Case StudyCredit Essay

Introduction In the case study honesty testing at the Carter Cleaning Company, there are issues of theft. They find themselves struggling with the processes of screening for honest hardworking employees. The owners, Jennifer and her father, are looking for a way to minimize the employee turnover and more so is theft prone. Questions and Answers to the Questions What would be the advantages and disadvantages to Jennifer’s company of routinely administering honesty tests to all its employees? According to Dessler (2008), some advantages are that honesty tests are â€Å"designed to predict job applicants’ proneness to dishonesty and other forms counterproductivity. Most of the tests measure attitudes regarding things like tolerance of others who steal, acceptance of rationalizations for theft, and admission of theft-related activities (p. 236).† These types of test prove to have minimal legal risk to employers (p.237). Specifically, what other screening techniques could the company use to screen out theft-prone and turnover-prone employees, and how exactly could these be used? Dessler mentions the use of background checks such as verifying a potential candidate’s former employer is a way to clear a candidate by knowing about their work ethics. Another way would be through credit reports. These types of reports show a potential candidate’s â€Å"credit standing, indebtedness, reputation, character, and lifestyles (p. 230).† How should her company terminate employees caught stealing, and what kind of procedure should be set up for handling reference calls about these employees when they go to other companies looking for jobs? Employees should be terminated immediately. In order to help other companies, there should be a procedure such as writing everything down or making notes in the employee’s folder for all future references. Future  employees would be advised of such procedure during the interviewing process. Fine (2013) states â€Å"Once the right test has been chosen, and with the organization’s objectives still in mind, the next step is to strategically position the test within the recruitment process for maximal effectiveness (p. 42).† Summary As seen in the case of the Carter Cleaning Company, employee turnover is a problem. In order to minimize such problems there needs to be an effective hiring procedure. Dessler speaks of antitheft screening procedure. They are asking direct question during face-to-face interviews, listen to applicant and do less talking (this will allow the applicant to speak freely and through this they may speak more truthfully), do a credit check, check all employment and personal references, use paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests, test for drugs, and establish a search-and-seizure policy and conduct searches (p. 237). Reference Dessler, G. (2008). Human Resource Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Prentice Hall. Fine, S. (2013). Practical Guidelines for Implementing Preemployment Integrity Tests. Public Personnel Management, 42(2), 281-292. doi:10.1177/0091026013487049. Lee, K., Ashton, M. C., & de Vries, R. E. (2005). Predicting Workplace Delinquency and Integrity with the HEXACO and Five-Factor Models of Personality Structure. Human Performance, 18(2), 179-197. doi:10.1207/s15327043hup1802_4.

Miles Davis Essay

Jon Davis Perspectives in American Jazz Ben Martinson December 10, 2009 Miles Davis: The Last Pioneer in American Jazz Miles Davis represents the pinnacle of modern American Jazz. He was one of the foremost pioneers in the inventions of cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, fusion and techno. He was, arguably one of the most influential figures in music, pushing the boundaries of what was commonly known as jazz into new directions that most people thought was impossible. Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois to Dr. Miles Henry Davis, a successful dentist, and Cleota Mae Davis. Davis’ interest in music was sparked at the age of 13 when his father bought him a trumpet, and arranged lessons with accomplished local musician Elwood Buchanan. Oddly enough, Buchanan discouraged Davis from using vibrato in his music, which was a characteristic that Davis carried throughout the entirety of his career. Interestingly, his mother, Cleota Mae Davis, played blues piano but kept this facts hidden from her son. Because of his proficiency with the trumpet, he was accepted into the Julliard School of Music to study classical music. Davis quickly realized that the classical form was not for him, and desired a more non-traditional approach. Davis made the decision to drop out of the Julliard School because they were not accepting of his non-traditional approach. Davis focused on imperfect melodies in order to distract the users away from the composition of the music, and to concentrate more on the deeply rooted meanings in the music. Davis stated in an interview, â€Å"It's [music] always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it,† (Miles Davis Properties). After Davis dropped out of Julliard, he got to experience the greatest privilege that any musician of the time could hope for. He received the chance to play with the band of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Davis’ performance was rapidly perfected by the influence of Parker and Gillespie (Miles Davis). He saw his first studio time under Parker and Gillespie with Savoy records in September of 1945. This represented a major change of pace for Davis, because he was now qualified to record as a solo artist. Savoy Records offered to sign him as a band leader, where he soon excelled to the point of starting his own nonet called the â€Å"Miles Davis Nonet. † Davis often came off as arrogant or rude because he demanded absolute perfection in all rehearsals and performances from his band members. These demands may have been rooted in the slaps on the knuckles he received as a child from Buchanan. Davis had rapidly become one of the most famous musicians of the time, and had no intention of slowing down. Davis enjoyed a rapid, lifestyle of fame success, and debauchery. His lifestyle began to catch up with him at the peak of his career when heroine became a severe problem in his life. Heroin addiction was not uncommon for musicians during the 1940s and 1950s. It is speculated that his addiction to heroin may have been influenced by both Parker and Gillespie, the two men that made him into a star (Miles Davis). However, the difference between Davis, Parker, and Gillespie was that Davis rid himself of his addiction to heroin by locking himself into a room until he was completely free of his habit and prepared to perform again. Davis rapidly got back to the world of jazz by performing at the Newport Jazz Festival in July of 1955. This performance was one of his best live shows, and proved to Columbia Records that he was ready to record one of his bestselling albums of all time, Miles Ahead. This album featured legendary collaborations between Gil Evans and Davis. It created the new sound of Miles Davis that moved away from Bebop, and more towards unheard of genres of music. In August of 1959 Davis’ success continued with the release of his most successful album, Kind of Blue. This album went on to earn quadruple-platinum success, and to be the best-selling jazz album of all time. â€Å"It never and entered my mind† is my favorite track by Davis. It is the first track on Davis’ album, Workin’ performed by the Miles Davis Quintet. The track features Davis playing a very cool, relaxed trumpet solo, with a walking scale on bass. The scale is a riff and it repeats the entire song. First and foremost when listen to this piece, I just feel extremely relaxed. The song carries a heavy romantic tone to it that one cannot help but fall in love with. It is very much like most of his early trumpet playing because it lacks vibrato, and is overall an extremely smooth piece. On September 28, 1991, one year after receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Davis died at the young age of sixty-five from a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure. Davis’ music has been, and will continue to be popular and one of the most sought after names in American Jazz. His influence on other genres spans wider than most people realize because of the amount of techniques and styles that he experimented with. No audience is out of reach of Davis’ music because of his uses elements of rock, pop, electronic, jazz and so many more genres. His self-discipline, talent, and love for music have earned him 9 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, stars on the Hollywood and Saint Louis Walks of Fame, and a Knighthood in Paris. These and countless other honors, combined with his record sales are proof of the popularity, influence, and success that Davis will enjoy for years to come in the fields of cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, fusion and techno. Davis was a stickler for perfection and poured himself into every song he created and performed, and many musicians have him to thank for the success he has brought them. Works Cited Miles Davis Properties, L. â€Å"Miles Davis. † Miles Davis. 9 Nov. 2009 http://www. milesdavis. com/. Miles Davis Quintet. Workin' Rec. 1956. Prestige, 1987. â€Å"Miles Davis. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2009. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 9 Nov. 2009 http://www. rockhall. com/inductee/miles-davis. NPR, Ken Burns, and Columbia/legacy . â€Å"Miles Davis. † 9 Nov. 2009 http://www. pbs. org/jazz/biography/artist_id_davis_miles. htm. Ouellette, Dan. â€Å"Miles Ahead. † Billboard119 (2007): 48-49. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Pickler Memorial Library, Kirk sville. 9 Nov. 2009. Keyword: Miles Davis. Paradowski, Robert J. â€Å"It's About That Time: Miles Davis on and Off Record. † (2005). EBSCOhost. Pickler Memorial Library, Kirksville. 9 Nov. 2009. Keyword: Miles Davis.

Home Management Essay

The ability to work at Home Management people can now perform their work at home. For those who devote more time for their works, they can extend their working hours by performing their office works at the comfort of their own home. As long as there is an internet connection, and as long as the access at home is allowed, anyone authorize person can really become more productive. Problems associated with Online Intranet However, there are problems associated with internet-based intranet like: security, down-time, and internet connection failure. The issue with security as mentioned earlier is controlled by a firewall. Access to information is limited according to the type of authorization that will be given to an authorize user. Like an information system, users might be assigned as an administrator, and a plain or limited user. Those files which are confidential might be accessible only using the administrator accounts. As long as the username and passwords remain secured, the access to the site remains 99% secured. Down-time errors mostly associated with server breakdowns and system failures can be addressed by an effective maintenance schedules. Most IT people assign a once a month down-time period scheduled for system maintenance which takes mostly an average of 1 to 3 hours. This is not bad at all compared to the amount of effective working time of the system. Internet connection failure is mostly associated with weather condition and occurrence of disaster which does not occur at all times. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) had already developed secured connection lines to mitigate these problems. Conclusion Internet based intranet is very beneficial in information sharing, and communication lines for all branches of FYC. It is an effective cost cutting technique, effective reduction of volumes of papers produced in transactions. It helps achieve consistency in information sharing, faster and reliable information retrieval, and offers flexibility in performing all forms of top level management tasks for management people.

