J.P. Morgan’s Latin America M&A department Essay

Juan Lopez, a new associate in J.P. Morgan’s Latin America M&A department, was assigned the task of valuing the telephone directory operation subsidiary of a large Brazilian industrial conglomerate. The subsidiary is Paginas Amarelas, which operates in three Latin countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. All cash flows have been converted to U.S. dollars, and present values computed for various discount rates. In order to the present value properly, he should determine the appropriate target rate of returns for dollar flows originating in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Q1.What is the valuation problem here? In what currency are the cash flows denominated? In what currency should the discount rate denominated? Be sure you understand Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the case. Juan chose DCF model to determine fair value of those subsidiaries. To properly apply DCF model WACC is a key underlying assumption. WACC composes of cost of debt and cost of equity. For cost of equity, Juan has some obstacles to determine it using CAPM model because following factors cannot be reasonably valued; 1. Risk-free rate is difficult to be determined because government bonds of those countries are not actually free of risk. Given that those governments had defaulted on principal and interest payments in the recent past. 2. Equity-risk premium cannot be reliably estimated. Equity market of each country has inadequate historical data e.g. historical stock prices, trading volume, dividend yield etc. This is because majority of companies are privately owned. 3. Beta cannot be ap propriately calculated. There is no competitor of the subsidiary in each local market. Potential competitors are either doing many kind of businesses or too small to be compared. For cost of debt, each local operation does not significantly issue debt security independently in an international market. As a result, Juan has to use an estimate of the U.S. dollar rates as if each operation borrow from the bank. Furthermore, each country has high inflation rate which causes valuation on each local currency become less accurate and less reliable. Cash flows are denominated in each local currency i.e. Argentina pesos,  Brazil reals, and Chile pesos. However, given that there are number of drawbacks in valuation on each local currency, as discussed earlier, discount rate should also be denominated in US Dollar. Q2.In this case, why doesn’t J.P. Morgan discount local cash flows at a local required rate of return? In fact, why not use that approach in general? -Firstly, J. P. Morgan is requested to value the business in U.S. dollars by the client, a Brazilian industrial conglomerate.

Gender Schema Theory Essay

Martin and Halverson suggested an alternative to the cognitive-developmental approach proposed by Kohlberg and called it the gender schema theory. In Kohlberg’s theory, children must reach gender consistency before they are able to begin imitating the behaviour of same sex role models. In gender schema theory the early gender identity acquired at about the age of three is the starting point to which children will then begin to look for schemas, schemas are packages of organised clutters of information about gender-appropriate behaviour and children learn these schemas by interacting with people, such as learning which toys to play with, which clothes to wear etc. and these help children to make sense of the world around them and help children to organise their experiences and process new information and also to help self-evaluate themselves, this is to help them feel good about themselves. Support for the gender schema theory was conducted by Martin et al 1995 who showed toys to children aged four to five. Children were informed, before choosing a toy to play with that it was either a girls toy or a boys toy, they were then asked whether they and other boys or girls would like to play with the toys. They found that if a toy, such as a magnet, was given the label of being a boys toy then only boys would play with it. However if boys were told that it was a girl toy then they didn’t want to play with it. Similarly girls would not play with toys labelled for boys. The label given at the start consistently affected the children’s toy preference. It is an important finding in that it highlights the labelling and the categorisation of objects that children are subjected to from a young age, and how their toys can be labelled in the same way as appropriate gender behaviour. A limitation of this research is that an observation of the children and although it has high ecological validity as it is in a real life setting, the children may have shown demand characteristics as the toys were stereotyped for their gender it is questionable if they had guessed the aim of the research and the results may have been due to the children trying to please the researcher as they may have thought they would get punished for choosing the wrong gendered toy to play with and how much of the children’s choice was due to free-will. It was also done in a controlled environment which means that the findings cannot be generalised outside of the research setting. Bauer 1993 wanted to investigate this further and set out to study the way in which children call upon gender schemas when processing information. Pre-school-age and older children have been found to process gender consistent and gender inconsistent information differently so Bauer wanted to see if this was the case in very young children as well. Bauer devised a way to test girls and boys as young as twenty-five months of age. Children observed the experimenter carry out short sequences of stereotypically female, male or gender neutral activities, for example, changing a nappy, shaving a teddy bear or going on a treasure hunt. She tested children by ‘elicited imitation’ both immediately after and 24 hours later to see if they would copy what they had seen. Bauer found that girls showed equivalent quality of recall for all three types of sequence, boys on the other hand showed superior recall of male stereotyped activities, meaning they would not imitate any female behaviour and their recall for gender neutral activities was the same as for male stereotyped activities. These results indicate that boys more than girls tend to make use of gender schemas by the age of twenty-five months and boys appear to remember more accurately event sequences consistent with their own gender, whereas girls show no difference in recall of gender consistent and gender inconsistent information. A limitation of this research is that it could be due to boys being more likely to be penalised by their parents, especially their fathers for carrying out female stereotyped activities, so the children may have played with the male stereotyped toys even if they wanted to play with the other female stereotyped toys. The findings may also be down to that Bauer, who modelled the sequences, is female and the boys may have felt uncomfortable in copying her behaviour. Gender schema theory is parsimonious as it tries to explain gender through cognitive development and does not take into consideration biological gender differences, such as chromosomes, genes or hormones. It is also alpha-bias as it exaggerates the differences between men and women.

‘No Dialects Please’ by Merle Collins Essay

Task: Using any literary or linguistic approach with which you are familiar, write about how the impressions of the speakers are created in the poem ‘No Dialects Please’ by Merle Collins. The poem takes the form of a reply to a competition â€Å"looking for poetry of worth† but the entry requirements, to the discus of this writer who is of African origin, state they must use â€Å"NO DIALECTS PLEASE†. In response the poem is written in the African accent, using phonetic structures of words, and including dialectical vocabulary but still containing a point both strong and emotive giving the poem the ability to fit the requirement for, â€Å"poetry of worth for a writin that could wrap up a feelin an fling it back hard with the captive power to choke de stars†. This is done in the poem, which tells of the writer’s feelings due to the suggestion that a dialect could not meet these requirements for poetry. Throughout the writers feelings are conveyed to the reader and are obviously strong, making the poetry that of the category which the competition was looking for which was exemplified by the powerful metaphor â€Å"captive power to choke the stars†. The feelings in the poem are clear, disgust, outrage and even pain due to the competition’s lack of respect for her dialect, which indicates their lack of respect for the writer’s culture, a feature the writer relates back to the slave trade. In the poems graphology two main characteristics indicate the emotions of the writer. The use of uppercase characters and explanation marks indicate an exaggeration in the tone of the words, for instance â€Å"AFRICAN SLAVES PLEASE!† The presence of this exaggeration indicates the disbelief of the write at the statements, which is further demonstrated by the presence of the â€Å"please† at the end of most the statements acting as a softener to the command prior as a pathetic attempt to prevent the insult that the writer feels. Another simple way that feelings are conveyed is through evaluative adjectives in the direct speech of the writer provided by the monologue form, for example when the writer is speaking about the lack of knowledge the British population has about the history of their language she says, â€Å"how dis British education mus really be narrow† The strength of the writer’s feeling can also be seen in the syntactical repetition of â€Å"Is not only dat ah think†, throughout the second verse and the pattern of three in the third verse, â€Å"bout a culture o we own a language o we own a identity o we own† The writer also says, â€Å"But if dat not enough pain for a body to bear†, indicating the suffering she feels is almost unbearable causing her a great amount of suffering. The writer’s defiance from the English when she states, â€Å"Make me ha to go and start up a language o me own† shows she feels like she does not want to be included when they are told, â€Å"We’re all British!†, but would rather have her own culture conveyed through her language including her dialect. Overall the whole poem acts as an example to show how the competition is wrong to remove dialect from poems, as it will prevent the conveyed feelings to be received by the audience. This is done by the whole poem being in the writers dialect but still being intelligently, shown by the cohesion and educated lexis, and effectively powerful.

Intellectual Property Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Intellectual Property Law - Essay Example This fact is negligible. Wherever the deal took place is irrelevant. As long as there was some verbal agreement, that could still be considered a contract, as will be shown in the next point. 3. No formal contract was signed between TWD and Yello. Even though TWD and Yello did not sign a contract, LMI and TWD made the agreement that LMI would arrange it so that they would pay TWD to set up a website for the band. â€Å"Such relationships are termed quasi-contract. Although there is no contract or agreement between the parties, they are put in the same position as if there were a contract between them.†1 The definition of what a quasi-contract is can be given here. As defined in Black’s Law Dictionary, a quasi contract is â€Å"an obligation which law creates in absence of agreement; it is invoked by courts where there is unjust enrichment†¦ [The] [f]unction of ‘quasi contract’ is to raise obligation in law where in fact the parties made no promise, an d it is not based on apparent intention of the parties.†2 Also, contracts do not have to be written down to be enforceable. A contract, by definition, is â€Å"[a]n agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing. Its essentials are competent parties, subject matter, a legal consideration, mutuality of agreement, and mutuality of obligation.†3 Additionally, a contract â€Å"is formed in any transaction in which one or both parties make a legally enforceable promise. A promise is a commitment or undertaking that a given event will or will not occur in the future and may be express or implied from conduct or language and conduct. A promise is legally enforceable where it: was made as part of a bargain for valid consideration; reasonably induced the promise to rely on the promise to his detriment; or is deemed enforceable by a statute despite the lack of consideration.†4 There are several types of contracts, in addition. Contracts may be one of three types: express (an agreement brought about by words); implied-in-fact (an agreement brought about by conduct); or implied-in-law, also known as a â€Å"quasi-contract† (which is â€Å"not a true contract but an obligation imposed by a court despite the absence of a promise in order to avoid an injustice.†5 Since it has been shown that there was a quasi-contract between LMI and TWD, TWD is now committed to performing services for LMI under the deal that was hammered out in the Wine Bar—even though nothing was put down in writing in a formal sense. However, this could indeed hurt LMI later as one shall see. 4. The website includes photos of Yello given to TWD, and three (3) short extracts of songs from Yello’s first album. TWD does not necessarily own the images or the three (3) short extracts of music given to TWD in order to market the band Yello. The copyright of the music belongs to LMI since they had a deal sign ed with them. Whoever took the photographs (one would presume that would be the photographer) who would own the copyrights to the band Yello’s photos. However, if Yello purchased the copyright of the images, then the images belong to them—or if the Yello band’s image is already copyrighted. This can be a complex issue. If Yello’s image is not copyrighted, it may be able to be distributed other places. Also, the copyright on the song excerpts must also be copyrighted in order to make sure that if there is any type of infringement, then the people or person infringing upon the copyright of

