Saturday, August 31, 2019

Should Parents Be Responsible If Their Children Behave Badly?

Many crimes and social problems are caused by children. Despite the damage these teenage criminals cause, parents are not held responsible in most countries. This essay will discuss whether parents should be forced to pay for their children's crimes. There are many reasons why parents should not be responsible for crimes committed by teenage children. First of all, teenagers today are independent. They often move out of the parent's house at 18 years of age or younger. They are expected to learn to take care of themselves and make their own decisions, and not stay like small children attached to their parents. Secondly, parents are working. They cannot watch their adolescent children all the time. Parents have done their job A third point is that even children from good families can sometimes commit crimes. Parents should not be responsible if they have worked hard to raise their children properly. However, because of the many problems young troublemakers cause, I feel we should make parents responsible. Firstly, most juvenile crimes are committed by adolescents whose parents do not care or make any effort to control their children. If parents had to pay fines, they might make more effort. Another point is that even though the children may seem mature, they are not really able to make good decisions. Parents should be responsible for raising and teaching their children until they are fully grown. Furthermore, if children know that their parents will have to pay, they will think carefully before doing getting into trouble In summary, there are good reasons both for and against making parents pay for acts committed by their children. However, I feel strongly that if we want to reduce the number of such crimes, we need to make parents take more responsibility.

Science-Based Technology

Through the years, technology has made significant advancements and contributions to the world, and one of which is biotechnology. Biotechnology is the utilization of the living systems and organisms to develop various products intended for the improvement of human life (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2018). It is a science-based technology wherein modification in genetics is being made particularly in DNA which carries genetic information that provides code in the making of protein and every cell of the body. Because of this discovery, amelioration of food quality, quantity, and processing were made, resulting to the flourishment of the agricultural economy. This is referred as green biotechnology wherein the agricultural sector was able to develop nutritional qualities, taste, and appearance of the food from crop yields and plants without the risk of diseases, insects, and adverse conditions (Chawla, 2000). This innovation would aid the world to feed the growing population, at the same time, it provides the essential nutrients needed by the body. Moreover, this has also contributed to the prosperity of the agricultural sector because of the design of transgenic plants to be able to grow under adverse environmental conditions. However, the introduction of this genetic alteration may also lead to negative impacts such as imbalance to the ecosystem that may eventually lead to the decrease of biodiversity (Suico, 2018) Furthermore, it has also provided essential contribution in the industrial sector. It has led to the development of a pollution prevention, resource conservation, and cost reduction way of manufacturing products (Maraganore, 2018). Enzymatic systems of living organisms are being utilized for the sake of producing industrial goods that would substitute detrimental and polluting technologies. One example is the usage of enzymes in detergents so as to replace harmful chemicals. In this way, this could help the people to preserve the environment for the use of the next generation. Most importantly, biotechnology has made exceptional and important implications in health and medicine. This particular contribution of biotechnology is probably the most crucial innovation because it has administered various ways to the maintenance, improvement, and prolongation of life. The discovery of red or healthcare biotechnology has enable the development of vaccines, antibiotics, and new drugs (Ortegas-Navas, 2015). Altered genetic microorganisms were utilized in order to produce pharmaceutical products that are less costly but effective. Moreover, biotechnology has made vital breakthroughs in medical therapies. Treatment to different diseases were made possible.Infectious and parasitic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS continuously increase each year. Though the use of diagnostic tools, the development of these diseases may be easily detected. However, there are several conventional diagnostic tools are inaccurate that fail to overcome the detection of the diseases. But with Nanotechnology, an advancement biotechnological technique, detection of these diseases were made more presise and easily detected. Additionally, this innovation has allowed the study of complex genetic disorders for it can identify and quantify thousands of genes (Afzal et al., 2016). Indeed, the discovery of biotechnology has greatly contributed to the welfare of the people both positively and negatively. However, it is important to keep in mind that people shouldn't solely be dependent to technology. Also, this must always be utilized for the intention of the betterment of every individual without jeopardizing the environment. RetrievedAfzal, H. (2016). Role of biotechnology in improving human health. Retrieved October 13, 2018 from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/role-of-biotechnology-in-improving-human-health-2155-9929-1000309.php?aid=82443Chawla, V. (2000). Biotechnology unraveled: human welfare, better health and beyond. Retrieved October 13, 2018 from https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/12/biotechnology-human-welfare-fight-diseases/Maraganore, J. (2018). What is industrial biotechnology? Retrieved October 13, 2018 from https://www.bio.org/articles/what-industrial-biotechnologyNorwegian University of Science and Technology (2018). What is biotechnology? Retrieved October 13, 2018 from https://www.ntnu.edu/ibt/about-usOrtegas-Navas, M. (2015). Biotechnology in health education: healthy lifestyles.October 13, 2018 from http://behaviouralscience.imedpub.com/behavioural-science-psycology/biotechnology-in-health-education-healthy-lifestyles.php?aid=8584Suico, J. (2018). The disadvantages of biotechnol ogy. Retrieved October 13, 2018 fromhttps://sciencing.com/disadvantages-biotechnology-8590679.html

Friday, August 30, 2019

Unicorns Are Real After All

Unicorns Are Real After All The Lavada Johnston Story â€Å"I just don’t understand how people can go through with one-night stands, I just can’t do it. † I just sat there for a little while in silent disbelief. I was trying to decide whether or not I should take offense to the statement or not. Before I could formulate my response, my friend Lavada said, â€Å"No offense to you, or anyone else, I just don’t get it. † Throughout my life, I thought I had encountered pretty much every type of person, and I could’ve sworn that I had my generation completely pegged. However, since meeting Lavada Johnston, my iron-clad definition of people my age has been greatly disproven. I first met Lavada, in my Stage Crafting class. Because it was the beginning of the semester, I didn’t really know any of the other theater students just yet. But for some reason, I felt drawn to her. She had a very intriguing look about her. She had a curvaceous and voluptuous body type. Her hair was jet black, nails painted black, black eye make-up, and a lip ring. My first impression was that she was either of the gothic or emo persuasion, but she didn’t exactly have the particularly â€Å"dark† quality that most gothic/emo people I’ve met possess. She had sort of a quirkiness about her that didn’t seem intimidating. In fact, it was pretty much very inviting. I consider myself a pretty good judge of character, so I decided to befriend her. To my surprise, it didn’t take long at all for us to develop a rather strong friendship with each other. The more I hung around her, the more interesting she became to me, and still does now. She sometimes seems sort of reserved and maybe even shy sometimes, but all of that goes out of the window when she is comfortable. She is full of life, a vibrant fun loving college student. When I found out that her natural hair color is actually blonde, I wasn’t even surprised. In fact, once I thought about it, it really suits her, and her personality. Like myself, Lavada is a theater major. She wants to pursue musical theater, but for some reason, she is shy about singing. This is something I didn’t understand considering she has an amazing singing, and perfect for the theater. Her musical interests are also something that caused us to spark such a quick friendship. Turns out we are both Family Force 5 fanatics, although Lavada may be border lining obsession. All of the things I’ve mentioned about her are all things I find very interesting about her. But there is one particular reason that piqued my interest enough to really cause me to press even further into her life and to explore her outlook on the world around her. One day after grabbing lunch in the union, Lavada and I were walking together, seeing how my dorm was in the same direction as hers. We had what eventually became a very serious discussion. I’ll never forget my mixture of surprise and disbelief when I found out Lavada’s secret. I’m not exactly sure how we got on this topic of conversation, but somehow we ended up discussing sex. However, it’s not like it’s uncommon for college students to talk about sex. In fact, what college student hasn’t had sex before, right? Wrong. I still can hear the words as clear as a bell in my head, â€Å"Scottie, I’m a virgin. † When she told me this, there was no way I could hide the shocked expression plastered all over my face. It took me a while to even gather that she was serious. Lavada Johnston is a twenty-one year old college student, who has never had sex. Part of me felt guilty for being so surprised by this confession. I mean, it’s not like it’s a bad thing or anything like that. It was just, I’ve never known such a person to resist. But then I decided that I must be missing something here. Maybe I should read the fine print, I thought. But as I pressed further into Lavada and her sexual activity, the more I believed her. I said to myself there has to be some technicalities or something because you can’t just go your entire life without having sex, unless you’re one of those insanely religious people or something. Seeing how Lavada wasn’t anywhere near being a religious type person, my curiosity was piqued even further. For lack of a better one, my first question was simply, â€Å"Why? Lavada looked around, gave an innocent but rather vacant expression, flailed her hands up and said, â€Å"I don’t know. † By this point, I began to seriously pester her and express my whole-hearted awe in her confession. Over and over again, Lavada gave me not one excuse or reason as to why she had never had sex. Everything she said was enough to cause the average girl to have the occasional â₠¬Å"I hate boys† syndrome, but never is it enough to hold back the raging hormones we’re faced with at this age. Or so I thought. I decided to have an official interview with Lavada, in which I would be determined to find the answers I was looking for. Lavada Johnston was born in Winona, Mississippi and then later moved to Eupora, Mississippi, which is where she stills whenever school isn’t in session. She attended Montgomery High School in Kilmichael, where she graduated in the year 2007. Throughout her school days, Lavada seemed to be the classic headstrong rebel type of girl who got into plenty of trouble for fighting. Her family moved around a lot, so she never stayed in one place for long. This made it really hard for her to develop a strong circle of friends. Therefore, she turned to books. She loves to read. She was one of those Harry Potter type kids, into mythical creatures, magic, vampires, you know, the whole nine yards. As far as music goes, aside from Family Force 5, she is pretty much hard rock oriented. I asked her why she chose to come to Ole Miss. She responded with a very straight forward answer. â€Å"It was either here, or Mississippi State, but if I had gone to state, I know I would’ve gotten into too many fights. I simply laughed and nodded in agreement at my friend. It is safe to say, that since coming to college, she has finally found steady friends, which of course she loves because she hasn’t ever really had that before. I of course was and still am both grateful and happy to be a friend to her. The more I hang around Lavada, the more I see the kind of person she is. There is no denying that is sweet and kind to any everyone. I obser ved that she has a hard to saying no to people, even if she wants to. In my opinion, Lavada possesses something that is rare in our generation. And I don’t mean her virginity. Although, I do believe that it truly reflects the kind of person she really is. She’s someone who isn’t concerned with impressing others. The fact that she has yet to swipe her â€Å"V- card† speaks volumes about her values and the standards that she holds for herself. She is kind, fun-loving, and seems to sincerely care about her fellow human-being in a way that is apparent in her everyday life. I truly wish more people our age would take a lesson from Lavada, and maybe we could all make a change for the better.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