Lab 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lab 4 - Assignment Example The legal system failed as they could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the executives had an element of crime (30:43). Additionally, the government failed to convince the jury that the executives were guilty. Even though, there was sufficient information that could indict some of the executives such as offering defective loans to investors. The system failed as there was not enough effort to hold anyone accountable for the allegations of Wall Street. These kinds of cases were hard to prosecute as they had no prove of criminal intent (43:00). I do believe that changes on investigations would yield results such as the one Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler law firm investigations were able to file what seemed like the core credit evidence. Also, Mark Palmer had many other suits against Bears and other Wall Street banks for fraudulent mortgages they sold (40:58). The mentioned firms selling fraudulent mortgage backed securities to investors. This action almost crippled the U.S economy. It was difficult for the government and the Justice Department to prosecute firms’ executives as it would bring some economic effect. Additionally, some counterparties would be affected which had nothing to do with the

Steve Ray Vaughan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steve Ray Vaughan - Research Paper Example Subsequently, the helicopter crashed on hilly terrain about 3/5 Mi from the takeoff point.† (NTSB, 1992) The pilot and all four passengers were killed. Among the dead was a man many consider to have been the greatest Texas blues guitarist of his generation and the heir to Johnny Winters legacy, Stevie Ray Vaughan was dead. His last show the night before had been a sold out concert of 30,000 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, featured an encore jam with Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray. Arguably, there could not have been a more fitting final performance for a great blues guitarist. The following brief discussion will focus on the life and career of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Initially, a brief biography will be presented, then his career, his style and the critical response will be surveyed. Interviews with guitarists of my acquaintance will also be considered and a full discography is included in an appendix. Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1954. His brother James Lawrence "Jimmie" Vaughan was almost four years older. Stevie Ray grew up listening to his brothers collection of B.B. King, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton records and playing his brothers guitar. By the time he was fifteen he was following his brother to gigs, including a memorable night in 1969 when his brothers band opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, although Stevie Ray never met him. At the same time, like many other teenagers in the 1960s Stevie Ray was forming bands. When he was in junior high school, he began playing in garage bands, occasionally landing gigs in local clubs and bars. By the time he was 17, he had dropped out of Kimball High School to concentrate on his dream of a musical career. (â€Å"Stevie Ray Vaughan Biography†) According to his biographers Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford both his style and speed were born in his competition

Twe assingments each one is one page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Twe assingments each one is one page - Essay Example However, the war has already crossed the 60 days limit and the Congress still remains silent. The March 21 notification of Obama was that U.S would engage in a ‘limited and well-defined mission’ in Libya. However, by May 20, as Huffpost Politics reports, Obama wrote to the Congress that U.S is ‘no longer in lead’ but the participation involves non-kinetic support like intelligence and refueling, and kinetic attacks on Libyan air defenses and NATO-led forces. Obama violated the law by not seeking the formal approval of the Congress for military operations in Libya. Secondly, he violated the law by not certifying in writing that there is ‘unavoidable military necessity’ in Libya so that the military operation continues after 60 days. Now, what Obama has to do is to seek and receive the permission from Congress before the completion of 90 days. In addition, he will have to withdraw all the forces and resources from Libya in 90 days. II Article II, Section I of the American Constitution states that Congress would decide the date of appointment of electors. So, in 1845, Congress enacted a law providing that Tuesday after the first Monday of November of the year in which the electors are to be appointed is the Election Day. There are many reasons behind the selection of Tuesday as the Election Day.

Careers in Lodging and Food and Beverage Industries Essay - 1

Careers in Lodging and Food and Beverage Industries - Essay Example The National Restaurant Association notes that there are a variety of positions that exist in the food industry. Some of the job titles in this respect include baker, bartender, beverage manager, banquet manager, general manager, pastry chef, wine steward, president, and human resource manager among others. Generally, restaurants employ people to work in the kitchen, front-of-house, back-of-house, and as servers. Restaurants always employ people to work as managers in different capacities. Some of the management positions in the restaurant industry include banquet manager, general manager (quick service), beverage manager, catering manager, dining room manager, general manager (fullservice), human resources manager, kitchen manager, public relations manager, and president/CEO. The banquet manager is charged with the responsibility of planning and overseeing parties, conventions, and banquets among other special events that the restaurant hosts or caters for (National Restaurant Assoc iation, 2013). More specifically, the banquet manager solicits business, supervises and coordinates banquet functions, and ensures that customers are satisfied with the products and services they receive during the events. In order for one to qualify as a banquet manager, they have to be knowledgeable in food production and service. Furthermore, they should be able to perform all duties related to banquet operations, and lead, train and supervise banquet staff. The beverage manager is charged with the responsibility of managing lounges and bars among other outlets that deal with beverages and ensuring that they are profitably run (National Restaurant Association, 2013). On the other hand, the catering manager has the responsibility of overseeing all catered functions. The catering manager delegates duties to catering staff, works hand in hand with the sales team to ensure that the restaurant gets and maintains clients, and listens to and addresses customer complaints. Other function s of the catering manager are organizing decorations, photographs, and flowers; booking entertainment bands and facilities, and planning the rent of facilities that may be needed for functions such as linen and tables. The dining room manager oversees the operations of the dining room and ensures that food service activities are properly coordinated (National Restaurant Association, 2013). The manager also directs staff to plan menus and perform related activities; budgets for supplies; and supervises and trains employees. The dining room manager also ensures that budget limitations are respected in addition to maintaining bookkeeping and payroll records. The food and beverage manager generally manages the operations of the food service outlet, kitchen and catering services. The manager also liaises with the sales team to ensure that the restaurant maximizes its profits. The human resources manager is in charge of maintaining a qualified and well motivated staff to work in the resta urant. In particular the manager hires workers, develops in-house training programs, and solves any other issues related to employees and their careers (National Restaurant Association, 2013). The public relations manager has the duty of ensuring that the restaurant has a positive image. They are also concerned with such activities as fund raisers, newsworthy

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Report - Essay Example The company is headquartered at London, United Kingdom. The telecommunication giant started its operation as Racial Telecom in the year 1983 but the British telecommunication company changed their name to Vodafone in the year 1991 (Vodafone, 2012). The company has established its presence in continents like Asia, Europe, USA, Oceania and Africa. Total employee base of the company is more than 80,000. Global subscriber base for the company is over 350 millions (Vodafone, 2010). Vodafone focuses on developing its product portfolio in periodic manner in order to meet multidimensionality of ever changing consumer demand. For example, the company has implemented new facilities such as shopping order tracking from mobile phone in order to attract attention of online shoppers. The British telecommunication company faces competition from companies like BT Mobile, One Tel, Virgin and many others. Vodafone has earned sales revenue of $71.81billion in the year 2012 and market capitalization of the company is $ 127.18 billion (Yahoo Finance, 2013). Telecommunication industry in the world is going through a transitional phases, telecom companies are slowly moving towards synchronizing internet service with telecom services altogether in order to meet customer demand. Three key trends of the industry have forced telecom companies to rethink about adopting e-business model in order to reduce the cost of providing service. Evolution of Internet Entrust (2001) has reported that, internet usage in B2C & B2B transactions will increase threefold in next 15 years, which means by 2015, e-business will contribute more than half of the global transaction. Demand for Data BBC (2011) had reported that global data demand will rise to more than 400 exabytes within 2013 and companies need to use online business model in order to store such huge databases. Social networking, web browsing and online shopping produce huge amount of data, companies need to use the online platform in order to c hannelize these data properly for generating revenue. Demand for Convenient Service In modern world, both B2B and B2C customers prefer faster and convenient transactions in order perform strategic and non-strategic functions. These customers want to be empowered with faster internet access and real time data monitoring, telecom companies need to implement e-business model in order to fulfil increased demand for convenience among mobile users. The essay will propose a holistic e-business model for Vodafone. Next part of the essay will discuss theoretical framework of the proposed e-business model. Research scholars such as Dierickx & Cool (1989), Rumelt (1986), Grant (1991) and Barney (1986) have argued that, firms need to increase their resource capability such as technological integration capability, developing tangible assets etc in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage over competitors. Porter (1980, 1985) had stated that, companies need to use competitive advantage as a source for ensuring sustainability of business operation. It is evident from the scholarly works of various research scholars,

CASE STUDY FOR Analyse the trends of wine, beer and spirits

FOR Analyse the trends of wine, beer and spirits - Case Study Example Wine is the key commodity driving the current growth within the sector of alcoholic beverages, with a growth rate of 3.2%. The spirits market has grown moderately at 1.5%, a growth affiliated to a growing culture of cocktails in the country. The FABs, beer, and cider market in Canada is reaching a saturation point gradually on the account of a growing perception towards beer, viewing it as an old–fashioned drink. There is also increased consciousness about health among the movement of youngsters and consumers which has led towards the consumption of wine. Moreover, the moderation of alcoholic drinks consumption has fueled the trend towards pre-immunization which has increased the demand for low calorie and low alcohol beer in the Canada. The emerging culture of cocktails in the country has benefited the spirits market which has experienced increased sales of tequila, vodka and liquors. In addition, the rising trend in increased pairing of food with alcohol has pushed up the demand for wine and microbreweries in the country. Our drink menu has been created by our  mixologists who are classically  trained. They use the finest ingredients which include house-made fresh fruit and tonic, and house-made ginger beer. House drinks include distinguished tavern standbys, designer cocktails, assorted wines, as well as a wide selection of sipping spirits. Each of the wines in our list is of limited production, prepared in a hands-on manner, and free form over-manipulation. They represent a true sense of authenticity. The ideology goes hand in hand with our culinary creations from our kitchen, focusing on sustainable local, seasonal, and international food sources.  Several hard to find and winery direct bottles from allocated  producers are offered.  There are unique wine brands (both white and red) on offer from different place like California, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, just to mention a few. They are

