Peloponnesian War Essay

The Peloponnesian War was a very old Greek military war which lasted from 431-404 B. C. , fought by the Athens and its kingdom in opposition to the Peloponnesian League, directed by Sparta. Historians have usually divided the combat into three stages, in the initial, the Archidamian War; Sparta started repeated attacks of Attica, whereas Athens took benefit of its naval superiority to invade the coastline of the Peloponnese trying to restrain signs of disturbances in its domain. This era of the war was finished in 421 BC with the marking of the Peace of Nicias. That agreement, however, was shortly destabilized by renewed combating in the Peloponnesus. Athens posted a huge expeditionary force of military to attack Syracuse in Sicily in 415 BC, the attack failed catastrophically with the demolition of the complete force in the year 413 BC. This escorted in the concluding stage of the war, normally referred to as the Decelean War or the Ionian War. In this stage, Sparta, now getting support from Persia, the demolition of Athens’ navy at Aegospotami successfully ended the war and Athens laid down their arms in the subsequent year. The Peloponnesian War reformed the Ancient Greek Globe. On the height of global relations, Athens, the powerful city-state in Greece prior to the war’s commencement, was abridged to a position of near-complete hopelessness, whereas Sparta was recognized as the foremost power of Greece. The fiscal costs of the war were experienced all over Greece; scarcity became extensive in the Peloponnese, whereas Athens found it totally distressed and by no means recovered its pre-war success. The war also shaped subtler alterations to Greek culture; the clash among oligarchic Sparta and democratic Athens, each of which held up welcoming political groups within other states, made social war an ordinary incidence in the Greek world. Causes of Peloponnesian War The major reason of the War was huge economical, political and communal contentions between the two supreme Greek powers of the era; Sparta and Athens. The Athenian kingdom had become a centre of trade and prosperity on the Mediterranean, dealing with countries such Egypt, Carthage and Persia. Its enormous convoy of triremes destined it could insist financial tribute from minor city states in return for defense. On the contrary, Sparta was a first and foremost land based control, using it a great slave inhabitants to farm the fertile lands of the Peloponnese. Its alarming army made sure its significance in Greek affairs as well as the beginning of the Peloponnese League, a set of states opposed to this expansion. The rising power of both these enormous powers, collective with contrasting political principles of democratic Athens and oligarchial Sparta, destined a predictable clash. The Peloponnesian War was a consequence of this strong contention. After the overcome of the Persian attack in 480-479 BCE, Sparta wanted to send back all Greeks in Asia to mainland Greece to finish the trouble with Persia. Athens planned a violent alliance in opposition to Persia, which as the leading maritime authority it had to lead. Sparta had no curiosity in overseas adventurism and willingly ceded that control to Athens, which shared out contributions to the coalition cities. Some met this in ships, the bulk paid their way out of this, although some went back on and Athens collected the donations by force. With merely the islands Samos, Chios and Libos contributing ships, Athens had an irresistible dominance in amphibious control and the funds to pay for it. This anti-Persian group then increasingly became successfully a domain of Athens. An exact transition took place when the union crushed Persia in a sea and land combat at the Eurymedon River resulting in a tranquility of 449 BCE which limited Persian vessels from moving into Greek-controlled waters. This division of the isolated Spartans and the daring Athenians spilt over when their own allies collided with each other. The sequence of clashes put allied force on Sparta to take action and after a lot foot dragging it issued an ultimatum to Athens. Athens was certain that the amalgamation of its walls and amphibious supremacy was more than a match for the mainly land-bound Spartan coalition and it discarded negotiation, favoring to uphold its naval supremacy and confront Spartan league land supremacy. Neither of the two sides foresaw 27 years of fighting which damaged so much of the Greek world and accidentally led to Persian pressure in Greek affairs and ultimately Macedonian dominance. Four primary sources Thucydides Thucydides was a Greek historian and writer of the Peloponnesian War’s history, which narrates the 5th century B. C. war stuck between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B. C and the most consistent information approaches from his own record of the Peloponnesian War, which explains his nationality, parenthood and native district. Thucydides tells us that he brawled in the war, contracted the curse and was banished by the democracy. Thucydides marked a history that was alienated into 8 books after his demise: its current title is the History of the Peloponnesian War. His complete contribution to history and historiography is enclosed in this one opaque history of the 27-year war stuck between Athens and its allies and Sparta and its allies. The history breaks off close to the end of the twenty first years, the final vague book suggests that his demise was not anticipated and could perhaps have been unexpected or brutal. Thucydides supposed that the Peloponnesian War symbolized an occasion of matchless size and he also planned for his account of the actions of the late fifth century to serve as â€Å"a possession for all instances. Xenophon Xenophon son of Gryllus, also recognized as Xenophon of Athens, was a warrior, mercenary and devotee of Socrates. He is identified for his writings on the history of his times, protecting the sayings of Socrates and the living of ancient Greece. Xenophon’s writings, particularly the Anabasis, are frequently read by beginning learners of the Greek language. His Hellenica is a chief primary source for actions in Greece; his Socratic writings are the merely existing representatives of the genre of Sokratikoi logoi. Aristophanes Aristophanes was son of Philippus, he was a productive and highly praised comic dramatist of ancient Athens. When Aristophanes’ initial play The Banqueters was created, Athens was a determined, regal power and The Peloponnesian War was merely in its fourth year. The reality that Arristophanes endured the Peloponnesian War, two oligarchic revolutions and two self-governing reinstatements have been understood as proof that he was not vigorously involved in political affairs even in spite of the extremely political posture of the plays. Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Cornelius Nepos were also a number of of the primary sources of the Peloponnesian War. Work Cited About. com. (n. d. ). Peloponnesian War Sources. June 21st, 2009. Retrieved from: http://ancienthistory. about. com/library/bl/bl_peloponnesianwarsources. htm Crawley, R. , Lateiner, D. & Thucydides, T. The History of the Peloponnesian War. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2006. Kagan. D. The Peloponnesian War. Penguin, 2004. Thucydides, T. The History Of The Peloponnesian War. CreateSpace, 2009.

The Chain of Command and Nco Support Channel

THE CHAIN OF COMMAND AND NCO SUPPORT CHANNEL 3-33. Communication among soldiers, teams, units, and organizations is essential to efficient and effective mission accomplishment. Two-way communication is more effective than one-way communication. Mission accomplishment depends on information passing accurately to and from subordinates and leaders, up and down the chain of command and NCO support channel, and laterally among adjacent organizations or activities. In garrison operations, organizations working on the same mission or project should be considered â€Å"adjacent. † CHAIN OF COMMAND -34. The Army has only one chain of command. Through this chain of command, leaders issue orders and instructions and convey policies. An effective chain of command is a two-way communication channel. Its members do more than transmit orders; they carry information from within the unit or organization back up to its leader. They furnish information about how things are developing, notify the leader of problems, and provide request for clarification and help. Leaders at all levels use the chain of command-their subordinate leaders-to keep their people informed and render assistance.They continually facilitate the process of gaining the necessary clarification and solving problems. 3-35. Beyond conducting their normal duties, NCOs train soldiers and advises commanders on individual soldier readiness and the training needed to ensure unit readiness. Officers and DAC leaders should consult their command sergeant major, first sergeant, or NCOIC, before implementing policy. Leaders must continually communicate to avoid duplicating instructions or issuing conflicting orders. Continuous and open lines of communication enable leaders to freely plan, make decisions, and program future training and operations.NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER SUPPORT CHANNEL 3-36. The NCO support channel parallels and reinforces the chain of command. NCO leaders work with and support the commissioned and w arrant officers of their chain of command. For the chain of command to work efficiently, the NCO support channel must operate effectively. At battalion level and higher, the NCO support channel begins with the command sergeant major, extends through first sergeants, platoon sergeants and ends with section chiefs, squad leaders or team leaders. The NCO support channel. s used for exchanging information; providing reports; issuing instructions, which are directive in nature; accomplishing routine but important activities in accordance with command policies and directives. Most often, it is used to execute established policies, procedures, and standards involving the performance, training, appearance, and conduct of enlisted personnel. Its power rests with the chain of command. FM 22-600-20, The Duties, Responsibilities, and Authority of NCOs, 1977 3-37. The connection between the chain of command and the NCO support channel is the senior NCO.Commanders issue orders through the chain o f command, but senior NCOs must know and understand the orders to issue effective implementing instructions through the NCO support channel. Although the first sergeant and command sergeant major are not part of the formal chain of command, leaders should consult them on all enlisted soldier matters and individual training. 3-38. Successful leaders have good relationships with their senior NCOs. Successful commanders have a good leader-NCO relationship with their first sergeants and command sergeant major.The need for such a relationship applies to platoon leaders and platoon sergeants as well as to staff officers and NCOs. Senior NCOs have extensive experience in successfully completing missions and dealing with enlisted soldier issues. Also, senior NCOs can monitor organizational activities at all levels, take corrective action to keep the organization within the boundaries of the commander's intent, or report situations that require the attention of the officer leadership. A posi tive relationship between officers and NCOs creates conditions for success. 3-39.The NCO support channel assists the chain of command in accomplishing the following: Transmitting, instilling and ensuring the efficacy of the Army ethic. Planning and conducting the day-to-day unit operations within prescribed policies and directives. Training enlisted soldiers in their MOS as well as in the basic skills and attributes of a soldier. Supervising unit physical fitness training and ensuring that soldiers comply with the height/weight and appearance standards in AR 600-9, The Army Weight Control Program, and AR 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia.Teaching soldiers the history of the Army, to include military customs, courtesies, and traditions. Caring for individual soldiers and their families both on and off duty. Teaching soldiers the mission of the unit and developing individual training programs to support the mission. Accounting for and maintaining individual arms and equipment of enlisted soldiers and unit equipment under their control. Administrating and monitoring the NCO professional development program and other unit training programs. Achieving and maintaining Army values.Advising the commander on rewards and punishment for enlisted soldiers. 3-40. Soldiers should use the chain of command or the NCO support channel (as appropriate) to help solve problems, whether small or large. The chain of command and the NCO support channel are also effective and efficient means of communication from where the rubber meets the road to the very highest echelons of the Army. Whether you have a problem, suggestion, complaint or commendation the chain and the channel are the means to communicate to the leaders who need to know.

