“I know why the caged bird sings” Essay Example for Free

I know why the hencoopd annulus sings EssayAfter a childhood full of cruelties, disappointments, and being raped at the give of her mothers boyfriend, Maya Angelou survived and became the most important civil, human, and Womens Rights Activist. After her rape she was silent for 5 years, and only through the encouragement of her grandmother did she start to redeem and act. Her writings won her world acclaim and she was nominated for the National Book Award, a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize. She is indisputably one of the most influential women in history. Her poetry I know why the caged birdwatch sings shows her grace and skill as a poet, and a humanitarian.I know why the caged bird sings is a vi stanza poem. The poem has a very traditional structure. The first two stanzas are triplets, followed by a quatrain, then another triplet, and ends with a quatrain. It has a very straightforward except effective rhyme scheme. The triplet stanza has a AAB rhyme, and the quatrain stanzas have a AAAB rhyme. This poem is lyrical and intense. The themes presented in this poem are of a emancipation and die hard over adversity (Arensberg 273). In stanza one Angelou describes how birds in the wild have unbound freedom.She writes leaps on the back of the wind dips his wings in the orange sunrays, (lines 1-3) about(predicate) the free birds activities. Her words affect the senses, and the indorser feels the freedom the birds experience in flight. She brings nature and the outdoor elements to life and the audience is right there at good turn with the birds. Freedom abounds In stark contrast, the next stanza snaps the reader back from their dreamlike state. There are a series of very strong words that make water a feeling of depression, and claustrophobia. Angelou explains the life of a caged bird.narrow cage, bars of rage, and wings clipped. (lines 3-6) These phrases spend a penny a sense of dread and imprisonment. This evokes sympathy for the bird, and though ts about if we were also put behind bars (Arensberg 280). The reader begins to think what is life unfair and, why that bird? and further, why me? But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams, (line 14) the poem continues and yet the bird still sings. Angelou comments The caged bird still sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still (lines 17-18) about the bird who displays the only freedom he has at present, his voice.Pierre Walker, in his 1995 article, comments that the bird still dreams, and he has the ending to overcome and make the best of his situation. There is a single focus for Angelou use of alliteration in this poem. She uses the s sound over and over again his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream (line 15). The s sound creates the feeling of wind, the aphonia of tree leaves, the bird is scared but he sings because he can. He cannot fight his nature. He will find freedom anyway he can, and for that bird it is his singing.The use of the rhyme sche me in the quatrain portion of the poem is AAAB. The inflexibility of the first three lines in stanza 3 thrillhillshrill create the perfect path to the true theme of this poem. When the reader expects another word to rhyme it doesnt, and the quatrain ends with freedom. The same is true for the last stanza, which is a repeat of the first. Liliane Arensberg explains that the rhyme reminds the reader that there is always hope, there is always the will to survive and the promise at the end of the tunnel of light (Arensberg 289) of freedom.I know why the cage bird sings by Maya Angelou is a very popular poem. Many people find inspiration in her words, and find solace in the hope and determination that bird has. If he can sing, so can the reader. If he can survive so can you. We cannot always choose our lot in life, but we can make the best of it. We can reflect, find out talents, and give those to the world. Maya Angelou presents a very important message to the reader in the form of a v ery lyrical almost song like poem by using strong imagery of a bird and its cage, the pursuit of freedom as a theme, a strong rhyme scheme, and alliteration.Angelou skill as an author cannot easily be missed and neither can her message that we must(prenominal) overcome misfortune and strife to become what we were always meant to be.Works Cited Angelou, Maya. The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou. 1st ed. New York Random House, 1994. 101. Arensberg, Liliane K. Death as Metaphor of ego in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. College Language Association Journal 20 (1976) 273-91. Walker, Pierre A. Racial protest, identity, words and form in Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. . College Literature 1 Oct 1995. 23 Nov 2005 http//www. highbeam. com/.

Cell Culture and Protein Detection

Cell Culture and Protein DetectionOverviewThis practical is split into three main break ups, each transgress allows us to develop certain techniques. The maiden part of the practical is focused on the techniques needed to successfully carry away cell cultures. The encourage part is using an analytical technique known as enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay this is used to measure the amount of proteins secreted by the cells that were cultured in part one. Lastly, part three focuses on Hesperian blotting, this is a technique used to measure proteins too but it differs from ELISA in that it measures proteins that be break inside the cell. The implicit in(p) objective of this practical is to look at how Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alters the ripening and the look of the smooth muscle cell -actin (SMA) in vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMC) date also detecting and quantifying cell pointling molecules (JNKs) and cytokine secretion (TNF-) in vascular cells. clas s 1 SubcultureObjectiveThe aim of this part of the practical is to subculture the bovine aortic vascular smooth muscle cells and to count the cells and check for viability by counting the cells in suspension on a haemocytometer using a microscope. The cells are also toughened with a bacterial antigen (LPS) to look at its effect on viability, differentiation state and the activation of intracellular signalling and secretion of proteins. Immunocytochemistry is also carried out in this part of the practical.MethodTrypsin is used to remove the cells from the bottom of the flask. When the cells have dissociated, medium which contains a trypsin inhibitor is added. The medium stops excessive trypsin action from damaging the cells. The cell suspension is first diluted using trypthan blue to allow viable cells which remain white to be distinguished from non- viable cells which are blue. This method allows us to get a total cell count of cells/mL and the percentage of viable cells.Our total cell count was found to be 7.45105 cells/mLThe non-viable cells were found to be 1.5104 cells/mLThis means that the culture contains more 98% viable cells which indicates that it is a healthy culture.3 different 6 well casings were then set up using different densities of seed cells.3105cells/ml seeding constriction was used in one plate. This density was used as a lot of protein needs to be expose for the assessment of JNK and -actin protein cytokine yieldion.1105 cells/ml seeding density was used in a nonher 6 well plate. These plates are used to assess the effect of LPS on growth and viability of