What to Do When Your Green Card is Lost in the Mail

What to Do When Your Green Card is Lost in the Mail You aced your interview and received a note saying that youve been approved for permanent residence and your green card has been mailed. But now its a month later and you still havent received your green card. What do you do? If your green card has been lost in the mail, you will need to apply for a replacement card. This sounds simple, if a bit of a pain, until you learn that you may also have to pay another filing fee for the application and biometrics (rates can vary). This fee is in addition to what you paid for the initial green card application. Its enough to push even the most patient person over the edge. The rule is, if you do not receive the green card in the mail and USCIS mailed it to the address you provided but the card isnt returned to USCIS, then you must pay the full filing fee. (You can read this on the I-90 instructions, What is the Filing Fee?) If the undelivered card is returned to USCIS, you still need to file for a replacement card but the filing fee is waived. Here are some tips to consider when your green card is lost in the mail. Make Sure Youve Been Approved Sounds silly, but you want to be sure that youve actually been approved before you start rattling any cages. Have you received the approval letter or email? Has the card been mailed out? If you cant confirm this with the information you have, make an Infopass appointment at your local field office to find out the details. Wait 30 Days USCIS advises that you wait 30 days before assuming the card has been lost in the mail. This allows for time for the card to be mailed and returned to USCIS if undeliverable. Check With Your Post Office The Post Office is supposed to return the undelivered card to USCIS but just in case they havent, go to your local USPS office and ask if they have any undelivered mail in your name. Make an Infopass Appointment Even if you verified the details with by calling the 1-800 number for the National Customer Service Center, Id suggest double-checking the information at your local field office. Make an Infopass appointment and have them verify the address that the card was sent to and the date it was mailed. If the USCIS officer can confirm that it was sent to the correct address, its been more than 30 days since the card was mailed and the card has not been returned to USCIS, its time to move on. Contact Your Congressperson If youre lucky, your local Congressperson will agree with you that paying an additional fee for a replacement card is absurd, and offer to work with you to help USCIS see it in the same way. Ive read a few success stories from people in the same situation; it all depends on who you get. Find your House or Senate representative to learn how best to contact them. Most district offices will have caseworkers who help with federal agency problems. There is no guarantee that they will get the fees waived for you, but it has helped some people so its worth a try. File I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card Whether or not the card has been returned to USCIS, the only way to get a new card is to file Form I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. If you need confirmation of your status to work or travel while its processing, make an Infopass appointment to get a temporary I-551 stamp until your new card arrives.

Improving Mobile Access to Government Websites

Improving Mobile Access to Government Websites The U.S. federal government is working to improve access to the wealth of information and services available on its more than 11,000 websites from mobile devices like tablets and cellphones, according to an interesting new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). While most people still use desktop and laptop computers, consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to access websites with government information and services. As the GAO noted, millions of Americans use mobile devices every day to get information from websites. In addition, mobile users can now do many things on websites that previously required a desktop or laptop computer, like shopping, banking, and accessing government services. For example, the number of individual visitors using cellphones and tablets to access the Department of the Interiors information and services increased significantly from 57,428 visitors in 2011 to 1,206,959 in 2013, according to agency records provided to the GAO. Given this trend, the GAO pointed that the government needs to make its wealth of information and services available â€Å"anytime, anywhere, and on any device.†    However, as the GAO points out, mobile Internet users face a range of challenges accessing government services online. â€Å"For example, viewing any website that has not been â€Å"optimized† for mobile access- in other words, redesigned for smaller screens- can be challenging,† notes the GAO report. Trying to Meet the Mobile Challenge On May 23, 2012, President Obama issued an executive order entitled â€Å"Building a 21st Century Digital Government,† directing the federal agencies to deliver better digital services to the American people. â€Å"As a Government, and as a trusted provider of services, we must never forget who our customers are – the American people,† the President told the agencies. In response to that order, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget created a Digital Government Strategy to be implemented by the Digital Services Advisory Group. The Advisory Group provides the agencies with help and resources needed to improve access to their websites via mobile devices. At the request of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the government’s purchasing agent and property manager, the GAO investigated the progress and success of the agencies in meeting the goals of the Digital Government Strategy. What the GAO Found In all, 24 agencies are required to comply with provisions of the Digital Government Strategy, and according to the GAO, all 24 have made efforts to improve their digital services for those who use mobile devices. In its investigation the GAO specifically reviewed six randomly selected agencies: the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security, the National Weather Service (NWS) within the Department of Commerce, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The GAO reviewed 5 years (2009 through 2013) of online visitor data as recorded by Google Analytics from each agency. The data included the type of device (smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer) consumers used to access the agencies’ main website. In addition, the GAO interviewed officials from the six agencies to gather insights about the challenges consumers might face when accessing government services using their mobile devices. The GAO found that five of the six agencies have taken substantive steps to improve access to their websites via mobile devices. For example in 2012, the DOT fully redesigned its main website to provide a separate platform for mobile users. Three of the other agencies GAO interviewed have also redesigned their websites to better accommodate mobile devices and the other two agencies have plans to do so. Of the 6 agencies reviewed by the GAO, only the Federal Maritime Commission had yet to take steps to enhance access to their websites via mobile devices, but plans to enhance access to its website in 2015. Who Uses Mobile Devices? Perhaps the most interesting part of the GAO’s report is an accounting of who most often use mobile devices to access websites. The GAO cites a Pew Research Center report from 2013 showing that certain groups relied on cellphones to access websites than others. In general, PEW found that people who are young, have more income, have graduate degrees, or are African American have the highest rate of mobile access. In contrast, PEW found that people less likely to use mobile devices to access websites in 2013 included seniors, the less educated, or rural populations. Of course, there are still many rural areas that lack cellphone service, let alone wireless Internet access. Only 22% of people 65 and older used mobile devices to access the Internet, compared to 85% of younger people. â€Å"GAO also found that access to the Internet using cellphones has increased, primarily due to lower cost, convenience, and technical advances,† stated the GAO report. Specifically, the Pew survey found that: 74% of African Americans use cellphones to access the Internet.85% of people ages 18 to 29 used cellphones to access the Internet, compared to only 22% of seniors age 65 and older.79% of those using cellphones to access the Internet have incomes of at least $75,000.Only 50% of people living in rural areas use cellphones to access the Internet.74% have college degrees or higher, compared to 53% with a high school diploma and 51% without a high school education. The GAO made no recommendations in relationship to its findings, and issued its report for informational purposes only.