What are the key similarities and differences between neorealism and Essay

What are the key similarities and differences between neorealism and neoliberalism - Essay Example The debate within the length of this paper is to establish the main differences that exist between neorealism and neoliberalism, find out the shared assumptions that exist between the two theories and lastly pinpoint the issues that have been left unquestioned by both the neorealism and the neoliberalism bases. The role played by both neorealists and neoliberalists as well as the opponents of the same theories have also been highlighted during the length of this paper. Thus in all essence, a deep and incisive look has been provided to the two theories at hand and every effort is possibly made to establish a link with each other’s traits and characteristics. In conclusion, a significant foundation has been discussed with respect to the two theories and the learning that has been brought forward by the respective theory at hand. A theory of international relations – neorealism is also known by the name of structural realism. It was coined by Kenneth Waltz in the year 1979 in his famous book ‘Theory of International Politics’ where his premise was in support of having a global structure which could act as a restraining force on the behaviors of the state. This was deemed significant because the states which had their outcomes within the expected range could make their way and survive in the related midst. Thus neorealism can easily be remarked as a similar system to the microeconomic model which makes use of organizations setting price and quantity equations on the structure of the market. Neorealism looks to explore the classical realist thinking ideology of E H Carr, Niebuhr and Morgenthau. Neorealism has been brought forward by the incorporation of American political science domains. It wants an attachment with the strongly linked and positively inclined social science. (Gilbert, 1999) On the other hand, neoliberalism encompasses a political movement that includes within it the economic liberalism. What this economic

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Islam Way of Life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam Way of Life - Research Paper Example Today, more than 1.75 billion people are following this religion of Islam that makes them more than twenty-four percent population of the world. Analysis (Haddad, pp. 23-25) has indicated that like other revealed religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, etc, Islam also has similar principles of ethics, equality, patience, impartiality, etc; however, Islamic way of life has been confronting a number of issues due to opposite practice of few Muslims around the globe. In other words, terrorism is one of the major issues that have resulted in wrong image of Islam in Western countries due to the concept of Jihad in Islam that actually calls Muslims to fight in the name of Allah (God); however, few uneducated Muslims took this in actual phrases and began to breed terrorism in the name of Islam. On the other hand, a huge number of Muslims in various parts of the globe are practicing their lives on the fundamental principles of Islam and consider Jihad as a fight with one’s own self for improvement rather than someone else. It has been an observation that everything passes through a face of alteration during its existence that is the true law of nature. In this regard, religions undergo the same process of continuous change. Christianity confronted such phases, and that has been same for Islam as well. According to sacred scriptures (Haddad, pp. 29-34), Islam encourages an astonishing form of unity and pluralism, and that has been one of the reasons of higher level of cultural diversity of Muslim population in different parts of the globe. In this regard, this paper is an endeavor to discuss different ways of Islamic life that will enable the readers in better understanding of this monotheistic and religion with second largest global population. Scrutiny has indicated that sixteenth century began the existence of Islam in the United States with the arrival of

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Methods, Advantages and Disadvantages of Securitization Coursework

Methods, Advantages and Disadvantages of Securitization - Coursework Example Securitization largely supports the financial strength and stability of electric distribution utilities by availing the capital to purchase and make develop investments in utility infrastructure. Indeed, the Shikshak Sahakari Bank Ltd & another Vs Indian Oil Corporation Ltd & Another  case law that explains property mortgaged to the Bank leased out to a third party. Possession is subject to the leasehold rights of the Lessee. This case law explains the different parties to securitization. In an asset securitization process, a collection of assets transform into asset-backed securities. Securitization has greatly evolved with time. In modern times, securitization finances transition and stranded costs that relate to an open market, storm cost recovery, and environmental control equipment costs. Indeed, the difference between securitization and other forms of traditional financing is that in securitization, the cash flow generated by the asset pool to support securities with higher c redit quality than the company has secured debt. Ideally, the ultimate goal of securitization is to enable a corporation to obtain proceeds from the sale of assets and not necessarily borrowing funds.There are different securitization methods that have different goals. However, they share common elements that include the pledge from the state not to take or permit any action that would impair the value of the transition property and the recognition that alternative financing is beneficial to ratepayers. In addition, the variant securitization methods adopt the same mechanism for periodic true-ups, requirements of a financing order issued by the public service commission, and authorization of a non-by passable rider in the repayment of the securitized debt. In addressing, real property securitization, the two methods are the "Asset Liquidation Scheme" and "Asset Investment Scheme.†

Monday, August 26, 2019

Paying for Hospital Services Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paying for Hospital Services - Assignment Example Here, patients are advantaged in a way that they enjoy the freedom to choose directly on the physician they want and generally benefit from a sufficient access to health care services. In addition, these patients can see their physicians even out of state and they do not have to wait for long to consult a specialist. The disadvantage of FFS is that, they are not quite affordable when compared to other mechanisms. Since it gives providers a strong incentive to offer more and rewarding items, FFS can be a disadvantageous tool for containing costs. Lastly, it is anticipated that the fee application plans must comprise lots of administration costs to view resources required for monitoring, adjustments, and monitoring of schedules (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, 2010). Per Diem simply involves daily payment of services given by physicians or the hospital. It is beneficial because it encourages physicians to deliver better services. In some cases, the average per diem rate is forthright to implement and calculate since it can be founded on the total historical expenses divided by the entire number of bed-ways for a given group of services, such as maternity care. The average rate in this method can also be adjusted to mirror case-mix and patient characteristics, which may be a significant transition method, since per diem are manageably simple to implement and can be a good starting point when collecting data essential in case-based systems (Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research, 2008). According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (2009), the Diagnosis-Related Groups system classifies patients into groups basing on their economic and medical records, similar hospital resource costs and use. Here, providers are paid at a fixed rate for every discharge depending on the diagnosis, type of discharge, and treatment. For this reason, DRGs possess a

Sunday, August 25, 2019

In what cases is U.S. military intervention in other countries Research Paper

In what cases is U.S. military intervention in other countries justifiable In what cases is it not - Research Paper Example In any case, America is fighting with other countries all the time one way or other. It is difficult to justify all these wars conducted by United States. The Afghanistan war can be justified up to certain extent because of the brutalities committed by the Muslim fundamentalist group Taliban. Moreover, America has support from the existing Afghanistan political regime in destroying Talibanism from Afghan soil. However, same thing cannot be said about the recent Iraq war. It was conducted against the will of the political administration in Iraq. Moreover, the reasons cited for attacking Iraq were rejected by other countries. The theory of weapons of mass destruction was indigestible to other countries. America is still struggling to justify Iraq war since they failed to seize any weapons of mass destruction from Iraq. This paper analyses in what cases is U.S. military intervention in other countries is justifiable and in what cases is it not. On March 20, 2003 America with the help of its allies attacked Iraq, accusing Iraq for the possession of illegal chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, America explained to the world that the possession of such serious weapons may cause immense threat to the global peace. However, even after the execution of Saddam Hussein, American troops failed to seize any such weapons from Iraqi soil. ... It is illegal to attack a country for exploiting its natural resources. Sovereignty of a country should be respected in order to keep global peace intact. It is fact that most of the Middle Eastern countries including Iraq were administered by some dictators. However, spreading of democracy through war cannot be justified under any circumstances. Bush Jr. spent billions of dollars just for saving the pride of his father. The current financial crisis is believed to be the by-product of Iraq war. In other words, Iraq war not only affected the Iraqi people, but it affected the Americans also. Many of the American soldiers sacrificed their lives in Iraq in their efforts to bring peace back in Iraq. The cost of Iraq war can be better analyzed with the help of following illustration. (Cost of Iraq War and Nation Building) â€Å"According to an article by Stephen Gowans, the US command knowingly violated Article 54 of the Geneva Convention which prohibits any country from undermining objec ts indispensable to the survival of (another country's) civilian population" (Abuelo). Iraq war resulted in large scale looting and criminal disorder, especially in Baghdad and Basra. Coalition forces were quite unable to maintain public order and the Iraqi police forces largely withdrew from the major centers of population (Rogers, p.13). In other words, the coalition forces failed to keep their word they given to the external world; a peaceful Iraq without Saddam. In short, Iraq war or America’s intervention in Iraq could not be justified under any circumstances. The reasons cited for the wars were illogical and Americans forced pay big prices for this war in the form of big expenditure and the sacrifice of the lives of many of its people.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Social, Ethical, and Economic Implications of the Human Genome Term Paper - 1

The Social, Ethical, and Economic Implications of the Human Genome Project for Society - Term Paper Example Social implications include major advances in medical treatments, but also changes in people’s attitudes and behavior due to new procedures like testing when symptoms arise or screening before any disease symptoms are apparent. Ethical issues include balancing individual interests against the interests of others, and such considerations as potentially racist applications and unforeseen consequences of information which gene-related activities can produce. Some of the most critical issues such as privacy and the desire not to know are highlighted. Financial implications for society at large, private companies and for individuals are explored. Finally, there is the assessment of the extent to which the Frankenstein metaphor applies to this project. The paper concludes that the Human Genome Project is an extremely powerful resource which can be used for good or evil purposes and that we have resolved some but by no means all, of the major ethical issues that it brings. The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight into the genetic â€Å"blueprint† of the human body. Consider the social, ethical, and economic implications of this project for society and the potential for applications of this research. Genetic engineering is a relatively new science, which rests on the pioneering work of Gregor Mendel on the garden pea, leading to the formulation of Mendel’s laws in 1866. (Thomas, 2003 pp. 1-3). It was only some fifty years later that the true significance of his discoveries was realized.  