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

English - Essay Example To be precise, the character of Crenshaw plays a very important role in giving a realistic touch to Messina town and the influence of football on its people. The following narration given by the author gives a clear note on Crenshaw’s character as well as the main reason, which has stick him to Messina. "†¦he vowed to return more often. Messina was the only hometown he knew. The best years of his life were there. He’d come back and watch the Spartans on Friday night, sit with his friends and when the name of Eddie Rake was mentioned, he would smile and maybe laugh and tell a story of his own. One with a happy ending." â€Å"The math had never worked. However, they piled in from the county, from out in the sticks where there was nothing else to do on Friday night. in every window of every store around the Messina square there was a large green football schedule, as if the customers and townsfolk needed help in remembering that the Spartans played every Friday."The setting of the novel is completely written over Messina with specific attention given to football matches and its strong influence on the people of Messina. Most of the recollections of Crenshaw cover up the football matches in which majority of Messina’s people would come to see. The conflict between innocence and maturity, reason and reality keeps the story of Montana 1948 move with suspense and interest. David’s expedition to the frequent deaths happening within their living atmosphere, and the rivalry of power, which takes place between his grandfather and his own father, enhances the curiosity of David. The difference between the visions of a 12-year-old boy and a grown up boy holds the essence of the plot. The reasons which he [David] would like to explore with the events that happens after the death of their maid woman, and the understandings which he associates with his own realisation as well as his father’s helps a lot to understand the

How-To Documentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How-To Documentation - Essay Example The first source is an article titled â€Å"Preparing and Delivering Speeches.† This article addresses in great length, how one can prepare their speech presentation, and ensure that they meet their objective. The authors of the article have identified important areas that an individual should focus on when preparing their speech presentation. First is the topic of the speech, which they consider should be considerate of the audience. The speech itself is a second area that should be of interest. The authors of the article have outlined steps that can help one to develop a speech that is easy to comprehend. Practising for the speech has also been addressed, and this could be through timing one’s speech, using notecards, and working on the language before presentation. The final area is presentation. Here, the authors explain how to start and end the presentation in the most appropriate manner (Segrin and Clackamass Web). The second article is a YouTube video that was prepared by the GradProSkills, a skills training program of the Concordia University. This involves an instructor offering tips on how to prepare adequately for public speaking. The speakers emphasize that public speaking is a skill that should be nurtured. However, before presentation, of importance is for one to practice how they will deliver the speech. This is mainly through voice warm ups, in order to train on one’s emotional tone, the speed at which one speaks, and the number of words spoken per minute, which in this case should be at around 150. Preparing for a speech, according to the instructor in this video also involves practising for breathing tones and pitch (Concordia University Web). The third article is published in the Forbes, and emphasizes only one way of ensuring that one is ready to present their speech. This, according to the author of the article is practice. After writing the speech, one should engage in extensive practice, in order to perfect their

Personal Challenge Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Challenge Experience - Essay Example I was only ten years old in a family of two children when it was evident that their relationship had turned into a sour grape and was beyond repair. At the time, I could hardly tell what was happening with between as I was asked out of the room every time their conversations took a turn. Although I was young, the memories I have are illustrative of a happy family that we were before all went south. Our parents were efficient providers and we never lacked in any way. I remember walks in the park on Sunday afternoons, as my father pushed my sister on the stroller, an indication of a happy model family. At the age of ten, one does not have an abiding opinion on with regard to family relations, and this seemed to be rubbed in my face by the fact that my parents did not consider telling me what was happening. All that happened was arguments followed by the diminishing presence of my father. It was years later that I understood the full effect of divorce and wish that the system protected me better to avoid the hurt I went through. A shared parenting plan was implemented, but I spent most of my time with mother due to my tender age until she filed and was granted sole custody. It is for this reason that I lacked a father figure to help me deal with my teenage issues and did not know anyone to turn to for the problems I had. As a result, I kept to myself and avoided all confrontation however necessary they should be. I grew dejected and weary by the day, pulling away from society as my emotions raged within me. I was angry that my parents placed a burden on me to choose who I interacted with among them. I was not ready for the sudden change of lifestyle and I resulted to hating them for the choices they made. Violent outbursts initiated by the existence of happy families existed around me became norm since I failed to understand how this came to be. I lost friend following tantrums and to make matters worse, boys picked on me, calling names and teasing me at every opp ortunity. Feelings of rejection, loneliness, and dejection characterised the period following my parents’ divorce. My grades flopped and not a week passed with a visit to the principal’s office. I recall cutting classes, hiding in empty halls and wishing that the nightmare would end. Ignorance seemed to have saved me from the harm I craved as revenge over society. I remember contemplating the death of all smiling faces around me and I all that lacked was the means to implement. Great emotional turmoil ruled my social life and sought refuge in activities that I deemed to relief my condition. Great emotional turmoil ruled my social life and sought refuge in activities that I deemed to relief my condition, which saw locked doors to avoid mother. In my view, my parents showed no compassion in their decision to part ways and thus she had no right to ‘pretend’ she cared. However, she extended her concerns to my school where after a full report on my performance and behaviour, it was recommended that I attend counselling sessions. Following sessions with the school’s counsellor and a contracted therapist, all evidence pointed to back to the divorce. I had trouble coping with the effects of the separation, which explains my behaviour. The healing process proved long, but effective although I held nothing except remorse for the events

Strategic Management Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategic Management Analysis - Essay Example The Company focuses on transforming personal transportation by introducing vehicles that will use electricity rather that the norm of fuel consumption vehicles.The Company was founded by Agassi and its headquarters are in R&D center which is in Israel as well as in California and Palo Alto. Mission The mission set by Better Place Companyis to be able to accelerate the change from the use of oil based vehicles to the adoption of vehicles that are powered by renewable energy that is they have zero emission. Vision Its vision is to be a company that is aimed at creating great linkages between the car companies, the battery companies as well as the consumers and utilities in a way that will ensure that the adoption of the Electric Vehicles (EV) is a success. Better Place is geared towards ensuring that the automobile industry adopts a profitable change by propelling the consumers to be able to embrace the adoption of the EVs. Stakeholders A stakeholder simply refers to people, organizati on or groups that have a specific interest in an organization. Being a company that deals with automobiles Better place managers have to always give more attention to the expectations of those stakeholders that are directly involved in the industry. This is due to the fact that the influence and success of the company depends primarily on such stakeholders. The stakeholders include governments, the battery manufacturers, car companies, automobile manufacturers, investors, potential consumers for the EV as well as other private companies. With regards to the way in which each stakeholder influences the success or the failure of the business strategy Better place has three types of stakeholders (Johnson, p.156). These are: The socio/political stakeholders-these are mainly the governments as well as the agencies that are supporting the adoption of the company’s strategy. For instance the governments that have embraced the adoption of the Electric Vehicles are Israel, Denmark, Au stralia, Japan, Toronto and Hawaii. In order for Better Place to be able to attract the government, industry as well as the capital for the adoption of the EV model a number of challenges was faced: These were-the lack of marketing strategy to create awareness about better place in order to build its reputation. The second challenge was trying to convince the decision makers in government and business that the use of the Electric Vehicles was a viable mode of transport. Economic stakeholders-These include the manufacturers, the competitors as well as the suppliers. For instance, the battery manufacturers such as LG Chem and the car companies such as Toyota. Technological stakeholders-These includes the competitors who come up with new technologies that are aimed at improving the industry standards. Better Place Company through the expectations of its stakeholders aims at making a difference by ensuring that the form of transport used worldwide is environmental friendly. The impact o f the company has been seen throughout the years and it is clear that in the case that the company will not have materialized, the hope for a personal transport that has zero emissions would have been lost. Better PlaceCompany is dependent on its stakeholders due to the fact that its implementation primarily depends on their approval as well as continuation of the supply chain. For instance for Israel to fully embrace the Electric Vehicles it was necessary for the government to grant the company permission to start up the venture.Below is a figure showing power/interest matrix: Industry and Scenario Analyses Industry and scenario analysis does not rely on

Would the international response be different if it were men who were Essay

Would the international response be different if it were men who were suffering and dying as the result of child birth - Essay Example The fair gender is less mighty in strength and physical attribute compared to the man, for this reason they need to be treated with compassion. Unfortunately, physical assaults of various kinds, inhumane treatment, and domestic violence are few of the terms that are part of every society and target the women directly. Every year, large numbers of women go through various mishaps during the process of delivery, they offer come across miscarriages, other complications and in some societies women are held responsible for it, without thinking on the lines, that it’s the woman who suffers directly. The men and world community that is dominated by men might feel for the opposite gender only if exposed to it and made to have a taste of what women go through. It is quite unfortunate that even in modern times like these, there are societies where there are open violations of women rules, there is no consideration about their physical well being, and are directly exposed to violence in various forms, which entails not just the physical torture, but also the various other kinds. Many a times, they are taken for granted and despite going through the immense pain, they are ill treated. It would be an interesting case to see, if men were put to the test by going through equal pain. It is being said that the amount of pain woman goes through during the time of delivery, is right up there with any other kind of pain and suffering a human can endure . The element of consideration would creep into those societies and individuals where intolerance is on the higher side towards the fair gender. It is being said that one can not feel until they go through the suffering themselves, same is the case for the women’s suffering. Men would realize and understand only by going through it. If placed in the women’s shoes, they would realize what a woman goes through, what her sentiments her, what a woman wants in general, and how she should be

