Movie Analysis American History X - 1349 Words

The movie I decided to analyze for this course was American History X (1998), which stars Edward Norton. Though this movie isn’t widely known, it is one of the more interesting movies I have seen. It’s probably one of the best films that depict the Neo Nazi plague on American culture. The film takes place from the mid to late 1990’s during the Internet boom, and touches on subjects from affirmative action to Rodney King. One of the highlights of this movie that really relates to one of the key aspects of this course is the deterrence of capital punishment. Edward Norton’s portrayal as the grief stricken older brother who turns to racist ideologies and violence to cope with his fathers death, completely disregards the consequences of his†¦show more content†¦Even when Derek’s car was stolen, one may imply that he seemed to be more irate that a group of African Americans were committing the crime rather than just losing his car. Even though m ost of them got away with his car, he still took out all of his hateful rage for African Americans on the last thief that was left behind. His blind hatred for everyone who wasn’t a white Christian American made him oblivious to the carnage he undertook by himself or with his gang throughout the movie. I’ve watched numerous documentaries on gangs, such as the Ayran Brotherhood, and see many similarities between this fictional white supremacist gang represented in the movie. For example, a similarity I noticed is that these white supremacists not only promotes ridiculous propaganda to support their cause, but some also are surprisingly unapologetic for heinous crimes they committed against others. Denial and ignorance have taken hold of them so tightly (both in real life and shown in the movie) that their reasoning and justification for their mentalities and actions are just beyond disgraceful, while someone on top running the gang is manipulating their crooked minds fu rther purely for their own benefits. Even though eventually Derek reformed in prison, he was far from being remorseful of the crimes he committed as well as his racialShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Movie American History X 858 Words   |  4 Pagespersonal/familial level, or the institutional level. The film,American History X, tells the story of two brothers who are both involved with a Neo-Nazi gang in Venice Beach. The movie starts with the older brother Derrick getting out of jail for the murder of two black gang members. At the same time his brother is getting out of jail, the younger brother Danny is forced to write a paper about his brother s influence on him. The movie then unfolds as part of the paper that Danny is writing. ItRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie American History X 1586 Words   |  7 PagesIn the movie, â€Å"American History X†, the plot surrounds the life of two brothers who are involved with the D.O.C. a well-known white supremacist group in Venice Beach. Danny Vinyard is a high school student who admires his older brother, Derek, a former skinhead. Through the incarceration of his brother Derek, Danny becomes more affiliated with the skinheads and is mentioned at times as being the resemblance of his elder brother. The movie begins with flashbacks of Derek’s incarceration, and everythingRead MoreStereotypes, Conformity, And Discrimination1742 Words   |  7 PagesPrejudices and Discrimination in American History X Abstract Stereotyping, prejudice, conformity, and discrimination are well portrayed in the movie American History X. The negative attitude held by Derek towards to black people is greatly influenced and learned from his father who was a racist. Derek also transfers these prejudice attitudes towards his younger brother Danny as he grows up seeing the racism practiced in his family and his brother. Although these attitudes are based on propagandaRead MoreMovie Review : Falls Short Of Expectations 1407 Words   |  6 PagesWhen creating a movie about Neo-Nazis living in Los Angeles, one might expect there to be violence. Indeed, American History X; directed by Tony Kaye is a film just about that subject and absolutely gives the viewers watching it an immense amount of violence. There have been critics like Peter Travers; movie critic from Rolling Stone Magazine, for instants, who have gone on to praise the film and even calling it â€Å"An explosive, scorched-earth drama.† They explain how the film was powerful and importantRead MoreSpike Lee: Do the Right Thing Essay1011 Words   |  5 PagesJames Callahan COM 2010 4-22-11 Midterm Analysis Revise Cinematography helps Spike Lee to Do the Right Thing In Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing, we dive head first into a world of racial and social ills. The movie is set in the African American and Puerto Rican neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on the hottest day of the year. We follow a young man named Mookie, who lives with his sister Jade, and works as a pizza delivery guy for a local pizzeria owed by Sal. Sal’s â€Å"WallRead MoreAnalysis Of Against The Wall1079 Words   |  5 PagesAgainst the Wall Analysis Today I watched the second movie titled Against the Wall. â€Å"In this film based on a true story, an idealistic young recruit, Michael Smith (Kyle MacLachlan), begins working in Attica Penitentiary and quickly learns how awfully the inmates are being treated. Soon a prison riot breaks out, and Smith and the other guards are taken hostage. The prisoners, led by Jamaal (Samuel L. Jackson), take control of the jail and demand better living conditions. Despite the tense environmentRead MoreWe Were Soldiers Analysis Essay1591 Words   |  7 PagesScott Johnson 04/14/09 HIST. 1700 Term Project Film Analysis/Review WE WERE SOLDIERS It’s a known fact that that the Vietnam War was fought by young American soldiers that bled and died next to one another in the jungles of Vietnam. With many wins and loses throughout the war there were over 58,000 American casualties by wars end. The movie, â€Å"We Were Soldiers† focuses on the role of the United State’s 7th Calvary Regiment in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first large-unit battleRead MoreA Movie Review on El Presidente1626 Words   |  7 PagesEl Presidente A. Title and year of release El Presidente (2012) B. Genre Action, Drama, War, History C. Audience Classification PG-13 D. Production team: Directed by | Mark Meily | Starring | Jorge Estregan as Emilio AguinaldoCristine Reyes   as Hilaria Del RosarioCesar Montano   as Andres Bonifacio | Studio | * CMB Films * Viva Films | | Scenema Concept International | E. Own Synopsis The story is told in flashbacks as Emilio Aguinaldo thanks the US governmentRead MoreEssay Rhetorical Visions in the Film, American History X3044 Words   |  13 PagesRhetorical Visions in the Film, American History X â€Å"Hate is baggage. Lifes too short to be pissed off all the time†. This is a quote from the film American History X. This film sends out a powerful message about hate groups such as skinheads and Neo-Nazis. The vision of this movie is to make others aware of the complex life of a skinhead. Through different symbolism we see how society views this group. We also are made aware of the continuous cycle of violence that continues to existRead MoreSociological Analysis of Racism American History X2317 Words   |  10 Pages Sociological Analysis of American History X: A Breakdown of the Stages of Racism Racism being a common concern for most sociologists is somewhat inevitable and a cause for a large proportion of the problems that occur in the society. American History X (1998) is a film that tells a rather heartrending tale of two brothers that got caught in a ghastly web of bitterness and hatred. Although racism is openly practiced, it isn’t entirely irreversible. The process of escaping from it, however, can

Maslow and Jung Life and the Workplace - 955 Words

Maslow and Jung: Life and the Workplace Personality Theories: Steve Domalik PSY 250 Psychology of Personality Instructor: Pamela Poynter January 24, 2006 Maslow and Jung: Life and the Workplace We work, strive, succeed, and sometimes we fail. What drives us to succeed, or in some cases keeps us from success? Perhaps a better understanding of our motives, and the motives of our colleagues would help us make the personality changes we need to succeed. The way we interact with others in the workplace and our personal life may be improved. The Freudian theories opened our minds to many of our odd behaviors but did little to provide methods of self-examination. Very few of us have the time and the funds available for in-depth†¦show more content†¦Maslow felt that no one would ever reach the top of his hierarchy but should realistically try only to get as close as possible. Through our continued journey in life, meeting problems and issues, we can either grow or slip backward. We can choose to learn and continue climbing or give up. Most people choose to continue their climb. With some, this choice is not an actual conscious decision. The choice is more of a drive to succeed or a cycle of happiness and depression that we have trouble understanding. As a supervisor or manager, our ability to understand the constant cycle of satisfaction and dissatisfaction may mean the difference between a successful career and failure. If in a career or business the only answer to dissatisfaction is monetary, excessive cost to the company can be easily caused and still have unhappy employees and a high turnover rate. Conclusion Carl Jungs introspection and self-examination have led us to the realization that childhood traumas are not the only sources of behavior and personality characteristics. Our continued learning from our experiences, our differentiation, gives us a life-long ability to make corrections. Abraham Maslows understanding of our motivation and constant striving for satisfaction has brought the person back into Psychology and given renewed attention to the truly human qualities that make up us all. Understanding the motivation and satisfaction needs of colleagues,Show MoreRelatedFinal: Motivation and Self-actualization B. Self-actualization1703 Words   |  7 Pagesquestion. Your choice must be clear. If no answer is marked, or if your choice is unclear, the qu estion will be marked as incorrect. SAMPLE: 1. Characteristics of adult learners typically include all but which one of the following? a. have accumulated life experience b. have established opinions, values, and beliefs c. are intrinsically motivated d. enjoy soda and chips e. desire meaningful learning experiences Please post your completed exam in the grade book as an attachment on or before the deadlineRead More Abraham Maslow on Self-Actualization, Motivation and Humanistic Theory2428 Words   |  10 Pagesartists must paint, and poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization† Abraham Maslow. http://toolstolife.com/articles/Abraham-Maslow-s-Self-Actualizer-380 Self- Actualization rests at the pinnacle of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Before reaching that pinnacle, the human being rises through the various strata of motivation beginning with the basic needsRead MoreImproving Fitness Suite Discord At Junction Hotel3320 Words   |  14 Pagesmentioned bureaucracy could achieve an organisations aims most efficiently. He suggested that management was a trainable skill and had 14 principles of management to improve efficiency within the workplace. He also suggested that division of work, with specialised tasks, would increase efficiency in the workplace along with having a unified direction for each area of hierarchy. Another technique for increasing efficiency and reducing waste or cost of labour is through Rational Work Design which stemsRead MorePSYC 2301 3 Essay4271 Words   |  18 PagesSelect one: a. id, ego, superego. b. environment, behavior, thoughts. c. preconscious, conscious, unconscious. d. pleasure principle, libido, reality principle. Question  5 Not yet answered Marked out of 2.00 Flag question Question text According to Maslow, the need to _____ must be met before _____. Select one: a. feel safe; biological needs are satisfied b. self-actualize; the need to feel secure c. feel loved; security needs are met d. feel competent and gain respect from others; one can begin toRead MoreThe Effects Of Alcohol And Substance Abuse2233 Words   |  9 Pagesthe medical expenses related to injuries and poor health. The rate of absenteeism is greater than non-substance abuse and non-alcohol employees. The productivity and quality of the work are highly affected. The four major areas of concern in the workplace is attendance, productivity, safety and employee relationship (Elliott Shelley, 2006). Employees consuming alcohol and substance abuses are mostly full-time employee of all levels of management. Alcohol and substance abuse employees cause lowRead MoreCareer Planning for Hospitality Students3180 Words   |  13 Pagesduring the period of time and are still growing. Moreover the number of hospitality graduates is still very low as compared to the demand of the industry. Hence hospitality as a career is still considered as a fair option in order to grow and make life out of it. Graduate labor market As outlined by Harvey (2001, cited by Nabi, 2000) graduates should posses certain attributes and skills in order to help them find a job and have sustainable growth in it. This would further help them buildRead MoreThe Influence Of Emotional Quotient ( Eq ) Towards Novice Teachers Work Stress And Organizational Commitment4734 Words   |  19 Pagesabstract intellect. They explained social intellect as an ability to be with people. Weehsler (1940) also claimed affective component in EQ as important aspect to be achieved in life, whereas Maslow (1950) stated that human can build strength in their emotions and achievement in terms of health problems and happiness in life. Consequently, Howard Gardner (1975) has introduced the multiple intelligences concept especially in the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects. In addition, Mayer and SaloveyRead MoreThe Essence of Organizational Behaviour3953 Words   |  16 PagesValues – what people believe to be important. ââ€"  Self-regulatory plans – the goals people set themselves and the plans they make to achieve them. Personality theories Personality is a product of both nature (hereditary) and nurture (the pattern of life experience). Personality can be described in terms of traits or types. Emotional intelligence characteristics ââ€"  Self-management. ââ€"  Self-awareness ââ€"  Social awareness ââ€"  Social skills. Types of behaviour The types of behaviour associated with individualRead MoreEssay about Phd Comprehensive Exam. in Leadership15004 Words   |  61 Pagesemphasizes problem solving. They allow latitude in action and encourage the use of reasoning before taking action. â€Å"Leaders create situational contexts and conditions in which followers engage in creative efforts to accomplish their goals† (D. I. Jung, 2000). They understand that to optimize organizational health and growth, the talents of each member must be optimized. Overly formalized organizational structures which place the emphasis upon member seniority over member talent are at risk of atrophyRead MoreEssay Wgu C351 Task 14625 Words   |  19 Pagesmodern nursing, first began to establish nursing as a profession during the Crimean War. Since then, nursing theorists have continued to expand on the thought that patients are made up of more than just the symptoms they present with, Abraham Maslow, Carl Jung, Dr. Larry Dossey and Dorothy Johnson, but none more so than Jean Watson. She developed a theory of human caring that contained several core concepts, these concepts lay forth the ground work for how we, as nurses, should care for a patient

