Wednesday, October 30, 2019

United Nations and International Peace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

United Nations and International Peace - Essay Example International peace is a prerequisite to any country's progress and prosperity that determines the country's development both in terms of social and economic aspects. For decades, terrorism has been a nightmare for countries, which will collapse the economic and social set up of a country and hurdle its economic growth and development. At this juncture, the present essay is relevant as it deals with the role of United Nation's role in preserving and encouraging peace among the member countries. The essay further examines the role of the UN in monitoring and maintaining peace across the world as an international agency in the context of its powers. The essay takes a critical approach to the success and failure of UN in international peace with real examples such as Rwanda, Iraq and Kosovo. The essay is concluded with a short debate on the present role and significance of the UN to contribute to international peace. United Nations came into existence on 24 October in 1945by virtue of the Charter ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. "The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter" (Introductory Note). The day October 24 is celebrated each year all over the world as UN Day. The basic idea behind setting up of such an organization is to work for peace and development by bringing all countries together in harmony. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the a ctions of nations (Article 1). As regards the membership is concerned, the Charter states that "membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations" (Article 4). The top most official of the UN is the Secretary General and Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General, holds the position at present. The operations of the UN are regulated by different departments. A brief account of the structure of UN in general is outlined below: The General Assembly The Security Council The Economic and Social Council The Trusteeship Council The International Court of Justice The Secretariat The UN System The Role and Powers of UN in International Peace One of the main areas of concern of the UN is the preservation of world peace. International peace and harmony have been in the agenda f the UN since its inception. By signing the Charter, member states/countries undertake to take efforts to avoid crisis situations between countries and tackling of disputes by peaceful means. Since it inception, the UN has been playing a major role in helping defuse and eliminate international crisis and in resolving protracted conflicts. In its efforts to harmonize the member countries, the UN has experienced both successful and disappointing outcomes. Over the years UN efforts

Monday, October 28, 2019

Production Control Essay Example for Free

Production Control Essay Spreading Cutting Sorting/Bundling Sewing/Assembling Inspection Pressing/ Finishing Final Inspection Packing Despatch Design / Sketch: In the garment manufacturing the first step is designing the sketch for the dresses that have to be prepared. For this purpose the designer first draw several rough sketches in the sketch book. The designer does not go for details at this moment but he rather let his creativity flow on the paper and he draws many sketches. Later these sketches are analyzed by a panel of designers. They finally select few out of them. These few sketches are rendered in detail separately or in the form of a single collection. The designer also draws working drawings along with the sketch. Working drawings are flat drawing of the sketch and it help  pattern maker  in understanding the patterns involved in the construction.  ·Ã‚  Pattern Design: The pattern maker now develop first pattern for the designsin any one standard size. This is made by pattern drafting method and the purpose of making this pattern is to create the sample garment for test fit.  ·Ã‚  Sample Making: The first patterns are sent to the sewing unit for assembling them into garment. This is usually stitched on calico or muslin which is an inferior quality of fabric and it reduces cost. This sample is constructed to analyze the pattern fit and design too. After the sample garment is stitched it is reviewed by a panel of designers, pattern makers and sewing specialists. If any changes have to be made they are made at this time.  · Production Pattern: The pattern design is now taken for creating the production patterns. The production pattern is one which will be used for huge production of garments. The pattern maker makes the patterns on standard pattern making paper. These papers are made-up of various grades. The most important component, the tissue paper pattern, is made from the lightest and thinnest paper commercially available (it is not made at the pattern companies). It is called 7. 5 lb (3. 4 kg) basis paper, meaning that a ream of it (500 sheets) only weighs

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Computer Science Terms Essay -- Definitions

Computer Science Terms: Composite structure: the size of a typical software system implies that it must be broken down into manageable pieces of this Composition: the process of building a system using simpler parts or components Abstraction: the process of ignoring details irrelevant to the problem at hand and emphasizing essential ones. To abstract is to disregard certain differentiating details Data: the info the program deals with Functionality: what the program does with the data, the responsibility of the object to do Object: the most abstract description of a basic component of an object oriented system Values: a fundamental piece of info that can be manipulated by the program Types: a set of related values along with the operations that can be preformed with them Object: fundamental abstractions from which systems are built Classes: a set of objects having the same features and properties State of an object: the set of data maintained by an object at any given time Reference values: a value that denotes an object Data descriptions: properties of the object (name, date, etc) Associated value: a property an object has at any given time Variable: a portion of memory reserved to hold a single value Instance variables: a variable that is a permanent part of an object: memory space for the variable is allocated when the object is created Immutable: an object that's state cannot be changed Mutable: and object that's state can be changed *An object is characterized by the features it offers* 1. Query: a request for data 2. Command: a request to change state Float & Double: sets of real rational numbers (i.e. 170000 or 1.4e12) Char: set of values representing Unicode ... ... Chapter 6: *Black box testing = functional testing Test design generally begins with an analysis of  · The functional specifications of the system  · The ways in which the system will be used Test case is defined by:  · A statement of case objectives  · The data set for the case  · The expected results Functional testing: testing to determine that the system as a whole meets the customer's specifications. The system is treated as a "black box" whose behavior can be observed, but whose internal structure is unknown. *white box testing= unit testing Unit testing: incremental testing of classes as they are implemented in order to ensure that they function properly. Testing can be "white box testing" where the tests are developed based on the unit's implementation, or "gray box testing" where tests are developed based solely on a method's specification Computer Science Terms Essay -- Definitions Computer Science Terms: Composite structure: the size of a typical software system implies that it must be broken down into manageable pieces of this Composition: the process of building a system using simpler parts or components Abstraction: the process of ignoring details irrelevant to the problem at hand and emphasizing essential ones. To abstract is to disregard certain differentiating details Data: the info the program deals with Functionality: what the program does with the data, the responsibility of the object to do Object: the most abstract description of a basic component of an object oriented system Values: a fundamental piece of info that can be manipulated by the program Types: a set of related values along with the operations that can be preformed with them Object: fundamental abstractions from which systems are built Classes: a set of objects having the same features and properties State of an object: the set of data maintained by an object at any given time Reference values: a value that denotes an object Data descriptions: properties of the object (name, date, etc) Associated value: a property an object has at any given time Variable: a portion of memory reserved to hold a single value Instance variables: a variable that is a permanent part of an object: memory space for the variable is allocated when the object is created Immutable: an object that's state cannot be changed Mutable: and object that's state can be changed *An object is characterized by the features it offers* 1. Query: a request for data 2. Command: a request to change state Float & Double: sets of real rational numbers (i.e. 170000 or 1.4e12) Char: set of values representing Unicode ... ... Chapter 6: *Black box testing = functional testing Test design generally begins with an analysis of  · The functional specifications of the system  · The ways in which the system will be used Test case is defined by:  · A statement of case objectives  · The data set for the case  · The expected results Functional testing: testing to determine that the system as a whole meets the customer's specifications. The system is treated as a "black box" whose behavior can be observed, but whose internal structure is unknown. *white box testing= unit testing Unit testing: incremental testing of classes as they are implemented in order to ensure that they function properly. Testing can be "white box testing" where the tests are developed based on the unit's implementation, or "gray box testing" where tests are developed based solely on a method's specification

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Man in the Mirror

The death of Michael Jackson has given many fans and critics cause to revisit his work. The controversies that surrounded his life in the last decade made Jackson the subject of many jokes and was threatened to end his career in shame and obscurity. But his untimely death provides an opportunity for us to look back at his musical career, and to celebrate his talents as a singer dancer and songwriter. Like other pop stars, Jackson wrote many songs about love and partying, but a number of his songs, such as Heal the World and We Are the World, showed a keen awareness of global issues such as poverty, hunger, and environmental conservation.This may seem contradictory to the questionable choices Jackson made in his personal life, so this is why Man in the Mirror may be his most personal and revealing work. With Man in the Mirror, Jackson reveals a deep inner-conflict and proposes a challenge to himself and to his listeners that in order to change the world, people must first change thems elves. There are many contrasts in the song that reveal the social issues that concerned Jackson. People without food, especially starving children, are mentioned in the song: â€Å"I see kids in the street, with not enough to eat†.The problem of homelessness and people with not enough money to borrow or loan is also discussed: â€Å"There are some with no home, not a nickel to loan†. This is in contrast to Jackson himself, who is of course wealthy enough to own: â€Å"Could it really be me pretending that they’re not alone†. Ironically, though the song is full of imagery of mirrors and reflections, it is Jackson who is unable to see. Early in the song, he sings: â€Å"Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their needs†.Therefore, the journey he takes in the song is from blindness to being able to see the harsh realities of the world, as well as his own irresponsibility. The â€Å"mirror† in the song, or, more accurately, his own reflec tion, is a symbol of a part of himself—the part of himself that is not aware of the problems in the world. Indeed, he even speaks to his reflection as if it were another person. â€Å"I’m asking him to change his ways†. Forces of nature and the changing seasons are also treated as human beings, personified to show that they also care little for people in need. They follow the pattern of the wind ya’ see, ‘Cause they got no place to be†. Other objects are also used to symbolize the pain that exists in the world, such as â€Å"A broken bottle top† and â€Å"willow†. By the end of the song, Jackson can no longer ignore what he sees in himself and in the world. He gives himself and his audience specific instructions on how to make the world a better place. â€Å"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make that change†.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Do you think the strategic Essay

Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? By farhanzscania As this chapter has shown, emotions are an inevitable part of people’s behavior at work. At the same time, it’s not entirely clear that we’ve reached a point where people feel comfortable expressing all emotions at work. The reason might be that business culture and etiquette remain poorly suited to handling overt emotional displays. The uestion is, can organizations become more intelligent about emotional management? Is it ever appropriate to yell, laugh, or cry at work? Some people are skeptical about the virtues of more emotional displays at the workplace. As the chapter notes, emotions are automatic physiological responses to the environment, and as such, they can be difficult to control appropriately. One 22- year-old customer service representative named Laura who was the subject of a case study noted that fear and anger were routinely used as methods to control employees, and employees eeply resented this use of emotions to manipulate them. In another case, the chairman of a major television network made a practice of screaming at employees whenever anything went wrong, leading to badly hurt feelings and a lack of loyalty to the organization. Like Laura, workers at this organization were hesitant to show their true reactions to these emotional outbursts for fear of being branded as â€Å"weak† or â€Å"ineffectual. † It might seem like these individuals worked in heavily emotional workplaces, but in fact, only a narrow range of emotions was deemed acceptable. Anger appears to be more acceptable than sadness in many organizations, and anger can have serious maladaptive consequences. Others believe organizations that recognize and work with emotions effectively are more creative, satisfying, and productive. For example, Laura noted that if she could express her hurt feelings without fear, she would be much more satisfied with her work. In other words, the problem with Laura’s organization is not that emotions are displayed, but that emotional displays are handled poorly. Others note that use of emotional knowledge, ike being able to read and understand the reactions of others, is crucial for workers ranging from salespeople and customer service agents all the way to managers and executives. One survey even found that 88% of workers feel being sensitive to the emotions of others is an asset. Management consultant Erika Anderson notes, â€Å"Crying at work is transformative and can open the door to change. † The question then is, â€Å"Can organizations take specific steps to become better at allowing emotional displays without opening a Pandora’s box of outbursts? â€Å"