Friday, August 23, 2019

Control in Global Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Control in Global Economy - Essay Example This study therefore chose to evaluate on this catchy trend in management control systems. Management control systems in the world differ. These differences make management practices in various parts and organizations different. One country’s proven management systems may not work appropriately in a foreign country. Lere and Portz (2005), in the CPA Journal, undertook a research to establish possible reasons that may inhabit the working of a management control system in the United States with a multinational corporation firm in a foreign country. Taking a case study of a U.S based Multinational Corporation; the effectiveness of her management control system would evidently differ from one country to another or even from one branch with diverse cultural inclination to another in the same country. Therefore, the following is a report from the investigation carried out. The report from an earlier research conducted by Hofstede was that culture differs in the following aspects; power distance, gender, individual versus collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. Three regions and fifty countries were used in the analysis. However, his taxonomy added another aspect that was used to analyze twenty three nations and this is Confucian dynamism. Hofstede found out that those cultural differences has numerous implications to the effectiveness of a management system. Countries with cultures regularly referred to as the small power distance countries are associated with participative decision making and decentralization whereas large power countries are normally associated with less participative decision making and centralization. This implies that different control management systems will suit a country on the basis of their mode of decision making. For instance, in a decentralized organization, management remains at low organizational levels while in a centralized system, management control system is at high organizational

Reflection paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection paper - Movie Review Example There are many features of the film that captured my imagination. The short film was very well made, with different departments such as direction, screenplay, acting and cinematography all supporting and complementing each other. The real stalwart of the movie (as well as in real-life) is Nick Vujicic, who transforms himself from being ‘a perversion of nature’, ‘a creature given up by God’, etc to an extraordinary circus performer, an overachiever. As his mentor, the owner of Butterfly Circus correctly points out, much of Nick’s predicament and diminished sense of self is of his own making. Admonishing Nick for his passive acceptance of fate, the mentor (played by Eduardo Verà ¡stegui) urges Nick to achieve something like other circus performers. Even when Nick falls down as he tries to cross over the river, the mentor allows him to ‘manage’ on his own. Apathetic and cruel as it might seem, Verastegui knew what he was doing – name ly cultivating self-sufficiency in Nick. Just as Verastegui intended, this attitude leads to a breakthrough event, when Nick falls into the water, and in a desperate attempt to keep afloat, discovers that he can swim. As a teacher of special needs children, I can play this film to my students and inspire them to make maximum use of their lives. In addition to the film, I would also play motivational talks given by Nick Vujicic to my students, for the film is only a representation of his own real struggles. The film has also taught me the role of mentorship in uplifting disabled children. For example, the kind of encouragement that a child is received has profound implications for the way it integrates into the mainstream society. Usually, a child from one of the minority communities has to overcome more challenges. The minority status may be as a result of disability, ethnicity, language, race or

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Law and Environment Essay Example for Free

Law and Environment Essay According to this appeals court, what errors were made by the judge at trial? The judge has made a judicial error by allowing the Plaintiffs counsel to comment on the case about Minichiellos boss being a German with an attitude of hatred and made forced analogies to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The judge also allowed irrelevant testimony, which asserted that the Club discriminated against Latinos, Jews, and African-Americans, to the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation. I agree that awarding $20,000,000 was grossly excessive and has no rational basis, and was an error by the judge as well. 7. Would the police violate a suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure by secretly placing a GPS tracking device on the suspect’s car for an extended time without first securing a warrant to do so? Explain. See, for example, United States of America v. Lawrence Maynard, 615 F.3d 544 (D.C. Cir. 2010); petition for rehearing en bane denied, United States of America v. Antoine Jones, 625 F.3d 766 (D.C. Cir. 2010). The police would violate a suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure by secretly placing a GPS tracking device on the suspect’s car for an extended time without first securing a warrant to do so. They have violated his â€Å"reasonable degree of privacy†. Without having a warrant issued will give the ability to have anybody monitored whenever for whatever period of time invading privacy.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Three Negative Impacts Of Information Systems Information Technology Essay

Three Negative Impacts Of Information Systems Information Technology Essay Information systems are a basis for running business today. In many industries, survival and even existence without extensive use of IT is implausible and IT plays a vital role in increasing productivity. Although information technology has become more of a commodity, when coupled with corresponding changes in organization ad management, it can give the basis for new product, services, and ways of conducting business that provide firms with a strategic advantage. Information technology has become the largest constituent of capital investment for firms in the United States and many industrialized societies. On the other hand, there are the challenges for management when constructing and using information systems. Although information systems have provided vast benefits and efficiencies, they have also generated new ethical and social problems and challenges, such as threats to individual privacy and intellectual property rights; hence, managers face an ongoing struggle to maintain security and control, they have to design systems that people can control, understand, and use in a socially and ethically responsible way. Acquiring business value from information systems is another key challenge for management. Because not all companies realize good returns from information systems investments, in which the greatest challenge managers encountering today, they ensure that their companies indeed obtain meaningful returns on the money they spend on information systems. Besides, managers should understand the system requirements of a global business environment. Since the rapid growth in intern ational trade and the emergence of a global economy require information systems that can support both producing and selling goods in many different countries; however, it may result in chaos and the failure of central management controls. Therefore, management has to develop integrated, multinational or create cross-cultural accounting and reporting structures and design transnational business processes. Distinguish between and describe the uses of and advantages/disadvantages in HTML and XML. HTML is the main format used on the World Wide Web that stands for Hypertext markup language, which is a page description language for indicating how text, graphics, video, and sound are placed on a Web page document; however, HTML is limited to describing how data should be presented in the form of Web pages. HTML is actually a loosely defined subset of XML. However, whereas XML is a strict language, HTML takes liberties that may have helped it become the popular presentation tool it is today. Although the spirit of the young Internet encouraged freedom, developers have now recognized that the freedom of HTML has ramifications. Because HTML is so flexible, many browsers and Web applications have added their own functionality to the base HTML protocol. As all enhanced functionality is, this comes with additional security risks. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language that is the fundamental technology for Web services. XML can perform presentation, communication, and storage of data; however, in XML a number is not simply a number the XML tag specifies whether the number represents a price, a date, or a ZIP code. XML allows certain elements of the content of documents possible for computers to manipulate and interpret their data automatically and perform operations and the data without human intervention. Besides, XML offers a standard format for data exchange, enabling Web service to pass data from one process to another. Provide an explanation of the five layers of the TCP IP reference model. TCP/IP uses a suite of protocols, the main one being TCP and IP. TCP refers to the Transmission Control Protocol, which handles the movement of data between computers. TCP establishes a connection between the computers, sequences the transfer of packets, and recognizes the packets sent. IP refers to the Internet Protocol, which is responsible for the delivery of packets and includes the disassembling and reassembling of packets during transmission. There consists of five layers for the TCP/IP reference model, they are: application layer, transport layer, internet layer, network interface layer and physical layer. Application layer allows client application programs to access the other layers and defines the protocols that application use to exchange data. One of these application protocols is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that is used to transfer Web page files. On the other hand, transport layer is accountable for providing the application layer with communication and packet services. This layer includes TCP and other protocols. Internet layer is the third layer that is responsible for addressing, routing, and packaging data packets called IP datagrams. The Internet Protocol (IP) is one of the protocols used in this layer. Besides, network interface layer is responsible for placing packets on and receiving them from the physical network medium, which could be any networking technology. At the bottom of the reference model is physical layer, which is the physical connection whether using a Network Interface Card (NIC) or with a modem to connect to the local network. 7. What steps do the authors recommend be taken to develop an international information systems architecture? International information systems architecture contains the basic information systems required by organizations to coordinate worldwide trade and other activities. Recommend by the authors, there are five major steps for developing of an international information systems architecture, which included business drivers and challenges, corporate global strategies, organization structure, management and business processes, and technology platform. A business driver is a force in the environment to which businesses must respond and that influences the direction of the business. Meanwhile, examine carefully the inhibitors or negative factors that generate management challenges that could ruin the development of a global business. Once the global environment is examined, consider a corporate strategy for competing in that environment. After developing a strategy, it is then time to think how to structure organization so it can practice the strategy. Next, consider the management issues in implementing strategy and making the organization design come alive, the key here will be the design of business processes. The last issue to consider is the technology platform. Although changing technology is a key driving factor leading toward global markets, it may need to have a corporate strategy and structure before it can rationally choose the right technology. Once the process of reasoning have completed, it will be well on the way towa rd appropriate international information systems architecture capable of achieving corporate goals.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Development of VLSI Technology

