Friday, November 15, 2019

Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays

Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al... Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al...

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Fiscal Policy Essay -- essays papers

Fiscal Policy Supposing the status quo of the United States today states that: there is no real unemployment, the consumer price index is rising at 2 percent annually, and the federal government budget deficit, 200 billion dollars, is equal to 5 percent of the gross national product. Now, the question is how and what changes will result from fiscal and monetary policy. For example, if legislation has just passed which holds government spending constant and raises personal income taxes enough to balance the budget, then obviously the deficit would cease growing, as mentioned, along with other fluctuations of the gross national product as a whole. Because the government will stop borrowing money, it will also cut down on the spending, which will cause the economy to slow down as is illustrated by the equation: Y = C + I + G + X. In the short run people will respond to the raised taxes by decreasing their consumption, while simultaneously the marginal propensity to consume will increase because people will have less money to save. Therefore, the short run effects of this fiscal policy will force companies to lower wages, produce less, and/or lay off a portion of the work force. All the while The Fed is working up their counter cyclical monetary policy to keep deviation from the potential GDP to a minimum. The Federal Reserve Bank goes public with its goal to significantly increase the money supply. Due to rational expectations of the consumer, people might be... Fiscal Policy Essay -- essays papers Fiscal Policy Supposing the status quo of the United States today states that: there is no real unemployment, the consumer price index is rising at 2 percent annually, and the federal government budget deficit, 200 billion dollars, is equal to 5 percent of the gross national product. Now, the question is how and what changes will result from fiscal and monetary policy. For example, if legislation has just passed which holds government spending constant and raises personal income taxes enough to balance the budget, then obviously the deficit would cease growing, as mentioned, along with other fluctuations of the gross national product as a whole. Because the government will stop borrowing money, it will also cut down on the spending, which will cause the economy to slow down as is illustrated by the equation: Y = C + I + G + X. In the short run people will respond to the raised taxes by decreasing their consumption, while simultaneously the marginal propensity to consume will increase because people will have less money to save. Therefore, the short run effects of this fiscal policy will force companies to lower wages, produce less, and/or lay off a portion of the work force. All the while The Fed is working up their counter cyclical monetary policy to keep deviation from the potential GDP to a minimum. The Federal Reserve Bank goes public with its goal to significantly increase the money supply. Due to rational expectations of the consumer, people might be...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Self in the World: the Social Context of Sylvia Plath’s Late Poems

The Self in the World: The Social Context of Sylvia Plath's Late Poems, [(essay date 1980) In the following essay, Annas offers analysis of depersonalization in Plath's poetry which, according to Annas, embodies Plath's response to oppressive modern society and her â€Å"dual consciousness of self as both subject and object. â€Å"] For surely it is time that the effect of disencouragement upon the mind of the artist should be measured, as I have seen a dairy company measure the effect of ordinary milk and Grade A milk upon the body of the rat.They set two rats in cages side by side, and of the two one was furtive, timid and small, and the other was glossy, bold and big. Now what food do we feed women as artists upon? –Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own The dialectical tension between self and world is the location of meaning in Sylvia Plath's late poems. Characterized by a conflict between stasis and movement, isolation and engagement, these poems are largely about what st ands in the way of the possibility of rebirth for the self.In â€Å"Totem,† she writes: â€Å"There is no terminus, only suitcases / Out of which the same self unfolds like a suit / Bald and shiny, with pockets of wishes / Notions and tickets, short circuits and folding mirrors. † While in the early poems the self was often imaged in terms of its own possibilities for transformation, in the post-Colossus poems the self is more often seen as trapped within a closed cycle. One moves–but only in a circle and continuously back to the same starting point. Rather than the self and the world, the Ariel poems record the self in the world.The self can change and develop, transform and be reborn, only if the world in which it exists does; the possibilities of the self are intimately and inextricably bound up with those of the world. Sylvia Plath's sense of entrapment, her sense that her choices are profoundly limited, is directly connected to the particular time and place in which she wrote her poetry. Betty Friedan describes the late fifties and early sixties for American women as a â€Å"comfortable concentration camp†Ã¢â‚¬â€œphysically luxurious, mentally oppressive and impoverished.The recurring metaphors of fragmentation and reification–the abstraction of the individual–in Plath's late poetry are socially and historically based. They are images of Nazi concentration camps, of â€Å"fire and bombs through the roof† (â€Å"The Applicant†), of cannons, of trains, of â€Å"wars, wars, wars† (â€Å"Daddy†). And they are images of kitchens, iceboxes, adding machines, typewriters, and the depersonalization of hospitals. The sea and the moon are still important images for Plath, but in the Ariel poems they have taken on a harsher quality. The moon, also, is merciless,† she writes in â€Å"Elm. † While a painfully acute sense of the depersonalization and fragmentation of 1950's America is cha racteristic of Ariel, three poems describe particularly well the social landscape within which the â€Å"I† of Sylvia Plath's poems is trapped: â€Å"The Applicant,† â€Å"Cut,† and â€Å"The Munich Mannequins. † â€Å"The Applicant† is explicitly a portrait of marriage in contemporary Western culture. However, the â€Å"courtship† and â€Å"wedding† in the poem represent not only male/female relations but human relations in general.That job seeking is the central metaphor in â€Å"The Applicant† suggests a close connection between the capitalist economic system, the patriarchal family structure, and the general depersonalization of human relations. Somehow all interaction between people, and especially that between men and women, given the history of the use of women as items of barter, seems here to be conditioned by the ideology of a bureaucratized market place. However this system got started, both men and women are implica ted in its perpetuation.As in many of Plath's poems, one feels in reading â€Å"The Applicant† that Plath sees herself and her imaged personae as not merely caught in–victims of–this situation, but in some sense culpable as well. In â€Å"The Applicant,† the poet is speaking directly to the reader, addressed as â€Å"you† throughout. We too are implicated, for we too are potential â€Å"applicants. † People are described as crippled and as dismembered pieces of bodies in the first stanza of â€Å"The Applicant. † Thus imagery of dehumanization begins the poem.Moreover, the pieces described here are not even flesh, but â€Å"a glass eye, false teeth or a crutch, / A brace or a hook, / Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch. † We are already so involved in a sterile and machine-dominated culture that we are likely part artifact and sterile ourselves. One is reminded not only of the imagery of other Plath poems, but also of the control ling metaphor of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, written at about the same time as â€Å"TheApplicant†Ã¢â‚¬â€œin 1962–, and Chief Bromden's conviction that those people who are integrated into society are just collections of wheels and cogs, smaller replicas of a smoothly functioning larger social machine. â€Å"The ward is a factory for the Combine,† Bromden thinks. â€Å"Something that came all twisted different is now a functioning, adjusted component, a credit to the whole outfit and a marvel to behold. Watch him sliding across the land with a welded grin . . . In stanza two of â€Å"The Applicant,† Plath describes the emptiness which characterizes the applicant and which is a variant on the roboticized activity of Kesey's Adjusted Man. Are there â€Å"stitches to show something's missing? † she asks. The applicant's hand is empty, so she provides â€Å"a hand† To fill it and willing To bring teacups and roll away headaches And do whatever you tell it Will you marry it? Throughout the poem, people are talked about as parts and surfaces. The suit introduced in stanza three is at least as alive as the hollow man and mechanical doll woman of the poem.In fact, the suit, an artifact, has more substance and certainly more durability than the person to whom it is offered â€Å"in marriage. † Ultimately, it is the suit which gives shape to the applicant where before he was shapeless, a junk heap of fragmented parts. I notice you are stark naked. How about this suit– Black and stiff, but not a bad fit. Will you marry it? It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof Against fire and bombs through the roof. Believe me, they'll bury you in it.The man in the poem is finally defined by the black suit he