Controversies Surrounding Pink Slime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Controversies Surrounding Pink Slime - Essay Example The term pink slime was coined a biologist called Gerald Zirnstein in 2002 due to the use of ammonium hydroxide in processing of this product. Initially the term was only used publicly in reference to food packaged for dogs. However, the media outlets created a phobia throughout United States when they made a claim that almost all meat products comprised some amount of Pink Slime. Following this media disclosure, a good number of beef processing industries have been forced to shut their business due to the controversy. Individuals as well as institutions such as schools have raised several arguments over the quality and appropriateness of the pink slime consumption (Drahl Web). Currently, the phrase pink slime is used to define a different type of ground meat different from the habitual ground meat in that it was prepared from fatty crumbs, connective tissue and hides, which were remnants of beef carcasses after steaks and roasts, had been extracted. The issue of slime mould caused many questions among the American particularly on the role of government in protecting the quality and safety of their food (â€Å"A Fight About Beef: Why to Avoid 'Pink Slime’† Web; Drahl Web). The American have a reason and the right to know the security of product that they consumer. However, the deliberations on slime meat have been stuffed with distortions and propaganda, which could be either true or fictitious.

Some of the Routine Applications of Descriptive Statistics Coursework - 12

Some of the Routine Applications of Descriptive Statistics - Coursework Example In addition, Part B of the assignment discusses some of the use of confidence intervals in determining the statistical confidence of nursing research and explains that the approach is used test the reliability or probability of getting the same values from a sample size. However, a major controversy of statistical and clinical significance is the biasness of the resulting data when used in real clinical context. The descriptive statistics in the article stems from the emphasis on the need to identify and include or integrate the family members of the patients during the provision of the health care services to the patient (Tudor, Berger, Polivka, Chlebowy & Thomas, 2014). As such, the article recommends there is the need to embrace patient and family-centered care as this is poised to transform the healthcare sector a great deal. In particular, the article tries to gather descriptive statistics from the characteristics or elements of the patient’s family members with the underlying assumption that involving the family of the patients in routine care can improve safety and satisfaction (Tudor, Berger, Polivka, Chlebowy & Thomas, 2014). In this case, the descriptive statistics included such elements like the ethnicity, sex, age, years of experience, work unit including other important statistics on the characteristics of the patient’s family like specialty certification, the num ber of times they have been involved in resuscitation (Tudor, Berger, Polivka, Chlebowy, Thomas, 2014). Other variable statistics included or involved identifying the risk and benefits of the presence of the family.

The First and Second Amendment Essay Example for Free

The First and Second Amendment Essay When the Constitution was written, it was not the intent of the authors to assure human rights to its citizenry, it was written in order to set up a federal government that would allow the United States to be a self-governing entity, and to put in place a system of government that would serve the citizens of the country in the way that they saw fit. After the ratification of the Constitution in 1787, â€Å"people soon began to notice that it did not list many of the personal liberties (individual rights) that they had come to believe were theirs. (Cullop, 1999) At the behest of some states the first ten amendments were added to the Constitution that protected the personal rights of the citizens called the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment prevents Congress from implementing an official religion, offers the free exercise of religion, and allows freedom of speech in the public and the press without fear of legal retribution for what is said. It also allows citizens to assemble peaceably to protest government or its decisions and to petition the government to change things that the people do not agree with. On the surface this amendment appears to settle some problems, but as time has gone by there have been many interpretations of the words and many arguments as to the intentions of the authors when the amendment was written. Most people agree that freedom of the press is necessary for the dissemination of accurate and reliable information whether it is good, bad or otherwise. People just basically want all of the facts. One conflict that has come from the general wording of the First Amendment is how the press will handle the confidentiality of their sources when reporting. The authenticity of what the press presents depends on the guarantee that sources can be protected. Many people would not otherwise give information for fear of implications that would arise from giving that information. The amendment protects a citizen from punishment for what they have said, but it offers no protection for the privacy of providing information without revealing the source. Recently there have been many bills introduced at both the House and Senate level asking for this protection to be guaranteed by law. In 2005 a bill was introduced into both the House and the Senate that would establish a Federal shield law that would in essence protect the source of information used by the media to report a story. The argument is whether or not the first amendment should preclude the security of the nation. The legislators think that this would prevent the government from protecting America from terror by allowing potential terrorist or informants to escape questioning or observation. So far the issue has not passed through the legal avenues due to the potential for compromising national security. Another controversial issue that has risen from the First Amendment is the freedom of religion and the right to exercise religion. Again this comes from years of twisting and turning of words and arguments as to the intent of the framers. The issue stems from the interpretation of the wording â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion†. Some people say that this means that no laws will be made that respects any religion over another, while others argue that the intent of the framers was to prohibit the government from establishing laws that set up one religious point of view as the official religion such as they experienced in England. Regardless of what position people take, the Supreme Court has ruled that there shall be no law that respects one religion over another. This decision affirmed the idea of separation of church and state. In response to this ruling, it has become illegal to display the Ten Commandments in public buildings because this is considered the foundation on which Christianity and Judaism was founded. According to the Supreme Court this display violates the First Amendment rights of those citizens who are not Christians or Jews to have no official religion. Christians argue that while they believe that the Ten Commandments were given to the people by God as a way to self govern themselves according to His will, they also believe that these are good rules for anyone to follow regardless of their religious position and that by removing these laws of God from publicly owned property, it violates the Christians right to freedom of worship. The second amendment to the Constitution is commonly known as the right for citizens to keep and bear arms. Again the argument becomes what is written versus what was intended. The wording says that â€Å"the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed†. Taken literally this means that all American’s have the right to own and use firearms for whatever purpose they choose. When viewed from the intent of the authors, and inference from the context, it seems that this amendment was intended for the security of the land. This view aised many questions even among its supporters. It has been debated if this means that as long as you own a firearm for protection it is within the law, or does this mean that the government can not specify what kind of weapon and/or the uses of that weapon. This issue is at the forefront of the Assault Weapons Ban. Laws were passed to ban certain types of weapons that the government deemed as unnecessary or impractical for self defense. The opponents of this law argued that it was a violation of the literal interpretation of the amendment. The law passed into its â€Å"sunset† phase without being renewed making it legal to own weapons that were previously considered to be assault suited weapons. People who favor gun control believe that this has caused a serious risk to the security of the citizens, while people who are gun owners believe that it is their right by law to own these guns and that the ban was unconstitutional.

