WLAN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

WLAN - Essay Example It is also known as â€Å"Wireless-N".(Rathbone, 2012) It is the latest 802.11 amendment that offers the high speed data transfer rate with improved signal ranges than the previous amendments. As a matter of fact, the verified speeds for 802.11n devices are 7 times faster than 802.11g while communicating at 300 Mbps or more in real world scenario. Evidences proved it as the first Wi-Fi 802.11 amendment that has challenged the 100 Mbps wired Ethernet architectures. 802.11n supporting devices are designed for better performance at long distances, which means that if a portable device is 300 feet away from the Wi-Fi access point it will still retain its actual data rate. Distinguishing it from older versions of 802.11, where data rate and communication with the access points tend to be weakened when a portable device is that far. As we know that 802.11n has been standardized and groups in wireless industry such as the Wi-Fi Alliance have been forcing for backward compatibility among 802.11n and its previous version supporting devices – has reduced the risk of buying devices that may not communicate with each other or with older hardware. Studies showed that cross technology interference can be main issue for almost all the 802.11 amendments. A research based study in 2010 by giants like Miercom, BandSpeed and Farpoint Group showed that these huge interferers like microwave and cordless phones can be responsible for complete connectivity loss for 802.11n connectivity. The reason behind this is, some of these devices transmit frequency in band that is as wide as 802.11, while each one of these give out power that is equivalent or sometimes higher than 802.11 device. As we know that 802.11n inherent the MIMO technology. (Madisetti, 2010, p. 27-28) One solution can make it possible if we use a 3Ãâ€"3 802.11n transmitter. It will help in a way that all the interferences can disturb one stream while still two parallel streams are present for its receiver. The suggested

Organizing a trip to Edingburgh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Organizing a trip to Edingburgh - Essay Example Art and other portraits are among the major contributions of Edinburgh. Scottish art council, National gallery of Scotland, Scottish National Portrait Gallery and other art centers are the major attractions. Edinburgh has witnessed lots of International twin programs from various universities and colleges across the world. The trip involves a large number of students and members of the faculty who will guide the students in different aspects during the trip. Some other university staff will also be part of the trip and their assistance is expected to make the trip more fruitful. The date selected for the trip is the month of May when the University classes are suspended due to summer holiday (5TH May, 2009 to 9th May, 2009). Flight tickets are being obtained for all the persons going for the trip. As per the rate given by the travel agents, the air fare is 200' per person (100' for Wales to Edinburgh and 100' for Edinburgh to Wales). The trip will be in business class. Hotels will be booked in Edinburgh for the trip. The rooms will be of double or triple occupancy. Rooms will be allotted to students and staff as per their preference. As per the rates provided by the hotel manager in Edinburgh, each person has to pay 200 ' daily for lodging. This price includes all the hotel facilities except food. ll the people goi Cab Fare ll the people going for trip are to assemble at the University campus. Cabs will carry them from the University campus to Wales airport on day 0. Cabs will also be hired to transport people from Hotel in Edinburgh to the airport of Edinburgh. As per the rates provided by the Cab association, they are going to charge 10 ' per person. All the cabs will be fully air conditioned. Food All the participants will be provided with breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner. Breakfast will be provided by the hotel in Edinburgh. For lunch, restaurants have been selected in Edinburgh with flexible food items. Three different restaurants have been selected for three days of trip in Edinburgh. The restaurants have