puts on, but the definition of the woman shows her to be even more alienated and dehumanized. While the man is a junk heap of miscellaneous parts given shape by a suit of clothes, the woman is a wind-up toy, a puppet of that black suit. She doesn't even exist unless the black suit needs and wills her to. Will you marry it? It is guaranteed To thumb shut your eyes at the end And dissolve of sorrow. We make new stock from the salt. The woman in the poem is referred to as â€Å"it. Like the man, she has no individuality, but where his suit gives him form, standing for the role he plays in a bureaucratic society, for the work he does, the only thing that gives the woman form is the institution of marriage. She does not exist before it and dissolves back into nothingness after it. In â€Å"The Applicant† there is at least an implication that something exists underneath the man's black suit; that however fragmented he is, he at least marries the suit and he at least has a choice. In contrast, the woman is the role she plays; she does not exist apart from it. Naked as paper to start,† Plath writes, But in twenty-five years she'll be silver, In fifty, gold. A living doll, everywhe re you look. It can sew, it can cook. It can talk, talk, talk. The man, the type of a standard issue corporation junior executive, is also alienated. He has freedom of choice only in comparison to the much more limited situation of the woman. That is to say, he has relative freedom of choice in direct proportion to his role as recognized worker in the economic structure of his society. This should not imply, however, that this man is in any kind of satisfying and meaningful relation to his work.The emphasis in â€Å"The Applicant† upon the man's surface–his black suit–together with the opening question of the poem (â€Å"First, are you our sort of person? â€Å") suggests that even his relationship to his work is not going to be in any sense direct or satisfying. It will be filtered first through the suit of clothes, then through the glass eye and rubber crotch before it can reach the real human being, assuming there is anything left of him. The woman in the p oem is seen as an appendage; she works, but she works in a realm outside socially recognized labor.She works for the man in the black suit. She is seen as making contact with the world only through the medium of the man, who is already twice removed. This buffering effect is exacerbated by the fact that the man is probably not engaged in work that would allow him to feel a relationship to the product of his labor. He is probably a bureaucrat of some kind, and therefore his relationship is to pieces of paper, successive and fragmented paradigms of the product (whatever it is, chamberpots or wooden tables) rather than to the product itself.And of course, the more buffered the man is, the more buffered the woman is, for in a sense her real relationship to the world of labor is that of consumer rather than producer. Therefore, her only relationship to socially acceptable production–as opposed to consumption–is through the man. In another sense, however, the woman is not a consumer, but a commodity. Certainly she is seen as a commodity in this poem, as a reward only slightly less important than his black suit, which the man receives for being â€Å"our sort of person. It can be argued that the man is to some extent also a commodity; yet just as he is in a sense more a laborer and less a consumer than the woman–at least in terms of the social recognition of his position–so in a second sense he is more a consumer and less a commodity than the woman. And when we move out from the particularly flat, paper-like image of the woman in the poem to the consciousness which speaks the poem in a tone of bitter irony, then the situation of the woman as unrecognized worker/recognized commodity becomes clearer.The man in â€Å"The Applicant,† because of the middle class bureaucratic nature of his work (one does not wear a new black suit to work in a steel mill or to handcraft a cabinet) and because of his position vis-a-vis the woman (her socia l existence depends upon his recognition), is more a member of an exploiting class than one which is exploited. There are some parts of his world, specifically those involving the woman, in which he can feel himself relatively in control and therefore able to understand his relationship to this world in a contemplative way.Thus, whatever we may think of the system he has bought into, he himself can see it as comparatively stable, a paradigm with certain static features which nevertheless allows him to move upward in an orderly fashion. Within the context of this poem, then, and within the context of the woman's relationship to the man in the black suit, she is finally both worker and commodity while he is consumer. Her position is close to that of the Marxist conception of the proletariat.Fredric Jameson, in Marxism and Form, defines the perception of external objects and events which arises naturally in the consciousness of an individual who is simultaneously worker and commodity. Even before [the worker] posits elements of the outside world as objects of his thought, he feels himself to be an object, and this initial alienation within himself takes precedence over everything else. Yet precisely in this terrible alienation lies the strength of the worker's position: his first movement is not toward knowledge of the work but toward knowledge of himself as an object, toward self-consciousness.Yet this self-consciousness, because it is initially knowledge of an object (himself, his own labor as a commodity, his life force which he is under obligation to sell), permits him more genuine knowledge of the commodity nature of the outside world than is granted to middle-class â€Å"objectivity. † For [and here Jameson quotes Georg Lukacs in The History of Class Consciousness] â€Å"his consciousness is the self-consciousness of merchandise itself . . . † This dual consciousness of self as both subject and object is characteristic of the literature of min ority and/or oppressed classes.It is characteristic of the proletarian writer in his (admittedly often dogmatic) perception of his relation to a decadent past, a dispossessed present, and a utopian future. It is characteristic of black American writers; W. E. B. Du Bois makes a statement very similar in substance to Jameson's in The Souls of Black Folk, and certainly the basic existential condition of Ellison's invisible man is his dual consciousness which only toward the end of that novel becomes a means to freedom of action rather than paralysis.It is true of contemporary women writers, of novelists like Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, and Rita Mae Brown, and of poets like Denise Levertov, Adrienne Rich, and Marge Piercy. In a sense, it is more characteristic of American literature than of any other major world literature, for each immigrant group, however great its desire for assimilation into the American power structure, initially possessed this dual consciousness.Finally, a di alectical perception of self as both subject and object, both worker and commodity, in relation to past and future as well as present, is characteristic of revolutionary literature, whether the revolution is political or cultural. Sylvia Plath has this dialectical awareness of self as both subject and object in particular relation to the society in which she lived. The problem for her, and perhaps the main problem of Cold War America, is in the second aspect of a dialectical consciousness–an awareness of oneself in significant relation to past and future.The first person narrator of what is probably Plath's best short story, â€Å"Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams,† is a clerk/typist in a psychiatric clinic, a self-described â€Å"dream connoisseur† who keeps her own personal record of all the dreams which pass through her office, and who longs to look at the oldest record book the Psychoanalytic Institute possesses. â€Å"This dream book was spanking new th e day I was born,† she says, and elsewhere makes the connection even clearer: â€Å"The clinic started thirty-three years ago–the year of my birth, oddly enough. This connection suggests the way in which Plath uses history and views herself in relation to it. The landscape of her late work is a contemporary social landscape. It goes back in time to encompass such significant historical events as the Rosenberg trial and execution–the opening chapter of The Bell Jar alludes dramatically to these events–and of course it encompasses, is perhaps obsessed with, the major historical event of Plath's time, the second world war.But social history seems to stop for Plath where her own life starts, and it is replaced at that point by a mythic timeless past populated by creatures from folk tale and classical mythology. This is not surprising, since as a woman this poet had little part in shaping history. Why should she feel any relation to it? But more crucially, the re is no imagination of the future in Sylvia Plath's work, no utopian or even antiutopian consciousness.In her poetry there is a dialectical consciousness of the self as simultaneously object and subject, but in her particular social context she was unable to develop a consciousness of herself in relation to a past and future beyond her own lifetime. This foreshortening of a historical consciousness affects in turn the dual consciousness of self in relation to itself (as subject) and in relation to the world (as object). It raises the question of how one accounts objectively for oneself. For instance, if I am involved in everything I see, can I still be objective and empirical in my perception, free from myth and language?Finally, this foreshortening of historical consciousness affects the question of whether the subject is a function of the object or vice versa. Since