the cells. This density is used to give a clear picture of the cells to make counting easier.5103 cells/ml seeding density was used in the last plate. This plate is used for -actin expression by immunocytochemistry. The low density will give us a clearer picture.The three different sets of plates are all treated with varying concentrations of LPS. Each plate has two wells which are used as controls, containing no LPS, two wells containing 1g of LPS and two wells containing 10g of LPS.Immunocytochemistry is carried out on the plate with a seeding density of 5103cells/ml. This technique is used to determine if a particular protein or antigen is present. An unlabelled primary antibody is used to bind to the antigen sought after antigen. The presence of contractile protein -actin undersurface determine the differentiation state of vSMC. Immunocytochemistry is used as a qualitative method of determining the presence of a protein, it is not quantitative.ResultsCalculations for different seeding densitiesInitial concentration = 7.45105 cells/mLFormula = Plate 1, seeding density 1.5105 cells/mlPlate 2, seeding density 0.5105 cells/mlPlate 2, seeding density 2.5103 cells/ml slacken 1 Cell growth for each groupImmunochemistry tops fingerbreadth 1 Cell growth in the control (0g/ml LPS)Figure 1 Cell growth in the control (1g/ml LPS)Figure 3 Cell growth with 10g/ml of L PS word of honorThe first part of this section was to carry out a cell count and determine the viability of the suspension. Our assay had 7.45105 cells/ml and it contained more than 98% viable cells. This meant it was a healthy cell suspension and it was suitable to run tests on for the practical. A seeding density of 1105 cells/ml seeding density was used to assess the effect of LPS on growth and viability of the cells. This density was used to give a clear picture of the cells to make counting easier. The leave behinds of our look into correlated with the majority of the class. However there were some unheralded results in some of the groups but this could be down to plates being labelled in decryly or mistakes while counting when using the haemocytometer. Immunocytochemistry is used to allow us to analyse the results visually. We found that as the amount of LPS increased the number of cells decreased, this is illustrated in figures 1, 2 and 3. LPS is an endotoxin and it inhib its the growth of -actin. LPS also damages the structure of -actin, high levels of LPS stop the correct formation of the filaments and so affects the function of the cell which is to facilitate cell contraction and migration. This result was expected as LPS is a major mediator to septic stripe and is known to directly affect vascular smooth muscle cells.QuestionWhat could you do to improve this experiment?To improve this experiment I would use a wider range of concentrations for LPS. This would give a better understanding of its affects. Repeating the experiment several times and getting an average of your results would also help.Section 2 ELISAObjectiveThe aim of this section of the practical is to use Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to detect production of the cytokine TNF from the cells activated with LPS. Detection is based on a food coloring change. Firstly a standard curve moldiness be generated so that absorbance shelters can be converted into concentrations of TNF-. Once the curve is completed we can determine the unknown concentrations of TNF- in our samples.MethodFirstly the antibody is immobilised onto the surface of the plate. The plate is then washed to remove any excess antibody, antigen is then added and it is allowed to bind to the antibody. A secondary antibody is then added, this antibody is labelled with an enzyme. The enzymes substrate is then added, this causes a colour change. The amount of coloured product formed is determined spectrophotometrically. The amount of coloured product is proportional to the amount of enzyme present and also to the concentration of the antigen.ResultsTable. 2 Absorbance values of samples at 450nm.Figure 4. Plot of standard curve of absorbance versus concentration.DiscussionThe aim of this experiment was to quantify the amount of TNF- present in our samples. To do this a set of known standards were used and their absorbance values read. This data produced a straight line with an R2 value of 0.99 indicating that a straight line was an excellent fit for absorbance versus concentration, and so the equation of the line could be used to determine unknown concentrations of TNF- based on their absorbance values. Our results showed that TNF- was present in its highest concentration of 25.15pg/ml in the sample with the highest concentration of LPS and it was found in its lowest concentration of 9.9 pg/ml in the sample containing no LPS. This result was expected as cytokines much(prenominal) as TNF- are produced in large quantities to respond to endotoxins such as LPS.QuestionWhat could you do to gain more learning from this experiment?To gain more information from this experiment you could test for other cytokines which are also activated by LPS, correlating these results would make your data more meaningful.Section 3 Western BlottingObjectiveThe aim of this section of the practical is to prepare cell lysates from the vascular smooth muscle cells which were activated by LPS previ ously. SDS PAGE and western blotting will then be used to detect the activation of the intracellular protein JNK. Western analysis quantifies the amount of protein present in the cell. To do this cell lysis must be carried out. In this practical we used a method which generates whole cell lysates. To do this lysis buffer is added to the cells followed by sonication.MethodCell lysis is carried out first. The undermentioned step is SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Western blotting involves transferring the protein bands from an acrylamide gel to a more stable and immobilising medium such as nitrocotton paper so that analytical procedures such as detection with antibodies can be carried out. We carried out western blotting using iBlot dry blotting system. After blotting probing is carried out to determine the presence of phosphorylated JNK protein.ResultsFigure 5. Ponceau S StainingFigure 6. -actinFigure 7. pJNKDiscussionTo see if our transfer was a success before probing, the blot was stained with Ponceau S stain. The proteins can be seen as red bands with this stain. The result of this stain can be seen in figure 5. red bands are present which indicates our transfer was a success and that there are proteins present. The western blot analysis showed that -actin was present in all the samples as a strong band around 42kDa was observed which is expected for -actin. The results for pJNK did not go bad out as it was washed incorrectly, because of this no bands were observed, however bands would be expected in the samples containing LPS.Why did you run the sample on the gel before blotting?The sample was run on gel first as proteins are separated by molecular weight. This allows us to distinguish -actin from other proteins. It is then moved to the nitrocellulose paper so that analytical procedures such as detection with antibodies can be carried outWhy measure the phosphorylated form of JNK?The phosphorylated form of JNK is a signal a cell sends out when it is stressed. Therefore pJNK should be present in the samples with LPS. If it is present then it confirms the fact that the cell is stressed as a result of the presence of the endotoxin.