Assessing Organizational and Strategic Communication - Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Assessing Organizational and Strategic Communication. Answer: Introduction: This is to bring to the notice of the entire staff of Data Solutions that recently an audit was conducted of internal and external communication process of Data solutions. The objective of the audit was to establish the effectiveness of inter and intra organisational communication. An extensive audit was done of all the communication procedures used in the organisation. General purpose of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of entire communication system. The specific purpose of the audit was to find problem areas where communication needs to be improved. A major finding of the communication audit was that the external communication of the organisation pertaining to marketing and promotions was effective. However, certain issues were found in the internal communication process of the organisation management. The first problem which was spotted in the audit was the lack of use of proper means of communication by the employees. It was found that most employees conduct daily work through oral communication and do not record the matter through communication means like letters, emails or memos. This results in confusion, chaos and mistakes. Another internal communication problem highlighted by the audit was lack of uniform communication across the organisation. It was found that some employees indulge in group behaviour and certain important decisions and aspects of organisational work are kept secret from some employees based on prejudices and biases related to ethnicity or culture. This behaviour hampers the communication process and can hinder productivity. It was also observed in the communication audit that organisational meetings are ineffective. The audit revealed various reasons for ineffectiveness of meetings. It was found that the minutes of the meeting are not properly recorded. This leads to difficulty in follow-up of the decisions taken in the meetings. All the employees of Data Solutions need to take corrective actions to solve the various problem cited by the communication audit. It is advised that all employees must use proper means of communication to interact while discharging their duties. All work related matters must be documented. Proper mode of communication must be used to discuss or to give instructions to the subordinates. No use of oral communication will be accepted henceforth. Emails or letters are the recommended means of communication to be used for all work related purposes. The employees are advised to involve all employees as required within the loop of communication. No employee should be left out because of ethnic or cultural considerations. Strict action will be taken against any individual or group who are found to be purposely keeping a section of employees out of the communication loop. A written agenda of the meeting must be sent to all concerned before commencement of the meeting. The employee chairing the meeting must make sure that minutes of the meeting are recorded properly. The communication audit was done with a view of finding areas of improvement so that all employees could benefit. The audit found three major problem areas in the internal communication of the organisation. These problems were, lack of use of proper means of communication by employees, group behaviour leading to some employees being left out of the communication process and ineffective meetings. These problems can be solved by documenting all wok related decisions and using proper communication techniques like emails and letters.The employees must include all other employees in the communication process for better effectiveness. Taking corrective actions to solve these problems will help in increasing productivity of the organisation. Use of proper means of communication will help in reducing confusion, chaos and will reduce delays which occur because people are not clear on the work to be done. Involving all employees in the communication process will help in inculcating sense of belongingness in all and will improve the work culture of the organisation. Recording all aspects of the meetings with proper follow-up will increase the efficiency of work flow in the organisation. Therefore, the organisation as a whole will benefit by solving these problems. Data Solutions has set up online assistance on the employees portal for employees who want to learn the usage of communication tools and techniques. There are some additional tutorials as well which can help the employees in polishing their communication skills. Employees in need of further assistance with the actions mentioned above may contact Ms Smith, HR Manager of Data Solutions. Compliance to the corrective actions is to be done with immediate effect. References Blizard, J. (2012). The importance of effective communication. AORN Journal, 95(3), 319-320. Downs, C. W. (2012). Assessing Organizational Communication: Strategic Communication Audits. New York: Guilford Press. Dwyer, J. (2013). Communication for Business and the Professions, Strategies and Skills, (5th ed.). Melbourne: Pearson Education Austrilia. Fielding, M. (2014). Effective Communication in Organisation. Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd. Guffey, M. E. (2012). Essentials of Business Communication. New York: Cengage Learning. Hartley, P. (2015). Business Communication: Rethinking your professional practice for the post-digital age. New York: Routledge.

Online Advertising an Example of the Topic Business Essays by

Online Advertising Introduction The criteria for study is divided in to various sub sets and various methodologies are adopted to make an accurate study relating the topic. The first step is to analyse the visual appeal of both the banners and the way in which they are positioned in the web page. The next step is to analyse the content part, ie: the concept that is being explained though the banners and their efficiency in attracting the attention of a site viewer. Stress is also given to the evaluation and study of the Banner size and its positioning in the web page. Need essay sample on "Online Advertising" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed As per the conventional theories on communication the Z rule for hot spots is applicable to web pages as well. The rule emphasises the point that a viewer of a website or the reader of a newspaper is inclined to view the page in a pattern resembling the letter Z. The hottest point is the top left corner, then he moves on to the right, then to the bottom left and ultimately to the bottom right corner. This theory can also be applied while analysing and the efficiency of the Advertisement banners placed in the site can be analysed. Here the case study offers an opportunity to find out the efficiency of Advertisement campaigns in webpages and helps to understand the most suitable and appropriate positioning of the Ad panels. The scope of the study is that it is equally beneficial for both the advertiser and the advertised as it helps both the parties to improve the quality of the service that they are offering. Briefly analyse the First case study In case of the first Website Advertisements are placed on the top right and bottom positions of the web page. There are interactive ads and snippets which give the viewer a glossy feel. Also the advertisement banners are positioned in an attractive and eye catching way. The services provided here is mostly women related facilities like subscribing womens magazines cosmetic items and relating horoscope and foreign trip planning. All the ad banners are positioned in an attractive way and perfectly matches the content of the site. The colour scheme is also selected accordingly. An important problem that can be noticed is that there is a little bit of horizontal scroll for the page. As a result the ads placed at the right side of the page is not visible immediately. The viewer has to scroll in order to view the advertisement. Ad positioning For any advertisement campaign to work efficiently, the primary factor is that, the advertisements should be positioned in such a way that it is clearly visible and the target audience easily notices the advertisement. In the first case the advertisement banners are effectively positioned in sync with the page content. To start with our analysis, we can first verify the positioning of Advertisements in the web page. As said earlier, the Ads are concentrated to the top, right and bottom of the pages. Also there are variety in advertisements like the one placed towards the right, in which when the mouse is placed over the Advertisement banner, then the copy of the advertisement appears. This type of a creative advertisement seems to be extremely useful in generating feminine curiosity. Now when we analyse the advertisement using the Z theory of visual focus point, it is clear that the ad page caters to a very high extend based on the theory. Ad design and colour schemes The advertisements are in perfect match with the page content thus identifying them as part of the page itself. The tint of pink and green colour user is very much effective in this respect. The top strip of the page is black and hence it provides a perfect background for any colour for the advertisements. As per theories the colour schemes of the advertisement should not contrast the basic colour scheme of the aver all page. This is taken care about and is effectively done. Formats of advertisements It has been noted that there are normally three file formats for banner advertisements in websites. The first one is JPEG format (image), GIF format (animated images) and flash format (.SWF) format. In the first website, we have flash advertisement used very effectively at the right side of the page. The effectiveness of the ad is that, normally it occupies less space and when the mouse comes over the ad panel, then the advertisement is expanded and occupies more space. This kind of an animation is very effective to evoke curiosity among the viewers. The colour scheme of the advertisement is also in perfect match with the page contents. Subject dealt with in the Advertisements Being a website for women, it is expected to have women related goods and services being advertised in the site. Here an analysis based on this respect will prove to be effective. In the first web site, there are ads relating to dating, womens cosmetic items as well as other amenities of general human interest. Briefly analyse the second case study In the Second website, the ads are placed at the top, in the left side and at the bottom of the page. Many of the advertisements are relating to women but there are also ads relating to financial organizations like IG vaisya. On the right side of the page we find big banner advertisements, whereas towards the left side of the page there are small button Ads. Ad Positioning Studying the positioning of the Advertisement, it is obvious that there is lack of clarity when compared to the first website. Advertisements are spread all over and there is a messed up feeling altogether. Here Ad Positioning is not much taken care of. Also the positioning is not in the hotspots of the page. There is also an empty feeling at the top strip portion of the page. There is scope of a colourful advertisement side by side with the top strip and the unavailability of such an ad creates a void there. The most important fact relating Ads placed towards the right side of the page is that, they are not even seen in 600 X 800 screen resolution. This means most of the visitors (at least some) skip even seeing these advertisements. This is a highly negative aspect and when contrasting this with the former website here it is clear that the right side ad panel is a total failure. The basic purpose of an advertisement is to attract the attention of the viewer. If the ad itself is not viewed what is the purpose of placing an ad? Design and colour schemes The design and colour schemes of the ad is in perfect union with the main content of the site. The design is more or less simple and the colour is perfectly matching. There are a few ad links at the bottom of the page, which gives the site a directory look. There are also beneficial when we consider the website as an exclusive womens web site. The links placed towards the left side is having an identity of their own. Though most of them are having contrasting visual elements there is an eye catching aspect in every ad and is very important for banner advertisements. Formats of advertisements As said earlier Ads are of three basic formats. In the second website not even a single gif ad is present. All ads are in JPEG format. Ie: they are all non animated images. There is only one flash ad at the top right of the page. This reduces liveliness of the website and make the ads feel dull. Especially considering the fact that the website is for women which mostly includes teen age girls and women mostly of a young age group, it is always wise to use much more glossy and attractive advertisements. Subject dealt with in the Advertisements This is most crucial as this is a women related site . Here in the second web site, almost all ads are on women interest and there are a few general interest topics. Women related topics like beauty aids, dating, love life advisers etc are displayed. Also a few offers to sign up for magazines are also present. All the advertisements are more or less communicative and the services offered are identifiable except for a few advertisements. Also the arrangement of advertisements and page content is in such a way that the viewer is easily confused about which one is the page content and which one is an advertisement. So it can be concluded that ads are placed here in a cunning way from a viewers point of view. Conclusion - Compare and contrast the two case studies To conclude with, after closely examining various factors dealt with in detail like, Ad positioning, Ad design and colour schemes, Formats of advertisements, Subject dealt with in the Advertisements in the two websites that are being examined, we have reached the following findings. The first website is more specific in terms of Ad positioning and effectiveness of Ad banners The position of advertisements and the selection of hot spots is much more accurate in the first advertisement File format selection is also better in the case of the first website as they could also manage the available space by using tricky flash animation as contrasted with the later website. Use of animations and movements to make the website feel more lively is also successfully accomplished by the first website. Both the website is having horizontal scroll when viewed in 600 X 800 screen resolution which should be rectified for effective ad display. When considered as a website for women , both websites have taken care to use light and fruity colours that are in sync with the feminine nature. Bibliography Thomas C. O'Guinn, Chris T. Allen, Richard J. Semenik, Advertising and integrated brand promotion Published by Thomson South-Western Arie den Boon, Webvertising, Published by Kluwer Scn Education B. V, 'Webvertising: The Ultimate Internet Advertising Guide', Published by Springer David W. Schumann , Esther Thorson , Esther Thorson, 'Internet Advertising: Theory and Research', Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Help Writing a Research Paper