The use of Microwave Remote Sensing

The use of Microwave Remote Sensing INTRODUCTION Microwave remote sensing at wavelengths ranging from 1 cm to 1 m has gained a lot of importance over the plast decade for a wide range of scientific applications with the availability of active radar imaging systems. Its potential in spatial applications use has been scientifically established in various sectors like forestry, agriculture, land use and land cover, geology and hydrology. A variety of applications have been carried out world over using microwave data like discrimination of crop types, crop condition monitoring, soil moisture retrieval, delineation of forest openings, estimation of forest above ground biomass, forest mapping; forest structure and fire scar mapping, geological mapping, monitoring wetlands and snow cover, sea ice identification, coastal windfield measurement, wave slope measurement, ship detection , shoreline detection, substrate mapping, slick detection and general vegetation mapping (Kasischke et al., 1997). There is an emerging interest on microwave remote sensing is, as microwave sensors it can image a surface with very fine resolution of a few meters to coarse resolution of a few kilometers. They provides imagery to a given resolution independently of altitude, limited only by the transmitter power available. Fundamental parameters like polarization and look angle can be varied to optimize the system for a specific application. SAR imaging is independent of solar illumination as the system provides its own source of illumination. It can operate independently of weather conditions if sufficiently long wavelengths are chosen. It operates in a band of electromagnetic spectrum different from the bands used by visible and infrared (IR) imageries. Microwave applications in Forestry Applications of microwave remote sensing in forestry ha ve also been reported during the recent past. Recent reviews on the application of radar in forestry show that SAR systems have a good capability in discriminating various types of (tropical) forest cover using multi-temporal and multi-frequency SAR data (Vander Sanden, 1997; Varekamp, 2001; Quinones, 2002; Sgrenzaroli, 2004). These studies showed that the biomass dependence of radar backscatter varies as a function of radar wavelength, polarization and incidence angle. Also recent studies have demonstrated that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can be used to estimate above-ground standing biomass. To date, these studies have relied on extensive ground-truth measurements to construct relationships between biomass and SAR backscatter (Steininger, 1996; Rignot et al., 1997). Many studies demonstrated the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing to retrieve biophysical characteristics from forest targets (Richards, 1990). Although radar backscatter from forest is influenced by their structural properties (Imhoff, 1995), earlier studies derived useful relationships between backscattering coefficients and the above-ground biomass (Baker et., 1994; Le Toan et al., 1992; Dobson et el., 1992; Imhoff; 1995). These relationships may provide a method of monitoring forest ecosystems which play such a vital role in carbon storage and NPP. Microwave remote sensing has the advantage of all weather capability coverage overcoming the persistent problem of cloud cover in satellite images like in optical data. Optical remote sensing is being used very successfully in various applications related to earth resources studies and monitoring of the environment. However, optical remote sensing is not suitable for all atmospheric conditions. It cannot penetrate through clouds and haze. In many areas of the world, the frequent cloud conditions often restrain the acquisition of high-quality remotely sensed data by optical sensors. Thus, radar data has become the only feasible way of acquiring remotely sensed data within a given time framework because the radar systems can collect Earth feature data irrespective of weather or light conditions. Due to this unique feature of radar data compared with optical sensor data, the radar data have been used extensively in many fields, including forest-cover identification and mapping, discrimi nation of forest compartments and forest types, estimation of forest stand parameters and monitoring of forests. In areas where vegetation cover is dense, it visually covers the underlying formation and it is very difficult to detect structural limiting the use of optical sensors. Radar however, is sensitive enough to topographic variation that it is able to discern the structural expression reflected in the tree top canopy, and therefore the structure may be clearly defined on the radar imagery. Based on this background, the current thesis work has been carried out to explore the potential of microwave data in addressing core areas of tropical forestry viz., vegetation classification , a bove ground biomass estimation etc., and to provide the users/researchers a meaningful data base of SAR applications in tropical forestry, specifically over the India region. Research questions: Which SAR wavelength/frequency band is appropriate for vegetation classification in tropical forests? To what extent above ground biomass can be measured in tropical forests? Which frequency band and polarization are suitable for above ground biomass estimation? Is there any enhancement in vegetation classification with polarimetric / interferometric data than stand alone amplitude data? Research hypothesis: Based on this background,the previous studies and earlier mentioned Rresearch questions, we understand that the backscatter increases with the increase in above ground biomass and depends on wavelength bands, polarizations used and on the study area, topographic variations and species composition. So, the present study attempts to derive the application potential of airborne and space borne SAR data in the quantification of the forest resources in tropical regions like India, both as a complementary and supplementary role to optical datasets. Different techniques such as Regression analysis, multi-sensor fusion, texture measures and interferometric coherence characterize different biomass ranges of the test sites and classification of major land cover classes. This study would facilitate scope for future research in tropical regions to explore the potentials of SAR data in land cover classification and above ground biomass estimation using the polarimetric and interferometric techniq ues. OBJECTIVES: Based on this background, the present study aims at the following objectives: Vegetation type classification using polarimetric and interferometric SAR data. Forest above-ground biomass estimation using multi-frequency SAR data and ground inventoried data. Vegetation classification is necessary to understand the diversity of species in a given area which gives above ground biomass with measured parameters. Hence, vegetation classification enhances the estimation of the above ground biomass. Forest biomass is a key parameter in understanding the carbon cycle and determining rates of carbon storage, both of which are large uncertainties for forest ecosystems. Accurate knowledge of biophysical parameters of the ecosystems is essential to develop an understanding of the ecosystem and their interactions, to provide input models of ecosystem and global processes, to test these models and to monitor changes in ecosystem dynamics and processes over time. Thus, it is a useful measure for assessing changes in forest structure, comparing structural and functional attributes of forest ecosystems across a wide range of environmental conditions. Knowing the spatial distribution of forest biomass is important as the knowledge of biomass is required for calculating the sources and sinks of carbon that result from converting a forest to cleared land and vice versa, to know the spatial distribution of biomass which enables measurement of change through time. Field sampling is the most followed conventional method for vegetation type classification. The identification of different species in field yields good results in the estimation of the above ground biomass. It is very time consuming, expensive and very complicated. With the use of multiple sensors, varied data collection and interpretation techniques, remote sensing is a versatile tool that can provide data about the surface of the earth to suit any need (Reene et al, 2001). Remote sensing approach for vegetation classification is cost effective and also time effective. Though the identification of the tree species is possible only from the aerial imagery, major forest types can be identified from the airborne and the spaceborne remote sensing data. Visual image interpretation provides a feasible means of vegetation classification in forests. The image characteristics of shape, size, pattern, shadow, tone and texture are used by interpreters in tree species identification. Phenological correlations are useful in tree species identification. Changes in the appearance of trees in different seasons of the year some times enable discrimination of species that are indistinguishable on single dates. The use of multi-temporal remote sensing data enabl es the mapping of the different forest types. SAR has shown its potential for classifying and monitoring geophysical parameters both locally and globally. Excellent works were carried out on the classification using several approaches such as polarimetric data decomposition (Lee et al., 1998), knowledge based approaches considering the theoretical backscatter modeling and experimental observations ( Ramson and Sun , 1994) ; Backscatter model-related inversion approaches ( Kurvonen et al., 1999), neural networks and data fusion approaches ( Chen et al., 1996). Dong et al. (2001) have shown that the classification accuracy of 95% for the vegetation classes could be achieved through the segmentation and classification of the SAR data using Gaussian Markov Random Field Model (GMRF). Many methods have been employed for classification of polarimetric SAR data, based on the maximum likelihood (ML) (Lee et al. 1994), artificial neural network (NN) (Chen et al. 1996, Ito and Omatu, 1998), support vector machines (SVMs) (Fukuda et al. 2002), fuzzy method (Chen et al. 2003, Du and Lee 1996), or other approaches (Kong et al. 1988, Lee and Hoppel 1992, van Zyl and Burnette 1992, Cloude and Pottier 1997, Lee et al. 1999, Alberqa 2004) Among these methods, the ML classifier (Lee et al. 1994) can be employed for obtaining accurate classification results, but it is based on the assumption of the complex Wishart distribution of the covariance matrix. Assessing the total aboveground biomass of forests (biomass density when expressed as dry weight per unit area at a particular time) is a useful way of quantifying the amount of resource available for all traditional uses. It either gives the quantity of total biomass directly or the quantity by each component (e.g., leaves, branches, and bole) because their biomass tends to vary systematically with the total biomass. However, biomass of each component varies with total biomass by forest type, such as natural or planted forests and closed or open forests. For example, leaves contribute about 3-5% and merchantable bole is about 60% of the total aboveground biomass of closed forests. Many researchers have developed various methods based on field inventory and remote sensing approaches for the estimation of above ground biomass (Kira and Ogawa, 1971). Traditionally, field-measured approach is considered as the most accurate source for above-ground biomass estimation. It has been converted to volume, or biomass, using allometric equations that are based on standard field measurements (tree height and diameter at breast height). Different approaches, based on field measurement (Brown et al. 1989, Brown and Iverson 1992, Schroeder et al.. 1997, Houghton et al., 2001, Brown, 2002); remote sensing (Tiwari 1994, Roy and Ravan 1996, Tomppo et al., 2002, Foody et al., 2003, Santos et al., 2003, Zheng et al., 2004, Lu, 2005); and GIS (Brown and Gaston 1995) have been applied for AGB estimation. Traditional techniques based on field measurement are the most accurate ways for collecting biomass data. A sufficient number of field measurements is a prerequisite for developing AGB estimation models and for evaluating the AGB estimation results. However, these approaches are often time consuming, labour intensive, and difficult to implement, especially in remote areas and are generally limited to 10-year intervals. Also, they cannot provide the spatial distribution of biomass in large areas. For the above reasons, the perspectives of using remote sensing techniques to estimate forest biomass have gained interest. Remote sensing data available at different scales, from local to global, and from various sources, optical to microwave are expected to provide information that could be related indirectly, and in different manners, to biomass information. The possibility that aboveground forest biomass might be determined from space is a promising alternative to ground-based methods (Hese et al., 2005). The advantages of remotely sensed data, such as in repetivity of data collection, synoptic view, digital format that allows fast processing of large quantities of data, and the high correlations between spectral bands and vegetation parameters, make it the primary source for large area AGB estimation, especially in areas of difficult access. Therefore, remote sensing-based AGB estimation has increasingly attracted scientific interest. In general, AGB can be estimated using remotely sensed data with different approaches, such as multiple regression analysis, K nearest-neighbour, and neural network (Roy and Ravan 1996, Nelson et al. 2000a, Steininger 2000, Foody et al. 2003, Zheng et al. 2004), and indirectly estimated from canopy parameters, such as crown diameter, which are first derived from remotely sensed data using multiple regression analysis or different canopy reflectance models (Wu and Strahler 1994, Woodcock et al. 1997, Phua and Saito 2003, Popescu et al. 2003). Spectral signatures or vegetation indices are often used for AGB estimation in optical remote sensing. Many vegetation indices have been developed and applied to biophysical parameter studies (Anderson and Hanson 1992, Anderson et al. 1993, Eastwood et al. 1997, Lu et al. 2004, Mutanga and Skidmore 2004). Vegetation indices have been recommended to remove variability caused by canopy geometry, soil background, sun view angles, and atmospheric conditions when measuring biophysical properties (Elvidge and Chen 1995, Blackburn and Steele 1999). Radar remote sensing has potential to provide information on above ground biomass. The information content of SAR data in terms of the retrieval of biomass parameters will be assessed based on an understanding of the underlying scattering mechanisms, which in turn are derived from observations and modeling results. For this purpose, an analysis of data acquired by multiple frequency, incidence and polarisation systems and by interferometric systems is carried out. It has been proved that the sensitivity to biomass parameters differ strongly at different frequencies, polarisations and incidence angles. In general, long wavelength SAR backscatter (P and L band) is more sensitive to forest biomass than shorter wavelength C-band backscatter and the relationships saturate at certain biomass levels ( Imhoff 1995b). The strength of the relationships and the saturation levels are dependent on the type of forest being analysed (Ferrazoli et al. 1997). The saturation levels for the estimation of above ground biomass depend on the wavelengths (i.e. different bands, such as C, L, P), polarization (such as HV and VV), and the characteristics of vegetation stand structure and ground conditions. C-band can measure forestry biomass up to app. 50 tons/ha, L-band can measure up to 100 tons/ha and P-band can measure up to 200 tons/ha (Floyd et al., 1998). The combination of multiple channels and polarizations provides greater advantage for estimating total biomass (Harry Stern, 1998). RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY: The present study is the part of Radar Imaging satellite Joint Experiment Programme (RISAT-JEP) for forestry applications undertaken by Forestry and Ecology Division of National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), as a pilot campaign with specific objectives of above ground biomass estimation and vegetation type classification using airborne DLR (German Aerospace Center) carrying ESAR (Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radar) data for Rajpipla (Gujarat) study site and space borne ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite) carrying Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data for three test sites viz., Rajpipla (Gujarat), Dandeli (Karnataka) and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), India. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The specific objectives of the present study are above ground biomass estimation and vegetation type classification using airborne DLR (German Aerospace Center) carrying ESAR (Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radar) data for Rajpipla (Gujarat) study site and space borne ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite) carrying Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data; ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) carrying Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) for three test sites viz., Rajpipla (Gujarat), Dandeli (Karnataka) and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), India. Different techniques such as Regression analysis, multi-sensor fusion, texture measures and interferometric coherence were used to characterize different biomass ranges of the test sites and to classify the major land cover classes using spaceborne C-band ENVISAT-ASAR data and L-band ALOS- PALSAR data. Polarimetric signatures, polarimetric decompositions, multi-sensor fusion techniques etc. were used for the classification of different vegetation types in the Rajpipla study area using the airborne DLR-ESAR data. The study has its uniqueness and gains importance in the application potential of SAR interferometry over tropical regions like India, both in terms of an alternate/substitute to optical data sets due to persisting cloud cover and to the lack of availability of any earlier scientific work over the study region. This study is useful for the applications of to be launched Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) in 2010. The study has amply demonstrated the application potential of airborne and space borne SAR data in the quantification of the forest resources in tropical regions like India, both as a complementary and supplementary role to optical datasets. The study would facilitate future research in tropical regions to explore the potentials of SAR data in land cover classification and above ground biomass estimation using the polarimetric and interferometric techniques. LITERATURE SURVEY: During the last decade, many potential applications of SAR in different frequency bands have been studied for forestry applications using data acquired by both airborne and space-borne systems. Various techniques like Polarimetry, Interferometry and Polarimetric-Interferometry enhanced the use of SAR data in forestry applications. The backscatter from vegetation is used to infer information about amplitude data for forest cover mapping and estimation of above ground biomass in regenerating forests. Use of SAR polarimetric data delineated vegetation classes within the forest and also enhanced the capability in estimating the above ground biomass. The use of repeat pass interferometric data enables to calculate the forest stand height and also used for the land cover classification. The emerging Pol-InSAR technique is used to derive the three dimensional forest structures. Forest cover maps were prepared for the boreal, temperate and tropical forests using SAR data. Forest was separated from non-forest regions using multi-temporal C-band ERS SAR data on the test sites of United Kingdom, Poland and Finland (Quegan et al., 2000). The study applied a threshold value to separate forest from other classes. Tropical rainforest of Borneo was mapped from SIR-B data of different incidence angles (Ford and Casey, 1988). Different vegetation covers along with wetlands and clear-cut areas were distinguished. Forest cover mapping was done with JERS-1 SAR data on the coastal regions of Gabon (Simard et al., 2000). The study used decision tree method utilizing both radar amplitude and texture information. Forest cover map was prepared for Southern Chittagong using JERS-1 SAR data (Rahman and Sumantyo, 2007) and the study separated forest, degraded forest, shrubs, coastal plantations, agriculture, shrimp-farms, urban and water. Although radar backscatter from forest is influenced by their structural properties (Imhoff, 1995a), many studies have demonstrated useful relationships between backscattering coefficients and the areal density of above-ground biomass within particular types of forest (Baker et., 1994; Le Toan et al., 1992; Dobson et al., 1992; Imhof et al; 1995b). Many airborne and spaceborne SAR systems have been used to carry out a large amount of experiments for investigating the forest ecosystems. The airborne systems, such as the NASA/JPL AIRSAR, DLR-ESAR, etc., operating at P, L and C band, has been flown over many forest sites (Zebker et al., 1991; Le Toan et al, 1992; Beaudoin et al., 1994; Rignot et al.; 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ranson et al., 1996). The experiments of the Canadian CV-580, as well as the European airborne system, mainly operating at C and X band also have been carried out in North America and Europe (Drieman et al., 1989; Hoekman, 1990). Spaceborne SAR is being used from regional to global monitoring in a periodic basis. The spaceborne systems, such as the Seasat SAR, SIR-B, SIR-C/X-SAR and ERS-1, ERS-2, ENVISAT-ASAR, RADARSAT etc., were used for investigations of boreal, temperature and sub-tropical forestry test sites (Ford et al., 1988; Dobson et al., 1992; Ranson et al., 1995; Stofan et al., 1995; Rignotet al., 1995). These experiments and studies have shown that radar is sensitive to forest structural parameters such as diameter at breast height (dbh) and tree mean height including above-ground biomass (Dobson et al., 1992; Pulliainen et al., 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ferrazzoli et al., 1995; Ranson et al., 1996). Earlier studies has shown the potential of radar data in estimating AGB (Hussin et al. 1991, Ranson and Sun 1994, Dobson et al. 1995, Rignot et al. 1995, Saatchi and Moghaddam 1995, Foody et al. 1997, Harrell et al. 1997, Ranson et al. 1997, Luckman et al. 1997, 1998, Pairman et al. 1999, Imhoff et al. 2000, Kuplich et al. 2000, Castel et al. 2002, Sun et al. 2002, Santos et al. 2003, Treuhaft et al. 2004). Kasischke et al. (1997) reviewed radar data for ecological applications, including AGB estimation. Lucas et al. (2004) and Kasischke et al. (2004) reviewed SAR data for AGB estimation in tropical forests and temperate and boreal forests, respectively. Different wavelength radar data have their own characteristics in relating to forest stand parameters. Backscatter in P and L bands is highly correlated with major forest parameters, such as tree age, tree height, DBH, basal area, and AGB (Leckie 1998). In particular, SAR L-band data have proven to be valuable for AGB estimation (Sad er 1987, Luckman et al. 1997, Kurvonen et al. 1999, Sun et al. 2002). However, low or negligible correlations were found between SAR C-Band backscatter and AGB (Le Toan et al. 1992). Beaudoin et al. (1994) found that the HH return was related to both trunk and crown biomass, and the VV and HV returns were linked to crown biomass. Harrell et al. (1997) evaluated four techniques for AGB estimation in pine stands using SIR C- and L-Band multi-polarization radar data and found that the L-Band HH polarization data were the critical elements in AGB estimation. Kuplich et al. (2000) used L-band JERS-1/SAR data for AGB estimation of regenerating forests and concluded that these data had the potential to estimate AGB for young, regenerating forests. Sun et al. (2002) found that multi-polarization L-Band SAR data were useful for AGB estimation of forest stands in mountainous areas. Castel et al. (2002) identified the significant relationships between the backscatter coefficient of JERS- 1/SAR data and the stand biomass of a pine plantation. The study observed the improvement in AGB estimation results for young stands, compared to estimation for old stands. Santos et al. (2002) used JERS-1 SAR data to analyse the relationships between backscatter signals and biomass of forest and savanna formations. This study concluded that forest structural-physiognomic characteristics and the radars volume scattering, double bounce scattering are two important factors affecting these relationships. The saturation levels of backscattering co-efficient with respect to AGB depend on the wavelengths (i.e. different Bands, such as C, L, P), polarization (such as HV and VV), and the characteristics of vegetation stand structure and ground conditions. Luckman et al. (1997) found that the longer-wavelength (L-Band) SAR image was more suitable to discriminate different levels of forest biomass up to a certain threshold, indicating that it is suitable for estimating biomass of regenerating forests in tropical regions. Austin et al. (2003) indicated that forest biomass estimation using radar data may be feasible when landscape characteristics are taken into account. The radar backscattering coefficient is correlated with forest biomass and stem volume (Le Toan et al. 1992, Israelsson et al. 1994, Kasischke et al. 1994, Dobson et al. 1995). The sensitivity of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to forest stem volume increases significantly as the radar wavelength increases (Israelsson et al. 1997). The imaging process makes SAR suitable for mapping parameters related to forest biomass, like stem volume (Baker et al, 1999; Fransson et al, 1999; Hyyppa et al, 1997; Israelsson et al., 1997; Kurvonen et al, 1999; Pulliainen et al, 1996), total growing stock (Balzter et al, 2000; Schmullius et al, 1997), LAI (Imhoff et al, 1997), or above ground net primary productivity (Bergen et al, 1998). Le Toan et al., (1992) used multi-polarisation L- and P-band airborne radar data, and found that the dynamic range of the radar backscatter corresponded highly with forest growth stages and is maximum at P-band HV polarization. The analysis of P-band data indicated a good correlation between the radar backscatter intensity and the main forest parameters including trunk biomass, height, age, diameter at breast height (dbh), and basal area. Dobson et al., (1992) showed an increasing range of backscatter with changing biomass from C to P-band, as well as higher biomass levels at which backscatter relationships to biomass saturate. Hoekman, (1990) found poor relationships between X- and C-band backscatter and volume and other stand parameters. The spaceborne systems, such as the Seasat SAR, SIR-B, SIR-C/X-SAR and ERS-1, ERS-2, JERS, ENVISAT-ASAR and recently ALOS-PALSAR etc. were used for investigations of boreal, temperature and sub-tropical forestry test sites (Ford et al., 1988; Dobson et al., 1992; Ranson et al., 1995; Stofan et al., 1995; Rignot et al., 1995). These experiments and studies have shown that radar is sensitive to forest structural parameters including above-ground biomass (Dobson et al., 1992; Pulliainen et al., 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ferrazzoli et al., 1995; Ranson et al., 1996). Kasischke et al., (1997) reviewed radar data for ecological applications, including AGB estimation. It is being reported in literature that the radar backscatter in the P and L bands is highly correlated with major forest parameters, such as tree age, tree height, DBH, basal area, and AGB. In particular, SAR L-Band data have proven to be valuable for AGB estimation (Sader, 1987; Luckman et al., 1997; Kurvonen et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2002). Kuplich et al., (2000) used JERS-SAR data for AGB estimation of regenerating forests and concluded that these data had the potential to estimate AGB for young, regenerating forests. Luckman et al., (1997) found that the longer-wavelength (L-Band) SAR image was more suitable to discriminate different levels L-Band backscatter shows no sensitivity to increased biomass density after a certain threshold, such as 100 tons ha-1, indicating that it is suitable for estimating biomass of regenerating forests in tropical regions. The radar backscattering coefficient is correlated with forest biomass and stem volume (Le Toan et al. 1992; Israelsson et al., 1994; Kasischke et al., 1994, Dobson et al., 1995). The sensitivity of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to forest stem volume increases significantly as the radar wavelength increases (Israelsson et al., 1997). The imaging process makes SAR suitable for mapping parameters related to forest biomass, like stem volume (Baker et al., 1999; Israelsson et al., 1997; Pulliainen et al., 1996), total growing stock (Balzter et al., 2000; Schmullius et al., 1997), LAI (Imhoff et al., 1997), or above ground net primary productivity (Bergen et al., 1998). The dependency of backscatter on above ground biomass was observed and related to the penetration of the radiation into the canopy and interaction with the trunk, where most of the volume, therefore, biomass of the vegetation is concentrated (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Dobson et al. 1992). HV polarization in longer wavelengths (L or P band) is the most sensitive to above ground biomass (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Ranson et al. 1997a) because it originates mainly from canopy volume scattering (Wang et al. 1995), trunk scattering (Le Toan et al. 1992) and is less affected by the ground surface (Ranson and Sun 1994). As forest backscatter in different wavelengths and polarizations originate from separate layers of a canopy, the use of multiple channels or multi-step approaches (e.g., Dobson et al. 1995) could be used to estimate total above-ground biomass (Kasischke et al. 1997). Sun and Ranson (1994) estimated biomass in mixed conifer temperate forest upto 250 Mg/ha. Band ratios (HH/HV and VV/VH) were also used for the above ground biomass estimation. However, Dobson et al. (1995) considered these band ratios too simplistic (as the corresponding backscatter will be much higher for the few tall trees than for the many short ones), although effective in estimating biomass at higher ranges. In spite of this, a combination of bands and polarizations in a multi-step approach made possible the mapping of biomass in a mixed temperate forest upto 250 Mg/ha (Dobson et al. 1995). Establishing a strong link between backscatter and forest variables is an important part of the successful estimation of forest biomass from backscatter. Models are often used to explain the relationship between forest variables, scattering mechanisms and SAR configuration parameters (Richards 1990, Kasischke and Christensen 1990). Another approach is the use of statistical analysis, where forest variables are related to SAR backscatter by regression models (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Rauste et al. 1994). The combination of the two approaches, in most cases to assess the results of the predicted biomass or backscatter via regression (Ranson and Sun 1994, Ferrazzoli et al. 1997, Franson and Israelson 1999). Statistical procedures such as stepwise regression analysis were also used to determine the best set of bands and pola

