Monday, December 23, 2019

Ancient Civilizations Of Mesopotamia And Mesopotamia

Sumerian (3500-2300BC)Babylonian (1792-1750 BC) both belong to civilizations of Mesopotamia, but they existed different period. The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia are the source of the earliest surviving art; these civilizations were situated between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Dating back to 3500 B.C.E., Mesopotamian art was intended to serve as a way to glorify powerful rulers and their connection to divinity. Art was made from natural resources such as stone, shells, alabaster and marble, and was often created as didactic pieces. No artist signatures can be found on most of the work, because the pieces were meant to embody the subject matter, rather than the creator. Popular items that typify this time period include cylindrical seals, steles, narrative relief sculptures, and lavishly decorated tombs. More than 4,000 years ago the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers began to teem with life--first the Sumerian, then the Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Per sian empires. Here too excavations have unearthed evidence of great skill and artistry. Examples of fine works in marble, diorite, hammered gold, and lapis lazuliahve been found. Stone, wood, and metal was imported. Sumerian art and architecture was ornate and complex - primarily used for religious purposes - painting and sculpture the main median used. Of the many portraits produced in this area, some of the best are those of Gudea, ruler of Lagash. Some of the portraits are in marble,Show MoreRelatedAncient Mesopotamia And Ancient Civilizations896 Words   |  4 Pages Throughout many cultures in ancient civilizations, humans have held a belief in superior beings to which they called gods. The gods, in the eyes of many of the ancient people, were responsible for many things such as crop growth, storms, fertility, and even creation of life. The Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and the Hebrews all had gods that they interacted with. Understanding the likenesses and differences in how these people interacted with their gods might give us an insight to how similar or differentRead MoreMesopotamia And Its Impact On Ancient Civilization994 Words   |  4 PagesMesopotamia, or â€Å"land between the rivers† as the name translates to in Greek, is exactly as it states; in the region of southwestern Asia, the land itself is named for it s initial position between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. However, Mesopotamia can be defined as having a reach into what is now Syria, Turkey and most of Iraq (History of Mesopotamia, 2016). This ancient civilization hou ses one of the earliest cities throughout human history, appearing around 3500 BC, though human settlementRead MoreEssay on Egypt, Mesopotamia and Ancient Greek Civilizations1810 Words   |  8 PagesMichael Jones 10/5/2012 Cabrera Egypt, Mesopotamia and Ancient Greek Civilizations The Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, and Greeks were some of the oldest complex societies, although similar in many aspects. Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, land in and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers usually known as modern day Iraq and Eastern Syria.(24) In Egypt, the Nile River creates a fertile valley which is rich in nutrients and essential to their survival. The Nile flows fromRead MoreSimilarities And Differences Between Civilizations, Mesopotamia And Ancient China868 Words   |  4 PagesMany of the early world civilizations had similar experiences when evolving to become the influential societies that affected other societies. They were called the first civilizations because they were able to form the first functional communities, successful systems of organized laws over people, the distinction of social classes, economic income, and development of arts and educations. Two of histories well-known civilizations, Mesopotamia and Ancient China had similar experiences in the beginningsRead More Exploring The Four Ancient Civilizations- Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Israel1009 Words   |  5 Pagesnumerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Israel are all important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, theseRead MoreHow Did the Geographic Features of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia Impact Civilization Development?1786 Words   |  8 Pagesimpacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient CultureRead MoreRelevance Of Mesopotamia Essay1566 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The relevance of ancient Mesopotamia can be simply stated: Mesopotamia produced the world’s first humanists - studying ancient Mesopotamia enables students to explore what it is to be human,† (Jamieson Ancient Mesopotamia: Discovering Civilisation 23). The Fertile Crescent is where the start of civilization occurred, and it is often called the ‘cradle of civilization,’ (Jamieson Ancient Mesopotamia: Discovering Civilisation 23). Understanding the development, the of civilization in the Fertile CrescentRead MoreMesopotamia, Egypt and China Essay871 Words   |  4 PagesThe civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China were all different but were also developed similar ways of doing things. The political, economic and intellectual outlooks of these ancient peoples say a lot about their ways of life. The religious views of Egypt and Mesopotamia were rather different. II. Politics The political thinking of these ancient civilizations definitely had their differences and also their similarities. A. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia was divided into city-statesRead MoreTrends in Ancient Civilizations1234 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Trends in Ancient Civilizations Over the course of human history, humans and our ancestors have made tremendous strides. From Homo habilis making the first stone tools to the Egyptians building The Pyramids of Giza, human history is nothing short of intriguing. If it wouldn’t have been for each stride made by our ancestors we probably wouldn’t live in the world that we live in today. When the Neolithic Era began in 9600 BCE, human civilizations gradually started to spring up all over the worldRead MoreEssay on Compare and Contrast Egypt and Mesopotamia901 Words   |  4 Pagesdeveloped around the Nile River, while Mesopotamia developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Egypt and Mesopotamia grew into complex civilizations. Politically, both Egypt and Mesopotamia had a government with one main ruler, but Egypt had a centralized government with a pharaoh, while Mesopotamia had a decentralized government with a king. Socially, both civilizations were patriarchal, but Egypt was more lenient tow ards women while Mesopotamia was stricter. The political and social

Sunday, December 15, 2019

‘the Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson Free Essays

‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson is a short story that uses plot. characterisation and suspense to develop several themes. In doing so Jackson deepens our understanding of people and the nature of society. We will write a custom essay sample on ‘the Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson or any similar topic only for you Order Now The story begins in a growing village which holds an annual lottery, but instead of being rewarded the person who receives the marked paper gets stoned to death. This itself demonstrates one of the main themes of man’s inhumanity to man. Jackson also shows this by telling the reader that it is a small community that murders one of its own members which shows the shocking and cruel nature achieved by humans. We can see this by looking at the start of the story when a group of boys play at the lake: â€Å"Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example† This shows inhumanity in an unclear way because the reader doesn’t know why they are doing collecting stones but soon realise at the end that it was so they could throw them at the person who was about to get stoned. Another aspect which shows that the civilisation is inhumane is that the village barely conceal the savagery of killing a member of its own community. Jackson shows this by telling us that the killings are done by ‘decent’ people who are show themselves to be kind generous people, but a family realises that it is no their family they proceed with an unsympathetic disinterest for the family that does receive the marked paper. Also, the village does not attempt to hide their actions from other villages, which tells us that they think that their actions are the right actions to take. This story also makes the reader question: â€Å"Is life expandable? It may make us think of this because good innocent people still suffer, and that it was all down to chance that decides what happens to whom. Characterisation adds something to our understanding of nature and society because the author does not focus on one character alone or tell anything about them; instead Jackson focuses on a group of people united by a common objective, which is to avoid receiving the marked paper which will conclude in the person being stoned to death . When looking at the characterisation of the characters, it is important to know that Jackson does not give any detail about any of the characters. We can see this when Tessie Hutchison first arrives at the lottery ceremony: â€Å"Mrs Hutchison came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place. † This proves that Jackson doesn’t go into any detail when it comes to the characters, because when we first see Mrs Hutchison, it tells us that she has a jumper over her shoulders, yet does not tell us what she looks like or what else she is wearing. This does not happen to just one character but all characters throughout the story. `Although all the characters aren’t given in any detail, there are a few characters that stand out through the story. The main person who stands out is the character who gets stoned to death, which happens to be Tessie Hutchison who was also late for the lottery ceremony. When it was Mrs Hutchison who received the marked paper and was chosen to be stoned to death she exclaims: â€Å"â€Å"It isn’t fair, it isn’t right! † Mrs Hutchison screamed, and then they were upon her. This shows Tessie’s selfish nature because she hasn’t objected to any of the stoning’s before, even though it is wrong and cruel. In this context ‘fair’ and ‘right’ mean the same thing to Tessie because it was her who received the marked paper and not someone else, and if it was someone else she would’ve took part in the stoning. This also reflects th e cruel nature of the whole community because they are happy to murder one of their own members as long as it is not themselves that gets stoned. Another character which stands out is Mr Summers, the organiser of the lottery. Mr Summers is perceived as a cold hearted person near the end of the story even though at the start he is saw as a person who â€Å"had time and energy to devote to civic activities† which tells us that he is saw as a nice kind person. We can see that he is actually a cold hearted person after Tessie receives the marked paper. â€Å"â€Å"That was done pretty fast, now we’ve got to be hurrying a little more to get done I time. †Ã¢â‚¬  This shows that he is cold hearted because he says that sentence as if he has better things to do. It also tells us that he is a very organised person because he talks like he is sticking to a specific timetable. Another important group of characters are at the very beginning of the story. They are the children. The children are important because they create suspense in the beginning of the story and also show how the savagery of the parents is transferred onto the children and they will then grow up believing in the same things as their parents. It also shows that the nature of people and society are cruel because they are only children and no one thinks that children playing by a lake are evil. We can see that the children are related to the savagery of man towards man when we look at the children by the lake. â€Å"Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example† This shows the barbaric nature of the village because it is only the start of the story and already children are preparing for the stoning of a person in their village. The Lottery’ is quite different from other short stories, because short stories are usually made up of three main things: * A normal beginning * Some sort of adventure occurs and the main character gets dragged into the plot * And some sort of twist at the end. ‘The Lottery’ is not like most short stories because it has the same story line all the way throughout, and doesn’t involve any action or adventure. However there is a twist at the end because the reader doesn’t suspect that the person is going to be stoned to death, and it is only until we re-read the story that we realise that everything was connected to each other in some way. For example the boys picking up the stones at the beginning and then throwing them at Tessie at the end. Jackson also creates suspense to add something to our understanding of people and the nature of society. Jackson creates suspense by giving full details of the preparation of the lottery to stall for a while before actually talking about the lottery. She also creates suspense by creating lots of conversations among the villagers, which also shows the barbarity of the village because they all talk to each other like normal neighbours would, and makes the reader unaware of what is about to happen. In conclusion, Shirley Jackson has made me aware that people may think that they are civilised, but we also have the potential to be barbaric savages who all follow one leader. It has also made me aware that society can turn against you if people think it is for the right reasons. How to cite ‘the Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Thesis About English Proficiency Among Bshrm Students free essay sample

