of the programs partially depends on RAM memory and how fast it runs. Graphics card is a very important upgrade as well. The quality of the images displayed on a screen depends on graphics card. The better the graphics card the prettier and smoother the image displayed. It is very important when playing games as it’s allows to play new games showing the best quality textures and images. A Soundcard is an important upgrade as well. Soundcard is responsible for generating the sound. The better it is the better and deeper quality of sound. It is important when playing games, music or in a studio producing music. A bigger Hard Drive is needed to store more data on a computer as well as the bigger the hard drive the faster data transfer. DVD Writer is essential if burning data to DVDs which can be used on other computers. These DVDs can contain any type of data and are quite spacious. After all the main upgrade is a motherboard which must be of good quality to connect every component for a great performance outcome. Task 2 Purpose features and functions of two operating systems Windows XP- It’s an operating system which was created by Microsoft in 2001 and was a great success. This operating system is made for ordinary people performing basic tasks but is capable of much more. Windows XP can run and is compatible with a lot of applications which makes it useful in everyday life. The main purpose of it is multimedia for people who like to enjoy themselves. It offers various applications which are already built in such as Windows Media Player which is able to play music, movies and has a lot of options of multimedia such as library, playlists or something different like basic notepad, paint which allows drawing images and saving them to share. There are also office programs in offer which allow companies to carry out their tasks regarding finances and maintenance of various departments. Windows XP was a best selling OS thanks to its stability and functionality. It is a successor to both Windows ME and Windows 2000 and it has two versions which include Windows XP home edition for home multimedia users and Windows XP professional for more advanced users with office needs. Both of them though are able to run games as well as various applications which provide fun. Windows eXPerience, because that is its full name makes work a lot easier and provides fun. The interface is easy to use and it looks nice and is intuitional and that made it a best selling Microsoft OS. It contains a lot of functions such as drag and drop like any other OS, a Taskbar at the bottom of the desktop which shows which programs are currently running on the system. The user is also able to browse internet and stream media thanks to a built in internet browser called Internet Explorer which is an ambitious name. So far Windows XP was the best system that came out rated by many customers, but that could change with release of Windows 7. Screenshot of a desktop on Windows XP professional- Linux – Linux operating system was designed as open source free software. Its functionality ranges from servers, power-computers to mobile phones and laptops. It is easy to use and its design allows customers to use it in various purposes. It is widely used as an OS for servers and programmers because it contains an interface allowing users to perform High-tech tasks thanks to its stability. The software that comes built in the OS is a free internet browser Mozilla Firefox or OpenOffice. Org which is almost the same as Microsoft Office application pack. Linux has a variety of appearance options which make it neat and good looking. There is a lot of free software compatible with linux which is related to IT field as well as a messenger and email client which makes it very useful to different groups of users but particularly IT people. The variety and accessibility to them is very good which makes linux a popular OS and it is free as well and let to distribute by people. The desktop is pretty much a window desktop and is also very intuitional. Linux OS supports dozens of programming languages which allows writing and coding in many ways. It’s secure, stable. Few of purposes are support of real time applications and fun features such as producing music, photo montage and movie making applications. This operating system was created with thought of people in IT and media creating industry and it does its job very well. Screenshot of desktop on Linux Ubuntu distribution- Compare Windows comparing to Linux is more of a multimedia system. Linux was designed for programming and creating audio or movies. It is more stable than XP and also more secure. Linux has compatibility issues with some programs as it isn’t as popular as XP but they are replaced by free applications made for linux. There are also more device drivers for XP as companies create XP-specific drivers skipping linux. Linux is much lighter than XP and can be installed onto a system on the same partition as an additional application. XP doesn’t come with a lot of useful applications and utilities and they have to