Vitality and Death in James Joyces The Dead Essay -- Joyce Dead Essay

Vitality and Death in The Dead  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In his short story The Dead, James Joyce creates a strong contrast between Gabriel, who is emotionally lifeless, and the other guests, who are physically aging and near death. Though physical mortality is inevitable, Joyce shows that emotional sterility is not, and Gabriel ultimately realizes this and decides that he must follow his passions. Throughout the story, a strong focus on death and mortality, a focus that serves as a constant reminder of our inevitable end of physical life, is prevalent in Joyce's selection of details. In the story, the unconquerable death ultimately triumphs over life, but it brings a triumph for the central character, not a loss. Despite the presence of death, the characters’ passions and individuality oppositely flourish, an irony that Joyce dares to make humorous. Every year Kate and Julia Morkan, two aging sisters, hold a dinner party at their house in Ireland for their relatives and music students and peers. The two ladies, often referred to as Aunts because of their relationship to the main character Gabriel Conroy, make sure to have a festive event full of dance and rich in food, although they are not wealthy. The story begins at the commencement of this party, and we first learn about Lily, the youngest person in the story, who serves as the housemaid. She is described as a growing girl, but also as "pale in complexion," indicating weakness and frailty. Even her "tagname, that of the funereal flower, serves as a symbol of death." Joyce comically describes the busy girl with a "hyperbolic figure of speech (‘run off her feet’), which although figurative, is offered to the reader to be accepted ‘literally,’" (Benstock 165) hinting at pending death. ... ... Gale, 1990. 239-245. Friedrich, Gerhard. "The Perspective of Joyce’s ‘Dubliners.’" College English (March 1965) Vol. 26 No. 6. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 166-169. Handy, William J. "’Joyce’s ‘The Dead.’" Modern Fiction: A Formalist Approach. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 183-189. Joyce, James. "The Dead." The Dubliners. Rpt. in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W W Norton & Company. 2345-2373. Magalaner, Marvin, and Kain, Richard M. Joyce: The Man, the Work, the Reputation. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 222-224. Walzl, Florence L. "Gabriel and Michael: The Conclusion of ‘The Dead.’" James Joyce Quarterly (Fall 1966) Vol. 4 No.1. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 233-239.       Vitality and Death in James Joyce's The Dead Essay -- Joyce Dead Essay Vitality and Death in The Dead  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In his short story The Dead, James Joyce creates a strong contrast between Gabriel, who is emotionally lifeless, and the other guests, who are physically aging and near death. Though physical mortality is inevitable, Joyce shows that emotional sterility is not, and Gabriel ultimately realizes this and decides that he must follow his passions. Throughout the story, a strong focus on death and mortality, a focus that serves as a constant reminder of our inevitable end of physical life, is prevalent in Joyce's selection of details. In the story, the unconquerable death ultimately triumphs over life, but it brings a triumph for the central character, not a loss. Despite the presence of death, the characters’ passions and individuality oppositely flourish, an irony that Joyce dares to make humorous. Every year Kate and Julia Morkan, two aging sisters, hold a dinner party at their house in Ireland for their relatives and music students and peers. The two ladies, often referred to as Aunts because of their relationship to the main character Gabriel Conroy, make sure to have a festive event full of dance and rich in food, although they are not wealthy. The story begins at the commencement of this party, and we first learn about Lily, the youngest person in the story, who serves as the housemaid. She is described as a growing girl, but also as "pale in complexion," indicating weakness and frailty. Even her "tagname, that of the funereal flower, serves as a symbol of death." Joyce comically describes the busy girl with a "hyperbolic figure of speech (‘run off her feet’), which although figurative, is offered to the reader to be accepted ‘literally,’" (Benstock 165) hinting at pending death. ... ... Gale, 1990. 239-245. Friedrich, Gerhard. "The Perspective of Joyce’s ‘Dubliners.’" College English (March 1965) Vol. 26 No. 6. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 166-169. Handy, William J. "’Joyce’s ‘The Dead.’" Modern Fiction: A Formalist Approach. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 183-189. Joyce, James. "The Dead." The Dubliners. Rpt. in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W W Norton & Company. 2345-2373. Magalaner, Marvin, and Kain, Richard M. Joyce: The Man, the Work, the Reputation. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 222-224. Walzl, Florence L. "Gabriel and Michael: The Conclusion of ‘The Dead.’" James Joyce Quarterly (Fall 1966) Vol. 4 No.1. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 233-239.      