The purpose of a Dream: Hispanic and African Americans adult students :: essays research papers

The purpose of a Dream: Hispanic and African Americans adult students within a Multicultural Environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An analysis of this problem is due to such issues as age, gender and power. In working with adult students and multicultural groups as a teacher ¡Ã‚ ¦s assistant (which consist of related factors such as teaching along with instructor and applying knowledge and promoting learning skills in away to help older students learn and help to apply a technique of understanding (which motivate students in a way to learn. It been claimed that adult aged student ¡Ã‚ ¦s accounts for problems in the classroom, especially ethnic groups as Hispanic and African Americans. As an observer, I have encountered such an environment of students, returning to school after being away for many years. These students are back again willing to take on classes which will further Their education and prepare them for better jobs. In an environment of culture differences, these students are not only focusing on learning but engaged in grouping whether with their own culture or others. Much of the problems as I had observed, stems from the categories as was mentioned. The semester working with this group was challenging and yet what took place was a learning experience with a diverse group. These people will eventually express a form of a new beginning of affliction in the classroom. We as educators have struggled throughout the times. Our cohorts, and this adult community manner of relating within the classroom shows that there lies a division of differences that needed to be mended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This class was held at a high school for evening students. The students were African Americans and Asian Americans and Hispanics. I observed the relationship between African-Americans and Hispanics. Communication was dealt with uncertainty. Many students grouped with people of their own culture , although the class was constructed to teach these students skills that would help both into the work place, no concern for communicating was seen between this group. It was observed as cultural conflict in the classroom among adults. There were no confrontations but nonverbal oppositions were there. The Asian American s did not respond yet, kept their distant- another form of not accepting change in a diverse community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Multi-cultural citizens soon learn to recognizing limitations and the meaning of what white norms and practices of dominancy. Ruth Frankenburg (1993) speaks of three meanings of such. She names them as; race cognizance  ¡Vcultural practices seen as different but the same in value ; (2) essential racism, races are seen as different and unequal within the systems of White superiority; (3) this is called a discourse of power evasiveness which is called color blindness, or essential