What is good about stillwater Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is good about stillwater - Essay Example This is not possible in Kuwait due to the extremely hot weather. If my head is already aching due to study, I can take a walk outside which refreshes the mind seeing trees and greeneries while enjoying the weather. If I will do this in Kuwait, I will be toasted by the sun and will likely lose my mood to study again. It is not only me who enjoys the weather in Stillwater. My wife is beginning to love the outdoors which she used to avoid back in Kuwait because of the scorching heat. She can now walk with a stroller with our baby which was not advisable in Kuwait because of the baby’s sensitivity to heat. The population of students at Oklahoma State University at Stillwater comes from different countries and ethnicity and this gives me wonderful opportunity not only to learn the curriculum but also other people from different cultures. In a way, studying at Stillwater does not only expand my mind through its academic rigors but also expands my cultural perspective being to understand people from perspectives and backgrounds different from mine. This is called cultural agility which is necessary skill at the global economy. The interconnectedness of countries and economies will require us someday to work with other people of different nationality. This opportunity of learning other people of different cultures would be very limited had I studied in Kuwait. Colleges in Kuwait are also very good except that curriculums are taught in Arabic and this limits foreign students to enroll there. So in effect, Kuwait colleges does not provide an opportunity to be exposed in an international env ironment because most of its students came from Kuwait and Gulf countries. Studying in Kuwait would not expand my cultural horizon as it would if I will study at Stillwater. Having a diploma from Oklahoma State University at Stillwater will surely give me an

How social class affect us who live in america Essay

How social class affect us who live in america - Essay Example The other classes work for the first class. This paper outlines the effects of social classes in various fields. Social class affects education. In America, the white race get favours when it comes to education. The whites are likely to pass their examinations compared to the other races, who are the minority. This is because the working classes, who are the whites, always do not expect much from their children (Leonhardt, 2005). The other minorities always have their hopes in their children, so that they help them in the future. This raises their expectations on the children’s results. The white children have everything, like financial support, and they are motivated to read more. Poverty has affected the way children study, because most of the times they will be out of school looking for fees. Social class affects the health care of society. There is a difference in health standards between classes, and this is not only because of the level of income. There is inequality in supply of health necessities depending on the social class of individuals (Scott, 2005). The high class lived long and fell sick less often, as compared to, the lower class. They have the necessary resources to acquire medication and access health-improving activities like sports and gym. The lower classes face hardships in life making them prone to diseases like hypertensions. They engage in healthy risky activities like abuse of drugs. Even if the low class gets employment, it will not improve their health because they will still live in areas of low standards. The social class affects how people relate to another. People socialize based on their level of classes. Most lower class men fear dating girls in the upper class (Lewin, 2012). The lower classes have low self-esteem because of their economic situation. They have stress, frustrations because of income inequality. The lower classes face many challenges, causing them to engage in criminal activities. They spend quality time away

Baseball and Antitrust Laws Essay Example for Free

Baseball and Antitrust Laws Essay Any commerce with operations spanning state boundaries, thus undertaking interstate trade, is governed by antitrust laws. Efforts at monopolizing and controlling trade could be regarded unlawful by national circuit courts as per the Clayton and Sherman Acts. Baseball has always been immune from such antitrust regulations from 1922, upon the Supreme Court’s verdict made baseball winner in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National Baseball Clubs. It was determined that although planning of sports was done across State boundaries, such games constituted intrastate occasions since movement from state to state was not essential (Falk, 1994). The antirust immunity bars MLB from being legally challenged because of national antirust braches. Unless such immunity is removed by Congress, baseball proprietors make whatever decisions they wish because no antirust-related legal proceedings can be instituted against them. Whenever the proprietors attempt to modify baseball, the MLBPA quickly comes in to claim that they were not consulted (Bendix, 2008). Despite the fact that proprietors may do whatever they wish disregarding antitrust regulations, nothing which breaches the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) can be done. Such agreement requires that almost each dispute be mediated, like it is done with numerous labor deals. If the antirust immunity of baseball was cancelled, would this mean the changing of baseball? This is unlikely since the same regulations that govern NHL, NFL, and NBA would continue to govern baseball. The USA at the moment has antitrust regulations meant to bar businesses from controlling specific markets. Nevertheless, US baseball market has been monopolized by key league baseball for ages, thus preventing upcoming players from actually gaining footage. The US Supreme Court has defended Major League Baseball’s (MLB) liberty to monopolize in a number of instances. MLB remains the sole US monopoly in numerous ways, and has remained so from its beginning. Upon the 1903 merger of the National League (NL) with the American League (AL), such partnership immediately proved successful. Such success was surely bound to invite imitation. Therefore a different baseball league almost immediately demonstrated willingness to challenge the NL/AL monopoly. The Federal League began as an insignificant league; however, it espoused key intentions (Anderson, 2002). By 1914, numerous individuals regarded such Federal League to be a main league; the league itself desired to officially confirm this. The Federal League (FL) took legal action against Major League Baseball on 5th January 1915 for disrupting their efforts at hiring players who were between agreements that is, not governed by the Reserve Clause, from the American National League, citing national antitrust law. The case was heard by Kennesaw Mountain Landhis, reputed for his firm observance of the law. However, Ladhis was as well a big fan of Chicago Cubs. He knew that the Federal League’s case was a justifiable one, however, his favorite team, the Cubs, would suffer if FL won the case, and thus Ladhis kept such case under advisement as opposed to immediately issuing a verdict. The FL’s 19156 collapse made everyone happy. The Baltimore Federal League license proprietors tried to buy out a team of the Major League (ML) only to be rejected. They subsequently attempted to purchase a franchise of the International league; they were once more rejected. The proprietor of White Sox, Chalets Chomsky, offended Baltimore city by saying that the metropolis constituted a bad and insignificant league. Charles Ebbets, the proprietor of Dodgers, added to the insult by stating that the metropolis was among the worst insignificant league metropolis because of having excess colored people. The perspective proprietors then took legal action against ML baseball, alleging a scheme to tear down the FL. In April 1919, a law court declared the Baltimore proprietors the winners of the suit, thus awarding them damages worth $240,000. An appeal was instituted in 1920, with the appeal ruling being made in 1921 (Barra, 2003). The 1921 ruling nullified the decision of the junior court and declared that baseball did not constitute the type of trade national law ought to standardize. The US Supreme Court endorsed such a ruling on May 22nd 1922, thus strengthening baseball’s antitrust immunity. In the Federal Baseball Club v. National League, the Supreme Court gave the verdict that ML baseball remained immune from the Sherman Antitrust Act provisions. Following the 1915 folding of the FL, majority of the FL proprietors were purchased by proprietors within the other MLs, or had received compensation in other modes. For instance, St. Louis FL owner was authorized to purchase the St Louis Browns. Baltimore Federal League club owner did not get this authorization and hence he took legal action against the American league, National League, as well as additional defendants, such as a number of FL officials. The suit alleged a plot to dominate baseball through demolishing the FL (Rovell, 2001). The listed defendants were declared jointly answerable, with $80,000 worth of damages assessed. The figure was tripled to total $240,000 as per the Clayton Antitrust Act provisions. Such immunity, as well as the monopoly of MLB, was unchallenged up to 1972. Curt Flood took legal action against baseball following his sale to Philadelphia Phillies from the Saint Louis Cardinals following 1969’s season. Such a case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, where the initial decision was endorsed with Congress left to rectify the inconsistency. Despite the fact that Flood did not win the case, he set the precedence for wage negotiation, and immediately afterwards, free action. At the moment free agency survives, however such antitrust immunity is as well law. Baseball was not to be awarded antitrust immunity if the Baltimore League squad owners had been reimbursed after the league was disbanded. All other squad’s proprietors were compensated with the exception of Baltimore, thus prompting their filing of the initial antitrust lawsuit. Such immunity is suspect, and several observers are convinced that it may once more be upheld in a law court. Nevertheless, from the Flood case of 1972, no any one case has been even close to being heard at the Supreme Court (Barra, 2006). In addition MLB’s domination has not been challenged by any league since the 1950s unsuccessful Continental League. The National Federal League has been engrossed in majority of the major antitrust court cases, such as, its lawsuits against the US Football League. Such cases have demonstrated that antitrust lawsuits are not essentially fatal. Despite that fact that the NFL lost the two cases, numerous lawsuits have been previously won by sports leagues. In antitrust lawsuits, such leagues have to demonstrate that they did not breach antitrust regulations through demonstrating that their activities generally, served to promote contest more as opposed to inhibiting it. Despite the fact that Al Davis legally defeated the NFL, the NFL could as well have emerged victorious if it possessed an unambiguous guidelines and adhered to them rather than acting because they particularly disliked Al Davis (Bartree, 2005). In addition, despite the fact that USFL legally beat NFL, a mere $3 worth of damages was awarded. If the US Congress completely revokes the antirust immunity of baseball, some interesting enduring consequences could result. Firstly, the key leagues are to be affected. Insignificant-league baseball t the moment relies on the ongoing presence of the Reserve Clause , which permits major-league teams to legally control players even following the expiry of the players’ contracts. Such Reserve Clause permits the existence of deep insignificant-league structures within baseball by permitting such teams to control numerous players not in their key-league rosters. NBA and NFL do not have any minor-league structures. Hockey has insignificant-league squads; however, such are mediated into the joint bargaining of hockey with the players. The Reserve Clause is likely to be legally challenged if the antitrust immunity of baseball is lost. In case such clause is determined to breach antitrust regulations, baseball squads could be forced surrender the legal claims to a number of or even every of their insignificant-league players. With no interest to develop the team members whom they formerly controlled, big-league squads would be less motivated to offer support to their insignificant-league partners through subsidizing their activities (Blum, 2001). This has thus made insignificant leagues lobby Congress to uphold the antitrust immunity of baseball. Without such immunity insignificant leagues would be forced to modify their activities, to become more similar to free insignificant early 1900s leagues rather than be under MLB. Proprietors would have no power regarding discussing with team members due to lack of legal standing to possess a Reserve Clause. When squads have no rights over team members, there will be less willingness to recruit high school players and accord them 4 or 5 development years, particularly if they are forced to dwell much on major league rosters. This could imply a major impetus fro baseball in colleges, and perhaps also for global baseball leagues (Rovell, 2001). Such would form the major MLB’s propagation ground as has been for basketball and football. If the antitrust immunity is revoked, franchise transfer, and particularly contraction, would from the greatest challenge. Close to thirty years have elapsed since a single baseball squad relocated from one metropolis to the other. Since that time, the other 3 games have progressed since the antitrust immunity grants baseball proprietors extra authority to bar squads from relocating than the proprietors have within other games. Such authority was especially apparent in 1992 at the time when the Tampa/St. Petersburg Vince Piazza’s group wanted to purchase the Giants from Bob Lurie at $115 million. The proprietors declined to allow such sale, and then compelled Lurie to accept $100 million from Peter Mogowan for the squad. Piazza instituted legal proceedings against MLB, actually winning the initial round of the case. The court stated that the antitrust immunity did not cover relocations (Belth, 2001). However, the Curt Flood Act currently holds that immunity does touch on relocations. Absence of antitrust immunity makes it hard to bar teams from relocating by the MLB. Attempts to block relocations would surely be met with lawsuits instituted by the cities or teams that were attempting to relocate. Baseball would be tasked with the responsibility to demonstrating that barring such relocation would benefit contest, plus that the resolution was founded on unambiguous guidelines. If Congress repealed the immunity, the contraction war would most likely not be based on Twin’s release and labor deals. Contraction challengers would posit that the proprietors were attempting to get rid of 2 competitors so as to raise profits; this is a typical antitrust breach (Falk, 1994). The proprietors would be forced to defend such relocation arguing that they were enhancing competition within the game. It is difficult to determine whether America or baseball would benefit if the antitrust immunity of baseball is revoked. Attorneys would surely benefit owing to increased lawsuits. The proprietors would benefit since the MLB has previously won against attempts to revoke the immunity and Congress always takes it time. References Anderson, P. (2002). Recent major league baseball contraction cases. Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://law. marquette. edu/cgi-bin/site. pl? 2130pageID=474 Barra, A. (2003). Policy debate: Should the antitrust exemption be eliminated? Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://swcollege. com/bef/policy_debates/baseball. html Barra, A. (2006). Policy debate: Should the antitrust exemption be eliminated? Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://www. swlearning. com/economics/policy_debates/baseball. html Bartree, H. (2005). The role of antirust laws in the professional sports industry from a financial perspective. Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://www. thesportjournal. org/article/role-antitrust-laws-professional-sports-industry-financial-perspective Belth, A. (November 26th 2001). Ending baseballs antitrust exemption. Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://courses. cit. cornell. edu/econ352jpw/readme/Baseball%20Prospectus%20-%20Ending%20Baseball%27s%20Antitrust%20Exemption. htm Bendix, P. (December 3rd 2008). The history of baseball’s antitrust exemption. Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://www. beyondtheboxscore. com/2008/12/3/678134/the-history-of-baseball-s Blum, R. (June 12th 2001). Why is the antitrust exemption important? Retrieved august 4th 2009, from http://www. usatoday. com/sports/baseball/stories/2001-12-05-antitrust-explanation. htm