Development of VLSI Technology CHAPTER 1 1. INTRODUCTION The VLSI was an important pioneer in the electronic design automation industry. The â€Å"lambda-based† design style which was advocated by carver mead and Lynn Conway offered a refined packages of tools.. VLSI became the early hawker of standard cell (cell-based technology). Rapid advancement in VLSI technology has lead to a new paradigm in designing integrated circuits where a system-on-a-chip (SOC) is constructed based on predesigned and pre-verified cores such as CPUs, digital signals processors, and RAMs. Testing these cores requires a large amount of test data which is continuously increasing with the rapid increase in the complexity of SOC. Test compression and compaction techniques are widely used to reduce the storage data and test time by reducing the size of the test data. The Very large scale integration design or manufacturing of extremely small uses complex circuitry of modified semiconductor material. In 1959- jack St. Claire Kilby (Texas instruments) they developed the first integrated circuit of 10 components on 9 mm2. In 1959, Robert Norton Noyce (founder, Fairchild semiconductor) has improved this integrated circuit which has been developed by Jack St Claire Kilby, in 1968- Noyce, Gordon E. Moore found Intel, in 1971- Ted Hoff (Intel) has developed the first microprocessor (4004) consists of 2300 transistors on 9 mm2, since then the continuous improvement in technology has allowed for increased performance as predicted by Moores law. The rate of development of VLSI technology has historically progressed hand-in-hand with technology innovations. Many conventional VLSI systems as a result have engendered highly specialized technologies for their support. Most of the achievements in dense systems integration have derived from scaling in silicon VLSI process. As manufacturing has improved, it has become more cost-effective in many applications to replace a chip set with a monolithic IC: package costs are decreased, interconnect path shrink, and power loss in I/O drivers is reduced. As an example consider integrated circuit technology: the semi conductor industry Association predicts that, over the next 15 years, circuit technology will advance from the current four metallization layers up to seven layers. As a result, the phase of circuit testing in the design process is moving to the head as a major problem in VLSI design. In fact, Kenneth M, Thompson, vice president and general manager of the Technology, Manufactur ing, and Engineering Group for Intel Corporation, states that a major falsehood of testing is that â€Å"we have made a lot progress in testing† in reality it is very difficult for testing to keep speed with semi conductor manufacturing technology. Todays circuits are expected to perform a very broad range of functions as it also meets very high standards of performance, quality, and reliability. At the same time practical in terms of time and cost. 1.1 Analog Digital Electronics In science, technology, business, and, in fact, most other fields of endeavor, we are constantly dealing with quantities. In the most physical systems, quantities are measured, monitored, recorded, manipulated, arithmetically, observed. We should be able to represent the values efficiently and accurately when we deal with various quantities. There are basically two ways of representing the numerical value of quantities: analog and digital 1.2 Analog Electronics Analogue/Analog electronics are those electronic systems with a continuously variable signal. In contrast, two different levels are usually taken in digital electronics signals. In analog representation a quantity is represented by a voltage, current, or meter movement that is comparative to the value of that quantity. Analog quantities such as those cited above have n important characteristic: they can vary over a continuous range of values. 1.3 Digital Electronics In digital representation the quantities are represented not by proportional quantities but by symbols called digits. As an example, consider the digital watch, which provides the time of day in the form of decimal digits which represent hours and minutes (and sometimes seconds). As we know, the time of day changes continuously, but the digital watch reading does not change continuously; rather, it changes in steps of one per minute (or per second). In other words, this digital representation of the time of day changes in discrete steps, as compared with the representation of time provided by an analog watch, where the dial reading changes continuously. Digital electronics that deals with â€Å"1s and 0s†, but thats a vast oversimplification of the in and outs of going digital. Digital electronics operates on the premise that all signals have two distinct levels. Certain voltages might be the levels near the power supply level and ground depending on the type of devices used. The logical meaning should not be mixed with the physical signal because the meaning of this signal level depends on the design of the circuit. Here are some common terms used in digital electronics: Logical-refers to a signal or device in terms of its meaning, such as â€Å"TRUE† or â€Å"FALSE† Physical-refers to a signal in terms of voltage or current or a devices physical characteristics HIGH-the signal level with the greater voltage LOW-the signal level with the lower voltage TRUE or 1-the signal level that results from logic conditions being met FALSE or 0-the signal level that results from logic conditions not being met Active High-a HIGH signal indicates that a logical condition is occurring Active Low-a LOW signal indicates that a logical condition is occurring Truth Table-a table showing the logical operation of a devices outputs based on the devices inputs, such as the following table for an OR gate described as below 1.4 Number Systems Digital logic may work with â€Å"1s and 0s†, but it combines them into several different groupings that form different number systems. Most of are familiar with the decimal system, of course. Thats a base-10 system in which each digit represents a power of ten. There are some other number system representations, Binary-base two (each bit represents a power of two), digits are 0 and 1, numbers are denoted with a ‘B or ‘b at the end, such as 01001101B (77 in the decimal system) Hexadecimal or ‘Hex-base 16 (each digit represents a power of 16), digits are 0 through 9 plus A-B-C-D-E-F representing 10-15, numbers are denoted with ‘0x at the beginning or ‘h at the end, such as 0x5A or 5Ah (90 in the decimal system) and require four binary bits each. A dollar sign preceding the number ($01BE) is sometimes used, as well. Binary-coded decimal or BCD-a four-bit number similar to hexadecimal, except that the decimal value of the number is limited to 0-9. Decimal-the usual number system. Decimal numbers are usually denoted by‘d at the end, like 24d especially when they are combined with other numbering systems. Octal-base eight (each digit represents a power of 8), digits are 0-7, and each requires three bits. It is rarely used in modern designs. 1.5 Digital Construction Techniques Building digital circuits is somewhat easier than for analog circuits-there is fewer components and the devices tend to be in similarly sized packages. Connections are less susceptible to noise. The trade-off is that there can be many connections, so it is easy to make a mistake and harder to find them. There are a few visual clues as result of uniform packages. 1.5.1 Prototyping Boards Prototypes is nothing but putting together some temporary circuits, or, as part of the exercises using a common workbench accessory known as a prototyping board. A typical board is shown in Figure 1 with a DIP packaged IC plugged into the board across the centre gap. This board contains sets of sockets in rows which are connected mutually for the component leads to be connected and plugged in without soldering. Apart from these outer edges of the board which contains long rows of sockets are also connected together so that they can be used for ground connections and power supply which are common to most components. Assembling wiring layout on the prototype board should be carried out systematically, similar to the schematic diagram shown. 1.5.2 Reading Pin Connections IC pins are almost always arranged so that pin 1 is in a corner or by an identifying mark on the IC body and the sequence increases in a counter-clockwise sequence looking down on the IC or â€Å"chip† as shown in Figure 1. In almost all DIP packages, the identifying mark is a dot in the corner marking pin 1. Both can be seen in the diagram, but on any given IC only one is expected to be utilised. 1.5.3 Powering Digital Logic Where analog electronics is usually somewhat flexible in its power requirements and tolerant of variations in power supply voltage, digital logic is not nearly so carefree. Whatever logic family you choose, you will need to regulate the power supply voltages to at least  ±5 percent, with adequate filter capacitors to filter out sharp sags or spikes. To provide references to the internal electronics that sense the low or high voltages and also act on them as logic signals, the logic devices rely on stable power supply voltages. The device could be confused and also misinterpret the inputs if the devices ground voltage is kept away from 0 volts, which in turn causes temporary changes in the signals, popularly known as glitches. It is better to ensure that the power supply is very clean as the corresponding outcome can be very difficult to troubleshoot. A good technique is to connect a 10 ~ 100  µF electrolytic or tantalum capacitor and a 0.1  µF ceramic capacitor in parallel across the power supply connections on your prototyping board. CHAPTER 2 2. REVIEW AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF ITERATIVE CIRCUITS As a background research, recent work on iterative circuits was investigated. In this section, seven main proposals from the literature will be reviewed. The first paper by Douglas Lewin published in (1974, pg.76,277), titled Logic Design of Switching Circuits, in this book he states that quite often in combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of a truth table is inadequate. He stated that for a simple network, a terminal description will often suffice, but for more complex circuits, and in particular when relay logic is to be employed, the truth table method can lead to a laborious and inelegant solution. 2.1 Example: A logic system could be decomposed into a number identical sub-systems, then if we could produce a design for the sub-system, or cell, the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. The outputs of one cell form the inputs to the next one in the chain and so on, each cell is identical except for the first one (and frequently he last one) whose cell inputs must be deduced from the initial conditions. Each cell has external inputs as well as inputs from the preceding cell, which are distinguished by defining the outputs of a cell as its state. Figure 2.1 Iterative Switching Systems The second proposal which will b reviewed was presented by Fredrick J. Hil and Gerald R. Peterson published in (1981, pg. 570), titled Introduction to Switching Theory and Logic Design, in this book, they discussed that iterative network is highly repetitive form of a combinational logic network. The repetitive structure make possible to describe the iterative networks utilizing techniques that already developed for sequential circuits, the author in this books he has limited his discussion to one dimensional iterative networks represented by the cascade or identical cells given in below figure. A typical cell with appropriate input and output notation is given in one more figure below (b). Now note the two distinct types of inputs, i.e., primary inputs from the outside world and secondary inputs from the previous cell in the cascade. And similarly and there are two types of outputs, i.e., primary to the outside world and secondary to the next cell in the cascade. The boundary input s which are at the left of the cascade denoted by us in the same manner as secondary inputs. At some cases the inputs will be constant values. A set of boundary inputs emerges from the right most cell in the cascade. although these outputs are to the outside world, they will be labelled in the same manners secondary outputs. The boundary outputs will be the only outputs of the iterative networks. The third proposal by Barri Wilkinson with Raffic Makki, published in (1992, pg. 72-4) titled -digital design principles, in this book, they discussed about the design and problems of iterative circuits and stated that, there are some design problems which would require a large number of gates if designed as two level circuits. On approach i.e., is to divide each function into a number of identical sub functions which need be performed in sequence and the result of one sub function is used in the next sub function. A design based around the iterative approach is shown in below figure. There are seven logic circuit cells each cell accepts one code word digit and the output from the preceding cell. The cell produces one output, Z, which is a 1 whenever the number of 1s on the two inputs is odd. Hence successive outputs are a 1 when the number of 1s on inputs to that point is odd and the final output is a 1 only when the number of 1s in the whole code word is odd as required. To create an iterative design, the number of cells and the number of data inputs to each cell need to be determined and also the number of different states that must be recognized by the cell. The number of different states will define the number of lines to the next cell (usually carrying binary encoded information). The fourth proposal was reviewed by Douglas Lewin and David Protheroe published in (1992, pg. 369),titled Design of Logic systems, in this book, according to them, iterative networks were widely used in the early days of switching systems when relays were the major means of realizing logic circuits. these technique fell into disuse when electronic logic gates widely available. It is possible to implement an arbitrary logic function in the form of an iterative array, the technique is most often applied to functions which are in the sense ‘regular in that the overall function may be achieved by performing the same operation up to a sequence of a data bits. Iterative cell techniques are particularly well suited to pattern recognition and encoding and decoding circuits with large numbers of parallel inputs. The method is also directly applicable to the design of VLSI circuits and has the advantage of producing a modular structure based on a standard cell which may be optimized independently in terms of layout etc. Circuits containing any number of input variables can easily be constructed by simply extending the network with more cells. they examine the iterative circuits with some examples, although it is possible to implement an arbitrary logic function in the form of an iterative array, the technique is most often applied to functions which are in this sense ‘regular in that the overall function may be achieved by performing the same operation upon a sequence of data bits. Suppose a logic system could be decomposed into a number of identical subsystems; then if we could produce a design for the subsystem, or cell, the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. Problem Reduced: this problem now has been reduced to that of specifying and designing