Literature Review Online Billing System

CDMA BY OKAFOR CHIDUBEM KELVIN 10690152 A SEMINAR REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MOSHOOD ABIOLA POLYTECHNIC,ABEOKUTA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE AWARD OF NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN COMPUTER SCIENCE NOVEMBER, 2012 CHAPTER 1 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Mobile communications are rapidly becoming more and more necessary for everyday activities. With so many more users to accommodate, more efficient use of bandwidth is a priority among cellular phone system operators. Equally important is the security and reliability of these calls.One solution that has been offered is a CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS SYSTEM. CDMA is one method for implementing a multiple access communication system. MULTIPLE ACCESS is a technique where many subscribers or local stations can share the use of the use of a communication channel at the same time or nearly so despite the fact originate from widely different locations. A channel can be thought of as merely a portion of the limited radio resource, which is temporarily allocated for a specific purpose, such as someone’s phone call.A multiple access method is a definition of how the radio spectrum is divided into channels and how the channels are allocated to the many users of the system. Since there are multiple users transmitting over the same channel, a method must be established so that individual users will not disrupt one another. There are essentially three ways to do this. Code Division Multiple Access is a new technology used in wireless communication devices. This technology made its commercial debut in the early nineties.Significant advantage of the CDMA is the fact that unlike other modulation schemes it does not have to allocate part of the frequency for each user. It allocates whole frequency spectrum to each user, distinguishing each signal with the unique pseudo-random sequence. CDMA stands for â€Å"Code Division Multiple Access. † It is a form of spread-spectrum, an advanced digital wireless transmissi on technique. Instead of using frequencies or time slots, as do traditional technologies, it uses mathematical codes to transmit and distinguish between multiple wireless conversations.Its bandwidth is much wider than that required for simple point-to-point communications at the same data rate because it uses noise-like carrier waves to spread the information contained in a signal of interest over a much greater bandwidth. However, because the conversations taking place are distinguished by digital codes, many users can share the same bandwidth simultaneously. We are moving into a new era of communications and information technology. Personal Competitiveness in business in relies more and more on increase personal productivity and responsiveness.Today everybody is on the move and mobile is the only way to keep contact with that person. 1 But now a days peoples want multimedia facilities from their mobile handset. But it requires high data rate, hi efficiency and many more technical things, which are available in third generation. (CDMA) so the CDMA TECHNOLOGY makes existing mobile handset more efficient and attractive. CDMA (3G) mobile devices and services will transform wireless communications into on-line, real-time connectivity. 3G wireless technology will allow an individual to have immediate access to location-specific ervices that offer information on demand. The first generation of mobile phones consisted of the analog models that emerged in the early 1980s. The second generation of digital mobile phones appeared about ten years later along with the first digital mobile networks. During the second generation, the mobile telecommunications industry experienced exponential growth both in terms of subscribers as well as new types of value-added services. Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the preferred means of personal communication, creating the world's largest consumer electronics industry.The rapid and efficient deployment of new wireless data and Inte rnet services has emerged as a critical priority for communications equipment manufacturers. Network components that enable wireless data services are fundamental to the next-generation network infrastructure. Wireless data services are expected to see the same explosive growth in demand that Internet service and wireless voice services have seen in recent years. 1. What is CDMA? Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital cellular spread-spectrum modulation technique that implements distributed voice and data networks.CDMA works by converting speech into digital information, which is then transmitted as a radio signal over a wireless network. CDMA does not assign a specific frequency to each user, but the full available spectrum. Each signal is encoded differently using a unique code. This way CDMA enables a large number of users to share the same frequency band at the same time, without interference. The receiving device is instructed to use the code to extract the data out of the received signal. 2 CHAPTER 2 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 HistoryThe first generation of cellular systems, which include the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Systems), was introduced in the early 1980s. These systems used analog frequency modulation (FM) and have a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) based media access control (MAC) architecture. Within a few years, market demands and capacity requirements began to grow hitting the practical limitations. These limitations motivated the development of the second generation cellular systems, which improved compatibility and accommodated higher capacity than the first generation systems.These systems use digital modulation and processing techniques. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) and (narrowband) CDMA belong to the second generation systems. CDMA was introduced in 1994, by Qualcomm, Inc. Using direct sequence code division multiple access, it claimed to provide 10 times more ca pacity than analog systems ? far more than TDMA or GSM. Today, CDMA is the basis to the third generation market in the United States and other places in the world. 2. 2 Background A cellular system is called so because it divides the service area into small transmission areas called cells.Each cell contains a base station (BTS), which consists of a transceiver and a receiver in order to connect   to mobile phones in the cell. Each cell is assigned a group of radio channels (frequencies). 3 2. 3 The Cellular Challenge The world's first cellular networks were introduced in the early 1980s, using analog radio transmission technologies such as AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System). Within a few years, cellular systems began to hit a capacity ceiling as millions of new subscribers signed up for service, demanding more and more airtime. Dropped calls and network busy signals became common in many areas.To accommodate more traffic within a limited amount of radio spectrum, the industry dev eloped a new set of digital wireless technologies called TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile). TDMA and GSM used a time-sharing protocol to provide three to four times more capacity than analog systems. But just as TDMA was being standardized, an even better solution was found in CDMA. 2. 4 Commercial Development The founders of QUALCOMM realized that CDMA technology could be used in commercial cellular communications to make even better use of the radio spectrum than other technologies.They developed the key advances that made CDMA suitable for cellular, then demonstrated a working prototype and began to license the technology to telecom equipment manufacturers. The first CDMA networks were commercially launched in 1995, and provided roughly 10 times more capacity than analog networks – far more than TDMA or GSM. Since then, CDMA has become the fastest-growing of all wireless technologies, with over 100 million subscribers worldwide. In add ition to supporting more traffic, CDMA brings many other benefits to carriers and consumers, including better voice quality, broader coverage and stronger security. CHAPTER 3 3. 0 DISCUSSION 3. 1 Multiple Access Systems A Multiple access system is the technology that specifies the way multiple users can share the same transmission medium. There are three main types of multiple access system, each of which has its own way of sharing the bandwidth:   ? Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) FDMA and TDMA are narrowband technologies, and CDMA is wideband. FDMA and TDMA In the FDMA technology, signals from various users are assigned different frequencies.When a frequency channel is assigned to a user, no other user of the same cell or in the neighboring cell can use it at the same time. In the TDMA technology, the information from each user is conveyed in time intervals cal led time slots. A few users using a different time slot might share the same frequency. When all the available time slots in a given frequency are used, a new user connecting to the system must be assigned a time slot on a different frequency. In a way, TDMA is very similar to a computer with only one processor that seems to run multiple processes simultaneously.Only one person is actually using the frequency channel at any given moment, and then has to give up the channel to allow other users to use it. Code division multiple access (CDMA) systems are spread spectrum systems in which the users are able to transmit simultaneously in the same frequency channel and use the entire system's spectrum. 