A Day of My Life

It was a fine morning, soothing breezes were moving at a sluggish pace, and clouds filled the sky like slowly dissipating smoke after a huge explosion. I was driving my car at a speed of 40 mph.This beautiful scenario had restricted my adrenaline rush and I didn’t feel like hitting the accelerator. I just wanted to make the most of this beautiful time. I turned the radio on and fortunately a soothing melody hit my ears. All these factors were quite unusual for the place where I lived. Weather here was usually quite hot and irritating.Suddenly I realized I was getting late, I had promised my parents to be at the venue in time. But it seemed like once again I was going to miss the party. This thought brought out all my childhood memories in the foreground, all the time I had spent with my parents, all the love, all the care I had enjoyed.That unconditional love is very rare in this world; I realized this fact when I moved away from my parents. Everyone, at some point or the othe r, has to take some important decisions regarding his life. I did the same. I wanted to be an independent, self-reliant person and for that I had to make the most of any opportunity that knocked my door. Unfortunately the job offer I got was for another city, almost 250 miles away from where I actually lived with my parents. So I had to move away, rather unwillingly.It started drizzling and those droplets like diamonds started to fall on the windscreen. This was quite significantly positive addition to the beauty of the current scenario. This light rain reminded me of all the time I had enjoyed in the rain with my mom and dad. They knew I loved rain so much, it made me so happy.And just for the sake of my happiness, they used to take me out to my favorite places whenever the weather was nice. I still remember the time when I was in school and my mom used to wake me up every morning. Her face was the first thing I used to see every morning, and no doubt, my days went great. My dad us ed to drop me off to school every morning. He never leaved unless I waved my hand from the edge of the main gate of the school.These memories were making me feel good and equally sad. I just couldn’t wait till the moment I saw my parents again. I accelerated the speed a little. I was only 15 miles away from home now. It breathed a new life in me, as soon as I entered the limits of the area. Everything seemed so familiar, so known and strangely fascinating. I could relate to almost everything I saw.These shops, these buildings, these parks, these malls, everything reminded me of the time I had spend here. I suddenly saw a restaurant where I used to eat every Friday with my friends and then at walking distance was the theater where we used to come for movies after dinner at that restaurant. It all reminded me of the time I had spent with my classmates and friends, the parties we used to have, the little fights we had and then the childish patch-ups. It all sounded quite funny n ow.I was driving quite slowly once again. My surroundings fascinated me to the level that is hard to be described in words. The road was quite straight with so much of green on both sides of it; I had a memory of this road. Then I realized that this was where my school had been. It had changed quite so much, it was not that green back then.I saw the building of my school which had not changed at all, the main gate, the parks, the windows; everything had some memories attributed with it. I still remember how much I loved my school, may be because of my classmates. I loved being with my friends. I remember those never ending conversations we used to have, regarding movies, music, TV shows, food, new trends in fashion and so much more. All this was playing like a distant echo in my head.I could now see the block where my house was, my destination. My heart throbbed at the thought of seeing my parents and luckily some of my friends again. What I felt at that moment was a mix of exciteme nt and gloom. Both were for the same reason, I was going to see them after a long time.

Discussion Questions Week One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion Questions Week One - Essay Example the data set, while the alternative hypothesis is a claim of â€Å"difference in the population† (Introduction to Hypothesis Testing n.d.) After this, the test statistic for the data is calculated according to the type of test which is conducted. When the test statistic has been estimated, it is converted into a p-value which is also known as the level of significance. Lastly, the researcher makes a conclusion according to the result of the test. Hypothesis testing is very much important and is now widely utilized in coming up with significant business decisions. It should be noted that this technique can be utilized both for quantitative and qualitative analyses. One of the applicability of hypothesis testing is in predicting whether there would be an increase in the productivity of the workforce with the proposed performance based salary scheme. This is a very important issue which can be resolved using hypothesis testing noting that business organizations are now on the lookout for various techniques in order to motivate employees to excel in their respective posts. Monetary and non-monetary benefits are both used in order to increase employee productivity. Productivity can be measured through the average per hour production of employees which can be indicated by the dollar per hour that they contribute to the organization. A two-tailed hypothesis test can be conducted with the null hypothesis claiming that average produc tivity will not change or will still be equal to the previous average

Diplomatic truth Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Diplomatic truth - Coursework Example job of a diplomat is to deliver a message across without saying it directly; hence, the origin of the term diplomatese or the lingo and jargon of diplomacy. A non-diplomat untrained in an art that hides its message in plain language may have difficulty deciphering its actual message. In todays globalized environment, diplomacy acquires greater significance to impose order and avoid conflicts among various competing national interests along strategic issues like in trade or military considerations or in the scramble for scarce and declining resources. One baffling question is whether there is such a thing as â€Å"diplomatic truth† when the art of diplomacy requires and dictates that diplomats avoid harsh or direct language but still in diplomatic parlance deliver the message as intended that is well understood by the recipients. If we realize that truth can sometimes be a relative concept (true to one person but false to the other person sitting opposite the negotiating table), then diplomatic truth is indeed an idea that can acquire various shades. This can be discerned in the way and what language is used in the art of diplomatic exchanges, ranging from the mild (indirect) to the harsh (direct), in degrees. Diplomacy is like a room full of mirrors; one has to discern correctly what was being said in order to avoid gross misinterpretations and costly mistakes amid all the double talk. In this regard, it can be said that there is really no real diplomatic truth in the literal sense. Truth is a mirage in diplomatic circles and in high places during policy-making discussions. The use of diplomatic truth, if ever it exists, is to refine the language to deliver several meanings but at the same time, perhaps a strong message. It is contained in the old phrase â€Å"suaviter in modo, fortiter in re† or translated roughly as, resolute in execution but gentle in manners. Ambiguity in diplomacy is intentional and forms part of the polite language in the art of

The State and Perspectives of Restaurant Business in London Essay

The State and Perspectives of Restaurant Business in London - Essay Example This shows that the customers are interested in enjoying nice meal even with lower budget (Warle, 2011). The restaurant business has contributed a lot for development of the economy. Every year it is creating a number of employment opportunities for the people of London. In London, traditional British food is more accepted, as it is one of the favourite foods of the citizens. Generally, the menu of the London Restaurant contains traditional British food items. The demand for food quality is increasing because of the changing culture as well as eating habits of the Londoners (Akbar, 2007). Economic Development and London Business Environment The hospitality sector is the fifth major industry which as per the data of the year 2010 provides employment to over 2.4 million populations in the UK. It also contributes more than ?34 billion in gross tax revenue. Creation of jobs are one of the most important aspects for development of the economy, thus it has created employment opportunities for people from Highlands of Scotland to the South West of England along with other main cities such as London or Edinburg (British Hospitality Association, 2010). The hospitality industry is the fifth leading industry in Britain which contributes 8% of total employment. The hospitality industry is leading in creating jobs in comparison to transport, financial services and communication sector. It requires support from the government in area such as taxation, infrastructure and planning of education and health policy to maximise the economic and social contribution. As observed by Oxford Economic study, the hospitality industry has opportunity to... This paper presents modern in-depth analysis of the restaurant industry in London and its role in promoting the economic growth of the UK. London restaurant industry is part of the hospitality industry. Thus, keeping in view the primary function of the hospitality industry which is to establish a new relationship as well as to promote a previously established relationship, this industry plays a significant role in making London one the most preferred destinations for people across the world. The London restaurant business is experiencing a significant amount of growth in recent years. According to the study conducted in March 2011, the hotel and restaurant sector in the UK is growing at the rate of 6.2 per cent. In spite of problems in the economy, companies such as â€Å"First Restaurant Group† in London have been still growing as compared to other companies. This shows that the customers are interested in enjoying nice meal even with lower budget. The restaurants in London are increasing their focus and interest towards the crucial aspect of sustainability. The several popular restaurants in London are purchasing food from the local suppliers. The interest of restaurant business is shifting to organic food. The marketing strategy is required to communicate with the customers. It is not only about entertainment but also involves innovation along with creativity to influence the buying habit of the customers. Advertising approach comes under marketing strategy which is used as a medium to convey message to the target customers

