Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Strategic management - Essay Example Unilever was one of the first to recognize the importance of strategic knowledge management, having accumulated extensive evidence on its development and implementation in a wide organizational context. The idea of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer is central for the whole paper. The literature on strategic knowledge management identifies these two key processes to be major components of knowledge management process. Both significantly influence organisation’s success. â€Å"All managers must manage knowledge. Knowledge must not only be gained, but shared throughout the organization. This ability to create and transfer knowledge will be the key to competitive success† (Higgins & Vincze, 1993). Both knowledge creation and transfer became even more indispensable to companies operating in modern global markets, as knowledge management and accelerated innovation emerged to be crucial success factors for global competition in the 21st century. (Cumming & Wilson, 2003 ) Von Krogh, Nonaka & Aben (2001) identified that the primary purpose of knowledge creation is to advance the company’s potential of creating innovation and to reduce the time span to the market success of new products / services introduced by the company. Usually knowledge creation is pursued using small-sized groups of 5-15 specialists that actually develop collective tacit knowledge through an extensive experience and discussion of new business processes, products, use of technologies, etc.

Security Threats and Defenses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Security Threats and Defenses - Essay Example It is therefore the responsibility of any success oriented organization to enlighten its employees on the underlying security threat. An ethical, well goal oriented team is always desired. Information security is a major concern to all organizations. It ought to be part of every organization’s internal controls and operations. These controls ought to be internalized in a way that the employees are made to realize that violation of security puts them at a greater risk. These services to make employees feel their loyalty is crucial to the success of the business. In addition, information security need be given priority and adopted as a distinct value in any institutional culture governing staff behavior. It is therefore necessary to review security policies by offering training forums to employees. Another way of promoting security is by way of regularly reviewing security guidelines to ensure they are relevant an in line with the expected performance. Communication between the management and the employees ought to be health for security purposes. This aids in that employees can report underlying identified security threats before they occur. Healthy communication patterns not only boost security, but also save the company from incurring unnecessary costs arising from security compromises. Fraudsters have devised many forms of interfering with the security systems of organizations. For instance, there has been intensive use of ignorance of controls by employees. This occurs in organizations where employees think some process are long and bureaucratic and hence, want a quick way out of it. Ignorance is no defense as it compromises the security of an organization (Hadnagy, 2011). It also occurs where employees are not well briefed on internal controls and information security patterns of an organization. Proper security training need to be impacted on the employees to avoid embarrassment when sensitive and confidential information is

What led to the development of postmodernism in architecture

What led to the development of postmodernism in architecture Post modernism was devised from its previous movement, modernism and first began to emerge around the states of America in the 1960s but really took off around the early 1970s when it came to England and Europe and became a movement. It still continues to influence modern architecture today. The most obvious design traits can be seen in architecture; features that best represent this style include bold, visual exteriors, designs that are functional yet contain architectural characteristics that have been seen before but combining these with exciting, colourful, fresh designs. An example of this is the Portland building; Oregon designed by Michael Graves. (See Fig.1) This block of government offices built in 1980 has a very decorative exterior and has become an icon of Post modernism. Post modernism came about when modernist views were being rejected by many people and architects although there where still some whom where in favour of the current modernist ideas, yet still recognized the need for further development within this style to take place as the world fast continued to modernise around them, this saw the beginnings of Postmodernism. This quote from Michael Graves gives his view on how modernism designed everything to be machine like, which worked, although buildings should be made decorative and not so set in the modernist ways: While any architectural language, to be built, will always exist within the technical realm, it is important to keep the technical expression parallel to an equal and complementary expression of ritual and symbol. It could be argued that the Modern Movement did this, that as well as its internal language; it expressed the symbol of the machine, and therefore practiced cultural symbolism. But in this case, the machine is retroactive, for the machine itself is a utility. So this symbol is not an external allusion, but rather a second, internalized reading. A significant architecture must incorporate both internal and external expressions. The external language, which engages inventions of culture at large, is rooted in a figurative, associational and anthropomorphic attitude.1 In this quote Graves refers to the modernist movement and how they designed their buildings to be like machines, extremely clean, sleek and purely functional with no needless design features. His view is not to think that the inside of a building should be run as a machine but to think of the building as a whole and to think outside the modernists clean cut lines and un decorative architecture. Unlike the modernist architecture previous to this movement the post modernism architecture is usually quite ornamental, new but also borrowing some features from the past, such as bringing colour back into architecture which taken away for modernist era. There is quite a lot of rivalry between the two movements, modernists strongly believe in form follows function, their architecture showing functional, formalized shapes and spaces, where post modernists believe in not necessarily form over function but making their functional buildings a lot more visually dynamic and I suppose more of an experience. There is no true reality not even your own2 This is a saying from the late 90s which reflects post modernists views. They felt you need to question reality and think outside the box where as the modernists believed in questioning authority, their thinking that if people looked into why things are designed the way they are and the truth is to be discovered then tradition would be questioned. The postmodern architecture features shameless aesthetics different from anything before, they have a more organic feel and stand out. The post modern era also found the use of different materials being used with in architecture than before, whether it be the colour or the specification of the material that was to be desired. The two main materials used in postmodern architecture are stone and glass. The stone is bold and comes in a very wide range of colours, which stuck to the postmodernist ideas. The glass was used a lot especially in America and large city buildings, office blocks and skyscrapers such as Le 1000 de la Gauchetiere in Canada, its the tallest skyscraper in Montreal. (See fig.2) This was built a bit later on, in 1992 but still shows strong postmodern values. For example the distinctive triangular copper roof and four copper capped entrances at each of the tower base corners. The structural core is constructed from concrete and steel and the exterior consists of glass in a metal frame. The form used in postmodern buildings is also very contemporary, the building function is still important for the designers but compared to the modernist buildings the forms, shapes and look of the buildings are almost there for the designers sake, not for any specific reason other than good aesthetics. As I said before there is almost a collision of beliefs between the two movements, though most of the dislike at the time was focused towards the post modern architecture as the modernist architectures such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had put the belief into the people that a building that was almost wholly based on function was the best way. So when post modern architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi and Eero Saarinen started designing buildings that where thinking outside the slick, functional, simple design box of modernism and completely aesthetical and almost quite wacky there was quite an uproar and possibly a confusion as people started t o question what was right for the future of architecture? Were the new buildings functional enough and would the new buildings stand the test of time? As the people began to accept the more complex designs of the post-modern world the buildings began to become popular and more and more architectures began to come round to the idea. In todays architecture you can clearly see the inspiration from these initial designs and that architects and designers have turned modernist ideas on their head, by carrying on the idea of aesthetically pleasing designs and almost having more fun with their design rather than just focusing on the function. So how exactly did Postmodernism come about? Well as I have just confirmed the strongest link/lead to postmodernism was obviously the modernist designs lack of decoration, but I also looked at some other factors that could have lead to the development of postmodern architecture. As is well known, the lead to postmodernism was when people started to reject the views of the modernist movement, though how did this come about? And why did people start to reject the modernist ways? The rejection of modernism first came from architects In their works. In Europe Aldo Rossi documented his views of the current art movement, while in America Raunch and Scott Brown expressed similar views on the need for development of the modernist architecture. Though the most influential change came from the work of Robert Venturi. He famously wrote the book Complexity and Contradiction in architecture in 1966 which attacked the modernism of international style, with his strong views on his dislike for modernism. In the writing he replaces Miles van der Rohes (a modernist architect) modernist phrase less is more with : less is a bore. Blatant simplification means bland architecture This quote is just a brief look to his views in the piece, he continues throughout rejecting the moral, clean cut ways of modern architecture for elements that are more a blend of features than pure. Frank Gehry seems to be a name that frequently appears when investigating post modernism architecture. His Designs were very contemporary, bold and different to what had been seen before. He denied that his work was post modernist or that it even fit into any category other than something totally new. This would not happen with a modernist architect as; although the designs are different all modernists buildings tend to have the same features, sleek and following function so much that there is not a lot of individuality between the designs. Where as post modernist architecture is all so decorative and ornamental that each design is unique. Just by looking at a few of Frank Gehrys designs you can definitely tell that they are individual although they do fit in with the post modern category his architecture has moved beyond the modernist era being based on geometric and organic forms. As Gehry says himself : Not every person has the same kinds of talents, so you discover what yours are and work with them. Dont try to be me, or try to be Frank Lloyd Wright, or try to be I M Pei. Try to be yourself. You have to understand what drives people to build buildings. 4 One of Gehrys most creative pieces that represent this is The Frederick R Weisman Art Museum at the university of Minnesota, 1993(See Fig 3). The University officials chose Frank Gehry to design the teaching museum for the campus because of his attention to needs of people that use his buildings and his unique stunning designs. The museums exterior is constructed of amazing, sticking shapes made from brushed stainless steel on one side over looking the Mississippi river creating an abstract image of a waterfall and a fish. The other side of the building is on the side of the campus and blends in with the existing sandstone and brick buildings by using terra cotta coloured bricks. Frank Gehry was also commissioned to design an expansion to the building that was meant to have been completed in 2009 though due to financial reasons it will be built by next year. This shows that post modernism continues to inspired designers today and is still popular. An example of an architect that is continuing post modernism design to todays architecture is Santiago Calatrava. Born in 1951 when the postmodern movement was just starting to come about, Calatrava grew up with the organic architecture from the era. Obviously heavily inspired by it he has continued post modernism on in his own works. He has designed many buildings, which are very well known such as the Museum of tomorrow in Rio de Janerio in Brazil and Liege Guillemins TGV station in Belgium. La Rioja, Bodegas Ysios in Spain is one of his designs, which is not so famous though still unique, and particularly show his postmodernism inspiration (See Fig 4). This building is situated amongst vineyards in Spain where la Rioja Alavesa wine is produced, the company wanted a building that would store the made wine and be a place where guests can test the wine. The design definitely meets the criteria and is very functional; there is separate part for the storing of the wine, making it and a tasting area. Although this could have been enough just in a plain rectangular building but in true post modernist style he has also added some amazing design features, the main feature is that the roof, it continues the shapes of the surrounding hills, creating a wavy organic shape. The material he has used for the roof design is aluminium panelling, which reflects the sunlight making it look even more special contrasting with the calm vineyard surrounding. I have researched the lead to post modern architecture and touched on how it has affected modern design today. Now to conclude this essay I will some up my findings of what led to post modernism in architecture. Post modernism first emerged in the 1960s and became a movement in the early 1970s, its routes stemmed from its previous movement, modernism. Modernists had a very strong belief in form follows function, their views where that a building should be purely functional and machine like which worked well but didnt leave a lot of an imagination for design features and all the buildings began to have a lot of the same features. In the 1960s some architects began to recognise this and voiced their opinions in their written works, which made people realize that designs could be a bit more exciting. The most influential architect in this realisation was Robert Venturi, in his well known writing complexity and contradiction in architecture he strongly expressed his dislike for modernist architecture, stating that less is a bore and that buildings do not have to be all about function, they can still be functional and have design features. This contributed to the lead to post modernism. One of the architects I found whos name kept appearing when looking at post modern architecture is Frank Gehry. His designs are functional but with amazing design features using organic forms and patterns to shape the buildings. As is with most post modernist architecture different organic and bold shapes are a big feature of the building making every design unique unlike the similar designs of the modernist era. Although Gehry do es not class his buildings to be post modernist or in fact fit into any category, his designs are definitely fitting with the era and he seems to share the same views as the post modernists. Buildings like Frank Gehrys continue to influence designers today such as Santiago Calatrava whos modern day designs very much resembles that of post modernist architecture. Part II Book review on: 20th Century Architecture by Jonathan Glancey The 20th Century Architecture explores the roots of modern architecture and explains how the history and the ever-changing social and political conditions helped shape and build the world we live in today. In this book, as the foreword states, by writing the book Jonathan Glancey attempts to achieve informing the reader of an introduction to architecture of the 20th Century, not to cover every aspect of the subject, as he says himself, The subject is very vast and no book can realistically cover the entire history of the twentieth century architecture. If I could it would either be too heavy to carry or else set in such a tiny type that it would be unreadable. This quote also I think captures the way the book is written, very informative yet quite light hearted. The book covers 8 of movements of 20th century architecture: Arts and Crafts, Classicism, organic, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Robotic, Cities and Futures. Each movement has a its own section which is started by a page for a brief explanation of the movement then examples of architecture significant to that time. Each piece of architecture has its own page with a full colour photo to show what it looks like and a section about the designer and the building, why it was built and how it relates to the movement and others in that time. I found the book easy to read, and was able put down at any time and pick back up from where I left off. I particularly like the no jargon take and the fact that you dont have to know an awful lot if anything on architecture or the history of the 20th century. The book is very informative if you read the whole thing or if you just flick to a specific section you are interested in. I originally did this but found that I wanted to read on further. This is as Jonathan Glancey intended as would most authors, wanting to get the attention of the reader and want to read on from their own will, as he says in the book: If this makes you want to find out more then it has done its job. If it encourages you to want to be an architect then good luck. I think he has definitely achieved his original intentions for the book. I borrowed this book from the local library but I would definitely consider buying a copy to keep as a reference book. From reading and sourcing from other architectural books, I think this fits in to the subject very well. Id says it is more aimed at students, people who are interested in architecture and starting architectures. I dont think the book would be so suitable for experienced architects and architect fanatics as it informs you of buildings and architects that this group would probably already know of, thought the may still find it informative about the movements and to find out when the movements happened and why. Over all I think this is a good book and deserves the positive comments it has picked up from press and other readers.