5 2. FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS In this technique, the available bandwidth is split up into non-overlapping frequency bands and these disjoint sub bands of frequency are allocated to the different users on a continuous time basis.In order to reduce interference between users allocat ed adjacent channel bands, channel bands are used to act as buffer zones, as illustrated in figure(1). These guard bands are necessary because of the impossibility of achieving ideal filtering for separating the different users. It could be compared to AM or FM broadcasting radio where each station has a frequency assigned. 3. 3 TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS In this technique, each user is allocated the full spectral occupancy of The channel, but only for a short duration of time called time slot.Buffers zones are in the form of guard times are inserted between the assigned time slots. This is done to reduce interference between users by allowing for time uncertainty that arises due to system imperfections, especially in synchronization scheme. 3. 4 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS The above drawbacks are overcome in this third technique in which the users are spread across both frequency and time in the same Channel. This is a hybrid combination of FDMA and TDMA. For example, frequenc y hopping may be employed to ensure during each successive time slot, the frequency bands assigned to the users are recorded in random manner.During time slot 1, user 1 occupies frequency band 1, user 2 occupies frequency band 2, user 3 occupies band 3 and so on. During time slot 2, user 1 hops to frequency band 3, user 2 hops to band 1, user 3 hops to band 2, and so on. An important advantage of CDMA over FDMA and TDMA is that it can provide for secure communication. 6 3. 5 Generating the CDMA signal In the CDMA technique the signal transmissions among the multiple users completely overlap in both time and frequency. The separation between the users is made by assigning each user a unique code.Generally, CDMA converts analog voice signal to a digital signal, encodes the digital signals, and separates voice and control data into data streams called channels. Generating a CDMA signal is a five steps process: The first step is analog to digital conversion or A/D. The incoming voice si gnal is an analog signal meaning that it is changing constantly, taking on all possible values of amplitude range. The CDMA uses a digital signal for its further manipulations. That digital signal is characterized by discrete states. In that step the analog voice signal is quantized to form a digital signal consists of a few levels.The second step is voice coding or Vocoding. Voice encoding is the process of compressing the audio into as small a stream of bits as possible. The vocoder takes advantage of the pauses in speech to accomplish maximum compression. The Vocoder’s rate must be variable to fit the rate of the user’s speech activity. The third step is encoding and interleaving. This step purpose is to reduce the errors when receiving the signal. Interleaving is a method of reducing the effects of burst errors and recovering lost bits. The symbols are interleaved such that originally neighboring symbols will be transmitted far away from each other.In addition to t hat, the various encoding methods add redundancy to the signals to help the recovery of information at the receiver in case of errors. The forth step is channelizing. The signal of each user if further encoded to create a separation between different users. A unique identification code is given to each user and the signals of all users are transmitted together, sharing the same frequency and time. The CDMA receiver decodes the signal by multiplying it by a decoding sequence of the desired user. 7 Two common codes types are Walsh code and PN (pseudo random noise) code: The Walsh code is used for forward CDMA channel (e. . cell to mobile direction of communication). Walsh codes are orthogonal, meaning that the code of each user can be decoded at the receiver only by using the same Walsh code used to transmit the signal. The PN code is used for reverse CDMA channel (e. g. mobile to cell direction of communication). A series of digital signals 0? s and 1? s goes into an antipodal mappin g device to produce bit stream of negative and positive 1? s. Each user signal is then multiplied by the PN code series. At this moment the signals occupy a wide frequencies spectrum. The PN sequence rate is much higher than that of the original signal. It is enerated in a deterministic manner, and is repetitive. However there are about 4. 4 trillion combinations of this code, and for practical purposes we may assume that this sequence is truly random. The data signal and the PN sequence can be described mathematically as follows: The data signal b(t) is expressed as [pic] Where – [pic]  is an independent identically distributed random variable representing the i-th data bit. [pic]  is a unit rectangular pulse given by   [pic]  = 1 for 0 ? t ? T and zero otherwise. T is the data bit duration. The data signal b(t) is spread using the PN sequence a(t). This PN sequence is expressed as [pic] Where pic]  is the j-th chip of the periodic PN sequence. [pic]  is a unit r ectangular pulse duration TC. The sequence a(t) is a binary sequence like b(t), but at a much higher rate as mentioned before. 8 The fifth step is digital to radio frequency (RF) conversion. The stream of bits should be somehow delivered from one end to the other. The RF is a method of carrying the information through the air Digital data signals are combined into one signal and converted to a RF signal for that transmission process. Returning to mathematical representation: The spread data is modulated by the carrier at frequency wc radians/s, phase q and power P.The transmitted signal s(t) is then expressed as [pic] 9 3. 6ADVANTAGES ? INCRESED VOICE CAPACITY: Voice is the major source of traffic and revenue for wireless operators, but packet data will emerge in coming years as an important source of incremental revenue. CDMA2000 delivers the highest voice capacity and packet data throughput using the least amount of spectrum for the lowest cost. ? HIGHER DATA THROUGHPUT: Today's c ommercial CDMA2000 1X networks (phase 1) support a peak data rate of 153. 6 kbps. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, commercial in Korea, enables peak rates of up to 2. 4 Mbps and CDMA2000 1xEV-DV will be capable of delivering data of 3. 9 Mbps. ? INCREASED BATTERY LIFE: CDMA2000 significantly enhances battery performance. Benefits include: †¢ Quick paging channel operation ? Improved reverse link performance ? New common channel structure and operation ? Reverse link gated transmission ? TRANSMIT DIVERSITY: Transmit diversity consists of de-multiplexing and modulating data into two orthogonal signals, each of them transmitted from a different antenna at the same frequency. The two orthogonal signals are generated using either Orthogonal Transmit Diversity (OTD) or Space-Time Spreading (STS).The receiver reconstructs the original signal using the diversity signals, thus taking advantage of the additional space and/or frequency diversity. DISADVANTAGES 1. Multi-user interference or multiple acce ss interference(MAI) 2. Multi-path fading 3. near- for problem 10 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION CDMA is radically a new concept in wireless communication. It has gained widespread international acceptance by cellular radio system operators as an upgrade that will dramatically increase both their systems capacity and the service quality.Moreover it spread spectrum technology is both more secure , less probable to intercept and jam, highly private and offer higher transmission quality than TDMA because of its increase resistance to multipath distortion . The principle type of CDMA systems are direct sequence CDMA, frequency hopping CDMA and multicarrier CDMA. The major problem in CDMA is the multiple Access interference (MAI) which arises due the deviation of the spreading codes from perfect orthogonally.Capacity of CDMA is interference limited . the obvious way to increase capacity of the CDMA is to reduce the level of interference. This is achieved by reducing cross correlation, power contro l and with antenna arrays. 11 REFERENCE Reference Books:- †¢ Simon Haykins –Communication Systems-John Willy & Sons , Fourth edition †¢ CDMA TECHNIQUES FOR THIRD GENERATION MOBILE SYSTEM by Francis Swarts ,PETER Van Rooyan , Ian Opperman & Michael P. Loyyer Reference Websites:- †¢ http://www. telecomresearch. com 12