1.How are many-to-many relationships addressed in the relational model Essay

1.How are many-to-many relationships addressed in the relational model Provide a specific example other than the one in your textbook. Illustrate your answer using IE Crows Foot E-R diagrams - Essay Example In a relational model, the many-to-many relationship cannot directly be modeled. Such a relationship has to be converted into multiple one-to-many relationships first. Therefore, a many-to-many relationship is represented in the form of three tables in the model; the two original tables and a junction table. For the country-language example stated above, the relationship is formed as shown in the figure below. The many-to-many relationship between country and language is converted into two one-to-many relationships between the two entities and the the junction table. In the junction table (CountryLanguage), the unique primary key is a composite key (CountryID, LanguageID) which is formed by the two foreign keys which refer to the primary keys of the ‘country’ (CountryID) and ‘language’ (LanguageID)

The Chronicle Gazette Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Chronicle Gazette - Term Paper Example This newspaper agency is going through a tough phase with diminishing revenues. Both advertising and subscription revenues are decreasing. The main cause of this downturn is that readers are now using Internet to receive all the news content for free. This advancement has increased reluctance in people to pay for newspapers now. Global recession has also obligated people to go for internet and free news instead of newspapers. It has distanced the customers from the traditional system of newspapers and also the increase in price of newspapers. The publishing costs have increased and majority of newspapers have increased their prices too. Today, online newspaper websites have gained popularity among different people (The New Times Company, 2010). The main aim of this report is to offer the management of The Chronicle Gazette a strategic vision of where the newspaper publishing industry stands today and where it is headed over the next decade. Also, this report proposes strategies the newspaper can investigate to survive in the new business environment. It also analyzes the details of this company’s present and future performance. It also gives facts on factors which cause the turn down of this industry. The trends in newspaper industry are also analyzed with regard to strategies that leading companies of the industry follow. This report will also give details about the measures that different companies adapt to beat the losses of the industry. It will also offer details about the measures that most companies adapt to eschew the losses encountered. By considering the external and internal factors affecting industry and also the publishers, the report will give measures that The Chronicle Gazette should adapt to increase its revenues and customer base (The New Times Company, 2010). 2. State of the newspaper publishing industry today 2.1. Data on declining circulation and revenues The state of national economy is one of the basic drivers of industry of US newspaper. The economy has a distinct impact on both the circulation and advertising; Most of the costs that companies face are fixed. As a consequence, the profitability is achieved by marketing and sales. The companies need to be innovative and strategic in their market strategy to enhance the circulation and to increase profits. The bigger companies take the advantage of the economies of scale as they used variety of sources in publishing newspapers (Hoover’s Inc., 2010). The past few years have witnessed a decline in newspaper readership. More and more people are now using Internet so that they can view online and read for free. The innovations in Internet have given people the opportunity to log in and receive information twenty four ho urs a day. This news content is also available in genuine time and it is available everywhere all around the world all the time. Most of these news providers don’t even charge a fee. A result of this is numerous readers are not willing to pay for news content now and has an enormous impact on newspapers’ sales (Honnold, 2000). A huge reduction has been seen in the total number of newspaper in circulation in United States over a period of ten years. The number of newspapers circulated in 2000 was 115, 194,000 and now this number has been reduced to 97, 712, 000 in the year 2008. At the same time, the revenues of advertising have gone down during the past few years. The revenues have declined from $48,670 in 2000 to only $24,821 in the year 2009 as reported by Newspaper Association of America. The past decade has shown a constant downturn in profits and revenues for publishers of newspapers. This

History of Italian Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of Italian Painting - Essay Example â€Å"The style of the painting breaks with the academic traditions of the time. He did not try to hide the brush strokes: indeed, the painting looks unfinished in some parts of the scene† (Shronda, Art: story in a medium). The active, live independence spirit in impressionism could be viewed as excellent from popular pieces of work, which could have been rejected in 1863 by the salon and might have been exhibited within the Le Bain title, meaning The Bath at the Salon des Refuses within the same year. In accordance with Antonia Proust, the picture’s notion might be said to have depicted itself to Edouard Manet at the time when piece they had been watching Argenteuil’s bathers. Edouard Manet had been reminded of the concert Champetre of Giorgione, but instead of trying to bring substantial painting back to life, he opted to redo the theme within modern personnel and in a clearer color than the previous. There might have been the technique of Old Master within the formal arrangement element with regards to the characters. Although Manet may be said to have ostensibly opted to set his stage in an open ground, there might be a couple of suggestions and clues of the fresh possibilities’ color and light within this open air painting. We might have had knowledge that the artist of this piece of work might have kept Titian’s Pastoral Symphony in consideration as his primary source to Le Dejeuner Sur l’herbe (Shronda, Art: story in  the medium).... Manet may be said to have followed others’ examples in the formulation of his own pieces, one of the techniques within the Academy of Fine Art. â€Å"A closer likeness of composition has been found in an engraving by Marcantonio of a group of river gods, after a now lost original by Raphael† (Lometa: Le Dejeuner Sur l’herbe). Courbet Gustave, in his time, might have debated that it would be significant for painters to ensure that their pieces maintain a modern trend, reflect the figures of the people of the artists themselves, and reflect their own original images. It might not be extremely farfetched for Manet to make use of this theme: he made paintings of the things, which might have appeared crucial or significant to him. He was featuring most elements that may have been anticipated within a piece extremely relevant to the L’Academie Francoise, e.g. still-life nude figures within a landscape together with, the history painting scale. He may be said to have pushed the traditional envelope although he intended to make his pieces acceptable traditionally. It might seem ironical that the nude works of Bouguereau could have been acceptable, yet Manet’s could have been disputed (Lometa: Le Dejeuner Sur l’herbe). Nothing within the foreground in his figures could be considered heroic. In real life, every figure was based on leaving the identifiable people who characterized his life. The nude, seated figure had been Victiorne Meurand while the gentlemen could be identified as Eugene, (with Cain) his brother together with Ferdinand Leenhof, the sculptor and his brother in-law. These two men dressed in the 1860s’ fashionable Parisian style together with the nude at the fore front may be

Energy what is Next Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Energy what is Next - Essay Example For the longest time, non-renewable energy has been the primary source of energy in the world. Consequently, renewable energy has had little popularity and had been side-lined. The primary attribute of non-renewable energy sources is that their availability is finite. These sources rely on materials exhaustible sources, making it impossible to recreate them within reasonable time duration. Such energy sources include wood, coal, and fossil fuels that when consumed, they cannot be restored, hence Tiwari, et al (2012, p. 7) refer to them as conventional energy sources. Additionally, when non-renewable energy is consumed as fuel in cars or manufacturing plants, emissions pollute the atmosphere through greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. In the world pushing towards reduction of national carbon footprint levels and the insufficient renewable energy resources, there exists a push to find more energy requirement solutions in renewable energy. The simplest definition of renewable energy is energy that satisfies current energy needs without jeopardizing similar needs in the future (Chiras, 2006, p. 22). The implication is that renewable energy presents the aspect of sustainability given that natural mechanisms and movements of the earth are responsible for their quick replenishing. The major sources of renewable energy are the sun, water and wind. In the recent past, wind farms, solar cells, and hydroelectric power have successfully provided electricity for domestic, transportation and industrial use. Unlike non-renewable energy, renewable energy has little impact on domestic and regional ecology thereby considered as clean energy. Clean energy contributes to negligible carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases emissions and guarantee unrestricted time duration. With renewable energy, cost effectiveness arises from the

Upgrade Library System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Upgrade Library System - Essay Example First, the institution’s brand name will improve attracting more students and other interested team of researchers. Second, student’s performance will greatly improve both their psychological attitudes and Morales being improved. This will directly and indirectly enhance their academic performance. The conflicts between students and staff that result of poor quality products and services shall be reduced. The quality of service delivered to students shall increase. For example, by automating all its operations, it will be able to better respond to the needs of students in a faster and more accurate manner. The upgraded library will save time thereby allowing more time for studying. It will also lead to higher productivity and improved attitudes towards learning and studying in the college. The project has numerous benefits both tangible and intangible not only to the sponsors but also to the society at large. I therefore, strongly recommend that the project be undertaken to realize its potential fruits of growth and development in the arena of education and research. The proposal involves the upgrading the library to suit and respond to the ever-increasing needs of students and other interested stakes. Through a brief historical background of Miami-Dade College, the project has highlighted the need for upgrading the library system to address the increasing number of their students and their ever-changing needs. The project aims at improving the service delivery by reducing the workload of librarians, saving time, automation of all the library operations. It will also increase the efficiency and the general outputs of the staff. The project will consist of three members, who have vast expertise and knowledge in the field of technology and administration o key a keen eye of the progress of the project to ensure its success. The research will take a maximum of two weeks considering the urgency and role it is awaiting to play in the institution that is marred with inefficiency and high staff turnover due to using the traditional manual system in its operations. The project aims to