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 14

The first person Rashel met in the mansion was Ivan. It was sheer dumb luck, the same luck that had helped keep her alive so far tonight. She slipped in the back door, the way she and the girls had gone out. Standing in the huge silent kitchen, she listened for an instant to the music that was still blasting from the inner house. Then she swiveled to check the cellar-and met Ivan the Terrible running up the stairs. He had clearly just discovered that his twenty-four valuable slave girls were missing. His blond hair was flying, his eyes were wide with alarm, his mouth was twisted. He had the taser in one hand and a bunch of plastic handcuffs-the kind police use on rioters-in the other. When Rashel suddenly appeared on the stairway, his eyes flew open even wider. His mouth opened in astonishment-and then Rashel's foot impacted with his forehead. The snap kick knocked him backward, and he tumbled down the stairs to hit the wooden door below. Rashel leaped after him, making it to the bottom only a second after he did. But he was already out. â€Å"What are these? Were you supposed to take some girls up?† She kicked at the plastic handcuffs. Ivan the Unconscious didn't answer. She glanced at her watch. Only a quarter to nine. Maybe he'd been taking the girls to get washed or something. It seemed too early to start the feast. Running noiselessly back up the stairs, she quietly closed the door. Now she had to follow the music. She needed to see where the vampires were, how they were situated, how she could best get at them. She wondered where Lily was. The kitchen opened into a grand dining room with an enormous built-in sideboard. It had undoubtedly been made to accommodate whole suckling pigs or something, but Rashel had a dreadful vision of a girl lying on that coffinlike mahogany shelf, hands tied behind her, while vampire after vampire stopped by to have a snack. She pushed the idea out of her mind and moved silently across the floorboards. The dining room led to a hall, and it was from the end of the hallway that music was coming. Rashel slipped into the dimly lit hall like a shadow, moving closer and closer to the doors there. The last door was the only one that showed light. That one, she thought. Before she could get near it, a figure blocked the light. Instantly Rashel darted through the nearest doorway. She held her breath, standing in the darkened room, watching the hall. If only one or two vampires came out, she could pick them off. But nobody came out and she realized it must have just been someone passing in front of the light. At the same moment she realized that the music was very loud. This wasn't another room-it was the same room. She was in one gigantic double parlor, with a huge wooden screen breaking it up into two separate spaces. The screen was solid, but carved into a lacy pattern that let flickering light through. Rashel thrust her knife in her waistband, then crept to the screen and applied her eye. A spacious room, very masculine, paneled like the dining room in mahogany and floored in cherry parquet. Glass brick windows-opaque. All Rashel's worry about somebody looking out had been for nothing. A fire burned in a massive fireplace, the light bringing out the ruddy tones in the wood. The whole room looked red and secret. And there they were. The vampires for the bloodfeast. Seven of the most powerful made vampires in the world, Fayth had said. Rashel counted heads swiftly. Yes, seven. No Lily. â€Å"You boys don't look that scary,† she murmured. That was one thing about made vampires. Unlike the lamia, who could stop aging-or start againwhenever they wanted, made vampires were stuck. And since the process of turning a human body into a vampire body was incredibly difficult, only a young human could survive it. Try to turn somebody over twenty into a vampire and they would burn out. Fry. Die. The result was that all made vampires were stuck as teenagers. What Rashel was looking at could have been the cast for some new TV soap about friends. Seven teenage guys, different sizes, different colors, but all Hollywood handsome, and all dressed to kill. They could have been talking and laughing about a fishing trip or a school dance†¦ except for their eyes. That was what gave them away, Rashel thought. The eyes showed a depth no high school guy could ever have. An experience, an intelligence†¦ and a coldness. Some of these teenagers were undoubtedly hundreds of years old, maybe thousands. All of them were absolutely deadly. Or else they wouldn't be here. They each expected to kill three innocent girls starting at midnight. These thoughts flashed through Rashel's mind in a matter of seconds. She had already decided on the best way to plunge into the room and start the attack. But one thing kept her from doing it. There were only seven vampires. And the eighth was the one she wanted. The client. The one who'd hired Quinn and set up the feast. Maybe it was one of these. Maybe that tall one with the dark skin and the look of authority. Or the silvery blond with the odd smile†¦. No. Nobody really looks like a host. I think it's the one who's still missing. But maybe she couldn't afford to wait. They might hear the powerboats leaving over the steady pounding of the music. Maybe she should just†¦ Something grabbed her from behind. This time she had no warning. And she wasn't surprised anymore. Her opinion of herself as a warrior had plummeted. She intended to fight, though. She went limp to loosen the grip, then reached between her own legs to grab her attacker's ankle. A jerk up would throw him off balance†¦. Don't do it. I don't want to have to stun you, but I will. Quinn. She recognized the mental voice, and the hand clamped across her mouth. And both the telepathy and the skin contact were having an effect on her. It wasn't like before; no lightning bolts, no explosions. But she was overwhelmed with a sense of Quinn. She seemed to feel his mind-and the feeling was one of drowning in dark chaos. A storm that seemed just as likely to kill Quinn as anyone else. He lifted her cleanly and backed out of the room with her, into the hall, then up a flight of stairs. Rashel didn't fight. She tried to clear her head and wait for an opportunity. By the time he'd pulled her into an upstairs room and shut the door, she realized that there wasn't going to be an opportunity. He was just too strong, and he could stun her telepathically the instant she moved to get away. The tables had turned. There was nothing to do now but hope that she could face death as calmly as he had. At least, she thought, it would put a stop to her confusion. He let go of her and she slowly turned to look at him. What she saw sent chills between her shoulder blades. His eyes were as dark and chaotic as the clouds she'd sensed in his mind. It was scarier than the cold hunger she'd seen in the eyes of the seven guys downstairs. Then he smiled. A smile that shed rainbows. Rashel pressed her back against the wall and tried to brace herself. â€Å"Give me the knife.† She simply looked at him. He pulled it out of her waistband and tossed it on the bed. â€Å"I don't like being knocked out,† he said. â€Å"I don't know why, but something about it really bothers me.† â€Å"Quinn, just get it over with.† â€Å"And it took me a while to get myself untied. Every time I meet you, I seem to end up hog-tied and unconscious. It's getting monotonous.† â€Å"Quinn†¦ you're a vampire. I'm a vampire hunter. Do what you have to.† â€Å"We're also always threatening each other. Have you noticed that? Of course, everything we keep saying is true. It is kill or be killed. And you've killed a lot of my people, Rashel the Cat.† â€Å"And you've killed a lot of mine, John Quinn.† He glanced away, looking into a middle distance. His pupils were enormous. â€Å"Less than you might think, actually. I don't usually kill to feed. But, yes, I've done enough. I said before, I know what you think of me.† Rashel said nothing. She was frightened and confused and had been under strain for quite a long time. She felt that at any moment she could snap. â€Å"We belong to two different races, races that hate each other. There's no way to get around that.† He turned his dark eyes back on her and gave her a brilliant smile. â€Å"Unless, of course, we change it.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"I'm going to make you a vampire.† Something inside Rashel seemed to give way and fall. She felt as if her legs might collapse. He couldn't mean it, he couldn't be serious. But he was. She could tell. There was a kind of surface serenity pasted over the dark roiling clouds in his eyes. So this was how he'd solved an unsolvable problem. He had snapped. Rashel whispered, â€Å"You know you can't do that.† â€Å"I know I can do that. It's very simple, actually- all we have to do is exchange blood. And it's the only way.† He took hold of her arms just above the elbow. â€Å"Don't you understand? As long as you're human, Night World law says you have to die if I love you.† Rashel stood stricken. Quinn had stopped short, as if he were startled himself by what he'd said. Then he gave an odd laugh and shook his head. â€Å"If I love you,† he repeated. â€Å"And that's the problem, of course. I do love you.† Rashel leaned against the wall for support. She couldn't think anymore. She couldn't even breathe properly. And somewhere deep inside her there was a trembling that wouldn't stop. â€Å"I've loved you from that first night, Rashel the Cat. I didn't want to admit it, but it was true.† He was still gripping her tightly by the arms, leaning close to her, but his eyes were distant, lost in the past. â€Å"I'd never met a human like you,† he said softly, as if remembering. â€Å"You were strong, you weren't weak and pathetic. You weren't looking for your own destruction. But you were going to let me go. Strength and compassion. And†¦ honor. Of course I loved you.† His dark eyes focused again. He looked at her sharply. â€Å"I'd have been crazy not to.† Falling into darkness†¦ Rashel had a terrifying desire to simply collapse in his arms. Give in. He was so strangely beautiful, and the power of his personality was overwhelming. And of course she loved him, too. That was suddenly excruciatingly clear. Undeniable. From the beginning he had struck a chord in her that no one else had ever touched. He was so much like her-a hunter, a fighter. But he had honor, too. However he might try to deny it or get around it, deep inside him there was still honor. And like her, he knew the dark side of life, the pain, the violence. They had both seen-and done-things that normal people wouldn't understand. She was supposed to hate him†¦ but from the beginning she'd seen herself in him. She had felt the bond, the connection between them†¦. Rashel shook her head. â€Å"No!† She had to stop thinking these things. She would not surrender to the darkness. â€Å"You can't stop me, you know,† Quinn said softly. â€Å"That ought to make things easier for you. You don't even have to make a decision. It's all my fault. I'm very, very bad, and I'm going to make you a vampire.† Somehow that gave Rashel her voice back. â€Å"How can you do that-to someone you love?† she spat. â€Å"Because I don't want you dead! Because as long as you're human, you're going to get yourself killed!† He put his face close to hers, their foreheads almost touching. â€Å"I will not let you kill yourself,† he said through his teeth. â€Å"If you make me a vampire, I will kill myself,† Rashel said. Her mind had cleared. However much she wanted to give in, however enticing the darkness might be, it all disappeared when she thought of how it would end. She would be a vampire. She'd be driven by bloodlust to do things that would horrify her right now. And she'd undoubtedly find excuses for doing them. She would become a monster. Quinn was looking shaken. She'd scared him, she could see it in his eyes. â€Å"You'll feel differently once it's done,† he said. â€Å"No. Listen to me, Quinn.† She kept her eyes on his, looking deep, trying to let him see the truth of what she was saying. â€Å"If you make me a vampire, the moment I wake up I'll stab myself with my own knife. Do you think I'm not brave enough?† â€Å"You're too brave; that's your problem.† He was faltering. The surface serenity was breaking up. But that wasn't really helpful, Rashel realized, because underneath it was an agony of desperate confusion. Quinn really couldn't see any other solution. Rashel couldn't see any herself-except that she didn't really expect to survive tonight. Quinn's face hardened, and she could see him pushing away doubts. â€Å"You'll get used to it,† he said harshly, his voice grating. â€Å"You'll see. Let's start now,† he added. And then he bit her. He was so fast. Unbelievably fast. He caught her jaw and tilted her head back and to the side-not roughly but with an irresistible control and precision. Then before Rashel had time to scream, she felt a hot sting. She felt teeth, vampire teeth, extended to an impossible delicacy and sharpness, pierce her flesh. This is it. This is death. Panic flooded her. But it wasn't death, of course-not yet. She wouldn't even be changed into a vampire by a single exchange of blood. No, instead it would be slow torture†¦ days of agony†¦ pain†¦. She kept waiting for the pain. Instead she felt a strange warmth and languor. Was he actually drinking her blood? All she could sense was Quinn's mouth nuzzling at her neck, his arms around her tightly. And†¦ His mind. It happened all at once. In a sudden silent explosion, white light engulfed her. It burst around her. She was floating in it. Quinn was floating in it. It was shining around them and through them, and she could feel a connection with Quinn that made their last connection seem like a faulty telephone line. She knew him. She could see him, his soul, whatever you wanted to call it, whatever it was that made him John Quinn. They seemed to be floating together in some other space, in a naked white light that revealed everything and mercilessly lit up all the most secret places. And if anyone had asked her, Rashel would have said that would be horrible, and she would have run for her life to get away from it. But it wasn't horrible. She could see dreadful dark bits in Quinn's mind, and dreadful dark bits in hers. Tangled, thorny, scary parts, full of anger and hate. But there were so many other parts-some of them almost unused-that were beautiful and strong and whole. There was so much potential. Rainbow places that were aching to grow. Other parts that seemed to quiver with light, desperate to be awakened. We ask so little of ourselves, Rashel thought in wonder. If everybody's like this-we stunt ourselves so badly. We could be so much more†¦. I don't want you to be more. You ‘re amazing enough the way you are. It was Quinn. Not even his voice, just-Quinn. His thoughts. And Rashel knew her thoughts flowed to him without her even making an effort. You know what I mean. Isn't this strange? Does this always happen with vampires? Nothing like this has ever happened to me in my life, Quinn said. What he felt was even more, and Rashel could sense it directly, in a dizzying sweet wave. There was an understanding between them that ran deeper than any words could convey. Whatever was happening to them, however they had gotten to this place, one thing was obvious. Under the white light that revealed their inner selves, it was clear that small differences like being vampire or human didn't matter. They were both just people. John Quinn and Rashel Jordan. People who were stumbling through life trying to deal with the hurt. Because there was hurt. There was pain in the landscape of Quinn's mind. Rashel sensed it without words or even images; she could feel the feelings that had scarred Quinn. Your father did something-he killed Dove? Oh, John. Oh, John, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Rainbow lights shimmered when she called him John. It was the part of him that he had repressed the most ruthlessly. The part that she could almost feel growing in her presence. No wonder you hated humans. After everything you'd ken through, to have your own father want you dead†¦ And no wonder you hated vampires. They killed someone dose to you-your mother? And you were so young. I'm†¦ sorry. He wasn't as easy with words as she was, but here they didn't need words. She could sense his sorrow, his shame, and his fierce protectiveness. And she could sense the emotion behind his next question. Who did it? I don't know. I'll probably never know. Rashel didn't want to pursue it. She didn't want to feed the dark side of Quinn; she wanted to see more of the shimmering light. She wanted to make the light grow until the dark disappeared. Rashel, that may not be possible. Quinn's thought wasn't bitter; it was serious and gentle. Tinged with infinite regret. I may not be able to become anything better- Of course you can. We all can. Rashel cut him off with absolute determination. She could feel the bone-deep cold that had set into him years ago, that he'd allowed to set in. I won't let you be cold, she told him, and she went for a romp in his mind, kissing things and blowing warmth into them, thinking sunlight and comfort everywhere. Please stop; I think you're killing me. Quinn's thought was shaky-half serious and half hysterical, like the helpless gasp of somebody being tickled to death. Rashel's whole being was singing with elation. She was young-how strange that she had never really felt young until now-and she was in love and stronger than she had ever been before. She had John Quinn the vampire squirming and semi-hysterical. She was unstoppable. Anything was possible. I'll make everything be right, she told Quinn, and she was happy to see that she'd driven his doubt and his sadness away, at least for the moment. Do you really want me to stop? No. Quinn sounded dazed now-and bemused. I've decided I'll enjoy dying this way. But†¦ Rashel couldn't follow the rest of his thought, but she felt a new coldness, something like a wind from outside. Outside. She'd forgotten there was an outside. In here, in the private cocoon of their minds, there was nothing but her and Quinn. It was almost as if nothing else existed. But†¦ There was a whole world out there. Other people. Things happening. Things Rashel had to stop†¦. â€Å"Oh, God, Quinn-the vampires.†

