Russian literature Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Russian literature - Research Paper Example The history of Russian literature is quite old and the ‘Old Russian Literature’ includes masterpieces produced in old Russian languages. Many anonymous works illuminate the history of the Russian literature during this era and the works like ‘The Tale of Igor’s Campaign’ and ‘Playing of Daniel the Immured’. The popular entity by the name of â€Å"Lives of Saints† evolved as a distinct genre of literature in Russian language during this period. ‘Life of Alexander Nevsky’ stands as an exemplary creation of this era. Old epics blended with the literary elements and traditions of Christian and Pagan elements illuminate the literary pieces of this period. Medieval Russian literature bears religious overtones in excess and the adaptations from Church Slavonic languages with major influences from many South Slavic elements have been widely incorporated in the literature during this period. ... Suicide happens to be an infallible theme of all the major works of the period and needs a wider exposition in this regard. Thesis Statement The essay intends to explore and discuss the major theme of suicide is pertinent in almost all the works of the â€Å"Golden Age† of the Russian literature of the nineteenth century evolving as a distinct cultural dimension dissipating men and women in the society. Golden Age of Russian Literature and the Theme of Suicide Nineteenth century literature in Russia is also known by the name of â€Å"Golden Era† of literature in Russian language. Romanticism inspired poetry and the names of the luminaries like Vasily Zhukovsky and afterwards his protege Alexander Pushkin came into prominence. Pushkin instrumented both crystallization and manifestation of innovative parameters of artistic excellence and artistry in Russian literature. His most popular novel written in verse form is â€Å"Eugene Onegin†. This precise period in Russ ian literature witnessed the evolution of a fresh new set of poetic talents in the works of Mikhail Lermontov,  Yevgeny Baratynsky,  Konstantin Batyushkov,  Nikolay Nekrasov,  Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy,  Fyodor Tyutchev and  Afanasy Fet. All these poets followed the creative style of Pushkin and are known in the history of Russian literature as his ardent followers. In the domain of prose, considerable contribution was notified during this period and keeping parity with the development of poetry, prose was also flourishing its canon well. The great Russian novelist of this period was Nikolai Gogol and following him were the names of the luminaries like Nikolai Leskov, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, who appeared in the monumental history of Russian literature during this era. All

Genetic diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genetic diseases - Essay Example The latter mode of inheritance entails involvement of environmental factors besides multiple genes’ alterations in an individual’s body. For illustration, different genes that cause breast cancer where researchers have unveiled the presence of 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 22 chromosomes besides environmental factors (Doak 10). Other multifactorial inheritance disorders include diabetes, obesity, cancer and arthritis (Doak 29). Single gene inheritance mainly emanates from mutation changes, which take place in the DNA sequence (Doak 10). Presently, there are no effective methods meant for the treatment of many genetic diseases affecting humanity globally, though medical practitioners can advocate for various prevention methods (Doak 29). This is due to their diverse complexities once they reach at an advanced stage. For example, breast cancer and diabetes where after they have reached at advanced stages, medical practitioners normally result to the application of their respective management practices. This is to length the patient’s lifespan, and it entails occasional gene therapies coupled with doctors advising relatives to offer the ailing person both the necessary material and moral assistance (Chantal & Farndon 550). Most of the gene therapies advocated by medical practitioners; their core purpose entails alleviating the patients’ severe pain. This is a short-term resolution meant to give patients the necessary comfort while still