Home work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Home work - Essay Example Nonetheless, the expos expanded the countries’ economies by opening them up to the international arena (â€Å"China’s Economic Miracle,† 2008). Environmental problems are inherent in the two countries although Japan faced its challenges after war while China experiences environmental problems and challenges to date. Critics point out that China puts economic advancements at the behest of its environment. In effect, this has led to Beijing acquiring the name â€Å"Greyjing† as an indication of the amount of pollution experienced in the city. In a similar way, Japan faced criticism over the photochemical pollution experienced in Tokyo in the early 70s, which was due to industrial developments without considering the consequences on the environment. Despite disparate political institutions, the path towards economic growth in China is similar to the Japanese approach towards growth. Consequently, there is an indication that China may face challenges characterized by a slowdown in its economy, similar to Japan’s, if the country failed to adopt approaches aimed at lessening the effects of an economic slump. In effect, the failure to implement approaches that addressed the challenges faced by an economic slump will ensure that China’s economic progress slowed in a similar way to Japan’s due to their similarities in economic growth. Popularly known as MCB, Monfort College of Business is the leading college in terms of the value it creates. In this case, the college provides an excellent learning environment that was better than the environment provided by its peers. Using high technology to support its curriculum, the college produces graduates by preparing them for the competitive job market in the United States. To achieve this, the college affiliates itself with the business community in order to provide students with hands-on experiences by providing the students a chance to have a professional overview of their future

Whu I Am going To Be A Succesful Teacher Essay Example for Free

Whu I Am going To Be A Succesful Teacher Essay In pursuing a goal or an objective, a profound level of commitment must first be assured.   I contemplate my dreams and purposes in life along such premise.   And then, I reckon and inculcate values that will equip me along the way.   As such, my goal to become a successful teacher will be achieved because of the prime values I consider my strengths.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As I am sure of my commitment, I develop total patience in my total perception and pursuit of my goals.    The first step I take to sustain my patience is acceptance and acknowledgement of responsibilities towards a goal.   As I acknowledge what is the level and amount of responsibilities involved, I then work out the features involved to meet them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Working towards a goal requires a very positive attitude.   Even though I immediately acknowledge the various ups and downs, I see to it that â€Å"hope springs eternal†.   I exert my best efforts to be unyielding and sustain persevering outlook towards the best there is towards a goal.   I keep the faith that I can find my way through any difficulty – even at an unknown length of time.   It is the inspiration of rewards and fulfillment that will make me endure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The dedication and commitment towards a goal must be more than deep-rooted in my mind, it must be soul-felt.   My passion towards a goal is set not only because of the rewards due in achieving a goal, but more so because of the sense of completing my being.   It is the glory of an internal satisfaction that will give me a good night’s sleep.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Being effective and successful as teacher will enhance my creativity and originality.   Teaching and molding young minds to the universal sea of knowledge will keep me always on my toes to make my presentations interesting, efficient, clear and challenging.   And working out the plans to achieve the same will encourage me to ensure that my students will experience a unique, yet understandable, awakening to knowledge.

Connecting Woolf’s Feminist Principles Essay Example for Free

Connecting Woolf’s Feminist Principles Essay To some Virginia Woolf is a pioneer of feminism, to others she is a mere novelist whose works reflect the position of women within a society whose main discourse was aimed at female suffrage. What is certain is that today Woolf is known more for her literary works than for her essays on the inequalities between the sexes. Woolf, herself, helped found the division between her fiction and non-fiction writings by consistently belittling her political essays as a means to money while she referred to her novels as her true life’s work. Yet, in recent years, her two most well known non-fiction works, A Room of One’s Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938) have been revived by intellectuals and labeled as inherently feminist works. This in turn has lead authors such as Rachel Bowlby to claim that the past review of Woolf’s work, in which there is a clear demarcation between the fantasy world of her novels and the very real world of her essays, is in fact misleading. Bowlby attempts to bring Woolf’s two worlds more closely together and in doing so supports the claim that the thread of early feminism is woven not only through Woolf’s essays but is in actuality deeply ingrained in her literary work. The aim of this essay is to take Bowlby’s analysis and apply it to two of Woolf’s works, one fiction and the other non-fiction, to determine if they are in fact more parallel than once was thought. By using Bowlby’s theory to discuss the common traits between the novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and the essay A Room of One’s Own (1929) many undeniableconnections will be made, validating that within both texts the determination for artistic creation and female independence that Woolf so idealized can be found. Bowlby’s Feminist Lens Rachel Bowlby in her essay A More than Maternal Tie: Woolf as a Woman Essayist (1997) attempts to characterize Woolf as an early feminist writer. By linking Woolf’s essays with her literary works she refutes the opinions of those intellectuals who see Woolf’s novels as quintessentially non-feminist. For Bowlby Woolf questions the patriarchical structure of society at the time in all of her forms of writing. Although the author does concede that there is a line to be drawn between the two. In her essay Bowlby makes clear first and foremost that Woolf marked her differing attitudes between her two works in multiple outlets, some of which were personal letters and correspondence. In fact, Bowlby claims that upon a first glance Virginia Wolf the essayist and Virginia Woolf the famous novelist appear to have little in common. She states that, â€Å"One is a key figure in the history of modernism, the other was principally a journalist, working to commissions for weeklies and other periodicals. One wrote for art, the other (much of the time) for money. One is Virginia Woolf, the other often published anonymously, in her many reviews for The Times Literary Supplement† (220). Woolf on numerous occasions referred to her essays as less important than her novels, which she often referred to as her life’s work (Bowlby, 1997, 220). Most importantly Woolf asserted on various opportunities that political arguments were well founded in journalistic writing but out of place in literature (Bowlby, 221). Despite this evidence Bowlby notes that Woolf’s writing style in both her essays and her novels shared various traits including the structure, constant deviations from the topic and the passionate undertone of the writing itself (222). Although she is quick to note that we should not â€Å"rush to the other extreme, and claim for the essays artistic value equal or superior to that of the novels† (Bowlby, 224) Apart from stylistic considerations Bowlby also notes other common traits most specifically Woolf’s fascination with literary ties. Central to Woolf’s novels are the ties that bind her characters together, whether they be social or family ties. Within her essays you can find similar ties. The most obvious of those presented in Woolf’s essays are the ties between writer and patron. Woolf uses the analogy of the relationship between mother and child to best describe the importance that a patron has for their writer (Bowlby, 224). Woolf also likened the relationship to that of twins claiming that it was a type of relationship that meant, â€Å"one dying if the other dies, one flourishing if the other flourishes† (qtd Bowlby, 224). Bowlby concludes that, Woolf, â€Å"among others, was interested in what kinds of connections might tie things and people together in new ways. Her essays, like her novels, try some out† (241). Woolf also made a strong paternal connection between her essay writing and the relationship with her father, Leslie Stephen. After her father’s death in 1904 Woolf, to a large extent carried on with his essay writing, publishing within a short time an article in a religious newspaper, The Guardian. Bowlby claims that Woolf saw the essay along paternal lines (228). She claims that, â€Å"If novels, as opposed to non-fiction, seem to be the area where Woolf more freely departed from paternal standards of writing, this is related also to the fact that the essay was her fathers genre: a man of letters par excellence, Leslie Stephen did not write creative literature† (233). This may have been a reason for which Woolf so clearly demarcated between the two. In fact we could claim that Woolf wrote her essays with patriarchy and masculinity taking the forefront, while in her novels they were merely the omnipresent backdrop to the feminine world she wrote within. Mrs. Dalloway Needed a Room of Her Own: Testing Bowlby While Bowlby provides ample examples of Woolf’s writing to back up her thesis the further investigation of two of Woolf’s most renowned texts, Mrs. Dalloway (1924) and A Room of One’s Own (1929) will serve to highlight some of the feminist traits shared in her essays and her literary works. A Room of One’s Own highlights the position of women writers and intellectuals within a system where men held the purse strings of education. The essay is based on Woolf’s lectures at the women’s college of Cambridge University in 1928 and woman artists and their financial struggle are at the core of the essay. Woolf questions whether it is possible for a woman to produce a quality of art as high as Shakespear’s. She contends that the limited financial means of women artists are to blame for women’s poor artistic record throughout history. In fact Woolf placed such importance on financial independence and women having a room of their own that she wrote, â€Å"of the two-the vote and the money-the money, I own, seemed infinitely more important† (Woolf, 1929, 37). At the heart of the essay is the belief that the artistic tendencies in women are as strong as they are in men. Given the right atmosphere they can only flourish. We can see this untapped potential in Mrs. Dalloway whose love of life and art are constantly referred to in the novel. The very nature of Clarissa’s social gatherings present the deviation of her artistic nature into acceptable pursuits. Littleton (1995) claims that Clarissa’s artistry are key to understanding her character. He states that, â€Å"Woolf is concerned, before anything else, with the absolutely private mental world of a woman who, according to the patriarchal ideology of the day as well as her own figure in the world, was not imagined to have any artistic feeling at all†(37). Clarissa’s very enjoyment of the world around her shows her artistic sensibility. At the opening of the novel Clarissa goes to buy flowers and her intense enjoyment of the busy world around her shows a sensibility to life in all its forms (Woolf, 1924, 4). Her irritation for Miss Kilman is instantly forgotten as she enters the flower shop and appreciates the beauty, scents and colors around her (13). It was enough to, â€Å"surmount that hatred, that monster, surmount it all; and it lifted her up and up† (13). It would be useful to use a quote from A Room of One’s Own to describe what is happening to Clarissa: â€Å"Who can measure the heat and passion of a poets heart when it is caught and tangled in a womans body? † (83). Indeed, to Woolf, Clarissa is an artist in her own manner and her natural artistic intuition can not be smothered by societies expectations. Nourishment of the female artist, or the lack there of, is clearly present in Woolf’s literary and non-literary works. While Clarissa’s proper artistic ambitions are well nourished in her organization of social gatherings where delicious food is in abundance it is interesting to note that the physical nourishment given to female intellectuals at female colleges is commented upon in Woolf’s essay. Upon describing the poor fare at female colleges Woolf asks, â€Å"Why did men drink wine and women water? Why was one sex so prosperous and the other so poor? † (25). The possibility and the danger of a reversal of the sexes is evident in the relationship between Clarissa and Septimus Smith. While Clarissa does the unacceptable and does not show her grief as is expected in a woman, Septimus takes on distinctly feminine traits of the time and lets his grief overwhelm him, eventually committing suicide, whereby the doctor chastises him for being a â€Å"coward† (105). Woolf clearly shows the possibilities of a female taking on a masculine trait, thereby showing the possibility of a reversal of roles. As Septimus hallucinates on his dead friend he is reduced to tears and great emotion in his mourning. He raises his hand, â€Å"like some colossal figure who has lamented the fate of man for ages in the desert alone . . . and with legions of men prostrate behind him he, the giant mourner, receives for one moment on his face the whole† (105). These types of emotions were more suited to female mourning supporting Woolf’s view that the roles of men and women within society could be crossed over.