Environmental Hazards

Environmental Hazards Environmental hazards consist of cultural, biological, physical, and chemical hazards (Wright, Boorse, 2014). With a wide array of other hazards in each category there is plenty to choose from and makes one wonder why we continue to survive among so many potential hazards. I will be focusing on one type of hazard from each category to show what threats there are and a way to combat the threat. One example of a cultural hazard is smoking which accounts for over 400,000 deaths each year (Wright, Boorse, 2014).Since smoking is a choice you have control over using It or not. As we progress in life and realize that some choices Ilke smoking, affect more than just the smoker. Laws have come into play to limit the access to cigarettes for minors as well as where you are able to smoke. The website no- smoke. org offers detailed information on laws, bands, and regulations in place to help lower and hopefully eliminate smoking hazards in the future. While smoking is alway s a choice some hazard such as biological cannot always be avoided.As technology progresses we are better equipped to deal with bacteria and viruses. In spite of these advances In medicine and technology, â€Å"pathogenic bacteria, ungi, viruses, protozoan, and worms continue to plague every society† (Wright, Boorse, 2014). One such problem responsible for over 3 million deaths in 2008 alone Is acute respiratory infections. † (Wright. Boorse, 2014) according to Christine DIMarla and Matthew Solan â€Å"the immune system of children and older adults are more at risk of getting an acute respiratory Infection† (DIMarla & Solan, 2012).They continue to say that most infections are not treatable, but prevention in the form of hand washing, covering your sneezes in your arm or tissue, and avoiding touching your face can be beneficial (DiMarla & Solan, 2012). Some environmental hazards cant be controlled or prevented and the best example of that comes In the form of phys ical hazards. Such hazards come In the form of ‘natural disasters' including: hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, forest fires, earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions (Wright, Boorse 2014).

Market Security Valuation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market Security Valuation - Essay Example Headlines of Market Development in the Past Week Survey on ISM manufacturing registered a growth of 1.0. The growth increased moved from 53.4 to 54.4 suggesting that manufacturing sector has a steady growth (Payden & Rygel). FOMC Minutes posted a negative growth in the market with regard to previous trends. The market concern has focused on possibility of FOMC Minute falling off in second quarter in 2012. ISM Non-Manufacturing survey registered a slow growth in the last month. The survey showed the trends at 56.0 up from 57.0 and further 1.3, a fall from February trends, which stood at 57.3. However, the trend does not create any course of alarm. Initial Jobless Claims has posted a strong grip from the previous trend with 357,000 claims last week (Payden & Rygel). The observation suggests a continued downward trend. The financial market report suggests that the market is progressing well because an increase in number of jobless entering into the payroll suggests a growth in the money market. The trend suggests that a further drop in jobless claim would occur when the market remains stable. The job data suggests an improvement in US economic fundamentals. In most cases, increase in jobless claims is an indication of debilitating market. Major Global Releases and their Impacts Europe stock went down by -2.47%. Eastern Europe markets registered varied outcomes in the market. A survey on the Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) indicated an improvement in first quarter of 2012. A survey in Hungary’s PMI indicated an upward trend from 51.2 to 56.8 (Payden & Rygel). Analysts believe the trend observed was because of increase in demand from external players in the month of March. Czech Republic registered a growth in PMI from 50.5 to 52.1because of new orders and higher readings. Poland posted a stagnated result as observed 50.0 to 50.1. The probable reason for the above result is the consumption behavior in the domestic market and earlier weak nesses observed in the Euro area (Baker& Nofsinger 554). The average trend for the PMI was above fifty, which a positive mark is considering the trends in the last quarter of 2011. Global Currencies and Bonds Global bonds did not post an active result during the week. Many investors are speculating to see the trends in the next week. German Bund and Short dated UK Gilt did not register any change of marketing trends in Bank of England and ECB (Payden & Rygel). Spanish market indicated an increased borrowing because of auctioning of Spanish Government debts. The observation tends to suggest that Spanish is unable to solve its fiscal problems without seeking monetary assistance from IMF or EU. Further, observation indicates that tensions created in the Spanish market influenced Portuguese and Italian debt markets. Conversely, sovereign yields were strong over Bund in this week’s market. US currency gained in the currency market versus major currencies in the US reserve. Analyst s suggest that March FOMC US Federal Reverse’s meeting had a stake in the quantitative easing. The Draghi’s comment had an influence on weakening of EUR. Australian dollar registered a continuous weakening of greenback. The trend has influenced Reserve Bank of Australia to create constant rates speculating of the changes that are likely to occur in the coming months. Emerging Market Bonds The trends observed in the market indicated that tight gains for emerging dollar pay debts. Standard and Poor included Uruguay in the Investment grade which restored

A Mexican Viewpoint on The War with the United States Assignment

A Mexican Viewpoint on The War with the United States - Assignment Example First, the Mexican internal state of affairs in the 1840s could have not made it easy for her to show aggression against the US. During this period, Mexico had diverse internal challenges majorly caused by dictatorial rulers. To begin with was Santa Anna dictatorship between 1841 t0 1843. This was followed by the shaky and oppressive rule of the Centralist Republic in 1945 and later culminated by the dictatorial rule of Mariano Paredes which lasted for eight months. The stormy political state of affairs from 1841 to 1847 which was marked by the rule of six presidents who came to power either through military uprising or populists approach tended to drain the strength of Mexico. This could have not left some strength for Mexico to invade US. It is in 1847 that Mexico saw the light of the day as far as political stability is concerned. As can be seen from this evidence, the US was therefore a serious bother to Mexico who already had its internal challenges to deal with. The invasion of Mexico by the US therefore caused a backlog of challenges to Mexico. Secondly, the separation of Texas from Mexico’s territory to the United States territory became a propaganda that was used by the enemies to pin down Mexico. As Valasco explains, the idea of Texas separation and the intention to reclaim it back to Mexico became a tool to tear or justify, revive or enhance the important figures or political parties or revolutionary movement. This even worsened even skyrocketed the instability that was already being experienced in Mexico. In order to avoid the looming war, Mexico suggested an idea of peaceful negotiation with the US to ensure that Texas remained within their territory and that no war took place. This idea was easily thwarted leaving Mexico with nothing to cling onto but to face the US head on in the war. Third, the

Discussion question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Discussion question - Essay Example This part of information security is recognized as computer security where professionals try to secure computers from being manipulated in order to obtain ensure that the information that is secured on these computers remain safe (Smith, 2000, p.101). Therefore, the security of computers is a part of the information security and these two terms should not be used interchangeably although they are commonly used to refer to each other. In case of information security, the professionals aim at securing the information of an individual as well as an organization and they do so by securing all the places where information is stored and used. In the case of computer security, professionals try to secure various parts of a particular computer as on these parts the information of individuals and organizations is secured. These parts may include: hard drive, website, USB and CD ROMs. While securing information as well as computers, the professionals try to figure out vulnerabilities in the co mputer system and then they try to cover these gaps to make sure information is not

CaseStudy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CaseStudy - Case Study Example The firm is not upgrading its technology soon enough because it is lacking managers that have both business and IT knowledge. The company is heading towards loss of business in future because business and IT departments are both blaming each other. No one is ready to accept responsibility of the problem. First recommendation is to assign a liaison officer between business and IT departments. His job would be to make sure that both departments are on the same page and he would help in facilitating communication between the two departments. The liaison officer should also have an IT and business background. Second recommendation is to set specific goals and objectives for both departments. It is essential that both departments are made responsible for their actions and this will help improve their performance. Both departments are currently blaming each other for their own shortcomings and this will be avoided by setting specific goals for each of them. The goals set should also be measurable so that blame game within the organization is

Meaning of Labels Aspergers Syndrome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Meaning of Labels Aspergers Syndrome - Essay Example There are five different types of pervasive development disorders (PDD) that are more often referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (nimh, 2006). Asperger's syndrome is the mildest form of the disorder. All the disorders "are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior."(nimh, 2006) Another definition makes similar points: "A disorder that is present from birth or very early in development that affects essential human behaviors such as social interaction, the ability to communicate ideas and feelings, imagination, and the establishment of relationships with others." The spectrum of conditions that make up autism often lead to great family disruption and to unfulfilled lives for many children, so any teaching methods that may alleviate the effect of the condition are very important. One of the problems with the whole of autism, and with Asperger Syndrome in general, is the fact that it describes a pattern of symptoms rather than just a single symptom (Powers, 2001). In most ways Asperger's resembles autism, but in a very mild form. Thus a child displays qualitative impairment in social interaction, and often repetitive/limited activities and interests (Tsantsanis, 2003). As it is rather mild autism, children with Asperger's may actually be reasonable functional. At the moment there is actual study that addresses the long-term prognosis for a child with Asperger syndrome. These children appear have a greater tendency towards psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety and perhaps schizophrenia (Klin, 2006). Treatment options tend to include educational development and a search to exploit the often singular talents that some children with Asperger's display. PART 2. Critically discuss the concepts of labels and labeling in relation to Aspergers The concepts of labels and labeling are always controversial when they regard children and possible mental conditions. The results of labeling a child as "autistic" or "Asperger's" will be profound and will effect the child for the rest of his/her school years and beyond. Thus it is important that the 'labels' be given in an accurate manner, and, concomitantly, that they are associated with clearly defined conditions. With Asperger's Syndrome it is diagnosis at the very mildest and most severe form that is most important. For the mildest cases, it may be difficult to distinguish between actual Asperger's and a simple eccentric or anachronistic view of the world being displayed by the child (Muller, 2007). Unfortunately, the syndrome is so loosely defined that it may be simply a matter of subjective opinion rather than objective fact as to whether a child is labeled as displaying Asperger's Syndrom