the two seem to have equal possibilities, this last question is never resolved. As a result, the individual feels t rapped; and in Sylvia Plath's poetry one senses a continual struggle to be reborn into some new present which causes the perceiving consciousness, when it opens its eyes, to discover that it has instead (as in â€Å"Lady Lazarus†) made a â€Å"theatrical / Comeback in broad day / To the same place, the same face, the same brute / Amused shout: ‘A miracle! † This difficulty in locating the self and the concomitant suspicion that as a result the self may be unreal are clear in poems like â€Å"Cut,† which describe the self-image of the poet as paper. The ostensible occasion of â€Å"Cut† is slicing one's finger instead of an onion; the first two stanzas of the poem describe the cut finger in minute and almost naturalistic detail. There is a suppressed hysteria here which is only discernible in the poem's curious mixture of surrealism and objectivity.The images of the poem are predominantly images of terrorism and war, immediately suggested to the poet by the sight of her bleeding finger: â€Å"out of a gap / A million soldiers run,† â€Å"Saboteur / Kamikaze man–,† and finally, â€Å"trepanne d veteran. † The metaphors of war are extensive, and, though suggested by the actual experience, they are removed from it. In the one place in the poem where the speaker mentions her own feelings as a complete entity (apart from but including her cut finger) the image is of paper. She says, O my Homunculus, I am ill. I have taken a pill to killThe thin Papery feeling. Paper often stands for the self-image of the poet in the post-Colossus poems. It is used in the title poem of Crossing the Water, where the â€Å"two black cut-paper people† appear less substantial and less real than the solidity and immensity of the natural world surrounding them. In the play Three Women, the Secretary says of the men in her office: â€Å"there was something about them like cardboard, and now I had caught it. † She se es her own infertility as directly related to her complicity in a bureaucratic, impersonal, male-dominated society.Paper is symbolic of our particular socioeconomic condition and its characteristic bureaucratic labor. It stands for insubstantiality; the paper model of something is clearly less real than the thing itself, even though in â€Å"developed† economies the machines, accoutrements, and objects appear to have vitality, purpose, and emotion, while the people are literally colorless, objectified, and atrophied. The paper self is therefore part of Plath's portrait of a depersonalized society, a bureaucracy, a paper world.In â€Å"A Life† (Crossing the Water), she writes: â€Å"A woman is dragging her shadow in a circle / About a bald hospital saucer. / It resembles the moon, or a sheet of blank paper / And appears to have suffered a private blitzkrieg. † In â€Å"Tulips† the speaker of the poem, also a hospital patient, describes herself as â€Å"fl at, ridiculous, a cut-paper shadow / Between the eye of the sun and the eyes of the tulips. † In â€Å"The Applicant,† the woman is again described as paper: â€Å"Naked as paper to start / But in twenty-five years she'll be silver, / In fifty, gold. Here in â€Å"Cut,† the â€Å"thin, / Papery feeling† juxtaposes her emotional dissociation from the wound to the horrific detail of the cut and the bloody images of conflict it suggests. It stands for her sense of depersonalization, for the separation of self from self, and is juxtaposed to that devaluation of human life which is a necessary precondition to war, the separation of society from itself. In this context, it is significant that one would take a pill to kill a feeling of substancelessness and depersonalization. Writing about American women in the 1950's, Betty Friedan asks, â€Å"Just what was the problem that had no name?What were the words women used when they tried to express it? Sometimes a w oman would say, ‘I feel empty somehow . . . incomplete. ‘ Or she would say, ‘I feel as if I don't exist. ‘ Sometimes she blotted out the feeling with a tranquilizer. † A papery world is a sterile world; this equation recurs throughout the Ariel poems. For Sylvia Plath, stasis and perfection are always associated with sterility, while fertility is associated with movement and process. The opening lines of â€Å"The Munich Mannequins† introduce this equation. Perfection is terrible,† Plath writes, â€Å"it cannot have children. / Cold as snow breath, it tamps the womb / Where the yew trees blow like hydras. † The setting of â€Å"The Munich Mannequins† is a city in winter. Often, Plath's poems have imaged winter as a time of rest preceding rebirth (â€Å"Wintering,† â€Å"Frog Autumn†), but only when the reference point is nature. The natural world is characterized in Sylvia Plath's poems by process, by the ebb and flow of months and seasons, by a continual dying and rebirth. The moon is a symbol for the monthly ebb and flow of the tides and of a woman's body.The social world, however, the world of the city, is both male defined and separated from this process. In the city, winter has more sinister connotations; it suggests death rather than hibernation. Here the cold is equated with the perfection and sterility to which the poem's opening lines refer. Perfection stands in â€Å"The Munich Mannequins† for something artificially created and part of the social world. The poem follows the male quest for perfection to its logical end–mannequins in a store window–lifeless and mindless â€Å"in their sulphur loveliness, in their smiles. The mannequins contrast with the real woman in the same way that the city contrasts with the moon. The real woman is not static but complicated: The tree of life and the tree of life Unloosing their moons, month after month, to no purpose. The blood flood is the flood of love, The absolute sacrifice However, in Munich, â€Å"morgue between Paris and Rome,† the artificial has somehow triumphed. Women have become mannequins or have been replaced by mannequins, or at least mannequins seem to have a greater reality because they are more ordered and comprehensible than real women.It is appropriate that Plath should focus on the middle class of a German city, in a country where fascism was a middle class movement and women allowed themselves to be idealized, to be perfected, to be made, essentially, into mannequins. In â€Å"The Munich Mannequins,† as in â€Å"The Applicant,† Plath points out the deadening of human beings, their disappearance and fragmentation and accretion into the objects that surround them. In â€Å"The Applicant† the woman is a paper doll; here she has been replaced by a store window dummy.In â€Å"The Applicant† all that is left of her at the end is a kind of saline solut ion; in â€Å"The Munich Mannequins† the only remaining sign of her presence is â€Å"the domesticity of these windows / The baby lace, the green-leaved confectionery. † And where the man in â€Å"The Applicant† is described in terms of his black suit, here the men are described in terms of their shoes, present in the anonymity of hotel corridors, where Hands will be opening doors and setting Down shoes for a polish of carbon Into which broad toes will go tomorrow. People accrete to their things, are absorbed into their artifacts.Finally, they lose all sense of a whole self and become atomized. Parts of them connect to their shoes, parts to their suits, parts to their lace curtains, parts to their iceboxes, and so on. There is nothing left; people have become reified and dispersed into a cluttered artificial landscape of their own production. Because the world she describes is a place created by men rather than women (since men are in control of the forces of pr oduction), Plath sees men as having ultimate culpability for this state of affairs which affects both men and women.But men have gone further than this in their desire to change and control the world around them. In â€Å"The Munich Mannequins† man has finally transformed woman into a puppet, a mannequin, something that reflects both his disgust with and his fear of women. A mannequin cannot have children, but neither does it have that messy, terrifying, and incomprehensible blood flow each month. Mannequins entirely do away with the problems of female creativity and self-determination.Trapped inside this vision, therefore, the speaker of the Ariel poems sees herself caught between nature and society, biology and intellect, Dionysus and Apollo, her self definition and the expectations of others, as between two mirrors. Discussion of the Ariel poems has often centered around Sylvia Plath's most shocking images. Yet her images of wars and concentration camps, of mass and indivi dual violence, are only the end result of an underlying depersonalization, an abdication of people to their artifacts, and an economic and social structure that equates people and objects.Like the paper doll woman in â€Å"The Applicant,† Sylvia Plath was doubly alienated from such a world, doubly objectified by it, and as a woman artist, doubly isolated within it. Isolated both from a past tradition and a present community, she found it difficult to structure new alternatives for the future. No wonder her individual quest for rebirth failed as it led her continuously in a circle back to the same self in the

Sunday, November 10, 2019

A Rapidly Growing Field of Science