the cell, rather than the complete system. The fifth proposal presented by Brians Holdsworth published in (1993, pg. 165-166) titled Digital Logic Design, stated that iterative networks widely used before the introduction of electronic gates are again of some interest to the logic designers as a result of developments in semiconductor technology. Moss pass transistors which are easily fabricated are used in LSI circuits where these LSI circuits require less space and allow higher packing densities. One of the major disadvantages of hard-wired iterative networks was the long propagation delays because of the time taken for signals to ripple through a chain of iterated cells. This is no longer such a significant disadvantage since of the length of the signal paths on an LSI chip are much reduced in comparison with the hard-wired connections between SSI and MSI circuits. However, the number of pass transistors that can be connected in series is limited because of signal degradation and it is necessary to provide intercell buffe rs to restore the original signal levels. One additional advantage is the structural simplicity and the identical nature of the cells which allows a more economical circuit layout. A book proposed by Brians Holdsworth and R.C. Woods published in (2002, pg.135), titled Digital Logic Design, in this book, the discussion on the structure has made and stated that iterative network consists of number of identical cells interconnected in a regular manners as shown in figure with the variables X1.Xn are termed as primary input signals while the output signals termed as Z1Zn and another variable is also taken a1an+1 are termed as secondary inputs or outputs depending on whether these signals are entering or leaving a cell. The structure of an iterative circuit may be defined as one which receives the incoming primary data in parallel form where each cell process the incoming primary and secondary data and generates a secondary output signal which is transmitted to the next cell. Secondary data is transmitted along the chain of cells and the time taken to reach steady state is determined by the delay times of the individual cells and their interconnections. According to Larry L. Kinney, Charles .H and Roth. JR, published in (2004, pg.519) titled Fundamentals of Logic design, in this book they discussed that many design procedures used for sequential circuits can be applied to the design of the iterative circuits, they consists of number of identical cells interconnected in a regular manner. Some operations such as binary addition, naturally lend themselves to realization with an iterative circuit because of the same operation is performed on each pair input bits. The regular structure of an iterative circuit makes it easier to fabricate in integrated circuit from than circuits with less regular structures, the simplest form of a iterative circuit consists of a linear array of combinational cells with signals between cells travelling in only one direction, each cell is a combinational circuit with one or more primary inputs and possibly one or more primary outputs. In addition, each cell has one or more secondary inputs and one or more secondary outputs. Then the produced signals carry information about the â€Å"state† of one cell to the next cell. The primary inputs to the cells are applied in parallel; that is, they are applied at the same time, the signals then propagate down the line of cells. Because the circuit is combinational, the time required for the circuit to reach a steady- state condition is determined only by the delay times of the gates in the cell. As soon as steady state is reached, the output may be read. Thus, the iterative circuits can function as a parallel- input, parallel-output device, in contrast with the sequential circuit in which the input and output are serial. One can think of the iterative circuits as receive its inputs as a sequence in time. Example: parallel adder is an example of iterative circuits that has four identical cells. The serial adder uses the same full adder cell as he parallel adder, but it receives its inputs serially and stores the carry in a flip-flop instead of propagating it from cell to cell. The final proposal was authored by JOHN F WAKERLY, published in (2006, pg. 459, 462, 756), titled Digital Design Principles, in this book he quoted that, iterative circuits is a special type of combinational circuits, with the structure shown in below figure. This circuit contains n identical modules, each of which contains both primary inputs and primary outputs and cascading inputs and cascading outputs. The left most cascading inputs which is shown in below figure are called boundary inputs and are connected to fixed logic values in most iterative circuits. The right most cascading outputs are called boundary outputs and these cascading output provides important information. Iterative circuits are well suited to problems that can be solved by a simple iterative algorithm: Set C0 to its initial value and set i=0 Use Ci and Pli to determine the values of P0i and Ci+1. Increment i. If i In an iterative circuit, the loop of steps 2-4 is â€Å"unwound† by providing a separate combinational circuit that performs step 2 for each value of i. Each of the works reviewed makes an important contribution to improve the disadvantages and problems by iterative circuits, which is lead to improving the iterative circuits, thus it is appealing me to pursue an investigation on the sequential circuits for better understanding about the iterative circuits CHAPTER 3 3. OVERVIEW OF DESIGN METHODS FOR ITERATIVE CIRCUITS 3.1 Iterative design Iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. Changes and refinements are made, in the most recent iteration of a design, based on the results of testing. The quality and functionality design can be improved by this process. The interaction with the designed system is used as a research for informing and evolving a project, as successive versions in Iterative design. 3.2 Iterative Design Process The iterative design process may be applied throughout the new product development process. In the early stages of development changes are easy and affordable to implement. In the iterative design process the first is to develop a prototype. In order to deliver non-biased opinions the prototype should be examined by a focus group which is not associated with the product. The Information gained from the focus group should be integrated and synthesized into next stage of iterative design. This particular process must be recurred until an acceptable level is achieved for the user. Figure 3.1 Iterative Design Process 3.3 Iterative Circuits Iterative Circuits may be classified as, Combinational Circuits Sequential Circuits. Combinatorial circuit generalized using gates has m inputs and n outputs. This circuit can be built as n different combinatorial circuits, apiece with exactly one output. If the entire n-output circuit is constructed at once then some important sharing of intermediate signals may take place. This sharing drastically decreases the number of gates needed to construct the circuit. In some cases, we might be interested to minimize the number of transistors. In other, we might want a little delay, or we may need to reduce the power consumption. Normally a mixture of such type must be applied. In combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of a truth table is inadequate. For a simple network, a terminal description will often suffice, but for more complex circuits, and in particular when relay logic is to be employed, the truth method can lead to laborious and inelegant solutions. Iterative cell techniques are particularly well suited to pattern recognition and encoding and decoding circuits with a large number of parallel inputs, circuits specification is simplified and large variable problems reduced to a more tractable size, this method is directly applicable to the design of VLSI circuits. It should be pointed out though that the speed of the circuit is reduced because of the time required for the signals to propagate along the network; the number of interconnections is also considerably increased. In general, iterative design does not necessarily result in a more minimal circuit. As the advantage of producing a modular structure, circuits containing any number of input variables can be easily constructed by simple extending the networks with more cells. Suppose for example a logic system could be decomposed into number of identical sub subsystems, then if we would produce a design for the subsystem or a cell the complete system could be synthesized by cascading these cells in series. The problem has now been reduced to that of specifying and designing the cell, rather than the complex systems In general, we define a synchronous sequential circuit, or just sequential circuit as a circuit with m inputs, n outputs, and a distinguished clock input. The description of the circuit is made with the help of a state table with latches and flip-flops are the building blocks of sequential circuits. The definition of a sequential circuit has been simplified as the number of different states of the circuit is completely determined by the number of outputs. Hence, with these combinational circuits we are going to discuss a normal method that in the worst case may waste a large number of transistors For a sequential circuit with m inputs and n outputs, our method uses n D-flip-flops (one for each output), and a combinatorial circuit with m + n inputs and n outputs. 3.4 Iterative Circuits-Example An iterative circuit is a special type of combinational circuit, with the structure shown, The above diagram represents the iterative circuits and this circuit contains ‘n identical modules each of which has both primary inputs and outputs and cascading inputs and outputs. The left most cascading inputs are called boundary inputs and are connected to fixed logic values in most iterative circuits. The right most cascading outputs are called boundary outputs and usually provide important information. Quiet often in combinational logic design, the technique of expressing oral statements for a logic circuit in the form of truth table is inadequate. Iterative circuits are well suited to problems that can be solved by an algorithm i.e iterative algorithm Set C0 to initial value and set i to 0. Use Ci and Pli to determine the values of P0i and Ci+1. Increment i. If i In an iterative circuits, the loop of steps 2-4 is â€Å"unwound† by providing a separate combinational circuit that performs step 2 for each value of i. 3.5 Improving the testability of Iterative Circuits As stated by A.Rubio et al, (1989, pg.240-245), the increase in the complexity of the integrated circuits and the inherent increase in the cost of the test carried out on them are making it necessary to look for ways of improving the testability of iterative circuits.The integrated circuits structured as iteration of identical cells, because their regularity have a set of advantages that make them attractive for many applications. Among these advantages are their simplicity of design, because the structural repetition of the basic cell, manufacturing, test, fault tolerance and their interest for concurrent algorithmic structure implementation. Here in this journal we also study about the testability of iterative circuits the below figure illustrates the typical organization of an N-cells iterative unidimensional circuit (all the signals go from left to right); however the results can be extended to stable class of bilateral circuits. The N cells have identical functionality. Every cell (i) has an external input yi and an internal input xi coming from the previous cell (i-1). Every cell generates a circuit output signal yi and an internal output xi that goes to the following cell (i+1).The following assumptions about these signals are considered below All the yi vectors are independent. Only the x1, y1, y2.yn signals are directly controllable for test procedures. Only the y1, y2 yn signals are directly observable. The xi and ^xi signals are called the states (input and output states respectively) of the ith-cell and are not directly controllable (except xi) neither observable (except xn). Kautz gives the condition of the basic cell functionality that warrants the exhaustive testing of each of the cells of the array. These conditions assure the controllability and observability of the states. In circuits that verify these conditions the length of the test increase linearly with the number of cells of the array with a resulting length that is inferior to the corresponding length for other implementation structures. A fundamental contribution to the easy testability of iterative circuits was made by Freidman. In his work the concept of C-testability is introduced; an iterative circuit is C-testable if a cell-level exhaustive test with a constant length can be generated. This means the length is independent of the number of cells composing the array (N). The results are generalised in several ways. In all these works it is assumed that there is only one faulty cell in the array. Cell level stuck-at (single or multiple) and truth-table fault models are considered. The set T of test vectors of the basic cell is formed by a sequence (what ever the order may be) of input vectors to the cell. Kautz proposed the cell fault model (CFM) which was adopted my most researchers in testing ILAs. As assumed by CFM only one cell can be faulty at a time. As long as the cell remains combinational, the output functions of the faulty cell could be affected by the fault. In order to test ILA under CFM every cell should be supplied with all its input combinations. In Addition to this, the output of the faulty cell should be propagated to some primary output of the ILA. Friedman introduced c-testability. An ILA is C-testable if it can be tested with a number of test vectors which are independent of the size of the ILA. The target of research in ILA testing was the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for many types of ILAs (one dimensional with or without vertical outputs, two-dimensional, unilateral, bilateral) to be C-testable. The derivations of these conditions were based on the study of flow table of the basic cells of the array. In the case of an ILA which is not C-testable modifications to its flow table (and therefore as to its internal structure) and/or modifications to the overall structure of the array, were proposed to make it C-testable. Otherwise, a test set with length usually proportional to the ILA size was derived (linear testability). In most cases modifications to the internal structure of the cells and/or the overall structure of the ILA increase the area occupied by the ILA and also affect it performance. ILA testing considering sequential faults has been studied, sequential fault detection in ripple carry adders was considered with the target to construct a shortest length sequence. In sufficient conditions for testing one dimensional ILAs for sequential faults were given. It was not shown that whenever the function of basic cell of an ILA is bijective it can be tested with constant number of tests for sequential faults. To construct such a test set like this a procedure was also introduced. The following considerations from the basis of our work. Many of the computer aided design tools are based on standard cells libraries. While testing an ILA, the best that can be done is to test each of its cells exhaustively with respe