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

A New Organic Chocolate in the Market

A New Organic Chocolate in the Market Situational Environment Demand/Demand Trends-Industry Trends Euromonitor (2012) reported that Mars was the market leader in 2010 by holding 47% market share and Snickers, Galaxy, Nestlà © and other international companies captured additional 30% share in the UAE; however, local companies concentrate on product diversification to increase market demand by changing customer perception; thus, the market growth has increased significantly.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on A New Organic Chocolate in the Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Social and Cultural Environment Trends The culture and society of UAE presents a unique set of values and beliefs that are characterised by most of the countries of the Middle East. As an Islamic country, the values and cultures of the UAE are governed by the Islamic regulations, and so the people of the country want to eat Halal foods only. The population of the country c omprises of different nationals and ethnic groups where the actual Arabic language are used besides of English (which is popular language in business and other areas of communication). In case of the Countline Healthy Chocolate Bars, socio-cultural factors would have a great influence on the business, and the marketer would make sure that the contents of the product do not contain anything that are contrary with the Islamic values. Economic Environment and Trends Indexmundi (2012) reported that the UAE has an open economy along with economic diversification, which helps to develop the country than any other GCC member states. The economic growth based on many sectors including oil; however, the GDP of the country is $ 342.0 billion and per capita GDP estimated as $ 63,626, and the GDP growth is 5.2%, which demonstrates the current financial progress of the UAE (Indexmundi 2012); at the same time, the economy remained unchanged at the time of global financial crisis. However, the cen tral bank has designed fiscal policy to provide a sustainable way for exempting the negative influence of recession; therefore, the following figure shows more information Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Figure 1: Summary of economic status of UAE before, during, and after global recession Source: self-generated from UAE Economy Profile Economic environment is preferable to the foreign investors as the UAE has Efficient, Effective, and Globally Integrated trade Environment as a member of WTO; thus, the market of chocolate industry is too competitive due to have many competitors in this sector. Technological Environment and Trends The technological advancement of UAE is not less the advancement of the western countries, such as, the UK and the US; in addition, the use of Information technology brings huge economic success for this country particularly i n Dubai where most of the business transaction takes place; moreover, foreign investors are now more confident to start business here considering excellent progression. At the same time, technological invention will play a crucial role to develop strong supply chain manage system, promote new items, and expand business operation by preserving and producing the organic chocolate bars; however, the marketers of this will concentrate on e0commerce system in order to target customers in the global market particularly GCC countries. Demographic Environment and Trends Total population of the UAE in 2012 is more than 5,314,317 (annual growth rate 3.05%); however, 80% people among the total population comes from foreign countries particularly from third world nation to change their financial position and only 20% people are local citizens; however, the following tables give more information in this regard Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on A New Organic Ch ocolate in the Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Percentage Age (Year) 20.4% 0 to 14 78.7% 15 to 64 0.9% 65 and older Most of the people of the country are Muslim and the national religions of the country are Islam and the ethnicity of the UAE includes the Arabian, South Asian and some parts are European and American Figure 2: Age groups and Ethnic Group Source: self generated from Indexmundi (2012) However, the marketers of this company will target people of different culture along with children and teenagers; they will more concentrate on Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah market because 84% of total population lives in these three Emirates (CIL, 2012 and Indexmundi, 2012). Political and Legal Environment and Trends Tarbuck Lester (2009) stated that the UAE has twofold legal framework (local and the federal judiciary); however, as a major Muslim country in the world, Islamic Shari’a law is the main source of legislat ion though civil law principles are using to mitigate or resolve the disputes; no foreign lawyer or firm permitted in the court. Therefore, the legal system of UAE comparatively harder to follow, but the policy makers have taken many initiatives like developed Dubai as a free trade zone due to have port with other facilities; however, first apply federal laws, for instance, the Companies Law, or the Civil Code (Tarbuck Lester, 2009, p.5). Moreover, the UAE is a suitable place for the business owner because there is no political clash and have a stable political system; in addition, the Emirates cooperate with each other to develop the country, which help the government to enact laws for the development of the trade and commerce, such as, regulations to control non-free zones (Tarbuck Lester, 2009). On the other hand, certainty of leadership, relationship with foreign countries, principles of good corporate governance, transparency, anti-money laundering, and flexible taxation poli cies provide investors a significant when deciding to invest or carry on business (Tarbuck Lester, 2009, p.9).Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Competitive Environment Existing Products Currently Satisfy the Same Need as Its Product There are many national and international chocolate manufacturing companies in the UAE, but they are not concentrating on the organic chocolate bars, which indicate little pressure from competitors; therefore, Countline Healthy Chocolate Bars would be unique products in this market, for instance, Mars, Nestle, and Twix brands occupied large market share in UAE, but they are not trying organic product. Competitive Evaluation Including Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Customer perception is changing over time; Countline Healthy Chocolate Bars would experience huge success due to lack of competitors in this sector; Efficient employees, promotional plan, strategy of the company, production costs, supply chain management; More than 75% People of the UAE like chocolate bars (Euromonitor, 2012). Weaknesses Euromonitor (2012) reported that sugar and cocoa prices continued to boost in 2011, but the government had not taken any measure in this regard; Manufacturers reduce the weight of the products and sell chocolate within existing price; Customers of the UAE historically not craze to purchase chocolate, so the spend less for this product; Manufactures like to spend little for the promotional activities though the government provides incentive in some extent. Evaluation and Detailed Assessment of Marketing Mix Strategy Product The marketer of the new organic chocolate will focus on creating a product with unique taste and flavour; in addition, the marketer will try to bring out a new demand for organic chocolates among the customers of the United Arab Emirates so that the children of this region could have better health even after ingesting excessive amounts of chocolate products. As a result, the marketer feels it necessary to promote a range of healthy ingredients through the Countline Healthy Chocolate Bars, which, for example, would include some essential substances for h uman health, such as antioxidants, chromium (to control blood sugar), magnesium, theobromine (to kindle the central nervous system and appetite), tryptophan, caffeine, and flavanols (a unique blend of phytonutrients). Countline Healthy Chocolate Bars would be tremendously nutritious; it would be a snack to generate the ideal infiltrator and would be the best chocolate ever; moreover, people in all places would have excellent benefits from the product; on the other hand, the organic chocolate would not harm the environment by any means during the entire production process. The new product would contain as much antioxidant contents as a glass of red wine and would be free from chemical herbicides, fertilizers, or pesticides; however, it is notable that the phenols in the product will develop the immune system, lessen the risk of cancer, and endorse heart-health as well as promoting overall energy levels. Price The marketer of the new organic chocolate will set a general pricing struct ure based on a series of price levels for different pack sizes, which would characterise flexible and reasonable pricing based on features, customer demands, and so on. As the business would focus on making loyal customers, it would offer the product at comparatively reasonable prices in order to ensure that the customers sustain with the brand even though there are other substitutes offered by established competitors. However, low pricing strategy would be undertaken because of a number of factors, which, for example, include the following: After the economic downturn, the purchasing power of the customers had reduced, which is still at recovering stage. There are some established businesses, which offer similar or identical products. The marketer of the new organic chocolate wishes to be the cost leader in the industry in order to gain competitive advantage. It will purchase machines for the production process from the local market to reduce initial costs. Promotion The new orga nic chocolate should build strong brand image; therefore, it is important to point out its strengths through advertisements, which would assist the business to persuade the customers; in the content of the promotions, it would highlight the positive effects and emphasis on the importance of the chocolate in public health and environment. It would use print media (like newspapers and magazines), radio campaigns, online IMC, outdoor IMC, and special campaigns through the social networking sites like twitter, Hi5, and facebook for advertisements; however, it will not be feasible for the business to promote itself through TV, as it would require huge investment. Distribution The organic chocolate would be distributed to various retail stores all around the UAE to make the product easily available to the end consumers. The distribution channel should be designed to make sure that the products are into shelves of the stores at regular intervals. Reference List CIL. 2012. United Arab Emira tes Population, , mapsofworld.com/united-arab-emirates/population.html. Euromonitor. 2012. Chocolate Confectionery in the United Arab Emirates, euromonitor.com/chocolate-confectionery-in-the-united-arab-emirates/report. Indexmundi. 2012. Country Profile of the UAE, , indexmundi.com/united_arab_emirates/. Indexmundi. 2012. United Arab Emirates Population, ,indexmundi.com/united_arab_emirates/economy_overview.html. Tarbuck, A. Lester, C. 2009. Dubai’s Legal System: Creating a Legal and Regulatory Framework for a Modern Society, , lw.com/upload/pubcontent/_pdf/pub2787_1.pdf.

