Essay --

The PCR products for each gene were purified using Qiagene purification kit. The T7 RNA polymerase gene was digested with NheI and XhoI. Then, after purification with a gel extraction kit (Qiagene), the DNA fragment of T7 RNA polymerase (in length of 2600Kb) was cloned into pIRES2-EGFP plasmid (clontech) and recombinant vector was called pIRES-T7. The cloning process for N and P genes were similar. The PCR products for each gene was purified and digested with NotI. The NotI site designed in 5’-end of reverse primers, but there was not any restriction enzyme site in forward primers. The forward primers contained a kozak consensus ribosme binding site (AACC) and ATG initiation codon. The pIRES2-EGFP plasmid was digested in a step by step process. First, pIRES2-EGFP was digested with BstxI and then, the digestion product of the plasmid treated by klenow to produce blunt end. Finally, pIRES2-EGFP was digested with NotI. The DNA fragments of N and P genes cloned into pIRES2-EGFP and recombinant vectors were called pIRES-N and pIRES-P, respectively. To produce tricistronic expression vecto...

The Role of Chorus in Euripides Medea Essay -- Euripides Medea Essays

The Role of Chorus in Medea In section 18 of the Poetics Aristotle criticizes Euripides for not allowing "the chorus to be one of the actors and to be a part of the whole and to share in the dramatic action, . . . as in Sophocles." Aristotle may be thinking of the embolima of Euripides' later plays (satirized also by Aristophanes), but he is certainly wrong about the Medea. Its choral odes are not only all intimately related to the action but are also essential for the meaning of the play, particularly because here, as elsewhere (e.g. Hecuba), Euripides forces us reevaluate his main protagonist in midstream and uses the chorus (in part) to indicate that change. In her first speech Medea wins over the chorus by a plea to solidarity in the face of women's victimization by a male-dominated society, and this response by the chorus is an essential step in the poet's paradoxical task of winning sympathy and understanding for a mother who kills her children. But as that first speech itself indicates, Medea both is and is not a typical (Greek) woman: she is a foreig...

Henry David Thoreau Was a Fool :: Henry David Thoreau Essays

Lincoln has been credited as being a person that fought for equality between races, when he himself believed that African Americans were inferior, the image people give him is unreal, propaganda by the Radical Republicans in the reconstruction era. Many people have ideas that do not hold up when put to the test, or even their own reasoning. Henry David Thoreau’s ideas and ideals do not hold up when compared to reality. Thoreau believed that if a man did less work, the better it would be for the man and his community. He set out to accomplish this task, and accomplished not working, but failed to prove his point. He died at age forty-five, younger then most people in his time, and although he did benefit his community, doing little labor only shortened his life, and proved no better for the community. Not only does reality disprove Thoreau’s theology, but his own words contradict him. He proclaimed â€Å"the government that governs least is the best,† (Civil Disobedience pg. 222 paragraph 1) and then says that, â€Å"We have had to agree on a certain set of rules†¦ to make this frequent meeting tolerable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Solitude pg. 95 paragraph 3). His contradiction is evident, what is government but on how the people conduct their meetings, lacking the laws of the government, the society would collapse. He also criticizes the government for not being virtuous (Ponds pg. 119 last paragraph). The American government is controlled by the people, if he wants a government that is virtuous, he should either get elected, or try to get the non-virtuous people out of office. Further, politicians who made their name elsewhere have said things to the effect of, â€Å"either you already have a name for yourself, or somewhere along the line you sell your soul†¦Ã¢â‚¬  essentially saying that virtue and politics don’t work together. Thoreau further shows how he cannot support his own ideas when he says that he spent two years â€Å"alone, in the woods,†(Economy pg. 7, 1st sentence). He did not spend two years â€Å"alone† and a great period of the time which he was there was not â€Å"in the woods.† In fact, he had as many as thirty guests at a time (Visitors pg. 97 last line). He tries to show how he had few visitors in the winter saying, â€Å"†¦no visitor ventured near my house for a week or a fortnight at a time,† (Winter Visitors pg. Henry David Thoreau Was a Fool :: Henry David Thoreau Essays Lincoln has been credited as being a person that fought for equality between races, when he himself believed that African Americans were inferior, the image people give him is unreal, propaganda by the Radical Republicans in the reconstruction era. Many people have ideas that do not hold up when put to the test, or even their own reasoning. Henry David Thoreau’s ideas and ideals do not hold up when compared to reality. Thoreau believed that if a man did less work, the better it would be for the man and his community. He set out to accomplish this task, and accomplished not working, but failed to prove his point. He died at age forty-five, younger then most people in his time, and although he did benefit his community, doing little labor only shortened his life, and proved no better for the community. Not only does reality disprove Thoreau’s theology, but his own words contradict him. He proclaimed â€Å"the government that governs least is the best,† (Civil Disobedience pg. 222 paragraph 1) and then says that, â€Å"We have had to agree on a certain set of rules†¦ to make this frequent meeting tolerable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Solitude pg. 95 paragraph 3). His contradiction is evident, what is government but on how the people conduct their meetings, lacking the laws of the government, the society would collapse. He also criticizes the government for not being virtuous (Ponds pg. 119 last paragraph). The American government is controlled by the people, if he wants a government that is virtuous, he should either get elected, or try to get the non-virtuous people out of office. Further, politicians who made their name elsewhere have said things to the effect of, â€Å"either you already have a name for yourself, or somewhere along the line you sell your soul†¦Ã¢â‚¬  essentially saying that virtue and politics don’t work together. Thoreau further shows how he cannot support his own ideas when he says that he spent two years â€Å"alone, in the woods,†(Economy pg. 7, 1st sentence). He did not spend two years â€Å"alone† and a great period of the time which he was there was not â€Å"in the woods.† In fact, he had as many as thirty guests at a time (Visitors pg. 97 last line). He tries to show how he had few visitors in the winter saying, â€Å"†¦no visitor ventured near my house for a week or a fortnight at a time,† (Winter Visitors pg.