GPU-Accelerated Impact Maximization in Professional Networks

GPU-Accelerated Impact Maximization in Professional NetworksGPU-Accelerated Impact Maximization in Large-Scale Professional NetworksDr. M. Rajasekhara, Babu B. V. ArunragavanAbstractImpact Maximization means to discover the top-K fascinating slew to expand the electrical shock disseminate inside a professional networks, which remains important yet difficult tailor. Turned bug out to be NP-hard, the encounter expansion issue pulls in gigantic studies. In provoke of the fact that there exist fundamental eager calculations which may give great close estimation to ideal result, the ill effects of low computational proficiency and unnecessarily long operation cartridge clip, restricting the application to substantial home informal communities. In this paper, to readyen the impact march on by supplement the par on the wholeel transforming ability of design handling unit (GPU). The enhancement of the current greedy calculations and outline a base up traversal calculation with G PU practice session, which contains constitutional par all(prenominal)elism. To best fit the proposed impact expansion calculation with the GPU construction modeling, we further create a versatile K- encounter aim mix technique to lard the correspondism and plan the impact chart to minimize the emf disparity. We do far reaching explores different avenues regarding both certifiable and professional network follows and show that with IMGPU model.KEY lectureIndex TermsImpact maximization, GPU, large-scale professional networks, IMGPU, bottom-up traversal algorithm.INTRODUCTIONThe organizations, for example, linkedIN, visualCV and meetup play a critical part as productive media for quick airinging data, thoughts, and impact among gigantic population, and such impact has been signifi jackpottly amplified with the quick increment of online clients. The organizations preface extraordinary open doors for expansive scale viral advertising, a showcasing methodology that advances it ems through verbal impacts. While the force of professional systems has been investigated more to amplify the profit of viral showcasing, it gets to be crucial to understand how we chamberpot amplify the impact over the interpersonal organization.This issue, alluded to as impact amplification, is to choose inside a given interpersonal organization a little snip of oblige people as beginning clients such that the normal number of affected clients, called impact spread, is expanded. The impact amplification issue is intriguing yet testing. Tis is turned out to be NP-hard and proposed a fundamental eager calculation that gives great rough guess to the ideal result. On the other hand, their methodology is genuinely restricted in productivity since it needs to run Monte-Carlo reproduction for extensively long time period to ensure a precise gauge.Despite the fact that various innovative deliberations have been made to enhance the proficiency, condition of-the-craftsmanship methodolog ies still experience the ill effects of unreasonably long execution time because of the high-computational intricacy for large scale informal communities. Then again, representation preparing unit (GPU) has as of late been more often than not utilized as an issue broadly useful figuring gadget and indicated guaranteeing potential in quickening reckoning of chart issues. In this manner, The utilization of GPU to quicken the processing of the impact boost issue. Then again, the parallel handling ability of GPU can be completely misused in taking anxiety of assignments with normal information access design. Sadly, the chart social organisations of generally real world organizations are very discontinuous, making GPU increasing speed a nontrivial assignment extreme execution debasement.The primary difficulties of full GPU quickening lie in the accompanying viewpoints. In the number 1 place, the parallelism of impact spread calculation for each conceivable seed set is restricted b y the quantity of hubs at each one level. Consequently, the computational force of GPU cant be completely misused on the mop up chance that we specifically outline issue to GPU for quickening. Second, as the level of hubs in generally accessible organizes essentially take after a force law dispersion, serious disparity between GPU strings provide happen amid impact spread processing, genuinely corrupting the generally execution. Third, because of the unpredictable nature of true professional network, the repositing gets to show poor spatial area, making it hard to fit the GPU computational model.To address the above difficulties, we propose a Gpu accelerated impact expansion skeleton, IMGPU, which goes for completely leveraging the parallel preparing ability of GPU. We first change over the social chart into a regulated non-cyclic chart ( dag) to evade excess count. At that point a Bottom-up traversal calculation (BUTA) is outlined and mapped to GPU with CUDA programming model. Our methodology gives generous change to the current successive methodologies by exploiting the inalienable parallelism in handling hubs inside a informal community.In light of the haul of the impact augmentation issue, we propose a set of versatile systems to investigate the most extreme limit of GPU and upgrade the execution of IMGPU. Specifically, we create a versatile K-level coalesce strategy to augment the parallelism among GPU strings. In the interim,we redesign the chart by level and degree conveyance to minimize the potential uniqueness and bl pole the memory access to the most extreme degree. We direct broad explores different avenues regarding both true and manufactured social system follows. Contrasted and the condition of-the-workmanship calculation Mixgreedy, IMGPU attains up to 60 speedup in the execution time and has the capacity scale up to remarkably huge scale systems which were never expected with the current consecutive methodologies. As an issue, the commitme nts of this paper are predominantly twofold. First and foremost, we show BUTA, a proficient base up traversal calculation which contains inborn parallelism for the impact boost issue.The BUTA to GPU building design to adventure the parallel transforming ability of GPU. Second, to best fit the GPU computational model, we propose a few viable streamlining systems to expand the parallelism, evade potential uniqueness, and blend memory access. The rest of this paper is composed as takes after Area 2 gives preliminaries on impact expansion furthermore surveys related work. The IMGPU organise and relating GPU improvements are introduced in particle 3 furthermore Section 4, individually. We assess the IMGPU plan by far reaching tests and report the exploratory brings about Section 5.2. PRELIMINARIES AND RELATED WORKIn this segment, we introduce preparatory prologue to influence maximization, and survey related work. In influence maximization, an on-line informal organization is demonstr ated as an issue graph G =(V,E,W), where V= v1,v2,v3 ) speaks to the set of thickeners in the graph, each of which relates to an individual client. Every node can be either dynamic or idle, and allow change from being idle to being dynamic on the off chance that it is influenced by others nodes. E V V is a determined of directed edges speaking to the relationship between diverse clients. Take Linked-In as an illustration. A directed edge volition be secured from node vi to vj , if vi is trailed by vj , shows that v j is open to get tweets from vi , and therefore may be influenced by vi . G =(V,E,W), where V= v1,v2,v3 ) is the weight of every node which shows its