Be Able to Contribute to Planning Learning Activities Essay

Hello Harry I met you at the Hyatt Hotel in Birmingham and I spoke to your assistant manager about my trip to Malawi. I Hope you are ok! Below is a picture of me and you at villa part in 2010! WOW! I had the most amazing opportunity to volunteer in Ghana for 6 weeks in July, its quiet unbelievable to be given another opportunity to help make people happy again!! BUT!! Every volunteer MUST raise  £800. ALL Money raised goes to projects whilst we are out there etc. I shall be working with Orphans and also teaching mothers how to educate their child. I’m finding it extremely difficult to raise my fundraising target and I have  £635 to go until lively minds (company im going with) are happy with my fundraising, Its totally stressing me out as I have to pay for my own flights too!! Which is an additional  £700 and coming from a single parent family on a council estate is hard, I just want to make myself proud and have a good life This is the only thing that makes me happy, Li fes pretty dull to be honest . But when I’m making others happy and putting smiles on the faces of children who truly have nothing to live for, but keep going and keep fighting their everyday life makes me happy about myself. When I spoke to you before the game you said you woul help me reach my fundraising target. I truly hope that is still possible so i can then the company can lay off my back and I concentrate on raising my flight costs. It would mean the world if you could help me on this quest. To be able to relax and know i am going to Ghana and not telling people â€Å"Maybe depending on if i achieve my fundraising target† would be HARRYmazing!

Hurricane Igor

When going to cnn. com I found that right away it had the link that I could click on to see all of the information about how Bermuda is bracing for hurricane Igor. Also, there are links that you can click on to view videos and live feed to see how bad it actually is. This site tells you everything you need to know such as sustained winds, the wind gust, and the latitude and longitude of the hurricane. The one thing I found interesting is it gives you a picture of the projected path that it is going. It also tells you what category, or size, the hurricane is. As of right now CNN is saying that hurricane Igor is going to affect the United States east coast over the weekend. CNN also gives you a link that you can recommend this website to people on your Facebook. This is a good thing on their part because with the Facebook link people can like it and see this article on your Facebook. They can see that you went to this site and they might look at it and like it too. This means more publicity for CNN and more people will view the top stories on there. CNN has a big article on how sever and damaging hurricane Igor is. CNN also tells you about any other hurricanes or tropical storms that were or are going to be dangerous to the east coast or Bermuda and what their projected paths are. When I went onto MSNBC. com I found the article right away, with big bold letters that say â€Å"Bermuda braces for ‘long and punishing’ Igor. † This right away attracted me to click on that headline so I can get more information on the weather and Igor. After clicking on the link there is a big picture of someone boarding their house up to keep it safe. Down at the bottom of the website it gives you three options that you can tell people about this story. You can email this story to a friend, you can share it on Facebook or you can share it on twitter. These are three main ways that people can spread this story to others so that they are aware of how sever the hurricane is. MSNBC. com also gives you a huge, well detailed article written by Elizabeth Roberts. She stated how sever the weather was in the beginning of the week. It was a category four in the beginning of the week and it has now gone down to a category two hurricane. The reporter talks about the sustained winds and the location of hurricane Igor. She tells you where it is headed and where it is going to impact. They also have this interactive tracker that shows you three different hurricanes and you can click on each one to find out how sever each one is and where it is headed. This gets updated every couple of minutes. You can also put in your address and it will give you the 5 day forecast. You can also click on a link that will give you archives of previous storms. FOXnews. com was one if the difficult websites for me. I went to their site and I didn’t see anything on hurricane Igor that caught my attention. I had to really look for this story, and I found it as I scrolled down and there is a little box that has the latest news, most read, and videos. The Bermuda story was far down the list and you had to click on the link to go to the story. When going into this article, there are no pictures of hurricane Igor, it is all words. This site gives you an article by Rick Leventhal, in which he writes about hurricane Igor. In this article he states that hurricane Igor is a category two hurricane and how it makes landfall with sustained winds near 110 miles per hour, gusting to 130. Fox news also tells you that the last major storm was back in 2003. So that is a paragraph that was interesting because it showed how they haven’t had one since then. It gives you how a hotel business has gone down by 50% since hurricane season started; this isn’t good for Bermudas economy. You cannot share this with anyone on face book or twitter but there is a place that you can leave comments and you can get follow up via email if anyone comments on this story. There is a link that you can click on that will take you to the author’s biography. It also gives you a list of all the articles he has written and there are someone other hurricanes on there. There are many similar things that all of these websites have such as telling everyone where the hurricane is located. It also describes in detail the wind gust and when it is suspected to hit the targeted area. Now when it comes to the difference there is a bunch of them. CNN from the beginning of the home page gives you a picture to look at, but also gives you a link to click on so you can view more. When you are looking on CNN you can see how they use bold writing when it comes to the sustained wind and wind gust, also the latitude and longitude. MSNBC on the other hand uses the hurricane interactive tracker to tell you all of that. I found that this is very detailed and very helpful. It is a different kind of tool that you can use to really see where hurricanes are going and who will be affected by them. MSNBC and CNN give you the option to send the information to someone by emailing, facebooking, or placing it on twitter. This helps them get more viewers and makes their rating go up for how many people view the website. Fox news on the other hand is not at all appealing for the weather. You have to really look for the article and when you find it, all it gives you is the article. The difference here is that there is not enough information for me about the hurricane, Igor.