Philosophy: Meaning of Life and Worthwhile Life Essay

In this paper I will be discussing Tolstoy and Sartre views on the meaning of life by comparing and contrasting Tolstoy’s objectivism and transcendentalism and Sartre’s subjectivism and existentialism. I will later conclude why it is that Sartre’s view resonates more within myself. Tolstoy’s view on transcendentalism states that the only way for you to live a worthwhile life is if you follow God’s plan, for following God’s plan is the only way to maintain the â€Å"two ingredients†: immortality and an external significance for individual lives, which Tolstoy believes are essential for obtaining a worthwhile life. According to Tolstoy, God’s plan gives things purpose and the value they have and that they are good in virtue of playing a role in the plan. However, Sartre contradicts Tolstoy’s view of transcendentalism with his position on existentialism, the complete opposite of transcendentalism. Existentialism says that human beings were not designed with a purpose in mind; the only way for humans to have purpose in their life is if they assign one to themselves. Sartre goes on to say that each individual is in charge of inventing his or her own self, there is no plan nor a larger picture. Sartre also argues that there is no such thing as human nature, and since God does not exist, human beings must be in charge of themselves when deciding what is right and wrong and how they should live their life. From existentialism, Sartre concluded through subjectivism that there is no correct way to live life. It is up to the individual to invent their own life and the standards they will use to assess it. We are free in the sense that we must create our own personal values. Sartre goes on to state that we are born nobody and that it is our actions that start to create the meaning in our lives. Sartre believes that there is no external meaning outside of life. There is no god. There is no path for us to follow. Again, this is the opposing opinion of Tolstoy, which he argues through objectivism. Objectivism is the view that for a life to be considered â€Å"worthwhile† there must be a given set of features present in our life. Although, we play no role in deciding what exactly it is that constitutes as a worthwhile life and that we have no control over the matter. Essentially, there is a correct way to live life, and it is possible that you can be living your life wrong. With myself being an atheist, Sartre’s views on the meaning of life resonates more within myself. Perhaps I am too young and too naive to believe that God does not exist, but in the eighteen years I have lived, I can honestly say that I have no reason to believe in God or any other higher power. This became very clear for me at a young age when I lost a very close friend in car accident. I could never understand that if God has a plan for everyone and everything that he would create so much pain and suffering. How is it possible that such horrible things happen to such good people? Why would God purposely give parents the burden of burying their own child, at such a young age with such a bright and promising future? And then for people to justify pain and suffering by simply stating that â€Å"everything happens for a reason† or â€Å" God needed his angel back† as if it makes it all okay. The pain and suffering goes far beyond my own life and experiences. Why was it Gods plan to have third world countries without food or water or to have six million Jews killed during the Holocaust? I could never come to understand the reasoning behind that. So why spend your whole life in fear of God trying to please a higher power that has created so much evil in the world. Instead, I believe that you should live life freely, the way you want to live. You shouldn’t live in fear of God and that in the end there should be no ultimate goal of heaven or fear of hell. Why should it be that faith makes an individual life meaningful? When what really should be meaningful is the individual life itself. Why does there have to be an ultimate meaning to life? Is it simply not enough to gain happiness and meaning from everyday life itself? For instance, the smiles parents get from their children or enjoying a walk outside on a sunny day. Why must there be further reason. Decide what is right and wrong based on your values and live your life accordingly. At the end of your life, before you die, be able to look back on your life and know that you lived with no regrets because you did what made you happy and you lived your life how you wanted to and not how anybody else told you to. After all, it is your life.

economics of healthcare in the uk essays

economics of healthcare in the uk essays Good health is an important factor to an individuals welfare. It is an essential prerequisite for the enjoyment of life. For this reason the importance of healthcare to governments is great and vast amounts of resources are allocated to healthcare, for example in the UK healthcare equates for 6% of GNP. Some argue that Healthcare is a social issue rather than economic but the allocation of scarce resources and the inelastic demand for healthcare lends it self to economic analysis. Equitable allocation of a commodity is one in which everyone receives a minimum standard and quantity. So in terms of full equality in the society everyone should consume the commodity equally. In healthcare this argument becomes complicated, should everyone receive a minimum standard of healthcare? Or should everyone get the best healthcare available? The truth is that hospital buildings, doctors and medical equipment all take up resources. The best standard of healthcare could only be given if all of the governments resources were allocated to the provision of health. This would be a foolish thing to do, as other commodities would not be produced which may be detrimental to health and other aspects of life. Healthcare is different from all other products in that the (supplier) doctor knows more about it than the (consumer) patient. Consumers can distinguish between two types of product and choose the one, which gives them greatest utility but with health care the patient is not educated enough about medicine to choose between two treatments and must therefore go with what the doctor recommends. This imbalance of knowledge gives the healthcare industry suppliers monopoly power. A healthcare supplier could lower the standard of service and not fear loss of customers. A doctor may also recommend a treatment that is costly and therefore will bring in higher profit for himself without the ...

