Data Communications Bluetooth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Communications Bluetooth - Essay Example Therefore, the low transmission rate has always been a serious issue in wireless technologies and especially in case of Bluetooth it has posed serious concerns for communication scientists. However, the advancements in the areas of signal quality and strength, compression algorithms and wireless technologies have resulted in faster communications and popularity of wireless communications generally and Bluetooth technology in particular. Symmetric vs. Asymmetric & Speed There are basically two types of digital communication in Bluetooth technology; asymmetric and symmetric. In asymmetric communication, only one device transmits at a given time, whilst in symmetric communication both Bluetooth devices are transmitting information simultaneously. The technology offers different bit rates for both types of transmission. In asymmetric communication the bit rate is slightly more than 2178.1 kb/s using the Bluetooth standard 2.0, which was introduced in 2004. Symmetric communication reduces this rate to approximately 1306.9 kb/s (Huang & Larry, 2007). However, these transmission rates are not available in practical scenarios where wireless communication is affected by the distance and obstruction between communicating devices, noise in the environment, protocols being used and many other factors. The Bluetooth 2.0 Standard Bluetooth technology has considerably advanced since the introduction of 2.0 standards in 2004. Now, it is a much more reliable and robust wireless technology. â€Å"Bluetooth uses a standard 2.4 GHz frequency so that all Bluetooth-enabled devices will be compatible with each other. The only drawback of Bluetooth is that, because of its high frequency, its range is limited to 30 feet.† (Techterms,... Historically, â€Å"The word "Bluetooth" is taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Bluetooth.† The exploratory work on Bluetooth technology was initiated by mobile phone company Ericsson in 1994. Owing to its ease of use, security, availability and affordability Bluetooth technology has gained rapid fame among hardware manufacturers and the masses. The technology has now become almost a default feature in all hardware devices that supports digital communications, like laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, computer networks, etc. The major benefits offered by Bluetooth technology include: short range radio wave, inexpensiveness, availability, ease of use and configuration, high speed, multiple communication channels and security mechanisms. Sobh observes, â€Å"Bluetooth is a low cost and short range, and low power radio technology.† These benefits make the technology attractive for both personal and commercial uses, like direct and personal marketing and advertising in an area with high footfall or shopping plaza. Amor declares: â€Å"Future aspirations for Bluetooth are unstoppable because of the acceptance it has received from many big companies.† Bluetooth offers easy bridging among multiple hardware technologies and can offer quality solutions for a high-tech, fast moving world.

The Kite Runner Essay on Literary Value Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Essay on Literary Value Essay Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner relies too heavily on coincidence; consequently, surrealism masks the novel. Though the novel portrays the cruelty of the Taliban and poverty in Afghanistan, Hosseini’s reliance on coincidence lessens its literary value as the novel descends into ridiculous and unrealistic plot twists. As critic Edward Hower notes, such plot twists are â€Å"better suited to a folk tale than a modern novel.† Hosseini thickly foreshadows the plot line and in doing so, uses coincidence as a form of simplicity. He thus not only insults the intelligence of the reader, but also lessens the novels literary value by using contrived plot twists. When Amir randomly starts talking to a homeless man in the street of a devastated Kabul, for example, he learns that the homeless man was a former university professor who, coincidentally, taught with Amir’s long deceased mother. Amir learns more about his mother’s characteristics from the homeless man – that she was â€Å"profusely happy† – than he did from Baba, his father. This coincidence consoles Amir during his archetypal night journey through Kabul, and further lessens the novels literary value because it uses a ridiculous incident in an attempt to relieve the reader’s anticipation of absolute chaos and turmoil. Instead, the plot transforms into a surrealistic story in which the reader still anticipates a typical â€Å"night journey.† Hosseini even attempt to excuse his writing flaw through Amir, who explains that while the incident may seem coincidental, such random meetings occur often in Afghanistan. When Amir learns his former childhood nemesis, Assef – now the emblem of Hitler, who ironically was Assef’s childhood role model – keeps Sohrab hostage, the plot line spirals into â€Å"a folk tale.† Reality seems even more surreal. Just as Assef threatens and molests Hassan, he now ironically threats and molests Hassan’s child. When Assef and Amir fight, Sohrab defends Amir by skillfully using his slingshot to injure Assef’s eye; similarly, Hassan uses a slingshot to threaten Assef and protect Amir from Assef. After Amir’s surgery due to injuries from the fight, a scar appears above his lip; this parallels Hassan’s scar after a surgery that fixed his hare-lip. Ultimately, these ironies and coincidences demonstrate little literary mastery. Amir finally redeems himself from betraying Hassan when he selflessly flies a kite for Sohrab. He does so in an attempt to give Sohrab the â€Å"will to live again.† Before he runs a kite for Sohrab he echoes Hassan’s words by saying â€Å"for you, a thousand times over.† This scene ultimately draws too many parallels; the novel ends on a surrealistically happy note which devalues the overall Afghani â€Å"tragedy.† The tragedy ends on a ridiculous note by suggesting Amir redeems himself by acting like, and having the characteristics of, Hassan. The plot twists throughout the novel present more literary flaws than literary value.