The researchers also wanted to  thank their family  who inspired ,encouraged and fully supported for every trials that comes in their way . In giving them not just financial ,but morally and spiritually . To their group  mates  who willingly helped gather the  necessary  data’s and  information  needed  for  this  compilation. The researchers also  wanted  to express their  gratitude to all the people  who have given their heart whelming fullsupport  in  making  this  compilation  a  magnificent  experience  . For being hospitable, a special thanks to the Staff and Administrator of National Library. Their thanks must go also to the Librarians and Faculty staff who give them a full support for making their thesis. To God the father of all ,they thank for the strength that keep them standing  and for  the hope  that  keep  them  believing that  this  would  be possible  and  more  interesting. Only then can he/she be sure that the learning experience is pleasant, relevant and realistic to the learner. Since English is very much a part of the intellectual and social life of most Filipinos, It plays an important role in relation to all school activities s well as to life outside the school. It is in the vein that the English language is still a medium of instruction in the present Philippine educational system mandated in article XIV sec. 07 of the 1987 constitution. As the country’s second language, the significance of mastering skills in English is clearly recognized by the school system. English Proficiency is considered one of the indicators of a student’s success. A proficient English speaker and writer possess a valuable tool that open him a vast storehouse of knowledge and opportunities that he uncovers between covers of any printed medium and conversations. Educators and even leaders are alarmed by the seeming retrogression of the youth and students in the learning of the language. Many teachers lament or bewail the inability of their students to communicate effectively in English. Educators and even administrators are concerned with the negative turn off events. Since formal education is the best vehicle for language learning, it is not surprisingly why the school is the easy suspect for the problem. If learning takes place in the school, as indeed it does, then English instruction should be improved. Many factors could be cited for the deterioration of English in the country- taking most of the blame is school. Communication Arts in English is one of the core subjects in college. Yet, for all its importance, English teachers have been played a great number obstacles in their attempt to create an ideal communicative learning situation in the classroom. English, as a second language, requires a good deal of mastering before it can be used adequately by the student. This suggests that teacher’s parents and school officials should be aware of the student’s strengths and weaknesses so as to avoid activities that may prove to be hindrance in language learning in the classroom. The identification of the strengths and weaknesses as well as problems and deficiencies constitutes one of the basic functions of the educative process. It allows for the objective evaluation of learning gains as well as the identification of answers were difficulties or obstacles are present. It follows that teaching standards have to be streamlined and raised. One way of doing this is through the development of language skills using present structures of the students Language. It becomes imperative therefore that both skills and deficiencies, in English be identified toward a view of correcting them. Collarly to this, the researcher believes that the variables which bear a relationship to the proficiency in English need to be studied and analyzed and therefore, must be identified to strengthen their effects. The ability to read and comprehend English makes vast amounts of Philippine history and heritage, along with East Asian and world history, accessible to Filipinos. Constantly promoting English, as a means for contract workers to find jobs abroad or in domestic call centers, perpetuates a colonial mentality and degrades an important academic discipline. English should be regarded primarily as an educational tool which enhances a students or the general publics knowledge of the Philippines, builds up national intellectual capabilities and enriches national culture and identity. Books in English also open up vast reservoirs of collective human nowledge regarding world history, science, religion, political theory, literature and the arts. Works originally written in English or translated into modern English over the last several centuries make up the largest repository of printed information. Despite the marvels of the Internet, I still believe reading full-length printed books is the best way to absorb complex information. Spend a few hours in a library or in any of the new bookstores opening in the malls around Manila and you will be surrounded by an overwhelming number of fascinating publications for all ages and all interests. There are illustrated books and magazines ranging in topic from art to architecture, biology to biography, cooking to crime, erotica, the environment, finance, fiction, gardening, philosophy, sports, travel and on and on. This phenomenon of big, full service bookstore chains, many connected to international publishers, is blossoming in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong and in upscale malls around the world. For harder to find or out-of-print books just click Amazon or ABE books on the Internet and search by title, author or subject. If the Philippines loses its college level English language skills, which seems to be happening at present, it will be losing access to much of its own indigenous history and national memory. Some parochial nationalists argue that this is just fine with them; let the nation build its future on a local Malay-based language such as Tagalog. What they overlook is that the majority of educated Filipinos have been writing in English or have been translated into English from Spanish for well over a century. Despite the fact that many Filipinos were reported to be literate in various dialects at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1565 there is virtually no evidence of a substantial canon of work written in native Filipino languages. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries there were travel accounts of the Philippines in Spanish, French and English, voluminous reports to Spain by officials and friars, and Spanish dictionaries of Filipino languages phonetically spelled out in the Roman alphabet. Many Filipinos were writing eloquently in Spanish in the 19th century — Jose Rizal, Pedro Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, ApolinarioMabini, and other leaders of the Philippine Revolution and Wenceslao E. Retana, the great bibliographer. During the first years of American occupation of the country, American scholars translated thousands of Spanish books and documents into English and added a tremendous amounts of new sociological, cultural and scientific information in their lengthy reports. Emma Blair and James A.Robertsons 55 volume, annotated set of Philippine historical material is an outstanding example of the American dedication to written documentation. By the 1920s and onwards Filipinos such as Maximo M. Kalaw, Claro M. Recto, Manuel Quezon, CamiloOsias and Rafael Palma were writing in both Spanish and English. After the Second World War, major Filipino writers wrote mostly in English, including National Artists for Literature Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose and Bien Lumbrera. Political theorists like Renato Constantino and eminent historian O. D.Corpuz, Resil B. Mojares, also choose English. These are just a few of the distinguished Filipino thinkers and writers who wrote almost all their work in Spanish and later in English. Today the large majority of Filipino writers, historians, scholars and journalists are working almost entirely in English. English is very much part and parcel of the Philippines national birthright. Unfortunately for the ardent nationalists, the sheer practicality of trying to acquire a college graduate level education in the humanities solely in Filipino is not feasible. Young people in third world countries, especially in the case of the Philippines, can spurn the serious study of foreign languages in the name of national sovereignty but ironically they will end up sacrificing a large portion of their own national memory and individual heritage. A nation that forgets its past identity and place in world history is ill-prepared for the inevitable challenges of future colonial pressures. Pop culture flooding the Philippines from other Asian countries is as shallow as anything Hollywood churned out in the 1950s. The serious thinking arriving here from our East Asian neighbors is almost all in the form of books published in English in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Filipino regional languages and their many spoken dialects are beautiful and deeply expressive of local cultures and the modern Philippine nation. They represent ancient and modern oral and written traditions which capture the finest nuances of the Filipino character and the Filipino world. However, as is true in all parts of the world, local languages are dying off or being hybridized at a rapidly increasing rate. Much is being done to try to record and save these linguistic traditions but the loss is an inevitable result of high-speed, electronic, global communication. The positive side of this phenomenon is that greater and greater numbers of people across the globe are now able to communicate with each other in the remaining international languages and can share massive amounts of knowledge and information, stored in the collective libraries and archives of the world. The current government policy seems to give every poor Filipino a bit of fractured English and send them on their way abroad, hopefully to earn foreign exchange. No class of people should be groomed to be overseas workers; they need jobs here at home, near their families, in the country they love. The high social cost of this public policy is broken homes, not to mention that intelligent and motivated citizens are being forced overseas when they should be home mentoring their children. Working the graveyard shift at call centers catering to foreign clients, is not much more desirable. Tremendous resources, local and foreign, are now being spent on teaching English to impoverished elementary school kids. The current mantra being that English is ones passport out of the Philippines to high-paying jobs. It would be better to strongly promote English for high school and college students, especially reading and writing skills, so they can build a strong new nation from within, on their own terms. Rich Filipinos automatically provide their children with this type of English instruction. It should be available to all who want it. High-quality text books, instructional material, libraries and reading centers should be available in every high school and college with standardized testing and mandatory reading assignments. Not only English but Chinese and Spanish should be promoted by the Board of Education. For the evolving Philippine middle class this would create a new generation of highly articulate readers and writers with excellent abilities to access information and form critical opinions and thoughtful analysis of their society and leaders. By (Jonathan Best is the curator for the Ortigas Foundation Library and Philippine Studies Center in Pasig. ) Box 1 contains the input. The description of who the respondents are. It includes year level, Parent’s educational attainment, Parent’s occupation, combined family income, secondary school graduated, final grade in English IV. The techniques and method that will be implemented to assess the respondents English Proficiency and identify some factors that need intervention in order to arrive at the expected outcome. Box 3 contains output. The perceived outcome of the study that is an HRM Student that is proficient in English and effective in communication skills will eventually excel in his/her future careers. This study is focused on the English Proficiency level of BSHRM students especially on their communication skills, reading, listening, speaking, and writing ability.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

War And Peace Essays - French Invasion Of Russia, War And Peace

War And Peace War and Peace The famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace in 1865. It is a story about the lives of the Russian royal family from 1805 to 1815. This book depicts things and events that happened during the war. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, Austrian, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Britain. However, the novel mainly focuses on Russia. It reflects the different views and participation in the war of Russian aristocracy. Showing the war, Tolstoy describes Napoleon's attack on Russia, the battle of Borodino, the slow retrieval of the Russian army, the conquest of Moscow by Napoleon, the fire in Moscow, and the retrieval of Napoleon's army during a deadly winter. Napoleon had to retreat from Russia under attacks by Russian peasants and horsemen on those who fell behind. His army also suffers from cold and hunger, since the Russians destroyed all food supplies. The takeover of Moscow by Napoleon proved to be useless, and in the long run, destroyed a large part of his army. Alongside with these historical events, Tolstoy describes the different classes of Russian society in the terms of their participation in the war and what kind of an impact war had on their lives. In the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class, which was in the czar's circle, wanted Russia to participate in the war. They wanted a quick victory and pride for the Russian nobility. They did not anticipate that the war would destroy homes, agriculture, and take many Russian lives. There are the good people, and of course, the bad. The good people being Natasha Rostov, a teenage girl who grows and matures throughout the book and Pierre Bezuhov, the son of Kirill Vladmirovitch Bezuhov, who speaks much of the novel expressing his purpose on earth. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, the leader of the Bolkonsky family and a great war hero. The bad people are the protagonists themselves, as they torment themselves and Napoleon Bonaparte, (who, by some, is believed to be an impostor) the emperor and military leader of France, whom is bent on world domination. The Secondary characters are the families of Bolkonsky and Kuragin, Anna Pavolvna, a famous St. Petersburg socialite and Kutuzof, the military leader of the Russian forces. This class is shown in Anna Pavlova Sharer's salon, with its upper class aristocracy, who talk only in French, viewing the Russian language as uncivilized and useful only for peasants. They adopted French culture and wear French style clothing, and at the same time they want to fight Napoleon. However, the majority of this class doesn't want to participate themselves in the war, but want to win the war with the hands of the peasants. These aristocrats, despite their high education and power, will do nothing to help win the war. They live like parasites on the body of Russia's society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war. Depicting the Rostov family, who were also wealthy nobles, but were not in the czar's circle and lived in rural parts of Russia, Tolstoy showed a typical Russian family who were devoted to their country and Russian traditions. All of Tolstoy's sympathy is on their side and he presents them in a positive way. They sing Russian folklore, which the higher aristocrats would not dream of doing. Depicting this class, Tolstoy describes simple and eternal problems such as birth, love, forgiveness, and death. The main national characteristics are in the Russian peasants. Through these people, who hate war, we are shown that they are forced to participate in the war because the have no other choice. They show real heroism during war. Captain Tushin and a soldier, Timohin, give their lives to save their army. Historical figures such as Napoleon and Kutuzov oppose the views of the aristocratic class in the czar's circle. This class of people didn't like Kutuzov, who became the general of the Russian army. They thought he was too