Ensuring All Stages Pipelining and Accuracy in PASQUAL

Ensuring All Stages Pipelining and Accuracy in PASQUAL Nachiket D. More Abstract GENOME is term used for genetic material of organism. It is used to encode DNA of organisms, or RNA of various kinds of viruses. Ii contains both coding and non coding parts of DNA/RNA. Now a day’s GENOME is constructed for mostly all animals, viruses, and bacteria’s. These data is mostly used in medical research and as well as to predict disease like cancer, HIV and many more. GENOME is consisting of reads, these reads are very large in amount to manipulate and also to store and maintains. Sequencing machine produce output of short overlapping substrings, these substring are called reads. The sequence assembly reconstructs genome sequence of these reads. These genome sequences are long and continuous. Assembly software for Nest Generation Sequencing (NGS) must be a very accurate, fast and have a less memory consumption. PASQUAL is tool used for faster work of NGS GENOME assembly. For address challenges of NGS assembly, parallel algorithm and compressed data structure are used in PASUQAL. PASQUAL delivers better speed of execution, less memory consumption and better solution quality. Keywords – Parallel algorithm, parallel suffix array construction, high performance bioinformatics, de novo sequence assembly, shared memory parallelism, DNA sequence, genome assembly. Introduction The term â€Å"genome† is used for represent/refer as cellular instruction set. Also it used to refer genetic material of a cell. A genome consist of chromosomes, it can be one or more individual chromosomes. Chromosomes consist of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and for many viruses it consists of ribonucleic acid (RNA). DNA is made from simple unit called nucleotides (nt). Nucleotides having four types namely A, C, G, and T. In sequence start and end are denoted by 5’ and 3’ respectively. Deducing the order of nucleotides from cell and encoding it as a string of letters is called a DNA sequencing process. This process cannot read whole sequence continuously, so it breaks DNA molecules into small part, which is used in chemical reaction as templates to produce short sub-sequences called reads. Major problem is a reconstruct the original genome sequence from reads. For these purpose GENOME assembly algorithms are used. A GENOME assembly uses many automated rounds to improvements, but it inspected and edited by specialists. Assembling reads into a long contiguous sequence is called contigs. The genome sequencing is process of reading sequence of base pairs (bp). Organism genome consists of base pairs, which is derived from two stranded of complementary bases. This is a main part to the study of genomes in bioinformatics. Except Whole – Genome Shotgun (WGS) sequencing machine, no other current sequencing method is capable to read whole sequence in one pass. De novo assembly not uses any reference sequence aids to reconstruction of original sequence, because of these it is used in PASQUAL. We have to generate a large number of reads in a small amount of time, for these purpose we used a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies. Due to these it greatly reduces the experimental cost per base. It helps to study organism at genome level, to deeply understanding of biological mechanism and genome regulation. Due to sequencing genome rapidly, it helps researchers to study more on evolution of viruses and bacteria. Because, bacteria and viruses can adopt behavior more easily also generate mutation easily at every step of reproduction. Next Generation Sequencings (NGS) Decoding DNA sequences is essential in all branches of biological research. For these purpose scientist uses the capillary electrophoresis (CE) – based Sanger sequencing, scientists able to manifest genetic information for any biological system. Because of these it is adopted by many research laboratories. But it has many limitations like throughout, scalability, speed and resolution to preclude in scientists research study. To overcome from these problem, these is new technology is introduced namely as Nest-Generation Sequencing (NGS), that become a reason for boost in research area in bioinformatics and genomic science. NGS is responsible for major transformation in path of retrieving information biological system, genome and epigenome of species. This gives an important breakthrough in fields like human disease and agriculture research. The principle behind NGS is similar to CE. CE generates small fragments of DNA. These fragments are sequentially identified from each fragment, which is re-synthesized from DNA template. NGS perform similar work in parallel fashion, which is population of millions of reaction rather than single or few DSN fragments. Due to this NGS produces hundreds of gigabases of data in single pass/sequencing run. NGS perform its operation as – a single genomic DNA is firstly fragmented into numbers of small segments, which is also known as library of segments. These segments are uniformly and accurately sequenced in millions of parallel reactions. These strings of bases are called as reads. Then these reads are reassembled by tow technique, first is known reference genome called as scaffold (re-sequencing) and second is without any reference genome (de novo sequencing). The output is set of aligned reads represents entire sequence of each chromosome in the gDNA. Fig. Conceptual Overview of Whole-Genome Sequencing Extracted gDNA. gDNA is fragmented into a library of small segments that are each sequenced in paralllel. Individual sequence reads are reassembled by aligning to a reference genome. The Whole–genome sequence is derived from the consensus of aligned reads. NGS output is increased as a rate that outpaces Moor’s law. A single pass can produce up to one gigabase (Gb) of data, at the time of invention i.e. in 2007. At 2011 it reaches up to terabase (Tb) of data in single pass/sequencing run. i.e. almost 1000Ãâ€" increase in four years. Because of this ability of NGS, researchers can move from idea to full data sets in few hours or days. Using CE technology sequencing of human genome takes a time around 10 years. But using NGS we can generate five human genomes at a single run. So it reduces the cost of genome projects. In NGS we can tune resolution of genome experiments. It is possible to produce more or less data, also it support zoom in particular regions of genome with high resolution or view with low resolution but it is more expansive. To do these researchers can tune coverage generated in experiments. This ability gives number of experimental design advantages. Because of various advantages of NGS has permeated in many areas of study. Using NGS, researchers can develop a broad range of application that transformed study designs and finding new information never before imaginable. PASQUAL PASQUAL can produce large data in assembly process in terms of memory consumption and running time. PASQUAL stands for PArallel SeQUence AssembLer. It uses OpenMP for shared memory parallelism, because of its good working between programmer productivity and performance. PASQUAL uses OLC approach and obtain high quality solutions with combination of tailored algorithms. PASQUAL can handle billions of bases. It uses de novo assembly, because of it does not need any reference to produce original sequence. Algorithm constructs biological sequences in parallel by suffix array, and it is good key for parallel performance and memory optimization. Index stage and string graph construction is used for finding overlaps. Misassembles of genome sequence by PASQUAL is significantly less than ny other assemblers. PASQUAL can handle billion of bases in less time, because it uses pipelined stages and compressed data. It has advantages over SOAPdenovo and k-mer like SOAPdenovo is only a tool having comparable speed and k-mer is restricted to smaller length than 128. Rather than PASQUAL produces less errors compared to any other tool. 4. Literature Survey 4.1 De Novo Genome Sequence Assembly In year 2008 to 2012 these are many sequencing techniques are developed, due to these there is major drop in cast from 1/100000th to 1/100000th of price. De novo algorithm is inherited from the SOAPdenovo2 framework. De novo sequencing involves novel genome; it requires specific assembly of reads (sequencing reads). It requires unique combination of length, depth of reads also it requires flexible paired-end insert size. Unpatrolled raw read makes confident and efficient production and long contig assemblies. De novo sequencing assembly is preferred for study of non-model organisms, because it is cheaper and easier to construct a genome. The reference-based assembly uses mapping on to reference genome, because of these it has inability to account for incidents of structural alteration of mRNA transcript. De novo assembly provides means to discover new and unknown sequence in biological research. Reading of whole sequence at once is limited, de novo methods are irreplaceable. It mostly used to discover new and unknown sequences, which is important in biodiversity in world. 4.2 Overlap/Layout/Consensus (OLC) Approach Overlap Layout Consensus (OLC) method is used in de novo assembly. It has a three steps overlap, layout and consensus respectively. In overlap stage graph is constructed, graph is made up of basic assembly. In layout stage this given graph is compressed. And in the consensus stage upon graph data, genome sequence is determined. These data is generated in previous two stapes. Overlap:- In the overlap stage, each and every reads are compared with every other read, and these is perform in both direction forward and reverse complement orientations. It is very time consuming procedure especially in set of large reads. Layout:- Finding path in OLC graph in not an easy task, because it has million of nodes and edges, and it very tedious task to find path that visit each node exactly ones. In this stage it OLC assembly graph is simplified, where assembly graph (i.e. segments) are compressed into contigs. Consensus:- This is a final stage of OLC approach, at this step assembly graph is reduced to large scaffolds i.e. single scaffold. It start from left most read of each scaffold, OLC algorithm computes consensus of all the reads composing each scaffold. Gaps in the genome may still be presents if the consensus step had insufficient mate-pair or repeat contig information. If an assembly had gaps, it would result in a fragmented genome, composed of multiple scaffolds because the gaps between the scaffolds could not be joined. 4.3 Shotgun Sequencing Sanger DNA sequencing technique work on limited distance in sequencing primer from 30 to 350 nt i.e. read length. Because of chain termination very few product can produce chain. These work at best ability to sequence maybe 500 bases a day and it is infeasible for human genome which have billions of bases. Another approach is, first divide DNA in to smaller fragments which is individually sequenced. Then these fragments are reassembled into original form based on overlaps. This strategy is known as shotgun sequencing, it also known as shotgun cloning. In shotgun sequencing, it randomly sheared into small pieces (usually about 1kb) and sub cloned into universal cloning vector. The library of sub fragments is sampled at random, and sequence reads are generated. These reads are assembled into contig. From this procedure complete sequence of clone generated. Shotgun technique can identify gaps (i.e. there is no sequence available) and single standard regions (where there is sequence for only one stand). They are targeted for additional sequencing to produce fill sequenced module. 5. Full Stage Pipelining and accuracy in PASQUAL 5.1 Motivation for this topic With an explosive growth of genome research area and in genome sequencing data, there is huge demand for tool and systems that enables researchers to more efficiently and more effectively work. NGS technology can produce shorter reads as compared to previous sequencing and delivers higher coverage. Coverage means ratio of total length of reds to genome length. Typically NGS generates reads from millions to few billion. This result is depending upon genome size and coverage. Due to high improvements in technologies, data sets to grow larger. As well as assembly become more demanding in time and memory consumption. 5.2 Selected area In NGS mainly contains DNA and RNA sequencing. I studied research paper for genome sequencing techniques. Genome sequencing techniques changes rapidly and become more and more advance over the period of time. Now a day’s genome sequencing is not used for research area also in treatments of many diseases. I am choosing full stage pipeline and more accuracy in PASQUAL because today many bioinformatics research topics uses genome sequencing, also it used for research topic in biodiversities. I have studied lots of paper where NGS is suggested for genome sequencing. I used full stage pipelining and more accuracy in PASQUAL NGS genome sequencing. 6. Problem statement Purpose of these research work is make full stage pipelining and more accuracy in PASQUAL genome sequencing. 7. Proposed Solution This system is completely new and it has different techniques to make it efficient for genome sequencing. Currently PASQUAL is not offering full all stages pipelining. Also scaffolding and support of paired-end reads uses third-party tools. It has to be improved error correction. Also acceleration in assembly process and reduce memory consumption. 8. Work done till Today Study of different types of feature PASQUAL. Code for different sequence assembler techniques. Study of different sequencing and assembly algorithms. 9. Objectives Applying full stage pipelining in all stages of PASQUAL. Improving error correction Accelerate the assembly process. Reduce memory consumption. 10. References â€Å"PASQUAL: Parallel Techniques for Next Generation Genome Sequence Assembly† by Xing Liu, Student Member, IEEE, Pushkar R. Pande, Henning Meyerhenke, and David A. Bader, Fellow, IEEE. B.H. Bloom, â€Å"Space/Time Trade-Offs in Hash Coding with Allowable Errors,† Comm. ACM, vol. 13, pp. 422-426, 1970. D. Bryant, W. Wong, and T. Mockler, â€Å"QSRA—A Quality-Value Guided de Novo Short Read Assembler,† BMC Bioinformatics, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 69, 2009. J. Butler, I. MacCallum, M. Kleber, I.A. Shlyakhter, M.K. Belmonte, E.S. Lander, C. Nusbaum, and D.B. Jaffe, â€Å"ALLPATHS: De Novo Assembly of hole-Genome Shotgun Microreads,† GenomeResearch, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 810-820, 2008. H. Dinh and S. Rajasekaran, â€Å"A Memory-Efficient Data Structure Representing Exact-Match Overlap Graphs with Application for Next-Generation DNA Assembly,† Bioinformatics, vol. 27, pp. 1901-1907, 2011. J. Dohm, C. Lottaz, T. Borodina, and H. Himmelbauer, â€Å"SHARCGS, A Fast and Highly Accurate Short-Read Assembly Algorithm for de Novo Genomic Sequencing,† Genome Research, vol. 17, no. 11, pp. 1697-1706, 2007. U. Manber and G. Myers, â€Å"Suffix Arrays: A New Method for OnLine String searches,† Proc. First Ann. ACM-SIAM Symp. DiscreteAlgorithms, pp. 319-327, 1990. www.wikipedia.com