Study into Mapping Blind Spots

Study into Mapping Blind Spots Though the blind spot is a part of the retina that is devoid of photoreceptors, therefore relaying no visual information, it does not lead to the experience of a dark hole in our visual field (Sakaguchi, 2001). This is due to the perceptual phenomenon of filling-in, whereby a visual attribute such as colour and brightness is perceived in the blind-spot, even though it only exists in the surround (Komatsu, 2006). A long-standing question has been whether perceptual filling-in ignores this absence of information or actively fills it in (De Weerd, 2006). The symbolic theory proposes that early visual areas only extract information at the surface border with the colour and shape of the surface reconstructed in higher areas (Komatsu, 2006). Conversely, the isomorphic theory assumes that the retinotopic map in the primary visual cortex (V1) receives information from the entire surface with visual features such as colour activated in early visual areas (De Weerd, 2006). Hence Komatsu (2006) proposes an amalgamation of the theories, that neural activity is higher along the edge of the blind-spot with these signals then spreading across a two-dimensional array of visual feature sensitive cells in early visual areas. Hence the mechanisms of filling-in depend upon activity along the physiological edge of the blind-spot as Spillmann, Ottee, Hamburger and Magnussen (2006) found that a ring as thin as 0.5 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ° had been sufficient in inducing colour filling-in. Li et al., (2014) analysed this through 2.5à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ° mono-coloured annuli, finding that it filled in completely, providing evidence for active colour filling-in from a small border. Fahle and Schmid (1987) proposed that the mean distance between photoreceptors is slightly higher for the temporal side compared to the nasal side in the retina with the ganglion cells distributed in a similar asymmetrical fashion. This spatial arrangement of the image as it is processed within the retina is maintained in V1 (De Weerd, 2006). Hence Li et al., (2014) extended the study of homogenous stimuli to bi-coloured rings, revealing the presence of a retinotopic rule in perceptual filling-in that favours the nasal side. Whilst this validates rapid colour filling-in as preattentive, these spatial arrangements may be affected by other preattentive factors which contribute to global processes such as relative salience (Brown Thurmond, 1993). Hence the current study aimed to examine ambiguities in perceptual filling-in when responding to both lower and higher-level processes. More specifically, whether differences in the relative salience of bi-coloured annuli affected the nasal or temporal processing (retinotopic rule) in filling-in blind-spot. As Brown and Thurmond (1993) infer that relative salience contributes to higher processes, exposure to increased saturation may alter the retinotopic rule. Based on these two studies, it was hypothesised that the average choice probability for asymmetrical filling-in would decline as the relative saturation for the nasal side decreases. Reciprocally, it was hypothesised than asymmetrical choice probability would increase as relative saturation for the temporal side decreases. Method Participants Fifteen students from the University of Sydney (4 men, 11 women; M age = 21, SD = 2.03), participated voluntarily. All participants had normal or corrected-to normal vision. With the exception of the three experimenters, participants were naà ¯ve to the experiment. Materials Stimuli: All stimuli was generated using Microsoft PowerPoint Software. Stimuli consisted of bi-coloured (red and green) annuli, with a width of 2.5 ° (derived from Li et al., 2014). For each participant, the diameter of the stimuli was adjusted so that the annuli overlapped with the edge of the blind spot. The two halves of the bi-coloured annuli were juxtaposed symmetrically on the nasal and temporal sides of the blind spot. Each side was counterbalanced across trials wherein half the trials were comprised of nasal-red: temporal-green stimuli and the other half, nasal-green: temporal-red. The saturation was adjusted for one side to 100%, 50% or 25% of the original saturation, while the other half was maintained at 100% saturation (that is, 100:100, 100:50, 100:25, 50:100, 25:100). Controls used reversed stimuli, such that the fixation cross appeared on the right and the stimuli on the left. Thus, 36 randomised trials were conducted, consisting of six controls and three repeats of ten test stimuli (Appendix A1). Choice Panel: This illustrated the spread of the two colours in coloured disks and consisted of ten choices (refer to Appendix A2). Procedure The experiment was conducted over two sessions, one week apart. In the first session, the blind spot of each participant was mapped using Microsoft PowerPoint. Participants were seated in a dark room with a chin rest at a distance of .57m away from an ASUS S400c 14-inch screen. Participants were instructed to fixate on a white fixation cross presented on a black background with their right eye and left eye covered. Using a digital pen tool, a small white test dot was moved across the screen by the experimenter. The positions where the dot disappeared and reappeared were verbally reported by the participant and digitally marked when it was not visible. The process was repeated until the blind-spot had been mapped out adequately. In the second session, participant were asked to report the perceptual filling-in of the blind-spot. The fixation slide (5 sec) and the stimulus slide was presented (3 sec). Participants were then presented with the choice panel and asked to report the choice that best resembled what they observed. At the completion of the study, participants verbally reported their experiences with filling-in (Appendix B). Results Paired sample t-tests were conducted, with participants reporting nasal colour dominance significantly more often than either symmetrical filling-in, t(1,14) = 2.37, p =.03 (nasal red: M = 40.1%) and t(1,14) = 3.09, p M = 51.2%), or temporal colour dominance t(1,14) = 5.79, p M = 60.1%) and t(1,14) = 9.13, p M = 75.6%). A 5 x 2, repeated measure analysis of variance was carried out on colour and relative saturation on average choice probability