ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Huntington’s disease is also referred to as Huntington’s chorea which is an inherited disorder affecting an individual’s brain. It mainly affects the affected person’s personality, memory capabilities and mood changes. Physical control may be lost as well with most of these symptoms progressing as the disease advances. Basic symptoms appear at a later age of around forty years. It involves damage of the nerve cells resulting to weakening of some segments of the human brain. This disease is not curable and it causes mental disabilities in the patients and their families may suffer emotional and financial problems (Kennard, 2006, p. 1) Causes of the disease Huntington’s disease is passed from mother to her unborn child due to mutations from the normal gene. Genes are the basic biological units of life and heredity. A single mutation forms an abnormal gene which alone is enough to cause this disease. All genes are made up of either DNA or RNA but not both. Both DNA and RNA are spirally shaped molecules made up of two base pairs. The four bases, adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine always form specific pairs which later combine to form messages in the form of codes. The unique and specific combination of these base pairs in each gene specifies the particular functions of the genes. All human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes where the genes are arranged. Each pair of chromosomes consists of one chromosome from the mother and the other from the father. Half of the chromosome pair is similar to the other half with the exception of the sex chromosome where a female has two X chromosomes while a male has an X and a Y chromosome. Huntington’s disease is produced by mutation of the gene that is located on the 4 th of the 22 chromosomes that are not sex-linked. Since the sex chromosomes are not involved in the production of this disease, both men and women are equally susceptible to Huntington’s disease (Kennard, 2006, p. 1) Developmental course of the disease The gene that causes huninton’s disease is dominant which means that only one mutated gene from either parent is required to produce the disease. The mutation accountable for Huntington’s disease involves a minor DNA sequence on chromosome four of the 22 autosomal chromosomes. The defect occurs when the normal base sequence, CAG is repeated severally (Chial, 2008, p. 1). Soon after the defect occurs, symptoms start appearing. The initial symptoms of Huntington’s disease are variable in different individuals. However, it is common in all patients for the disease to advance faster if initial symptoms had appeared early. An individual first experiences mood swings and gets irritated for no particular reason. The person may not notice these early symptoms but the family members do. The affected person feels depressed and lacks the will and general lack of interest in almost everything. In some individuals, these symptoms may reduce as the disease advances while in others, they may c
Sometimes history manages to catch up with current events. The recent studies about the history of indigenous people in Canada have proved this hypothesis to be true. In the last few weeks, history studies have served as a reminder of the painful history of the indigenous American People. In some instances, this history has been directly connected to current events. From the topic about the European settlers and their unjust residential schools to the story about a school district embracing native worldviews in their curriculum, the recent weeks have been characterized by interesting studies. Some of these studies have had shocking elements while others have been eye-opening. This paper is a personal reaction to the teachings that I have received in class over the last few weeks. The most interesting topic was the one about residential schools. In the course of my studies, I have encountered several instances of injustices that were conducted on Native Americans. However, the operations in residential schools were the most shocking in several aspects. First, residential schools were a brainchild of Christian churches. Churches are viewed as the pillars of society as well as advocates of social justice. The involvement of churches in the operation of residential schools challenges the notion of churches being guardians of social justice. According to recent studies, churches went to great lengths to ensure that the organization of the Aboriginal People was dismantled. For example, in one lesson we learned that the people who were running the residential schools enlisted the services of trackers. The job of these trackers was to ‘hunt’ and return the students who ran away. It would also be prudent to assume that such activities involved a lot of violence. The use of trackers is reminiscent of the slavery period where runaway slaves were subjected to track. The intentions of the churches and the federal government are hard to understand. It was irrational to go through all that trouble just to ‘educate’ the Native Aboriginal People. These actions also defy the institution of colonization. The only logical explanation for such actions would be racism or another form of social evil. The other astounding detail about the recent studies is the period that residential schools remained in operation. According to the studies, the first residential schools were initiated in the early 1900s and the last residential school was closed up in 1996. This indicates that the effects of residential schools affected a few generations of the Indigenous People. Moreover, even though governments have acknowledged their participation in this social injustice, none of the churches has taken a similar step. This type of denial does not reflect on the good faith of the church institution. In another lesson, the story of how schools are embracing the Native American’s worldviews in their curriculums was told. In the story, an entire school district is taking measures to embrace native worldviews. This part of the studies was more encoura