Help Writing a Research Paper Help Writing a Research Paper Help Writing a Research Paper Research paper advisers expect students to provide some background information about the research studies that they review. Without this information, research paper readers may be unsure about the value of the reviewed studies. Note, the lack of content development causes awkward transitions between ideas and undercuts the college research paper writer's credibility. Because the research paper writer fails to give the necessary background about the studies he or she reviews, his or her discussion may seem choppy and illogical. Many of such research paper problems can be solved by a brief introduction concisely summarizing each scholar's credentials and research methods. Introductions of this sort are also crucial to incorporate someone else research ideas into your discussion. With the hope of swaying a reader, gifted researchers sometimes intentionally avoid clarifying the context of research studies that research paper writers cite to support their positions. If you have a trouble with generating research paper topics ideas, custom research paper service is here to solve your problems. Free research paper is not a solution because thousands of other students have already submitted the same paper to their tutor.   Who knows, maybe your tutor has read that research paper as well. offers help writing a research paper. We guarantee high quality of every written paper we deliver! No hidden costs, no inexperienced writers! Research Paper Writing Academic research paper writing is distinguished from other kinds of writing in the degree of revision expected. While you can write quick memo in a single draft, most academic research papers writing require multiple revisions, some as many as a dozen or even four dozens. While tangled syntax and awkward wording may be acceptable in brief notes to colleagues, the rigorous peer-review process is designed to ensure that college papers are exemplary. Adviser wants you to write elegantly, to offer original contributions, and he wants you to be knowledgeable on the topic you have chosen. Rather than considering revision to be a relatively unimportant activity, like minor housekeeping, you can have a more accurate sense of how experienced college research paper writers perceive revision. You should consider it more similar to major renovation in which you tear down walls, rip off the roof, and add turrets. While you may be particularly adept at identifying and correcting grammatical and mechanical problems, you should ignore these concerns when in the process of first revisions.   If you request help writing a research paper at our site, you are entitled to request unlimited number of revisions. Our blog and writing tips are absolutely free!

Teaching Others to Write. . . Online

Teaching Others to Write. . . Online If you’ve been published for any length of time, you realize thousands upon thousands of writers still struggle to get published or to decide what they want to write. Some still need to learn the basics while others seek to be steered in the right direction. With enough experience and knowledge under your belt, you might be able to help them and, in turn, increase your writing profits. You don’t need to be a New York Times bestseller or have numerous awards to your credit to teach; however, you do need strong writing skills, proof that you’ve mastered an area of writing, and the ability to convey the knowledge you have learned to others. Choosing the topic to teach involves research as you look into writing courses already available. You don’t want to offer a course too similar or too generic, and what you do offer should be a component of writing with which you’re extremely familiar. For instance, if you’ve gotten rave reviews on your villainous characters, you could possibly teach a course for other aspiring suspense/thriller writers. Teaching writing courses involves designing the course, which includes writing all of the lessons and the assignments, and setting the price, although some sites do have input on the fee. You will also review the students’ assignments and offer feedback for improvement. Some teachers offer an assessment test or a review wrap-up at the end of the course but neither are required. It is helpful to think creatively when you’re designing your course, though, because you must be a magnet, convincing writers why they should take your course. I just completed teaching a romance writing course for Wow! Women On Writing, and I have a different class, about how to strengthen your fiction, that will start on September 16th. The site takes 20 percent commission, but I factor that in when I set the price of my classes. I have been teaching for Women On Writing since 2016, and the extra income is well worth the small bit of time it takes to review student assignments. Sites like Women On Writing and Savvy Authors are always scouting for high-quality teachers, and once you pass their application process, you set the times you want to teach around your schedule. Plus, the material belongs to you, and you can use it as often as you’d like, whether it’s four times a year or only once. Â  CreativeLive is also open to new instructors, but these are recorded classes, which might be another interesting path to take. There is a short learning curve to teaching an online class, and it’s always beneficial to take one yourself before becoming the teacher. Become accustomed to the flow of the class to determine what you like and don’t like about particular ways of teaching. You’ll find your own way to present your information to students. You might also want to take this free course so you can learn to teach online. Once you’ve been teaching for a while, you could even try your hand at places like Udemy and Skillshare which offer video-based courses and a chance for you to earn even more money, though the learning curve at these sites has a bit of a wider arc. Finally, as a bonus, once you’re tired of a written course or don’t have the desire to teach it anymore, you can turn the classes into articles to sell. Most will need basic restructuring before you submit them for possible publication.

Group Project Phase 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Group Project Phase 3 - Assignment Example His agency is the only one entrusted with the punishment of all the convicted suspects. It means that the Security Chief of the state correctional facility has short-term, intermediate, and long-term interaction with all the suspects. Major Allen Irongate, who is the Security Chief of the state correctional facility, represents Virtual detention Center on a number of occasions, especially when culprits commit crimes within the facility (Ferdico, Fradella, & Totten, 2013).   One of the major resources available to the correctional facility is the Virtual Detention Center. Perhaps this is the primary physical resource at the disposal of the correctional facility to execute its mandate. The detention center serves as a prison and remands for the suspects awaiting the hearing of their cases. Additionally, the detention center aids in the interim accommodation of suspect who are on parole. Other resources available to the correctional facility to execute its mandate include the other security departments that work hand in hand with Major Allen Irongate in order to deliver justice to the people of Virtual. Under the watchful eye of Major Allen Irongate, the correctional facility liaises with the Virtual Police Department and other agencies in order to fight crime. Raymond Burr, who is the chief criminal prosecutor from the Office of the District Attorney, plays a key role in prosecuting suspects who commit crimes in detention centers. Evidence relates such i nmates as John â€Å"Jacky† Pole with drug peddling within the correctional facility (Ferdico, Fradella, & Totten, 2013).   In as much as the correctional facility is trying its best to deliver the correct punishment to the criminals operating in Virtual like the Very bad Bike Club (VBBC), it is worth noting that certain resource shortfalls preclude a more effective response. Perhaps one of the major resource shortfalls in the correctional facility,

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 9

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example so allow them to supply to the market as quickly and precisely as possible in order to meet the actual demand without being able to consider maintaining a high inventory level. When there is high inventory, there is also high linked up cost with it. Thus, the prevailing structural program of Dell with respect to its recent supply chain strategy ensures a great way of generation of profit as the entire activity minimizes the loss of market opportunity. In other words, the ability of Dell to forecast demand allows it to provide the essential supply to its target marketplace. In order to do this, the company relies heavily on information by maintaining constant flow of data through two information loops (Oracle, 2013). This means that the flow of information should take place between customers and Dell sales team and the other one takes place among sales, procurement and suppliers (Oracle, 2013). Supply chain could be defined as a set of two or more entities involved in the upstream and downstream flow of products, services, finances and information from the source to a consumer (Overbeck, 2009, p.17). It is upstream from the point of view of consumer and the other way around for the source. This definition gives us the idea that the flow of products, services and information is sequential, which means that the output of the first level is the input of the next level. However, due to the existing complexity of relationships involved in the supply chain today, ‘supply network’ was coined (Overbeck, 2009, p.17). According to Hieber (2002), the nature of supply chain is unique (p.130). This is because there is complexity involved within the flow of goods and information between the linked entities in the supply chain. This according to him would require a changing set of priorities from time to time, requiring a high level of responsiveness on the part of the organisation. According to Jones and Tilley (2007), supply chains and management have become potential