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field of science, which is particularly interesting for researchers since the early 90s of the last century has become a vital part of the modern technology. Nanomaterials are increasingly becoming a part of our regular lives (Hill and Julang, 2017). They are characterized by new characteristics that differ from those existing at the macro materials. Therefore, nanomaterials are used in innovative products and processes (Fariq et al., 2017). Recently, application of nanomaterial extensively increased, because of high demands for the production of such materials. Classically, the nanoparticles are produced by chemical and physical methods (Stark et al., 2015), as these methods are costly, toxic and non-eco-friendly, scientists are looking forward to synthesizing low cost, non-toxic, eco-friendly nanoparticles (Singh et al., 2016; Sangeetha et al., 2017). Biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles using organisms such as bacteria, fungus and plants emerged as a suitable alternative to the more complex physical and chemical synthetic procedures (Singh et al., 2016). Fungi have some advantages over other microorganisms because they are easy to handle, their nutritional requiems are simple, have a high wall-binding capacity, as well as their capabilities for the intracellular metal uptake (Bhattacharjee et al., 2017). Silver nanoparticles are among the most widely-used metals, and are used as antimicrobial agents, water treatment, textile industries, sunscreen lotions †¦etc. (Raja et al., 2012). We assume that each kind of fungi could have its own machinery to reduce the metals through a production of a group of enzymes. So, the synthesized nanoparticle by each kind of fungi could show a specific characteristic including definite shape and size that makes them effective in many applications, especially as antimicrobial agents. Therefore, the main aim of the present study depends on the wide survey of many fungal species that were isolated from Saudi habitats to investigate their potentiality to synthesize the silver-nanoparticles. The physical characteristics of the newly produced nanoparticles will be studied using accurate and fine techniques including the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) and the transition electron microscopy (TEM). The antibacterial activity of the characterized silver nanoparticles will be studied against many medically-important bacteria, especially that are involving in human diseases such as Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The expected results of this research are the obtaining of new fungal species that have the ability to produce new AgNPs with the specific characteristic that could be used and a new antibiotic or antibacterial agents to control the bacterial infections especially those have a resistance to the classical chemical antibiotics

General Security Policy

Sample Information Security Policy I. POLICY A. It is the policy of ORGANIZATION XYZ that information, as defined hereinafter, in all its forms–written, spoken, recorded electronically or printed–will be protected from accidental or intentional unauthorized modification, destruction or disclosure throughout its life cycle. This protection includes an appropriate level of security over the equipment and software used to process, store, and transmit that information. B. All policies and procedures must be documented and made available to individuals responsible for their implementation and compliance. All activities identified by the policies and procedures must also be documented. All the documentation, which may be in electronic form, must be retained for at least 6 (six) years after initial creation, or, pertaining to policies and procedures, after changes are made. All documentation must be periodically reviewed for appropriateness and currency, a period of time to be determined by each entity within ORGANIZATION XYZ. C. At each entity and/or department level, additional policies, standards and procedures will be developed detailing the implementation of this policy and set of standards, and addressing any additional information systems functionality in such entity and/or department. All departmental policies must be consistent with this policy. All systems implemented after the effective date of these policies are expected to comply with the provisions of this policy where possible. Existing systems are expected to be brought into compliance where possible and as soon as practical. II. SCOPE A. The scope of information security includes the protection of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. B. The framework for managing information security in this policy applies to all ORGANIZATION XYZ entities and workers, and other Involved Persons and all Involved Systems throughout ORGANIZATION XYZ as defined below in INFORMATION SECURITY DEFINITIONS. C. This policy and all standards apply to all protected health information and other classes of protected information in any form as defined below in INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION. III. RISK MANAGEMENT A. A thorough analysis of all ORGANIZATION XYZ information networks and systems will be conducted on a periodic basis to document the threats and vulnerabilities to stored and transmitted information. The analysis will examine the types of threats – internal or external, natural or manmade, electronic and non-electronic– that affect the ability to manage the information resource. The analysis will also document the existing vulnerabilities within each entity which potentially expose the information resource to the threats. Finally, the analysis will also include an evaluation of the information assets and the technology associated with its collection, storage, dissemination and protection. From the combination of threats, vulnerabilities, and asset values, an estimate of the risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information will be determined. The frequency of the risk analysis will be determined at the entity level. B. Based on the periodic assessment, measures will be implemented that reduce the impact of the threats by reducing the amount and scope of the vulnerabilities. IV. INFORMATION SECURITY DEFINITIONS Affiliated Covered Entities: Legally separate, but affiliated, covered entities which choose to designate themselves as a single covered entity for purposes of HIPAA. Availability: Data or information is accessible and usable upon demand by an authorized person. Confidentiality: Data or information is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized persons or processes. HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law passed in 1996 that affects the healthcare and insurance industries. A key goal of the HIPAA regulations is to protect the privacy and confidentiality of protected health information by setting and enforcing standards. Integrity: Data or information has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner. Involved Persons: Every worker at ORGANIZATION XYZ — no matter what their status. This includes physicians, residents, students, employees, contractors, consultants, temporaries, volunteers, interns, etc. Involved Systems: All computer equipment and network systems that are operated within the ORGANIZATION XYZ environment. This includes all platforms (operating systems), all computer sizes (personal digital assistants, desktops, mainframes, etc. ), and all applications and data (whether developed in-house or licensed from third parties) contained on those systems. Protected Health Information (PHI): PHI is health information, including demographic information, created or received by the ORGANIZATION XYZ entities which relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; the provision of health care to an individual; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual and that identifies or can be used to identify the individual. Risk: The probability of a loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information resources. V. INFORMATION SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES A. Information Security Officer: The Information Security Officer (ISO) for each entity is responsible for working with user management, owners, custodians, and users to develop and implement prudent security policies, procedures, and controls, subject to the approval of ORGANIZATION XYZ. Specific responsibilities include: 1. Ensuring security policies, procedures, and standards are in place and adhered to by entity. 2. Providing basic security support for all systems and users. 3. Advising owners in the identification and classification of computer resources. See Section VI Information Classification. 4. Advising systems development and application owners in the implementation of security controls for information on systems, from the point of system design, through testing and production implementation. 5. Educating custodian and user management with comprehensive information about security controls affecting system users and application systems. 6. Providing on-going employee security education. 7. Performing security audits. 8. Reporting regularly to the ORGANIZATION XYZ Oversight Committee on entity’s status with regard to information security. B. Information Owner: The owner of a collection of information is usually the manager responsible for the creation of that information or the primary user of that information. This role often corresponds with the management of an organizational unit. In this context, ownership does not signify proprietary interest, and ownership may be shared. The owner may delegate ownership responsibilities to another individual by completing the ORGANIZATION XYZ Information Owner Delegation Form. The owner of information has the responsibility for: 1. Knowing the information for which she/he is responsible. 2. Determining a data retention period for the information, relying on advice from the Legal Department. 3. Ensuring appropriate procedures are in effect to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the information used or created within the unit. 4. Authorizing access and assigning custodianship. 5. Specifying controls and communicating the control requirements to the custodian and users of the information. 6. Reporting promptly to the ISO the loss or misuse of ORGANIZATION XYZ information. 