Human Rights in Saudi Arabia and its Representation in the Media Research Paper

Human Rights in Saudi Arabia and its Representation in the Media - Research Paper Example What is meant by this statement that the understanding of human rights within the Western world is something of a public relations game relates to the fact that the nations in which the West regularly integrates and has close business/economic interests are relatively unbothered by human rights complaints from the outside world. In such a way, the sad reality of the situation is that many nations within the Western and/or developed world have the unique opportunity to bring about societal and systemic change within nations that exhibit a very poor track record of human rights. However, rather than leveraging their respective positions as a means of bettering the lives of individuals the world over, oftentimes these nations choose instead to continue the beneficial relationships they have with oppressive and repressive regimes. ... In such a way, the author will attempt to analyze the current situation with regards to human rights and Saudi Arabia; analyzing the way in which human rights is portrayed in the media, both domestic Saudi media and world media, discuss the issue of censorship within Saudi Arabia, and analyze the means by which alternative media/social media has allowed the Saudi individuals, and those arguing for a greater degree of human rights liberalization, a platform in which to adequately have their message the past. Furthermore, as a function of analyzing each of these aspects, it is the hope of this author that reader will come to a more full and complete understanding of the way in which human rights are currently exhibited within Saudi Arabia as well as the means by which individuals within and without Saudi Arabia understand these can rights, and the level to which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is willing to go in order to respond to the unique needs that are being exhibited within the King dom. Before delving directly into specific human rights abuses that Saudi Arabia is guilty of, it must be understood that Sharia law defines the way in which the nation’s judiciary operates. Ultimately, appreciating an understanding of the nuances of Sharia law would require a dissertation length response. However, for purposes of this brief analysis, it can and should be understood that Sharia law most necessarily refers to the law that is lain out in the Koran; Islam’s most holy book. Moreover, due to the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not have a Constitution, the rights and privileges to which the accused is beholden is necessarily solely defined within the Koran.

Impact of Boosters on Collegiate Athletics Essay

Impact of Boosters on Collegiate Athletics - Essay Example The researcher states that today, it could be seen often that recruited star collegiate athletes come to big colleges confident that in their respective sports, they will get a national championship. All of a sudden, the collegiate athlete’s way of life changes and he starts driving around college in a brand new automobile. These successes ensue, because the collegiate athlete directly receives money from some wealthy booster who is making efforts to live out the rest of his life through promising, young and susceptible athletes. The researcher focuses on the discussion of such issues and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of such programs and boosters. Every successful coach has several boosters. The most powerful boosters can lobby college presidents and politicians and boosters who are rich and influential can ensure that the coach obtains a lot of money for his shows such that he feels respected. In most cases, boosters’ violations of NCAA rules involve givin g cash or other gifts to individual coaches, providing enrolled collegiate players with additional benefits and the recruitment of potential collegiate players. Boosters are not allowed to provide them with any special arrangements including reduced-price housing, free meals at restaurants, expense money or movie passes. The researcher then concluds that athletic boosters should stick to the virtue of giving their support to athletic programs allowing the directors of athletics and coaches to assign the money in such a way that the whole team benefits.

Cell Phones & Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cell Phones & Japan - Essay Example These were the 1G (first generation) phones and they worked upon the Analog Transmission Technology available at that point of time. Soon, the popularity of these automobile phones grew and there was a demand for such phones to be available outside the automobile. As per Wikipedia, this demand triggered the innovation of a mobile telephone device, which was quite bulky in size and had to be carried around in briefcase. This mobile communication device was a novelty item and found takers in the form of rich businessmen, executives and those who considered it as a status symbol. (August 2008). The mobile communication in Japan has since then evolved into the present day state, where it is a way of life for the Japanese population. The evolution has spanned across development of 2G, 2.5G, termination of analog technology and the advent of digital technology. Today, the predominant technology in Japan is 3G, which allows wide area voice telephony, video calls and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. The evolution of cell phones in Japan can be traced back to 1985, when the 2G (second generation wireless telephone technology) digital network made an entry. It was launched by Radiolinja of Finland in 1991. 2G systems were significantly more efficient and secure. It allowed digital encryption of conversation and data services for mobiles such as SMS. 2G services in Japan use an exclusive standard called PDC (Personal Digital Cellular). The PDC standard used in Japan allows the cell-phones to be of a much smaller size than the regular GSM phones that are in use in other geographies of the world. The primary operators of the 2G service in Japan are NTT DoCoMo, Softbank Mobile and KDDI. At the peak of 2G operation in Japan, there were close to 80 million subscribers using the PDC standard phones. The popularity of the PDC phones have since then

Final Exam Blue Print Essay Example for Free

Final Exam Blue Print Essay Gowns: prevent soiling clothing during contact with patient Masks: should be worn when you anticipate splash or spray of blood or body fluid and satisfy droplet/airborne precautions. Protective eyewear: should be worn for procedures that generate splashes or splatters Gloves: prevent the transmission of pathogens by direct/indirect contact. This equipment protects you from waste materials such as wounds, blood, stool, and urine. Indwelling urinary catheters causes of risk for infections An indwelling urinary catheter obstructs the normal flushing action of urine flow. The presence of a catheter in the urethra breaches the natural defenses of the body. Reflux of microorganisms up the catheter lumen from the drainage bag or backflow of urine in the tubing increases the risk of infection. Surgical asepsis uses verse medical asepsis Surgical asepsis is used during procedures that require intentional perforation of patient’s skin, when skin’s integrity is broken, or during procedures that involve insertion of catheters. * Sterile objects remains sterile only when touched by another sterile object * Place only sterile objects on sterile field * Sterile object/field out of the range of vision or held below waist is contaminated * Sterile object/field becomes contaminated by prolonged exposure to air. * When sterile surface comes in contact with a wet, contaminated surface, the sterile object/field becomes contaminated by capillary action * Sterile object becomes contaminated if gravity causes contaminated fluid to flow over the objects surface * The edges of sterile field/container are considered to be contaminated. Medical asepsis, or clean technique, includes procedures for reducing the number of organisms present and preventing the transfer of organisms. Hand hygiene, barrier techniques, and routine environmental cleaning are examples of medical asepsis. Nursing intervention when assessing bradycardia radial pulse Can cause pulse deficit. To assess a pulse deficit 2 nurses are needed to assess radial and apical pulse simultaneously and compare rates. The difference between apical and radial pulse is the pulse deficit. Assess the ability of the heart to meet the demands of body tissue for nutrients by palpation a peripheral pulse or using a stethoscope to listen to heart sounds (apical rate) Pulse sites Temporal, carotid, apical, brachial, radial, ulnar, femoral, popliteal, posterior tibial, Dorsalis pedis Critical Thinking- chapter 15 Examples of application of critical thinking (you may have to scan the chapter, no specific section to apply to the question) Know what would be considered critical thinking * Critical thinking involves recognizing that an issue exists, analyzing information about the issue, evaluating information, and making conclusions. * Critical thinking is a continuous process characterized by open-mindedness, continual inquiry, and perseverance. * Diagnostic reasoning: determining a patient’s health status after you have assigned meaning to the behaviors and symptoms presented. * Inference: process of drawing conclusions from related pieces of evidence. * Clinical decision making: careful reasoning so the best options are chosen for the best outcomes. * Nursing process: five-step clinical decision-making approach. Five components of critical thinking. * Knowledge base * Experience * Critical thinking competencies * Attitudes * Standards Professional standard for critical thinking * Intellectual: the intellectual standard is a guideline or principle for rational thought. * Professional: the professional standard refers to evidence-based ethical criteria for nursing judgments used for evaluation and criteria for professional responsibility. Patient Safety- chapter 27 Patient safety during seizures * Seizure precautions encompass all nursing interventions to protect the patient from traumatic injury, position for adequate ventilation and drainage of oral secretions, and provide privacy and support following the seizure. * Seizure precautions are nursing interventions to protect patient from traumatic injury, positioning for adequate ventilation and drainage/oral secretions, and providing privacy and support after event. Fall risk prevention and interventions The plan for a patient who has high risk for falls. 1. Select nursing interventions to promote safety according to patient’s developmental and health care needs. 2. Consult with OT and PT for assistive devices 3. Select interventions that will improve the safety of patients home environment Interventions * Nursing interventions for promoting safety are individualized for patients’ developmental stage, lifestyle, and environment. * Note the safety locks and anti-tip bars on the wheelchair. * Nurses contribute to a safer environment by helping patients meet basic needs related to oxygen, nutrition, and temperature. * Adequate lighting and security measures in and around the home, including the use of nightlights, exterior lighting, and locks on windows and doors, enable patients to reduce the risk of injury from crime. * Modifications in the environment will easily reduce the risk of falls. To reduce the risk of injury in the home, remove all obstacles from halls and other heavily traveled areas. * Prevention of accidental fires and poisons requires awareness of precautions such as not smoking in bed and keeping hazardous substances out of reach of children. * Safety bars provide excellent prevention against falls. Safety risk-Risk at developmental stages * Children younger than 5 years of age are at greatest risk for home accidents that result in severe injury and death. * The school-aged child is at risk for injury at home, at school, and while traveling to and from school. * Adolescents are at risk for injury from automobile accidents, suicide, and substance abuse. * Threats to an adult’s safety are frequently associated with lifestyle habits (smoking, drinking, hazardous work, etc.). * Risks for injury for older patients are directly related to the physiological changes of the aging process. Risk * 16-19 : car accident * 75 and up: falls and car accident * Older adults have decreased vision acuity and hearing loss making them at risk for MVA and hearing sirens or horns. Decrease reflexes occur with aging. * Lead can be in paint, soil, water and can be inhaled or swallowed. * 64 years and older; decreased vision, orthostatic hypotension, gait and balance problems, urinary incontinence, use of walking aids, effects of various medications (sedatives, anticonvulsants, hypnotics, analgesics. * Falls occur due to inadequate lighting, barriers along walk paths and stairways, and lack of safety devices in home. * Patients most at risk of injury are those with bleeding tendencies (disease or medications), and osteoporosis (results in fractures). Every developmental age involves specific safety risks: * Children younger than 5 years of age are at greatest risk for home accidents that result in severe injury and death. * The school-aged child is at risk for injury at home, at school, and while traveling to and from school. * Adolescents are at risk for injury from automobile accidents, suicide, and substance abuse. * Threats to an adult’s safety are frequently associated with lifestyle habits (smoking, drinking, hazardous work, etc.). * Risks for injury for older patients are directly related to the physiological changes of the aging process. Priority planning patient care (this is using your critical thinking skills and wouldn’t be found in a section of the book) * In many situations, patients present with multiple nursing diagnoses. Use a concept map to visualize how nursing diagnoses interrelate. * Establish goals with the patient’s self-care abilities and resources in mind, and focus on maintaining or improving the condition of the skin and oral cavity. * Patient’s skin is clean, dry, and intact without signs of inflammation. * Patient’s skin remains elastic and well hydrated. * Patient’s skin is free from areas of pressure. * Timing is also important in planning hygiene care. * In hospital or extended care settings, work closely with nursing assistive personnel, who often provide hygiene care. * Collaborate with other health team members as indicated (e.g., work with physical therapy and occupational therapy to enhance the patient’s independence with self-care activities). * When a patient needs assistance as a result of a self-care limitation, the family often becomes a valuable resource to the nurse an d helps with hygiene measures.