Susto, Fright or Soul Loss Essay -- Health, Folk Illness

Susto, fright or soul loss is a folk illness mainly composes of symptoms of depression, weakness, and loss of appetite. It primarily reflects in Latin Americans cultures, but mostly Indian communities, especially Mexicans. Although, other cultures may suffer from similar symptoms it might not relate to susto. This reading focus on modern descriptions of the cultures affected and the symptoms they present. Also, describes the methods used to revoke the effects of susto on the individual. This investigation focuses primarily on the interviewing of individuals originally from Latin Americans, who have knowledge of susto or agonized from it; and the methods used by the curandero (a) to help the â€Å"patient†. The following research paper will response some question regarding the causes, symptoms and syndrome of susto, fright or soul loss. Susto, is â€Å"soul loss through magical fright† and is a Hispanic condition also identified as pasmo, espanto, and perdida de la sombra. They are some similar conditions recognized around the world, making believe these conditions might not just happen around the Latin Americas’ community; but until now susto is only familiar around Hispanics. The main population who experiences susto are Latin Americans mainly Mexicans and in its Indians communities. Susto it is not recognized as a disease by the United States medical health department, but it is by the culture. Women are in greater danger of suffering from susto than men, due to the advanced pressure from cultural responsibilities. Latin Americans described experiencing susto after traumatic or stressful situations affecting the espiritu (spirit) to leave the body. This folk illness described as susto is classified by the system in psych... ...olk illness manifested mainly on Latin Americans and even though some characteristics differ from subgroups its shows a high similarity on the stress level and depression presented by the â€Å"patient†. Individuals suffer from lack of sleep, weakness, loss of appetite, also may occur vomiting, fever, and diarrhea. It is very important to appreciate the different folk illness amount rising cultures on the United States, since this will give us a better understanding of the ways to compare and treat cultural diseases. People who have a suffer Susto in the past, experienced simultaneity depression and stress disorders, than those who have not reported any cases of folk illness. There is a need to research folk illness, in order to better understand the symptoms and treated them efficiently. We cannot longer separate the mind from the body.

Week Term Paper

What Is the vision/Nilsson behind the Good Hotel concept? The vision/mission behind the Good Hotel concept is to maintain its identity as a â€Å"hotel with a conscience† – encompassing a positive attitude, environmental sensitive, and philanthropy. The intent of the vision is to inspire the â€Å"good in us all†. (Pearce, 2012 p. 10-1, 10-2) 2. What three alternatives Is Pan Cajuns considering for her recommendation to the new ownership of Good Hotel? Provide pros and cons of each.General Manager of Good Hotel, Pam Cajuns has made great strides in getting to know her staff, guests, ND neighborhood over the last six months. She has beat financial forecasts for the first quarter 201 0 and guest service is on the rise. (Pearce, 2012, p. 10-2) With these accomplishments, Pam is faced with a challenge. Good Hotel, owned and operated by Joel De Veer Hotels has decided to sell and Pam Cajuns Is charged with preparing an evaluation and recommendation to the new ownershi p.Pam's recommendation considerations are to continue, expand or discontinue the current concept of Good Hotel. Continue the current concept: Good Hotel branded as a boutique hotel, one which â€Å"provides personalized accommodations and services and facilities†, (Pearce, 2012, p. 10-6) has established itself in the $77-billion market. With demonstrated Increased occupancy and revenue from November 2008 through March 2010, Good Hotel has a positive track record to continue its current concept.The downside to this decision Is Good Hotel's position as a green hotel may be perceived to be trendy and trends can change. Customers may no longer be willing to pay a higher price if the Green â€Å"wave† changes. To prevent this, Good Hotel must strive for more innovative ways to attract customers. Judd senior vice president of operations and green committee chair, Carlen Holman, launched the company's Green Dreams portal, a dedicated page on Its Web site where consumers could track the company's ongoing efforts to preserve the environment. † (Pearce, 2012, p. 0-8, 10;9) Ideas Like this are paramount in keeping the consumer base informed of Good Hotel's dedication to its mission and vision. Expand Current Operations: Because Good Hotel has demonstrated positive gains and performance I do not feel expansion is a wise decision. Though the current trends show increases, the data rend Is only 17 months, not long enough to support this decision. Discontinue Current Operations: Lastly, there is sufficient data to support continued operations therefore: to discontinue operations I feel would not be wise.JDK has found a niche market who is willing to pay the increased cost to visit Good Hotel. 3. How would you characterize Good Hotel's target customers? American sociologist Paul Ray coined the phrase â€Å"Cultural Creative† or Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (ALOHAS)†. (Pearce, 2012, p. 10-5) This Is a population of demonstrates the h ousehold income for the target audience at $65,700 (Brooks, S) not allowing enough expendable income to support frequent stays at Good Hotel.However, this is only a segment of a customer base consisting of 38 million people with the spending power of $209 billion annually according to the Natural Marketing Institute. (Pearce, 2012, p. 10-5) 4. What is Judd marketing strategy to promote Good Hotel? Joe De Viewer's marketing strategy for Good Hotel is social media and word of mouth. The strategy of word of mouth is most effective through positive execution of the mission and vision. Effective execution results in enhanced customer satisfaction which yields positive word of mouth advertisement.The use of social media is also an effective marketing tool when targeting this age group. The primary form of media for this age group is the computer. However, additional use of other forms of media (television and/or radio) would reach a larger market. 5. How would you competitively position G ood Hotel relative to its rivals? Good Hotel has established itself as a Green hotel and targeted the correct audience. There exists a tremendous trend now with being environmentally conscious and leaving things better than the way we found them.