Descartes Optics

Descanter's theories of light and vision were central components of his natural philosophy, closely linked to his cosmology, physics, theory of matter, and theory of perception. Descartes replaced traditional explanations of natural phenomena with explanations hidden under terms of matter and motion. By eliminating these theories, Descartes needed to formulate new explanations of the qualities of bodies and our perception of them. In other words Descartes goes on to call into question one's ability to fully understand the things, which our eyes see.His work on optics focused on these questions. In the discussion, Descartes draws a comparison between a blind man's abilities to understand the shape and sensations of objects, and our ability to understand an object's color with our sight. This raises the question of our senses' ability to interpret the world around us with accuracy. Highlights in the text Inventions, which serve to increase its power, are among the most useful. Color: v arious ways in which bodies receive light and reflect it in our eyes The differences a blind man notices between trees, rocks etc. Not seem any less to him than the differences between red, yellow etc. Thus: there is no need to suppose that something material passes from objects to our eyes to make us see colors and light, or even that there is something in the objects which resembles the ideas or sensations that we have of them. You must think of rays of light as nothing other than the lines along which this action tends. Thus, there is infinity of such rays, which come from all the points of the luminous body towards all the points of the bodies it illuminates.There are bodies, which break up the light-rays that meet them and take away all their force (black). There are others, which cause rays to be reflected, some in the same order at which they receive them (bodies with highly polished surfaces). Some bodies cause the rays to be reflected without bringing about any other change in their action (white). Others bring about an additional change similar to that which the movement of a ball undergoes when we graze it (red, yellow, blue, etc. ). The soul has sensory awareness because of its presence in the brain, where it exercises the faculty called the ‘ common' sense.The perfection of an image often depends on its not resembling its object as it might (example: with a little bit of ink you can create a forest) Lemma Optics n. (Used with a sing. Verb) 1 . The branch of physics that deals with light and vision, chiefly the generation, propagation, and detection of electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths greater than x-rays and shorter than microwaves. 2. What something will look like to the outside world; the perception a public relations person would have on something. . The viewing lens of public perception.How the media will play a story. Ad]. N. Comprehensive 1. Marked by or showing extensive understanding: comprehensive knowledge. 2. Having the ability to understand 3. Having or marked by an extensive mental range or grasp: comprehensive understanding. 1 . The act of taking to or upon oneself: assumption of an obligation. 2. The act of taking possession or asserting a claim: assumption of command. 3. The act of taking for granted: assumption of a false theory. 4. Something taken for granted or accepted s true without proof; a supposition: a valid assumption. . Presumption; arrogance. 6. Logic A minor premise. 7. Assumption a. Christianity The taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven in body and soul after her death. B. A feast celebrating this event. C. August 15, the day on which this feast is observed. Hence DVD. A. For this reason; therefore: handmade and hence expensive. B. From this source: They grew up in the Sudan; hence their interest in Nubian art. 2. From this time; from now: A year hence it will be forgotten. 3. A. From this place; away from here: Get you hence! . From this life. Brim 1 .The rim or uppermost ed ge of a hollow container or natural basin. 2. A projecting rim or edge: the brim off hat. 3. A border or an edge. See Synonyms at border. 4. Full capacity: â€Å"No sooner had the fighting started than the hotel filled to the brim with a most extraordinary collection of people† (George Orwell). Per;chive try. V. Perceived, perceives 1 . To become aware of directly through any of the senses, especially sight or hearing. 2. To achieve understanding of; apprehend. See Synonyms at sell . Perceiver n. Coarse ad]. Oars;ere, soars;est. 1 .Of low, common, or inferior quality. 2. A. Lacking in delicacy or refinement: coarse manners. B. Vulgar or indecent: coarse language. 3. Consisting of large particles; not fine in texture: coarse sand. 4. Rough, especially to the touch: a coarse tweed. Coarsely DVD. Coarseness n. Liable ad] (postposition) 1 . (Law) legally obliged or responsible; answerable 2. Susceptible or exposed; subject 3. Probable, likely, or capable it's liable to happen soo n [perhaps via Anglo-French, from Old French lire to bind, from Latin legГre] liableness Usage: Usage.The use of liable to to mean likely to was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable Deflection 1 . The act of deflecting or the condition of being deflected. 2. Deviation or a specified amount of deviation. 3. The deviation of an indicator of a measuring instrument from zero or from its normal position. 4. The movement of a structure or structural part as a result of stress. Deflect intra. & try. V. Deflect;deed, deflect;ins, deflects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. Deflects;blew ad]. Deflective ad]. Deflector n. Refraction 1.The turning or bending of any wave, such as a light or sound wave, when it passes from one medium into another of different optical density. 2. Astronomy The apparent change in position of celestial objects caused by the bending of light rays entering Earth's atmosphere. 3. Medicine a. The ability of the eye to bend light so that an image is focused on the retina. B. Determination of the refractive characteristics of the eye. Refraction;al, refractive ad]. Refractive;lay DVD. Refractive;nesses, n A;do (-d) Bustle; fuss; trouble; bother. V. try.