commitment to the influence spread. The weight 137 is instated as 1 for every node, implying that if this node is influenced by different nodes, its commitment to the influence spread is 1.The span of node set is n, and the quantity of edges is m. Node vi is known as a sink on the off chance that its out-degree is 0, a nd called a source on the off chance that its in-degree is 0. The independent cascade (IC) model is one of the most decently mulled over dispersion models. Given a beginning set S, the dissemination mapping of IC model unfolds as takes after At step 0, just nodes in S are dynamic, while different nodes stay in the nonmoving state. At step t, for every node vi which has recently changed from being inert to being dynamic, it has a solitary opportunity to enact every at present dormant neighbor v w , and succeeds with a likelihood . In the event that vi succeeds, v and w will get to be dynamic at step . In the event that v w has numerous recently initiated neighbours, their endeavours in actuating v w are sequenced in a subjective request. Such a procedure runs until no more actuations are conceivable We utilize to mean the influence spread of the introductory set S, which is characterized as the normal number of dynamic nodes toward the end of influence proliferation. Given a graph G =(V,E,W) and a parameter K, the influence maximization issue in the IC model is to choose a subset of persuasive nodes S V of size K such that the influence spread is augmented toward the end of influence dissemination process.We proposed Mixgreedy that diminishes the computational many-sided quality by registering the minor influence spread for every node G =(V,E,W) in one hit reenactment. Mixgreedy first figures out if an edge would be chosen for engendering or not with a given likelihood. At that point all the edges not chose are evacuated to structure another graph G =(V,E,W) . With this treatment, the negligible addition from adding node vi to S is the quantity of nodes that are reachable from vi , however inaccessible from all the nodes in S. To process the influence spread for every node, a fundamental execution is doing BFS for all verticess which takes O(m,n) MixGreedy incorporates Cohens randomized algorithm for estimating the marginal influence spread for each node, a nd afterward selects the node that offers the maximal influence spread. Embracing the above streamlining methods, MixGreedy can run much faster. In any case, the change is not sufficiently viable to lessen execution time to an adequate range especially for huge scale professional networks. In addition, Cohens algorithm provides no precision ensure.3 IMGPU FRAMEWORKHere, we depict the IMGPU framework that empowers GPU-accelerated processing of influence maximization. Initially, we create BUTA that can exploit intrinsic parallelism and adequately lessen the complexity with guaranteed accuracy.3.1BOTTOM-UP TRAVERSAL algorithmWe can get another graph from the original graph after haphazardly selecting edges from G. As opposed to doing BFS for every node which is noticeably wasteful, we can capture that the negligible impact calculation of every node just depends on its child node subsequently, we could get the impact spreads for all the node by track the diagram just once in a bottom -up way. The level of a node vi, isWe ab initio change over the graph to a DAG to keep away from repetitive computation and potential deadlock.Fig. 1.Bottom-up traversal.Fig. 2.Relation of nodes.Algorithm 2 displays the points of interest of BUTA, where R signifies the quantity of Monte-Carlo simulations. In each round of recreation, the graph is initially reproduced by selecting edges at a given likelihood and changing over into a DAG Then we begin the bottom up traversal level by level We utilize the in parallel build to demonstrate the codes that can be executed in parallel by GPU. Impact spreads of all hubs at the same level can be ascertained in parallel and the mark of every hub is then decided for future cover reckoning. afterwards R rounds of reenactment, the hub giving the maximal negligible increase will be chosen and added to the set S.Fig. 3. Graph data representation.The advantages of BUTA is that we can enormously decrease the time and BUTA can promise preferred accu racy over Mixgreedy as we precisely figure impact spread for every node while Mixgreedy approximates them from Cohens calculation.3.2BASELINE GPU IMPLEMENTATIONIn this area, we first depict the graph data structure utilized as a part of this work, and afterward discuss about the baseline implementation of IMGPU in point of interest.3.2.1 DATA REPRESENTATIONTo execute IMGPU over the GPU structural planning, the customary nearness lattice representation is not a decent decision specially for large-scale social networks. The reasons are. First and foremost, it costs memory space which altogether confines the span of informal community that can be taken care of by GPU. Second, the dormancy of information exchange from host to gadget and worldwide memory access is high, corrupting the general execution. Therefore, we utilize the compressed sparse quarrel (CSR) format which is generally utilizedfor scanty framework representation3.2.2 BASELINE IMPLEMENTATIONThe graph information is init ially exchanged to the global memory of GPU. At that point, we portion one string for every node to run the impact spread computation kerne. The impact spread processing bit meets expectations iteratively by level. Along these lines, the parallel handling ability of GPU is abused for impact maximization acceleration.4 GPU-ORIENTED OPTIMIZATIONIn this area, we analyze figures that influence the execution of benchmark GPU usage and give viable improvements to accomplish better performance.4.1DATA REORGANIZATIONBUTA executes level by level in a bottomup manner. Strings in a twist are in awaken of preparing diverse node. Then again, because of the SIMT peculiarity of GPU, strings in a incline execute the same direction at each one clock cycle. Subsequently, if strings in a twist are appointed to process hubs at distinctive levels, uniqueness will happen and affect diverse execution ways, which will essentially degrade the execution.Likewise, amid BUTA execution, strings need to acqui re the visit data and the impact spreads of their child nodes. As the degrees of hubs in genuine informal communities principally take after a force law dissemination, there may exist incredible difference between the level of distinctive nodes.Such dissimilarity will seriously lessen the usage of GPU centers and corrupt the execution. To address these issues, we revamp the graph by presorting the graph, with the motivation behind making strings in a warp process nodes that are at the same level and with comparable degree however much as could reasonably be expected.4.2ADAPTIVE K-LEVEL COMBINATIONBaseline IMGPU usage computes impact spreads of node from bottom up by level, and subsequently its parallelism is restricted by the quantity of node at each one level. We can advantage more if there are sufficient node having a place with the same level to be handled, overall the parallel preparing capacity of GPU would be underexploited. For most cases, there is satisfactory parallelism to adventure since this present reality interpersonal organization is normally of vast scale. Notwithstanding, there do exist or so specific levels which just contain a little number of node because of the intrinsic graph irregularity of social networks.4.3MEMORY ACCESS COALESCENCEWhen we register the impact spread of a node, the string needs to get to the impact spreads of all the