Tom Sawyer vs Huck Finn Essay -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Even though Tom Sawyer might be â€Å"civilized† and a socially accepted boy, Huck is a better person because he knows that slavery is wrong and he is more rational and reasonable. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows this many different situations in which the uncivilized person, Huck, is actually the civilized person, and also is more of a realistic and reasonable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One example of how Huck is more of a realistic person is when they form a gang and are going to rob a large caravan that is supposed pass by; when in reality they were going to rob a Sunday school. They are at a cave in St. Petersburg, Missouri. This took place by a cave after Huck leaves the Widow’s home to meet up with Tom. This supports the thesis because tom is so much of a dreamer and wants to do everything that he reads. So it shows Tom’s childish side because he wants to go on adventures and he wants to be like his â€Å"heroes† in a way because he wants to do these things. Huck says that, â€Å"One time Tom sent a boy to run about town with a blazing stick, which he called a slogan (which was the sign for the gang to get together), and then he said he had got secret news by his spies that next day a whole parcel of Spanish merchants and rich A-rabs was going to camp in Cave Hollow with two hundred elephants and six hundred camels, and over a thousand ‘Sumter’ mules, all loaded down with di’monds and they didn’t have only a guard of four hundred soldiers, and so we would lay ambuscade, as ...

Innovation In David Mc Culloughs The Great Bridge :: essays research papers

ALBERT EINSTEIN once said about the invention of the Atomic Bomb that it was as much a matter of scientific knowledge and astuteness, as it was a call of circumstances and time. The millennial brightness of Albert Einstein, the pressing imminence of war and the determination to succeed of the American government and scientists, are part of the ecology of innovation that surrounded the emergence of nuclear technology, and eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb and its destructive power. The ecology of innovation not only includes the elements directly related to the emergence of a new technology such as its inventor, or the need it fulfilled, but also includes seemingly unimportant aspects such as the governing politics that allowed it and the conditions that created a need for that technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  APPLIED TO David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge, this concept encompasses a whole nation in its drive towards modernization. Preceded by inventions such as the railroad and the telegraph, the second half of the 19th century stands at a time where technology is regarded as a primary option to achieving comfort. Little by little, the realization is made that perhaps nature’s boundaries is not the farthest mankind can go. The middle of the 19th century also opens an era of greater involvement of the government in matters of public interests and an increase of funding as well; The Erie canal build from 1817 to 1825 is a testimony of such an involvement, and an example of the willingness to defy nature with innovation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, as communications are slowly developed with the emergence of the telegraph and later the telephone, the notion of time and distance become more important than they ever were, and begin to matter in the everyday lives of people. When observed in such an ecology, it is easy to understand how and why the idea of a bridge over the East River, connecting Brooklyn to New York came about at that particular time. Of course as in the example given earlier, the mind at work was a sine qua non condition, and there would most likely not have been any bridge without the mind, or rather the minds of the Roeblings. For this amazing piece of engineering, he was the right mind at the right time. Thomas Kinsella put it in better words in The Brooklyn Eagle, saying: †He spoke our language imperfectly, because he had not the advantage of being born on our soil, but he spoke the genuine language of America at Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Niagara†¦(The Great Bridge p.