Using Greek and Latin Roots to Understand Words

Using Greek and Latin Roots to Understand Words If you recognize the Greek and Latin prefixes and affixes, youll understand the words as a whole. As someone trained in foreign languages and theoretical linguistics, I completely agree with the experts quoted in  Why your kids should learn Latin. I would add that the study of Ancient Greek stems and affixes is equally valuable. As a follow-up to this article, I would suggest that you compile a short course on the meanings of Greek and Latin stems and affixes, focusing upon their value as reading aids in English and the Romance languages. The content of this article is based on  Scientific Terminology  by expert John Hough. Rather than an introduction to linguistics, it is meant to be an introduction to Classical stems and affixes. Why Study Terminology   How knowing the etymology of  rhinoceros  will help you understand your doctors diagnoses: Sometime during the 14th century someone decided to give this mammal its present day name. The characteristic of the animal that struck them the most was the large horn that grew from its nose. The Greek word for nose is rhis, and the combining form (the form that is used when it is combined with other word elements) is rhin-. The Greek word for horn is keras. So this animal was named a nose-horn animal or a rhinoceros [...] You take a peek in your file and discover that [... the doctor] wrote acute rhinitis as your diagnosis. Now having taken this course, you know that acute just means sudden onset [...] and you know that -itis simply means an inflammation. Root Suffix Word The suffix on  please  is an  e. If you look at the word  pleas-ure, it makes sense, since removing its suffix leaves the same root as in  pleas-e. As John Hough, in  Scientific Terminology,  points out, roots rarely exist alone. They usually precede suffixes. The same is true of Greek and Latin, even if, when borrowing, we sometimes drop the suffix. Thus, the word  cell  in English is really the Latin cella, from which weve dropped the a  suffix. Not only do almost all English words contain roots plus suffixes, but, according to Hough, suffixes cant stand alone. A suffix does not have meaning on its own but needs to be connected to the root. Suffixes A suffix is an inseparable form that cannot be used alone but that carries an indication of quality, action, or relation. When added to a combining form, it makes a complete word and will determine whether the word is a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb. Compound Words A suffix combined with a root is different from a compound word which, in loose English usage, is usually thought of as just another case of root suffix. Sometimes two Greek or Latin words are put together to form a compound word. Often we think of these words as suffixes when they arent, technically, although they may be thought of as  end forms. End Forms The following is a chart of some common Greek end forms. An example is the word  neurology  (study of the nervous system) which comes from the Greek  neuro-  the combining form of the noun  neuron  (nerve) plus  -logy, listed below. We think of these end forms as merely suffixes, but they are fully productive words. A quick example in English: Backpack and ratpack contain what looks like a suffix (pack), but, as we know, pack is a noun and verb on its own. Greek Word Ending Meaning ÃŽ ±ÃŽ »ÃŽ ³ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š -algia -pain ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š -be life ÃŽ ºÃŽ ·ÃŽ »ÃŽ · -cele tumor Ï„Î ¿ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š -ectomy cut ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ± -(a)emia blood ÃŽ »ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ³ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š -logy study ÃŽ µÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ´ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š -oid form πΠ¿ÃŽ »ÃŽ µÃâ€° -poesis make ÏÆ'ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¿Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ µÃâ€° -scope see into ÏÆ'Ï„Î ¿ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ± -stomy mouth (Note: breathing marks are missing. These forms and the other tables are excerpted from Houghs book but have been modified based on corrections submitted by readers.) And from the Latin, we have: Latin Word Ending Meaning fugere -fuge flee Root Suffix/Prefix Word Prefixes are usually adverbs or prepositions derived from Greek or Latin that  cant be used alone  in English and appear at the beginnings of words. Suffixes, which appear at the ends of words, arent usually adverbs or prepositions, but they cant be used alone in English, either. While suffixes are often joined to the end of roots by separate connecting vowels, the transformation of these prepositional and adverbial prefixes is more direct, even though the final letter of the prefix may be changed or eliminated. In 2-letter prefixes, this can be confusing. Among other changes,  n  can become  m  or  s  and a final b or d may be changed to match the first letter of the root. Think of this confusion as designed to ease pronunciation. This list wont help you figure out  antipasto, but it will prevent you from describing the antonym of  precedent  as  antident  or  polydent. Note: Greek forms are capitalized, Latin in normal case. Latin Prefix/ GREEK PREFIX Meaning A-, AN- "alpha privative", a negative ab- away from ad- to, towards, near ambi- both ANA- up, back again, throughout, against ante- before, in front of ANTI- against APO- away from bi-/bis- twice, double CATA- down, across, under circum- around con- with contra- against de- down, from, away from DI- two, twice, double DIA- through dis- apart, removed DYS- hard, difficult, bad e-, ex- (Lat.)EC- EX- (GK.) out of ECTO- outside EXO- outside, outward EN- in endo- within epi- on, upon extra- outside, beyond, in addition to EU- well, good, easy HEMI- half HYPER- over, above, HYPO- below, under in- in, into, onYou often see this prefix as im.Used with verbal roots. in- not; occasionally, beyond belief infra- below inter- between intro- within intus- within META- with, after, beyond non- not OPISTHO- behind PALIN- again PARA- along side of, beside per- through, thorough, complete PERI- around, near post- after, behind pre- in front of, before PRO- before, in front of PROSO- onwards, in front re- back, again retro- backward semi- half sub- under, below super-, supra- above, upper SYN- with trans- across ultra- beyond Adjective Root Suffix Word The following tables contain Greek and Latin adjectives in the form used to combine with English words or with other Latin or Greek parts to make English words- like megalomaniac or macroeconomics, to take examples from the top of the table. GREEK Latin Meaning in English MEGA-, MEGALO-, MAKRO-; magni-, grandi- big MICRO-; parvi- little MACRO-, DOLICHO; longi- long BRACHY-; brevi- short EURY, PLATY-; lati- wide STENO-; angusti- narrow CYCLO-, GYRO; circuli- round quadrati- rectanguli- square PACHY-, PYCNO-, STEATO-; crassi- thick LEPTO-; tenui- thin BARY-; gravi- heavy SCLERO-, SCIRRHO-; duri- hard MALACO-; molli- soft HYGRO-, HYDRO-; humidi- wet XERO-; sicci- dry (Xerox ®) OXY-; acri- sharp CRYO- PSYCHRO-; frigidi- cold THERMO-; calidi- hot DEXIO-; dextri- right SCAIO-; scaevo- levi, sinistri- left PROSO-, PROTO-; frontali- front MESO-; medio- middle POLY-; MULTI- many OLIGO-; pauci- few STHENO-; validi-, potenti- strong HYPO-; imi-, intimi- bottom PALEO-, ARCHEO-; veteri-, seni- old NEO-, CENO-; novi new CRYPTO-, CALYPTO-; operti- hidden TAUTO-; identi- same HOMO-, HOMEO-; simili- alike EU-, KALO-, KALLO-; boni- good DYS-, CACO-; mali- bad CENO-, COELO-; vacuo- empty HOLO-; toti- entirely IDIO-; proprio-, sui- one's own ALLO-; alieni- another's GLYCO-; dulci- sweet PICRO-; amari- bitter ISO-; equi- equal HETERO-, ALLO-; vario- different Colors A medical example of a Greek-based color word is erythrokinetics (e ·ryth ·ro ·ki ·net ·ics), defined as A study of the kinetics of red blood cells from their generation to destruction. GREEK Latin Meaning in English COCCINO-, ERYTHTO-, RHODO-, EO-; purpureo-, rubri-, rufi-, rutuli-, rossi-, roseo-, flammeo- Reds of various shades CHRYSO-, CIRRHO-; aureo-, flavo-, fulvi- orange XANTHO-, OCHREO-; fusci-, luteo- yellow CHLORO-; prasini-, viridi- green CYANO-, IODO-; ceruleo-, violaceo- blue PORPHYRO-; puniceo-, purpureo- violet LEUKO-; albo-, argenti- white POLIO-, GLAUCO-, AMAURO-; cani-, cinereo-, atri- gray MELANO-; nigri- black Numerals Here are more combining forms that are important to know since they are numbers. If youve ever had trouble remembering whether millimeter or kilometer was closer to an inch, pay attention here. Note that the milli- is Latin and the kilo- is Greek; the Latin is the smaller unit, and the Greek the larger, so millimeter is a 1000th part of a meter (.0363 of an inch) and the kilometer is 1000 meters (39370 inches). Some of these numerals are derived from adverbs, most from adjectives. GREEK Latin Meaning in English SEMI-; hemi- 1/2 HEN- ; uni- 1 sesqui- 1-1/2 DYO (DI-, DIS-) ; duo- (bi-, bis-) 2 TRI-; tri- 3 TETRA-, TESSARO- ;quadri- 4 PENTA-;quinque 5 HEX, HEXA-;sex- 6 HEPTA-;septem- 7 OCTO-;octo- 8 ENNEA-;novem- 9 DECA-;decem- 10 DODECA-; duodecim 12 HECATONTA-;centi- 100 CHILIO-;milli- 1000 MYRI-, MYRIAD-; any large or countless number Source John Hough,  Scientific Terminology; New York: Rhinehart Company, Inc. 1953.

