ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The city of Miami is regarded as one of the most vulnerable towns to the issues surrounding storm surge, hurricanes, and even flooding. Miami has the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The city has close to a 16% probability of encountering the effects of hurricanes each year (de Beurs et al. 9). Averagely, a hurricane passes within 50 miles of the northern part of Miami metropolitan after seven years. In addition, climate changes also affect Miami by increasing the real estate values in Miami areas that tend to have a more significant elevation and subsequently decreasing the values in lower elevation regions. The issue of poor environment maintenance in Miami, Florida, has led to climate change, resulting in sea-level rise, an increase of flood levels, and droughts, and warmer temperatures in the area. The impacts of climate changes are attributable to the artificial increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Over the recent years, individuals from Florida have experienced increased levels of flooding due to the rise in the sea level (Palm and Bolsen, “The Development” 7). In addition, there has also been a concern about the probability of experiencing frequent and intense hurricanes. The state has been described as a “ground zero” city for climate changes, global warming issues, and the rise of sea levels. Such is because the majority of its residents and their economy are based on the low elevation oceanfront. Most Florida residents think that climate changes and issues tend to happen in Florida at higher levels than in other states. Climate change in Miami dramatically impacts the natural environment, animals, and even plants. It also plays a critical role in aggravating soil erosion and declining organic matters. The impacts of climate change on soil carbon storage are often associated with changing the atmospheric conditions, precipitation trends, and increased temperature levels. The intense precipitation levels and higher river discharges are climate-related issues that negatively influence soil degradation. In addition, deforestation and other human activities also contribute to climatic changes. It also has significant and adverse effects on the ecosystems as well as various species. Climate change has been at the forefront in contributing to land use and other crucial resources. These may be damaging, especially when comparing it to the direct effects arising from their scopes, scale, and speed, including air, water, and soil pollution, and may reduce climate ecosystem resilience (Baldauf et al. 1280). Furthermore, climate change affects the residents through the trauma of floods, droughts, and heatwaves. This trauma leads to mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and even suicide in most cases. Furtherm
‘Defund the police’ is a slogan denoting the call for the reallocation or redirection of funding away from police and governmental resources funded by the local municipality. Thus, there is a misconception that defunding the police means abolishing law enforcement, when, in fact, it is not true. Those supporting the action of defunding want to see true reforms in the police force and cut down the ‘rotten trees’ that have been tarnishing the reputation of the institutions. It is important to note that although ‘defund the police’ has gotten popular after the death of George Floyd, the discussions of the need for reform have been ongoing for decades as inequality and exploitation have persisted. Defunding the police is concerned with rethinking and reforming not only what the law enforcement is doing but also why police is used to gloss over the issues of discrimination. The movement, which has been happening in many cities previously, calls for the concrete identification of police spending that can be used for specific and targeted interventions in local communities (“The end of policing: Alex Vitale,” 2020). The goal of such interventions is to facilitate the establishment of public safety without coercion, racism, and discrimination. Practice has shown that reforms targeting law enforcement can never lead to true changes, but they instead allow to mask the problems of police violence or bureaucracy behind a façade, not addressing the root issues. Because of this, many consider defunding the police as a last resort to initiate change and solve the persistent problems, and the proposed solution is not as radical and negative as it may sound.