The Middle Ages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Middle Ages - Essay Example The medieval age was characterized by ignorance. During this age, people were not concerned to know the truth about their surroundings. Religion was a central aspect of people’s lives; people obeyed and believed everything that was taught by religion without caring about the come. This is evident from the relationship that existed between the religion and the society. During the medieval period, Christianity was the main religion in Europe. Christianity remained critical to the people and everything reflected the teachings of Christianity. Works of literature written during this era were classified as secular or Christian literature. It is obvious that secular literature was not celebrated as Christian literature was. This is because people did not appreciate change in the society or change from the known to unknown. The ignorance period that characterized the medieval age resulted from people’s lack of appreciation for change. The medieval age was also characterized by major calamities such as Black Death, famine and civil wars. The Black Death is considered as the worst calamity that affected Europe during the middle ages. Although the Black Death affected Europe during the upper middle age, its effects continued to be experienced even in the early modern age. This calamity is believed to have caused the deaths of nearly one third of the European population. The great famine of the middle ages and the civil wars also caused numerous deaths. The conservative nature of the people or their lack of accepting changes was responsible for the calamities that affected people during the middle ages. For instance, the great famine never resulted from bad weather condition, but due to lack of crop rotation and adopting the cultivation of new crop. In addition, the conflicts that led to the civil wars resulted from the need of the people to deviate from the known ways of life or governance. Anyone who tried to introd uce change was considered as the enemy of the people. These facts are well captured in medieval literature. During this time, books or any other literature material reflected what was already known by the society. Introduction of new ideas or knowledge was greatly opposed by the people. This explains why the middle ages experienced minimal advancement in literature. The classification of literature between secular and Christian literature also explains lack of development in middle age literature. The preference of Christian literature among the people of the Middle Ages also indicates that artists had few things to write about. This is because artists could only write finite things about Christianity as compared to the secular literature. People’s lack to appreciate change is the main factor that caused low intellectual developments during the middle ages. Although religious leaders and scholars knew the truth about nature, they kept the knowledge to themselves due to the fe ar of victimization. Most of this knowledge was in the fields of science and astronomy. Although science and astronomy were significant bodies of knowledge during the middle ages, they were dependent on philosophy and religion. This is a contradiction since both science and astronomy depends on facts and logical analysis. For example during the middle ages, the earth was considered flat. However, scholars and some religious leaders knew

Genetic diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genetic diseases - Essay Example The latter mode of inheritance entails involvement of environmental factors besides multiple genes’ alterations in an individual’s body. For illustration, different genes that cause breast cancer where researchers have unveiled the presence of 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 22 chromosomes besides environmental factors (Doak 10). Other multifactorial inheritance disorders include diabetes, obesity, cancer and arthritis (Doak 29). Single gene inheritance mainly emanates from mutation changes, which take place in the DNA sequence (Doak 10). Presently, there are no effective methods meant for the treatment of many genetic diseases affecting humanity globally, though medical practitioners can advocate for various prevention methods (Doak 29). This is due to their diverse complexities once they reach at an advanced stage. For example, breast cancer and diabetes where after they have reached at advanced stages, medical practitioners normally result to the application of their respective management practices. This is to length the patient’s lifespan, and it entails occasional gene therapies coupled with doctors advising relatives to offer the ailing person both the necessary material and moral assistance (Chantal & Farndon 550). Most of the gene therapies advocated by medical practitioners; their core purpose entails alleviating the patients’ severe pain. This is a short-term resolution meant to give patients the necessary comfort while still

Black People and Affirmative Action Essay Example for Free

Black People and Affirmative Action Essay Please be advised that Assignment One on the printed Tutorial Letter 101/3/2013 on pages 12 14 has a number of both typographical and numerical mistakes. This happened as a result of a number of factors: the initial assignment reading was too costly for the Department to commission in terms of copyright and had to be retracted at the last minute. The reading on Affirmative Action: a losing battle? was then included but with an almost impossible deadline, which resulted in the errors reflected therein. This is regrettable and we apologise for any inconvenience this might have cost you. The corrected version of the assignment is on page 3 and is attached to this TL and again on my UNISA for your convenience. The marks are out of 100 marks 50 for Section A and 50 marks for Section B. NB: Please note that the due date has not changed in any way (4 March 2013). 2 ENN103F/102 8. 4. 1. FIRST SEMESTER ASSIGNMENTS The purpose of this assignment is to teach you how to read an article and to critically engage in academic reading and reflecting on the material in an academic manner by answering the short paragraph questions provided as well as an essay. Assignment 01 will be marked fairly fully and sent back to you. Affirmative action: a losing battle? There are considerable reasons to suppose that this topic, which affects all citizens of South Africa, in particular, seems dated. In some instances it is a policy viewed with hostility as it is said to discriminate against sections of the population, yet in others it is seen as beneficial to women, black people and the disabled. Studies show that in many instances this form of historical redress has proven a hindrance to performance and makes the beneficiaries doubt their abilities when viewed by their superiors. This has a negative effect on an organization since the quality of work is seen as being sub-standard. Equally, there are significant indicators, both in industry and the private sector, that the opening up of previously closed avenues through the policy of affirmative action made companies perform better since the beneficiaries of such workplace selection viewed their work as a challenge. Where beneficiaries claim stigmatization by such a selection process, it means they prefer not to have been selected through such efforts. Either way, the battle seems to go on and on. In the light of this ongoing and divisive debate, the level of debate regarding the policy has not progressed further since comparative studies of the policy have not been seriously undertaken. There has been no systematic study of the developments in how the policy actually proves beneficial as a tool of redress. Part of the reason is that, firstly, there is a lack of monitoring of what goes on in organizations, and secondly, that the regulations are not strictly enforced. For instance, companies will usually ‘front’ a black person, a woman or a disabled person, as a chief executive officer and leave the matter of compliance as a secondary issue. Rarely do such companies face serious consequences even if they do business with the government. The question then is whether a time limit should be placed on the policy and Act or whether it should be declared unconstitutional. Consideration has not been taken, for instance, of measures used in other countries to actively promote privilege. Very few advocacy groups ever mention the Naturalization Act of 1790, the Homestead Act of 1862 or even the Federal Housing Administration Loan Program of the 1930s used by the government of the United States of America to promote racial preference; or that such Acts were also used as models for other racially divided societies. Advocacy groups for and against the policy and Act have routinely made it a point that the policy is unsettling, needless and discriminatory, on the one hand, while others argue forcefully that the amelioration of past injustices justifies its implementation. Whichever side is on the ascendancy cannot take the other side’s viewpoint, and in the end the past divisions are set to continue. 3 SECTION A: Short questions Answer the following questions in short paragraphs. Please note that each question will be marked out of 10 marks: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Is the affirmative action policy morally defensible? Explain. In your opinion, which country has successfully implemented the policy of affirmative action and why did it succeed? In your view, why did the South African government choose to implement the Affirmative Action policy and Act, and was it ever justifiable? Does the policy need to be discontinued after a certain length of time, and why? In your opinion, why is it that people from a different racial group are unemployable in certain sectors of the economy and not in others? [10 X 5 = 50] SECTION B: Essay Write an essay of approximately one and a half page on either of the questions below. Please note that each essay will be marked out of 50 marks: 1) Do you think cultivating an equal opportunity society has helped countries such as South Africa and America to move forward? In a carefully worded essay, show why this is the case or why it is not. OR 2) To what extent do you consider such a policy and act relevant to the needs of any society today? [50 marks] Best wishes The ENN103F Team 4.

