Friday, November 29, 2019

Tips to Find and Apply to High School Internships

Internships are no longer just attractive to college students. They are increasingly appealing to high school students as a way to explore potential academic paths and career options in a real world setting. Bhenrique, a student at UC Berkeley, was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to intern with the STEM office at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) when he was a high school student. He had the chance to observe and get hands-on with the effort that goes into providing public education. Because of his experience, he offers his insight and advice for high school students who are also looking for internship opportunities: 1. Search for Internships Online Typically, students looking for internships can do so online and find posted positions on the websites of specific companies, labs or start ups. Some of these internship opportunities are research based, like the Broad Institute Internship, while others are more traditional office internships. Either one would provide students with incredible experience and give you an opportunity to learn more about your intended major or career choice. 2. Choose Based on Your Interests Because you’ll get such valuable experience, I would recommend doing research or internships within your predicted major. For example, work at a hospital if you’re interested in studying pre-med or nursing, or work at an education nonprofit if you are interested in being a teacher. No only will this be beneficial to help you build your professional skills, but it will also help you discover how much you actually enjoy working these fields. 3. Take Initiative Just because an internship isn’t posted doesn’t mean there isn’t one available. I personally was not aware that you could intern for the DESE until I told my teacher that I was interested in an internship. Do your research and show your interest and it may materialize if you inquire about it. For example, you could find research projects at local colleges and email the professor running the research. A friend of mine emailed a professor at a college near his home about joining in on a physics research over the summer. The professor decided to take him on to the team after an interview, even though he didn’t initially have plans to bring on a high school student. (And these success stories aren’t rare!) 4. Talk to Your Guidance Counselor Some high schools have partnerships with colleges to help place high school students into internship programs. Even without these partnerships, your counselor can always reach out to their network or keep an eye out for an opportunity that might be a good fit. 5. It Never Hurts to Ask If you take anything away from this, it should be this: it never hurts to ask. The worst that can happen is that there is no high school internship opportunities. Having said that, you should also be prepared to take on the work if there is an opportunity. Be courteous and be grateful they are willing to give you the chance to join their team. As a Physics major now at UC Berkeley, I too have emailed professors and experts across the country asking to do research and I have had the chance to collaborate with many of them on building my own Quantum Physics Curriculum. Like college, where often research goes to those who ask for it, high school is very much the same where those who email may truly reap the benefits of clicking send. Have any other questions? UnlockBhenriques UC Berkeley college profileto learn more about his college application journey. Looking for more successful application examples or tips on landing a summer internship? Upgrade to one of ourpremium subscriptionstoaccess our searchable database of successful college applications and advice.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Cancer Research Video Essay Example