Introduction The Cold War was remunerated from 1946 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The United States and the Soviet Union came out as the planets’ two superpowers as a consequence of World War II. A probable universal conflict between these two authorities emerged when the war stopped, and began to emerge in captions almost instantly as the conflict infringed further and further on Europe itself. According to research, there is no certainty that the greedy political endeavors of Stalin could have been shortened by a countervailing United States supremacy after the Second World War (Painter & Leffler 2002). While the safety of the Soviet State and its settlement Communist organizations had precedence in 1945, Stalin’s expansionist goals rose throughout the last years of the Cold War. Discussion Research shows that the menace of the Soviet Union expansionism after 1945 was the dynamic strength following the rising unity, and later incorporation of western European nations. Since both were in pain under the Soviet menace, it became likely for such opponents as France and Germany to join the similar coalition and lay the foundation stone for the European Union. However, it seized less than a decade prior to safety and steadiness in the West to be understood and to be attached to a number of organizations. Research also shows that the external danger led to the worsening of relationships amid United States and Europe (Reynolds 1994). While the United States considerably amplified its military expenses, Europe struggled to reap the alleged peace bonus. Unluckily, such an agreement was not in the United States’ concern; it sought for military “load division”. Actually, “load division” in the United States logically meant “load shifting” to the European states. They were aloof to load this weight. When the Cold War stopped, Germany was barely the country which was capable of presenting the alleged “Gesamtkonzept”, or the future path plot outlining how European incorporation should carry on. This notion projected “intensifying” and “broadening” the European Union. It demonstrated that the aged “German query” had been resolved, “that Europe’s supranational collaboration was no freak consequence of the Soviet menace, but a lasting denial of a two-millennium account of violence” (Lunderstand 2003). The US foreign policy change in the Cold War period The US observed an isolationist overseas policy before the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor. The US had become influential before the WWII, but the US defense condition after the battle was diverse (Reynolds 1994). The enhancement in technological growth of long-distance aircrafts, submarines, aircraft carriers, and atomic weaponry made the US rule makers to be vigorous to world rules. After WWII, the only state that would control the Soviet menace was the US, b
Corporate Governance Issues: Hermitage CEO’s Case Study The CEO of Hermitage Fund Bill Browder undertook an unusual approach in his efforts to foster corporate governance. Hermitage’s presence in Russia was progressing smoothly before both domestic and international occurrences started affecting fundamental corporate governance issues. As a response, Browder had to take into account some of the basic aspects of the Russian corporate governance environment and thereby deciding to take the option of shareholder activism as a corrective measure. Some of the factors that influenced Browder’s decision include Russia’s weak judicial instruments and the lack of reliable regulatory bodies in the country. Nevertheless, there are concerns as to whether shareholder activism was the most viable approach to Hermitage’s problem. This essay investigates Bill Browder’s corporate activism strategy including its merits and demerits. Furthermore, the essay offers viable alternatives to corporate activism and some recommendations for players who might be in similar situations. One feasible strategic option for the manager is to rely on Russian regulatory authorities both from the political and professional realms. Turning to regulators would have improved Browder’s approach but this strategy also came with its strengths and weaknesses. The first weakness in this approach is that during this era, corporate governance regulations and regulators were mostly weak. Therefore, this strategy was a gamble for Browder who was most afraid of the influence that Russian oligarchs had on independent bodies (Lazareva et al 315). The other shortcoming in this approach is that it was hampered by the fact that Hermitage was mostly among the minority shareholders in most of the companies that it had put its investments. Therefore, a likely outcome was that the regulators would have sided with the majority shareholders, who were mostly the perpetrators of corporate governance ills. The use of regulators would have made Browder’s approach less confrontational. Corporate activism was quite a confrontational approach, which came with several risks. For example, in his story, Browder admits to hiring bodyguards during the height of his activism (Dyck 6). Another positive aspect of the use of regulators was that it was more effective to get the regulators to act instead of reacting. Regulators only reacted to the bad publicity that Russia got from Browder’s shareholder activism. Nevertheless, corporate governance issues in Russia would have benefited more from a wholesome reaction by the regulators as opposed to knee-jerk reactions. Another feasible strategic option for Browder was to utilize Russian judicial instruments without taking a confrontational stance. The case study notes that most of the other players in Russia preferred not to air their dirty linen in public when it came to policy and governance issues (Dyck 5). One major strength of using this approach is that it guaranteed a speed