be purchased externally which increases the frequency of ads. Linux in turn has a range of applications already installed by default and if not then it is easy to download them for free from reliable and safe websites. Linux can run on slower and weaker computers as well as more advanced hi-spec machines. It is already small enough unlike XP so it can be installed on tablet PCs and it will perform nicely. Linux OS is also better at multi-tasking on any machine, it’s faster and smoother however some applications work slower than XP. If working on XP there are always more security risks than linux as there are less viruses created to infect linux than XP. Using utilities There are number of utilities that support and maintain the performance and security of computer systems. I will undertake few activities using the utilities. First one and one of the main ones are installing an antivirus to prevent infections: To do that I put in the CD provided with antivirus. And go to my computer to see the if the disc is read by the CD-drive. If it is read by the computer I Click on the icon of CD-drive to explore the content of the CD. After that I look for an icon â€Å"Setup† and double click on it to start the installation process. In the main setup window I can see that it is an antivirus installation and it tells me to click â€Å"Next† to start the installation. In the next window it allows me to choose the installation type whether it is local installation or central installation. Central installation allows me to install the antivirus onto the file server and then onto particular computer systems. I choose the local installation to install it on my computer and click next. In the next window I can choose the options antivirus can perform from the beginning. I choose the intercheck client so it provides security for my computer particularly, I click next. And now finally the installation process starts. It takes quite a while to install it. When it gets to the end another window comes up asking if I want to Run the antivirus now or I just want to finish. The installation is completed. Effects of the activities These activities are done to maintain the performance and security of computer systems. Antivirus installed on a computer prevents viruses from infecting the computer as well as any other harmful software. That is a key to a fast working computer and secure. Harmful software like viruses can bring a lot of damage to the operating system causing instability and potential loss of important files. A full system scan is needed after every week of work as many files and webpages were brought on to the system and It needs checking for any harmful units to maintain the security and keep the system fast. Installation of Service Pack 2 patch is needed for new definitions of internet threats as well as performance of the OS. It brings a firewall to the system which protects the computer from harmful software coming in from the internetwork. New performance solutions makes the system faster, more stable and more reliable. Defragmenting hard drives is one of the ways to bring back data integrity lost when doing certain tasks or simply using the system. The files on hard drive get messesd up after time from various causes and need to be put in order to maintain the disk space.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Occupational Therapy

Early June 2011 my grandfather suffered a minor stroke at the age of 76. He was quickly admitted to John Muir in Walnut Creek, a few days went by and he only seemed to be getting worse; when unfortunately my family’s worst nightmare became a reality. My grandfather endured another stroke, but this time it was much more serious. This put my family in an enormous amount of emotional distress, everyone was terrified and we had no idea what was going to happen to my grandfather. It happened so fast, all we wanted were answers.But, when we got answers, they were far from what we wanted to hear. A few days after my grandfather’s second stroke my family met with his doctors who showed little hope or optimism. They told us we were lucky he was still alive, but with the condition he was in now we were never going to see him walk again, he would probably never talk again, and he was definitely never going to be able to live independently ever again. As he kept explaining to us wh at was going to happen to my grandfather’s life, the words cut like daggers.My cousins and I watched our parents bewail with sorrow as we just sat aside our grandfather’s hospital bed feeling helpless and confused. About a month went by while my grandfather was still in John Muir, and his progress was nothing to rave about. We would visit him daily, but he never seemed to be getting much better. He couldn’t eat, talk, or move, but we just reminded him to keep fighting and we knew, with hope, he would be able to make a substantial recovery. When my grandfather was dismissed from the John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek, he moved into the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Leandro.While