youngster node. Accordingly, for node with substantial degree, this will bring about countless gets to which will take long execution time. Such node, however representing a little rate of the whole graph, generously exist in a lot of people genuine social networks.5 EXPERIMENTAL SETUPIn our experiments, we use traces professional networks of distinctive scales and diverse types, like LinkedIn We look at IMGPU and its advancement mutation IMGPU_O with the two existing eager algorithms and two heuristic algorithms, and Mixgreedy , ESMCE , PMIA, and Arbitrary. In addition, we also execute a CPU- based versi on of BUTA, alluded to as BUTA_CPU, to assess the execution of BUTA and the impact of parallelization. The itemized description of the information sets whats more algorithms can be found in which is accessible in the on-line supplemental material.6 CONCLUSIONIn this paper, we present IMGPU, a novel structure that accelerates influence maximization for professional network in-order to spread the job notification by exploiting GPU. Specifically, we design a bottom up traversal algorithm, BUTA, which significantly reduces the computational unpredictability and contains inalienable parallelism. To adaptively fit BUTA with the GPU building design, we also investigate three viable optimizations. Extensive experiments demonstrate that IMGPU significantly reduces the execution time of the existing sequential influence maximization algorithm while keeping up satisfying influence spread.REFERENCES1 D. Bader and K. Madduri, GTgraph A Suite of Synthetic GraphGenerators, http//www.cse.psu.edu/ma dduri/software product/GTgraph/, Nov. 2012.2 W. Chen, Y. Wang, and S. Yang, Efficient Influence Maximizationin hearty Networks, Proc. ACM Intl Conf. Knowledge Discovery andData dig (SIGKDD), pp. 199-208, 2009.3 W. Chen, C. Wang, and Y. Wang, Scalable Influence Maximiza-tion for Prevalent Viral Marketing in Large-Scale Social Net-works, Proc. ACM Intl Conf. Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining(SIGKDD), pp. 1029-1038, 2010.4 N. Bell and M. Garland, Efficient Sparse Matrix-Vector Multi-plication on CUDA, Technical Report NVR-2008-04, NVIDIA,Dec. 2008.5 E. Cohen, Size-Estimation Framework with Applications toTransitive Closure and Reachability, J. Computer and SystemSciences, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 441-453, 1997.6 P. Domingos and M. Richardson, Mining the Network Value ofCustomers, Proc. ACM Intl Conf. Knowledge Discovery and DataMining (SIGKDD), pp. 57-66, 2001.7 J. Barnat, P. Bauch, L. Brim, and M. Ceska, ComputingStrongly Connected Components in Parallel on CUDA, Proc.IEEE 25th Intl Pa rallel Distributed Processing Symp. (IPDPS), pp.544-555, 2011.

An Analysis Of The Culture Of An Organization

An abridgment Of The culture Of An Organization south-west air hoses is the pioneer in low-f atomic number 18 air transportation and one of the leading Ameri pot air ducts. In 2010, with a number of 106.2 million passengers carried, it was the USAs largest domestic carrier in terms of boarded passengers (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and IATA, 2011). southwestern United States was in bodiedd in Texas in 1967 and advantage started iv categorys later, in 1971. fenderly, the air passage was only share Texan cities but the troupe has progressively enlarged its service to other Ameri notify states and cities.Until 2011, no world(prenominal) destinations were comprised in the airlines routes even though codeshare agreements permitted it to offer international flights operated by other airlines as state by the Southwest media website, 2011. The acquisition of AirTran Airways by Southwest Airlines leave alone allow it to officiate some international destinations in Mexico an d the Carribean. In 2010, the staff represented 34,901 persons and the company owned 548 aircrafts (Datamonitor, 2011).A PESTEL depth psychology of the spheric airline diligence by Xerfi Global (2011) pass on allow us to catch that the macro environment stays exceptionally challenging. Here is a brief summary of the summaryPositive effectNegative effectPoliticsPublic support actionsPolitical instabilities, conflicts, terrorismEconomyIncreasing demand for air transportation vegetable oil and fuel price variationsSensitivity of demand to prices and scotch variationsSocialExpanding world populationEconomic and social globalisationSeasonal demandTechnologyAircraft faculty enhancementsCreation of new aircraft concepts figure out air travel even more(prenominal) attractive (e-commerce)Chronic delays in aircraft deliveryEnvironmentUnfavorable weather conditions graphic disasters, pandemicsEnvironmental law to reduce emissions (carbon offsetting)LegislationInternational agreements in favour of liberalisation and globalisationSevere security and safety regulationHigh directs of grossA market analysis of the global airline industry (Xerfi Global, 2011) scores several facts. First of all, politics have a high impact on the airline industry. It can be seriously influenced when it engenders to growing taxes, stringent security norms or legislation defending the environment. All these constraints impact the finances and operations of airlines. However, governments offer repair financial support to assist airlines because of their significance for trade and tourism. Moreover, economic and social globalisation leads to market deregulation and thus enable the good development of the industry. The economic factor has alike a high impact on flag-carriers. For example, in 2009 during the global economic crisis, all the industry was affected as stated by Xerfi Global, 2011. Consumers were less likely to travel because of the variations of diverse economic factors li ke employment as well as income level or more generally global trade. As a result, the air traffic was highly and rapidly contracted.Regardless of these issues, demand for air transportation is increasing due to the growing demand in emerging markets (Aviation Industry, 2009). The constant technical progress of the airline industry by the development of plane with high capametropolis, asking a reduced maintenance and a reasonable consumption made accessible this type of transportation to several hundreds of million persons. Nowadays, it is cheaper to travel by plane thanks to the technologys fast improvements and to a more active competition. The costs are significantly reduced and thus allow more people to use air transportation.After using a PESTEL analysis, it is like a shot necessary to get a closer look on the internal factors. Here is a SWOT analysis of the Southwest airline retrieved from a report made by Datamonitor (2011)StrengthsWeaknessesFirm operating strategyRobust fle et operationsIncreasing cash flow from operationsClass action lawsuits aquiline on single aircraft and engine suppliersOpportunitiesThreatsPoised to benefit from the acquisition of AirTran HoldingsPositive outlook for tourism industry in the USGrowing US airline industryIntense competitionIncreasing fuel prices could strain marginsStringent government regulation could increase operating costsTable SWOT Analysis of SWA Datamonitor 2011Focus of the report practiceCompanies, following the example of the individuals, possess their own nicety. Generally, in a company managed by its owner, the finish corresponds appreciably to the personal culture of this one. As reported by Kotter and Heskett (1992), company with a strong corporate culture is due to the founder or the early leader and his capacity to allege ideas as a vision or business strategy. In big organizations, several cultures mix. Sometimes they can be