Ethics Audit Question Essay

Board – Does the board have a clear and concise plan of action to deal with problems that arise from regular assessment? This question is important when assessing an organization’s ethical performance. This question will help the organization create a plan of action to deal with any problem that may arise. Staff- Are all staff members educated equally about how to advance in the organization? This question would help the organization make sure that they are treating all employees the same, as well as giving them all the same opportunities. The question would also aid in the assessment of the organizations ethical performance. Donors and Fundraisers- Does the organization give the donors the proper instructions or information on how to write their donations as tax write offs or deductions? In an ethical performance review, the organization will show that it cares about the donors, and is following government procedures. Clients/Customers- Is there a policy in place to ensure that all clients are given the same amount of time to be helped and processed? In an ethical review this shows that all clients are treated equally without prejudice or bias regardless of age, ethnicity, race, origin, or sex. Volunteers- Are all volunteers treated the same, and given equal opportunities for employment in the organization? It is important for the organization to show their volunteers that they are valued and important to the organization. Society- Is the organization doing everything it can, to meet the expectations of the public it serves? It is important for the organizations ethical committee to know that the organization is doing all that it can to serve the public’s needs. The public will feel like they can trust the organization.

Peloponnesian War Essay

The Peloponnesian War was a very old Greek military war which lasted from 431-404 B. C. , fought by the Athens and its kingdom in opposition to the Peloponnesian League, directed by Sparta. Historians have usually divided the combat into three stages, in the initial, the Archidamian War; Sparta started repeated attacks of Attica, whereas Athens took benefit of its naval superiority to invade the coastline of the Peloponnese trying to restrain signs of disturbances in its domain. This era of the war was finished in 421 BC with the marking of the Peace of Nicias. That agreement, however, was shortly destabilized by renewed combating in the Peloponnesus. Athens posted a huge expeditionary force of military to attack Syracuse in Sicily in 415 BC, the attack failed catastrophically with the demolition of the complete force in the year 413 BC. This escorted in the concluding stage of the war, normally referred to as the Decelean War or the Ionian War. In this stage, Sparta, now getting support from Persia, the demolition of Athens’ navy at Aegospotami successfully ended the war and Athens laid down their arms in the subsequent year. The Peloponnesian War reformed the Ancient Greek Globe. On the height of global relations, Athens, the powerful city-state in Greece prior to the war’s commencement, was abridged to a position of near-complete hopelessness, whereas Sparta was recognized as the foremost power of Greece. The fiscal costs of the war were experienced all over Greece; scarcity became extensive in the Peloponnese, whereas Athens found it totally distressed and by no means recovered its pre-war success. The war also shaped subtler alterations to Greek culture; the clash among oligarchic Sparta and democratic Athens, each of which held up welcoming political groups within other states, made social war an ordinary incidence in the Greek world. Causes of Peloponnesian War The major reason of the War was huge economical, political and communal contentions between the two supreme Greek powers of the era; Sparta and Athens. The Athenian kingdom had become a centre of trade and prosperity on the Mediterranean, dealing with countries such Egypt, Carthage and Persia. Its enormous convoy of triremes destined it could insist financial tribute from minor city states in return for defense. On the contrary, Sparta was a first and foremost land based control, using it a great slave inhabitants to farm the fertile lands of the Peloponnese. Its alarming army made sure its significance in Greek affairs as well as the beginning of the Peloponnese League, a set of states opposed to this expansion. The rising power of both these enormous powers, collective with contrasting political principles of democratic Athens and oligarchial Sparta, destined a predictable clash. The