for nasal dominance filling-in, after which quadratic trend contrasts were conducted. Averaged over relative saturation, choice probability for nasal dominance filling-in was significantly greater when the nasal colour was green than red (mean difference = 21.4%), F(1,14) = 15.30, p F(4, 56) = 3.56, p = .01. Quadratic trend contrasts revealed that this effect increased significantly as the nasal relative saturation increased from 25% to 100%, but decreased as relative saturation decreased from 100 to 25 on the temporal side, F(1,14) = 19.92, p F(1,14) = 0.00, p = .99, nor was there a significant cubic trend, F(1,14) = .37, p = .55. Figure 1. Average choice probability for nasal dominance filling-in as function of type of relative saturation (N = 15). Discussion Participants reported asymmetrical nasal dominance filling-in significantly more than symmetrical or temporally dominant filling-in. This replicated preliminary findings by Li et al., (2014), that filling-in from the nasal side occupied a much larger region than filling-in from the temporal side. A colour effect was revealed with a preference for green over red whilst controlling for salience, which Hamburger, Prior, Sarris and Spillmann, (2005) account for through higher-level processing of colour information. They postulate that typical background colours in natural scenes, i.e. green and blue, fill-in more easily than colours that are attributed to the foreground i.e. red and yellow. Hence in future studies, more colour pairings including blue and yellow should be tested to validate this theory. Yet, this colour effect may also reveal that relative salience was poorly controlled for in this study, as Brown and Thurmond (1993) manipulated saturation, reporting that a more salient colour is favoured when filling-in. This is because the green provided more contrast than the red as Hamburger et al., (2005) suggests that perceptual qualities of surfaces, e.g., saturation, affect other properties such as contrast and luminance. This raises concerns in the current study in the me asure of relative salience, as is it unclear whether changes in saturation alone prompted a global process that overruled the local processes involved in filling-in. Hence, in future studies these visual characteristics need to be carefully controlled for to ensure that it does not have a confounding effect on salience. As predicted, asymmetrical choice probability declined as the relative saturation for the nasal side decreased. This concurs with Li et al., (2014) that the strength of colour filling-in is determined by the retinotopic rule, whereby the direction of filling-in is correlated to greater cortical projection on the nasal side. Furthermore, Fahle and Schmid (1987) contend that the nasal side has a lower contrast sensitivity threshold compared to the temporal side which implies that the receptors on the nasal side were more easily able to detect a change in saturation, which increased the relative salience of the temporal side. This offered access to greater filling-in, which decreased the nasal-preference for asymmetrical filling-in of the disk. This can be extended for future research by also examining the effect of an increase in relative saturation e.g., 150%, 200%, 300% which may have an additive effect by strengthening the retinotopic rule (Brown Thurmond, 1993). However, contrary to the hypothesis that the asymmetrical choice probability would increase as relative saturation for the temporal side decreased, nasal dominant filling-in decreased as saturation decreased on the temporal side. As mentioned, the perceptual qualities of surfaces interact as Komatsu (2006) implies that the brain needs to integrate lower level visual information such as colour and brightness and decode it at the retinotopic map. This signal is then transmitted to higher cortical areas to eventually generate surface perception. Cortical processing in these early visual systems are heavily biased toward the detection of local contrast in luminance, resulting from edges, which is necessary in surface perception (De Weerd, 2006). In the present study when saturation was decreased on the temporal side, it also changed the luminance of the green colour, making it more salient relative to the red, amplifying the edge between the two colours. Hence, considering this local pro cessing preference for variations in luminance, Sakaguchi (2001) contended that the physical edge that exists in the annulus can activate the neurons coding them, as the two colours differ in luminance. This increased the salience of the temporal side, permitting a greater percentage of the temporal side of the disk to fill-in. Another limitation of the present study is that a majority of participants verbally reported seeing a black spot mainly on the temporal side, implying that the annulus did not fill-in completely. Yet as Li et al., (2014) argues that colour perception processes are rapid and preattentive, this incomplete filling-in cannot be attributed to an inadequate fixation time. Rather, this can be explained by other methodological issues as Spillmann et al., (2006) attribute this partial filling-in to improper fixation and involuntary eye movements that displace the annulus relative to the blind-spot. Spillmann et al., (2006) highlight the significance of this partial-filling in effect in validating that filling-in is an active physiological process generated by a narrow edge at the blind-spot. However as this dark shadow was reported mainly on the temporal side it can be explained by the more sparse distribution of receptors on the retinotopic map resulting in weaker temporal processes. As the width of the annuli remained constant, the nasal side filled in better due to a denser distribution of receptors (Li et al., 2014). Hence future studies should consider the relative width of the stimulus to suggest a width for the temporal side of the annulus in order to achieve symmetrical filling-in. In summation, this study presents evidence for active neural processes in retinotopically organized lower order areas, but also a role for higher order cognitive factors such as surface description (De Weerd, 2006). In the future, studies should attempt to map the size of the activated brain area to endorse this retinotopic asymmetry during filling-in and the effects of relative salience on this symmetry (Li et al., 2014).