incompatible because of the diverse personalities who compose the charg e team. Besides, the experiences and the society can in any case influence (in a positive or negative way) the corporate culture, sometimes even without the managing directors knowing. In every type of organization, a deficient culture risks to have a demotivating effect on the staff and to be source of dissatisfaction to the clientele two factors which have a significant incidence on the profitability of the company. Organizational culture is defined as a pattern of underlying assumptions that a group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that have worked well enough to be considered valid,and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and scent in relation to those problems (Schein, 1990, p. 111).Southwest Airlines is a perfect example in terms of corporate culture. Over the years, the company has imposed a strong and maestro culture that has always m ade the airline even stronger. Today, SouthWest Airlines confirms its corporate culture centred on a relation privileged with its employees and its clientele by diversifying the representation to communicate with this one through various social networks in which the company answers present and invites its employees to participate. This report will focus on the fact that Southwest airline focuses its attention on its employees. For example, in 2001, Southwest Airlines had already thwarted the effects of the recession by putting in the foreground its employees. The company chooses to draw from its financial reserves and to emphasize the advertising to consolidate its positioning as a low cost airline in order to avoid the lay-off. The creed of SWA is abruptly organized Treat your employees well, theyll treat your customers well, the customers will release loyal, and your company will prosper. (James Parker, former CEO of SWA)CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW THEORYTheorical framework a pply and reasons it was choosenSchein (1992) emphasizes the importance to realize a cultural analysis in order to succeed an effective management which can transcend the national and ethical frontiers. He asserts that this analysis represents a key factor of success for the leaders, who are the persons in charge for creating, administering, changing and even destroying an organizational culture.Schein (1992) has defined three basic levels of a culture which help to realise such an analysisThe first level establishes the surface of a culture and consists of artefacts, which are defines as visible organizational expression and process (Schein, 1992). Artefacts are explicit either material demonstrations of a culture, such as the physical structure of a company (the architecture, the size of offices, presence or absence of barriers between offices, etc.), the dress code of employees, the visible deportment of the persons, the rites or ceremonies, published lists on the determine an d the philosophy of the company, etc. The meanings of these artefacts are only know by people from inside the company, and are thus difficult to understand for an external observer. In the same spirit, Trompenaars declares that stereotypes are formed in this superficial level prejudices mostly start on this symbolic and observable level each opinion we voice regarding explicit culture usually says more about where we come from than about the community we are judging (1998).The second level of a culture is constituted by explicit apprises espoused set as stated by Argyris and Shon (1978) (as cited in Schein,1992). It includes values and faiths put together by a group of persons. However, these can be simply affirmations because there are uttered values which are not put into practice in all the situations confronted by an individual. For example, the managers of a company can affirm that one of their main values is the environmental protection, while in reality, the company poll utes in secret the environment. In that case, the assertion of a value does not condition the behaviour of the managers.Trompenaars explains that this type of behaviour is a result of a contradiction between the standards and the values while the norms, consciously or subconsciously give us a feeling of this is how i drive or desire to behave (Trompenaars, 1997). Nevertheless, Schein has identified a third level of culture, in which the explicit values become internal values, which will determine the behaviour of the group which shares them.This third level is the formation of basic underlying assumptions. The process by which a shared value is transformed in one basic assumption is introduced by the leader / founder of a certain group. For example the leader of a group can propose a solution to a common issue (based on one of its values or even on a faith). Then, the validity of this purpose will be questioned and debated between the members of the group. The proposal will thu s be tested several times in order to evaluate it. Finally, if this solution works in a repetitive way, the value which is behind will be approved as correct and by consequent it will be considered as an absolute value and unconsciously it will be assimilated as shared basic assumption , anchored in all the members of the groups minds.These shared basic assumption constitute one of the foundations of the meanings which the group shares in an connotative way and which give a context of interpretation common to the group.The model of Schein goes farther than the model of Hofstede which presents the culture (including the organizational culture) as an onion onion plot , with the values in the centre, encircled by layers of demonstrations or practices of the culture, defines as the symbols, the heroes or the rites. According to the model of Schein, the symbols, the heroes and the rites are all categorised as artefacts, and the basic assumptions are at the heart of the model, with the explicit values between both levels.Scheins organizational theory will be the most useful framework to study this particular(a)(a) practice within Southwest Airlines. The company is well-known for its strong corporate culture. Since its creation, the company has shown undeniable success even during the economic crisis. Beside this important fact, SouthWest Airline is also good for its employees and they do not hesitate to say it the company has been ranked second best place to work for in America in 2011 (Glassdoor, 2011). Therefore, it would be interesting to understand how such a successful company managed to go through the years without losing any of its qualities. That is why a deep analysis of the companys corporate culture will be done using the Schein model.CHAPTER 3 ANALYZE OF THE PRACTICE OF SWAApplying the chosen theoryThis part of the report will be dedicated to an analysis of the employee-focused practice of Southwest Airlines through the Schein model.Schein orga nizational culture level is obvious in the case of Southwest Airlines. At the first level, culture is visible to those who are inside the organization and outsiders through organizational artifacts. It is the most visible and accessible level of culture. These are employeess behavior, logos of the company or slogans such as Just Plane Smart (Southwest Airlines, 1992). Kelleher states We were always very colorful and somewhat promotive of a sense of humor. We have always had that approach, in an loose way (Organizational Dynamics, 1992). Each person who travels using a Southwest flight will pay attention to the attitude of the Southwest employees.They characteristically are the friendliest, most willing to help employees of any