7. Initiating corrective actions when problems are identified. 8. Promoting employee education and awareness by utilizing programs approved by the ISO, where appropriate. 9. Following existing approval processes within the respective organizational unit for the selection, budgeting, purchase, and implementation of any computer system/software to manage information. C. Custodian: The custodian of information is generally responsible for the processing and storage of the information. The custodian is responsible for the administration of controls as specified by the owner. Responsibilities may include: 1. Providing and/or recommending physical safeguards. 2. Providing and/or recommending procedural safeguards. 3. Administering access to information. 4. Releasing information as authorized by the Information Owner and/or the Information Privacy/ Security Officer for use and disclosure using procedures that protect the privacy of the information. 5. Evaluating the cost effectiveness of controls. 6. Maintaining information security policies, procedures and standards as appropriate and in consultation with the ISO. 7. Promoting employee education and awareness by utilizing programs approved by the ISO, where appropriate. 8. Reporting promptly to the ISO the loss or misuse of ORGANIZATION XYZ information. 9. Identifying and responding to security incidents and initiating appropriate actions when problems are identified. D. User Management: ORGANIZATION XYZ management who supervise users as defined below. User management is responsible for overseeing their employees' use of information, including: 1. Reviewing and approving all requests for their employees access authorizations. . Initiating security change requests to keep employees' security record current with their positions and job functions. 3. Promptly informing appropriate parties of employee terminations and transfers, in accordance with local entity termination procedures. 4. Revoking physical access to terminated employees, i. e. , confiscating keys, changing combination locks, etc. 5. Providing employees with the opportunity for training needed to properly use the computer systems. 6. Reporting promptly to the ISO the loss or misuse of ORGANIZATION XYZ information. 7. Initiating corrective actions when problems are identified. 8. Following existing approval processes within their respective organization for the selection, budgeting, purchase, and implementation of any computer system/software to manage information. E. User: The user is any person who has been authorized to read, enter, or update information. A user of information is expected to: 1. Access information only in support of their authorized job responsibilities. 2. Comply with Information Security Policies and Standards and with all controls established by the owner and custodian. 3. Refer all disclosures of PHI (1) outside of ORGANIZATION XYZ and (2) within ORGANIZATION XYZ, other than for treatment, payment, or health care operations, to the applicable entity’s Medical/Health Information Management Department. In certain circumstances, the Medical/Health Information Management Department policies may specifically delegate the disclosure process to other departments. (For additional information, see ORGANIZATION XYZ Privacy/Confidentiality of Protected Health Information (PHI) Policy. ) 4. Keep personal authentication devices (e. g. passwords, SecureCards, PINs, etc. confidential. 5. Report promptly to the ISO the loss or misuse of ORGANIZATION XYZ information. 6. Initiate corrective actions when problems are identified. VI. INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION Classification is used to promote proper controls for safeguarding the confidentiality of information. Regardless of classification the integrity and accuracy of all classifications of information must be pr otected. The classification assigned and the related controls applied are dependent on the sensitivity of the information. Information must be classified according to the most sensitive detail it includes. Information recorded in several formats (e. g. , source document, electronic record, report) must have the same classification regardless of format. The following levels are to be used when classifying information: A. Protected Health Information (PHI) 1. PHI is information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that: a. is created or received by a healthcare provider, health plan, public health authority, employer, life insurer, school or university or health clearinghouse; and b. relates to past, present or future physical or mental ealth or condition of an individual, the provision of health care to an individual, or the past present or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual; and c. includes demographic data, that permits identification of the individual or could reasonably be used to identify the individual. 2. Unauthorized or improper disclosure, modification, or destruction of this information could violate state and federal laws, result in c ivil and criminal penalties, and cause serious damage to ORGANIZATION XYZ and its patients or research interests. B. Confidential Information 1. Confidential Information is very important and highly sensitive material that is not classified as PHI. This information is private or otherwise sensitive in nature and must be restricted to those with a legitimate business need for access. Examples of Confidential Information may include: personnel information, key financial information, proprietary information of commercial research sponsors, system access passwords and information file encryption keys. 2. Unauthorized disclosure of this information to people without a business need for access may violate laws and regulations, or may cause significant problems for ORGANIZATION XYZ, its customers, or its business partners. Decisions about the provision of access to this information must always be cleared through the information owner. C. Internal Information 1. Internal Information is intended for unrestricted use within ORGANIZATION XYZ, and in some cases within affiliated organizations such as ORGANIZATION XYZ business partners. This type of information is already idely-distributed within ORGANIZATION XYZ, or it could be so distributed within the organization without advance permission from the information owner. Examples of Internal Information may include: personnel directories, internal policies and procedures, most internal electronic mail messages. 2. Any information not explicitly classified as PHI, Confidential or Public will, by default, be classified as Internal Information. 3. Unauthorized disclosure of this information to outsiders may not be appropriate due to legal or contractual provisions. D. Public Information 1. Public Information has been specifically approved for public release by a designated authority within each entity of ORGANIZATION XYZ. Examples of Public Information may include marketing brochures and material posted to ORGANIZATION XYZ entity internet web pages. 2. This information may be disclosed outside of ORGANIZATION XYZ. VII. COMPUTER AND INFORMATION CONTROL All involved systems and information are assets of ORGANIZATION XYZ and are expected to be protected from misuse, unauthorized manipulation, and destruction. These protection measures may be physical and/or software based. A. Ownership of Software: All computer software developed by ORGANIZATION XYZ employees or contract personnel on behalf of ORGANIZATION XYZ or licensed for ORGANIZATION XYZ use is the property of ORGANIZATION XYZ and must not be copied for use at home or any other location, unless otherwise specified by the license agreement. B. Installed Software: All software packages that reside on computers and networks within ORGANIZATION XYZ must comply with applicable licensing agreements and restrictions and must comply with ORGANIZATION XYZ acquisition of software policies. C. Virus Protection: Virus checking systems approved by the Information Security Officer and Information Services must be deployed using a multi-layered approach (desktops, servers, gateways, etc. ) that ensures all electronic files are appropriately scanned for viruses. Users are not authorized to turn off or disable virus checking systems. D. Access Controls: Physical and electronic access to PHI, Confidential and Internal information and computing resources is controlled. To ensure appropriate levels of access by internal workers, a variety of security measures will be instituted as recommended by the Information Security Officer and approved by ORGANIZATION XYZ. Mechanisms to control access to PHI, Confidential and Internal information include (but are not limited to) the following methods: 1. Authorization: Access will be granted on a â€Å"need to know† basis and must be authorized by the immediate supervisor and application owner with the assistance of the ISO. Any of the following methods are acceptable for providing access under this policy: . Context-based access: Access control based on the context of a transaction (as opposed to being based on attributes of the initiator or target). The â€Å"external† factors might include time of day, location of the user, strength of user authentication, etc. b. Role-based access: An alternative to traditional access control models (e. g. , discretionary or non-discretionary access control po licies) that permits the specification and enforcement of enterprise-specific security policies in a way that maps more naturally to an organization’s structure and business activities. Each user is assigned to one or more predefined roles, each of which has been assigned the various privileges needed to perform that role. c. User-based access: A security mechanism used to grant users of a system access based upon the identity of the user. 2. Identification/Authentication: Unique