India in Medieval Time Essay Example for Free

India in Medieval Time Essay Structure of society was that it was divided in caste system. There was a strong caste system in India that we don’t see in Europe. Since it was mainly an agriculture based society that demands caste system for an efficiently working society. Since areas were ruled individually there was difference in society structure in different areas too. They had different gods and thus different rituals. On other hand most people in Europe did farming too but they were servants, peasants or serfs. FAMILY People lived in joint family system i.e. husband wife their children grand children their wives all lived under same roof. The eldest male person was used to be the head of family. Even today in many parts of India and even in Pakistan still live in joint family system. They had importance of respecting their elders such as saying namaste (used to greet others on meeting) and they touch feet of elders, gurus and their gods out of respect. Arrange marriages were planned. Family elders used to decide where to marry their child after verifying the age, height, looks, family values, financial background of family and matching their horoscopes. There was tradition of taking dowry that we can still see in our society. POSITION OF WOMEN In my point of view I don’t think women had good status in India in middle ages. Their marriage, up bringing and widowhood depended upon which caste they are from. They had tradition of sati. Sati means â€Å"true wife† and the tradition was that the women whose husband died was burnt alive to prove her loyalty and love for her husband and to be with him in after life. The women who were not burnt were suppose to live very simple life, no make-up and jewelry, had to wear white sari and sleep on floor and only one meal a day without honey, meat, wine and salt. Today this is against law of India. Treating women in such way is ridiculous they should have as much right to live as men. On other hand in Europe women could remarry. RELIGION Different religions were followed in India in medieval time like Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism and later Islam spread by Sufis. They had a number of religious festivals that they still celebrate today. Navratri, diwali, ganesh chathruti, durga poja, holi, rakshabandhan and dussehra are the religious festivals of Hinduism. People believe in different gods thus they have different rituals and temples. â€Å"the belief that rituals bestow authority and power was widespread and additional incentive was the promise of heavenly rewards.† (Thapar, 2002) People of a region had usually different god than other like some people worshipped durga while other worshipped shiva and so on. But they did respect other gods too. Later when Arabs invaded ths area Sufis came along with them and mixed up with local society and gradually preached them and converted them to Islam. It wasn’t spread by force. We can easily see the diversiy of religion in India. In Europe Christianity was the centre of everything. Church was the centre of society. There was difference between eastern church and western church.one was called orthodox church and other was the catholic church. Islam also spread in Europe. In medieval times, Muslims governed Jerusalem. Jerusalem  is sacred to both Christians and Muslims. To Christians, it is the birth place of Christ, Christ spend most of his time in this city and was crucified here. To Muslims, dome of the rock is in this city which is the very place from where Muhammad (P.B.U.H) ascended to heavens. Initially, Muslims let the Christian pilgrims to visit this holy city but in 1070s Turks conquered Jerusalem who was also Muslim. They didn’t allow Christians to visit their holy sites and mistreated them. They also threatened Byzantium Empire. This became the basis of a series of holy wars called crusades. By the end of the 11th century, the emperor of Byzantine Alexius I was threatened by the Seljuk Turks. He asked the pope Gregory VII for assistance so that they can save themselves. Thousands of the Christians responded to this call and thus resulted in the first Crusade. The plans of Gregory VII were taken up by Pope Urban II who gave this plan a proper direction. Thus the idea of the first crusade is attributed to him. Even though, Europeans were unable to get their required results through the crusades, the crusades affected the world in many ways. Christians started the crusades in name of religion and their religion was affected the most. In fourth crusade western Christians on their way killed eastern Christians in Constantinople. They also killed Christians on basis that they dressed like Muslims. This was the time when Orthodox Church and Catholic Church separated completely and their conflict still remains. The Europeans were the ones having the major positive effects as a result of crusades. One of the biggest benefits was the trade of spices and luxury textiles. They also bring along with them many medicines and ways of treatments from Arab and Persia the crusades also aided the beginning of Renaissance in Italy. The history of Crusades in my opinion was more political than religious. It was a war for more power and authority. The Christians fought it in the name of God but the real name was different. They only wanted to make Muslims weaker. Even if we look in today’s world and all the War against terrorism, they are no more than occupying Muslim land geographically important for the  west and not for any religious reasons. POLITICS Gupta Empire ended in 500 C.E. after that people ruled regionally. There were many kings ruling locally. The doctrine of mandalas was very important here which was that king of one region was enemy of its immediate neighbor and was friends with the king of neighbor’s immediate neighbor. So they make ties with other king to attack and conquer. Since religion was the most important thing at that time the temples were rich with the gifts offered by pilgrims. People offered the best they had to please their gods. The muslims invaded these areas because they wanted to capture the temples wealth not because they wanted to spread Islam. Local kings also used to do the same thing. Some dynasties that ruled the southern part were the pallavas, cera, pandyas. The main kingdoms in northern areas were chaulakyas, dantidurga, Al-Balhara, Al-jurz or gurjara pratihara and dharma palas. All of them wanted to have control over Kanauj to have better strategic control since it was the central point. These kingdoms declined because they knew each others strengths and weaknesses and were attacked by Arabs. Arab forces entered India through Khyber pass, bolan pass and gomal pass. In 9th and 10th century rajputs became prominent. Muhammad bin Qasim conquered sindh in 712 C.E. Number of small kingdoms rose with rulers of Turkish origin. Among them was a kingdom with a ruler Mahmud centered at Ghazni (in Afghanistan). ‘For him, India was a wealthy land always appearing rich and attractive from the barren mountains of Hindu Kush’. (Thapar,2002) His aim was to capture the temples to take away the wealth. He destroyed the temple of Somnatha for the very reason. In 1026, Mahmud raided Somanatha, desecrated the temple and broke the idol. The event is described in Turko-Persian and Arab sources. The popular view is that Mahmud’s raid on Somanatha was such a trauma for the Hindus that it became seminal to the Hindu-Muslim antagonism of recent times. Yet there is no reference in contemporary or near contemporary local sources of the raid on Somanatha. Jaina sources describe the renovation of the temple by Kumarapala, the Chaulukya King, due to lack of maintenance by local officers  and natural decay of age. It would seem that Mahmud’s raid had not left a long-lasting impression. The earliest claim that the raid resulted in trauma for the Hindu was made not in India but in Britain, during a debate in the House of Commons in 1843.’ (Thapar, 2002) Muhmud Ghuri also attacked India. Thus we can see the diversity in India very clearly. Sufis came here with invaders, scientists and philosophers also came here. Thus there was a exchange of culture and thus the diversity of Indian culture continues. On the other hand Europe had religious conflicts between eastern Europe and western Europe. Arabs also attacked and conquered them. European kings felt so threatened and their result we can see in form of crusades. Spain became great Muslim centre where dynasties like Abbasis, Ummaids and Fatmids ruled. In Europe we can’t see as much diversity as we do in India. ECONOMY People of India used to do basically farming. Their major occupation was agriculture for which caste system developed. This was also one reason why Islam didn’t spread in India in beginning because they needed caste system for agriculture and Islam teaches equality. India was very rich in agriculture and produced spices and traded them. TRADE CENTRES Some cities were important with trade point of view. Cities like Madurai, Vanji, Vatapi, Tamraliptri, Kanauj, Ujjain, Broach and Pataliputra were considered as trade centres. Trade was done through both land and sea. TRADE ROUTES Silk route was a major trade route. Other trade routes included port of Varanasi, Goa, Mathura, Puna and Patna. TRADING COUNTRIES India did trading with Arabia, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Java, Sumatra,  Indo-China and China. Europe came to know about Indian products very well after crusades infact major reason of crusades was to start trade with India. EXPORTS Silk, gems, bleached cloth, pearls, spices, ivory and diamonds were exported. Pepper, cinnamon, opium and indigo were exported to Europe in exchange of gold and silver. ART AND ARCHITECTURE Like all other factors art and architecture of India was also very diverse. There was different style of architecture in north than south side of India. Temples of south India were built in Dravadian style of architecture with carved sculptures. In north side nagara style of architecture was used. In the regions in between north and south vasera (hybrid style) was implemented. When muslims came here they made buildings in their own style of architecture. Beautiful mosques, tombs, havelis and forts were made in medieval time. [pic] [pic] Mahabodhi temple Mahakeleshwar temple Muslims built qutub minar delhi mosque etc. which have architecture entirely different than temples. [pic] There were number of different languages. Each region had a language of their own and there was a single language that was used as official language. Vedic scriptures puranas etc were compiled. Quran and sunnah was being compiled by Arabs. In Europe church was most dominant. All the art and architecture was devoted  to the church. The main architectural styles developed were gothic and Romanesque. Romanesque church followed horizontal lines whereas gothic was much heightened and detailed. Gothic style pointed arch is used that can take more load and flying buttresses were introduced. Castles were built for defence purposes. They consist of small square towers, usually of wood, planted on hilltops or artificial mounds and had small windows. Material used for construction was stone, mortar and wood. [pic] Wells cathedral (Gothic style) [pic] Romanesque style The churches were decorated with sculptures and paintings. Since it was a religion based society they worked for churches without wages. Church was in centre of city built on highest mound or hill and was highest and other buildings were built around it having low heights. Muslims also made mosques in Europe too. EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY Most people in India were educated. They had gurus, scholars and there was the oldest university in Taxila. A British scholar leigtner said in later British rule that these are educated people and they should be taught in their own native tongue. Whereas in Europe there were monasteries that only gave religious education. They weren’t aware of scientific knowledge until they came across Arabs and Indians. Mahmud of gazni when came to India brought along a philosopher named Al Beruni who wrote book on India names tahqiq al hind. Main invention in medieval time were weapons, nautical inventions, clock, numbering system, astrolabes, sundial, compass etc. CONCLUSION Keeping in view all the points mentioned above we can say that India is very rich in culture at all times. Its history is so diverse in all aspects whether its society, culture, religion, politics, economy, art and architecture. In general it is said that there were dark ages throughout the world which based upon above discussion is not true. Dark ages were only in Europe since there were wars and was only religious based society and there was no advancement technologically whereas India was progressing and by looking at its diversity and advancements tells us that it wasnt in dark ages at all. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historians_in_mediaeval_Britain http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm http://www.medieval-castle.com/history.htm http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/medsoc/11.shtml http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/medsoc/09.shtml http://www.hyw.com/books/history/medieval.htm http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-art/medieval-artists.htm http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/medieval-artists.htm http://www.castles.me.uk/gothic-architecture.htm http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2693488596_950b824822.jpg http://www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk/photos/wells_cathedral.jpg http://historymedren.about.com/library/atlas/maps/navieurope.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Late_Medieval_Trade_Routes.jpg http://web.nickshanks.com/history/medieval/manor http://web.nickshanks.com/history/medieval/trading http://science.jrank.org/pages/9077/Education-in-Europe-Medieval-Education.html http://www.allempires.net/education-in-medieval-europe_topic18280_post339921.html http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ls201/medieval2.html https://qed.princeton.edu/getfile.php?f=North-West_Regions_of_Medieval_India_-

Trento and Vicenza Essays -- Geography Geographical Papers

Trento and Vicenza ?The city of Trento (population 101,000) is located in the province of Trento.? The provinces of Trento and Bolzano come together form Trentino-Alto Adige.? Trentino-Alto Adige is the mountain territory of the upper Adige Valley and South Tyrol.? It is within this region that the majority of the Italian Mountains are found.? The area is known for its great scenic beauty.? The City of Trento sits in the valley of the River Adige and lies in the shadow of Monte Bondone.? Monte Bondone is known for its beautiful alpine flora.? Many herbs are collected from the Monte and are used for medicinal proposes throughout the country.? Lago di Toblino is located 16km west of the city.? Lago di Toblino is a beautiful lake that is overlooked by a medieval castle.? There are numerous summer and winter resort areas.? It is very easy the see that there is natural beauty in Trento, but that is not all Trento is known for.? Trento is rich in history as well. ?In its origins there are traces of Celtic influence in Trento but during the 1st century Romans had complete control of the town politically and culturally.? During the Middle Ages Trento found its significance in the fact that it was the geographical link between Germany and Italy.? Trento was an episcopal fief from 1027 until 1802 due initially to an invasion by the Goths, Lombards and Franks.? In the 16th century the city gained prominence under the direction of Bishop Bernardo Clesio and Bishop Cristoforo Madruzzo.? While Bishop Madruzzo was presiding Trento served as the meeting place for the Council of Trent.? ?The council of Trent took place between 1545 and 1563.? It marks one of the most significant turning points in the Catholic Church.? The Council was f... ...he theater still hosts theatrical and musical events.? ?The most significant religious building is the Santa Corona.? The Santa Corona was built in the 13thcentury.? It is known for two altarpieces, Paolo Veronese?s, Adoration of the Magi and Giovanni Bellini?s Baptism of Christ.? The church was named after a thorn of the crown of Christ, given by St Louis of France.? This relic can only be seen on Good Friday.? ?The cities of Trento and Vicenza are rich in history, culture, and scenery.? They will make great stops for our travel adventures.? References Blanchard, Paul.? Northern Italy, From the Alps to Bologna.? A&C Black.? New York: 2001. Rogers, Jay. Chalcedon Articles, The council of Trent. http://www.forerunner.com/chalcedom/X0020_15._Council_of _Trent.html Simon, Kate. Italy, The Places in Between.? Barnes & Noble Inc. New York: 1984