Cancer Research Video Essay Example Cancer Research Video Essay Cancer Research Video Essay The videos that I will be comparing are the Animal Aid and the Cancer Research Video. The animal aid company is a company that tries to get people to stop testing products on animals. They also carry out protests to the government to try and make it illegal. However not much has been done about it but the company still continues to carry out its good work. Cancer Research is an organisation that is trying to find a cure into cancer. They also try and find ways to prevent caner and issue information to people to minimise the risk of cancer and to look for warning signs.In my assignment I am going to compare the two media videos. I am going to compare the persuasive techniques that are used in the video and I am also going to look for similarities in camera techniques. The cancer research video is mainly aimed at adults. I know this because they ask for a donation and kids wouldnt have any money to donate to the organisation. I think the animal aid video is aimed at teenagers and upwards. I dont think it would be suitable for children or younger children as there are some disturbing scenes that would probably upset them. Both of the media videos use shock tactics and different techniques.Some of these techniques used in the video are very similar to each other and are very effective. In the cancer research video there is a shock tactic right at the start. A boy is stood looking into a mirror with a projection of his mum also in the mirror; his mum then puts his coat on and is made to look as if she is looking after him. The camera then takes a shot back to the boy and his mum isnt there. This is a shock tactic because his mum disappears meaning that she is no longer there. This presumably shows that she has died from some sort of cancer. There is also a close-up shot on the boys head.His head is bowed and he looks very sad that his mum is no longer there. This created emotion and captures the viewers attention. Another significant thing is that the boy looks quite scruffy. I think this has been done to show that he has no one to look after him because his mum has died. This creates an emotive image. People can also relate to this or think that this could happen to them. Because of this they are more likely to donate money to the organisation. The animal aid video also uses shock tactics and most of the duration of the video there are shock tactics used throughout it.Right from the start there are shocking videos showing what happens inside some of the animal testing centres. Hidden cameras are used in the video so they can show you what really happens. Shocking images are used like a monkey with CRAP burned onto his forehead. There are also images of humans that are hitting dogs and beating them up. The narrator at this point says that Beagles are friendly and like human attention. However on the film they look very scared and they are trying to get away from the humans. Along with a lot of shock tactics implemented into the video there are also lots of facts and figures brought up on the video.During the animal aid video there are both facts and figures brought up telling the viewer about how many animals are operated on a year and it then tells you how many actually worked. The cancer research video also shows a lot of facts and figures to the viewer. It gives you information on how many people catch cancer and how many are cured. It also tells you that 9 out of 10 children are cured from luqemia every year. The two videos are very like in this way although they have different objectives. The videos also contain a lot of repetition.The animal aid video also has repetition in it when a cross keeps coming up on the screen with a negative sound in the background. This happens because it is emphasising the fact that so many experiments have failed and that it is better to carry out some testing on humans instead. The cancer research video also has repetition in it. The i? 2 donation per month keeps coming up on the screen along with the number. This is also brought up in the video at different times. It is brought up four times in total. The video does this so you can keep the number in your head and also gives you a chance to pick up the phone and ring them.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Haiti Earthquake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Haiti Earthquake - Essay Example Community became more aware of the events happening in the world, which resulted in the occurrence of â€Å"citizen journalism† and blogs, when people can freely express their opinions on political, economic and social events. Different strategic approaches have been used in the cases of Haiti earthquake in January 2010 and VinayandSameer.org campaign in 2007-2008. The table below shows similarities and differences of their approaches. VinayandSameer.org Haiti Earthquake Strategy planned emergent Goal to make South Asian Americans register at NMDP donor database and take an action as a donor if they are called to share news about earthquake and help people find each other Features analytical creative and innovative Normal communications tools used television, public relations none (all were down) Social media tools used websites, blogs, emails, web links, educational videos, Facebook, etc. videos, pictures, text messages, iReports, Twitterfeeds, etc.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Clinical Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Clinical Depression - Essay Example In men the symptoms are found to be depressed mood, loss of interest in activities that give enjoyment, changing appetite, feelings of guilt, helplessness, suicidal intention, loss of interest in career, changing jobs, etc In women the symptoms are found to be sudden loss and gain of weight, physical pains and aches, emotional behavior, crying etc. However the loss of appetite and feeing of sadness and suicidal ideation are found to be seen as common for both men and women. The website called Healthyplace.com [2006] has found that â€Å"While women may cry, become withdrawn and gain or lose weight, men may abuse alcohol or drugs, work or eat exclusively and or become violent to themselves or others, among other things† This clinical depression is otherwise called as the major depression. People get a feeling of sadness continuously. It seems to attack people of the age group 25-50. But recent studies over the topic says that it might people at any age. Clinical depression exists in an individual for about six to nine months. But if not treated it might take a long journey and leave such prolonged stay might attribute to the abnormalities in the body condition. The causes are found to be ambiguous, but scientists have analyzed that genetics, biological and psychological reasons could be added to the cause for depression. Stress is discovered to be the major cause for this disease. This stress might arise form an individuals’ social and occupational and other areas of functioning. The chance of psychological effect over the development of this disease seem to be less as there are other causes that might contribute to the disease. The biological reason is that of the dysfunction of the neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters transmit signals between the cells in the brains. The chemical imbalance that occurs in the neurotransmitters leads to the depression. The level of the neurotransmitters affects the mood of

Monday, November 18, 2019

Innocent Drink Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Innocent Drink - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategies that had been adopted by Innocent Drinks to become one of the most popular brands in the fruit smoothies market. The aim is to evaluate ways in which a company had implemented its strategies to rise from a humble beginning and becoming a major market player. One of the most interesting facts about this company is that its organizational structure has gone through massive changes that had impacted overall business. The organizational structure of a company refers to its shape or hierarchical structure. The organizational structure describes allocation of tasks, supervision and coordination that helps in achieving desired goals. In case of Innocent Drinks, the company was set up by Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wrigh and was initially funded by Maurice Pinto (a wealthy businessman). The company had a little more than hundred staff while commencing the operations. There was minimal hierarchy in the organization. The unique feature about Innocent Drinks is that it does not own any of the juicing facilities. The company simply contracts the work of manufacturing smoothies to different sites. The growth of the company in first six years of its establishment is nothing less than a success story. By 2005, the company became the fastest growing smoothie company in U.K. Constant product innovation has been one of the most important factors that had contributed to growth of the company. The reason behind growth of the smoothie market in U.K. can be assessed with the help of PESTLE factors. Political: The political environment in the U.K. is stable that had enabled fast growth of the fruit smoothie industry. The U.K. government required a smoothie manufacturing company to state whether the products that is being produced is either concentrated fruit juice or pure fruit juice. Also, the government had been promoting anti-obesity campaigns and promoting development of health drinks (Rao, 2004). Economic:

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Chemical Synthesis of a Gene: Phosphodiester Approach