Collaborative Ventures Essay

1.0 Summary The competitive nature of today’s international business world pushes the companies to find a common ground between each other. Even market giants have considerable tendency in creating collaborative arrangements with their competitors in order to keep their positions in the market. The competencies of competitor companies differ from each other often. Collaborative agreements provide companies to gain varied knowledge and specialties with less R&D costs. Also competitors can access each other’s established markets with collaborative ventures. Nevertheless, the accomplishment of an international collaborative venture depends on the harmony between national and organizational cultures of the partners. Hence, the cultural examination of the venture has a crucial role in the success. The partners should state a suitable integration method considering the cultural impacts in the negotiation period. 2.0 Introduction 2.1Definition of the International Collaborative Venture Collaborative ventures, sometimes called international partnerships or international strategic alliances, are essentially partnerships between two or more firms. They help companies overcome together the often substantial risks and costs involved in achieving international projects that might exceed the capabilities of any one firm operating alone. (Cavusgil, et al. 2011) Cavusgil, et al. (2011) also state that there are two basic types of collaborative ventures: equity joint ventures and project based, non-equity ventures. In this essay we are going to examine an equity joint venture between Sony and Ericsson. Equity joint ventures are traditional collaborations of a type that has existed for decades. (Cavusgil, et al. 2011). According to Wallace (2004, citing in Ahmed and Pang 2009), joint ventures are usually formed on the basis of a common objectives or mutual goals of all the parties. This objective should serve the needs of the companies in a proportionate manner otherwise the success of the joint venture will be short-lived. 2.2The motives for Collaborative Ventures Daniels, et al. (2011) state the motives for collaborative ventures as: ââ€"  Spreading and reducing costs: When the volume of business is small, or one partner has excess capacity, it may be less expensive to collaborate with another firm. Nonetheless, the costs of negotiation and technology transfer must not be overlooked. ââ€"  Specializing in competencies: The resource-based view of the firm holds that each firm has a unique combination of competencies. Thus, a firm can maximize its performance by concentrating on those activities that best fit its competencies and relying on partners to supply other products, services, or support activities. ââ€"  Avoiding or countering competition: When markets are not large enough for numerous competitors, or when firms need to confront a market leader, they may band together in ways to avoid competing with one another or combine resources to increase their market presence. ââ€"  Securing vertical and horizontal links: If a firm lacks the competence and/or resources to own and manage all of the activities of the value-added chain, a collaborative arrangement may yield greater vertical access and control. At the horizontal level, economies of scope in distribution, a better smoothing of sales and earnings through diversification and an ability to pursue projects too large for any single firm can all be realized through collaboration. ââ€"  Gaining knowledge: Many firms pursue collaborative arrangements in order to learn about their partners’ technology, operating methods, or home markets and thus broaden their own competencies and competitiveness over  time. ââ€"  Gaining location-specific assets: Cultural, political, competitive, and economic differences among countries create challenges for   companies that operate abroad. To overcome such barriers and gain access to location-specific assets (e.g., distribution access or competent workforce), firms may pursue collaborative arrangements. ââ€"  Minimizing exposure in risky environments: The higher the risk managers perceive with respect to a foreign operation, the greater their desire to form a collaborative arrangement. 3.0 Information and analysis 3.1Information about Sony Ericsson Joint Venture (SEJV) 3.1.1The brief history of the SEJV Sony Ericsson, the mobile telephone company formed by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, was born of two, coincidental, serious crises. April 24, 2001, saw the announcement that the Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson was merging its mobile telephone operations with Japan’s Sony, forming Sony Ericsson with each company owning 50 %.The new, mutual company was headquartered in London. Originally, the two companies were compatible partners for the joint venture. Sony was a major electronics brand with expertise in the industry and Ericsson was a leading company in the communications sector. (Nilsson undated) Finally, Sony acquired Ericsson’s share in the venture on February 16, 2012. (Sonymobile 2012) 3.1.2The main motives for the SEJV ââ€"  Spreading and reducing costs: Sony was desiring to increase its market share in the mobile phone industry. Ericsson had major financial problems due to delays in the production. Eventually, Sony made less amount of investment to the industry and Ericsson continued its business by reducing its costs. ââ€"  Specializing in competencies: One of the essential objectives of the venture was to merge Ericsson’s know-how in the telecommunication area to Sony’s wide experience in the electronics. ââ€"  Avoiding or countering competition: Ericsson desired to be the market leader. Also Sony wanted to increase its market share. So they combined their resources and knowledge to receive a bigger share. ââ€"  Securing vertical and horizontal links: Ericsson had serious problems in the value added chain due to its supplier Philips. Also, before joining, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply, which Sony’s affiliates and manufacturers solved for them. (Tharp 2009) Moreover, the brand awareness of Ericsson was an area which Sony is reputable. ââ€"  Gaining knowledge: While Sony was accessing the wide knowledge of Ericsson in the telecommunication, Ericsson also gained access to Sony’s expertise in the visual and digital technology. 3.2Examination of the SEJV from Sony’s perspective 3.2.1Examination of the main motives from Sony’s perspective One of the main purposes of a joint venture is to share the cost of building a new organization. Sony wanted to take a chance of the opportunities that were rising in the mobile phone industry in the early 2000’s. Despite that, the business environment in this industry was carrying a high risk for the new players. It would have been a great cost for Sony to form a new organization, which can challenge with top players like Nokia and Motorola. Consequently, Sony decided to enter the mobile phone market on a leading company’s coattails. (Tharp 2009) Ericsson was the 3rd big mobile phone manufacturer in the beginning of the 2000’s. Sony had hegemony in the audio, vision and chip technology for the electronic devices however; it had defects in the software and patenting in the mobile technology. With some 33,000 granted patents, Ericsson is the largest holder of standard-essential patents for mobile communication. (Ericsson 2013) Therefore, the specialization of Ericsson in the mobile phone industry provided a major advantage for Sony. Sony was not a preferable brand in the mobile phone industry in the beginning of 2000’s with a market share of less than 1%. Sony may not have been able to counter a competition in this industry by itself. Simultaneously, Ericsson was the 3rd major player in the industry  and was trying to get over its dramatic fell in the market share. Moreover, Sony, which had virtually no presence in mobile phones outside Asia, would gain a foothold in Europe and America, where Ericsson had distribution agreements with major operators. (Kapner 2001) Thus, Ericsson would be the ideal component partner for Sony due to its situation in the market. Sony had lack of the R&D management in the mobile phone technology. Despite that, Ericsson had an experienced R&D team specialized in the mobile technologies. This team fulfilled the gap of R&D management in Sony. Sony accessed the long-term gained knowledge of Ericsson in the mobile technology area with this joint venture. Sony was planning to integrate this knowledge into its specialized know-how in the electronic devices. 3.2.2Examination of the problems in the SEJV, which Sony encountered As we examined above the main motives about SEJV that Sony had, we would have expected a compatible partnership with Ericsson. Nevertheless, the implementation was not so successful. Bryan Ma of IDC Asia-Pacific said â€Å"They originally came together to incorporate the Ericsson technology and the Sony brand, but they haven’t been able to achieve much with the combination,† (BBC 2011) Moreover, â€Å"When the joint venture was formed, mobile phone technology was simple and Ericsson’s inputs in that area suited Sony’s purposes,† said Tim Charlton of Charlton Media. (BBC 2011) Parallel to these thoughts; SEJV was not at the place in the market where they desired to be in the beginning. Charlton also stated that now things have changed. Phones are much more advanced and Sony feels it is hampered by the fact that Ericsson doesn’t bring much to the table with regard to the smartphone segment. (BBC 2011) Analysts said the 50-50 partnership has played a role in hurting the company’s product development. Melissa Chau of IDC Asia-Pacific stated that whenever decisions are made at one end, they need approval from the other. That has hindered their ability to bring new products to the market at a fast pace. (BBC 2011) Sony expected to gain more knowledge and technology from Ericsson; however Ericsson didn’t contribute both of them enough to the partnership. The lack of R&D activities revealed phones, which were not representing an innovation. Consequently, the release of the brand new models of SEJV delayed and also disappointed the market. As a result of this, it gave a particular damage to the corporate image. Cultural separation was another problem in the SEJV. As mentioned by Lane and Beamish (1990) IJV partners from different national cultures tend to experience greater difficulty in terms of communication and coordination (Lane and Beamish 1990 cited in Pothukuchi et al. 2002). If we look at the organizational culture of both the partner companies, we see that there is also a significant difference on this account. The only similarity among them is the professional orientation towards work and open system that exist within the organization. When we make this comparison with Sony Ericsson, we find out that the culture integrated at Sony Ericsson is quite similar to that of Ericsson. The reason may be due to both the companies are based in Europe and also there is very less difference in their respective national cultures. Another reason for showing similarity with Ericsson is that the ratio of Swedish employees working at Sony Ericsson is quite high, thus giving a similar notion. It can be assumed that the culture incorporated at Sony Ericsson is partially based on some commonalities between the parent firms and partially influenced by the national culture as well. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) As a result of these facts, Sony acquired Ericsson’s share in the venture on February 16, 2012. While hailing the past decade’s partnership with Ericsson, Sony president and chief executive Howard Stringer pointed out that the market had drastically shifted since 2001 from focusing on loss-making simple mobile phones to highly profitable smartphones. The separation from the Swedish company was therefore a logical and strategic step that would enable Sony to more efficiently deliver devices that can connect to each other and open up new entertainment possibilities. By taking full control, Sony can integrate its smartphone operation with its tablet, hand-held game console and personal computer businesses to save on costs and better synchronize development of mobile devices. (Anon 2011) 3.3Examination of the SEJV from Ericsson’s perspective 3.3.1Examination of the main motives from Ericsson’s perspective As it was mentioned in the annual report 2001 of Ericsson (2002); year 2001 was a tough year in the telecom business. Like most of competitors, Ericsson incurred considerable losses for the year. Relative market position of Ericsson improved, however, and after decisive restructuring and cost  control efforts, Ericsson’s objective for 2002 was to achieve an operating margin of over five percent. Ericsson was looking for a partner to share the cost of this organizational restructuring in order to stay competitive in the industry. Sony was a reliable brand for Ericsson to keep on its business. Wojtek Uzdelewicz, managing director at Bear, Stearns & Co. (2001) mentioned Sony-Ericsson deal as a perfect union. He said â€Å"Ericsson has done a poor job of building brand awareness. That’s what Sony is famous for.† Furthermore, Ericsson would also gain access to Sony’s expertise in combinin g audio, visual and digital technology, a skill whose importance will grow with the introduction of a new generation of phones with Internet connections and other advanced features. (Kapner 2001) Another advantage for Ericsson was Sony’s expertise in mobile handset technology, which was a key sector Ericsson was hoping to break into at the time. (Tharp 2009) The annual report 2001 of Ericsson (2002) stated that the industry has a strong growth potential and Ericsson look forward with optimism on Ericsson’s role as the top-class vendor to top-class operators. Due to the uncertainty in the telecom market under current economic conditions, Ericsson believed a solid upturn may be a couple of years away. The long-term financial objectives of Ericsson were unchanged to grow faster than the market, which means a growth of more than 20 percent in a few years. This marketing objective was a crucial motive for Ericsson to create a joint venture. Indeed, Sony was known as a marketing genius worldwide. Both companies would benefit from each other’s established markets, making them fifth largest mobile phone producers in the world. (Tharp 2009) In 1998, Ericsson had b egun to experience technical problems with its telephones. For the next three years the company would be forced to admit to a number of problems and unexpected events, ranging from problems with circuits and new model delays to a fire at a subcontractor and lack of back-up systems. Still, the largest problem was probably the lack of skills with consumer products most clearly shown in the legendary answer to the question of why the Swedes did not try to imitate the highly successful Finnish telephone design: â€Å"If you want a phone that looks like a piece of soap, then† (Nilsson undated) In spite of that, Sony was a reputable consumer product manufacturer due to its quality management and design innovations. Also, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply, which Sony’s affiliates and manufacturers  solved for them. (Tharp 2009) Sony was a great information source for Ericsson to access. First of all, Sony was a global giant in the consumer electronics. The expertise of Sony in audio, visual and digital technology was fulfilling the gaps in Ericsson’s knowledge. Besides technology, Ericsson was also searching for a remedy to its marketing problems. Conveniently, Sony was famous for its branding, marketing and commercial activities. 3.3.2Examination of the problems in the SEJV, which Ericsson encountered Sony wanted to gain the market, which Ericsson already established in a long-term. Nevertheless, a deal would do little for Ericsson’s market position. Sony sold just five million phones in 2000. Adding them to Ericsson’s 43.3 million would increase Ericsson’s market share just one percentage point, to 10 percent worldwide, leaving it in third place behind Nokia of Finland (35%) and Motorola (14%). (Kapner 2001) At this point, Ericsson trusted the brand-new mobile phones, which were developed with its new partner, would have boosted their sales. In spite of that, their sales dramatically decreased in 2002 and 2003 and they even lost their position in the market share. Indeed, the average marketing management of Sony also disappointed Ericsson and caused this situation. As we mentioned before, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply. The pricing strategy of SEJV was quite high in comparison with the market average. This caused lower profits than they aimed. Furthermore, according to Hofstede (2001) research, the national culture of Ericsson can be described as having low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, high individualism, very low masculinity and low long-term orientation. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) On the other hand, Sony had a high power distance, very high uncertainty avoidance, low individualism, very high masculinity and high long-term orientation national culture. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) These contrasts in the national cultures lowered the performance of Ericsson’s R&D teams. Moreover, due to this lack of performance, they have started lay-offs in the R&D departments. Eventually, this chain linked to outdated products. 4.0 Conclusions International collaborative ventures allow companies to reach their mutual  objectives by accessing each other’s resources, knowledge, specializations and established markets. Nevertheless, an ICV can be successful as long as the partners fulfilled each other’s gaps. The motives for the companies may be seen flawless; however the problems can rise in the implementation. The motives of Sony and Ericsson were also fitting perfectly to each other in the initial negotiations. Their interests in spreading and reducing cost, benefiting from each other’s competencies, increasing their market share, having a greater control and access in vertical and horizontal levels and gaining each other’s expertise knowledge were matching excellently in the theory. Sony was looking for a reliable partner in the mobile phone industry to increase its market share. Ericsson was under pressure due to crisis in the industry and had tendency to cut-off its production and R&D costs. Sony had competency in the electronic and digital technology, as Ericsson had the competency in the telecommunication technology. Ericsson had problems in the branding, marketing and manufacturing management. Sony had a worldwide reputation in these issues. Lastly, Sony and Ericsson had reputable expertise know-how in their areas. When we combine these assumptions, we might expect a new innovative brand in the mobile phone industry. Nevertheless, the implementation of the theory failed. The cultural differences between these two companies revealed unforeseen conditions. Ericsson could not represent its R&D department’s skills sufficiently due to Sony’s low-individualist culture. This result caused the manufacturing of outdated products. Outdated products decreased the profits and the percentage in the market share. Besides these, Sony could not successfully implement its branding, marketing and manufacturing management due to cultural discrepancy with the Ericsson’s native personnel. The new SEJV lost its 3rd place in the mobile phone industry as a result of these management failures. Finally, Sony broke this chain by owning the JV totally. Nowadays Sony uses the advantage of know-how which gained from Ericsson in the last decade and applies its marketing and manufacturing management fully. 5.0Recommendations In the initial periods of creating an IJV, the future partners should consider the cultural impacts. Thus, cultural researches should be done and examined carefully before negotiations for following a suitable management  path. Each partner also should realize the other’s competencies accurately and should leave those zones for the better one. Furthermore, partners should avoid hiding knowledge from each other because it brings only loss to the venture. In the Sony Ericsson example, if Sony had left the control of R&D department to Ericsson totally, the R&D failure would not have happened. The Sony management couldn’t able to notice the cultural differences at this point. Besides, Sony should have been focused on the marketing and branding activities more intensively. (Headlines, subheads and reference quotation information (author date) are excluded) 6.0References  ° Ahmed A, Pang Z (2009) â€Å"CORPORATE CULTURE IN AN INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURE† A case study of Sony Ericsson, Master Thesis, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Tecnology, Malardalen University. Available at: http://mdh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:224194/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Anon (2011) Ericsson and Sony go separate ways. The Local, 27 October. Available at: http://www.thelocal.se/36986/ [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° BBC News Business (2011) Can Sony succeed where Sony-Ericsson partnership failed? Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk /news/business-15285258 [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Cavusgil S T, Knight G and Risenberger J R (2011) International Business: The New Realities (2ndedn), Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-245327-1  ° Daniels J D, Radebaugh L H and Sullivan D P (2011) ‘Chapter 14: Direct Investment and Collaborative Strategies’ in International Business. Available at: http://drgeorgefahmy.com/labteachingtips /daniels14_im.doc [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Ericsson (2013) The Leader in Mobile Communication Patents. Available at: http://www.ericsson.com/the company/company_facts/patents [Accessed 11 October 2013].  ° Ericsson (2002) The Annual Report 2001 Financial Statements. Available at:http://www.ericsson.com/res/investors/docs/annual-reports-1970-2002/annual 01_financial_en.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Kapner S (2001) ‘Ericsson and Sony Discussing Mobile Phone Joint Venture’. The New York Times, 20 April. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/business/ericsson-and-sony-discussing-mobile-phone-joint-venture.html [Accessed 11 October 2013].  ° Nilsson T (undated) The formation of Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://www.ericssonhistory.com/the-ericsson-files engelska/Foretaget /Sony-Ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  °Sonymobile (2012) Sony Completes Full Acquisition of Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://blogs.sonymobile.com/ press_release/sony-completes-full-acquisition-of-sony-ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Tharp A (2009) Joint Venture: Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://tortora.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/joint-venture-sony-ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Wallace, R. (2004) Strategic Partnerships: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Joint Ventures and Alliances, Chicago: Dearborn Trade, A Kaplan Professional Company. ISBN-13: 978-0-79-318828-4