Frankenstein Passion For Knowledge Is His Demise English Literature Essay

Frankenstein Passion For Knowledge Is His Demise English Literature Essay Thesis: Victor Frankenstein had such a curiosity for life, death, science and electricity. Victor leaves everything he knows to further his education. His thirst for knowledge controlled his life. His goal was to find a way to dissolve all sickness and keep the human body alive. He was trying to play God. He was creating life from death. He would create a monster that he immediately rejects, due to his appearance. This rejection plays a major part in the monsters hatred for others. While creating this creature, Victor thought it would have great respect and loyalty to him. Victor brought life to this creature without thinking of the consequences. He was in this world all alone. In the beginning he was merely a lost innocent soul. The monster just wanted to be loved. He just wanted to be accepted. Since acceptance was not a choice for him. He wanted Victor to make another creature like him, but of course a female. He wanted the kind of love he seen in Victor and Elizabeth. If he could not have this love and happiness, then he would take his creators happiness. In the end, this monster took everything Victor had ever loved, even his life. Frankensteins Passion for Knowledge A. Victor was very curious about life and death early in life. B. After the death of his mother, Victor left his true love to pursue his education. C. Victors passion for a way to preserve life was even stronger after the death of his mother. II. Frankensteins Creation A. Victor innocently created this monstrous being. B. Victor worked for a long period of time to try to perfect life. He thought this creature would be grateful to him for giving him life. C. Victor was really trying to play God; he was trying to give life to death. III. The Monsters Innocence, Love, and Kindness turns to Anger A. Victor rejected his creation. B. The monsters anger came from the rejection shown by Victor. The monsters appearance was so hideous; he hated his creator for making him this way. C. The monster also had a yearning for knowledge, which increased his senses and peaked his curiosity. The Monster learned from the villagers from afar. IV. Frankensteins Passion would also be his Demise. A. The Monster demanded a mate, so that he to could also be loved and feel that experience. B. The Monster just wanted to be loved. He wanted the kind of love the villagers shared. Victor decided not to give it to him a mate. C. He killed Victors friends and family out of rage. The monster would also be the death of Victor Frankenstein: Passion for Knowledge is his Demise In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein had a great curiosity for life and death at a very early age. He became very interested in electricity after lightening had struck a tree near his home. He thought if electricity could destroy something so massive, what it could create. Victor then started to experiment with electricity. He made a small electrical machine and also made a kite with a wire for a string to try to harness the electricity. Victor had a great yearning for knowledge about life and death. His favorite philosophers of science were Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paraclesus, they intrigued his imagination. He also learned several different languages in order to pursue different philosophers. Victor had been to school in Geneva, but his father thought that he needed to further his education, so he suggested that he go the a University in Ingolstadt to complete his education. As Victor was to go off to school, his mother became very ill with Scarlet Fever. She told Victor and Elizabeth that she wanted them to be joined together forever. She knew she was dying and told the children that she will indulge of the hopes of meeting them in another world. His mother dies calmly with her children by her side. Victor loved his mother very much. She was like a part of him that was gone forever. He expressed his feelings of a void in his soul. This was hard for him to accept, but he knew he must continue with hi s regular duties. His journey to Ingolstadt was delayed by the death of his mother. He was even more eager to learn about life and death with the passing of his mother. Victor went to Ingolstadt alone. Elizabeth had to stay home and take care of the younger children, Ernest and William. Henry Clerval, his best friend, went to work for his father. Victor started his classes at the University, he had two different instructors. He went to visit M. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. Victor expressed his works he thought most interesting. Krempe told him he had wasted his time studying the likes of exploded systems and useless names. He told him he must start his studies anew and gave him a list of books he needed to read. Victor returned to his apartment, he did feel the need to read such book that he has so strongly probated. He then spent the next few days in solitude. He then went to M. Waldens class who was a professor of chemistry. He liked this professor much better than Krempe. After a few experiments, he concluded the session with in which Victor will never forget, The ancient teachers of science promised impossibilities, and performed not hing. The modern masters promised very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But the philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pour over the microscope or crucible; have indeed performed miracles. They penetrate into the recess of nature, shew how she works in her hiding places. They ascent into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the most nature of the air we breathe. They have acquired almost all new unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows. (28). He later spoke privately to M. Walden. Victor told Walden that his lectures had removed his prejudices against modern chemistry. Walden was pleased with this statement. Walden took Victor into his laboratory and showed him his devices. Walden also told him to study mathematics and when he had advanced enough he could use the equipment in his lab. He also gave him a list of books to read. Victor knew this was an eventful day, a day he would never forget. This day had decided Victors future destiny. He then focused his studies natural philosophy and particularly chemistry. He threw himself into all his studies. He would sometimes work/study until early morning. His full attention was on his pursuit of his discoveries, in which he had high hopes of making. He had not been home in several years. He felt as thought he had improved as much as he could through the University and was planning to go back to Geneva, when an incident protracted him to stay. Victor learned he must examine the course of life he must first have recourse of death. He then became very familiar with anatomy. He also studied the decay of life; he became able to bestow animation upon lifeless matter. He spent several months collecting his materials, to make his creature. He finally begins to puts all the pieces together. While creating this creature, Victor thought it would be grateful to its creator. Victor thought it would owe their being and happiness to him. He hoped to renew life where death had corrupted the body. He worked thru the summer and Victor had still not written or visited home. He was working on the conclusion of his masterpiece. His work had started to make him sick; he ran a low grade fever each night and became nervous to a painful degree. He had once enjoyed his health and then he promised to get more exercise and amusement when the creation was complete. The creature is complete. After all the hard work that he put into this being, it was a hideous creature. Victor had given up rest and his health to create such an ugly being. Victor was filled with horror and disgust. Unable to endure the creature he created he rushed out of the room. Dreams now become a he ll. His friend Henry had come to see him surprisingly. He felt joy for the first time in several months. He took Henry back to his apartment, but first went to check to see if the creature was gone, and he was. Then he led Henry up the stairs to the apartment. Victor then got a nervous fever, which confined him for several months. Henry was Victors only nurse. Henry would also write home for Victor to keep in touch with his family. Henry did not tell the family that Victor was extremely sick. Finally Victor began to recover. He asked Henry what he could do for him. He told him to write home in his own handwriting and let his family know that he was better. Victor was awaiting a letter from his father, to let him know when to come home. The letter Victor received was something a little different than expected. Victor received a letter from his father asking him to return home immediately. His youngest brother William had been murdered. His father did not know who had killed William. When Victor returned home he was told that Justine Moritz was the murderer. He was for sure there must be a mistake. Justine would not have hurt William. The family tried to help Justine. The evidence of the photo that was placed in her possession this leads the court to declare her guilty and she was put to death. The actual murderer was the monster. The monster killed William to get revenge upon Victor for rejecting him or even creating him. The monster and Victor finally meet up. The monster told Victor his struggles since his birth. He knew nothing when he was created. He learned thirst, hunger and cold very quickly. The monster told Victor of how cruel people had been to him, just because of his appearance. He was an innocent soul. He finally took refuge in a building, near a cottage where some villagers lived. He watched these people and learned from them. He learned to speak and read. He more importantly learned of giving, caring, intimacy and love. He helped the villagers gather wood for their fire and vegetables from their garden, from afar. He wanted so badly to be part of that family. They had all that he knew of as being right in the world. They had food, shelter, fire, clothes and each others company. What more could one ask for? When the monster goes to talk to these people they feared for their life, just to look at this monster. He was so scary that people did not give him a chance to even speak. People imm ediately thought he would hurt them. They too were mean to him and hit him with sticks to make him run away. This is what made him so angry and even more eager for revenge on his creator. The monster spoke to Victor and demanded he make him a mate. He just wanted to be loved. He wanted to be able to share the kind of life he seen with the villagers, with a mate of his own. He only wanted to be happy. He would go far away from civilization and live with this other monster, if only Victor would comply. Victor was reluctant at first but then told the monster he would create one more of his kind. Then the monster gave Victor back his journal and told him he would be watching him. Victor went back to Ingolstadt and started working on the female. He worked for a long period of time to try to reconstruct another creature. His friend, Henry, tried to talk him out of making another creature. Henry told him, he will only continue to demand more from you. The monster watched Victor from afar. Then one night, Victor realized that what he was doing was very wrong. He was not God; he should not be creating life from death. Victor then destroys the body. The monster was enraged with anger. How can you deprive me of happiness? The monster then tells Victor, If you can not give me happiness then I will take yours (00). He also tells Victor, I will be with you on your wedding night. He promised to make Victors life miserable. So the monster takes off once more. The monster then kills his friend Henry. Victor is accused of the murder and was taken to prison to wait his fate. He became very ill once more and was nursed back to health while in prison. Mr. Kirwin had written to his family to tell them of Victors situation and his father was to come see him. Victors father finally arrives in Ingolstadt. Victor was soon to have a trail, but not one of public proportion. The grand jury left it up to the lower courts to decide. Mr. Kirwin was helpful in getting witnesses for Victor for his trial. They did not have enough evidence to convict Victor, so he was set free. He and his father started their travels home. They had several stops along the way. Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. She tells of her love for him, but wonders if he may have found another love while out in the world away from Geneva. She worries greatly as to the reason for his sadness. He writes back to her from Paris to let her know that he truly loves her, but that he does have an awful secret that makes his so miserable. Victor tells Elizabeth that he will confess this secret the night after their wedding. Victor and his father arrive home in Geneva. Elizabeth was so excited to see him. See rushed out to hug him and she starts to cry as she sees how emancipated he had become. She was just so happy for him to be home. Alphonse then spoke of a wedding for the two of them, so it was set to take place in ten days. Victor was excited to be marrying his true love, but was so very frightened of what may happen on his wedding night. All he could this of was the monster telling him I will be with you on your wedding night. As the wedding day grew closer the more heart sick Victor became. Victor just wanted to be happy and for Elizabeth to be happy. Victor took every precaution to protect himself. He carried pistols and a dagger, which gave him some tranquility. He somehow started to this of the threat from the monster as a delusion and focused himself more on his happiness. Victors father was so joyful and excited about the wedding as he made all the plans. After the wedding, the reception was held at his fathers house. Elizabeth and Victor were to retreat to Evian and then return to their new home in Colgony the next day. They started their journey toward Evian by way of water. This would be the last moments in which he would have feelings of happiness. They landed about 8 oclock. They had talked on the journey; Elizabeth was a little quieter but expressed that even if her face did not show her happiness that it was in her heart. Victor had been calm during the day, but now after dark he became very agitated and nervous. He became so nervous, he made Elizabeth retire to her room. Victor then inspected the entire inn. He could not see a way that the monster could get in. Then Victor heard a shrill and dreadful scream, it was repeated again just before he entered Elizabeths room. Victor found her lifeless and her head hung over the bed. He could not bare this site. Victor then fainted. He awakened to find the inns people around him. He went to Elizabeth and held her cold l ifeless body and wept in agony and despair. He looked up to see something in the window; it was the monster pointing toward Elizabeth with a grin on his face. Victor took his pistol out and shot at him but he went into the lake. The inns people came when they heard the shot and Victor explained he was in the lake. A search was conducted for him without success. Victor knew his father would expect their return. Victor quickly returned back to Geneva. Victor kept thinking that my father and Ernest could also be in danger. When he returned his family were alive. Victors father could not live under the horrors that were accumulated around him. His father took an apoplectic fit and died a few days later, in his arms. Victor then lost all concepts for life and was retired to a solitary cell for several months. When Victor awakened to reason, he awakened to revenge. Victor had asked for help in finding this monster, but was turned away. He gathered some things and was leaving Geneva. He came upon the grave sites of his family and kissed the ground and vowed to pursue the daemon that caused this misery and fight him till the death. The monster was there and whispered to him I am satisfied: miserable wretch! You have determined to live, and I am satisfied. (141). Victor tried to catch him, but his speed was that of an unnatural being. So Victor searches for him for several months. Victor would go until his huger would overtake him. He became very weak. Victor followed his creation for several weeks. He traded his horse in for a sled and dogs to continue his tract toward the north. Victor at last had Frankenstein in his sites, so he stopped and got some an hour of rest then he continued his search with vengeance. He got closer and closer to the monster. He then lost site of him, waves had broken up the ice of the sea and Victor was left stranded on a piece of ice in the middle of the ocean. Victor spends a few days on this iceberg with no hopes of surviving, two of his dogs died. Then out of no where he sees a ship stuck in the ice and they pull him ashore. The Captain takes him to his cabin to try to nurse him back to health. He was very weak and sick. Victor tells the Captain of his story. Victor asks the Captain to continue his search for the monster and to destroy him if he dies. Victor became weaker and weaker. Victor dies with his task undone. The Captain had retired to his room and then he hears a voice coming from the cabin where Victors body remains. The Captain enters the room to see this wretch of a man. The monster was talking to his creator. The monster said That is also my victim!(153). The monster was saddened by Victors death. He wanted a pardon form his creator, but it was to late. The monster said, Farewell Frankenstein! I shall now die and what I now feel shall be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell! (156) This creature had wanted revenge on Victor. He wanted him to suffer. He wanted him to be in misery. He took all that was good in Victors life. He took his brother, friend and most importantly his wife. Victor was haunted by his own creation. He has now at last destroyed Victor! As I look back on the story, this was nothing like I had expected. I always thought of Frankenstein as just a Monster, which is definitely not the case. I felt this story was more of a love story than anything else. He was an innocent creature. He just wanted to be loved. In the story Mary Shelley makes a few references about God. Shelley refers to the monster as like Adam was to God. Only Adam had a father who loved him. Frankenstein did not. I think her theme is mostly about innocence of this creature and also of the innocence of Victor himself. As he created this creature he was not thinking of this outcome. He thought of a beautiful being. He was merely trying to abolish sickness in the world and come up with a lot more than he expected. Also, Shelly shows how hatred and vengeance can destroy the mind and the body. Shelly shows us that it is great to always want to better ourselves but if it takes your happiness then is it really worth it? In my eyes they both went to extremes to learn about different things; Victor about science and the Monster about life, love, and happiness. A human being should always preserve a calm and peaceful mind; never let passion or desire disturb tranquility. If the studies to which you apply yourself weakens your affections or destroy your simple pleasures then that is not benefiting the human mind. Works Cited Page Bentley, Colene. Family, Humanity, Polity: Theorizing the Basis and Boundaries of Political Community in Frankenstein. Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts, Volume 47.3. Bloom, Harold. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, New Edition, Blooms Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Brackett, Virginia. Frankenstein. Facts On File Companion to the British Novel: Beginnings through the 19th Century, Vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Burt, Daniel S. Frankenstein. The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. DAmmassa, Don. Frankenstein. Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Frankenstein Movie. Hallmark: 2004 Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. WW Norton Company, Inc.: 1996 Sherwin, Paul. Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe. PMLA (1981). Quoted as Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Sublime, Blooms Literary Themes.New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010. Blooms Literary Reference Online. FactsOn File, Inc. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Frankenstein. Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Rhythmic Contractions And Relaxation Of Isolated Gut