Qualitative Cation Tests Essay Example for Free

Qualitative Cation Tests Essay Lab Report Assistant This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor. Observations Questions A. Write net ionic equations for all reactions that produce a precipitate. Ag+(aq.) + Cl-(aq.) -ïÆ'   AgCl (s) 2 Ag+(aq.)+ 2OH- ïÆ'   Ag2O (s) + H2O(l) 2 Ag+(aq.)+2NH3+ H2O(l) ïÆ'   Ag2O (s)+ 2NH4+ (aq.) Pb2+(aq.)+2Cl- (aq.) -ïÆ'   PbCl2(s) Pb2+(aq.)+2OH-(aq.) -ïÆ'  Pb(OH)2 (s) Pb2+(aq.)+ 2NH3(aq.)+ H2O(l) ïÆ'   Pb(OH)2 (s)+ 2NH4+ (aq.) Cu2+(aq.) +2OH-(aq.) -ïÆ'   Cu(OH)2 (s) 2Cu2+(aq.)+SO42- (aq.) +2NH3(aq.)+2 H2O(l) ïÆ'   Cu(OH)2.CuSO4(s) +2NH4+ (aq.) Zn2+ (aq.)+ 2OH- (aq.) -ïÆ'   Zn(OH)2 (s) Zn2+ (aq.)+2NH3(aq.)+ H2O(l) ïÆ'   Ag2O (s)+ 2NH4+ (aq.) Fe3+ (aq.)+ 3OH- (aq.) -ïÆ'   Fe(OH)3(s) Fe3+ (aq.)+ 3NH3(aq.)+ 3H2O(l) ïÆ'   Fe(OH)3(s)+ 3NH4+ (aq.) Pb2+(aq.)+ CrO42-(aq.) PbCrO4(s) 2Cu2+(aq.)+[Fe(CN)6]4- (aq.) ïÆ'  Cu2[Fe(CN)6] (s) Zn2+(aq.) + S2-(aq) ïÆ'   ZnS(s) 4Fe3+ (aq.)+3[Fe(CN)6]4- (aq.) -ïÆ'  Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3 (s) Ca2+(aq) + ( COO)22-(aq) ïÆ'   Ca(COO)2 (s) B. Identify the cations that precipitate with hydrochloric acid and dissolve in the presence of ammonia. Ag+ C. Identify the cations that precipitate with hydrochloric acid and do not redissolve in the presence of ammonia. Pb2+ D. Identify the cations that precipitate upon addition of two or three drops of sodium hydroxide but redissolve upon addition of excess sodium hydroxide. Pb2+,Zn2+ E. Identify the cations that precipitate upon addition of two or three drops of sodium hydroxide and are not affected by additional sodium hydroxide. Ag+,Cu2+,Fe3+ F.Identify the cations that precipitate upon addition of two or three drops of aqueous ammonia but redissolve upon addition of excess aqueous ammonia. Ag+,Cu2+,Zn2+ G. Identify the cations that precipitate upon addition of two or three drops of aqueous ammonia and are not affected additional aqueous ammonia. Pb2+,Fe3+ H. What simple test would distinguish Ag+ and Cu2+ ? Upon addition of two or three drops of aqueous ammonia, Ag+ produces brown ppt, which is soluble in the excess reagent, resulting in clear, colorless solution. Upon addition of two or three drops of aqueous ammonia, Cu2+ produces blue ppt, which is soluble in the excess reagent but produces dark blue solution.