Bio-Terrorism preparedness and response Module 3 case MHE 507 Essay

Bio-Terrorism preparedness and response Module 3 case MHE 507 - Essay Example However the operation is plagued by the lack of qualified and motivated staff members. This paper will seek to study and analyze the LRN. The Laboratory Response Network was created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a means of responding to biological terrorism. The CDC established the organization with its partners, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Association of Public Health Laboratories (McGovern, 311). The overall aim was to create an efficient mechanism that would upgrade the American public health infrastructure to respond to bioterrorism. The LRN uses a coordinated effort by government, military, health, and private laboratories to fight against possible bioterrorist threats. It helps to enhance the ability of the country to respond to biological and chemical terrorism. The Laboratory Response Network operates using a multi-tier organizational structure. Each level helps to create a multilayered security mechanism against potential bioterrorist acts. Sentinel laboratories are the first line of defense since they are concerned with identifying and assessing bioterrorism threat agents. They have the responsibility of treating samples in a safe manner (Roffey & Tegnell, 450). Reference laboratories typically have advanced equipment that is used to test and monitor the presence of specific biological threat agents. Finally national laboratories are present in military and government facilities for the purpose of identifying specialized biological agents (Treadwell & Koo, 92). The LRN represents a unique effort to fight bioterrorism because it integrates state, federal, military, veterinary, and international laboratories. Adequate funding has supplemented the efforts by providing the necessary equipment, instruments, and supplies to the network of laboratories. However a major shortcoming is the lack of qualified and talented staff (Inglesby, 1735). This was because qualified scientists and researchers

Imagery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Imagery - Essay Example I noticed that soon the sidewalk was empty, which was such a change from the hustle and bustle of people running to get to their classes. You could tell the students had all been there, with the many pieces of litter lying in the shrubs, there had been quite a lot of activity before classes started. Someone's research paper had blown into the wind and lodged itself, rather conspicuously, underneath the bushes. Perhaps there had been a scuffle and the papers were lost in the haste. I felt bad for the person whose paper it was. The grass was trampled on and there was just the silence and the sparkling pieces of cement on the concrete, which awaited the end of the day when it would be filled with the footsteps of those searching knowledge on the campus. I watched a lone man walk demurely towards the gates, either coming or going in his haste to follow his timetable. I could see the students laughing and swimming in the swimming pool. They looked like they were having so much fun. After leaving the swimming pool area we went past the lamppost that stood tall and rested as if asleep until nightfall, when it would shine like a beacon for those who needed to access the campus at that time of night. Without the students lining the walkways the sidewalks were barren.

Analyse the economic arguments of an independent central bank Essay

Analyse the economic arguments of an independent central bank - Essay Example It must be remembered that while affecting this right to any amount of degree the State is also assuming responsibility for the value of legal tender to an equivalent extent. Maintaining internal and external value of legal tender money is a function of inflation targeting and appreciation/depreciation of currency. Whether such critical monetary policy outcomes be left independent in the hands of Central Bank professionals or be merrily dictated by elected politicians who are often not trained in such trade. We discuss this and concomitant issues in paragraphs below. The most preferred and often cited argument favoring an independent central bank is that the power to expend money should be separated or delinked substantially from the power to create money. In case these two capabilities converge we have spendthrift governments indulging in fiscal profligacy while the Central Bank simply acts as a 24/7 mint or currency printing house. State control over the ability to create money has resulted in several episodes of economic mess. Even in the days of the ancient Roman Empire the tax collection by state officers in the form of silver coins ended up being melted and corrupted with inferior metals. This gave Caesar substantial money to divert to his luxuries and such spending was a multiple time of what came in as collected tax. The result was a spiraling inflation as now more coins vied for smaller stock of market wares. In todays monetary systems running on paper, plastic and electronic money the Roman story has been repeated quite often. The Latin American inflations are fable material with inflation rates sky rocketing often to 200% or more. In some extreme cases what was affordable at twilight became unaffordable by daylight. With complex and fine lending and borrowing of money as investible funds, interest rates have turned indicators that are pliable in the hands policy makers or dictators as the case may be.Government, myopic with political

Business Law (7) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law (7) - Assignment Example Likewise, it was also emphasized that â€Å"employees bring a range of career development issues (orientation, outplacement, work, and family) in the workplace† (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2013, p. 459); as such, career development models would assist in designing policies and programs that were indicated to be instrumental in addressing these issues and at the same time, provide ways and means for professional growth. 2. Why should companies be interested in helping employees plan their careers? What benefit can companies gain? What are the risks? Companies should be interested, be involved and be committed in helping employees plan their careers because the benefits that would be accorded to the employees would reverberate in terms of higher productive and performance that is likewise beneficial to the organization. From among the benefits that the companies gain when they are involved in career planning and development are: ensured continuous supply of talented an d competent employees as exemplified from the positive image that these companies exude; higher employee morale and commitment; maintaining a highly motivated personnel; and effectively using the resources which would be instrumental in achieving organizational goals and sustaining financial success. The risks in assisting employees plan their careers are very minimal, which could include shouldering additional costs for career planning, development and management. 3. What are the 3 components of career motivation? Which is most important and why? Which is least important and why? The three components of career motivation are: career resilience, career insight, and career identity. Accordingly, career resilience is the ability of the personnel to address organizational dilemmas that affect implementation of their responsibilities. Career insight was explained as the ability of the personnel to discern their strengths and weaknesses and to relate these to the goals which they have ea rmarked for their respective careers. Finally, career identity was defined as â€Å"the degree to which employees define their personal values according to their work† (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2013, p. 448). One firmly believes that the three components are equally important; but if one were to select the most significant, it would be career resilience, or the ability of the employee to cope with the problems and challenges that are being encountered in the work setting because it takes innate skills of introspection and problem-solving to be able to resolve problems and bounce back to the level of performance expected in the organization. On the other hand, from among these components, the least important could be career identity because if the two other components are eminent, ultimately, the employee would eventually perceive personal and professional values (either consciously or subconsciously), as long as the organizational goals are effectively achieved. 4 . What is a psychological contract? How does the psychological

Movie Alice in wonderland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Movie Alice in wonderland - Essay Example Tim Burton’s portrayal of Underland is visually unique as is his point of view. Burton as director is essential to the overall look and feel of the film. This film grossed $319.3 million at the box office and DVD sales to date. The setting of the film at times is rather creepy. This Alice is unlike any others in the Alice and Wonderland films previously made. Alice is curious, but strong willed and not easily swayed into what she, eventually, does by the end of the film. Alice is visually stunning, but the portrayal by the actors is weak, the story itself is rather weak. For a fantasy film it works, little kids would enjoy this film, as well, but the action and adventure is just not something that Alice in Wonderland should have shown. For a fantasy film, I would need to see at least the following three criteria. First, it must be visually stunning, Star Wars saga falls here. Second, it must have strange and unique creatures to its world, e.g. Hobbit / Lord of the Rings movies. And third, there must be a quest which the lead character needs to complete, whether or not it is destined for him or his own altogether, Harry Potter saga. Alice in Wonderland is visually stunning. From the colorations of the wardrobe to the design of the characters themselves, Tim Burton has a knack for stunning visualization. And like Star Wars, which is visually stunning with a grimy feeling to it, Alice in Wonderland, with its gothic, dark feeling to it, still is quite visually stunning with the varied shapes of the settings, to the wardrobe and the make-up of each and every character in the story. The visuals of a boring party, even felt as though it were stuffy in the room as I watched this scene, to the many different place in Undeland (as Wonderland is called in this film) where the visuals change and your feelings to go along right with them.At one point in the film, shortly after Alice arrives in

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites Research Paper

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites - Research Paper Example This paper stresses that talking from anthropological perspective, one can say that the system of kinship includes people who have blood relationship between them or those who are living as a family. People usually create their own definitions of family. They can make a decision on adding or not adding people to their social networks depending on whether they trust them or not. In this way, they usually do not define kinship as blood relationships and add such relationships to the definition of family that may influence their lives at some point of time without having any blood relationship with them. Therefore, we can say that social networking websites have changed the dimensions of actual anthropology of kinship in today’s world of digital media. People have forgotten that real life is different from what we feel it in internet’s social networks. Socio-cultural anthropologists believe that although there are many positive effects of social networking websites on the development of relationships within extended families, there also exist some concerns for nuclear families. For example, some people, especially children, make excessive use of social networking websites, which results in less face-to-face interactions between them and their family members living under the same roof. People usually send comments and messages to friends and ignore their actual relations. Such changes in behaviors of people decrease affection and care that people normally have for their closest family members living under the same roof.  