Monday, October 21, 2019

week 3 Essay example

week 3 Essay example week 3 Essay example Organizational Structure The company that I work for is a construction company, just as with most construction companies, the organizational structure of the company is a matrix organizational structure. The way that the hierarchical levels are in this company is; the owner/CEO occupies the highest position. The next position down the vertical structure is a shared level of management, which is occupied by a project manager, and a super intendant. Each project has their own project manager and super intendant that report to the owner/CEO. The company that I work for is a decentralized organization, where â€Å"decision making occurs at the level of the people who are most directly affected and have the most intimate knowledge about the problem† (Bateman & Snell, 2011). The reason that this is the most effective for this company is, because of the need in the construction industry for decisions made in a timely manner, in order for the project at hand to effectively and efficiently get done. In some i nstances it would not be conducive to go through the process of the decision going up the vertical structure. The company that I work for employs two different trades- sheet metal workers, and carpenters- this is the reason that if the company were organized with the functional structure or divisional structure, it would be less efficient. In the matrix structure, there is only one project manager, and one super intendant for each project. All of the decisions for both trades, for the project are made at this level. Since the company employs two different trades, the mutual adjustment coordination is essential. If the company were organized with the functional structure, any decisions would have to be collaborated horizontally between the project managers, sheet metal super intendant, and the carpenter super intendant. This would be a longer process and a counterproductive structure. In the construction industry, most companies are not large enough to implement the divisional organizational structure. The divisional structure, just as the functional structure, would essentially be counterproductive to the effectiveness of the company. In a divisional organizational structure, any major decisions would take a longer period of time to be made, and in effect would slow down production. The construction industry is a face paced industry, and the functional and divisional structures would not be as effective as the matrix structure. The organizational functions of the company that I work for are also more efficient in the matrix structure. All of the company’s functions are project specific in the construction industry. Each project has its own budget, its own human resource needs, as well as operational needs. The matrix structure is the most effective structure based on the fact of the project specific needs that are required. As far as the finance for the project is concerned, each project has its own budget. In the matrix structure, it is the project manager, and the super intendants responsibility to ensure that the project is completed within this budget. This is possible based on the fact that these two positions are on site at the project, and are responsible for this one project. Whereas, if it were a divisional structure, the finance department for the company would have the responsibility of ordering material for the project. If the finance department were not familiar with the need for the specific project, too much material, too little material or the wrong material may be ordered. Another function that is project specific is the human resource function. Each project in the construction industry may have a unique manpower requirements. One project may have a need for fifteen carpenters, and eighteen sheet metal workers, and another project may only need twelve carpenters, and ten sheet metal workers. If the company had one human resource department, there would be a possibility of having too much manpower or not

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Argumentative Speech on Human Cloning

Argumentative Speech on Human Cloning Argumentative Speech on Human Cloning Human Cloning speech: Human cloning involves the creation of a generically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to the reproduction of human tissues or cells or to the monozygotic multiple births. The ethics of cloning is usually a controversial issue. The term cloning is normally used to refer to artificial human cloning (Almeder 1). Human cloning practices normally raise concerns that are related to ethics. There are those individuals who argue that the practices are not whereas there are also those who are for the practices (Pinon 507). Ethical views against Human Cloning There are those individuals who argue that human cloning destroys the unity of parenthood and marriage. Issues like divorce, contraception, vitro fertilization, and extramarital sex ends up affecting the unity of families. Human cloning can create another problem to the unity that normally exists in Christian marriages. This is because the clone with be denied the chance to feel the love of parents (Sherlock and John 573). There are also those people who argue that cloning human beings will turn them into commodities (Sherlock and John 573). This is because the cloning subjects are referred to as things. A cloning child is a technological project. The child is normally subject to quality control. Treating a person as a thing has become common in our societies. This practice is destructive and immoral. Cloning a child will lead the child being treated as someone’s asset or commodity and not a human being. This is because the child will be perceived as made and not born hence the child might not be treated with respect (Pinon 507). The cloning of human beings is also dangerous. There has only been one success in sheep cloning. This was after failing for 276 times. Cloned human embryos have been killed in research laboratories (Pinon 507). Consequently, genetic screenings are normally undertaken together with cloned tissues from human. Any embryo that does not pass is normally killed. Due to this, many people argues that cloning has negative aspects to human beings (Sherlock and John 576). Another ethical issue with regards to human cloning is that, it is an assault to human procreation (Pinon 506). Assisted reproductive technologies are affronts to human dignity. This is because cloning leaves does not prove human procreation. It is a completely artificial reproductive technology (Pinon 506). Cloning is also a violation of the conjugal union dignity (Sherlock and John 576). In normal circumstances, a child is a sure proof of love the parents bestows on it. The influence and the indication of God’s love is destroyed when a child’s life is created in the laboratory (Pinon 506). Those who are involved in cloning human beings may also be played God. This is because it is only God, and only Him who is our maker (Sherlock and John 576). Those who are engaged in researches to find ways so as to clown human beings will be practicing God’s work. Religious leaders do not agree with cloning as they believe that a human being can only be made by God and not fellow human beings (Sherlock and John 576). Arguments for Human Cloning There are also those individuals who argue that human cloning is not unethical or a bad practice. They argue that cloning can be used to counter infertility and/or genetic diseases. They argue that human cloning can be a solution for those individuals who have infertility problems because they can be able to get children through the process. Those who are infertile can be able to get preferable donors eggs. They also argue that the process is a little different from the birth of identical twins. Cloning has also been argued that it meets deep human desire to reproduce. Those who advocate for cloning of human being also argue that what matters is how the child is treated after birth (Pinon 510). If you need a 100% original argumentative speech essay written by professional writers contact and buy a speech online on any topic you need!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

English reading and writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English reading and writing - Essay Example At first, his paranoia gives him the irrational fear of the vulture's eye which brings him the urge to kill the old man. Being the first story I have read which is a psychological thriller and horror story at the same time, I become very much interested and involved with the story. I can say that this is one of the best stories of murder I have ever read as it explores how people with psychological disorders think and why they do the things that they do. In the end, the Tell Tale Heart also acknowledges the conscience within man by showing how the relentless heartbeat of the old man bothers the murderer. It simply portrays that even though the murderer become greatly satisfied because he was able to rid himself of the object of his fear, he still has this innate longing to do what is right as dictated by his conscience. With the Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe is highly successful in affecting and influencing readers like me. On the other hand, The Cask of Amontillado is a more intricate and complicated plot of murder. I can say that Edgar Allan Poe is able to devise and show the perfect plot for murder. As opposed to The Tell Tale Heart which tackles paranoia and guilt, the main theme of the story is revenge.

Proposed Interpretation to a Dilemma Faced Prime Minister Essay

Proposed Interpretation to a Dilemma Faced Prime Minister - Essay Example The Prime Minister may just cause the revocation of the appointment made to her daughter by instructing or influencing the board members who have a final say on the election of her daughter. The Prime Minister must remember that the position upon which appointment was made in favor of her daughter was not a confidential one under him for which the Prime Minister may find exemption under the existing laws of Canada. If the Prime Minister cannot avoid conflict on interest through revoking the appointment by his influence, the Prime Minister could still avail of some mitigation measure. 3.2 Disclosure of Financial and other material interest of the daughter. Under existing regulations conflict of interest could be controlled by disclosing the extent to which decisions could be affected reason of having relatives in the office for which any public official may be involved with. It is a recognized principle in good business practice that disclosing the possible source of conflict of inter est might at least prevent the instance of such public interest as the public is warned that the appointed daughter may not be inclined to enter into any contract that would redound to her personal interest. Thus the practice of requiring high-ranking government officials to disclose financial information on her assets such as stock, debts such as loans, and/or corporate positions held, typically annually or as required by existing rules may be appropriate in the case of the daughter of the Prime Minister.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Marketing Plan - Essay Example The taxation polices and international relations of these countries have influenced the functioning of the organization (Acton, 2013). High inflation rates and global economic condition have increased poverty and unemployment in different counties that has affected the charities and expenses. In addition, social changes and behavior of the contributors have changed. The technological development has enhances online access of the people for awareness. 1. Under the section 501(c)3, the organization chosen to present is the ‘GuideStar’. The non-profit group ‘Plan International USA Inc.’ is a GuideStar organization aims to provide relief services and aims to end the cycle of poverty, the organization is exempted from federal income tax and works for the charity and welfare people. 2. The organization aims to end the cycle of poverty among the children all around the world. It aims to provide welfare services to these poor children in fifty developing countries through collaboration and contributions of different communities. It provides healthcare program, education projects, and child protective initiatives to children suffering from poverty. 4. I selected ‘GuideStar’ group because it works for the prosperity for the poor children around the world. In addition, the organization provides different charity, welfare educational and health institutions for poor children. Analyzing situation analysis of GuideStar, it can be determined that the operations of the organization have improved (Ferrell & Michael, 2012). The management emphasizes on the development and encouragement of its voluntary that has decreased the administration expenses of the company. In addition, the contributors of the organization have increased their charities to the organization. One of the major weaknesses of the organization is that it focuses on projects in only fifty counties, whereas the other organizations are focused on a

Finance - Budgeting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance - Budgeting - Assignment Example A comparison of the actual and budgeted costs should be closely monitored to determine the efficiency of the system in place. If the current technique does not always reflect the true cost of operation or reports wide gaps between budgeted and actual costs, a change in technique could be a solution. The company has been employing process costing to budget and monitor its various costs. This method is a widely used tool in costing of its products. In order to do this, the company recognizes the following cost pools: The production budget of the company is set before the production period usually for one year. Traditional costing method and variance analysis are used to adjust the different costs incurred. At the end of each quarter, the company computes the different variances to determine whether the company is above or below the set level. However, no effort is made to correct the budgeted costs. As the size of the company is relatively small, it currently doesn't employ any software in order to efficiently track costs. The data for production is gathered for each pool center manually and is sent to each department involved such as purchasing, billing, and inventory. It is also apparent that the company has no formal monitoring system as the budgets are never adjusted. It should be noted that the price of materials being used by the company often vary with their availability. For instance, the price of LPG is directly related to the price of fuel in the world market. The volatility of the price of fuel is not taken into account as the company's budget is already set for a year's period. Recommendations for Improvement A company's budget as discussed above is one of the most significant information for managers as it reflects its expectations on its future operations. The company under consideration reports declining profitability within the past five years. The reported reasons for this are unexpected rise in material inputs which are not anticipated and reflected on pricing and additional costs due to lost of administrative and paper works. The company also admitted that as its competitors seem to be gaining market share through production efficiency, they seem to be lagging off. This is reflected by their declining profits and high production costs. It is recommended that the company reevaluate its value chain. This evaluation is needed in order for them to ascertain the processes which add value to their products and eliminating those which do not. This will lead to a leaner manufacturing system and will surely help the company in cutting down unnecessary costs. The company should also create an information system in order to