Spells and rituals are widely used for many reasons, including influencing events, affecting change in different phenomena, and presenting the illusion of change. In this context, I attempt to create a ritual and a spell that would help me to improve my performance in the next assessment. The test will require students to be mentally sharp and knowledgeable about the content which was covered in the course to succeed. The most common and acceptable approach to passing the test is to study appropriately. However, my magic will contest this conventional mode of rationality by imbuing me with the relevant knowledge and sharpening my mind and memory to a razor edge. The spell will use the law of contagion which asserts that once two objects or individuals come into contact, a magical connection builds and hold them together until some powers are used to break the non-material bond. I will combine words, objects, and ritual movements to c
Introduction The issue of farmers shifting to the organic means of farming raises questions in terms of whether there will be an increase in the supply of food in the whole world. Therefore, this work tries to solve the question by considering the advantages of using the organic means of farming in relation to the convention means of farming. In addition, the paper covers some of the shortcomings of the organic means of farming in details. It has also considered the role of the organic way of farming, in as far as the issue of environmental sustainability with relation to stable supply of enough food to the population, is concerned. The world food supply has been one of the main issues that everyone is extremely worried about, especially with the great impacts of global warming, which is affecting food security. This aspect holds because many different parts of the world are experiencing hunger. Parties shove blame to each other. However, the question that remains in the mind of many people is whether the world can be able to achieve a sustainable environment as well as maintain a stable supply of enough food to the population. One of the millennium development goals is to ensure environmental sustainability. The achievement of this goal is through sustainable development. Sustainable development refers to the form of development that perfectly caters for the needs of all the current generations, while ensuring that the future generation’s ability to cater for their needs is not compromised in any manner (Thomas 272). Development in itself entails the process of social, economic, and environmental development because development revolves around these three factors. This means that, the principles of development are defined, in the three components, to achieve the balance, which is sustainable development. In addition, the measure of the three factors as the indicators shows the level of sustainability. The problems in the three systems are usually related, and that means their solutions too are related (Thomas 285). The issue of environmental sustainability comes up due to the emerging ways of farming like the great shift of the farmers to the use of organic methods of farming. In whatever man does with the environment, it is particularly crucial to ensure its sustainability, since the environment can do without man, but man cannot do without the environment. Large-scale shift to organic farming is not the way to increase world food supply. This statement has been particularly controversial, as far as issues of the environment, are concerned. Is a large-scale shift to organic farming the best way to increase world food supply? Ways used in organic farming include the following; recycling of the crop waste as well as the animal manures, crop rotation, right time and soil cu
Introduction Recent court cases in the U.S. showed the contradictory nature of scientific evidence in law enforcement. Many legal problems concern the issue of polygraph evidence admissibility in U.S. Federal and State courts. For instance the famous case of U.S. vs. Scheffer that took place in 1998 made evident the existence of two crucial questions concerning polygraph evidence. The first deals with a problem of defendant’s ability to give polygraph evidence to the court if he wishes to do so as was in this particular case. Is this right must be regarded as his inalienable constitutional right? Secondly, can polygraph evidence be regarded as admissible at all? As this particular trial showed the defendant managed to force the court to admit his polygraph evidence referring to the Sixth Amendment, his basic constitutional rights in trial and previous court cases that admitted polygraph evidence (like Daubert- Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Inc case, which is regarded by many as precedent case). Other cases where the issue of polygraph evidence was raised show that there is no definite answer to the question of admissibility. Some courts admitted polygraph evidence, some strictly prohibited it, and others admitted it but regarded as secondary evidence. This paper suggests that polygraph evidence should not be admissible and proves this claim in the number of successive paragraphs dealing with different facets of the polygraph evidence issue. The paper relies on various research of this problem and supports the argument with the actual court cases that occurred in the U.S. during last 15 years. Apart from this the paper deals with opposite viewpoints, attempting to assess their legitimacy. Eventually, drawing on the findings on the paper my personal perspective on the admissibility of the polygraph evidence is outlined. The scientific premises behind polygraph examination are not adequate The underlying premise of polygraph examination refers to that a person produces different psychological reactions when he/she lies. The polygraph test equipment includes instruments which are attached to the subject and transferring his psychological reactions on the special chart list. Then the polygraph examiner is required to examine the results of the test and make assessment of “lie-truth” results. Among special instruments utilized during the polygraph test one should mention various cardiographs, cardio-cuffs and numerous sensitive electrodes (Henseler, 1997). These tools measure deviation in person’s respiration, blood flow, skin galvanic resistance. The scientific premises of the polygraph test is in my view are false . That doesn’t mean that I regard the instruments utilized during the test such as mentioned above not sufficient for assessing various psychological reactions of the subjects and can easily assess physiological values as blood pressure and skin resistance. The central question concerns not this but the problem of whether various psychological changes in subject may be related to lying and saying truth, or in contrary may be indicative of oth