Journal Entry 4 Example

Journal Entry 4 Example Journal Entry 4 – Coursework Example Journal Entry 4 al affiliation Learning is a continuous process involving the exposure of learners to new concepts using the available teaching aids. The quality of learning is often reflected in the learners’ ability to conceptualize and deliver knowledge gained from learning. Selective choice of teaching materials enhances the effectiveness of learning. A well-designed curriculum prescribes the best type of teaching materials which have an overriding effect on the performance of learners. The genre and text structure used in reference books, for instance, determines the ability of learners to comprehend the context of the literature therein (Lipson however, is determined by the nature of transition between learning materials (Lipson thus subjecting them to a similar curriculum is imperatively detrimental. Learners ought to be subjected to different curricula to encourage reading and writing. The curriculum prescribes the relevant teaching materials that are appropriate for learners at different stages of learning and with different learning abilities.ReferencesLipson, M., & Wixson, K.K. (2013). Assessment of Reading and Writing Difficulties: An Interactive Approach, 5thEdition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Annotated Bibliography Alphabetical Order Example for a Paper on Macroeconomics

Annotated Bibliography Alphabetical Order Example for a Paper on Macroeconomics They say that you have to write an annotated bibliography to better get acquainted with the topic of your research. Usually, your professor asks you to do that before you start working on the actual paper, and, indeed, you find out more about the subject of your analysis, spot what has already been done in the field and how you can contribute to it. The reason students twitch every time someone mentions annotated bibliography is that there are certain rules you have to follow while writing it – formatting details, a particular structure, and alphabetic order. Why is the last one so important? Because that’s the detail that students often get fried on and lose points: they mix up the order, sort out the sources by the first name of the author or the title of the piece (the right option is the author’s last name), etc. Make sure you avoid these sneaky errors and have a look at our sample list of annotated bibliography (alphabetical order strictly followed) formatted in APA. If you have another citation style for your paper, look up its rules. Dullien, S. (2017). Macroeconomics in Context: A European Perspective. Routledge. The book is an up-to-date, comprehensive source of information on macroeconomics that is regarded not in theory, but in contexts connected with history, modern events, people’s well-being. It deals with European economic crisis, unemployment, and most importantly Brexit which is the subject of my research. Kraay, A. (2012). How Much Does GDP Increase When Public Spending Increase? Research Digest, 6 (4), 3. The author summarizes his book in this article which touches upon the GDP increase in developing countries. The most significant data included in it and connected with our scientific macroeconomic exploration is that it develops the notion of public spending increasing the GDP. Peach, Rich, Linder. (2013). The Parts Are More than Whole: Separating Goods and Services to Predict Core Inflation. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 19 (7). The article considers a model for a better and more accurate prediction of core inflation and factors that may influence it – mainly import prices, labor market, and economic expectations. This model, if used correctly, can provide high-quality forecasts for the market. Tickamyer, A. (2017). Rural Poverty in the United States. Columbia University Press. This is an extensive analysis of the poverty in the rural areas that captures the period starting from the Civil War to the present. It attempts to determine the reasons of such a modern state, uses the experience to avoid mistakes and builds new theories that might help to avoid rural poverty in the USA. As you can see from these examples, in a brief description you express the main subject matter of the source and explain how it contributes to your research. You basically persuade your supervisor or the committee that it is good enough to be on the (alphabetically structured!!!) list of your references and be used to explore your topic. The length of these descriptions may depend on your university requirements, but usually, it’s no more than 2-3 sentences. So, gather your references and go ahead!

A Plan to Decrease the Dropout Rate among School Students

A Plan to Decrease the Dropout Rate among School Students SCENERIO ABC High School has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students who are choosing to drop out of school over the past decade. The reasons are limitless. They range from failure to identify students who may be at risk of dropping out, to inadequate academic programming to accommodate at risk students, to lack of parental concern and involvement. Therefore, the Academic Council has developed a comprehensive plan that will address the issue of the student dropout rate and provide goals and actions to take to decrease the dropout rate among our high school students. For the purpose of this writing, dropout rate is defined as the rate at which students withdraw from school during grades nine through twelve and who do not attain a General Education Degree (GED). TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Scenario Table of Contents Demographics Background Statement of the Problem Members of Planning Committee: Leadership Team Initial Meeting and Future Meetings Mission Belief/Statement Paramet ers Scanning Tools SWOT Analysis Literature Review Goals Strategic Communication to Share Plan Action Teams Action Plans Communication of Results/Outcomes Future Recommendations References/Bibliography Appendix/Appendices DEMOGRAPHICS ABC High School is located at 1234 School Way, Your Town, GA; a rural area in the North Georgia mountains. The student population is comprised of the following: Enrollment 1997 Students per Teacher Ratio 16.4:1 Economically Disadvantaged 51.3% Breakdown by Ethnicity for Students – White 84.0% Black 0.4% Hispanic 13.7% Asian/Pacific Islander 0.5% American Indian/Alaska Native 0.2% Number of students eligible for free and/or reduced meals 1116 Number of teachers 128 Degrees held by teachers Bachelor’s Degree 45.1% Master’s Degree 34.2% Master’s Degree + 30 Hours 15.3% Doctoral Degree 2.7% Description of organization Began in 1934 with 300 students and 13 teachers Eight classrooms Small library Office A partial basement housed classrooms for agriculture and science classes Description of community Businesses in area Automotive repair Carpet industry Computer and electronics Food and dining Home – indoor/outdoor Real estate Travel and recreation Business services Community services Finance Health and personal care Legal Shopping Religious entities 26 churches in ABC High School area Baptist (includes Southern Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Independent Baptist), Methodist, Pentecostal, and Non-Denominational Other educational facilities 1 four-year college within 30 miles of ABC High School Community celebrations (what’s important in this area) Sporting events Town festivals Parent educational levels Number of people who have achieved the following levels of education: No high school 3316 Some high school 4601 Some college 3726 Associates Degree 967 Bachelor’s Degree 1321 Graduate Degree 695 BACKGROUND The dropout rate among high school students has steadily increased o ver the past decade. In several of the largest school systems across the country half of the students are dropping out (Thomas and Date, 2006). Some of the contributing factors to this increase are a lack of appropriate measures to identify students who may be at risk of dropping out, a lack of adequate and appropriate programs that will foster academic achievement for at-risk high school students, and a failure to educate parents on the importance of their participation in the education process of their child. What events have occurred over the past decade that affected the dropout rate? There are less stringent consequences for students who do not attend school, as well for parents who do not actively participate in the educational progress of their child. There is a decrease in parental involvement, due in part to mothers returning to the workforce. There is an increase in the occurrence of teen pregnancy and teen parenthood.

Relationships Between Inequality and Industrialization Research Paper

Relationships Between Inequality and Industrialization - Research Paper Example Weber (72) argues that transformation in modern society has contributed to varied changes; thus, he emphasizes on the work ethic. He asserts that capitalism is nowadays common in society, and this is associated with capitalism in society. Many people in developed nations have become capitalists because of industrialization. Capitalism is associated with issues of inequalities because the rich tend to be richer, whereas the poor remains to be poorer. The industrialists face the problem of inequalities when trying to employ a pre-capitalist workforce. The labourers spend less time in the production process, in the capitalist society, but this displaces many people in the workplace because of the use of machines; thus rendering many of them jobless. The capitalism in the industrialized society arises because of rational decisions for economic advantage. In the proletarians and communism theories of Marx, he reveals that inequalities arise due to different social classes in society (Marx par.1). These classes struggle with their competitors to achieve independent existence. The same phenomenon contributes to the division of labour, which can only be eliminated by the ownership of property and labour itself (Marx par 4). The division of the labour process is common in contemporary society. This arises because of increased industrialization process; thus creating personal powers into material powers. Hence, the issue of communism is essential because the community plays significant roles in the abolition of labour division.

Importance Of The Studying English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Importance Of The Studying English - Essay Example This essay will continue to explain the value and excellence that I as an individual have achieved in my quest to improve at a language, that is not my own. To begin with, all my courses have been in the English language. This has ensured that my command of the language is excellent enough for me to comprehend and grasp the meaning behind what I am studying. This is evident in the various essays I have written in and out of class. The first and second in-class essays required an opinion on conflicts affecting the world and its participation today coupled with the role played by politicians and their personal lives. It is immensely difficult for a student with a sparse knowledge of the English language to write an essay portraying their opinion. Yet, I was able to do so without any hesitance or problems. The problem, that arises for any foreign student is their means of translating their native tongue into the English language while thinking of an argument to write in the essay. Howev er, I did not feel compelled to think in my native tongue. Instead I chose to write all my drafts in English before perfecting it for the final draft. While this may seem like a small feat to those honed for English writing, it is a great accomplishment for an individual like me. Other examples that prove my fluency in English are the out of class essays that had to be submitted for this course.