Burka’s book Essay

On the surface ‘procrastination’ is an ideologically and psychologically fixed term – it is presumed that procrastination is definitely bad and is to be avoided. Thus there exists a whole plethora of books which seek to cure this tendency of ‘delaying. ’ And as far as such efforts go, this book is no exception, rather her book like so many others in its category systematically prescribes how to overcome what the ancients like St. Augustine called ‘acedia’ (depression leading to inordinate delays in doing anything within a time frame. What Burka misses is that it may be fine to procrastinate on doing one’s laundry over writing a thesis; to delay shaving over finishing a novel started from last night. Burka’s book suffers from giving equal importance to every work and an overt tendency to pre-plan everything. This need to plan and work towards goals is a recent phenomenon in self-help literature. Time – management books especially hinge on the setting of goals. There is a fear that by over-regimentation they kill all spontaneity and joy from life and make us automatons. But if one argues that the book is intended for clinically malefficient procrastinators then one ought to point out that self-help books are hardly written for those who need mental help. There is another point regarding this book. It is definitely a secularization of the concept of procrastination. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries and even later, ‘delaying’ was inevitably associated with the cardinal sin of sloth. This book opens up the issue for humanistic debates, albeit their humanism is rooted in the ontogeny of Freud. Burka and Yeun devote a whole chapter to the interrogation of procrastination as a formed infantile reaction to clinically significant psychological events. Fear is seen as the source for the ultimate interiorization of chronically delayed work habits. They list many different fears — the fear of losing, the fear of being humiliated, etc. Ultimately it is seen that all the various phobias are just related to the process of self-actualization and Jungian individuation. In a very interesting and significant paper Jennifer M. Kosmas1 gives a similar phobic-oriented account of procrastination. Whereas she and other experts in the field are highly technical and do not try to see how the tendency to delay can be prevented; Burka and Yeun posit a reductive approach to problem solving and thus, delay – negation. In this they follow the beaten path, not merely of psychiatrists but of self-help gurus and time management experts like the legendary Stephen Covey. Covey in his The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People asks us all to problem-solve by breaking the problem into parts and then working towards the solution within fixed time frames. All this is traditional and time-tested but the real problem for true procrastinators in not to only know the cause of their disease but rather for them, it is a mortal combat against the inertia caused by time itself. This is where the book fails. It falls short of giving any really effective formula to any reader which would impel him or her to just get up and doing a thing. One can plan and write all sorts of goals and have strict time frames; this book creates a programme of two weeks for procrastination de-addiction; but at the end one might just refuse to go running according to the planned start of any exercise regimen. In the final analysis, this book is a clearly written and popular account of procrastination but it fails miserably as a serious book with any real clinical significance. Innumerable studies have shown that procrastination is often psychosomatic and related with depression. The authors, in spite of being practicing psychiatrists, do not really tackle these issues. The parable like examples strewn throughout the book are just Chicken Soup (the popular series) sort of stories. The more serious sort of reader and patient will do better to study the original Freudian works on infantile hysteria and then read Stephen Covey’s books.

Anglos essays

Anglos essays In Anglo-Saxon literature and most likely in Anglo-Saxon times, men were measured by many of the same aspects of life that men are measured by today's standards. Men of that time period were godless, fearless, fame seeking and most of all, courageous. Everyone was in search of these qualities and they achieved them by completing daring deeds, withstanding harsh conditions and they loved beating the odds. These qualities still live on in us. Beowulf not only killed a terrifying monster, the monster's mother and also killed a huge dragon too, achieving fame and showing kingdoms how much strength, courage and fearlessness he had. It also seemed that heros of that time had to boast about their deeds to other kingdoms and villages. Acquiring such qualities lead to boasting. People love to boast when they have beat the odds and have shown the world their will-power. Boasting when drunk is still very existent is every part of the world like it was part of the Anglo-Saxons culture. In Beowu lf, when Beowulf greets Hrothgar, he says, "Hail, Hrothgar! I am kinsman and thane of Hygelac. In my youth I have set about many brave deeds (*) How many times have you introduced yourself to someone and say, "When I was younger, I accomplished many great things?" It wasn't enough for a man to show just his people of his accomplishments, he had to make it know for everybody to see. The same can be said about our us today. If someone has acquired lots of money through his accomplishments; he/she lets everyone know by buying expensive cars, houses, jewelry etc to state their success. In the Wanderer, the author says, "Men eager for honor bury sorrow deep in their breast." (Wanderer, lines 16 "No man is living....to whom I fully unlock my heart." (Wanderer, lines 10 & 11) The wanderer is sprinkled with small lines like these to show that a real man can take anything ...

Colors essays

Colors essays The central figures are a pair of cops, played by Sean Penn and Robert Duvall, assigned to C.R.A.S.H., which stands for Community Resource Against Street Hoodlums, and is the Los Angeles task force on gangs. Hodges, played by Duvall, is the older of the two who is a battle-toughened vet in his last year until retirement. Over the years on the gang beat Hodges has created a system of credits with different gang members and is well known amongst gangs. Hodges new rookie partner McGavin, wants to get tougher with the gangs. He's tired of Hodges' style of nonconfrontation and letting them go by sayingYou oh me one?. McGavin doesn't win over many friends with his brutal style of enforcing the law. There are many good moments in "Colors," but the one I will remember the most is in the scene where a group of Los Angeles gang members are trying to explain why the gang is so important to them. Talking to a couple of cops, they describe the feeling of belonging, and of feeling for the first time in their lives that they were part of a "family" that cared for them and was ready to die for them. Their family also known as gangs deal in drugs, defend its turf and murders to show their superiority. As the opening credits say they?re over 600 street gangs and 70,000 gang members in Los Angeles alone. The 2 cops Hodges (the veteran) and McGavin (the rookie) have altercations with 3 main gangs of Watts in east L.A., the Bloods, the Crips, and the Hispanics. The Hispanic gang who is most often associate with. A man named Frog a key player in the Hispanic gang is seen cooperating and even helping Hodges throughout the movie. I like how the movie follows the life of Frogs little brother Fe lipe and shows for a moment to have a chance to escape gang society with the help of Frog, but in the end gang life catches up with Felipe and joins his brother as a gangbanger. As I mentioned before there were 3 primary gangs and I'm first going to talk about th...

Fascinating Facts About Centipedes

Fascinating Facts About Centipedes Centipedes (one hundred legs in Latin) are Arthropods, members of an invertebrate class that includes insects, spiders, and crustaceans. All centipedes belong to the class Chilopoda, which includes about 3,300 different species. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and they have the greatest diversity in shape and configuration in warm and tropical environments. Most centipedes are adapted to burrowing and live in soil or leaf litter, under the bark of trees or beneath stones. Centipede bodies include six head segments (three of which are mouthparts), a pair of poisonous maxillipeds (foot jaws), a variously numbered series of trunk leg-bearing segments, and two genital segments. Their heads have two antennae and a varying number of paired compound eyes (called ocelli). Some cave-dwelling species are blind. Each legged segment is made up of an upper and lower shield covered by a cuticle and separated from the next segment by a flexible membrane. Centipedes periodically shed their cuticle, which allows them to grow. Their body length ranges from 4 to 300 millimeters (.16–12 inches), with most species measuring between 10 and 100 mm (.4–4 in). Centipedes Never Have 100 Legs Though their common name means one hundred legs, centipedes can have significantly more or less than 100 legs- but never 100. Depending on the species, a centipede can have as few as 15 pairs of legs or as many as 191 pairs. Regardless of the species, centipedes always have an odd number of leg pairs, so they never have exactly 100 legs (because 50 is an even number). The easiest way to differentiate centipedes and millipedes  is as follows: Millipedes have two pairs of legs on most body segments, but centipedes always have a single pair of legs per segment. Not sure what youve found? Just count how many pairs of legs are on a segment. The Number of Legs Changes Throughout Their Lives Should a centipede find itself in the grip of a bird or other predator, it can often escape by sacrificing a few legs. The bird is left with a beak full of legs, and the clever centipede makes a fast escape on those that remain. Since centipedes continue to molt as adults, they can usually repair the damage by simply regenerating legs. If you find a centipede with a few legs that are shorter than the others, it is likely in the process of recovering from a predator attack. Though many centipedes hatch from their eggs with a full complement of leg pairs, certain kinds of Chilopods start life with fewer legs than their parents. Stone centipedes (order Lithobiomorpha) and house centipedes (order Scutigeromorpha) start out with as few as 14 legs but add pairs with each successive molt until they reach adulthood. The common house centipede can live as long as five to six years, so thats a lot of legs. Centipedes Are Carnivorous Hunters Though some occasionally scavenge a meal, centipedes are primarily hunters. Smaller centipedes catch other invertebrates, including insects, mollusks, annelids, and even other centipedes. The larger tropical species can consume frogs and small birds. The centipede usually wraps itself around the prey and waits for the venom to take effect before consuming its meal. A centipedes first set of legs are venomous fangs, which they use to inject paralyzing venom from a gland into prey. These special appendages are known as forcipules and are unique to centipedes. Large poison claws partially cover the mouthparts and form part of the feeding apparatus. The last pair of legs are not used for locomotion either but vary in use by species, some for defensive or sensory functions, or prey apprehension, and some for courtship. People Keep Centipedes as Pets Although there are centipede breeders, most centipedes sold in the pet trade are wild-caught. The most commonly sold for pets and zoological displays are giant centipedes from the Scolopendra genus. Pet centipedes are kept in terrariums, with a large surface area, minimum 60 centimeters (24 inches) square for larger species. They require a built substrate of soil and coconut fiber for burrowing, and they can be fed pre-killed crickets, cockroaches, and mealworms weekly or biweekly. They always need a shallow dish of water. Centipedes are aggressive, venomous, and potentially dangerous for humans, especially children. Centipede bites can cause skin damage, bruising, blisters, inflammation, and gangrene. The enclosures should be escape proof, and although centipedes cant climb smooth glass or acrylic, dont provide them a way to climb to reach the lid. They required a minimum humidity of 70 percent; rainforest species need more. Appropriate ventilation can be provided with a grid cover and small holes on the side of the terrarium, but be sure the holes are too small for the centipede to crawl through. Temperate species like it between 20 and 25 C (68–72 F), tropical between 25 and 28 C (77–82.4 F). Dont worry if you dont see your pet centipede out during the day: Centipedes are night creatures and do their hunting after dark. Living With a Centipede Compared to most arthropods, centipedes are relatively long-lived. It is not unusual for a centipede to live for two to three years, and some survive longer than five years. Centipedes continue to molt and grow as adults, unlike insects, which complete their growth when they reach adulthood. You probably wouldnt expect a centipede to be a good mother, but a surprising number of them dote on their offspring. Female soil centipedes (Geophilomorpha) and tropical centipedes (Scolopendromorpha) lay an egg mass in an underground burrow. The mother wraps her body around the eggs, and remains with them until they hatch, protecting them from harm. With the exception of the slow-moving soil centipedes, which are built to burrow, Chilopods can run fast. A centipedes body is suspended in a cradle of long legs. When those legs start moving, this gives the centipede more maneuverability over and around obstacles, as it flees predators or chases prey. The tergites- the dorsal surface of the body segments- may also be modified to keep the body from swaying while in motion. Centipedes Prefer Dark and Moist Environments Arthropods often have a waxy coating on the cuticle to help prevent water loss, but centipedes lack this waterproofing. Most centipedes live in dark, moist environments, like under leaf litter or in damp, rotting wood. Those that inhabit deserts or other arid environments often modify their behavior to minimize the risk of dehydration. They may delay activity until seasonal rains arrive, or when the humidity rises, for example, and diapause during the hottest, driest spells. Sources Capinera, John L. Encyclopedia of Entomology. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer Science Business Media, 2008. Print.Chiariello, Thiago M. Centipede Care and Husbandry. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 24.3 (2015): 326-32. Print.Edgecombe, Gregory D., and Gonzalo Giribet. Evolutionary Biology of Centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda). Annual Review of Entomology 52.1 (2007): 151-70. Print.Triplehorn, Charles A., and Norman F. Johnson. Borror and Delongs Introduction to the Study of Insects. 7th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2004. Print.Undheim, Eivind A. B., and Glenn F. King. On the Venom System of Centipedes (Chilopoda), a Neglected Group of Venomous Animals. Toxicon 57.4 (2011): 512-24. Print.