Free Space Optical (FSO) Communication

Free Space Optical (FSO) Communication INTRODUCTION Free Space Optical (FSO) communication involves the transmission of data through a wireless medium using modulated near infrared light beam (with wavelength between 800 nm-1700 nm) [1] as carrier wave. FSO communication links can be used for satellite-to-satellite cross links [2] [3], up-and-down links between space platforms- aircraft, ships, and other ground platforms, and among mobile and stationary terminals within the atmosphere [3]. Light as a medium of communication is not a recent innovation as it was used in the Roman era, where polished metal plates where used as mirrors to reflect sunlight for long-range signaling. A similar sunlight-powered device was used by the U.S. military to send telegraph information between mountain tops in the early 1800s [4]. Additional optical communication developments occurred during the World War II, and the post-war era experienced further developments in this field fueled by electronic innovations such as the transistors, vacuum tubes and i ntegrated circuits, and most especially the invention of the laser in the early 1960s [1]. The unique characteristics of laser such as its powerful coherent light beam, the possibility of modulating it at high frequency and the low beam divergence has made it the preferred light source for enhanced FSO applications. FSO communication is considered to be one of the key technologies for realizing very-high-speed multi-gigabit-per-second large-capacity communications when fibre optic cable is neither practical nor feasible [4]. FSO communication can be of crucial advantage particularly because of its wireless nature and several applications, making it a viable alternative to the laying of fiber cable underground which is expensive and has environmental consequences. Unlike radio and microwave systems, FSO has higher data rate due to its high carrier frequency, low power requirements, no frequency license required and much smaller packaging [4]. In FSO links, atmospheric turbulence is capable of degrading the wave-front quality of a signal-carrying laser beam, resulting in signal loss at the receiver and thereby impairing the link performance [4],[5]. In addition, fog, snow, rain, dust, smoke and other aerosol particles contribute to the attenuation of the signal-carrying beam and eventual degradation of the FSO link. Several studies have been done on the atmospheric turbulence channels of a FSO system [3], [5]. The real performance measure of an FSO communication system is provided by the binary error probability also referred to as Bit Error Rate (BER).FSO communication involve the use of optical amplifiers either as an optical booster or optical preamplification. Amplification is achieved by stimulated emission of photons from dopant ions in the dopant fibre by using a pump laser as used in Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifiers (EDFA) or electrically as used in semiconductor lasers, due to the excitation of ions from a higher ene rgy state to a lower energy state. The excited ions can also decay spontaneously (spontaneous emission) or even through non-radioactive processes involving interactions with phonons of the glass matrix. These last two decay mechanisms compete with stimulated emission reducing the efficiency of light amplification introducing what is known as the Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) noise. Digital Pulse Position Modulation (DPPM) with direct-detection is the preferred modulation technique for FSO communication systems because of the lack of dispersion over the free space channel [2] , none requirement of threshold for detection [3] and the complexity associated with phase or frequency modulation [5]. At the moment, the benefits of FSO communications have not been fully exploited, hence more applied researches are needed at the laboratory to help transfer the performance of FSO optical systems into real life applications. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 FSO – PRINCIPLES AND CLASSIFICATION A FSO system consists basically of a transmitter, usually a modulated laser or light emitting diode (LED) which produces light for conveying data through space, and a receiver such as a photodetector which receives close to collimated radiation independent of the transmitter pointing concentrated lens [1]. Other components include beam control optics, collection lens, optical amplifier, solar radiation filters and other electronics [6]. In general, FSO systems can be classified into indoor and outdoor FSO communication [4], [7] based on the distance covered for communication and the absence of environmental effects in the indoor FSO link. The basic operating principles of indoor point to point systems are not different from outdoor communication links but the designs are very different to accommodate various requirements. Some research on transmitter and receiver designs for long-range FSO communication systems, [8] like satellite and atmospheric optical communications, have already been reported, which might be beneficial to short-range systems. Recently, many indoor communication systems employ laser diode as light sources [8]. 2.1.1 INDOOR FSO COMMUNICATION The indoor FSO communication link can be further classified as point and shoot links which are subdivided into infrared data association (IRDA) and retro-reflect links; and networks which have two types namely the diffuse networks and line of sight networks [4],[7]. Indoor FSO applications are confined to short distances; hence it is appropriate to optical FSO systems that use wide divergence beams rather than narrow beams which are suitable for point to point systems. Such systems are sometimes referred to as optical telepoint systems [7]. Due to the fact that indoor FSO systems are not affected by atmospheric effects, the power budget depends solely on the transmitter launch power, free space loss, and receiver sensitivity. As reported in Mahdiraji and Zahedi [9], the use of infrared frequencies for short-range wireless communications has received extensive interest over the decade, and many potential applications of this technology have been suggested. Some of the applications inc lude portable device such as laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and portable telephones. Many indoor communication systems employing infrared LED wireless links have been reported in [7], [9]. Using pure diffuse link, a high speed and power efficient indoor wireless infrared communication using code combining was reported in Majumdar and Ricklin [4], where a multiple transmitter link design was used with a narrow field of view direction diversity receiver. The design goal was to eliminate the effect of inter symbol interference (ISI) so that power efficient signalling schemes such as DPPM can be employed at a very high data rate. A portable transceiver for indoor FSO link was reported by Jiang et al [8] .The system employs a transmitter of eye safe infrared LEDs and a receiver of photodiode arrays with multi channel trans-impedance-summer architecture. The received signal achieved a BER of 10-4 at a plane of 2 m away from the transmitter, even at a point 50 degree off the transmitters vertical axis. The bit rate of the transceiver was up to 40 Mbit/sec in an indoor non-directed infrared FSO link to be extended to 100 Mbit/s using LEDs with higher cut frequency. 2.2.2 OUTDOOR FSO COMMUNICATION Unlike the indoor FSO communication link, the outdoor link covers a long distance over 500 m [7] using the atmosphere as its natural medium of communication. It is unlikely that long distance point-to-point systems will exceed the 4-5 km range due to atmospheric channel degradation. Outdoor point-to-point systems use high power lasers that operate in the Class 3B eye safety band to achieve optimum power link budget, particularly if high bit rate (e.g., 155 Mb/s) is required [7]. In order to achieve an improved power budget, an experiment was carried out by Heatley et al [8] to achieve a trial 155 Mb/s link that cover a 4 km distance between Imperial College and University College London. The aim of the experiment was to minimize the overall propagation loss focussing on the free space loss and the receiver sensitivity as little could be done to reduce the atmospheric losses. A low power laser coupled to an erbium doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) was used as the source; two astronomical t elescopes (Schmidt-Cassegrain, 20 cm aperture) were used at both the source and receiver ends, and an Avalanche photodiode (APD) was used as receiver. The result of the experiment was that the diameter at the receiver was reduced to 0.5 m which corresponds to 8 dB free space loss from a beam diameter of 2 m (20 dB free space loss). The major problem encountered was maintaining the beam alignment which depends on temperature changes. Although the APD receiver is relatively costly, it helped to improve the receiver sensitivity and they are generally used for long distance systems. FSO is well established for intersatellite and deep-space communications [3] but it can also be used in ground-to-space link, Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle (UAV) to ground link, and among mobile and stationary terminals within the atmosphere [10]. New areas of application include quantum key, traffic and telematics [6]. It has been predicted that FSO can be fruitfully utilized as alternative for last-mile problem [3], [10], [11]. According to Majumdar and Ricklin [4], a group of researchers reported the design and development of acquisition, tracking and pointing subsystem for UAV to ground free space optical communications link. The communication link was developed from a UAV to stationary ground stations located at Wrightwood, California and Maui, Hawaii. The range of the UAV was 50 km. the downlink laser transmitter wavelength was 1550 nm and had power of 200 mW for developing a 2.5 Gbps data rate communication for a BER of 10-9. Furthermore researchers have presented results from exper imental demonstrations using a very lightweight optical wavelength communication without laser in space (LOWCAL) [4] between ground based telescope and a space shuttle. The uplink/downlink established at 852 nm wavelength and 852 nm signal beam. Some of the specifications for the experiment were: range of 640 km, data rate of 10 kbps, telescope diameter of 0.6 m, modular weight of 2-4 kg and retro-reflector area of 70-180 cm2. For the downlink, differential circular polarization keying (DCPK) format was used while Frequency Shift keying was used for the uplink. Both the downlink and uplink achieved a BER 2.2 FSO- TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES Theoretically, the wavelength range of the near infrared electromagnetic spectrum (800 nm and 1700 nm [1]) used in optical communication implies it offers extremely high bandwidth, hereby providing higher data rates compared to other communication media such as the radio (1 mm-100 Mm ) and microwave (1 mm-1 m) systems [1]. Further, this technology requires no spectrum licensing requirements i.e. traffic free bands, no mutual interference between the FSO systems (high spatial selectivity of the beam), no Fresnel Zone requirement and difficult to eavesdrop on transmitted data [4], [6], [10]. The integration of the optical wireless and fibre is a research area been worked on by my many researchers [4]. This integration is possible because the two optical technologies offer high—speed optical bandwidth to meet market needs. They both use the same optical transmission wavelength (800 nm – 1700 nm) [1]. In addition the two optical technologies both share the same system compo nents and can transmit digital information using a range of protocols. The business advantages of FSO communications for network extensions include the reduction of cost incurred on fibre-optic cable and other associated costs, as well as time for deployments [4]. Despite its potentials, FSO communication link is affected by atmospheric attenuation owing to aerosol particles such as fog, haze, rain and snow which causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the received light signal hereby limiting the availability of FSO for a given transmission range and increasing the systems bit error rate [5]. These includes the fine mode with diameter, less than 2.5  µm, the accumulation mode with particle diameters 0.1  µm  µm and the coarse mode with diameter > 2.5  µm [12]. These particles can grow in size in regions of high humidity, and shrink by evaporation as humidity decreases. The effect of atmospheric aerosols in the channel on laser beam propagation can be determined using the Mie theory which depends critically on wavelength and particle size [13]. The dimensionless size parameter illustrates the nature of the Mie calculation as it gives the relationship between the particle size and radiation wavelength. This is given m athematically in equation 2.1[13] as where is wave number, is particle radius and is particle wavelength. Table 2.1 adapted from Ricklin et al [13] show some sources of aerosol in the atmosphere. Aerosol particles can be classified into three modes based on the diameter of the particles. Table 2.2 adapted from OBrien et al [6] shows the attenuations caused by rain, snow and fog. Table 2.1 Estimates of particles smaller than 20 micron radius emitted into or formed in the atmosphere (106 metric tons/year) (adapted from [13]) *Includes unknown amounts of indirect man-made contributions. Table 2.2 Attenuations caused by rain, snow and fog (adapted from [6]) Extinction is a term which describes the attenuation of a laser beam as it passes through a medium containing atoms, molecules, and particles. As reported in Ricklin et al [13], Goody and Yung defined the fundamental law of extinction as that of Lambert, which states that â€Å"the extinction is linear in both intensity of radiation and in the amount of matter, provided that the physical state (i.e., temperature, pressure, composition) is held constant†. Intensive researches [3], [4], [5], [13] have been conducted on the effects of atmospheric losses, most especially atmospheric scintillation, on FSO communication and some solutions have been proffered to reduce these effects. 