Chemical Synthesis of a Gene: Phosphodiester Approach Chemical synthesis of a gene is the process of synthesizing an artificially designed gene into a physical DNA sequence by chemical methods. The amino acid sequence of the protein encoded by a gene enables the deduction of base sequence of the concerned gene. From the amino acid sequence of the protein and using a set of optimal codons, the nucleotide sequence of the gene can be back translated. However, the degeneracy of genetic code may present some problems, but a functional sequence of the gene can nonetheless be worked out and can be optimized for codon usage as well as for base composition. In principle, a DNA synthesizer can be used to synthesize the DNA sequence chemically and this can be cloned in the usual manner. But this is not so simple. A synthesizer will add bases sequentially one at a time to the growing oligonucleotide chain through a series of chemical reactions and washing steps. Synthesis of oligonucleotides 30-50 bases long is very reliable, longer sequences can be synthesized but the practical limit is not more than 100 bases. One way to solve this is to synthesize short fragments and join them chemically or enzymatically to create the longer fragment. However, the synthesizer makes single-stranded DNA, so the complementary strand has to be synthesized again to create a double-stranded DNA. It involves a lot of work but is achievable. Early studies. The synthesis of nucleic acids in the laboratory started about thirty years ago. Early synthetic efforts used phosphodiester approach which enabled the synthesis of short oligonucleotides of 10-20 nucleotides. This approach was based on the selection of the proper condensing agents for phosphodiester bond formation and at the same time suitable protective groups were employed for the bases and the ribose moiety. These oligonucleotides were then assembled into longer DNA fragments with the help of kinase and DNA ligase. From the known primary structure of a ribonucleic acid, tyrosine tRNA, Dr H Khorana and his colleagues deduced the DNA sequence and synthesized successfully a DNA segment containing 200 bp coding for the structural gene for tyrosine tRNA. However, the low yields in the condensation step, the long reaction times, and especially the time-consuming purification of intermediates led to believe that chemical gene synthesis is unlikely to become a standard lab oratory method. Since then, the procedure for oligonucleotide synthesis has been improved by several workers and they provide different approaches for synthesis as well as protection of bases and sugar moieties. There are three distinct methods: (1) phosphodiester approach, (2) phosphotriester or phosphate triester approach and (3) phosphite triester or phosphoramidite approach. Phosphodiester approach This method involves the formation of an ester linkage between an activated phosphate group of one nucleotide with the hydroxyl group of another nucleoside, thus forming the natural phosphodiester bridge between the 5-OH of one nucleoside unit and the 3-OH of the next. Here, 3-O-acetylnucleoside-5-O-phosphate (a) is activated by N,N-dicyclo- hexylcarbodiimide (DCC) or p-toluenesulphonylchloride(PTS/PTsCl) and subjected to react with a 5-O-protected nucleoside (b) to give a protected dinucleoside monophosphate or phosphodiester (c). Activation of phosphate moiety is essential for easier formation of the phosphodiester linkage and this is mediated by DCC or PTsCl. Now, to increase the chain length, one has to remove the 3-O-acetyl group by base catalysed hydrolysis. Further chain elongation is carried out by repeating the process. The major drawback of the phosphodiester method is the formation of pyrophosphate oligomers and oligonucleotides branched at the internucleosidic phosphate. Phosphotriester approach In this method, oligonucleotide branch formation is avoided by protecting the phosphate group with an ethylcyano group. A nucleotide containing 5-OH protected and phosphate protected by MMT and 2-cyanoethyl group respectively (compound a) is activated with 2,4,6-Triisopropylbenzenesulfonyl chloride (TPSCl) and subjected to reaction with a 3-O-protected nucleoside (b). This generates a dinucleoside monophosphate or phosphotriester (c) in which phosphate group is protected by 2-cyanoethyl group. The basic difference between phosphodiester and phosphotriester method is that, in phosphodiester method, the phosphate group is protected by two phosphoester linkage but in phosphotriester method the phosphate group is protected by one extra phosphoester linkage with 2-cyanoethyl group. In phosphotriester method, the formation of oligonucleotide branch at the internucleosidic phosphate is avoided. Phosphite triester or phosphoramidite approach The phosphite triester or phosphoramidite approach for oligonucleotide synthesis was based upon the use of phosphoramidite monomers and the use of tetrazole catalysis. In phosphite triester method, the starting compound is N-6-benzoyldeoxyadenosinephosphoramidite (if adenine is the first base) where the phosphorous atom is in the +3 oxidation state. So unlike the other methods, the formation of oligonucleotides branch is not possible in this process. In this approach, the oligonucleotide is synthesized by a series of reactions described below. Protection of base and sugar In this step, the free -NH2 group of the bases are protected by benzoylation or acylation depending upon the nature of bases. The 5-hydroxyl group is also protected by dimethoxytrityl group (DMT), which protects only primary hydroxyl group but not secondary. The reactions are illustrated in CSG_Fig 3., the blocked bases are shown in the inset. Formation of phosphite triester or phosphoramidite In this step phosphite triester is synthesized by a series of reactions. First, 2-cyanoethanol on reaction with phosphorus trichloride produces an intermediate compound which on further reaction with di-isopropylamine (two-equivalent) and 5-OH protected nucleoside (one-equivalent) produces phosphite triester (CSG_Fig 4). This phosphoramidite will be repeatedly used during the oligonucleotide synthesis process described below. The synthesis procedure The synthesis is carried out in several steps described below: Step 1: The deblocking step The first base, which is attached to the solid support, is at first inactive because all the active sites have been blocked or protected. The free -NH2 groups in the bases remains protected by benzoylation or acylation depending upon the bases and the -OH group is protected by dimethoxytrityl group (DMT). To add the next base, the DMT group protecting the 5-hydroxyl group must be removed (deblocking). This step is also called detritylation. This is done by adding either dichloroacetic acid (DCA) or trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in dichloromethane (DCM), to the reaction column. The 5-hydroxyl group is now the only reactive group on the base monomer. This ensures that the addition of the next base will only bind to that site. The reaction column is then washed to remove any extra acid and by-products. Step 2: Base condensation The step2 is basically a condensation step. Now prior to addition of the well protected nucleotide to the column, it is essential to activate the phosphate