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT - Essay Example Some individuals monitor themselves in every condition and try to improve with time and circumstances. The ability to adapt in such individuals is always high. They utilize their social environments as a source of information. They are concerned about their actions in social gathering, social comparison information and demand of different situations. Various factors of internal and external environment influence individuals in different ways. Moral norms, attitudes, motives, social roles, type of family and guardianship, economic conditions, gender and social view towards particular gender, language and symbols and others influences value system of an individual. It has influence on their decision-making ability, level of confidence and self-perception. Risk is an uncertain situation. Fear of unknown is the most common threat of people experiencing any kind of risk. Risk can be of two forms i.e. inner risk of an individual like low self esteem, low level of confidence, language diffi culty or lack of ability while outer risk can be risk of not getting proper education, recognition, risk from cultural and community life, risk from society and many others. â€Å"In the last decade, the focus has shifted from burnout to secondary traumatic stress due to the recognition of the specific challenges of working with traumatized individuals. Whether we are addressing the impact of working with others in general or those, who have been traumatized, research agrees that we have a responsibility to maintain our own health and wellness as counselors (Iliffe & Steed, 2000; Miller, 1998; Savicki & Cooley, 1982; Sexton, 1999; Sherman, 1996) (as cited in OHalloran and Linton 2000) People react to their adverse situations differently. Some people lose their ability to work or perform under stress or high risk situations. This influences their decision-making abilities and positive development. At the same time, some individuals react differently to stressful and risky situations.

Development of Urban Civilization and Form Essay

Development of Urban Civilization and Form - Essay Example As a type of community, the city may be regarded as a relatively stable awareness of population, together with its "varied environments, social arrangements, and supporting activities, occupying a more or less discrete site, and having a cultural importance that differentiates it from other types of human settlement and association. In its elementary functions and rudimentary characteristics, however, a city is not clearly distinguishable from a town or even a large village." (Britannica, 2006) It was no accident that the earliest of man's fixed settlements originated in the rich "subtropical valleys of the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Indus, and the Yellow Rivers or in such well-watered islands as Crete." Such regions gave encouraging ecological issues making town living comparatively simple. Pre-urban growths that covered the means for urban life also comprised such features as "traditionalism, a power structure, and a form of economic as well as social organization." Traditionalism put in the reception and broadcast of what had worked in the existence of the crowd and was consequently "right" and to be kept. New value directions and beliefs may also have influenced the route of urbanization, although their significance is still extremely speculative. Before 1800, improvements in agricultural and manufacturing methods had allowed a remarkable attentiveness of creative activity close to the sources of mechanical power-water and coal. A subsequent association of population was hastened by the excellence of the steam engine and the dominance of the factory over pre-industrial business association. Under provisions of "belt-and-pulley" authority broadcast, urban application was a means of: (1) Reducing the costs of conquering resistances in transportation and communications and (2) Maximizing interior monetary systems of extent and outside economies. A strange convergence of profitable, geographic, and technical issues in Britain guided to far-reaching transforms in such planned movements as textiles, transport, and iron, even though the educational and social requirements for industrialization were not exclusively present in any one nation,. Britain became "the workshop of the world" and London its "head office." (Britannica, 2006) Urban Planning Urban planning and redevelopment is planned at satisfying communal and financial purposes that go further than the corporal shape and arrangement of buildings, streets, parks, utilities, and other parts of the urban environment. Urban planning takes effect principally during the procedures of administration and needs the relevance of specialized methods of "survey, analysis, forecasting, and design." It may hence be expressed as a public society, as a legislative utility, or as a scientific career. Each feature has its own thoughts, narration, and theories. Together they blend into the attempt of contemporary civilization to figure and progress the surroundings within which growing amounts of civilization squander their lives: the city. For several centuries throughout the middle ages, there was small structure of cities in Europe. There is contradictory estimation on the superiority of the towns that grew up as "centres of church or feudal authority, of marketing or

What do subcultural theories have to offer our understanding of youth Essay

What do subcultural theories have to offer our understanding of youth crime - Essay Example You wonder why kids, especially the male gender before 18 years of age already have a bad reputation from school, which the criminal courts can also support. These young people already understand their cultural values and what their society upholds to be morally right and wrong, yet they go against it to prove it wrong. They form independent social structures, in which they set their own rules and conduct activities to satisfy their ambitions. Sub-cultural theories have put forward motives that drive most of the young people into crime and deviance. Lynch (2000) mentioned that crime does not necessarily happen because people have been imperfectly socialized, but instead occur, for they get to be socialized in a deviant group and learn its values. Their formulated values and beliefs are what they use to justify their illegal conduct in the midst of the dominant culture. It is the desire for most people to achieve and live the American dream in their lifetime. Acquiring wealth and living a satisfactory life seems challenging and only few in the society have managed that. Although people can get a good salary, the life standard has gone up increasing the expenses incurred. This puts a barrier between the rich and the poor in the society, which determines their power to access their needs and their position in the society. According to Vito, Maahs and Holmes, the American sub cultural theories stem out of anomie and social disorganisation perspective; focusing on the lower class in the society, and the formation and activities that explain the delinquent subcultures (2007, p. 160). The concept of psychological strain on the lower social group in their state of idleness and poverty, make the people to look for alternative means to sustain their lives. Often, it is possible to see states and countries that have low economic and safety nets than others, which have high crime rates. The chances of economic and socially powerful families

Exploratory Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Exploratory Paper - Essay Example The only drug that has the potential to depress these symptoms is marijuana. However, because of its illegality, it cannot be given to patients. This paper seeks to explore the various viewpoints regarding medical marijuana issue and its legalization. Doctors believe that marijuana is an appetite builder, a great painkiller, and reduces nausea. Many patients in California, which legalizes medical marijuana use, claim that it relieves symptoms related to chemotherapy (Beau 12). Patients even report enhancement of prescription drugs by marijuana. However, not all doctors believe in the use marijuana, in the treatment of cancer patients. Dr. Hiebert, a hypnotist who helps people kick marijuana, claims that marijuana worsens glaucoma and increases MS symptoms (Beau 13). The final decision on marijuana use for medical purposes lies with the judicial system and lawmakers (Beau 21). The US Supreme Court has opened hearings into whether marijuana distribution for medical use should be legalized under federal law. This case was prompted, by legislation, to legalize marijuana for medicinal use in California. This shows that some courts are becoming lenient towards the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Federal courts, however, are very serious on the illegality of marijuana and aim to keep it this way. A judiciary panel resolved that marijuana should not be legalized for medical purposes. They labeled it an addictive and dangerous drug as it is under the Controlled Substance Act. Because of this, marijuana has been labeled as psychologically and physiologically damaging without reference to the manner of its use. The federal judicial branch prefers not to legalize it, according to the annual report on alcoholism, as they consider it just as dangero us as cocaine (Beau 23). Law enforcement and government’s approach have a lot of influence on the possibility of legalization of medical marijuana. In states that have

Reflective paper 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflective paper 3 - Assignment Example I am not in the favor of premarital sex because I uphold old values and customs. But if a couple wants to have a marriage like relationship before the actual marriage then it is up to them. However, I am totally against sleeping around and the derogatory term of ‘casual sex’. If there is a bond that exists between the couple then it is more acceptable than ‘one night stands’ and hooking up under the influence of alcohol. I would tell him that it is better to be safe than sorry. Couples get carried away in the heat of things, and they regret it later. I would tell my boy he is mature enough to make his decisions in life. He is knocking at adulthood. I cannot be his supervisor anymore. But it would make me glad if he abstains from sleeping around. It will make me even happier if he upholds the sanctity of marriage and relationships. Such topics are always careful with girls. Parents are more concerned and protective of them. Men are physically stronger and can take advantage of a vulnerable girl. Parents have this inborn protective instinct to protect their daughters from sexual predators. Naturally, a conversation about premarital sex will be more serious with my daughter. I would tell almost the same things to my daughter as I would tell my son on this topic. But there will be more concern and emotion in my voice. I would try to get her perspective first. I would tell her about the honor and value of the marital bond. I might seem old fashioned, but these customs do give an acceptable structure to the society. If such values are disregarded then the whole family system can collapse. People would only meet each other to satisfy their lust. Marriage would become meaningless and an old forgotten custom. For this reason, I would want to get her take on this subject first. The way my 15-year-old can make her decis ions, so can my daughter. I cannot be around her all her life, nor do I want to. Ultimately she has to

