ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
When I visited Beijing over the December holidays last year, I was baffled by the concerted efforts that the national and local governments are putting in combating air pollution. One of the outstanding aspects of pollution in the country is that the Chinese are highly desensitized and aware of issues surrounding this matter. I noted, with keen interest, that the few people that I met, who were conversant in English, mentioned particulate matter (PM) 2.5 at least once in their conversations. Before I traveled to China, my perception of the country was one with poor visibility levels due to heavy clouds of haze hanging in the atmosphere. The mainstream media had painted this erroneous picture on the status of air pollution in China and I had believed everything I heard or read. However, the moment you enter China you realize that the government is doing a commendable job to prevent air pollution and reverse the damages that have been caused in the past. One of the leading initiatives by the government is to cut industrial coal production and consumption as a source of energy. To achieve this goal, the government has embarked on an aggressive initiative seeking to close down companies or cancel their operating licenses. For instance, in March 2017, “the national government announced the closure or cancellation of 103 coal-fired power plants, capable of generating a total of more than 50 gigawatts of power. It said it would also cut steel production capacity by another 50 million tons” (Gardiner). Moreover, factories are required to observe some operational standards geared towards reducing environmental pollution. The Chinese Ministry of the Environment has been on alert to enforce the set rules and ensure compliance. For instance, in 2017, over 80,000 factories were charged with flouting environmental conservation rules as the involved ministry intensified its efforts by sending thousands of inspectors around the country to monitor the situation (Schmitz). Meanwhile, the blue skyline is reappearing as I witnessed during my recent visit to the country. One of my friends indicated that the majority of inspectors are incorruptible because the punishment for such crime is criminalized in the country. Consequently, factories have to comply with the set rules or risk closure and other associated fines. According to Parker, a columnist with The Economist, the 2013 “National Action Plan on Air Pollution” is the blueprint that the Chinese government is using to deal with the biting problem of air pollution. This plan placed a nationwide cap on the usage of coal in different provinces across the country. Specifically, all the affected regions are required to reduce coal consumption at a given rate on a year-by-year basis. For example, Parker notes that Beijing was required to cut its overall coal consumption by 50 percent from 2013 to 2018. The results of these concerted efforts are promising. A study conducted in 2017 by Greenpeace East Asia showed that concentrations of “PM 2.5 – the smallest polluting particles, wh
Description and Purpose of SlideShare SlideShare is a high-tech tool that was invented due to educators’ desire to enhance class work and ensure better communication between the learner and teacher. The tool also came about to lighten up the learning process by introducing more fun in learning and sharing. Slideshare provides a web-based interface for accessing presentations remotely. Like other upcoming tech tools, over the last couple of years, SlideShare has advanced as a learning tool through the development of newer features that attracted more users. According to Slideshare’s Website (2013), this is a tool that mainly enhances the processes of downloading and uploading of presentations designed in PowerPoint or saved as PDF files. However, video and music files can also be shared through the site. The tool also enriches the mode of interaction among learners, as well as between learners and teachers, by providing a direct means of sharing or communication. Learners and educators can form social, collaborative communities that encourage individuals’ creativity during spontaneous group activities in topics or areas of interest. How to use SlideShare As a web-based electronic tool, SlideShare enhances selective (private) or collective (public) sharing of resources, particularly presentations for educational, commercial or social purposes. A user needs an internet connection to view or download the content and must first sign up for membership to upload pre-developed files or to comment on existing content, and all uploads are free of charge. SlideShare users also enjoy extra benefits, such as interactive forums and socializing. Furthermore, submitters need to sign up if they aim at searching for preferred resources (Presentations) they would wish to tag, embed on blog sites as well as private websites. The company has no direct control over the content and thus does not screen uploads, comments, or tags. Usage is highly based on the belief that users will be responsible and respectful to co-users. Being a universal user-platform, SlideShare contains diverse uploads consisting of presentations, audios, and videos, some of which may thus contain objectionable content. However, all uploads are governed by property rights and policies as stipulated on the sites’ terms of services, and control is achieved via user reports on violations (SlideShare Ltd, 2013). This tool also allows users/audience to comment on slides availed online asynchronously and freely. Figures 1 and two below demonstrate the samples of screenshots of already posted presentations and shared resources through social sites such as Facebook and Twitter (SlideShare Ltd, 2013). Fig 1: Sample Presentation Fig 2: Shared Presentations SlideShare is thus not only a web-based presentation application, but it acts more like Wikipedia, where users can edit, update, improve, or comment on each other’s presentations to ensure accuracy and quality. Some of the perfectly edited and updated files (Presentations) can be voted for and starred. Students are thus able to pick the best (Highly recommended) presentations. Teachers are also able to track student’s