Monday, August 19, 2019

Why Athletes Choke in the Big Games? :: essays research papers

All sports fans have heard athletes comment that they â€Å"choked† or just couldn’t win the big game. The topic that will be addressed in this paper deals with the outcome of sporting events and why athletes continue to choke during and at the end of extremely important competitions. Baumeister (1992) found that â€Å"the choking reflex can be attributed to psychoneuromuscular influences†(p.3). My interest in the subject comes from being a big sports fan and a former athlete. And also from hearing people make comments such as, Scott Norwood and the entire Buffalo Bills football team are â€Å"chokers†. They can’t even win one Super Bowl in four tries. Barry Bonds can’t get one hit in the playoffs and thinks he’s the best baseball player ever. At the end of this paper you will be able to see why coaches and players go through these rough situations and what they can do to prevent them from happening again. In golf, â€Å"choking† is known as the â€Å"yips† and is defined as a psychoneuromuscular impediment of the execution of the simplest of tasks (Smith, 2000, p. 1). Adler (2003) defined the â€Å"yips† as a motor phenomenon of involuntary movements affecting golfers (p. 1). â€Å"Yips† is believed to be acquired through the deterioration of motor pathways via the basal ganglia. In some players it results from severe performance anxiety. This means that when a high level of stress and physiological arousal is present the â€Å"yips† start to show up. Basic patterns of the â€Å"yips† include sweaty palms, uncontrollable jerks, and anxiety. These symptoms continue to repeat themselves until the person that is affected learns to deal with these situations. These problems can influence quality of performance and even result in decreased playing time. â€Å"Yips† can also lead to the use of both alcohol and drugs as a coping adjacent. (Adl er, Crews, Wharen, & Laskowski 2003). Many of the best golfers in the world have had to experience this including Ben Hogan. Hogan said, â€Å"The difference between competitive golf and pleasure golf is like the difference between ice hockey and tennis† (Wertz, 86, p.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Tourettes Syndrome and the :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Tourette's Syndrome and the "I" Function Tourette's syndrome is characterized by a presentation of verbal and motor tics. The first descriptions of the syndrome, involving symptoms similar to Tourette's, were reported in the nineteenth century. For most of the twentieth century TS was thought to be a psychiatric disorder because of the ability the patients had to suppress their tics. In the past twenty years more biological factors have been introduced in the study of the syndrome, arising from the use of pharmacological treatment and the discovery of hereditary patterns of the disorder. In the diagnosis of Tourette's Syndrome the concept of involuntary tics has become hard to define. Many patients experience a volitional aspect of the tics, "a capitulation to an internal urge for motor discharge accompanied by psychological tension and anxiety Patients who are afflicted with Tourette's syndrome can only describe their symptoms by using terms associated with the "I" function, the consciousness of self and relation to one's environment, and many of their symptoms are associated with or affect the function of their self. This can imply that what ever is causing the symptoms of Tourette's is subsequently affecting the part of the nervous system that controls the self and the "I" function. Most of the studies done on the neuropathology of Tourette's syndrome (TS) have been focus on the basal ganglia, a group of nuclei located mostly in the diencephelon of the brain, a region beneath the cortex. This area has been classically associated with involuntary movement and tic disorders such as Parkinson and Huntington's disease. The neural circuits formed by the basal ganglia and the thalamus are critical for normal function and hypothesized to be required for the planning of movement ranging from simple to complex. Though what these pathways actually do is still very vague the basal ganglia has been found, in normal circumstances, to exert an inhibitory influence on the thalamus. Disruption of this inhibition could correspond with TS in which the making of uncontrolled and unplanned movements are involve. There is evidence that patients with Tourette's syndrome have some structural abnormalities in the region of the basal ganglia, mainly TS patients showed a comparative size reduction in the basal ganglia. There are various different behaviors through which Tourette's syndrome presents itself. The diagnostic categories of TS depend on the presence of tics, alone, although patients with Tourette may have mental or behavioral disorders, which over shadow the severity or impairment on normal function of the tics.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Henry David Thoreau Final

Henry David Thoreau uses contradictory tone in both â€Å"The e Moon† and â€Å"Indeed Indeed I Cannot Tell† to convey that love will always overshadow hate Furthermore, Henry David Thoreau use of contrast in tone portrays that d ring a time of secrecy, scandals, and mischievous actions, love will always neglect the dreads LU moments in life. â€Å"The Moon† is a dramatic poem about a man that expresses his amorous feelings towards a woman. The man has many problems in his life and the woman does not bring g any luck, but her light gives him hope.Hope that even though he is going through many memo nuts of secrecy, scandals, and mischievous moments that everything will eventually get better . Henry David Thoreau does this by personifying the moon as a lady and showing that his 10 eve for her helps him see all his bulky abundant problems seem small and limited. His love for the moon, lady, helps him realize that life is valuable and that there's no reason to abhor the life he I ivies.Moreover, Henry David Thoreau talks about how the moon, lady, â€Å"does not wane, but m y fortune,' which her rays do not bless,/ my wayward path declined soon,/ but she shines not the less† (Thoreau 71 0) in order to show the contrast between his frightful life and the power an d beauty of the moon. Henry David Thoreau uses tone shift in every other line in order to con trash himself with the moon, he uses a disconsolate tone when talking about his life in order to show that he is weak.Afterwards, he shifts to a omnipotent tone to describe the powerfulness s of the moon, lady, and that compared to him she will never become weak. He talks about how s he does not ‘Wane†; therefore, she does not fade, but he then he talks about that his fortune does fade making him seem powerless. He also talks about how she does not bring luck to his fortune e and that he took the wrong path that will soon be declining and bringing adversity to his life. La sta y, he talks about how none of that matters because the moon does not shine any less; t wherefore, she gives him hope that one day everything will turn out okay.The contrast is shown aft r every other line because he goes from describing his calamitous life to describing the influent al light of the moon to show how strong her light and beauty is. The moon is a reminder that t beauty still exist even in the darkest moments of ones life and his love towards the moon, lady , helps him see beyond his problems and the life he abhors. Likewise, Henry David Thoreau use of tone shift conveys that no matter h owe much hate and disgust you feel towards a person, there's always going to be a spark Of love u ender all that loath. Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† is a dramatic poem about a man and a choice between lover or hate. The man starts of hating a certain person and doesn't want to believe the at he truly loves them. He thinks that loving the person is some kind of sin and that he is not al lowed to love. Time starts to pass by and no matter how much he tries to hate the person 10 eve strikes him every time. He finally realizes that he can not truly hate the person no matter how much he tires. He figures out that love can not be hidden and that love will always find a away b ace to him no matter how much he tries to push it away.Hate can not always be a disguise f or love because love will always be able to break through the cracks of hate and when it does I can not be controlled. In addition to, Henry David Thoreau tone shift helps the reader s e the confusion Henry has about whether to love or hate the person. The tone shift is mostly n deiced in lines seven through twelve when Henry starts to talk about how he, â€Å"O, I hate thee with a hate/ That would fain, annihilate;/ Yet sometimes against my will,/ My dear friend, love the still. If it were a treason to our love,/ And a sin to God above,† (Thoreau 712). Henry uses a tone of abhorrence when talk ing about how much he hates the person, but then shifts to a tone o f affection to show owe much he wants to love the person. At first Henry starts talking about how he hates the person with so much hate that it will soon destroy him. He then shifts to talk Eng about how sometimes against his will he still loves them. Lastly, he shifts back to talking a bout how loving the person is a betrayal and a sin to the God above.By using tone shift the re adder can tell that Henry does truly want to love the person, but he is afraid to because he believe sees its a sin to love a person so much. Therefore, he tries to use hate as a disguise in order to make e himself believe that he doesn't not love the person. He soon sees the reality that he can't hate the e person and that his love towards the person is too strong to be hidden; therefore, he agrees that he does love the person. He knows that it's not right to love the person, but with hate comes 10 eve and eventually love starts to take ov er uncontrollably and there's nothing that can stop it.Furthermore, in both â€Å"The Moon† and â€Å"Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† Henry David Thoreau uses contradictory tone to portray that that love will always dominate hate, b UT at the same time he gives the poems their own unique styles. Thoreau poems both illustrate t e power of love, but in two different scenarios. Thoreau use of contradictory tone in â€Å"The Mo on† and â€Å"Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† illustrates not only how love can overshadow hate, but also how much of an impact love has in peoples lives.Moon† illustrates a man with a life full I of faults and his love for the moon, in this case a lady. Henry illustrates the impact of love BBC reading a scenario where the love Of a man towards a lady, moon, helps him loss sight Of all his t rubles in life. He makes the man go through many problems, but he doesn't let the man lose t he thought of love. In he end the love he has tow ards the moon,woman, helps the man realize that no matter what situation he is in his love will never alter.By only focusing on the good, in this case love, the man realizes that life is precious and that there's not a reason to abhor it no matter what challenges are being faced. While â€Å"The Moon† illustrated that love is powerful by using nature, â€Å"Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† illustrates the power of love by making It simple e and using a man that just simply believes he hates another person. â€Å"Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† is also a poem written by Henry David Thoreau that emphasizes the power of love. Indeed, Indeed, I Cannot Tell† helps the reader picture ho w love overshadows hate, but in a different scenario.In the poem there's a man that starts out hating a person with a passion, but the hate turned out to be a disguise for his love to wards the person. The man talks about how the person disgust him and how he doesn't know w hats eas ier to either love or hate them. Throughout the poem he keeps trying to convince himself that he hates the person and that there's no possible way that he could ever love them. As the poem starts to come to an end he admits that he really does love the person, but it wasn't his intent ion to love them.The poem shows that everyone has hidden love and that hate only occurs who en love is present because no one ever wants to believe that a person could love someone with so much passion; therefore, hate is a disguise for love. Henry David Thoreau used different see Marion in the poems in order to warn people that love is to be taken seriously, but he used contract actors tone in both of the poems to get the message out. By creating different scenarios, but using g the same tone Henry David Thoreau helps the reader gain some knowledge on how love imp acts different people in different ways.In conclusion, different people have different experiences, but love has the same amount of power. Some people are afraid of the thought of love because maybe they ha eve experienced love in a different way than others. Love can seem like a bad thing but if love is ex perceived in different ways it will leave different scars. Some scars might be bad and want to be forgotten, but they are there as a reminder of the mistakes that don't need to be repeated. Other scars are there as a reminder of how much of a difference love can cause and to show the b tackle that come with love.Henry David Thoreau flawlessly takes his experiences with love and hate and turns them into different scenarios to show the audience that love and hate can be experienced in different ways. In doing so, he is able to create the image that love will not alt err and that it will always stay same under every single circumstance. Henry David Thoreau, a p helicopter, chooses to take love and hate and show his audience that just because problems late r love doesn't. He helps his audience realize that hate is power ful, but hate really never is felt.