airline. Southwest chooses its employees based on their social skills and their ability to be sociable and outgoing. Personnel at Southwest must be happy to work and communicate with customers. That is why Southwest gives its employees the freedom to use any talents or skills they may have in order to entertain and serve the customers as long as they make them happy. This is one of the factor that contribute to Southwests excellent customer service.There are many examples that prove the fact that employees can act freely. For instance, flight attendants might sing or tell jokes during the flight. In 2009, David Holmes became the most famous rapping flight attendant and his performance became viral on YouTube (Southwests Rapping escape Attendant on Freestyle and Flying to Vegas, 2009). This is one of the numerous example that demonstrate that on Southwests flights, flight attendants do not only serve customers by demonstrating seatbelts and serving food and drinks.The middle level of a culture includes values and norms put together by a group of persons. Southwest has two main values humour and altruism. They are defined by different beliefs of the company such as the importance of focusing on the situation, issue or behaviour alterna tively than focusing on the person. It means that a solution must be found instead of judging others. Also, employees need to be creative and cooperative. It is really important to maintain the self-confidence and self-esteem of others. That is why employees have to respect all the different personalities in order to create one big family. The company also insists on the importance of constructive relationships between employees. The success of the company depends on a good teamwork. Moreover, people in Southwest have the duty to make improvements in order to make things better within the company. A LUV attitude is always required and everyone should behave in consideration of the companys spirit but also in consideration of others. The Golden Rule is Treat others as you want to be treated (The Power of LUV An Inside Peek at the Innovative tillage Committee of Southwest Airlines, 2008).Here are the values as stated by Kelleher (as cited by Organizational Dynamics, 1992)VALUE 1 Work should be funit can be playenjoy it.VALUE 2 Work is importantdont spoil it with seriousness.VALUE 3 People are importanteach one makes a difference.A perfect example of Southwests corporate story that helps employees understand how they should behave in a particular situation could be the early years of the company.The first nine years was the toughest part of the companys life. As stated by Lusk on the companys blog, tradition here at Southwest Airlines that anyone hired during our first year of operation is considered an Original Employee. In 2010, eleven of the Original Employees are still working at Southwest. Seven of them were on Southwests first flight as flight attendants one works as a manager in flight operations, another is a member of Southwests ground crew, one is a dispatcher, and the last one works in maintenance (Lauer, 2010). On special occasions, Southwest invites the Originals to come in to Southwests headquarters and talk about their experiences to current emplo yees. Lauer (2010) indicates that the Originals tell current employees about the struggles of a new airline working unenviable to develop. They also explain how the company managed to advertise without any money in the beginning. The flights attendants had to be creative because the company had no money to spend on advertising. They would go down to the streets of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio wearing their uniform and distribute flight schedules for the airlines four flights to everyone they met.This type of storytelling preserves the history of Southwest, while also connecting the companys early corporate culture to the lives of the essential and future employees.Furthermore, corporate rituals are recurring sequence of activities that express significant values of the company.There is one ritual for what Southwest is famous for its Halloween party. Every year Southwest Airlines hosts a enormous Halloween bash at its Dallas headquarters (Southwest LUVs Halloween, 2012). Herb Ke lleher passed on his love of Halloween and made it become a tradition at Southwest Airlines. Once, the former CEO showed up dressed as Elvis driving a Harley-Davidson (Lauer, 2010). Once Kelleher retired in 2004, his successor Gary Kelly proved his undeniable belief in and support of preserving the unique corporate culture of Southwest by dressing up on Halloween as Captain Jack Sparrow from the film The Pirates of the Caribbean. And he has been celebrating Halloween every year since then. Halloween party shows that having fun in the working environment is an essential value of the company.The third and deepest level is called basic assumption level. At this stage, the contagion of culture is done unconsciously or under the surface. As stated by Hill and Jones (2001), basic assumptions help to formulate organizational values and these become shared assumptions that guide how employees interact with each other.Overtime and through socialization, the values are conveyed to and taught to new members of the organization as the right way to do things. Southwest employs two cats-paws to socialize its values to new employees. They are both parts of the culture committee maintained by the company (Rebuilding the Social Contract at Work Lessons from Leading Cases, 1999). The first tool used by Southwest is the New City committee. The purpose of this committee is to go to each new city Southwest serves so as to teach new employees about the values of the company. It facilitates the adaptation of the new employees to Southwests culture, so they can learn the Southwests ways of doing things. The second tool is called Back to Basics team. This committee sponsored an essay competition to describe what makes Southwest successful. The team chose a series of essays that were integrated into a book with an accompanying television receiver that is given to every new employee. One important thing is that people of these committees are all volunteers working on their own time.CO NCLUSIONThis report allowed to understand the impact of a strong corporate culture and its relation to company performance. The case of Southwest airlines shows a company with a solid commitment to its employees. The company offers the same respect to its employees as it does to its customers. The mission of Southwest airlines is unique in the fact that it recognizes the importance of its employees in the companys strategy, which puts the emphasis on the great customer service and the operational efficiency. In return, the employees show undeniable respect, loyalty and trust. The exact same qualities that Southwest airlines demonstrates. Employees of the Southwest are known for their loyalty, the dedication, the attitude and the innovation. Employees are the factor of tuberosity between Southwest airlines and the rest of the airline industry.BIBLIOGRAPHYHill, C.W.L and Jones, G.R. (2001) Strategic Management An Integrated Approach. Boston MA, Houghton MifflinKotter, J. Heskett, J. (1992). Corporate Culture and Performance. New York, NY the Free press.Lauer, C. (2010). Southwest Airlines. GreenwoodSchein E. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership. (2nd ed) .Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Trompenaars, F. Hampden-Turner, C. (1997) Riding the Waves of Culture Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business (Second Edition) London McGraw-Hill.