Flexibility And Stretching | Essay

Flexibility And Stretching | Essay Mans interest in flexibility is by no means a modern development. The importance of flexibility and its practice is evident from Roman times in the training of Gladiators, and in more recent times World War I injuries spurred the study of orthopedics. Specifically, as injured soldiers returned from war many were compromised in basic daily function because of loss of flexibility that occurred from war injuries. It was observed how this limited ones activities and the practice of restoring function began. The interest in flexibility was heightened again in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s when standardized fitness tests were developed and children were performing poorly on flexibility and strength measures. Fast forwarding to today restoration of range of motion is a primary goal of therapists when rehabilitating musculoskeletal injuries and it is often the most limiting factor in recovery from a musculoskeletal injury. Beyond that, we now have science to demonstrate the loss of flexibility and muscle function with age which leads to loss of independence and thus the primary goal of many exercise programs is to maintain muscular strength and flexibility.(Kraus, H., Hirschland, R. P. 1954). But have you ever wondered why some people are more flexible than others? Is it because they stretch more, or is it a genetic trait? You probably know someone who is quite flexible but who rarely stretches. Are females more flexible than males? How do you become more flexible? These are all important questions regarding muscle flexibility. We can accurately answer some of these questions but other answers are less clear. This chapter will provide some insights into the numerous factors that influence flexibility. Flexibility is basically described as the total range of motion (ROM) around a joint (or group of joints such as the spine). Thus the terms flexibility and ROM are often used interchangeably. One problem in the literature is the inconsistent use of terms such as flexibility, stretching, range of motion, and so on. Many other terms are also related to overall flexibility and these terms along with definitions are presented below in Table 8.1. In more scientific term, flexibility is defined as the intrinsic property of body tissues. However, while both intrinsic and extrinsic factors relate to flexibility, the intrinsic component is clearly more important. ROM is highly variable from joint to joint and from person to person. Flexibility as a term is used by many practitioners, including strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, doctors, and chiropractors, etc. For this reason there are often differences in what each practitioner means when they refer to flexibility. Thus, we must consider the setting in which the term flexibility is being used, such as a clinic, running track, or training room. Flexibility is advocated as promoting multiple healthy outcomes. In general, flexibility declines with age and injury. The benefits of stretching include: Decreased risk of low back pain Reduced muscle soreness post exercise Reduced risk of musculoskeletal injury Increased functional range of motion Increased comfort in activities of daily living Improved muscular efficiency Faster recovery from injury Improved postural alignment Improved mobility Improved self perception with movement Adapted from Mc Hugh Gleim (1998) Alkylosis: Pathologically low flexibility (may be whole body or joint specific). Compliance: How easy the muscle lengthens or stretches. Deformation: The ability of the muscle to change shape (stretch) and then return to normal. Elasticity: The ability of a material to resist deformation from force and then return to normal state. Flexibility: The intrinsic property of body tissues that determine ROM without injury. Hypermobility: Excessive joint (or group of joints) ROM. Stiffness: A measure of a materials elasticity, often defined as the ration of force to elongation. Viscoelastic: Complex mechanical behavior of a material because the resistive force in the material is dependant on elongation (elastic) and the rate (viscous) at which the force is applied. Yield Point: the point beyond which deformation becomes permanent (or muscle is torn). Stretch Tip number 1(see illustrations). Your father is interested in improving his range of motion in his shoulders. Can you suggest 3 basic exercises? a. Large arm circles. Stand up tall and swing both arms in large circles forward and backwards for 10 rotations each. b. Full arm wall press: Stand against a wall with your arm straight back and against the wall. Keep your arm against the wall and gently turn your body away from the wall slightly and hold fro 20 seconds. Repeat on each side. c. Lie on your back, put your arms out straight, hands overlapping, and place on the floor behind your head. Hold for 20 seconds (1)Anatomy and Physiology of Stretching Flexibility The anatomy and physiology of stretching involves multiple components: the design of the musculoskeletal system, muscle composition and connective tissue. Additionally, we must consider other co-contracting and synergistic muscle groups, the types of muscle actions and the forces produced. Lets look at the role of these components in stretching. Design of the Musculoskeletal System: The muscles and bones naturally comprise the musculoskeletal system. The muscles are often viewed as cords attached to levers to facilitate movement and posture. The muscles pull on the bones generating tension and consequently movement. Bones are connected to bones via ligaments which are not very flexible. The muscles are attached to the bone via tendons which are more flexible than ligaments, as is the muscle itself. Muscles vary in shape and size depending upon their role. Generally longer muscles are more flexible with a greater range of motion. Muscle Composition: While the body contains several types of muscle, such as skeletal, heart, and digestive, their basic structure is the same. That is, the muscle composition is similar in that they all contain fascicles, fiber, myofibrils, sarcomeres, and contractile proteins. In skeletal muscle, a fibrous connective tissue called the epimysium covers the bodys more than 430 skeletal muscles. Inside the epimysium the muscle fibers are bound in bundles called fascicles which often contain 100-150 fibers. Within fascicles, muscle fibers are separated by the endomysium. Outside of the fascicles lies the perimysium which separates the fascicles wrapped in the epimysium. The muscle fiber itself is made up of proteins called actin and myosin (contractile proteins) and these proteins are arranged longitudinally within the smallest component of the muscle fiber, the sarcomere. It is the sarcomere that actually shortens and lengthens when we perform a contraction. Fascicles: Bundles of muscle fibers. Fiber: Cylindrical cells that sometimes run the length of the muscle. Myofibril: The inside of a muscle fiber that contain the contractile proteins, actin and myosin. Sarcomere: The smallest contractile unit of skeletal muscle. Connective Tissue: A main factor affecting ROM is connective tissue. Connective tissue can be found all around muscles. Connective tissue contains two types of fiber called collagenous connective tissue and elastic connective tissue. Collagenous tissue comprises mainly collagen, which are extracellular, related proteins that provide tensile strength. Elastic tissue comprises mostly elastin, a yellow scleroprotein that provides elasticity. In general, the greater the amount of elastic connective tissue surrounding a joint; the greater the elasticity or ROM will be around that joint. Muscle Groups: The way in which a muscle group interacts with the other co-contracting muscles in its group can also influence ROM. For example, with knee flexion we have hamstring contractions, gastrocnemius lengthening (or shortening), gluteal shortening, and so on. At the same time the quadriceps relax so as not to impede the flexibility. This is referred to as reciprocal inhibition (more about this later). It is also referred to as the agonist/antagonist relationship. Thus the degree of resistance or compliance of an opposing or synergistic muscle can increase or decrease ones ROM. Insert Illustration showing agonist-antagonist relationship Research Box Effects of Stretching on Passive Muscle Tension and Response to Eccentric Exercise. La Roche DA and Connolly DA. 2006 (vol 34, 6, 1000-1007). American Journal of Sports Medicine. The purpose of this study was to assess if 4 weeks of stretching could reduce the risk of muscle injury following eccentric exercise. 