in San Leandro, he started to receive more intense therapy, his recovery was slow but we started seeing improvements; he was able to eat solid food, without a pump, began to talk again. While visiting my grandfather in San Leandro I was introduced to occupational therapy for the first time. I had no idea what occupational therapists did or even what occupational therapy was, but as I sat in on a few of my grandfather’s sessions I became very interested. According to the World Federation of Occupational Therapy, â€Å"occupational therapy is a profession concerned with promoting health and well-being through engagement in occupation. But, when I sat down and talked with Julie Roberts, an in-home occupational therapist, she sighed, â€Å"[describing what OTs do is] really the hardest part of the job; there are so many different things we do and everyone has their own individual qualifications. † When Julie goes into a home to meet with her clients for the first time, she greets them with a smile and tells them she’s there to â€Å"help them with their job of living. † Occupational therapy is an integral part of the therapeutic aspects of a person’s recovery.Although many people may see OTs for physical disabilities, itâ₠¬â„¢s also very common for someone to go to an OT for help with their mental or emotional state. Since everyone suffers uniquely from their various disabilities, typically the therapeutic process begins with an â€Å"individualized evaluation during which the client, their family and their occupational therapist determine the individual’s goals† leading to â€Å"a customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach his/her goals† and once their therapy is over an â€Å"evaluation to monitor progression towards meeting the client’s goals† is conducted.Occupational therapists focus on â€Å"adapting the environment, modifying the task, teaching the skill, and educating the client/family in order to increase participation in and performance of daily activities. † â€Å"For instance, teaching an elderly woman with a hip replacement how to get in and out of the bath tub while minimizing her fall r isk, or helping a man recovering from a car accident use grabbers to reach things to keep his back safe. † According to Roberts the most important part of her job is helping people â€Å"adapt to living with their disability as efficiently as possible. During my visitation I went to an assisted living home in Antioch with my mentor, OT Stephanie Morano, I was able to sit in on a therapy session for a 92-year-old woman named Fern. Fern suffered from a GI bleed and although she was living somewhat independently, she had trouble moving and limited mobility. During the session I sat in on Stephanie used a balloon to help Fern feel comfortable standing and regain her balance, while strengthening her core just by making Fern stand in front of her couch while they batted the balloon back and forth.Morano is also an in-home OT, meaning her main focus is to â€Å"evaluate their [patients] level of independence, cognition, and safety. † Moreover, â€Å"occupational therapists p rovide intervention to maximize independence and function through remedial and compensatory strategies, with the ultimate goal of the client’s regaining the ability to live independently at home. † Typically in-home OTs work with the geriatric community and spend most of their days in assisted living facilities or in homes with elderly people. According to Roberts most of her elderly patients suffering from various disabilities, are retired and don’t understand why she’s there; they don’t think they need her help, until she starts showing them what she does. † Outside of home health there are a plethora of different areas to specialize in occupational therapy, a wonderful thing about this career is the ability to change your area of expertise.Roberts and Boray both adamantly told me that home health is not for beginning OTs, when doing home health you are completely isolated from any other OTs, whereas in other areas you are surrounded by othe r OTs with other specific areas of knowledge that you can ask for advice. A few of the most popular areas of specialization include pediatrics, which is working with small children in â€Å"schools, community, and child based inpatient hospitals. † Although many times children need the same type of care as adults, the specialization comes in the way that the OTs address the needs in a way to specifically benefit a child.Jennifer Boray, an OT that has worked in many areas, including pediatrics through the Mount Diablo Unified school district expressed to me that working with children is a wonderful experience to begin being an OT with because their willingness to learn and their want to succeed is fresh and enlightening. Many OTs also work in acute care hospitals, helping people stabilize their medical after a traumatic event, such as a stroke, spinal cord injury, or brain injury.Occupational therapy plays an important role in facilitating early mobilization, restoring functio n, preventing further decline, as