In the article The Science of Why You Crave Comfort Food, the author shares insights about the root causes of food craving, a common phenomenon that is probably familiar to most people. The author begins by stating that some foods taste good and some smells may seem particularly attractive because they are associated with positive emotions and pleasant memories. To support and strengthen this claim, the author refers to scientific findings that indicate a connection between preferences in comfort food types and the meaning of specific foods for each individual. The author notes that comfort foods have this soothing effect because they remind people of social connections and family ties. Thus, in moments fraught with stress, frustration, and loneliness, people tend to be drawn to certain foods. I found this article interesting because I could relate to the information shared in it. In particular, I could think of a certain kind of food that serves to stimulate pleasant feelings of comfort and calm security for me, personally. Evaluating my connection with this kind of food, I delved deeper into my memories attempting to find what this nutriment represents in terms of emotions and thoughts. Interestingly, this particular food used to be a regular order of mine at restaurants and cafes, whenever I would meet with my dear friend from whom I am now, unfortunately, separated. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected opportunity for self-analysis this article provided. It was especially valuable because I had recently thought about my relationship with this particular food that I had regarded as an “addiction” since I had noticed I have had a tendency to order it whenever feeling stressed or upset. Oddly enough, I seem to have lost my fondness for this food, and I no longer find it pleasing in terms of taste, but I am still emotionally drawn to it as a source of comfort.
The development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century marked a definitive transformation in visual representation. It also became a sign of the beginning of the shift toward the visual culture that we know in the 21 st century. The advent of photography as an accessible art form and the rise of the amateur photographer represented the main drivers of these developments. The following essay delves into the history of photography as it developed simultaneously in the United States and Europe, and places special emphasis on the history and theory of nineteenth century photography as it developed during the Victorian era. Photography gained an avid following in the Victorian culture and in many ways facilitated the intersection between Victorian literature and photography, particularly in the works of popular children’s authors such as Lewis Carroll and J.M. Barrie, and revolutionized the representations of children and the province of childhood in popular Victorian literature such as Alice in Wonderland . The intersection between the visual and verbal cultures in the 18th century and 19th centuries represents another area wherein photography united the intricate inter-relationships between visual images and texts. Nineteenth century photography with reference to both the figure of the child and the photographs and photographic practices of Victorian women also exerted a significant impact, as evidenced by the works of such early photographers Julia Margaret Cameron. This essay intends to place both historical and cultural emphasis on these elements and illuminate some of the supernatural elements that photography brought to bear on popular images, particularly those created during the Spiritualist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. This essay will also investigate the photographic technique of combination printing and its impact on the art form. As Yacavone observes, “it is the double function of the photograph as both evidence of the real and, at the same time, a starting point for a flight of imagination on the part of its beholder, that foregrounds an engagement with literature” (97). In addition, the novel presence of the camera in nineteenth century culture transformed the act of looking and affected all major social, aesthetic and philosophical categories at the time. This impact of this transformation can still be felt today in the dominance of photography in news reporting as well as the role of digital photography in visual representation and the visual culture of the Internet and social media. Photography usurped the pictorial representation of painting at the time, particularly in the realm of portraiture, and revolutionized the relationship that individuals possessed not only with their own images and ways of seeing, but also the relationship with time itself. As Walter Benjamin observed in his seminal 1936 piece The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, “lithography enabled