29 subjects were assigned to a static stretching, ballistic stretching, or control group. Baseline measurements for dynamic range of motion, stiffness, peak torque, and soreness were recorded. Subjects then performed a stretching program for s total of 3600 seconds over 4 weeks in their assigned group. Baseline tested was then repeated with an eccentric task designed to cause muscle damage added after day 1. Both stretching groups increased their range of motion and stretch tolerance following the 4 weeks of stretching. After eccentric exercise both stretching groups had greater range of motion and less pain than the control group. The authors concluded that 4 weeks of stretching maintains range of motion following eccentric exercise. The Action of Stretching When you stretch your muscle the origin of the stretch is in the sarcomere. As the sarcomere contracts, the area of overlap between thick and thin filaments increases and this facilitates increased forced production. Consequently, as the muscle stretches this area of overlap decreases allowing muscle elongation. This is often referred to as Sarcomeres in series. When the muscle reaches its maximum resting length the stretch tension transfers to the connective tissue. Because connective tissue is less pliable than muscle tissue, the relative stretch is considerably decreased. When we stretch, not all fibers are stretched and the length of the muscle actually depends upon the number of stretched fibers. As we increase the length of the muscle more fibers are stretched. The ultimate length of the stretch is also influenced by other feedback from proprioceptors, the stretch reflex and lengthening reaction. Lets look at what these are! (3)Proprioceptors Anytime we move our limbs around we receive feedback information about the position and length of our muscles and limbs. This information about the musculoskeletal system is relayed back to the central nervous system via proprioceptors. Proprioception is a spatial awareness of ones body movement and position. Proprioceptors are sometimes referred to as mechanoreceptors and they specifically detect changes in position, force and tension of muscles. When we stretch a muscle the proprioceptors provide feedback about the length of the muscle, especially pain and discomfort when the muscle is stretched too far. The primary proprioceptors involved in stretching are called muscle spindles or stretch receptors. Also involved are golgi tendon organs which are found in the tendon at the end of muscle. They provide information specifically on positional changes and pressure or tension. Golgi tendon organs provide information about the change in muscle tension and also the rate of change in tens ion (sometimes called rate of force development). Thus, together they provide feedback about when our muscles are lengthening or are experiencing too much force. (3)Stretch Reflex Naturally, when the muscle lengthens so too do the muscle spindles. The information provided by the spindles triggers what is called the stretch reflex or myotatic reflex. This causes the muscle to try and shorten (it basically resists lengthening). This stretch reflex contains both a static and a dynamic component that relate to the initial increase in length and the duration of the stretch. These are called the lengthening reaction and the reciprocal inhibition. (3)The Lengthening Reaction When we stretch and induce the stretch reflexes causing the muscle to contract, tension is produced at the musculotendonous junction (this is where the GTO is located). As the tension increases it reaches a threshold which causes a lengthening reaction which prevents the muscle from contracting and actually causes them to relax. (This is often referred to as the inverse myotatic reflex or autogenic inhibition.) This action is part of the reason that exercise prescription for stretching advocates holding a stretch for at least 15-20 seconds. (3)Reciprocal Inhibition A final consideration in this section is the action called reciprocal inhibition. In reciprocal inhibition the antagonists are essentially neutralized and prevented from contracting thereby not impeding the stretch of the agonist. Practicing how to voluntarily relax your antagonist can increase your stretch response in the agonists. (1)Types of Stretching Stretching can take many forms, last for various durations, and have both negative and positive effects on athletic performance. Stretching can be performed statically or dynamically. If a stretch is performed dynamically, it directly affects dynamic flexibility. If it is done statically, it will directly affect static flexibility. There is also some crossover effect between the types of stretching. There are numerous ways to stretch. The following is a list of stretching techniques. Static Type Stretching Static stretching basically involves a form of stretching whereby the muscle is lengthened and then held in that lengthened position for a pre-determined period of time. The following are types of dynamic stretching. Static Holding Stretching involves stretching ones own muscle as far as comfortable and then holding the stretch for 10-30 seconds. Passive Stretching involves someone else stretching your muscle and applying the 10-30 second hold. This method usually results in a further stretch than individual static stretching. Sometimes this technique is used without someone else when you use another body part to stretch a particular muscle group. A simple example is stretching your quadriceps by holding onto your foot and pulling up towards your back. Sometimes you will see passive stretching called relaxed stretching or static-passive stretching. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching (PNF) is a popular and effective method of rapidly increasing ROM. PNF combines both static and dynamic components by having isometric agonist contraction, relaxation and contraction again. It normally requires a partner and is sometimes call partner assisted stretching. In basic PNF the individual stretches an agonist muscle as far as possible (a partner can help stretch further.) This initial stretch is held for about 10 seconds and then an antagonist contraction follows for 5-10 seconds. Following this the original agonist is then stretched again and the cycle repeated. This cycle should be repeated about 3-5 times on each muscle, with the muscle being stretched a little farther each time. Isometric stretching is somewhat of a combination of PNF and static stretching. This method requires the muscle to contract at the end of the range of motion and so the muscle being stretched is also the agonist. A common example is a calf stretch where one pushes against the wall creating both force and stretch in the calf at the same time. An additional advantage of isometric stretching is that it can also increase strength. Dynamic Type Stretching Dynamic stretching basically involves a form of stretching whereby the muscle is lengthened and shortened at various speeds without the muscle being held in the lengthened position for any period of time. The following are types of dynamic stretching. Ballistic stretching uses a limbs momentum to push it beyond its normal ROM. Sometimes added weight can be held to increase the stretch. This stretching involves limbs swinging through their ROM back and forth for about 10 repetitions. This stretching has traditionally been viewed as unsafe. However, it is effective if progress is done slowly and few injuries have actually been reported. One concern with this stretch is that the muscles do not have enough time in the lengthened position to adapt to the stretch and may in fact invoke the stretch reflex causing greater tightness. Dynamic stretching is a progressive stretching technique involving slow increases in ROM and speed. In contrast to ballistic stretching, dynamic stretching is more controlled and progressive. Dynamic stretching does not contain bouncing or ballistic movement. Dynamic stretches are commonly used in team sport settings or where speed movements are important. Active stretching is not commonly practiced as it is difficult and uncomfortable to a degree. In this technique a muscle is held only by the antagonist muscle in a certain position at the limit of motion for about 10 seconds. For example, lifting your leg straight up and holding it. Yoga uses many of these types of stretching. Application Question: Can you improve your flexibility if you are fifty or sixty years old? Answer: Even elderly men and women over seventy years old can increase their flexibility (Brown et al. 2000; Lazowski et al. 1999). With strength training the elderly, even in their 90s, can increase their strength and muscle mass although not as fast and as much as young people, but they can (Fiatarone et al. 1990; Lexell et al. 1995), and the responsiveness to strength training determines the effectiveness of isometric stretches (the most intense stretches) as long as the structure of the persons joints is not an obstacle. Exercise Prescription for Stretching The main reason advocated for the development of flexibility and its assessment is the reduction of injury. Interestingly, the literature does not support increased levels of static or dynamic flexibility reducing injury. It actually appears that people at both extremes of static flexibility may be at higher risk for musculoskeletal injuries and we dont have mush information on the relationship between dynamic flexibility and injury. In general, it is agreed that flexibility is healthy and although most experts agree on the benefits of flexibility and stretching, precise guidelines for stretching do not clearly exist. There is wide variation in the type of stretching, duration of stretches and intensity. Many individuals stretch for only a few seconds whereas others may stretch for 50 minutes as in a yoga class. General guidelines by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend three days of stretching per week, holding stretches for 10-30 seconds and 3-5 stretches for ea ch major muscle group. ACSM recommends static stretching for the majority of the population. When is it best to stretch? In general, muscle is more receptive to stretch when it is warmer. Therefore, it makes more sense to stretch your muscles following exercise. We must be careful and distinguish between stretching to improve ROM and warming up for performance. Human muscle stretches better at about 38.5Â ° c. which is higher than normal body temperature. For this reason, post exercise is perhaps the best time to stretch. Factors Influencing Flexibility Many factors contribute to joint flexibility. Sometimes the factors influencing flexibility can be classified as intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors apply to those musculoskeletal factors within the body such as ligaments and tendons, whereas extrinsic factors generally apply to factors such as age, gender, body build and so on. Generally, extrinsic factors are those that we cannot change. Intrinsic Factors for Flexibility While factors such as age and gender clearly play a role, the structure of the joint itself plays a major role in its own flexibility. Joints comprise various types of tissue and bone and these components differ in how they contribute to joint flexibility. Table 2 provides information on the relative contributions of soft tissue to joint ROM. Intrinsic factors specifically relate to the mechanical properties of the musculoskeletal variable. This