well as coordinating the patient’s transition and discharge planning. Skilled nursing facilities also employ many OTs, in skilled nursing facilities the OTs focus on each individual’s needs and typically help with activities of daily living and self-reliance, such as dressing and eating. There are also many outpatient clinics in hospitals for patients that are in need of individual treatment, but are still able to function on their own.The many faces of occupational therapy allow Boray to â€Å"easily move through this career and learn new things every day,† she loves that if she ever â€Å"gets tired of home health care it will always be an option to find something new in this industry† but she plans on being in home health care for the rest of her life. Although occupational therapy is crucial to a person’s recovery, it is still an overlooked career in many ways. Even the OTs that I’ve talked to told me th at going into college they had no idea what occupational therapy was.Many students begin school wanting to pursue a career in physical therapy or rehabilitation when they are approached by a teacher or counselor with information about occupational therapy. Roberts explained when she went to college her career counselor suggested Julie look into occupational therapy, but she â€Å"had no idea what it was. † Like most people, she was initially confused, â€Å"so they just reteach people how to live? † But, as she investigated the career, she realized it was exactly what she was looking for.Being an OT is an extremely rewarding career, not only for the therapist, but also the patient. While my grandfather was in the hospital he began to get hopeless, he knew that he wasn’t making much of a recovery and it was hard for him to find the want to keep fighting, until he began his occupational therapy. It may not seem like a big deal, but when he isn’t able to hol d a fork or stabilize his hand to raise it to his mouth, it frustrated him, but after trying and trying with his OT he was finally able to feed himself.When he took his first bite of food by himself after his stroke, his eyes lit up and it was obvious that he was beginning to believe in himself again. As time went on, the tasks he began to strive to achieve got bigger; eventually dressing himself, showering by himself, and contrary to the doctor’s belief, walking by himself, were all things my grandfather wouldn’t have been able to do if it wasn’t for occupational therapy. Roberts professed to me her passion for helping people is what â€Å"drew [her] into occupational therapy and kept [her] there. â€Å"Seeing the joy on a sixteen year old girls face when she finally puts her hair in a ponytail for the first time is an indescribable feeling,† Julie told me, glowing, â€Å"but the thanks that comes after, the true gratitude she feels, that’s what I love. † When Boray asked me why I was interested in occupational therapy, I told her about my grandfather, and how beneficial occupational therapy was for him. After I was finished telling her about my situation she started glowing, and replied â€Å"that’s what makes it all worth it, seeing a young girl inspired by n OT makes me know that we’re doing something right. † In doing this project and researching occupational therapy, I’ve learned a lot about the career and it’s definitely something that I’m interested in pursuing in college. Since very few people are aware of what occupational therapy really is, there is a huge demand for OTs throughout the nation, and world. According to the Medical University of South Carolina, occupational therapy’s projected growth rate is over 23% from 2006 to 2016. Roberts declared that becoming an OT was â€Å"the smartest thing† she has ever done.She is a divorced single mother of t wo, who makes â€Å"more than enough† to support herself. She’s â€Å"never been out of a job† and she was easily able to take breaks for periods of time while she was having kids and traveling. Roberts affirmed that she’s never â€Å"had to fish for a job;† and in this economy, that’s impressive. I found Boray’s ability to meet with me in the early afternoon very interesting, most people working full time jobs are locked into specific hours but when I walked into her home and saw her son playing with Legos on the floor I realized how much flexibility she really had.When asking Boray how she manages working full time and having a family, she explained â€Å"that’s one of the most wonderful things about working as an OT in home health; you really create your own schedule. † Jennifer is electronically contacted by her company on a weekly basis with a list of clients for the week; she then calls all of her clients individua lly and sets up times to meet with them that work well for her.Jennifer typically meets with 5 or 6 clients a day for about 45 minutes. Boray uses many â€Å"aspects of education† in her career every day, although the majority of her classes in school focused on muscle movement, she also uses lot of her psychology classes when dealing with patients, she evaluates a person mental state and sends it back into