“Crossing” by Mark Slouka Essay

Trust and family relationships are the two main themes in the short story â€Å"Crossing† by Mark Slouka. The story tells us about a father, who is going through a tough period, and his relationship to his son. He wants to obtain trust from his son trough a trip in the nature but runs into some challenges on his way. The father in the short story takes his son on a trip to a place at a river, because he wants to get closer to him on this trip. We get hints throughout the story that the father is going through a tough period after he divorced or separated from his wife. â€Å"And he hadn’t been happy in a while.† (5). His mind indicates that he did something wrong in their relationship and that he knows it. â€Å"My God, all his other fuckups were just preparation for this.† (135). We can tell that he cares a lot about his son because when he picks him up at his moms’ the text says: â€Å"He threw him over his shoulder, careful not to hit his head o n the corner of the TV.† (17-18). He also wants his ex-wife to notice that he is being careful with their son, so she can see that he actually can make something right. â€Å"Maybe – maybe he could make this right.† (20). We get a feeling that the father is easy to shatter because when he sees the river he feels a shock, because the river is much bigger and stronger than he remembered it. He actually considers pulling out. As readers we do not see him as an authority at this point because his anxiety defines him. We do not trust the father’s skills to cross the river with his son on his shoulders, we actually fear both for the son and father. We are not told very much about the son but we get a picture of him being a bit fragile. â€Å"He looked over at the miniature jeans, the sweatshirt bunched beneath the seat belt’s strap, the hiking boots dangling off the floor like weights.† (7-8). Maybe he has become fragile and unsecure because of all the mistakes the father has made which has affected the son. The narrator’s technique is to give small hints about something dangerous is going to happen. â€Å"The current was stronger.† (105). Now the reader knows that something will happen and that brings the story suspense. The narrator is an omniscient 3rd person who tells the story from the father’s point of view. That makes us feel sympathy for the father. We want him to succeed with his son because we feel sorry for him. The narrator takes us back in time through the father’s thoughts, back to when the father was a kid and when his father took him on the same trip at the same river. â€Å"He remembered the two of them working together quietly, easily, then his father crawling into the tent to lay out the sleeping bags.† (76-77). When the narrator makes these sorts of flashbacks it makes the readers interested in what the river can bring back in the fathers heart. He has obviously had one or more successfully trips with his father, since he wants to do the same thing with his own boy. Maybe it also has something to do with that he wants his son to experience something with him that he cannot experience with his mother. In that way the father could get a better relationship to his son and obtain the missing trust. So the setting in this story is very important because it means something to the father. When the father wants his son to cross the river, he wants to obtain trust from his son and wants to set a good example for his son. When the father starts crossing the river alone he takes it slow and makes sure every step he takes is secure. That could be a symbol of his relationship to his son, and that he has to take it slow to obtain his son’s trust after the divorce or separation. When he crosses second time with his boy on his shoulders he thinks it is easier, and he cannot understand where that moment of weakness, where he wanted to pull out, came from. â€Å"This vision of death like a tunnel at the end of the road and no way to get off or turn around?† (69). His thoughts of death and no way to turn around could symbolize his anxiety of losing his son, but that he have to keep trying to obtain his son’s trust and that he cannot give up. When they have to cross the river again on their way home, the current is stronger and it is harder to cross it. When the father crosses it on himself he slips on a rock but does not fall. Already at this point his plan about a good and trustful relationship to his son is about to crash. When he picks his son up it gets worse and they are in crisis. The father cannot see a way out of this and puts the blame on the divorce. â€Å"My God, all his other fuckups were just preparation for this. This wasn’t p ossible.† (135-136). This means that he thinks it is impossible to build a great relationship to his son after this divorce and after all the other fuckups he made. He also gets more burdens on his shoulders on his way, which make the cop flow over in the end. We also get a picture for that: â€Å"His left arm was a bit tired (†¦)† (108), â€Å"Ignoring the quivering in his shoulder (†¦)† (131). The story has an open ending. They are in the middle of the river where the father gives up. The burdens become too big, and he is too weak to  keep up the fight for his son’s trust. Throughout the story the river is a symbol of the father’s and the son’s relationship to each other and it is a symbol of the father’s emotions. For example when the current gets stronger it is a symbol of the opposition the father meets through the trip. The narrator uses a lot of figurative language in the story, especially comparisons. â€Å"Mountains larded with snow like fat ty meat.† (4). Slouka does also use other types of figurative language for example: â€Å"The grass in the yard beaten flat by the rain.† (14). He gives the grass human qualities in the form of a movement. All this figurative language makes the story more alive and makes the readers want more. The narrator is showing us the story through the figurative language and through some dialogs in the story. When Slouka is showing us he allows the readers to feel and see the moment and that makes the story more interesting to read. The message of the story is that trust is very important almost a question about life and death. You should think about your actions before you make them, so you do not make several mistakes which you have to make up to again. Then the trust will get harder, even impossible, to obtain because you have made it impossible to trust you. And if people do not trust you; then what is the meaning of living life?

O’Henry Essay

Many people have not heard or have read any of the classical short stories by O. Henry a 1900 short story writer. His style of writing makes the reader feel the emotions of the characters' by detailed and deep descriptions. Because of O. Henrys unique writing his stories have delighted readers for over a hundred years. One of O. Henrys writing styles he uses In many of his stories are member s of law enforcement. In his short story â€Å"A Dollars Worth,† he uses many members of law enforcement.In that same story it makes more sense if a district attorney is being threatened by a man he put in jail rather than a regular person. It also can make the story interesting like a shootout with a criminal and the district attorney in â€Å"A Dollars Worth. † There are even more examples of law enforcement in â€Å"The Retrieved Reformation. † An example is the eminent detective Ben Price who arrested Jimmy for safe cracking. There is also the warden at the Jail that Jimm y served his sentence. The warden wanted Jimmy to stop safe cracking and Just be a good citizen.This Is Just one of O. Henrys writing styles. Another writing style of O. Henry Is the use of Irony In his stories. In â€Å"The Retrieved Reformation,† he uses Irony at the end. The Irony happens when Jimmy has to use his tools for good and not for stealing to save a girls life. O. Henry also uses Irony in his short story â€Å"The Last Leaf. † In the story Bergman an amateur artist who is not very gifted at art is able to with his art save a dying girls life. I think the way O. Henry uses irony makes his stories stand out and unique to other short story writers.He also has many other styles and his is Just another one of his writing styles. He also uses ordinary people for his characters in his short stories. In â€Å"The Gift of The Magi,' he uses two ordinary people trying to make the other happy. When he uses regular people other people might relate to same problems as the characters. Since he uses ordinary â€Å"The Last Leaf. † He can show that the artists go through the same problems as other people unlike superheroes who are untouchable. He shows that you don't need special people to make a story great, but a good story.Those are Just some of the writing characteristics of O. Henry. Because of his unique writing styles he will make the next and the next grasp his books and fall in love with them. O. Henrys writing style will has made readers laugh, cry, and feel the emotion of the characters for over a hundred years. BY Jollities unique writing his stories have delighted readers for over a hundred years. One of O. Henrys writing styles he uses in many of his stories are member s of law threatened by a man he put in Jail rather than a regular person.It also can make the Arden wanted Jimmy to stop safe cracking and Just be a good citizen. This is Just Another writing style of O. Henry is the use of irony in his stories. In â€Å"The Ret rieved Reformation,† he uses irony at the end. The irony happens when Jimmy has to use his tools for good and not for stealing to save a girls life. O. Henry also uses irony in his short story â€Å"The Last Leaf. † In the story but a good story. Those are Just some of the writing characteristics of O. Henry. Books and fall in love with them. O. Henrys writing style will has made readers laugh,

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a key component of the civil rights movement that seeks to enforce the Constitutions guarantee of every Americans right to vote under the 15th Amendment. The Voting Rights Act was designed to end discrimination against black Americans, particularly those in the South after the Civil War. Text of the Voting Rights Act An important provision of the Voting Rights Act reads: No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color. The provision reflected the 15th Amendment of the Constitution, which reads: The right of U.S. citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. History of the Voting Rights Act President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965. The law made it illegal for Congress and state governments to pass voting laws based on race and has been described as the most effective civil rights law ever enacted. Among other provisions, the act prohibited discrimination through the use of poll taxes and the application of literacy tests to determine whether voters could take part in elections. It is widely regarded as enabling the enfranchisement of millions of minority voters and diversifying the electorate and legislative bodies at all levels of American government, according to The Leadership Conference, which advocates for civil rights. Legal Battles The U.S. Supreme Court has issued several major rulings on the Voting Rights Act. The first was in 1966. The court initially upheld the constitutionality of the law. Congress had found that case-by-case litigation was inadequate to combat wide-spread and persistent discrimination in voting, because of the inordinate amount of time and energy required to overcome the obstructionist tactics invariably encountered in these lawsuits. After enduring nearly a century of systematic resistance to the Fifteenth Amendment, Congress might well decide to shift the advantage of time and inertia from the perpetrators of the evil to its victims. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a provision of the Voting Rights Act that required nine states to get federal approval from the Department of Justice or a federal court in Washington, D.C., before making any changes to their election laws. That preclearance provision was originally set to expire in 1970 but was extended numerous times by Congress. The decision was 5-4. Voting to invalidate that provision in the act were Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. Voting in favor of keeping the law intact were Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Roberts, writing for the majority, said that portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was outdated and that the conditions that originally justified these measures no longer characterizes voting in the covered jurisdictions. Our country has changed. While any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions. In the 2013 decision, Roberts cited data that showed turnout among black voters had grown to exceed that of white voters in most of the states originally covered by the Voting Rights Act. His comments suggest that discrimination against blacks had diminished greatly since the 1950s and 1960s. States Impacted The provision struck down by the 2013 ruling covered nine states, most of them in the South. Those states are: AlabamaAlaskaArizonaGeorgiaLouisianaMississippiSouth CarolinaTexasVirginia End of the Voting Rights Act The Supreme Courts 2013 ruling was decried by critics who said it gutted the law. President Barack Obama was sharply critical of the decision. I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision today. For nearly 50 years, the Voting Rights Act – enacted and repeatedly renewed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress – has helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans. Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent. The ruling was praised, however, in states that had been overseen by the federal government. In South Caroline, Attorney General Alan Wilson described the law as an extraordinary intrusion into state sovereignty in certain states. This is a victory for all voters as all states can now act equally without some having to ask for permission or being required to jump through the extraordinary hoops demanded by federal bureaucracy. Congress was expected to take up revisions of the invalidated section of the law in the summer of 2013.