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

J.K. ROWLINGS HARRY POTTER SERIES FANTASY FOR CHILDREN AND NOTHING MORE essays

J.K. ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER SERIES FANTASY FOR CHILDREN AND NOTHING MORE essays Within the last eight years or so, the literary works of J.K. Rowling, in particular her highly popular series of dark fantasy novels centered on the character of Harry Potter, has generated a great amount of social controversy based on her use of sorcery and occultism in order to relate the fantastic adventures of Harry, an up-and-coming wizard and practitioner of the so-called "black arts." Not surprisingly, the most vocal opponents to Rowling's Harry Potter series can be found within the religious community which has viewed Rowling's works with much suspicion, due to what they see as a blatant attempt by Rowling to introduce impressionable young people to the arts and practice of magic, sorcery, witchcraft and occultism via the actions and predicaments of Harry Potter. However, this viewpoint, taken predominately by the Christian community, is based on the traditional ideals of organized religion which for centuries has attempted, without much success, to turn people away from any literary work that goes against the teachings and ideals of Christian thought and Fantastic literature, as represented in Rowling's Harry Potter series, is one of the most compelling of all literary genres, for as E.F. Bleiler points out, "the essence of the fantastic generally demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life" (12). For many readers, dark fantasy is the type of tale which is totally irrelevant to the real world, and, for the most part, deals with magic and the supernatural. Unlike science fiction, it is not based on scientific research but pure imagination and requires the reader to totally suspend his/her disbelief. In addition, most fantastic magic and the supernatural which tends to inform the reader that the events The plotlines in most fantast...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Alternatives to Incarceration

Provision of sustainable security in the society should be a collaborative endeavor between the government and social institutions which form the community. The government has a legal authority to mitigate crime activities through the criminal justice system, a factor that leads to incarceration. On the other hand, social institutions such as the family, church, and learning institutions play the ultimate role of instill reliable character and behaviors to members of the community as a tool for promoting social acceptable conduct in the society (Reisig, Cole, Clear, 2008). According to psychologists, the development of character traits on the young generation is mainly based on the surrounding environment. This is because the young engage in copying and adopting the behaviors of other in the community. Nevertheless, social institutions have failed in ensuring an environment that can promote reliable character among members. Such has been blamed for inhibiting the process of effectively fighting crime in the community. The author seeks to give a discussion on the question; why should we expect the correctional system to be able to accomplish so much when so many other social institutions have failed? When family, school, and churches are unable to inculcate law-abiding behavior. Why should we be surprised if the correctional also system fails? Possible solutions to the problems affecting the effectiveness of American correctional system will also be given. The American correctional system effectiveness The American correctional system has been blamed for its failure in ensuring sustainable reforming of criminals to reflective compatible character and behavior in the society. According to its mandate, the correctional system is marked with the responsibility of incarcerating crime offenders as a mechanism for instilling behavioral change from crime activities. Nevertheless, numerous research findings have evidently shown a high rate of recidivism into criminal behavior by criminals upon release from correctional facilities (Conis, DeLisi, 2009). Indeed, such findings indicate that victims from correctional facilities are more likely to engage in more serious criminal activities than before their incarceration. Numerous factors have been closely attributed with this failure of the American correctional system. First, the system is faced with the problem of addressing individual needs of criminals as a potential drive to committing crime in the society (Western, Weiman, Pattillo, 2004). As an example, the criminal justice system of American has received for failing to appreciate the psychological requirements of drug related crime offenders as well as mentally impaired criminals. According to psychological evidence, imposing punishment on drug abusers and mentally impaired victims serves no more than torture. This is because these individuals have their reasoning and judgmental capability compromised. This has the implication that crime offenders who have mental or drug abuse history can only be effectively corrected by engaging them in resolving their psychological problems first. This has nevertheless, been a major failure in the American correctional system. True from available statistical evidence, drug related crime activities are the leading source of prison population in the American community (Conis, DeLisi, 2009). In fact, this statistics indicate that an estimated over 40 percent of prison population in US is comprised of convicts of drug related crimes. Despite this fact, the correctional system has invested limited resources in establishing rehabilitation rather than incarceration facilities. Another factor which has been associated with the failure of the American correctional system is poor influence among inmates in the correctional facilities. The Federal Bureau of Prisons as the federal agency responsible for administering prisons has been quite efficient in appreciating the need to categorize prisoners depending on their crime. Based on this reasoning, the agency currently operates five security levels of correctional facilities in the nation which accommodate victims depending on the level of security needed (Western, Weiman, Pattillo, 2004). Such facilities range from low security prison camps with weak or no fenced perimeters to high secure prison marked with wall reinforced double-fenced perimeters and high prison guard to inmate ratio. On the contrary, it is commonly asserted that conviction and sentencing of criminals remains the decision of the criminal law courts. Just to be appreciated here is the fact that court trails in the nation are based on the due process procedure clause of the constitution. On the other hand, this constitutional provision bases its decisions on facts presented and the strength of defense given by the defendant in the case (Western, Weiman, Pattillo, 2004). This has the implication that such decisions are subject to error. Indeed, available information has claimed of numerous incidences of unequal conviction for priority criminals. This is because these criminals have been through the system several time and effectively identified the numerous escape loopholes in the system. Based on the above reasoning, the process of categorizing criminals in the correctional facilities based on court judgments remains a major setback to qualify security needs and mitigate poor influence among convicted crime offenders (Conis, DeLisi, 2009). This is because the process leads to accommodating of various levels of criminals in the same, a factor which promotes crime behavioral influence to first time offenders. Such is the reason behind the claim that victims of imprisonment potentially engage in more serious crime upon release from prison. Therefore, the failure of American correctional system can be closely attributed to lack of an efficient mechanism for identifying and group criminals depending on their crime gravity and required correction strategies. Over the passed three decades, the America correctional system has witnessed a high rate of increase in the number of prisoners held in its correctional facilities. This has no doubt been the source for numerous social and political concerns on the problem of overcrowding in the prisons (Meares, 2007). On the other side, overcrowding is to be blamed for increasing facility strain, thus leading to poor living conditions for inmates. According to psychological principles, character is build through persistent instilling of ideas in an individuals subconscious mind. This means that given long-term inhuman conditions imposed by prisoners, they are only bound top develop an attitude of less value for life and others in the society. In addition, numerous research findings have identified a close link between prisoner and prison guard behavior based on correctional facility conditions. It is no doubt that correctional facilities are marked with sense of authority from the prison guards forcing inmates to feel powerless and depersonalized (Wilson, 1993). On the other side, pushed against the wall, human beings are bound to fight back. This implies that the harsh condition imposed on prisoners in correctional facility is a potential cause for law defiance mentality among prisoners. Such attitudes are bound to be transfer to the community level by inmates upon their release, an element that negates their ability to respect law and order in the community. Social institutions as failures in inculcating law-abiding behavior   Sustainable behavior among the young generation is based on the influence brought to them by underlying social institutions in the society. This is based on the fact that at birth a child is purely innocent, only to development attitude and character with time. It is due to this reason why most criminal behaviors in the community are blamed to poor family influence on the young members of the community (Reisig, Cole, Clear, 2008). Family violence in the society is one of the numerous reasons for the failure by parents in promoting law abiding behavior among children. This is because such practices leave parents with limited time to monitor and address behavioral issues of their children.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Contemporary Issues In Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary Issues In Marketing - Essay Example Industrial marketing is another contemporary marketing aspect. It entails changing the focus from the end products to capital goods. Industrial marketing utilizes advertising, promotion and communication to consumers in order to increase the sales. In the same way, companies are currently using social marketing as an avenue of generating benefits for members of the society. In order to reach customers regardless of their location, organizations adopt e-marketing that involve use of internet to market their products. This has been achieved through the advancement of technology in the contemporary world. Ethics in Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola Company maintains corporate governance guidelines that depict the approaches adopted by the company in order to enhance corporate governance that is vital in meeting the needs of its consumers and employees. In order to ensure accountability and transparency in the company, Coca-Cola management team undertakes regular reviews of its system. The rev iew is also undertaken to achieve international ethical practises thus ensuring the company retains its leadership in the soft drink industry. Code of business conduct is one of the major aspects that are adopted by directors, employees and other associates in order to enhance integrity and honesty during the performance of their duties. Any time new directors or employees are hired by the company, they should study and understand the ethics concepts that are covered by the code. In this way, they effectively emulate the required ethical procedures during their duties. The company also has put in place Ethics & Compliance Committee whose responsibilities include administering the Code. Other duties of the... The paper work studies the aspects of social marketing as an avenue of generating benefits for members of the society. In the contemporary world, marketing has been influenced by various aspects that include technology development, customer relationship management, globalization and stiff competition. To ensure that companies remain competitive and the sales volume are increased, it is imperative to ensure that ethical issues are appropriately addressed during the operations of any company. Coca-Cola Company, the world market leader in the soft drink industry has portrayed effective ways of dealing with ethical issues. Despite the criticism that faced the company mostly from India, Coca-Cola has not been left behind as far as undertaking social responsibilities is concerned. This has resulted to creation of strong customer-company relationship which has seen the company sales increase over the years. Another essential marketing aspect that Coca-Cola has adopted is effective segmentat ion of its market. Meeting of its customer needs is an important aspect that Coca-Cola has initiated in its effort to win customer’s loyalty and trust. This has been achieved through segmentation of its market based on the location and behaviours of its customers among other aspects as depicted in the discussion above. Additionally, Coca-Cola has embarked on various strategies in order to improve its brand awareness. These include extensive advertisement of its brands especially via its website and other avenues.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Write 1. a research question ( with detail) 2.The purpose of your Paper