the doctor with her evaluations of their physical progress, â€Å"it’s a really interesting part of the job, but it can get tough. She also has to use her medical knowledge to deem what is appropriate for every client, for instance â€Å"if someone’s range of motion is limited because of a car accident but [she] notices they show signs of also possibly having a blood clot† she reports that to the doctor as well. Roberts agreed that the most important personality trait to have as an OT is â€Å"without a doubt, being a problem solver. † After wi tnessing the positive effects of occupational therapy, I’ve become very passionate about the career and spreading awareness about the benefits of this specific kind of therapy.I hope that with my video I will be able to show the class, exactly what occupational therapy is and how it positively affects the people who endure it. I would love for everyone to develop the same appreciation for occupational therapy as I have and really see the benefits of them. The flexibility in this career, along with the rewarding aspects have made it something I am greatly considering to pursue. Seeing my grandfather, along with Fern, and the women that I interviewed gave me an insight to this career that wouldn’t have been possible without my extensive research and strive to learn more.I’m immensely glad that I chose this topic to pursue and I think it will have a direct impact on my life, my mentor was wonderful and helped my very much through this entire process. I was inspired to join the American Occupational Therapy Association and am now periodically given information about breaking innovations in occupational therapy, as well as connecting with OTs in our area and starting to get my name out there, hopefully leading to helpful opportunities in pursuing this career in the near future.I’ve enjoyed expanding my knowledge about occupational therapy in general, and I found it very comforting that everyone I’ve been around in this career was so kind and willing to help; last summer before I ever even though about doing this for my project I was interested in learning more about being an OT and I’m glad I was motivated to do so because this was a life-changing experience.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Louvre and Louvre Geneviève Bresc

Louvre and Louvre Genevià ¨ve Bresc Louvre and Louvre Genevià ¨ve Bresc-boutier Essay | The Louvre: A National Museum in a Royal Palace by Genevià ¨ve Bresc-Bautier Chief curator of National Heritage, Genevià ¨ve Bresc-Bautier has been responsible for the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French sculpture collections of the Louvre Museum since 1976. She has published a number of articles and catalogues in this field. In addition, since 1989, she has been in charge of the history of the Louvre and ensures the management of the halls exhibiting paintings and sculptures that were part of the Louvre’s decor, served as models for the decor, or represent the palace or the museum’s halls. Originally a castle, the Louvre has witnessed the achievements of eight centuries of history. It has been a museum for the past two centuries. Open to the public in 1793, the museum did not include the whole of the palace until 1993. It is thus after a long process of transformation that art and culture have slowly kept up with politics. It was necessary to take into consideration centuries of history, architectural transformations, and immemorial customs attached to the place, in order to make a modern museum that offers the public prestigious collections of internationally recognised quality, presented, highlighted, and restored according to rigorous norms; but also one that provides visitors, whose numbers keep growing – more than 5,700,000 in 2002 – with all the facilities they require: escalators and elevators to comfortably access the floors, restaurants and cafeterias to rest at, guided visits, workshops, publications, and earphones to help guide, understand and go further, in the discovery of civilisations, of art and world cultures. museum INTERNATIONAL ISSN 1350-0775, no. 217 (vol. 55, no. 1, 2003) Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ (UK) and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148 (USA) 61 BEYOND THE BORDERS History of the palace Originally a fortress close to the edge of the city, the Louvre was a dungeon surrounded by a thick wall mounted with towers, a place of defence which made it possible to shelter, when necessary, the royal treasure or prestigious prisoners. Constructed to defend Paris while King Philippe-August left for the Crusades at the end of the twelfth century, the castle experienced the first transformation into a royal residence around 1360, under Charles V. Becoming one of the residences of a monarchy in constant movement, the Louvre housed what one could consider as the starting point for its future: a library of manuscripts, which the King, considered to be a scholar, would consult in his ‘library tower’. In the history of the Louvre, this medieval castle has been nothing but a