Introduction Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the world today. The biggest worry is the fact that this problem mainly affects children and teenagers while parents are not aware of its occurrence. There is a general misconception that obesity is signified by a visible weight gain. While this may be true, some people may not display such symptoms, but they may be suffering from weight gain hence obesity. This research seeks to identify the consequences of obesity and its effects on victims, both young and adults. Defining obesity Obesity is simply defined as the excess accumulation of body fats in an individual. These fats accumulate and are deposited in the body due to lack of physical activities that help in breaking them down. There are different measuring techniques that are used to determine whether an individual is obese or healthy. In fact, obese people are considering being unhealthy, even if they are not as big as the normal stereotype of obese people. Techniques used to measure obesity include underwater weighing or densitometry, multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis, and magnetic resonance imaging (Flegal et al. 79). These techniques are used in the research field (Flegal et al. 79). However, the most commonly used technology in a clinical s
Introduction A catastrophic terrorist attack would be highly traumatic for the country, both at a personal level at the loss of life or property as well as economic devastation affecting infrastructure and industry. However, defending and mitigating such terrorist attacks is highly challenging and complex, requiring specialized training and equipment. This paper will explore the after-effects of a major terrorist attack on U.S. agriculture. Agro-Terrorism Agro-terrorism is a widely recognized national security threat, a subset of bioterrorism. It can be defined as the introduction of plant or animal disease or any other attack on the agricultural sector to cause economic loss, undermine social stability, and generate fear. The ultimate objective for agro-terrorism is to cause economic damage and lead to loss of confidence among the population in the government. Agriculture is not commonly a priority target, but because of the importance of the industry, potentially negative impacts on human health and systems, and economic damages, it may be selected. This is further exacerbated by the vulnerabilities such as geographic disbursement, relatively insecure environments, and many points of transport allowing the introduction of bioagents into the supply chain (White et al., 2010). It is the responsibility of the FDA and DHS Agro division to monitor, protect, and respond to acts of agro-terrorism. Impacts of an Agro-Terrorism Attack The impacts of an agro-terrorism attack would be extensive, first and foremost affecting the ec
Introduction Tax systems which are growth oriented are normally meant to reduce the influence that a tax system has on the market. Such systems are also designed in order to reduce as much as possible, the factors that hinder economic growth and development, investments, entrepreneurship and innovation of a country’s citizens. Various researchers have suggested in their studies that income taxes have the worst effect on economic growth and development. The second worst form of tax is personal income taxes, consumption taxes. According to the ranking order of taxes and economic growth that was developed by these researchers, tax on immovable property has the least effect on the economic growth of a country. This ranking order shows the various effects of different forms of taxes on economic growth. It is therefore important to note that, a tax form or system that is growth oriented is vital to a country in that it has the ability to shift the burden of tax from the income side to the consumption side (Engen and Skinner, 620). In the process of making tax reforms, it is important that the policymakers evaluate the various goals and objectives of the tax system. They are expected to strike a balance between the efficiency and economic growth objectives of the proposed tax system, and the distributional effects on the entire economy. The policymakers are therefore expected to take into account the impact of the tax reforms that they intend to institute on the revenues of the government, the costs that the government incurs to ensure tax compliance from citizens and the costs incurred to enforce tax laws, as well as tax avoidance and tax evasion by the citizens of the country. Other issues that the policymakers will be expected to put into consideration are the effects of the reforms on other levels of government and the transitional costs that will be incurred during the process of the reforms. Finally, the policymakers are expected to put into consideration the various factors that influence the economy such as political factors, environmental factors, administrative capability of the tax department as well as the institutional capability to carry out the reforms (Ogbonna and Ebimobowei, 63). The importance of the effects that tax reforms have on the economy is therefore an important area of study that will help governments to understand and know the best tax systems to institute in order to achieve economic growth. This research therefore sought to investigate the effects of tax reforms on economic growth. The objectives of this study were;   * To investigate the effects of tax reforms on the economic growth and development of a county   * To investigate the best tax systems that support the growth and development of the economy of a country Literature review Various empirical studies have been carried out on the economic effects of tax reform