user identification (user id) and authentication is required for all systems that maintain or access PHI, Confidential and/or Internal Information. Users will be held accountable for all actions performed on the system with their user id. a. At least one of the following authentication methods must be implemented: 1. strictly controlled passwords (Attachment 1 – Password Control Standards), 2. biometric identification, and/or 3. tokens in conjunction with a PIN. b. The user must secure his/her authentication control (e. g. password, token) such that it is known only to that user and possibly a designated security manager. c. An automatic timeout re-authentication must be required after a certain period of no activity (maximum 15 minutes). d. The user must log off or secure the system when leaving it. 3. Data Integrity: ORGANIZATION XYZ must be able to provide corroboration that PHI, Confidential, and Internal Information has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner. Listed below are some methods that support data integrity: a. transaction audit b. disk redundancy (RAID) c. ECC (Error Correcting Memory) d. checksums (file integrity) e. encryption of data in storage f. digital signatures 4. Transmission Security: Technical security mechanisms must be put in place to guard against unauthorized access to data that is transmitted over a communications network, including wireless networks. The following features must be implemented: a. integrity controls and b. encryption, where deemed appropriate 5. Remote Access: Access into ORGANIZATION XYZ network from outside will be granted using ORGANIZATION XYZ approved devices and pathways on an individual user and application basis. All other network access options are strictly prohibited. Further, PHI, Confidential and/or Internal Information that is stored or accessed remotely must maintain the same level of protections as information stored and accessed within the ORGANIZATION XYZ network. 6. Physical Access: Access to areas in which information processing is carried out must be restricted to only appropriately authorized individuals. The following physical controls must be in place: a. Mainframe computer systems must be installed in an access-controlled area. The area in and around the computer facility must afford protection against fire, water damage, and other environmental hazards such as power outages and extreme temperature situations. b. File servers containing PHI, Confidential and/or Internal Information must be installed in a secure area to prevent theft, destruction, or access by unauthorized individuals. . Workstations or personal computers (PC) must be secured against use by unauthorized individuals. Local procedures and standards must be developed on secure and appropriate workstation use and physical safeguards which must include procedures that will: 1. Position workstations to minimize unauthorized viewing of protected health information. 2. Grant workst ation access only to those who need it in order to perform their job function. 3. Establish workstation location criteria to eliminate or minimize the possibility of unauthorized access to protected health information. 4. Employ physical safeguards as determined by risk analysis, such as locating workstations in controlled access areas or installing covers or enclosures to preclude passerby access to PHI. 5. Use automatic screen savers with passwords to protect unattended machines. d. Facility access controls must be implemented to limit physical access to electronic information systems and the facilities in which they are housed, while ensuring that properly authorized access is allowed. Local policies and procedures must be developed to address the following facility access control requirements: 1. Contingency Operations – Documented procedures that allow facility access in support of restoration of lost data under the disaster recovery plan and emergency mode operations plan in the event of an emergency. 2. Facility Security Plan – Documented policies and procedures to safeguard the facility and the equipment therein from unauthorized physical access, tampering, and theft. 3. Access Control and Validation – Documented procedures to control and validate a person’s access to facilities based on their role or function, including visitor control, and control of access to software programs for testing and revision. . Maintenance records – Documented policies and procedures to document repairs and modifications to the physical components of the facility which are related to security (for example, hardware, walls, doors, and locks). 7. Emergency Access: a. Each entity is required to establish a mechanism to provide emergency access to systems and ap plications in the event that the assigned custodian or owner is unavailable during an emergency. b. Procedures must be documented to address: 1. Authorization, 2. Implementation, and 3. Revocation E. Equipment and Media Controls: The disposal of information must ensure the continued protection of PHI, Confidential and Internal Information. Each entity must develop and implement policies and procedures that govern the receipt and removal of hardware and electronic media that contain PHI into and out of a facility, and the movement of these items within the facility. The following specification must be addressed: 1. Information Disposal / Media Re-Use of: a. Hard copy (paper and microfilm/fiche) b. Magnetic media (floppy disks, hard drives, zip disks, etc. ) and c. CD ROM Disks 2. Accountability: Each entity must maintain a record of the movements of hardware and electronic media and any person responsible therefore. 3. Data backup and Storage: When needed, create a retrievable, exact copy of electronic PHI before movement of equipment. F. Other Media Controls: 1. PHI and Confidential Information stored on external media (diskettes, cd-roms, portable storage, memory sticks, etc. ) must be protected from theft and unauthorized access. Such media must be appropriately labeled so as to identify it as PHI or Confidential Information. Further, external media containing PHI and Confidential Information must never be left unattended in unsecured areas. 2. PHI and Confidential Information must never be stored on mobile computing devices (laptops, personal digital assistants (PDA), smart phones, tablet PC’s, etc. ) unless the devices have the following minimum security requirements implemented: a. Power-on passwords b. Auto logoff or screen saver with password c. Encryption of stored data or other acceptable safeguards approved by Information Security Officer Further, mobile computing devices must never be left unattended in unsecured areas. . If PHI or Confidential Information is stored on external medium or mobile computing devices and there is a breach of confidentiality as a result, then the owner of the medium/device will be held personally accountable and is subject to the terms and conditions of ORGANIZATION XYZ Information Security Policies and Confidentiality Statement signed as a condition of employme nt or affiliation with ORGANIZATION XYZ. H. Data Transfer/Printing: 1. Electronic Mass Data Transfers: Downloading and uploading PHI, Confidential, and Internal Information between systems must be strictly controlled. Requests for mass downloads of, or individual requests for, information for research purposes that include PHI must be approved through the Internal Review Board (IRB). All other mass downloads of information must be approved by the Application Owner and include only the minimum amount of information necessary to fulfill the request. Applicable Business Associate Agreements must be in place when transferring PHI to external entities (see ORGANIZATION XYZ policy B-2 entitled â€Å"Business Associates†). 2. Other Electronic Data Transfers and Printing: PHI, Confidential and Internal Information must be stored in a manner inaccessible to unauthorized individuals. PHI and Confidential information must not be downloaded, copied or printed indiscriminately or left unattended and open to compromise. PHI that is downloaded for educational purposes where possible should be de-identified before use. I. Oral Communications: ORGANIZATION XYZ staff should be aware of their surroundings when discussing PHI and Confidential Information. This includes the use of cellular telephones in public areas. ORGANIZATION XYZ staff should not discuss PHI or Confidential Information in public areas if the information can be overheard. Caution should be used when conducting conversations in: semi-private rooms, waiting rooms, corridors, elevators, stairwells, cafeterias, restaurants, or on public transportation. J. Audit Controls: Hardware, software, and/or procedural mechanisms that record and examine activity in information systems that contain or use PHI must be implemented. Further, procedures must be implemented to regularly review records of information system activity, such as audit logs, access reports, and security incident tracking reports. These reviews must be documented and maintained for six (6) years. K. Evaluation: ORGANIZATION XYZ requires that periodic technical and non-technical evaluations be performed in response to environmental or operational changes affecting the security of electronic PHI to ensure its continued protection. L. Contingency Plan: Controls must ensure that ORGANIZATION XYZ can recover from any damage to computer equipment or files within a reasonable period of time. Each entity is required to develop and maintain a plan for responding to a system emergency or other occurrence (for example, fire, vandalism, system failure and natural disaster) that damages systems that contain PHI, Confidential, or Internal Information. This will include developing policies and procedures to address the following: 1. Data Backup Plan: a. A data backup plan must be documented and routinely updated to create and maintain, for a specific period of time, retrievable exact copies of information. b. Backup data must be stored in an off-site location and protected from physical damage. . Backup data must be afforded the same level of protection as the original data. 2. Disaster Recovery Plan: A disaster recovery plan must be developed and documented which contains a process enabling the entity to restore any loss of data in the event of fire, vandalism, natural disaster, or system failure. 