2.2.1 PROPAGATION LOSS This atmospheric loss is associated with the distance covered by the laser beam. According to Prokes [12], free space propagation loss can be expressed as shown in equation 2.2 [dB] (2.2) where L is the link path distance, is the beam divergence full angle and is the diameter of transmitting circular aperture. For the Gaussian beam and a sufficiently long link distance ( >>) the additional gain is = 3.7 dB. In Heatley et al [7], it was reported that for a point-to-point system that operate with a slightly diverging beam, the free space propagation loss would be 20 dB whereas in an indoor system using wide angle beam, the free space loss would be 40 dB or more. At very short link distances, the total transmitted power is detected at the receiver because the beam spot diameter at the receiver position is lower than the diameter of the receiver lens [12]. 2.2.2 PHYSICAL OBSTACLES Physical obstructions such as birds, insects, tree limbs, buildings or other factors can temporarily or permanently block the laser line-of-sight [6], [13]. Platform/building motion due to wind, differential heating and cooling, or ground motion over time can result in serious misalignment of fixed-position laser communication systems [13]. Proper planning and site measurements are ways of avoiding this effect [6]. 2.2.3 ABSORPTION AND SCATTERING Molecular absorption process which is wavelength dependent is a major factor in beam attenuation. At wavelengths greater than 1 µm, the effect of molecular extinction can be negligible as atoms couple weakly with electromagnetic field [4]. Furthermore, molecular absorptions at these wavelengths are due to absorption of incident radiation with only minor scattering contributions [4]. Aerosol scattering effect is caused by rain, fog, mist and snow. This effect accounts for the degradation in quality of service experienced during snow, rain, fog and mist as reported in a detailed measurement take by [7] over a period of one year in both rural and urban areas. The results also reported in Heatley et al [7], showed a similar trend but with rather less variability between seasons and higher average attenuations. For many molecules, the absorption spectra have been measured experimentally in the laboratory and the respective extinction ratios of specific molecules have been made available for evaluation [4]. Molecular absorption can be minimized by appropriate selection of the optical wavelength [4]. It has also been suggested in [7] that the attenuation effects due to scattering can be minimized by reducing the link range and/or reducing the optical power budget. The attenuation caused by scattering in decibel scale A10, scat is given by the product of the atmospheric attenuation coefficient ÃŽ ±10, scat and the link distance in kilometres. The mathematical expressions are shown in equations (2.3), (2.4) and (2.5) [12]. [dB/km] (2.3) Where is the particle size distribution coefficient defined as: [dB] (2.5) 2.2.4 ATMOSPHERIC SCINTILLATION Scintillation is caused by solar energy heating up small air pockets inhomogenously, thereby creating varying refractive index along the FSO link [7]. This results in the scattering of laser beams at various angles along the propagation path and a resultant fluctuation in both the intensity and phase of the received light [5], [7].Atmospheric scintillation is less significant at distances less than 500 m [7], [12], but degrades performance of a FSO link at ranges of the order of 1km or longer [5]. The intensity I of an optical wave propagating through turbulent atmosphere is a random variable. The normalized variance of optical wave intensity, referred to as the scintillation index, is defined by equation (2.6) [12] where the angular brackets denote an ensemble average. The scintillation index indicates the strength of intensity fluctuations. For weak fluctuations, it is proportional and, for strong fluctuations, it is inversely proportional to the Rytov variance for a plane which is shown in equation (2.7) [12] where is the refractive-index structure parameter. This parameter is dependent on temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, altitude and wind strength [12]. Beam wander is another occurrence in an atmospheric channel which causes similar effects as atmospheric scintillation. This is characterized by the deflection of the entire laser beam by optical tubules of larger diameter than the beam, resulting in a random movement of the light beam about the target point. Atmospheric scintillation is a major impairment of FSO communications systems, as it can produce large transient dips in the optical signal. It has been studied extensively with various theoretical models already proposed to describe the signal fading [3], [5], [11]. In addition, several communication techniques have been described to mitigate the signal fading effect [5], [6], [12], [13]. In [3], the error performance of terrestrial FSO links were modelled as PPM/Poisson channels in turbulent atmosphere. The scintillation effects were modelled as lognormal for weak turbulence and as exponential for heavy turbulence. In Kiasaleh [11], the performance of a direct-detection, APD-based PPM FSO communication system in atmospheric turbulence was characterized. Here the weak turbulence link was investigated by modelling the received signal as a log-normal random process and also as a negative exponentially distributed received signal intensity. The binary PPM was used as the modulation sch eme for the system. It was assumed that the receiver thermal noise is non-negligible and the average signal intensity was large enough to justify as Gaussian approximation. It was concluded that the performance of the APD-based PPM FSO system was severely affected by turbulence and that the optimum APD gain must be used to avoid excessive APD noise at the receiver. It was also concluded that the negative exponential channel scintillation affected the systems performance with only large signal power capable of influencing the performance. Zhu and Kahn [5] employed the statistical properties of signal fading, as a function of both temporal and spatial coordinates as an approach of mitigating turbulence-induced intensity fluctuation. In spatial domain technique, at least two receivers are used to collect the signal light at different angles. In temporal domain techniques, only one receiver is used. Here signal-by-signal maximum likelihood detector (ML) is used to optimize performance w hen the receiver knows only the marginal statistics of the fading while maximum-likelihood sequence detection (MLSD) is used when the receiver knows the temporal correlation of the fading. The investigation showed that BER has greater degradation when the standard deviation of the turbulence induced fading is large. Furthermore, the diversity reception with the two receivers can improve the performance than a single receiver. According to Prokes [12], the receiver lens area causes an integration of various intensities incident on particular parts of the lens. It was reported in [12] that optical scintillations can be reduced by increasing the collection area of the receiver lens. This phenomenon is known as aperture averaging and the aperture averaging factor for a spherical wave is shown in equation (2.8) [12] where is the power scintillation index and is the Rytov variance for the spherical wave. An experiment was carried out by Prokes [12] to investigate the effect of the aperture averaging factor on the power scintillation index using two different refractive index structure parameters for the calculation. The result showed that the influence of both the lens diameter and refractive-index structure parameter on the scintillation level was relatively large. The power link budget of a FSO communication link was given in [12] based on statistical analysis of the atmospheric attenuation. Figure 2.1 shows a power level diagram of FSO deployed at a distance of about 1 km. According to figure 1, the total received optical power, was given by Prokes [12] in equation (2.9) as where is the mean optical power of a laser diode, includes the coupling loss between the laser and the transmitter lens and the attenuation loss in the lens, is the beam attenuation due to propagation loss, includes random losses caused by atmospheric phenomena (scattering and turbulence), and represents the coupling lens between the receiver lens and photodiode and the attenuation and reflection at the lens. 2.2.5 AMPLIFIED SPONTANEOUS EMISSION (ASE) Optical amplifiers are important components in communication links, as they are used to boost output power levels in the order of one Watt and higher. Due to the atmosphere medium used in FSO, only optical booster and pre-amplification schemes can be used [14]. Apart from the desired optical signal amplification, the optical booster amplifier constitutes a source of background radiation that can exceed the background radiation from the sun. This radiation is called amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The ASE power spectral density is represented in equation (2.10) [14] as where is one photon energy, denotes the optical amplifier gain, and is the amplifiers noise figure which ideally should be 3 dB. Equation (2.10) is valid for a single spatial mode (including polarization modes); in multimode applications has to be multiplied by the number of emitted modes to arrive at the total ASE power spectral density [14]. The effect of ASE radiation in optical booster and preamplification in FSO communication link was investigated by [14] using on/off keying (OOK) as the modulation technique. In the case of the booster amplifier, considering the fact that the maximum on-axis gain of a central unobscured optical transmit antenna with respect to an isolator radiator equals where is the diameter of the telescope optics and is the optical transmit wavelength .The value 0.81 is the optimum value of the fraction of incident power that can be coupled to an optical fibre from an incident plane wave. On inserting into equation (2.10), the ASE power spectral density generated by the booster amplifier and coupled to the receiver is given in equation (2.11) [14] as [W/Hz] (2.11) where is the transmitter gain, is the transmitter noise figure and and are the transmitter and receiver telescope diameter respectively. Also the signal power coupled to the receiver was given in equation (2.12) [14] as [W] (2.12) where is the transmit optical power at the output of the booster amplifier. Figure 2.2 [14] shows the general setup of an optically boosted FSO system. Modulated TX data Optical Receiver Optical booster amplifier GTX, FTX Telescope optics DTX Amplified data signal transmit booster ASE DRX R Using Erbium-doped booster amplifiers with specifications, telescope diameters, and a communication distance of , Winzer et al [14] arrived at which is of the order of the magnitude of the background radiation per mode produced by the sun. It also was reported that the booster ASE constitutes the dominating background radiation term up to communication distances of 600 000 km. In the optically preamplified FSO communication system, (see Figure 2.3) the received signal passes through polarization filter and optical bandpass which reduces the detected preamplifier ASE power. The preamplification introduces additional noise terms such as the shot noise, ASE-shot beat noise, signal-background beat noise, signal-ASE beat noise, background-preamplifier ASE beat noise, background-background beat noise and the ASE-ASE beat noise. It was reported by Winzer et al [14] that up to a link distance of 1000 km the beating of the signal and the transmit booster ASE dominates all other noise terms, c ausing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to become independent of R. The communication quality does not in this case increase with decreasing communication distance. It was thus concluded that the optical booster ASE has significant impact on the performance of a FSO communication link, especially at short link distances [14]. Optical preamplifier POL- filter (optional) Optical bandpass Decision logic RX data In Winzer et al [14], the use of the pointing, acquisition and tracking (PAT) system (see figure 2.4) to reduce the optical booster ASE at the receiver was presented. The proposed patent-pending PAT system eliminates the need for the using separate power or hardware for beacon lasers, taking care of alignment procedures between the beacon-laser and the transmit or receive telescopes, and splitting off a certain fraction of the information carrying data signal for PAT purposes [14].The booster ASE is applicable to the PAT system because the ASE spectrum exceeds that of the data signal by orders of magnitude and also the ASE has the same spatial modes as the data signal. Figure 2.4 The PAT system retrieving pointing/tracking information from ASE emitted by the booster amplifier at the transmitter [14] Phillips et al[2] carried out an analysis of the optically preamplified intersatellite pulse position modulation (PPM) receiver employing maximum likelihood detection (MLD) using Gaussian approximation (GA) and Chernoff bound (CB) techniques. The results from the calculations carried out at a wavelength of and bit rate of 25 Mb/s showed that this mentioned receiver configuration is approximately 1.5 dB more sensitive than the optically preamplified OOK non-return-to zero (NRZ) signalling. This method is proposed to have future implementation in future laser intersatellite communication systems. This paper has been reviewed in my report, with special interest in the BER evaluation. 2.2.6 EYE SAFETY FSO systems involve the emission of high power optical power which can be unsafe, especially if operated incorrectly [7]. As a result of this, laser safety standards have been established and classified based on the amount of power emitted by the transmitter source. Table 2.3 (adapted from [7]) summarizes the principal classifications. Table 2.3 Laser safety classifications for point-to-source emitter (adapted from [7]) 650 nm (visible) 880 nm (infrared) 1310 nm (infrared) 1550 nm (infrared)