The Human Genome Project Essay -- Genetics Science Biology Essays

The Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project is a long-term project by international scientist to develop detailed genetic and physical maps of the human genome. Researchers are engaged in locating and identifying all of its genes and establishing the sequence of the genes and all other components of the genome. This monstrous task has the potential to dramatically increase our understanding of human evolution and variation, and perhaps most importantly†¦human disease. The success of the Human Genome Project also poses potential societal problems. Some genetic disorders will be detectable long before there will be treatments available for them. Controversy could also arise over reproductive issues. For example, people may consider terminating pregnancies for reasons of genetic makeup, or if there is social pressure to limit reproductive rights or genetic grounds. Issues of genetic discrimination and confidentiality in the insurance industry and employment also must be addressed. The Project In 1988, a committee organized by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy developed an action plan for the Human Genome Project. In 1990, a five-year joint research proposal was submitted to Congress, and in October 1990, the Human Genome Project officially began. The project has been organized and supported primarily by the DOE and the NIH, which established working groups to address genome mapping, computational analysis to handle databases, and the social, legal, and ethical implications of the human genome research. Congress funds the project through the National Center for Human Genome Research at the NIH, which in turn awards grants and contracts to U.S. investigators. Additional funding from Con... ...of the "human being," absolutely outweigh the negative factors. I do believe however that a certain level of education should begin to inform individuals about the project and the results to come, and perhaps fewer problems will result. References Patenting the Human Genome: The Lancet Oct 2, 1999 p1135 The Human Genome Project and Gene Therapy: A genetic counselors perspective Journal of Prenatal & Neonatal Nursing, Dec 1998 p16 The Code Breaker: Discover, May 1998 p44 Genetic Sampling: big brother, or big science? Public Health Reports:Jan-Feb 1998 p71 The Human Genome Project: http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/home.html Some Other Useful Web Sites Center Site NIH Human Genome Program http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/HGP/ DOE Human Genome Program http://www.er.doe.gov/production/ober/hug_top.html Genome Database http://gdb.org/

History of Dogs

Rachel Bikshorn Eng 101 Informational Paper: Breeding of Dogs Over Time There are hundreds of breeds of dogs all over the world today. These dogs started off as wild animals that were domesticated for the benefit of humans. Purposes for breeding and domesticating dogs have changed since the beginning of the process. However, humankind has always taken advantage of what dogs can do for us. Dogs have been a large part of our lives from the very start. Some of their purposes have changed from more aggressive characteristics in hunting, to more passive behaviors to assist those in need.As humans have changed and evolved over time, so have our dogs. Early dogs were used for hunting large animals. Cave paintings dating back ten thousand years ago portray dogs helping a hunter take down extremely large animals (Coren 120 picture 2). These dogs were usually tamed wolves that could be used for hunting and protection. These dogs had a pack mentality and were very protective of the other dogs a nd humans apart of their pack (Coren 120). Later, hunting dogs would still be use, but for different reasons and animals. Later in society, more breeds of dogs were showing up, but for similar purposes.Breeds of dogs, such as pointers, spaniels, hounds, and terriers were used for hunting smaller animals. They would hunt for birds, foxes, ducks, deer, and rabbits (Coren 120 picture 9-13). Other breeds were used for service work to assist with jobs at home, transportation, or to help move objects. Many breeds of sheepdogs were used on farms to herd livestock. They were sought out for herding because they lacked a tail. This was â€Å"a desirable trait because of a tax structure that defined as taxable livestock anything born with a tail† (Coren 120 picture 14).Breeds such as the husky were and still are used in team to pull people and objects across snow-covered grounds. â€Å"The dog teams are organized much like a wolf pack, with a leader, or king whose movements coordinate the activities of the other animals† (Coren 120 picture 15). The other dogs on the sled team pay attention to the pack leader and follow that dog. Other, smaller breeds were used to pull small carts with objects such as rags (Coren 120 picture 16). Saint Bernards are extremely large dogs that came from Italy and the Swiss Alps.These dogs were used in search and rescue mission in the mountains. They were also used as herding dogs, livestock guardians, hunting dogs, and watchdogs (Saint Bernards- History and Information 3). Currently, dogs are still a huge part of our lives. As we have adapted to society and technology advances, so have our purposes for keeping dogs and certain breeds close in our lives. Dogs and dog breeds have also adapted to our everyday needs as they have changed in society. More commonly now, we see dogs as family oriented.They still assist in safety work and service help, but breeds are now commonly bred for family and show purposes. Commonly German Shepar ds are used as police dogs. These dogs sniff out drugs and bombs at bus stations, airports, checkpoints, and many other places. The key positive about using sniffing dogs is that it is not considered a search. There does not need to be evidence of drugs or bombs to bring out a sniffing dog. They simply sniff and detect or do not detect illegal objects (Savage). Dogs are also used to help the public through service.Many breeds that are known to be more docile and passive work with people who have special needs. These may include children, adults, elderly, and people with disabilities. Therapy dogs can be found visiting patients in nursing homes and hospitals to help ease the pain and anxiety for the residents. A study was done to see how therapy dogs affected anxiety levels in patients that needed an MRI. In order to get a clear picture from the test, the patient must be very still. If they are nervous and moving slightly, the picture is not clear.The study had two groups of people t hat needed an MRI. One group spent time with a therapy dog beforehand and the others did not. The study showed that â€Å"time spent with a dog seemed to substitute for the anti-anxiety medications some patients need to get through and MRI† (HealthDay). Dogs have a calming affect on people and can be used at substitute for drugs in certain situations. Other dogs that are also calmer and more docile have been used for service work. These dogs work with blind and deaf people.Guide dogs for the blind are ranked as â€Å"one of the most useful modern occupation for a working dog† (Serpell 52). Commonly Labradors and golden retrievers are used as guide dogs. Thanks to these dogs, people with disabilities are able to function on their own in society. Most commonly you can find dogs of all different breeds in people’s homes. Although many dogs are used for working purposes, many are also simply house pets. Dogs that are family oriented and friendly with other people an d pets are most likely what one would find in a home setting with a dog.Certain breeds, such as the pug have not been used for anything else other than companion dogs and pets. Another breed, the King Charles spaniel, has been bred to be loving and gentle. Some characteristics are specifically bred for housedogs and pets (Coren 120 picture 17-18). Dogs that have certain personality traits and physical characteristics have been bred for multiple purposes. Newly, purposes have been for helpful and caring reasons. It has become increasingly popular to breed dogs with strong physical and personality characteristics for show and sport purposes.Today, dog breeding â€Å"in most countries is dominated by the show-ring† (Serpell 61). Exemplary models of dog breeds are bred and trained for sport or show. Dogs in top physical condition compete in dog shows where their bodily skills are shown off in obstacle courses and physical tasks. Other dogs that are in top condition for looks and behavior compete in dog shows where judges pick the best in show for certain categories of dogs. The categories where a dog is picked as the winner include; sporting, hounds, working, terrier, toy, non-sporting, and herding (American Kennel Club).Over time, humans have used dogs in ways that best benefit our lives in the time period. As we have changed and evolved, so have our dogs. From the wildest and newly domesticated, to the simple house pet, dogs have always had a purpose in our lives. We have bred them over time to help us with our everyday needs, and in return they have been loving and loyal companions. Resources: â€Å"St. Bernard Dogs a History and Information. † St. Bernard Dogs a History and Information. Copyright August 7, 2011. Web October 25, 2012. Savage, David. â€Å"Top Justices See Benefits of Police Dogs†.Los Angeles Times. Copyright November 11, 2004. Web October 25, 2012. â€Å"Therapy Dogs May Help Ease Anxiety of MRI†. HealthDay. U. S. Ne ws. Copyright May 6, 2011. Web October 25, 2012. â€Å"A Beginner’s Guide to Dog Shows†. American Kennel Club. Copyright 2012. Web October 25, 2012. Serpell, James. The Domestic Dog: its evolution, behavior, and interactions with people. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Coren, Stanley. The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Lives or our Canine Companions. New york: The Free Press, 1994.