Introduction Canadian economy was typical of water transport until mid 19 th century. Major industries involving fur, lumber and fish depended on the expansive waterways in the country for transport. It was only after this period that agriculture and mining became dominant. These industries depended on rail and road as their major transport channels. Undoubtedly, fishing industry attracted foreigners such as Portuguese and French traders who identified the economic wealth of Canada. Many of these colonialists developed the fishing industry and brought in new technologies of fish preservation and storage. The study of economic history of Canada involves the analysis of the prevalent economic institutions and industries. According to Easterbrook and Aitken, Canadian economic history revolved around the export of ‘staple products’ whose market existed outside the boundaries of Canada (213). This analytical paper seeks to highlight the evolutions of various industries in the Canada. The paper will attempt to explain how and why various economic institutions and industries were relevant and remain important in economic history of the country. The major analytical part of the paper will concentrate on the role of settlers in developing the economy. Background of Early Industries and Trade Many communities living in the central parts of Canada were hunters and gatherers since the ancient era. They hunted animals with fur-bearing traits to make clothes. Besides, small mines of copper and silver were important in creating ornaments for these communities. Although there were some aspects of trade among the native communities, the level of business was not profound and specialized. External trade that emerged involved French and British traders. They came to the land in search of fur and fisheries. In exchange, they bro
The world right now is in a state of relentless technological progress. Over the last 20 years, almost every aspect of our lives was changed by the emergence of the digital media. It quickly expanded into the fields previously dominated by paper. Everything from newspapers to tax reports moved to the digital field. The schooling systems in the US eagerly accepted the benefits offered by computer software and the internet. Electronic libraries allow access to the vast academic databases from the comfort of one’s home. Digital lessons and presentations are becoming more and more widespread. Some theorists speculate that even writing itself would soon become obsolete. Teachers nowadays are expected to be able to adapt to the ever-changing technologies and operate a variety of specialized educational software. This paper is going to assess the curriculum software used in Katy Independent School District. The district is located within the city limits of Houston, Texas, and serves over 65000 students yearly. It has around 60 schools under its jurisdiction ( Katy ISD , 2013). In accordance with the National Educational Technology Plan, the district has been allocating resources into modernization and creation of electronic libraries, as well as the extensive implementation of learning software ( National Education , 2016). It has successfully implemented and a curriculum software used for managing student data and creating a more transparent and easily accessed system. Their choice product is eSchoolPLUS. It is a student information system created by Sungard K-12. This curriculum software can be used for a variety of purposes, which include:   * Management of the Curriculum Program, which includes Curriculum Mapping, analysis, and exemplars.   * Calendar-based Lesson planning.   * Tracking Tools for student progress.   * Deep Performance Analysis.   * Cross-section and longitudinal performance assessments.   * Creation and implementation of personal learning plans.   * Access to numerous standardized files and materials via a built-in Library ( K-12 Assessment , 2016). Teachers and professional support personnel noted that the software’s performance managed to meet their requirements. They have also noted the rapid introduction and deployment of the technology in their schooling system, wholesome and adequate technical support and a variety of tools that allow flexibility with the managing of the curriculum. As a 100% Web-based software, eSchoolPLUS features extensive backups with the use of a cloud server in order to store data. Information could be easily restored should a technical failure occur. The program can b
Introduction Travelling has always been a matter of personal approach, different tastes and perceptions. On this very reason, people express the most diversified opinions concerning travelling including travelling around the world. Nowadays, the argument concerning the opinion that international travelling is over-rated appears to be rather heated. A great number of varied attitudes can be subdivided into the two categories of those who agree that international travelling is really over-rated, and those who oppose such statement. In the following paper, an effort to observe the two above-mentioned points of view on international travelling and to evaluate the situation occurring in this field will be made. Overall, after the evaluating the facts, it appears that those who support the idea concerning international travelling being over-rated seem to be right. People’s perceptions concerning travelling in general First of all, speaking about international travelling and its value, people’s attitudes to travelling in general is to be examined. The main point to be addressed with regards to this topic is the very fact that people percept different situations in different way. In addition, people may face different situations in the same place which will shape their way of thinking in different ways as time and case are important pointers affecting people’s minds and hearts. Travelers have different attitudes to different things shaped on the basis of their cultural background, family values, goals in life, personal preferences, and even the level of their mental power. One more serious field of concerns is related to the fact the world is getting very homogeneous on the reason of the process of globalization. In our globalized reality, countries and cities with their buildings, transportation system, services, local food and a whole bunch of the other parameters look more and more similar. People’s cultures also have an unfrequented tendency to assimilate. The position of the proponents of the idea that international traveling is over-rated Next, evaluating the position of the proponents of the idea that international travelling is over-rated it seems that the main reason for their attitudes is the quality of services offered. Many people supporting this party of the argument personally faced with the cases of utterly bad service along with the cases of artificial raising the prices for the goods and services which are of much lower level than it is expected. Among such people fre