Cover Letter Sample English Teacher Job

Cover Letter Sample English Teacher Job SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Teaching's a competitive field, so a stand-out cover letter's a must for serious applicants. In the sample below, the applicant is applying to teach English as a Second Language to international students. Read on to see why the writer thinks he'd be a great match for the position. Then continue scrolling for an analysis of what this sample cover letter does well. Cover Letter for English Teacher Position Jon Snowman1 Wall Road, North Reading, MA 01864606-060-6066 âÅ" ´ jon.snowman@gmail.com May 1, 2016 Lucia GomezSchool Director English Learning Center60 Center St.Boston, MA 02108 Dear Ms. Gomez, I was excited to find your posting for an English as a Second Language teacher with English Learning Center on Craigslist.com. Upon researching your school, I strongly identified with its mission of cross-cultural communication and global citizenship. I am confident that I would make an excellent addition to your teaching team because of my passion for helping students, my teaching and cultural experiences, and my TEFL qualifications. I taught ESL to beginner, intermediate, and advanced students of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds in Madrid for one year. Before stepping into this role, I earned my TEFL certification after completing an on-site 120-hour course. Through my teaching experiences and TEFL studies, I developed critical pedagogic and classroom management skills, along with a passion for teaching English. I'm equipped with the Communicative Teaching Method, a philosophy that I’m excited to see you use at English Learning Center. I apply this method in the classroom through interactive, student-centered activities that maximize â€Å"student talk time.† I scaffold my lessons so that they include pair and group work, as well as movement around the classroom. By engaging students in speaking, grammar, writing, listening, and reading and appealing to diverse learning styles, I help them improve their accuracy and fluency across key skill areas. After living in Spain, I understand both the excitement and the challenges that accompany learning a new language and living abroad. In my classes, I typically set aside five to ten minutes at the start of each class for students to share their â€Å"highs† and â€Å"lows† for the week, a ritual that mystudents have appreciated as they adapted to new surroundings. I aim to support students’ social-emotional well-being as they learn English and deepen their global awareness. I look forward to speaking with you to discuss your specific needs at English Language Center and my ability to meet them. I'd be thrilled to join a team of globally-minded educators dedicated to high-quality language instruction. Please feel free to contact me at 606-060-6066 or jon.snowman@gmail.com. Thank you very much for your consideration. Sincerely, Jon Snowman Jon Snowman Will this cover letter help Jon get an ESL teaching job stateside? ESL Teacher Cover Letter: The Breakdown Jon is applying to an ESL teaching position with English Language Center. In his cover letter, hereflects an understanding of the school by referring to its mission statement in the first paragraph. He also shows that he knows it uses the Communicative Teaching Method as the basis for its curriculum, a method with which he’s familiar. Jon describes his skills and qualifications in terms of his TEFL certification, lesson planning abilities, and efforts to establish a comfortable classroom environment. He specifies that his lessons focus on pair and group work to maximize conversation among students, and he gives an example of a â€Å"high/low† activity he uses to support students emotionally as they adapt to a new culture. By giving specifics, Jon illustrates his instructional skills and teaching methodology. His letter is clearly organized and provides insight into his experiences. Overall, Jon's cover letter shows that he’s a thoughtful teacher dedicated to ESL instruction. Before heading to the next sample, consider one important note about the letter's format. A Note on Format The letter above features a traditional format with Jon's name, address, and contact information at the top, followed by the date and the name and address of the hiring manager. He also signs and prints his name at the bottom. This format is spot on for cover letters sent as a hard copy or as an attachment in a Word document. These days, though, lots of jobs have applicants send their cover letters in the body of an email or pasted into a text box on their application site. If you're sending a cover letter in the body of an email or text box, then you usually don't have to worry about these headers. You can just start right in with the salutation (e.g., Dear Ms. Wassername) and type your name at the end. Make sure to read and follow any application instructions so you know exactly how to send your materials. In addition to being thoughtful about your cover letter's content, you can be intentional aboutyour letter's format and overall look. What's Next? Do you need a degree to be an English teacher? Learn more about the qualifications you'll need to teach in the U.S. with this article. Ready to read another sample? Check out this sample cover letter for the job of Marketing Manager! Are you looking for our full cover letter guide? Head back to the complete guide here with links to five more cover letter samples. Are you starting at the beginning? This guide has a universal cover letter template to guide your writing, along with great tips to produce the best cover letter you can.

The Global Money System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Global Money System - Research Paper Example According to the recent report on the basis of global money system, the group of twenty also known as G20 finger pointed the world currency tensions detailing that the government of America blamed China government which decided to refuse the currency known as Yuan to rise faster. China on other hand suggested that the opinion detailed posed a distortion of global economy hence affecting Yuan currency exchange and was due to loosened monetary policy that was reinforced by the Federal Reserve in regards to government bonds. From the point of view, a problem has been emerged on the global money system issue due to the laid down rules, norms and institutions that governs currencies facet and the flow of the capital that prevails and trigger market pricing system globally. A global money system involves creations of reserves that fosters and hold vast foreign exchange activities on emerging economies. A dollar has been a dominance currency in this reserves managed by the United States of America for foreign exchange and transactions both within the states and internationally. Global Money System has generated investment globally that involves lending and hence facilitating financial and volatility of capital flows. Global money system plays a bigger role on the countries economy. When laid down policies are not in power, an aspect of inflation on capital flaws may arise and this comes when a given nation decides to print more money. However, some countries like the United States of America and Japan prefers to import inflation aspect rather than boosting exports that eludes weaker currency; some of the activities that are done through their national central banks. This usually affects international monetary system hence developing instability on economic system. Global money system policies are therefore monitored by especially national central banks and at large the World Bank. Some of the European countries through their European banks have eased

Qualitative Reserach Critique Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Qualitative Reserach Critique - Research Paper Example The research tradition is consistent with the methods used to collect and analyze data because the research is dealing with a phenomenon that is impossible or difficult to quantify statistically. The beliefs, feelings and attributes oblige the research to be qualitative. Women participating in this research were 18 years and over. They completed an active treatment of breast cancer one year or more before the study. In this case, the researcher conducted an initial interview that lasted one hour and thirty minutes at sites. The participants completed the treatment and demographic questionnaire and were further asked to describe the experience of suffering and loneliness. The exclusion criteria comprised women who have cancer recurrence in the course of the research or who suffered from systemic diseases such as unstable hypertension. This was an adequate amount of time considering the research tradition of the pain that women undergo during acute treatment. The treatment may occur on e year or more. Thus, the author established the need for his participants to have adequate amount time so that the data collected may be valid and accurate. The time used helped the author to analyse the pain and loneliness that women with breast cancer undergo. However, the author may have also used a long period of time to show how women in different stages of treatment undergo different pain experience. The research report provides evidences of reflexity in the design because the clinical and demographic characteristics of the sample summarized in the study showed that most participants conveyed a strong experience of loneliness. In comparing with Streubert’s method, the participants revealed that the formalized analysis of survivor loneliness was true and comprehensive to their personal experiences. The Streubert’s method made a clear distinction between theme and essence of personal experience. Part of the experiment was to understand the withholding truth about breast cancer, beliefs about death, and transcending time of the illness. Based on this analysis, most women presented their thoughts on how the illness has affected their personal lives. They shared their views on how they would have been better if they did not suffer from the illness. The actual research designed is well described in this study. This research creates a strong ground for readers to understand the past researchers’ view on the subject and personal experience of women suffering from breast cancer. In the introductory part, the author highlights how the diagnosis and acute treatment of breast cancer trigger pain and loneliness. The struggle and pain to find the true meaning of the personal crisis heighten victims’ consciousness of their identity, self-worth, and the world around them. As a result, this may cause loneliness and lack of confidence. The ideas and facts collected about the experience during the illness created insights on the patientsâ€℠¢ who are most subjective to painful and lonely experiences. The study is exclusive qualitative because the main subject could not be defined or analyzed statistically. The qualitative data collected was used in a complementary fashion in, which the interview session lasted approximately one hour and thirty minutes. The researchers encouraged participants to share artistic and written expressions that revealed their personal ex

COPERATE FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

COPERATE FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE - Case Study Example Some of the risks that are unique for such firms include foreign exchange risk, political risk as well as the unique market risk. This is significant due to the fact that Mineral Plc is an international firm having a diverse range of activities across the different countries. This therefore increases the overall risk profile of the firm and projects that it undertake in foreign locations. This report will provide an analysis of the proposed investment that is to be made in the Medco Republic. This report is significant due to the fact that there are multiple views within the firm that ask for a different strategy to invest into a country which is war torn and companies are facing significant corporate social responsibility issues. This report will therefore perform the net present value analysis as well as other investment appraisal techniques besides discussing the corporate social responsibility issues that may be faced by the firm while making new investment into the country. This report will be effectively divided into two sections i.e. first section will be discussing the different findings that are being made after performing the analysis whereas the second section of the report will discuss corporate social responsibility along with a discussion on the different risks of investing into a foreign country. AccoChapter # 2 Analysis and Findings 2.1. Investment According to the given data, the overall NPV and IRR are 18.79 and 34% indicating that according to both the threshold levels, the project may be acceptable. It is important to understand that the most important criteria that is being followed when choosing a project based on the NPV is the ability of the project to deliver the positive net value for the firm as well as its shareholders. Given the weighted average cost of capital of 15%, the overall NPV is positive indicating that the project is acceptable at this given risk level. What is also significant to note that the calculations made does not incorporate the risks that are specific to making investment into the foreign countries and as such it ignores the various risks such as political risk, foreign exchange volatility etc Based on the criteria of IRR, the total IRR comes to the 34% which is over and above the desired level of 25%. As a rule of thumb any investment that offers IRR greater than the required rate of return shall be accepted and as such the IRR is greater than the current required rate of return hence the project shall be accepted even on this criterion also.1 It is also important to understand that both NPV and IRR have their own short comings therefore they may not be relied heavily as to the most conclusive tools for making investment appraisal. What is however, significant to note that the NPV and IRR are still considered as the better measures of the project returns and thoroughly applied by the firms across the world when making investment analysis' Thus based on the available methodologies of project appraisals, NPV and IRR are considered as most suitable