Redbox Essay

I. Executive Summary Redbox Automated Retail LLC was started in 2002. It started out being an experiment, funded by McDonalds, with grocery style kiosks and DVD rental kiosks. Within the first year Redbox dropped the grocery side and capitalized fully on the automated DVD vending machine rental. In 2009, Redbox became a fully owned subsidiary of Coinstar. A strategic evaluation of Redbox’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats are the bases of this marketing plan. While Redbox exhibits non-traditional marketing venues, they have proved to be successful marketing channels. A strong focus is put upon Redbox in contracting with Verizon for the implementation of streaming movies, maintaining the low price for rentals, and the convenience of the kiosks for the busy consumer. II. Environmental Analysis Since Redbox was originally tried as a grocery and DVD rental kiosk, the transition into only the DVD rental market was relatively easy. Redbox is not only its business name; it is also its aesthetic view. It is a fully automated video and gaming rental venue that is all contained within a 12 foot square red box, hence the name. Redbox positions its kiosks in high-traffic areas like gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies. These are strategically placed for their intended target markets to have a one-stop shop on their way home from work. The idea behind it was to entice the customer to rent a movie at a store that they are frequently shopping at, without having to make another stop. A. The Marketing Environment 1. Competitive forces. Redbox is in a highly competitive market. They face competitors such as Netflix and Blockbuster. Redbox leads in a competitive stand out by offering quick, convenient and affordable movie rentals. A Blu-Ray movie rents for $1.50 per day and a regular DVD movie rental is $1.20 per day. The Redbox network is nationwide and offers more than 30,000 convenient locations. (4) Blockbuster Express recently joined the kiosk movie rental market which led them to be a direct competitor to Redbox. They also have a leg up on Netflix as Redbox doesn’t require monthly contracts, which is highly appealing to the casual movie viewer. 2. Economic forces. With the present state of the economy, Redbox flourished when the demand for cheaper movie rentals increased. When the Blockbuster brick-and-mortar stores were forced to close, Redbox rentals jumped up 28% from 2010 to 2011. (1) 3. Political forces. There are no foreseen political forces that can alter Redbox’s operations. 4. Legal and regulatory forces. There are several laws and regulations that Redbox should abide by. But with Redbox being in a self-serve kiosk, it can make some of these laws and regulations harder to enforce. The Motion Picture Association of America sets the ratings on movies, and no one under the age of 17 can rent a rated R movie. Redbox does require age verification before renting the R-rated movie(s). The Federal Copyright Act â€Å"governs how the copyrighted material, such as movies, may be used†. (2) A rented or purchased movie doesn’t issue the right to show the movie outside one’s home unless that site carries a license for public exhibition. The Video Privacy Protection Act â€Å"prevents disclosure of personally identifiable rental records† without the written consent of the consumer. (3) The Entertainment Merchants Association regulates the industry for renting DVD’s and/or video games. â€Å"They protect the right to sell, rent, and /or promote the sale and rental of entertainment products and content†. (5) 5. Technological forces. With technology always increasing and new products are always being introduced, Redbox will undoubtedly be affected by technological advances. Consumers’ interest in renting physical movies will be on a decline with companies like XFinity offering the ability to stream movies online and watch them on any screen. Hollywood studios are also putting tighter reigns on places like Redbox. They are trying to delay the rental time frame from when DVDs are released to when they are available for rental. By trying to do so, they believe that it allows the consumer a chance to buy the movie before it becomes available for rent. And the studios receive a higher cut off of sales verses rentals. 6. Sociocultural forces. Today’s fast-paced society allows for less leisure time. Consumers are looking for convenience and easy to use products. Redbox offers a convenient service that allows renters to be able to rent-and-return anywhere at any kiosk. Customers can also reserve a movie online or via mobile apps and pick up at the nearest Redbox location (4). B. Target Market(s) Redbox has three main target market segments, the casual viewer, the family viewer, and the non-web savvy person. For first target market segment, Redbox markets towards the casual viewer. They have a policy of no monthly contract fees unlike their competitor, Netflix, who enforces a monthly fee. The casual viewer doesn’t rent enough movies or games to justify the fee. The casual viewer appreciates the ease and convenience of the locations of the Redbox. While Blockbuster also targets the casual viewer, Redbox is more appealing due to the inexpensive cost to rent a movie. The second target segment is the family viewer. Redbox positions itself in convenient locations for the ease of renting for the busy mom or dad. They can stop off at the grocery store or gas station on the way home from work and also pick up entertainment for the whole family, without having to make another stop. And the third target segment is the non-web savvy person. Netflix requires the use of the Internet to be able to rent movies. For those who either don’t have the technology available or those who are insecure of using a bank account or credit card number online, Netflix is not appealing. And with the focus Netflix on streaming movies online, they are pushing aside the lower income bracket who can’t afford the technology or those who don’t understand the technological lingo required for the streaming usage. That is where Redbox steps in and will capitalize on such consumers. Consumers are being forced to move from the brick-and-mortar stores to another venue of renting movies. With Redbox’s kiosks being user friendly and convenient, many of those consumers are trending towards the use of kiosks. Also the opportunity is becoming available for Redbox to take those valued consumers who are technologically savvy and offer them the option to stream videos online. C. Current Marketing Objectives and Performance Redbox’s current marketing objectives are to drive performance. They want to continue to drive customer loyalty, continue to engage their customers and grow profitability. By engaging their customers, Redbox is always looking to make the rental process more efficient and effective. They have installed several technology upgrades into the kiosks that will shorten the rental time frame by 20-30 seconds. They are continuously working on the most convenient locations and placements of the kiosks to drive their performance and grow profitability. Since 2002, Redbox has at least doubled, if not tripled, their revenue for seven years in a row. They distribute over 37 million disks to their field employees to install in the kiosks per year. Thousands of kiosks are installed every year. They have been able to build the infrastructure of the business to grow with the changing times, to keep up with the customer demands, and to grow their customer base into loyal customers. III. SWOT Analysis A. Strengths 1. Over 30,000 convenient locations nationwide 2. No monthly membership fees 3. Rent-and-return anywhere policy 4. Offers cheaper rental prices, $1.20/night, than its competitors 5. Largest DVD-rental kiosks operator B. Weaknesses 1. Limited access to titles, mostly new releases, and the schedule of release date depends upon the studio, not Redbox 2. Increased costs for DVD acquisitions due to Warner’s discontinued relationship with Redbox (9) 3. Marketing communication channels rarely used 4. Only accepts Debit or Credit Cards for methods of payment 5. Lacking web management in monitoring code sharing websites that allows for free rentals C. Opportunities 1. Tap into the market of streaming movies online 2. Now offers video game rentals at a relatively cheap price, $2/night 3. Mobile applications for IPhone and Droid for yet another ease of renting 4. $7 billion industry, in 2011, according to IBIS World D. Threats 1. Stiff competition with Netflix, Blockbuster Express, and Amazon 2. Websites like Hulu offering movies free of charge via the internet 3. Strained relationship with Warner Brothers by not accepting their terms of a 56 day waiting period to release new releases, resulting in increased costs for Redbox acquiring Warner Brother films (9) 4. Movie studio lawsuits stating they were only making 60 cents on new release movie rentals from Redbox, whereas they make $17 per sale of DVD at Wal-Mart. (9) IV. Marketing Objectives Unlike their major competitor Netflix, Redbox is not a big advertiser. Redbox mainly uses its internet website, in store cross-promotions, and their strategic placement of their red kiosks. On www.redbox.com, they showcase their movie and video game inventory and all their locations of their kiosks. One can also reserve the movies or games on the website and pick it up at the nearest kiosk location. It is a very simple, yet effective website. Redbox uses the placement of their eye-catching, red colored box as part of their marketing campaigns. They are strategically placed in high traffic areas and four wall stores. CFO Scott Di Valerio states that â€Å"Coinstar wants to be the leader of automated retail†. (14) Redbox also uses in store cross-promotions. Take the Orville Redenbacher’s promo, for example, on special marked popcorn boxes; there is a promo code for two free Redbox rentals, a coupon for a free 2-liter bottle of soda and a coupon for Orville’s poppycock popcorn. (15) Everyone associates movies and popcorn together so by running this cross-promotion, it brings new customers to Redbox and be able to experience the ease and convenience of usage. It has made family movie night just a little better. V. Marketing Strategies A. Target Market(s) Redbox uses the strategy â€Å"Think big, start small, scale fast.† All of the opportunities that Redbox reviews and pursues are in big spaces. They also look at new ventures who can realistically reach $100million in revenue in an allotted time frame. But before those big opportunities can be obtained, they need to start small. They believe in the right environment, which includes a small team, a few resources and time to hash over the details, so they can get to a point to accurately scale each venture. When that point is reached, Gregg Kaplan, Constar’s COO, says â€Å"It’s like unleashing the wonderful benefit that Redbox and Coinstar teams and the full organization can take against these opportunities.† (6) Redbox are placing more kiosks in more convenient places in hoping to increase more brand awareness, which is especially critical since they don’t spend much on advertising means. Mobile applications for iPhone and Droid are becoming intensely popular. The application will display a map of all the kiosks available in the area and also allows the viewing of what DVDs that kiosk has available. One can also reserve the movie via the mobile application and pick up at the nearest kiosk. B. Marketing Mix 1. Product. Redbox is the leader in DVD rentals, renting more than 1.5 billion discs to date, in over 30,000 locations. They boast on the fact that Redbox kiosks are available, within a five minute drive, to more than 68% of Americans. (4) And their rent-and-return anywhere policy makes Redbox an undisputable convenient place to rent moves. It is also possible to purchase the DVD at the kiosks or online at Redbox.com. 2. Price. The price to rent a DVD from a Redbox kiosk is astronomically cheap. It costs $1.20 to rent movies, including new releases, and $2.00 for video games. The rental period lasts until 9pm the night following the rental purchase. For each additional day you keep the movie, you are charged the rental fee plus tax per day. If you happen to hold the DVD for 20 days, you are charged $24 plus tax, $34.50 for Blu-Rays, or $60 for video games and the disc becomes yours. (4) These cheap prices have caused a strained relationship with the movie studios in Hollywood. They only earn $.60 per movie rental, where as they earn $17 per DVD sale, no matter the selling price. 3. Distribution. Redbox installs their kiosks in convenient, easy to access places, such as grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and large retailers like Wal-Mart. According to Coinstar’s 2011 10-K report, they have 35,400 kiosks available nationwide, each holding about 630 disks. (11) They are available in every state, including Puerto Rico. The kiosk is like the traditional brick-and-mortar video rental store, but only occupies up 12 square feet. Consumers access the movie database via a touch screen, make their selection(s), swipe their credit/debit card, and receive the DVD or video game(s). It is meant to be a quick, efficient and fully automated rental process. The kiosk scans the bar codes of the movies or games to keep track of its inventory. Bar code scanning allows them to track the rentals and the returns easily, especially when they offer the rent-and-return anywhere policy. 4. Promotion. Redbox sends promo codes to individuals who have signed up to receive emails. They also send promo codes via text messages. Those test messages results in a free rental once per month. Another promo Redbox offers are gift cards via email that gives the recipient a code for a free rental. In 2009, Redbox added a free mobile application for iPhone users and in 2011 they made the application available for Android users. The application allows users to sort through the available titles, find a kiosk location, and reserve a movie all from a smartphone.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Skimming is Winning