varies between individuals and is affected by injury, race, muscle types and amount and others. In general, when we practice stretching we are seeking to make change to these intrinsic factors. Extrinsic Factors for Flexibility We can assume the intrinsic factors to be fairly consistent within individuals leaving a lot of room for the many extrinsic factors to influence joint flexibility. However, extrinsic factors usually explain variability between joints within individuals and overall flexibility between individuals and not all of them are changeable. Gender: In general, females are more flexible than males across the lifespan. Several factors contribute to this increased flexibility such as lower muscle mass, different hormone concentration and anatomical variations in joint structure. Age: flexibility tends to decrease with age usually beginning in the teenage years. With increasing age there is a decrease in elasticity of connective tissue surrounding both joints and muscles. For the most part this is attributed to decreased activity levels. Temperature: Muscle and connective tissue are like most other materials, i.e. they are more pliable/flexible at warmer temperatures. Increasing body temperature through an appropriate warm-up increases the flexibility of the muscle and joint. Consequently, a decrease in body or muscle temperature decreases flexibility and may increase the risk of injury. Habitual/Exercise Activity: Individuals normally preserve the required flexibility to perform tasks they perform on a daily or regular basis. Some scientists refer to this as form follows function. Therefore, individuals who exercise regularly and exercise their limbs through a full ROM tend to preserve flexibility better with age. A sedentary lifestyle is associated with decreased flexibility. Injury: Injury is a common cause of loss of flexibility especially in the upper extremities. Joint injuries typically result in the deposition of collagen or scar tissue. Scar tissue in particular restricts the mobility of the joint. Joint injuries also result in inflammation that also restricts mobility. Following injury rehabilitation to specifically restore and increase ROM is extremely important to allow the joint to return to normal function. Joint Structure/Type of Joint: Flexibility is specific to each joint and to the way in which the joint is designed. Ball and socket joints (triaxial) are much more mobile than glinglymus joints (uni-axial). Joints fall into one of four categories based on ROM, no movement (non-axial), uni-axial, bi-axial or triaxial. The structure of the joint is therefore a major determinant in a joint ROM. Muscle Mass/Body Build: The role of muscle mass in flexibility while important is often over-emphasized. In general, well hypertrophied muscles of the upper body, e.g. chest and arms, can restrict movement. However, if muscles are developed through the entire ROM of the muscle, flexibility is often preserved. Male gymnasts are a good example of well hypertrophied muscle and high flexibility. Therefore, while muscle mass can play a role in diminishing flexibility, the negative effects can be minimized by ensuring full ROM during muscle contraction. Pregnancy: Women generally increase their flexibility during pregnancy. The basic reason for this is to prepare for childbirth but also to allow greater ROM in the hip region. Specifically, the pelvic and hip joints increase in flexibility due to increased production levels of the hormone relaxin. This can also help alleviate discomfort with pregnancy associated Lordosis. Relaxin levels decrease following pregnancy. Stretch tip number 2 (see illustrations) Your friend complains of tight calf muscles following running, what can you recommend? Stand with feet together, legs straight, on a step and let the heels hang over the edge. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Repeat several times. Stand with feet together about 3 feet away from a wall. Place your hands on the wall and slowly bring your chest into the wall. Keep both heels on the floor. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Stand with feet together about 3 feet away from the wall. With hands on the wall, bring one leg forward and push with the back leg keeping the heel on the ground. Repeat on each leg. Flexibility and Athletic Performance It is a widely held conception that flexibility improves athletic performance. However, the scientific literature does not consistently support this belief. There is great variation in the amount of flexibility required for successful performance between activities and even within activities, such as team sports, there is wide individual variation. Furthermore, decreased flexibility has been shown to improve running economy and thus decreased flexibility can in some cases improve performance. Some studies have shown that less stiff muscles are more effective in using the stored elastic energy that is developed during a stretch. However, we must be careful about when these stretches are initiated as recent evidence suggests that static stretching prior to activities requiring maximal contraction tends to cause a decrease in performance. Overall, the ability of increased flexibility to improve athletic performance is most likely restricted to those activities that actually require extr eme ranges of flexibility such as gymnastics, figure skating etc. and a universal approach of requiring infinite flexibility in all athletes is not warranted. Research Box Dynamic versus Static Stretching Warm-up: The Effect on Power and Agility Performance. Mc Millian et al. 2006 (vol20, 3, 492-499). Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 30 subjects participated in a study to determine the effects of a dynamic warm-up (DWU), a static stretch warm-up (SWU), or no warm-up (NWU) on a T-shuttle agility test, an underhand medicine ball throw, and a 5-step jump. Testing took place over three consecutive days and the order of all tests and warm-ups was randomized. Each warm-up lasted for 10 minutes. The DWU comprised a series of exercise such as bend and reach, push-ups, squats, and skipping. The SWU comprised of exercises such as the overhead pull, quadriceps stretch, trunk flexion and extension. All stretches were performed once and held for 20-30 seconds. The NWU group did no exercises. Results showed significantly greater performances for all tests following a DWU. The performances did not differ between the SWU and NWU. The authors conclude that the use of SWU should be reassessed when preceding athletic performance. Measurement of Flexibility Several basic flexibility tests exist such as sit and reach for hamstrings and low back and shoulder rotation test for shoulders. Since flexibility varies between joints, comprehensive flexibility assessment would have to assess many joints. This is not really possible and so one typically selects a few major joints and muscles such as low back and hamstrings, calf and Achilles, and shoulders. Simple tests for these assessments as well as more detailed laboratory practices are described at the end of the chapter. Any measurement of flexibility should be based on sound and accepted testing procedures. For the most part static flexibility tests are the most widely used and these are based on linear and angular measurements of the motion of the joint. All flexibility assessments should follow a standardized procedure whereby warm-up, and practice trials are all controlled. Summary After you read this chapter, you should be able to do the following: Define flexibility and other relevant terms related to flexibility Flexibility is basically the range of motion around a joint. It is influenced by many factors. Flexibility is an important for overall health. It is important for basic daily function and comfort. Flexibility varies between joints within individuals and between individuals. List the factors affecting flexibility Factors that influence flexibility are numerous and varied and can be classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic factors include variables such as the tendon and muscle, whereas extrinsic factors include variables such as age, gender and activity levels. Explain the techniques for improving and measuring flexibility. There are many ways to stretch and improve flexibility. The most commonly prescribed method is static stretching for 10-30 seconds per muscle group. Including safe and full ROM exercises into our daily routine is an excellent way to improve and preserve flexibility. Flexibility should be measured at multiple sites and can be assessed using basic goniometry or a more simple test such as a sit and reach teat. Summary Flexibility is an important component in overall health and generally declines with age. There are many benefits including reduced risk of low back pain and increased functional range of motion. Flexibility varies between people and is affected by many variables. These factors are usually classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. When we stretch we are usually trying to change intrinsic factors. Flexibility usually takes two forms, static and dynamic, and we can stretch a muscle using either form. Most exercise prescription for flexibility advocates static stretching and involves holding a stretch for 10-30 seconds per muscle group. When we stretch or measure flexibility, it should be performed at multiple sites as flexibility tends to be site specific. The major joints to consider are the lower back, shoulders, and hamstrings. Chapter Review Flexibility Discussion Questions Identify and describe 5 extrinsic factors that are known to influence flexibility! What are the best approaches to improve flexibility? What are the various musculoskeletal components that provide regulatory feedback to muscle stretch? Can you differentiate between the roles of golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles? Provide a short description for each of the following terms: Sarcomeres in series. Stretch reflex. Lengthening reaction. Proprioceptors. Autogenic inhibition. Reciprocal inhibition.