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Critical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Critical Analysis - Essay Example Healthcare expenditure of the United States constituted almost 17% of the GDP. Healthcare costs rise at a rate faster than the income of the nation. Healthcare costs are expected to rise in future. A control in the rise is the need of the hour as healthcare costs are negatively affecting the growth and economic stability of the nation. Even though health care systems of America are benefited from the investments in healthcare, the heavy increase in healthcare costs, increasing federal deficit and the general economic slowdown are negatively affecting them. Medicare, Medicaid and other health-insurance coverage sponsored by employers are extremely burdened with increasing healthcare costs. Family premiums available for healthcare coverage sponsored by employees also increased, putting trouble on workers as well as employers. Income of workers is growing at a fast rate when healthcare costs are increasing at a fast rate. Medicare and Medicaid and other government systems contribute a b ig chunk of healthcare expenses. However, compared to private insurance government programs are increasing at a slow rate. Enrolment in government programs have increased significantly because of economic recession. Expenditures of government programs have increased considerably these days. The high spending figures is putting government programs under great pressure. Affordable Care Act or The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act signed by US president in 2010 is considered as a highly beneficial healthcare reform (Mantel 221). It is a far-reaching and useful healthcare reform. It is expected to bring good result like what Medicare did. This Act makes the Health and Human Services (HHS) department to offer essential health benefits to people. These benefits should be dispensed through health plans, covering the plans that include in the health insurance markets. However, this process that extends

Arabic Language and English Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Arabic Language and English Language - Essay Example Arabic is from the Semitic language family, subsequently, its grammar is altogether different from English. There is an expansive potential for lapses of impedance when Arab learners produce composed or spoken English. Arabic has a three-consonant root as its premise. All words (parts of speech) are shaped by joining the three-root consonants with altered vowel designs and, in some cases, an affix. Arab learners may be befuddled by the absence of examples in English that might permit them to recognize nouns from verbs or descriptive words, and so forth. The Arabic sentence is generally separated into two primary parts: the column and the supplement (extra) if any. The column could be mapped to the thought of the atomic in expository structure hypothesis. The satellites of the logical structure hypothesis could be equal to the supplement. The column has two parts: the data furthermore the subject. The subject could be acknowledged as the member where an activity, a state, or a depicti on is alluding to. The data could be seen as the movement, the state, or the portrayal itself. An Arabic sentence may be either ostensible sentence or a verbal sentence. The ostensible sentence begins fundamentally with a noun and the verbal sentence begins with a verb. The mainstay of an ostensible sentence is constituted by a primate and a predicate. The primate is a noun that generally a sentence begins with. The capacity of the primate is the subject-work (the member). The predicate qualifies the primate and fills the data a piece of the mainstay of the ostensible sentence. The mainstay of the verbal sentence is constituted by a verb and an operator if the data is a known verb or a star executor if the data is a disregarded verb. While proceeding towards the comparison in details it is necessary to first shed some light on the definition of culture as defined by Geert Hofstede. According to the cultural dimensions premises acknowledged by Geert Hofstede, the westernized nations like the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, etc. creates the individualist bunch and is placed at one severe end of the band whilst the Asian nations such as Pakistan, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, etc. forms the collectivist bunch and is placed at the other intense end of the range.  

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Critical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Critical Analysis - Essay Example Healthcare expenditure of the United States constituted almost 17% of the GDP. Healthcare costs rise at a rate faster than the income of the nation. Healthcare costs are expected to rise in future. A control in the rise is the need of the hour as healthcare costs are negatively affecting the growth and economic stability of the nation. Even though health care systems of America are benefited from the investments in healthcare, the heavy increase in healthcare costs, increasing federal deficit and the general economic slowdown are negatively affecting them. Medicare, Medicaid and other health-insurance coverage sponsored by employers are extremely burdened with increasing healthcare costs. Family premiums available for healthcare coverage sponsored by employees also increased, putting trouble on workers as well as employers. Income of workers is growing at a fast rate when healthcare costs are increasing at a fast rate. Medicare and Medicaid and other government systems contribute a b ig chunk of healthcare expenses. However, compared to private insurance government programs are increasing at a slow rate. Enrolment in government programs have increased significantly because of economic recession. Expenditures of government programs have increased considerably these days. The high spending figures is putting government programs under great pressure. Affordable Care Act or The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act signed by US president in 2010 is considered as a highly beneficial healthcare reform (Mantel 221). It is a far-reaching and useful healthcare reform. It is expected to bring good result like what Medicare did. This Act makes the Health and Human Services (HHS) department to offer essential health benefits to people. These benefits should be dispensed through health plans, covering the plans that include in the health insurance markets. However, this process that extends

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Total Rewards Program Geico Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Total Rewards Program Geico - Case Study Example Total Rewards Program includes seven categories such as workplace flexibility, paid and unpaid time off, health & wellness support, community involvement, caring for dependents, culture change initiative and financial support in order to support work-life effectiveness. This section covers three verticals such as learning opportunities, coaching/mentoring and Advancement Opportunities of Total Rewards Program. Integration can be done among career development process and Human Performance Improvement or HPI in order to share knowledge of among new recruits (Rothwell, Sanders, & Soper, 1999, p. 6-7). Companies need to remix existing reward system with cost-effective techniques without increasing financial investment. Reallocating rewards in a cost-effective not only increases the value of the program but increases profitability also. Finance & Retirement plan of Geico includes traditional plans (associate can select investment pattern and can also manage their account through Vanguard Website), Profit Sharing Plan, Insurance plan (life and accident insurance) and assistance program for associates. These huge collections of benefits give the flexibility to associate to select remuneration package in accordance with their requirement. Education & Training program designed by Geico includes promoting internal employees to new job responsibility instead of hiring external candidates. Geico also focuses on giving sufficient training & development and virtual mentoring in order to increase employee retention rate. Promote from within adopted by Geico helps the employee to get motivated to perform well because they know that performing well can help them to get promotion hence turnover rate decreases. This strategy also helps the company to reduce costs (giving advertisement through various channels of media, paying contract fees to external recruiting agents, paying additional salary to employees who have resigned and other miscellaneous expenses)  related to recruiting new associates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  

Monday, October 14, 2019

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay Example for Free

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Orthodox Judaism is a â€Å"the religion of those Jews who adhere most strictly to traditional beliefs and practices. † (Britannica, 2013) Differentiating from Christianity, Orthodox Jews adhere to daily worship, traditional prayers and holidays, and how and when a child goes through adulthood. While in a synagogue, men and women are separated, which is unlike many religions presented in our society. Orthodox Jews are often looked at as very strict and traditional. The dress garments are used to make them stand out from the world around them as well as to preserve the traditions. For women, pants are not permitted; all clothing must cover the chest to the neck and the arms to at least the elbows and fall below the knees. As a sign of modesty, married women hide their hair with a covering that may be a wig over a shorn head (in the most extreme cases), a wig over hair, a scarf, or a hat. † (Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2006) For this reason, today’s society seems to have viewed Orthodox Jews as weird, segregated and just different. Our society sees lots of skin and very few modest women. Jewish people have contributed to American culture for their fight for rights equality. In 1965, in the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama, you found â€Å"Rabbi Abraham Heschel and African American leader Martin Luther King Jr. joining arms and leading a group of hundreds of protestors in the action against discriminatory voting rights policies (Heschel. )† (Brown, 2010) Though Heschel was not an Orthodox Jew, he still fought for the rights of his people, all Jews, as well as the rights that every American deserves, regardless of race or skin color. Even in our society today you will see camaraderie between an African American and a Jew. Because they fought side by side with African Americans for equal rights, Jewish men and women will forever have an impact on our country. Throughout the history of the world, Jews have been discriminated against, and persecuted. Adolf Hitler sought to â€Å"exterminate† them from our society. Hitler killed around six million Jewish men, women, and children during the Holocaust. He not only discriminated against Jews, but anyone who could be a Jew, just based on their physical appearance. I think that learning more of their culture and religion has helped me better understand their group. I was curious of many things regarding Orthodox Jews and their Hasidic practices. For instance, I was unaware that the Torah is the first five books of the Holy Bible. Knowing that they dress in such traditional and modest clothing to adhere to their traditions is something that all American’s should look up to. Having such a devout faith to have no regard for the culture around you and being so devoted to your faith, or any cause, is something that I think is an admirable quality. South American Hispanics differ not only from White Americans, Asians or African Americans, but also, in part, to other Hispanics. Brazil does not speak Spanish as other Hispanic and Latino countries do. Brazilians speak Portuguese. Not all Hispanics from South America speak this language, but Brazilians, in their own right, have their own little corner if Hispania. South Americans also tend to have a harbored feud with other Hispanics. Brazilians do not want to be mistaken for Colombian; Columbian do not want to be mistaken for Chilean; and so on. In America, Hispanics also tend to be clumped together. Since the closest Hispanic country to the American border is Mexico, many American’s classify all Hispanic people as Mexican. This also becomes an issue among White American’s as well as Hispanics. Again, each group of Hispanics does not like to be classified as another, causing tension when being addressed as such, is most likely unbeknownst to the person who improperly identified the person or group of people. Hispanics have contributed a great deal to America. Through food, music and language, or nation has grown in leaps and bounds with the help of Hispanic people. There are many Mexican, Brazilian, Columbian and Chilean restaurants to be found in major cities across the U. S. A popular dancing style is the Salsa; which is a very sensual Hispanic dance. America’s unofficial second language is Spanish. There are many immigrants in the United States that are strictly Spanish speaking individuals. There are even classes called ESL, or English as a Second Language. Many employers often seek employees who are bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. Hispanics, throughout History, have experienced uch discrimination, prejudice and are subject to stereotypes. Everyone is guilty, as there is no one group of people to be had as guilty or innocent. Even other Hispanics discriminate against each other. For example, Hispanics are often thought of as poorly educated, illegal immigrants with a very large family. Because these stereotypes have been so prevalent in our society, Hispanics are also thought to be a major factor in the unemployment rat e. Many Americans think that all Hispanics are here illegally taking their jobs and working for less money. This image hurts the Hispanic community, just as it would hurt any other racial or ethnic group. To say that they are poorly educated, therefore do not know how to fight to earn more money is stereotyping and just plain rude. I think that because I am of Hispanic descent, specifically Central America, and have experienced some of these discriminatory factors from both White Americans as well as other Hispanics, I understand where Brazilians, Mexicans, and all other Hispanic groups feel. To earn your way into a country and then to be looked down upon is a hard pill to swallow. It can often be difficult to take the high road and ignore the ignorance, but in the end, it is the most rewarding. Conclusion The discrimination experienced by Orthodox Jews as well as Hispanics is very similar. Both groups have fought for equal rights as American’s, regardless of race. Both groups receive looks and whispers behind their backs regarding their culture and beliefs. However, they are different in the fact that Orthodox Jews appear to be White American’s; whereas Hispanics tend to have a darker skin tone, which makes it easier to infer their ethnicity. I think that Orthodox Jews are more discriminated against because of their religious beliefs, the clothing that they were and their nonmoving stance on their religion. Hispanics are discriminated against, most often, because of their skin color, the way the talk or their country of origin. I believe that discrimination has many faces. There is no one set of rules for discrimination. Too often, society discriminates against what they do not know. People tend to fear the unknown. By shunning and discriminating against a religious group, a race or ethnicity, or a sexual orientation, people show that they are ignorant on the subject. I think that children are the greatest teachers to the negative minded discriminators. Babies are not born to know color or race or hate. They know people; they know love and compassion. I think the world would be better off if we listened to our children tell the tales of their adventures at school with â€Å"the kid who has skin that looks like chocolate,† as my niece once said.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Properties of Phagraphene via Hydrogenation and Fluorination