Bradford Protein Case Essay Example for Free

Bradford Protein Case Essay The appearance of blue color showed the present of protein in the BSA dilutions. The more diluted the solution was, the less blue it was. The R2 value of the standard curve of BSA dilution was obtained to be 0.9972, which is close to 1. The closer to 1 the R2 value was, the more accurate the linear portion was. The error percentage of each unknown was large: 25.9% for skim milk, 95% for soy sauce, and 64.7% for egg white. The vast difference between the theoretical protein concentration and experimental protein concentration of the unknowns showed that Bradford Protein Assay must have limitations. The Coomassie dye only interacts with certain amino acids such as: arginine, histidine, lysine, tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine. However, each amino acid has different structure from each other; therefore the Coomassie dye will interact differently with each amino acid. The Coomassie dye molecules are bound to proteins by elctronstatic attraction enhanced by hydrophobic bonding (Tal et al. 1984). Besides the interaction between Coomassie dye and amino acids, some compounds can interfere the result of the Bradford assay such as: salt, fat, and detergent. Another factor that could influence on the Bradford assay is the protein sample must fall within the linear range of standard curve. Another possible explanation for the difference between theoretical protein concentration and experimental protein concentration is human factor. The bottom part of the cuvettes was not supposed to be touched by because that was a region in which the beam of light goes through. The absorbance values at 595 nm are part of the variable of the standard formula that was used to calculate the experimental protein concentration of the unknowns. Therefore, the adjustments in these absorbance values would effectively affect on the experiment protein concentration values. Pipetting could be another error source because it was difficult to pipette exactly 20 l Coomassie dye. Moreover, as recording the absorbance by using the spectrophotometer, different results were obtained within one sample. That means there were certain minor factors that influenced on the instrument. Bradford protein assay was used to determine protein concentration in several samples. Moreover, Bradford protein assay was not able to detect the presence of melamine in the food because the experimental protein concentration was obtained to be -0.005 mg/ml, which is invalid. Bradford protein assay didn’t interact with melamine even though it contains so many amino groups (Field and Field 2010). Melamine is not protein because it doesn’t have either carboxyl groups or functional groups, which are components of an amino acid. At high level, melamine can be toxic by combining with cyanuric acid to form insoluble crystals, which lead to the formation of kidney stones (Eufic, n.d.). Melamine amounts make the amount of protein look higher than they really are when tests that are used to detect nitrogen are used (Science Daily, 2009). Even though melamine has been notified to be toxic, there are still numbers of melamine-contaminated food in the market because the melamine t ests are way to expensive to apply on every single product and take to much time to proceed. In future, to test the accuracy of the Bradford protein assay, more trials will be conducted with different proteins such as: protein shake, chicken broth and 2% whole milk. Since the disability of detecting of the Bradford protein assay, some other methods should be conducted to see whether they could detect the presence of melamine in the food. The University of Minnesota’s BioTechnology Institute developed an enzyme that is used in Bio Scientific’s new MaxDiscoveryTM Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine contamination in food (World Health Organization, n.d.). The melamine deaminase enzyme is created to break one of the C-N bonds in melamine to release ammonia. Clearly, the Bradford Protein Assay still has some limitations to detect melamine in the food. Therefore, to provide safety food, a better and inexpensive protein method needs to be created. Reference: 1. Anjarie F., Jeffrey F. Melamine and cyanuric acid do not interfere with Bradford and Nyhydrin assays for protein determination. Food Chemistry 121 (2010): 912–917 2. Mosche T., Aaron S., Elizabeth N. 1984. Why does Coomassie Brilliant Blue R interact differently with different proteins?. Journal of Biological Chemistry 260(18): 9976-9980 3. European Food Information Council (EUFIC). N.D. Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.eufic.org/page/en/page/faq/faqid/what-is-melamine/ Accessed February 22, 2013. 4. Science Daily. 2009. Simple, Inexpensive Method to Detect Melamine Poison in Food. Last updated July 22, 2009. http://www.who.int/csr/media/faq/QAmelamine/en/index.html. Accessed February 22, 2013. 5. World Health Organization. N.D. Global Alert and Response (GAR). http://www.who.int/csr/media/faq/QAmelamine/en/index.html . Accessed February 22, 2013.