group, so that the nucleophilic attack on phosphorous atom takes place easily. This is best done by adding tetrazole to the nucleotide in dichloromethane medium. In presence of tetrazole, diisopropylamine group of the nucleotide becomes positively charged and hence its departure would be easier after nucleophilic attack of 5-hydroxyl group of the previous nucleotide which is attached with resin column. After the reaction, the column was washed to remove extra tetrazole, unbound nucleotide and byproduct (diisopropylamine). Step 3: Capping In case of unreacted nucleoside attached with resin, the 5-hydroxyl group is unprotected this may react later with the addition of different nucleotides. If left unprotected, it will lead to the formation of a mixture of oligonucleotides. The 5-hydroxyl group is therefore blocked by adding acetic anhydride and N-methylimidazole (capping). After capping, the reaction column is thoroughly washed to remove extra acetic anhydride and N-methylimidazole. Step 4: Oxidation This step is basically an oxidation step. In this step, the phosphite linkage is oxidized to give more stable phosphate linkage. The oxidation is best done by adding a mixture of dilute aqueous iodine solution, pyridine (Py) and tetrahydorfuran (THF) to the reaction column. The steps one through four, i.e., deblocking, base condensation, capping and oxidation, are repeated until all desired bases have been added to the column. This cycle is completed once for each additional base. Step 5 Detachment of oligonucleotide from solid support After all bases have been added the oligonucletide must be cleaved from the solid support and deprotected before it can be effectively used. For detachment of oligonucleotides form resin, the column is treated with 28% ammonium hydroxide solution (NH4OH), and at the same time the ethylcyano group on the phosphate group is removed. Step 6: Purification and isolation of oligonucleotide In this step, NH4OH is evaporated from the ammonium hydroxide solution of oligonucleotides to get crude product. The crude product is a mixture of oligonucleotide, cleaved protective groups and oligonucleotides with internal deletions. Now this crude product is subjected to boiling in a sealed tube with NH4OH at 55 °C. The main purpose of this reaction is to remove the base protecting group. After evaporation of NH4OH, the crude product is subjected to desalting followed by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, to purify the oligonucleotides. Desalting is used mainly to remove the ammonium ion. This is done by ethanol precipitation, size-exclusion chromatography, or reverse-phase chromatography. Oligonucleotides are synthesized by the stepwise addition of nucleoside-3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²-phosphoramidite monomers to solid-phase supports in an automated DNA synthesizer. In solid-phase synthesis, 3-terminal hydroxy group of the first added nucleoside is attached to the solid surface by covalent interaction. The solid support is contained in columns whose dimensions depend on the scale of synthesis. The two most frequently used solid phase materials are Control Pore Glass (CPG) and macroporous polystyrene (MPPS). CPG is commonly defined by its pore size, for example pore sizes of 500Ã… are used to allow the oligonucleotides preparation of about 50 -mer. To improve the performance of native CPG some modification is required. This is done by treating the material with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane) to give Aminopropyl CPG. The amino group then serves as the anchoring point for the first added oligonucleoside. MPPS is synthesized by polymerization of divinylbenzene, styrene, and 4-chloromethylstyrene in the presence of a porogeneous agent. It is a low-swellable, highly cross-linked polystyrene and suitable for oligonucleotide synthesis. The macroporous chloromethyl MPPS obtained is often converted to aminomethyl MPPS to improve the efficiency of the support. Annealing of oligonucleotides For chemically synthesize a gene, the next step will be to assemble the oligonucleotides to form a complete gene. This is achieved by enzymatic methods which include polymerase cycling and ligase reactions. Some of the strategies are discussed below. Assembling oligonucleotides by single-step PCR. For synthesis of a gene, the oligonucleotides (about 30-60 nt long) are synthesized chemically so that each oligonucleotide has a 6-9 nt overlap with its neighboring oligonucleotide. These are then assembled in a single-step PCR. In this method, oligonucleotides are first ligated and then the product, the entire gene, is PCR amplified using the outmost oligonucleotides as primers. This method was first used to synthesize a 924-bp gene coding for an isozyme of horseradish peroxidase. Another method was developed by WPC Stemmer which did not use any ligase for joining the oligonucleotide products. It however, relied on Taq DNA polymerase (PCR cycling) for joining the individual oligonucleotides. Assembling oligonucleotides by two-step PCR. The method involves two steps. (i) Synthesis of individual fragments of the DNA of interest: ten to twelve 60mer oligonucleotides with 20 bp overlap are mixed and a PCR reaction is carried out with high-fidelity DNA polymerase Pfu to produce DNA fragments that are 500 bp in length. (ii) Synthesis of the entire sequence of the DNA of interest: five to ten PCR products from the first step are combined and used as the template for a second PCR reaction using high-fidelity DNA polymerase pyrobest, with the two outermost oligonucleotides as primers. Several modifications of the above procedure have been presented. One such method called PAS (PCR-based accurate synthesis) involves (i) synthesis of oligonucleotides to cover the entire DNA sequence (ii) PCR to synthesize DNA fragments (iii) second PCR for assembly of the products of the first PCR and (iv) cloning of the synthetic DNA and then verification by DNA sequencing. Besides, other methods in use for gene synthesis are successive extension PCR, simplified gene synthesis (PCR based), synthons and ligation by selection, to name a few. Review questions and problems What is the advantage of phosphatetriester method over phosphatediester method? What is the advantage of phosphitetriester method over phosphatetriester and  phosphatediester method? What is the main advantage to use DMTCl for protecting the 5-hydroxyl group? How could you attach the first nucleoside to the solid support? What is the utility of capping step in the oligonucleotides synthesis? Why capping is done by aceticanhydride? What is the function of iodine in the oxidation step of oligonucleotides synthesis? How could you protect only the free -NH2 group of the bases of a nucleoside? What is the reagent used for the removal of 2-cyanoethyl group from the  synthesized oligonucleotides? What is the byproduct produced from the base-condensation step of oligonucleotides  synthesis in phosphite triester method? How could you deprotect the bases of oligonucleotides? What is the function of tetrazole in the base condensation step of oligonucleotide synthesis? What is the basic principle for synthesizing a gene from the corresponding oligonucleotides by (a) PCR-based one-step DNA synthesis, (b) PCR-based two-step DNA synthesis?