3. Emergency Mode Operation Plan: A plan must be developed and documented which c ontains a process enabling the entity to continue to operate in the event of fire, vandalism, natural disaster, or system failure. 4. Testing and Revision Procedures: Procedures should be developed and documented requiring periodic testing of written contingency plans to discover weaknesses and the subsequent process of revising the documentation, if necessary. 5. Applications and Data Criticality Analysis: The criticality of specific applications and data in support of other contingency plan components must be assessed and documented. Compliance [ § 164. 308(a)(1)(ii)(C)] A. The Information Security Policy applies to all users of ORGANIZATION XYZ information including: employees, medical staff, students, volunteers, and outside affiliates. Failure to comply with Information Security Policies and Standards by employees, medical staff, volunteers, and outside affiliates may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal in accordance with applicable ORGANIZATION XYZ procedures, or, in the case of outside affiliates, termination of the affiliation. Failure to comply with Information Security Policies and Standards by students may constitute grounds for corrective action in accordance with ORGANIZATION XYZ procedures. Further, penalties associated with state and federal laws may apply. B. Possible disciplinary/corrective action may be instituted for, but is not limited to, the following: 1. Unauthorized disclosure of PHI or Confidential Information as specified in Confidentiality Statement. 2. Unauthorized disclosure of a sign-on code (user id) or password. 3. Attempting to obtain a sign-on code or password that belongs to another person. 4. Using or attempting to use another person's sign-on code or password. 5. Unauthorized use of an authorized password to invade patient privacy by examining records or information for which there has been no request for review. . Installing or using unlicensed software on ORGANIZATION XYZ computers. 7. The intentional unauthorized destruction of ORGANIZATION XYZ information. 8. Attempting to get access to sign-on codes for purposes other than official business, including completing fraudulent documentation to gain access. — ATTACHMENT 1 — Password Control Standards The ORGANIZATION XYZ Information Security Policy requi res the use of strictly controlled passwords for accessing Protected Health Information (PHI), Confidential Information (CI) and Internal Information (II). See ORGANIZATION XYZ Information Security Policy for definition of these protected classes of information. ) Listed below are the minimum standards that must be implemented in order to ensure the effectiveness of password controls. Standards for accessing PHI, CI, II: Users are responsible for complying with the following password standards: 1. Passwords must never be shared with another person, unless the person is a designated security manager. 2. Every password must, where possible, be changed regularly – (between 45 and 90 days depending on the sensitivity of the information being accessed) 3. Passwords must, where possible, have a minimum length of six characters. 4. Passwords must never be saved when prompted by any application with the exception of central single sign-on (SSO) systems as approved by the ISO. This feature should be disabled in all applicable systems. 5. Passwords must not be programmed into a PC or recorded anywhere that someone may find and use them. 6. When creating a password, it is important not to use words that can be found in dictionaries or words that are easily guessed due to their association with the user (i. e. children’s names, pets’ names, birthdays, etc†¦). A combination of alpha and numeric characters are more difficult to guess. Where possible, system software must enforce the following password standards: 1. Passwords routed over a network must be encrypted. 2. Passwords must be entered in a non-display field. 3. System software must enforce the changing of passwords and the minimum length. 4. System software must disable the user identification code when more than three consecutive invalid passwords are given within a 15 minute timeframe. Lockout time must be set at a minimum of 30 minutes. 5. System software must maintain a history of previous passwords and prevent their reuse.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Vietnam Essays - Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh, South Vietnam, Viet Cong

Vietnam Essays - Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh, South Vietnam, Viet Cong Vietnam Believing that communist aggression in South Vietnam could lead to takeover of South East Asia, the United States slowly became more involved in the conflict there during the years of 1954 through 1975. Prior to the War Following World War II, there was a bloody 7 ? year struggle between Communist Vietnamese and the French for control of the land. A peace conference was finally held in Geneva, Switzerland on July 1954 which determined that French rule would be ended in Vietnam and that the country would be split at the 17th parallel of latitude into North Vietnam, with a Communist government, and South Vietnam, with a republican government. Not long after, the United States military advisers took the job of training the South Vietnamese army. At the same time, Ho Chi Minh, president of North Vietnam, pledged to "liberate" South Vietnam. Elections were planned to be held during 1956 to resolve the division of Vietnam, but the U.S. supported Ngo Dihn Diem's refusal to hold the elections, believing that Ho Chi Minh would win. South Vietnam South Vietnamese Government Loses Support Ngo Dinh Dem was elected in 1955, and was very popular at first, but public support, as well as that of military officers and cabinet ministers, gradually disappeared. This was mainly because Diem's brother and adviser, Ngo Dinh Nhu, was able to give orders to officers and military units. Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, Diem's sister-in-law, also promoted a lot of dislike from Vietnamese. South Vietnamese Rebellion On May 1963, President Diem, a Roman Catholic, prohibited the flying of the Buddhist flag. Thousands of Buddhists were arrested, and some were tortured or killed. Some Buddhists publicly burned themselves to death in protest. On November 1, three weeks before President Kennedy was killed in Dallas (on November 22), Diem and Nhu were assassinated. A government was hastily put together, and remained unstable. Vietcong Communist guerrillas, known as the Vietcong, came across the border through Laos in large numbers, helping native Communist terrorists in the south. One main objective of these rebels who were directly controlled by the Vietminh, North Vietnam's government, was to disrupt all types of South Vietnamese order. Many local administrators were also assassinated accomplishing this goal. Guerrilla bands also raided industries, farms, military installations, and villages. Frequently they attacked at night, withdrawing afterward in the thick forest. Seldom were the South Vietnamese forces able to fight them in the open. Because of this battles were rarely fought along a single front.. U.S. Involvement Beginning U.S. Involvement and Escalation In October 1961, President John F. Kennedy sent Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor to South Vietnam, to evaluate the country's economic and military condition. General Taylor said that "infiltration of the Vietcong from the north was increasing," that "South Vietnam's economy had suffered drastically," and that "better and more equipment was needed." Believing that there would be a domino effect President Kennedy expanded economic and military aid. American aid increased from 1961 to 1963, and over 16,000 military advisers were sent to South Vietnam, and 400 million dollars provided for military purposes. The Vietcong was temporary halted. About this time Robert Macnamarah was escalating the involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam and later the war will begin to be called Macnamarah's War. William Wessmoreland a commander of MAC V (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) was assuring political figures that in order to win he needed more troops. United States Warships Attacked On Aug. 2, 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats off the coast of North Vietnam attacked the USS Maddox, a destroyer cruising in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later the Maddox and another destroyer were attacked. The United States was drawn further into the conflict when President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered retaliatory air attacks and the congress authorized U.S. military operations with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Reaction to Terrorist Activities Terrorist attacks upon American bases in South Vietnam became frequent. These were made to discourage the United States into complete withdrawal from Vietnam. However, the number of air raids by American aircraft against North Vietnam increased. The attacks on Pleiku triggered the massive bombing campaign on North Vietnam called "Operation Rolling Thunder". Bombings were aimed mainly at highways and bridges. In Laos, bombers also struck the Ho Chi Minh Trail, an important Vietcong supply line.