Dualism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Dualism - Essay Example It must be noted that dualist principles attribute almost equal powers to the opposing forces, whose balance is critical for the existence of the world. Even man, when considered as a microcosm can be considered under the principles of Dualism. Often philosophers have propounded theories that have maintained that man is a unique self, who is governed by a higher self. Descartes also proposed the concept of dualism in his philosophy. He has explained his concept of dualism in detail so that it makes sense to his readers who may be inclined to approach philosophy with a critical and analytical mind. Descartes acknowledges the existence of a spiritual reality, which he calls God, that exists beyond the plane of the human mind and intelligence. He also stresses that the mind, body, and intelligence and entities that are distinct from the supreme reality, which is the cause of the universe. Hence, he says that God and the human mind are different entities and that the entity called God is the causative reason for the mind, which is again controlled by the entity called God. Descartes developed his idea of dualism in similar lines to how Aristotle developed his views on philosophy. Descartes questioned his very senses and existence and tried to derive solutions from the doubts that arose in his mind. This sequence of questioning and answering helped him to derive his philosophy, which was developed on the basis of sequential negation and analysis. Descartes proceeds in this manner to derive the logic that his mind and body are two different substances. He finds that it is possible for him to doubt the existence of his body, without doubting his own existence. Hence, he must be a mind distinct from a body. Expanding on the existence of the body and the substances that make it up, he argues that each substance is similar to his body. They extend into space, are divisible, and obey

Reflective paper 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflective paper 3 - Assignment Example I am not in the favor of premarital sex because I uphold old values and customs. But if a couple wants to have a marriage like relationship before the actual marriage then it is up to them. However, I am totally against sleeping around and the derogatory term of ‘casual sex’. If there is a bond that exists between the couple then it is more acceptable than ‘one night stands’ and hooking up under the influence of alcohol. I would tell him that it is better to be safe than sorry. Couples get carried away in the heat of things, and they regret it later. I would tell my boy he is mature enough to make his decisions in life. He is knocking at adulthood. I cannot be his supervisor anymore. But it would make me glad if he abstains from sleeping around. It will make me even happier if he upholds the sanctity of marriage and relationships. Such topics are always careful with girls. Parents are more concerned and protective of them. Men are physically stronger and can take advantage of a vulnerable girl. Parents have this inborn protective instinct to protect their daughters from sexual predators. Naturally, a conversation about premarital sex will be more serious with my daughter. I would tell almost the same things to my daughter as I would tell my son on this topic. But there will be more concern and emotion in my voice. I would try to get her perspective first. I would tell her about the honor and value of the marital bond. I might seem old fashioned, but these customs do give an acceptable structure to the society. If such values are disregarded then the whole family system can collapse. People would only meet each other to satisfy their lust. Marriage would become meaningless and an old forgotten custom. For this reason, I would want to get her take on this subject first. The way my 15-year-old can make her decis ions, so can my daughter. I cannot be around her all her life, nor do I want to. Ultimately she has to

College Life Essay Example for Free

College Life Essay College is much different from my high school in so many ways. In my high school we was always on the same routine. We had four periods a day and first period started at 7:45 and we was on a block schedule meaning our classes was an hour and thirty minutes long. We had the same classes everyday so more learning during the day and less homework. Immediately after school we had football practice four days a week and played on Fridays. High school Is a good preparation for college, even though while in high school you will never expect what happens in college. In high school your parents were more involved in what go on in your daily life, whether you get in trouble in class or you get sick at lunch. College is an great experience I think everyone should have. In college you will learn responsibilities and how to take care of yourself. My life have change dramatically, went from seeing my family everyday to seeing them every three weeks maybe. The classes in college is much different than high school , there is no set schedule to do your homework or to study. This is where the responsible part come in, you are responsible whether you eat , sleep, study, have fun and even exercise. I didn’t mention being a student-athlete was hard as well, even though if I wasn’t an athlete I wouldn’t be a student. College not for everyone but if you have the opportunity at your grasp take advantage and make your family proud. Student-athletes have to set times like everyone else in college to complete there work and go to class but also they have to maintain there practice schedule daily. Being an athlete at Albany State is wonderful the fan base is so incredible and the odds are stack against us of making it pro. That’s why we are worked so hard and put to the test on the field and in the class room. Being a football player, practice start at 2:45 and end at 5:00 or so and some players have class after practice which is difficult to make some days but class is MANADTORY at Albany state. The coaches here are great and most of the coaches are alumni of this great school so they care about the organization deeply. Albany State Golden Rams is a Division ll power house which most teams underestimate and we show it to them on Saturdays. Here at Albany State Football players are respected not for what we do on the field but also of what we accomplish in the classrooms. I am very glad that I am able to attend Albany State University. Everything here is so overwhelming starting with The New Student Union Building . The food is amazing and the staff is amazing and caring. The games and the televisions are so entertaining and sitting in there is so relaxing and is a great study area. Campus life is the best of college experience meeting new people and socializing in the dorms. Here at Albany state are people that your going to be life long friends with. This campus is so secure thanks to the campus police. They are very concerned about the residents and love to protect and serve. If I had the choice to go to another institution I would not go Albany state is the life to live and the best college experience in the world. I appreciate what the staff, professors, coaches, police, RA’s , hall managers, and the Preside.