memory, known only through illuminations and paintings, and an archaeological survey conducted in 1860. Partially destroyed in 1528, and then totally destroyed in the middle of the seventeenth century, it was brought back to life in 1984–85 by excavations undertaken while the museum was undergoing modernisation. Now visible, the castle moat and thick walls, the foundations of the dungeon and the lower hall with its ribbed vaulting, form a tour of the ‘Medieval Louvre’ which allows the presentation of different objects found during the excavations. The Renaissance was the second great period of its history. Franà §ois I decided to build a palace in a new style for his capital. While he was not able to finish the project of an entirely new building, which was entrusted to the architect Serlio, he nevertheless had the dungeon and a wing of the old quadrilateral building knocked down. Under the reign of his son, Henri II, the task of 62 constructing a new wing was given to the architect Pierre Lescot, assisted by the sculptor Jean Goujon. This project included a large pavillion to house the King’s apartments, and then another wing for the apartments of the Queen. During this period, a certain type of architecture and decor developed which would serve as a reference to all the architects that

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Domestication History of Cotton (Gossypium)

The Domestication History of Cotton (Gossypium) Cotton (Gossypium sp.) is one of the most important and earliest domesticated non-food crops in the world. Used primarily for its fiber, cotton was domesticated independently in both the Old and New Worlds. The word cotton originated from the Arabic term al qutn, which became in Spanish algodà ³n and cotton in English. Key Takeaways: Domestication of Cotton Cotton is one of the earliest domesticated non-food crops, independently domesticated at least four different times in four different parts of the world.  The first cotton domesticate was from the wild tree form in Pakistan or Madagascar at least 6,000 years ago; the next oldest was domesticated in Mexico about 5,000 years ago.  Cotton processing, taking the cotton bolls and making them into fibers, is a global technique; spinning those fibers into strings for weaving was anciently accomplished by the use of spindle whorls in the New World and spinning wheels in the Old World.   Nearly all the cotton produced in the world today is the New World species Gossypium hirsutum, but before the 19th century, several species were grown on different continents. The four domesticated Gossypium species of the Malvaceae family are G. arboreum L., domesticated in the Indus Valley of Pakistan and India; G. herbaceum L. from Arabia and Syria; G. hirsutum from Mesoamerica; and G. barbadense from South America. All four domestic species and their wild relatives are shrubs or small trees which are traditionally grown as summer crops; domesticated versions are highly drought- and salt-tolerant crops that grow well in marginal, arid environments. Old World cotton has short, coarse, weak fibers that are today primarily used for stuffing and quilt making; New World cotton has higher production demands but provides longer and stronger fibers and higher yields. Making Cotton Wild cotton is photo-period sensitivein other words, the plant begins to germinate when the day length reaches a certain point. Wild cotton plants are perennial and their form is sprawling. Domestic versions are short, compact annual shrubs which do not respond to changes in day lengththats an advantage if the plant grows in places with cool winters because both wild and domestic kinds of cotton are frost-intolerant. Cotton fruits are capsules or bolls which contain several seeds covered by two kinds of fiber: short ones called fuzz and long ones called lint. Only the lint fibers are useful for making textiles, and the domestic plants have larger seeds covered with comparatively abundant lint. Cotton is traditionally harvested by hand, and then the cotton is ginnedprocessed to separate the seeds from the fiber. After the ginning process, the cotton fibers are batted with a wooden bow to make them more flexible and carded with a hand comb to separate the fibers before spinning. Spinning twists the individual fibers into a yarn, which can be completed by hand with a spindle and spindle whorl (in the New World) or with a spinning wheel (developed in the Old World). Old World Cotton Cotton was first domesticated in the Old World about 7,000 years ago; the earliest archaeological evidence for cotton use is from the Neolithic occupation of Mehrgarh, in the Kachi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, in the sixth millennium BC. Cultivation of G. arboreum began in the Indus Valley of India and Pakistan, and then eventually spread over Africa and Asia, whereas G. herbaceum was first cultivated in Arabia and Syria. The two main species, G. arboreum and G. herbaceum, are genetically very different and probably diverged well before domestication. Specialists agree that the wild progenitor