Analysis of the BRICs economy Essay

a) Map the likely evolution of the BRICs. What indicators might companies monitor to guide their investments and actions? Answer: The BRICS are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs. As of 2013, the five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people, with a combined nominal GDP of US$14.8 trillion, and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves. The BRICS countries encompass over 25% of the world’s land coverage and 30% of the increase in global output during the period. It demonstrates that the BRICS has the huge number of the human resources and land resources that attract a lot of investor come to these five countries to seek investment opportunities and market equities. As a result, the overseas company’s monitors want to gain the best profit and the less risk, they can rely on some important of the financial indicators. For example, the Cross National Income, Gross National Income for per capita, foreign exchange rate and the amount of export and import. In addition, they also need consider the human deve lopment index. For example, they need to consider the government’s policy of the overseas company and the local culture and economic. b) What are the implications of the emergence of the BRICs for careers and companies in your country? Answer: China is increasing their economic much faster and it also has a very important position in the world. China has the largest manufacturing countries in the contemporary world due to the great natural and human resources, and it attract a lot of foreign company to expanse their business. But for now, because of the BRICS country’s impact, china can easily get the resources and technology from other BRICS countries. China gradually began to change their industry pattern from manufacture to independent research and development production. With the development of the level of education in the last few years, china has a large number of professional talents to help the company to research and development of new products. The BRICS help companies to get some resource from other BRICS country easily and increase a lot of chance to get technical communication. c) How might managers interpret the potential for their product in a market that is, in absolute economic terms, large, but on a per capita basis, characterized by a majority of poor to very poor consumers? Answer: All the BRICS countries are developing countries and the investor need to face a majority of low-income consumers. These consumers do not have high consumption ability and only focus on the bottom of market consumption level. For the managers, they need to have a good idea of the real business environment and the consumer groups that they will contact. In addition, they also need to pay attention to the potential market to low-income consumers. The company need to according to the features of these groups to position their products. These groups of consumers do not have a lot of money to buy things and only buy some things that they really need and wanted. So the company have to put more attention on their product’s price performance ratio and functionality, and not like the products for the high consumption that need pay more attention on the appearance of the product. The managers also need to help companies to adjusting internal business strategies to adapt new envi ronment. The new country have the different cultural and environment, so they need to project a marketing strategy to attract these groups of consumer. Furthermore, the consumer can help their company to get partnership with some Non-profit Organizations, and it will help to improve the reputation of the company and the effect of the product. d) In the event that the BRICs fail to meet projected performance, what would be some of the implications for international business? Answer: The aim of forming the BRICS is helping the developing country to increase more communication and promote the world peace, in order to help BRICS countries to increase the growth of economies. If the BRICS fail to meet projected performance, and it is mean that the BRICS country’s performance is facing some problems. The economic environment as gross national income, purchasing power parity, human development index and per capita income will be affected. In addition, the performance will be affected by the employment rate, debt, education and GDP relative indicators. Therefore, the BRICS need a strong political institution to have the fairness, patency and preciseness for the international business. On the other hand, the BRICS countries need to make their trade more open to attract more foreign investment, and get more the capital flows. The government should also cooperate with companies, in order to get the best business environment. e) Compare and contrast the rela tive merits of GNI per capita versus the idea of purchasing power parity, human development, and green economics as indicators of economic potential in Brazil, Russia, China, and India. Answer: The GNI per capita a first step toward understanding the country’s economic strengths and it reflects the average income of a country’s citizens. The purchasing power parity is an economic theory that states residents of one country should be able to buy the goods and services at the same price as residents of any other country over time, and it is also a calculation that determines how much things would cost if parity did exist. To calculate GNI, analysts look at the total value if goods and services produced within a given time period, such as a year. However, analysts also evaluate things produced overseas that add value to the nation, looking at what residents produce regardless of where it’s located. For purchasing power parity calculations, analysts look at purchasing power by nation, recognizing that simple currency conversions don’t account for inflation and other factors, they convert to a uniform hypothetical international currency, looking at what a dollar’s worth of that currency would buy in any nation around the world. The unman development index is a summary of human development around the world and implies whether a country is developed, still developing, or underdeveloped based on factors such as life expectancy, education, literacy, gross domestic product per capita. And a green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environment risks and ecological scarcities.

Consumer Behaviour on Social Networking Website

content 1 Background1 2 Motivation and Value2 2. 1 Attributes2 2. 2 Outcomes2 2. 3 Values3 3 Reference group3 3. 1 Aspiration reference group3 3. 2 Informal group4 4 Culture and consumption5 4. 1 Supranational culture5 4. 2 National culture5 4. 3 Subculture5 4. 3. 1 Family6 4. 3. 2 Language6 5 Conclusion6 1 Background Social networking has brought a great change in to the way people build relations with others. These sites are online platforms where users can create profiles to provide personal information, exchange individual ideas and share their interests with the others.Through social networking sites, people can keep in touch with friends despite the long distance and daily bustle. In this way, networking sites change the old communication pattern that people used to communicate face to face. In addition, more internet users accept this new way to build their social ties. According to the Pew Internet's report on social networking(2011), the number of people using social network ing sites raised from 34 of internet users in 2008 to 59% in 2010. Weibo, the second-largest social networking site in China, can be used as a good example to clearly demonstrate this huge success.It operated by SINA corporation and launched in August 2009. As a microblogging platform, Weibo enables customers publishing, broadcasting and achieving instant information based on their relationship. It does not take too much time for Weibo to get a large number of users. On the second quarter financial report released by SINA Weibo 2012 (cited in LU, 2012), there are 368 millions registered users and 36. 5m daily active users on Weibo by the end of June this year. The first driving force of Weibo to attract massive users is its ideally integrating the functions of Twitter and Facebook.Weibo require people to publish posts within 140 Chinese characters and enables people to view embedded pictures and media without leaving the original page. The second appealing feature of Weibo is its Mi cro topics page that groups up all tweets on a certain topic. Similarly, the hottest trends categorization page and the famous people collection page, named Board of Fame and Hall of Celebrity respectively, are third attributor to the success of this site. In following, the means-end chain theory, perceptual model and the self will be applied to explain the achievement of Weibo: Motivation and Value Gutman (1982) presents the Means-end chain that consumer buying behavior determines by fulfilling desired values which could be obtained from the consequence of enjoying the product or service attributes. Desire values could be obtained due to satisfaction of customers in product or services attributes. More specifically, the reason why people consume a certain product/ service is that the nature of the product/ service can generate some outcomes that can achieve individuals' values. This theory can be used to illustrate the success of Weibo. 2. 1 AttributesEach product has its own attri butes. However, as a microblogging service, the attributes of Weibo is different from that of physical products. What has been provided by the service, rather that what it looks like, is the features for Weibo. According to Sohn and kim (2012), seven features can be used to identify social networking sites: information, share, communication, interaction, entertainment, intimacy and connection. However, in this case, interaction with other users can be regarded as a two way communication and connection to their friends can be described as the result of communication.Therefore, main attributes for Weibo are information, communication and entertainment. Regards to information, each profile contains personal information like hometown, interests and schools, etc. And individuals can publish feeds about what they think and what they have seen. Users can possibly follow everyone who they are interested in, like super star, corporation CEO, organization. Then, all the new feeds will be show n once customers log on their account. Meanwhile, people can Retweet the message they like, providing such information to their friends who may not know it. By this way, Weibo provides much information for its users.The second function is communication: users can send immediate message to have chat with friends. Besides this, the opinions of customers are clearly expressed via commenting and replying upon a specific feed. With providing a two way communication among users, people can also enhance their offline social network. Lastly, Weibo provides entertainment functions for users. For instance, there is a medal reward system, where medals can be earned by some simple actions like tweet containing a certain word. Similarly, a gaming portal consisting of various mini web games is provided by this site. 2. 2 OutcomesAfter experiencing all functions of Weibo, customers can enjoy serval results. Firstly, people can widen their horizon of knowledge and expand their social network throug h information attribute. As numerous consumers from all fields of life have opened accounts in Weibo, people can get huge amount of information like business news, social issues and fashion trends. And through sharing personal information and emotions in profiles, Weibo makes it easy to find friends with the same interest. Secondly, with various ways to communicate with others, it is convenient for customers to sustain offline relationships and strength online friendships.Finally, with a variety of entertainment activities, hanging around Weibo have become a good way for recreation among netizens. 2. 3 Values As above-mentioned attributes and outcomes offer a clue, people consume this microblogging service with the hope to achieve these values: belonging, fun and entertainment, warm relations with others, being well respected, self-respect and security, based on the nine consumer values by Kahle(1989). Firstly, Maslow (1943) defines belonging as a feeling of accepted by other member s in a community. As in Weibo, individual can be recognized as a unique person by other users through personal page.Then, all new friends and old friends form a special community for that user. What the user post will receive friends' comments, serving as a indicator of acceptance. Next, people can obtain pleasure and recreation in their lives on Weibo. Having a chat with friends, sharing and viewing opinions on current affairs, playing mini online games, and seeing what their friends are doing can make consumers have a rest from their works or studies. Thirdly, people can enhance friendships by using Weibo. Viewing others' feeds can provide users information about friends' interests, happiness and sorrows.People can know clearly what to talk about with each friend. Furthermore, customers can feel respectable from friends. In Weibo, people show their concerns about what you post by viewing and commenting, even retweeting when they like it. 3 Reference group Reference group means gro ups that have influence on an individual's attitudes, behavior, beliefs, opinions and values (Thompson & Hickey, 2005). If people in reference group have a positive attitude towards a certain brand, they can use their power to attract more users for that brand.Therefore, it is essential for one brand to figure out reference groups that exert effects on its target customers and to give a good impression on those groups. In the case of Weibo, the company has successfully used two reference groups, which are aspiration group and informal group, to increase user number. 3. 1 Aspiration reference group Those people who are admired by the public, like actors, athletes, business people, make up the aspiration group (Solomon et. Al 2010). Many companies have used these celebrities in their advertisements or endorsements to promote its brand.Not surprisingly, Weibo have adopted this tactic along its development to appeal more users. At the initial testing stage, Weibo enhanced its brand awar eness by sending out exclusive registration codes to celebrities. The SINA company firstly invited notables, opinion leaders and industry leaders, who are existing customers of SINA blog, to open account in Weibo. Then, each invited celebrity would be asked to send out 20 special invitation codes to his/her friends, encouraging them to log in Weibo. Then, Weibo used those available notable accounts to attract massive fans to open accounts on Weibo.Consumers hope to get up-to-date information about their idols from following idols' Weibo profile. â€Å"I was a early adopter of Weibo. † said Iris, a Chinese girl from Management major in Leeds University, â€Å"I opened my Weibo account in November 2009. Wanting to know more about my idol–Ashin, a Taiwanese singer, is the main stimulation for me to register in Weibo. With just two or three sentences in a feed, Weibo keep me informed about the daily routines of my idol and let me feel more closer to his life. † As a nother attraction to customers, Weibo guarantees authenticity of idol accounts to customers.All those celebrity accounts would be verified through real-name system before opening, and be added â€Å"V† after their user names to distinguish with ordinary users. Furthermore, owing to facilitate users to find their idols easily, Weibo gathered all these approved accounts into one page, named Hall of Celebrity. Until March 2012, there are 165,000 celebrity accounts in Weibo. On 2nd December 2012, the number of fans for the top one celebrity is over 27 million. As can been seen from these features and data, Weibo has paid huge attention on reference groups and gained plenty of users from these groups. . 2 Informal group Besides using aspiration group, Weibo took advantage of informal group to acquire more users. Thanks to more involvement in others' everyday lives, informal group poses tremendous effects on their consumer behavior, such as whether or not using social networking si tes, which specific site to be used. Weibo, just as other social networking sites, want to enable consumers to get connected with their offline friends and meet new friends with same interests. So as to be successful, large customer database should be provided for new users to find friends.Most of Weibo users firstly know this networking sites from their friends. Another three users' experiences are used to support this statement. Juliet, a Chinese girl in Advertising and Marketing in Leeds University, said, â€Å"I knew Weibo from several friends' recommendations. They had already opened accounts. With sharing feelings and interesting news no more than 140 characters, my friends found it user-friendly and amusing. So they hoped I could join with them. After one trial, I fell in love with this site. And I have recommended this site to my friends who have not had Weibo account yet. The same with Juliet, other two users opened their accounts because of their friends' influence. They said, â€Å"It is just a habit to keep logging into Weibo to see new feeds from friends. And, if I have not used Weibo while others have, I would feel very outdated. And I also persuaded some of my friends to use Weibo. † As stated above, individual can be influenced by his/her reference group to register in Weibo, and then become one member of reference group to alter other's attitude. With this process goes on, Weibo gets an increasing number of users, which leads to its success. Culture and consumption Culture is the learned and shared beliefs and values that influence the formation of attitudes and behaviors among members of a society(). There are three different level of culture: supranational culture, national culture and subculture. The success of Weibo can be explained by these levels. (Baldwin, 2006) 4. 1 Supranational culture Supranational culture aspect can indicate that the success of Weibo is not a exception. Before the launch of Weibo, Twitter, an American micro blogging service, has be prevalent in a global scale, with over 18 million users in 009 (Wolfe, 2011). With global growth of internet usage, people have shared a cosmopolitan culture with same beliefs: time-conscious(Hongladarom, 2005). Caring more about time has a strong impact on the habit of writing and reading. People are more willing to write and read posts of daily lives within few sentences. That is a big driving force to the invention of microblogging sites, which provide people to publish feeds in just 140 characters. 4. 2 National culture In this level, because of its Chinese interface, Weibo is exclusively popular in China.The alteration of national values has led to the success of Weibo. With the affection by western culture, Chinese are becoming increasingly emphasis on liberalism. Freedom has been highly valued in every aspects of life, especially freedom of speech. In the past, only the people with strong power can make their voices heard and it is unable for the publ ic to talk about the government. But Weibo changed this situation by giving the discourse power to common people. In this site, everyone can speak out his/her opinions on trending news and more people can read those ideas with the function of forward.Also, people can become ‘we media' to spread out the news around them, which is known by few people but of importance on the society. 4. 3 Subculture Subculture is the same culture shared barely by a small group in a nation/society. It is largely influenced by the personalities of members in that group. In this level, the characteristics of new netizen generation could explain the widespread usage of Weibo. Weibo has designed its website tailoring to characteristics in this subculture. According to the Enfodesk report, customers aged from 20~34 accounted for 76. 52 percent for the Weibo users.It means that major customers of Weibo are born in 1980s and 1990s, which is a new generation in China after the â€Å"only one child† policy. There are there typical elements affecting this culture group. 4. 3. 1 Family In oriental culture, like in China, people put more emphasis on relationships with other. And family is the most important relation that plays a vital role in the formation of personalities. And Child tend to be more self conscious in small families than large families. In China, the structure of family experienced huge changes after the ‘one child' policy.The ‘China Population Statistics Yearbook 2000'stated that the family size gradually reduced in scale since the policy and the average number of each family dropped from 4. 51 in 1982 to 3. 58 in 1999. Having only child in their family among the generation of 80s and 90s, parents putted all attention and family resources on their child, which lead to a certain degree of doting on that child. As a result, the new generation is more self-centered, revealing a era of self. And, people in this group wanted to be different from their par ents' generation and tend to more emphasis on the self expression.The customization feature of Weibo satisfies this value by provide a stage for people to show themselves. Individual can differentiate with others by showing own ideas towards fashion and current affairs, display his/her interests and create personalize profile. 4. 3. 2 Language Special language is other component to form the subculture. In culture among the generation of 80s and 90s, people usually use the internet catchword in their daily conversation. This words can be defined as a peculiar way of saying something which has become established after long use in netizens.Because of their simplification and humorous, many youth use these special phrases in their feeds in social networking sites. As a result, more users know these catchphrases and spread them out to create even larger influence. Moreover, people need to frequently surf the internet to keep up with the newest famous words because of its time-sensitive. For Weibo, it provide a free place to enhance the popularity of pop words online and vice verse the pop words would attract more users for Weibo. According to Baidao website, Weibo fueled the prevalence of Internet catchwords in 2011. 5 ConclusionIn brief, this essay has discussed three consumer behavior theories, that are the means-end chain, the power of reference group and the three levels of subjective cultures, to explain the success of Weibo. Firstly, Weibo clearly created its major features catering to the desired values of its target customers. With functions of information, communication and entertainment,this site enables people to build self image, get friends' up-to-date information, enhance social network and have a recreation. Consequently, consumers can fulfill their values of self expression, sense of belonging, entertainment life and self-esteem.Then, this site have used the reference power of celebrities and friends to attract more users along its development. By f irstly encouraging important people to open accounts, Weibo induced thousands of their fans. Similarly, these early users influence their friends to use this service. Finally, supranational culture, national culture and subculture lays a foundation to the achievement of Weibo. The widespread presence of social networking sites could be used to indicate the success of Weibo. And the Chinese national culture and youth culture have speeded up the popularity of Weibo.Though Weibo is successful in certain degree, there are still some measures which could be taken to enhance its publicity. On one hand, Weibo should provide a internal version for foreigners. Only using Chinese as the instructional language is big problem that leads to the limitation of global users. The fact is that there are increasing number of foreign users who access the website in recent time, such as Boris Johnson–the mayor of London, David Mitchell–the author of Cloud Atlas. However, they can not use t he website efficiently because they are not familiar with Chinese language.So it would be beneficial for Weibo to have another vision using global language. On the other hand, Weibo should try to create some culture based features to allure and keep customers. As can be seen from many famous products, people ReferenceBOYD, D. M. , N. B. ELLISON. 2007. 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About the first day of school Essay