Microbiota and Cancer Treatment

Microbiota and Cancer Treatment Chloe Duffy Abstract microflora in humans regulates numerous bodily processes and cellular functions metabolism, inflammation, immunity, and now has been found to play a role in cancer treatments efficacy, side effects, after effects. talk about the body of the paper. In conclusion, the gut and potentially oral, etc microbiota can be modulated to protect the body from effects of treatment, or even enhance the effectiveness of the treatment. Introduction The human body contains numerous microorganisms that inhabit many parts of the body such as the skin, oral mucosa, and gastrointestinal tracts, known as the human microbiota. These microorganisms aid in metabolism, local and systemic immune system responses, regulation of inflammation, nutrient absorption, and even prevention of infection and diseases. Some of the most common bacteria within the gut microbiome are Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Bifidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Verrumicrobia, Actinobacteria, Fusobacteria, and Cyanobacteria; other types of bacteria such as Actinomyces or Lactobacillus are also common in other areas of the body. All of these types of bacteria play a role in different processes that are beneficial to maintaining health. Although these microorganisms are commonly found in most individuals, each hosts microbiota is unique. Genetics, antibiotic use, diet, type of birth delivery, lifestyle, and incidence of disease can all contribute to the composition of gut mic robiota.12   Although this means that the gut microbiome is variable and certain conditions can result in dysbiosis, it is also beneficial to have the capabilities to modulate and control the gut microbiota in order to maintain healthy bodily functions and immune responses to infection. Recently, there have been studies establishing a relationship between microbiota and cancer treatment. Particularly the gut microbiota that influences metabolic functions and inflammation and adaptive immunity play a major role in the initiation, proliferation, and response to anticancer treatment.12 In the majority of studies, the microbiota have been shown to enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatments and prolong the anticancer immune response. One way this has been demonstrated is by the transfer of faecal microbiota from mice that respond well to cancer therapy into unresponsive germ-free mice, resulting in improved anticancer reactions to treatment. Research has also shown that predictions can be made based on the patients gut microbiome whether or not they will have an efficient reaction to the cancer treatment or if they will exhibit negative side effects from the method of therapy.8 In addition to using the microbiome to predict patient reactions to therapy, studies have shown that it is possible to modulate the gut microbiota in order to either prevent or treat adverse effects that usually coincide with different therapies.19 These new developments are crucial for the progression of cancer therapies, especially immunotherapies. Many patients still do not respond to anticancer treatments that others do and with this promising research new opportunities for personalized therapy become an option for these individuals. Immunotherapies and modifying the microbiota of patients can offer more tailored treatment plans that can provide more promising results. In addition, these new methods can enable a more aggressive treatment plan for certain types of cancer without the fear of negative side effects or lasting damage to healthy tissue. With modulation of the microbiota, these adverse effects can be prevented and treated, using the microorganisms to protect against injury. The composition of the human microbiota plays an integral role in regulating the efficacy of anticancer treatment and development of adverse effects. (Should I include that targeting the microbiota can improve the efficacy and reduce adverse ef fects? Human Microbiome and Cancer Treatments       There are many different categories of anticancer therapies, the three main types are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. However, there is interindividual variation in the gut microbiota that can determine whether the immune system is competent enough and if the patient will respond to therapy positively or negatively.19 The targeting of gut microbiota can improve the efficacy of all of these treatment plans. The figure below shows some of the processes that gut microbiota can regulate anticancer therapies. Figure 1 12 This figure is an overview of a selection of anticancer treatments that the gut microbiota can mediate or perhaps enhanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ add more descriptionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is the use of drugs, usually cytotoxic, to treat cancer. These cytotoxic drugs are typically classified according to their mechanism of action, alkylating agents, heavy metals, cytotoxic antibiotics, and spindle poisons.12 These drugs cause significant damage to any rapidly dividing cells including healthy tissues, and can therefore have varying effects on individual patients. Gastrointestinal toxicity is a common adverse effect from anticancer drugs and can be so severe that the treatment has to be postponed or the dose is limited; this reduces the efficacy of the therapy. Targeting and modifying gut microbiota can be used to protect the intestinal epithelium and prevent the toxicity of these compounds. One mechanism of microbiota that can be exploited is its role in drug metabolism and microbial enzymatic degradation. An example of this is with the drug Irinotecan. Irinotecan is a chemotherapy drug that commonly causes severe gastrointestinal distress by increasing caecal Clostridium cluster XI and Enterobacteriaceae and cannot be used long term for treatment. SN-38, the drugs active metabolite is converted to glucuronide which is typically cleaved by bacterial beta-glucuronidases, commonly found in the Firmicutes phylum, for a carbon source; however, this releases the active SN-38 back into the intestinal lumen leading to diarrhea.19 In this study, however, it was discovered that the bacterial enzyme has a specific loop not present in the human enzyme; this is beneficial in developing drugs to target the bacterial enzyme specifically in order to prevent the adverse effects to continue anticancer treatment. Ciprofloxacin and amoxapine were two drugs that exhibited inhibition of the bacterial enzyme, suppressing the severe diarrhea.19 The microbiota enzymatic functions can also have a role in modifying the toxic profile of chemotherapy drugs. This can cause difficulty in creating custom chemotherapy treatment plans utilizing the modulation of microbiota because some of the bacteria can have multiple effects on different targets using the same enzyme. An example of this is the bacterium Mycoplasma hyorhinis, it contains a phosphorylase that can restrict the ability to inhibit cell growth and division by drugs containing pyrimidine nucleoside. Additionally, Mycoplasmas phosphorylase negates the efficacy of the drug gemcitabine. However, this same enzyme can improve the effectiveness of drugs containing the metabolite 5-fluoro-5-deoxyuridine.19 This proves the difficulty in modifying each patients gut microbiota to improve their chemotherapeutic efficacy. Although, it can be useful and can allow the treatment plans to continue without termination due to adverse e ffects, it will require much more research for each individual drugs reaction with gut microbiota enzymes. The gut microbiota can also indirectly affect the metabolism of chemo drugs through modifying gene expression and the physiology of the mucosal barrier in the intestines and liver. In one study, germ-free mice were compared with conventionally raised mice and mice given a probiotic. The germ-free mice exhibited altered gene expression to increase the rate of metabolism of many xenobiotics, whereas even after recolonization of the germ-free mice and administration of a probiotic, not all of the altered genes returned to normal gene expression.12 This raises the observation that not only does the differences in composition of microbiota and their enzyme function play a role in drug metabolism, the activity and lifestyle between individuals matters as well. Immunomodulation and affecting the tumor-microenvironment are two additional ways that the gut microbiota have been found to modulate chemotherapeutics. Cyclophosphamide is a drug that works through many different immunological pathways, stimulating the antitumor immune response.This drug alters the composition of the microbiota in the small intestine and induces the translocation of certain gram-positive bacteria into secondary lymphoid organs.16 Once the bacteria are translocated into the lymphoid organs, they can stimulate an immune response of T helper17 cells and memory TH1 cells. The translocation of the bacteria, typically Lactobacillus johnsonii, Lactobacillus murinus, and Enterococcus hirae, takes place because cyclophosphamide causes discontinuity of the intestinal barrier allowing these microorganisms to relocate to the secondary lymphoid organs. A gram-negative bacteria, Barnesiella intestinhominis is also involved in this chemotherapy drug; it   was shown to incre ase the systemic levels of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and TH1 cell responses. This bacteria was also proven to activate IFNgamma-producing lymphocytes that are tumor-inflitrating.1 The role gut microbiota plays in the efficacy of cyclophosphamide treatment and immunomodulation was demonstrated by the use of germ-free mice and mice that were treated with antibiotics. The mice that were pre-conditioned with antibiotics proved to inhibit the anticancer effects of the chemotherapy drug and no reduction in the tumor size. Similarly, the germ-free mice had less pTH17 responses and their tumors were unchanged by cyclophosphamide. However, transfer of pTH17 cells restored the efficacy of the anticancer drug.1 These results show that the gut microbiota not only play a role enzymatically and through drug metabolism, but that the microbiome is used to activate the anticancer immune response. This is critical knowledge for the progression of immunomodulation with chemotherapeutics, and gives insight as to why not all patients may react the same to this type of treatment. However, modification of the gut microbiota can enhance the efficacy and response in the patients that typically do not show change in the tumor size. Gut microbiota can also affect the tumor microenvironment in correspondence (à ¯Ã†â€™Ã… ¸is that the right word?) with chemotherapeutics. Oxaliplatin and cistplatin treatments cause tumor cytotoxicity by forming intra-strand platinum-DNA adducts that lead to DNA double stranded breaks; reactive oxygen species is also involved in the damage of DNA. Although these methods are effective for creating an antitumor environment, it also causes severe damage to intestinal mucosal cells which can cause septicemia and systemic infection.12, 10 In germ-free mice the drug oxaliplatin did not induce as great of an inflammation response and consequently the antitumor efficacy was reduced, showing that inflammation is important in the drugs antitumor response. The induced DNA damage within the tumor cells was also reduced, however oxaliplatin was still able to enter into the tumor to form fewer of the platinum-DNA adducts.16 Another effect the microbiota have on these chemo drug antitumor mechanis ms was shown in germ-free mice, the production of ROS was inhibited without gut microbiota. This was previously thought to come from the cancerous cells, however the microbes prevented ROS production through tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells via NADPH oxidase 2.12 This is important to note because this shows that oxaliplatin will not be effective without gut microbiota or depleted myeloid cells. Oxaliplatin also works by inducing immunogenic cancer cell death, this can be achieved by exposing the cell surface- associated immunostimulatory signals, activating antigen-presenting cells which create and antitumor response.With a combination of activation of TLR4, DAMPs from the dying cells, and NLRP3 inflammasome, these can mediate the adaptive T cell-mediated response against the treated tumors.10 When mice are depleted of their microbiota, these cytotoxic and immunogenic effects are decreased, along with the efficacy of tumor reduction. These results demonstrate that gut microbiota can play a role in the cytotoxic effects of DNA damage and inflammation, but also can affect the adaptive immune response to cancer. Gut microbiota has an influential role in the efficacy, toxicity, and outcome of chemotherapeutics. Radiation Therapy Radiotherapy can consist of cancer patients receiving ionizing radiation therapy (RTX) that is typically for localized cancers, or total body irradiation (TBI) that is usually used in preparation for bone marrow transplants or adoptive T cell transfer immunotherapy. These can be effective treatment routes, however, there is a bystander effect on nearby cells that can cause inflammation, immune reactivity, and genome instability.12 These effects do not necessarily occur directly from the DNA damage caused by radiation, these typically are a result from disruption of gap junctions, and release of ROS, NO, cytokines, exosomes, and DAMP stress signals. There are just now beginning to be more studies done about how exactly microbiota can regulate the hosts response to ionizing radiation therapy. It is difficult to study because the effects from radiation can cause a myriad of reactions within the body; some of these effects can be immunostimulating while others can be immunosuppressive. When a patient receives radiotherapy, the antitumor signals are not just contained to the localized area of the tumor; there are antitumor responses that occur that are immune mediated and activate antigen-presenting dendritic cells and T cells. Therefore, because microbiota have been shown to mediate and affect the immunogenic responses in chemotherapy and immunotherapy, it is reasonable to believe microbiota play a role in the immune system responses due to radiation. One of the major limitations to radiotherapy is the safety concern for the patient while balancing the antitumor effectiveness of receiving ionizing radiation therapy. Different cance r types will have different radiation sensitivities as well as the local and systemic toxicity and stress responses that have potential to cause significant injury or impair the antitumor immunity.12 Receiving ionizing radiation therapy is associated with damage to rapidly proliferating tissues such as epithelia, like the digestive tract mucosa, and bone marrow. These adverse effects can cause oral mucositis, diarrhea, and inflammation in the gut and can create gut microbial dysbiosis.12 A recent study investigated whether or not a faecal microbiota transplantation would protect against radiation-induced toxicity.They were able to come to the conclusion that faecal microbiota transplantation did in fact increase the survival rate of mice; in addition, the faecal microbiota transplant increased the peripheral white blood cell counts, maintained the intestinal epithelial integrity, and preserved the gut microbiota composition in mice that had been irradiated.7 Using the strategy of faecal microbiota transplantation could greatly improve the outlook for   radiotherapy patients, it can reduce injury to healthy tissues and improve patients prognosis after