Properties of Phagraphene via Hydrogenation and Fluorination Modulation of electronic and mechanical properties of phagraphene via hydrogenation and fluorination Donghai Wu ab, Shuaiwei Wang ab, Jinyun Yuanab* Baocheng Yang ab, Houyang Chenc* a Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China b Henan provincial key laboratory of nanocomposite and application, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China c Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, USA ________________ Abstract: Recently, a new carbon sheet, phagraphene, was proposed by theoretical calculations [Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 6182]. In this paper, the hydrogenated and fluorinated phagraphene (denoted as H-PHA and F-PHA) sheets have been systematically studied using first-principles calculations. The results of formation energy, ab initio molecular dynamics, phonon dispersion and elastic constants confirm that the modified phagraphene sheets are thermodynamically and dynamically as well as mechanically stable. We find that hydrogenation or fluorination is an effective way to modulate the bandgap, and we also find that adsorption-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition and adsorption-induced semimetal-insulator transition occur. Configuration-dependent bandgap for partially H-PHA and configuration-independent bandgap for fully H-PHA are determined. Adsorption-ratio-dependent bandgaps of H-PHA and F-PHA are also identified. Calculated bandgaps from HSE06 and PBE functionals of fully H-PHA ar e larger than those of F-PHA, and they are comparable to thehydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene while they are larger than their corresponding graphene. Dependence of bandgaps of fully H-PHA and F-PHA on the tensile strain is investigated, and our calculations show that an insulator-semiconductor transition occurs upon increasing the tensile strain. Our results also determined that the mechanical properties are controllable by using hydrogenation and fluorination. The calculations of Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio reveal the functionalized phagraphene sheets possess suitable stiffness and resistance to volume deformation, and both are smaller than the pristine phagraphene. 1. Introduction Two-dimensional (2D) carbon-based materials have been attracting great attention due to their fascinating mechanical, thermal, electronic, optical and magnetic properties.1-11 In particular, graphene is the most representative example. Since synthetized by Novoselov et al.6 in 2004, graphene has been extensively studied for its robust stability,12 high crystal quality,13 captivating mechanical and electronic as well as thermal properties.14-18 The covalently bonded honeycomb lattice with perfect hexagonal symmetry of graphene plays a crucial role in forming Dirac cones,19 which gives graphene massless fermions, resulting in the anomalous quantum Hall effects,20 ultrahigh carrier mobility21 and other properties.22, 23 Recently, a new carbon sheet, phagraphene,19 composed of rings containing five, six, and seven carbon atoms, was proposed by theoretical calculations. It can be considered as a defective graphene.24 This planar carbon allotrope is slightly more unstable than pristine graphene while energetically more favorable than other carbon allotropes.19 The notable stability benefits from its sp2-hybridization and dense atomic packing structure.25 Zhang et al.19 have proven that the electronic structure of phagraphene has direction-dependent Dirac cones, which are robust against external strain with tunable Fermi velocities. This unique performance makes the phagraphene an advanced material for numerous applications in photoelectric technology. However, like graphene, the phagraphene suffers a major drawback of zero bandgap and rather robust gapless state, limiting its potential applications. In order to overcome this disadvantage, we use hydrogenation and fluorination to modulate its bandgap in this paper. Thanks to the surface unsaturated C-C dangling bond,26 the chemical modification by adsorbing non-carbon atoms on the surface is an effective way to create a bandgap and tune the electronic, magnetic and mechanical properties of graphene.14, 24, 26-32 Hydrogenation is not only the simplest and manageable adsorption but also the generating hydrides are promising hydrogen storage materials in energy field.33, 34 The fluorine atoms with ultrahigh electronegativity are adsorbed on the graphene surface forming fluorinated graphene, which have been investigated experimentally and theoretically.14, 35, 36 After adsorbing such atoms, the forming C-H and C-F bonds could give rise to the carbon atoms transforming their hybridizati on state from sp2 to sp3, 33 correspondingly, the structural and electronic properties would undergo dramatic alterations. In this work, by employing first-principles calculations, the effect of hydrogenation and fluorination on the bandgap opening of phagraphene sheet is examined. After hydrogenation or fluorination, the bandgap of phagraphene could be opened sizably, changing its electro-conductivity from Dirac semimetal to semiconductor or from Dirac semimetal to insulator. The structural stability and mechanical properties of the modified phagraphene sheet are also investigated. 2. Computational details All the first-principles calculations and abinitio molecular dynamics (AIMD) were carried out by density functional theory (DFT) with the projector augmented wave (PAW) method and performed by the Vienna abinitio simulation package (VASP)37 . The 2D periodic boundary condition was adopted and a vacuum space of 20 Ã… along the perpendicular direction of the phagraphene sheet was included in order to avoid the interactions between adjacent layers. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof (PBE)38 was applied as the exchange-correlation functional in most of the calculations. Meanwhile, to accurately calculate the band structures, the hybrid Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06)39 was introduced. The Brillouin zone (BZ) was sampled using 2à Ã¢â€š ¬ ÃÆ'- 0.01 Ã…Ã ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 Monkhorst-Pack40 k-point mesh density, and the plane-wave basis set with cutoff energy of 600 eV was adopted. The total energy difference of 10à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢5 eV and forc e tolerance of 10à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2 eVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒâ€¦Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 were used for the convergence criteria of geometric optimization and self-consistent field. The phonon properties were calculated by the Phonopy package41 with force constants obtained by the finite displacement method.42 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Structural properties Figure 1 displays the structure of phagraphene19 together with its hydride and fluoride. The hydrogenated or fluorinated phagraphene (denoted as H-PHA or F-PHA) sheet is obtained by adsorbing hydrogen or fluorine atoms on both sides of the plane. For fully H-PHA and F-PHA, the ratio of C : H/F is 1 : 1. After optimization, the structures of both fully H-PHA (Figure 1c) and fully F-PHA (Figure 1d) are greatly distorted compared to pristine phagraphene (Figure 1a), resulting in low symmetry with a space group of P21/m (No. 11). The 5-6-7 carbon rings no longer remain in the same plane and become crumpled. The buckling height hb (i.e. the height between the bottom and top carbon layers) of fully H-PHA (0.856 Ã…, see Table 1) is larger than that of F-PHA (0.704 Ã…), and they are much larger than those of hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene (0.42/0.40 Ã…) and graphene (0.46/0.49 Ã…).12 The calculated C-C bond distances of pristine phagraphene in Table 1 are in agreement wi th previous calculations,19 indicating the computational method is valid. All the C-C bond distances in fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are enlarged compared to the pristine phagraphene, and are close to that of 1.546 Ã… in diamond43 while larger than that of 1.42 Ã… in graphene.1 These facts indicate the C-C bonds of phagraphene transform from the sp2-hybridization double bond to the sp3 single bond by hydrogenation or fluorination. The C-C bonds of fully F-PHA are longer than those of fully H-PHA, which can be explained by the depopulation of bonding orbitals between carbon atoms.27 The depopulation of these bonding orbitals stems from the electron transfer between carbon and hydrogen/fluorine atoms. The C-C bonds (C4-C4 in Figure 1) connecting the adjacent 5- and 7-carbon rings are enlarged to a greater extent than others, which is because of the repulsive interactions and steric effects between the adjacent two H/F atoms in the same side of phagraphene. The C-H and C-F bond di stances are approximately 1.11 and 1.38 Ã… (Table S1), approaching to the typical hydrocarbon and fluorocarbons compounds.44 Similar structure distortions and C-C bond elongation are found in hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene and graphene.12, 26, 44 3.2 Stability analysis To investigate the stability of H-PHA and F-PHA, the binding energy Eb and formation energyEf are calculated (definitions of Eb and Ef are given at Section S1 of Supporting Information). The values of Eb are -2.540 and -2.977 eV/atom for fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA (see Table 1), respectively, implying strong interactions between C and H/F. A possible explanation of the strong attractive interactions between C atoms (of phagraphene) and H/F atoms is that, by adsorbing H/F atoms, the C-H/C-F bonds are formed, and the C-C bonds of phagraphene elongate greatly, which could partially release the stress imposed by the 5-6-7 carbon rings.12 Another important factor for synthesis is the formation energy, which applies to measure the stability against molecular desorption from the surface.44 The negative Ef (-0.276 eV/atom for fully H-PHA and -1.615 eV/atom for fully F-PHA) means that the surface modification is exothermic process and the H-PHA (or F-PHA) has lower energy than that of pristi ne phagraphene and H2 (or F2) molecules. The Eb and Ef of hydride are larger than those of fluoride, which are in accordance with similar systems of hydrogenated/fluorinated graphene (-2.48 eV > -2.86 eV)27 and penta-graphene (-3.65 eV > -4.22 eV).12 It is noticed that the Eb of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are close, whereas the Ef of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA have huge difference. This is because of large difference in the dissociation energy of H2 and F2 molecules.27 The thermal stability is also important for H-PHA and F-PHA and is evaluated using the AIMD simulations with a 2 ÃÆ'- 2 ÃÆ'- 1 supercell and a time step of 1 fs for 5000 steps at room temperature (300 K) and 1000 K. Temperature (T) and total energy (Et) as functions of simulation time are plotted in Figures 2 and S1. T and Et converge to constants and the fully H-PHA and F-PHA keep their integrated structures during the AIMD simulations at the setting temperature. These facts demonstrate that hydrogenated or fluorinated phagraphene not only possesses robust thermal stability at room temperature, but also is resistant to high temperature such as 1000 K. In order to examine the dynamic stability, the phonon dispersion curves along the high symmetry points in the BZ and the corresponding phonon density of states (PDOS) are calculated  (Figure 3). No imaginary frequencies are found for both fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA, demonstrating that they are dynamically stable. There are three obvious acoustic modes in the bottom of the phonon spectra for the two structures, and the double degenerates arise along the XZ path of the BZ. These features are similar to the pristine phagraphene,19 graphene45 and its derivatives.12 From the PDOS, one can see that the H-PHA has a tremendous phonon gap of approximately 40 THz, while it is small for F-PHA (about 3 THz). The vibration frequency is inversely proportional to the effective atomic mass,12 thus the larger phonon gap of H-PHA than F-PHA may be attributed to the much lighter atomic mass of hydrogen than fluorine atom. Meanwhile, the narrow high frequency zone around 87 THz in Figure 3a is c orresponding to the C-H bond vibration modes of H-PHA, in accordance with the case of hydrocarbon.46 These C-H stretching modes are infrared active and useful in characterizing this compound.44 The low frequency range from 5 to 10 THz in Figure 3b mainly consists of the phonon modes of C-F bonds. The middle frequency range is dominated by the motion of C atoms. The C=C double bonds were broken by hydrogenation/fluorination, resulting in the disappearance of C-C vibration modes in the region of 40-50 THz for pristine phagraphene.19 3.3 Electronic structures In order to explore the electronic properties and bonding features, the band structures and density of states (DOS) of partially and fully hydrogenated/fluorinated phagraphene are calculated using both PBE and HSE06 functionals. As an example for partially H-PHA, 60% hydrogenation of phagraphene is chosen and four stable configurations (see Figure S2) are designed. The band structures of these configurations are shown in Figures 4 and S3. One can see that the band structures disperse greatly to single band, leading to the sharp peak appearing in the DOS at the EF. Meanwhile, a sub-bandgap located below or above the primary bandgap was observed. From calculations with PBE functional (Figure S3), the bandgaps of the four configurations vary from 2.65 eV (Figure S3a) to 1.72 eV (Figure S3b) to 0.93 eV (Figure S3c) to 0 (Figure S3d). The PBE functional usually underestimates the bandgap of materials.12 To obtain a more accurate Egap, the hybrid functional HSE06 is adopted. The calculated bandgaps with HSE functional in Figure 4 are 3.70 eV, 2.46 eV, 1.56 eV and 0.54 eV for the four configurations. Thus, one can conclude that the bandgap of partially hydrogenated phagraphene depends on configuration and adsorptio n-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition occurs. Such a functionalized 2D material with a proper bandgap has promising applications in optoelectronics and microelectronics.29, 47 The band structures and DOS of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are shown in Figures 5 and S4. From calculations with PBE functional (Figure S4), fully H-PHA and F-PHA have direct bandgaps of 4.29 eV and 3.23 eV, respectively. To examine the influence of configuration on the electronic properties, another four configurations of fully hydrogenated phagraphene (see Figure S5) are taken into account. The calculated band structures of the five configurations (Figures S4a and S6) are almost the same and the bandgaps are approximately 4.29 eV, indicating that the Egap of fully hydrogenated phagraphene is independent of the configuration. Similar behavior was found for fully hydrogenated graphene.27 We also calculated the band structures and DOS with HSE06 functional (Figure 5), and obtained that Egap for fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are 5.37 and 4.98 eV, respectively. These values are comparable to the Egap of hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene (5.35 eV and 4.78 eV) while they are larger th an those of corresponding graphene (4.97 eV and 4.74 eV).12 Obviously, the Egap of F-PHA is smaller than that of H-PHA. Similar results are found in cases of hydrogenated/fluorinated graphene26, 27 and penta-graphene.12Compared to the pristine phagraphene with zero bandgap, the surface modification via hydrogenation or fluorination can effectively tune its electronic structure from semimetal to insulator. Analysis of the partial DOS (Figure 5) reveals that, for H-PHA, the electronic states near the Fermi level (EF) are primarily originated from the C atoms, while they are dominated by both C and F atoms for F-PHA. Additional, from Figures 4 and 5, one can conclude that the bandgaps of H-PHA and F-PHA depend on the adsorption ratio of H and F atoms. We also examine the effect of strain on the band structures. The obtained stress-strain curves of fully H-PHA and F-PHA under biaxial loading (Figure S7) show that their fracture strains are 0.17 and 0.13, respectively. By changing the biaxial tensile strain, the bandgaps of fully H-PHA and F-PHA remain the direct gaps (Figures S8 and S9). Furthermore, upon increasing the biaxial tensile strain, the bandgap of fully H-PHA increases first and then decreases (Figure 6a), whereas the bandgap of fully F-PHA decreases monotonically (Figure 6b). These behaviors indicate that bandgaps depend on the strain. Strain-dependent bandgaps of other 2D materials were also determined previously.48-52 More interestingly, our calculations show that the bandgap of H-PHA reduces from 5.62 eV (ÃŽÂ µ = 0.10) to 4.42 eV (ÃŽÂ µ = 0.17) and the bandgap of F-PHA decreases from 4.98 eV (ÃŽÂ µ = 0) to 3.01 eV (ÃŽÂ µ = 0.13), indicating that an insulator-semiconductor transition occurs with the tensil e strain changes. To visually describe the electronic structure of fully H-PHA and F-PHA, we calculate the charge density. As shown in Figure 7, the charges are redistributed after hydrogenation or fluorination. Compared to the charge densities of C=C bonds in pristine phagraphene (see Figure S10), the charge densities of C-C bonds in H-PHA and F-PHA are reduced. For H-PHA, the shared charges donated by hydrogen are mainly located between the carbon and hydrogen atoms. For F-PHA, a large number of charges are focused on the fluorine atoms. This difference is a consequence of the different electronegativity of hydrogen and fluorine. For a selected element, its attraction of electrons becomes stronger with higher electronegativity.53, 54 The electronegativity increases gradually from hydrogen to carbon to fluorine.53 Thus the charge transfer is from hydrogen to carbon atoms in H-PHA while it is from carbon to fluorine atoms in F-PHA, which is consistent with other hydrocarbons and fluorocarbons.12, 55-5 7 Moreover, the charge density between H and C is lower than that between F and C, implying the weaker C-H interaction than C-F. The Mulliken population analysis58 shows that the transfer charge amounts are approximately 0.22 and 0.33 electrons for H-PHA and F-PHA, respectively, manifesting the weaker bond strength of C-H than that of C-F. 3.4 Mechanical properties Since the ultrathin 2D phagraphene as well as its derivatives is susceptible to external influences, including mechanical deformation,24 it is necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of their mechanical properties for practical application. The elastic constants are calculated (definitions are given at Section S2 of Supporting Information) and the obtained results are tabulated in Table 2, together with the existing reference data24 for comparison. All the elastic constants of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA satisfy the mechanical stability criteria of C11C22 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ C122 > 0 and C66 > 0 for 2D sheets,3, 59 indicating that they are mechanically stable. The in-plane Youngs modulus (E) and Poissons ratio (ÃŽÂ ½) can be derived from the elastic constants using the formulas of E = (C112 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ C122) / C11 and ÃŽÂ ½ = C12 / C11.24 The E of fully H-PHA and F-PHA are 151.3 and 176.3 N/m (see Table 2), respectively, which are consistent with the results from the stress-strain curves (149.2 and 178.5 N/m for fully H-PHA and F-PHA, respectively). The Poissons ratio ÃŽÂ ½ of fully H-PHA and F-PHA are 0.078 and 0.152, respectively. Because the larger E implies the stronger stiffness and the larger Poissons ratio signifies the stronger incompressibility,24 the F-PHA has better stiffness and resistance to volume compression than the H-PHA, which may ascribe to the stronger C-F bonds than C-H bonds. Compared to pristine phagraphene, the E and ÃŽÂ ½ of H-PHA and F-PHA are significantly reduced. Such reduction may be related to their different charge density distribution and bond nature.12, 24 4. Conclusions In summary, we systematically study the structure, stability, electronic and mechanical properties of hydrogenated and fluorinated phagraphene sheets. Our results show that H-PHA and F-PHA are thermodynamically and dynamically as well as mechanically stable. The binding energy and formation energy of fully F-PHA are smaller than those of fully H-PHA, implying the stronger stability of F-PHA than H-PHA. After hydrogenation or fluorination, the bandgap of phagraphene is opened properly, resulting in an adsorption-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition or adsorption-induced semimetal-insulator transition. Strain-induced insulator-semiconductor transition is also identified. Our band structures demonstrate that bandgap of fully H-PHA is insensitive to the configuration whereas the bandgap of partially H-PHA is sensitive to the configuration. Adsorption-ratio-dependent of H-PHA and F-PHA is also determined. The obtained bandgaps from both PBE and HSE06 functionals of fully F-PHA are s maller than fully H-PHA. The charges are transferred from hydrogen to carbon atoms in the fully H-PHA while it is from carbon to fluorine atoms in the fully F-PHA. The positive Poissons ratios of fully H-PHA and F-PHA manifest that they can well resist the volume deformation.Both the Youngs moduli and Poissons ratios of the two phagraphene derivatives are significantly smaller than the pristine phagraphene. This investigation suggests that hydrogenation or fluorination is an effective strategy to modulate the electronic and mechanical properties of phagraphene for its possible applications in nanoelectronics. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21401064, 21206049 and 51472102), the Natural Science Foundation of the Education Department of Henan Province (15A150060), the National Natural Science and Henan Province United Foundation of China (U1204601), Special Program for Applied Research on Super Computation of the NSFC-Guangdong Joint Fund (the second phase), and Leading Talents for Zhengzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 131PLJRC649) for supports. We thank the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou and the High performance Computing Center of Huanghe Science and Technology College for the computer time provided. References 1.A. H. Castro Neto, F. Guinea, N. M. R. Peres, K. S. Novoselov and A. K. Geim, Rev. Mod. Phys., 2009, 81, 109-162. 2.D. Malko, C. Neiss, F. Vià ±es and A. Gà ¶rling, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108, 086804. 3.S. Zhang, J. Zhou, Q. Wang, X. Chen, Y. Kawazoe and P. Jena, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2015, 112, 2372-2377. 4.Y. Liu, G. Wang, Q. Huang, L. Guo and X. Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108, 225505. 5.L. Xu, R. Wang, M. Miao, X. Wei, Y. Chen, H. Yan, W. Lau, L. Liu and Y. Ma, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 1113-1118. 6.K. S. Novoselov, A. K.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Rat Bite Fever Essay -- streptobacillus moniliformis, rna