Is Information On The Net Reliable? Essay -- essays research papers

Is Information on the Net Invalid? In his essay, â€Å"Picking Nits on the Net,† John Oughton reminds Internet users that information on the Net does not have a guarantee of authenticity, so it must be carefully evaluated. Oughton gives some examples and also provides some useful advice on evaluating information on the Internet. Oughton’s writing is well supported by reasonable arguments, informative and very useful, and the examples that he uses are commonly encountered by most Internet users; however, sometimes he understates the advantages of valuable information on the Net. Some examples that Oughton uses to support his claims are very reasonable. As we can see in his thesis, he states that in this computerized era, people should be critical in evaluating any information on the Internet. To support that argument, Oughton gives some reasons. First, he says that information we get from the Internet is not reliable, with no assurance of its credibility. It is really true since people with whatever background of knowledge can write and design nice looking Web sites and it is easy to disseminate any information by using the World Wide Web. Second, he also states, â€Å"all information on the Internet looks equal† (463). In particular, when surfing the Net, we might find that at first sight, some information really looks similar and real, and usually we do not think about its quality rather than its quantity. Indeed, misleading information and fake images might trick even skeptical ...

Free Death of a Salesman Essays: After the Funeral :: Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman: After the Funeral They all return to the house. The fully paid for house. The sight of it brings back a slight sob to Linda's throat, when she reaches the cement stoop her sobbing once again becomes full. Charley looks to her but is at a loss for words. Happy puts his arms around his mother and holds her. Biff only looks on at it all. For a brief second he sees the Willy's fate in Happy's eyes as he holds Linda. Willy's death has brought Biff to know what he is more than ever. He's not a salesman and neither is Happy but Happy is just like is father and Biff fears nothing can be done to change the course of life Happy has chosen upon Willy's death. The small grieving party enters the house and each takes a seat in the living room. Linda has gained control over herself again. No one dares to say a word they each sit by themselves accompanied by their own thoughts. Biff's mind is racing now. Thoughts of how his life will not end like Willy's. Biff has no master plan for his life he just wishes to begin his life. His real life. "Construction" Biff accidentally says allowed. Everyone looks at him. What about construction. Happy says to Biff. Tomorrow I'll look for a job in construction is Biff's reply. I'll start at the bottom and I'll gradually raise my position. Someday maybe architecture or engineering. By god I'm gonna do something with my life weather it's to my families approval or not. Charley looks at Biff and says. Biff I don't know if this is the right time for this. It's sounds like a good idea to me but I honestly don't think this is the time to talk about it. I'm sorry Charley you're right I'm going to bed now I'll see you all tomorrow. Biff stands up stretches his arms and back and goes off to bed. Biff wakes up early the next morning. No one else has woken yet and Charley had gone home the night before. Despite the death of his father hanging over him like a dark, dreary cloud Biff is in an unexplainably great mood. He felt as if his life was just beginning on this day.

Okonkwo as Epic Hero in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay

Okonkwo as Epic Hero in Things Fall Apart      Ã‚  Ã‚   Achebe’s work, Things Fall Apart, is an epic; it resembles stories about heroes found in many cultures. In these stories, the heroes are extraordinary individuals, whose careers and destinies are not theirs alone, but are bound with the fortunes and destinies of their society. They become heroes by accomplishing great things for themselves and their communities, winning much fame as a result.    Okonkwo fits this pattern. The first paragraph of Things Fall Apart is notable in this respect, for it describes Okonkwo as follows:    Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old man agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights. (3)    In an epic story, the hero undergoes many tests, which we can see as rites of passage. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo undergoes such tests, including the wrestling match with Amalinze the Cat, his struggle with the negative legacy of his father, and the struggle to succeed on his own.    Praising heroes is a basic function of epics. As ... ... Hopes and Impediments. New York: Doubleday, 1989. Innes, C.L. Chinua Achebe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Nnolim, Charles E. "Achebe's Things Fall Apart: An Igbo National Epic" Modern Black Literature. ed. Okechukwu Mezu New York: Black Academy Press, 1971, 55-60. Obiechina, Emmanuel. "Narrative Proverbs in the African Novel," Research in African Literatures, 24, 4 (1993), 123-140. Okafor, Chinyere Grace. "From the Heart of Masculinity: Ogbodo-Uke Women's Masking." Research in African Literatures, 25, 3 (1994), 7-17. Traore, Ousseynou. "Matrical Approach to Things Fall Apart; A Poetics of Epic and Mythic Paradigms." Approaches to Teaching Achebe's Things Fall Apart. ed. Bernth Lindfors. New York: MLA, 1991, 65-73.