Write 1. a question ( with detail) 2.The purpose of your 3.PICOT (well structured, and feasible) 4.A critic of the literature review of at least three reseach manuscripts 5.A proposal 6.Conclusion - Research Paper Example This results in additional costs for patients, caregivers, and the overall healthcare system. For instance, the UK spends between 1.4 and 2.1 billion pounds to treat pressure ulcers while in Australia, it costs approximately AUS $61,000 to treat a stage four pressure ulcer (Frantz, Gardner, Harvey, & Spetch, 1991). In the US, treatment cost per ulcer can range between $10,000 and $86,000. Although various interventions have been implemented in the prevention and treatment of ulcers, there is little research data regarding the effectiveness of measures adopted. The research will be conducted in government, institutional and private hospitals that handle inpatients as most cases of ulcers are reported among inpatients. Nursing personnel will be trained on how to assess risk among patients and mitigation measures that can be taken to prevent pressure ulcers. The staff will also be trained on early detection of the injuries. Data on patients at risk from developing pressure ulcer will be collected before and after training. The data will also include the number of patients who will develop ulcers over a four-week period before and after the training intervention. Data collected after nursing staff have undergone training will be compared to that collected before the training using various statistical analyses to determine whether there was a significant decline in the number of patients at risk of developing ulcers. Results of the analysis will also indicate whether training of nursing personnel is effective in reducing the number of patients developing pressure ulcers. The study will run for a period of three months. Clinical studies have shown that development of pressure ulcer during hospitalization can be alleviated by adopting appropriate mitigation measures (Severens, Hobraken, Duivenvoorden, & Frederiks, 2002; Vanderwee, Clark, Dealey, Gunningberg, & Defloor, 2007). These measures can include the development of methods and ways of

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Recruitment Case Study Essay Example for Free

Recruitment Case Study Essay _________ affect recruitment policies because firms often give preference to current employees in promotions, transfers, and other career-enhancing opportunities. Typically, the first step in an employees introduction to company policies, practices, and benefits is a (n) _________ program. Which of the following statements about an aging organization is true? The information least likely to be obtained in reference checks and recommendations is: The step following recruitment is ________, which is basically a rapid, rough selection process. The role of organizational culture in staffing is best applied if companies: When implementing recruitment activities, initial consideration should be given to a companys __________, especially for filling jobs above the entry level. Promotion-from-within policies must ______________, coupled with a company philosophy that permits employees to consider available opportunities within the organization. Read more:  Recruitment Case Study Recruitment begins by specifying __________, which are the typical result of job analysis and workforce planning activities. Which of the following statements about a company using a passive nondiscrimination posture is true? A soft-quota system: Which of the following is a concerted effort by the organization to actively expand the pool of applicants so that no one is excluded because of past or  present discrimination? Which law gives students the legal right to see all letters of recommendation written about them and also permits release of information about a student only to people approved by the student at the time of the request? Which act requires third-party investigators to secure the applicant’s written consent prior to doing a background check? This type of management style is often associated with organizations in the embryonic stage.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

piagets early adulthood stage :: essays research papers

Marshall is a twenty-three year old male in the early adulthood stage of development. He has been married for almost a year now and has a 6-month-old child. He and his wife have recently bought their first home. He us almost finished with his bachelor’s degree in banking and finance. He is taking a few classes while also working a high stress full-time job.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as physical development, he is in good health. He may be a few pounds overweight because he has become more sedentary since he has been in school full-time and working full-time. He has no substance problems in fact, he has never smoked a cigarette, drank alcohol, or tried any drugs is his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his cognitive development, he has attended five years of college and will graduate this may with a degree in banking and finance. According to John Holland, Marshall is a person of conventional personality. Holland says that Marshall’s personality type like well-structured tasks and values material possessions and social status, which are traits well suited for his finance career. He seems to be some like the conventional personality but mostly his personality falls more in the enterprising category. He is adventurous, persuasive, and a strong leader. So he is definitely a blend of these two personality types.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In emotional development, Marshall seems to have mastered Erikson’s intimacy versus isolation conflict. He has a healthy marriage, and many other close relationships such as friends, family, and coworkers. Marshall also follows Levinson’s early adulthood stage with dreams for his life. His dreams are mostly individualistic and he sees his wife as a supporter of his goals and a primary caregiver for the children. Marshall’s marriage is considered a traditional marriage according to the text, where his wife does the housework and cares for him and the children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marshall had made the transition to parenthood quite well. He had some maturing to do and realizing that his needs no longer came before someone else’s.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Term Papers