One of the main causes of the disease known as Rat Bite Fever is from infection by the bacteria Streptobacillus moniliformis. This bacterium is commonly the cause of the disease in North America (Elliot, 2007). This disease is typically difficult to diagnose, leading to a delay in treatment and unnecessary increase in the severity of its symptoms. Cases of rat bite fever are rather rare in North America, and those resulting in death are even less common, making the study of its pathogenesis difficult. In order to better understanding this disease, work is being done to annotate the genome of the bacterium. Gene annotation is a process in which biological information is attached to a single gene or genomic sequence. Oftentimes, this is initially done automatically via computer analysis, and then later is manually annotated. That is the case here, where an automatic annotation has been performed for many of the genes within the S. moniliformis genome (Nolan, 2009), but it is necessary to manually annotate the genome in order to better understand the biological processes. The manual annotation includes identifying or confirming the gene’s role in coding, gene expression, biochemical function, and many other functions (Stein, 2001). Smon_0852 & Smon_0853: Smon_0852 is annotated as a Polynucleotide adenylyltransferase region, which is involved in the biological process, RNA processing, and its molecular function is ATP binding, RNA binding, hydrolase activity, and nucleotidyl transferase, according to GO. Pfam identifies that Smon_0852 is a part of the Protein domains Poly A polymerase head and Nudix family. The Poly A polymerase head domain is involved in adding the poly (A) tail to mRNA (Cao, 1992). The Nudix family is ... ...l structure of NGO0477 from Neisseria gonorrhoeae reveals a novel protein fold incorporating a helix-turn-helix motif. Proteins 78:1798-1802(2010). Stein, L. (2001). "Genome annotation: from sequence to biology". Nature Reviews Genetics 2 (7): 493–503.doi:10.1038/35080529. PMID 11433356. Tscherne, J.S., Nurse, K., Popienick, P., Michel, H., Sochacki, M. and Ofengand, J. "Purification, cloning, and characterization of the 16S RNA m5C967 methyltransferase from Escherichia coli". Biochemistry 38:1884–1892(1999). Yau, K. Cyclic Nucleotide-gated Channels: an expanding new family of ion channels Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 91(9): 3481–3483 (1994). Zhang H, Huang K, Li Z, Banerjei L, Fisher KE, Grishin NV, Eisenstein E, Herzberg O, Crystal structure of YbaK protein from Haemophilus influenzae (HI1434) at 1.8 A resolution: functional implications. Proteins 40:86-97(2000).