Techniques and Outcomes of Germ-line Gene Therapy Essay -- Biology Med

The Relative Positives and Negatives Behind the Techniques and Outcomes of Germ-line Gene Therapy Abstract: Ever since the idea of altering the human genome was created through the research of germ-line gene therapy, advocates and protestors entered into contention with one another. Supporters of the new technology argue about the benefits of germ-line therapy. Humans have the right to scientific inquiry, especially if it is beneficial to mankind. However, their counterparts claim that the difficulty and unknown side effects (coupled with a few unsuccessful and fatal trials) will cause damage greater than any potential good. Furthermore, some even argue with the ethical issues resultant of a possible eugenics movement. Despite level of intellect or personal opinion about the issue, the new, viable chance for germ-line genetic therapy has quickly become a major issue of controversy. Since the dawn of time, man has striven to postpone death while increasing his quality of life. In 1991, human medicine opened an entire new horizon when Ashanti DeSilva became the first person in the world to receive gene therapy for her illness (Gene Therapy Turns 10, 2001). Doctors managed to add a critical gene that allowed her to produce the then absent (and essential) adenosine deaminase (ADA) enzyme. However, because only somatic cells are effected, this practice only has partial success, as DeSilva still needs to take weekly injections of the DNA. Thus, the idea of germ-line gene therapy was born. Germ-line therapy, the altering of embryonic and sex cells of the body, allows all of the new cells in the body to contain DNA along with all future offspring produced by that individual. With the notion that germ-line altering could soon become a... ... Human Gene Therapy, (volume 5). 151-152. Kittredge, Clare. (2005). Gene therapy†¦under the microscope again: some investors show new interest in gene therapy, despite the latest scare. The Scientist, (volume 19). Page 14. McLaren, Anne. (1998). Problems of germline therapy. Nature, (volume 392). 645. Wadman, Meredith. (26 March 1998). Germline Gene Therapy ‘must be spared excessive regulation’. Nature. 30 July 2005: http://www.nature.com/cgi- taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v392/n6674/full/392317a0_r.html&filetype=&dynoptions= Willgoos, Christine. (2001). FDA regulation: an answer to the questions of human cloning and germline gene therapy. American Journal of Law & Medicine, (volume 27), page 101. Wivel, Nelson A. et al. (1993). Germ-Line Gene Modification and Disease Prevention: Some Medical and Ethical Perspectives. Sciences, (volume 262). Pages 533-538.