MADS 6655. 81 Contemporary Issues in Community Policing Herbert F. Pendleton, EdD Final Exam Select one from each chapter and provide a one paragraph response answering the information requested. Chapter 8 1) Discuss in general rationale for learning â€Å"what works† in criminal justice in general, and for measuring (assessing and evaluating) COPPS initiatives in specific. 2) Describe the major differences between assessments (as defined in the S. A. R. A. problem solving process) and an empirical impact evaluation of a COPPS strategy. ) Explain why the accomplishment of an actual impact evaluation is uniquely challenging for the police agency in terms of one’s knowledge, skills and abilities – and some means for acquiring the services of one who can perform such an evaluation. 4) Describe the kinds of knowledge, skills and abilities that a police officer engaged in COPPS must possess, as well as criteria for assessing an officer’s problem solving perform ance. 5) Explain the benefits of using suyveys for evaluation purposes. 6) Describe the benefits of an agency’s employing the CP-SAT system for its COPPS initiatives.Chapter 9 1) Explain the basic schools of thought as per Knowles and Bloom concerning the concepts of adult – and problem based learning, and apply them to training for COPPS. 2) Describe the characteristics of a learning organization, and why it is important for police agencies to become as such. 3) Delineate the unique challenges that are involved with training police officers. 4) Review how knowledge is imparted at the basic recruit academy as well as with the post academy, in-service, and roll call methods. ) List some kinds of technologies that exist in police training. 6) Detail the means for determining officers’ training needs. Chapter 10 1) Explain in contemporary terms what is meant by diversity. 2) Delineate the historical background of police-minority relations. 3) Review whether or not the criminal justice system discriminates against minorities; include the findings by RAND as well as the perceptions of other notable organizations. 4) Define what is meant by bias-based policing (racial profiling), and explain why it is a destructive practice. ) Define the elements of hate crime, and discuss what measures are being taken by the police to address such acts. 6) Describe some of the cultural customs of people in different nationalities, and discuss why it is important for the police to be aware of those different customs. 7) Explain why it is important for a police agency to be diverse, and provide examples of what some police agencies are doing to enhance their ability to recruit women and minorities. Chapter 11 ) Describe the kinds of strategies that may be employed by police to meet the challenges posed by methamphetamine – and the recent â€Å"shake and bake† form of drug lab – as well as some of the methods used and the hazards faced by the police to identify, eliminate, and clean up clandestine drug labs. 2) Review what research shows works and does not work with regard to street-level drug enforcement, particularly as it concerns crackdowns, community partnerships, and problem-oriented policing. 3) Explain how open-air drug markets operate, what challenges they pose, and what COPPS efforts have done to meet those challenges. ) Explain the problem of prescription drugs, particularly pharmaceutical counterfeiting and â€Å"pharming parties. † 5) Explain how COPPS efforts are being directed toward the identification, prevention, and suppression of gangs. 6) Review the extent and purposes for which graffiti exists, some means by which the problem may be addressed, and how graffiti may be used for intelligence gathering. 7) Explain what some large cities are doing about their crimes of violence in general, and why some of those tactics are controversial. ) Explain what the police can do about dealing with disorderl y conduct by youth in public areas. 9) Describe what can be done to address underage drinking. 10) Review some COPPS approaches to school violence any cyber bullying. Chapter 12 1) Describe the nature and extent of identity theft and some of the ways that the police can attempt to prevent and address it. 2) Explain what is meant by the term â€Å"mental illness,† its nature and extent, contributing factors, and what the police can to cope with it. 3) As with mental llness above, describe the nature and extent of homelessness and some means by which the police can try to cope with it. 4) Review the nature and extent of domestic violence, and how COPPS has affected the approaches to reducing its frequency. 5) Define what is meant by neighborhood disorder, how the economy has contributed to it, and ways COPPS can help to address it. 6) Review the problems surrounding prostitution, and list some means for addressing them. 7) List the four types of stalking situations, and how a C OPPS approach would deal with them. ) Explain how the internet has contributed to criminality, and how social networking sites have a part in those crimes; review the challenges for, and techniques of the police for investigating them. Chapter 13 1) Describe how COPPS efforts have been undertaken in large, medium, and small jurisdictions. 2) Explain how federal and state law enforcement agencies as well as universities are engaging in COPPS activities. Chapter 14 1) Discuss the general system of policing in Canada, including the federal, provincial, and municipal systems. ) Describe the structure and functions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including its COPPS model, which they termed â€Å"CAPRA. † 3) Explain the police functions and responsibilities in Japan, with particular emphasis on the koban concept. 4) Review the responsibilities of the Australian Federal Police, to include how it serves the rural (ACT) areas. 5) Explain how crime prevention lies at the root of COPPS in both Sweden and France, as well as other similarities of their approach to, and practice of this philosophy. ) Review the role of constables in Great Britain. 7) Explain the five stages in the development of community policing in Hong Kong. Chapter 15 1) Discuss why a futures orientation is important for police executives and supervisors, as well as the national organization that exists to foster the study and practice of that orientation. 2) Provide an explanation of the kinds of â€Å"accelerators† and challenging crimes that the police must be trained to address in the future. 3) Define succession planning and explain why today’s police leaders must engage in that practice. ) Review the concerns of and reasons for some police observers’ beliefs that there is a trend the police to become more federalized and militarized. 5) Explain the authors’ concerns with the language of policing in general, particularly the tendency to use new labels and t o create new eras of policing; include intelligence-led policing and predictive policing in your response. 6) List a summary of the challenges facing the police in the future in order to fully embrace COPPS. Term Papers Additional Questions – Test Strategy Table of Contents 1Purpose3 2About Additional Questions3 3Requirements4 3. 1As-Is and New AQ Features4 AQ As-Is Feature from V14 AQ Additional / Enhanced Feature for V24 ?Create AQ functional Component4 ?AQ FCA linked to Scoring FCA4 ?Create AQ Event by copying an existing event (closed, open, draft & archived)4 ? Invite Supplier4 3. 2AQ High Level Functionality and List of User Stories5 Table below gives the mapping of User Stories against the As-Is AQ Functionality5 Table below gives the mapping of User Stories against the New AQ Functionality5 4Additional Questions Development6 . 1AQ Feature Development in Releases6 4. 2In Sprint Testing (Blue are new AQ features)6 4. 3System Testing7 4. 4In Sprint Testing Dependencies7 4. 5System Testing Dependencies8 1 Purpose The purpose of this document is to give the overview of the Test Strategy (Approach) for Additional Questions Feature which will be developed and Implemented for V2. This documen t briefs about AQ functionality and its requirements, the development approach, this document also discuss about the various levels of testing AQ as its being developed & the dependencies for testing. About Additional Questions Additional Question is an existing functionality of V1 Accelerate application, hence it’s known as As-Is feature for V2. And also have some additional/enhanced features for V2. This Additional Questions (AQ) is a buyer centric functionality and in V1 AQ is not a common feature which is available for all Buyers. It’s a Bolt-On feature, where a Buyer organisation can opt for this feature by making additional payment. AQ functionality has been developed and implemented in V1 in a way it can be configured for any Buyer Organisation.AQ provides an additional edge to Buyer Organisation where they can ask their intended Questions to a specific set of suppliers of their own interest and short list them upon their response. Using this feature member of a Buyer Organisation, who is having permissions to AQ can create an AQ Event which comprises of a template with questions, and the member can search for suppliers and invite them all or a specific set of suppliers to answer the questions, on or before a dead line date set for the particular AQ event by the member.Buyer user can create AQ Events and save it for feature purpose, existing AQ event can be used by some other Buyer Organisation member and the member can use it as it is or can do some changes before inviting the suppliers. Even the invited AQ events can be reused. Buyer User will be able to add or remove questions to an AQ event. A. Q summary is the last stage of draft event in which the user can preview the whole event and also review it before sending it to the supplier users. Supplier needs to respond to AQ and buyer will rate supplier according.Scoring engine will help AQ to rate Supplier. AQ product needs to be configured by C3 user with all required features. AQ will be added as a component which will be inherited by child product (community). * 3 Requirements Requirements developed as User Stories and reviewed by Products & Services team and approved. Both the existing features (As-Is) and the new V2 specific additional / enhanced features are also covered in user stories. The below table will give the bifurcation of Existing and New features of Additional Questions. . 1 As-Is and New AQ Features * AQ As-Is Feature from V1| * AQ Additional / Enhanced Feature for V2| * Create AQ Template | * Create AQ functional Component| * Create AQ Draft event & review of AQ| * AQ FCA linked to Scoring FCA| * Create AQ Event using AQ Template| * Permission to C3 User for AQ| * Create AQ Event by copying an existing event (closed, open, draft & archived)| * Create & use AQ Library * | * Invite Supplier| * Language Support to AQ| AQ view for GBO | * Buyer assigns scoring to AQ Event| * AQ view for Buyer| * Scoring can be manual or automatic * | * AQ view for Su pplier| * AQ alert to buyer when Current Date + 7 >= End Date| * Modification to AQ Open Event | * Reminder email to supplier who has not responded| * Categorisation of AQ Open Event (Responded, Not Responded, Not Interested)| * Clarification asked by Buyer on AQ supplier response | * AQ Reports| * AQ scoring for each supplier| * | * Comparison of AQ with respect to supplier| * | * Buyer rate & email to supplier on AQ Close Event| * 4. 2 AQ High Level Functionality and List of User Stories * Table below gives the mapping of User Stories against the As-Is AQ Functionality Area| Functionality| User Story| GBO| | | | | | | | | Buyer| | | | | | | | | | | | Supplier| | | | | | | | | * Table below gives the mapping of User Stories against the New AQ Functionality Area| Functionality| User Story| GBO | | | | | | | | | Buyer| | | | | | | | | | | | Supplier| | | | | | | | | * 4 V2 Development Strategy 5. 3 Development Approach V2 development is a mix of both Waterfall and Agile development f ramework.The Development of requirements follows waterfall, where as the actual code development will happen in agile methodology. First all the User Stories will be written, reviewed and signed off by the stake holders. Development will follow the high level milestone plan, which comprises of internal releases and Demo Release. Date| 1/Dec/12| 1/Jan/13| 15/Jan/13| 29/Jan/13| 1/Feb/13| 1/Mar/13| 15/Mar/13| 29/Mar/13| Release| Alpha 0. 1| Alpha 0. 2| Alpha 0. 3| Alpha 1. 0| Alpha 1. 1| Alpha 1. 2| Alpha 1. 3| Alpha 2. 0| Purpose| Internal| Internal| Internal| Board| Internal| Internal| Internal| Board|As mentioned above each and every internal release has multiple Iterations for development and the user stories will be allocated to these iterations for development. Within these iterations all the allocated user stories will be developed and tested In-Sprint Testing. 5. 4 AQ Feature Development in Releases As explained above, AQ as feature to be developed for V2 will also follow the s ame development methodology, All User Stories belongs to AQ will first written, reviewed and signed off, and then developed in multiple releases in multiple iterations.The table below will give us the picture of AQ Development in Release and Iteration wise. The Main purpose of the below table is to give clear picture of When AQ feature development will be started and in which release it will developed and delivered 100%. Table below will not give the Start and End dates of either each and every release or Iterations, these dates are available with the development team and ion their plan. Release| Iteration| User Story| Functionality / Area| Internal Release Alpha 0. 1| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | Iteration 4| | | Internal Release Alpha 0. 2| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Internal Release Alpha 0. 3| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Demo Release 1. 0| Iteration 1| | | | Ite ration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Internal Release Alpha 1. 1| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Internal Release Alpha 1. 2| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Internal Release Alpha 1. 3| Iteration 1| | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | Demo Release 2. 0| Iteration 1| | | | Iteration 2| | | | Iteration 3| | | | Iteration 4| | | 5 AQ Test Approach This section describes the test approach for Additional Question by explaining the following. * Testing Scope of Additional Questions * Dependency with other critical V2 functionalities * Integration with Third Party Application Features * Levels of Testing * Test Design & Execution * Test Data Requirements * Functional Automation Testing * Non Functional Testing Scope 6. 5 Scope of Additional QuestionsAdditional Question as feature it spread across all the major areas of V2 application, though it’s Buyer centric feature it’s having scope in C3 (Configuration Control Center), GBO (Global Back Office), SCC (Standard Company Concept) Buyer & Supplier. End to End Perspective From an end to end perspective the AQ functionality testing needs to be started from C3 (may be configuration of AQ – need additional information to complete it) and then SCC-Buyer can create AQ Events and invite Suppliers and then SCC- Suppliers can respond for AQ events.From GBO-User perspective AQ needs to be tested for AQ Dashboard, AQ Reports, etc†¦ (need additional information to complete this section) Non Functional Perspective – Performance Few AQ Features needs to be tested for Performance * AQ template creation with more Questions * Inviting multiple suppliers * Response time of viewing AQ responses * AQ Report Generation for SCC-Buyer & GBO User Multilingual Perspective As Additional Question can be configured for any scheme / community, and we have communities which support more than on e language, AQ needs to be tested in all applicable languages.Cross Browser Perspective As Buyer organisation members and Suppliers can use any browser to access the application, Additional Questions features needs to be tested in multiple browser combinations. Community Specific Additional Questions can be configured for specific communities and as we already have few communities effectively using AQ, all such communities needs to be tested thoroughly AQ feature. Supplier Perspective AQ needs to be thoroughly tested with * Newly Registered Suppliers * Migrated Suppliers 6. 6 Additional Questions Dependency with other Features. AdditionalQuestions is one of the feature in V2 application, this feature has some integration / dependency with some other features of V2 application. This section describes the AQ dependency with such other features of V2. This dependency may play a critical role in AQ testing at functional level and at end to end testing, we may have a work around to bypas s the dependency, where as some feature must be available to test AQ. AQ Feature| Dependent Feature| Dependency level| When This Feature will be Ready| Do we have Work Around| Work Around| Effectiveness of Work Around| Invite Supplier| Search| Very High| ? ? | | ? | | Email Generation| Very High| ? | ? | | ? | | Existing / Migrated Suppliers| High| ? | ? | | ? | All such dependencies for all AQ features needs to be captured in a separate excel sheet and attached to this document. And the Dependencies needs to be discussed with Development team, as we may need their help for some work around or the feature needs to be developed in a priority. This dependency is very critical for test execution. 6. 7 Integration with Third Party Application Features This section needs to be filled in 6. 8 Levels of TestingAdditional Questions will be tested at In-Sprint Testing and System Testing, this section describes what will be covered in In-Sprint Testing and System Testing. In-Sprint Testing In -Sprint Testing is part of development, In-Sprint testing team will work along with Development team for Release and Iterations, user stories assigned to iterations is the scope for development and testing, while development teams starts coding In-Sprint testing team starts test design, when the feature is developed and ready for testing, In-Sprint test team will test the feature and give the result.In-Sprint test team covers Unit, Integration, Continuous Integration and Regression Testing. In-Sprint Unit Testing In unit testing, team checks for the following using Checklists * Field Level Validation of all controls * Boundary Value, Equivalence Partitioning * Page Navigation on Links * Messages (information on control validation, Tool Tips, etc†¦ ) * Page Templates, Company Logo, T&C’s, Copy Right, etc†¦ * Cross Browser – All UI design needs to be validated with all applicable browser combinationsIn-Sprint Integration Testing Team test the features developed integrated with preceded and following features of a feature belongs to same module (Group of requirements, belongs to one user story) within the iteration as the features being developed in iterations. And also the integration of group of requirements developed (one User story) with another group of requirements (another User Story) as iteration is having multiple User stories. In-Sprint test team will write functional test cases to test this integration of features.In-Sprint Continuous Integration Testing Team tests the integration of features developed in multiple iterations, as the features developed across multiple iterations of any release are being continuously integrated together. Team may write separate set of integration test cases for this else they will enhance their existing integration test cases to test this, in an another approach team can group set of individual integration test cases and execute them in an order which covers this continuous integration.In-Sprint R egression Testing Test team executes all the test cases which belongs to earlier release for any successive release, this is to ensure that the new release features are not hampering the existing features already developed and tested and also ensures the integration of features in between two successive release is working fine. Table below gives a picture of Unit, Integration, Continuous Integration & Regression testing for Releases and Iterations.Release| Iteration| User Story| Feature| Testing| | | | | Unit| Integration| Continuous Integration| Regression| Release 1| Iteration 1| User Story 1| Feature 1| Y| Integration of feature 1+2+3+4| Continuous Integration of User Story 1 + 2+ 3| Release 1 TC's Regression Suite for Release 2| | | | Feature 2| Y| | | | | | | Feature 3| Y| | | | | | | Feature 4| Y| | | | | | User Story 2| Feature 5| Y| Integration of feature 5+6+7+8| | | | | | Feature 6| Y| | | | | | | Feature 7| Y| | | | | | | Feature 8| Y| | | | | User Story 3| Feature 9| Y| Integration of feature 9+10| | | | | | Feature 10| Y| | | | | Iteration 2| User Story 4| Feature 11| Y| Integration of feature 11+12+13+14| Continuous Integration of User Story 1 + 2+ 3+4+5+6| | | | | Feature 12| Y| | | | | | | Feature 13| Y| | | | | | | Feature 14| Y| | | | | | User Story 5| Feature 15| Y| Integration of feature 15+16+17+18| | | | | | Feature 16| Y| | | | | | | Feature 17| Y| | | | | | | Feature 18| Y| | | | | | User Story 6| Feature 19| Y| Integration of feature 19+20| | | | | | Feature 20| Y| | | |Release 2| Iteration 3| User Story 7| Feature 21| Y| Y| Y| Release 1 + Release 2 TC's Regression Suite for Release 3| | | | Feature 22| Y| | | | | | | Feature 23| Y| | | | | | | Feature 24| Y| | | | | | User Story 8| Feature 25| Y| Y| | | | | | Feature 26| Y| | | | | | | Feature 27| Y| | | | | | | Feature 28| Y| | | | | | User Story 9| Feature 29| Y| Y| | | | | | Feature 30| Y| | | | | Iteration 4| User Story 10| Feature 31| Y| Y| Y| | | | | Feature 32| Y| | | | | | | F eature 33| Y| | | | | | | Feature 34| Y| | | | | | User Story 11| Feature 35| Y| Y| | | | | Feature 36| Y| | | | | | | Feature 37| Y| | | | | | | Feature 38| Y| | | | | | User Story 12| Feature 39| Y| Y| | | | | | Feature 40| Y| | | | System Testing System testing will be executed by System Testing team, System test design and execution will be done as End to End level. In System test design we will write Test Scenarios and Prepare Test Data to execute the System Testing. Test Scenarios will cover multiple functionalities with all permutation and combination of functionalities to test all possible real time end to end scenarios.System testing will also cover the end to end scenarios for maximum number of suppliers, for example System testing will be executed for inviting 500 suppliers for an AQ event, creating an AQ event with 100 Questions. And to execute the end to end testing for such high volume of suppliers we need support from Automation, because as the V2 application being de veloped right from the scratch, existing suppliers not available in the system, hence we need to first register for 100 of suppliers, registering 100 of suppliers will require high resource count and it’s practically not possible.And also respond to an AQ event sent for 100 of suppliers it take time and resource, if it needs to be done manually, in such scenario we need Automation script to complete the task. 6. 9 Test Design 6. 10 Test Data Requirements 6. 11 Functional Automation Testing 6. 12 Non Functional Testing Scope