Friday, October 11, 2019

Martyrs Day

MARTYRS DAY The Nation pays homage to the martyrs who suffered and died for the freedom, welfare, and progress of the country, on January 30 every year. It was on January 30, 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated a little before the sunset when he was going to attend his evening prayers. Gandhiji was the greatest among the lakhs and lakhs of martyrs and freedom fighters who sacrificed everything for the country’s Independence, welfare andprogress. Since Gandhiji’s martyrdom on January 30, 1948 this day was declared as the Martyrs’ Day. Since then every year the Nation pays homage to the Mahatma and other martyrs on this day.On Martyr’s Day, the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, and the three service Chiefs gather at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and lay wreaths on the Samadhi decorated with multi-colour flowers. The armed forces personnel blow the bugles sounding the Last Post. The inter-services contin gent reverse arms as a mark of respect to the martyrs. A two-minutes silence in memory of the Father of the Nation and other martyrs is observed throughout the country at 11 a. m. At Rajghat, in front of the Samadhi of Gandhiji, all-religion prayers are held and bhajans dear to him sung.January 30, 1948 is the saddest and most poignant day in our history. For on this day, 78-year old Mahatma Gandhi was killed in Birla House (now known as Gandhi Smriti) when he was going to join his evening prayers. This was the biggest tragedy that the Nation faced after we achieved our hard-won Independence under the leadership of Gandhiji. I was a few yards away when this tragedy occurred. Like other days, I was slowly walking behind the Mahatma towards the prayer ground. I saw a well-built, tall young man, clad in khaki, rushing from the peaceful crowd of men, women and children, who came to attend the prayers, towards Gandhiji.Gandhiji was then ascending the steps to the prayer ground. The restl ess young man tried to touch Gandhiji’s feet. Gandhiji’s grand daughters, Manu and Ava, told him that Gandhiji did not like people touching his feet. They both tried to stop the man and told him not to delay the Mahatma who was already late for the prayers. But the man pushed them aside and the prayer books and other things which they were carrying fell on the ground. The young man, who had a pistol, suddenly fired three shots from close range at Gandhiji. The Mahatma fell on the ground, his white khadi dress soaked in blood.A man of prayer, Gandhiji remembered God and said, â€Å"Hey Ram : Hey Ram. † It was 5. 17 p. m. Men, women and children, who came to join the prayers, were shocked and wept aloud to see the Father of the Nation being killed in front of their eyes. A bleeding Gandhiji was rushed to the room where he was staying. The news of his assassination spread like a fire. Despite one of the coldest nights in India’s capital, thousands of people crowded in front of Birla House and wanted to have Gandhiji’s darshan. Inside the room there were tragic scenes. Pandit Nehru, our first Prime Minister, wept like a child.Sardar Patel was seen consoling him. Doctors rushed into the room. They examined Gandhiji. They remained dumb. Slowly, they signified that the Mahatma was dead. This was my worst and saddest reporting of the Mahatma after about four years’ tour as the United Press of India correspondent with him in various parts of the country. I wept but I had to do my duty. After flashing the news to my office, I rushed to the room where Gandhiji’s body was lying. Recitations from the Gita and other scriptures were going on. I remained whole night in that room. Lights in the room were switched off. An oil lamp was lit.There was darkness everywhere. Sitting in the room, I wrote an article titled â€Å"That Darkest Night† which was well published. Outside the room, there was a huge waiting and weeping cr owd. The people were shouting in choked voice â€Å"Allow us to have last darshan of our beloved Bapuji†. The entire area rent with repeated cries of â€Å"Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai†. In order to allow the people to have darshan of the Mahatma, his body was placed on the high table in the adjacent room. A powerful lamp was lit so that the people could have an easy darshan. As the doors of the room were opened, there was a huge rush.Everybody wanted to touch Gandhiji’s feet. An old woman fell down in the rush and fainted. There was so much confusion that the doors of the room had to be closed. Then Gandhiji’s body was taken to the roof of the house and placed under powerful light to enable the vast multitude of people have a last glimpse of him. In bitter cold, Gandhiji was given a bath at 1 a. m. The blood-soaked clothes were then removed from his body. I then saw three bullet wounds on his body. Two bullets had pierced through his body. The third bullet rema ined in his body. The wounds were still bleeding. The scene was tragic.After the bath, Gandhiji was dressed in khaddar loin cloth presented to him on his last birthday. He was garlanded with a hank of hand-spun thread. He was decorated with flowers and garlands. Gandhiji’s favourite Ram Dhun and bhajans were recited. Gandhiji’s watch then struck 3. 30 a. m. Everyday, he was used to hold his morning prayers at that time. All-religion prayers were held that day as well. His grand daughters, Ava and Manu, sang a Hindi bhajan befitting the occasion. This bhajan is as follows: â€Å"Karle Sringar, Chatur Albele, (Tujhe) Sajan ke Ghar Jana Hoga, Miitti Orhawan, Mitti Bichawan, Mitti me hi Mil Jana Hoga. Karle Sringar†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Nahale Dhole Shish Gothale Phir Wahan-se Nahi Ana Hoga Karle Sringar †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  As the prayers were going on, the first rays of the sun entered the room. That dreadful night, which the whole nation passed in anguish and tears, came to an end. Preparations for Gandhiji’s last journey to Rajghat were being made. A mass of humanity had crowded in Delhi on that occasion. The cremation at Rajghat was attended by world dignitaries. Gandhiji, alongwith lakhs of men and women who sacrified for the country’s cause, became a martyr. The cellular dark jails of the Andaman Islands, where the freedom fighters were kept, are full of stories of the martyrs.The stone walls of the jail echoe the sufferings and torture of the freedom fighters, many of whom were killed inside the jail. The Martyrs’ Day is an occasion to remember all our martyrs and work for the country’s peace, unity, progress and welfare. During the last eventful phase of his life, Gandhiji worked for establishing peace, amity and brotherhood among people and died while working for this mission. Let us remember his work for peace, amity and brotherhood. (PIB) *Journalist and freedom fighter who was eye witness to Gandhiji’s assassination