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technology One of the most valuable technologies that significantly benefit people is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The principle of operation of the MRI machine is that under the influence of radio signals, hydrogen atoms in the forehead of a person placed in a strong magnetic field resonate and give out various signals, depending on the nature of the disease. Kose (2021) states that MRI was first proposed in 1973 by Lauterbur, who presented a cross-sectional image of water protons in two test tubes by nuclear magnetic resonance. Exceptionally clear MRI images obtained as a result of the study allow doctors to see even minimal tumors and small inflammatory processes in all tissues containing water. Societal Impact A three-dimensional projection of the organ under study is displayed on the computer monitor, which can be viewed in any plane – this is crucial in diagnosing several severe pathologies and determining further treatment. An MR tomograph gives results that differ significantly from the data obtained using computed tomography (CT) or X-ray. CT is focused on studying physical processes in soft tissues, and X-rays are designed to look at hard tissues, i.e., bones. MRI allows checking the chemical structure of tissues and the functioning of body systems in dynamics, which will enable to get a complete picture of the state of an organ. Technical Background The tomograph is a tunnel-like structure inside which a movable couch is installed on which the patient is placed. Some open-type models can take data from a vertical position — the patient can undergo the study in a sitting or standing position. The principle of operation of the MRI of open or closed type devices does not change simultaneously. The specialist controls the device remotely. The primary mechanism is connected to the receiving equipment, which uses software to process the received signals, and translate them into graphic images. MRI makes it possible to more deeply examine the data on diseases and get a comprehensive study based on the images (Isin et al., 2016). Additional programs join hundreds of separate vivid fragments depicting organs in a section into a three-dimensional model. In addition, all images can be either printed on film or recorded on digital media — this is especially important for situations where it is necessary to monitor the dynamics of the disease and the effectiveness of therapy. The principle of operation of the MRI is based on the features of its design. The device is a tunnel, which is essentially a powerful magnet. A magnetic field is created in it during the process, and it interacts with elementary particles in the human body. By acting on them, the magnetic pulse forces protons to emit energy. It, in turn, is captured by susceptible sensors that transform electromagnetic signals into a graphic image. The high pulse frequency makes it possible to obtain images of the thinnest slices of any organ or structure. Thanks to the work of the MRI tomograph, it becomes possible to track the minor violations of blood flow, design, size, the structure of organs, and o
Introduction Mary Mallon was a good cook, a loyal servant who had worked for over ten families in the New York. Her hard work earned her respect and love in these families. In many cases, she would be promoted to head all the other employees in these homes. Mary Mallon knew how to prepare some of the best delicacies. However, when typhoid struck the city, investigators realized that there was something peculiar with Mary in relevance to this disease. In eight families she had worked for within six years, seven of them suffered from typhoid, but she was never affected (Jacobsen, 2008). This caused concern to George Soper, the investigator, who believed that she was a typhoid carrier. He recommended that she should be quarantined as a way of protecting others. In this paper, the researcher seeks to justify the fact that authorities were correct when they quarantined Mary. Discussion In the early 1900, typhoid was one of the most dreaded diseases in the United States of America. Although the medical experts were able to establish that unhygienic conditions helped in the spread of the disease, it was not yet clear what the cause of the disease was. George Soper, a young self-proclaimed typhoid researcher, was called in to help with the investigation. He started his investigations by interviewing a rich family living in the suburbs of New York. Six members of this wealthy family were suffering from this disease that was then associated with the poor. This, to Soper, was a mystery worth resolving. Soper interviewed the family and realized that Mary Mallon was their immediate former cook, and she had left her job here to work for another family. Soper developed an interest in investigating Mary’s activities. From his research, he realized that out of the eight families she had worked for, seven of them suffered from the disease within a short period of six years. When Soper finally found her working for another family, it was revealed that some members of the family were already suffering from typhoid. Soper requested her to take a medical test to determine if she was a healthy carrier of the disease. The researcher was convinced that Mary was a typhoid carrier, but she refused this fact. In 1907 after it was confirmed that almost every family she worked for suffered from the d