Importance of Companion Animals in Human Societies

Importance of Companion Animals in Human Societies Naomi Smallcalder Abstract Animals have been used throughout history as companions especially for people who mental and physical health problems. Even Florris Nightingale discussed the effects that birds had on patients that were confined to one room. However throughout history the same has applied to our relationship with animals. People will decide whether they want to have a companion animal in their life, and the relationship will begin. But how does this relationship effect the animals involved? Is our relationship with animals a symbiotic one or do we use them for our own needs? Introduction The Oxford English Dictionary defines a pet as: ‘Any animal that is domesticated or tamed and kept as favourite, or treated with indulgence and fondness.’ (Oxford University Press, 2014). This word is commonly used to describes animals that are kept for no obvious practical or economic purpose – i.e. pets, as apposed to livestock or working animals. Throughout history animals have been kept for symbolic purposes, they are used as status symbols, and were even used as toys, (Tuan, 1984). Pets are often referred to as ‘companion animals’, scientists believe that the human and animal bond can produce a positive and an affectionate relationship which is mutually beneficial for both, (One Kind, 2010a). History of Pet Keeping The keeping of dogs, cats and other species as household pets is so widespread in Western countries that it is usually taken for granted. It is believed that half of the households in Britain contain at least one pet animal, the number of pets is higher in countries such as France and the United States, (Serpell, 1986). In Australia the Aborigines kept Dingoes, Wallabies, Possums, Bandicoots and even frogs as pets, (Meggit, 1965). In Southeast Asia indigenous tribes would keep dogs, cats, pigs and monkeys, (Evans, 1937; Cipriani, 1966). North American tribes would keep a variety of animals such as deer, wolves, turkeys and a variety of small wild mammals and birds, (Elmendorf Kroeber 1960). Tribes inhabiting the American Basin, the keeping and taming of wild animals became a minor industry. Henry Walter Bates, an English Naturalist, was the first to record a list of twenty-two unidentified mammals which were living tame in Indian Settlements, (Galton, 1883a). Even though pet keeping was seen throughout Western cultures, it would be considered indecent in modern Europe or North America if a women was to allow a puppy or kitten to suckle at her breast. Yet in many tribal societies allowing young animals to suckle is considered normal and natural. Several years ago it was found that many North American tribes were extremely fond of pets but would also bring the animals up, (Galton, 1883a). In all societies people pamper, talk and name their pets. They even grief when they die or are separated from them. (Galton, 1883a). Impact and Significance of Pet Keeping for Humans Many scientists and people believe that they and others develop health benefits from relationships with their animal companions, several scientific studies produced over the past 25 years support these beliefs, (Allen et al, 2007a). Evidence has shown that animals are able to improve human cardiovascular health, reduce stress, decrease loneliness and depression, and provide social interactions between people who have pets, (Allen et al, 2007a). People who are terminally ill or pregnant are advised to not interact with companion animals due to risk of zoonosis. Although giving up their animals can have a detrimental rather than beneficial effect on their overall health, (Allen et al, 2007a). Research dating back to the 1980’s showed that pet ownership has positive benefits on human health. These benefits ranged from higher survival rates from myocardial infection; a reduced risk of asthma in children; a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and physical wellbeing in older people, (Friedmannm et al, 1980). As early as the 18th century William Tuke, a Quaker Philanthropist who ran an asylum for people with severe mental disorders, he discovered that his patients gained health benefits from being around animals. Thus the courtyards of the asylum were stocked with rabbits, seagulls and poultry in the hope it would give the people greater responsibility and self-control. It was recommended by the British Charity Commissioners that sheep, hares, monkeys and other domestic animals should be added to these institutions, to create a less hostile, more attractive environment. Florence Nightingale, wrote in her ‘Notes of Nursing’ (1880) suggested that people that were confined to the same room because of medical problems gained pleasure from the presence of a bird, (The British Psychological Society, 2011). Physiological Benefits There have been numerous studies which indicate that pets provide their owners with physiological benefits. Whether pet interaction is active or passive, it reduces the anxiety levels in people and reduces the progression of stress-related conditions, (Wilson, 1991). Blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate was recorded between 3 and 9 minutes and this was recorded in 24 subjects. They were recorded petting an unknown dog, a dog whom they had a bond with, or they read quietly. They discovered there was significant differences in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure between petting a dog where a companion bond had been established and petting a dog where there was no bond. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure decrease when petting a dog, (Baun, et al, 1984). Cardiovascular benefits It has also been noted that owning a dog can reduce an owners blood pressure, (Allen, 2001). Contact with any animal, even watching fish in an aquarium, can provide cardiovascular benefits. Health benefits are associated with animal companionship when the animal being cared for does not pose a burden to the person and the animals behaviour is acceptable to the person, (Friedmann et al, 1995). A three study by the Baker Medical Research Institute involving over 5,000 participants showed that pet owners had lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels than non-pet owners, even after smoking and weight was taken into consideration. Another study by Erika Friedmann, University of Maryland School of Nursing found that pet owners who experienced heart attacks had increased their survival rates compared to those who without companion animals, (Hering, 2008). Children and Animals Researchers have identified that kids who grew up with a pet, like a dog or cat, or who lived on a farm with plenty of livestock are less likely to develop asthma or allergies. From this they produced a ‘hygiene hypothesis’ – the idea that modern lifestyles are too clean, therefore our immune systems are not exposed to enough bacteria, viruses and parasites, (Fujimura et al, 2013a). A team of researchers from the University of Michigan exposed a group of mice to dust particles produced by a dog, the other group of mice they left. Both groups were then exposed to dust which triggered asthma. They found that the mice that had been exposed to the dogs dust showed a lower inflammation in their airways compared to other group of mice, (Fujimura et al, 2013a). The views of pets are completely different across the world. In Islamic culture dogs are seen as impure, several injunctions warn Muslims against contact with dogs, they believe dogs are not hygienic are therefore not kept in the house, (Banderker, 2014). America, Canada, Europe, Southern parts of Africa and Oceania, mainly Christians. Dogs are more popular in these areas of the world. Whereas in places such as Arabia, North Africa and parts of Asia, are mostly Muslims, dogs are not popular pets. In regions that are mostly Hindu, pets are very popular due to their importance in their religion. There is not a lot of evidence which backs up the importance of pets in Buddhism, (Bousfield and Brown, 2010). Impact and Significance to Animals The main studies have been conducted on how animals affect their owner’s lives, but not a lot of research has been conducted on the impact of animals kept as pets. Many people consider their pets to be members of the family. People who own animals suggest that the feeling is mutual, as their pets seek attention from their owners. Pets provide unconditional love to their owners, (Lin, 2014a). There are several arguments that suggest that cats, dogs and other pets suffer at the hands of their owners. Another argument is the relationship is inherently flawed and it is believed that humans are unable to provide the full lives that these animals deserve. This is because they are bred to be dependent on us, the basic relationship between human and animals is weak, (Lin, 2014a; Smith, 2014). Animals lives are restricted to the homes they live in, they must obey commands and are restricted on what they are allowed to do. It is believed that domestic animals retain many of their basic instincts, however it is not ethically acceptable to allow a dog to wonder on their own, as it is detrimental to their heath and others, (PETA, 2014). As domestic animals depend on humans for their survival, it would be cruel to allow them to live on the streets, (Lina, 2014a). There are too many situations where an animal derives no benefit being kept as a pet. Some animals such as ‘status dogs’ are acquired and traded more as trophies rather than kept as friends. In some homes pets are neglected or even ill-treated by their owners, (One Kind, 2010a). There are several pets which are exploited in the commercial trade. Breeding pedigree animals as pets can lead to severe health problems. There are many pet animals which have been selectively bred, which can cause dogs to have eye problems, heart, respiratory and skin conditions, and hereditary diseases, which is all connected to specialised breeding, such as the Pug and the Hairless Cat, both these designers animals have been exploited by humans for the benefit of humans. (Advocates for Animals, 2006). Many exotic species are unsuited for domestic life which is why a lot of research has been conducted on keeping exotic animals as pets. Exotic animals that are used in the pet trade are taken from Australia, Africa and Brazil, they are subjected to cruel transport. Parrots often have their beaks and feet taped and can be stuffed into plastic tubes, some animals are hidden in luggage and concealed in special vests so that couriers can bypass x-ray machines at airports, (PETA, 2014a). There is increasing evidence that the import of exotic species for the pet trade threatens not only the survival of wild species but can also risk the health of humans, domestic animals and native wildlife. Many exotic species suffer because owners do not know how to care for them properly. As these animals mature, they can become expensive to maintain, they soon develop behavioural problems and can become a long-term commitment. Owners then feel they can no longer handle the animal. Consequently these animals are often neglected, euthanized or released into the wild, (Schuppli and Faser, 2000). Conclusion Companion animals, play a very significant role in the lives of many humans. They advance psychological and physical well-being to their human companions. The basis of their relationship is that humans decide to keep animals. Some animals may choose to seek the company of humans. Although some humans change their lives to accommodate an animal they still have the power to maintain or break the relationship – by selling the animal, placing the animal in a shelter or euthanizing that animal. When someone decides to keep a companion animal, the animals life will be controlled by humans to suit humans needs. Animals are affected by legislation – under laws animals are generally seen as possessions. Therefore the relationship between humans and animals, is more a form of animal use rather than a symbiotic relationship, (Sandoe and Christiansen, 2008). References Advocates for Animals (2006) ‘The Price of a Pedigree: Dog breed standards and breed-related illness’ [Online] Available from Advocates for Animals, http://www.onekind.org/uploads/publications/price-of-a-pedigree.pdf, Accessed 19/05/2014 at 12:05 Allen, K. (2001) Pet ownership, but Not ACE Inhibitor Therapy, Blunts Home Blood Pressure Response. Hypertension, 38; 815 Allen, K. Barker, S. Beck, A. Bell, D. Frederickson, M. Freng, J. Gerbasi, K. Gordon, E. Hart, L. Johnson, R. Ng, Z. Odendaal, J. O’Connor, A. Salman, M and Wong, B (2007a) ‘The Health Benefits of Companion Animals’ [Online] Available from Pets are Wonderful Support, http://www.pawssf.org/document.doc?id=15, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:19 Banderker, A.M (2014) ‘Animal Abuse and Welfare in Islam’ [Online] Available from IslamicConcern.com, http://www.islamicconcern.com/dogs.asp, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:53 Baun, MM. Bergstrom, N. Langston, NF. And Thoma, L (1984) ‘Physiological effects of human/companion animal bonding’ [Online] Available from NCBI, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6563527, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:38 Bousfield, B and Brown, R (2010) ‘What is Animal Welfare’ [Online] Available from Animal Welfare, https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/quarantine/qua_vb/files/AW8.pdf, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:55 Cipriani, L. (1966) The Andaman islanders. London: Times Books Elmendorf, W.W Kroeber, K.L (1960) The structure of Twana culture with comparative notes on the structure of Yurok culture. Washington University Research Studies, Monograph 2, 1-28. Evans, I.H.N (1937) The Negritos of Malaysia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Friedmann E, Katcher AH, Lynch JJ, Thomas S (1980) Animal companions and one year survival of patients after discharge from a coronary care unit. Public Health Rep; 95: 30712 Friedmann, E and Thomas, S.A, (1995) Pet ownership, social support and one year survival among post-mycardial infarction patients in the cardiac arrhythmia suppression trial (CAST) Am J Cardiology 76; 1213 1217 Friedmann, E.A, Katcher, S.A, Lynch, T.J.J and Messent, P.R (1983a) Interaction and blood pressure; influence of animal companions. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 171, 461-5 Fujimura, K.E. Demoor, T. Rauch, M. Faruqi, A.A. Jang, S. Johnson, C.C. Boushey, H.A. Zoratti, E. Ownby, D. Lukacs, N.W and Lynch, S.V (2013a) ‘House dust exposure mediates gut microbiome Lactobacillus enrichment and airway immune defense against allergens and virus infection’ [Online] Available from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/13/1310750111, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:51 Galton, F. (1883a) Inquiry into human faculty and its development. London: Macmillan Hering, C (2008) ‘Health Benefits of Companion Animals’ [Online] Available from Health Insights Today, http://www.healthinsightstoday.com/articles/v1i2/animals_p1.html, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:46 Lin, D (2014a) ‘What are the Arguments For and Against Keeping Pets?’ [Online] Available from About.com, http://animalrights.about.com/od/companionanimalspets/a/Keeping_Pets.htm, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:58 Meggit, M.J. (1965) The association between Australian Aborigines and dingoes. In. Man, culture and animals, A. Leeds A. Vayda (eds). Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science One Kind (2010a) ‘Should animals ever be kept as pets or are we simply exploiting sentient individuals for our own convenience and pleasure?’ [Online] Available from One Kind, http://www.onekind.org/take_action/campaigns/pet_origins/the_pet_keeping_debate/, Accessed 18/04/2014 at 12:22 Oxford University Press (2014) ‘Pets’ [Online] Available from Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pet, Accessed 18/04/2014 at 12:43 PETA (2014a) ‘Exotic Animals as ‘Pets’ [Online] Available from PETA, http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/exotic-animals-pets/, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 12:07 Sandoe, P and Christians, S.B (2008) ‘Companion Animals’ [Online] Available from Danish Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment, http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/22431780/CompanionAnimals.pdf, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 12:15 Schuppli, C and Faser, D (2000) A Framework for Assessing the Suitability of Different Species as Companion Animals. Animal Welfare, Vol. 9, 359 – 372 Schuppli, C and Fraser, D (2000), ‘A Framework for Assessing the Suitability of Different Species as Companion Animals’, Animal Welfare, Vol.9, p.359-372 Serpell, J.A. (1986) In the company of animals. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Smith, M A (2014) ‘Why It’s Cruel to Keep Dogs as Pets’ [Online] Available from Hub Pages, http://melissaasmith.hubpages.com/hub/dogssuffer, Accessed 18/04/2014 at 14:41 The British Psychological Society (2011) ‘The Value of Pets for Human Health’ [Online] Available from The British Psychological Society, http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=24editionID=198ArticleID=1812, Accessed 19/04/2014 at 11:32 Tuan, Yi-Fu (1984) Dominance and affection: the making of pets. New Haven: Yale University Press. Wilson, C.C. (1991) The pet as an anxiolytic intervention, Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 179; 482-489