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Advanced Criminology

Anthropological research data has shown the violence is an inherent conduct among the primate species (Walker, 2001).   In society, criminal violence is a common occurrence and legislators have suggested that the behavior of criminals be analyzed in order to identify any psychological patterns that are consistent among these particular types of individuals.In the past few decades, neurobiologists have proposed that an individual’s condition, which encompasses empathy, morality and free will, is holistically influenced by the frequency of stimulation and assembly of the neurons of an individual.   Such notion is contradictory to the concept of Cartesian dualism, which states that the brain and the mind are two independent entities that coordinate with each other.To date, the accumulation of research reports from the field of neuroscience is gradually affecting the concepts and effectivity of the justice system because of the shifting in the concept of human behavior and res ponse to different stimuli.   Neuroscience has influenced our current understanding of the multiple factors that govern violent behavior among criminals.NATURE VERSUS NURTURE THEORY OF CRIMEThe theory of nature versus nurture pertains to the controversy on whether inherent qualities of a biological organism, which is depicted as â€Å"nature†, is related or influenced by the experiences, condition or situation of that particular species (â€Å"nurture†).   The concept the human being develop specific behavioral patterns based on their environment is termed tabula rasa or blank state.This notion is considered to be a major influence in the development of an individual.   These external settings of an individual play a major role in the psychology of an individual, including his anti-social, aggression and criminal behavior.It has thus been questioned for several decades whether criminals are born or could these particular individuals emerge after successive events in their lives that result in the transformation of a normal individual to a criminal.To date, there is much debate over the mechanism behind the entire concept of criminality.   Biologically or non-biologically influenced, criminality remains an elusive subject that still needs to be comprehensively analyzed.The 19th century classic report of Phineas Gage regarding the anti-social behavior that emerged after massive damage of the prefrontal cortex of his brain from a railroad accident is now considered as the birth of the field of forensic neurology (Harlow, 1848).Today, computerized imaging of his fractured skull has shown that the autonomic and social nerve systems are the specific damages that were affected, thus resulting in a totally different individual.   Such observation, together with research results gathered from war veterans, has led to the conclusion that violent criminal behavior is caused by injuries to the frontal lobe of the brain.  It has then been proposed that injury to the prefrontal cortex of the brain causes a condition that has been coined as acquired sociopathy or pseudopsychopath (Blair and Cipolotti, 2000).   It is interesting to know that there is an 11% reduction in the size of the grey matter of the prefrontal cortex among patients diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder (APD) (Raine et al., 2000).A related observation has also been observed between intelligence and alterations in the grey matter of the prefrontal cortex.The temporal lobe of the brain has also been determined to influence an individual’s emotional response and aggression, wherein lesions in the amygdale of the temporal lobe result in an individual’s failure to recognize fear and sadness among the faces of other people (van Elst et al., 2001).The connection between the decreased expression of the monoamine oxidase A enzyme and reactive violence has already been established (Caspi et al., 2002).Monoamine oxidase A is responsible for t he catabolism of monoamines such as serotonin (5-HT).   The working hypothesis currently accepted is that the prefrontal-amygdala connection is altered, resulting in a dysfunctional aggressive and violent behavior, resulting in criminality in particular individuals.Earnest A. Hooton (1887 – 1954) is a highly acclaimed physical anthropologist and evolutionist.   Much of his work focused on interindividual variations based on physiological and anatomical characteristics, including measurements of buttock-knee lengths as the main basis for constructing seats for the Pennsylvania railway trains.Hooton was also recognized for his concepts in primatology and comparative anatomy as basis for explaining differences in the human as well as primate species.He was successful in describing a primary race, of which can be further subdivided in several racial subtypes.   He is a proponent of the concept of eugenics, which involves genetic selection of traits that are deemed beneficia l to the current population.The field of eugenics has been an interest in the field of biology and medicine because it facilitates the creation of new haplotypes that may be positively selection in the course of evolution.Hooton’s work is also significant to our current scientific concept of crime because he persistently attempted to prove that criminal have biologically distinct characteristics from non-criminals.His anthropological work on physical differences based on a population of approximately 13,873 male prisoners from 10 different states across the United States.   His results strengthened his claim on the biological causes of violence and aggression and that his claimed that criminal behavior is a simple representation of an inferior type of human species that has degenerated.Unfortunately, Hooton was inadequate in integrating the concept of population genetics into his research because he haphazardly took 3,023 men from the general population to conduct a compara tive analysis of physical differences.   His measurement of foreheads, eyelids, ears, cheekbones, jaws, chins and shoulders resulted in a confusing supportive evidence for his claim.He explained in one of his published works that biology plays a major role in the development of individuals and society and that the environment is wrongly blamed for any failure that befalls an individual (Hooton, 1939).The research claim of Hooton had sparked more effort into determining the basis behind criminality.   Other researchers from different fields of specialization ridicules Hooton’s work, describing it as the comical attempt in defining criminal behavior.The general reaction to Hooton’s claim that criminals are biologically inferior was condemned.   Sociologists refused to accept the notion that physical unattractiveness is strongly correlated to criminal behavior.The advent of eugenics in combination with criminality has sparked interest in designed specialized techniq ues that may be applied to individuals that show physical and anatomical features that are consistently observed among criminals.An advocate of Hooton’s concept on the physical basis of criminality would assertively promote selective management of populations in order to eventually generate a prime standard of individuals in the next generation that is distinct from the features that Hooton described that are strongly correlated with criminality.   An advocate of the biological connection of criminality would employ the concept of eugenics in screening individuals that show a potential to show criminal and anti-social behavior.   To make things more complex, the features that Hooton described may also be used as criteria in admission to schools and workhouses.An extreme reaction would even results in construction of facilities that would enclose candidates or suspects for criminal behavior.   A biological discrimination would thus be observed and this unfair basis of sc reening individuals would create more chaos in society.Eugenics may also be translated as a screening tool in picking which criminals will be kept in prison and which individuals will be freed and this action will be mainly based on the biological features of whether the criminal may be rehabilitated or transformed into a normal non-aggressive person.The so-called degenerate individuals would be kept off the streets in order to prevent interaction with non-degenerate individuals, as well as to prevent future crimes in the community.   In addition, society would be introduced to the option of strictly selecting partners for marriage because they will be taught to pick partners that show obvious physical differences from the consensus physical features of criminals.THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIMEThe self-control theory as proposed by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) couples an argument regarding the driving force behind criminality and the features of a criminal act.   Gottfredson and H irschi contend that crime is similar to other out of control and unlawful actions such as alcoholism and smoking because it generates in an individual a temporary yet immediate feeling of gratification.This kind of action is created by a condition that is characterized by low self-control.   The authors claim that the condition of having poor self-control is an innate condition that is set in place during the early childhood at around 7 or 8 years of age.   In relation to the mechanism behind criminality, the authors explain that crime is a straightforward action to results in gratification in an individual.Such perception of crime is associated with a number of implications to the general theory of crime.   Firstly, the general theory of crime presents that crime is an uncomplicated action that does not need any strategic preparation or intricate knowledge.Secondly, the general theory of crime is related to a number of elements that are included in the theory of routine activ ities because just like other uncontrolled acts, crimes are not planned and it is easy for individuals with low self-esteem to be easily motivated to commit such acts.In addition, criminality is strongly influenced by external factors such as the scarcity of easy targets as well as the presence of associates that are capable of helping or even performing a criminal act.The theory of crime by Gottfredson and Hirschi regarding the early age of 7 or 8 also entails that the longitudinal analysis of crime is not necessary and that age-correlated theories of crime are confusing.The general theory of crime of Gottfredson and Hirschi also considers the fundamental argument regarding age and the unlawful act.   It is actually different from what is presented at general courses in criminology regarding the analysis of age-crime correlations and social factors that are related to crime.A distinction of the general theory of crime of Gottfredson and Hirschi is that the age-crime linkage is ve ry different through time, location and culture that the age-crime correlation is irrelevant of any social explanation.   Their general theory of crime also describes that criminals continue to perform unlawful acts of crime even during marriage and eventually end up as unmarried criminals.The same thing goes with offenders who are currently employed—these individuals generally continue on as offenders and the only difference after some time is that they lose their jobs.The general theory of crime of Gottfredson and Hirschi thus presents an argument against the connection of crime with marriage and employment thus showing that a criminal is incompetent in maintaining a relationship in a marriage or a commitment to work because he is commonly known as person of very low command of his control.Their presentation of the force behind criminality is thus focused on self-control and the authors point out that most investigations regarding criminality do not include this concept.à ‚  The authors explain that most of the concepts on crime describe the possible notions of the criminal.   Gottfredson and Hirschi thus provide a revolutionary concept of crime that describes that the nature of crime is actually simple because it easily connects the concept of individuals and their immediate environment.They proposed that most crimes are easily performed because there is no need for complex preparations.   In addition, a criminal act does not actually impart a lot of deleterious consequences.   They describe that crimes usually happen late at night or very early in the morning to any individual.   There is also no requirement for training or skills to perform a criminal act.The authors also explain the concept that crime does not pay because most criminal acts result in small to negligible benefits.   In the cases that do provide any benefits, the criminals tend to fail with the criminal act or they are highly exposed thus resulting in a lot of risks such as being caught and eventually put in jail.The general theory of crime of Gottfredson and Hirschi also present the conditions that make a situation conducive to crime.   They describe that routine activities play an important factor for a crime to happen because these provide the predictability of the movements and activities of the target individual.Criminals often study how their target victim goes around, comes home or leaves the house.   If the target individual has a routine schedule that is very predictable, the criminal will have a very easy way to know  Ã‚   the best time for him to invade the house of the target victim.The same factors also influence other criminal acts such as rape, wherein the target female victim may probably pass through the same route late at night and the criminal may pick a day at that particular time when not so much people at around and he can attack his victim at the particular time when the female victim is walking along the street late at night.   These settings of predictability of routine activities are actually very beneficial to the criminal and this outweighs the risks of performing the criminal act.Other theories of crime that do not consider these features of crime generally analyze other factors that are not consistent with the empirical information about crime (Walker, 2001).   The other theories actually claim the each crime has a different force that pushes the criminal to perform such unlawful act.In addition, other theories state that substantial knowledge and training are needed in order for a criminal to successfully perform a crime.   The general theory of crime of Gottfredson and Hirschi thus provides a simple yet comprehensible explanation of the force behind criminality.SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIMEThere are several sociological theories in the field of criminology.   The Social Control Theory explains that the utilization of the socialization procedure and social learning results in self- control and decreases the chances that an individual will succumb to an anti-social type of behavior.This theory was strongly addressed by Travis Hirschi and it follows the Positivist, Neo-Classical and Right Realism schools of thought (Akers, 2000).   This theory resulted from the Functionalist concepts of crime and suggests that there are four modes of control.The first mode of control is direct, which pertains to imminent punishment based on unlawful action.   This mode of control is also associated with rewards in the case the compliance of the individual is observed.The second mode of control is indirect, which pertains to desistance in performing unlawful acts due to his conscience.   Another mode of control is internal, which is related to self-identification of delinquency and its associated pain and disappointment to the people around the individual.A fourth type of control is satisfaction, wherein an individual will not perform an evil act if he is content with his c urrent conditions.   Hence the Social Control Theory suggests that individuals will not perform any criminal act if their relationships, value and beliefs are intact.The Strain Theory of criminology explains that the society and its related levels and sublevels persuade individuals to perform criminal acts (Agnew, 1992).   This theory was proposed by Emile Durkheim and was further supported by Merton, Cohen and Messner and Rosenfeld.   It has been determined that strain may be of two levels.Structural strain pertains to the processes in society that influence an individual’s perception of his needs.   On the other hand, individual strain pertains to the hostility and suffering that an individual experiences during his search for things that will make him happy.   Hence the strain theories present the connection between structural and functional bases for criminal actions.The structural basis for criminality explains the processes behind actions, as well as finding a n event with a bigger concept of sites, distances and associations.   The functional basis for criminality explains how independent sections fit and result as a bigger system.   Hence all systems are influenced by sections that cooperate with each other and that any impediment that occurs in a particular section will result in a failure of the entire system.This means that either a replacement or a repair should be performed in order to make a system functional again.