Introduction to the Company Sheikh Zayed Housing Program is a government-owned program that was established to offer United Arab Emirates’ families suitable housing facilities (Farazmand 67). The aim of the national government in coming up with this program was to find a way of ensuring that all citizens of this country have decent housing, especially those who have lower earnings and are therefore, unable to afford building their own homes. It would be important to understand the vision, mission, strategy, goals, and objectives of this organization. According to Meier (78), the vision statement of this firm states, “Achieve stable housing for UAE national families through exceptional and pioneering community partnerships.” As shown in this vision statement, the focus of this organization is to offer families in United Arab Emirates housing units by facilitating community partnership. The mission statement emphasizes on the focus of this organization to offer proper housing to deserving citizens of this country by enhancing partnership with financial partners. The strategy that this organization uses is to create an environment where financial bodies would find it easy funding families to build suitable housing with coordination from the government. Given that the government is involved, financial partners would not fear funding individual families. The goal of this organization is to ensure that citizens of this country have decent housing facilities. By partnering with financial institutions, it becomes possible to get the needed resources in construction of the housing units. This would make it easy to achieve the objective of eliminating poor housing facilities, especially in major cities. Types of Projects in the Company In order to achieve the objectives stated above, the organization has been involved in a number of projects since its inception. In the past, this organization was engaged in a number of projects that were focused on improving the housing systems of poor families in the country in major cities. The organization was determined to ensure that every citizen of this country has access to decent housing. The project has been successful in the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Presently, the firm is focused on spreading this program to all other emirates. According to their announcement which was made at the beginning of the year, the organization is determined to ensure that all citizens of this country, especially the poor, are helped to get decent housing in the country. The organization has future plans of helping any citizen of this country access quality housing without just focusing on the poor. How the Projects Fit Into the Company’s Mission and Strategy According to Lam (90), when designing projects, research should always be taken to ensure that the projects are in line with the mission and strategy of the company. This sc
The painting under consideration is called The Baptism of Christ . The author of the picture is Nicolas Poussin. This painting was created in 1641 (1642). The techniques of the picture combine the features of Renaissance and Italian art. It reflects the features of baroque as it was made in the period of its blossom. The measurement of the painting: 95.5 x 121 cm. The Baptism of Christ was made in Paris during the period of Poussin’s work in the court. It was exhibited in many great museums in the USA and the whole of Europe. The picture under analysis is a part of the collection situated in the National Gallery of Art. There are a lot of works devoted to the biblical theme with the description of this picture. But unfortunately, there is no book depicting the peculiarities of this masterpiece. The title of the painting reflects the biblical theme and explains the essential role of human form mastery in the history of painting. The painter managed to illustrate the real fear of the painted figures who acknowledge the son of God, Christ involving the viewers into the significant biblical moment of time. The date of the painting creation is considered to be 1641 according to some sources, but according to others, it is 1642. There was no date on the picture itself in order to identify it exactly. Visual Analysis The picture is framed: 123.8 x 149.9 x 14 cm. The frame of the painting reflects the genre of the picture created in the period of baroque in France. The frame of the picture is considered to be original. The Baptism of Christ is considered to be oil on canvas. The author managed to illustrate all the necessary features and figures in the painting. Border limits are clearly defined underlining the edges of the painting. The form of the picture is rectangular. It is better for the viewers to look at the picture below because it will help to understand the theme of the work. The composition of the picture covers the Jordan River together with the foreground plane including 13 fi