A computed tomography

A computed tomography 1. Introduction One of the most used techniques in the imagiology field is called Computed Tomography (CT), a method to acquire slices of the body based on the attenuation of X-rays. This monograph will try to compile the most important information about CT, namely its history, physical principles, fundamental instrumentation, data acquisition and processing techniques, as well as its applications. Firstly, a brief tour through the history of the technique will be taken, while some of the most important achievements will be referred. The starting point will be the discovery of the X-rays, then passing through the creation of the first CT scanner and the development of data analysis and processing algorithms. Then, a concise revision of the evolution of the scanners will be done, delineating the different generations of scanners and the key features of each one. In order to understand how an object can be scanned by this technique, a review of the physical concepts that constitute the basis of CT will be done. More precisely, we will discuss the attenuation of radiation while passing through objects. A short description of how X-rays interact with matter and the concept of linear attenuation coefficient will be discussed. The instrumentation needed for CT will shortly be referred, in particular the most important components of a CT scanner will be briefly explained. As data acquired by the scanners are not displayed in the way they are obtained, we will afterward explain the most used methods to process and analyze the great amount of information acquired by the CT detectors. The process of creating a scale to represent data the CT numbers will subsequently be overviewed, in order to understand how images are created and shown to the doctors. A description of how CT allows to distinguish different anatomical structures and how it permits to see just the structures we want will also be done. After that, an enumeration of some of the many clinical applications of CT will be done, knowing at the start that it will be impossible to list all the applications, reason why just a few will be referred. Besides, it is not the main goal of this monograph, although it is essential to understand the crucial importance of CT in the medicine field. Finally, we will try to conjecture about the future of CT, specifically what it can be improved and what are the actual challenges for this technique and how it can be overcame. This monograph is part of the Hospital and Medical Instrumentation course and pretends to be an overall view of CT, reason why there is not exhaustive detail in each section (for more detail in the approached topics, please read the references). 3-Dimensional reconstruction techniques will not be discussed because it is the topic of another group. Incisive instrumentation will not be exploited because it not exploited in the course as well. 2. Historical Background The history of CT started with the discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, which gave him the Physics Nobel Prize in 1901. During 1917, the Austrian mathematician Johann Radon developed a study in which he demonstrated that making several projections in different directions of a material and recreating its associated pattern, it was possible to obtain a slice where one could characterize different densities of the material. The idea of using these mathematical methods to create images of slices of the human body in radiographic films was proposed by the Italian radiologist Alessandro Vallebona in 1930. Between 1956 and 1963, the physicist Allan Cormack developed a method to calculate the distribution of absorbed radiation in the human body based on transmission measurements, which allowed to detect smaller variations in absorption. [2], [3], [4] In the year of 1972, Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1979, shared with Cormack) invented the first CT scanner in United Kingdom when he was working at EMI Company, which, at the time, was actually best known for its connection to the music world. The original prototype, called EMI Scanner, recorded 160 points for each projection in 180 different angles (with steps of 1 °) and each slice took 5 minutes to be acquired. A 180160 matrix was then constructed with these data, which took 2 and half hours to be analyzed until the final 2D-images could be visualized. The first types of scanners required the patients head to be immerged in a water-filled container in order to reduce the difference of X-rays attenuation between the rays that crossed the skull and the ones that only crossed the environment, because the detector had a small range of intensities that it could measure. [5], [6] During the subsequent years, CT scanners increased its complexity, and based on that evolution, we can distinguish five generations of machines that will be discussed in the next section (Section 3). Later, in 1989, it was developed a new technique in which data acquisition was done continuously the spiral CT scanning using the movement of the platform where the patient was lying. [4] Nowadays, CT machines have obviously superior performances than the prototypes of the 70s. In fact, several rows of detectors have been added which now allows registration of multiple slices at the same time the multislices scanners. These improvements allowed to represent data in 10241024 matrixes, which have a 1 megapixel pixel resolution. [7], [8] 3. Evolution of CT Scanners Over the time, the fundamentals of data acquisition and the key characteristics of the machines changed in many ways. This fact, allow us to split the evolution of the CT scanners in five generations. 3.1 First Generation Parallel Beam The first technique implemented in CT commercial machines consisted of the emission of a parallel X-ray beam that passed through the patient until it reached a detector located on the opposite side. Both X-ray and detector were place in the edge of a ring with the patient as the center. The X-ray source, as well as the detector, suffered a linear translation motion to acquire data from all maters directions. Then, the X-ray tube and the detector, was rotated about 1 °, having the patient as isocenter, and a new beam was emitted and the movement of translation restarted. This process was repeated until it reached 180 ° and, for each cycle of emitted beams, 160 projections of the material on analysis were recorded. The highly collimated beam provided excellent rejection of scattered radiation in the patient. At this point, the most used image reconstruction technique was the backprojection. Later in this work (Section 6) we will explain the techniques used in reconstruction. The ti me needed for data acquisition was extremely long (5 minutes per slice), due to technological limitations. [8] 3.2 Second Generation Fan beam In the second generation, the collimated beam was replaced by a fan X-ray beam and the simple detector was replaced by a linear array of detectors. This advance resulted in a shorter scan time, although this technique still continued to use a coupled source-detector translation motion. At the same time, the algorithms used to reconstruct the slice images became more complicated. Because of the vast amount of time needed to acquire data, both the first and second generations of scanners were limited to head and extremities scans, because those were the regions of the body that could remain immobilized during the long scan time. [9], [2], [8] 3.3 Third generation Rotating detectors The third generation of scanners emerged in 1976. In this generation, the fan beam was large enough to completely contain the patient, which made the translation movement redundant and the scanner commenced to execute only the rotational movement. Such as the fan beam, also the detectors became big enough to record all data of each slice at a time. The detector consisted of a line with hundreds of independent detectors that, like as in the second generation, rotated attached to the X-ray source, which required up to 5 seconds to acquire each slice. The power supply was now made by a slip ring system placed on the gantry, which allowed to continually rotate it without the need to reverse the rotating motion to untwist the power cables used before, as it was needed after each rotation in first and second generations. [2], [8] 3.4 Fourth generation Fixed detectors This generation was implemented in the late 70s and its innovation was a stationary ring of detectors that surrounded the patient. In this case, only the X-ray beam had movement. The ring consisted of a 600 to 4800 independent detectors that sequentially recorded the projections, so detector and source were no longer associated. However, detectors were calibrated twice during each rotation of the X-ray source, providing a self-calibrating system. Third generation systems were calibrated only once every few hours. In the fourth generation systems, two detectors geometries were used. The first one consists of a rotating fan beam inside the fixed ring of detectors and the second one has the fan beam outside the ring. These technological advances provided a reduction of the scan times to 5s per image and slice spacing below 1 mm. Both third and fourth generations are available in market and both have success in medical activities. [8], [2] 3.5 Fifth Generation Scanning electron beam The innovation of the fifth generation of CT scanners (early 80s) was a new system of X-ray source. While the ring of detectors remains stationary, it was added a new semicircular strip of tungsten and one electron gun which is placed in the patient alignment. By directing this electron beam to the anode of the tungsten strip, the release of X-ray radiation is induced. This method results in a no moving parts system, i.e. no mechanical motion is needed to record data because the detectors completely surround the patients and the electronic beam is directed electronically. The four target rings and the two detector banks allow eight slices to be acquired at the same time, which reduce the scan time and, consequently, the motion artifacts. This fact led to the reduction of scan time to between 33 and 100 ms, which is sufficient to capture images of the heart during its cardiac cycle, reason why it is the most used in diagnostic of cardiac disease. For that reason, this is also called U ltrafast CT (UFCT) or Cardiovascular CT (CVCT) Because of the continuous scan, special adjustments in the algorithm are needed to reduce image artifacts. [2], [8], [9] 3.6 Spiral Scanners The idea of creating a spiral CT came with the need for scans of 3-Dimensional images. This system to acquire 3-Dimensional CT images was born in the early 90s and consists of a continue translation movement of the table which supports the patient. This technique is based on the third generation of machines and allows scan times of the abdomen to be reduced from 10 minutes to 1 minute, which reduces the motion artifacts. Besides, a 3-Dimensional model of the organ under study can be reconstructed. The most complex innovation of this technique consists of the data processing algorithms, because they must consider the spiral path of X-ray beam around the patient. Technically, this was possible only due to the slip ring system implemented on the third generation of scanner. [9], [8], [10] 3.7 Cone beam After the development of new techniques, detectors, methods and algorithms, nowadays the question is: How many slices can we acquire at same time?. The answer to this question lies in the placement of several rows of detectors and the transformation of a fan beam X-ray to a 3-Dimensional cone beam. Nowadays, manufacturers have already placed 64 rows of detectors (multislice systems) and the image quality reached high levels. Moreover, the completely scan of a structure takes now about 15 seconds or even less. [2] 4. Physical Principles The basic principle of CT is measuring the spatial density distribution of a human organ or a part of the body. It is similar to conventional X-ray, in which an X-ray source of uniform intensity is directed to the patient and the image is generated by the projection of the X-rays against a film. The X-rays are emitted with a certain intensity I0 and they emerge on the other side of the patient with a lower intensity I. The intensity decreases while crossing the patient, because radiation interacts with matter. More precisely, X-rays used in CT are of the order of 120kV and, with that energy (120 keV), they interact with tissues mainly by photoelectric (mostly at lower energies) and Compton effects (at higher energies), although they can also interact by coherent scatter, also called Rayleigh scatter (5% to 10% of the total interactions). Photoelectric effect consists of the emission of an electron (photoelectron) from the irradiated matter caused by the absorption of the X-rays energy by an inner electron of the medium. In Compton effect, a X-ray photon interacts with an outer electron of matter and deviates its trajectory, transferring part of its energy to the electron, which is then ejected. In coherent scatter, the energy of the X-ray is absorbed by the tissue causing the electrons to gain harmonic motion and is then reradiated in a random direction as a secondary X-ray. [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] CT X-rays are not monoenergetic, but for now, to simplify the understanding of this concept, we will consider them monoenergetic. When an X-ray (as well as other radiation) passes through a material, part of its intensity is absorbed in the medium and, as a consequence, the final intensity is lower than the initial one. More precisely, the Beers Law states that intensity transmitted through the medium depends on the linear attenuation coefficient of the material  µ if we consider that we are in presence of a homogeneous medium and the thickness of the material x according to the following expression: The problem with conventional radiographs is that it only provides an integrated value for  µ along the path of the X-ray, which means that we have a 2-Dimensional projection of a 3-Dimensional anatomy. As it can be easily understood, all the structures and organs at the same level will appear overlapped in the image. As a consequence, some details cannot be perceived and some organs may not be entirely seen. For example, it is very hard to see the kidneys in a conventional radiography because the intestines appear in front of them. [15], [16], [11] Moreover, as there are many values of (typically one for each point of the scanned part of the body), it is not possible to calculate their values with one singe measure. However, if measures of the same plane by many different directions are made, all the coefficients may be calculated, and that is what CT does. As Figure 4 shows, a narrow X-ray beam that is produced by the source in the direction of a detector, which means that only a narrow slice of the body is imaged and the value of intensity recorded by the detector depends on all the material crossed by the X-ray in its way. That is the reason why it is called tomography it derives from the Greek tomos which means to cut or section. Many data of X-ray transmission through a plane of an object (an organ or a party of the body) from several directions are recorded and are then used to reconstruct the object by signal processing techniques. These techniques will be discussed later in this monograph (Section 6). The tightly colli mated X-ray beam ensures that no significant scatter is present in order to assure a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a necessary