Rhythmic Contractions And Relaxation Of Isolated Gut The isolated gut has a spontaneous activity with rhythmic contractions and relaxation of its smooth muscles. Various drugs that affect the smooth muscles by either direct or indirect stimulation were used (Day Vane 1963). These drugs were acetylcholine, atropine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and d-tubocurarine. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter (Martini 2009, p. 304) that is released by a neuron and acts directly on the plasma membrane of another cell, in this case smooth muscles. It affects both the muscarinic and nicotinic receptors located on the smooth muscle membrane (Broadley Kelly 2001). The effects of acetylcholine on the muscarinic receptors can be identified by another drug, atropine (Broadley Kelly 2001). Atropine is an alkaloid found in several plants (Broadley Kelly 2001) and inhibits binding of acetylcholine to post synaptic membrane of smooth muscle cells (Martini 2009, p. 425). Adrenaline and noradrenaline are hormones released from the suprarenal glands and induce relaxation of the smooth muscles by binding to the adrenergic receptors. They are called catecholamines because of their structure (shown in figure 1). D-tubocurarine is an alkaloid drug derived from curare and is a neuromuscular nicotinic receptor antagonist1. It prevents acetylcholine from binding to the postsynaptic membrane of muscle fibres (martini 2009, p. 425). AIM The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of acetylcholine, atropine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and d-tubocurarine on the smooth muscles of the gut. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials Transducer Heater Heat exchanger chart recorder experimental tissue (rat intestine) organ bath with carbogen-bubbled Krebs Henseleit solution at 37ËÅ ¡C drugs used in the experiment were: 1 mg/mL acetylcholine 1 mg/mL atropine 1 g/mL adrenaline 1mg/mL noradrenaline 1 mg/mL d-tubocurarine Methods At the start of the experiment, the transducer was calibrated using weights to allow conversion of the amount of displacement of the intestine into electrical signals which are then recorded. The amount of movement measured corresponds to the type of drug added. The experimental rat tissue that was dissected previously was supported in a 100 mL organ bath containing carbogen-bubbled Krebs Henseleit solution at 37ËÅ ¡C aerated with a mixture of 95% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide. The tissue was anchored to the device that applied force to stretch the muscle until a steady rate of contraction was obtained. The force of contraction was then measured and converted to electrical signals which were recorded by the chart recorder. Some equilibration time was allowed for the preparation to stabilise its activity in the organ bath before starting the experiment. The smooth muscles of the tissue had spontaneous activity before the administration of any drug. The exact concentration and volu me of the drugs administered were then calculated to obtain the right concentration. A volume of 0.1ml of 1mg/mL of acetylcholine was first administered to the muscles and its effects were recorded. The organ bath was drained and refilled so as to resume its baseline activity. Three increments of 0.025 ml of 1mg/mL atropine were added to the organ bath periodically to see its effect on the smooth muscles. Another dose of 0.5 mL of 1mg/mL acetylcholine was added into the organ bath without draining and refilling. The effects were then observed on the chart recorder. The organ bath was drained and refilled again. 0.1mL of 1gm/mL adrenaline was added to the water bath. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.1mL of 1mg/ml noradrenaline was added to the organ bath. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.5mL of 1mg/mL acetylcholine was added and the effects were observed. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.025 mL of 1 mg/mL d-tubocurarine was added to the water bath and the effects were recorded. Lastly without draining the organ bath, two increments of 0.5ml of 1mg/mL of acetylcholine was added at regular intervals and its effect was recorded. RESULTS Calculation of the volume of the drugs used: acetylcholine Original concentration C:Documents and Settings7168241Local SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Word22032011079.jpg Figure 1: Experiment setup Table 1: Effect of the drugs administered on the smooth muscles of the gut Drug administered Effect on smooth muscle observed. Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and amplitude increased Atropine Decrease in contraction rate- muscle relaxes Decrease in amplitude, tone and frequency Adrenaline Large decrease in amplitude Effect was very strong ( alpha and beta receptors on smooth muscles) Noradrenaline Small decrease in amplitude ( it has alpha receptors) Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and amplitude increased D-tubocurarine No effect as the muscle tone remained constant Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and large increase in amplitude when first dose was added and slight decrease in the amplitude when second dose was added DISCUSSION The muscle had spontaneous activity before the addition of the drugs. They were self excitatory and depolarized without the addition of any drugs. WHY As observed in table 1, acetylcholine increased the rate of contraction in the smooth muscles. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter released at the neurojunction of the nerve and the smooth muscles. Contraction of the smooth muscle achieved is due to acetylcholines effect on membrane permeability via the second messengers since it cant enter the cells interior. Acetylcholine binds to the muscarinic receptors and causes GTP binding to the alpha subunit of the G-protein. The GTP-bound alpha subunit activates the production of the second messengers by activating phosphoinosidase C (PIC). PIC hydrolyses phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-biphosphate which then forms inositol 1, 4, 5-triphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG). IP3 and DAG bind to the receptors on the sarcoplasm reticulum and cause the release of calcium ions into the intracellular f luid to initiate contraction of the muscle (Broadley Kelly 2001). Acetylcholine also causes the contraction of the smooth muscles by depolarizing the membrane directly via the nicotinic receptors. As seen in the table 1, adding atropine to the water bath caused decrease in the amplitude of the stimulus. This is due to the fact that atropine is a reversible competitive antagonist for acetylcholine at the muscarinic receptors. It has no effect on its binding on nicotinic receptors (Evers Maze 2004). It prevents acetylcholine that has built up at the neuromuscular junction from binding to the receptors and depolarizing the post synaptic membrane thus preventing the generation of an impulse in the cell. Acetylcholine produces a response when it binds to the receptors whereas atropine binds to the same receptors as acetylcholine without producing a response. It just makes the receptors unavailable for acetylcholine (Abel 1974, p.106). When another dose of acetylcholine was added to the water bath, the amplitude is seen increasing to a lower intensity than before atropine was added and transmission is restored and the muscle begins to contract. This is due to the fact that this new dose of acetylcholine displaces atropine from the receptors since it is a reversible antagonist. When adrenaline was added to the organ bath, the amplitude dropped by a large amount due to its combination with alpha and beta receptors on the smooth muscle. When noradrenaline was administered, the amplitude decreased was a small amount compared to the large drop in adrenaline. This small response obtained due to addition of noradrenaline is due to its sensitivity to alpha receptors only. Combination of noradrenaline with alpha receptors increases the K efflux and influx in depolarized smooth muscle (Bulbring 1970, p.286). This increase in K conductance caused an increase in membrane permeability and inhibited depolarization. Adrenaline caused the relaxation of the smooth muscles coupled with hyperpolarization of the membrane as a result of increase of potassium ions. The action of the sympathetic transmitters; adrenaline and noradrenaline involved direct action via the alpha and bet a receptors (Paton Vizi 1969). Acetylcholine added again resulted in high increase in the amplitude, which decreased gradually. D-tubocurarine added to the organ bath had no effect on the contraction of the muscle as it maintained a constant tone. Lastly the acetylcholine added resulted in an increase in the amplitude. This observation agreed with the expected result. It was expected for the amplitude to be constant since there wasnt any acetylcholine in the organ bath for d-tubocurarine to replace. A spike in the amplitude was observed when acetylcholine was added. Acetylcholine replaced d-tubocurarine from the nicotinic receptors and restores the transmission of the stimulus2. This shows that the neuromuscular transmission block produced by d-tubocurarine is abolished when acetylcholine is added (Bradley 1989, p.47). CONCLUSION It was found that both adrenaline and noradrenaline affect the smooth muscles via alpha and beta receptors and produce a similar effect that is relaxation. Adrenaline is more potent than noradrenaline since it utilizes both alpha and beta receptors while the other one only affects beta receptors. Acetylcholine is an excitatory neurotransmitter that causes contraction of smooth muscles via both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. Atropine is a competitive antagonist of acetylcholine on the muscarinic receptors. D-tubocurarine is a mu

Logical Fallacies Summary and Application Essay -- English Writing Fal

Logical Fallacies Summary and Application What do you see when you look at Begging the Question, Hasty Generalization, and Appealing to Emotion? When you initially look at these three categories they may not seem to have too much in common. However, when you look deeper you will see that in fact, they are all different types of logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are errors of reasoning, errors that may be recognized and corrected by prudent thinkers (Downes, 1995). The following quote helps explain why logic is important to us in today’s society. â€Å"Logic is not everything. But it is something—something which can be taught, something which can be learned, something which can help us in some degree to think more sensibly about the dangerous world in which we live (Fischer, 1970, p. 306).† Begging the Question is a type of fallacy that is used quite a bit. It is considered to be a fallacy of assuming when trying to prove something. One of the main things to remember with the use of this fallacy is that the term â€Å"Begging the Question† has a very specific meaning. This means that if someone was trying to prove something to us but they are not being specific and leave room for there to be more questions asked then there is a good chance this is an example of a begging the question fallacy. According to Whitman, "The fact that we believe pornography should be legal means that it is a valid form of free expression. And since it's free expression, it shouldn't be banned (Whitman, 2001)" is an example of begging the question. When you are confronted with something that could be a question of Begging the Question you need to think it through and see if what you are seeing or hearing is actually true. Or if it is just an interpretation of what the artist, speaker, or author wants you to believe when exposed to the form of media. An example of Begging the Question is an ad where there are a lot of arms with fingers pointing to a bottle of Pepcid Complete and the arms are clothed in what appears to be medical jackets. Under the picture are the words â€Å"Pepcid’s the #1 choice of pharmacists. Get the point?† This ad is implying that we get the point that Pepcid is the #1 choice of pharmacists because there are a bunch of pharmacists pointing at it. However, another bigger question could be are these people really pharmacists or just a bunch of models since a... ...the first line on the form is â€Å"Yes, my heart is broken by the needs of a child.† This ad is implying that if you do not send money to help these children not only will your heart be broken but also these children will die. As you can see logical fallacies are all around us. They are in most advertisements that you pick up, in most debates you hear, in many political arenas. Fallacies are not something that will just go away. However, if you know that they exist perhaps you can be wiser than the advertisers and not fall into their marketing traps. Just think before you act – and that is advice you can always use! References Downes, S. (1995). Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies. Retrieved January 19, 2005, from http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/ Fischer, D. H. (1970). Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought. : Harper & Row. Labossiere, M. C. (1995). Fallacy Tutorial Pro 3.0. Retrieved January 21, 2005, from http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ Whitman, G. (2001). Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html#Committing%20your%20very%20own%20logical%20fallacies

Metaphysical Explanation for the Number Three :: Philosophy

Metaphysical Explanation for the Number Three What is the Number Three? When examining what sort of existence the number three has, it is important first to understand exactly how it exists relevantly in the physical world. First of all, the primary existence of number three is not a tangible existence; one cannot walk through the forest and find threes growing wild with beautiful, silky, burnt orange and maroon spotted petals and green leaves. Second of all, the number three cannot do anything by itself to declare its own existence in the physical. Unlike air, gravity, or time, which are also intangible but still capable of certain physical actions such as wind, combustion (air), gravitational pull (gravity), or orbits (time), the number three does not have the physical properties necessary to be detected by the senses of any terrestrial being by itself. So, exactly how does the number three exist? Well, it has a co-dependent existence; in order for three to exist, it requires something called "units." Three exists as an application of units, and units can be any existing thing with physical properties. The units are what determine the type of existence three has. If the unit is another application such as five, six, or seven, or a variable (a variable occurs when the units’ arrangement or amount varies) such as X or Y, then the existence is not yet detectable; this only creates another type of application or formula that requires units with physical proprieties to be "plugged into it" in order to be detected through the senses in the real world. There are two ways that three can be used as an application to units; it can be used in terms of quantitative measurement or it can be used in terms of sequences. Earlier I mentioned that you cannot walk through the forest and find threes growing wild. However, you can find three tiger lilies growing wild. The tiger lilies are the units and three is the application. This is an example of three applied as a quantitative measurement. In other words, three is the amount of tiger lilies growing. You can tell there are three tiger lilies if you count the first seen as one, the second as two, and then the third as three, and you see no other tiger lilies besides the ones counted.