Biodiversity Impact Of Invasive Plants In Tropical Biodiversity Biology Essay

Biodiversity Impact Of Invasive Plants In Tropical Biodiversity Biology Essay Tropical zone is the biodiversity hot spot (Briggs, 1996) about three-quarters of the worlds species are confined to the tropic of the world (Wilson, 1992). Though tropical forest ecosystems are more resistant to invasion by alien plants than other biome (Edward, 2009), they are exceedingly threatening by invasive species (Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, biotropica, 2010). Invasive species are creating significant challenges to the management and conservation of the indigenous biodiversity. The distribution of invasive plant species occurred at ecosystem level, community level and at the species level (Meyer et al., 2004). At least one exotic species is present in almost all tropical areas (Usher 1991). Invasive plants alter the local environment more favourable to them but less favourable to the native species (Hoffmann et al., 2004) and thus modified local ecosystem. Biological invasion has become a considerable economic, social, and particularly ecological problem of global impact (Cavalcante and Major, 2006). The important ecological impacts identified include reduction in native plant species richness, abundance and alternation in ecological function (Vitousek Walker, 1989; Adair Groves, 1998; Levine et al., 2003; Ogle, Reiners Gerow, 2003; Vila et al., 2006; Hejda, Pysek Jarosik, 2009 cited in Martin and Murray, 2010). Invasive plant species can covert the large area tropical vegetation to an exotic monoculture and greatly reduce the biodiversity, for example, the number of birds, mammals, tree seedlings were greatly reduced in Australia after the invasion of the area by alien plant species (Braithwaite et al. 1989) and Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) forms large, monotyp ic expanses, with Asia reporting over 35 million acres affected (Garrity et al. 1997). Invasive species are posing a serious threat to biodiversity (IUCN, 2000). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) has pointed that the impacts of invasive species on the tropical ecosystems are increasing rapidly. Similarly, recognizing the increasing issue of impact of invasive species, Convention on Biological Diversity, call on contracting parties to prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate invasive species that threaten ecosystems, habitats and species Article 8 (h). This systematic review attempt to summarises, appraise and communicate the results  of the available studies to address the impact of invasive plants on tropical biodiversity. This protocol will provide a priori guide and allow scientific communities to comment on methodology and other relevant issues. Diverse studies are available related to impact of invasive plant species on tropical biodiversity. Some studies suggest that invasion of native vegetation by the non native plants does not always lead to decline in native biodiversity (e.g. Sax Gaines, 2003; Sax, Kinlan Smith, 2005). Biological invasions have been the subject of intensive ecological research during the last two decades (Fine 2001). Comprehensive studied have been done for many tropical forests e.g. the Hawaiian Islands (Fine, 2002) but some authors argues that the biological invasion research has generally ignored tropical forests ( Drake et al. 1989, Groves Burdon 1986, Williamson 1996 cited in Fine, 2002). In such contentious situation, it seems quite reasonable to syntheses these studies to improve the efficiency of the conservation efforts in preserving biodiversity of the tropics and develop a concrete evidence base on the impact of invasive species which will provide unbiased scientific evidence base to help decision-makers to decide and implement necessary policy intervention to stop further invasion of the tropical biodiversity and identify areas where evidence is lacking to direct research and funding on more crucial agendas. Objective of the review Primary question What are the effects of invasive plants on biodiversity of the tropical zone? Table 1: Definition of components of the primary systematic review question Subject Intervention Comparator Outcomes Biodiversity in the tropical zone Invasion by invasive plant species in tropical zone Biodiversity in forest, savannas or grassland before the invasion or any relevant or any relevant Any reported change in tropical biodiversity e.g. Species richness, abundance of native plant species, tree density Methods 3.1. Search Strategy Relevant published and unpublished literature and data will be collated by following strategy. Due to the resource constraints only English language literatures will be taken into consideration. 3.1.1 Scope of search I will use the following database search to retrieve the literatures and data ISI Web of Knowledge Science Direct Wiley InterScience Cambridge Journal Cab Direct CSA Biological Sciences Database (CSA/CIG)   BIOTROPICA In addition to grey literatures are searched in the website of relevant organization as listed in section 3.1.5 which helps to reveal important information about the tropical forestry and invasive species interaction. First searches are conducted on title, keyword and abstract basis and followed by full text searches. Hits are then checked for the relevance. 