OSI reference model

OSI reference model HISTORY: OSI reference model is advanced teaching of network. As there was a need of common model of protocol layers, this concept promoted the idea and defined about interoperability between network devices and software. Networking with protocol standards such as SNA and Decnet are completely vendor-developed and proprietary which are prior to OSI concept. Industries worked out to sort out such complications, and have introduced a new concept named OSI which is attempting to get everyone to agree to common network standards to provide multi-vendor interoperability. Many devices were unable to communicate with other protocols directly because of lack of common protocols. It was common for large networks to support multiple network suites. Database design and distributed database design were the interest of canepas group in the early and middle 70s. It was clear in the mid 70s that standard distributed communications architecture would be required to support database machines, distributed acce ss, and the like. For development of such standardized database systems some of the groups have studied the existing solutions, including IBMs system network architecture (SNA), so the work on protocols is done for ARPANET, and some concepts of presentation services. In spite of these defaults which lead to the development of a seven layer architecture known internally as the distributed systems architecture (DSA) in 1977. Meanwhile, in 1977 International Organization for Standardization has got a proposal that a standard architecture was needed to define the communications infrastructure for distributed processing by British Standards Institute. Thus, subcommittee on Open System Interconnection was formed by ISO [Technical Committee 97, Subcommittee 16]. The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) was charged to develop proposals in advance of the first meeting of the subcommittee. INTRODUCTION:- Although the topic of OSI can seem boring and academic, actually it is a very useful way to learn more about networking. OSI offers a good starting point for understanding the differences between repeaters, switches, and routers, for example. The model also can help one better understand network protocols. The main idea in OSI is the process of communication between the end points of a two telecommunication network, this can be divided into layers, which can be added within its layers of its own set of special, related functions. The OSI model (and networking models developed by other organizations) attempts to define rules that cover both the generalities and specifics of networks. OSI model was not a network standard, but it was used as guidelines for development of network standards. It was become so important that almost all major networks standards in use today conform entirely to its seven layers. The relationship between OSI model and internet protocol stack, as it is known that the new technologies and developments are emerged based on networks. These networks comprise of protocols and the entire protocol stack. Internet protocol stack is based on OSI model. [1] OSI MODEL:- The modern day networking process is understood by layering. OSI model consists of seven layers. They are 1. Application Layer (7th Layer) 2. Presentation Layer (6th Layer) 3. Session Layer (5th Layer) 4. Transport Layer (4th Layer) 5. Network Layer (3rd Layer) 6. Data-link Layer (2nd Layer) 7. Physical Layer (1st Layer) [2] The OSI model defines internetworking in terms of a vertical stack of seven layers. Among, these layer, there are two parts division one is upper layer and the other is lower layer. Upper layer consist of layer 7, 6 and 5 and the lower layer consist of 4, 3, 2 and 1. Among these two layer upper layer deals with the application issues which are generally are implemented only in software. The software that implements network services like encryption and connection management. When we consider deals with the data transport issues and the implement more primitive, hardware functions like routing, addressing and flow control. [3] Upper layer: (Application layer, Presentation layer, Session layer) OSI designates the application, presentation, and session stages of the stack as the upper layers. Software in these layers performs application-specific functions like data formatting, encryption, and connection management. For example: -HTTP, SSL and NFS Lower layer: (Transport layer, Network layer, Physical layer.) Lower layers of the OSI model provide more primitive network-specific functions like routing, addressing, and flow control. For example:- TCP, IP, and Ethernet Application Layer: Describes how real work actually gets done. Ex: this layer would implement file system operations. And also it defines interface to user processes for communication and data transfer in network. It provides standardized services such as virtual terminal, file and job transfer and operations. â€Å" provides service directly to the user application. Because of the potentially wide variety of application, this layer provide a wealth of services. Among these services are establishing privacy mechanism, authenticating the intended communication partners, and determining if adequate resources are present.† [3] Presentation layer : Describes the syntax of data being transferred. Ex: this layer describes how floating point numbers can be exchanged between hosts with different math formats. Mask the difference of data formats between dissimilar systems. Specifies architecture independent data transfer format. It encodes data; like encrypts and decrypts data, compresses and decompresses data. â€Å" performs data transformation to provide a common interface for user application, including services such as reformatting data compression, and encryption.†[3] Session layer : In general, describes the organization of data sequences larger than the packets handled by lower layers. Ex: this layer describes how request and reply packets are paired in a remote procedure call. It mange user session and dialogues. And also controls establishment and termination of logic between users. Reports upper layer errors. â€Å" establishes, manages and end user connection and manages the interaction between end systems. Services includes such thing as establishing communication as full or half duplex and grouping data†[3] Transport Layer:- In general, describes the quality and nature of the data delivery. Ex: this layer defines if and how retransmissions will be used to ensure data delivery. Manage end-to-end message delivery in network. Provides reliable and sequential packet delivery through error recovery and flow control mechanisms. Provides connectionless oriented packet delivery â€Å" insulates the three upper layer, 5 through 7, from having deal with the complexities of layer 1 through 3by providing the function necessary to guarantee a reliable network link. Among other function, this layer provides error recovery and flow control between the two end points of the network connections.†[3] Network layer :- In general, describes how a series of exchanges over various data links can deliver data between any two nodes in a network. Ex: this layer defines the addressing and routing structure of the Internet. Network layer function determines how data are transferred between network devices. Routes packets according to unique network device addresses. It provides flow and congestion control to prevent network resource depletion. â€Å" Establishes, maintains and terminates network connection . Among other functions, standard define how data routing and relaying are handled†[3] Data link layer: In general, describes the logical organization of data bits transmitted on a particular medium. Ex: this layer defines the framing, addressing and check summing of Ethernet packets. Defines procedures for operating the communication links and frames packets. And also detects and corrects packets transmit errors. â€Å" ensures the reliability of the physical link established at layer 1 . standard defines how data frames are recognized and provide necessary flow control and error handling at the frame level.†[3] Physical layer : In general, describes the physical properties of the various communications media, as well as the electrical properties and interpretation of the exchanged signals. Ex: this layer defines the size of Ethernet coaxial cable, the type of BNC connector used, and the termination method. Physical later defines physical means of sending data network devices and defines optical, electrical and mechanical characteristics and interfaces between network medium and devices. â€Å" controls transmission of the raw bit stream over transmission medium. Standard for this layer define such parameter as the amount of signal voltage swings, the duration of voltage and so on.†[3] INFLUENCE: The protocol stack or Internet protocol stack also show influence of the OSI model most of the terminology is same, and most of the books present an Internet protocol stack that uses OSI terminology and that includes physical and data link layer. But in 1981 article by john postal, Carl Sunshine and Danny Cohen there is a diagram showing the Internet protocol functioning on top of one of the several Network protocol and it describe such network protocol as being the packet transmission protocol in each individual network. In a article 1983 by Vinton Cerf- often referred to as â€Å" one of the founding father of the internet† and Edward Cain that the layer that IP function is called â€Å"Internetwork layer† and the layer under that is â€Å"Network layer†. We can universally that the layer at which IP function is called the Network Layer and the important layer was called â€Å"Network layer is usually omitted.† [4] TCP/IP: TCP/IP was originally developed as a research experiment. It has become the backbone of thr information superhighway. It provides users with the back bone services used to carry popular services such as the World Wide Wed (www), E-Mail and other. In late 70s as a US Government Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) research development project, the â€Å"ARPANET†. This has grown to provide connection to system world wide, helping bring the information age into reality. TCP/IP is not really a protocol, but a set of protocols a protocol stack, as it is most commonly called. Its name, for example, already refers to two different protocols, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol). There are several other protocols related to TCP/IP like FTP, HTTP, SMTP and UDP just to name a few. The TCP/IP suite can be understood as a set of discrete component with a layered architecture. The transport layer and below of the TCP/IP suite can be viewed in the figure. The link covers the internetwork and transport protocols. The delivery of packets between the adjacent nodes in an internetwork id provided bye the link protocols. This link delivery only implies that delivered information is intact. Internetwork layer is responsible for addressing and routing of packets between source and destination nodes within the network. At the final the transport layer provides full service to transfer information between them.[5] Application layer: Application layer is the communication between programs and transport protocol. Several different protocols works on the Application layer. The familiar protocols HTTP, SMTP, FTP, SNMP, DNS and Telnet. Application layer commucate through Transport layer that to through a port. Ports are numbered and standard applications always use the same port. For example , SMTP protocol always use port 25, and HTTP protocol always use port 89 and FTP protocol always use ports 20 for data transmission and 21 for control.[6] Transport layer:- The layers gets data from the Application layer and divide into several data packets. It is the most uses TCP. After receiving data TCP protocol gets the packets which sent by the Internet layer and make the in an order, because arrives at the destiny in out of order. Transport layer also check if the content of the received packet are intact and reply by giving acknowledge signal to the transmitter , allowing it to know that the packet arrived in an order at the destiny. If there are no acknowledge signal is received it re send the lost packet.[6] Internet layer: IP address is the unique virtual identity on TCP/IP network of each computer. It as charge of adding a header to the data packets received from the Transport layer. Where other control data will, it will add source IP address and target IP address. the physical address assigned to the network card of each computer. This address is written on the network card RO and is call MAC address. Let us suppose A computer want send a data to B computer so the A want to know the B MAC address but in small local area network computer can easily discover each other MAC address, this is an easy task. If there is no any virtual addressing were used we must to know the MAC address of the destination computer, which is not only a hard task but also does not help out packet routing, because it does not use a tree like structure.[6] Network Interface Layer:- The next is the network interface layer, the datagram generated on the upper layer will be sent to the network interface layer if we are sending data, or the Network Interface layer will get data from the network and send it to the Internet layer, if we are receiving data. The Network Interface Layer breaks down the packets from the Internet Layer into frames and then eventually into bits for transmission across the physical network medium. Signalling and network medium standards such as Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, X .25, Frame Relay, RS-232, and v.35 are defined in this layer. Network Interface Controller (NIC) Cards, network hubs, repeaters, bridges, and switches operate at this level.[6] TCP/IP and OSI MODEL:- TCP/IP is defined in term of the protocols that constitute it. Most of the critical protocols functions are their lower layer of the OSI Reference MODEL that are layer 2, 3 and 4 which correspond to the network interface that is internet and transport layer in the TCP/IP model. Which includes all important IP at layer 3 and TCP at layer 4 which combine to give TCP/IP the name to it. TCP contains four subsections. The first description are the two TCP/IP protocols that reside at the network layer, layer 2 of the OSI model PPP and SLIP. And the second details a couple of special protocol that reside between layer 2 and 3 ARP and RARP. The third covers the TCP/IP internet layer (i.e) OSI network layer and layer 3 including IP and several other related and support protocol. At the final the fourth describes the TCP/IP transports layer protocols TCP and UDP.[7] The lower layer of the OSI model is the physical layer which responsible for the transmitting information from one place to another on a network. The layer just above the physical layer is the data link layer and in TCP/IP its call has Network interface layer. Its main job is to implement network at local level and interface between the hardware oriented physical layer, and the ore abstract, software oriented function of the network layer and the above it.[8] Effects of Internet:- As a consequence of the development of internet, the internet protocol best effort delivery. But it is considered to be unreliable when it is talked about its service. In other network architectural language it is called as connection-less protocol. Thus it has its contrast implications to so called connecting modes of transmission. This lack of reliability causes many effects. The major problems raised are: Data corruption Lost data packets Duplicate arrival Out-of-order packet delivery Coming to the effects based on IPv4 and IPv6, they are as follows. IETF declared that IPv4 will not be able to accommodate the need for ever increasing amount of IP addresses in the next few years. The increase and expansion of IP addresses are needed to accommodate following. They are used for proliferation of internet devices such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless devices, and new Internet appliances; the expansion of internet through the world; the increasing applications of internet access; requirements of emerging internet applications. Thus decrease in usage of IPv4 effects all the above mentioned utilizes. The solution for this problem is found from development of IPv6 which enables a mass market and the increased adoption of the internet. IPv4 was in existence and effectively working from almost 20 years. But now all of its approximately four billion of address seems to be getting finished. Because with the tremendous growth of the internet devices and blocks of the ip addresses assigned to various organizations and countries. This fast growth in the number of devices e.g. Mobiles, computers, music players, etc. it looked as if IPv4 addresses would be exhausted in near future. In order to overcome this problem and increasing life for IPv4 certain measures have been taken e.g. network address translation (NAT), classless inter-domain routing (CIDR) and PPP/DHCP. But all of these solutions are temporary and they made networks more complex and difficult for one to understand and implement. Internet Stack Model The Internet Stack Model employs a Internet Protocol Stack or Suite both these words are used interchangeably. This can be defined as the set of communications protocols used for the Internet and other similar networks. As discussed earlier Protocol is a set of rules in a network. The names of the two protocols which employed the Internet Stack Model are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), which were also the first two networking protocols defined in this standard. A protocol stack (sometimes communications stack) is a particular software implementation of a computer networking protocol suit. In practical implementation, protocol stacks are often divided into three major sections: media, transport, and applications. A particular operating system or platform will often have two well-defined software interfaces: one between the media and transport layers, and one between the transport layers and applications. Upper layers are logically closer to the user and deal with more abstract data, relying on lower layer protocols to translate data into forms that can eventually be physically transmitted.[1] Difference between OSI and TCP/IP:- OSI model is the standard reference model that describes how the protocols should interact with one another. This was invented by the Department of Defense.TCP/IP does map clearly into OSI model, but is so convenient to think in terms of the OSI model when explaining protocols. The major differences are:- The application layer in TCP/IP handles the responsibilities of layers 5, 6 and 7 in the OSI model. The transport layer in TCP/IP does not always guarantee reliable delivery of packets at the transport layer, while the OSI model does. TCP/IP also offers an option called UDP that does not guarantee reliable packet delivery. [9] TCP/IP appears to be a more simpler model and this is mainly due to the fact that it has fewer layers TCP/IP is considered to be a more credible model- This is mainly due to the fact because TCP/IP protocols are the standards around which the internet was developed therefore it mainly gains creditability due to this reason. Where as in contrast networks are not usually built around the OSI model as it is merely used as a guidance tool The OSI model consists of 7 architectural layers whereas the TCP/IP only has 4 layers. Disadvantages of OSI model: Major disadvantages of OSI model are Bad timing Bad technology Bad implementations Bad Timing: Presently it appears that standard OSI protocols got crushed. It was completed too late, TCP/IP had already taken hold and become the familiar standard for research universities by the time the OSI Model was ready Bad Technology:- Both the models and protocols are flawed. As mentioned about the layers, cause major disadvantage of this model. Working on OSI model which is associated with several definitions and protocols is extraordinarily complex. The reappearance of functions in each layer also cause problem. Some of those functions are addressing, flow control, and error control. Certain important features are placed in every layer. Some times the decisions taken for placing these features are not obvious. In the past the presentation layer had virtual terminal handling which is presently used in application layer. Data security, encryption and network management were also omitted. The criticism given by world is that communication mentality is increasing rapidly. Bad Implementations: Initial implementations made by people were huge ,unwieldy and slow Because of the complexity of the model, the initial implementations were huge, unwieldy, and slow. As time is passing the product got betterments, but bad image stuck. [10] everyone who tried to implement it got burned, giving OSI a reputation for poor quality Disadvantages of TCP/IP model: When TCP/IP is compared with IPX there are few drawbacks. IPX is faster compared to TCP/IP. TCP/IP is intricate to set up and manage. The overhead of TCP/IP is higher than that of IPX. The process involved in TCP/IP is long. The entire process is, port numbers are assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), and they identify the process to which a particular packet is connected to. Port numbers are found in the packet header. [11]. Few more disadvantages of this model are: software used for strict layering is very inefficient. When buffers are provided they leave space for headers which are added by lower layer protocols. [12] Security:- Internet has become a phenomenon. Sharing Files, transferring Files all across the network has caused the users to think about some serious problems that are being raised due to the phenomenon of Internet. Security is another issue that sits at the top of the level as designers and developers both struggle to give out the correct form of measures to be taken to deal with the issue of Network Security. Since the Protocol Stack has got just one layer to really check the authenticity of the packets that pass through the layers and the network. It has allowed the network to become more susceptible to foreign threats. Since, Computers that are connected to each other create a network. These networks are often configured with public Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that is, the devices on the network are visible to devices outside the network. Networks can also be configured as private meaning that devices outside the network cannot see or communicate directly to them. Computers on a public network have the advantage (and disadvantage) that they are completely visible to the Internet. As such, they have no boundaries between themselves and the rest of the Internet community. This advantage oftentimes becomes a distinct disadvantage since this visibility can lead to a computer vulnerability exploit -e.g.: Hacking if the devices on the public network are not properly secured.To plainly counter this strategy the, we employ a private LAN and make the network a private network then the disadvantage of a private network would be that it entails more configuration and administration to maintain usability. At times, not being fully visible on the Internet can cause some difficulty in connecting to certain services, such as streaming audio/video, chat/instant messaging programs, or some secure Web sites. Maintaining most computers on a private network, with only an IDP/IDS and/or Firewall visible to the public Internet helps maintain a highly secure environment for the computers on the private network, while at the same time keeping them connected to the public Internet.[13] Benefits of OSI model:- The OSI Model is a standard and a very useful tool to deal with the problems of networking. The OSI model is also a standard model for networking protocols and distributed application. In the OSI model there are a total of 7 network layers. The layers of OSI provide the levels of abstraction. Each layer performs a different set of functions and the intent was to make each layer as independent as possible from all the others. This guarantees the security to each packet that passes through these layers also, it reduces the complexity of packet routing through each layer thus reducing the threat of congestion in the network. Each layer uses the information from the below layer and provides a service to the layer above in the OSI Model. [14] Conclusion: Even though OSI model has a few limitations it cannot be said that the model is not suitable anymore because talking about the time and the influence of the OSI model on the networking as whole has had a lot of positive causes. Even if we have many new models coming up with different improvements the base model is always the OSI model. What we can take out of the OSI model are mainly the benefits of the OSI model and which even are the major characteristics needed for creating a good model. The OSI Model is perhaps the most imp lest and widely used through the world. Owing to the advantages of this network we are able to reduce the complexity and save time when passing data on a network. Reference:- 1) John Larmouth (1996): Understanding OSI: International Thomson Computer Press, Michigan. USA} 2) Computer networks 3rd edition by ANDREW S. TANENBAUM 3) Standard network layer architecture, By Bradley Mitchell http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/designosimodel/a/osimodel.htm 4)http://www2.rad.com/networks/introductory/layers/main.htm 5) By Douglas Comers http://www.cellsoft.de/telecom/tcpip.htm 6) Author: Gabriel Torres http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/433/1,2,3,4,5,6 7) Charles M. Kozierok .http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_TCPIPLowerLayerInterfaceInternetandTransportProtoc.htm 8) Charles M. Kozierok http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_DataLinkLayerTechnologiesandProtocols.htm http://itprofesionals.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-is-difference-between-osi-model.html 10) Computer Networks Fourth Edition by Andrew S. Tanenbaum 11)www.tech-faq.com/understanding-the-osi-model.shtml www.bookrags.com/wiki/OSI_model 13) Behrouz A. Forouzan, Sophia Chung Fegan (2004). Data Communications and Networking, McGraw-Hill Professional, USA. 14) http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/designosimodel/a/osimodel.htm