To clearly understand the story, “ The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children ” we must first understand the context to which the story is set. The story is a magical realism set in Latin America which presents a real life story through magic and thus a deeper meaning exists within the story. In the story it is discovered that the creature does not understand the language spoken by the locals although it was suspected to be Latin, this gives a political dimension to it and as highlighted by Father Gonzales who became suspicious of the creature when he discovered that the creature did not understand the heavenly language. In this context we can understand that the story is reflective of the political climate of Colombia where it is dominated by two parties, this story is attributed to the writer who is of a mixed race and descended from pirates and smugglers, he has presented himself as the winged creature and thus seemingly making a political statement. The writer has portrayed himself as an outsider (winged man) and his two hosts as the main political parties in Colombia. One can interpret
Introduction Teaching – reflection, questions, decisions Becoming a professional and caring teacher is, indeed, a challenging task because one should conceive the main elements of effective learning, planning, and teaching with particular reference to existing social, cultural and political aspects affecting children in schools. More importantly, an outstanding teacher should be a great decision-maker and problem-solver as well because coping with children presupposes facing a number of challenges in ethical, moral, and psychological terms. All decisions and problems should be presented with regard to the current law and regulations establishing the basic teaching procedures. In addition, a future instructor should be aware of the roles he/she will take while dealing with students with different learning backgrounds. Incorporating all the above-presented components into a complex unit enables future teachers to understand what it means to become a great teacher and what the basics of quality teaching are. With regard to the discussed issues, a good teacher should take into the deepest consideration such aspects as teaching strategies and classroom management, analysis of learning environment in terms of planning and learning objectives, and assessment of existing teaching roles aimed at fostering effective decision-making and problem-solving. Main discussion Main Attributes of Quality Teaching in an Effective Learning Environment Collaborative Learning and Group Discussion as Instructional Strategies The majority of teachers often face a great variety of instructional modes aimed at ensuring students’ involvement into a learning process. Nevertheless, it is often problematic for teachers to apply for all techniques because of students’ restricted interests and abilities, lack of teachers’ experience of using a particular instructional mode, and limitations connected to number of students in classes, and available facilities and technologies used to meet the learning objectives (Marsh, 2008, p. 164). In this regard, March (2008) and Briggs and Potter (1999) explain effective techniques and strategies allowing teachers to reduce or eliminate the above-enumerated shortcomings of a learning environment. In particular, March (2008) is more concerned with representing specific approaches to exposing information to students in the form of lectures, expository talks, and teacher presentations and highlighting their main advantages and disadvantages. In contrast, Briggs and Potter (1999) consider collaborative learning and interaction as a viable solution to solving the problems with increased number of students in class. The researchers also focus on the productivity an
Small and gradual improvements on a product, service, or process are incremental innovations that add value and lead to sustained customer benefits, satisfaction, growth, quality of services, and maintains and improves a service or product’s position in the market. Innovations can be incremental, radical, and disruptive. However, this paper will emphasize on sustained incremental innovation. This approach is integrated in an organization to goes through the transformation stages of growth that include fluid, transitional, and the specific stage of innovation to competitively remain and maintain a strong market position (Innovation Zone 2006). In addition, organizations integrate SWOT and other competitive forces identified by porter as rivalries, threats of substitutes, buyer’s power, supplier’s power, and threat of entry in service provision in the incremental innovation process. (Porter 2004).These approaches may include relationships tailored to march a company’s strategic objectives and service delivery relationships. The innovation process entailed working in a team with each member assigned different roles a