radiotherapy. The component that regulates irradiation-mediated intestinal toxicity is the TLR3 for double-stranded RNA. Knockout mice without Tlr3 are actually protected from TLR3-dependent cell death post radiotherapy, despite being sensitive to p53 dependent radiation-induced apoptosis. These knockout mice also survive longer and have less damaging effects on their intestines than wild-type mice. These results would suggest that blocking the TLR3 signaling could reduce the radiation-mediated gastrointestinal damage.12 In this study they also demonstrated that the DNA double stranded breaks, induced from radiation anticancer treatment, also activate a DNA receptor that is not present in melanoma 2 inflammasome; this would result in tissue damage and cell death. However, the bacterium Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, a probiotic, has demonstrated  protection of the intestinal mucosa from radiation therapy-induced toxicity. This probiotic does this by using a TLR2/MyD88 signaling mechanism to reposit ion cyclooxygenase 2- expressing cells from the villi to the base of the intestinal crypts which induces reactive oxygen series, leading to activation of the NRF2 system; this system is cycloprotective.6 Therefore probiotics have some capabilities to prevent radiation-induced enteropathy. The probiotic composition that studies have found to be most beneficial are Lactobacillus acidophilus, B. bifidum, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus spp.5 For clinical purposes, these probiotics can be used as a prophylactic strategy to limit the intestinal injury. All of these microorganisms have been proven to protect against gut toxicity from radiation anticancer treatments; this is greatly beneficial to the patients so they do not have to endure adverse effects, such as severe diarrhea, and can continue the treatments to increase their antitumor effectiveness. In contrast, some studies suggest that it is possible to predict whether or not a patient is going to have adverse effects to radiotherapy based off the presence of gut microbial dysbiosis or a well-balanced gut microbiome. They used pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA gene to reveal the microbial diversity in the hosts gut microbiome. The individuals that had a significantly altered Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio before the radiation cancer treatment, later developed diarrhea as an adverse effect from treatment. These results indicated that gut microbial dysbiosis before radiation antitumor therapy can be utilized to predict if the patient will develop adverse effects from treatment such as diarrhea.18 This knowledge could guide treatment plans to be tailored for the individual and could allow for preventative treatment options. Total body irradiation is usually used as a preparatory process for another type of anticancer treatment such as a bone marrow transplantation or adoptive T cell transfer immunotherapy. Contrary, to the logic of many of the studies in this review, germ-free mice were shown to survive longer than conventionally raised mice after total body irradiation, and actually required a higher dosage of radiation to induce intestinal disease and mortality.7 The germ free mice were reported to have less apoptotic cells of the intestinal mucosa and even less lymphocyte infiltration than the mice with regular gut microbiota.7 They hypothesized that this could be due to the germ-free mice having no gut microorganisms that could trigger mucosal inflammation or create damage from the radiation insult. One mechanism they were able to identify that contributed to the germ-free mice resistance to total body irradiation was the production of angiopoietin-like 4. This is a protein inhibitor of lipoprotein lipase that is normally suppressed by normal gut microbiota in the conventionally raised mice.12 This angiopoietin-like 4 protein, when knocked out of germ-free mice, causes the mice to be susceptible to the same intestinal damage as conventionally raised mice that block angiopoietin-like 4 protein. Interestingly, the transcription of angiopoietin-like 4 gene is regulated in response to certain gut bacteria; however, these same bacteria that induce angiopoietin-like 4 expression include Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Streptococcus spp. that also mediate the protection against the localized received ionizing radiation therapy.12 This can provide an explanation for although most studies have shown that mice treated with probiotics and have a healthy microbiome are resistant to radiotherapy toxicity, germ-free mice can provide some resistance as well. Although most of these studies focus on the gut microbiota, there are studies that reveal how the oral microbiota can effect prediction of enteropathy as well from radiotherapy for  nasopharyngeal carcinomas. Rather than diarrhea as an adverse effect from pelvic radiotherapy, oral and oropharyngeal mucositis are the most common side effects of radiation anticancer therapy for head and neck cancers.20 Similarly to using gut microbial dysbiosis to predict whether the patient would develop adverse effects from treatment, the same can be done with analyzing the oral microbial community and its correlation with radiation-induced mucositis. The results demonstrated that patients with a higher percentage of Actinobacillus exhibited severe mucositis later on after treatment.20 Their findings also showed, similarly, that they can predict future incidence of mucositis during radiotherapy based on the oral microbiota prior to treatment. This is significant because not only can this applicatio n be applied with gut microbiota, it can be applied with the oral microbial community and many others throughout the body corresponding to different types of cancer. Immunotherapy Immunotherapy approaches are currently a popular topic to study and these immunological therapies have shown great potential in long-lasting responses. The efficacy of this type of treatment, however, is limited more than radiation therapy or chemotherapy because of the vast difference in immune responses of individual patients and the susceptibility of different tumor types. However, with new information about the ability of gut microbiota to modulate the hosts response to immunotherapy, it is possible to further study the possibility of improving immunotherapy efficacy by targeting these microbiota. One of the first examples of gut microbiota maintaining the anticancer effect of immunotherapy, was the demonstration that the efficacy of adoptive transfer of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells following total body irradiation was reduced in mice treated with antibiotics.12 After the total body irradiation causes the translocation of microbiota into the secondary lymph nodes, the prolife ration of the transferred T cells in the tumor and their antitumor activity was enhanced. CpG- oligodeoxynucleotide intratumor therapy is an immunotherapy that uses the TLR9 agonist CpG- oligodeoxynucleotide to induce an antitumor effect. The antitumor effect is then increased when the immunosuppressive effect of IL-10 is prevented by using the IL-10 receptor antibodies. This method induces the secretion from myeloid cells of tumor necrosis factor and IL-12 that in turn cause hemorrhagic necrosis and can redirect tumor-infiltrating macrophages and dendritic cells from and anti-inflammatory to a pro-inflammatory state.12 There is an antigen-specific T cell antitumor that is elicited within this pro-inflammatory environment which results in the clearance of tumors in conventionally raised mice.12 This is not the case in germ-free mice or mice that have been treated with antibiotics. In these mice the tumors treated with CpG-ODNs and anti-IL-10R progress and the immunotherapy is inefficient. Finally, if the mice have a low amount of microbes, the myeloid cells do not produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and the TNF-dependent hemorrhagic necrosis and antitumor immunity are not induced.12 In these tumors, of microbiota-depleted mice, the amount of infiltrating inflammatory monocytes before treatment were unchanged but the number of Ly6C+ major histocompatibility complex class II+ were reduced. This suggests that the differentiation of infiltrating inflammatory monocytes into macrophages and dendritic cells is impaired. After CpG-oligodeoxynucleotide treatment, there are major differences in the gene expression of TNF and IL-12 in tumor-infiltrating myeloid cell  subsets between microbe-depleted and conventionally raised mice.12 There is another reduction in the response to this treatment from TLR4 -deficient mice, however, treatment with the TLR4 agonist LPS to the microbe-depleted mice reinstitutes the responsiveness of the myeloid cells.12 The results from this study demonstrate that the gut microbiota primes the myeloid cells for sensitivity to TLR9. Another study using CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides showed that the CpG-ODNs correlates with the frequency of different genera in the faecal microbiome of mice at the time of treatment.12 Allistipes and Ruminococcus are positively correlated with TNF production, however, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus murinum, and Lactobacillus intestinalis are negatively correlated, meaning when one of the bacteria from the genera Lactobacillus were administered, there was an impairment of TNF production.12 This indicates that different types of bacterial species can have opposite effects; therefore, using antibiotics, prebiotics, or probiotics, can change the gut microbiota composition or frequency resulting in mediating the hosts response to immunotherapies. The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors is a final immunotherapy method that has been greatly studied and researched. In the majority of patients, the antitumor immune response is suppressed but can be reactivated by the release of certain signal factors. The immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are antibodies against the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 and programmed cell death protein 1 or its ligand PD1 ligand, exhibit strong antitumor activity in animal models and even long lasting clinical efficacy in cancer patients.12 Although this is a promising therapy, there is always the concern of variation of response between patients and between different types of cancers. These checkpoint inhibitors can also induce adverse effects such as colitis and inflammation of the pituitary gland in response to the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 antibodies, and thyroid dysfunction and pneumonitis after the blockade of the PDL1-PDL1 interaction.14, 15 Two recent studies investigated the influence gut microbiota has on this type of immunotherapy, specifically how anticytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen blockade requires Bacteroides spp. and how Bifidobacterium spp. enhances the effectiveness of antiprogrammed cell death ligand 1 therapy.14, 15 In the first study, in mice and patients the T cell responses specific for B. thetaiotaomicron or B. fragilis correlated with the effectiveness of CTLA-4 blockade. This was confirmed because the tumors in the germ-free mice did not respond to the CTLA blockade, but when the mice were treated with B. fragilis, this defect was overcome.15 The second study compared melanoma growth in mice with particular commensal microbiota and then observed the differences in antitumor immunity. They then sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA which identified Bifidobacterium as associated with the antitumor effects. The administration of Bifidobacterium improved the tumor control as much as the programmed cell death prot ein 1 ligand 1- specific antibody treatment, and combination treatment almost ceased tumor growth.14 The results from these studies demonstrate that the mechanism of how anti-PDL1 treatment improves the antitumor immune response does not have to include microbiota inflammation and immune activation, like what is induced by anti-CTLA4. Anti-CTLA4 may alter the composition of the gut microbiota that favors its own antitumor activity. Yet, the effectiveness of the anti-PDL1 therapy is aided in hosts with a pre-existing antitumor immune response if Bifidobacterium spp. are within the gut microbiota.12 Microbiota and Lasting Effects from Treatment After the use of cancer treatments, many times there can be lasting effects even into adulthood from childhood cancer therapies. This study demonstrated that restoring the microbial diversity in patients suffering from immune dysregulation, as a result from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, could reduce chronic inflammation and reduce development of late adverse effects.4 They observed that adult survivors of childhood ALL all had microbial dysbiosis or lack of microbial diversity. The composition of host microbiota is crucial to immune activation, for example T cell activation and increased levels of IL-6 and CRP. Therefore, they hypothesized that the microbial dysbiosis was related to the background chronic inflammation in adult survivors. Additional studies would have to be performed to determine causation, but this study creates the possibility that therapeutic interventions that restore microbial diversity to the ALL survivors could help to reduce the long-term negative ef fects. Further research would need to be done to determine the proper mechanism to restore healthy microbial diversity to humans.   Ã‚   Figure 2 1 References 1. Alexander JL, Wilson ID, Teare J, Marchesi JR, Nicholson JK, Kinross JM. Gut microbiota modulation of chemotherapy efficacy and toxicity. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology Hepatology. August 2017. doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2017.20. paper 10 2.Bultman SJ. Emerging roles of the microbiome in cancer. Carcinogenesis. 2013;35(2):249-255. doi:10.1093/carcin/bgt392. paper 17 3. Champer M, Wong AM, Champer J, et al. The role of the vaginal microbiome in gynecological cancer: a review. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics Gynaecology. 2017. doi:10.1111/1471-0528.14631. paper 9 4. Chua LL, Rajasuriar R, Azanan MS, et al. Reduced microbial diversity in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and microbial associations with increased immune activation. Microbiome. 2017;5(1). doi:10.1186/s40168-017-0250-1. paper 7 5. Ciorba MA, Riehl TE, Rao MS, et al. Lactobacillus probiotic protects intestinal epithelium from radiation injury in a TLR-2/cyclo-oxygenase-2-dependent manner. Gut. 2011;61(6):829-838. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300367. paper 24 6. Ciorba MA, Stenson WF. Probiotic Therapy in Radiation-Induced Intestinal Injury and Repair. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2009;1165(1):190-194. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04029.x. paper 23 7. Cui M, Xiao H, Zhou L, et al. Faecal microbiota transplantation protects against radiation induced toxicity. EMBOpress. 2017. doi: 10.15252/emmm.201606932. paper 2 8. Dubin K, Callahan MK, Ren B, et al. Intestinal microbiome analyses identify melanoma patients at risk for checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis. Nature Communications. 2016;7:10391. doi:10.1038/ncomms10391. paper 5 9. Galloway-Pena JR, Jenq RR, Shelburne SA. Can Consideration of the Microbiome Improve Antimicrobial Utilization and Treatment Outcomes in the Oncology Patient? Clinical Cancer Research. 2017. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-16-3173. paper 8 10. Iida N, Dzutsev A, S