Peloponnesian War was a consequence of this strong contention. After the overcome of the Persian attack in 480-479 BCE, Sparta wanted to send back all Greeks in Asia to mainland Greece to finish the trouble with Persia. Athens planned a violent alliance in opposition to Persia, which as the leading maritime authority it had to lead. Sparta had no curiosity in overseas adventurism and willingly ceded that control to Athens, which shared out contributions to the coalition cities. Some met this in ships, the bulk paid their way out of this, although some went back on and Athens collected the donations by force. With merely the islands Samos, Chios and Libos contributing ships, Athens had an irresistible dominance in amphibious control and the funds to pay for it. This anti-Persian group then increasingly became successfully a domain of Athens. An exact transition took place when the union crushed Persia in a sea and land combat at the Eurymedon River resulting in a tranquility of 449 BCE which limited Persian vessels from moving into Greek-controlled waters. This division of the isolated Spartans and the daring Athenians spilt over when their own allies collided with each other. The sequence of clashes put allied force on Sparta to take action and after a lot foot dragging it issued an ultimatum to Athens. Athens was certain that the amalgamation of its walls and amphibious supremacy was more than a match for the mainly land-bound Spartan coalition and it discarded negotiation, favoring to uphold its naval supremacy and confront Spartan league land supremacy. Neither of the two sides foresaw 27 years of fighting which damaged so much of the Greek world and accidentally led to Persian pressure in Greek affairs and ultimately Macedonian dominance. Four primary sources Thucydides Thucydides was a Greek historian and writer of the Peloponnesian War’s history, which narrates the 5th century B. C. war stuck between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B. C and the most consistent information approaches from his own record of the Peloponnesian War, which explains his nationality, parenthood and native district. Thucydides tells us that he brawled in the war, contracted the curse and was banished by the democracy. Thucydides marked a history that was alienated into 8 books after his demise: its current title is the History of the Peloponnesian War. His complete contribution to history and historiography is enclosed in this one opaque history of the 27-year war stuck between Athens and its allies and Sparta and its allies. The history breaks off close to the end of the twenty first years, the final vague book suggests that his demise was not anticipated and could perhaps have been unexpected or brutal. Thucydides supposed that the Peloponnesian War symbolized an occasion of matchless size and he also planned for his account of the actions of the late fifth century to serve as â€Å"a possession for all instances. Xenophon Xenophon son of Gryllus, also recognized as Xenophon of Athens, was a warrior, mercenary and devotee of Socrates. He is identified for his writings on the history of his times, protecting the sayings of Socrates and the living of ancient Greece. Xenophon’s writings, particularly the Anabasis, are frequently read by beginning learners of the Greek language. His Hellenica is a chief primary source for actions in Greece; his Socratic writings are the merely existing representatives of the genre of Sokratikoi logoi. Aristophanes Aristophanes was son of Philippus, he was a productive and highly praised comic dramatist of ancient Athens. When Aristophanes’ initial play The Banqueters was created, Athens was a determined, regal power and The Peloponnesian War was merely in its fourth year. The reality that Arristophanes endured the Peloponnesian War, two oligarchic revolutions and two self-governing reinstatements have been understood as proof that he was not vigorously involved in political affairs even in spite of the extremely political posture of the plays. Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Cornelius Nepos were also a number of of the primary sources of the Peloponnesian War. Work Cited About. com. (n. d. ). Peloponnesian War Sources. June 21st, 2009. Retrieved from: http://ancienthistory. about. com/library/bl/bl_peloponnesianwarsources. htm Crawley, R. , Lateiner, D. & Thucydides, T. The History of the Peloponnesian War. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2006. Kagan. D. The Peloponnesian War. Penguin, 2004. Thucydides, T. The History Of The Peloponnesian War. CreateSpace, 2009.