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Defining a Higher Education Essay -- Expository Definition Essays

Defining a Higher Education A university education is the key to a career, not just a job; it is a higher education that stimulates the brain to handle new challenges, and the intelligence to view the bigger picture of life. Students who attend college are seeking the knowledge it takes to live a better life. Two authors who discuss their views on education in their essays are Jon Spayde, â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life† and John Henry Newman, â€Å"The Idea of University.† Both essays discuss the importance of a higher education, but each author has a different definition. In the essay, â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life,† Jon Spayde relates education from a university to the real world, and defines education as a connection between reality and ideas (62). Spayde’s main point in the essay is that a quality education is obtained through living life. According to Spayde, â€Å"There is no divide in American life that hurts more than the one between those we consider well educated and those who are poorly or inadequately schooled†(60). He denies that emphasis should be placed on tech...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Analysis of Anne Bradstreet’s Poems

ENGL2010 February 10, 2013 Analysis of Anne Bradstreet’s Poems Anne Bradstreet’s poem In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659 is a poem telling of her love, care, and worries for her children. In Reference to her Children† is both metaphorical and symbolic, expressing everything from pathos to love and a hope for her eternal reward. (www. papermasters. com) The poem is structured with a single stanza with every other line rhyming. The speaker seems to be speaking to a semi- private audience given the intimacy of the poem, and the way it speaks to the children.The tone of this poem is familiar, using the language in an abstract way by being birds; but the language is also concrete, and it is not hard to understand what this mother is trying to say. In lines 1-40, Bradstreet sets up an image of a mother bird and her nest filled with babies: four girls and four boys, representative of a human mother and her children. The speaker seems to be Bradstreet, speaking th e poem first as a story about her children, as the tone changes near the end of the poem though it is clear she is writing the poem to her children.The speaker tells an emotional story of her time and experiences with her children over the years of them discovering their own independent lives. Bradstreet uses this poem to express her love and worries for her children as they grow and develop their own lives. The tone of this poem seems to be semi joyful, and familiar in the beginning, of a mother telling about her children being born and nursed with pain and care. In line four, the speaker tells of sparing nothing in order to take care of her young; showing how deep her love is for them.At first it sounds joyful as she speaks of how her young â€Å"Mounted the trees, and learned to sing† (Bradstreet) this line gives the sense of joy that comes with learning, nature and singing. The tone then changes, while the speaker is telling of her oldest bird growing up and taking flight , she becomes very sad because she worries for and misses her son. The speaker tells how most of her young have moved on, telling of their ambitions and circumstances of leaving. She makes it clear in lines 11 and 12 she does not want to let her children go, she needs them to be with her where she can enjoy singing and caring for them.There are five children who have left her home, leaving her with three at home. She expresses worries for the three because they soon will â€Å"take their flight† (Bradstreet). This poem shows a sincere care for the children, wishing them well. The speaker talks of praying for her children and only wanting good to come to their lives. Her thoughts stay steady of her children throughout the whole poem, this poem is the result of the endless love and care she has for her children.After telling of how her children came to spread their wings, the tone turns sad, while acknowledging her natural fears as a mother. She says, â€Å"If birds could weep , then my would my tears†; â€Å"Let others know what are my fears† (lines 41, 42) shows how much she fears for the children’s safety. The speaker begins to imagine a sequence of bad events that could happen to the children. The speaker finds herself overwhelmed with sadness and thoughts of how tenderly she cared for her children.The speaker tells of her raw emotions in line 60, expressing the intense pain her worrying is causing her body; â€Å"My throbs such now as ‘fore were never’. One of the speakers concerns are the ignorance’s of danger, because of this concern line 65 warns her children saying 62, â€Å"to your safety have and eye, so happy may you live and die†. This part of the poem makes it more obvious that she is speaking directly to her children. The poem takes a slight turn in tones, the speaker goes from pure worry and stress about her children to a sense of acceptance.Statement that sticks out in showing acceptance are ; â€Å"Meanwhile my days in tunes ill spend Till my weak lays (poems) with me shall end† (lines 67-68); â€Å"In shady woods ill sit and sing, And things that passed to mind ill bring†(69-70). These lines are the first ones in which she really indicated anything of herself and what she will do, without involving the children except by memories. This shows some signs of accepting her children have to do what they will and admitting she will continue to move forward without them in her nest.The speaker goes on to speak of not lamenting her age; this shows she accepts the years that have gone by and has no regrets. The speaker is accepting her age and the fact that her flight is soon to come; but this will be the most important flight, the one to her heaven. After she begins to accept her age and the fact that her children are developing their own lives the poem takes on a sense of contentment. The poem In Reference to Her Children seems to be a sort of therapy for Brads treet as she goes though the stages of grieving for her children.The poem shows all the different stages of acceptance, during a situation that was started with uncertainty. Bradstreet was one of the first American poets since the movement from England. Like many women writers in the nineteenth century, Bradstreet used print to publicize the supposedly private experiences of a woman. (VanEgen) Bradstreet was heavily criticized for this, being as the puritan view saw women as mothers and wives and nothing more, using her poems for reasons to say she must be a bad mother, puritan or wife because of her time used to write.In reality Bradstreet was good at all of those things finding the time to write after her work as a mother. Bradstreet found a way to find a public voice without violating cultural standards of privacy; she brought attention to the experiences of women and helped to re-envision their place in a society centered on the home (VanEgen). She uses her poems as a tool that helps her to accept and analyze the situations she finds herself in. he care and thought she puts into her words are a kind of organizer for her feelings and wants a way to see her life in a new perspective, helping her to cope or accept. Works Cited Bradstreet, Anne. In Reference to her Children, 23 June1659. New York: New York, 2012. Print, 20 Feb. 2013. VanEngen, Abram. â€Å"Advertising the domestic: Anne Bradstreet's sentimental poetics. † Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers 28. 1 (2011): 47+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. Analysis of â€Å"In Reference to Her Children†. Paper Masters Custom Writing Service Web, 20 Feb. 2013