Traditional VS Self-Publishing 2019 Everything to Know Before Deciding

Traditional VS Self-Publishing 2019 Everything to Know Before Deciding Traditional VS Self-Publishing 2019: Everything to Consider Before Deciding You might be about to make the wrong decision.Its scary. You want to or have already written a book and now its time to decide between traditional versus self-publishing.Which can help your book see the light of day?Traditional Versus Self-PublishingYouve finally made the decision. After years of saying I should, youve made the bold decision to finally sit down and write your book. Its a tough, yet brave decision. Sitting down to get your message out in the world will be one of the most challenging yet rewarding things you do. But now that youve made this decision, you may be wondering:Should I approach a publisher and go down the traditional route? Or should I self-publish and become an indie author? Which is better, traditional publishing versus self-publishing?Before the age of the internet, the only way a writer could get their book in front of millions was to send a book proposal and a query letter to a traditional publisher or agent. The writer hoped that day’s gatekeepe r had dranktheir morning coffee, woken up on the right side of the bed and actually given your letter and proposal more than a 10-second glance.Unfortunately, the likelihood of that happening was slim to none.This resulted in brilliant people like yourself being denied the opportunity to share their experiences, stories, and knowledge with the world. The Publishing Industry Is ShiftingThankfully, this industry is changing for the better at least for those of us who are savvy in self-publishing.With the development of online marketplaces like Amazon, the publishing process has changed. You can distribute your book to everyone, regardless of what some traditionalpublishing house thinks about your idea.You have a book inside of you and the world needs to read it!NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it hereWhy Self-Publishing?The publishing world has changed, a nd its time for you to reap the benefits. Here are seven reasons whyself-publishing is the best route to take- and why you’ll think twice before dealing with a publishing company again. #1 You Don’t Have to Wait for PermissionWith self-published books, you do not have to wait for anyone to give you the green light.Youdecide when and how to publish a book.Youdecide whose hands your book gets into.Youdecide how successful you are.In other words, you don’t have to convince any gatekeepers to allow your book to reach the global market.â€Å"But, don’t traditional publishers have a good idea for what will sell or not? I mean, if they reject my book, they’re probably right that no one would want to buy it.†Wrong.Have you ever heard of Tim Ferriss’s bookâ€Å"The 4-Hour Workweek†? It has been aNew York TimesandWall Street Journalbestseller for over four years. It sold nearly 1.5 million copies and has been translated into 35 differen t languages.Oh, and get this: It was rejected by the first 26 publishers it was presented to.Maybe youve also heard of a certain childrens book, the one about a young boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead who discovers he is a wizard. The†Harry Potter†franchise is a patent bestseller, with the last four books in the series being the fastest-selling books in history.Yet it was rejected by 12 publishers in a row, and was only picked up because the eight-year-old daughter of an editor demanded to read the rest of the book. Even then, after the editor agreed to publish, they advised J.K. Rowling to get a day job as she had little chance of making money in childrens books. Little did they realize the publishing success they had stumbled onto.Now, just imagine all the other authors out there who stopped after the first 10 or 20 doors slammed in their faces, believing the lie that they didn’t have a profitable idea.You cannot allow other people to determine your success.Self-publishing gives you the avenue to do that. You and your readers decide the worth of your words, rather than one person at a publishing firm who may not realize the potential publishing success in their hands.#2 You Can Publish Your Work QuicklyIf you were to take your book to a traditional publisher, it would take years to publish.For example, it may take up to six months for you to even hear back about the book proposal. And assuming they accept your proposal, it will take at least another year before the book is actually published.With self-publishing, you can produce your content as quickly as you want. And in the Amazon Kindle store, you can publish a new book whenever you want. That way, you can share your work as quickly as you create it!#3 Bring Home the (passive) BaconTraditionally-published authors are typically paid an amount of money up front. However, once the sales come rolling in, they only get a small cut of the earnings.Why? Because they have to pay the publishing house, the editor, the marketers, the designers, etc.But when you self-publish, you take in most of the earnings (save for the money you actuallychooseto spend on marketing, book production and publishing). On Amazon, for example, self-published authors receive 70% of the royalties for an eBook priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Now that isn’t bad!#4 You Form Invaluable ConnectionsSelf-publishers around the world have gathered online and in person to provide a community that supports one another in publishing their work.These connections become priceless as you meet other up-and-coming influencers like yourself.â€Å"Wait- so where would I meet these people?†Because self-publishing requires that you find your own editor, cover designer,formatter and launch team members, you end up connecting with people throughout your whole writing experience.Self-published authors also gather on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit.The camaraderie allows people to expand far beyond what they could have done on their own, or what they would have been limited to with a traditional publisher.#5 You Control Your ObjectiveSo much of a book is influenced by the motive that fuels it.Is your motive to make money?It isto launch a new career?Is it to share your story?Is it to become a public speaker?Or, is it simply something to cross off your bucket list?Remember, writing a book ishard work. And nothing is worse than seeing your hard work be transformed into something you didn’t want. When you self-publish, you are able to preserve the dignity and genius of your objective. No one is pressuring you to sell more books, or to taint your message so that it will reach wider audiences.You are notpigeonholed or made to become someone you’re not comfortable with.You writeasyou, andforyou. And that is liberating. That is self-publishing freedom!#6 You Control Your Creative ConceptThere are horror stories about autho rs whose ideas and voice became unrecognizable after they went down the traditional route.When you work with a traditional publisher, you don’t just sell them your manuscript, you sell them your idea.Your book may become something you are not comfortable with. Or, your dreams for a sequel or a revision may be completely squandered if it does not comply with the motives of the traditional publisher.But as an independent author, you retain total creative control.You are free to be expressive with your work. You are free to be vulnerable and controversial. You are free to beyou.When you self-publish, you also controlwhoyou write for. If you sell via the Amazon Kindle store, you can choose, and then tweak, your categories and keywords. You determine your marketing efforts. With 45 percent of e-book sales going to indie authors, audiences are showing that they respect and want to purchase the ideas of everyone- not just those endorsed by traditional publishers.#7 You Control Your FutureMost people looking to write a book want to earn more money, gain more freedom or have a platform to share their ideas.When you self-publish and have complete ownership over your ideas, you also have complete ownership over your future.There is no traditional publishing firm to stop you from selling a supplementary online course that includes material from your book, starting a speaking career, re-releasing your book with a hardcover or audiobook, or even releasing an updated version of your book.You determine the trajectory of your book, your ideas, and your publishing career when you self-publish.Even Big NamesChoose Between Traditional Publishing VS Self-PublishingThough there are some benefits to traditional publishing, even some well-established and successful  authors admit that the joys of being an indie author outweigh a traditional publishing deal.Via SelfPublishing.comSo much, in fact, that big name entrepreneurs who have large followings and couldeasilyget a trad itional publishing deal are opting to go the self-publishing route.These people includePat Flynn, Jeff Goins, JoshuaFields Millburn Ryan Nicodemus, Johnny B. Truant andJames Altucher.What You GetSelf-PublishingTraditional PublishingSole control of your book's outcomeâÅ"“XSole control of your book's rightsâÅ"“XControl over the storyâÅ"“XControl over the coverâÅ"“X100% of royaltiesâÅ"“XEditing includedXâÅ"“Cover designXâÅ"“MarketingXXDeadlinesXâÅ"“Why Go With Traditional Publishing?As you can probably tell, we here at Self-Publishing School are huge advocates of being in control and ensuring you get all the money you deserve for the work youve put in.That being said, sometimes traditional publishing will be the best option to fit your needs.Here is why some people might opt to go with traditional publishing instead of reaping the rewards of self-publishing.#1 You have connections in the publishing industryThe chances of landing and agent and making it in tradi tional publishing is very low.Because this market is very saturated and publishers really only publish certain types of books, those who have better luck with traditional publishing are those who have connections within the industry.Bascially, if you know someone who is an agent or an editor at a publishing house, it might be beneficial for you to work with them in order to get published through that house.#2 You want the labelThe best perk when it comes to traditional publishing is typically the fact that you cansay youre a traditionally published author.Because you have to go through a number of different processes and rejections in order to make it with traditional publishing, it can be seen as a sign that youre a better writer than others.However, as much as it can sound impressive, it doesnt always mean it is.#3 DistributionBook distribution is much easier as a traditionally published author, mostly because you dont have to deal with any of it.Traditional publishing houses ha ve very wide reaches and because of this, your book can reach a lot more stores in more places than if you traditionally publish.#4 Less responsibility on your partIf youre the type of person who just wants to write the book but dont want to worry about the title, book cover design, editing, or more, then traditional might be for you.Keep in mind that traditional publishers do purchase the rights to your book when you get a book deal and therefore, can make you alter anything in it to meet their needs.Meaning, your plot and characters can drastically change. If youre okay with that, then traditional publishing works for you.#5 No upfront costs to youKeep in mind, this doesnt mean traditional publishing is necessarily free.Typically, those who get traditional book deals receive an upfront payment of varying amounts. From there, the rest of the expenses fall on the publisher.However, those upfront payments arent often big enough to cover your living expenses for the length of time i t takes to get your book finished and out into the world. And that means youll still have to continue to work another job while writing and meeting deadlines in order to get your book done.#6 A slow and steady processThis can be both a pro and a con. If youre not in a rush to get your book out into the world, then the slow and lengthy traditional publishing process might be a good thing for you.Via SelfPublishing.comUltimately, Self-Publishing Will Change Your LifeIt may be that, like quite a few writers, youve dreamed about working with a big-name publishing house all your life, and nothing will satisfy you until you get that experience. There is nothing wrong with that. If youve identified this need early on, then maybe its best for you to go down the traditionalpublishing route.