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Hindu Religion

HINDU RELIGION Dennis E. Leber Axia College RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD (AXIA) HUM/130 NAOMI DOUMBIA AUG 14, 2007 The Hindu religion The Hindu religion is strongly dependent on the Hindu philosophy and in addition, has inculcated a lot of rituals and practices. The Hindu religion has 333 million gods; this is because the Hindu philosophy believes that every human being is God himself. This acceptance of the multiplicity of the Supreme Being in many forms is the hallmark of the Hindu religion. The Hindu religion is also very assimilative and has accepted many faiths into it. The Hindu religion also allows religious freedom and does not enforce the edicts of the religion on anyone. In fact, Hinduism teaches that a person, in order to attain liberation from the worldly bondage, must select the religion that he is comfortable in. Hence, it accepts the existence of all other religions as a means to realize God. The Hindu religion like other religions also believes in the battle between the good and the evil although at a lower level of existence. The religion preaches that man must advance himself through successive levels of knowledge in his quest for the final truth. Hence, the concept of the Devas, or the good deities and the Asuras, the demoniac characters are very important in the Hindu traditions. Many folklores revolve around the battles between the Devas and the Asuras. The important Godheads in the Hindu tradition are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva who correspond with the three ‘Gunas' or qualities of Satva (pureness), Rajas(action), and Tamas(darkness and inactivity). Man is a mixture of the three gunas and the inherent nature of a person will depend on the predominance of the three gunas in him. The Hindu Social Life The Hindu social life is caste based, which was originally devised for the division of labor. Hence the Hindu society has the Brahmins, the highest class who performs rituals and is supposed to be the most educated in terms of religion. Then comes the Kshatriyas who are the warrior and ruling class. Following them in importance comes the Vaishyas, who are the business class. Last comes the Shudras who serve the upper class. People who do not come in these four classes were previously classified as the untouchables who had to do menial jobs in the society and were looked down upon. Women were given important position in the family even though her importance in public affairs was greatly curtailed during the later years of Hindu history The Hindu way of life has many beliefs that were perhaps a means that offered social balance in the society. For example, the norm of sacrifice and the mandatory rules on feeding others helped to provide food for the needy. Similarly, the social practices were seen as the physical manifestations of the philosophical edicts that Hinduism preached. For example the practice of sacrifice to the fire is a physical manifestation of the philosophic ritual of giving up everything for the sake of understanding the truth. Similarly, the belief that the confluence of the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi is holy, is due to the Tantric belief that the meeting point of the three nerve centers in the body awakens the Kundalini, which is the seat of power in the human body. The desire for liberation from earthly existence Dharma is the duty that you have to fulfill in life through your placement. Karma states that you will reap what you sow. And the desire for liberation from earthly existence is achieved through the combination of the two aforementioned methods. Life & death has a cycle. The cycle is wrought with earthly pleasures & pain. Your intention is to be free from materialistic desires because they are temporary. Only the soul is eternal. So by meditating, fulfilling your duties, and by eventually ridding yourself of your karma; you are free to exist as soul and be one with the universe as opposed to continuing the cycle of birth & death. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hindu drawn from Aug, 2007 Origin of Hinduism, About. com drawn from Aug 2007

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Moments - Definition of Statistics Terms

Moments - Definition of Statistics Terms Moments in mathematical statistics involve a basic calculation.  These calculations can be used to find a probability distributions mean, variance, and skewness. Suppose that we have a set of data with a total of n discrete points. One important calculation, which is actually several numbers, is called the sth moment. The sth moment of the data set with values x1, x2, x3, ... , xn is given by the formula: (x1s x2s x3s ... xns)/n Using this formula requires us to be careful with our order of operations. We need to do the exponents first, add, then divide this sum by n the total number of data values. A Note on the Term Moment The term moment has been taken from physics. In physics, the moment of a system of point masses is calculated with a formula identical to that above, and this formula is used in finding the center of mass of the points. In statistics, the values are no longer masses, but as we will see, moments in statistics still measure something relative to the center of the values.​ First Moment For the first moment, we set s 1. The formula for the first moment is thus: (x1x2 x3 ... xn)/n This is identical to the formula for the sample mean. The first moment of the values 1, 3, 6, 10 is (1 3 6 10) / 4 20/4 5. Second Moment For the second moment we set s 2. The formula for the second moment is: (x12 x22 x32 ... xn2)/n The second moment of the values 1, 3, 6, 10 is (12 32 62 102) / 4 (1 9 36 100)/4 146/4 36.5. Third Moment For the third moment we set s 3. The formula for the third moment is: (x13 x23 x33 ... xn3)/n The third moment of the values 1, 3, 6, 10 is (13 33 63 103) / 4 (1 27 216 1000)/4 1244/4 311. Higher moments can be calculated in a similar way. Just replace s in the above formula with the number denoting the desired moment. Moments About the Mean A related idea is that of the sth moment about the mean. In this calculation we perform the following steps: First, calculate the mean of the values.Next, subtract this mean from each value.Then raise each of these differences to the sth power.Now add the numbers from step #3 together.Finally, divide this sum by the number of values we started with. The formula for the sth moment about the mean m of the values values x1, x2, x3, ..., xn is given by: ms ((x1 - m)s (x2 - m)s (x3 - m)s ... (xn - m)s)/n First Moment About the Mean The first moment about the mean is always equal to zero, no matter what the data set is that we are working with. This can be seen in the following: m1 ((x1 - m) (x2 - m) (x3 - m) ... (xn - m))/n ((x1 x2 x3 ... xn) - nm)/n m - m 0. Second Moment About the Mean The second moment about the mean is obtained from the above formula by settings 2: m2 ((x1 - m)2 (x2 - m)2 (x3 - m)2 ... (xn - m)2)/n This formula is equivalent to that for the sample variance. For example, consider the set 1, 3, 6, 10. We have already calculated the mean of this set to be 5. Subtract this from each of the data values to obtain differences of: 1 – 5 -43 – 5 -26 – 5 110 – 5 5 We square each of these values and add them together: (-4)2 (-2)2 12 52 16 4 1 25 46. Finally divide this number by the number of data points: 46/4 11.5 Applications of Moments As mentioned above, the first moment is the mean and the second moment about the mean is the sample variance. Karl Pearson introduced the use of the third moment about the mean in calculating skewness and the fourth moment about the mean in the calculation of kurtosis.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Child Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Child Development - Essay Example For the realization of an optimal development, the cognitive, social, emotional, and language development of children needs to be well understood. There was the need to establish an in-depth understanding towards the development of a child cutting across cognitive, emotional, social and language development. This paper explores a case study of Kevin’s development explaining the areas where Kevin achieves the developmental steps every day. This case study will refer to Kevin as the main subject of the paper in order to maintain confidentiality. Kevin is 9 months years old and resides with his mother and father, in their home, in the country. He was born in UK. His father is an African where as his mother is an Arab. Kevin’s parents have full time employment. They not only speak English as a second language but also French and Arabic. Kevin lives with his parents, two older brothers of ages eight and six years old, and a sister who is nine years old. They also have neighb ors who do not speak English as their first language. Kevin has toys that he likes to play with them. He also likes to eat biscuits. Kevin does not like a separation from the mother and finds it difficult to adjust to his mother’s attempts to live him in the kitchen alone. In this study, Kevin’s observation shall take place in their quiet home environment. This observation would be carried out in different stages. First, Kevin shall be observed with his mother in the kitchen. The second observation will be done in the presence of Kevin’s brothers and sister. Cognitive development. According to the cognitive development observation (Appendix A) Kevin could be able to repeat actions intentionally so as to trigger environmental responses. For instance, Kevin moved his legs and smiled when his mother showed him his milk bottle. In this case, Kevin was confidence to identify his milk bottle. In this case, Kevin demonstrated figurative intelligence by perceiving his m ilk bottle. Figurative intelligence involves a static intelligence aspect which involves the representations that are used to retain the state of mind. Like for the case of Kevin, figurative intelligence involved the mental imagery, and perception of the milk bottle. When his mother shows him his milk bottle a mental picture is created in his mind thus making him perceive the milk bottle. When he identifies the shape of his milk bottle and smiles he shows that he obtained intervened transformation in his mind. Piaget (2001, p .7) points out that the figurative intelligence aspects obtain their meaning from the operative intelligence aspects. Operative intelligence in this case involves covert or overt actions that are undertaken so as to anticipate objects transformation for the interest of a child. In addition to this, Kevin identification of his milk bottle was a representative aspect of intelligence development. This was also a clear indication of assimilation of new ideas. Piage t (2001, p.8) argues out that assimilation occurs in children when they come across unfamiliar ideas and refers to the information learnt previously so as to make sense out of it. When Kevin saw his milk bottle, he remembered using it some other time hence making sense of it. To recognize the milk bottle, Kevin focused on the objects contours, recognize the size of the object, thus developing mental schema of the milk bottle thus operative intelligence. This was evidenced when he looked at the milk bottle and smiled, showing out that he had gained enough object performance, and, therefore, reaction coordination. This was also an indication of a construction of knowledge that is new without the knowledge being poured into a child's head. During observation, when Kevin realized that his bottle was missing, his face changed,