Film and Photographic Equipment Essay

As of the time of the case, 2007, although IMAX was involved in three different industries, the case suggests that it was primarily in Photographic Equipment and Supplier industry primarily because about 51 per cent of its total revenue of IMAX was system sale. Therefore, the following analysis will focus on that industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Major suppliers of photographic equipment and supplier industry may include manufacturers producing relevant components of any kind of equipment, contractors making the complete equipment, and so forth. From my viewpoint, the suppliers’ bargaining power is low because of several reasons. First, along with the development of photographically relevant equipment, although the products firms provide are technically concentrated, there are certain standards recognized and adopted, such as film size of 35 mm or certain sizes of lens filter, in the industry. Therefore, the switching cost for their buyers is low. Second, photographic equipment and supplier industry is an important customer to its supplier group. Specifically, the usage of the products that the supplier group provides is limited to machinery or equipment in other industries. Besides, although there are few substitute products, which situation generally increases supplier group’s bargaining power, firms in photographic equipment and supplier industry still can easily find other manufacturers with lower cost. Bargaining Power of Buyers The buyer group of photographic equipment and supplier industry is enormous, ranging from B2B buyers like motion picture production firms to B2C buyers like customers who purchase digital single lens cameras. Considering the difference of consuming difference of buyers and following reasons, the bargaining power of buyers is medium. First, sales volume varies among different segments. For example, motion movie production studios or chain multiplexes may have high bargaining power because of high purchasing volumes; on the other hand, customers who go to Staple to purchase a copy machine have little or no bargaining power. Second, the products in photographic equipment and supplier industry are generally undifferentiated because of aforementioned regular standard existing, and therefore bargaining power increases. However, exception could be that once new products are launched with attracting feature and highly accepted by buyers, such as IMAX format, the bargaining power decreases. Moreover, because of the great scope of photographic equipment, switching cost varies extremely, taking the difference between cameras shooting in IMAX digital format and little digital cameras from all brands in the market as example. Besides, backward integrations are less likely to happen compared to forward integrations from supplier group. Threat of Substitute Products In photographic equipment and supplier industry, treat of substitute is low primarily because products from this industry has been evolving for decades and has become essential goods. For instance, copy machine, also provided from the industry, has become essential equipment in firms and institutions. Although the substitute products to this example could be pens and paper, few people really would do that for efficiency concern, and therefore the switching cost is high. Intensity of Rivalry Competition in photographic equipment and supplier industry is intense for reasons. Because of the specialized nature of the products, generally exist barrier is high for big companies like Cannon, Nikon, and Xerox, and those major competitors are highly committed to the industry by providing products with advanced technology and competing against each other intensively. Although some products in the industry can differentiate themselves from others and protected by patents for a period of time, new film format from IMAX for example, once competitors foresee the great potential profitability, it is not difficult for them to produce products with similar features to split the market share. Threat of Entry From my viewpoint, the threat of entry in the industry is medium. Take multi-business electronics suppliers such as Sony and Samsung as example, they supply various lines of products and compete against each other. Even photographic equipment is not their primary selling product, supported by strong capital and experienced R&D departments, those companies are able to enter photographic equipment and supplier industry and split a piece of market share, primarily because of their existing reputation from relevant electronics industry. To deal with new coming competitors, current suppliers are less likely to have continuous price cutting battles because of high fixed costs; instead, it is more likely to increase investments, like R&D, and product lines to keep market share in every targeted segment. An obvious example is that when Sony entered digital single lens camera market with cheaper price, other major suppliers like Nikon and Cannon did not cut price on existing premium products but expanded product lines to launch cheaper products competing directly to Sony. In short, the barrier is not so high for certain new competitors to come into the industry, but because of the intense reaction from existing players, the impact and threat new comings bring in is moderate. Competitive Advantages Advanced Technology One of the competitive advantages of IMAX and the most distinguishing characteristics that differentiate the company from its competitors is its advanced and unique technology that brings new formats, and other associated system equipment like screen and projector into the industry. The key element contributes to this advantage is that the company was committed to invest in R&D. In return, the company was granted many patents that would keep the company in a unique position and from direct competition in the industry. Products Quality Control and Relationship Another IMAX’s competitive advantage is its quality control of products and system implementation. With its distinguishing technology, IMAX had been implementing the system into multiple locations, including multiplexes and education institutions, and because of its strict quality control and maintenance service, the company could maintain good relationship with diverse customers. The agreement of theatrical system implementation and service is an advantage for IMX to generate revenue not only from one-time transactions but long term profit splitting. Brand image and Product Distribution Diversity IMAX has built a unique brand image both from hardware and software perspectives and that also remains the company competitive. First, people would recognize IMAX as a prestigious theatrical