of G. herbaceum was an African species, whereas the ancestor of G. arboreum is still unknown. Regions of the possible origin of the G. arboreum wild progenitor are likely Madagascar or the Indus Valley, where the most ancient evidence for cultivated cotton has been found. Gossypium arboreum Abundant archaeological evidence exists for the initial domestication and use of G. arboreum, by the Harappan (aka Indus Valley) civilization in Pakistan. Mehrgarh, the earliest agricultural village in the Indus Valley, holds multiple lines of evidence of cotton seeds and fibers beginning about 6000 BP. At Mohenjo-Daro, fragments of cloth and cotton textiles have been dated to the fourth millennium BCE, and archaeologists agree that most of the trade that made the city grow was based on cotton exportation. Raw material and finished cloth were exported from South Asia into Dhuweila in eastern Jordan by 6450–5000 years ago, and to Maikop (Majkop or Maykop) in the northern Caucasus by 6000 BP. Cotton fabric has been found at Nimrud in Iraq (8th–7th centuries BCE), Arjan in Iran (late 7th–early 6th centuries BCE) and Kerameikos in Greece (5th century BCE). According to Assyrian records of Sennacherib (705–681 BCE), cotton was grown in the royal botanical gardens at Nineveh, but cool winters there would have made large-scale production impossible. Because G. arboreum is a tropical and subtropical plant, cotton agriculture did not spread outside the Indian subcontinent until thousands of years after its domestication. Cotton cultivation is first seen in the Persian Gulf at Qalat al-Bahrain (ca 600–400 BCE), and in North Africa at Qasr Ibrim, Kellis and al-Zerqa between the 1st and 4th centuries CE. Recent investigations at Karatepe in Uzbekistan have found cotton production dated between ca. 300–500 CE. G. arboreum is thought to have been introduced into China as an ornamental plant about 1,000 years ago. Cotton may have been grown in the Xinjiang (China) province cities of Turfan and Khotan by the 8th century CE. Cotton was finally adapted to grow in more temperate climates by the Islamic Agricultural Revolution, and between 900–1000 CE, a boom in cotton production spread into Persia, Southwest Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. Gossypium herbaceum G. herbaceum is much less well-known than G. arboreum. Traditionally it is known to grow in African open forests and grasslands. Characteristics of its wild species are a taller plant, compared to the domesticated shrubs, smaller fruit, and thicker seed coats. Unfortunately, no clear domesticated remains of G. herbaceum have been recovered from archaeological contexts. However, the distribution of its closest wild progenitor suggests a northward distribution toward North Africa, and the Near East. New World Cotton Among the American species, G. hirsutum was apparently cultivated first in Mexico, and G. barbadense later in Peru. However, a minority of researchers believe, alternatively, that the earliest type of cotton was introduced into Mesoamerica as an already domesticated form of G. barbadense from coastal Ecuador and Peru. Whichever story ends up to be correct, cotton was one of the first non-food plants domesticated by the prehistoric inhabitants of the Americas. In the Central Andes, especially in the north and central coasts of Peru, cotton was part of a fishing economy and a marine-based lifestyle. People used cotton to make fishing nets and other textiles. Cotton remains have been recovered in many sites on the coast especially in residential middens. Gossypium hirsutum (Upland cotton) The oldest evidence of Gossypium hirsutum in Mesoamerica comes from the Tehuacan valley and has been dated between 3400 and 2300 BCE. In different caves of the region, archaeologists affiliated to the project of Richard MacNeish found remains of fully domesticated examples of this cotton. Recent studies have compared bolls and cotton seeds retrieved from excavations in Guila Naquitz Cave, Oaxaca, with living examples of wild and cultivated G. hirsutum punctatum growing along the east coast of Mexico. Additional genetic studies (Coppens dEeckenbrugge and Lacape 2014) support the earlier results, indicating that G. hirsutum was likely originally domesticated in the Yucatn Peninsula. Another possible center of domestication for G. hirsutum is the Caribbean. In different eras and among different Mesoamerican cultures, cotton was a highly demanded good and a precious exchange item. Maya and Aztec merchants traded cotton for other luxury items, and nobles adorned themselves with woven and dyed mantles of the precious material. Aztec kings often offered cotton products to noble visitors as gifts and to army leaders as payment. Gossypium barbadense (Pima cotton) G. barbadense cultivars are known for their production of high-quality fiber and called variously Pima, Egyptian, or Sea Island cotton. The first clear evidence of domesticated Pima cotton comes from the Ancà ³n-Chillà ³n area of the central coast of Peru. The sites in this area show the domestication process began during