Music has been recognized as a powerful stimulus affecting people’s mood and even health since times immemorial. Realizing the potential of using the music elements in advertizing for affecting the consumers’ perception and purchasing behavior, marketers use music in supermarkets and as a background feature in commercials. The findings of the latest empirical studies have revealed a positive relationship between the use of music elements, concentration of attention and proper perception and interpretation of commercial messages by consumers. The music in the supermarkets created favorable mood in the consumers and encouraged them to make purchases. Taking into account the findings of the previous researches, this study will conduct semi-structured interviews and test the hypothesis whether there is a positive relationship between the uses of music elements in advertisements and their brand preferences and purchasing decisions. Literature review Modern marketers view music as an important background feature which can be effectively used for enhancing the viewers’ arousal and effects produced by advertisements. Even though most consumers denied the impact of music upon their brand preferences, the findings of empirical studies have shown that there are significant differences in the brand attitudes, purchase decisions and emotional responses of viewers to the advertisements of music and non-music groups (1). The results of experiments conducted by Gorn have shown that pleasant music, humor and attractive colors are important background features which can influence the consumers’ perceptions and attitudes (1). Even though Gorn’s experiments were criticized by other scholars, the conclusions regarding appeal of music upon viewers remained unchanged. Kellaris and Cox who replicated Gorn’s experiments admitted that his findings could have been influenced by demand artifacts (2). However, Gorn’s premise regarding the positive relationship between product choice and music appeal was not disclaimed. Additionally, Kellaris and Cox measured the strength of different unconditioned stimuli by using different sets of classical and popular music but did not receive any significant differences in results (2). A more in-depth investigation of music characteristics and their impact upon the consumer’s emotional responses, brand awareness and purchasing decisions was conducted by Park and Young (3). Assuming that music can activate the brain and affect the mood of t listeners, the researchers attempted to develop a complex taxonomy of music elements, including tempo, pitch, texture and duration and their impact upon individuals’ emotional reactions. The findings of empirical research have demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between the music tempo and its emotional appeal to listeners (3). Particularly, music with low pitch can arouse the emotions of sadness in listen
Who Moved my Cheese?- An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life is the topic of a book written by Spencer Johnson, M.D., and published by Vermilion Publishers. In the book, cheese is a metaphorical representation of what people want to have in their life. This might mean a good job, an affectionate relationship, wealth or ownership, good health or even spiritual tranquility. The title therefore suggests that occasionally the “cheese” in our life will be moved and therefore one has to be prepared to deal with the change. As the topic suggests, Dr Spencer Johnson provides an “amazing way” to deal with this change in the workplace and in our lives. Spencer does this by showing us how to foresee change, adapt to the change, enjoy it and be forever willing to change immediately when one is called to do so. (Hartwell, 2010) The story of Who Moved My Cheese starts with a reunion of high school friends. After the reunion, the friends decide to have lunch and they end up chatting in an exceptionally practical manner about the things they have undergone since they left high school. Although they have all lived different lives, they all agree that things turned out differently than they anticipated. All of them agree that it has been hard for them to change when things change around them. One of the friends named Carlos tells the group that people resist change because they are afraid of changes in their life. This surprises everyone since Carlos was the Captain of the football team and therefore fear should not have been a part of his life. (Hartwell, 2010) While in the process of catching up, one of the friends called Michael decides to narrate the story of Who Moved My Cheese to the rest of the group. The story consists of four characters comprising of two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two small beings called “Haw” and “Hem”. All these characters live in a maze where they spend their time searching for cheese to sustain them. Both the mice and the little people value the cheese since it means everything to them. However, each character has a dissimilar approach to life, which determines how they react when the cheese runs out. Sniff and Scurry are good at smelling and going after the cheese once they establish its direction. Instead of sitting to analyze things, the two mice just react to the situation at hand. (Johnson, 1998) On the other hand, the two little people Hem and Haw tend to complicate everything. Once they find the cheese in the Maze, Hem and Haw are convinced that the mound of cheese will never be exhausted. Hem and Haw are therefore caught un