3.1.2 Search terms Effective and comprehensive list of related key words as described in the table -2 will be used to retrieve the literatures from the database specified above. Table 2: Search terms for review Subject term Intervention term combine with OR AND combine with OR Tropic* biodiversity Species richness Invas* plant non native plant exotic plant alien plant introduced plant Search term combinations Table: 3 Search term combinations and no of hits Key word 1 Key word 2 Total hits (Topic search) Refined hits in Web of science Tropic* biodiversity AND Invas* plant 54 Tropic* biodiversity AND Non native plant 32 Tropic* biodiversity AND exotic plant 74 Tropic* biodiversity AND alien plant 63 Tropic* biodiversity AND non-indigenous plant 07 Tropic* Species richness AND Invas* plant 38 Tropic* Species richness AND Non native plant 30 Tropic* Species richness AND exotic plant 60 Tropic* Species richness AND alien plant 34 Tropic* Species richness AND non-indigenous plant 04 tropical biodiversity AND (exotic plant) OR (invasive plant) OR(non native plant) OR (non indigenous plant) 7,109 425 No of hits and the retrieval of relevant literature varies between the data base searches, in the above table hits obtained by web of science is mentioned as an example. The same search tem combination give quite different hit in another database search, for example, for the first search term [tropic*biodiversity AND invas*plant] Cab direct retrieved 56 articles. In addition to the web of science the search databases mentioned in section 3.1.1 have been used in the preparation of this protocol and will also be used in final systematic review. 3.1.3 Specialist web sources will be conducted www.conservationevidence.com www.conserveOnline.org www.conservationevidence.org www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov 3.1.4. Internet Search The internet will be searched using the search engines. The first 70 hits for each search will be recorded and examined for relevance. www.google.com www.scholar.google.com www.scirus.com www.scientific.thomsonwebplus.com 3.1.5 Specialist agencies and organization data search At global level: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) IUCN/Invasive species specials group CABI- invasive species compendium Convention on biological diversity (CBD) International Weed Science Society (IWSS) UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN) Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) In addition to this regional level agencies and organization in tropical countries will also consulted. Asia: Association of Southeast Asian Nations , Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC) Invasive Alien Flora of India Weed Science Society of Japan Weed Science Society of China Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN) Australia: Invasive Species Council South America: Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network IABN Invasive Information Network 3.2. Study Inclusion criteria The relevant studies (articles, literatures, book sections) to be included in meta-analysis will be based in hierarchical judgment by first scanning the article titles followed by key words, abstracts and full text. The relevancy is determined by criteria as described below. If the data presented in the studies are not clear and needed to take more detailed description original authors and their respective organization will be contracted. Kappa analysis will be carried out for repeatability. Disputes between two reviewers will be solved by third independent reviewer. Geographical location: Study area of the relevant studies should be within the tropics (23.438 °S to 137 23.438 °N). 3.2.1. Relevant subjects: Any studies related to biodiversity changes in the tropical zone because of invasive plant species. 3.2.2. Types of intervention: Invasion of the tropical zone (forest land, agriculture land, grass land or savannas) by invasive plant species 3.2.3. Types of comparators: Any relevant studies and studies comparing the biodiversity of the tropical zone assessing before and after the effect of invasive plant species 3.2.4. Types of outcomes: Any study which shows biodiversity change (indicators like relative species richness or abundance) 3.2.5. Types of studies: Any study which describes qualitatively or quantitatively the effect of invasive plant species in the biodiversity (species richness, abundance) in forest land, grassland. Range land, agriculture land, savannas. Those studies which present comparison of before and after the invasion or the comparison of the proportion of exotic species to native species will be included. Studies can be articles in peer reviewed journals, book chapters or grey literatures 3.3. Potential effect modifier and reasons for heterogeneity Different edaphic, biotic, topographic and climatic condition which governs the vegetation type of the tropics such as soil quality, altitude, aspects, forest types and intensity of human disturbances which may respond to plant invasions in different ways affect the study outcomes. Furthermore, the biological characteristics of the invasive species also affect the study. 3.4. Study quality assessment The searched articles, grey literatures and documents will be assesses according to the previously designed study inclusion criteria. These are then checked independently for validity, reliability and applicability. A Quality assessment checklist is developed as shown below with the consultation of the review team and will be amended after stakeholders feedbacks. Internal and external validity will be checked using a set of criteria. Table 4: Quality assessment checklist for checking validity, reliability and applicability Variables Yes No 1 Target population and intervention defined 2 Sample representative 3 Experimental design/randomization 4 Base line information 5 Valid data collection 6 Description of confounding factors 7 Applicability of the research 8 Any biases Source: Adapted from class notes, 2010 and literature review 3.5. Data extraction strategy Qualitative and quantities information will be extracted from the studies included for the review. Information on invasive species, their effects on tropical biodiversity (species richness, abundance and competition) will be extracted in to a specially designed extraction form as shown in annex-1. Where data are available, data will be extracted as before and after data and other data will be extracted as appropriate. 3.6. Data synthesis and presentation Data synthesis method will be determined by the availability of the data and data type. The studies will be grouped according to the type of information available e.g. review article, original research. If sufficient quantitative information is available meta-analysis will be conducted to know the significance of the effect of invasive plant species to the tropical biodiversity. If in sufficient quantitative information is available qualitative analysis of evidence will be undertaken.