Smartphone Operating Systems: Evaluation Enhancements

Smartphone Operating Systems: Evaluation Enhancements Muneer Ahmad Dar Javed Parvez Abstract—The increasing number of mobile operating systems that operates the small hand held devices called the Smartphone, has become integral part of our lives. The openness of these new environments has lead to new domain of apps and markets and has enabled greater integration with existing online services like e-banking etc. Smartphone makers are competing in turns to trump each other for storage, processor speed, platform compatibility and camera megapixels but it’s the largely software the mobile OS that makes the biggest difference to the popularity and market share of Smartphone. This paper evaluates the popular Smartphone Operating Systems with the purpose of understanding the user friendliness, popularity, user privacy and security and accessibility with the wide range of apps. Our research focused on the advantages and limitations of the Smartphone operating systems with the intension to find out if one of them has an edge on the other and finally we propos e the enhancements so as to make them more user friendly and secure. Keywords: mobile Operating Systems; Smartphone; Apps; Processor speed; Megapixels; Security; Accessibility. Introduction Smartphone have become indispensible part of our life and everyone who uses it is getting addicted. Smartphone provides a wide variety of apps ranging from social networking to GPS based location searching that are useful for everyone in their day today tasks. In a study of 1,600 people including managers and professionals [1], Leslie Perlow, found that: 70% people said they check their Smartphone within an hour of getting up. 56% check their phone within an hour of going to sleep. 48% check over the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights. 51% check continuously during vacation. 44% said they would experience a great deal of anxiety if they lost their phone and couldnt replace it for a week. With these many professionals becoming dependent on Smartphone, which has necessary components of the computing platform: an operating system, applications and hardware. The main component of a Smartphone on which its functionality depends is the operating system ASmartphone,tablet or any other digitalmobile device is operated by the Operating system called the mobile OS. Modern mobile operating systems includes all the features of apersonal computeroperating system and in addition to that includes the features like atouch screen,cellular,Bluetooth,Wi-Fi,speech recognition,voice recorder, GPS mobile navigation,camera,video camera,music player etc. The Smartphone operating system (OS) development has grown to include competitors such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Symbian, and Palm with each of them trying to make it more user friendly and secure. Although these operating system platforms are trying their best and have come achieved a lot since their inception, none of these Smartphone companies provide a mobile OS that is ideal and satisfies all the users in terms of user friendliness and privacy. They claim that their platforms perform the best in all situations and will certainly not advertise any weakness with their Operating systems. This makes it difficult for end users particularly to a novice user to know which platform is best suited for their need. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive analysis of each mobile operating system in order to identify the strengths of one Operating System over other operating system. Section II gives the overview of various Smartphone operating systems. In section III we identify the limitations of mobile operating systems. In section IV we propose the enhancements which could be implemented in the Smartphone Operating Systems and finally we draw our conclusions in section V. Smartphone Operating Systems ANDROID Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms, commented â€Å"There should be nothing that users can access on their desktop that they can’t access on their cell phone.† [1]. with this vision the popularity of smart phones having Google’s Android Operating System is continuously on the rise in the 21st century. .Android is a comprehensive operating environment based on Linux kernel, it is also a layered system; the architecture of Android system is shown as in picture [3]. Applications layer is the site of all Android applications including an email client, SMS program, maps, browser, contacts, and others. All applications are written using the Java programming language. Application framework layer defined the Android application framework. All Android applications are based on the application framework. The Android application framework including: A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application with beautiful user interface, including lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser. A set of Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such as Contacts), or to share their own data. A Resource Manager that provides access to non code resources such as localized strings, graphics, and layout files A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the status bar. An Activity Manager that manages the lifecycle of applications and provides a common navigation back stack.[1]. Figure 1: Android System Architecture [3] Some of the advantages of Android over other Smartphone operating systems is listed as under. The ability to run tens of thousands of apps just like the iPhone but with choice of phone models that you can choose from. The choice of with or without physical keyboard, shape, color, phone size, screen size, manufacturer, features, and phone carrier. No more monopoly by one company on one carrier. Android allow developers/programmers to develop apps (applications) in what is known as application without borders. Android is beginner friendly and supremely customizable the more you use Googles services, the more Android will shine Android has the majority of the market and the user experience is improving quickly. Google’s Android Now checks your location and calendar to automatically show you relevant info e.g. traffic to work, cafes, and flight details and lets you search with natural voice commands and replies with natural speech. Android is an open source service. This means that it’s free and anyone can use it. Anyone can modify and improve the software making it more effective and personalized. Applications are freely made and designed for Android by numerous app developers all over the world and these apps are offered for free on the Android market place. This feature of open source has also attracted mobile phone producers to manufacture phones using Android OS Android is not just an operating system designed for individuals but it also fulfills your business needs at the same time. Android market place offers numerous apps that are specially designed to manage your business. Now you can have a closer look at your business processes on the go with the help of these apps. IPHONE OS iOS is the mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. It is the second most commonly used operating system behind Google’s Android. Unlike Android it can be installed only on Apple’s hardware. The iPhone OS has seen a rapid rise in popularity and garnered a large and dedicated user base. The iPhone OS has risen so far and so fast primarily due to the innovations on user interface and availability of 3rd party applications [11]. Unlike the Android security architecture, iOS security model provides different philosophy for achieving mobile device security and user’s protection. The iOS application platform empowers developers to create new applications and to contribute to the application store. However, each application submitted by a third party developer is sent to the revision process. During the revision process the application code is analyzed by professional developers who make sure that the application is safe before it is released the application store. However, such an application, when installed, gets all the permissions on a mobile device. Application might access local camera, 3G/4G, Wi-Fi or GPS module without users knowledge. While Android lets each user handle its own security on their own responsibility, the iOS platform makes developers to write safe code using iOS secure APIs and prevents malicious applications from getting into the app store. The iOS security APIs are located in the Core Services layer of the operating system and are based on services in the Core OS (kernel) layer of the operating system [14]. Application that needs to execute a network task, may use secure networking functions through the API called CFNetwork , located in the Core Services layer. The iOS security implementation includes a daemon called the Security Server that implements several security protocols. The Security Server has no API with public access. Instead, applications use the Keychain Services API, the Certificate, Key, and Trust services API, which in turn gets access with the Security Server. SYMBIAN The Symbian OS was designed specifically for mobile devices with its small memory footprint and consumes low power. It is an open OS, enabling third party developers to write and install applications independently from the device manufacturers. An extensive C++ API is provided which allows access to services such as telephony and messaging, in addition to basic OS functionality. The Symbian OS was designed so applications could run for years without losing the user data. Also the OS has the capability of being platform independent and can run on more than one hardware platform [6, 7, 8, 9]. WINDOWS MOBILE This platform is based on Windows CE (WinCE). WinCe is a compact OS specifically designed for pervasive devices. It is focused on providing a consistent interface for applications on various hardware platforms which emphasizes portability by providing the user with the Win32 API. The hardware platforms include Packet PCs, Smartphone, Portable Media Centers, and even onboard computers in automobiles. The Windows Mobile platform was designed for flexibility and with the developer in mind. For that reason it was designed to support lots of preemptive multitasking. It supports a whopping 256 priority levels for threads and up to 32 processes. It supports all of the standard mutual exclusion and synchronization methods you would expect from a desktop PC. This functionality makes it ideal for a Smartphone because the users typically demand multitasking and want to be as productive as possible [4, 7, 8, 9 ]. PALM OS Palm OS is a proprietary operating system originally developed by Palm Inc. In the early versions (preà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Garnet), the Palm OS was primarily utilized in Palmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ developed Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) mobile hardware units. At one point, Palm PDAs with the Palm OS held 85% of the market share in the mobile device market [12]. However, in recent years, Palms market share has been in decline, mostly due to the stagnant nature of the OS development and has yielded the leading position to Symbian [6, 7, 8, 12]. Limitations of Mobile Os As discussed in the previous sections, the mobile operating systems are competing for the major market share and are claiming to be the best for the users, yet they have number of limitations in their platforms which for obvious reasons they are not disclosing to their users. The malicious apps aimed at mobile devices have risen from about 14,000 to 40,000 in less than a year. This rise in the malicious apps requires the strong OS. The limitations of the Mobile operating systems are listed as under: All or No Permission: A user cannot grant single permissions, while rejecting others in order to install the app. Among the list of permissions an app might request a suspicious permission among the other legitimate permissions, will still be able to confirm the installation. Mobile devices may download malware which the mobile OS is not able to trace. The novice users may download apps that contain malware unknowingly because it can be disguised as a well known game, security patch by OS, utility, or other useful application. It is difficult for users to tell the difference between a legitimate app and one containing malware. Often, the users of the app cannot judge the appropriateness and legitimacy of permissions for the app in question. In some cases it may be well understood, for example when a chess game app requests the privilege to reboot the Smartphone or to send SMS messages. In many cases, however, users will simply not be able to understand the appropriateness of the permission. Functionality, which is supposed to be possible only given the appropriate permissions, can still be achieved with less number of permissions or even with none at all. In case of the iOS , the user is not at all informed about any of the permissions. The app can access any of the resources without the permission of the user. Resistance of Android and iOS against various attacks. Proposed OS Enhancements In order to enhance the security of the mobile operating systems we propose the following Enhancements: Need Based Permission System (NBS): The Need-Based Security (NBS) system designed to enhance the privacy of the user at run time. The main advantage of the proposed NBS system is that the user is informed about the authorized and unauthorized access of the resources at run time. The NBS system can be implemented in the operating system to provide the permissions at run time. Currently the Os is either including all the permissions without the information of the user as in case of iOS or it forces the user to accept all the permissions at install time as in case of the worlds popular OS Android. The most important file AndroidManifest.xml which lists the permissions of the app can be modified at run time by providing the need based permission system whenever the app is asking for the permission the user may be informed at that moment. For example, let us examine the Dial Kashmir app available on Google Play which gives all the details of Tourist places in Kashmir and contact details o f important places like universities, government offices etc. The main permission this app may require is the INTERNET. If it includes MANAGE_ACCOUNTS which is the permission that allows the app to retrieve the user account information from the phone, our operating system will get the permission from the user at run time to access the resource and if user allows then only the permission will be granted. The main advantage of our NBS system is that it gives freedom to the users and the programmers to write a code which does not result in usability issues. Need based permission system and getting permission approvals at run time is a relatively new but promising approach as it gives lot of freedom to the novice users. Security API: In order to deal with the malicious apps downloaded by the user, we propose a security API which can be integrated with the existing security framework of mobile operating system. The objective is to provide security against the Apps which are installed by the end user and is given all the permissions at the time of installation. This enhanced security has the desirable property of not disturbing a regular user in any noticeable way. In fact, the user need not even be aware that the Security API has been applied. We have to prevent the modification and access of data from mobile phones by other external malicious applications unknowingly. We propose an API which will enhance the security of existing Android Framework. The first step in our proposed security API is implemented by adapting an encryption technique utilizing Advanced Encryption Algorithm (AES) and applying it to all the personal files in the Smartphone. File operations offered by the proposed Security API should aid in the detection of potentially malicious Apps whose behavior matches that of Malware. Malware recognition is usually achieved by signature matching, heuristic analysis, or comparing hash-values Fig 4: Sequence Diagram of the System Conclusion The increasing trend of Smartphone usage by individuals of all ages has brought forward stiff competition between different Smartphone OS’s and Google’s Android OS. However, recent researches and reports revealed that the novice users are not secure on these platforms because of the limitations of these OS. We found different types of limitations in various mobile Os and particularly in Android and iOS which are the leading mobile Operating Systems. We found that there is a major need of modification in the permission based model of security system and we strongly recommended the implementation of Need based security system in the mobile operating systems so that the novice user can be informed at run time about the access to its various resources. References Perlow, L.A.: Sleeping with your smartphone:how to break the 24-7 habbit and change the way you work, Harvard Business review press, 2012. Kataria, A.; Anjali, T.; Venkat, R., Quantifying smartphone vulnerabilities,Signal Processing and Integrated Networks (SPIN), 2014 International Conference on, vol., no., pp.645,649, 20-21 Feb. 2014doi: 10.1109/SPIN.2014. Bornstein, Dan. 2008. â€Å"Dalvik VM Internals†. http://sites.google.com/site/io/dalvikà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ vmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ internals> Delac, G.; Silic, M.; Krolo, J., Emerging security threats for mobile platforms,MIPRO, 2011 Proceedings of the 34th International Convention, vol., no., pp.1468,1473, 23-27 May 2011 Muneer Ahmad Dar and Javed Parvez.: â€Å"A Novel Strategy to Enhance the Android Security Framework†.International Journal of Computer Applications91(8):37-41, April 2014. Published by Foundation of Computer Science, New York, USA. Cleron, Mike. â€Å"Androidology à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Part 2 of 3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Architecture Overview. 11 November, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6gSd4ugSI> Cleron, Mike. â€Å"Androidology à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Part 3 of 3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Architecture Overview. 11 November, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPukbH6Dà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ lY> . [8] DeviceForge.com. 2006. â€Å"Sun blesses Java phone†. http://www.deviceforge.com/news/NS6109398413.html> (accessed 14 April 2009). Dilger, Daniel E. iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth. 13 March 2008. Roughly Drafted Magazine. http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 20 sdkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ noà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ multitaskingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ myth/> (accessed 8 February 2009). Dilger, Daniel E. â€Å"iPhone OS X Architecture: the Mach Kernel and RAM.† 13 July 2007. Roughly Drafted Magazine. http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/07/13/iphoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ osà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ xà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ architectureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ machà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ kernelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ andram/> Faas, Ryan and David Haskin. â€Å"Review: Which smart phone OS works best?†. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasicarticleId=9117021 [14]. Apple inc., iOS Reference Library, Security Overview, http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Security/Conceptual/Security_Overview/Introduction/Introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30000976-CH201-TPXREF101