Shigella flexneri :: Medical Health Biology Essays

Shigella flexneri Shigella flexneri, a facultative anaerobe belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, is a Gram-negative rod that is the causative agent of diarrhea and dysentery in humans. Potentially life-threatening, S. flexneri's effects include bacteremia, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and toxic megacolon (4). The principle disease of diarrhea and dysentery caused by this pathogen is known as shigellosis. 10-100 organisms are sufficient to cause disease, and transmission is generally from person-to-person by way of fecal-oral (2). Shigellosis can be characterized as a disease with over 60% incidence in children ages 1-5 (6). Life cycle: S. flexneri causes infection via bacterial penetration of the mucous membrane in the human colon. Humans are the only known reservoir to this pathogen (7). Following invasion of M cells and upon contact with the epithelial cells of the colon, S. flexneri releases Ipa proteins through a type three secretion system. Once inside the host cell, Ipa proteins activate small GTPases in the Rho family as well as c-src, a protooncogene, leading to cytoskeletal rearrangements. This alteration to the cytoskeleton allows the bacteria to be macropinocytosed by the host cell. Once inside the host, the pathogen colonizes the cytoplasm. IcsA, a bacterial surface protein, activates the host protein N-WASP and, in turn, stimulates actin assembly by host Arp 2/3. Thus, S. flexneri develops actin-based motility enabling the pathogen to become efficient at cell-to-cell spread and host cell cytoplasmic colonization. Infected cells become highly proinflammatory and secrete IL-8. IL-8 attracts n eutrophils to the site of infection. The influx of neutrophils, chemokines and cytokines to the area damages the epithelial layer permeability and, in turn, advocates further S. flexneri invasion (6). Once initial invasion of S. flexneri occurs, the targeted epithelial cells require 45 minutes to 4 hours to mount an inflammatory response (8). A diagram outlining S. flexneri's type three secretion system can be viewed at: http://www.grad.ucl.ac.uk/comp/2003/jointposter/gallery/index.pht?entryID=29 Virulence: A 214-kb virulence plasmid encodes for S. flexneri's entry into human epithelial cells and intra-intercellular movement (6). Once in contact with the target cell, Ipa proteins (IpaB, IpaC and Ipa D) encode for a specific type III secretion system, thus, enabling entry of the pathogen into the target cell and characterizing S. flexneri with an invasive phenotype (1). One 30-kb block of the plasmid contains genes at the ipa/mxi-spa locus.