From the Immigrants

The Emigrants by Edward Kamau Brathwaite The poem from The Emigrants by Edward Kamau Brathwaite is the thoughts of an indigenous inhabitant, the persona, thinking of the invasion that has been so abruptly brought upon them which they must now face. We know that the persona is one of the inhabitants because in line four and twelve, the repetition of â€Å"my† personalizes what is happening, coming from an inhabitant’s perspective. The themes perception versus reality, power, discovery and war throughout the poem explain and break down the content of the poem.Columbus, an explorer is searching for new lands for Queen Elizabeth, these tie in with the themes of discovery and power. He is discovers a new land that is inhabited by a race that he had never come across before. Lines eleven and twelve continue to tie in with the theme power, â€Å"deck watched heights he hoped for, rocks he dreamed, rise solid from my simple water. † Columbus believes that by discovering this new land he will not only obtain power and glory and riches from the Queen but also much more that he can obtain from this land.War and danger are also major themes in this poem. â€Å"As he watched the shore, the slaughter that his soldiers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this shows us that Columbus’ invasion brought death and suffering to the inhabitants as they tried to protect themselves. Furthermore while referring to how the island tried to defend itself, the poet talks of the response of Mother Nature towards the invasion. â€Å"Parrots screamed†, emphasizes not only the disruption of nature but also how the parrots may have reacted to defend their habitat.In addition, â€Å"birds harshly hawking, without fear† and â€Å"Crabs snapped their claws† both continue to show the response of the natural habitat towards the invasion and how they will defend their land, showing Columbus that he is not welcome. For this reason, Columbus men retaliate and fight the indig enous people’s defense resulting in all out war. These themes slowly flow into a major theme, perception versus reality. In stanza twenty one the last four lines of this stanza are significant, â€Å"What did this journey mean, this ew world mean: dis- covery? Or a return to terrors he had sailed from. Known before? † These lines are significant because, Columbus has just left Spain after Spain is experiencing political controversies and he perceives that by discovering new land he will escape from this and hopefully put a stop to these fights within Spain’s empire.However, when Columbus discovers this land that is already inhabited and that he must now fight for it, the true reality is that he has left one fight, in Spain, to enter another, in this â€Å"new world. In the poem from The Emigrants its form gives us an idea of what actions are going to take place or are already taking place. The form of the poem is free verse, in addition, there is little punctua tion and the lines of the poem are broken up. The poet’s decision to use little punctuation gives an idea that the persona, an indigenous inhabitant of the island, is having continuous thoughts of ideas and actions of this abrupt invasion of Columbus and his people.This also ties in with the poem’s main form, free verse, the poem’s content, the persona’s thoughts are fluently and freely being stated mentally. Figuratively speaking, in a way, as each thought or idea comes to the persona’s mind, the poet quickly takes note of it. In addition, the poem is breaking into many stanzas also ties in with the above statements. An example of this can be seen in lines thirty four and thirty five where the word â€Å"discovery† is broken after its first syllable and carried on to the next line, â€Å"new world mean: dis- covery?Or a return to terrors. Even though throughout the poem the stanzas are broken apart mid sentence, these lines are not only si gnificant because they are broken apart by a word but also because it helps emphasize and symbolize the disruption and destruction that has been brought upon the island. Throughout the poem the poet uses many figurative. Such devices are onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition, oxymoron and irony. An example of repetition can be seen in lines ten and twenty five â€Å"Columbus from his after-†, it is repetition because both lines are exactly the same.In addition, some examples of onomatopoeia and alliteration can be seen in lines seven â€Å"flapping flag†, eight â€Å"harshly hawking† and thirty eight â€Å"splashing silence. † These are examples of onomatopoeia because flapping, hawking and splashing are all sounds while the phrases are also examples of alliteration because respectively, there is the repetition of the f, h and s consonants. However, â€Å"splashing silence† is not only an example of onomatopoeia and alliteration but it is also an example of oxymoron. An oxymoron is where contradictory terms are joined together to form a phrase or statement. Splashing silence is an oxymoron because it is contradicting itself, where â€Å"splashing† makes a sound and whereas when there is â€Å"silence† there are no hearable sounds. As stated in the previous paragraph where there is a case of the word â€Å"discovery† breaking apart after its first syllable, it is also a form of irony. It is ironic because you can’t discover something that has already been discovered and is now being inhabited by a different race. It can also be interpreted cynically, where the writer can be seen as cynical towards Columbus and his actions.

How I Learned to Play the Guitar

How I Learned to Play the Guitar Guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments to learn because of its versatility and portability. When I was in high school, I had an abundance of leisure time. I wanted to do something meaningful and fun instead of wasting time on playing video games, so I decided to learn a musical instrument. Honestly speaking, I was a good singer; however, singing without a musical instrument to accompany me seemed strange. That is why I made up my mind to learn to play the guitar.Now I realize that I made a wise decision. To learn to play the guitar, I bought a guitar and a guitar pick. In addition, like playing other instruments, learning to play the guitar requires the love of music, perseverance, and patience. I learned some basic knowledge about the guitar and how to tune it. To illustrate, the neck of the guitar is divided by the strings from the left to the right and by the frets into sections from the top to the bottom. Moreover, every guitar has six strings and each string has a different size and note value.Each time before playing, I need to tune the strings. The tuning process is important for getting the right sound when I play. Next, I began to learn to play the chords, which are made up of different combination of notes. Each time I played the chords, a unique sound was created. The knowledge of the function of the frets and strings helped me identify the chords’ locations easily. There are a lot of chords on the guitar, but I could only memorize the most common chords.I could search for other chords online when I needed them. Now I can play the most important and fundamental five ‘major’ chords. I spend more than 30 minutes every day practicing without looking at the diagram of chords. At first, I strummed the strings slowly to see if all the strings rang clearly. When I could naturally play different chords, I would switch my fingers from one chord to another as quickly and precisely as possible. In this way, I could connect several chords together to make a song.There are many different types of scales, each with different characteristics, note patterns and musical qualities on the guitar. Playing improvisation means playing the scales in different orders. I also learned some techniques to enrich improvising, like mute, vibrato technique, advanced bend and so on. All the different techniques made improvisation fun and diverse. With the encouragement of my professor, I became very enthusiastic about playing the guitar. I carried my guitar everywhere and strummed notes whenever I was free.Before long, my fingertips developed calluses and the pain abated. Also, the more flexible and the stronger my fingers became, the easier I could play the chords. My fingers’ flexibility and strength turned out to be essential for improvisation on the guitar scales. At last, after learning to play the guitar for three months, I could play one of my favorite songs, ‘Time of Your Life’ by Green Day and some other songs with simple tunes. Then I quit my class and decided to learn to play the guitar by myself.Because I knew, practice makes perfect, in order to be a better and more skillful player, I had to practice more. I began to search music scores and videos online, and I followed them to learn new songs. Many uploaded videos on YouTube teach how to play different songs, and I benefited greatly from them. It took me some time to learn a new song, but the process was always fun and enjoyable. Even though I stopped going to the guitar class, I knew what to do and where to go to improve my skills. The most important lesson I learned about playing the guitar is that practice makes perfect.The only way to become a good guitar player is to practice every day. It has been said that professional guitar players practice 8 hours a day, so I knew there was a long way for me to go to become a good player. I am very delighted to say that I can play and sing qui te a few songs at the same time. It has been rewarding to learn to play the acoustic guitar, as it has opened up a whole new universe of expression, conversation and real pleasure. It also has been a great way to make friends, so it was worth making the effort to learn it.