My China :: Personal Narrative Essay

My China I had lived in Beijing for a year and a half at the age of four, and had attended Chinese nursery school. I had also grown up speaking Mandarin at home. However, I was not at all prepared for what met me the year we spent in Beijing when my father headed an international program for a small group of American students. At the time, though I spoke Mandarin without a foreign accent, my vocabulary did not extend far beyond a grade-school level, and I was next to illiterate. Well aware of that, my parents, fond followers of the "sink or swim" theory, dropped me off at the local Chinese school the first day of classes and promptly disappeared. In thinking back, I can honestly say that during the first few months I was completely in the dark both socially and academically. There were so many intricacies of the classroom that no one had prepared me for. I was shocked by the power that the Chinese teacher held over the students: the volume with which she scolded them even after they had been reduced to muted sobbing and her unceasing rhetoric about their duties to the ancestral land. I was shocked at the same time, however, by her extreme involvement in and dedication to the lives of the students. The relationships shared among the students were foreign to me as well: I had to get used to girls holding hands with girls and boys likewise with boys. Arguments were settled in the open, often with loud screaming and eventually crying. Nothing was suppressed. I made all sorts of blunders, such as wearing my hair down, crossing my legs when speaking to the principal, or forgetting to stand when answering a question in class. Actually, the students greeted everything I did with laughter, giggling, and stolen glances in my direction. It took me so long to understand and accept the nature of that laughter. Gym class (or rather, military marching drills class) provided me with the ultimate chance to be a blundering fool. Though the students assured me that the teacher was speaking Mandarin, I could hear only a garbled shout of "Fragrance," followed by some vowelless consonants, while the others somehow heard "Face right and march." Of course, my being run into was not beneficial to the appearance of the drill.

why read the books :: essays research papers

It has now become clear that Italo Calvino will prove to be one of this century's major writers. In recent years, his work has been established alongside such pan-European thinkers as Barthes and Eco, particularly in the sense that his interests are polymathic. Calvino is an essayist, a literary theorist, a writer of fiction and, to a large extent, a visionary. Paradoxically, much of the modernity he has explored in his narratives has its roots in the simplicity of folk tales, and his own short fiction has the elemental power of myth and allegory. In these essays, however, we have a kind of summation of all this, albeit in a piecemeal form. By this I mean that within this large collection of literary essays, Italo Calvino mixes critical judgement with literary history, and reflections on the writer's art with sheer readerly enthusiasm. This powerful mix is the result of his assembling a personal 'canon' of texts, and in that sense some of his choices reflect that idiosyncrasy which all readers have: personal passions, a taste in obscure writers; and, a few absolute favourites which have clearly inspired his own creativity. In the dimension of personal taste, the leaders are Dickens in Our Mutual Friend, Stendhal and Dante, but there are many more, and after an initial essay which tries to establish what a classic is, the essays range from classical to modern texts, not always in terms of accepted classical status. Some of the writers discussed may even merit being rediscovered. In fact, Signor Calvino is such a good critic that he sneaks in brief chatty references and even fragments of autobiography before we realise it. The case of Hemingway shows this for instance: 'There was a time for me when - and for many others, those who are more or less my contemporaries - Hemingway was a god.' The essay then proceeds to show Hemingway's appeal as well as his limitations. The book's title is something of a misnomer in this respect, because the question is tackled directly in the first essay. Then a certain enquiry about the nature of a 'classic' is assumed as the author proceeds to explain the gamut of literary achievement in virtually every prominent form. However, the defining essay does lead to the interesting proposition that 'A classic is a work which persists as background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.

Einhard and Charlemagnes Palace School: A Mechanism for Wealth, Prestige, Power and Success :: essays research papers fc

Einhard was a courtier in Charlemagne’s Frankish Kingdom. During Charlemagne’s rule/life (768-824), he dedicated a vast amount of time and energy into supporting the notions of classical learning. He went so far as to start a school comprised of many scholars within his palace. Their role was to educate the nobility, the priesthood and the people, as well as hold counsel with the king. This is where Einhard and Charlemagne first encountered each other. Einhard was a small but intelligent man who came to prominence in the PiousCharlemagne’s and Charlemagne’s son’s kingdom. It is often asked how such a small man came to be the heart of the kingdom, and how the court school and the opportunities it provided influenced his success. During the late 8th and early 9th century, Charlemagne came to power. He expanded the kingdom and conceived many reforms during his reign. Charlemagne ruled the Frankish Kingdom from 768-814. He was one of Pepin the thirds two sons. Charlemagne’s brother, Carolman died in 771, and Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks. Almost as soon as Charlemagne assumed the throne he commenced a series of campaigns. From 772-804 Charlemagne was at war with Saxony, from 773-774 Charlemagne was also at war with the Lombards in Italy. In 778, Charlemagne was invited into Northern Italy to extend Christian influence. In 787 Charlemagne invaded and seized Bavaria. Finally, from 788-797, Charlemagne launched a campaign against the tribal horsemen, the Avars. In 789, Charlemagne issued â€Å"The General Admonition†, the concept of the document was that moral reform requires education. At this time, Charlemagne created the palace school at his court, scholars were brought to this school to reform the Frankish priests and people. Various other reforms took place during this time, such as the new form of writing, Caroli ngian Minuscule, and the writing down of law codes. On December 25, 800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo the third in the St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. Charlemagne died in 814, and was succeeded by his only remaining son, Louis the Pious. Louis the Pious reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 814-840. When he assumed the throne he quickly replaced administers within the palace. Louis the Pious had three sons; Lothar, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German. Near the beginning of his reign, Louis already faced conflict. In 818, Louis quashed a rebellion orchestrated by his cousin, Count Bernard of Aquitaine . Einhard and Charlemagnes Palace School: A Mechanism for Wealth, Prestige, Power and Success :: essays research papers fc Einhard was a courtier in Charlemagne’s Frankish Kingdom. During Charlemagne’s rule/life (768-824), he dedicated a vast amount of time and energy into supporting the notions of classical learning. He went so far as to start a school comprised of many scholars within his palace. Their role was to educate the nobility, the priesthood and the people, as well as hold counsel with the king. This is where Einhard and Charlemagne first encountered each other. Einhard was a small but intelligent man who came to prominence in the PiousCharlemagne’s and Charlemagne’s son’s kingdom. It is often asked how such a small man came to be the heart of the kingdom, and how the court school and the opportunities it provided influenced his success. During the late 8th and early 9th century, Charlemagne came to power. He expanded the kingdom and conceived many reforms during his reign. Charlemagne ruled the Frankish Kingdom from 768-814. He was one of Pepin the thirds two sons. Charlemagne’s brother, Carolman died in 771, and Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks. Almost as soon as Charlemagne assumed the throne he commenced a series of campaigns. From 772-804 Charlemagne was at war with Saxony, from 773-774 Charlemagne was also at war with the Lombards in Italy. In 778, Charlemagne was invited into Northern Italy to extend Christian influence. In 787 Charlemagne invaded and seized Bavaria. Finally, from 788-797, Charlemagne launched a campaign against the tribal horsemen, the Avars. In 789, Charlemagne issued â€Å"The General Admonition†, the concept of the document was that moral reform requires education. At this time, Charlemagne created the palace school at his court, scholars were brought to this school to reform the Frankish priests and people. Various other reforms took place during this time, such as the new form of writing, Caroli ngian Minuscule, and the writing down of law codes. On December 25, 800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo the third in the St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. Charlemagne died in 814, and was succeeded by his only remaining son, Louis the Pious. Louis the Pious reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 814-840. When he assumed the throne he quickly replaced administers within the palace. Louis the Pious had three sons; Lothar, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German. Near the beginning of his reign, Louis already faced conflict. In 818, Louis quashed a rebellion orchestrated by his cousin, Count Bernard of Aquitaine .