Grieving and Support of a Dying Patient Case Study

Grieving and Support of a Dying Patient - Case Study Example It was important to conduct an assessment before this decision, so Mary's needs and wishes can be ascertained and incorporated in the care plan. Her assessment included the nature of her condition, type 2 diabetes, social circumstances, experience of healthcare, approach to life, mental health status, psychological wellbeing, and cultural, religious, and spiritual views. Taking Mary's condition into account, she lives in a remote area, where healthcare access is sparse, and the acute specialized care available will be less. Therefore, an open and honest communication with Mary was initiated. She was obviously grieving, and it was my job to identify the triggers for discussion. In this discussion, she was communicated regarding the agreed care plan, and over the time, review of her needs and preferences were made. The needs of care included not only maintenance of her diet and blood sugars, and prevention of other complications without heroic treatment, since she preferred to die at home. The ultimate outcome for dying patients is to achieve good end of life care and a good death.

When in Rome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

When in Rome - Essay Example There are impÐ ¾rtant salt flats near the city Ð ¾f RÐ ¾me, because salt is sÐ ¾ impÐ ¾rtant in the ancient wÐ ¾rld. As RÐ ¾mans expanded their empire they encÐ ¾untered many different envirÐ ¾nments. The RÐ ¾man army had tÐ ¾ learn different ways Ð ¾f fighting ways Ð ¾f cÐ ¾nquering different areas. During the periÐ ¾d Ð ¾f the RÐ ¾man Empire (100 B.C. tÐ ¾ 500 A.D.) RÐ ¾mans had envirÐ ¾nmental advantage Ð ¾f cÐ ¾ntrÐ ¾lling the Mediterranean Sea. AlsÐ ¾ anÐ ¾ther advantage is getting fÐ ¾Ã ¾ds and materials frÐ ¾m lÐ ¾ts Ð ¾f different envirÐ ¾nments. YÐ ¾u cÐ ¾uld get tin frÐ ¾m England, wÐ ¾Ã ¾d frÐ ¾m Germany, cÐ ¾ttÐ ¾n frÐ ¾m Egypt, and silver frÐ ¾m Spain. RÐ ¾mans started Ð ¾ff as farmers and shepherds. They never lÐ ¾st the lÐ ¾ve Ð ¾f "simple"cÐ ¾untry life. In the spring farmers prepared field strips using heavy flÐ ¾ws pulled by an Оxen. They planted by seeds by hand. They tÐ ¾Ã ¾ls farmers used were irÐ ¾n spades, hÐ ¾es, wÐ ¾Ã ¾den rakes fÐ ¾r cutting grass, they have knifes fÐ ¾r cutting wheat called sickles and scythes. Even thÐ ¾ugh they have knifes they invented a wheat cutting machine called Vallus. A vallus is a 2-weeled cart pushed by a hÐ ¾rse Ð ¾r mule. Farmers tÐ ¾Ã ¾k crÐ ¾ps frÐ ¾m Asia and the Mediterranean all Ð ¾ver EurÐ ¾pe. They were alsÐ ¾ RÐ ¾man dÐ ¾ctÐ ¾rs. They relied Ð ¾n a mixture Ð ¾f cÐ ¾mmÐ ¾n sense, superstitiÐ ¾n and what had wÐ ¾rked befÐ ¾re. They didnt understand the causes Ð ¾f disease. DÐ ¾ctÐ ¾rs were usually men. SÐ ¾me medicines are based Ð ¾n plants. PÐ ¾ppy seed is Ð ¾ne Ð ¾f the main seed medicines. PÐ ¾ppy seed juice is given tÐ ¾ crying babies because it helped them tÐ ¾ sleep. The mÐ ¾dern pain-killing drug mÐ ¾rphine is made frÐ ¾m pÐ ¾ppy seed. Ancient RÐ ¾man wÐ ¾men wÐ ¾re lÐ ¾Ã ¾se tunics. The main garment is an ankle length stÐ ¾la tied at the waist belÐ ¾w their breast. A brÐ ¾Ã ¾ch at the shÐ ¾ulder fastened the stÐ ¾la. Оver it, a rectangle clÐ ¾th usually drÐ ¾pped Ð ¾ver Ð ¾ne shÐ ¾ulder, arÐ ¾und back. They usually wÐ ¾re sandals. At hÐ ¾me they wÐ ¾re elegant

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities - Essay Example This paper discusses that  the leadership style survey test helped to assess the leadership style I normally operated out of.   After taking the self-assessment test, I computed my highest score to be that of a participative or democratic leader.   Clark explained that the best leaders â€Å"operate out of the participative mode and use the other two modes as needed†.   He cites an instance when the firm would have a new crew or a temporary work force.   Such a leader has to practice a more authoritarian type of leadership in order to get the crew to work efficiently. But for a leader who is already working with professionals or a crew which knows more about the work than he does, then a leader can best apply a delegative style of leadership.   For these instances, a participative leader makes the necessary adjustments in leadership styles based on the situation he or she is faced with.This study declares that  for the leaders who want their members to grow beyon d their employee status and knowledge, the participative leadership style helps these employees adjust and grow into their jobs.   In the interim, these employees are usually given more authority over their jobs.  Some leaders may exemplify with an impoverished leadership style, where they are weak on both tasks and on people skills; some may be authoritarian, where they are strong on tasks and weak on people skills; some may be socialites and be weak on tasks and strong on people skills; and the rest may be on the middle-of-the-road leaders, and with more experience can later manifest with good team leadership skills.

Grieving and Support of a Dying Patient Case Study

Grieving and Support of a Dying Patient - Case Study Example It was important to conduct an assessment before this decision, so Mary's needs and wishes can be ascertained and incorporated in the care plan. Her assessment included the nature of her condition, type 2 diabetes, social circumstances, experience of healthcare, approach to life, mental health status, psychological wellbeing, and cultural, religious, and spiritual views. Taking Mary's condition into account, she lives in a remote area, where healthcare access is sparse, and the acute specialized care available will be less. Therefore, an open and honest communication with Mary was initiated. She was obviously grieving, and it was my job to identify the triggers for discussion. In this discussion, she was communicated regarding the agreed care plan, and over the time, review of her needs and preferences were made. The needs of care included not only maintenance of her diet and blood sugars, and prevention of other complications without heroic treatment, since she preferred to die at home. The ultimate outcome for dying patients is to achieve good end of life care and a good death.

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities - Essay Example This paper discusses that  the leadership style survey test helped to assess the leadership style I normally operated out of.   After taking the self-assessment test, I computed my highest score to be that of a participative or democratic leader.   Clark explained that the best leaders â€Å"operate out of the participative mode and use the other two modes as needed†.   He cites an instance when the firm would have a new crew or a temporary work force.   Such a leader has to practice a more authoritarian type of leadership in order to get the crew to work efficiently. But for a leader who is already working with professionals or a crew which knows more about the work than he does, then a leader can best apply a delegative style of leadership.   For these instances, a participative leader makes the necessary adjustments in leadership styles based on the situation he or she is faced with.This study declares that  for the leaders who want their members to grow beyon d their employee status and knowledge, the participative leadership style helps these employees adjust and grow into their jobs.   In the interim, these employees are usually given more authority over their jobs.  Some leaders may exemplify with an impoverished leadership style, where they are weak on both tasks and on people skills; some may be authoritarian, where they are strong on tasks and weak on people skills; some may be socialites and be weak on tasks and strong on people skills; and the rest may be on the middle-of-the-road leaders, and with more experience can later manifest with good team leadership skills.