Skim reading could be what leads to the next epidemic for written works. This can be explained as the phenomenon in which readers pick out only what appear to be the most important and valuable pieces of information from a text. In â€Å"Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound.† Maryanne Wolf delineates the negative effects of skim reading on our intellectual processes such as; critical analysis, deep reading, and research surfacing as individuals move into digital based modes of reading. Wolf introduces the term â€Å"cognitive impatience† to explain how we are unable to take the time to concentrate because skimming has taken over most of our reading. This affects our ability to comprehend important information.† The argument states that humans are losing the ability to use their intellectual comprehension skills when it comes to reading. Skim reading is affecting the process to obtain information without analyzing the facts. This leaves the reader with â€Å"false information and demagoguery.† False information is obtained through skim reading as the â€Å"act† itself causes one to attain general information and words which can lead to misinterpretation. In addition, it adds a prejudice point of view as the reader fails to dive into facts which stand to be the main focus of the information being presented, and this can be explained as demagoguery. As a solution, she comes up with the idea of a â€Å"bi-literate† brain that will be capable to form the deepest of thoughts on either traditional or digital forms. It will benefit everyone as it will create a sustainable society by giving us the ability to seek more knowledge than we already have. Essentially, Wolf's essay is a warning of the dangers that skim reading has. It is leading individuals to misinterpret knowledge causing them to have false information. In her opening paragraphs, Wolf states (â€Å"The neuronal circuit that underlies the brain's ability to read is subtly, rapidly changing – a change with implications for everyone from the pre-reading toddler to the expert adult.†) The term â€Å"Cognitive impatience† is introduced and explained how individuals around the world are slowly becoming impatient when it comes to reading denser, more difficult texts. It is stated that what underlies â€Å"cognitive impatience† should be critically analyzed far more than the problem itself. Specific real-life examples are presented in relation to cognitive impatience, such as wills, contracts, and voting. For instance, contracts are essential when getting a job, purchasing a house, etc. If individuals fail to read the information correctly regarding the agreements or rules, it can cause them to miss out on specific information one may need to know to avoid unnecessary conflict. The author stresses the importance of deep reading by presenting real-life factors that rely on our growth as a society. The use of these examples in the article is a way of appealing to the reader's emotions, having them become more aware of the impacts skim reading can have even in situations we would not think of, such as the ones that were stated previously as well as digital skim reading. Technology has affected the ways in which we obtain information. As it becomes more advanced we are beginning to rely on technology to gain access to the information that we may require. However, various studies have proved that digital screen use may be causing troubling effects on reading comprehension in high school and college students. Ziming Liu from San Jose University conducted a study where he indicated that Skim reading is becoming the new â€Å"norm.† Many students began to glance at specific words and sentences for the rest of the text. When the brain skims likes this, it does not allow us to â€Å"to grasp complexity, understand others feelings, perceive beauty and for readers to have thoughts of their own.† By this, the author is trying to inform us that reading is comprised of more than just understanding the moral of a story. It is about being able to connect with the author and the emotions being presented, look at situations from a different perspective, as well as create thoughts of our own as we read in depth. Since technology has become a widely used tool in classrooms, this is seen as an opportunity to explain how it is affecting the information that we acquire. Negative effects of reading in digital modes can appear as early as the fourth or fifth grade. The author grasps the attention of the readers by informing them how early the effects of screen reading can affect the mental health of students. By this, she raises awareness to those who provide technology to their children or students constantly. For instance, parents giving their children technology to keep them occupied from a young age can cause them to rely on technology, hindering the development of basic reading skills leading to the underdevelopment of the child's brain. Scientific terms, such as circuit, neuroscience, and brain were present to stress and further explain the issue of skim reading. The author uses various studies conducted by psychologists as evidence to further support her argument. Anne Mangen, a psychologist from Stavanger, Norway came to a conclusion indicating (â€Å"That student's who read on print were superior in their comprehension to screen-reading peers.†) The reading circuit is a part in our brain that both psychology and science are parallel to. When our brain cannot comprehend information, or critically analyze along with various basic reading skills, it affects our brain which in turn affects psychological behaviours. The author references other neuroscientists which show the timeline the issue began, to stress the point that this is an issue across all age groups. Reading is a lot more than just being able to comprehend the text, It is being able to critically analyze and empathize, which is a crucial factor. It involves being able to understand the perspective of the author and the emotion they are trying to portray. Wolf also introduces a type of â€Å"bi-literate brain†, a brain capable of forming the deepest thoughts in traditional or digital mediums. The author does not only stress the importance of deep reading, perspective taking, analyzing, comparing etc. just for a simple book or text, but also indirectly tells us to have the same view towards our society and the way we live. The Bi-literate brain will help view life and certain situations in other perspectives, look at things and be appreciative of the beauty around us and also be able to create beauty with our imagination and ideas. Being able to go beyond our current knowledge and dig deeper to reach the knowledge, is necessary to sustain a good society. Wolf Indirectly states that using those same reading skills can also be used in real life to create a better future not only for literature but also our society. As the future moves society into a more digitized world, members are becoming unable to comprehend information accurately. â€Å"Cognitive impatience† the inability to take time and read, is leading readers to be unable to properly comprehend the information accurately because skimming has become a norm. This causes a prejudiced outlook due to readers being misinformed. It is no doubt that Wolf's article is a warning towards individuals in every age group to stress the point, how we are slowly diminishing in utilizing our basic reading skills such as critical thinking, analyzing, and deep reading. As Wolf presents real-life factors that are essential to our growth, we as members of society also have a duty to go beyond the knowledge that we already acquire and sustain a good society.