Best Practices in Human Capital Development Essay

Human capital refers to the stock of productive skills and technical knowledge embodied in labor. Many early economic theories refer to it simply as labor, one of three factors of production, and consider it to be a fungible resource – homogeneous and easily interchangeable. Other conceptions of labor dispense with these assumptions. Today’s Globalization and competition among companies made companies to select the best practices for Human Capital Development. This Research contributes to the Best Human Capital Development Practices that are implemented by the companies and continues with in-depth study of its Weakness and Strengths and calculate the production metrics of each practice. Accenture Human Capital Development Framework (HCDF) Research from HCI (Human Capital Institute) shows that Human Capital Development Framework is one of the best Human Capital Development practice in the corporate world. The Accenture HCDF uses four distinct measurement tiers in arriving at an assessment of an organization’s human capital practices. These tiers reflect the key variables that influence the relationship between a company’s human capital assets and its financial performance: Tier 1, Business results, consists of measures of organizational performance (e. g. , traditional financial analyses featuring EVA TM, revenue growth, market share and stock performance). Tier 2, Key performance drivers, consists of measures of intermediate organizational outcomes (e. g. , productivity, quality, innovation and customer satisfaction) often captured on a balanced scorecard. Tier 3, Human Capital Capabilities, consists of the most immediate and visible people-related qualities (including employee attitudes and abilities) that are necessary for achieving critical business outcomes. Their influence is felt through key performance drivers. Page 2 Tier 4, Human Capital Processes, consists of practices that lead to robust and effective human capital capabilities. Included in this tier are core HR processes (e. g. , competency management and performance appraisal) and broader human capital processes such as learning and knowledge management. Strengths: Individual Development is focused, Growth Oriented, Human Resource Identification and Performance Appraisal. Weakness: Team Management is Absent, Production rates and costly. 360-Degree Performance Management Feedback System As per Research with HR Capital Management and Development, Report, 2007: This system, which solicits feedback from seniors (including the boss), peers and subordinates, has been increasingly embraced as the best of all available methods for collecting performance feedback. Gone are the days of working hard to impress only one person, now the opinions of all matter, especially if you are in a leadership role (at any level). Every person in the team is responsible for giving relevant, positive and constructive feedback. Such systems also help in identifying leaders for higher level positions in the organization. Senior managers could use this feed back for self development. Sony and Acer are implementing this HR tool for development of Human Capital. (The Best HR Capital Development Practice, Geetha Sharma 2007) Strengths: Motivational, Higher Retention of Employees, Leadership and Higher Production rates. Weakness: Misunderstanding and Disputes between executives and Managers. Page 3 Knowledge Sharing Adopt a systematic approach to ensure that knowledge management supports strategy. Store knowledge in databases to provide greater access to information posted either by the company or the employees on the knowledge portals of the company. When an employee returns after Attending any competencies or skills development program, sharing essential knowledge with others could be made mandatory. Innovative ideas (implemented at the work place) are good to be posted on these knowledge sharing platforms. However, what to store & how to maintain a Knowledge base requires deep thinking to avoid clutter. This HR Practice is performed at Google, Inc. and other large companies. Strengths: Responsibility of employees, Development in Teams. Weakness: Only Innovative Groups are encouraged leading to inequality. Fair Evaluation System for Employees Develop an evaluation system that clearly links individual performance to corporate business goals and priorities. Each employee should have well defined reporting relationships. Self rating as a part of evaluation process empowers employees. Evaluation becomes fairer if it is based on the records of periodic counseling & achievements of the employee, tracked over the year. For higher objectivity, besides the immediate boss, each employee should be screened by the next higher level (often called a Reviewer). Cross – functional feedback, if obtained by the immediate boss from another manager (for whom this employee’s work is also important), will add to the fairness of the system. A relative rating of all subordinates reporting to the same manager is another tool for fairness of evaluation. Normalization of evaluation is yet another dimension Page 4 Of improving fairness. This is practiced at many companies around the globe with Equal Opportunity Provider Including HSBC and American Embassy. Performance linked Bonuses Research with SBA, USA on Human Resources Practice: Paying out bonuses or having any kind of variable compensation plan can be both an incentive and disillusionment, based on how it is administered and communicated. Bonus must be designed in such a way that people understand that there is no payout unless the company hits a certain level of profitability. Additional criteria could be the team’s success and the individual’s performance. Never pay out bonus without measuring performance, unless it is a statutory obligation. Companies like Nokia and GM are implementing this practice. Strengths: High Productivity and Determination among Human Resources. Weakness: Cost Effective to the Company. Metrics to evaluate Organization Human Capital Development Processes: Research with Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA), Companies should evaluate the Human Capital Development by Estimating the ROI (Return on Investment) with the staff and other functionalities like revenue growth, market share and stock performance. Employee Retention and High Productive nature helps the companies to evaluate the Organizations Human Capital Development. Page 5 Companies should take Staffing as a Profit Center. Companies are spending more than ever on training programs to drive specific strategic initiatives and improve performance, yet they often fail to demonstrate the business value of their investments. Research with HR Metrics and Development Seminar, 2005: Each metric contains 2 to 5 performance indicators. For instance, â€Å"employee attitudes† metric includes the following indicators: Job Contentment (the percentage of employees satisfied with their job), and Manager Contentment (the percentage of employees satisfied with their manager). References †¢ Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, First Break All the Rules (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999). †¢ Accenture High Performance Workforce Study, 2002-2003. †¢ HR Capital Management and Development, Report, 2007. †¢ HR Metrics and Development Seminar, 2005. †¢ Human Resource Capital Institute, New York †¢ The Best HR Capital Development Practice, Geetha Sharma 2007. †¢ Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA), Website for HR Managers.

Rene Descartes six meditations Distinction of Self from the Body Essay

Rene Descartes was a French Mathematician and a modern Philosopher who developed an original philosophy based on sciences aimed at being stable and likely to last. His method was based upon premises of senses, reason, doubt and belief. Like most philosophers his quest was for Truth and knowledge. However the nature of Truth and knowledge remains debatable among philosophers to this day. It is worth noting that a contemporary modern philosopher said at the beginning of the 21st century, the beginning of ‘ Information Age ‘ , â€Å" Study of philosophy is now reduced to the study of language. We are distinct from our bodies ! Since the advent of human civilization many men have preoccupied themselves with philosophical thoughts of the distinction of self from the body. These metaphysical ideas , sometimes ontological, lie on the borderline of religious theology and philosophy. With discoveries in the field of physical sciences like Einstein’s ‘ Relativity ‘ the human conception of space, matter, time and forces has become clearer. This has further fuelled interest in the field of philosophical investigation of the relationships between mind, matter and the supernatural. This activity is a commonplace past time of the educated and curious. The scientific and methodological study of any branch of knowledge involves the formulation of – Thesis, Hypothesis and Anti – Thesis. Every Thesis has an Anti–Thesis. Is the self distinct from the body ? The senses are deceptive! What we see is spurious. Our memory deceives us. Hence a Truth that can be established is that nothing is certain. Hence it can be assumed for the time being that our senses and bodies are not true. We are probably distinct from our bodies. Rationality is questionable ! Man is known as a ‘ rational animal’. But the idea of rationality and the distinction between a man and an animal are debatable. Man certainly has to face an obvious ‘ identity crisis’ if material knowledge is to be trusted. The idea of a soul distinguishes self from the body ! All phenomena can’t be explained by sense-perception, thinking and physical bodies. They have to be attributed to a super-natural phenomena , ‘ the soul’. If the self is to be distinct from the body it could be in the form of the soul. The power of self-movement, sensation and thought as according to the judgment of Rene Descartes are foreign to the nature of body. These conclusions are based on Descartes philosophical experiments with himself using the faculty of his mind. He uses his mind to probe the co-relation between subjectivity, objectivity and their distinctness from body. This method has been Descartes most powerful tool and which makes him unique in the family of modern philosophers. The awakening during sleep is an experiment. Descartes argues that when asleep he has perceived through senses many things he can’t perceive through senses while awake. These are once again Descartes experiments with himself. Descartes is careful nough to recollect his thoughts and experiences for the object of philosophical study. ‘Thinking’ is separate from ‘being’. Descartes uses his imagination to conclude that he might exist separate from his body as a source of ‘thinking’. In his legendary famous statement he once declared , â€Å" I think therefore I am. â€Å" Human mind and judgment are prone to error . Hence the truth has to be away from the Human mind and body. Descartes reached a conclusion that there does exist a God. God is perfect in his judgment because his mind is infinite. This is obviously not true with human beings. Hence their judgment is subject to errors and faults. There is also a philosophical method of reaching the Truth by elimination of errors. Considering the belief that their does exist a Universal Truth away from the limitations of the human body it is reasonable concluding that we are distinct from our bodies. The existence of God is an irrefutable evidence ! Thesis that there does exist a God strengthens the concept of distinction of self from the body. It would be contradictory associating God to a body; God, Descartes assumed is infinite. Also, the idea of life after death in the form of soul which is the belief of literally every religious heology strengthens the belief that we are distinct from our body. Rene Descartes experimented with the mind ! Descartes claims in ‘ The Fourth Meditation’ that he has trained his mind to separate from his senses and dwell only in the intellect. The result were observations and conclusions that he was totally separate from matter. Descartes uses his ability at philosophical meditations, the popular method of study and research by a philosopher. The Human Will Descartes concludes extends beyond the bodies. With the human will, many philosophers believe it is possible to meditate and separate the consciousness rom the body. Modern Science refutes distinction of body from mind thesis. Descartes himself was once a scientist before he took to philosophical pursuits. A scientist, for example a Doctor would immediately rubbish the claims of the separation of self from the body citing encyclopedias of scientific evidence. Carl Jung’s Experiment nulls the idea of a soul. This famous Psychologist conducted an experiment and concluded that there is no soul ! The distinction between self and body is not recognized by modern psychology books. Philosophical methods might be fallacious. Philosophers employ methods based n speculations and subjectivity. These might be inaccurate and also subject to a difference of opinion even amongst philosophers. Whereas science is based on empirical experiments which no one can challenge once accepted and established. There is a self – concept in the science of Psychology. The self concept has an aura of mysticism associated with it. No one can see, feel or touch the self concept. It is reduced to ‘I’ and ‘me ‘ from the common sense point of view by nearly all domains of knowledge. Popularly the psychologists associate the self concept , the I – Self, with the ndividual and his states of mind – Conscious, subconscious and the unconscious. Body- Ego concept can be an evidence of self and body singularity. The genesis of mental structure advocated by Hartmann, Kris and Loewenstein advocate an ego state known as the Body Ego. They suggest with impressive arguments that the ego and the id should be conceived the result of an undifferentiated state. Conclusion : The embodied self – concept generates a tension. The stream of consciousness can be believed to be located within the boundaries of a creature. The self ( its memories, eliefs and traits ) might not located within the boundaries of the creature. Our intuition equates ourselves with our consciousness. A point to be noted is that there is a dualism not only between mind and body but also between consciousness and mind ! The ancient scholarly philosophical debate ‘ Self is distinct from the body ’ is a challenging interdisciplinary study. However, the philosophy student is best equipped to handle it. The debate seems to have no end. That is what makes a debate an interesting academic field of study. Philosophers and philosophy students have to be cautious that in their xuberance they do not unwittingly clash with scientific evidence or infringe with cherished religious and theological beliefs. The society punished Galileo because he was ahead in time than the people. The times have changed remarkably. These days society is more tolerant to new ideas. Even blasphemy against Jesus doesn’t shock the West anymore. Recent headlines of a popular newspaper says that the church has forgiven Beatles for claiming they were more popular than Jesus. Philosophers and philosophy students can play a timely role in all ages. The clear message is that they need not ostracize themselves from the society.