Vietnam :: essays research papers

North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so they could be a unified nation. To prevent the domino effect and further spread of communism, the USA troops in 1965 went into action against the Viet Cong until 1975. Not only did the Greatest superpower in the world get bested by a third world nation, but also lost many of it's young men to a meaningless war that they could have never won. To prevent the domino effect and, from America's point of view, stop the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem. The United States supplied Diem and has party with economical and military assistance to fight the forces of Ho Chi Minh, who was fighting for a united Vietnam and at the same opposed American and French intervention. What the United States did not realize was that Ho Chi Minh had the backing of the people of Vietnam, " By Supporting Her (France) attempt to establish a Vietnamese regime which lacked nationalist support, we helped insure that Vietnamese patriots would have no real alternative but to rally to the banner of Ho Chi Minh". Deim himself acknowledged that he was not excepted by the people of Vietnam nor did he have their support " Gained popularity as a leader of the resistance, not as a communist", and that the vast majority of his followers were nationalist and in no way pro communist. America failed to open It's eyes and realize that a man such as Ho Chi Minh, who was the established leader of the nationalist movement, could never be replaced by a man, Deim, who was supported by foreign forces and was lesser known then Ho Chi Minh. Deim was a leader of a government that was deeply corrupted and inefficient, resulting in it being unpopular with it's people in Saigon and villagers in the interior, who were neglected by the government. Vietnam :: essays research papers North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so they could be a unified nation. To prevent the domino effect and further spread of communism, the USA troops in 1965 went into action against the Viet Cong until 1975. Not only did the Greatest superpower in the world get bested by a third world nation, but also lost many of it's young men to a meaningless war that they could have never won. To prevent the domino effect and, from America's point of view, stop the further spread of communism, the U.S. held on to the Truman Doctrine and stood behind the South Vietnamese leader, Diem. The United States supplied Diem and has party with economical and military assistance to fight the forces of Ho Chi Minh, who was fighting for a united Vietnam and at the same opposed American and French intervention. What the United States did not realize was that Ho Chi Minh had the backing of the people of Vietnam, " By Supporting Her (France) attempt to establish a Vietnamese regime which lacked nationalist support, we helped insure that Vietnamese patriots would have no real alternative but to rally to the banner of Ho Chi Minh". Deim himself acknowledged that he was not excepted by the people of Vietnam nor did he have their support " Gained popularity as a leader of the resistance, not as a communist", and that the vast majority of his followers were nationalist and in no way pro communist. America failed to open It's eyes and realize that a man such as Ho Chi Minh, who was the established leader of the nationalist movement, could never be replaced by a man, Deim, who was supported by foreign forces and was lesser known then Ho Chi Minh. Deim was a leader of a government that was deeply corrupted and inefficient, resulting in it being unpopular with it's people in Saigon and villagers in the interior, who were neglected by the government.

Artificial Intelligence and Investing Essay -- Technology, Stock Exch

Artificial Intelligence and Investing INTRODUCTION Artificial intelligence can be defined as the ability of a computer to perform activities normally considered to require human intelligence. The techniques of this intelligence include knowledge-based, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques. Investing can be defined as the act of committing money to an endeavour with the exception of obtaining profit. Investing activities require data identification, asset valuation (the process of determining the worth of something), and risk management (the process of managing the uncertainty in investment decision-making). Artificial intelligence techniques can be applied to financial investing, especially in the areas of credit risk assessment and stock valuation. In the future, we can expect that the techniques of artificial intelligence will be integrated into systems that simultaneously address investing activities. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? Technology is an important factor in investing activities. For example, stock trading is computer-based and can automatically execute the trading of large volumes of shares. This has become an extremely frequent activity on stock exchanges in our advanced world. Artificial intelligence is allowing humans to have a â€Å"cutting edge† by using computers when investing. Years ago, a usual activity for a computer program was a simple, or even a complex, numerical calculation. An example of this could be a forensic officer’s ability to compute the path and pattern of a bullet. Today, computers are more advanced. It is no problem for a computer program to assist humans in their decision making processes. Humans have access to huge databases across the world over the interne... ...ollection, asset valuation, and portfolio management). These systems will interact with humans and humans will be able to specify their preferences and make difficult decisions. SUMMARIZER’S CRITIQUE In general, the article â€Å"Artificial Intelligence and Investing† offered a lot of valuable information regarding the both the current, and future, paths of artificial intelligence systems. The article was broken down into simple sections that helped the article come together. The author’s intent of relating artificial intelligence to investing was successful in explaining that artificial intelligence is of great assistance to investors across the globe. On the other hand, I believe the article contained some examples and terms which were not really explained in enough detail to the average user. Basically, some terms were not presented at an average reader’s level.

Views of stereotypes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

During the early 1800's, racism was still rampant among citizens in America, especially those in the south. Minorities were generalized as a member of a certain racial group and stereotyped with degrading qualities that implied that they were less than human. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a character with all of the African-American stereotypes, and throughout the novel, develops him into a character that everyone can relate to, showing that he is human. At that time, African-Americans were seen as animals that did not care for anyone, but Twain shows that Jim has feelings, despite what society thinks. Another aspect of the African-American stereotype was that all African-Americans were stupid, but Jim, although uneducated, is not portrayed as stupid. A common belief among racists at the time was that African-Americans were less than human, but throughout the novel, Jim shows feelings of despair, regret and compassion, all of which are humanlike. In contrast to the typical stereotype that African-Americans care for no one but theirselves, Jim is depicted as an extremely caring person. When describing his daughter to Huck, Jim says, â€Å"En wid dat I fetch' her a slap side de head dat sont her a-spawlin'†¦Oh, Huck, I bust out a-cryin' en grab her up in my arms, en say, ‘Oh, de po' little thing! De Lord God Amighty fogive po' Jim, kaze he never gwyne to forgive hisself as lon's he live!†(156). In this quotation, Jim expresses extreme regrete and sorrow for his daughter whom he has realized is deaf and couldn't hear anything he was saying to her. When Huck and Jim have been separated and Huck is staying at the Grangerfords, Jim shows another instance of caring. When Huck saw Jim for the first time again he wrote, † I waked him up, and I reckoned it was going to be a grand surprise to him to see me again, but it warn't. He nearly cried he was so glad, but he warn't surprised†(114). In this quotation, Twain illustrates Jim's concern for not only his own family, but for his Huck, whom he has formed a unique friendship with. Twain successfully develops Jim into a character that cares not only for his family, but for his friends. African-Americans and slaves especially, were stereotyped as ignorant in the early 1800's. Jim, like most other slaves, has no formal education and talks in a dialect that makes him appear to be less educated. However Jim has a unique kind of intelligence. When Huck was trying to trick Jim into thinking that he had dreamt up their separation in the fog, Jim notices the debris on Huck, â€Å"Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at the trash again. He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head that he couldn't seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into its place again right away. But when he did get the thing straightened around he looked at me steady without ever smiling† (54). Jim shows his common sense smarts by figuring out when Huck is lying to him. The fact that Huck, an educated white boy, couldn't fool Jim, an uneducated slave, with his scheme shows that although Jim is uneducated, he is intelligent in his own way. When the Duke and the King come on board the raft, Jim knows that since the King claims he is from France, that he should be able to speak French. â€Å"I found Jim had been trying to get him to talk French, so he could hear what it was like; but he said he had been in this country so long, and had so much trouble, he'd forgot it†(179). This shows the reasoning ability that Jim has. He knows that since the King is from France he should be able to speak French. Huck interprets this as Jim wanting to hear French, but what Jim is actually trying to do is to verify the King's story and keep themselves safe. Perhaps the worst stereotype about African-Americans at that time was that they were less than human, unable to feel humanlike emotions or act like normal humans do. Jim is portrayed as exactly the opposite, routinely risking his own life and freedom for the welfare of others. When Tom has been shot and Huck is consulting with Jim on what they should do, Jim says, â€Å"Well, den, is Jim gwyne to say it? No, sah-I doan'budge a step out'n this place ‘dout a doctor; not if it's forty year! (266)†. Jim has decided to risk being caught again to make sure that Tom Sawyer sees a doctor. He knows very well that he could easily be caught doing this and set back into slavery, but he does it anyway. This shows that Jim is a very humanlike character who experiences humanlike emotions, compassion in this instance, and acts in selfless ways. Twain again demonstrates Jim's equality and humanlike characteristics when Huck and Jim and eating on the raft. Huck writes, â€Å"so Jim he go t out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens†¦ and whilst I eat my supper we talked and had a good time† (126). This quotation illustrates Jim as an equal to Huck who can experience the same easy-going and fun emotions that Huck can. No where in the book is Jim unable to understand an emotion Huck or any other person is feeling, showing his humanity. Jim is a representation of how all people can feel emotions for others, be intelligent no matter how uneducated they are, and experience emotions of the human race. Mark Twain has succeeded in creating a character who although is a minority, embodies characteristics that people can relate to. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was an important statement against racism and the values taught can still be applies to the American culture today.