premise to obtain a faithful image of the scanned object. For that reason, unlike conventional tomography, in CT, patients structures located outside the area that is being imaged do not interfere. [17], [9], [12] 5. Instrumentation The X-ray system is composed by an X-ray source, collimators, detectors and a data-acquisition system (DAS). X-ray source is undoubtedly the most important part, because it is what determines the quality of the image. [10], [8] 5.1 The X-ray source The basis of the X-ray source (called X-ray tube) is to accelerate a beam of electrons between two electrodes against a metal target and is shown in Figure 5. The cathode is a coiled tungsten filament, which is crossed by a current which causes the filament to heat up. At high temperatures (2220 °C), the tungsten releases electrons, a process called thermionic emission. A 15 to 150 kV potential difference is applied between the cathode and the anode, which forces the released electrons to accelerate towards the anode. [10] When the electrons hit the anode, they produce X-rays by two ways. On the one hand, when an electron passes near the tungsten nucleus, it is deflected by an attractive electric force (because the nucleus is positively charged and the electron has a negative charge) and loses part of their energy as X-rays. As there are an enormous number of possible interactions and each one leads to a partial loss of kinetic energy, the produced X-rays have a great range of energies, as Figure 5 shows. This process is called bremsstrahlung (i.e. braking radiation). On the other hand, if an electron from the cathode hits and penetrates an atom of the anode, it can collide with an inner electron of it, causing the electron to be ejected and the atom to have a hole, which is filled by an outer electron. The difference of binding energy of these two electrons is released as an X-ray. This process is called characteristic radiation, because its energy depends on the binding energy of the electrons, which is characteristic of a given material. [10], [9], [15] The tube current represents the number of electrons that pass from the cathode to the anode per unit of time. Typical values for CT are from 200 up to 1000 mA. The potential difference between the electrodes is generally of 120 kV, which produces an energy spectrum ranging from 30 to 120 keV. The tube output is the product between the tube current and the voltage between the electrodes and it is desired to have high values because that permits a shorter scan time, which reduces the artifacts due to movement (such as for heart scans). [10], [8] Production of X-rays in these tubes is an inefficient process and most of the power supplied to the tube is converted in heating of the anode. So, a heat exchanger is needed to cool the tube. This heat exchanger is placed on the rotating gantry. Spiral CT in particular requires high cooling rates of the X-ray tube and high heat storage capacity. [8] 5.2 Collimators The electron beam released from the source is a dispersed beam, normally larger than the desired field-of-view (FOV) of the image. Usually, the fan beam width is set for 1 to 10 mm (although recent CT scanner allow submilimetric precision), with determines the width of the imaged slice. The collimator is placed between the source and the patient and is composed by lead sheets to restrict the beam just to the required directions. An X-ray beam larger than the FOV leads to a larger number of X-rays emitted than the ones needed to the scan and that has two problems: the radiation dose given to the patient is increased unnecessarily; and the number of Compton-scattered radiation increases. [10], [8] 5.3 Antiscatter grids An ideal CT system only with primary radiation (x-rays emitted from the source) reaching the detector does not exist and Compton scatter is always present. As this scatter is randomly distributed and has no useful information about the distribution of density of the scanned object, it just contributes to the reduction of image contrast and should be minimized to the maximum. This, because unlike photoelectric effect, Compton effect has a low contrast between tissues. As referred above, collimators are useful to limit the X-ray beam to the FOV. However, even with a collimator, 50% to 90% of the radiation that reaches the detector is secondary radiation. To reduce the Compton scatter, antiscatter grids can be placed between the detector and the patient. [10] An antiscatter grid consists of strips of sheets oriented parallel to the primary radiation direction combined with a support of aluminum, which drastically reduces the scatter radiation that has not the direction of the primary one, as illustrated in Figure 6. In order to not lower the image quality because of the grid shade, the strips should be narrow. There is, however, a tradeoff between the reduction of scatter radiation (that improve the image contrast) and the dose that must be given to the patient to have the same number of detected X-rays. [10] 5.4 Detectors At the beginning, single-slice CT scanners with just one source and one detector were used. However, these took much time to acquire an image, reason why the evolution brought us single-source, multiple-detector machinery and multislice systems. The third and fourth generations added a wider X-ray fan beam and a larger number of detectors to the gantry (typically from 512 to 768), which permitted to acquire more information in a smaller time. The detectors used in CT must be highly efficient to minimize the dose given to the patient, have a large dynamic range and be very stable over the time and over temperature variations inside the gantry. Three factors contribute to overall efficiency: geometric efficiency (fraction of the total area of detector that is sensitive to radiation), quantum efficiency (the fraction of incident X-rays that is absorbed to contribute to signal) and conversion efficiency (the ability to convert the absorbed X-rays into electrical signal). These detectors can be of two types (shown in Figure 7): solid-state detectors or gas ionization detectors. Solid-state detectors consist of an array of scintillating crystals and photodiodes, while gas ionization detectors consist of an array of compressed gas chambers to which is applied a high voltage to gather ions produced by radiation in inside the chamber. The gas is kept under a high pressure, to maximize interactions between X-rays and gas molecules, which produce electro-ion pairs. [10], [8] 5.5 Data-Acquisition System The transmitted fraction of the incident X-ray intensity (I/I0 in equation 1) can be as small as 10-4, reason why DAS must be very accurate over a great range. The role of DAS is to acquire these data and then encode it into digital values and transmit these to computers for reconstruction to begin. DAS make use of many electronic components, such as precision preamplifiers, current-to-voltage converters, analog integrators, multiplexers and analog-to-digital converters. The logarithmic step needed in equation 3 to get the values of  µi can be performed with an analog logarithmic amplifier. Data transfer is a crucial step to assure speed to the whole process and used to be done by direct connection between DAS and the computer. However, with the appearance of rotating scanners in third and fourth generations, these transfer rate, which is as high as 10 Mbytes/s is now accomplished by optical transmitters placed on the rotating gantry that send information to fixed optical receivers. [8] 5.6 Computer system The data acquisition of the projections, the reconstruction of the signal, the display of the reconstructed data and the manipulation of tomographic images is possible by computer systems used to control the hardware. Current systems consist of 12 processors which achieve 200 MFLOPS (million floating-point operations per second) and can reconstruct an image of 10241024 pixels in less than 5 seconds. [8] 6. Signal Processing and Analyzing Techniques As data are acquired in several directions (e.g. with increments of 1 ° or even less) and each direction is split in several distinct points (e.g. 160 or more), at least 28 800 points are stored, which means that there must be efficient mathematical and computational techniques to analyze all this information. A square matrix representing a 2-Dimensional map of the variation of X-ray absorption with the position is then reconstructed. There are four major techniques to analyze these data, which we will discuss subsequently. [12] 6.1 Simultaneous linear equations As it was referred above (Section 4), there is a measure of for each pixel, which means that modern CT scanners deal with 1 048 576 points for each slice (nowadays the matrixes used are 10241024). As a result, to generate the image of one single slice, a system of at least 1 048 576 equations must be solved (one equation for each unknown variable), which means that this technique is totally unusable. In fact, imagine that in 1967, Hounsfield built the first CT scanner, which took 9 days to acquire the data of a single slice and 21 hours to compute the equations (and by the time, the matrix had only 28 000 entries). Besides, nowadays CT scanners acquire about 50% more measures than it would be needed in order to reduce noise and artifacts, which would require even more computational resources. [16], [11], [8] 6.2 Iterative These techniques try to calculate the final image by small adjustments based on the acquired measures. Three major variations of this method can be found: Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART), Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) and Iterative Least-Squares Technique (ILST). These variations differ only in the way corrections are made: ray-by-ray, pixel-by-pixel or the entire data simultaneously, respectively. In ART as an example, data of one angular position are divided into equally spaced elements along each ray. Then, these data are compared with analogous data from another angular position and the differences between X-ray attenuation are added equally to the fitting elements. Basically, for each measure, the system tries to found out how each pixel value can be modified to agree with the particular measure that is being analyzed. In order to adjust measures with pixel values, if the sum of the entries along one direction is lower than the experimental measure for that direction, all the pixels are increased. Otherwise, if the sum of the entries is higher than the measured attenuation, pixels are decreased in value. By repeating this iterative cycle, we will progressively decrease the error in pixels, until we get an accurate image. ART was used in the first commercial scanner in 1972, but it is no longer used because iterative methods are usually slow. Besides, this method implies th at all data must be acquired before the reconstruction begins. [9], [16] 6.3 Filtered backprojection Backprojection is a formal mathematical technique that reconstructs the image based only on the projection of the object onto image planes in different directions. Each direction is given the same weight and the overall linear attenuation coefficient is generated by the sum of attenuation in each X-ray path that intersects the object from different angular positions. In a simpler manner, backprojection can be constructed by smearing each objects view back trough the image plane in the direction it was registered. When this processed is finished for all the elements of the anatomic section, one obtains a merged image of the linear attenuation coefficients, which is itself a crude reconstruction of the scanned object. An illustration of this technique is represented in Figure 8. By its analysis, it is also clear that the final image is blurred, which means that this technique needs a little improvement, which is given by filtered backprojection. [12], [9], [16] Filtered backprojection is therefore used to correct the blurring resultant from simple backprojection. It consists of applying a filter kernel to each of the 1-Dimensional projections of the object. That is done by convolving a deblurring function with the X-ray transmission data before they are projected. The filter removes from data the frequencies of the X-ray responsible for most of the blurring. As we can see in Figure 8, the filter has two significant effects. On the one hand, it levels the top of the pulse, making the signal uniform within it. On the other hand, it negatively spikes the sides of the pulse, so these negative neighborhoods will neutralize the blurring effect. As a result, the image produced by this technique is consistent with the scanned object, if an infinite number of views and an infinite number of points per view are acquired. [16], [9] Compared with the two previous methods this process has also the advantage that reconstruction can begins at the same time that data are being acquired and that is one of the reasons why it is one of the most popular methods nowadays. [9] 6.4 Fourier reconstruction The last signal processing technique that will be discussed in this monograph is the Fourier reconstruction which consists of analyzing data in the frequency domain instead of the spatial domain. For this, one takes each angular orientation of the X-ray attenuation pattern and decomposes it on its frequency components. In the frequency domain, the scanned image is seen as a 2-Dimensional grid, over which we place a dark line for the spectrum of each view, as Figure 9 shows. To reconstruct the image, one has to take the 1-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Then, according to the Fourier Slice Theorem, each views spectrum is identical to the values of one line (slice) through the image spectrum, assuring that, in the grid, each view has the same angle that was originally acquired. Finally, the inverse FFT of the image spectrum is used to achieve a reconstruction of the scanned object. 7. Data Display As it was said earlier (Section 6), linear attenuation coefficients give us a crude image of the object. In fact, they can be expressed in dB/cm, but as they are dependent on the incident radiation energy, CT scanning does not use the attenuation coefficients to represent the image, but instead it uses integer numbers called CT numbers. These are occasionally, but unofficially, called Hounsfield units and have the following relation with the linear attenuation coefficients: where  µ is the linear attenuation coefficient of each pixel and  µw is the linear attenuation coefficient of water. This CT number depends clearly on the medium. For human applications, we may consider that CT number varies from -1000 for air and 1000 for bone, with CT number of 0 for water, as it is easily seen from equation 5. [9], [13], [4], [12] The CT numbers of the scanned object are then presented on the monitor as a grey scale. As shown in Figure 10, CT numbers have a large range and as human eye cannot distinguish so many types of grays, it is usually used a window to show a smaller range of CT numbers, depending on what it is desired to see. The Window Width (WW) identifies the range of CT numbers and consequently alters the contrast (as Figures 11 and 12 show), whereas Window Level (WL) sets the centre of the window and, therefore, select which structures are seen. The lowest CT number of the window, which corresponds to the lowest density tissue, is represented in black and the highest Ct number (highest density tissue) is represented in white. 8. Radiation Dose As it can easily be understood, radiation dose given to the patient is dependent on the resolution of the scanner and its contrast, as well as