Achieving Fault-Tolerance in Operating System Essay

Introduction Fault-tolerant computing is the art and science of building computing systems that continue to operate satisfactorily in the presence of faults. A fault-tolerant system may be able to tolerate one or more fault-types including – i) transient, intermittent or permanent hardware faults, ii) software and hardware design errors, iii) operator errors, or iv) externally induced upsets or physical damage. An extensive methodology has been developed in this field over the past thirty years, and a number of fault-tolerant machines have been developed – most dealing with random hardware faults, while a smaller number deal with software, design and operator faults to varying degrees. A large amount of supporting research has been reported. Fault tolerance and dependable systems research covers a wide spectrum of applications ranging across embedded real-time systems, commercial transaction systems, transportation systems, and military/space systems – to name a few. The supporting research includes system architecture, design techniques, coding theory, testing, validation, proof of correctness, modelling, software reliability, operating systems, parallel processing, and real-time processing. These areas often involve widely diverse core expertise ranging from formal logic, mathematics of stochastic modelling, graph theory, hardware design and software engineering. Recent developments include the adaptation of existing fault-tolerance techniques to RAID disks where information is striped across several disks to improve bandwidth and a redundant disk is used to hold encoded information so that data can be reconstructed if a disk fails. Another area is the use of application-based fault-tolerance techniques to detect errors in high performance parallel processors. Fault-tolerance techniques are expected to become increasingly important in deep sub-micron VLSI devices to combat increasing noise problems and improve yield by tolerating defects that are likely to occur on very large, complex chips. Fault-tolerant computing already plays a major role in process control, transportation, electronic commerce, space, communications and many other areas that impact our lives. Many of its next advances will occur when applied to new state-of-the-art systems such as massively parallel scalable computing, promising new unconventional architectures such as processor-in-memory or reconfigurable computing, mobile computing, and the other exciting new things that lie around the corner. Basic Concepts Hardware Fault-Tolerance – The majority of fault-tolerant designs have been directed toward building computers that automatically recover from random faults occurring in hardware components. The techniques employed to do this generally involve partitioning a computing system into modules that act as fault-containment regions. Each module is backed up with protective redundancy so that, if the module fails, others can assume its function. Special mechanisms are added to detect errors and implement recovery. Two general approaches to hardware fault recovery have been used: 1) fault masking, and 2) dynamic recovery. Fault masking is a structural redundancy technique that completely masks faults within a set of redundant modules. A number of identical modules execute the same functions, and their outputs are voted to remove errors created by a faulty module. Triple modular redundancy (TMR) is a commonly used form of fault masking in which the circuitry is triplicated and voted. The voting circuitry can also be triplicated so that individual voter failures can also be corrected by the voting process. A TMR system fails whenever two modules in a redundant triplet create errors so that the vote is no longer valid. Hybrid redundancy is an extension of TMR in which the triplicated modules are backed up with additional spares, which are used to replace faulty modules -allowing more faults to be tolerated. Voted systems require more than three times as much hardware as non-redundant systems, but they have the advantage that computations can continue without interruption when a fault occurs, allowing existing operating systems to be used. Dynamic recovery is required when only one copy of a computation is running at a time (or in some cases two unchecked copies), and it involves automated self-repair. As in fault masking, the computing system is partitioned into modules backed up by spares as protective redundancy. In the case of dynamic recovery however, special mechanisms are required to detect faults in the modules, switch out a faulty module, switch in a spare, and instigate those software actions (rollback, initialization, retry, and restart) necessary to restore and continue the computation. In single computers special hardware is required along with software to do this, while in multicomputers the function is often managed by the other processors. Dynamic recovery is generally more hardware-efficient than voted systems, and it is therefore the approach of choice in resource-constrained (e.g., low-power) systems, and especially in high performance scalable systems in which the amount of hardware resources devoted to active computing must be maximized. Its disadvantage is that computational delays occur during fault recovery, fault coverage is often lower, and specialized operating systems may be required. Software Fault-Tolerance – Efforts to attain software that can tolerate software design faults (programming errors) have made use of static and dynamic redundancy approaches similar to those used for hardware faults. One such approach, N-version programming, uses static redundancy in the form of independently written programs (versions) that perform the same functions, and their outputs are voted at special checkpoints. Here, of course, the data being voted may not be exactly the same, and a criterion must be used to identify and reject faulty versions and to determine a consistent value (through inexact voting) that all good versions can use. An alternative dynamic approach is based on the concept of recovery blocks. Programs are partitioned into blocks and acceptance tests are executed after each block. If an acceptance test fails, a redundant code block is executed. An approach called design diversity combines hardware and software fault-tolerance by implementing a fault-tolerant computer system using different hardware and software in redundant channels. Each channel is designed to provide the same function, and a method is provided to identify if one channel deviates unacceptably from the others. The goal is to tolerate both hardware and software design faults. This is a very expensive technique, but it is used in very critical aircraft control applications. The key technologies that make software fault-tolerant Software involves a system’s conceptual model, which is easier than a physical model to engineer to test for things that violate basic concepts. To the extent that a software system can evaluate its own performance and correctness, it can be made fault-tolerant—or at least error aware; to the extent that a software system can check its responses before activating any physical components, a mechanism for improving error detection, fault tolerance, and safety exists. We can use three key technologies—design diversity, checkpointing, and exception handling—for software fault tolerance, depending on whether the current task should be continued or can be lost while avoiding error propagation (ensuring error containment and thus avoiding total system failure). Tolerating solid software faults for task continuity requires diversity, while checkpointing tolerates soft software faults for task continuity. Exception handling avoids system failure at the expense of current task loss. Runtime failure detection is often accomplished through an acceptance test or comparison of results from a combination of â€Å"different† but functionally equivalent system alternates, components, versions, or variants. However, other techniques— ranging from mathematical consistency checking to error coding to data diversity—are also useful. There are many options for effective system recovery after a problem has been detected. They range from complete rejuvenation (for example, stopping with a full data and software reload and then restarting) to dynamic forward error correction to partial state rollback and restart. The relationship between software fault tolerance and software safety Both require good error detection, but the response to errors is what differentiates the two approaches. Fault tolerance implies that the software system can recover from —or in some way tolerate—the error and continue correct operation. Safety implies that the system either continues correct operation or fails in a safe manner. A safe failure is an inability to tolerate the fault. So, we can have low fault tolerance and high safety by safely shutting down a system in response to every detected error. It is certainly not a simple relationship. Software fault tolerance is related to reliability, and a system can certainly be reliable and unsafe or unreliable and safe as well as the more usual combinations. Safety is intimately associated with the system’s capacity to do harm. Fault tolerance is a very different property. Fault tolerance is—together with fault prevention, fault removal, and fault forecasting— a means for ensuring that the system function is implemented so that the dependability attributes, which include safety and availability, satisfy the users’ expectations and requirements. Safety involves the notion of controlled failures: if the system fails, the failure should have no catastrophic consequence—that is, the system should be fail-safe. Controlling failures always include some forms of fault tolerance—from error detection and halting to complete system recovery after component failure. The system function and environment dictate, through the requirements in terms of service continuity, the extent of fault tolerance required. You can have a safe system that has little fault tolerance in it. When the system specifications properly and adequately define safety, then a well-designed fault-tolerant system will also be safe. However, you can also have a system that is highly fault tolerant but that can fail in an unsafe way. Hence, fault tolerance and safety are not synonymous. Safety is concerned with failures (of any nature) that can harm the user; fault tolerance is primarily concerned with runtime prevention of failures in any shape or form (including prevention of safety critical failures). A fault-tolerant and safe system will minimize overall failures and ensure that when a failure occurs, it is a safe failure. Several standards for safety-critical applications recommend fault tolerance—for hardware as well as for software. For example, the IEC 61508 standard (which is generic and application sector independent) recommends among other techniques: â€Å"failure assertion programming, safety bag technique, diverse programming, backward and forward recovery.