Bond and Curve Essay Example for Free

Bond and Curve Essay The first tool that we want to use to look at news, news for fixed income. So what we’ll do is we’ll navigate down to the bottom of the menu, and we’ll click on 14 NBOND for bond news. Clicking that, it’ll load a very familiar page for you. This is the news categories. And you’ll notice on the top left in the toolbar it says bonds. So now we have our top bond news. This isn’t just our top bond news, but also we can choose popular news, and we can also see all news for bonds. You can customize the type of fixed income news by either clicking on customize and choosing from there, or if you click new search you can also type in additional fixed income topics like credit markets, municipal bonds, additional categories that I already have in my particular monitor here. Now for the next screen that we would like to look at is economic calendar. This is another screen that you should be familiar with already from the other videos, but let’s type in ECO for economic calendar. And from here, specifically for fixed income, we can focus on releases within the top left menu. If we click the economic releases and go down to government auctions, this is going to bring up the auctions for the United States in particular. You can change the country. If you want to put in Germany, you can type in Germany. And notice if we go back to the United States, all the current releases are in white and all the future releases are going to be in amber, just like before. If you want to see the results of those, you can again click into that release and you can see that data in there as well the news stories listed below. Now for an overview of the global fixed income markets, we can type WB for world bond markets, and then hit the go key. Notice that we have our countries on the left hand side, and across from those we have columns for information like price, the change in price, yield, change in yield, a charge of the yield. And then on the right side, we have a relative value performance of how do we look – how is the yield now versus the average over a period? In this case, we’re comparing the yield of now in blue versus the average, which is in three months. You can change that easily by clicking one week, for example, and now you can see if the yield is wider or tighter than the average that you specified on the top right. In addition, you can change the maturity of the bonds. If you want to look at five years, change it to five years and that’ll update – that’ll update accordingly. It’ll show you the individual securities here. If you want to see any additional information from those, you can actually click on the name of the country, and that’ll take you into a deeper level menu where now you can see the different tenors of that curve. You can see the curve spreads, butterflies, additional information there that you can explore. Let’s hit the menu key. We also have two additional tabs. If you click on spreads, that’ll give you spreads relative to the country you have selected. If you want to see spreads relative to Italy, we can choose Italy from the list. And now it’s giving you the spread of Italy versus the United States in blue. Additionally, you have the spread chart and the historical comparison available just like in the bonds tab. Lastly, we have the curves tab. And what that’s doing is it’s letting you compare all these countries with a side by side of each point on that curve so you can get a quick and real-time update of those curves and how they’re moving. Now WB is a monitor with real-time information that rates (ph) currently trading in the market. For an overview of bond yield forecasts, we can look at BYFC and hit go. Now BYFC will give you bond yield forecasts for multiple points on the curve, as well as three-month benchmark rates, as well as tenor spreads that you can specify up on the top right. You can narrow down the countries or focus on the countries based on your region on the top. And going back to let’s say the United States, BYFC has six quarters worth of forecasts. And these forecasts are contributed to us by economists and market researchers on a monthly basis by our Bloomberg monthly news surveys. When you click into the particular bond tenor, it’ll mention who forecasts, as well as the statistical information that corresponds with those surveys and when they were received. For a real-time monitor of benchmark rates, you can use BTMM. BTMM is our treasury and money markets monitor. This can be specified by country. You can change your country on the top left and then navigate based on the region and choose the country directly from there. Now we have rates from – deposit rates, all of our benchmark rates. It also includes treasury rates on the left side, as well as even the gold spot rate and equity index futures. This is a great way for market players and for you to get a pulse in real time what the rates are as they change in the market. To conduct curve comparison, to look at a curve for a particular country, to look at their CDS curve, rate curve, we can look at all those by typing CRVFgo for curve finder. Within the curve finder, along the top the tabs will show you what types of curves we have available. Within those, we can navigate by country. We can also look on the far side and see based on those countries what we have available. Now in our example, let’s search for the A US corporate curve. If we go to credit and then we look at industrial, we can then select the A. And we wanted to see this in US dollars, so we can click on US industrials A BVAL curve. Now that we have selected that curve, we can go to the bottom right and click show selected curves. Now we can see the curve for the US industrial A curve where we have the one-year through 30-year rate. These are the yields of the curve, and we also have some additional curves on the far right that I’ve added in the past. But right now we’re only seeing the industrial A curve. We have the yields down here on the bottom, and if we want to see this as of a historical date, then we can see how did that curve look one week ago. If we click on the one W at the top, now we can see the current curve versus the curve of one week ago, and then the spread between those two. If we want to enter a custom date instead, we can enter those dates here by clicking, and then we can put in the dates on the top. Now if we want to specify a custom date, we can go to the more tab. Then once we select, we can drop the custom date and then enter, let’s say, March 9, 2012. When we click update, now our curve will show March 9, 2012, along with the other dates there. If we want to add another curve and see how does this industrial curve compare to, maybe we could use the US swap curve here, we can just check that curve. And now you’ll see the other curve is in a different color and you can see them charted against each other. You can always unselect – you can always remove those curves as you like. If you want to add a curve that’s specific, you can click to browse, and then use that same menu and navigation to go to your next curve. The last thing I want to show you with the curve is to click menu to go back. And we can see these data points numerically in a table if we scroll our mouse or hit the page forward key on our keyboard, which is the green key next to our menu key that you used before. Now you can see for each curve what that historical date was in the table. All the applications we’ve discussed today have all been market monitors and broad-level overview. Now let’s move into actually finding a screen for securities. Then we’ll close with looking at individual security applications. Now, to start, the easiest application that we have to do a security find is to actually use SECF, go. SECF is our security finder. And what that allows you to do is to browse Bloomberg’s universe of securities and statistics. Now the security finder is really in two sections. The top is our control area, which allows you to look at the individual tabs by asset class, as well as the search tool at the very top left. The second half is really the output section, the section that’s going to show you the results in a table, and then it’ll let you search by relevancy. Now let’s say that we have an example where we want to search for a bond from IBM. We can click on 32FI, and then notice that we have always additional buttons across the bottom. Now we have this for corporates, but in addition, if you happen to look for bond futures, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, loans, those are available there too. For IBM, we’ll stay on corporate. And then in the issuer name, we can type in IBM for International Business Machines. Alternatively, you could also type in IBM as the ticker since that’s the actual corporate ticker for IBM. Here we can actually look through the list and search what coupon we were looking for. We can do that, or we can actually narrow it out and type in 7.5 and – if that’s the coupon we’re looking for – and then it’ll show it right there. It’ll give us brief statistics in that list. And then when you’re ready to actually load that security for analysis, then you can actually click on that security and it’ll launch that for you. Now if you would rather use the search box instead of narrowing it down through these filters, you can clear that from the list. And then in the top where it says search, you can type IBM. We were looking at the 7.5 percent coupon. When we hit go, then again it’ll show us our result here. If you wish to do a more sophisticated search, you can definitely do that within Bloomberg. In order to do that search, you would type SRCH and then hit go. Within SRCH, you can do an advanced search for corporates and government bonds. To do so, start out with clicking on the top red – top right red advanced search button. Now you’ll see your difference choices on the left for your filtering. If you wish to specify an issue date or a maturity date, you can go into issuance information 2, click there, and then you can enter that information here. Additionally, covenants. You can definitely select any one of these check boxes. You can just definitely notice these gray tabs as you scroll across the top. This is where you’re going to get your additional information. You can narrow it down by credit ratings and choose. Let’s say you want to use SP ratings and you want to include only investment grade in your search. Now you can either individually select, or you can click investment grade and then click update. You can also – if you want to specify a particular range of yields or a particular price range, you can click 7, inventory and analytical data. And then down here in the middle you can specify your prices or your yields. We’ll make our search very broad and we’ll put in 1 to 10 percent, and then click update. This is – this is not the exhaustive list. You can click any one of these. And you’ll notice that we also again have additional tabs here if you want to sort by sector. The list goes on. Now let’s click 1 go. The way to see your search results is to click 1, go to search. Notice that we have over 30,000 results. We’ll only see 5,000 of those results in this screen. In addition, if you were to export this to Excel, which you can definitely do, that will also be limited to a maximum of 5,000 results, just as – as a note for that. You can also save this search. If this is a search that you need to run again, then you can go to options, save search, and then you can come back to this search in the future and rerun it. And in the future, you may have – you’ll have the opportunity to have those different results. Now let’s – let’s look at screens that pertain to individual securities. Before we were looking at a bond with a 7.5 percent coupon from IBM. We can type IBM at the top, and then 7.5. Notice that our auto complete helps find that security. So you can use SECF that we discussed before, or you can use auto complete to type in your security if you have the – the information here, like we do. You can that to select your security, or you can also type it in as your CUSIP (ph) or other identifier there and it’ll help find it for you. We’ll click it from that list, and that automatically loads the security for us. You’ll notice that we have this menu of applications that we can run. And we won’t have time to discuss these today, but definitely explore these for your analytics for relative value hedging, things that you can look forward to in the future. The particular screen that we’re looking for right now is the description page. So click on 16 DES on the top right. Now notice on the description page we have the core information, including issuer, the type of issuer it is, the sector that they’re in. We have the coupon – coupon frequency, core information about that security. On the left side, we have navigation. We can look at information such as covenants. We can look at bond ratings. If you want to see historical bond ratings for this issuer, then you can actually click on the expansion tabs to see those right in the screen. In addition to that, you can also see if there’s multiple coupons or if there’s a schedule, if it’s callable or puttable, things like that. You can click into schedules. It’s grayed out if it’s not available. In addition to the information that we have in the bond description, we also have a tab for issuer-level information. Let’s click on 22 issuer description. And particularly, we can look at 4 debt summary to look at their distribution. Now here we have nice charts and breakdowns, but note that in these individual tabs on the left we can also launch the individual applications directly by clicking on them. If we expand this window, now we can see the full application for our debt distribution. And here we can see IBM, and then we can also see the companies that are part of that business where we can see the issuer and subsidiaries. As we scroll down, we can see that entire list. One additional note is that you can also group your debt distribution by whether it’s just the issuer – only obligations of the current issuer. You can narrow down that debt based on its group. Let’s close that. Notice that we have more than just the debt distribution. We also have major creditors who own that bond, credit health as in financial ratios to give you a better perspective on not just that particular issue, but also that issuer. Now, to move from core information – core descriptive information to actual analytics to run yield analysis on this particular security, we can type YA and hit go for yield analysis. On this page, you can see that we have additional tabs, one for yield and spread. We can then move to pricing to see descriptive information. But let’s stay on the yield and spread tab just for a moment. The yield and spread analysis screen will let you price a fixed income security, calculate risk, hedge amounts, and see market data. You can input custom spreads. So in this case it’s the spread to bench, and it’ll reprice your security based on your input. So here we put a spread to bench of 20 basis points and it recalculated our price and yield. In addition, we can change how we calculate our yield if it’s yield to worse (ph), or yield to maturity, or yield to a custom date. We can also enter in historical dates in our historical settle (ph), and you just type that in here. We have our spreads. You won’t need to know – if you’re not familiar with these types of spreads, if you hover your mouse over them, it’ll give you a brief description of what those are. On the right side, we have our risk measures, risk and convexity. We have our risk hedge. These are against the benchmark that you select here. And then also, it calculates our accrued interest and all-in price. We can move across the tabs along the top, and now we can pricing. Pricing based on what’s available on the market from the trace reporting, from our runs messages, things like that, descriptive information or snapshots from what we had on the description page that we looked at just prior to this screen. We have relative value graphs to see not just what it is today, but how that’s changed over time. And then custom gives you full customization of what type of information you want to see on each page. You can click into any one of these tabs to then launch that individual analysis within that section of the screen. If you like this custom tab or any of these tabs, you can change the order by dropping it across, and then it’ll set that way for you going forward. The final screen we’d like to discuss today is a credit monitor that you can type GCDS. Notice again we used auto complete. We can select it here or hit go. And what GCDS does is it shows you credit default swap spreads based on the sectors that you choose.gcds You can set it by region. You can import a portfolio or – based on an equity index, a launch pad monitor. It gives you a very wide range of sources to pull that from, as well as the full customization of what spreads you wish to see. In my setup here, we can look at it by region. We have it set up for the Americas, although we can set it for global. Here I have listed for banks, but we can choose by any sector listed in this drop menu. We can choose to sort out whether we want to see investment grade or high yield. And then we can choose which tenor of the CDS curve we wish to view. And lastly, we can choose which pricing source we want to narrow that down by. We can choose CMA New York, for example, or we can also use a Bloomberg composite price here, which is what we’ll use going forward here. Now, on the right-hand column are all securities or all the issuers where we have CDS pricing based on our selections up here. If we choose to check off the box, then it’ll add that – that name to that chart, and you’ll notice it’s added that in the legend if it’s available. We also can see the average spread for all 35, or we can do – we can click on average of selected ancd then see that charted. So we can say which names are above the average, which names are below the average. To conclude that example, notice that our highest spread on the chart is currently Morgan Stanley. Notice that on the legend it highlights the name. That is currently trading above the average, which is 201. Notice that if I put my cursor on the actual – the average of selected, then it also highlights which line that is. The average is at 201. So GCS is a great tool to not just narrow out the individual names that you want to chart on a graph, but also let’s you easily compare those not just against each other but also against as a group average. And just as a note, if you never get your mouse to the very top right hand corner, you can see that there’s an icon with a green arrow. You can click on this green arrow and drag that into Excel, and that’ll move the information from the screen into Excel for you. This concludes are session on fixed income essentials. If you need any future assistance, please feel free to hit the help key twice for immediate assistance from our 24/7 global help desk.