Friday, November 8, 2019

Americas Fallen PastimeHow Baseball Players Have Damaged a National Institution essays

Americas Fallen PastimeHow Baseball Players Have Damaged a National Institution essays How Baseball Players Have Damaged a National Institution Baseball fans are easy to please. Give them a warm summer day, a cold drink, and their favorite team in the thick of the pennant race and they feel like kings. Watch them second guess the manager as he pulls the teams ace pitcher in favor of the young fireballer. Listen to them cheer as he strikes out the opponents slugger with the bases loaded, securing the win. Watch them do it all over again the very next day. Who is the best player of all time? Ty Cobb? Babe Ruth? Ted Williams? Mickey Mantle? Ken Griffey Jr.? Should the designated hitter be abolished? Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? Ask them for their favorite baseball moment of the past and prepare to have your ear talked off. Older fans might choose Bobby Thompsons Shot Heard Round the World, which captured the 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers, or Willie Mays over-the-shoulder, back-to-the-plate catch to rob Clevelands Vic Wertz of an extra-base hit in the 1954 World Series. Somewhat younger fans might take Carlton Fisks frantic waving as his game-winning homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series clanged off of Fenway Parks left field foul pole or the dominance of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and the rest of the Big Red Machine during the mid-1970s. The youngest might call up Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken Jrs victory lap around Camden Yards after eclipsing Lou Gehrigs seemingly unbreakable consecutive games streak or the excitement of St. Louis Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs Sammy Sosa as they relentlessly pursued Roger Maris single season home run record. Take baseball at its simplest, its purist, and it can be almost religious. Baseball fans only ask for one thing in return. As Braves fan William Correa pleads, I know baseball ha...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Nahuatl - The Lingua Franca of the Aztec Empire