A Dummies Guide to Women :: Learning Education Essays

A Dummies' Guide to Women Since the beginning of time (or so it seems) the human male has been known to spend hours contemplating the complexities of the female mind. Prehistoric man would sit on his rock, hands folded against the chin, with the all too familiar look of complete confusion and bewilderment, as he tried to understand what it was exactly that the prehistoric female wanted (or perhaps how to trick her into scampering off with him to his little leaf-filled bed to reproduce). The female, on the other hand, having easily deciphered the mind of the opposite sex, could be found with a similar expression trying to figure out what was so difficult for the male species to comprehend. Why was it so easy for the female to understand the male way of thinking? For the same reason that women today have this ability: males have extremely simple, almost one track, minds! (This is besides the fact that the female is probably more intelligent than her rock-sitting opponent.) Yes, the male mind is motivated by one thing. What is it? Considering the fact that the male was the one to introduce the rest of the world to internet porn and the all-American Hooter girl, I don't think I have to actually put it in writing. No matter how hard it is for us all to admit, a male looks at the opposite sex, checks out the body, then the face, and with his prehistorically motivated mind asks, "Is she doable?" And what does the female think as she notices her opposite? The fact is that female minds are much more complex when it comes to this area. For centuries, people (you sad little males mostly) have tried to unmask the secret paths of the female mind. Predominantly, this is because fem ale views consist of well-thought out perspectives. In contrast to their male companions, females produce thoughts and actions based on emotion as well as sexual desire. This is not to say that females don't act on attraction alone, for it is quite apparent that this often happens. It is instead to say that females need emotional, as well as physical stimulation to truly be happy. However simple this ideology may seem, modern man still seems to be stuck, not on a rock, but instead on a couch, never quite understanding or accepting this explanation.

business letters :: essays research papers

The story behind the letter below is that there is this guy in > Newport, RI named Scott Williams who digs things out of his backyard > and sends the stuff he finds to the Smithsonian Institute, labeling > them with scientific names, insisting that they are actual > archaeological finds. This guy really exists and does this in his > spare time. Here's the actual response from the Smithsonian Institution to > one such find. So, the next time you are challenged to respond in >writing..... > ____________________________________________________ > > Smithsonian Institute > 207 Pennsylvania Avenue > Washington, DC 20078 > > Dear Mr. Williams: > > Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled > "93211-D,layer seven, next to the clothesline post...Hominid skull." > We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and > regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it > represents conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in > Charleston County two million years ago. > > Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie > doll, of the variety that one of our staff, who has small children, > believes to be "Malibu Barbie." It is evident that you have given a > great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may > be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work > in the field were loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. > However, we do feel that there are a number of physical attributes of > the specimen which might have tipped you off to its modern origin: > > 1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are > typically fossilized bone. > > 2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic > centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest > identified proto-homonids. > > 3. The dentition pattern evident on the skull is more consistent with > the common domesticated dog than it is with the ravenous > man-eating Pliocene clams you speculate roamed the wetlands during > that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most > intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this > institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily > against it. Without going into too much detail, let us say that: > > A. The specimen looks like the head of a Barbie doll that a > dog has chewed on. > B. Clams don't have teeth. > > It is with feelings tinged with melancholy that we must deny your > request to have the specimen carbon-dated.