IT and the Business Cycle :: essays research papers

IT and the Business Cycle There is a regular business cycle, which lasts for about 9 years. The cycle is characterised by a period of growth, then strong growth and then recession. Unfortunately, the cycle isn't exact and it isn't dependable, or else you could make money out of it, by gambling on it. Sometimes it lasts 7 years, sometimes 10 or 11. In the later stages of the last business cycle some odd things were happening. Growth in the US economy was much higher than anyone expected and unemployment much lower. Productivity statistics from the US Government suggested that from 1996 productivity was improving at an average 2.2 percent per year, which was a dramatic improvement on the 1 percent average for the previous 25 years. The point at which productivity turned up coincided with the point at which the Internet started to become visible. That may have been a coincidence, but there was another strange quirk in the figures. Investment by US companies since 1990 has been static in every area except in IT, where it rose dramatically by a factor of 14 over the decade. And to cap it all, the bulk of the productivity improvement in the US economy was confined to the IT industry itself. In theory, IT should be counter-cyclical and it usually is. The benefit that IT is supposed to deliver is automation. It either cuts costs and/or improves productivity, accordingly. The figures from the US suggest that it was doing the latter in the glorious 90s and particularly in the later years. In the current part of the business cycle it will be cost cutting that matters. The heady days of optimism are over and the era of cautious IT investment has arrived. So what are the information technologies that will do well in this era? Here's one thought. Consider the anomaly of Moore's Law. This suggests that CPU power will double every 18 months and it has done just that for over 30 years. Actually Moore's law doesn't just apply to CPUs, but also memory, disk, buses and just about every aspect of a computer or network. One would think then, that it would have brought down the cost of computing as a matter of course. However, it didn't have that effect until recently, because most of the accelerated capability was delivered to the PC where its contribution to productivity was minimal.