Nahuatl - The Lingua Franca of the Aztec Empire Nhuatl (pronounced NAH-wah-tuhl) was the language spoken by the people of the Aztec Empire, known as the Aztec or Mexica. Although the spoken and written form of the language has substantively changed from the prehispanic classical form, Nahuatl has persevered for half a millennium. It is still spoken today by approximately 1.5 million people, or 1.7% of the total population of Mexico, many of whom call their language Mexicano (Me-shee-KAH-no). The word Nahuatl is itself one of several words that mean to one extent or another good sounds, an example of encoded meaning that is central to the Nahuatl language. Mapmaker, priest, and leading Enlightenment intellectual of New Spain Josà © Antonio Alzate [1737–1799] was an important advocate for the language. Although his arguments failed to gain support, Alzate vigorously objected to Linnaeuss use of Greek words for New World botanical classifications, arguing that Nahuatl names were uniquely useful because they encoded a storehouse of knowledge that could be applied to the scientific project. Nhuatls Origins Nhuatl is part of the Uto-Aztecan family, one of the largest of the Native American language families. The Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Nahuan family includes many North American languages such as Comanche, Shoshone, Paiute, Tarahumara, Cora, and Huichol. The Uto-Aztecan main language diffused out of the Great Basin, moving where the Nahuatl language probably originated, in the upper Sonoran region of what is now New Mexico and Arizona and the lower Sonoran area in Mexico. Nahuatl speakers are first believed to have reached the Central Mexican highlands sometime around AD 400/500, but they came in several waves and settled among different groups such as Otomangean and Tarascan speakers. According to historical and archaeological sources, the Mexica were among the last of the Nhuatl speakers to migrate from their homeland in the north. Nhuatl Distribution With the founding of their capital at Tenochtitlan, and the growth of the Aztec/Mexica empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, Nhuatl spread all over Mesoamerica. This language became a lingua franca spoken by merchants, soldiers, and diplomats, over an area including what is today northern Mexico to Costa Rica, as well as parts of Lower Central America. Legal steps which reinforced its  lingua franca  status included the decision by King  Philip II  in 1570 to make Nahuatl the linguistic medium for clerics to use in religious conversion and for the training of ecclesiastics working with the native people in different regions. Members of the nobility from other ethnic groups, including Spaniards, used spoken and written Nahuatl to facilitate communication throughout New Spain. Sources for Classical Nahuatl The most extensive source on Nhuatl language is the book written in the mid-16th century by friar Bernardino de Sahagà ºn called the Historia General de la Nueva Espaà ±a, which is included in the Florentine Codex. For its 12 books, Sahagà ºn and his assistants collected what is essentially an encyclopedia of the language and culture of the Aztec/Mexica. This text contains parts written both in Spanish and Nhuatl transliterated into the Roman alphabet. Another important document is the Codex Mendoza, commissioned by King Charles I of Spain, which combined a history of the Aztec conquests, the amount and types of tributes paid to the Aztecs by geographical province, and an account of Aztec daily life, beginning in 1541. This document was written by skilled native scribes and overseen by the Spanish clerics, who added glosses in both Nahuatl and Spanish. Saving the Endangered Nahuatl Language After the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the use of Nahuatl as an official medium for documentation and communication disappeared. Intellectual elites in Mexico engaged in a creation of new national identity, seeing the indigenous past as an obstacle to the modernization and progress of Mexican society. Over time, Nahua communities became more and more isolated from the rest of Mexican society, suffering what researchers Okol and Sullivan refer to as a political dislocation arising from the lack of prestige and power, and a closely-related cultural dislocation, resulting from modernization and globalization. Olko and Sullivan (2014) report that although prolonged contact with Spanish has resulted in changes in word morphology and syntax, in many places there persist close continuities between the past and present forms of Nahuatl. The Instituto de Docencia e Investigacià ³n Etnolà ³gica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ) is one group working together with Nahua speakers to continue practicing and developing their language and culture, training the Nahua speakers to teach Nahuatl to others and to actively collaborate with international academics in research projects. A similar project is underway (described by Sandoval Arenas 2017) at the Intercultural University of Veracruz. Nhuatl Legacy There is today a wide variation in the language, both linguistically and culturally, that can be attributed in part to the successive waves of Nahuatl speakers who arrived in the valley of Mexico so long ago. There are three major dialects of the group known as Nahua: the group in power in the Valley of Mexico at the time of contact was that Aztecs, who called their language Nahuatl. To the west of the Valley of Mexico, the speakers called their language Nahual; and dispersed around those two clusters was a third who called their language Nahuat. This last group included the Pipil ethnic group who eventually migrated to El Salvador. Many contemporary place names in Mexico and Central America are the result of a Spanish transliteration of their Nhuatl name, such as Mexico and Guatemala. And many Nahuatl words have passed into the English dictionary through Spanish, such as coyote, chocolate, tomato, chili, cacao, avocado and many others. What does Nahuatl Sound Like? Linguists can define the original sounds of classical Nahuatl in part because the Aztec/Mexica used a glyphic writing system based on Nahuatl that contained some phonetic elements, and the Spanish ecclesiastics matched the Roman phonetic alphabet to the good sounds they heard from the locals. The earliest extant Nahuatl-Roman alphabets are from the Cuernavaca region and date to the late 1530s or early 1540s; they were probably written by various indigenous individuals and compiled by a Franciscan friar. In her 2014 book Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory, archaeologist and linguist Frances Berdan provides a pronunciation guide to classical Nahuatl, only a small taste of which is listed here. Berdan reports that in classical Nahuatl the main stress or emphasis in a given word is almost always on the next-to-last syllable. There are four main vowels in the language: a as in the English word palm, e as in bet, i as in see, and o as in so. Most consonants in Nahuatl are the same as those used in English or Spanish, but the tl sound is not quite tuhl, it more of a glottal t with a little puff of breath for the l. See Berdan for more information. There is an Android-based application called ALEN (Audio-Lexicon Spanish-Nahuatl) in a beta form that has both written and oral modalities, and uses homemade illustrations, and word search facilities. According to Garcà ­a-Mencà ­a and colleagues (2016), the app beta has 132 words; but the commercial Nahuatl iTunes App written by Rafael Echeverria currently has more than 10,000 words and phrases in Nahuatl and Spanish. Sources Edited and updated by K. Kris Hirst Berdan FF. 2014. Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. New York: Cambridge University Press.Dakin K. 2001. Nahuatl. In: Carrasco D editor. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 363-365.Garcà ­a-Mencà ­a R, Là ³pez-Là ³pez A, and Muà ±oz Melà ©ndez A. 2016. An Audio-Lexicon Spanish-Nahuatl: Using technology to promote and disseminate a native Mexican language. In: Bradley L, and Thouà «sny S, editors. CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016: Research-publishing.net. p 155-159.Maxwell JM. 2001. Languages at the Time of Contact. In: Evans ST, and Webster DL, editors. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. p 395-396.Mundy BE. 2014. Place-Names in Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Ethnohistory 61(2):329-355.Olko J, and Sullivan J. 2014. Toward a comprehensive model for Nahuatl language research and revitalization. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berk eley Linguistics Society 40:369-397. Sandoval Arenas CO. 2017. Displacement and revitalization of the Nahuatl language in the High Mountains of Veracruz, Mexico. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 16(1):66-81.Various authors. 2011. Los Nahua. Cultura Viva, Arqueologà ­a Mexicana 19(109, May-June)