Madagascar Rainforest of Atsinanana Research Paper - 1

Madagascar Rainforest of Atsinanana - Research Paper Example The Madagascar Rainforest of Atsinanana is â€Å"critically important for maintaining the ecological processes which have resulted in Madagascar’s unique biodiversity† (African Natural Heritage, 2009). There is a high degree of endemism, that is 97% of the species of animals existing in these moist forests are found only in Madagascar, including 25 species of lemur. The national parks protect two-thirds of the island’s mammals. According to Ferguson (p.135), â€Å"80% of the fauna and 90% of the flora on the island are found nowhere else on earth†. Thus Madagascar’s label as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ indicates its importance for conservation.    Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Madagascar’s Rainforest of Atsinanana, assess its ecological value, identify the ecological uniqueness of the plant and animal life, examine the rainforest’s biodiversity, the human intrusions threatening the area, identify the existing safeguards and further conservation and preservation efforts, determine how individuals can help preserve the diversity of the area, and the losses that would be incurred if intrusion were to go unchecked. Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island. The Rainforests of the Atsinanana are mainly related to the steeper terrain along the eastern escarpment and mountains of Madagascar. The relict Rainforests constitute a protected serial property composed of the six national parks distributed along the eastern side of the island. This property is composed of a representative selection of the most important habitats of the unique rainforest biota of Madagascar. These include several of the endangered and endemic plant and animal species (UNESCO, 2011). The region also has a distinctive cultural history and beautiful beaches (Ward, 2010). The relict rainforests are significant ecologically, maintaining biological process which are vital for the survival of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity. The country’s

Conduct a critical examination and discussion of the Assignment

Conduct a critical examination and discussion of the Marketing-Entrepreneurship interface and the proposed use of Entrepreneurial Marketing within small firms - Assignment Example These challenges include constraints such as financial, marketing, management, customer services and so on. Furthermore, Day and Reynolds, (2011) makes recommendations that in order to increase the survival rate of new and other small business, these businesses shall give considerable attention to the Entrepreneurial Marketing. Entrepreneurial Marketing as a system has evolved to reduce the gap between the resources and capabilities required for employing traditional marketing tactics and the constraint resources of the new venture (Collinson & Shaw, 2001). According to Morris et al. (2002) Entrepreneurial Marketing is a system through which the new business ventures attempts to exploit the opportunities proactively, that enables the business to serve the new customers and retaining profitable ones with ideas that have not been presented yet to the market. This proactive system of value creation also allows the small ventures for risk management by effectively and efficiently managing limited resources accordingly. Therefore, with the EM the entrepreneurs do not only rely on basic marketing of four Ps but also at the same time give consideration to the innovative ideas that rejuvenate the concept to the target customers. In addition to this, it also implies that small business shall have considered all per spective that reduces the risk of doing business (Hills, Hultman, & Miles, 2008). For example, Dindin Kitchen is among the recently opened restaurants in London. The food industry in London is highly mature and competitive; therefore, small business with the idea to enter the restaurant industry differentiated its business offering with the Persian cuisine. With a limited budget, the business not only offered the differentiated idea, but also the limited offerings in order to explore the market response. Additionally, the one pager website as well as the social media account have been used which is as