Image Guided Micro-needle Steering System for Eye Surgery

Image Guided Micro-needle Steering System for Eye Surgery Abstraction: This paper proposes the design of a complete state-of-the-art image guided micro-needle ( ex. subcutaneous, or chamfer tip acerate leafs ) maneuvering system, which can automatically present anticoagulant drugs straight to the blood coagulums in the retinal vass ; or, can help sawboness in the arrangement of optic micro-stent by augmenting their capablenesss and cut downing restrictions by bring forthing: ( 1 ) an offline optimum three dimensional ( 3D ) surgical flight program ; and later ( 2 ) steer them by placing the mirco-needle in an offline 3D precise map of the oculus. The system specification includes: ( 1 ) a eye/head-surgical stationary tool positioning system: A dynamic, adaptable, and stable mechanical interface between the caput and the robotic surgical tool, ( 2 ) a 3D/4D multi-modal ocular system, ( 3 ) an intelligently constrained 3D surgical trajectory/path-planning system, and a ( 4 ) ocular servo based automated gesture accountant. Introduction and Motivation This subdivision of the proposal paper, briefly, introduces the assorted oculus jobs to foreground the technological restrictions, and later emphasizes the importance of developing a smart dedicated optic surgical unit. Glaucoma is an oculus status which affects and later amendss the ocular nervus, which transmits images to our encephalon. The status is often characterized by the buildup of unwanted force per unit area within our eyes ; this force per unit area is called the intraocular force per unit area ( IOP ) . Once developed, the state of affairs bit by bit worsens, and can ensue in lasting vision loss. IOP, normally, develops when the circulation of the aqueous wit fluid is interrupted – possibly the circulating channel is clogged. To alleviate such force per unit area, the usual surgical process involves easing the flight of this force per unit area through trabeculectomy. Although trabeculectomy is the surgical criterion, nevertheless, there are hazards of complications ; such as infection, escape, and annoyance. On the other manus, Canaloplasty is, besides, a feasible non-penetrating surgical process for glaucoma patients. The technique places a micro-catheter or tubing in the Schle mm Canal, which is the natural drainage pipe for our eyes. This enlarges the canal and thereby expeditiously reduces force per unit area. Retinal vena occlusion ( RVO ) is a sort of aneurism in the retinal vena, which hardens the arterias and frequently inspired the formation of blood coagulum. RVO are of two types ( 1 ) cardinal vena or ( CRVO ) , and ( 2 ) subdivision venas or BRVO ; it blocks the little retinal venas that carry blood from the retina. Retina, as we know, is an of import tissue bed in our interior oculus ; positioned at the dorsum of the oculus, it is covered with specialised nervus cells that react to visible radiation and it converts them into nervus signals and sends them to the encephalon. Intuitively, similar to Glaucoma, RVO develops unwanted force per unit area on the retinal system. The most common intervention involves presenting anticoagulant drugs straight to blood coagulums in retinal vass cite { 6micm } . A possible fresh solution can be the precise arrangement of micro stent to make a new or an alternate tract for the extra fluid to run out, thereby commanding and cut downing the IOP ( blood, or aqueous wit ) . The thought is really similar to the coronary angioplasty. However, steering a surgical instrument into such complex environment is really slippery and physically really hard, if non impossible. To call a few: ( 1 ) an eye/head-surgical tool comparative motion, ( 2 ) surgeon’s manus shudder, ( 3 ) scratch and sutura truth, and most significantly ( 4 ) hapless visibleness. Such restrictions lead us to the inquiry, â€Å" extit { How make you successfully plan such a complex micro surgical process? } † Intuitively, it is apprehensible that recognizing such fresh surgical process would necessitate development of smart instruments or newer engineering. Computer vision, unreal intelligence, and robotics, over the old ages, have significantly revolutionized minimally invasive surgery: No average sternotomy, less opportunity of infections, less bleeding, therefore fewer yearss for recovery cite { ex1, ex2, ex3, ex4 } . Therefore, it is logical to anticipate that robotics can supply such smart option by significantly magnifying human physical capacity by shudder reduction/elimination, vision sweetening, and supplying cognition of the instruments’ probabilistically precise spacial location during the surgery. In this proposal paper we would wish to suggest a futuristic image guided micro-needle guidance robotic model which is specially designed to cut down the aforesaid surgical restrictions involved in oculus surgery. The system specification includes: ( 1 ) a eye/head-surgical stationary tool positioning system: A dynamic, adaptable, and stable mechanical interface between the caput and the robotic surgical tool, ( 2 ) a 3D/4D multi-modal ocular system, ( 3 ) an intelligently constrained 3D surgical trajectory/path-planning system, and a ( 4 ) ocular servo based automated gesture accountant. The grounds for taking a acerate leaf based surgical system are inspired from similar successful medical applications. Acerate leafs have been widely used in medical intervention for presenting drugs, minimally invasive acquisition of subsurface tissue cite { ex5, ex6 } . Accurate arrangement and interpolation can significantly find the success of a process cite { ex6 } . However, practically, a clinician has limited control over the way of the acerate leaf, once it enters into the tissue. Therefore, the ability to maneuver a needle inside tissue could significantly better the effectivity of acerate leafs based processs cite { reed } . The following logical inquiry is, â€Å" extit { Why choosing a robotic-artificially intelligent solution model? } Typically needle interpolation involves complex contact based mechanical interactions between the acerate leaf and the tissue. Furthermore, the needle arrangement process, sometimes, a consecutive lined executable interpolation is non realizable due to the placement of assorted critical anatomical constructions. Therefore, intuitively, the job of surgical way planning would hold been a batch relieved if the acerate leaf was cleverly dirigible cite { reed } . The staying portion of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 explains the elaborate technology job and the associated environmental premises. Section 3 briefly outlines the cardinal mechanical design demand of the surgical unit: The Interface. Section 4 discusses the proposed novel 3D/4D multimodal ocular counsel system ; followed by the forced 3D surgical trajectory/path-planning system in subdivision 5. The ocular servo based optimum gesture accountant with be addressed in subdivision 6, followed by the decision in subdivision 7. The Engineering Problem and the Associated Assumptions To better understand the job, allow us visualise a medical exigency and futuristic robotic intercession. A pre-operative optical coherency tomographical ( OCT ) image of the retina indicates that a patient have retinal vena occlusion cite { 6micm, oct1 } . An offline 3D OCT based spacial map of the oculus was developed cite { oct1, oct2, oct3 } ; the map besides registered blood flow information based on Fourier sphere optical coherency tomographycite { oct4 } . Therefore, the optic Atlass would incorporate the vena construction and corresponding blood flow information. Based on the spacial place of the aneurism identified through the aforesaid offline optic 3D Atlass, an optimum surgical 3D plan/trajectory is determined cite { oct5 } . An image guided micro-needle ( ex. subcutaneous, or chamfer tip acerate leafs ) steering-robotic system, trusting on such information would automatically present anticoagulant drugs straight to the blood coagulums in the retinal vass ; or, can help sawboness in the arrangement of optic micro-stent by augmenting their capablenesss and cut downing restrictions by ( 1 ) cut downing shudder, ( 2 ) bring forthing an offline optimum three dimensional ( 3D ) surgical flight program, and later ( 3 ) steer them by placing the mirco-needle in an offline 3D OCT inspired theoretical account. Furthermore, the semi automated strategy would affect the surgeons’ having tactile feedback to enable tactual exploration and appropriate application of forces to weave cite { hap1 } . Therefore, the cloting drug is delivered automatically, or the optic micro-stent is placed semi-automatically. The premise of the system is that the patient undergoing the operation is, at least, locally anesthetized to immobilise the troubled oculus. The oculus palpebras are decently strapped, and the oculus is automatically held fixed with a microkeratome. Furthermore, as a safety step an oculus tracking device is invariably supervising the motion of the oculus and compensates consequently. The Interface: The Fundamental Mechanical Design Requirement The cardinal demands for the robotic unit are simple: ( 1 ) Zero comparative motion between the caput and the surgical acerate leaf, and ( 2 ) zero comparative motion between the acerate leaf and the oculus. This would be achieved automatically in a fresh manner. In the mechanical interface the acerate leaf based surgical unit is mounted on top of a stiff construction ; the construction is automatically attached to the caput. Therefore, any little motion of the caput is every bit translated in the acerate leaf. To contradict the quiver consequence, the surgical unit would hold its ain gesture feeling three dual-axis illumination MEMS accelerometers. An adaptative zero-phase filter will be implemented to separate the tremulous/vibrational motion from the intended controlled motion. Finally, the forward dynamic theoretical account would be feedback linked, through a PID gesture accountant, to the oculus tracking unit to guarantee robust steady coevals of control jurisprudence. The accountant would counterbalance for the comparative motions by debaring the acerate leaf in an equal but opposite gesture whihc minimizes a certain cost map. The cost map is related to the comparative motion of the tip from the coveted flight, this comparative motion can be detected by put ining a extremely magnified stereo imaging system. The apparatus would be really similar to the apparatus used to make the semiautomated intra-ocular optical maser surgery cite { ctrl1, ctrl2, ctrl3 } . However, in out instance acerate leaf is non seeable, therefore a shade acerate leaf will be tracked, where the comparative geometry between the shade acerate leaf and the existent acerate leaf is known. Other smarter accountant strategy, other than PID, can be used, nevertheless ; PID is the first to be tested. Towards aMulti-modalOffline Atlas for the Inter Ocular-Surgical Planning This subdivision explains the development of the fresh futuristic 3D/4D multimodal offline ocular representation of the human oculus. The thought is to unify complimentary imaging modes to make a 3D/4D offline map of the human oculus. The model consists of developing a 3D multimodal representation of the oculus, followed by extra 1D ocular augmentation by supplying vascular and corresponding blood/fluid flow information. The technique involves imaging the oculus utilizing three complimentary modes ( a ) Optical Coherence Tomography ( OCT ) , ( B ) Confocal Microscopy ( CM ) , and ( degree Celsius ) Ultrasound Biomicroscopy ( UBM ) ; these are all 3D imaging techniques, which provides complimentary information. OCT provides sub-millimeter declaration without the demand for ionising radiation and associated hazards, nevertheless, the built-in sprinkling of photons in the tissue leads to blurring of the acquired images cite { img11 } ; in add-on, OCT retinene imagination has been used to visualise the posterior pole in human eyes cite { img9 } . CM provides high declaration 3D images, rejects out-of-focus information, therefore ensuing in fuzz free images cite { img11 } . Finally, UBM uses high-frequency transducers to image organic structure structures at smaller deepness with a higher declaration cite { img11, img13, img14 } . These images are acquired offline, prior to the surgery, and registered uti lizing some technique to make elaborate 3D map of the oculus. The dimensional extension to 4D is achieved by overlapping blood flow and vascular information from extra imagination modes: ( a ) 3D Dual-beam-scan Doppler optical coherency angiography ( OCA ) , ( B ) Doppler optical coherency imaging ( OCT ) , ( degree Celsius ) Bioptigen spectral-domain OCT, and ( vitamin D ) 3D micro-computed imaging ( 3D micro-CT ) . OCA provides visual image of the vascular constructions cite { img3 } and has been shown to successfully image the microvasculature of the posterior portion of human oculus cite { img1 } . D-OCT, a derived function of OCT, can supply both structural 3D and functional blood flow information by uniting coherency gating and optical maser Doppler effects cite { img2 } . Furthermore, Fourier domain D-OCT techniques can bring forth 3D informations sets which can make 100s of 1000s of axial scans within a few seconds. These images can assist visualise the retinal and choroidal vasculature in 3D and, later compute absolute blood flow every bit good as entire retinal blood flow cite { img2, img3, img4 } . Finally, Bioptigen spectral-domain OCT and 3D micro-CT, both, have been used to image the 3D aqueous wit out flow information cite { img10 } . Constrained 3D/4D Surgical Trajectory/path-planning System The intraocular part of the human oculus is really complex, therefore the surgery would necessitate careful planning. We propose to implement the flight planning strategy see the extremely deformable kineticss of the environment cite { plan1 } . This technique uses optimum control technique and simulation to outputs the flight program which maximizes the chance of success while sing the uncertainly of the ( 1 ) distortion theoretical account, and ( 2 ) the systems’ noisy province detection, and ( 3 ) unpredictable propulsion strategy. The technique has been shown to be successful in FEM based surgical simulations affecting steering bevel-tip dirigible acerate leafs through pieces of deformable tissue around obstructions.