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Globalization Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalization - Case Study Example Many things have conspired to make this trend a reality, primary of which is the constant push for globalization from liberal political theories that a â€Å"rising tide lifts all boats† as famously uttered by former president John F. Kennedy in one of his speeches. Another is rapid technology, especially in the areas of information and communications technologies (ICT) in which both geographic distance and time zone differentials had been shortened or compressed, in what is now called as a â€Å"flat world† where people produce goods and services continuously on a twenty-four hour basis. A very frequent theme of globalization critics is the concept of a â€Å"race to the bottom† in which manufacturers try to get the cheapest products made abroad at the lowest labor costs possible. These issues are the main concerns in this management case study regarding bicycle manufacturing. Discussion Super Sized Cycles is a little niche maker of custom-built bicycles intende d for big (obese or fat) people who are too big or heavy for ordinary and conventional bicycles. It is owned by Ms. Denizot and is in existence for barely five years already and operates out of the Burlington city in Vermont State in the United States of America. Her bikes are certainly not cheap, as these costs range from $699 up to $3,395 in price but these are built sturdier to carry overweight people and not collapse under a heavy load; the wheels, tires, seats, and steel frames are built much stronger than ordinary bikes. Sales last year was around $104,000 only. Mission Statement – Big Bikes for Big People at an affordable price of high quality Target Market – the obvious target market for this small niche-market manufacturer of big bikes are people who are obese or overweight which ordinary bicycles cannot carry as their big weight cause these ordinary bikes to either collapse or suffer a flat tire. There is now a sizable number of people who belong to this cate gory of overweight people as there is an on-going obesity epidemic in the United States of America due to changing lifestyle patterns, primarily the lack of any adequate physical exercise to burn off excess calories and the habits of many people to consume a lot of junk foods such as fast-food which are low in nutrients but high in bad cholesterol. In fact, this obesity epidemic is now so bad it is estimated that one out of every three adult Americans is considered overweight based on the body mass index or BMI which is the easiest way to measure if a person is obese or not (The Economist para. 3). Even children today are also markedly obese compared to kids two or three decades ago. Economists have considered imposing a so-called â€Å"fat tax† to discourage the people from eating too much junk food these days. However, there is another more positive approach to changing people behaviors through an activist approach which is to encourage obese people to be more physically ac tive through exercise. One of the healthier and more fun ways to do so is through biking and Super Sized Cycles has wonderfully found this viable alternative by offering to overweight people the chance to own a bike that is suitable for their size. There is a clear customer need for big bikes for big people who often cannot find the right bike. A generic business-level strategy for this small company for big bikers is to market exclusively to people who are considered obese based on their individual BMI. This is a type of focused strategy which means the company should sell big bikes only and nothing else that will dilute its strategy and make it lose its marketing focus. Examples are the two models that the owner had developed by herself (named as â€Å"

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Motivation and job satisfaction Literature review

Motivation and job satisfaction - Literature review Example Pizam (2005) noted that process theories are based on certain theories that include expectancy theory (1964), goal-setting theory (1990), cognitive evaluation theory, equity theory and reinforcement theory (1974). The process theories assist in having adequate understanding about the factors accountable for motivations and determining cognitive processes of an individual (Pizam, 2005). The definition of motivation has been identified to be explained by different authors in different context. According to Singh & Tiwari (2013), term motivation is defined as a method, which accounts the intensity, direction along with determination of practices of an individual towards a postulated goal. According to the study, it has been perceived that the degree of motivation of any individual or group varies in accordance with various influencing factors such as type of practices and time. Theory of motivation comprehensively includes three key determinants, including intensity, direction and persistence (Singh & Tiwari, 2013). Moreover, the study of Brown & Sargeant (2007) also suggests that term motivation is often characterised into two major categories such as extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The concept of extrinsic motivation denotes the rewards that are tangible, including monetary benefits, promotion, security and conditions among others. On the other hand, the concep t of intrinsic motivation significantly defines the intangible rewards such as psychological appreciation, promotional rewards along with various types of approvals and admirations among others (Singh & Tiwari, 2013; Brown & Sargeant, 2007). In a sociological context, the theory of motivation is defined differently than the other area of interest. In this context, Zalenski & Raspa (2006), motivation is defined as a way where an individual is satisfied by addressing his/her different types of basic needs in his/her day-to-day life. The

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Keystone Species Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Keystone Species - Essay Example The populations of big-cat prey including the red coati (Nasua nasua), the agouti (Dasyprocta variegata), and the paca (Agouti paca) are about ten times higher than on Cocha Cashu, Peru, where big cats still live. However, this increase may result from natural population variability rather than the lack of jaguars and pumas. The extreme removal of herbivores and frugivorous mammals would drastically affect forest regeneration, altering tree species composition, but the effects of modest changes in densities are less clear. The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a keystone predator par excellence (Duggins 1980). A population of around 200,000 once thrived on the kelp beds lying close to shore from northern Japan, through Alaska, to southern California and Mexico. In 1741, Vitus Bering, the Danish explorer, reported seeing great numbers of sea otters on his voyage among the islands of the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. Some furs were taken back to Russia and soon this new commodity was highly prized for coats. Hunting began. In 1857, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7,200,000. This cost was recouped in forty years by selling sea otter pelts. In 1885 alone, 118,000 sea otter pelts were sold. By 1910, the sea otter was close to extinction, with a world-wide population of fewer than 2,000. It was hardly ever seen along the Californian coast from 1911 until 1938. The inshore marine ecosystem changed where the sea otter disappeared. Sea urchins, which were eaten by the otters, underwent a population explosion. They consumed large portions of the kelp and other seaweeds. While the otters were present, the kelp formed a luxuriant underwater forest, reaching from the sea bed, where it was anchored, to the sea surface. With no otters to keep sea-urchins in check, the kelp vanished. Stretches of the shallow ocean floor were turned into sea-urchin barrens, which were a sort of submarine desert. Happily, a few pairs of sea otters had managed to survive in the outer Aleutian Islands and at a few localities along the southern Californian coast. Some of these were taken to intermediate sites in the United States and Canada where they were protected by strict measures. With a little help, the sea otters staged a comeback and the sea urchins declined. The lush kelp forest grew back and many lesser algae moved in, along with crustaceans, squids, fishes, and other organisms. Grey whales migrated closer to shore to park their young in breaks along the kelp edge while feeding on the dense concentrations of animal plankton. Keystone predators sometimes are more effective within certain parts of their range. The sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) is a keystone predator of rocky intertidal communities in western North America (Paine 1995). This starfish preys primarily on two mussels Mytilus californianus and Mytilus trossulus. A study along the central Oregon coast showed that three distinct predation regimes exist (Menge, B. A., and T. L. Freidenburg. 2001). Strong keystone predation occurs along wave-exposed headlands. Less strong predation by sea stars, whelks, and possibly other predators occurs in a wave-protected cove. Weak predation occurs at a wave-protected site regularly buried by sand. If keystone species do exist, how do the links within a system dominated by such a

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Analysis of Peripherin-2 Cone Mutation V268I