the Preceramic period, beginning about 2500 BCE. By 1000 BCE the size and shape of Peruvian cotton bolls were indistinguishable from todays modern cultivars of G. barbadense. Cotton production began on the coasts, but eventually moved inland, facilitated by the construction of canal irrigation. By the Initial Period, sites such as Huaca Prieta contained domestic cotton 1,500 to 1,000 years before pottery and maize cultivation. Unlike in the old world, cotton in Peru was initially part of subsistence practices, used for fishing and hunting nets, as well as textiles, clothing and storage bags. Sources Bouchaud, Charlà ¨ne, Margareta Tengberg, and Patricia Dal Pr. Cotton Cultivation and Textile Production in the Arabian Peninsula During Antiquity; the Evidence from Madà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢in Sà ¢lih (Saudi Arabia) and Qal’at Al-Bahrain (Bahrain). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 20.5 (2011): 405–17. Print.Brite, Elizabeth Baker, and John M. Marston. Environmental Change, Agricultural Innovation, and the Spread of Cotton Agriculture in the Old World. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32.1 (2013): 39–53. Print.Coppens dEeckenbrugge, Geo, and Jean–Marc Lacape. Distribution and Differentiation of Wild, Feral, and Cultivated Populations of Perennial Upland Cotton ( PLoS ONE 9.9 (2014): e107458. Print.Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean.Du, Xiongming, et al. Resequencing of 243 Diploid Cotton Accessions Based on an Updated a Genome Identifies the Genetic Basis of Key Agronomic Traits. Nature Genetics 50.6 (2018): 796–802. Print.Mou lherat, Christophe, et al. First Evidence of Cotton at Neolithic Mehrgarh, Pakistan: Analysis of Mineralized Fibres from a Copper Bead. Journal of Archaeological Science 29.12 (2002): 1393–401. Print. Nixon, Sam, Mary Murray, and Dorian Fuller. Plant Use at an Early Islamic Merchant Town in the West African Sahel: The Archaeobotany of Essouk–Tadmakka (Mali). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 20.3 (2011): 223–39. Print.Reddy, Umesh K., et al. Genome-Wide Divergence, Haplotype Distribution and Population Demographic Histories for Gossypium Hirsutum and Gossypium Barbadense as Revealed by Genome–Anchored SNPs. Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 41285. Print.Renny–Byfield, Simon, et al. Independent Domestication of Two Old World Cotton Species. Genome Biology and Evolution 8.6 (2016): 1940–47. Print.Wang, Maojun, et al. Asymmetric Subgenome Selection and Cis-Regulatory Divergence During Cotton Domestication. Nature Genetics 49 (2017): 579. Print.Zhang, Shu–Wen, et al. Mapping of Fiber Quality Qtls Reveals Useful Variation and Footprints of Cotton Domestication Using Introgression Lines. Scientific Reports 6 (2016): 31954. Print. Updated by K. Kris Hirst

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Evaluation of legal and ethical impacts on quality and access to Research Paper - 1

Evaluation of legal and ethical impacts on quality and access to patient care in managed care practices - Research Paper Example f both state and federal standards with regards to the healthcare industry and by analyzing the key trends that exist within the industry as a function of seeking to hire or contract legal expertise and advice to the requesting entity (Lynk et al 2008). Such an understanding is useful for the purpose of this proposed research due to the fact that the author hopes that by proving that a verifiable link exists between the level of legal representation within the industry and the level and quality of care provided, the researcher will be able to demonstrably prove that this is a key determinant within healthcare and its overall improvement and offerings to the end consumer; both within specialized fields such as secondary care and elsewhere. Similarly, the second work of scholarship that this brief analysis has chosen to review is that of the National Academy of Sciences, â€Å"Legal Issues in Quality of Care Oversight in the United States: Recent Developments†. As such, the piece seeks to track the level of legal changes that are manifesting themselves throughout the United States while at the same time seeking to analyze how, if at all, these changes are providing for an increase or decrease in the quality of care (Jost 2003). As a means of measuring this, the authors set out to approach the issue from both a legal requirement standpoint as well as one of economic sustainability; much the same as the one which has been utilized in the first article that has been reviewed. It is of course the intention of this author that this piece, as well as the proceeding piece will help to draw specific levels of analysis with regards to the levels that current and past legal obligations and their subsequent implementations within the field of healthcare have affected the quality of care provided. It should be further noted that the authors of these pieces have stated that the economics of further regulation and legal obligations that the current environment necessarily