system supplier based on their experience from multiple locations. Especially when major multiplex brands and education institutions carry its system, it’s very likely that people would naturally feel IMAX credible. The consequence is beneficial for IMX to expand business later, such as entering home theater system market. From the software perspective, especially the company’s educational entertainment production, not only create revenue other than just from commercial production but catch the trend of increased consumption of educational entertainment. The situation help IMAX build up a unique brand image that its production is not only commercial but educational so that people would have more trust in the company’s future motion picture production. To sum up, although IMAX has several competitive advantages, not all of them will last for too long. For instance, competitors could match up with its advances technology by inventing other formats and once they are accepted by end consumers, it will become a big threat for the company; On the other hand, some advantages could last for a long time once IMAX take good care of them. For example, the brand image being as a well motion picture production supplier is one that can remain in consumers’ minds for a long time and that’s not what new competitors can achieve in a short time. Corporate Advantages From my viewpoint, IMAX has corporate advantages because of its diverse productions from equipment supplier, motion picture production, and distribution industry. However, the most important issue is how to leverage those segments to increase the company’s growth. Business & Resources  IMAX’s core business, photographic equipment and supplier, provides capabilities to enhance all its business. The company has created competitive advantages as mentioned and those advantages enhance the company’s business across industries. For instance, for its motion picture production business, all the films are shot in new IMAX formats, film or digital, by the equipment its own supplier segment produces, it reduce huge cost for format conversion compared to other films shot in different formats y other studios. Organization Because of the narrow scope of the business, coordination among different sectors in the organization is critical for IMX. For instance, the vertical integration of the business allows the company to share resources such as instant feedbacks for its R&D department from motion picture production sector. By sharing these experience and information, the company will have the ability to forecast and adapt to new opportunities shortly in the future for every sectors in its value chain. In short, IMAX’s corporate advantages come from its competitive advantages and vertical integration. Because its business is based on unique technology and coordinated the whole value chain, it is not easy for competitors to imitate and therefore time for its corporate advantages is expected to last. Recommendations Keep Diversity of Production To answer the question that if IMAX would lose its differentiation because of numerous Hollywood films, my recommendation is that IMAX should keep doing converting Hollywood films and at the same time producing educational films. One reason is that format conversion brings good revenue for IMAX and people would be able to tell the difference between Hollywood movies in IMAX format and its own production. On the other hand, IMAX should keep catching on the trend of the increasing consumption of educational entertainment, because the company has been building up a good image distributing films in educational institutions and such would also prevent the erosion of its brand image. Not Sold to Larger Studios  Another recommendation for IMAX is that it should not be sold to a larger studio, and the main reason is that IMAX has already created its own competitive and corporate advantages and they are not easy to imitate. What IMAX should do is properly exploiting its assets, both tangible and intangible. Although the company in motion picture production industry is small and face competitors like Pixar, it should still stay on the track catching the trend by coordination and support from its other business ectors. Expanding Market & Production Diversity IMAX’s new technology is standing in a niche market without sustainable growth. Even though the company is able to keep generate great revenue from equipment sales, saturation in USA will become an issue someday. To deal with that, IMAX has to make a short term strategy doing business in USA and expand to global market, because from Exhibit 11, we can see that films generated revenue approximately two tim es overseas more as those in USA. However, for long term strategy, IMAX has to find a way to expand its business in a slow-growing market. For instance, the company can expand its product lines into home theater system because the case indicates a high usage rate of DVD, and the system is still highly relevant equipment to the current product lines. By doing so, IMAX can benefit from creating potential revenue from new sources and from keeping its brand image as a innovating company in the equipment supplier industry.

Biography & Song

All people around the world has blessed with different talents and gifts. I would say that I am one of them and that most individuals like music. Everywhere you go, you can see people around who are fond in listening to music may it be â€Å"noisy† for others or not but for them it is a music that soothes their beings. I am a recording engineer who dearly loves music. Music is my passion and this is how I can express my feelings whether am happy or sad. Music is an expression of one’s emotion.Every line of the song tells a story and its rhythm and melody has meanings that foretold the joy and sadness of the composer. My interest in music motivates me to study in this field at an early age of 13. It is a lifestyle that I live on and music uplifts my soul. I also love touching other’s lives through the music I make. I strongly believe that music has big role to play in communicating with different kinds of people from different walks of life. Moreover, I also write songs. I love writing songs because they make me happy.Songs that relate to what I feel at the moment. It is my tool to tell other people that life is beautiful in spite of the pains and trials each one has gone through. Furthermore, I grew up in Montenegro Bay, Jamaica and Bronx New York and these made me exposed to different kinds of music from different kinds of people and help me appreciate it more. I recently reside at Orlando, Florida to attend full sail so I can understand music more. With these experiences and passion, I can say that I deserve to win in this contest.