† Also, the Defense standard (MOD 00-55), the avionics standard (DO-178B), and the standard for space projects (ECSS-Q-40- A) list design diversity as possible means for improving safety. Usually, the requirement is not so much for fault tolerance (by itself) as it is for high availability, reliability, and safety. Hence, IEEE, FAA, FCC, DOE, and other standards and regulations appropriate for reliable computer-based systems apply. We can achieve high availability, reliability, and safety in different ways. They involve a proper reliable and safe design, proper safeguards, and proper implementation. Fault tolerance is just one of the techniques that assure that a system’s quality of service (in a broader sense) meets user needs (such as high safety). History The SAPO computer built in Prague, Czechoslovakia was probably the first fault-tolerant computer. It was built in 1950–1954 under the supervision of A. Svoboda, using relays and a magnetic drum memory. The processor used triplication and voting (TMR), and the memory implemented error detection with automatic retries when an error was detected. A second machine developed by the same group (EPOS) also contained comprehensive fault-tolerance features. The fault-tolerant features of these machines were motivated by the local unavailability of reliable components and a high probability of reprisals by the ruling authorities should the machine fail. Over the past 30 years, a number of fault-tolerant computers have been developed that fall into three general types: (1) long-life, un-maintainable computers, (2) ultra dependable, real-time computers, and (3) high-availability computers. Long-Life, Unmaintained Computers Applications such as spacecraft require computers to operate for long periods of time without external repair. Typical requirements are a probability of 95% that the computer will operate correctly for 5–10 years. Machines of this type must use hardware in a very efficient fashion, and they are typically constrained to low power, weight, and volume. Therefore, it is not surprising that NASA was an early sponsor of fault-tolerant computing. In the 1960s, the first fault-tolerant machine to be developed and flown was the on-board computer for the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO), which used fault masking at the component (transistor) level. The JPL Self-Testing-and-Repairing (STAR) computer was the next fault-tolerant computer, developed by NASA in the late 1960s for a 10-year mission to the outer planets. The STAR computer, designed under the leadership of A. Avizienis was the first computer to employ dynamic recovery throughout its design. Various modules of the computer were instrumented to detect internal faults and signal fault conditions to a special test and repair processor that effected reconfiguration and recovery. An experimental version of the STAR was implemented in the laboratory and its fault tolerance properties were verified by experimental testing. Perhaps the most successful long-life space application has been the JPL-Voyager computers that have now operated in space for 20 years. This system used dynamic redundancy in which pairs of redundant computers checked each-other by exchanging messages, and if a computer failed, its partner could take over the computations. This type of design has been used on several subsequent spacecraft. Ultra-dependable Real-Time Computers These are computers for which an error or delay can prove to be catastrophic. They are designed for applications such as control of aircraft, mass transportation systems, and nuclear power plants. The applications justify massive investments in redundant hardware, software, and testing. One of the first operational machines of this type was the Saturn V guidance computer, developed in the 1960s. It contained a TMR processor and duplicated memories (each using internal error detection). Processor errors were masked by voting, and a memory error was circumvented by reading from the other memory. The next machine of this type was the Space Shuttle computer. It was a rather ad-hoc design that used four computers that executed the same programs and were voted. A fifth, non-redundant computer was included with different programs in case a software error was encountered. During the 1970s, two influential fault-tolerant machines were developed by NASA for fuel-efficient aircraft that require continuous computer control in flight. They were designed to meet the most stringent reliability requirements of any computer to that time. Both machines employed hybrid redundancy. The first, designated Software Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT), was developed by SRI International. It used off-the-shelf computers and achieved voting and reconfiguration primarily through software. The second machine, the Fault-Tolerant Multiprocessor (FTMP), developed by the C. S. Draper Laboratory, used specialized hardware to effect error and fault recovery. A commercial company, August Systems, was a spin-off from the SIFT program. It has developed a TMR system intended for process control applications. The FTMP has evolved into the Fault-Tolerant Processor (FTP), used by Draper in several applications and the Fault-Tolerant Parallel processor (FTPP) – a parallel processor that allows processes to run in a single machine or in duplex, tripled or quadrupled groups of processors. This highly innovative design is fully Byzantine resilient and allows multiple groups of redundant processors to be interconnected to form scalable systems. The new generation of fly-by-wire aircraft exhibits a very high degree of fault-tolerance in their real-time flight control computers. For example the Airbus Airliners use redundant channels with different processors and diverse software to protect against design errors as well as hardware faults. Other areas where fault-tolerance is being used include control of public transportation systems and the distributed computer systems now being incorporated in automobiles. High-Availability Computers Many applications require very high availability but can tolerate an occasional error or very short delays (on the order of a few seconds), while error recovery is taking place. Hardware designs for these systems are often considerably less expensive than those used for ultra-dependable real-time computers. Computers of this type often use duplex designs. Example applications are telephone switching and transaction processing. The most widely used fault-tolerant computer systems developed during the 1960s were in electronic switching systems (ESS) that are used in telephone switching offices throughout the country. The first of these AT&T machines, No. 1 ESS, had a goal of no more than two hours downtime in 40 years. The computers are duplicated, to detect errors, with some dedicated hardware and extensive software used to identify faults and effect replacement. These machines have since evolved over several generations to No. 5 ESS which uses a distributed system controlled by the 3B20D fault tolerant computer. The largest commercial success in fault-tolerant computing has been in the area of transaction processing for banks, airline reservations, etc. Tandem Computers, Inc. was the first major producer and is the current leader in this market. The design approach is a distributed system using a sophisticated form of duplication. For each running process, there is a backup process running on a different computer. The primary process is responsible for checkpointing its state to duplex disks. If it should fail, the backup process can restart from the last checkpoint. Stratus Computer has become another major producer of fault-tolerant machines for high-availability applications. Their approach uses duplex self-checking computers where each computer of a duplex pair is itself internally duplicated and compared to provide high-coverage concurrent error detection. The duplex pair of self-checking computers is run synchronously so that if one fails, the other can continue the computations without delay. Finally, the venerable IBM mainframe series, which evolved from S360, has always used extensive fault-tolerance techniques of internal checking, instruction retries and automatic switching of redundant units to provide very high availability. The newest CMOS-VLSI version, G4, uses coding on registers and on-chip duplication for error detection and it contains redundant processors, memories, I/O modules and power supplies to recover from hardware faults – providing very high levels of dependability. The server market represents a new and rapidly growing market for fault-tolerant machines driven by the growth of the Internet and local networks and their needs for uninterrupted service. Many major server manufacturers offer systems that contain redundant processors, disks and power supplies, and automatically switch to backups if a failure is detected. Examples are SUN’s ft-SPARC and the HP/Stratus Continuum 400. Other vendors are working on fault-tolerant cluster technology, where other machines in a network can take over the tasks of a failed machine. An example is the Microsoft MSCS technology. Information on fault-tolerant servers can readily be found in the various manufacturers’ web pages. Conclusion Fault-tolerance is achieved by applying a set of analysis and design techniques to create systems with dramatically improved dependability. As new technologies are developed and new applications arise, new fault-tolerance approaches are also needed. In the early days of fault-tolerant computing, it was possible to craft specific hardware and software solutions from the ground up, but now chips contain complex, highly-integrated functions, and hardware and software must be crafted to meet a variety of standards to be economically viable. Thus a great deal of current research focuses on implementing fault tolerance using COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) technology. References Avizienis, A., et al., (Ed.). (1987):Dependable Computing and Fault-Tolerant Systems Vol. 1: The Evolution of Fault-Tolerant Computing, Vienna: Springer-Verlag. (Though somewhat dated, the best historical reference available.) Harper, R., Lala, J. and Deyst, J. (1988): â€Å"Fault-Tolerant Parallel Processor Architectural Overview,† Proc of the 18st International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-18, Tokyo, June 1988. (FTPP) 1990. Computer (Special Issue on Fault-Tolerant Computing) 23, 7 (July). Lala, J., et. al., (1991): The Draper Approach to Ultra Reliable Real-Time Systems, Computer, May 1991. Jewett, D., A (1991): Fault-Tolerant Unix Platform, Proc of the 21st International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-21, Montreal, June 1991 (Tandem Computers) Webber, S, and Jeirne, J.(1991): The Stratus Architecture, Proc of the 21st International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-21, Montreal, June 1991. Briere, D., and Traverse, P. (1993): AIRBUS A320/ A330/A340 Electrical Flight Controls: A Family of Fault-Tolerant Systems, Proc. of the 23rd International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-23, Toulouse, France, IEEE Press, June 1993. Sanders, W., and Obal, W. D. II, (1993): Dependability Evaluation using UltraSAN, Software Demonstration in Proc. of the 23rd International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-23, Toulouse, France, IEEE Press, June 1993. Beounes, C., et. al. (1993): SURF-2: A Program For Dependability Evaluation Of Complex Hardware And Software Systems, Proc. of the 23rd International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-23, Toulouse, France, IEEE Press, June 1993. Blum, A., et. al., Modeling and Analysis of System Dependability Using the System Availability Estimator, Proc of the 24th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing, FTCS-24, Austin TX, June 1994. (SAVE) Lala, J.H. Harper, R.E. (1994): Architectural Principles for Safety-Critical Real-Time Applications, Proc. IEEE, V82 n1, Jan 1994, pp25-40. Jenn, E. , Arlat, J. Rimen, M., Ohlsson, J. and Karlsson, J. (1994): Fault injection into VHDL models:the MEFISTO tool, Proc. Of the 24th Annual International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-24), Austin, Texas, June 1994. Siewiorek, D., ed., (1995): Fault-Tolerant Computing Highlights from 25 Years, Special Volume of the 25th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-25, Pasadena, CA, June 1995. (Papers selected as especially significant in the first 25 years of Fault-Tolerant Computing.) Baker, W.E, Horst, R.W., Sonnier, D.P., and W.J. Watson, (1995): A Flexible ServerNet-Based Fault-Tolerant Architecture, Pr oc of the 25th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-25, Pasadena, CA, June 1995. (Tandem) Timothy, K. Tsai and Ravishankar K. Iyer, (1996): â€Å"An Approach Towards Benchmarking of Fault-Tolerant Commercial Systems,† Proc. 26th Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-26, Sendai, Japan, June 1996. (FTAPE) Kropp Nathan P., Philip J. Koopman, Daniel P. Siewiorek(1998):, Automated Robustness Testing of Off-the-Shelf Software Components, Proc of the 28th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing , FTCS’28, Munich, June, 1998. (Ballista). Spainhower, l., and T.A.Gregg, (1998):G4: A Fault-Tolerant CMOS Mainframe Proc of the 28th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing FTCS-28, Munich, June 1998. (IBM). Kozyrakis, Christoforos E., and David Patterson, A New Direction for Computer Architecture Research, Computer, Vol. 31, No. 11, November 1998.