As the arctic cold rain drops sprinkled diagonally with my loose, flowing auburn hair, I splashed across the street to the bus stop. Although it was showery and very damp, I was happy about my upcoming day, the clouds were fluffy and dark grey, and there was a wonderful scent in the air, which perfumed of the spring morning. Just as I strode across the street, the mustard tinted bus, filled with immature, junior high students pulled up beside me. I wasn’t thrilled to be riding the bus, but it was either step onto the yellow, nightmare filled vehicle, or walk in the rain, so I quickly chose the bus. I selected a seat in the center of the bus, next to a small built looking girl in a purple sweater, plastic rimmed glasses, and navy jeans. The youngster had brunette short hair, and tiny diamond studded earrings shinning in her ears. See more:  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay She smiled at me, looking at me in a way a puppy dog would. I could tell she wanted me to talk with her, but I had no intentions in making friends with a childish schoolgirl who probably could have been about age thirteen. â€Å"Hi, I am Dominique† she said in a hyperactive way. â€Å"I am so happy that you sat with me; what is your name?† I pretended to care, not wanting to be rude to the young girl I responded, â€Å"I am Megan, and truthfully I only sat with you because all of the other seats were filled.† I did however find it interesting that this bizarre looking child was so frenzied in this time of the morning. â€Å"My favorite animal is the dog, do you like dogs† she asked in a begging way, â€Å"I have three dogs. They are all German shepherds; those are my favorite kind of dogs.† As she spoke, I could smell her breathe, it smelling of uncleanness, and was filled with the stench of lucky charms and reeked of what I thought odored like toilet water. I was this time that I was thinking about her atrocious  breathe, that I noticed around her neck, she wore a silver chain, and it had a charm of what appeared to be some kind of canine. Not wanting to continue a conversation, I said; â€Å"No, I am not found of dogs.† This of course was a lie. At this point in our conversation, she got a horrible look, that reminded me of when I once ate a sour lemon. â€Å"What? How could you not like dogs?† she yelped loudly, people turned in embarrassment for her. All of a sudden, the young girl started barking very piercingly. It was an awful yowl that echoed through each ear. I couldn’t believe that this girl, who seemed sane, was barking at me because I didn’t like dogs. Barking is a perfectly natural canine behavior. Birds sing; frogs croak; and a dog barks, whines and howls. This was the first time seeing a girl bark. Not sure what to do, I tried to ignore it, it seemed never ending, although it had only been going through my head for about forty seconds, I wanted to duck tape the girls mouth. She seemed to have a small mouth, it was decorated with a lip gloss that shimmered as she woofed, and it surprised me that so much noise could come out of such a small mouth. It was about this time, that a miracle happened; I, out of the blue realized that we were arriving at the school. I could recognize the bulky, red bricked, structure that read *****ENTER YOUR SCHOOL NAME HERE ****. There were tiny pink flowers planted in a bed around little green bushes, and I had never seen such a beautiful sight. Maybe I enjoyed that moment in time in which I realized that I soon would be removed from this nightmare, but I unexpectedly wanted to be nowhere but inside the School.