Analysis of Peripherin-2 Cone Mutation V268I Introduction: 1.1 Composition of Retina: Eye an organ which is known for its sensory function Vision, serves as a basis for perception of the world outside. Three layers of tissues enclose the eye, outermost layer sclera, middle layer choroid and inner layer retina. Central macular region of the retina called as fovea consist of photoreceptor cells, where maximum visual acuity is possible due to minimal light scattering. Iris found in region between the cornea and lens acts like an aperture controlling the amount of light that could enter and pass through retina (Siegel and Sapru.2011). Retina consists of following layers: The outer most primary epithelium layer with pigmented melanin cells absorbs uncaptured light preventing reflection back to rest of retina. The later parts of retina layers involved in sensing and processing of light stimulus are the layers with photoreceptor cells- light sensitive region with rod and cone cells, external limiting membrane, outer nuclear layer, outer plexiform layer, inner nuclear layer, inner plexiform layer and inner most layer with ganglion cell axon fibers. Optically as light when imaged onto retinal photoreceptor layer, light passing through this layer with rods and cones converts light stimuli to electric signal through horizontal cells, further processed through bipolar, amacrine before they reach ganglion cells. From the axons of Central Nervous System (CNS) ganglion cells information is passed in the form of action potential to optic disc and optic nerve signal is received by brain’s visual center. (Ayoub, 2008). 1.2 Composition of Photoreceptors: Retina is made up of two different types of photo receptors- Rods and cones, the ratio of these photoreceptors vary in different species depending on its habitat being diurnal or nocturnal, in human’s rod cells are in majority with cone cells in a ratio of 20:1 (Mustafi et al., 2009). Rods and cones consist of outer segment, inner segment and synaptic terminal. Towards outer surface retina outer segments are located, these segments contain membranous discs arranged in the form of a stack, and these regions are involved in photo transduction by detecting photons and converting them into electrical signals. Inner segment consist of nucleus, both segments are integrated by a stalk containing microtubules. The synaptic terminal carries out synaptic contact with other cells (Siegel and Sapru. 2011). Retinal pigment epithelial cells phagocytize the aged disks which are shed from distal end when new a new disk is added to the base (Young. 1967). Fig: 1 Structure of rod and cone cell. In rods outer segment disc membrane is separated by plasma membrane, disks consist of enclosing lipid bilayer compartment called as disk lumen or intra distal space. Lamellar region of the disk is joined by curved rim region, lamellar region consist of photoreceptor protein, Rhodopsin – an integral membrane protein, and curved rim regions consist of filaments extending to cytoplasmic regions of adjoining disks maintaining structure of outer segment. Rim regions also contain membrane proteins Rim-1, a high molecular weight protein and two other lower molecular weight proteins Peripherin/rds and Rom-1. In cones discs are not completely formed, they are adjoined and are continuous with plasma membrane. (Molday. 1994). These two proteins Peripherin/rds and Rom-1 are homologous in structure, peripherin/rds is expressed both in rods and cones while Rom-1 is only found in rods, they can interact to form dimers and tetramers. (Elizabeth. 2005) Cones are known to be responsible for vision during daylight and mediate color vision, while rods do not. Axial structure of cones makes them capture light efficiently during day, with fast responsive membrane potential with less integration time. There are three types of cones L, M, S cones which are specific to a region of visible spectrum to which they are found to be sensitive. L cones are sensitive to ÊÅ ½max~ 553-565, M cones are sensitive to ÊÅ ½max~ 530-537, S cones are sensitive to ÊÅ ½max~ 415-430, frequency of photons. (Mustafi et al., 2009). Rods are specialized to work under dim light conditions, rhodopsin is the most abundant protein found in the rods constituting about 85 % of total protein in rod outer segments. (Elizabeth. 2005). Circuit transmitting information to ganglion cells is different in rods and cones, each rod bipolar cell is connected to many rod cells, and many rod bipolar cells are connected by amacrine cell. More convergence make rods better detector of light but reduces spatial resolution. In cones it’s less convergent as each ganglion cell receives input from only one cone bipolar cell, which is connected to single cone cell (Mustafi et al., 2009). Signal transduction in Photoreceptors: The signaling cascade in photoreceptors involves from light absorption till signal generation by membrane polarization, resulting in controlling the rate of release of neurotransmitter through synaptic terminal. In Dark light condition gyanylate cyclases (GCs) actively produce high Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels, There by the cGMP sensitive cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel is in its open state and gives rise to the influx of Na+ and Ca+2. Rods and cones are depolarized to ~35 to 45 mV, where outer segment membrane channels are open permeable to Na+ by effluxing k+ balancing cations. This constitutes a circuit known as â€Å"Dark or circulating current†. In this condition with the channel opened for influx of ca+2 initiates the release of neurotransmitter from synaptic terminal. In light conditions cation channel in outer membrane is closed, thereby membrane hyperpolarizes towards equilibrium potential for k+, causing halt in neurotransmitter release (Jindrova. 1998). When photon is absorbed by Rhodopsin- a 40 kDa protein belonging to G protein coupled receptors, consist of a protein opsin, a single polypeptide with seven transmembrane helical segments forming three cytoplasmic loops and a chromophore 11-cis retinal, which binds to lysine, 296 residue on opsin’s seventh helix. In rods and cones photon absorption leads to isomerization of 11-cis retinal form to all trans retinal confirmation and in the surrounding opsin repositioning of cytoplasmic loops occur which in turn activates the protein to Metarhodopsin II (R*) state, which stimulates the heterotrimeric G protein transducin (Hargrave et al.1993; Scot and John . 2008). Preceding from here all the steps occur in dark state, Transducin stimulates cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE6) to hydrolyze cGMP to 5’GMP by dissociation of ÃŽ ³ subunit from PDE ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ² subunits, resulting a vast increase of 5’GMP and decrease in cGMP concentration leading to the closing of the CNG channel. As a consequence, the outer membrane hyperpolarises to ~-70 mV and release of neurotransmitter is halted to bipolar cells, finally light signal information is sent by termination of transmitter release to the brain. For regeneration of dark current, the Rod cell needs to restore back the concentration of cGMP which is regulated by concentration of Ca+2 and by gyanylate cyclases (GC), Ca+2 molecules are bound by gyanylate activating proteins. In light conditions, where the CNG channels are closed and Ca+2 levels are low, the low level of calcium activates gyanylate activating proteins, which in turn stimulates gyanylate cyclases leading to production of cGMP. Increased level of cGMP causes to open CNG channel and dark current is restored (Jindrova. 1998). Additional mechanisms are found to be involved to restore the molecules from active to inactive state. Inactivation of Rh* by phosphorylation, catalyzed by rhodopsin kinase (Chenet al.1999). Phosphorylated rhodopsin is blocked by the protein arrestin by binding to it preventing activation of transducin, resulting in breakdown of activated rhodopsin (Xu et al,. 1997). The all trans retinal disassociates from opsin, diffuses to cytosol transported to outersegment then into pigmental epithelium where it is reconverted to 11- cis retinal, then the recycled 11 -cis retinal is transported back to outer segments. Peripherin- 2: This membrane protein is named on basis of localization studies done in 1987, which revealed that this protein was found localized around the periphery region of the outer segments, disks in rods and lamellae or disks in cones. (Molday et al,. 1987). In humans peripherin/rds is encoded by cDNA Peripherin/rds with open reading frame of 346 amino acids, weighing 39.3 KDa (Travis et al., 1989). Peripherin is an integral membrane glycoprotein having four trans membrane domains. When photoreceptor cells fail to develop in outer segments it results in retinal disorder named retinal degeneration slow (rds). Amino acid sequence of peripherin in bovine photoreceptor cell is 92.5% identical to protein encoded by rds gene in wild type mouse. Localization of these proteins was also found to be in rod outer segment (ROS) membranes, implying the role of peripherin-2 as a cause in retinal disorder. (Connell et al, .1991). Peripherin protein is also known and addressed with many other names like pho toreceptor peripherin, peripherin-2, peripherin/rds, rds/peripherin and rds. The two dimensional structure proposed consisted of four membrane spanning domains, with its N and C terminals located intracellular in extradiscal space, two extra cellular loops D1 and D2 ( EC1 and EC2) are localized with each containing a N-linked glycan in intradiscal space. The D2 loop among four species mouse, rat, human and bovine is found to be 92% identical, predicted that evolutionary drift in this loop could be a reason for its involvement in protein -protein interactions. (Connell and Molday, 1990; Travis et al., 1991). Fig: 2 Structure of Peripherin-2. D2 loop in intradiskal region is found to be key in protein folding and tetrameric subunit formation, changes in amino acids in this loop resulted in either protein misfolding or reduction in sediment coefficient of protein or even both, seven cysteine residues found in this loop to be important for intramolecular disulphide bonds, one of the cysteine residue is responsible for polymerization of tetramers (Loewen and Molday, 2000). When seven conserved cysteine residues were replaced they showed abnormalities, C214S linked mutant for adRP was not normally folding and interacting with rom-1 protein to form tetramer. While in C150S mutant failed to form intra molecular disulphide bonds, these results revealed that cysteine residues were crucial for folding of protein and subunit assembly, failure of these functions are linked to retinal disorders like adRP. (Goldberg et al., 1997). Human rom-1 protein with 351 amino acids exhibiting 35% identity to peripherin-2, hydropathy profiles revealed that rom-1 and peripherin-2 have a similar topology with four transmembrane domains, one of differences noted in the both the proteins were consensus sequence for N-linked glycosylation is absent in the rom-1 (Molday. 1994). Peripherin homologous protein rom-1 forms disulfide-linked dimers with each other (Bascom et al.,1992). Peripherin-2/rom-1 core native complex was found to exist as a tetramer, membrane curvature was found to induce with tetramer formation when they were reconstructed in lipid vesicles (Kevany et al,. 2013). Peripherin-2 associates with itself and also with its homologue rom-1 in forming homo and heterotetramers core, these tetramers when linked intramolecularly together by disulphide bonding forms octamers and higher order oligomers (Loewen and Molday. 2000). A highly conserved region within the C-terminal domain of peripherin/rds was found to be import ant for membrane fusion, it forms a complex with melanoregulin (MREG) onto the last five residues of the C-terminus (Gln341-Gly346), membrane fusion is important in organelle biogenesis, disc morphogenesis and disc shedding. (Boesze-Battaglia et al., 2007). Peripherin/rds plays a major role in rod and cone outer segment morphogenesis. In mice, absence of peripherin/rds leads to develop normal photoreceptor inner segments but they fail to form outer segments, these outer segments undergo apoptosis (Nir and Papermaster. 1986). Peripherin- 2 is found to have differential roles in rod and cone cells with respect to their binding partners. Peripherin 2 found to be binding with the Glutamic acid rich protein (GARP) portion of ÃŽ ² subunit of rod CNG channel. This interaction is predicted to anchorage disc rim and rod plasma membrane, but in cone CNG channel such interaction was not observed, as GARP is not expressed in cone CNG channel or in other from. (Conley et al,.2010). Peripherin-2 links CNGB1a CNG channel subunit to rhodopsin, these three forms a complex localizing its contact between disk rims and plasma membrane regions. FRET experiments revealed that transmembrane -4 (TM4) of periperin-2 is key for rhodopsin interaction. In peripherin-2, G266D mutation specific to TM4 region, eliminated the specific binding capacity of peripherin-2 with rhodopsin (Becirovic et al,. 2014). Peripherin-2 being a multifunctional protein and mutations in peripherin/RDS gene results in a broad spectrum of retinal disorders like macular dystrophies, cone and cone-rod dystrophies and retinitis pigmentosa. Studying Peripherin/RDS mutations and protein structure elucidates pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these retinal disorders for effective therapeutic intervention (C.J.F. Boon et al,. 2008). Zscan29: At present, very less information is known and available regarding the function, structure and localization of this protein Zscan29. mRNA specific for this protein were found to be expressed in retina through RT- PCR experiments from mice different tissues. In mice 5 different isoforms of this protein were found, with longest isoform having 869 amino acids (aa), and other isoforms were of 834 aa, 548 aa,265 aa,206 aa. The isoform with 265 aa was found to interact with the C- terminus of CNGB1a sub unit of CNG channel. In long isoforms with 869aa and 834aa, a SCAN domain, a DUF2 domain, 2 GT-1 domains and 6 zinc finger domains were found. The scan domain is predicted to be a DNA binding domain and involved in transcription regulation, as this domain in other proteins were also found to be associated as transcription factors. DUF-2 Domain function is unclear and yet to be known, Two GT-1 domains of 79 aa each, were predicted to play a major role in light sensing mechanisms by binding GT trihelix transcription factors. (___citation__). In Arabidopsis GT-1 is predicted to respond to light signals via calcium dependent phosphorylaton, after GT-1 binding to GT cis element of light inducing gene (Bauer et al). Fig: 3 Isoforms of Zscan29 protein with its domains. Aims of this work: Analysis of Peripherin-2 cone mutation V268I: Verification of the interaction of WT peripherin-2 and peripherin-2 with mutation at V268I position with S-opsin, M-opsin and Rhodopsin via co immunoprecipitation from HEK293 cells. Interaction and localization of Peripherin-2, V268I mutation in mouse retina. Analysis of Peripherin-2 mutations at position P210: Verification of the interaction of peripherin-2 protein with mutations at P210 position with wild type Peripherin-2 and its homolog Rom-1 via coimmunoprecipitation from HEK293 cells. In vitro imaging of HEK293 cells expressing peripherin-2 protein with mutation at P210 position. Expression and localization of Peripherin-2, P210L and P210R mutations in mouse retina. Affinity purification of Anti-Zscan29 antibody and checking antibody efficiency.