Monday, November 4, 2019

Lab report about metabolic syndrome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Lab report about metabolic syndrome - Essay Example They are catalase, Glutathione peroxidase I , superoxide dismutase and thioredoxin. These antioxidants play an important role in the reduction of the elevated fatty acid level and help the patients to maintain the cholesterol level. Many genes are responsible for the regulation of oxidation in the cells. Glutathione peroxidase I is one of the major antioxidant enzyme. S...... The individual components of Metabolic Syndrome cluster together and this clustering increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The main root cause for this disease is linked to the poor eating habit and the sedentary life style of the people. The presence of common genetic variants can increase the susceptibility to Metabolic Syndrome. Complex gene environment interactions are also found to be associated with the Metabolic Syndrome. (Bryne and Wild 2011). Family history is the main reason for the Metabolic Syndrome prevalence in the childhood. The genes responsible for the maintenance of many cell functions play an important role for the syndrome. Insulin resistance is found to be present in the children suffering from the Metabolic Syndrome. Lipid deposition in the insulin responsive tissues is the main reason for the metabolic effects of the insulin. The hepatic fat accumulation is strongly associated with the obesity and the hepatic resistance, thereby affecting t he glucose metabolism. Background and analysis Insulin resistance is nothing but the abnormal response shown for the normal level of insulin production. Insulin resistance is further classified based on the resistance to the metabolic effects of the insulin with suppressed effect of insulin on the endogenous glucose production and peripheral glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis. Before undergoing fasting the hyperinsulinemia condition develops. Along with the increasing plasma insulin concentration, the increase of the risk factors can be found. Insulin resistance is second to the insulin resistance for the Metabolic Syndrome next to obesity. The insulin resistance factors are free fatty acids, adipocytokines, pro- inflammatory mediators and genetic factors. Insulin resistance is a

Saturday, November 2, 2019

American dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

American dream - Essay Example Most people who were rendered jobless during recession had education levels of high schools and below. In fact, Georgetown University’s Center on Education (GUCE) had recently claimed that the employment trends for people with no college education were literally flat at the start of the recovery phase. This means that individuals who become jobless during the Great Recession were not in a position to get new jobs. The nature of job loss in the United States during recession was so uneven that it worsened the income inequality trends. In addition, it expanded the gap between wealthy class and the rest of the American population. In a recent statement by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED), they claimed that the income inequality structure in the United States was a threat to their long term socio-economic strength and development (David, 2012). OCED further argued that the education system in the country was not effective in assisting children to re alize their full potential. This was so because the government’s expenditure directed to less fortunate students was quite minimal. The question people are asking is whether American dream is alive or dead? Based on this brief overview, this paper will focus on defending the position on whether dream to achieve a better success from old to near generation is realizable. Based on this view, a thoughtful and critical evaluation will be done on the impacts of socio-economic trends that the country has experienced in the pasts, particularly, on the economic well being of individuals and families in the United States (David, 2012). 1.2 Is American Dream to improve individuals and families economic well being still alive? In answering the above question, the study will examine range of data that address issues of wage, quality of life and community well-being. However, data that were released from various economic sources showed that things are not at all well meaning that serious challenges are affecting realization of improved living standards from one generation to the next (Lawrence, Jared and Heidi, 2009). 1.3 Thesis Statement With regards to the brief overview, thesis statement for this paper is: â€Å"The American Dream of each generation doing better than the previous generation is DEAD. The faults of capitalism, over consumption, adverse economic trends and government policies have contributed to the demise of the dream. The social contract between generations has been broken.† 1.3.1 Supporting the thesis Most data shows that the last decade was practically a lost decade. This is because there was widening of the gap of inequalities in wage and income among American households. Similarly, data shows over 25 year period of wage stagnation and slow growth rate in income that was experienced prior to the lost decade. In fact, the increasing inequalities on wealth, income and wage supported growth among the top class generations (Lawrence, Jared a nd Heidi, 2009). Research showed that these trends were partly fueled by policy response initiated by the federal government that was either wrong, absent or inadequate to address the real problem. 2.0 Defining Well Being No consensus has being reached on how â€Å"well being† concept can be defined. However, National Account of Well being (2009) defined it as â€Å"a dynamic process that gives people sense of how their lives are going, through the