James Watt :: essays research papers

JAMES WATTJames Watt, the son of a merchant, was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1717. At the age of nineteen, Watt was sent to Glasgow to learn the trade of a mathematical-instrument maker. After spending a year in London, Watt returned to Glasgow in 1757 where he open his own instrument-making business. Watt soon developed a reputation as a high quality locomotive engineer and was employed on the Forth & Clyde render and the Caledonian Canal. He was also engaged in the improvement of harbours and in the deepening of the Forth, Clyde and other rivers in Scotland. In 1763 Watt was sent a Newcomen steam engine to repair. While putting it back into working order, Watt discovered how he could make the engine more efficient. Watt worked on the idea for several months and finally produced a steam engine that cooled the use steam in a condenser separate from the main cylinder. James Watt was not a blotto man so he decided to seek a partner with money. John Roebuck, the owner of a Scot tish ironworks, agreed to provide financial patronage for Watts project. When Roebuck went bankrupt in 1773, Watt took his ideas to Matthew Boulton, a successful businessman from Birmingham. For the next eleven years Boultons factory producing and selling Watts steam-engines. These machines were mainly sold to colliery owners who used them to pump water from their mines. Watts machine was very popular because it was four times more powerful than those that had been based on the Thomas Newcomen design. Watt continued to test and in 1781 he produced a rotary-motion steam engine. Whereas his earlier machine, with its up-and-down pumping action, was ideal for draining mines, this new steam engine could be used to drive many distinguishable types of machinery. Richard Arkwright was quick to importance of this new invention, and in 1783 he began using Watts steam-engine in his textile factories. Others followed his lead and by 1800 there were over 500 of Watts machines in Britains mine s and factories. In 1755 Watt had been granted a patent by Parliament that prevented anybody else from making a steam-engine like the one he had developed. For the next twenty-five years, the Boulton & Watt keep company had a virtual monopoly over the production of steam-engines. Watt charged his customers a premium for using his steam engines.

Legalizing Voluntary Euthanasia Essay -- mercy killing physician assis

Today, voluntary euthanasia is getting closer to being legalized in more than just one state in the United States. Voluntary euthanasia means that the act of putting the someone to death is the end result of the persons own free get out (Bender 19). Voluntary euthanasia is an area worthy of our serious consideration, since it would allow patients who make water exhausted all other reasonable options to choose death rather than stick scathe (Bender 19). The question of whether or not voluntary euthanasia should be legalized is a major debate that has been around for years. Because the issue of whether people should have the undecomposed to choose how they want to live or die is so complex. With the advances in technology today we have made it possible to keep a person alive for longer periods of time, even when a person is permanently unconscious or has brain damage. However it seems reasonable to believe that there are umteen conditions in which voluntary euthanasia shou ld be allowed, and there are many organizations that support the choice of voluntary euthanasia. So why is it that so many do not support the choice of the way a person wants to live or die? on that point are many common arguments people have against voluntary euthanasia. One argument against voluntary euthanasia is that the old, disabled and incurably ill would feel they should choose voluntary euthanasia so that they were not a burden on others. (Anonymous Common 1). However there is no real evidence to show that this problem will arise if voluntary euthanasia is legalized. another(prenominal) argument is there is always a possibility of an incorrect diagnosis or the discovery of a treatment that will permit either excerption or recovery (Anonymous Objections 1). This is so... ... possible treatment. Unfortunately, even when medical advances and excellent hospice research in palliative care, severe indignity, pain and distress cannot always be controlled (Anonymous 5). Th ere are many conditions that a person would have to obtain before given the opportunity to choose to die. A person would have to be suffering from a terminal illness that would unlikely benefit from the discovery of a cure for that illness. Also as a direct result of the illness, the patient has to be suffering intolerable pain. Another requirement would be that they are mentally able to make the decision and are not forced into making a decision.Legalizing voluntary euthanasia is all about having a choice. Most people today believe that everyone should be given the right to choose how they live and die. Its not your life, if you cant choose when to let go.

Figures of the Renaissance - Ferdinand Magellan :: essays research papers fc

Figures of the RenaissanceFerdinand Magellan      Ferdinand Magellan was a leader of the Renaissance and a benefactor to modern science. The results of his voyage around the globe were such that the average person living during the Renaissance re-thought their paradigms of the world surrounding them, even know most scholars and opposite educated types knew that in fact, the world was round in shape. Ferdinand, however, proved it. Thus he lays claim to having circumnavigated the first voyage around the world.Born 1480 to lesser nobles living near Vila Real in northern Portugal, Magellan was raised as a page to the Portuguese king John II in the princely court at Lisbon. Magellan was educated from then on, becoming interested in geography and astronomy, thus in 1496 he became a squire. In the year 1505 Magellan would aspire his first taste of the sea, at the age of 20. He was sent to India to install Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida, as well as establis h naval bases along the way. As it turns out, Magellan also had his first combat experience on this mission. A local king refused to pay a tribute to the king, and as such Magellan and Almeidas party attacked, conquering the city of Kilwa in what is now modern-day Tanzania. Magellan continued to do well in his seafaring missions, and was eventually promoted to captain, when in 1510 he sailight-emitting diode a ship east without permission losing him his command and forcing him back to Portugal. After being sent on a mission against a Moorish-Moroccan force, he received a knee injury later which he was accused of illegal trade with the Moors. This coupled with a bad report of Magellan by Almeida to the Portuguese court after Magellan took leave without permission caused him to fall out of favor with current King Emanuel I, who told Magellan that after May 15, 1514. Thus Magellan renounced his nationality and changed his name from the Portuguese "Ferno de Magalhes" to the Spa nish "Fernando de Magallanes" and sought to offer his services to the Spanish court.Upon reaching Spain, Magellan found friends and gained some amount of deviate in the Spanish port of Seville. One such influence worth naming is Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, rival to Christopher Columbus. Somewhere along the way Magellan had acquired a map that indicated there was a passage through South America that led to the Pacific Ocean, Magellan believed that through this was a route to the Spice Islands, which in this time were very sought after within the spice trade.