Reading Philosophy Essay

In order for a child to excel in school they need to be well versed in reading therefore; I believe that it is vital for all children to learn to read. Not only should reading be a fun and enjoyable experience but something that influences the child to succeed in all subject areas. Reading is an integral part of life that needs to be mastered. A child can master the basics of reading in the early years and should be learned at that time due to the aggravation and frustration of learning those skills later on, as he/she gets older. Although there are many children and adults alike that hate to read it is our job to spark an interest in these children so they will find reading enjoyable. All of the aspects of reading should be equal and balanced in order for the child to learn. Although I loved reading when I was younger, I still had to ingrain this behavior into my own children so they could see reading could be enjoyable and that it was an everyday part of life. One must be aware of the IRA standards for reading professionals before they can begin to deal with the actually reading components and these standards state that not only are professionals suppose to demonstrate knowledge of the major components of reading (phonemic awareness, word identification and phonics, vocabulary and background knowledge, fluency, comprehension strategies, and motivation) but also how all of these standards are the very core in fluent reading. Wide ranges of curriculum materials are needed for effective reading instruction to address all learners and their abilities, which is also stated in the IRA standards. In addition, the many cultural and linguistic backgrounds should be addressed for successful learning. Children need to know that later in life reading is a big component in trying to apply for jobs, reading road maps, and state road signs among other things. One component that is vital to reading is comprehension because a child needs to be able to comprehend exactly what they are reading to understand what is required of them. â€Å"Put Reading First† says good readers are purposeful and active which relates to this aspect. A great deal of research has shown that instruction in comprehension can help children understand the text being read, remember the text and be able to restate it, and be able to communicate what they have read to their peers. In our changing world today, we find that there are so many ways to teach children to read. The one approach that makes practical sense to me is the balanced approach because it is my belief that a child has to have several ways to learn the reading material being presented. Phonics and phonemic awareness are great ways to help a child to read along with sight words and repetition. â€Å"Put Reading First† states that children who have phonemic awareness skills are more likely to have an easier time learning to read and spell than those who do not possess these skills. Also, phonics instruction is essential when a child is learning to read for the very first time. Again, research shows us that in order for our children to read and benefit from phonics the child must have phonemic awareness. Fluency is another factor that comes into play because when students struggle to read they have trouble comprehending the text. Fluency is accomplished only when a child practices constantly so he/she can become proficient because it does not come automatically to them. Furthermore, we have to understand that vocabulary instruction plays a key role in fluent reading and comprehension. These children need a solid base to be able to understand what they are reading and having the background knowledge of vocabulary instruction helps enhance reading for them. Just some of these practices are shared book experiences, language experiences, read alouds, invented spellings and environmental print that can provide them with a way to enhance his/her reading ability. Interactive theories, transactive theories and subskill theories are theories that can be beneficial in planning reading instruction. Subskill theories are a set of subskills that students must master and integrate. We need to understand that these skills are significant because beginning readers may read slow and choppy and this decreases comprehension. Next, we have interactive theories, which depict reading as a combination of both reader-based and text-based. It is a process that is good because it allows the reader to make predictions about how to process the material through a process called top-down processing. All of these theories allow the reader to process material about the print and access background knowledge through a process called bottom-up processing. Lastly, transactive theories are based on Rosenblatt’s belief that reading is a transaction. I believe all these theories and components for reading provide the basis for reading instruction. In order for a child to be a good reader one should have a very rigorous background of reading instruction and have a good deal of knowledge of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency so they will become better readers.

The Underground Dance Movement essays

The Underground Dance Movement essays In almost every culture throughout history, there has been dance. Prayer dances, celebratory dances, social dances. In many cases, we can see the cultural progression through the progression of dance. In the United States alone, weve seen the transitions from the European-grown ballet to tap, then to modern dance. What is not so well catalogued, however, is the underground progressive dance movement. Starting in the late sixties, the so-called Underground or counter-culture has built its own species of dance. Our subject today is the three most dominant styles of this new wave, popping, or the Electric Boogie, hip hop/break dancing, also known as old school dance, and the trance/house or new school dance. The television show Soul Train was really one of the keys to the spread of these radical new styles. It was especially instrumental in spreading the Electric Boogaloo, or Boogie. The Electric Boogie developed in the mid-sixties by a family of black men living in Fresno, California, through influences like James Brown and strangely enough, TV shows like Lost In Space. It was a mutant child of sorts, of what is called The Robot dance, Popping, and Miming. The Robot is a dance that our generation has grown up recognizing, the angled body parts, sliding feet, and rigid motions all creating the illusion of a human robot. Popping, however is an unfamiliar term to many of you. Popping can be described as energy passed through the body, popping and snapping elbows, wrists, necks, hips and just about all the body joints along the way. The final ingredient to the mix, however, to control and smooth out the stop-and-go of a popping robot, was the influence of mime. The miming is what gives the Electric Boogie its voice, by making it possible to tell stories and create illusions with the body. This new dance was the forerunner to break dancing, and indeed ma ny of the so-called ...